Sixty-six, the Empire's Counterattack (Part 2)

Sixty-six, the Empire's Counterattack (Part 2)

Just when the lights were turned off and the curfew was dark, the military office in the Royal Palace was brightly lit and crowded.

"...Fei Liguo! Look at the good soldiers you brought! Six thousand 'jing soldiers' attacked to meet the enemy, and they were all disintegrated in less than half a day! There were only less than eight hundred defeated soldiers and defeated soldiers who fled into the capital! Hehe! Even six thousand pigs can't be caught in one morning!"

Since the Western warships entered Nanjing, Emperor Kant, who had been in poor health, became anxious for several days and looked more haggard, with blue veins on his forehead and a pair of faint dark circles hanging on his eyes.

At this moment, he was roaring loudly with bloodshot eyes, roaring loudly with anger at Grand Secretary Fei Liguo who was kneeling on the ground to apologize, and venting his long-stagnated resentment and anger.

There is no way, what happened these days has really hit Emperor Kant too hard.

As a young emperor who is determined to revive, it is shameful to let the enemy hit his capital for less than three years. The imperial army was easily defeated by enemies from afar at the feet of the imperial capital, which made His Majesty even more angry. Even if he could not win a battle with his own camp, what could he expect to do?

Although the most critical fortress in the eastern suburbs at this time, the Tianbao City that can overlook the capital has not yet fallen. Except for the Yifeng Lion Mountain area located within the enemy fleet on the river, most of the urban areas of Nanjing are not at risk of being bombed. However, the two imperial tombs on Purple Gold Mountain have fallen into the enemy's hands with the collapse of Fei Liguo's troops. If they are robbed by Western thieves, Emperor Kant will really have no face to face his underground ancestors!

So, the Emperor at this moment was very annoyed, very annoyed, and was so annoyed that he was about to burst out.

As a defeated general, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo was really indescribable.

In the past month, he has tried every means to gather 6,000 soldiers from all the officials who entered Beijing to inspect by jing-single digits, and has been incorporated into the jurisdiction of the Jiangdong Expedition Camp. The hardships and hardships can be described as hard work.

However, due to the haste, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo had not had time to start running in and rectify the army. It can be said that the soldiers did not know the generals, and the generals did not know the soldiers. The weapons and supplies were not yet equipped, and even the roster was not ready.

However, just when the army was the weakest and most chaotic, the foreigners did not stay in Shanghai and were beaten up, but took the initiative to attack.

On September 25, the Western fleet appeared on the river near Nanjing.

On September 26, Yanziji Water Village fell, and the defenders fled without knowing where to go. The enemy took advantage of the situation to land on Mufu Mountain, and then divided troops out in four groups. The revolutionary party led a number of Japanese pirates to sweep away the various manors in the suburbs of Nanjing. For a moment, the smoke was everywhere and the crying sounded shook the sky.

As the number one severely affected area for the "horse-and-grabbing" after the Eight Banners moved south, the manors and fields outside Nanjing have basically become the patents of the bannermen's powerful people. The indigenous people who originally lived here for generations inexplicably became the coat of arms of the bannermen during the enclosure process, and endured extremely cruel exploitation and exploitation. Therefore, the civil resistance movement has been quite fierce, and riots have basically occurred every year.

At this time, there were Western warships outside, and the revolutionary party instigated them inside. With the grievances over the years, it seemed that a huge fire bucket was detonated outside the suburbs of Nanjing. Not only did the serfs with hoes and sickles, stormed into the manor house, and rush to kill the manor who was usually arrogant and prosperous, and then scrambled for their property and ravaged their wives. Even some of the poorly treated Green Camp soldiers and Imperial Army soldiers turned against each other, killing the chiefs and rebelling.

The most combative infantry commander and guards in the imperial court, one of whom had to suppress the situation in the city and the other had to defend the palace. In addition, it had to be wary of foreign warships coming from the river, and the total total of less than 10,000 people, so I really didn't dare to go out of the city to fight.

——If the unfortunate failure in the field battle leads to the destruction of this last mobile force, the court will not have the strength to defend the capital.

As a result, before the reinforcements from other places arrived, the imperial government could only shrink behind the tall city wall and remained silent. As for the outermost outer wall, the "Great Wall of the Capital", which was originally guarded against refugees, had to give up because of insufficient troops.

What's even more terrible is that seeing the court's performance was so weak, more and more ambitious people began to take action.

Late at night on September 26, it seemed that the revolutionary party was instigated, and mutiny broke out in the Second Town of the Imperial Army outside the city, gunfire, explosions and shouts of killing sounded intermittently for a whole night. Finally, due to the loose organization of the revolutionaries, the army of command neither entered the revolutionary camp in an organized manner nor was it urged by the superiors. Instead, they broke up and completely collapsed.

Emperor Kant was originally very bad because of foreigners' entry, and now he was awakened by the bad news of the mutiny in the middle of the night. He was immediately furious and vomited blood in anger... but he vomited blood, and this still needs to be solved.

According to His Majesty the Emperor's idea, he naturally gathered all the soldiers from the infantry commander's office and the guards' personal army, sent troops from the capital to suppress them, swept away these parties and stabilize the situation before the foreigners.

But the ministers of the Military Affairs Office had to be much more steady and mature. They were worried that the last bit of troops would be ambushed by the party and foreigners in such darkness, resulting in no soldiers to defend in the capital; they were also worried that there would be some revolutionary party lurking in the city - the previous old emperor was killed by the revolutionary assassin on the training ground near the capital!

The final result of the discussion that night was that the First Town of the Imperial Army, composed of the Eight Banners children, in the city, attacked overnight to quell the mutiny of their colleagues. However, the Eight Banners men in the First Town of the Imperial Army had long been used to being pampered and knew nothing about war, so they immediately cried and called their parents, those who were sick and those who were missing were sick, those who were missing, and those who were hired to replace them... In this way, the noisy and noisy was organized in the city until dawn the next day. A team that did not look like soldiers no matter how they looked. In addition to the miserable refugees who were wandering in the capital, there were also many lepers, madmen, disabled people, opium ghosts and prisoners, but the Eight Banners men disappeared. There were only one wooden bāng or bamboo pole for each person, and they didn't even send out military uniforms.

In order to prevent the emperor from coming to see him off on a whim, he exposes the truth. The relevant authorities hurriedly bombarded the dead ghosts out of the city before dawn... As for whether they had seen the enemy, whether they fled or surrendered to the enemy as soon as they came out, no one cared about it.

In fact, although the Eight Banners are theoretically the backbone of the Great Jin Dynasty, which is the whole nation, they have actually been corrupted to such a point. If the Eight Banners are used to defend the city, they can still exert some combat power because they cannot escape, and about four or five people can use it as a civilian. But if they want them to go out of the city to fight in the wild, they will really have no combat power. Most of them have disappeared before they even went to the battlefield. As the saying goes, "If you flee when you hear the enemy, you will be the bravest, if you see the enemy, you will be the bravest, and if you meet the war, you will be the bravest"!

Of course, it is not absolutely impossible to be able to do all the Eight Banners men to fight to the death. But then you have to wait until the enemy kills into their homes and have no way to escape - just like the Battle of Zhenjiang a few days ago... But what use can it be at that time?

That night, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo and his Jiangdong Expedition Camp were temporarily stationed in Yuhuatai, south of the city, looking at the firelight in the direction of the Second Town of the Imperial Army. Since we knew that our subordinates were a group of mobs and could not play such a difficult action as night battle, Fei Liguo had no intention of sending troops to rescue him from the beginning, but ordered all officers and soldiers to be vigilant and be cautious all night in the simple camp that had just been built.

But the problem is that because he and his staff members had serious lack of military experience, they forgot to arrange shifts and did not even place guard posts on the periphery, but just hurried behind the fence... As a result, in the early morning of September 27, the 6,000 officers and soldiers of the Jiangdong Expedition Camp who had not slept for a night were already overdrawn and were sleeping in a daze, and could not even lift the jingle at all.

But this time the opponent they met was Admiral Li Huamei, who had a lot of experience in sneak attacks. She led several trusted servants and hundreds of hard-working Japanese people to lurk in the dense bushes outside Yuhuatai for an extremely patient night. Until the dawn first appeared and the guards of Yuhuatai were on the lowest point, Li Huamei suddenly drew her sword and rushed into the camp with great might.

What's even more terrifying is that before the Grand Secretary of Fei Liguo knew it, some key positions in the Jiangdong Expedition Camp had been infiltrated by the revolutionary party. At this time, a shout of killing outside sounded, and a big fire ignited the bullet warehouse inside, and shot guns at the commander's tent... So, with the loud rumbling of the earth and the rumbling of the mountain, and a slowly rising mushroom cloud, the Yuhuatai Camp completely collapsed.

Next, there was a mess and defeat. Grand Secretary Fei Liguo fled out of the fire tent under the volleyball of the revolutionary assassin, but found that the entire Yuhuatai had blown up and he could not catch any army. The staff of the Qingke were all timid scholars, and they were already panicked... They relied on the five hundred foreign gun team led by Aner Leguan to guard the desperately, and opened a bloody road among the soldiers and the enemy, and then he safely escorted him back to the central Beijing. Some defeated soldiers were even collected along the way, and at least thousands of people were gathered.

On the way back to the capital, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo was shocked to find that the defenders of Tianbao City, which were originally stationed in the eastern suburbs of the capital, had actually left the key commanding heights that could shell the palace and fled without fighting. Even the heavy artillery on the fort had not been destroyed...

So he asked Anerle to take most of the foreign gun teams and quickly seize the discarded Tianbao City Fortress, and then he went to the city to seek help. Next, the foreign gun team relied on solid fortifications to repel Li Huamei's follow-up...at least, it saved the last stronghold outside the city for the court.

Although the battle between the foreign gun team is remarkable, no matter what, if you lose, you will eventually lose.

At this point, all the troops stationed in the suburbs of Nanjing were defeated. Unless the infantry commander and guards were used to make a desperate bet, the court had completely lost its ability to fight in the field - and this was still because General Feili Taylor had not used the main force.

Divide-Separation-Line

"...Your Majesty, the edict of the king has been issued to all prefectures and counties in the south and north of the Yangtze River. Within dozens of days, a large army will gather to support. The city of Jinling is high and thick, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there will be a lot of food stored in the city... By then, the inside and outside will be able to annihilate the bandits under the city..."

In order to appease His Majesty the Emperor, who had already shown symptoms of anxiety, so as not to do something even more ridiculous in anger, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo had to pinch his nose and say some comforting words that he didn't even believe.

As a result, His Majesty the Emperor had not said anything yet, His Highness Qing, the foreman of the Military Affairs Office, snorted coldly and immediately refuted.

"...Mr. Fei, the imperial court is now issuing an edict to serve the king, not a good strategy to save the country. Now that our country is declining, the local government is growing, not only are the vassal states in various places full of ambitions, but also the central generals are also rebellious. If they just sit and wait for assistance, not to mention when the reinforcements will be launched, even if the court waits for reinforcements in the end, who can know whether the reinforcements are reinforcements or bandits? What if any guy leads his troops to defect to the revolutionary party, or holds troops to blackmail the court, or even occupy the capital and refuses to leave?

What's more, Western warships came and went freely on the river. Not only did our navy dare not fight with it, but even the waterways to and from the capital were cut off! The Yangtze River chasm that was supposed to block the enemy was a road for them to transport troops! Even if the imperial army gathered, they could not cut off their logistics supplies and could not stop their way back. Only by launching field battles on land and attacking one of them may there be a possibility of force them to retreat!”

"... King Qing said very well. Since ancient times, the barbarians feared power but did not have virtue. If the court cannot attack head-on, their momentum will become more and more rampant..."

A young and powerful Manchu nobleman immediately jumped up to express his support, but someone immediately followed him out and whispered loudly.

"...I've gotten to this point, and I'm going to go out of the city to fight? The court has no money anymore, so don't even have troops to defend the city!"

"...It is precisely because of the unfavorable start that we cannot be trapped in the city! Do we still have to sit idly by and watch the barbarians ravage the capital and disturb the imperial tomb?"

"...Absurd, I'm so tired of defending the city, so where can I still fight in the field? You are letting go, treating national affairs as a joke!"

"...Hmph! You brave old people are the top sinners who hold on to their shortcomings and corrupt state affairs!"

...

Just as the ministers in the Military Affairs Office were talking and not convinced, and even attacking each other, a series of thunder-like roars came from a distant place. At first, one or two sounds alone, and then the ropes became continuous, and even the ground trembled slightly in the roar. The ministers present were stunned when they heard the sound, and all raised their ears to listen intently.

"...It's the sound of cannons! It comes from the northwest direction! Foreigners' warships have begun to shell the capital!"

A moment later, a minister with a sharp hearing screamed in panic. In the streets and alleys and buildings inside and outside the palace, various alarm bells and gongs were also ringing. There were also men and young men crying and screaming, mules, horses, pigs and cows howling, and even howling sounded one after another...

Hearing this terrible situation, the people in the Military Affairs Office soon couldn't sit still. Emperor Kant was unwilling to stay in the Military Affairs Office for empty talk. He immediately found the eunuchs with him and led the ministers out of the hall to climb a seven-story tower in the palace, intending to watch the battle situation outside the city.

As a result, as soon as they climbed to the top of the pagoda, everyone took a breath.

It was almost midnight, and the moon was hidden behind the clouds, which dyed the blue and gray clouds a layer of gorgeous silver edges, making the earth look darker. Looking from the pagoda, you can only see some hazy and blurry black shadows, which seemed to be the mountains in the suburbs of Beijing. There may be a few red flames - the Eight Banners Farm outside the city was burning!

Compared with the quiet outside the city, the city was already making a buzz like boiling water. In addition to the constant sound of cannons coming from afar, there were also the nervous shouts on the streets, the metal collisions of armor and weapons, the rapid gongs and drums and long horns that gathered the army, and the scolding and crying of the south and north. Every household lit the lights, and there were long dragons made of torches and lanterns moving on the road.

Under the urging of whistles and military horns, soldiers and civilians, holding swords, guns and lanterns, ran around the street, stretching their necks from time to time, and looking around in the direction of the cannons. There were also sharp whistling through the air and rumbling explosions, still coming from a distance...

Nanjing City is narrow from east to west and long from north to south, showing an irregular pear shape. The tip of this "pear", that is, the Yifeng Lion Mountain area close to the Yangtze River, is a fierce artillery battle breaking out at this time. Lights can be seen vaguely on the dark surface of the river, and dark shadows seem to be many ships approaching the shore. A meteor-like firelight flashes in the darkness, slowly cutting through the night sky and hitting the towering and solid city walls. For a moment, red light bursts out and smoke columns linger. The city's firecrackers are also fighting back, and flashes appear on the walls in the northwest from time to time, and the dull cannon sounds are endless.

Although both sides seem to have attacks and defenses, as long as you look at the still dark river surface, and then look at the city where smoke and flames are rolling, you will know that the defenders are almost beating on the ground.

Therefore, the faces of the emperor and the officials were quite ugly, so heavy that they could flow into the water.

Only King Qing looked at the fires rising in the city and cried loudly, but he still looked dissatisfied: "...Don't worry, the generals in the capital are decadent, but the court is not without brave men. These strong ships and cannons are just earth-shaking dogs in front of my holy powers!"
Chapter completed!