Guangxi entered the rainy season in February and March, while Yunnan entered the rainy season in late May. The Liberation Army was divided into three routes, and the route from Yunnan had to make full use of the current dry season.
The Central Military Commission's attitude was clear. The three routes entering Chengdu did not need to look out for each other. Each route only needed to take care of itself and not underestimate the enemy. Otherwise, the enemy would not be able to fight back. If any of the routes could attract the enemy's attention, the other two routes could easily advance. If the Sichuan Army was divided into three routes, the defense of each route would be reduced.
All three military regions knew that the Central Military Commission's goal was to prevent everyone from advancing rashly and causing unnecessary losses. But how could a soldier be willing to fall behind? The Yungui military's battle plan was not complicated. From the Yungui border, they would enter Zidadi via the small road in Mianning, cross the Dadu River, and take Chengdu. If the plan could be carried out smoothly, the Yungui military would first reach Chengdu and achieve the credit of liberating Sichuan.
This route had long been surveyed. After receiving the order from the Central Military Commission, the Yungui military did not use only two armies, but four. Two armies would not cross the Dadu River and would be responsible for the logistics and supply lines. The two armies that performed best during the liberation of Yungui would cross the Dadu River and attack.
Luo Bingzhang would not be unprepared for this. A few years ago, Shi Dakai had a similar battle plan, but it had never succeeded. Just when Luo Bingzhang thought that Shi Dakai had lost his patience and was about to launch a surprise attack, Shi Dakai actually took a detour into Sichuan. He did not seek to gain a foothold in Sichuan, but instead charged all the way to Hanzhong and merged with the Taiping army that had arrived in Shaanxi.
After the Liberation Army liberated Yungui, Luo Bingzhang knew that the Liberation Army would attack Sichuan sooner or later. He once again used his old battle strategy, preparing to block the Liberation Army's advance in the Dadu River area.
The boats in the river had long been confiscated, and the rapid river flowed through the towering mountains and precipitous ridges. Even though it was the dry season and the river was not high, the Sichuan Army and the Chieftains were confident that they could hold the river bank and prevent the Liberation Army from smoothly crossing the river.
The Chieftains watched as more and more Liberation Army soldiers gathered on the other side of the river and became more and more nervous. Would they be able to stop so many soldiers? The Liberation Army was busy, as if they did not care what kind of enemy was on the other side. They placed a lot of huge things on the riverbank. When they were unfolded, they looked like huge flags, and there were some strange things under the flags.
This strangeness confused the Earth Priests. What happened next was completely out of the Earth Priests' imagination. The flags swelled up under the Liberation Army's tampering and turned into an olive-shaped behemoth. Below these behemoths hung some huge cages, and behind the cages were huge windmills. The windmills spun, these enormous objects floating in mid-air slowly crossed the Dadu River, flying above the Sichuan army and the tribal leaders' camp.
The Sichuan army and the chieftain had never seen anything that could fly in the sky. Just now, the Liberation Army had already boarded the cage, which meant that they were already above the heads of the Sichuan army and the chieftain.
The Sichuan army was already very superstitious, but the chieftains were even more so. They had originally set up a position on the shore and were prepared to give the Liberation Army a head-on blow. All of these arrangements turned into bubbles. The ones looking down were no longer the Sichuan army and the chieftain's allied forces, but the Liberation Army.
Many of the Sichuan army and chieftain's troops had already knelt down and kowtowed, trying to ask the gods they believed in to bless them against the Liberation Army, this thing that was comparable to the power of ghosts and gods. Without waiting for the gods to say anything, the Liberation Army's hot air balloon began to throw bombs down. The tails of the bombs whistled down with stable propellers. The small propellers spun quickly under the resistance of the air, allowing the warheads to land steadily on the ground.
Although the five kilogram bombs were not very powerful, the Sichuan army and the chieftain's positions did not have the concept of air defense. The bombs exploded inside the defensive walls, on the open ground, and in the midst of the Sichuan army and chieftain's troops. Following the screams, the Sichuan army and the chieftain's troops scattered from this dangerous place without a care.
A large number of rubber boats with wooden bottoms had already been inflated. The soldiers carried the rubber boats into the waist-deep water and put them down. Everyone climbed onto the rubber boats and did their best to talk to each other as they headed for the other side. At this time, the enemy only cared about escaping the attack range of the airships. How could they care about the Liberation Army on the river? Without encountering any resistance, the vanguard crossed the Dadu River and established a foothold on the other side.
The chieftains no longer had the ability to control their subordinates. Faced with weapons that could fly in the sky, these locals only felt that these were incomparably powerful demons and ghosts. How could they still be willing to fight back? Luo Bingzhang set up a large net formed by the Sichuan army and the chieftain's "barbarian soldiers" on both sides of the Dadu River. On the first day of the battle, this large net was broken into pieces.
The Liberation Army's small fleet did not stay idle. They occupied the position and built temporary turrets. Some of the chieftains who could not let go of Luo Bingzhang's high bounty were still unwilling to leave. They thought that at night, there would always be an opportunity to use their familiarity with the geography to assassinate a few Liberation Army soldiers. After experiencing the attack of the airships, the Sichuan army offered a sky-high price of five taels of silver for a head of the Liberation Army. For the chieftains, this was a huge sum of money.
When night fell, the chieftains suddenly discovered that many bright pillars of light had appeared on the side of the Liberation Army. Every once in a while, the pillars of light would sweep across the road. Many of the chieftains did not see the airships. The rumors of the airships were not enough to stop their desire for wealth. These pillars of light were undoubtedly the power that only the gods could possess. Moreover, the pillars of light were so eye-catching in the middle of the night that the chieftains who saw them no longer had any intention of provoking the gods.
The Sichuan army was also badly frightened. The chieftains began to spread all kinds of rumors. For example, anyone who was illuminated by the pillars of light would be sucked dry of their essence blood and turned into a dried corpse. After death, their souls would also be captured and interrogated, forever falling into hell. Regarding the matters of the gods, the Chinese had always preferred to believe that they existed rather than not. Even if these rumors were spread by the chieftains, the Sichuan army, who had a strong belief in the gods and ghosts, firmly believed them. Perhaps this rumor was spread by the chieftains who believed in the gods and ghosts, so the Sichuan army believed it even more.
Most of the chieftains dispersed with their subordinates. There were also some who were especially curious and stationed themselves far away. During the day, they would sneak up to take a look. At night, they would flee back to the camp and watch the light and shadow appear on the mountain from afar.
The Liberation Army, on the other hand, was bustling with something on both sides of the Dadu River. Some of the Sichuan army, who had disregarded everything for the sake of the great reward, could hear some strange sounds from the other side. It was like a continuous buzzing sound, but also like some kind of whispering. However, the Liberation Army kept expanding their positions, and these people could not figure out what was going on.
On the morning of the third day, the Sichuan army suddenly saw many thin lines appear on the river surface of the crossing that the Liberation Army had occupied. These thin lines spanned across the river surface, connecting the two sides. And the soldiers of the Liberation Army were laying wooden planks on these thin lines.
The famous Luding Bridge in Sichuan was an iron chain bridge. To be able to bear the weight of so many wooden planks, it was definitely not a bamboo lock or a cable. It was definitely an iron lock. The Sichuan army, who were born and grew up in Sichuan, all knew the difficulty of building a bridge. It only took three days to build an iron chain bridge. This was truly something that only a deity could do.
The Sichuan army no longer had the courage to resist. Those who believed in deities only wanted to escape this terrifying place that was beyond the limits of their imagination. Those who did not believe in deities knew that after this iron chain bridge was completed, the Dadu River would no longer have the ability to stop the Liberation Army's advance. Their tens of thousands of troops could easily travel between the two sides of the Dadu River. Their logistical supplies and reinforcements were unimpeded. What was once a natural stronghold had become a flat road. The Sichuan army all retreated to Chengdu, no longer willing to stay here.
The chieftains' choice this time was different from the Sichuan army. When the Liberation Army built the iron chain bridge across the Dadu River, they firmly believed that the Liberation Army had the help of a deity. Faced with this kind of army, the chieftains chose to seek refuge. If they did not seek refuge with an army with divine power, the chieftains who were born and grew up here would be horribly slaughtered.
The people who received the chieftains were the local Chinese soldiers who had joined the army from Yungui. Many of them had tattoos unique to the local area on their bodies. They spoke in the local dialect that the chieftains could understand and welcomed them warmly. The airships and searchlights naturally did not allow these chieftains to approach, but it was not a problem for them to visit the newly built iron chain bridge.
They saw that there were many holes punched into the solid stone mountain. Thick steel pillars were deeply inserted into these holes. The steel pillars were tied with long steel chains that led to the other side. Walking across the undulating wooden bridge, the chieftains easily traveled to and fro the Dadu River. There was no need to say a thousand words. This group of people immediately kowtowed.
Chengdu, Sichuan Inspector's Office. There was a stove in the room. Sichuan Inspector Luo Bingzhang was sitting on a soft mattress. This Manchu Qing's only remaining important minister in the southwest was staring blankly at the drizzle outside the window.
Luo Bingzhang had never thought that the fall of his country would be so simple. He had fought against the Taiping army for many years. Even though the Manchu Qing had suffered repeated defeats, the rise of the Taiping army had been difficult enough. Especially after losing Yang Xiuqing and Vézé, the once rapidly expanding Taiping army had gradually declined. But Vézé's dazzling rise was truly beyond everyone's imagination. Whether it was in China or abroad, Vézé defeated one enemy after another and occupied half of the country.
After Yungui and Guizhou fell into Vézé's hands, Luo Bingzhang knew that Sichuan was the Liberation Army's next target. Although he had made comprehensive preparations, he did not expect to be able to turn defeat into victory.
The Sichuan soldiers who had escaped back to Chengdu described the Liberation Army's airships and the light pillars at night to Luo Bingzhang. Luo Bingzhang did not believe in witchcraft. He was sure that this was a new toy of the Liberation Army. As for his subordinates' panicked report that the Liberation Army had built an iron chain bridge in three days, it should also be true. The Liberation Army had already brought artillery to the city of Chengdu. The rumbling of the artillery was enough to prove everything.
Luo Bingzhang withdrew his gaze and looked at the several letters on the table. Luo Bingzhang's family was also a large family in Guangdong. After the Liberation Army occupied Guangdong, the Luo family's status plummeted. With Luo Bingzhang, a high-ranking official of the Manchu Qing, it was easy to imagine what the Liberation Army's attitude toward the Luo family would be.
The fields were confiscated and the family property was deprived. The year before last, the Liberation Army carried out a new type of funeral. As the family members of the sinners, the Luo family had to do the same as the families of the Liberation Army officials. They opened the ancestral graves, turned the bones into ashes, and enshrined them in the pagoda. The Liberation Army's words were beautiful, but in the Spring and Autumn Period, there were no tombstones and graves. Confucius buried his mother together with his mother because he knew where his father was buried. As for the Song Dynasty, it was even more custom to enshrine the ashes. This was all China's tradition. Since the Liberation Army wanted to recover China, it naturally had to do it according to the Chinese tradition. Even the Luo family, who had been repeatedly tortured, had to say in the letter that the pagoda, which could accommodate thousands of people, had a continuous supply of incense every day, and that the construction was very beautiful.
After more than ten years, Luo Bingzhang could see the resentment of the family in the letter. They also mentioned that after the other Guangdong officials fled back to Guangdong, at least their families were no longer treated as traitors. Although the Liberation Army did not employ the Manchu Qing officials and old literati, as long as their children went to school honestly, the government still gave them a way out and policies. But no matter how hard the traitor families tried, it was of no use.
Luo Bingzhang withdrew his gaze. If he could accept surrender, he would have surrendered long ago. After reading the Letter to Sue the Manchu Qing Officials, Luo Bingzhang did not dare to think about the evaluation of him after his death. Thief bones, dog bones, cheap bones, as long as the new dynasty established by Wei Ze still existed, this would be the evaluation of Luo Bingzhang after his death. Even if Vézé's dynasty was destroyed, as long as it was still replaced by the court of the Han people, this reputation would probably not be washed away. After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, did Qin Hui's reputation change? After the Manchu Qing, who claimed to have inherited the power of the Jin Kingdom, came to power, he still did not vindicate Qin Hui.
But even so, as a high-ranking official of the Manchu Qing, as an old man with one foot in the grave, Luo Bingzhang had his own persistence. Luo Bingzhang looked at everything around him with a nostalgic look. He stood up, walked to the desk, spread out the rice paper, and wrote the four big words "with a clear conscience." Then he absorbed the ink, stamped the paper, signed the date, and pasted it.
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