Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 67 Li Xingyuan: Although I have retreated from the battlefield, I am definitely not afraid of death...

After the Qing army reorganized its troops outside the city, they turned around and attacked Xunzhou. Li Yi also quickly assembled his troops inside Xunzhou.

And led his troops to fight against the Qing army!

Prepare to have a head-on battle with the Qing army.

The reason for this is not that he is stubborn, but the current situation does not allow Li Yi to play tricks.

Nearly 10,000 Taiping prisoners of war were detained in Xunzhou City. If Li Yi wanted to save these people, he could only fight the Qing army head-on and win.

Otherwise, once Li Yi led his troops to withdraw from Xunzhou, the Qing army would inevitably attack and kill the Taiping prisoners of war.

This is something Li Yi cannot accept!
If he hadn't come, the Qing army would have killed those who surrendered.

When he arrived, the Qing army still killed those who surrendered.

Then didn’t Li Yi come here for nothing?

In addition, among the nearly 10,000 Taiping prisoners of war, many auxiliary troops under Li Yi’s command were dispersed.

In order to save these people, Li Yi had no choice but to fight the Qing army.

……

Soon, the Qing army and Li's army collided head-on in the western suburbs of Xunzhou City.

Both sides deployed their battle formations, ready for a fight.

Beep! Beep!

A shrill copper whistle sounded.

Under the command of the copper whistle, Li's army adjusted their ranks and formed a very standard queue for execution with three rows in front and back.

Beep beep!

Another round of whistles sounded, and Li's army began to carry muskets, lined up in neat formations, and advanced forward.

The reason why they had breech-loading guns was that they still had to use a line-up shooting system.

The reason is actually very simple. One is to pursue the highest possible firepower density!

The second reason is that not all of Li Yi’s troops have been equipped with breech-loading rifles. Only about a quarter of them can be equipped with breech-loading rifles.

The rest of the people still used muzzle-loading rifles, and quite a few even used old shotguns.

Li Yi can't just let these people slack off on the battlefield, right?

Therefore, the array of queuing and shooting will still be used for a short period of time.

As time goes by, the distance between the two sides is getting closer.

Then, there was another sound of a whistle.

Then there was a loud shout from the officer.

"Fire!"

"beat!"

In an instant, there was a burst of crackling gunfire.

Dense balls of bullets were thrown towards the enemy.

The sound of bullets breaking through the air continued to be heard.

Loading, aiming, pulling the trigger, the Li family army soldiers equipped with breech-loading rifles continuously delivered firepower at a firing rate of one round every five to six seconds.

The soldiers using muzzle-loading rifles also fired volleys according to previous training.

In just a moment, blood spurted out of the bodies of the Qing army's front-row soldiers, and they fell to the ground in unison.

The number of casualties is rising rapidly!

Bang bang! Bang bang bang!

As dense gunfire rang out, the Qing army, which was originally surging forward, suddenly showed its cowardice and the ranks began to fall into chaos.

"Thieves...the thieves shoot so fast!"

"I can't bear it anymore, run away!"

As soon as the two sides came into contact, the Qing army suffered a head-on blow and began to retreat immediately.

Shouts of killing echoed throughout the battlefield. The soldiers of Li's army raised their bayonets and chased after the Qing army, driving back the fleeing Qing soldiers.

Li Xingyuan looked at the changing situation on the battlefield, his face full of solemnity and confusion.

What is going on? !

How come our side collapsed just after the contact? !

Is the standard of Xiang Rong's unit so bad? !
After thinking for a while, Li Xingyuan gave an order. "Send a message to Lieutenant General Zhang, asking him to personally lead his troops to supervise the battle and make sure to stabilize the front line."

"Send a message to the rest of the troops, have them outflank the enemy's flanks, strike their waists and abdomens, and force them to retreat."

After Li Xingyuan's military order was issued, the Qing army on the battlefield responded quickly.

On the front battlefield, Lieutenant General Zhang rode forward, led his personal soldiers to supervise the battle, and prepared to stabilize the situation.

"Brothers, hold on, hold on, don't retreat!"

"Anyone who leaves without permission will be killed without mercy!"

Brigadier General Zhang rode his horse and rushed to the front line.

But before he could draw his sword to supervise the battle, the next moment, he felt a huge force on his chest, and then he was thrown off his horse and lost consciousness instantly.

Several personal soldiers around him saw with their own eyes the scene where Brigadier General Zhang's body suddenly exploded.

Everyone couldn't help but widen their eyes as if they had seen a ghost.

"What's going on? What's going on?!"

"My lord, why did you suddenly explode?"

"Oh my god, I saw a ghost in broad daylight..."

"..."

As Lieutenant General Zhang was killed on the battlefield, the Qing army, which was already collapsing, collapsed even faster and more completely.

On the front battlefield where the two sides came into contact, the Qing army's complete defeat was a foregone conclusion, and no one could save it.

When the soldiers of Li's army saw this scene, they subconsciously attributed the death of the Qing demon general to the appearance of the gods.

In an instant, the morale of the entire army was boosted, and cheers shook the sky.
"Long live! Long live!"

"Long live the General!"

"Brothers, kill the Qing monster!"

"..."

Amid shouts, they raised their bayonets and continued to charge forward.

Chasing the defeated Qing army in order to expand the results of the battle.

At the same time, seeing the Qing army's defeat on the front battlefield, the Qing troops that had originally planned to outflank Li's army from the flank collapsed without a fight.

The soldiers spontaneously dropped their weapons and turned back.

Officers at all levels are unable to suppress it at all!

Li Xingyuan saw this scene from afar and a layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his forehead.

He would never have thought that the imperial army would be defeated so quickly after facing the bandits.

The fighting power of the long-haired thieves is indeed far superior to other thieves!
You must know that the Qing army battalion under Li Xingyuan's command is not an ordinary green battalion, but an elite force under Xiang Rong.

But even so, they were quickly defeated by the bandits.

This was a little hard for Li Xingyuan to accept.

"Master, let's withdraw quickly. Although our army was defeated in this battle, the main force of the army in the Wuxuan direction is still there, and the situation in Guangxi is still promising."

"Right now, Guangxi's anti-bandit affairs still need you, the imperial envoy, to preside over them. If you fall into the hands of the bandits, everything will be over."

Seeing that his side was badly defeated on the battlefield, Li Xingyuan's master stepped forward and tried to persuade them.

Moreover, he was very smart. He used the fact that Li Xingyuan still needed to preside over the battle situation in Guangxi to create a way for Li Xingyuan to step down.

Li Xingyuan is a scholar and he cares about his reputation.

If the advisor directly said that the enemy soldiers were coming and we should run away, he would definitely not agree.

Even though he wanted to agree in his heart, he had to object verbally and say that he would live and die with the army.

However, if the advisor uses the fact that the situation in Guangxi still needs to be presided over by him, the imperial envoy, as an excuse, that would be another matter.

Because with this step, if Li Xingyuan escapes, it won't be because he is afraid of death.

But it’s for the overall situation!

Well, for the sake of the overall situation!

Therefore, after listening to the master's words, Li Xingyuan pondered for a while and then spoke.

"Okay, pass the order down and prepare to withdraw our troops. We will... withdraw to Wuxuan and join Xiang Rong and the others."

"Humph, let these bandits be arrogant for a while, and let the main force of our army come back to support us. We must destroy all these bandits and turn them into ashes!"

(End of this chapter)