Chapter 113 How Can a Man Stay Old in His Hometown?

Chapter 113 How Can a Man Stay Old in His Hometown?

Chapter 113 How Can a Man Stay Old in His Hometown?

"You mean, I should vote for you, Shao Quanzhong, instead of the Tartar Qing?"

Shao Quanzhong stared at the mainstay of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in front of him with a smile, "That's right, surrendering to Shao but not to the Tartars is just like Guan Erye surrendering to the Han but not to Cao. Fu Wang, do you see a Tartar among the Huai Army?"

"So you still have braids?"

Shao Quanzhong sighed, "I am a Han Chinese. The Huai Army's braids will be cut off sooner or later, but not now. The Qing Dynasty is not doomed yet. Even if I rebel now and join forces with you, do you think I can succeed with the help of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a pig teammate?"

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s own generals refused to help each other. Li Xiucheng watched Anqing fall without doing anything. How could he help Shao Quanzhong?

The more high-ranking officials knew the inside story, the less optimistic they were about the future of the Taiping Army. Yang Fuqing was loyal to the Taiping Army, but he only insisted on the ideal of destroying the Qing Dynasty, and he had long been disappointed with the Heavenly King.

As for whether Shao Quanzhong's promise to recruit me was reliable - the fact that he did not arrest me as soon as they met proved that he was sincere, and my head was quite valuable.

Yang Fuqing thought hard for a long time, then gritted his teeth and said, "Yang can learn from Guan Erye, but you have to promise that after I surrender to you, I will not kill any of my brothers. Also, after my soldiers surrender to you, they cannot fight with their Taiping Army comrades."

"They are all good men of China. I can't even protect them. How can I bear to kill them? Even if you are willing, I dare not use you to fight against the Taiping Army. Isn't that like throwing meat at a dog?"

"Then how will you explain this to the Tartar court?"

"I only need your dragon robe. But you are dead from today on. If you show up again under your real name, it will harm me."

"I can keep my name secret, but if I have more than 4,000 men under my command and they join the Huai Army, it's inevitable that the news will leak out..."

"So, you can't just join the Huai Army. I've found a way for you. Leave the Qing Empire temporarily and go to the United States to be mercenaries. Learn how to fight modern wars. When the time is right, I will recruit you back."

"You still have this method?"

It wasn't there originally, but it appeared when Grant came.

This was more to Yang Fuqing's liking. Once his subordinates joined the Huai Army, they would have no say in how they would be reorganized.

Now I can keep my organization, command my subordinates, and not have to fight with my old comrades. I have the military power in my hands and wait for the right time overseas. If the Tartars are no longer strong, I can come back and beat them up. There is no better way out than this.

"Okay, since Skywalker has guaranteed my reputation, Yang will trust you this time."

"Let's high-five and pledge our all!"

Yang Fuqing and Shao Quanzhong clapped their hands three times and swore an oath, then knelt on one knee, "Yang Fuqing pays respect to the Lord."

"Get up, get up. We in the Huai Army don't care about this. When we meet in the future, just salute. However, from now on, Prince Fu Yang Fuqing is dead, so you have to change your name."

Yang Fuqing pondered for a while. His military combat ability was half innate and half honed through hundreds of battles, but he had no culture.

After thinking for a long time, he said, "I will call myself Yang Changjiu. I want to live a few more years and see the end of the Tartars with my own eyes."

Shao Quanzhong didn't care at all about what name Yang Fuqing changed. "Brother Changjiu, when you are overseas, you can't say you came from me. Just say you are a fleeing Taiping Army recruited by Grant. You must tell your subordinates well."

The newly-minted mercenary leader Yang Changjiu patted his chest and said, "My men are all loyal to me. Don't worry, no one will reveal the truth. I will go back and organize the team to surrender."

Yang Changjiu walked out of the cabin and stood on the deck of the Haichang, feeling a new life.

Looking at the rolling Yangtze River, he composed a poem, "The mountains are high and the water is long. How can a man grow old in his hometown? The waves behind push the waves in front, so jump onto the waves and have a fight." Ahem, this rough man's poem is very similar to the "Cannons fire, blow his mother up" copied by Shao Quanzhong.

An hour later, more than 4,100 elite Taiping troops under Yang Fuqing surrendered to the Huai Army under Tian Xing.

This was a real exchange of guns, not an expression. Half of Yang Fuqing's subordinates were equipped with muskets, and he also had 50 personal guards with quick-guns.

The Taiping Army was not isolated at all. Internationally, capitalists in Britain, France and the United States spontaneously organized the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Support Association" to provide the Taiping Army with foreign guns, artillery and even military advisers free of charge.

The purpose was to support a government that believed in foreign religions in China so that they could expand into the Chinese market.

With the help of arms dealers like Wall who are willing to risk their lives to make money, the Taiping Army actually has enough sources of advanced weapons.

The reason why the Taiping Army did not become a modern army equipped with foreign guns was that Hong Xiuquan himself had backward ideas and he used the idiot Lin Shaozhang to preside over diplomacy.

Britain, France and the United States were even prepared to take official action and sent people to Tianjing to discuss joining forces with the Taiping Army to destroy the Qing Dynasty. Unfortunately, Lin Shaozhang responded improperly and lost this opportunity.

Even so, after Deng Guangming was defeated and seriously injured, he was not demoted. Instead, because he killed and wounded more than 50 Huai Army soldiers, his performance was better than Hong Renxuan. He was promoted from Liao Tianyan to Liao Tianyi, and his foreign rifle team was expanded to 6,000 people to help Li Xiucheng guard Hangzhou.

Where did these 6,000 foreign guns come from? Half were donated by international organizations, and the other half were purchased from Wall.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Shanghai Foreign Rifle Corps has expanded to 7,000 people, and Li Hongzhang is about to equip the Shanghai Army with foreign rifles and cannons. But it's not just Shao Quanzhong who knows how to equip the army with advanced weapons...

If Tian Xing had not persuaded Yang Fuqing to surrender, the outcome of this battle would have been unknown.

Even if the Huai Army won, it would be a pyrrhic victory. The 10,000 new recruits who had been trained with great difficulty for three months would most likely suffer heavy casualties, and the pensions would bankrupt Shao Quanzhong.

Shao Quanzhong stood at the bow of the Haichang, followed by Grant and Emery.

Rows of Taiping surrendered soldiers lined up at Liudu Wharf and boarded the Yunsheng transport ships No. 1 to No. 5.

"Lao Ge, Xiao Ai, look at the quality of these Taiping surrendered soldiers I recruited."

Shao Quanzhong is not called randomly. Grant is a senior, so he is called by his surname. Emery is a rookie, so he is called by his given name. This is the traditional Chinese custom. Foreigners have no characters, so they can only be called by their given names.

Emery had no battlefield experience, so he couldn't tell what was going on and didn't dare to speak. Grant, however, kept nodding his head, "The troops are well-organized, strong, with firm eyes and steady steps. They are obviously veterans who have fought many battles."

Shao Quanzhong patted Grant on the shoulder and said, "Grant, you have a good idea. I say, Grant, a captain like you and a freshly graduated student traveling thousands of miles back to fight in the war won't be of much use, right?"

Shao Quanzhong is speaking against his conscience. Grant and Emery played a very important role in the Northern Army, but they themselves don't know it now.

"Your Northern Army only has 16,000 regular troops in total. Once the civil war breaks out, many of them will defect to the South. Once the war starts, both sides will have to immediately expand their armies, probably to several million. But do you think it's reliable to send new recruits directly to the battlefield to fight?"

Grant puffed out his chest and said, "For justice and the motherland, we must fight even if it is unreliable. Our Northern Army is an army of justice and will surely win."

"But I heard that the Union Army lost nearly 3,000 soldiers in the first battle, the Battle of Manassas, and the defeat at Henry Mountain. You have more than 10,000 veterans in total. You can't afford such a loss."

Shao Quanzhong pointed at the more than 4,000 Taiping troops and said, "The backbone of them have fought for ten years. They are absolutely elite and firm believers in foreign religions. If I send them to the United States to join the Northern Army, will you welcome them?"

(End of this chapter)