The World Online
Page 514Chapter 514- Switching Sides
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
"Remember, do not let him kill himself; I want him alive."
At the end, Baiqi was still not fully at ease, so he reminded the military intelligence officer.
Baiqi had a rough impression of Li Xiucheng. When he discussed matters with the Lord, the Lord had given him a short evaluation of all the generals.
Amongst the Taiping Country generals, there were three that the Lord paid the most attention to. They were Shi Dakai, Li Xiucheng, and Chen Yucheng. Hence, Baiqi naturally needed to keep Li Xiucheng alive.
As for how the Lord would manage to convince him, it was not within Baiqi’s consideration range.
"Do not worry, my general!"
As the intelligence officer spoke these words, he turned around and left. Li Xiucheng had continuously tried to kill himself since the captured, and he declined food in protest. However, if the young officer could not even handle such simple matters, he was unsuitable for his occupation.
The Military Intelligence Division was not useless.
After the short interruption, Baiqi continued to write the battle report. He also wrote of the situation regarding Li Xiucheng at the end.
That evening, the report was passed through the relay to Chiyou City.
Wuzhou Prefecture Chiyou City, Lord's Manor.
Similar to Baiqi, Ouyang Shuo was still awake. The Battle of Mulan Stronghold concerned the entire situation. Without receiving the latest battle report, Ouyang Shuo could not rest at ease.
Just half an hour after Baiqi sent the battle report, Ouyang Shuo received it.
The appearance of cannons astonished Ouyang Shuo. He did not expect Taiping Country to actually possess such a bug weapon; he was really feeling a cold sweat for Mulan Stronghold.
Of course, this was a dangerous situation but also a great chance.
Just the thought of Hong Xiuquan holding the relevant technical manual made Ouyang Shuo’s his blood boil.
Cannons were something that Ouyang Shuo had yearned for for a long time.
Of course, he did not think that with cannons alone he could step into the thermal weapons era.
Such thinking was not practical.
Ouyang Shuo just wished to equip the warships with cannons. With that, the navy could use cannons instead of just bows.
Without cannons, the squadron could basically only travel through inner rivers. Ouyang Shuo ambitions for the oceans meant that he could not accept that.
The appearance of cannons presented a divine opportunity.
Apart from that, cannons could also be placed on the city walls to increase the defence. Think about that, with both the three bowed arcubalistas and the cannons, the territory defence would be a huge nightmare for the enemies.
Most importantly, the existence of No.7 Institute meant that Shanhai City had the ability to modify and improve the Ming Dynasty Cannons.
With that, they could close the technological gap with the western countries.
All of the above were enough to make Ouyang Shuo feel pumped up.
Thinking about these points, Ouyang Shuo immediately wrote a letter to Black Snake to ask him to use the spies hidden in Xunzhou Prefecture. Especially those in Tianjing City; they needed to investigate those cannons.
Most importantly, he needed to confirm whether the cannons that appeared in Mulan Stronghold were rare or mass produced; this would confirm whether the technical manual existed.
Compared to Wuzhou Prefecture, the Black Snake Guards and the Military Intelligence Division were highly successful in their infiltration of Taiping Country. After all, when Hong Xiuquan had entered the wilderness, the two intel organizations had fixed their eyes on him.
Furthermore, they had recruited people on a large scale, so it was naturally easy for them to infiltrate.
Till date, the spies of the two organizations had spread across the three prefectures of Taiping Country. One could even say that beside the important people of Taiping Country, spies of the Black Snake Guards had infiltrated every other group.
Ouyang Shuo believed that Black Snake would definitely give him a satisfying answer.
……
Li Xiucheng’s capture surprised Ouyang Shuo. Of course, his stubbornness was also expected. These Taiping Country generals were all famous for being as stubborn as rocks.
Before dealing with Hong Xiuquan, Ouyang Shuo did not have any high hopes of persuading any of the generals.
Even when they took over Taiping Country in the future, Ouyang Shuo would not instantly make use of these fallen generals. To the current Ouyang Shuo, loyalty was the most important aspect.
……
However, towards Yang Xiuqing and the like, Ouyang Shuo was planning something.
After Li Xiucheng’s capture, as the main general of the south troops, Yang Xiuqing would definitely be chided by Hong Xiuquan. These two opponents in the last life would grow further and further apart.
Thinking about this point, Ouyang Shuo immediately wrote a letter to Baiqi
In it, he wrote, ‘Yang Xiuqing can be used, but one must treat him carefully. If the Taiping Army fails, general can release him to go against Hong Xiuquan.’
Although Yang Xiuqing was an ambitious person, that was during the chaotic times of the uprising army.
However, since he was born in a poor environment and lacked the chance to study, he fell upon his current situation.
Ouyang Shuo wanted to let Yang Xiuqung go against Hong Xiuquan so that he could gain influence in Tianjing Country. His core goal was still to obtain the technical manual.
When he replied to the letter, it was already the dead of night.
Ouyang Shuo stood up and walked to the window, only to see that it was pitch black outside. In the sky, a huge red star shone with a devilish crimson glow; it was the most eye catching object in the sky.
"Devilish star representing something bad is going to happen?"
When Ouyang Shuo saw this star, he muttered to himself.
10th month, 27th day, the 4th day of the Battle of Mulan Stronghold.
Seeing the hole that they had spent so much effort to blow open being fixed in a night, Yang Xiuqing nearly vomited blood in fury.
Trying to blow open the city wall was not practical anymore. Thinking back to the bloody battle yesterday, Yang Xiuqing felt fearful. He was not a stubborn person, so he immediately changed his strategy.
Yang Xiuqing ordered his troops to change the targets of the four cannons to the three bowed arcubalistas mounted on the city wall. They would destroy the strongest weapon of the enemy.
The various troops, with the help of weapons such as siege chariots, arrow turrets, siege turret, and scaling ladders, launched wave after wave of attacks on the Mulan Stronghold city wall.
Of course, all these actions were a waste of energy.
Under the leadership of Baiqi, the defence of Mulan Stronghold stood as stable as Mount Tai. The vicious attacks of Taiping Country seemed scary, but it posed a far smaller threat than yesterday.
When Yang Xiuqing saw these results, his face blackened.
Facing such a situation, he had no more plans, so he could only throw all his troops in. The moment he thought about the strict letter that he receive, Yang Xiuqing felt more and more depressed.
The huge battle lasted all the way from morning to afternoon.
The evening sun slowly set and the sunset hung overhead.
Just as the soldiers on both sides thought that the Taiping Country would retreat and end the battle for they day, a shocking change occurred further up on the battlefield.
Behind the Taiping Country, the rumbling noises of horse hooves thundered.
Looking out, one could see a huge army charging straight toward the back of the Taiping Country south army. All of a sudden, their killing intent boiled, and the dust on the ground was sent flying.
When the generals of Taiping Country saw this army, they felt flustered, and their faces turned ashen white.
Consecutive days of battles had made the Taiping Country Army grow complacent about protecting their backlines. Especially the battle today, where they sent all their troops up to the fight.
All of a sudden, Yang Xiuqing's mood sank into an abyss.
"It's over! Everything is over!"
A feeling of despair festered in his heart.
An uncontrollable panic ensued. Thinking about the eyes and reactions of the king, Yang Xiuqing's heart was like sealed by ice, never to feel a thread of warmth.
And this despair quickly spread throughout the army.
Everyone knew that the Taiping army was dead.
The troops that rushed here were naturally the Leopard Legion led by Han Xin. Under his leadership, the Leopard Legion had reached the stronghold a full night earlier.
Just an hour ago, the Leopard Legion was ten kilometres away, and it was already 5 PM.
After numerous days of rushing, the troops were exhausted.
Looking at the sky, Zhang Han suggested for the army to take a break and attack the next day.
"No!" Han Xin resolutely declined, his reaction firm, "Our troops are tired, but the enemy has fought for a day and are even more tired. This is the best chance. If we miss it, the enemy would be well rested tomorrow. To destroy them, we would need to put in two, even three times more men and effort."
In his eyes, excitement flickered, "Order the troops to grit their teeth. When we succeed later, I'll personally ask the Lord for rewards."
"Yes, my general!"
When Zhang Han and the other generals heard his words, they felt impressed.
Following which, the entire army struck out before the enemy noticed, and their cavalry acted as the vanguard. The huge infantry force covered them from behind, collecting their battle rewards.
Under the steely mentality of Han Xin, the Leopard Legion displayed astonishing killing strength. The already tired army did not seem exhausted at all, as they were sent forth. They all looked like tigers.
Of course, their high morale and movement speed were partly thanks to Han Xin’s specialty.
He increased morale by 40%, movement speed by 30%, defence by 20%, and killing strength by 25%.
Along with the buffs of Zhang Zhan and Di Qing, it was basically adding wings to a tiger.