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On the 15th of October, Hu Chenghe led 10,000 troops stationed in Shouzhou to Zhenjiang. He brought the latest information from Anhui.
Anhui's defense was divided into five areas. Li Kaifang guarded Shouzhou and was responsible for the defense of Shouzhou, Fengyang, and Liu 'an. Lin Fengxiang occupied Huai 'an and controlled the canal. Yoshibuwon guarded Luzhou. Yan's Qin Rigang commanded the Taiping army around Anqing. King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, sent officials from the King Of The East's residence to control the Chaohu area.
Hu Chenghe disapproved of this division of Anhui. "Anhui looks like an iron bucket, but the armies don't belong to each other. If Qing Yao goes south, they can't clench their fists and attack. Not to mention, it's already hard for the armies to manage the local areas. They can't pressure the Qing Army north of the Huai River. It wasn't easy for us to build up the situation by relying on the Huai River. Now, we have to defend the Huai River! "
After criticizing Anhui's military situation, Hu Chenghe felt much better. He couldn't help but ask, "What about the others from the General Staff Headquarters?"
"They've all arrived in Changzhou. After the incident with Zhang Yingchen, I don't want the King Of The East to mobilize our brothers. Let them go to Changzhou. I'll stay in Zhenjiang. "Vézé smiled.
After speaking, Wei Ze poured a cup of tea for Hu Chenghe and continued, "I wonder if you've heard about the North King?"
"What about North King?" Hu Chenghe asked in surprise.
When Vézé finished explaining how the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, had messed with North King Wei Changhui, Hu Chenghe was speechless. After a long while, Hu Chenghe slowly said, "If the North King is guilty, the East King will kill the North King with one strike. That will be fine. But the King Of The East is too much of a bully! "
"What the King Of The East wants to do is up to the King Of The East. We can't do anything about it. The only thing we can do is to not get ourselves into trouble! "Vézé replied.
This time, Hu Chenghe's expression couldn't help but change. "Chief of Staff, are you saying that the King Of The East will attack us?"
Vézé shook his head. "Who among us can stop whatever the King Of The East wants to do? What I want to tell you is that if you feel that the King Of The East's arrangements in Anhui are inappropriate, you should keep it to yourself, but don't spread it around. The King Of The East had his own plans for Anhui. If you don't care about what the King Of The East thinks and just act according to your own thoughts, If the King Of The East thinks that you're trying to embarrass him, what are you going to do then? "
"But I never wanted to embarrass the King Of The East!" Hu Chenghe immediately retorted.
Vézé smiled and let Hu Chenghe take a sip of tea to calm himself down. Then, he continued, "You! What you think is up to you. If what you said was in the General Staff Headquarters, there wouldn't be any problem at all. But the King Of The East doesn't have a General Staff Headquarters. When he thinks about problems, he has his own plans. It's like there's a hole in the wall, and the King Of The East chopped off the stool with a knife and used the stool to block the hole. You're a carpenter, and from a carpenter's point of view, chopping off the stool isn't worth it. You can say that it's inappropriate for the King Of The East to chop off the stool, and that it should be blocked with a wooden plank. And what if the King Of The East originally wanted to chop off the stool? What do you think the King Of The East will think of you when he hears what you said? "
This analogy was very straightforward. Hu Chenghe thought for a moment and completely understood what Vézé meant. Although he was still struggling in his heart, Hu Chenghe finally said, "Chief of the General Staff, I understand. I won't say a word about what the King Of The East did! "
"That's good!" Vézé said, relieved that he had achieved his goal.
But even though Hu Chenghe knew this, he still wasn't completely convinced. He couldn't help but say, "Chief of the General Staff, but can't we even speak the truth?"
"We have the General Staff Headquarters. Of course, we can say that when we discuss among ourselves. I'm the Chief of the General Staff Headquarters now, so I naturally have to let everyone speak and let everyone say what they think. But I'm also the Chief of the General Staff Headquarters now, so I'm telling you on the grounds of protecting everyone's safety, Hu Chenghe. Without the General Staff Headquarters' orders, you are not allowed to mention a word about the King Of The East. You only need to be responsible to me! Listen to me if there's anything! Do you understand? "At this point, Wei Ze's tone had become stern.
Seeing Vézé's high-handed attitude, Hu Chenghe replied weakly, "Yes!"
"Very good! Also, don't call me Chief of the General Staff for the time being. Call me Prince Of Qi. Don't let outsiders think that we're acting on our own! "Vézé ordered.
After settling Hu Chenghe down, Vézé was finally relieved. At this time, Vézé's troops had all reached the south of the Yangtze River. He no longer had to worry about troop movements. He was waiting for the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, to mobilize the troops stationed in Zhenjiang. When the new troops arrived, Vézé immediately led the troops to Changzhou.
On October 16th, Vézé finally received an order from the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing. In the order, the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, sent Prime Minister Ceng Lichang to be in charge of the defense of Zhenjiang and Changzhou. Meanwhile, Vézé's troops were transferred to Tianmen Mountain in Wuhu, west of Tianjing City, which was also the East and West Liangshan garrison.
In addition to troop movements, Yang Xiuqing ordered Vézé to immediately enter the capital. This puzzled Vézé. What exactly happened upstream of the Yangtze River that made Yang Xiuqing make such a response? Of course, Vézé knew about the Xiang Army. However, when did the Xiang Army become so powerful to put 40,000 troops in defense of Tianmen Mountain?
Since Yang Xiuqing had issued an order, Vézé didn't dare to disobey. Other than ordering the troops to advance west, Vézé immediately rushed from Zhenjiang to Tianjing City. This time, the door to the King Of The East's residence was not closed. The moment Vézé entered the King Of The East's residence, he saw Shi Dakai, Prince Yu Hu Yihuang, and Prime Minister Luo Dagang already seated inside.
After Vézé bowed and sat down, Yang Xiuqing immediately ordered, "Since Prince Of The Qi is already here, Yi Wang, bring Prince Yu and Luo Dagang to the mouth of the lake to fight with Demon Head Zeng!"
After hearing Yang Xiuqing's order, Shi Dakai said carefully, "Reporting to the King Of The East, I feel that Prince Of Qi can also lead troops to the rescue."
Vézé didn't expect Shi Dakai to directly throw him out and was immediately shocked. He thought to himself, Don't tell me Yang Xiuqing really wants me to fight with Ceng Guofan? But on second thought, Yi Wang Shi Dakai had fought with Ceng Guofan several times in history. Yang Xiuqing should still send Shi Dakai to fight.
Lifting his head to look at Yang Xiuqing, he saw that Yang Xiuqing had dark circles under his eyes and didn't look too good. Therefore, Vézé couldn't see Yang Xiuqing's expression. At this moment, he heard Yang Xiuqing ask, "Prince Of Qi, what do you plan to do?"
Vézé completely didn't understand what these people had discussed. Hearing this sudden question, Vézé thought for a moment before answering, "This subordinate will only carry out the orders of the King Of The East. Whatever the King Of The East wants this subordinate to do, this subordinate will naturally obey. However, this subordinate doesn't have a navy and doesn't know how to fight in water battles. Moreover, I'm not familiar with the mouth of the lake. If this subordinate goes to the mouth of the lake, this subordinate is afraid that I will ruin the plans of the King Of The East. "
After hearing Vézé's words, Yang Xiuqing revealed a satisfied expression. Vézé didn't know whether he was satisfied with Vézé's attitude or with the contents of Vézé's statement. "Wing King, the Prince Of Qi doesn't know how to use a navy. You have fought in more water battles than him. This time, you have to go! "
After hearing Yang Xiuqing's words, Shi Dakai felt a great sense of relief. He hurriedly replied, "This subordinate will obey the decree of the King Of The East!"
Seeing Shi Dakai's reaction, Vézé's heart skipped a beat. It seemed like the misfortune of the North King Wei Changhui had made the Wing King Shi Dakai cautious and fearful.
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