Chapter 156 Target Anshun Field

Chapter 156 Target Anshun Field

Chapter 156 Target - Anshun Field
Ma Han was much more qualified to be a warship captain than Liao Rong.

Shao Quanzhong issued the order to fight, Ma Han commanded well, and after his training, the crew was more skilled than before. The main engine moved forward three times and backed up three times. In just one minute, the Haichang completed the turn and the broadside guns fired.

However, just after firing the first round of artillery and before the results of the battle could be reviewed, Mahan urgently commanded the Haichang to turn the bow back.

Shao Quanzhong didn't understand. There were so many boats on the river, all of which were military achievements. So he started to fight.

It’s too late to fight back. The flood peak that occurs once in a century has arrived and the torrent has already come.

The ships of Shao Quanzhong's troops were all large ships weighing over 1,500 tons. They were not afraid of the huge waves on the sea, let alone the flood peaks on the Yangtze River.

Li Xiucheng's crossing troops were in bad luck. The small boats were overturned by the flood peak, and 2,000 people were lost on the river. Li Xiucheng only brought 30,000 of his most elite troops to the south bank, and 100,000 ordinary soldiers who were dizzy with hunger were separated to the north bank.

If you don't take advantage of an opportunity, you're a bastard. Shao Quanzhong ordered, "Dock and capture prisoners!"

"South Bank, North Bank?"

Shao Quanzhong was angry at Ma Han's rigor, "Of course we're going to the north bank. We're just picking on the weak. Are we going to the south bank to fight Li Xiucheng's elite troops?"

There was no need to capture prisoners. When they heard that they would be fed if they surrendered, they all sat on the ground and handed in their guns. Not a single one ran away.

Shao Quanzhong was scratching his head. With an additional 100,000 people to feed, how could he go to Sichuan?

After thinking for a while, he said, "Hengzhong, you take the four battalions of the left wing and take the prisoners to Hailing. My godfather has food, so go and eat them. Ask Shao Yigu to send some strong men to go to Xuzhou to open a mine, and let godfather deal with the rest. We won't care about them."

The Huai Army sent to Sichuan suddenly lost 6,000 people, and the soldiers who didn't know the truth were a little worried. With only 10,000 people left, could they still defeat Shi Dakai? Don't let Shi Dakai be captured and be pushed back.

Only Shao Quanzhong was full of confidence. I said, "If I go alone - that won't work. I have to at least bring Brother Tian with me, then we will definitely be able to capture Shi Dakai."

You don't know the situation Shi Dakai is facing now...

In order to transport the 16,000 soldiers of the Huai Army, You Sihai dispatched ten steam freighters, Yunsheng No. 1 to Yunsheng No. 10, and even cargo transportation on the Yangtze River was suspended.

The loss was more than 100,000 silver coins. The You family was powerful and ruthless, yet they still refused to accept the money.

What money do you want to collect? The previous contributions have already earned You Sihai the status of a juren and the position of county magistrate, but a juren is something that cannot be obtained even if you donate 100,000 silver coins.

Didn't you see Shao Quanzhong's rocket-like promotion? How did Hu Xueyan get rich? He has now joined Zuo Zongtang and has 20 million silver coins, much richer than the You family.

There is only one Zuo Zongtang, but we have Shao Quanzhong. Youshi has made up her mind to cling to Shao Quanzhong's thighs and not let go. Following Shao Lao Da will give her meat to eat.

Shao Quanzhong did not leave a ship for Shao Hengzhong, and asked him to escort the prisoners to Hailing by land.

There was food in every village on land, which was Shao Quanzhong's territory. It was not enough to feed the prisoners, but half-full food was enough to sustain them until they reached Hailing, where there was plenty of food.

Mahan was quite puzzled as to why the troop transport ship was suddenly empty of 6,000 people. Isn't this a waste of transport capacity?

Shao Quanzhong patted him on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Ma, when we come back, you will complain that the transportation capacity is not enough. Six thousand people have left, and the vacant space may not be enough."

Ma Han is the same age as Shao Quanzhong, just a few months younger, so there is nothing wrong with calling him Xiao Ma.

It is said that Ma Han was ordered to be "seconded" to the Qing Dynasty, and he began to learn Chinese on the way there.

It took him a month to travel from Washington, around Panama, across the Isthmus and then to San Francisco, and another month from San Francisco to Shanghai. He was almost a master of interpretation.

Mahan is a better honors student than Emory. He can accurately rank second in every exam, which is more difficult than ranking first.
More than half a year passed, and Mahan had become an even more powerful Qing expert than Henry Wall, who unfortunately died in the South China Sea.

The Chinese name he gave himself was simply Ma Han, and he even knew that this was the name of a public official in the Song Dynasty.

Ma Han knew that Shao Quanzhong must have something he didn't tell him. As a soldier's duty is to obey orders, he didn't ask any questions and just ordered the fleet to go.

The ship reached Yibin, entered the Minjiang River, and reached Leshan. It had been twenty days since the trip, and Ma Han decided not to continue.

"Report to the commander, the hydrological conditions of the Dadu River are unclear. Judging from the current river conditions, it is not suitable for ships of 1,500 tons to navigate. There is a danger of running aground halfway. Please ask the troops to disembark at Leshan and march."

Shao Quanzhong readily agreed and said, "Then you guys get off the boat."

Then, Tian Xing and Hai Qing got off the ship with two teams of the detective team.

"The rest of you, wait on the boat." "Sir, is there a boat to pick you up?"

"No."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"I observed the sky at night and found that the Dadu River would flood."

Ma Han scratched his head and expressed his dissatisfaction with Shao Quanzhong's pursuit of mysticism.

You haven't gone to the upper reaches of the Dadu River to observe the weather. How can you judge that the upper reaches will have a flood peak just by observing the astronomical phenomena hundreds of miles away? This is too unreliable.

Does Shao Quanzhong know how to observe the celestial phenomena at night?

Knowing astronomy and geography is a skill of a famous general. Shao Quanzhong, for example, was a qualified leader, but not a famous general, and he did not know this knowledge.

If we have a large general staff in the future, there will definitely be someone dedicated to meteorological intelligence, but of course there isn't one now.

Shao Quanzhong really relied on mysticism. He knew clearly that Shi Dakai was trapped in the Dadu River because the Dragon King of China did not bless those who believed in foreign religions. When Shi Dakai crossed the river, he encountered the Dadu River's largest flood that had not occurred in a century, and he was unable to cross it for many days.

Tian Xing and Hai Qing led their men and disappeared. No one knew where they went. The Haichang and Yunsheng fleet stopped in Leshan.

The water stopped for ten days and there was no sign of rising water in the Dadu River. However, the steam ship Yunsheng No. 11 that was responsible for transporting grain arrived.

Leshan cannot supply food for an army of 10,000, so Shao Quanzhong was well prepared and transported the food himself.

The steamship brought unexpected news. The Huai Army was rewarded for its two great achievements: "defeating Li Xiucheng's 200,000-strong northern expedition army" and "capturing Li Xiucheng's 100,000 subordinates alive."

Ahem, Shao Quanzhong is a bit embarrassed, I basically did nothing, okay? Li Xiucheng's army collapsed because of lack of food, and the prisoners were captured when the Yangtze River flooded.

This is where Shao Quanzhong is not as good as Qiao Songnian, as he understands the officialdom better than he does.

Qiao Songnian did not lie in the memorial he submitted, and said exactly this.

The Huai Army generals Wu Ziyi and Le Sen prepared for a rainy day by building large dikes in the area under the jurisdiction of Northern Anhui Province, clearing the fields and fortifying the city. This left Li Xiucheng's army with nowhere to find food and their morale plummeted to the lowest point.

Shao Hengzhong's troops were well-disciplined and the Green Cannon they carried was extremely powerful. When the troops arrived in Shouzhou, Li Xiucheng fled at the sight of them.

When Li Xiucheng led his troops to cross the river, they encountered artillery fire from Ma Han, the acting captain of the Huai Army's Haichang. The ship was in chaos and was washed away by the flood. Shao Hengzhong's troops with 6,000 troops faced the 100,000 Taiping Army on the north bank of the river and won a great victory, capturing all the enemies.

I just want to ask you if these are all true. Wasn't Li Xiucheng's northern expedition army captured by the Huai Army? The 100,000 prisoners are proof of this.

The Hunan Army suffered heavy losses at Yuhuatai and was terrified. As soon as the Huai Army took action, Li Xiucheng's 200,000-strong northern expeditionary army was disintegrated, and only 30,000 fled back. Is this true?
When the imperial court saw the battle report, they were really shocked. The Huai Army was so powerful and had made such a great contribution.

Of course, it was a pity that Li Xiucheng was not captured. The captured Taiping troops were not elite and were not worth slaughtering. They were all sent to labor reform. But there were so many of them, so they had to be rewarded, right? Otherwise, how could they win the support of the people? Who would fight for the court in the future?

The last time the reward was bestowed upon Shao Quanzhong, Song Laosan just got in on the fun. This time, the benefit will be given to everyone.

Qiao Songnian was promoted to the rank of Governor-General of the Grand Canal and given the title of Right Censor-in-Chief, becoming a first-rank official.

Shao Quanzhong was promoted to the governor of Anhui and was promoted to the first-class light cavalry commander. Shao Shucai's rank could not be lower than his son's, so he was granted the first-class light cavalry commander.

Shao Quanzhong could already wear the uniform of a second-rank civil official, and had become a quasi-provincial official. It seemed that not long ago, he had congratulated his godfather on his promotion to the governor of Jiangning, and now he himself was also a governor.

Shao Hengzhong was promoted to the prefect of Suzhou. Like Shao Quanzhong, this was an unprecedented promotion for a military general to a civil official. He caught up with Zhang Zhidong, who was a juren. It was a huge leap in promotion.

The foreign general Ma Han was promoted to deputy general. Wu Ziyi and Le Sen made great contributions in clearing the fields and defending the city. Wu Ziyi was promoted to the governor of Shouzhou and Le Sen was promoted to the governor of Bozhou.

Shao Quanzhong was stunned by the unexpected reward. What is this? This is called destiny. Luck is also a kind of ability.

When luck comes, nothing can stop it. When the news of the reward came out, everyone cheered, and then the Dadu River flooded.

Shao Quanzhong was full of energy and said, "Come on, start the boat, target - Anshunchang."

(End of this chapter)