Chapter 53: Night Talk (Part 1)
Li Mingfeng stood on the city wall, looking at the foreign gun team in the distance, waving his hand to signal. The foreign gun team saw this and knew that things still had a turning point, and the stones in their hearts were all put down.
Standing on the city wall, looking at the rolling Yangtze River not far away, Li Mingfeng's mind was filled with thoughts. In this era, there is no calendar, but roughly estimated, it should be around late November now, and Li Mingfeng has been in this era for almost a year.
Over the past year, Li Mingfeng has gradually adapted to life in the late Qing dynasty. For example, at night there is no light and no TV; now Li Mingfeng is not as averse to this lack of entertainment as he used to be.
Li Mingfeng has gradually fallen in love with this life, and in modern times, it is impossible to see the battlefield. The battle of Sanhe made Li Mingfeng realize the cruelty of war, but also made him fall in love with the feeling of strategizing behind the scenes.
Now, Li Mingfeng felt like he was playing a computer game. The initial forces under his command were the foreign gunners under the city wall. He needed to expand his troops and occupy territory. However, the biggest difference from the game was that other leaders of the forces were not NPCs, but living people, and they were outstanding figures in the intelligent group.
At this time, he was just a small shrimp, and the difference between him and those big figures was too great. If Zeng Guofan had to escape in Sanhe, Chen Yucheng would have been pursuing with his troops long ago, thoroughly eliminating them. If Wei Zhijun hadn't changed his mind, this Pizhou city would have been his burial ground.
Being able to live until today, it should be said that it is not because Li Mingfeng's wisdom is high enough, but rather his luck is good enough.
Li Mingfeng secretly made a note to himself, from now on he must be cautious and pay attention to intelligence, and take care of himself. If he had known today that the city's military strength was more than ten times his own, he would have definitely led his troops to retreat. Fortunately, he encountered internal conflicts within the Long Hair bandits, otherwise, as the old saying goes, tomorrow would be his memorial day.
"General Li, General Wei requests your presence inside." A Taiping Army general came out to summon Li Mingfang.
As soon as he entered the room, Li Mingfeng saw Huang Wengjin, Liu Guanfang, Gu Longxian and Lai Wennong being tied up. Wei Zhijun said: "Lord Li, these four people refused to surrender, today I will hand them over to you for disposal."
Li Mingfeng secretly calculated the pros and cons in his heart. The soldiers under Wei Zhijun's command were not all of one mind, and even among his trusted generals, there were four who refused to surrender, let alone ordinary soldiers. If they were forced to surrender, it would likely become a hidden danger later on. It would be better to explain the advantages and disadvantages clearly and let them come and go freely, which would also increase the loyalty of the troops.
"Wei General, if you listen to me, let the four generals go, and let them come and go as they please," said Li Mingfeng.
"Why?" Wei Zhi-jun and all the other generals were extremely surprised.
Li Mingfeng sighed and pretended to be sad: "General Wei, these four generals can express their intentions in person, which means they are willing to put life and death aside, and it is also because of the trust in General Wei. Although Mingfeng is an official in the imperial court, after seeing everyone, he immediately felt a sense of sympathy, and everyone is a good man. If brothers kill each other due to differences in stance, Mingfeng cannot bear to see it."
Everyone who heard this speech had tears in their eyes, for they were all sworn brothers. It was unbearable to think of killing each other. However, at that time, choosing a camp, either surrendering to the Qing court or being loyal to the Heavenly Kingdom, was an irreconcilable matter. Wei Zhi-jun thought about not killing the four men, but he was also afraid that the Qing court would suspect him of disloyalty. He wanted to kill them, yet he remembered the affection of the past and hesitated, so he asked Li Ming-feng what to do.
"If we don't kill, how can we gain the trust of the imperial court? In the past when I surrendered to Qing, it was because Tian Wang suspected me and Yang Fu conspired against me. If I surrender to the imperial court now, they will also suspect me, what should I do?" Wei Zhi-Jun asked with a frown.
Li Mingfeng was secretly thinking about how to make the situation work in his favor, because from the beginning he had no intention of sending this army to the Qing court. So many seasoned soldiers, so many excellent generals, now willing to surrender to him, if he were to hand over the troops to the imperial court again, that would not be Li's style. But letting someone who was one of the five major generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, commanding a large army of 100,000 people, serve under his command, this matter became much more difficult.
"Could General Wei have thought that even if the imperial court trusted him, how would they deal with the many generals he brought with him?" Li Mingfeng asked.
Wei Zhi-jun sighed and said: "Alas, we are after all the long-haired rebels. The imperial court must have its guard against us. Let most of our soldiers lay down their arms and return to their fields, while a small portion continue to serve in the Qing army - this is the best way out. If things go wrong, it's possible that most people will be dispersed, and even those who remain will be scattered among the various Qing military camps. As for us generals, if we're lucky, we might at most be granted the title of deputy general; but if we're blamed for our past killings of Qing soldiers, then being able to live out our lives as ordinary commoners would already be a blessing."
Li Mingfeng did not expect Wei Zhijun to surrender despite estimating his own future situation would be so dire, it seems that Hong Xiuquan and Yang Fuqing's pressure on Wei Zhijun was too great.
"General Wei must have never heard of this foreign rifle squad?" Li Mingfeng asked.
Wei Zhi-Jun awkwardly smiled and said: "I indeed am ignorant, unexpectedly not knowing that the Qing army has such a powerful military."
Li Mingfeng heard this and couldn't help but blush, saying: "General Wei, don't mock me, I'm just a miscellaneous army, where is the strength?"
"General Li was being polite, in the battle of Sanhe, even the famous Xiang Army's first fierce general Li Xu Bin was surrounded and killed. But your foreign rifle team managed to kill their way out from among 100,000 Taiping soldiers and successfully cross the river - such a feat is rarely seen in the world." Wei Zhi Jun still didn't know that Li Ming Feng had only escaped because of Li Xu Bin's 'covering the rear', and thought he had fought his way out with elite troops.
Li Mingfeng was embarrassed about this issue and hastily said, "The reason why my troops are quite strong is because they were equipped with Western weapons."
"I've also seen Western weapons, they're indeed formidable. However, the foreigners won't sell to us, and the Heavenly King looks down on barbarian things, so our army isn't equipped with them. I heard that even the imperial court can't buy firearms from the foreigners, but unexpectedly, Lord Li has fully equipped his troops - truly a crack Qing army! It seems that Wei Zhi-jun and other Taiping leaders are also starting to take Western firearms seriously."
"The foreign gun squad is not the elite of the Qing army, Li Mingfeng told the truth, Emperor Xianfeng can't even mobilize my foreign gun squad."
"What?" As soon as the words were spoken, Wei Zhi-jun and all the generals were shocked beyond measure, looking at each other in dismay.
Hearing this, Li Mingfeng was not a general of the Qing court. What's the point of saying so much? There's another question, this army doesn't belong to the Qing court or the Heavenly Kingdom, how is that possible?
