Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 359 Bad News

On May 20th of the fourth year of the Tang Dynasty's Zhaowu reign, the Battle of the Yellow River began.

The war was declared over on the second day.

The Tang army quickly completed the annihilation of the Qing army and the finishing work.

The main force of the Qing army led by the Qing evil emperor Yi was completely wiped out by Li Yi on the banks of the Yellow River.

After the Yellow River Campaign ended, the Tang army took a short rest in place.

Soon, the army crossed the river in a mighty force and headed towards the capital along the canal.

On May 25th, the Tang army crossed the Yellow River.

On the 27th, the Tang army's northern expedition arrived at Dongchang Prefecture.

On the 29th, we arrived in Linqing.

Afterwards, the Tang army continued to move northward, passing through Wucheng, Dezhou, Dongguang, Nanpi, all the way to Tianjin.

At the same time, the news that the Tang army had wiped out the main force of the Qing army in a battle on the banks of the Yellow River and captured the false emperor of the Qing Dynasty spread quickly.

Immediately, the whole world was shocked!
……

Capital, outer city wall!
After receiving Li Yi's order, the Tang army in Tianjin marched all the way towards the capital.

Wuqing, Xianghe, Tongzhou and other places were successively broken.

The Qing army was defeated.

Zhili Governor Cai Bingwen was ordered to resist the westward advance of the Tang army. He blocked the North Grand Canal in an attempt to stop the Tang army's offensive.

Although this move did hinder the speed of the Tang army's advance, the problem is that it was only a slight hindrance.

The various units of the Tang army continued to advance towards the capital.

By now, the Tang army had already reached the outskirts of the capital, confronting the Qing army defending the city from a distance.

"Lord Ne, is there still no news from the front line?"

Cai Bingwen stood on the top of the capital city, looking at the Tang army camp outside the city, his face solemn.

The Qing emperor personally led the main force south to engage in a decisive battle with the Tang army, and almost all the garrisons in the capital were transferred away.

Afterwards, the Qing dynasty's nobles and relatives left the country and a group of people were transferred to serve as guards.

The remaining troops left for Cai Bingwen to guard the capital were not enough to even fill the battlements of one of the capital's walls, let alone defend the city.

In other words, the Tang army that had reached the outskirts of the city now numbered only a few thousand people, and had not launched an offensive against the capital.

Otherwise, Cai Bingwen was sure that the capital would not be able to be defended.

Upon hearing this, Nerjing'e, who was standing by, just shook his head.

"No."

"But given the current situation, no news is actually good news..."

It is obvious that Nerjing'e was not optimistic about the idea of ​​leading his troops south.

In other words, not only Nerjing'e, but no one in the entire Qing Dynasty was optimistic about Yi leading his troops south this time.

While speaking, Nerjing'e and Cai Bingwen looked at each other and saw the despair and helplessness in each other's eyes.

"Hey!"

As they were talking, the two turned around and continued to patrol the city walls of the capital.

While patrolling, they discussed the current situation.

Wherever the two men passed, the lazy Qing soldiers became alert and began to pretend to be busy.

But after the two left, they returned to their original state, leaning crookedly against the city wall and taking a nap.

Obviously, these Qing troops also knew that they could not defend the capital, so they all started to give up.

They were just a bunch of soldiers who served in the army and got paid, and they had no loyalty to the Qing Dynasty.

Everyone was thinking that at worst they would just wait for the Tang army to attack the city and then they would surrender.

"Alas, the city defenses are weak!"

Nerjinge couldn't help but sigh.

"If the Tang thieves launch an offensive against the capital at this moment, the capital will probably be difficult to defend."

Upon hearing this, Cai Bingwen spoke to comfort him.

"Don't worry, Lord Ne. In my opinion, the capital is absolutely safe in the short term."

"The Tang thieves outside the city are actually waiting for the outcome of the battle in the south. Before there is definite news about the battle in the south, the capital is likely to be safe."

Upon hearing this, Nerjing'e asked curiously.

"How can Master Cai be so sure?"

Cai Bingwen said with a smile.

"The Tang thieves outside the capital are strong in both men and horses. If they attack the city, with the current defenses of the capital, it will be difficult for the capital to defend."

"If that's the case, why don't the Tang thieves attack the capital?"

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I can't!"

"The capital is the capital of the Qing Dynasty. It is a matter of great importance. It is easy for the Tang thieves to capture the capital, but what will happen after they capture it?"

"A man who is more powerful than his master is leading them in front."

"Unless the leader of the Tang bandits comes in person or issues a military order, the capital will be safe."

Many times, when fighting a war, one must not only consider whether or not one can win, but also the political impact.

It was easy for the Tang army outside the city to capture the capital, but no one dared to take the credit.

Therefore, Cai Bingwen is not actually worried about the safety of the capital now.

What he was really worried about was the war situation in the south...

Upon hearing this, Nerjing'e showed a thoughtful expression and understood everything in his heart.

He had to admit that the Han people were very cunning.

Just as the two men continued to discuss military affairs, a Qing army soldier rushed towards them.

When he got closer, Cai Bingwen noticed that the Qing soldier's face was frighteningly pale.

"Report, Your Excellency the Governor, something big has happened!"

Upon hearing this, Cai Bingwen's face darkened and he shouted.

"What happened?"

"Why are you so flustered?!"

The Qing soldier was yelled at and then spoke, "To reply to the Governor, there is bad news from the south... the south."

"That's right. It's said that after the emperor led his army across the Yellow River, he was blocked by the Tang navy south of the Yellow River and could not cross the river. He was trapped by the Tang bandits."

"Now, now the whole army has been annihilated!"

"It is said that even the Emperor himself was captured by the Tang thieves."

"Now, the Tang thieves have already sent out their troops, and under the leadership of their leader, they are marching towards the capital in a mighty force..."

When Cai Bingwen heard this, the expression on his face froze instantly, and his heart was full of disbelief.

Thoughts kept turning in his mind and the expression on his face kept changing.

Nerjing'e, who was standing by, grabbed the Qing soldier by the collar, spit on his face, and shouted.

"Nonsense, absolute nonsense!"

"Where did you hear this rumor?"

"If you dare to spread lies and mislead the people again, I will take your head..."

Obviously, Nerjing'e could not accept the bad news that the Qing army was completely wiped out and even Yi was captured by the Tang army.

The Qing soldier who came to report the news had spit sprayed in the face, but he did not dare to resist. He just spoke with a pale face.

"My lord, please be careful."

"Every word I said is true!"

"Even if I had a hundred or a thousand courages, I would not dare to use such a thing to tease you, my Lord."

When Nerjing'e heard this, he knew that what the person in front of him said was probably true.

He somewhat dejectedly let go of the hand that was grabbing the Qing soldier's collar, took a few steps back, and leaned against the parapet of the city wall.

The whole person became dispirited in an instant.

"Cai... Lord Cai, the main force of our Qing Dynasty was completely wiped out, and even the emperor was captured by the Tang thieves."

"I'm waiting, what should I do?"

Nerjing covered his face in pain.

He was now stunned by the bad news, and was completely panicked.

He subconsciously hoped that Lord Cai in front of him could help him make a decision.

Cai Bingwen smiled bitterly when he heard this.

"I am really panicking right now and I don't have any idea what to do."

"But now there is good news..."

When Nerjing'e heard this, his expression changed and he asked.

"What good news?"

"At this point, what good news can there be?"

Cai Bingwen said with a wry smile.

"The so-called good news is that I am sure that the capital should be safe for the time being."

"The Tang thieves outside the city will definitely not invade the capital before the Tang thief leader arrives."

Upon hearing this, Nerjing'e couldn't help but open his mouth.

But he had to admit that what Cai Bingwen said made sense.

Since Li Yi personally led the army to the north, the capital was indeed safe before he arrived there.

"Master Cai, don't worry about whether the capital is safe or not."

"The most important thing right now is, what should we do next?"

Cai Bingwen took a deep breath and then spoke.

"Two choices, either surrender to Tang."

"Or, we can break out before the main force of the Tang thieves arrives and the capital is surrounded."

After hearing this, Nerjing'e continued to ask.

"Then what does Lord Cai think we should do?"

Cai Bingwen looked at Nerjinge deeply and then said.

"You and I are the two of you appointed by the Emperor himself to guard the capital. In other words, the capital is now in our hands."

"If we want to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, we can use the capital as a token of our surrender."

"With this pledge of allegiance, even if you and I cannot be rich and powerful in the future, we can at least live out our old age in peace and comfort."

The meaning of Cai Bingwen's words was very clear.

Surrender, I don’t ask for wealth and glory, I just want to spend my old age in peace.

Upon hearing this, Nerjing'e wanted to object, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know how to object.

Cai Bingwen is right!
Although Nerjing'e knew that surrender was the best option, his identity as a Manchu made him unwilling to surrender, so he just asked.

"What if I leave?"

Upon hearing this, Cai Bingwen spoke immediately.

"Leaving the country is a way."

"However, after leaving the pass, we may be safe for a while, but it is bitterly cold outside the pass after all, and the Tang thieves may send troops outside the pass at any time, so staying outside the pass is not a long-term solution."

Upon hearing this, Nerjing'e opened his mouth and looked extremely ugly.

Although he is unwilling to surrender to the Tang Dynasty and become a traitor to the Manchus, even Yi has been captured by the Tang Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty is about to be destroyed. It seems that he has no better choice.

Taking a deep breath, Nerjinge spoke.

"I will obey Lord Cai's orders."

Cai Bingwen shook his head and said.

"No, it should be this officer who follows the orders of Lord Ne."

"Although most of the nobles in the capital have already left the city, there are still hundreds of thousands of ordinary Eight Banners descendants stranded in the capital."

"I am a Han Chinese, so I cannot be the master of these Eight Banners disciples, let alone represent them to negotiate with the Tang thieves outside the city."

"These things can only be done by you, Lord Ne."

"I will just assist you from the side!"

"We are officials of the Qing Dynasty and receive salaries from the Qing Dynasty. Although we are about to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, we still have to make final considerations for the Eight Banners descendants of the Qing Dynasty..."

(End of this chapter)