Chapter 66: Turning Against Each Other

  Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhijun discussed while organizing the retreat how to respond to Zhang Yunlan's and Xiao Qijiang's questioning.

  After discussing for half a day, they still couldn't come up with a good excuse. By noon, the army arrived at the foot of Jingdezhen City, and Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhijun had no choice but to grit their teeth and go see Zhang Yunlan, Xiao Qijiang, and Wang Kaihua.

  "We haven't received any good news, why have you two returned so quickly?" Zhang Yunlan asked as she led Li Wei into the military tent.

  Li Mingfeng hesitated, gesturing with his eyes to Wei Zhijun, letting him explain. Wei Zhijun had no choice but to reply: "I've heard that Huang Wengong is leading an army of 20,000 to reinforce us. With our current military strength, it's really impossible to take down Jingde Town. We've been entangled with Yang Yiqing for too long and are likely to suffer losses, so I'm leading the troops to retreat, hoping that you gentlemen will understand."

  "Huang Wengong's affair we have already heard, but our army has a floating bridge in hand, as long as we lead 10,000 troops to guard firmly, Huang Wengong will not dare to think of Jingdezhen." said Xiao Qijiang.

  Li Mingfeng's old face turned bright red, but he was too embarrassed to say that Fuliang had also given up.

  Wei Zhi-jun saw the situation and knew that this matter could not be said, so he hesitated and said: "Our army has only 40,000 troops at present. If we send 10,000 to Fuliang, there will be less than 30,000 left. As for Yang Yi-qing and Yang Fu-qing, the two armies have no less than 40,000 troops. Moreover, they are defending and we are attacking. It is almost impossible to occupy Jingdezhen in a situation where our military strength is inferior."

  "It doesn't matter, Governor Hu Linyi has already received the imperial edict and is advancing on Jiangxi. Just yesterday, I received news that Governor Hu has dispatched General Yan Jingming to lead a vanguard of 10,000 Xiang Army troops to reinforce us. Moreover, Governor Hu himself will personally lead an army of 30,000 to arrive at Jingde Town within a month to provide assistance." Zhang Yunlan's tone was full of confidence, and in his view, as long as they could hold out until Hu Linyi arrived with reinforcements, Jingde Town would be theirs for the taking.

  After listening to Zhang Yunlan's words, Li Mingfeng had another thought. But after a moment's consideration, Li Mingfeng dispelled the idea again. Li Mingfeng thought that even if they won, wouldn't the greatest credit still go to Hu Linyi? If Hu Linyi got the meat, then Zhang Yunlan and Xiao Qijiang, the Hunan Army generals, would probably get the soup too. In the end, Li Mingfeng was afraid he wouldn't get any real benefits at all.

  Moreover, the large army has already withdrawn. After Yang Yiqing appears, he will definitely come to pursue us. Looking at the time, I'm afraid that in a few hours, Yang Yiqing will arrive and kill us. It's not just a matter of holding out for another month, it's even difficult to get through today.

  Li Mingfeng thought for half a day and said in his heart: I originally had no relationship with you Xiang Army, so there's no need to talk about loyalty today.

  "Our army has been fighting outside for a long time, and the soldiers are tired and worn out. Moreover, since our army was established, we have never received a single silver coin from the imperial court. The brothers have no food or salary, and morale is low. If our army stays here, I'm afraid it will drag you all down. After thinking about it for half a day, I decided to lead the troops to retreat." Li Mingfeng bluntly stated his intention.

  "What?" The three Xiang Army generals stood up together and shouted angrily.

  "At this critical moment, you actually want to retreat? If the battle array is lost, and the imperial court blames us, can you bear it?" Wang Kaihua said.

  If it were just a matter of friendship and loyalty to pressure Li Mingfeng, Old Li might have been too embarrassed to leave like that. But when faced with the imperial court's accusations and the emperor's wrath, Li Mingfeng didn't care at all.

  "I'll take care of it myself, no need for you to worry about it, Lord Wang." Li Mingfeng said with a hint of displeasure.

  "Li Mingfeng, don't you know the times? You're just a fake foreign devil who doesn't think about abandoning your past crimes, turning evil into good, serving the imperial court, and repaying the emperor's kindness. Instead, you're preparing to flee in battle. Do you deserve the emperor's favor?" Wang Kaihua became furious when he heard Li Mingfeng's retort.

  Li Mingfeng gradually made out the name, it seemed that the news of Beijing's self-proclaimed deputy general had already spread. These three people were all titled Daoyuan, which was three levels lower than his own deputy general title, and he had many grievances in his heart.

  Today, Li Mingfeng's merits are few and his official position is high. He doesn't even think about dedicating himself to the imperial court, but instead wants to escape at the critical moment. The three generals of the Xiang Army couldn't bear it anymore and shouted out in anger.

  Wei Zhi-jun was unaware of Li Ming-feng's title, and upon hearing Wang Kai-hua scolding Li Ming-feng so severely, he too became very angry: "Wang, the imperial court hasn't given our rifle troops a single tael of silver, where does this talk of imperial favor come from? We've been fighting to the death with Yang Yiqing at the front lines, and in these few days, our army has suffered thousands of casualties. You're hiding behind us enjoying good fortune. Even if Hu Lin-yi takes Jingde Town, I'm afraid all the credit will go to your Hunan officers. My deceased brothers probably won't even get a single tael of silver for their funeral expenses."

  "Wei Zhi-jun, what right do you have to speak here? You followed Hong Zei in rebellion and committed countless sins. Although you turned against Hong Zei, the imperial court has not pardoned your crimes, and it's hard to say what will happen in the future." Zhang Yun-lan couldn't bring herself to scold Li Ming-feng, but she had no qualms about scolding Wei Zhi-jun.

  Wei Zhi-jun's face turned red and white, clearly furious to the extreme. Wei Zhi-jun had once beheaded the Hunan Army elder Luo Ze-nan, so these Hunan Army generals didn't have a good impression of him.

  Wei Zhi-jun has always been angry but not daring to speak out, because the Xiang Army's power is too great. In the imperial court, the three words "Wei Zhi-jun" are far less important than a small finger of the Xiang Army. If the Xiang Army unanimously demands Wei Zhi-jun's death, the imperial court will likely follow their wishes. Therefore, Wei Zhi-jun has always been yielding and humble in front of Zhang Yun-lan and Xiao Qi-jiang.

  But now Wang Kaihua actually doesn't care about face and scolds, Wei Zhijun slaps the table in anger and shouts: "Fine, I know you all look down on me, preparing to find trouble with me everywhere. In that case, what's the point of my staying here?"

  Today is a complete breakdown, this situation is exactly what Li Mingfeng expected. Wei Zhijun and Xiang Jun broke their faces, and in the future, they will have limited options and can only follow him wholeheartedly.

  Li Mingfeng pretended to be very angry, slamming his hand on the table and shouting: "Wei Zhijun has surrendered to me, so I am now the commander of the Western Gun Brigade. Even if the imperial court wants to punish past crimes, they will have to start with me first. The affairs of the Western Gun Brigade are not for you gentlemen to worry about."

  Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhijun stood up and left the Xiang Army's camp, returning to their own camp.

  Originally Zhang Yunlan, Xiao Qijiang assigned to Wei Zhi-Jun's Hunan soldiers are now mixed with the foreign gun team. Li Mingfeng is about to retreat and will send them back to their camp. At this time, only his own men were left, Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhi-Jun ordered the army to set off towards Lake Port.

  As for Xiang Army and Yang Fuqing, Li Mingfeng had no interest in participating in the battle of Yang Yiqing brothers.

  Hukou is an important port on the Yangtze River, a strategic location that military leaders must contend for. It is about 300 miles away from Jingdezhen. Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhijun were afraid that the Yang brothers would settle with the Xiang Army and then come after them again, so they marched through the night.

  After two days of traveling, we finally arrived at Lake Kou safely and smoothly.