Chapter 143 Ambush

Chapter 143 Ambush

Chapter 143 Ambush from all sides
Luzhou, the British king’s camp.

To be precise, because the rescue failed and Anqing fell, Chen Yucheng had been stripped of his title of King of England by the Heavenly King.

However, Li Xiucheng was too arrogant to contribute. The King of Ying fought the Hunan Army alone, but he was powerless. He fought a bloody battle at Jixian Pass but failed to break the Hunan Army's encirclement. It was not his fault.

The Taiping Army soldiers had sharp eyes. They knew clearly who were the white jade pillars supporting the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the true loyal subjects.

The loyal king is not necessarily loyal, but the English king is a true hero.

A true hero cannot have his reputation erased just by taking away the title. His subordinates still call Chen Yucheng the King of England.

Chen Yucheng walked back and forth several hundred times in the military tent with his hands behind his back. He had no idea what to do with the remaining 5,000 elite Taiping troops under his command.

Chen Yucheng originally had an army of 100,000, including 20,000 elite troops. However, he lost more than 10,000 of them in the bloody battle of Jixian Pass to rescue Anqing.

After that, Chen Yucheng was besieged in Tongcheng for several months. Li Xiucheng sat firmly in Suzhou and Fuzhou and refused to lend a helping hand. King Ying had to risk his life to break out and retreat to Luzhou.

The 100,000-man army had been scattered, either sacrificed or deserted. Only the 5,000 most loyal and combat-capable old brothers were left.

Behind him were 30,000 elite Hunan troops led by Duolong'a and Li Xuyi, who were chasing him. After the Battle of Anqing, Duolong'a and Li Xuyi's troops were greatly supplemented, and most of Chen Yucheng's elite troops were lost, so they were no longer a match.

To the east was the Linhuai Army led by Yuan Baoheng. Although they were slightly weaker than the Hunan Army, as long as they were unable to defeat them and were pinned down, the Hunan Army would pounce on them and they would be surrounded and annihilated.

The defense of Luzhou city is far inferior to that of Tongcheng, and there is no food or grass, and the city's own troops are not that strong, so it is absolutely impossible to hold it.

Originally, my uncle Chen Decai was in Luzhou, forming a pincer attack with me.

He could not count on Li Xiucheng's support, so in order to leave a way out, Wuweizhou, Dongguan and other places south of Tongcheng were successively captured by the Qing army. The Qing general Duolong'a was getting closer and closer, and Luzhou "was short of food and might not be able to hold out for long", so he decided to divide his troops and go out to fight in order to save the crisis.

Among them, the four kings including Fu Wang Chen Decai, Zun Wang Lai Wenguang, Qi Wang Liang Chengfu and Hu Wang Lan Chengchun were in the western route, leading more than 30,000 Taiping troops stationed in Luzhou through Yingzhou and Xincai, "to Henan, Shaanxi and other places to conquer the country."

My uncle is gone, and I don’t know how he is doing in Shaanxi. Now I am unable to join him along the old route he took during his westward expedition.

Governor-General of the Grand Canal Yuan Jiasan has worked tirelessly for the Qing court for many years and is seriously ill. He is applying to retire and return home.

The Qing Dynasty sent a new imperial commissioner, Sheng Bao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, to be in charge of military affairs in Anhui.

Now Shengbao led the Bordered White Banner Tatars and the Black Banner Army of Song Jingshi who were recruited in Shandong to station in Yingzhou, cutting off their retreat route to the west.

I heard that the Huai Army in the north had already occupied Shouzhou, and the road to the north was cut off. The entry of Shao Quanzhong's Huai Army filled the last gap for our army to break out.

Although we didn't fight the Huai Army last time due to the flood, even if the enemy is still the weak force we saw in Wuwei last time, they have more than 14,000 people, and it will be no problem for them to hold Shouzhou and stop us.

What's more, the Huai Army has become more famous recently. After a battle with the Xiang Army, its reputation has become even higher. There is already a saying among the Qing demons that "the elite of Xiang and Huai". Maybe its combat effectiveness is now much higher than before.

His five thousand men were now like trapped beasts in a cage, at the end of their rope and with no hope of escape.

It is impossible to surrender. It is a pity that these old brothers who have fought for their lofty ideals and beliefs all the way from Jintian will die with me in Luzhou.

"Report! Report to the King of England, there is someone outside claiming to be your old friend asking to see you."

"Who?"

"He said his name was Skywalker."

…………The north gate of Luzhou City was wide open, the King of England’s flag was flying, and five thousand of the most capable and determined elite soldiers of the Taiping Army filed out.

Chen Yucheng's confidant Yu Anding rode side by side with the King of England.

Yu Anding was unwilling to die in Luzhou, and was already thinking about betraying the King of England and surrendering to the court at the critical moment.

But now with the arrival of Skywalker, the King of England actually has a new way out, and Yu Anding has given up the idea of ​​surrendering.

Who would want to be branded a traitor unless it was a life-or-death situation? Besides, Zeng Guofan was famous for breaking his promise and killing surrendered generals, so he was not to be trusted.

Yu Anding was very excited. "King of England, is the promise of Skywalker reliable? Can we really go overseas to regroup and wait for the right time?"

Chen Yucheng nodded and then shook his head.

"No matter if it's reliable or not, the lives and property of five thousand old brothers cannot be pinned on the promise of one person. My plan is to pretend to surrender to them, break out when we are about to reach Shouzhou, bypass Shouzhou, cross the Huai River and head north. Go through the empty northern Anhui and meet up with Zhang Lexing."

"What if the Huai Army tries desperately to intercept us and pin us down while we wait for the Hunan Army's reinforcements?"

"So I haven't made the final decision yet. I want to see the strength of the Huai Army and whether they are capable of fighting us in the field. If they are still the same as I saw in Wuwei, we will definitely be able to break out."

Tian Xing was also in this team, but he was quite far away from Chen Yucheng and could not hear the conversation between Chen Yucheng and his subordinates.

However, he was full of confidence that Chen Yucheng would eventually follow the path planned by his second brother.

His persuasion to surrender was just the beginning. The Chief of Staff Zhang Zhidong, a shrewd man, had already analyzed Chen Yucheng's mentality clearly. The King of England would definitely not give up unless he was at the end of his rope.

Zhang Zhidong narrowed his eyes, and even this hero himself was frightened.

Once he had 100,000 soldiers, Chen Yucheng's last 5,000 soldiers, whether they were cavalry or not, all had horses. The team left the city and marched north, covering 80 miles in the morning. A fast horse came from the north, followed by two scout teams he had sent out.

"Reporting to the King of England, Lieutenant Colonel Wu Ziyi of the Huai Army requests an audience."

The King of England was wondering why his scout team had followed him back. Before the scouts could report, Wu Ziyi spoke first.

Wu Ziyi was very familiar with the place. When he saw Chen Yucheng, he bowed and said, "Your Highness, General Shao sent me to greet you and lead the way for you."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Wu, but I still know the way to Shouzhou."

Wu Ziyi waved his hand, "No, no, the situation is different now, this road is not so safe, King Ying, please look -"

There was a lot of dust behind the team, and the sound of horse hooves could be heard continuously. Chen Yucheng looked back and saw three large flags flying behind him. The "Qing" Battalion, "Qu" Battalion, and "Yan" Battalion on the left wing of the Huai Army infantry were all on horseback, and they quickly dismounted and formed a battle array, cutting off the retreat of the 5,000 Taiping Army.

During the months of recuperation, the Huai Army went around buying horses. War horses were hard to buy, but there were plenty of inferior horses. These more than 3,000 soldiers learned the tactics of the Nian Army and had become dragoons.

Two miles ahead, rows of soldiers emerged from the camouflaged trenches on the east side. They were endless and seemed to stretch all the way to Shouzhou City.

The two groups of scouts, the Xueyang brothers, shrugged and said, "We don't need to report, right?"
Chen Yucheng was very confused. It was certain that there were Hunan Army pursuers behind him. He did not wait for them, so it was normal for him to be ambushed by enemy cavalry from behind. He did not even think about going back.

In order to escape the pursuit of the Hunan Army, the team itself moved very quickly, but the scouts were only slightly faster than the team and only advanced five miles, which was generally enough.

When the scout came back, we had already advanced three miles, but we were still two miles away from the ambush ahead.

The encirclement array in front is very far away. At such a long distance, the scouts have just discovered it. Can they surround people?
(End of this chapter)