Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

A few days later, all the people Liu Ye named rushed to the capital and followed Liu Ye and Guo Songtao to Jinan Prefecture, Shandong.

South of the capital, in Zhili, things were relatively peaceful. After all, it was the capital's region, with many troops stationed there. Any unrest would be quickly quelled.

But when we passed Cangzhou Prefecture and entered Dezhou, the situation was completely different.

The Nian bandits entered southwest Shandong from Anhui, and then went straight north from the southwest, making the western counties of Shandong a mess. There was war everywhere, and there were traces of war in almost every village. A large number of farmers even abandoned their land to escape the war. The desolation was really terrible.

Liu Ye was a soldier and was used to war, so he was naturally fine. However, Guo Songtao on the side could not stand it anymore and kept cursing the damn Nian bandits. They were too rampant and the entire central and western Shandong province would be seriously damaged!

Liu Ye also sighed inwardly. History records how just the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Rebellion were. They were violent resistance of peasants against the Qing rulers, but it completely ignored the damage the uprisings brought to the entire society.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was still okay. At least the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom knew how to establish its own base, develop production, and recuperate within its own sphere of influence. But these Nian bandits were different. They were roving bandits, real bandits, from Anhui to Henan to Shandong, and now it is even said that they have entered Shaanxi. They are roaming everywhere. How can such a large number of rebels be supported? They can only plunder the prefectures. Wherever the Nian Army passed, there was a war. Whether it was a prefecture or a county, it was invaded. The people were displaced and suffered heavy casualties. This is not counting those who starved to death after being robbed!

What kind of righteous army is this? They're no different from bandits. All they do is rob, rob, rob! The leaders of the Nian Army have no political acumen at all. They only know how to plunder and don't understand the importance of territory. They're a bunch of fools and lunatics!

Since entering Shandong, Shandong's memorials show that three prefectures, six state capitals, and twenty to thirty county towns have been looted by the Nian Army, and almost all granaries have been plundered! What kind of righteous army is this? Not to mention Guo Songtao's indignation, even Liu Ye found it hard to accept!

Guo Songtao lamented, "My dear brother, I really don't know when the Monk King and Lord Sheng will be able to completely wipe out these Nian bandits. Shandong can't withstand such a long period of turmoil. Even if our brothers are very capable, how can we realize our ambitions when there are wars everywhere?"

Liu Ye shook his head and replied, "It's hard to say. The monk king's elite troops lost seven out of ten in the battle of Tongzhou. The current cavalry were recruited from Chahar and are far inferior to the previous Khorchin cavalry. Shengbao's Green Camp is poorly trained and has very poor combat effectiveness. It will be difficult to defeat the Nian bandits. Moreover, the main force of the Nian bandits are cavalry, and they come and go like the wind. It will be even more difficult to stop them. If things go wrong, the monk king will suffer a great loss!"

Liu Ye was not clear about the combat history of the Nian Army in Shandong, but this did not mean that he lacked accurate judgment of the war situation in Shandong. The Nian bandits had many cavalrymen who galloped across the country as fast as thunder, and it was too difficult to annihilate them.

Guo Songtao kept shaking his head and sighing. He had just been promoted to the governor of Shandong, so naturally he wanted to show his talents. This opportunity was very rare. However, with the constant war going on, how could he show his talents?

Liu Ye smiled and said, "Alright, big brother, what's the big deal? Just because the monk king and Shengbao can't do it doesn't mean we can't do it. Dealing with this mob of Nian bandits is just a piece of cake for me!"

Guo Songtao's eyes lit up. The brother in front of him was very powerful. It was no exaggeration to call him the best general of the Qing Dynasty. If he really took action, the Nian bandits would probably be in great trouble.

Immediately, Guo Songtao's eyes dimmed again. The problem was that time was running out. If his brothers brought the elite troops from Baoding Town, the Nian bandits would naturally be no problem. But now Baoding Town was left in Baoding by the court, and Liu Ye only brought less than a battalion of troops, only 300 people. How much effect could these 300 people have?

Guo Songtao said helplessly: "My dear brother, your idea is very good, but you have no soldiers or generals now. How can you fight against the Nian bandits?"

Liu Ye laughed and said, "Brother, you underestimate the elite soldiers of Baoding Town. See, those we brought here are all carefully selected elites. They are real elites. Every one of them is equipped with a horse, a gun, and a sword! On the battlefield, they can definitely fight ten to one! The main force of the Nian bandits can't always be together. That way, they will easily be surrounded by Monk King Shengbao. But once they are separated, it will be difficult for our 300 people to wipe out the other 3,000 to 5,000 people. But killing 1,800 of them in one battle will be like a piece of cake!"

Guo Songtao's mouth immediately opened wide. Really? Three hundred people can kill a thousand Nian bandits in one battle? This kind of bragging is not nonsense!

The two men chatted incoherently on their horses, with Zhu Hai and Gao Qi flanking their guards. At this moment, dust billowed in the distance as several scouts galloped over. They dismounted in front of Liu Ye and said urgently, "Governor, Gaotang Prefecture is twenty miles to the left. We've been exploring the area ahead and discovered two bandits, approximately six or seven hundred strong, besieging the prefecture. We're about to lose the prefecture!"

Liu Ye was shocked, and Guo Songtao's face changed drastically. We had just entered Shandong not long ago and had not officially taken office yet, but the Nian bandits had already given us a warning. It was really despicable!

Gaotang Prefecture is a state capital, not big, but at least it is a state capital! The population is at least tens of thousands of people!

Guo Songtao whispered, "Brother, what should we do?"

After all, Guo Songtao was a civil servant, not well versed in warfare, and he had just arrived in Shandong and had encountered such a situation before taking office. He couldn't help but hesitate. Save them? He didn't have many soldiers; if he didn't save them, as an official appointed by the court, he would be caught up in the war and ignore it. This Shandong Sansi chief, what a coward!

Liu Ye snorted coldly and called out, "Xiao Hai! Gao Qi!"

Zhu Hai and Gao Qi quickly agreed.

"Immediately assemble the entire army and prepare for battle. Rush at full speed to support Gaotang Prefecture. We must defeat this group of Nian bandits and pacify the people of Gaotang Prefecture!"

"twitter!"

Zhu Hai and Gao Qi were thrilled. Finally, they could fight again. Nian bandits? Damn it! They were foreign devils, and we'd never been afraid of them. How could we be defeated by this ragtag group of bandits?