Chapter 516- Weird Military Order
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
"Regarding this matter, we have to start from history…."
During this quiet night, in a temporary tent, Yang Xiuqing learned about the start of the Taiping Country uprising and every interesting matter that happened.
The soldier stopped at what happened in Tianjing. After hearing all of this, Yang Xiuqing had mixed feelings.
In history, Yang Xiuqing had walked down the path of no return due to his ambition.
After hearing the description from the soldier, Yang Xiuqing's heart felt like a stirred up ocean.
The mystery from before was completely answered.
At this moment, Yang Xiuqing felt absolutely blurred; he even felt a hint despair.
If he led his troops back to Tianjing City, would King Hong Xiuquan still forgive him?
The chances were slim.
The soldier looked on at Yang Xiuqing with a mixed expression.
This soldier was a high level spy that the Military Intelligence Division had hid at Yang Xiuqing's side. His mission was to, at the crucial moment, utterly destroy the relationship between Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing. He was to recruit Yang Xiuqing over.
"I have a plan that can help general transform from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Only, would you be willing?"
When Yang Xiuqing heard these words, he sent the soldier a wary look and asked, "You spent so much effort to approach me; you probably have some motives. Why, you still can't tell me who your Lord is?"
"With your intelligence, you’ve probably guessed it already!"
The soldier laughed, appearing exceedingly confident.
Yang Xiuqing was astonished, “Don't tell me, is it Shan…."
"That's right!"
"Hei, didn't expect that, didn't expect that."
"My Lord has admired you for a long time. He says that if you go over, you will definitely be well utilized." As he spoke, the soldier took out a secret letter and passed it to Yang Xiuqing.
Ouyang Shuo had specially passed this letter through the Military Intelligence Division. Of course, he had written it two months ago.
The letter only spoke of a bunch of promises.
It was not just this spy; the other spies also carried similar letters. When they time was right, they would pass these letters to the enemy members.
After Yang Xiuqing read the letter, his heart felt flustered, and he was unable to stay calm.
Ouyang Shuo had promised Yang Xiuqing the role of governor.
Governor, be it in Taiping Country or Shanhai City, was a hugely important role.
Such a promise was filled with sincerity.
Although the letter only contained a few lines, Yang Xiuqing could still sense the magnanimity of the Lianzhou Lord. When contrasted to the wary Hong Xiuquan, the two were literally incomparable.
To be able to work for such a Lord was a great blessing.
One had to say that Ouyang Shuo's title of ‘Mightly Lord’ played a huge part in this. This sort of influence was massive on a historical person.
If it was someone else, it would not be so easy to convince Yang Xiuqing.
Yang Xiuqing did not expect the Lianzhou Lord to plan so far. He had buried so many cards in Taiping Country long ago.
With that, one could see how badly they were infiltrated internally. Amusingly, Hong Xiuquan actually thought that everyone in his country believed in him and was loyal.
Thinking about this point, the future of Taiping Country looked bleaker and bleaker.
As they would say, good birds would leave for greener pastures.
Since Hong Xiuquan could not trust him, Yang Xiuqing could only change his Lord.
In the end, Yang Xiuqing let out a long sigh and stored the letter in his pocket, “From today onward, you will be my bodyguard!"
When a person was at their most desperate moment, they would be unable to reject any helping hands.
Yang Xiuqing was not an exception.
"General is smart!"
The spy was delighted and backed down.
As for the specific plans, they naturally needed to discuss it later.
After all, it was already so late, and the two had already talked for so long. Any longer and they might attract unneeded attention.
The soldier was not worried that Yang Xiuqing would expose him. The smarter the person, the more they would be able to balance pros and cons. To Yang Xiuqing, going forward was the deep abyss and backing off was the clear sky.
It was an easy choice.
Yang Xiuqing was not loyal to Taiping Country to such a point.
Outside the tent, the night sky grew darker and darker. It looked like ink, and one could not even see their own fingers. After tonight, the fate of Taiping Country would be like the night sky, unable to see any light.
10th month, 28th day, Mulan Stronghold.
When the sun rose up once more, a busy scene started outside of Mulan Stronghold. As the battle had ended so late last night, they did not have the time to clean up the battlefield.
When the sun shone onto the battlefield, a shocking sight greeted the eye.
On the numerous miles of the battlefield, corpses were strewn all over, and blood rivers flowed. After a night, the blood had sunk deep into the soil.
Preliminary estimations found that just last night, at least fifty thousand soldiers had died on the battlefield.
Taiping Country Army really had so many staunch believers.
Baiqi and Han Xin stood on the city wall. They looked out at the battlefield, not making a sound.
The two legions had successfully linked up and worked together to destroy the south army. As for what to do next, they were waiting for the Military Affairs Department’s or rather, the Lord's instructions.
The battle report from yesterday had already been sent to Chiyou City.
At this morning at the latest, they would receive a reply.
Post battle calculations show that they had captured 120 thousand men. They had also obtained a lot of resources, including twenty thousand war horses and the four cannons.
Apart from that, out of the four enemy generals, one had died in battle, while the other two were captured.
This battle was a complete victory for Shanhai City.
Of course, the two legions had also paid a price in the final bloodbath. A total of ten thousand of their soldiers laid to rest on the field outside of the stronghold.
Han Xin turned his head and took a glance at Baiqi.
Toward this Asura, Han Xin felt a sense of worship, but he was not happy to lose out to Baiqi. He always wanted to compete with Baiqi for the position of god general of the Shanhai City Army. He would not give up easily.
What about Baiqi?
No matter when and where, Baiqi would always wear a solemn expression that no one could see through.
In this battle, both of them had performed well.
However, in comparison, the long distance decisive sneak attack was the key to this victory. Hence, in this battle, Han Xin had gained a slight edge.
The name of war immortal was really well given.
"General, the Lord has sent a letter!"
Just at this moment, the military intelligence officer that stayed in Mulan Stronghold hurried over.
The two of them turned around at the same time, and their eyes lit up.
The Lord replying so fast was actually something that surprised them.
As the main commander of the battle, Baiqi took the letter, read it, before passing it over to Han Xin.
After Han Xin read the letter, he remained silent.
The Lord’s instructions in the letter baffled both of them.
After a few congratulatory words, the letter described the plans for both legions.
The Lord ordered them to rest up and prepare for a few days after the two legions met up at the stronghold. Liao Kai would lead the 1st division to rush to the stronghold. Then, they would strike.
They would hand the fallen Taiping Country soldiers over to the city protection division.
The two legions would set off from the stronghold and split into two, one heading east and one heading west. They would slowly proceed toward Tianjing City. As they head forward, they were to siege the cities and remove all threats. No one was to escape.
Members of the Administration Department would send officials to accept and take over the occupied cities.
As for attacking Tianjing City, there was no rush.
The last sentence was something that Baiqi and Han Xin could not understand.
Based on logic, they had just destroyed the Taiping Country south army, and the enemy west army was still in Kunming Prefecture, a long distance away. This was the best time to rush and take down Tianjing in one fell swoop.
Wasn't the Lord's intentions to attack and occupy Tianjing City?
The reason behind everything really confused them.
However, because it was the Lord's orders, they could not go against it; they had no choice.
After a simple discussion, Baiqi would lead the Dragon Legion from the east up north, while Han Xin would lead the Leopard Legion west up north.
The two legions would meet up again outside Tianjing City.
Based on the battle report from Liao Kai, the 1st division would walk out of the one hundred thousand mountains in a few days. Hence, the date they moved out would be in the 11th month, 4th day, five days later.
Why would Ouyang Shuo make such a plan?
For the reason, one had to start from when Ouyang Shuo received the battle report yesterday.
After learning that the two legions had met up and destroyed the south army, Ouyang Shuo was naturally happy. This result meant that the situation in the southwest was basically solved.
As for why he did not want to directly attack Tianjing, that had to do with the cannon.
In history, Hong Xiuquan had died in battle because he insisted on defending Tianjing City and did not want to retreat. In this life, Ouyang Shuo did not believe that he would remain as stubborn.
Hence, if a huge army advanced, Hong Xiuquan could just escape and desert his city. With that, the firearms technical manual would naturally disappear along with him.
This was something that Ouyang Shuo could not accept no matter what.
Hence, the only way was to ensure that Hong Xiuquan stayed there.
The two legions would rest up and slowly push into Tianjing, giving Hong Xiuquan some hope. Then, he would order Shi Dakai to lead the west troops back to defend.
Hence, the thought of deserting and leaving the city would not occur.
Just like that, he could also solve the problem of Consonance City.
Apart from that, Yang Xiuqing was also another factor.
Although Ouyang Shuo had already buried chess pieces around Yang Xiuqing, to use them, they needed to wait till he rushed back to the city at the very least.
Hence, no matter what, the two legions could not proceed forward easily.
After all, Baiqi and Han Xin were generals, so they were not clear about such schemes. As a result, they would find Ouyang Shuo's orders weird.
For the cannon, Ouyang Shuo was putting in so much effort.
He only hoped that the two large intelligence organizations would not disappoint him.