"No, this is different. The Taiping Army in Qinghe Prefecture is different from the Taiping Army in Yulin. Not only is it far more numerous than the Taiping Army in Yulin, but it is also higher in quality than the Taiping Army in Yulin. They are used by the Taiping Sect. To deal with the main force of the Tanghe Empire's army, the reason why they withdrew from Qinghe so happily this time was obviously because they got the information that we were about to go south, so that's why. Of course, this cannot be used as a basis for inferring the combat effectiveness of the City Guards Corps. When we think about our Royal Guards, the Tanghe people's Guards and City Guards are similar in status to our Royal Guards, so they cannot be too bad, so we must not be negligent on this point." He Erli warned his two colleagues extremely carefully that as the leader of this battle, he needed to be responsible for this battle. Any small mistake could lead to the failure of the entire battle.
Hearing what Hurley said, the two of them also felt that it made sense. After all, they were the royal elite of a country. According to convention, their combat effectiveness should be higher than other field troops. Although there were no clues in their performance in Qinghe Mansion, if it really Participated in the royal political struggle, anything is possible.
"In your opinion, sir, what should we do now? Do we need to report our current situation and actions to General Nick?" Viscount Billy, the commander of the Third Corps who had been silent, asked.
"It is necessary to report to General Nick, but we cannot stop at the moment. The Prime Minister and General Nick have long decided that Qinghe Mansion must be occupied, whether it is from the Taiping Army or the Tanghe Imperial Army, it must be done In this regard, as long as we can control Qinghe Mansion, the core area of the Tanghe people will be under our threat, which can play an unexpected role in promoting the collapse of the Tanghe Empire. Although the City Guards Corps is not weak in combat effectiveness, they There are only more than 100,000 people, and the city of Qinghe is already badly damaged. Our three corps have more than 200,000 elites, and the second corps will arrive soon, which is completely enough to destroy this force. I don’t know. Do you, the commander of the regiment, have this confidence?" Hurley looked sideways at the two opponents and deliberately used the provoking method.
"Hey, since Mr. Hurley is so sure, how dare we not accompany him?" Chirif and Billy exchanged glances and said proudly, "Our Kaman army has never been afraid of anyone. We believe in this battle. It’s enough for Tanghe people to always remember the bravery of our Kaman people.”
The house leaked and it rained all night. Yusuf looked at the general who was kneeling on the ground dejectedly and begging for mercy with a cold face, and his chest was filled with anger. This idiot, I repeatedly warned him not to underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. The Taiping Army did not retreat, but retreated in a planned way. However, this guy was still blinded by the apparent victory and pursued and attacked fiercely. This time, he was hit. The wooden door of the Taiping Army opened. It seems that the Taiping Army in Qinghe Prefecture still has some capable people, but Yusuf believes that this strategy was not thought up by the Taiping Army’s general in Qinghe Prefecture. He has been dealing with them for two or three years. How many tricks does the opponent have? Who can compare with Yusuf? They all knew better that there was an expert who gave him an idea, and Mei Fucai definitely didn't have this ability.
According to what his subordinates said, the behavior of these guys after leaving the city should have been all fake, and the evacuation of Qinghe Fucheng was also planned and premeditated. Everything that collapsed at the first touch and suffered a complete defeat seemed to be an illusion to paralyze themselves. Isn't this true? , the Second Division immediately suffered a big loss from the opponent. It was unexpectedly set up by the opponent to set up an ambush circle and counterattacked. A division with more than 20,000 soldiers only brought back less than 6,000 people. This is simply a city. What a disgrace to the Guards Corps! In the past few years, he has led the city guard regiment and been entangled with the Taiping Army for so long. He has never lost more than 2,000 people in a battle. This time, he lost more than half of the division in one battle!
"Come here, drag him down and send him to a military court for trial!" After exhaling, Yusuf showed no mercy to the guy in front of him. What he felt heartbroken about was the more than 10,000 soldiers, but they were all his. The elite of the city guard corps, one general is incompetent and exhausted to the death of the three armies. It seems that he also needs to ask for punishment, otherwise he is afraid that the pressure he faces will drag him in if he does not go well. The damn Taiping Army actually did this to him. Not only did they destroy the city defense facilities, but they also collaborated with him to cripple one of his divisions. A bad premonition slowly emerged in Yusuf's heart. , is this Qinghe Mansion really his destiny
"Report to the commander of the army!" The ordering soldier ran into the meeting room and reported breathlessly.
"What's the matter?" Seeing the nervous look on the other party's face, Yusuf couldn't help but feel nervous. He had been tortured by the continuous bad news in the past two days and was a little nervous. He became frightened when he saw the general.
"The vanguard of Kaman's army has arrived at the outskirts of Fucheng. Kaman's light cavalry attacked our soldiers and civilians who were building the city wall at the west gate. The third division has sent cavalry to attack and repelled the opponent's intruders."
Shocked, Yusuf couldn't help but stand up and asked in a deep voice: "Does the enemy only have light cavalry? Where is their infantry? How is the reconnaissance situation?"
"Back to my lord, only the enemy's light cavalry has been discovered so far. The infantry has not been discovered yet. The news from the scouts has not come back yet. The chief of staff is still waiting in the staff room. I will report to you as soon as I have information."
"Well, I understand, go ahead and report the situation as soon as possible." Yousuf waved his hand tiredly. What is coming is finally coming. It seems that the Kaman people are unwilling to give up the strategic location of Qinghe. Without intelligence support, they are like a blind and deaf person. In addition to passively repairing the city walls and trying their best to repair and improve the city defense facilities, they are unable to For other responses, scouts alone would not be able to provide deeper intelligence. He knew nothing about the exact number of the invading enemies, the composition of their troops, their usual combat effectiveness, what wars they had experienced, who the generals were, and their fighting styles and preferences. It was only then that Yusuf discovered that only It is not enough to control the army. There are almost no other results in such a war, and failure is foreseeable.
Fortunately, the gentry and people of Qinghe Prefecture worked together. Seeing that foreign invasion was imminent, what would happen if the Kaman people occupied Qinghe made everyone shudder. Almost all the forces that can be mobilized have been mobilized, but large-scale projects such as city defense facilities and city wall repairs cannot be completed in a day or two. Now we can only do our best, and we can only leave it to fate to the extent of the repairs. It has been two days since he sent the urgent request for help to His Highness Ninth Prince, but he still has not received a reply. Yusuf is not sure what His Highness Ninth Prince is thinking.
But there is no way out at this time. No matter how many enemies come, even if His Highness the Ninth Prince does not reinforce a single soldier, Yusuf can only defend the city of Qinghe City tightly. The city dies and the people die, but the people remain in the city. The only way to survive was to repel the Kamans. Yusuf was cruel and prepared to give out all the legion's salaries first. Life or death depended on this, so these things could be used as much as they could.
It was cold rain and windy, and the crowds of people on the streets that used to be bustling with traffic seemed to disappear all of a sudden. The drizzle mixed with snowflakes shrouded the entire imperial capital in a thick layer of haze. Even the people on the streets of the East District, which had always been bustling and bustling, seemed to have disappeared. There were a lot less people. Occasionally, the figures of traders with hunched necks swayed and quickly disappeared behind the door panels. The carriages and pedestrians on the street were also in a hurry. It could be seen from the gloomy expressions on these people's faces that they must be out of business. What a big deal.
Something big has happened, even bigger than the death of His Majesty the Emperor a month ago. In the north, the two old enemies of the empire, the Kaman and the Puer people, jointly dispatched an army of 700,000 to invade Beiyuan and Yanyun, and hit them all in one go. In Qinghe and Cangzhou, the closest distance to the imperial capital is less than three hundred miles away! The death of His Majesty the Emperor is not too surprising. After all, His Majesty has been ill for a year, and the people of the empire are more or less mentally prepared. However, the joint invasion of the Kaman and Puer people to the south is not a surprise. Likewise, the shock this time caused in the hearts of the people of the empire, including the imperial capital, was unprecedented, far exceeding the ripples caused by the Taiping rebellion. If the rebellion of the Taiping cultists was a flood, then the southern invasion of the two northern countries was a tsunami and a collapse of the sky. Even the people of the empire as far away as the south of the Yangtze River felt that the cold current from the north was so powerful!
In just a few days, the armies of the two northern countries have captured Yulin controlled by the Taiping Army and Yunzhong under the defense of the Northern Military District of the Empire. Moreover, the northern two countries seem to show no signs of stopping and are consolidating their rule in the occupied areas. At the same time, it advanced rapidly to the south and east.
This series of blows shocked all the ministers in the imperial capital who were busy fighting for power and arguing over the issue of the successor to the throne. Rumors spread all over the place, people were panicked, and the gentry and merchants in the entire imperial capital were in chaos. His Highness Situ Taize suddenly became the target of public criticism. In the Northern Military Region, since the last conflict between the northern countries and the empire, His Majesty the Emperor at that time gave His Highness the power to conduct expedients in the Northern Military Region in order to command and defend more effectively. However, the Taiping Cult's rampage in the north has not yet been calmed down. At this time, The two northern countries invaded again, and the performance of the Northern Military Region was so bad. Yunzhong Mansion fell in just two days. Are the troops of the Northern Military Region resisting heroically or retreating without a fight
When the national destiny is in crisis, even the major media in the imperial capital are uncharacteristically high-profile, vehemently criticizing the army of the northern military region of the empire as a group of national worms, and demanding that the central government of the empire take effective measures to rectify military discipline and combat effectiveness, and strictly rectify those who have misled the country. Military officials who brought disaster to the people.