Chapter 104 Cleaning up the battlefield and persuading surrender
Fang Haiyang said with a smile.
"Hey, Governor!"
"It seems that I am lucky. Not only did I seize a batch of Qingyao warships, but I also caught a big fish."
"Hahaha, this time the credit is huge!"
Wu Quanmei, Wu Chonghui and others who had not yet boarded the ship saw this and turned around and tried to escape.
But at this moment, one after another, the sailors of the Restoration Army rushed out from all directions and surrounded Wu Quanmei and others.
"Put down your weapons and don't kill!"
"Surrender immediately, do not resist, otherwise you will be killed without mercy..."
"..."
Faced with the Restoration Army sailors rushing towards them from all sides, Wu Quanmei and others did not dare to resist any longer. They dropped their weapons and knelt down in surrender.
Just to save my life!
Xu Guangjin was tied up and forced to kneel on the ground, but his eyes were still staring at Chen Guotai and Wu Quanmei like knives.
As if to say, is this what you mean by certainty?
Is this what you said, that as long as we retreat to the water fort, we can evacuate the battlefield?
Is this guy evacuating the battlefield, or walking into a trap? !
Even more outrageous is Wu Quanmei. Why did Xu Guangjin change into an ordinary soldier's clothes?
To put it bluntly, isn't it just to hide your identity?
The results of it?
You even took the initiative to fire at me!
It’s really the best!
Upon seeing this, Fang Haiyang couldn't hide the joy on his face at all costs, and with a smile on his face he instructed a messenger beside him.
"Quick! Send someone to report the good news to the Grand Commander immediately."
"Just say we caught a big fish!"
……
As the sun sets in the west, the blood-red setting sun illuminates the earth, making it difficult to tell whether it is the color of blood or the setting sun.
On the battlefield, tattered flags were swaying, and a corpse with only the upper body left was lying on the ground, with colorful internal organs flowing out of the wound and covering the ground.
Look in the direction those lifeless eyes are looking.
There were densely packed corpses and countless broken limbs on the ground.
The blood gathered in the low places, forming puddles of blood.
Flies were circling around the battlefield, making a buzzing sound, which was simply annoying.
The victorious Restoration Army is cleaning up the battlefield.
Sort the corpses on the battlefield into different categories.
The bodies of the Qing soldiers were piled together like garbage, waiting to be burned.
The bodies of our comrades must be handled meticulously and their appearance must be arranged. If there are any body parts that are damaged, we must try our best to find them and put them back together.
Although they are both cremated in the end, one will be placed in an urn and properly handed over to their families, while the other will be scattered on the spot.
There is naturally a difference between the two!
Although most of the corpses on the battlefield were from the Qing army, there were also quite a few from the Restoration Army.
Although the Restoration Army won a great victory in the Battle of Wuzhou, it was not an easy victory.
Especially on the front battlefield, the Restoration Army suffered heavy casualties in the tug-of-war with the Qing army defenders in order to attack the Qing army camp.
The situation was fine before they officially attacked the Qing army's camp, because they had the fire support provided by their own artillery to suppress the Qing army's artillery fire, so the casualties of the Restoration Army were limited.
However, after the Restoration Army officially entered the Qing army camp, the artillery support had to be stopped in order to prevent accidental injuries to their own people.
Coupled with the fierce counterattack of the Qing army, the Restoration Army suffered considerable casualties.
This achieved the strategic goal of forcing the Qing army to bring up all its reserve troops and creating opportunities for the attack of its own guard regiment.
Although the Battle of Wuzhou seemed to have been a great success, it seemed that the Restoration Army Guards Regiment, which used breech-loading rifles, made great contributions.
But in fact, this is not the case. If the other troops had not launched offensives on the battlefield in the early stage, constantly pulling the Qing army's forces and forcing the Qing army to mobilize its forces, they would have created the best opportunity for the guard regiment to attack.
Even if the Guards Regiment goes to the battlefield, it will not be easy to win.
To put it bluntly, in the Battle of Wuzhou, the role played by the Guard Regiment was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Although this straw is important, the other heavy objects that weighed on the camel before it are equally important.
Li Yi found a relatively clean piece of bluestone on the battlefield, sat down, and lit a cigarette for himself, hoping to use the smoke to cover up the bloody smell.
He was waiting for the generals of the Restoration Army to report to him the specific results and losses of the battle.
While thinking about what to do next!
The Battle of Wuzhou was a great victory, and the Restoration Army's road to Guangdong was opened up to the east.
It is even possible that Li Yi could take advantage of this opportunity to march to the outskirts of Guangzhou in one breath.
But the problem now is that the emergencies in Xunzhou, Yulinzhou, and Xinyi have seriously troubled Li Yi.
If he wanted to go east, he had to deal with the Qing troops in these three directions first.
Otherwise, he might have lost his old nest before he could capture Guangzhou.
But this is something unacceptable to Li Yi.
He doesn't want to be a bandit!
In the Battle of Wuzhou, the reason why Li Yi chose to launch a rash attack instead of continuing to adhere to the strategy of "defense and counterattack" was because there was a problem in his rear.
Just as Li Yi was thinking, a communications soldier was brought to him and began to report.
"Report to the Grand Commander, there is good news!"
"Navy Commander Fang Haiyang sent a message of victory. After they raided and captured the Qing Yao water stronghold, they not only seized several Qing Yao red-list warships, but also captured the Qing Yao Guangdong and Guangxi Governor Xu Guangjin who was trying to escape by boat."
Li Yi's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this.
"Are you sure it's the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi?"
He was the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, the second-in-command of the Qing court in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. His status, position and power were second only to the garrison general of Guangzhou.
If this news is true, then the Restoration Army has really caught a big fish in this battle.
Upon hearing this, the communications soldier nodded vigorously.
"Yes! Confirmed!"
"Commander Fang has already conducted a brief interrogation and is certain that the person we have captured is Xu Guangjin."
Li Yi became visibly excited upon hearing this.
"Great!"
"The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi was captured, and the main force of the Qing army in Guangdong was completely defeated. After this battle, our Restoration Army will be famous all over the world."
After speaking, Li Yi asked.
"Tell me the details. I want to know what happened."
Upon hearing this, the communications soldier began to recount the details of how Fang Haiyang and others raided the Qing army's water stronghold and captured Xu Guangjin and others.
After listening to this, Li Yi asked curiously.
"How many Qing monster warships did our army capture in this battle?"
After hearing this, the communications soldier thought for a moment and then spoke.
"In reply to the Grand Commander, according to preliminary statistics, our army has seized five Qing demon red single boats and twelve fast crab boats in this battle. In addition, there are more than seventy sampans of various types."
"It's a rich spoils of spoils!" Upon hearing this, Li Yi couldn't help but smile.
After being happy for a while, Li Yi regained his composure, thought for a while, and then gave orders.
"Order people to select all the sailors and men of the Qing navy from among our prisoners of war, and find a way to recruit them to surrender."
"Let them man the ships for my Restoration Army!"
Although the Restoration Army Navy has seized a batch of Qing army warships, Li Yi understands that in order to form a navy, it is not enough to have ships alone, but also necessary to have enough sailors and soldiers to operate the ships.
Otherwise, the so-called strong ships and powerful guns are just big coffins floating on the water.
However, it is not easy to get enough sailors to operate the ship.
Fang Haiyang's joining made great contributions to the establishment of the navy of the Restoration Army, and it can even be said that he is the father of the navy of the Restoration Army.
But most of the people he brought were former pirates and were good at swimming. They had no problem operating small boats like sampans and crab boats.
But if they are asked to operate a large ship like the Red Single Ship, that would be a big problem.
Although the operation of a Chinese hard sail boat is much easier than that of a Western soft sail boat, it is not something you can learn just by watching.
If you want to master the skills of sailing and steering, you will need at least several months of repeated practice and study.
Li Yi had no good solution for this.
The only thing he could do was to use the Qing navy prisoners of war and let them take over as makeshift troops, and then he would slowly start to train the corresponding talents.
As for whether the Qing army prisoners of war would refuse to surrender until death?
Haha, do you really think that the soldiers below can be loyal to the Qing Dynasty?
As the saying goes, soldiers eat food. As long as there is food to eat, it doesn't matter who you serve in the army.
Besides, soldiers in the Restoration Army are given land.
In China of this era, no one can resist the temptation of land.
……
As the sun gradually sank below the horizon and the sky grew darker, Li Yi did not stay on the battlefield, but led his team back to Wuzhou City.
He met Fang Haiyang in his own headquarters.
"Well done, you directly dug out the lair of the Qingyao Navy. After this battle, you and your brothers in the Navy have washed away the shame of yesterday's defeat."
Fang Haiyang did not act arrogantly when he heard this, but just smiled humbly.
"Our army was able to win this battle thanks to the Grand Commander's decisive command and the victory thousands of miles away. I dare not take credit for it."
Li Yi just smiled and said.
"A merit is a merit, and a fault is a fault. If a fault is to be punished, then a merit should naturally be rewarded."
“No need to be too modest!”
Li Yi now understands the happiness that Feng Yunshan felt back then!
Who wouldn't like such a capable subordinate who can also flatter you?
After talking with Fang Haiyang for a while, Li Yi waved his hand to send him away, and then ordered his men to bring Xu Guangjin up. Li Yi was ready to meet the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi in person.
Speaking of Xu Guangjin, Li Yi's feelings towards him are actually quite complicated.
Historically, Xu Guangjin made great contributions.
Unlike his predecessors such as Qishan, Ili Bu, and Qiying who were afraid of foreigners and fawned on foreigners.
During the period when Xu Guangjin served as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, he properly handled foreign-related incidents such as the Huang Zhuqi Incident and the Macau Incident.
Moreover, they utilized the power of the people of Guangzhou and used the severance of trade as a bargaining chip to resolutely reject the unreasonable demands of the British to enter the city of Guangzhou, thus safeguarding national interests and national dignity.
From this perspective, Xu Guangjin can definitely be considered to have made a contribution.
At the very least, he is much better than his successor Ye Mingchen, the "Governor-General of Six No's".
However, it was also Xu Guangjin who, when faced with endless peasant uprisings, brutally suppressed them without hesitation.
In the first year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, an uprising of the Taiping Army led by Ling Shiba, Chen Er, and Wu San broke out in Luojing, under the jurisdiction of Xu Guangjin, and an uprising led by Liu Wenkai, Gao Lian, and He Ruoke broke out in Qiongzhou.
To this end, Xu Guangjin personally entered Gaozhou and carried out a brutal suppression, killing countless people.
In May of the second year of the Xianfeng reign, Xu Guangjin was ordered to go to Wuzhou, Guangxi to suppress the Taiping Army.
In the Wujiang River naval battle, the Qing army captured more than 1670 Taiping troops alive, and he ordered the killing of 1636 of them. After the battle, he was rewarded by Emperor Xianfeng as the Prince's Guardian.
His hat was dyed red with the blood of countless peasant soldiers.
But it was also Xu Guangjin who, when he was the prefect of Yulin, donated all his "integrity" money in order to help the victims.
He had worked in Guangdong for several years and had a high salary. When he learned that Henan was hit by a disaster, he donated his savings of 50,000 taels of silver to the victims in Henan.
When he was dismissed from his post and his property was confiscated by the Qing government because the Taiping Army conquered Wuchang, the officers and soldiers who searched his property could not find any gold, silver or treasures at all.
In his later years, he returned to his hometown to recuperate. He lived in a thatched hut and often relied on help from friends to survive.
Therefore, Li Yi's evaluation of Xu Guangjin is very complicated.
I can’t say I like it, but I don’t hate it either.
In Li Yi's opinion, Xu Guangjin is actually an excellent worker.
The imperial court appointed him as the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, and he properly handled the foreign affairs in Guangdong and Guangxi.
The imperial court asked him to suppress the rebellion, so he used bloody means to suppress the peasant army.
Donating money to disaster victims can indeed be regarded as a shining point in his humanity.
Well, it’s much better than having your head shaved!
……
Li Yi didn't have to wait long before two soldiers of the Restoration Army brought Xu Guangjin, who was tied up, in front of Li Yi.
Li Yi looked up at the disheveled old man in front of him, and immediately began to scold the two soldiers.
"Who told you to treat Master Xu like that? This is outrageous. Why don't you untie Master Xu immediately?"
Li Yi was serious about persuading the enemy to surrender.
Not to mention that he was now facing Xu Guangjin, who had just been ordered to march westward and had become a prisoner of war before he had the chance to launch a bloody suppression of the peasant army.
Even if it was Zeng the Barber, as long as he surrendered voluntarily, Li Yi would accept him despite his disgust.
To conquer the world, moral obsession is not necessary!
Of course, accepting the person openly would not prevent Li Yi from killing him secretly in the future.
As a person in a high position with great power, it is very easy to kill a demoted official.
The two soldiers didn't take it seriously when they heard this.
Because they had seen a lot of such things, during this period of time, every time the Restoration Army captured an official, the Grand Commander would drag them to perform a drama called "Respecting the Wise and the Condescending."
Everyone had long been accustomed to this, and just did as usual, apologizing to Li Yi while preparing to untie Xu Guangjin.
However, before the two Restoration Army soldiers could untie him, Xu Guangjin spoke himself.
"You thief, don't act so hypocritical. It makes me sick. I fell into your hands today because of my bad luck. I can't blame others."
"If you want to kill me or chop me up, I will do whatever you want. But do you want me to surrender to the enemy?"
"I can only say four words to you: wishful thinking!!"
(End of this chapter)