Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Ningyang, Wenshang, Sishui...

Yan Chunyu led 300 elite cavalrymen and attacked four or five Nian Army camps in southern Shandong within six days. Although he did not wipe out the Nian Army, four or five Nian Army camps were beaten into a miserable state. Among Yan Chunyu's brothers, only dozens were wounded and none were killed in the battle. Such a record was really astonishing, and the entire Nian Army in southern Shandong was alarmed!

Yanzhou!

This was the headquarters of the entire Nian Army's Blue Banner. Its leader, Han Laowan, had long been driven to despair by the intelligence reports from various units. The Qing army, with only a few hundred men, had already thrown all of Lunan into chaos! The Nian Army had suffered heavy casualties, with over 800 killed and nearly 2,000 wounded!

What a great humiliation! I have never encountered such a humiliation since entering Shandong!

Han Laowan was really furious. If this news got out, he would be laughed to death by other banners of the Nian Army. It was too embarrassing. With an army of tens of thousands, they couldn't do anything to the Qing army of hundreds of people!

Han Laowan shouted, "Order all the troops in southern Shandong to gather towards the north. No matter what the cost, we must annihilate this Qing army completely. We must annihilate them all, leaving no one alive!"

Besides resentment, Han Laowan had another reason for making this decision: three or four hundred Qing cavalrymen and three or four hundred muskets. If all of these muskets fell into the hands of the Nian Army, how much use would they have? He was afraid that he would no longer have to fear the Mongolian cavalry under Senggelinqin! They would kill any god who stood in their way, and even the Buddha who stood in their way!

Anger and greed made Han Laowan completely lose his mind. More than 10,000 Nian troops in southern Shandong were mobilized and rushed to the north to chase and kill this Qing army!

An army of tens of thousands of people was chasing Yan Chunyu. Even someone as arrogant as Yan Chunyu felt the heavy pressure. This was no joke. The Nian Army was everywhere looking for traces of him. Once he was entangled and the enemy's large forces caught up with him, the whole army would be wiped out. The Nian Army was almost all cavalry with extremely fast speed. It was not so easy to get rid of them!

Yan Chunyu led 300 brothers to flee desperately towards the north, showing up from time to time and firing a few shots to catch the Nian Army off guard, and continued to lure the Nian Army to march north. In three or four days, the Nian Army was led to Tai'an, which was about 300 miles away from Yanzhou. This place was already in the central part of Shandong. At this time, the Nian Army in the central part of Shandong was still kept in the dark. It was not until Han Laowan appeared that they realized, what happened to this general flag leader, why did he quietly bring all the main forces in the south to Tai'an?

Several Nian troops gathered around and asked about the situation, and only then did Han Laowan slow down his pursuit.

Entered the territory of Tai'an Prefecture?

Damn, I didn’t even realize it. I’ve been trying so hard to catch up these days that I’ve forgotten everything else!

Han Rang, who was standing by, had come to his senses and said anxiously, "General, we have withdrawn all the main forces from Lunan. What should we do with Lunan? We still have Shengbao's more than 10,000 Green Camp soldiers. If they..."

Han Laowan suddenly woke up and thought, don't chase the desperate enemy, you have committed a big taboo in military strategy!

Han Laowan shouted, "Order all troops to temporarily stay in Tai'an and cease pursuit. Order the cavalry scouts to immediately head south to gather information and see what Shengbao is up to!"

The cavalry scouts were sent out, but they didn't come back in less than half a day. Instead, the Nian Army that stayed in southern Shandong came running over and brought terrible news - the Green Camp soldiers of the Imperial Commissioner and Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War Shengbao were fully mobilized. In three days, they successively wiped out several camps of the Nian Army in southern Shandong, and the entire base in southern Shandong was completely destroyed. At the same time, Shengbao's main force was divided into three routes, passing Ningyang, Sishui, and Mengyang, and aimed their troops at Tai'an. I'm afraid they will reach Tai'an within two or three days!

Han Laowan was horrified. Damn, it was a trap, definitely a trap. He had fallen into the trap set by Senggelinqin and Shengbao!

Before Han Laowan could respond, the Nian Army in northwest Shandong also began to send intelligence. Prince Gelchin Senggelinqin led the cavalry to start a full-scale squeeze, pushing the Nian Army in northwest Shandong toward the southeast. In the whole of Shandong, the space for the Nian Army to operate was less than half of the original space, and it was shrinking rapidly!

Besieged on all sides and ambushed from ten sides!

What a great Senggelinqin, what a great Shengbao, the two of them are playing such a big game of chess!

Han Laowan was shocked and began to tremble. The total strength of the Qing army was 40,000 to 50,000 people. They had the advantage and were surrounded on all sides. Once the army completed the encirclement, the Nian army would be unable to escape. Originally, the encirclement was too large and the Qing army had too few troops. They could still attack at any time and jump out of the Qing army's encirclement, but now, the circle was getting closer and closer, like a tight hoop. How could they jump out of the encirclement?

Han Rang said in a hoarse voice, "General, we've been tricked. All our forces are now concentrated in central Shandong. We're completely disconnected from our allies in Anhui and Henan to the south, and we can't get any support from them at all. If the Qing army launches a general offensive, we'll be in extreme danger!"

Cold sweat kept dripping down Han Laowan's forehead. It was dangerous, of course it was dangerous, it was as precarious as an egg!

Han Laowan looked at the generals on his left and right and shouted, "Do you have any ideas?"

The generals below were silent. Ideas? What ideas could they have at this moment?

Han Laowan felt even more disappointed. He turned to look at Han Rang and said, "Han Rang, you usually have the most tricks up your sleeve. What do you think we should do?"

Han Rang lowered his head and remained silent for a moment before answering, "Master, there are two options. First, we must concentrate our forces and immediately turn south to break through Shengbao's defenses in the south, escape Shandong, and link up with our allies in Anhui. However, Shengbao's Green Camp soldiers are not good at charging into battle, but their defense is very strong. Whether we can break through the encirclement before Senggelinqin's cavalry arrives is hard to say..."

Han Lao Wan said in a deep voice: "This method is indeed a bit risky. Shengbao is a famous general. It is not easy to break through his defense. What is the second method?"

Han Rang gritted his teeth and said, "The second method is even more risky. While Senggelinqin's army hasn't caught up yet and Shengbao's army is still over a hundred miles away, we can send out a troop to tie down Senggelinqin's cavalry. Then, we will mobilize over 20,000 main forces and march north to besiege Jinan Prefecture. Shengbao won't be able to reach Jinan in seven or eight days. As long as we can capture Jinan Prefecture, the entire capital will be plunged into chaos! This method..."