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Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, and Yoshibuwon were generals who had fought their way from Guangxi to Tianjin. Although the distance they had traveled was less than 25,000 kilometers, there was no doubt that they had traveled close to 10,000 kilometers. Among the three, only Lin Fengxiang was willing to take the initiative to get along with Vézé. When Li Kaifang and Yoshibuwon found out that Vézé had a lot of maps in his possession, the two reluctantly put aside their pride and went to Vézé's place every day to study the maps with a straight face.
As long as they had fought enough battles and traveled far enough, the generals naturally knew the importance of maps. As they reviewed the battles on the maps, the fog of war that had once shrouded the battlefield had dissipated a lot. At this time, Vézé and the others had plenty of time to do something that seemed like it could be done later.
The troops did not choose to move south quickly. After all, there were still Sengrinchen cavalry in Zhili. If they retreated too quickly, it would give Sengrinchen cavalry an opportunity to attack. Therefore, Vézé's troops only traveled 40 kilometers a day. Each army had to arrange a relatively secure camp, and the troops at the front naturally had the hardest work. Needless to say, this work was undertaken by Vézé's troops.
In addition to being cautious, the rearguard also had to recover tents and other military supplies. The recovered supplies were transported by the fleet through the canals. This was also the responsibility of Vézé's troops.
The Northern Expedition Army was in the safest and most comfortable position in the middle of the army. Vézé's cavalry, the cavalry of the Northern Expedition Army, and the cavalry of the Nian Army had it harder. They had to be sent far away to do reconnaissance work. Fortunately, the Qing Army did not show any signs of giving chase. Sengrinchen also seemed to be biding their time. This made Vézé feel an indescribable sense of danger. He did not believe that Sengrinchen could just stand by and watch as Vézé and the others returned to the south of the Huai River.
Vézé was not the only one who thought this way. Li Kaifang asked with a clear attitude, "Wayne Brothers, what are you going to do if Qing Yao stops us from the Canal to the Yellow River?"
Looking at the indignant expression on Li Kaifang's face, before Vézé could say anything, Wei Changrong sneered and said, "When we followed the Prince Of Qi to war, we always defeated the enemy wherever we encountered them. If you're worried about Qing Yao obstructing us at the Yellow River, why don't you just listen to Prince Of Qi's orders? Eat and drink as you like, and fight bravely when the time comes for war. "
Wei Changrong had been unhappy with Li Kaifang for several days. It was not just because Li Kaifang insisted on continuing the northern expedition and disobeyed Vézé's orders. Wei Changrong was really dissatisfied with Li Kaifang's attitude towards Vézé.
Lin Fengxiang was very cooperative as Wei Ze organized the course of the Northern Expedition. Not only did he recount all the battles he had fought, he also asked a portion of the middle and lower ranking officers under his command to recount their experiences. In the first few days, there was too much information. It was complicated, and there were many conflicting parts in the records. As the scope of the investigation expanded, the entire process of the northern expedition gradually became clearer.
In fact, as long as the data was complete and the facts were clear, it would be much easier to reflect on the gains and losses of the northern expedition. As the main commander, Li Kaifang had also attended the entire meeting. His attitude could only be categorized as uncooperative. Whenever Vézé showed any signs of disagreeing with the Northern Expedition Army's actions, Li Kaifang would immediately 'argue' with Vézé.
Wei Changrong did not understand what Li Kaifang was trying to do. He was already surrounded, and there was no need for him to flatter himself. After this repeated hostility, Vézé did not want to be calculative. In order to prevent Li Kaifang from causing trouble, he quickly chose to focus on the specifics and not make any comments on what had happened.
Wei Changrong knew that he was not as broad-minded as Vézé. He had been unhappy with Li Kaifang for a few days. Now that he had found an opportunity, he did not hold back. "Now that we have rescued the people, I think our brothers in the northern expedition are eager to return home. Even if they can't reach Tianjing for the time being, they should at least return to the Taiping army's territory first. Prime Minister Li, you should lead your troops well for now. "
These words stabbed Li Kaifang's sore spot like a knife. As one of the three Prime Ministers of the Northern Expedition Army, he understood the feelings of his subordinates very well. When the news of Vézé's rescue and Mound City's capture reached the Northern Expedition Army's Calm Sea and Duliu, the troops were in jubilation. At this time, the troops were already ready to break out of the encirclement. When Lin Fengxiang ordered the troops to immediately head south, the camp was filled with jubilation. When the Qing Army, who had tried to surround the Taiping army's base in Tianjin, received the news, they immediately fled. The Northern Expedition Army did not encounter any obstacles and headed south.
Stepping on the road to the south, the brothers in the Northern Expedition Army had no intention of turning back to attack the north. When Li Kaifang tried his best to persuade his subordinates, they simply replied, "Prime Minister Li, if Prime Minister Lin also wants us to continue attacking Beijing, we will attack Beijing."
As for the Prime Minister Lin Lin Fengxiang's attitude, it was very clear that he would follow Vézé back south. In the future, they would plan to go on a northern expedition.
It had not been long since this incident, but Li Kaifang's frustration had not dissipated. Wei Changrong's words stabbed Li Kaifang's sore spot. Li Kaifang jumped to his feet. His eyes were wide open and the muscles on his face were almost twisted.
Wei Changrong saw that Li Kaifang looked like he was about to pounce on him and fight, but he did not care at all. In terms of martial arts, Wei Changrong was an expert. There were not many people in the Taiping army who could convince him. As for Li Kaifang's position as Prime Minister, Wei Changrong did not take it to heart. Li Kaifang was the Prime Minister while Vézé was the Prince Of Qi. Li Kaifang did not dare to do anything to Wei Changrong.
As for the ability of both sides to lead troops, Wei Changrong really did not take Li Kaifang seriously. Li Kaifang only had five thousand troops under his command, and so did Wei Changrong. Wei Changrong firmly believed that if he trained the two troops now, he could easily defeat Li Kaifang's troops. In the past few days, when summarizing the history of the Taiping army's Northern Expedition Army, Wei Changrong agreed that the Northern Expedition Army had indeed displayed superb combat ability. However, the characteristics of this army that were not good at fighting in the field were also obvious.
The Taiping army was good at taking advantage of weak points, and they were also good at the tactics of leaving if they could not win. Vézé's troops were different from the Taiping army. The other Taiping army's enemies were divided into those that could be defeated, those that could not be defeated, and those that would cause heavy casualties after the battle. In the eyes of Vézé's troops, there were only two types of enemies: the enemies that had not yet been annihilated and the enemies that were in the process of annihilation.
It was because the entire army maintained this attitude that Vézé's troops could divide into several groups to attack outside Linqing. Except for Sheng Bao's troops, which had more than a thousand people escape, the rest of the Qing Army was completely annihilated. After the brigade that was originally patrolling and covering the outside bumped into the Shandong Inspector Zhang Liangji, they only thought about how to stick close to the enemy and kill the enemy. The unique thinking of Vézé's troops was carried out throughout the army. Zhang Liangji, the Manchu Qing high-ranking official who caused the death of the Prince of the West, was finally captured.
Facing Li Kaifang, who could only fight battles of convenience and opportunities, Wei Changrong stood up without showing any weakness. Just as he was about to shout, "What do you want?" Vézé pulled Wei Changrong away, while Lin Fengxiang pulled Li Kaifang away.
Neither Vézé nor Lin Fengxiang could scold their subordinates in front of them, so Vézé pulled Wei Changrong away, while Lin Fengxiang pulled Li Kaifang away.
In fact, Wei Changrong had the psychological advantage. Even though his wrist was grabbed by Vézé's iron-like hand, he neither resisted nor said anything harsh. Instead, he couldn't help but shout, "Uncle, I can go with you. You don't have to use so much strength!"
Between Li Kaifang and Wei Changrong, Vézé would never side with Li Kaifang. Hearing Wei Changrong's pitiful cry, Vézé loosened his hand. "Changrong, you have to be more broad-minded. Don't make trouble with Li Kaifang."
Wei Changrong rubbed his wrist and said, "Uncle, I'm fine. But when I saw Li Kaifang being so awkward with you, I couldn't help it. Prime Minister Lin is much better at fighting than him. I've never seen Prime Minister Lin disrespect you. "
"Oh?" Vézé looked Wei Changrong up and down. "You can see this. Then do you know what's the difference between us and the Northern Expedition Army?"
Wei Changrong smiled and said, "Fourth Uncle, I really know now. I used to think that they were good at fighting. When facing Qing Yao, they could always catch them off guard. Now I understand that when we fight, we really catch them off guard. When Qing Yao and Prime Minister Lin fought against Li Kaifang and the others, even if they were defeated, they would still dare to continue fighting against Prime Minister Lin. But if Qing Yao fought against us, they would almost never have the chance to fight us again. At least in the short term, they won't be able to fight us again … "
Vézé didn't want the beaming Wei Changrong to show off here. He smiled. "It's good that you know. Since that's the case, don't bother with Li Kaifang anymore. We have to bring them back now and give the King Of The East an explanation. The Northern Expedition is the King Of The East's strategy. If we forcibly bring the troops back now, it's already going against the King Of The East's strategy. Since we've already gone against the King Of The East's strategy, if we can't even complete our own strategy, Changrong, what do you think we are? "
Just as Vézé and Wei Changrong were discussing the future, Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang were also talking about what had just happened.
Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang had gone through fire and water together. They were friends who had gone through life and death together. Therefore, Lin Fengxiang said, "Brother Li, even if the Wayne Brothers are a bit arbitrary, we have to tolerate it. The King Of The East wants us to go on the Northern Expedition, and we also want to take down Beijing. But right now, the morale of the troops is all for the South. "
Li Kaifang shook his head. "Brother Lin, I don't like Vézé because he's arbitrary. I just don't like him! "
"Why?" Lin Fengxiang didn't expect Li Kaifang to have such a strong personal prejudice against Vézé.
"Vézé followed the South King, and the South King went to heaven. Vézé followed the West King, and the West King went to heaven. Vézé escorted us to Meng City, and when we fought our way to Tianjin, we were surrounded by Qing Yao. It wasn't just us. All of the leaders of the Pure Demon Sects who fought with him ended up dead. Even Zhang Liangji was captured. Zhang Liangji killed the West King, and what happened to him after he was sent to Nanjing? "
Lin Fengxiang looked at Li Kaifang, dumbfounded. He didn't understand what Li Kaifang was trying to say.
"This kind of person is a jinx! Anyone who touches him will die. "Li Kaifang finally made a concluding statement.
After hearing this, even though Lin Fengxiang was a fortune teller, he was completely speechless.
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