The city of Qinghe Prefecture was full of joy and laughter. Although it had gone through a day and night of hard fighting, several facilities in the city were not seriously damaged. Although the Taiping Army destroyed a large number of city walls and defense systems when they were about to evacuate, they did not affect the streets in the city. However, not much damage was done to the buildings and buildings. Except for some looting before departure, everything else was still intact.
When the Empire's Double Dragon Playing with Pearls flag flew again at the top of Qinghe City, the gentry of Qinghe Prefecture came out one after another. It only took one day for the residents of Qinghe Prefecture City, led by the gentry and merchants, to The streets in Qinghe Prefecture were cleanly cleaned, and red lanterns were hung at the entrances of the houses of the gentry and merchants to celebrate the restoration of Qinghe.
"Gentlemen and ladies, fellow villagers, today is a day worth celebrating. We are here to celebrate that our Qinghe Mansion in Beiyuan County has recovered from the Taiping Rebellion and returned to the embrace of the Empire. During this period, many people in the Empire have All places have fallen into the clutches of the Taiping Rebellion. The Empire has encountered unprecedented difficulties, but the Empire has never given up caring for the gentry and common people in the occupied areas. Yesterday, our Imperial City Guards were ordered by the Empire to finally remove the Taiping Rebellion from here. This is the first step for our City Guard Corps to regain Beiyuan County. In the days to come, we will step by step, follow the established layout, and move towards peace. The rebellious party launched the final attack and finally achieved the recovery of the entire empire. Victory belongs to us, and the glory belongs to the empire!" Yusuf's face was red, and he stood on the Hongbin Tower on the first floor of Qinghe Fucheng and spoke impassionedly, his eyes Looking at the gentry and businessmen in the audience with smiles on their faces and admiration in their eyes, this feeling is simply better than drinking ice dew in June.
"General Yusuf said it well. The empire has not forgotten us. The Qinghe Prefecture can escape from the sea of suffering today thanks to General Yusuf and all the officers and soldiers of the City Guard Corps. As the saying goes, swords are given to martyrs and wine is given to heroes. Come on. Come, everyone, let us express our heartfelt gratitude to all the officers and soldiers of the Imperial City Guard Corps by drinking from our cups of wine! Please!" The president of the Qinghe Prefecture Chamber of Commerce was already catering to the proud Yusuf. The flattery made Yusuf even more elated.
While they were drinking wine and singing, a panic-stricken soldier quietly entered the banquet hall, looking for the Legion Commander. It was easy to get the commander of the legion out from a group of young ladies. Although Yusuf was full of dissatisfaction, when he saw that the reported soldiers were from the scout team sent by himself, he suddenly felt a shiver in his heart. A bad premonition was already in his heart. rising in the heart.
"What's all the fuss about?" Yusuf asked solemnly after calming down.
"Legion Commander, something bad is going on. According to the intelligence we collected in the north, the Kaman and Puer people jointly sent troops to Yulin and Yunzhong. Now Yulin and Yunzhong have fallen, and the Kaman army is moving south quickly. Cut off the intelligence personnel When I returned from delivering the letter, the Kaman army was already approaching the northern border of Qinghe Prefecture!" Although he was under the stern gaze of the legion commander, at this time the scout did not care about hiding anything anymore and simply spit out the information he had obtained in one breath. come out.
There was a crisp sound of "Bang". Although Yusuf was a man who had experienced some storms, he still couldn't bear such sudden bad news. The glass wine glass he was holding in his hand fell to the ground and shattered. Yusuf could no longer care about himself. Losing his composure, he grabbed the scout's chest and clothes like crazy and asked fiercely: "What did you say? What did you say? How dare you lie about the military situation?! How could the Kaman people attack Yulin? They are the same as the Taiping rebels. How could they do that? Attacking an ally’s territory?”
"Sir, the situation is absolutely true. I dare not hide it. It is said that the Kaman and Puer people jointly sent troops. Although the number of troops is unknown, it is estimated to be more than ever before. Please make preparations early." Although the scout was panicked, At this time, he could only helplessly shrink his neck and let the legion leader scold him.
He let go of his hand in a daze, Yusuf's face turned pale. He had already agreed with the other party's statement in his heart, but subconsciously he didn't want to admit it. This blow was too big and it came at the wrong time. Only then did he slowly come to his senses. Why did the 80,000 Taiping Army withdraw from Qinghe Prefecture so easily? It turned out that they had already received information about the Kaman invasion at that time, but like a fool, they were still complacent about occupying Qinghe Prefecture, and even thought that the combat effectiveness of their own army was It really grew a lot out of thin air. There is a joint explanation for why the city walls, gates and city defense facilities were destroyed by the Taiping people. These bastards actually resorted to such despicable and dirty methods, making themselves unable to rely on them. Qinghe Fucheng contended with the Kaman army going south.
Yusuf rubbed his forehead in despair. After drinking two more glasses of wine, Yusuf felt dizzy and staggered.
"Legion Commander! What's wrong with you?" The scout was shocked. shouted loudly.
Yusuf's mind was in confusion. What should he do? Hearing the scout exclaim, he looked around and found that this was still on the side of the banquet hall. Fortunately, no one saw him lose his composure, otherwise he wouldn't know how much of a disturbance it would cause.
"Go and call the guards over. I'll go back to the commander's house first! Let the guards pass on my order and have the chief officers of each division come to my house immediately to discuss matters without delay!" After calming down, Yusuf knew that he must not panic at this time, otherwise If the gang of gentry and merchants in Qinghe Prefecture find out, it may be really difficult for them to escape.
A gloomy atmosphere enveloped the entire conference room. A group of people sat silently in their seats, either smoking or holding teacups. Only Yusuf, who was pacing back and forth in the center of the hall like a caged tiger, made a sound. The sound of leather boots hitting the floor was extremely harsh and harsh.
"Everyone, don't sit here and talk about your opinions. Time waits for no one. Soon, the old and young people in Qinghe Mansion will know the news. When the situation becomes passive, we will not be able to control it." Sitting on the left The leader is Zhang Jinfu, Yusuf's chief of staff. You can hear his tendency in his words. If he doesn't leave, he won't be able to leave.
"Master Zhang, you mean that we withdraw eastward now? But where should we withdraw? Unless we go back to the imperial capital, there is a flat plain between Qinghe and the imperial capital. The Kaman people's heavy cavalry has always been invincible, and even Li Wufeng's Gaoyue heavy infantry has been After suffering a big loss, our legion is mainly composed of light armored infantry and the heavy infantry is not large. How can we resist? The Kaman people's troops going south this time must have surpassed our city guard legion. In this way, we still want to fight in the plain areas and Isn't the stalemate between the Kaman people the same as surrendering to death?" A tall and thin man put forward his own opinion, "How about we retreat to the Imperial City and join forces with the third and fourth armies, maybe we can still fight."
"Go back to the Imperial Capital? Can you go back to the Imperial Capital in this situation? Maybe the soldiers can escape this disaster if you go back. I'm afraid all of you here will have to go to the military court! The news about the recovery of Qinghe has probably been published in the Imperial Capital today Was it in the major newspapers? In the blink of an eye, we left the people of Qinghe and fled without a fight, and fled back to the imperial capital in one breath. Aren't we going to the gallows ourselves?" The first person sitting on the right is a thin man The old man is also the veteran of the City Guard Corps. Deng Yuanbiao, the deputy commander of the City Guard Corps, has a strange way of talking and has always been at odds with the commander of the Corps, Yusuf. He had originally disapproved of Yusuf's launching of the Battle of Qinghe in order to gain performance, but now he fell into a trap and was in a dilemma, which made him extremely dissatisfied.
"But, Mr. Deng, it is not easy to defend Qinghe Mansion. The Taiping Army had destroyed many walls of the west gate and south gate before leaving. It would take less than half a month to repair them, and the Taiping Army also had to After destroying the catapults and crossbows on the city wall, Qinghe Mansion is now an undefended city. How can it be defended? Besides, we don’t know exactly how many Kaman people went south, but according to subordinates It is estimated that their number will definitely exceed our legion! If this battle is really fought in Qinghe Mansion, I'm afraid we will be in trouble." The person who spoke was a person who looked like a division commander, and he expressed the worries of many people.
Hearing the quarrel among his subordinates, Yusuf felt even more irritated. Just as the old man Deng Yuanbiao said, the large-scale report on the restoration of Qinghe may have been published in major newspapers and periodicals in the empire, but now he fled back in despair. It's a trivial thing to be afraid of not being able to secure your position, but if you don't, you'll end up on the gallows. But if we want to fight, we are not sure. Once we are trapped in Qinghefu City by the Kaman people, it may be the end of the whole army, unless the third and fourth legions come to the rescue with all their strength, but I and His Highness Ninth Prince already have a little hope in their hearts. Tower, will he let the only force in his hand that is completely under his control come to rescue him? Yusuf was not sure.
But now I'm afraid that this is the only gamble I can take. The fate of retreating can be predicted, and the worst outcome of fighting is the same as retreating. It's better to take a fucking gamble, even if it means death. Gaining a heroic reputation is far better than going back to the gallows with your tail between your legs. If Situ Lang considers his usefulness and is pressured by public opinion from all over the empire, he might actually let the 3rd and 4th Legions come to save him. Woolen cloth.
"That's enough, I've made up my mind. It's not my Yusuf style to retreat like a bear, and it's not what you want to face the gallows in a military court. Then we might as well have a good time with the Kaman people in Qinghe Mansion. Play a roulette of fate to see who loses and who wins. As for reinforcements, I will immediately send people to the imperial capital to ask for reinforcements from the third and fourth legions. I believe that His Highness Ninth Prince will not sit idly by." Yusuf faintly revealed that he and Ninth Prince The relationship between His Highness encouraged his subordinates, but only he knew what was going on inside.
After arranging the work of his subordinates, Yusuf stood in the living room with a complicated expression and thought for a long time. He summoned someone and ordered his personal adjutant to hand him a banknote. " and "Daily Express" are vaguely audible.