Ni Tao on the city wall saw that there were so few people attacking the city this time and that they had not brought any siege equipment, so he asked Zhang Guoliang, who was standing next to him, "What kind of trick are the rebels up to? Can they attack the city with just thirty or fifty people?"

Zhang Guoliang said: "Don't worry, sir..." Before he could finish speaking, he saw the city wall shaking, and there was a "boom" sound.

"Go and see what's going on. Don't worry, it was just an earthquake." Zhang Guoliang shouted at the top of his lungs when he saw that the officers and soldiers on the city were panicking.

"Sir, it's not good, a big hole was blown through the city gate." A government official knelt and crawled to the county magistrate to report.

The county magistrate lost his mind and said, "How could it be like this? I am going to die. Guoliang, tell me, what should I do now?"

Zhang Guoliang said: "The only plan for now is to withdraw from the city first and then find another good plan." He is not stupid. There are tens of thousands of rebels outside. If they rush into the city, they can be chopped into pieces.

"It is a law of the Qing Dynasty that if you lose a city and die, it is better to live and die with the city. Guoliang, you can leave, stay useful and serve the country well." Although Ni Tao wanted to leave immediately, he still had to pretend.

To be more dignified, when the superior officer comes to question him, he can also say that he was forced out of the city by his subordinates.

Zhang Guoliang said anxiously: "If you don't leave, it will be too late. Your Excellency will be offended." He signaled his confidants to take away the county magistrate, took the troops and horses, and rushed out of the city regardless of the gentry's pleas. Only after leaving the city did he realize that there was no way to go. Pingnan County was surrounded by three sides.

Returning to the water, there is no boat. If you don't take a boat, you can only rush out from the front of the rebels.

The county magistrate Ni Tao said in despair, "It is better to go back and defend the city, and use the full name of the festival."

The master who was following behind said: "I have prepared a few boats in front, just in case today, everyone should run away quickly."

The pursuers were coming from behind. Zhang Guoliang and others could only believe what the master said. When they ran to the river, they saw a few boats, but they were not enough for a group of more than a thousand people. Zhang Guoliang now sent the county magistrate, the master and other important people with them

The family members were put on the boat, and their regiment training troops were ordered to board the boat first, leaving behind a group of desperate people and sailed away.

When Li Yunzhong entered the city, the remaining enemies had been basically eliminated. He unceremoniously set up the command center in the county government office. At this time, the county government office was already empty. Thinking of the scene in which he had been imprisoned a few days ago, he asked people to put him there.

All the prisoners held in the prison were released, and many prisoners also expressed their intention to join the rebel army. Li Yunzhong did not expect that there were so many soldiers in the prison. After a while, Wang Gang came to report: He had taken over the whole city, Li Desheng's first brigade, Wang Xin

The third brigade and Liu Cai's fourth brigade are chasing the remnants of the enemy. There are only his second brigade and the fifth brigade directly under Li Yunzhong in the city.

There were more than 10,000 troops from the three armies who came to attack the city this time. Only the central army entered the city. Both the front army and the rear army were left outside the city. Only people above the brigade commander were allowed to enter the city.

Zhang Guoliang and Ni Tao took the remaining defeated soldiers upstream and arrived at Xunzhou Prefecture a few hours later. They met with the prefect Gu Yuankai and told him the news of the fall of Pingnan County. Gu Yuankai did not dare to neglect, as there were rebels under his rule.

They also captured the county seat. If they are not extinguished as soon as possible, they may lose their official position. The busy people informed Zhou Fengqi, the general of Xunzhou, and the deputy general Li Dianyuan was called to discuss it together.

Zhou Fengqi, the commander-in-chief of Xunzhou, looked at Zhang Guoliang and Ni Tao who were kneeling on the ground and asked angrily: "You are just a group of refugees, so I beat you until you run away. What is the use of the imperial court in raising you?"

Li Dianyuan said: "Zhang Guoliang? You changed the name well. Please tell me in detail how the rebels captured the county."

Last year, when Li Dianyuan was wiping out the Tiandihui rebels in the Pingnan area, Zhang Guoliang was under his command. He had a good impression of this regiment leader who dared to fight and charge.

Zhang Guoliang said calmly: "Your Excellency, the rebels are not ordinary refugees. Among them are the rebels of the Tiandihui Laiwang (Luo Daguang), and the female thief Su Sanniang who lives in Lingshan County and Qinzhou, and is the leader of the God-worshipping sect.

There were tens of thousands of people in Li Yunzhong. However, there were less than a thousand soldiers in the city. The rebels attacked the city for several days in a row and were not afraid of death. The officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties. Later, the rebels blew open the city gate. We fought with all our strength, but were finally defeated.

"

Zhou Fengqi automatically filtered out the boastful paragraphs, and only became serious when he heard the rebels used explosives to blow open the city gate. He couldn't help but said: "Among the rebels, some actually know how to use gunpowder!"

Li Dianyuan thought that he would not forget the Savior in times of crisis, and he even intended to excuse Zhang Guoliang, saying: "The last time I went to Pingnan County for inspection, I noticed that the gathering of people worshiping God had evil intentions, and I ordered the inspector to pay close attention."

The prefect Gu Yuankai also excused himself and said: "A few days ago, I just issued an official document asking you to take precautions. I didn't expect that I would lose the city today."

The three of them looked at each other and saw that the responsibility was all placed on the magistrate of Pingnan County, so they began to discuss preparations to suppress the bandits. In order to share the responsibility and strengthen the troops, they also called Qingjiang Association Deputy General Yiketanbu to report to

The governor of Guangxi issued an official letter to spread the news of the fall of Pingnan County. After all, there were tens of thousands of rebels, and no one wanted to bear this responsibility.

Gu Yuankai also called Jia Zhu, the magistrate of Pingxian County, who was in charge of Fucheng, and told him about the rebellion of the God-worshiping Cult, and asked him to strictly guard against the God-Worship Cult in the territory and not to let the rebels under his rule enter the city again, otherwise they, the general soldiers, would

A large number of the prefect and lieutenants will be captured.

Zhou Fengqi said: "The rebels captured Pingnan in memory. The south and north are all mountainous areas. If the rebels want to make a difference, they can only go west and east. To the west is to attack Xunzhou. That is surrendering to the enemy.

To the east is Teng County, and Teng County belongs to Wuzhou Prefecture. As long as we drive the rebels to Teng County, we will have a backstop."

Li Dianyuan was ambitious. He had experienced wars for a long time and had no fear of rebels. Instead, he wanted to use this opportunity to get promoted. He said, "There are many God worshipers in the Jintian area. There are almost 4,000 soldiers gathered in the city and local regiment training. First of all,

Destroy them and regain Pingnan County."

Zhou Fengqi was worried about the loss of Fucheng, and objected: "It's not appropriate, how can we go out in full force? Before reinforcements arrive, Fucheng must leave at least 2,000 people to defend, and the maximum number of troops sent to destroy the bandits is 1,000, plus regiment training, there will be 2,000, to annihilate the rebels."

It's easy." I thought, you can get promoted by killing the rebels, but I can't. It's better to keep the city.

Zhou Fengqi heard that there were only two thousand people. He just heard Zhang Guoliang say that there were tens of thousands of people in Guangpingnan County. Although there was moisture, he would not take risks easily. He said, "Then I'll trouble Vice General Li." He said as he spoke.

The word "lieutenant" was said a little slowly on purpose.

"General Li has experienced hundreds of battles, and he is sure to win every battle against rebels." Gu Yuankai also complimented.

Li Dianyuan already felt that two thousand people was a lot. Most of the time, he only needed a few hundred people to destroy the rebels of the Tiandihui. He agreed to the plan and added: "Zhang Guoliang asked him to make meritorious service and serve in the army."

A boss. "This is not just a meritorious service, but a three-level promotion in a row, from a commoner to a seventh-level official, in charge of more than a hundred soldiers."

Not to mention Zhang Guoliang, who was kneeling on the ground and bowed his head to thank him, even Ni Tao also said that he was willing to serve in the army for his crimes. Li Dianyuan also thought that it would be good to have more people who understand the God-worshipping religion.
Chapter completed!