Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 99 Summary after the war
Upon hearing this, the messenger looked nervous and spoke.

"In reply to the Governor, the latest news we have received is that General Zhou is leading his defeated troops back a long way and evacuating towards the Guijiang River."

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangjin closed his eyes and began to think.

After a moment, he took a deep breath.

"Pass the order down, let our troops organize another round of attack on Wuzhou City, tie down the enemy's energy, and cover our navy to assist Zhou Junlu's troops in retreating."

Xu Guangjin was very dissatisfied with Zhou Junlu's useless performance.

But then again, no matter how dissatisfied he was, he could not ignore Zhou Junlu's troops.

We must find a way to cover their withdrawal!

After all, that’s nearly 10,000 people.

If we were really eaten by the bandits, there would be no need to fight the battle of Wuzhou...

……

After one round of offensive ended and the Qing troops had just withdrawn halfway, the horn to launch an attack sounded again.

In shock, they could only launch another attack and rush towards Wuzhou City.

During this process, the Qing army's artillery did not fire.

The reason is simple: it’s out of reach.

The city defense artillery used by the Restoration Army was a replica of Napoleon's twelve-pounder cannon, with an effective range of about two kilometers.

If you shoot from a high place to a low place, the range can be further improved.

As for the Qing army, most of the new cannons were deployed in artillery batteries along the coast of Guangzhou to strengthen coastal defense.

Therefore, most of the cannons Xu Guangjin brought with him this time were old red cannons with an effective range of only about a thousand meters.

In other words, if the Qing army wanted to launch firepower at Wuzhou City, they must first enter the firepower coverage range of the Restoration Army's artillery.

At the beginning, the Qing army, who did not believe in evil, did try it.

But the result was that the artillery they had pushed forward with great difficulty was destroyed one by one by the Restoration Army.

Then, Xu Guangjin gave up the idea of ​​bombarding Wuzhou.

Instead, he decided to let the infantry attack the city directly.

Before he entered Guangxi this time, he brought so many militiamen with him. Weren't they waiting to be used at this time?

Under the supervision of the Green Camp soldiers of the Qing army, the militia organized by the Guangdong gentry once again rushed towards Wuzhou city.

Seeing this, the Restoration Army in Wuzhou City would not be polite and immediately began to continue shelling.

Boom! Boom!
The deafening sound of artillery fire resounded throughout the battlefield, and shells flew across the battlefield, bouncing on the ground and rolling forward.

Plowing a bloody path through the Qing army's array!
……

"Thanks to Brother Chen's rescue, otherwise I would have been killed by the bandits this time."

Zhou Junlu, who had just been pulled out of the river and was soaking wet, clasped his fists towards Chen Guotai and said with a wry smile on his face.

Upon hearing this, Chen Guotai just shook his head.

"Brother Zhou, what are you talking about? You and I are both officials of the imperial court, serving the Qing Dynasty. It is only natural for me to rescue you. Why are you being so polite?"

Zhou Junlu heard this and continued speaking.

"No matter what, I will never forget Brother Chen's life-saving grace."

"From now on, if Brother Chen needs my help, just let me know. I will never refuse."

Chen Guotai still said with a smile on his face when he heard this.

"Brother Zhou is too polite."

"From what I have seen today, I think the fight against bandits in Guangxi will not be over in a short time. From now on, we will have a lot of good fights to fight."

"When the time comes, you and I brothers should support each other."

Just as the two men were exchanging pleasantries, the Qing navy finally slowly arrived at the city of Wuzhou.

They only needed to turn a corner under the city of Wuzhou to enter the Xijiang River directly and withdraw the Qing army's water fort on the bank of the Xijiang River east of Wuzhou City.

……

Wuzhou city wall.

Li Yi stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the Guijiang River outside the city.

Fang Haiyang was supported by someone and staggered all the way to him. Then he knelt down with a plop and said with tears in his eyes.

"Grand Commander, we lost this battle to the Qing demons. Not only did we lose face for our Restoration Army, but we also lost many of our brothers."

"I, General, really have no face to see the Grand Admiral, and I have no face to see the brothers in the navy."

"Please punish me, Grand Commander!"

Hearing this, Li Yi took a deep breath and went forward to help Fang Haiyang up.

"Why are you crying? What's there to cry about?"

"Where is your heroic spirit when you were a man of eight feet tall, leading your brothers to cross the Xunjiang River, robbing the rich to help the poor, and bravely resisting the Qing Dynasty?"

"What's the point of crying now? If anyone sees you, you will just be laughed at."

Fang Haiyang heard this, still with tears in his eyes.

"Grand Commander, I was defeated miserably this time, and my brothers suffered heavy losses."

"The families of the brothers all trusted me, so they handed them over to me and brought them to the battlefield to make achievements."

"Now, not only have we lost the battle, but we have also lost so many brothers. How am I going to face their families in the future..."

Li Yi patted Fang Haiyang on the shoulder and then spoke.

"Victory or defeat is standard issue."

"Since ancient times, who among the generals who led troops dared to say that he had never suffered a defeat?"

"It doesn't matter if we lose the battle. My Restoration Army can't afford even such a small setback."

"Know the shame and then be brave, and win it back later."

"However many people you killed this time, I will double the amount for you."

"Besides, you are not defeated this time."

"I was the one who ordered the withdrawal. How could your ocean be blamed?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Haiyang was so excited that he couldn't help choking up.

He originally thought that he had lost the battle today and would be severely punished by Li Yi.

Unexpectedly, Li Yi not only did not punish him, but also comforted him with kind words and even offered to replenish his lost troops in the battle.

At this moment, Fang Haiyang really had the urge to die for his friend.

At this moment, a communications soldier trotted up to Li Yi and reported, pointing in the direction outside the city.

"Reporting to the Grand Commander, the Qingyao Navy is here!"

"They are about to enter the Xijiang River through the river mouth outside Wuzhou City."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi spoke immediately.

"Send a message to Bai Guangzhen, asking him to command our artillery groups on the north wall."

"Aim at the river surface and shoot!"

"Didn't the Qing demons just rely on their powerful ships and cannons to bully our Restoration Army's navy?"

"Now I want to see whether their ships are stronger or the walls of Wuzhou City are stronger; whether their guns are more powerful or the guns of our Restoration Army are more powerful!"

Upon hearing this, the signalman immediately clasped his hands, accepted the order, and turned around to pass on the message.

Li Yi turned around and said to Fang Haiyang.

"Come on, follow me and avenge our brothers in the navy of the Restoration Army!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Haiyang regained his excitement and nodded vigorously.

"I will obey your orders!"

……

On a red boat of the Qing army flying the flag of Xiangshan Xiedusi.

Chen Guotai is asking Zhou Junlu about the details of the battle.

He was somewhat curious about how the bandits had managed to defeat the more than 10,000 men led by Zhou Junlu in such a short time. Upon hearing this, Zhou Junlu spoke with a helpless and dejected look on his face.

"Brother Chen, you don't know that compared with the ordinary bandits, the bandits in Wuzhou are really like heaven and earth."

"When I was fighting this bandit army, I had the illusion that I was not fighting against bandits, but the British who invaded my Qing Dynasty ten years ago."

"The tactics used by the bandits on the battlefield were quite simple, including artillery bombardment, volleys of fire, and bayonet charges, which were exactly the same as those used by the British barbarians."

Upon hearing this, Chen Guotai's expression became serious.

When the Opium War broke out, Chen Guotai also followed Admiral Guan to fight against the British.

I have seen how powerful the British are on the battlefield!

Now, when he heard Zhou Junlu say that the bandits in Wuzhou fought like the British barbarians, he couldn't help being shocked.

"Are the bandits in Wuzhou who call themselves the "Restoration Army" really so powerful?"

Chen Guotai asked in disbelief.

Zhou Junlu nodded and spoke with certainty.

"That's natural. Why should Zhou deceive me..."

Before Zhou Junlu finished speaking, a loud rumbling sound was heard.

He subconsciously turned his head and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

I saw several clouds of thick smoke rising from the top of Wuzhou City.

Several black shells broke through the air and shot towards him.

Before Zhou Junlu could even scream, he felt a wave of hot air passing by him.

The next moment, with a bang, the shells fell heavily on the deck of the ship.

As wood chips flew, the shells smashed directly through the deck and into the cabin.

A scream was heard in the cabin!

"Be careful of the shelling!"

"Be careful of the shelling!"

Zhou Junlu shouted at the top of his voice, his face full of fear and terror.

Immediately afterwards, another round of artillery fire came.

With a loud rumbling sound, a cannonball hit the edge of the warship Zhou Junlu was on, smashed through the deck and the side of the ship, and fell into the river, causing a column of water to rise from the surface of the river.

Chen Guotai's whole body was soaked by the splashing river water, and he shouted at the top of his voice.

"Quick! Raise the sail and speed up! Speed ​​up and pass the current section of the river."

"Be careful to avoid the artillery, everyone be careful to avoid the artillery..."

Boom! Boom!
The bombardment continued. The heavy artillery of the Restoration Army aimed at the Qing navy on the Guijiang River, continuously firing and blocking the river.

Shells were fired one after another, hitting the ships continuously and causing casualties to the Qing army.

However, the number of artillery pieces on the Restoration Army's side was limited after all.

After paying the price of having one warship sunk and the rest of the warships damaged to varying degrees, the Qing army still broke through the blockade of the Restoration Army.

They went down the Xijiang River and withdrew to the water fort set up by the Qing army east of Wuzhou City.

……

That night, the moon was dark and the fighting stopped for a while.

Inside Wuzhou City, the headquarters of the Grand Commander of the Restoration Army.

The generals of the Restoration Army gathered together to discuss the gains and losses of today's battle and make a post-war summary.

Seeing that everyone was present, Li Yi spoke first.

"Now that everyone is here, let's make a summary."

"Although there were some twists and turns in today's daytime battle, overall, our army still won the victory and achieved the established combat goal of severely damaging the Qing army's detachment."

"I am very satisfied with this!"

"Here, the Governor would like to express the highest respect to all the soldiers of the Restoration Army who are fighting bravely on the battlefield today for the great cause of "expelling the Tartars and restoring China."

"My sincere condolences to all the soldiers who died on the battlefield!"

After he finished speaking, Li Yi stood up from his seat, clasped his hands together, and then bowed deeply.

Upon seeing this, the generals of the Restoration Army followed suit and bowed along with Li Yi.

After a few breaths, they all stood up straight and took their seats.

Then Li Yi continued.

"In today's battle, our army was able to achieve the set goal, and Li Sheng's troops played an indispensable role."

"For this, the governor wants to commend Li Sheng and his officers and soldiers. In addition to their original military merits, all the soldiers will be awarded one more military merit, and officers at all levels will receive corresponding rewards."

It is worth mentioning that there are currently two main ways of commending the Restoration Army.

One is collective merit, the other is individual merit.

On the battlefield, when a unit completes its assigned combat mission, it is a collective achievement.

And in this process, if you can gain something, it will be a personal achievement.

The total merit of a battle is the sum of collective merit and individual merit.

Of course, the extra reward from Li Yi was an unexpected situation.

If this was not the first victory in the Battle of Wuzhou, and the victory was not particularly beautiful, Li Yi would generally not make an exception and reward.

Also, the role of the Restoration Army’s merit points.

According to the relevant regulations of the Restoration Army, one merit point can be exchanged for one mu of military merit land, or five taels of silver.

Therefore, Li Yi generously gave some military merit to all of Li Sheng's troops, which was definitely not stingy.

Upon hearing this, Li Sheng hurriedly stood up from his seat and spoke solemnly.

"On behalf of all the soldiers in the army, I would like to thank the Grand Commander for his grace!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi just nodded slightly.

"The soldiers fought bloody battles on the battlefield and defeated the Qing demons. They made outstanding contributions to the survival of our Restoration Army. I am only giving them a small reward. This is what they deserve."

After saying this, Li Yi gestured for Li Sheng to sit down, and then continued.

"However, although our army won today's battle beautifully, it is not without flaws."

"In the Battle of the Gui River, although our navy fought bravely and made great sacrifices, it failed to achieve the established goal of cutting off the Gui River."

"So that the defeated Qing army was able to withdraw from the battlefield!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Haiyang stood up again and spoke.

"I am incompetent, please punish me, Grand Commander!"

Li Yi heard this and shook his head.

"The order to withdraw was given by this governor. Before this order was given, the navy officers and soldiers were still fighting bravely."

"Although we failed to achieve our goal in the end, Commander Fang and the soldiers have done their best, and everyone has seen that."

"If I punish you, wouldn't that be inhumane?"

Fang Haiyang heard this and said.

"Grand Commander, I know your good intentions and you are reluctant to punish me, but victory is victory and defeat is defeat."

"If I fail to complete the assigned mission, I will be defeated."

"How can military law allow for mercy?"

"I hope the Grand Commander will punish me and enforce military law!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi looked at Fang Haiyang deeply and then said.

"Although the defeat in the Guijiang River naval battle was not caused by the war, Fang Haiyang, as the commander of the naval camp, cannot escape blame. I hereby order Fang Haiyang to receive 20 military medals, be demoted one level, and remain in office, to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence, and see how he performs in the future."

Upon hearing this, Fang Haiyang clasped his fists.

"The last general takes command!"

(End of this chapter)