Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 351 Yi: God bless the Qing Dynasty!

Palmerston was suddenly enlightened when he heard this, and then said.

"Don't worry, Queen. The cabinet will handle this matter properly."

Victoria nodded slightly and gracefully at the action, then asked.

"What is the French attitude towards this?"

Palmerston thought for a moment and then replied.

"The French side has expressed a very positive attitude."

"Napoleon III made a public speech that France was ready to send its army and navy to intervene militarily in Crimea."

Victoria said, nodding.

"Yes, how can France not be active in this matter?"

"Napoleon III would have loved for Britain to go to war with Russia in the Crimea."

"Well, very good. In that case, let the French contribute more to the Crimean War this time."

"It's all right for Napoleon III to get rid of the shackles of the Holy Alliance, but he's going to have to give something for it."

Palmerston heard this and replied immediately.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

……

Subsequently, news about the Sinop massacre began to spread in countries such as Britain and France.

Many official newspapers began to publicly criticize the brutality of the Slavs and to promote public opinion for the British and French military intervention in Crimea.

Under the deliberate propaganda of the British, French and other official countries, the people of Britain, France and other countries began to call for war against Tsarist Russia, and the atmosphere of war gradually became stronger.

Driven by public opinion, the cabinet and parliament quickly passed a resolution to declare war on Tsarist Russia.

Both Britain and France began to prepare to send troops to expedition to Crimea.

At the same time, Britain and France also issued an ultimatum to Tsarist Russia, demanding that it withdraw its troops from Crimea.

There is no doubt that Tsar Nicholas I, who was proud of the support of the Holy Alliance, firmly rejected the ultimatum from Britain and France.

Subsequently, Britain and France declared war on Tsarist Russia.

The Kingdom of Sardinia quickly followed suit and declared war on Tsarist Russia.

The Crimean War officially began.

The mighty army set out from the homelands of Britain and France, boarding ships and heading towards the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

……

Mid-May of the fourth year of Zhaowu in the Tang Dynasty.

Just as the drama of the Crimean War began and was in full swing.

Li Yi, who was in Jining, also received news that the main force of the Qing army had set out from the capital and marched south.

Jining, the headquarters.

In the combat meeting room, Li Yi summoned all the generals of the Tang army to discuss matters.

"According to reliable intelligence, the Qing army in the capital has already come out in full force and is rapidly moving southwards towards Jining."

"Just yesterday, the Qing army had passed Hejian Prefecture and was not far from Shandong."

"According to the current marching speed of the Qing army, they will be able to reach Linqing in three to five days at most."

Li Liang stepped forward and introduced the current situation to the generals of the Tang army.

Li Yi nodded slightly.

"Notify all units of our army to respond accordingly according to the plan."

"Lure the Qing army to continue southward until they cross the Yellow River, and then we can tighten the trap for us."

"Destroy all the Qing monsters heading south in one fell swoop!"

In order to lure the Qing army southward, Li Yi made a full set of arrangements.

For example, let the local garrison pretend to be panicked as if they were caught off guard by the Qing army that suddenly marched south.

For example, let the various units of the Tang army try to block the Qing army, and then pretend to retreat after being defeated.

For example, the Tang troops stationed in various places were asked to gather towards Jining Prefecture, but the marching speed had to be slowed down to show that reinforcements were not coming in time.

Although such an operation can easily turn a fake defeat into a real defeat if not handled properly.

However, Li Yi has confidence in the current Tang army.

Well, ever since he knew that the Tang army soldiers dared to jump into the surging Yellow River, Li Yi was full of confidence in the Tang army.

He knew that his ideological education of the army for such a long time had finally paid off.

An army that dares to stand up in the face of natural disasters, protect the people, and even dares to sacrifice its own lives to protect the people, cannot be defeated by the rotten soldiers of the Qing Dynasty.

Upon hearing this, all the generals of the Tang army responded in unison.

Li Yi nodded slightly and then said.

"Very good, all the soldiers, prepare for the battle!"

"In this battle, the Tang Dynasty will surely win!"

……

Yi was riding on a horse, driving the horse forward while flipping through a map.

Looking at the Qing army's marching movements on the map, Yi asked Shengbao beside him.

"Shengbao, where is our army now?"

Upon hearing this, Shengbao replied.

"In reply to the emperor, Dezhou is not far ahead, and our army is almost in Shandong now."

Upon hearing this, Yi took a deep breath and then continued to ask.

"What about the movements of the various Tang bandits?"

Shengbao continued.

"In reply to the emperor, according to our army's investigation, the various Tang army units have received news that our army is heading south, and are gathering in the direction of Jining, and have sent troops to block our army's southward advance."

"However, the Tang army that came to stop us were too hasty and unprepared, and have been repelled several times by our army."

"In addition, the Tang army's convergence to Jining has not been smooth." "The Tang bandits have recently caused some trouble in disaster relief. The disaster victims have been making a lot of noise, which has greatly hindered the speed of the Tang army's reinforcement to Jining."

"It is impossible for the Tang bandits to successfully rescue Jining in such a short time!"

"And now, the army around the Tang bandit chief in Jining only has 10,000 people, so there is nothing to be afraid of."

"The current situation is truly a godsend for our Qing Dynasty."

The current situation really gave Shengbao hope that the Qing Dynasty could capture and kill the bandit leader in one battle and unify the world.

He began to sincerely agree with Yi's strategy of going south for a decisive battle.

Upon hearing this, Yi clapped his hands and said excitedly.

"God bless our Qing Dynasty!"

"God bless my Qing Dynasty!"

Yi continued to lead his men south with full confidence, heading all the way towards Jining.

On May 15th, the Qing army passed Linqing.

On the 17th, we arrived at Dongchang Prefecture.

On just 19 days, the Qing army reached the north bank of the Yellow River.

Looking at the rushing river in front of us and the Yellow River embankments on both sides of the river that had obviously just been completed and still had traces of repairs.

Yi stood on the embankment and spoke with great pride.

"The Tang bandits are making quite a bit of progress in providing disaster relief and repairing the dike."

"But now it seems that all this will be done for the benefit of the Qing Dynasty!"

Due to the smooth progress of the war southwards, Yi was quite confident at this time.

Shengbao and others on the side echoed and flattered him.

"Your Majesty!"

"The current situation is that God blesses our Qing Dynasty."

"Yes, Your Majesty. After this battle, Your Majesty will be the leader of the revival of the Qing Dynasty. A hundred years later, you can also use the word ancestor."

"..."

Although according to convention, only the founder can be called the ancestor.

However, since our Qing Dynasty already has a Taizu and a Shengzu, we don’t care about having another ancestor.

As for whether Nurhaci and Xuanye would have any objections?

Haha, this is not important!
If he could rebuild the Qing Dynasty, his achievements would not be worse than those two.

The smile on Yi's face could hardly be concealed.

Just at this moment, a fast horse came galloping with news.

"Your Majesty, according to intelligence, the Tang army garrison in Dongping Prefecture on the other side of the Yellow River has received an order to withdraw and retreat towards Jining."

"Also, the ferry needed to cross the river is ready."

"My army can cross the river at any time!"

"Your Majesty, please make the decision."

Upon hearing this, Yi immediately gave the order.

"Very good. Pass the order down and have all our troops prepare to cross the river immediately. After crossing the river, we will head straight for Jining."

"In this battle, our Great Qing must capture and kill the bandit chieftain in one fell swoop and achieve unprecedented merit!"

As for the origin of the ferry, Yi had no doubts.

Because these ferries were provided by Shandong gentry.

As for the fact that the Qing Dynasty even blew up the Yellow River, why did those gentry still want to serve the Qing Dynasty?
According to the gentry, it was because the Tang ruler was cruel and greedy.

Not only did he kill Duke Yansheng and confiscate the entire Confucius family, he even wanted to measure and divide the land in Shandong, which greatly affected the interests of the gentry.

In order to protect their own land, those gentry chose to risk the world's condemnation, secretly communicate with the Qing Dynasty, and lead the Qing troops south.

During the Qing army's march southward, these gentry provided the Qing Dynasty with a lot of intelligence, including the movements of the Tang army.

Obviously, the behavior of these gentry is consistent with Yi's impression that gentry are greedy and short-sighted.

Therefore, Yi did not doubt the motives of these gentry.

After learning that the ferry was ready, Yi could only sigh.

Sure enough, the heart of the gentry is the heart of the people!
As long as the Qing Dynasty can safeguard the interests of the gentry, what does it matter even if it blows up the Yellow River?

Aren’t people all over the world still on the side of the Qing Dynasty?

With emotion in his heart, Yi led his army across the Yellow River.

But what he didn't know was that the movements of the Qing army were under the control of the Tang Dynasty from beginning to end.

As for the gentry’s tip-off?

Well, let’s put it this way, there were indeed gentry who chose to betray the Tang Dynasty and have secret dealings with the Qing Dynasty.

But among these so-called gentry who were in contact with the Qing Dynasty, most were spies specially arranged by the Tang Dynasty.

For example, arranging ferries along the Yellow River was actually done by the Tang Dynasty.

After the disaster relief, the Tang Dynasty's control over the local areas basically reached the highest point in the feudal era.

The phrase "what the people want" is not just talk.

As long as Li Yi did not nod, the Qing army would not be able to get a ferry to cross the river even if they reached the Yellow River.

Even if we could find a boat to cross the river, we wouldn't be able to find the laborers to steer the boat.

After the Qing Dynasty blew up the Yellow River dike, causing the river to burst, the people on both sides of the river hated the Qing Dynasty so much that it was simply impossible for them to serve the Qing Dynasty.

Not to mention sailing the Qing army across the river.

If any Qing army dared to board the ferry operated by the people on both sides of the Yellow River, the people operating the boat would destroy the boat, sending the Qing army into the Yellow River to feed the turtles, and perish together with the Qing army.

Even if those gentry were very loyal to the Qing Dynasty, they would not be able to send the Qing army across the river if they could not find civilians to drive the boats.

After all, we can't expect those weak gentry to steer the boats and row the oars themselves, right?
After crossing the river, the Qing army immediately continued to march towards Jining along Dongping Lake.

Well, Dongping Lake is connected to the canal. If the Qing Dynasty wanted to transport grain via the canal, they could only go along the shore of Dongping Lake and advance along Dongping Lake.

(End of this chapter)