Chapter Forty-Five Arrival

  Upon arrival, as expected, the Prussians agreed to help. However, Eros pointed out that although the Prussian merchant ships were not small, they could not transport so many soldiers and horses. Li Mingfeng turned his head to look and indeed there were too many, so he had no choice but to order the soldiers to dismount.

  The Prussian ship was already loaded with military supplies, so under Li Mingfeng's persuasion, Eros agreed to unload some of the cargo. Li Mingfeng ordered Cai Yiqun and Chen Xinghan to each select 100 poor fighters from their respective troops, led by Wu Ting, to take the horses back to camp.

  Twenty thousand rifles and four million bullets were unloaded from the Prussian ship, all of which were carried by the military horses. Li Mingfeng ordered Wu Ting to put the weapons back in the warehouse first. In case he couldn't get the money later, Li Mingfeng planned to seize these military supplies by force. Anyway, Prussia couldn't come all the way to settle accounts with him.

  After Wu Ting led his troops back, Li Mingfeng ordered the ship to set sail. The soldiers were eager for battle, and at Eros' command, thirty Prussian ships sailed upstream with full force.

  Leaving the Yangtze River estuary, the Prussian ship hoisted its national flag, and Li Mingfeng ordered all Chinese to go below deck, with only foreigners standing on the deck.

  Flying the Prussian flag, neither the Qing army nor the Taiping army dared to block them along the way. They passed through Zhenjiang, crossed Tianjing, and went beyond Wuhu. Two days later, the Prussian ship arrived at the heavily besieged city of Anqing.

  Li Mingfeng suddenly had an idea, thinking to himself: If he let the Prussians open fire and attack the city, Anqing would not be able to withstand it. Taking Anqing would be a great achievement.

  Immediately, Li Mingfeng dispelled this idea again. If Anqing falls, it will take no more than a couple of days to break through Tianjing. Once the Heavenly Kingdom is destroyed, what benefits can Li Mingfeng gain?

  Moreover, even if Anqing was captured, if Li Xubin was surrounded and killed by Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng, after a few days, the Taiping Army's army of over 100,000 would arrive, and Anqing might not be able to hold out. To occupy Anqing, it is necessary to capture all the nearby cities first, otherwise, the isolated city cannot be defended.

  Attention was paid, Li Mingfeng ordered to land in the southwest of Anqing and let the Prussians wait there. Li Mingfeng led 800 foreign soldiers and 800 Chinese soldiers to rush to Anqing directly.

  It turns out that Li Mingfeng nominally came to rescue Li Xubin, but in reality he was here to take advantage of the situation. Li Mingfeng wanted to rely on Western advanced weapons to make a name for himself in this battle and gain recognition from the Qing court. As for Li Xubin, if he could be rescued, then so be it, but if not, well, Li Mingfeng had never been foolish enough to put himself in harm's way.

  Li Mingfeng is not stupid, he has more than a thousand guns under his command. Even if the firearms are sharp and can be used by five thousand people at most, they are facing the Taiping Army that is hundreds of times larger than their own. If they engage in a fierce battle, the family property that they have accumulated with great difficulty will likely disappear immediately.

  Li Mingfeng led his troops to land in Anqing, where the Jingzhou General Du Xing'a was besieging. The main force of the Taiping Army was 300 miles away, so for now, this could be considered a relatively safe rear area. Li Mingfeng arrived here and wanted to observe the situation first before deciding what to do next.

  On November 9, Li Mingfeng led the troops to land in Anqing, and at the same time, Li Xubin's division captured the outer ring of Sanhe Town, and Du Xing'a's division also captured Jixian Pass, and the army began to attack the north gate of Anqing.

  The Western Gun Brigade was fully equipped, carrying their own weapons, ammunition and three days' worth of food. Li Mingfeng ordered the flag to be raised, indicating their identity, and the army marched towards Anqing.

  When the Yang Gun team had just landed, De Xinga had already received the news. Hearing that it was a mixed army of Chinese and foreigners, De Xinga was not clear which side the troops belonged to. It wasn't until he received a report saying they were flying the flag of the Governor-General of Liangjiang that De Xinga's heart finally put down half its worries.

  Since it might be friendly forces, Xing An led the crowd out to welcome them.

  Li Mingfang saw from afar the Qing army's large camp with strict precautions, and at the gate there were dozens of military officers waiting for him. To prevent any unexpected events, Li Mingfang ordered the foreign gun squad to stay in place and listen for orders, while he took Cai Yiguan and Chen Xinghan to meet Du Xing'a.

  Deng Xiang Ah saw the approaching army stop at a distance of thousands of feet, and he immediately understood that they were indeed his own people. Upon seeing Li Mingfeng, both sides exchanged greetings and announced their names. Li Mingfeng produced He Guiqing's official document, which Deng Xiang Ah verified to be genuine.

  When the reinforcements arrived, Du Xinga was also very happy and ordered to arrange barracks for the soldiers of the foreign gun team to rest. Li Mingfeng led several small heads of the foreign gun team into the military account and reported the military situation to Du Xinga.

  He Guiqing specifically wrote in the official document that this army was not established by the imperial court and did not receive the control of the Qing Dynasty, so Duan Hengyi was also polite and did not put on the airs of a superior. On the table in the center of the military account, a map was laid flat, and the generals under Duan Hengyi introduced the current situation to Li Mingfeng and others.

  The Hubei side has no more troops to deploy, and at present, it is actually in a state of solitary struggle. The most favorable situation is that the quick attack on Anqing will break through, and Du Yua's side can rush to Sanhe with over 10,000 people to assist. If they can hold out for one or two months without defeat, once Zeng Guofan comes from Jiangxi to reinforce, there will be another battle.

  But can it drag on for one or two months without losing? Even Xing Ah himself doesn't have too much hope for this.

  Although Dou Xinga did not directly order Li Mingfeng to rescue Li Xu Bin, he always hinted that Li Mingfeng should do so when introducing the situation, otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable.

  Li Mingfeng thought to himself, with just this small group of people, and Andrew and the others were still his friends, saying they stayed behind to avoid going to India to send themselves to death. If they died in China, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

  After considering for half a day, Li Mingfeng finally agreed to set out the next day to assist in the battle. Du Xinga was overjoyed when he heard that Li Mingfeng had agreed and immediately ordered his subordinates to lead a cavalry unit to provide reinforcements, which would be under Li Mingfeng's command.

  They again discussed specific combat arrangements, and the generals who should return to camp to rest went back to rest, while those who were going to continue attacking Anqing continued.

  On the second day, Li Mingfeng led three thousand men to gallop northeast, and due to intentional delay, they didn't arrive in Tongcheng until nightfall. They rested overnight and arrived in Shucheng on the second day.

  After reorganizing in Shucheng, on the morning of November 12, the army left Shucheng and marched directly to Qianrenqiao Town for garrison. This place is only a few dozen miles away from Sanhe Town, even infantry can run to Sanhe within two hours, the garrison here can rescue Li Xubin while being relatively safe.

  Li Mingfeng made up his mind that if the situation didn't look good, he would immediately turn around and run. With a distance of several dozen miles, it was unlikely that the Taiping Army could catch up. Li Mingfeng had special feelings for the British soldiers who initially followed him, as they trusted him and followed him, so he didn't want them to suffer any losses. He let Parland lead the initial 200 British troops to garrison Shucheng, which also served as an additional layer of insurance.

  The situation at this time is very interesting, with several thousand Taiping Army troops stubbornly resisting in Sanhe Town, and 6,000 brave and warlike Xiang Army elite troops outside the town. To the east and north of Sanhe Town are the lakes of Chaohu, covering an area of over a hundred square miles. Thirty li to the southeast is Baishan Town, where the Loyal King Li Xiucheng's army is stationed, while twenty li southwest is Jinniu Town, where the English King Chen Yucheng's army is stationed.

  Only the western part was under the control of the Qing army. At this time, Li Mingfang's 1,400-strong foreign gun team and Du Xing'a's 1,000 cavalrymen were stationed in Qianren Bridge Town, more than thirty miles west of Sanhe Town. (Originally there were 1,800 foreign guns, but 200 were left to guard the house in Shanghai, and another 200 British soldiers were left to defend Shucheng, so only 1,400 arrived here.)

  Li Mingfeng arrived at the place and sent someone to inform Li Xubin, but also made it clear between the lines that his team was not under his jurisdiction. The old man's team didn't take orders from him, so he should have some self-awareness. The old man would try his best to help, but if he was doomed to die, then don't expect the old man to save him.