Chapter 141 Burning Bowang Slope
In fact, not only Shi Xiangzhen, but the entire Taiping Army was very excited.
The defeat in the Luoyang battle was too frustrating, and the escape was even more frustrating. They had had enough.
Isn’t it just a Qing demon?
What's there to be afraid of?
These people have fought their way out from Guangxi, how could they have ever been in such a miserable state?
This is really hard to swallow!
Shi Xiangzhen ran to pass the order, while Shi Dakai ordered all the generals to discuss the matter and prepare to launch a counterattack.
Queen Xi Hong Xuanjiao took the initiative to speak.
"King Yi, please let me lead the army in this battle. I want to personally avenge King Xi."
After Xiao Chaogui died in battle outside the city of Luoyang, the generals of the West Palace spontaneously gathered around Hong Xuanjiao and accepted the rule of Hong Xuanjiao, the Queen Mother of the West.
In other words, Hong Xiujiao is now the only one in the Taiping Army whose strength and voice are second only to Shi Dakai.
Upon hearing this, Shi Dakai flatly refused.
"No!"
"My brother the King of the West has just passed away. I cannot let my wife take risks again. Otherwise, if something unexpected happens, how can I explain to the King of the West in my grave?"
Shi Dakai was a generous and righteous man. He had a good relationship with Xiao Chaogui. Now that Xiao Chaogui had unfortunately died in battle, he would naturally take care of Xiao Chaogui's family.
Hong Xuanjiao did not appreciate what she heard, but continued to speak with a firm attitude.
"I hope King Yi will not refuse and give me a chance to avenge King Xi personally."
Upon hearing this, Shi Dakai didn't know what to say and could only nod and agree.
He also began to arrange for his generals to prepare to lure the enemy, as well as to divide his troops and set up ambushes.
……
It was not Senggelinqin who was responsible for pursuing Shi Dakai's defeated troops.
After the Battle of Luoyang, Senggelinqin led his troops to the south of the Yangtze River without stopping, preparing to fight against the main force of the Taiping Army.
The person in charge of pursuing Shi Dakai was the Qing court's newly appointed Henan Governor, Hesheli Yinggui.
The reason why it was Yinggui, a civil official, the governor, who led the troops to pursue Shi Dakai, rather than a military general like the admiral.
This is because the post of Henan Governor had been abolished as early as the 18th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign.
Since the fifth year of Qianlong's reign, he served as the Governor of Henan and concurrently served as the Admiral.
In other words, Yinggui was both a governor and an admiral. Although he did not have the title of governor-general, he already had the power of a governor-general.
He can definitely be called a big shot!
A fast horse galloped all the way to Yinggui, and the rider dismounted and began to report.
"Report! Your Excellency the Governor, our army has found traces of bandits 20 miles ahead."
"The bandits are setting up camp and cooking!"
Yinggui's eyes sharpened when she heard this, and she immediately spoke.
"Haha, it looks like the bandits can't run anymore, that's great."
"Pass the order down, the entire army will give chase."
"Send a fast horse to pass the message to Nanyang Prefecture, and ask them to send troops to block the bandits' escape route to the south, and cooperate with this governor to annihilate the remaining bandits."
"We finally caught the bandits, we must not let them escape this time."
Upon hearing this, the messenger immediately clasped his fists in response, jumped on his horse, and rode away to deliver orders to various Qing troops.
Soon, with the sound of a horn, the Qing army led by Yinggui set out quickly and chased after Shi Dakai's troops with great momentum.
……
"King Yi, the Qing demon is catching up!"
A knight rode at full speed to Shi Dakai to report.
Shi Dakai nodded and said after hearing this.
"Very good, let the soldiers prepare to retreat and lure the enemy deeper..."
As the military order was issued, Shi Dakai's troops began to prepare for battle.
Soon, a cloud of dust appeared at the end of the horizon.
The sound of horse hooves rumbled continuously.
Upon seeing this, Shi Dakai withdrew his gaze from that direction and immediately spoke.
"Pass the order down, withdraw the troops!"
After saying this, Shi Dakai pulled the reins of his horse and led his men to retreat towards Bowangpo behind him.
Under Shi Dakai's order, the Taiping Army simply burned down the camp they had just built.
Amid the blazing flames, thick smoke continued to rise.
Then they continued to discard drums, flags, swords, spears, muskets and other weapons along the way, creating the illusion that they were escaping in a panic, and retreated towards Bowangpo.
The terrain of Bowangpo is quite special, with mountains on one side and dense forests on the other side. There is only one forest path in the middle for travel, and this path is called Bowangpo.
Although more than a thousand years have passed since the end of the Han Dynasty, the world has changed dramatically and the original dense forest has been developed into large tracts of farmland.
But the mountains still exist!
The Taiping Army can ambush troops in the mountains.
This is also the reason why Shi Dakai chose to counterattack the Qing army at Bowangpo.
Henan is full of vast plains and few mountains, so it is extremely difficult for the Taiping Army to deal with the Qing cavalry.
Bowangpo is indeed their best choice at the moment!
……
The Qing army quickly chased after them. Seeing the Taiping Army setting the camp on fire and fleeing without any weapons or armor, Yinggui did not think much and shouted immediately.
"The soldiers were frightened by the long hair and were defeated without even being attacked."
"Follow me and kill!"
There were sounds of horse hooves as the Qing cavalry galloped in pursuit.
They bypassed the burning Taiping camp and chased the Taiping Army in the direction they fled.
Soon, they chased all the way to Bowangpo.
Seeing that the long-haired bandits in front were getting closer and closer to them, Yinggui shouted at the Qing army to speed up.
But he was shocked to find that he was unable to command his troops.
The Qing army that was riding their horses to chase the Taiping Army involuntarily slowed down their speed, and some even dismounted and picked up something on the ground.
Yinggui looked down subconsciously and saw a large number of gold nuggets, silver ingots, strings of copper coins, precious and exquisite gold and silver jewelry and other valuables scattered on the ground.
After seeing this, a group of Qing soldiers who were afraid of poverty could not move at all. They completely ignored military orders and started scrambling for the gold, silver and other valuables scattered on the ground.
Yinggui saw this and shouted immediately.
"No chaos, no chaos! Maintain the formation and continue the pursuit!"
"Everyone, put down your possessions immediately and continue to chase the bandits. If you disobey, you will be subject to military law."
But Yinggui's loud shouting could not affect the group of soldiers.
These Green Camp soldiers are so tired of being poor that how could they not pick up the silver when they saw it?
There's silver all over the ground, and you just don't want to pick it up?
Who do you think you are, Yinggui?
You are just a superior, not everyone's father, no one will listen to you.
Besides, the money is right in front of you, and even your father’s words may not work.
Chaos spread among the Qing army, and some people even drew their swords to fight each other in order to grab money.
"Get out of here, this is mine!"
"Hand over the silver! I told you to hand over the silver!"
"Fuck, if you dare to steal my money, I will chop you to death!"
"..."
When Yinggui saw the troops losing control, he was immediately startled and thought that something was wrong.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd exclaimed.
"Kerosene, there's kerosene on the ground!"
"The bandits want to set us on fire, there is kerosene on the ground!"
Yinggui heard the scream and smelled the kerosene.
But before he could respond, suddenly, a burst of cannon fire was heard from the hills beside the mountain path.
Soon, one command flag after another suddenly appeared, fluttering in the mountain breeze.
Lit rockets were fired towards the mountain road and oil tankers were thrown down.
At the same time, gunfire sounded.
Amid the smoke, dense bullets were fired at the Qing army that was in chaos on the mountain road.
Instantly, blood burst out from the bodies of the Qing soldiers, and they fell to the ground screaming. With a bang, the kerosene on the ground was ignited by the rocket, and the fire suddenly ignited, engulfing everything around in the sea of fire.
A Qing soldier was hit by an oil tank and was covered in kerosene. He was then hit by a rocket and instantly turned into a fire man.
Screams were heard one after another, and wherever they passed, the Qing troops fled for their lives.
The situation on the battlefield became more chaotic!
But that’s all. More than a thousand years ago, the dense forest on one side of Bowangpo had turned into farmland.
Besides, it is winter now, and the winter wheat in the farmland is only half a foot tall and emerald green, so it cannot be burned at all.
The Taiping Army's fire attack could at most cause chaos in the Qing army. As long as the Qing army ran into the wheat fields, the Taiping Army's fire attack would no longer be a threat.
If you really want to decide the winner, you have to fight with real swords and guns.
But what the Taiping Army wanted was to cause chaos in the Qing army...
"Brothers, kill!"
"Revenge for the King of the West!"
Hong Xuanjiao shouted loudly and rushed out of the mountains with the troops of the West Palace, killing the Qing army that was in chaos on the mountain road.
In an instant, the two sides started fighting.
The Qing army, which was already in chaos due to the looting of property and the Taiping Army's fire attack, was defeated in an instant.
At this moment, Shi Dakai's troops, who were fleeing in panic, also stopped.
Shi Dakai shouted while riding on horseback.
"Brothers, stop and turn back. Follow me and kill the Qing monster!"
After saying this, he reined in his horse, turned around, and led his men to attack the Qing army that was in chaos behind him.
Amid shouts, a fierce battle began. The sound of gunfire rang out on the battlefield. The Taiping Army fought bravely with the Qing Army, forcing the Qing Army to retreat step by step.
The winter wheat in the wheat fields has been trampled beyond recognition. I wonder how many people will go hungry next year...
Yinggui shouted desperately, trying to command the army to fight back.
But at this time the Qing army was in chaos, and Yinggui's military orders were unable to restrain the troops.
Hong Xuanjiao's face flushed as she led her troops to charge on the battlefield.
She has a strong figure, riding a horse and waving a whip, her clothes stained with blood, exuding a unique charm.
Shi Dakai also led his troops into the battlefield, and after a burst of fighting, he almost reached Yinggui.
The horrified Yinggui's ghost is coming out!
The balance of victory was constantly tilting towards the Taiping Army.
"Hold on, hold on! The enemy troops were just defeated at the gates of Luoyang City. Now they are just a group of grasshoppers after autumn. As long as we can hold on until the reinforcements arrive, the enemy troops will surely be defeated!"
Yinggui shouted at the top of his lungs, but this still could not change the trend of the Qing army's continuous retreat on the battlefield.
The Qing soldiers, carrying gold and silver in their arms, only wanted to escape back home and had no intention of fighting the Taiping rebels.
Yinggui killed a fleeing soldier with his own hands, the knife flashed, and blood spurted.
A Qing army Green Camp soldier fell to the ground, covering his wound.
Such a scene frightened many defeated Qing soldiers.
Then, Yinggui continued to command his personal soldiers to supervise the battle, trying to stabilize the situation.
But this is simply impossible.
The Taiping Army's offensive was fierce. They shouted "Kill the Qing monsters and go to heaven" while charging forward fearlessly.
During this process, the shotguns in the hands of the Qing soldiers became almost decorations.
In the chaos, the Taiping Army did not give them any chance to reload.
The Taiping Army's swords and spears did play a significant role. As they swung and chopped, the Qing army was constantly defeated.
Compared with the overall battlefield situation, everything Yinggui did was just a drop in the bucket.
At this moment, a cloud of dust rose again outside the battlefield.
After receiving Yinggui's order, the Qing army in Nanyang rushed out of the city and came to the outside of the battlefield.
Seeing this scene, Yinggui was overjoyed and shouted immediately.
"Soldiers, hold on, reinforcements are coming!"
"The imperial court's reinforcements are here!"
Seeing the arrival of their own reinforcements, the Qing army, which had been in low morale, suddenly regained its strength and even launched a counterattack in some areas.
But at this moment, a loud shout resounded across the battlefield.
"Qing Yao, give me your life!"
Shi Xiangzhen led Shi Dakai's personal guards on the battlefield, riding their horses and whipping their horses, heading straight for Yinggui.
The Qing army's several formations were broken up in the blink of an eye, and they were unable to stop Shi Xiangzhen's offensive at all.
When Yinggui saw the long-haired bandit general coming straight towards her, she was frightened and subconsciously turned her horse to run away.
But it was precisely his departure that caused the Qing army, which was already in continuous retreat, to completely collapse.
Shi Xiangzhen threw the short axe in his hand with force.
With a "puchi" sound, Yinggui was hit by the axe on the back and fell off his horse.
Yinggui fell to the ground from his back first. The axe, under the impact of his fall, penetrated deep into his lungs and directly cut off Yinggui's life.
He looked up at the blue sky above his head, his eyes full of confusion...
How could this be?
How come the battle situation was going well and suddenly turned out like this?
Shi Xiangzhen let out a long roar towards the sky.
"Kill!"
"Kill the clear demon!"
After shouting, he continued to lead the team to charge, like a sharp sword, wreaking havoc in the Qing army's formation and killing the Qing army into collapse.
With the death of Governor Yinggui, the Qing army completely collapsed and began to flee.
The Qing army that came from Nanyang just happened to witness the defeat of their own army.
There was no point in the Taiping Army attacking again; they immediately collapsed on their own.
Seeing this, Shi Dakai was very excited and led his men to attack Nanyang City.
Soon, the Taiping Army chased the defeated Qing troops and broke through Nanyang Prefecture again!
After Shi Dakai led his army into Nanyang Prefecture, he began to rest.
Now that they had dealt with the Qing army's pursuers, they naturally no longer had to worry about escaping.
The most important thing they should do now is to take a break and restore the combat effectiveness of the troops as soon as possible.
……
The first day of the first lunar month in the second year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty.
Guangzhou City, Grand Marshal’s Office!
Li Yi sat in the lobby of the Grand Marshal's Mansion with a calm expression.
Outside the Grand Marshal's Mansion, there were waves of cheers.
This is the fourth time I have persuaded him to come in!
The first time, the generals of the Restoration Army came together to persuade him to ascend the throne.
The second time, ordinary soldiers in the army also got involved.
The third time, the gentry, merchants, and common people in Guangzhou were also organized to participate.
The fourth time, these three groups of people came together to the outside of the Grand Marshal's Mansion and collectively persuaded him to ascend the throne.
If Li Yi did not agree to their request, they would kneel outside the Grand Marshal's Mansion and would not get up until Li Yi agreed.
"I hope the Grand Commander will obey the will of the people, fulfill the will of heaven, claim the throne, establish a system, and spread his power throughout the world!"
"I hope the Grand Commander will obey the will of the people, fulfill the will of heaven, claim the throne, establish a system, and spread his power throughout the world!"
"..."
The shouts outside the Grand Marshal's Mansion rose and fell like waves.
It seems like the whole of Guangzhou has participated!
Li Yi took a deep breath, stood up from his seat, and walked out of the Grand Marshal's Mansion surrounded by a team of guards.
He walked out of the inner courtyard, crossed the porch and corridor, and came to the gate of the Grand Governor's Mansion.
Several guards stepped forward and opened the red lacquered door with copper nails on the outside.
In an instant, waves of sound and a ray of sunlight came towards us.
The sun shines on Li Yi, casting a halo over his entire body...
I will update one chapter first, and the next chapter will be updated later.
(End of this chapter)