Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

"Snapped!"

Grant threw an exquisite teacup to the ground!

"Assholes! Assholes! Are you all a bunch of pigs? You actually let someone snatch all your things away right under your noses, assholes! You're all assholes!"

Yaman, standing by, was equally livid, furious. In just two or three days, the Anglo-French forces had been robbed six times in a row on the road from Beijing to Tianjin! Hundreds of truckloads of cargo had been snatched away. This wasn't just ordinary cargo; it was priceless treasures. The value of these hundreds of truckloads alone was, at the very least, tens of millions of pounds! Or even more!

Six robberies, six different locations, all by horse bandits! And they were all armed with muskets, with no fewer than a hundred men each time. When did such a powerful banditry emerge in northern China? If they were truly so powerful, let alone robbery, they could even attack Beijing and overthrow the Qing Dynasty!

Grant and Yaman were puzzled. Was it the Qing army that did it? It was unlikely. If the Qing army was still so powerful, how could they have been able to enter the capital so easily and even burn down the Old Summer Palace?

But if it wasn't the Qing army, who else could have done it? Could it be that such a powerful force was hidden in the Gyeonggi region?

Yaman said bitterly, "No matter which force it is, it's unacceptable for them to target us! They even dare to steal the spoils of war from England and France. It seems they really want to die. Grant, I suggest sending a large force to encircle and annihilate them!"

Grant said angrily, "Encircle and annihilate them? How? They're all horse bandits, each with a fast horse, hundreds of them, coming and going without a trace! We expect to annihilate them with just infantry? How is that possible? Our infantry will just be left to eat dust!"

Yaman said harshly: "What are you afraid of? Your Dragoon Cavalry Regiment still has hundreds of people, and our French Sikh Cavalry Regiment also has hundreds of people. It is enough to encircle and suppress such a group of bandits. Even if they are equipped with firearms, they are definitely not our opponents!"

Grant didn't say anything. It wasn't that the idea was bad, but he felt that there were some risks.

Suddenly, Grant asked, "Did Liu Ye really die in battle as the rumors say?"

Yaman was stunned and replied, "Of course. This was witnessed by many Qing soldiers. In order to save Senggelinqin, Liu Ye was directly blown away by artillery fire. If he can still survive like this, then it's really weird! Do you doubt..."

Grant nodded and replied, "As long as we don't find Liu Ye's body, I won't give up. We must demand that the Qing government produce his body! We should even hand it over to us so we can whip it. I want to completely crush the Qing people spiritually, so that they will shudder at the mention of the British or French for the next fifty or even a hundred years!"

Yaman suddenly felt a chill in her heart. Grant was too cruel. He whipped the corpse of a country's meritorious general. This was the easiest way to arouse the anger of a nation!

"Moreover, this man poses a huge threat to Britain and France. We've fought him numerous times and never gained an advantage. Whether for the sake of the upcoming negotiations or for the continued invasion of the Qing Dynasty, we cannot allow him to remain alive. If we don't remove the root of the problem, we will inevitably leave behind future troubles! Even if he were alive, we would force the Qing people to hand him over. We could either have the Qing emperor execute him directly as an apology, or hand him over to us and take him back to Europe!"

Yaman suddenly understood, nodded, and replied, "You have a point. This guy not only defeated us, but also defeated the Russian army. One victory may be a fluke, but consecutive victories are definitely not a fluke. It can only prove that he is a military genius like Napoleon..."

Grant continued, "That's why I suspect Liu Ye is still alive. Perhaps he's personally commanding these repeated robberies! If he's really in charge, we absolutely cannot afford to be careless. One misstep could lead to our utter defeat! Furthermore, they're all cavalry, so they come and go without a trace. Even if we send out a cavalry regiment, how can we pinpoint their location and stop them?"

Yaman pondered for a moment and replied, "Since they want to rob us, we'll use our possessions as bait to lure them in! Once they arrive, we'll have no choice but to destroy them under the siege of the cavalry. It's a head-on confrontation! They're definitely no match for us!"

Grant's eyes gleamed as he replied, "Alright, let's do this. This war will be handed over to you personally. I'll transfer 500 men from the Dragon Knight Cavalry Regiment to you, and you can draw another 500 to 1,000 men from the cavalry regiment. This will be enough to give them an absolute advantage. This battle, only victory is allowed, not defeat!"

Yaman said bitterly, "Of course, we must win but not lose. If we can't put down their arrogance, even our negotiations will never be successful!"

Grant chuckled and said, "Don't worry, we have Gong Xiaogong to help us. Those idiots in the Qing Dynasty have no room for maneuver. No matter which prince or university scholar, they can only sign our terms obediently. Otherwise, they will die! The power of life and death is in our hands now!"

Yaman nodded and replied, "Then I'll leave it to you. Speed ​​up the process. We must reach an agreement in the shortest possible time!"

Grant smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go call Gong Xiaogong and discuss with him how to push the negotiations to a quick conclusion. I have to say, this guy is a talented person, but it's a pity that he has used all his talents for evil means. He betrayed his own country and is a scum. He will not have a good end!"

As they were talking, Gong Xiaogong walked in from outside and shouted, "My two foreign gentlemen, I have come here in a hurry and unexpectedly. Please forgive me!"

Grant laughed and said, "Good fellow, we were just talking about you, and you showed up uninvited!"

Gong Xiaogong replied, "My Lords, I have received news that your country's spoils of war have been robbed repeatedly on the way from the capital to Tianjin."

Grant was surprised. This guy has such sharp ears.

Gong Xiaogong smiled faintly and replied, "General, don't be surprised. I have lived in the capital for more than ten years and have old friends all over the city. How could such a small matter be hidden from me?"

"Then tell me, who did this? The Qing army? Bandits? Or someone else?"

Grant ignored Gong Xiaogong's boasting and asked calmly.