Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 158 Li Yi: The dog that bites doesn’t bark!
Boom! Boom!
The roar of heavy artillery continued, and deafening explosions continued to sound.

Bao Chao finally came to his senses and led his men to continue running towards the city wall.

After getting down from the city wall, he walked forward on the broken limbs on the ground. The cloth shoes on his feet had been soaked with blood at some point, and the sticky feeling on his feet made Bao Chao feel unwell.

boom!
There was another roar, and he subconsciously looked back, only to see that the Hengyang city gate tower was hit by another cannon.

The black solid shells poured directly into the building, and bricks and stones splashed in an instant.

With a crack, the wooden beams and load-bearing columns of the city gate tower were hit by shells from front and back.

Amid the roar, the already shaky city gate tower collapsed and turned into ruins.

Many Qing soldiers had no time to escape and were trapped underneath, their screams could be heard faintly.

Panic spread rapidly among the Qing army.

"Fuck, the enemy soldiers' artillery fire is too fierce, isn't it?"

"Everyone, get out of the way! We can't fight this battle anymore!"

Bao Chao couldn't help but curse while fleeing towards Hengyang City with his men.

He planned to find a place to hide first, and then surrender to save his life after the Tang army entered the city.

Compared with being loyal to the Qing Dynasty, Bao Chao still felt that his life was more important.

……

boom! Boom boom! Boom boom boom!

The roar of heavy artillery continued.

The Tang army's artillery fired recklessly, and soon all the Qing army's artillery positions on the top of Hengyang City were wiped out.

The artillery was blown into the sky and the gunners were either killed or wounded.

Even the city wall itself was smashed into a pockmarked face full of pits by artillery shells.

A loud rumbling sound resounded across the battlefield, and under the concentrated fire of the Tang army's heavy artillery, a section of Hengyang's city wall collapsed.

Amid the smoke and dust, that section of the city wall disappeared, and was replaced by a towering mound of earth.

The amount of earthwork for the city wall is there, and even if artillery can blast it, it cannot make that large amount of bricks, stones and rammed earth disappear out of thin air.

Naturally, it is very normal for the collapsed city walls to form towering mounds of earth!
Soon, the order to advance was sounded on the battlefield.

Liu Yongfu immediately led the team to rush towards the gap in the city wall.

"Brothers, kill!"

"Capture Hengyang, and everyone will be rewarded!"

"Long live the Tang Dynasty! Long live the king!"

"..."

Just as the Tang army's siege troops were passing through the gap in the city wall, the Tang army's rockets were pulled out again.

The whistling sound of breaking through the air resounded throughout the battlefield, like the low howl of a devil.

Rockets dragged long tails of flames and landed inside and outside the collapsed city walls, with explosions and roars everywhere.

The air was filled with smoke, flames, and dust, and a sharp scream came from behind the towering mounds of earth.

Seeing this scene, Liu Yongfu and others became more morale-boosted and continued to rush towards Hengyang City.

"Kill! Kill the Qing monster!"

"Drive out the Tartars and restore China!"

"Kill the demons and divide the land!"

"..."

Amid shouts, the Tang army's siege troops rushed to the mound in one breath and began to climb.

Liu Yongfu stepped on the broken bricks and stones and climbed up using his hands and feet.

After climbing halfway, Liu Yongfu and others stopped and shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Grenade ready!"

As they were talking, a group of people took out grenades, unscrewed the covers at the rear, and released the pull ropes.

"Throw!"

Liu Yongfu pulled the grenade's drawstring, roared, and threw it behind the mound with all his strength.

The people behind him also followed suit!

One grenade after another was thrown out, drawing a parabola in the air and landing behind the mound.

Immediately, a loud explosion was heard, air waves surged, and smoke and dust filled the air.

After the explosion, Liu Yongfu and his group continued to rush towards the mound.

"Kill!"

Soon, they reached the top and looked down, seeing craters everywhere from the explosion.

And pieces of broken limbs!
Looking up, I saw a large number of Qing soldiers fleeing in a panic.

Obviously he was scared by the bomb!

Liu Yongfu and others climbed over the mound and rushed into Hengyang City, but did not rashly advance into the depths of Hengyang City, but headed towards the city gate.

Prepare to capture the city gate first and welcome the main force into the city.

Liu Yongfu led his troops to the inside of the city gate, where they met a group of Qing troops ready to block them.

"Get down and shoot!"

"Beat me hard!"

When a group of people heard the military order, they instantly lay down on the ground according to the muscle memory formed on the training ground, then aimed at the Qing army in front of them and pulled the trigger.

From a distance, the two sides started shooting at each other.

Snapped! Bang bang!

The sound of dense and crisp musketry fire rang out.

In the blink of an eye, the Qing army was suppressed.

A Qing soldier was hit by a bullet while he was standing and loading his musket. Blood burst out of his body and he fell to the ground with a scream.

Unlike the breech-loading rifles used by the Tang army led by Liu Yongfu, this rifle can be loaded and fired in a prone position.

The Qing army's muzzle-loading muskets could only be loaded while standing.

For the Tang army siege troops using breech-loading rifles, this was no different from being a living target.

On the battlefield, one side of the shooting can shoot in a prone position, and the shooting speed is extremely fast.

One side could only stand there and serve as a living target, and the shooting speed was very slow.

The result is predictable.

The crisp sound of gunfire rang out like popping beans. The Tang army soldiers kept reloading and firing, launching intensive firepower.

The Qing troops that came to stop the attack were quickly defeated. They dropped their swords and guns and fled in panic.

Liu Yongfu and others got up from the ground, holding their muskets with bayonets, and launched a bayonet charge while shouting loudly.

"Kill!"

They chased the Qing army and captured the city gate of Hengyang.

With a creaking sound of door hinges rubbing against each other, the gate of Hengyang was opened from the inside.

Soon, the main force of the Tang army poured into Hengyang City like a wave.

"Kill! Kill the Qing monster!"

After entering the city, the main force of the Tang army headed straight for the government office.

The Qing army flag on the top of Hengyang City was lowered.

Instead, a large flag with black characters on a red background and the Chinese characters for Tang Dynasty fluttered in the wind...

……

Seeing Hengyang being captured, Li Yi withdrew his gaze and said in a high-spirited tone.

"Now that Hengyang has been conquered, the last obstacle standing in the way of our Tang Dynasty's conquest of Changsha has been removed."

"I believe that it won't be long before the entire Hunan region will belong to the Tang Dynasty!"

Zuo Zongtang, who was standing by, heard this and spoke.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"Wherever our Tang army goes, they will be invincible. With the support of the people, conquering the Three Xiangs will be a piece of cake."

"But there are many talented people in Sanxiang. I hope Your Majesty can recruit more of them."

Zuo Zongtang was now truly filled with emotion; the Tang army's combat effectiveness was indeed strong.

That’s Hengyang!

In less than a day, the situation had changed hands? With such a strong army at hand, why worry about the unrest in the world?
It is also because of this that Zuo Zongtang is now more and more loyal to the Tang Dynasty.

After all, which scholar could refuse the merit of founding a country and the benefit of leaving his name in history?
Li Yi understood the meaning of Zuo Zongtang's words and said with a smile.

"Of course!"

"I have long heard of the talents of the young men from Sanxiang. If I can get their help, it will be like adding wings to the tiger for my Tang Dynasty!"

What Zuo Zongtang meant was simply that he wanted Li Yi to give more official positions to people from Hunan, so as to win over the gentry in Hunan and stabilize the local area.

Naturally, Li Yi would not refuse this.

The education system of the Tang Dynasty is still in its infancy and does not yet have the ability to train its own officials.

If that's the case, then it doesn't really make much difference to him who the official position is given to.

As long as the people of Hunan are willing to support him, Li Yi doesn't mind giving them some sweet treats.

He was not Hong Xiuquan, who lost confidence due to the blow of the imperial examination and also came to hate Confucianism.

Although Li Yi looked down on Confucianism, it was far from being hatred.

Also, Li Yi understood the simple truth that a biting dog doesn't bark.

Before he cultivated ideas that could replace Confucianism and a ruling class that could replace the gentry class, Li Yi would not rashly turn against Confucianism and the gentry.

Isn’t it just an official position?

If you want it, I’ll give it to you!

After speaking, Li Yi turned to Zuo Zongtang and Guo Songtao who were standing beside him and said.

"It just so happens that after our Tang Dynasty conquered Hunan, we needed officials to fill local vacancies."

"You two gentlemen are from Hunan, so you must know something about the talents in Hunan. I will need your help to introduce me to them in the future."

"As long as they are truly talented, I will definitely make use of them!"

Li Yi's attitude is very clear. As you are my own people in the Tang Dynasty, I will give you a few recommendation quotas. Don't say that I don't take care of you.

Zuo Zongtang and Guo Songtao were both talented people. In order to win their complete support, Li Yi did not mind spending more time and effort.

It is for this reason that we recommended them the places this time.

For this reason, even if Zuo Zongtang and Guo Songtao recommended their own brothers-in-law, Li Yi would accept it with a pinch of his nose and would never be stingy with the official position he deserved.

However, Li Yi thought that Zuo Zongtang and the other man would not do such a stupid thing.

Because Li Yi gave them the opportunity to recommend officials, it was not only a benefit to them, but also, to some extent, a test for them.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Guo and the other man were both delighted, and then they clasped their fists and said.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"In this way, everyone in Sanxiang will surely return to our country!"

Both of them felt a little emotional. Being with Li Yi, they finally understood what it meant to be eager to seek talented people and what it meant to know people and assign them to the right positions.

Given how much Li Yi values ​​talent, who else could be the emperor if not him?

It can't be that tyrant emperor in the capital who was unwilling to give them even a Jinshi degree, right?
At this moment, a fast horse came galloping and reported to Li Yi.

"Report!"

"Your Majesty, our army has successfully captured Hengyang. Hengyang prefect Li Xueqi has hanged himself, and the lieutenant general of the Hengyang City Defense Battalion, Wang Bo, has been captured alive by our army."

When Li Yi heard this, his expression changed and then he asked.

"Who ordered the killing of our military envoy?"

The signalman reported.

"Your Majesty, it is Li Xueqi, the prefect of Hengyang."

Li Yi said with a gloomy expression.

"Oh, no wonder this thief wanted to commit suicide, he was afraid of the crime and committed suicide."

"Pass the order down, have the Hengyang prefect Li Xueqi crushed to pieces and scattered his ashes, and hang his head outside the city of Hengyang as a memorial to our military envoy."

Upon hearing this, the communications soldier immediately clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, then turned and left.

……

With the surrender of Wang Bo, the lieutenant general of Hengyang City Defense Battalion, the battle of Hengyang soon entered its final stage.

After the Hengyang city was captured, the Qing troops chose to surrender to the Tang army to save their lives.

The Tang army quickly took control of the Hengyang city defense and began to eliminate the remaining soldiers in Hengyang city in order to restore order in Hengyang city as soon as possible.

Only after doing all this did Li Yi lead his men into Hengyang.

At this time, the sky just got dark.

That night, Li Yi was discussing the next military route with his generals.

He made arrangements quickly.

"Li Yiwen, the battle to capture Hengyang this time was led by your 10th Infantry Brigade."

"In that case, the task of guarding Hengyang and protecting our army's food supply route will also be given to you."

"This time, our Tang Dynasty is heading north to Hunan. Hengyang is not only our army's logistics hub, but also our army's retreat route. We must not allow any losses there."

“Can this be done?”

Li Yi had his own considerations for arranging Li Yiwen to guard Hengyang.

One reason is that Li Yiwen's troops were the main force in the attack on Hengyang City and had already made sufficient contributions.

In this case, they naturally don't need to get involved in the upcoming battle of Changsha.

After all, the credit can't be taken all by just one army, right?
As the commander of this battle, Li Yi naturally had to be fair and give other troops a chance to make merit.

The second reason is that Li Yi has confidence in Li Yiwen's abilities.

After all, this is Li Xiucheng, who was known as the Twin Pillars of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom together with Chen Yucheng in the later period of the Heavenly Kingdom. His ability is definitely guaranteed.

Li Yi felt more at ease leaving Hengyang to him to garrison.

Upon hearing this, Li Yiwen immediately expressed his opinion.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will ensure that I complete the mission."

"If Hengyang is lost, I will bring my head to you."

Li Yi nodded slightly, and then arranged other matters.

Just at this moment, a notification sounded outside.

Li Yi called out to come in, and Li Liang pushed the door open, came to Li Yi and said.

"Your Majesty, urgent news has come from Shandong that the Northern King Wei Changhui of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing evil monk Gelinqin's tribe had a decisive battle in Jinan."

Li Yi's expression changed when he heard this.

"What's the specific situation of the battle?"

Li Liang took a deep breath and said.

"In reply to your Majesty, the details of this battle are still being investigated."

"The only thing we know now is that after this battle, Wei Changhui withdrew from the siege of Jinan, led his troops south to Lianghuai, and returned to Tianjing, while Senggelinqin did not lead his troops to pursue him."

"According to inference, neither the Qing army nor the Taiping army gained any advantage in this battle!"

Li Liang expressed his own inference.

However, Li Yi has a different judgment.

"No, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom won!"

"Shandong is located in the North China Plain, with flat terrain, which is suitable for large-scale cavalry operations. If the Qing army wins the Battle of Jinan, will they not send troops to pursue them?"

"Haven't you heard that retreating infantry is like fish on the chopping block to cavalry?"

Of course, Li Yi was just guessing and he was not sure.

He just thinks this situation is more likely.

In addition, the Tang army was currently on a northern expedition, and the morale of the army must not be affected in any way.

That's why he said that.

No matter whether the Taiping Army wins or loses the Battle of Jinan, as far as Li Yi is concerned, they can only win!
Upon hearing this, all the generals spoke up in agreement.

"What the king said is true!"

"The Qing demons are so weak that they can't even defeat the Taiping Army. How can they be a match for the Tang Dynasty?"

"This time, the Tang Dynasty will win the Northern Expedition!"

"..."

……

PS: I will update one chapter first, the next chapter will be later.

(End of this chapter)