Chapter 188: The Third Encirclement and Suppression (VI)
On the sixth day after the opening of the Military Affairs Office, before the seventh day, the original purpose of its establishment had been achieved. The Military Affairs Office inside Longzong Gate sent the latest military intelligence from the front line.
Prince Yi, Zhang Tingyu, Ma Qi and others all looked pale or blue. The hands holding the papers couldn't help but tremble slightly.
The 100,000-strong army was defeated in the battle with Huo Chong's 20,000-strong army, and the defeat was extremely thorough.
Yue Zhongqi's letter of apology gave a detailed account of the defeat.
In the small battle on the first day, Huo Chong's artillery was very powerful and the government army lost 500 men.
On the second day, Yue Zhongqi mobilized all his troops to drive away Huo Chong. However, Huo Chong's army held out and launched a counterattack against the government troops. The government troops were no match for Huo Chong's sharp firearms and lost 5,000 men and horses.
On the morning of the third day, Yue Zhongqi launched a feint attack from the front, using 4,000 cavalry to attack Huo Chong from the flank and rear. However, the army collapsed completely under the fierce artillery fire and firearms of Huo Chong.
More than 2,700 of the 4,000 cavalrymen were killed, and the remaining 1,000-plus cavalrymen completely collapsed.
Huo Chong then divided half of his troops to attack the high ground where Yue Zhongqi was. This high ground was located in the middle of the government army's formation, and it was a convenient place for command from a high position. There were many cannons placed on the high ground, and the government army thought that it was impregnable and could not be shaken.
Seeing Huo Chong's army attacking, Yue Zhongqi quickly mobilized troops to attack from both sides, hoping to annihilate Huo Chong's several thousand men. However, he did not expect that tens of thousands of troops could do nothing to Huo Chong's eight thousand men.
Unlike the Qing army's artillery, Huo Chong's artillery was mounted on the central axle of two wheels, making it extremely easy to move. It could even keep up with the speed of the infantry. When it encountered a large group of Qing troops advancing, it immediately stopped the artillery and fired fiercely.
Some of the cannons were so powerful that they could rip through entire columns of troops with one volley. Although the government troops fought bravely, they were unable to get close to Huo Chong's troops.
The scattershot shells fired by these huge cannons were "both numerous and far-reaching", and they were fired at the cannons of the government troops on the high ground, killing all the gunners of the government troops. Huo Chong then launched an attack and knocked Yue Zhongqi off the high ground. Then he transported the huge cannons to the high ground.
Huo Chong's troops set up huge cannons from a high ground and began to bombard the government troops fiercely from the high ground, completely disrupting the formation and command of the government troops. Huo Chong's troops began to attack fiercely while the chaos was going on.
The first to suffer was the general of Shanxi Town, Le Tai, who was hit by a shell and died of a broken skull. The Shanxi Town government troops immediately fell into chaos. Even the Eight Banners Army fought desperately to supervise the battle, but failed to stop the chaos.
The Zhejiang army was in disarray due to the involvement of the Shanxi army. Huo Chong's army seized the opportunity to break into the army, which directly led to the collapse of the Zhejiang army. After the war, the general of Zhejiang disappeared and his life or death was unknown.
Huo Chong's army took the opportunity to break through the government army's front line and directly attacked the government army's camp, seizing it in one fell swoop. This time, the government army was in great chaos. In addition, most of the artillery was lost, so they had to retreat.
On the way to Jinan, they were constantly pursued by Huo Chong. When they retreated to Jinan City, Yue Zhongqi had only gathered 30,000 to 40,000 troops.
Now that government troops were fleeing back to Jinan, Yue Zhongqi believed that he could gather at least 50,000 to 60,000 government troops. Although the remaining 40,000 government troops might not have been killed by Huo Chong, at least 30,000 of them had lost their lives.
In the end, Yue Zhongqi did not defend himself. Instead, he frankly admitted that he was guilty of a serious crime and should be punished. He only asked Yongzheng to quickly send a good general to Jinan to lead the army. He also asked Yongzheng to give reinforcements, otherwise the remaining Qing troops would have no intention of fighting again. If they were attacked by Huo Chong, they would probably suffer a new defeat.
In addition to Yue Zhongqi's apology, many other people also sent many memorials and secret memorials. These memorials, without exception, fiercely criticized Yue Zhongqi for underestimating the enemy and making mistakes in command, which led to the great defeat. Many people even directly said that Yue Zhongqi did not know how to fight and had gained a reputation in vain.
After reading all of this, Prince Yi and the others looked up at Yongzheng, who was looking at the memorials and secret memorials one by one with a stern face. Zhang Tingyu and the others were so frightened by his livid face that they dared not even breathe.
The most recent such tragic defeat was probably the suppression of the Three Kingdoms in the early years of Emperor Kangxi. Among the current military ministers, except for Ma Qi, Zhang Tingyu and others were not born at that time.
The 100,000-strong government army fought head-on, and did not fall into Huo Chong's conspiracy, but was completely defeated in the head-on battle. This was beyond the imagination of these military ministers.
Everyone's eyes fell on Prince Yi . Prince Yi was probably the only one who could speak without being scolded.
Old Thirteen also knew that he had to say something. After organizing his thoughts, he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, who should I send to replace Yue Zhongqi?"
Yongzheng raised his head, his face full of anger, "Some people actually said that Yue Zhongqi doesn't know how to fight. Haha, it seems that we have to send them to take over Yue Zhongqi's position."
Prince Yi knew that the anger was not directed at him, but at Yongzheng himself, so he consoled him, "Your Majesty, those people are just afraid of being implicated."
"I am angry at these people!" Yongzheng said angrily. After that, he stood up and walked around the room of the Military Affairs Office with his hands behind his back.
Zhang Tingyu quickly advised: "Your Majesty, the military situation is urgent. Whether to continue to use Yue Zhongqi or to change the general, please make a quick decision."
Yongzheng did not speak, but continued to walk. Yue Zhongqi must be severely punished, but Yongzheng could not think of a suitable replacement for the time being. More importantly, Yongzheng was thinking of Huo Chong. It was completely unexpected that this guy could do this.
After thinking it over, Yongzheng stopped and turned to ask the military ministers, "Why do you think Huo Chong is so fierce?"
At night, a guest came to the Fourteenth Old Man's house. It turned out to be the Eighth Old Man's servant. This servant was not the first to come. Long before the Eighth Old Man got into trouble, it was this servant who passed on information. At this time, this servant brought the battle on the Shandong front. After reading it, the Fourteenth Old Man fell into deep thought.
"Master Fourteen, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave."
Hearing this, Old Fourteen raised his head from his deep thoughts and asked, "Do you have any news about the starling?"
The servant shook his head helplessly. He was given the responsibility of delivering messages by Lao Ba, and someone had contacted him. After Lao Ba was beaten and imprisoned, he had not heard from him again.
Old Fourteen sighed, "If you can pass the message to Brother B, tell him that Yue Zhongqi was defeated. I'm afraid someone will cause trouble for Brother B because of Yue Zhongqi whom I recommended."
At this time, Lao Ba had no idea what was happening outside. He was sitting on the bed, looking at the scenery outside the window. Since the couple was forced to separate, Lao Ba often thought of his wife. He didn't know how she was doing at her parents' home.
At this moment, a young man from the clan office who was in charge of looking after Lao Ba came over, looked around as if nothing had happened, and seeing that no one was looking at him, he secretly handed a piece of paper to Lao Ba.
