Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 59 The house leaks and it rains all night
First of all, the Taiping Army would definitely not be able to go back.

Xiao Chaogui's betrayal not only broke Li Yi's heart, but also broke the hearts of the soldiers under Li Yi's command.

Not to mention that Li Yi didn't want to, even if he wanted to go back and continue to feign complicity with the Taiping Army, his subordinates would probably not agree.

Of course, there were many reasons why Li Yi wanted to leave the Taiping Army.

This time, Xiao Chaogui's betrayal and harm can only be regarded as the fuse.

The main reason was that Li Yi knew that if things developed according to the original historical line, the Taiping Army would be besieged by heavy Qing troops in Dongxiang, Wuxuan for several months.

Li Yi didn't want to go back and fall into the trap, and become a turtle in the jar with the Taiping Army.

So, I had no choice but to say sorry to Feng Yunshan.

To be honest, Li Yi was still very touched by Feng Yunshan's attention and care for him over this period of time.

Now that he had made up his mind to leave the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he couldn't help but feel that he owed something...

Well, Li Yi didn’t know that the Taiping Army, including Feng Yunshan, didn’t actually take him seriously.

His sense of guilt was actually just wishful thinking.

Secondly, since leaving the Taiping Army has become a foregone conclusion, what should I do next?

Are you going to be a bandit and expand your power by roaming around?

Or maybe just find a remote mountain valley to settle down and build a base to become a bandit?

To be honest, both options have their pros and cons.

If you become a bandit, you may be able to achieve great development in a short period of time.

But the price is that it will be basically inflated.

No matter how smoothly things have developed before, it can easily collapse once it encounters a major setback.

The most typical example is Li Zicheng.

Before the Eastern Expedition to Beijing, the development of the Shun Army was not smooth. In just a few years, the Shun Army swept across most of the north and even showed signs of establishing a new dynasty.

But after a piece of stone, the speed of Dashun's collapse was also faster than anyone could imagine.

Therefore, Li Yi believes that this is not advisable.

In addition, with the Taiping Army standing out in front and attracting the Qing army's attention, Li Yi thought that finding a place to be a bandit might be a good choice for him...

While Li Yi was thinking, Wang An, Chen Yucheng and others also completed the statistics of the battle losses of each unit, and then came together to report to Li Yi.

"General, I have made a simple calculation. The casualties and escapees of our army in this battle account for nearly half of the total force."

"Now the combined strength of all the troops is only about 800 people."

Chen Yucheng spoke.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi showed a bitter smile on his face.

It took him more than a month to finally assemble a battalion of 1,700 soldiers, but after the battle, only this many were left.

What is even more fatal is that Li Yi is now only leading a combat battalion, and his auxiliary battalion has always been with most of the Taiping Army's female battalion.

I don’t know what to do now!
All the soldiers in the army, including Li Yi's family, are in the auxiliary barracks.

It would be fine if the auxiliary battalion continued to follow the Taiping Army now, we would just have to find a way to rescue them in the future.

But if they had already been wiped out by the Qing army, the remnants of Li Yi's defeated troops would probably be in a panic.

Li Yi nodded and said.

"I see."

"Let the soldiers of all units rest, and then send a message to the officers at all levels to come to me for a discussion."

After Chen Yucheng and others left, Wang Yan came to Li Yi and said.

"General, there is one more thing I think you should plan for."

Hearing this, Li Yi turned around and asked, "Uncle Wang, just speak frankly. What's the matter?"

Wang An leaned close to Li Yi's ear and whispered.

"To be honest with you, our army is running out of food."

Li Yi realized the seriousness of the matter after hearing this, his expression suddenly became solemn, and he felt like cursing.

The current situation is really like a rainy day when it rains!
Thanks to the spoils obtained during the first attack on Xunzhou, Li Yi's troops were actually not short of food.

However, although there was no shortage of food, most of it had to be transported by auxiliary troops.

The soldiers could only carry some rations with them, which was only enough for one or two meals.

In addition, after breaking out from the Dahuangjiangkou, Li Yi's troops retreated quickly to the north, but in fact they fled in panic.

It is inevitable to lose all weapons and armor!

By the way, a lot of food was also lost.

We are really running out of food now.

Taking a deep breath, Li Yi turned to Wang An and said.

"I understand. I'll find a way to deal with this matter."

The method that Li Yi mentioned, to put it bluntly, is his golden finger.

After seizing the silver in the Xunzhou treasury, Li Yi kept a portion to pay his subordinates, and handed over a portion to Feng Yunshan and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

He also secretly intercepted a batch of it and recharged it into the mall panel.

Adding the balance left after purchasing 300 foreign guns, Li Yi now has a balance of about 3,000 taels in the mall.

Then, apart from purchasing the Barrett and the corresponding bullets, Li Yi has never used the mall panel.

He now has a balance of 2,100 taels in the mall, which is definitely more than enough to buy some food.

Although Li Yi was unwilling to expose his golden finger.

But compared to the team's collapse due to lack of food, Li Yi felt that it was nothing if he exposed a little bit of his "supernatural powers".

After all, his team had just suffered a major defeat and lost their families, so morale was low.

If Li Yi were to publicly display some of his supernatural powers and act mysteriously, it would definitely be effective in stabilizing the morale of the army.

Wang An couldn't help but feel curious when he heard this. They were now in Zijing Mountain, surrounded by wilderness. Where could Li Yi get food?

But before Wang An could ask, Chen Yucheng and others brought officers of all levels to Li Yi's side.

Seeing this, Wang An had no choice but to shut up!

Next, a group of people began a military meeting.

After discussing for a long time, Li Yi made the decision that the army would stay where it was to rest and observe the situation outside the mountain before deciding on the next move of the army.

The reason for making such a decision is not just to observe the battle situation outside the mountain.

It was mostly because I was concerned about the situation in the auxiliary barracks.

Everyone's families were in the auxiliary camp. Now they have been separated from the camp and have lost contact. Who wouldn't be worried?

The same goes for Li Yi!

After deciding to set up camp and rest on the spot, officers at all levels took their leave one after another.

Begin to command the troops to set up camp and prepare for rest!
Li Yi called Li Liang and began to explain.

"Li Liang, take your men out of the mountains and find out the situation of our auxiliary barracks, as well as the latest movements of the Taiping Army and the Qing Army."

"Especially the former. Once you get the news, report it to me immediately!"

(End of this chapter)