Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"This Cai Lu is a good fighter. He conquered the whole Henan with only a small army. What do you think I should reward him with?" In the Qianqing Palace, Lianhua Khan smiled and handed Cai Lu's memorial to Chu Wang Baoyin and Zhao Wang Biligenda. As a father, there is no one who does not want his son to be a talent, so from time to time, he would invite the adult princes to the palace to test military and national affairs.

"I think Cai Lu can be granted the title of Earl," Biligenda said straightforwardly and answered after thinking for a moment.

"Hmm," the Great Khan hummed, but did not express his opinion.

"Cai Lu's memorial requested that the surrendered general Yang Jie be appointed as the governor of Shandong. I think he may also want to be the governor of Henan. Moreover, I, David, have always attached great importance to titles. If I immediately appoint a surrendered general, I'm afraid people will look down on David's title and it will easily cause dissatisfaction among the generals. It is better to appoint Cai Lu as the governor of Henan first, and then make him an earl after he has made contributions in the future," Baoyin said after thinking for a while.

The Great Khan glanced at his third son with appreciation. Baoyin has made great progress in recent years. He can see the hidden thoughts behind the ministers' memorials and consider the overall situation. He is worthy of being my son! However, this time, I have to make an exception! He smiled and said, "What you said makes sense, especially Baoyin, who really makes me happy! But this time, I have to make an exception. I will decree that Cai Lu will be appointed as the third-class Linzhang Earl and the governor of Henan, and Yang Jie will be appointed as the governor of Shandong. I want to re-enter the ranks of surrendered generals, and buy horse bones for a huge sum of gold. I want to tell the generals who are still loyal to the Qing Dynasty that as long as they are willing to submit to David and make contributions, the court will definitely use them!"

"Father Khan is wise and enlightened~" the two kings praised in unison.
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"Alas~" King Melas of Qi let out a long sigh in the guard tent under the city of Hunyuanzhou.

"Is the prince worried about the lack of troops to attack Hunyuan Prefecture?" asked his trusted adviser Chen Hongzhu. This man was originally the Supervisory Censor of Shanxi Province in the Qing Dynasty. When he was ordered to inspect Shuntian, he saw the powerful military force and abandoned his post and fled. When he fled to Shanxi, he was captured by the subordinates of the King of Qi by mistake. Seeing that he was a scholar, Melas became interested and asked about some political affairs. Unexpectedly, he was a man of strategy and answered very well. The King of Qi, who was worried about the lack of advisers around him, was very happy and kept him as an aide and appointed him as a fifth-rank idle official.

"Master taught me not to divide the credit with my uncle and Elinqin Batur, which resulted in my subordinates having only 30,000 soldiers, some of whom were newly recruited soldiers. How can I complete the task assigned by my father Khan to capture Hunyuan Prefecture, Lingqiu, Guangchang, and cut off the connection between Xuanfu Qing Army and Shanxi?" Mailas asked worriedly. The uncle he mentioned refers to Liao Wang Sumur, who is the only brother of Sultan Khan. He made great contributions to David's founding of the country and has great prestige in the army. Sumur advised the King of Qi not to join forces with the King of Liao, mainly because he was afraid that if the two kings were together, the King of Qi would become a supporting role and would not show his merits. As for Elinqin Batur, the general of Datong, he was born in the Durbert tribe of the Oirat Mongols and was the cousin of Queen Uliji Bayar. He was not in the same camp as the King of Qi, who had always had ideas about the position of crown prince, so naturally he was unwilling to join forces with him.

This led to the lack of troops for the King of Qi to attack Hunyuan Prefecture. Hunyuan Prefecture was stationed with 5,000 Eight Banners soldiers of the Qing army's Deputy Commander-in-Chief Amida and 5,000 Green Camp soldiers under Wan Ao, who was stationed in Jining Road. Guangling and Yuzhou, southeast of Hunyuan Prefecture, were also stationed with 5,000 Green Camp soldiers commanded by Xue Chenwei, the Deputy Ancha Envoy of Shanxi Province of the Qing Dynasty. Lingqiu and Guangchang were stationed with 1,500 Eight Banners and 1,500 garrison soldiers of the Qing Jiala Zhangjing Boduo Hengao. Although the guards had an advantage in terms of numbers, the King of Qi's subordinates only had 15,000 imperial guards under his direct command and 5,000 troops under the Chahar General Alinbao, who were considered elite. Most of the others were newly surrendered soldiers, and their loyalty and combat effectiveness were questionable. Most of the Qing troops in Shanxi were elites who had fought in battles and had strong cities to defend, so His Highness was unsure. When he first arrived at Hunyuan Prefecture, he ordered Lieutenant General Wu Chengluan to lead the army to attack the city. Wu Chengluan was originally a surrendered general of the Qing Dynasty and later became a subordinate of the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was ordered to hold back Doni's army. In order to move quickly, he could only take the cavalry with him. Because his troops were infantry, he left this army in Datong and assigned it to the King of Qi. Because he was not a confidant, he was sent to lead the charge. As a result, after three days of continuous attack and 700 casualties, he did not even climb the wall of Hunyuan Prefecture. This city is so difficult to attack, how can His Royal Highness the King of Qi, who is determined to make achievements, not be anxious?

"If I don't fly, I will soar into the sky; if I don't sing, I will startle you when I do. Your Highness, there is no need to be anxious, just wait a little longer." Chen Hongzhu was not in a hurry, stroking his beard leisurely.

At present, the Crown Prince has already captured Juyongguan, and the Prince of Jin has also pacified the southern part of Zhili. Only I have not made any achievements so far. How can Melas not be anxious? When he was anxious, his attitude became cold, "Wait a little longer? I am afraid that the credit has been divided up by my brothers!"

"Haha, in fact, I have sent people to persuade Xue Chenwei, the deputy envoy of Shanxi Province of the Pseudo-Qing Dynasty, to surrender. If he surrenders, Guangling and Weizhou will belong to David," Chen Hongzhu laughed. "That Xue Chenwei is very stubborn. Didn't I send people to persuade him to surrender before but was rejected?" Melas was still wondering what good idea the counselor had come up with, but he heard it was the same old story again, and curled his lips in dissatisfaction.

"This is a different time. Your Highness, have you heard that General Cai Lu pacified the entire province of Henan with a solitary army?" Chen Hongzhu said slowly.

"Of course I know, but what does this have to do with persuading Xue Chenwei to surrender?"

"After Henan was pacified, Kaifeng became the area controlled by Wu David. Xue Chenwei is from Kaifeng," Chen Hongzhu continued.

Mylas' eyes lit up, "You mean to force Xue Chenwei to surrender at the cost of his family's lives?"

Chen Hongzhu looked somewhat proud. "I have a long history with Xue Chenwei and know his character well. He made great contributions in rectifying northern Shanxi and eliminating bandits, but he was not given important positions. Deep down, he is actually dissatisfied with the Qing court. But he is concerned about his children, and because his family has been in the area controlled by the Qing army, he has been reluctant to surrender. Now that our army has pacified Henan, I think the time is ripe to persuade him to surrender!"

"Well, even if Xue Chenwei is willing to surrender Guangling and Weizhou to David, as long as Hunyuanzhou is not conquered, the connection between the Qing army in Shanxi and the Qing army in Xuanfu will not be completely cut off. But if we attack Hunyuanzhou, I don't know how many soldiers will be killed or injured. I am not like the prince who has many soldiers and generals. I only have so few soldiers under my command." Thinking of the solid city of Hunyuanzhou, Melas showed difficulty again. The difficulty is that he wants to complete the military order given by his father Khan as soon as possible, but he doesn't want to fight a hard battle and damage his own strength.

"Haha, I have already considered this for Your Highness," Chen Hongzhu said confidently, "If Xue Chenwei is willing to surrender, you can order him to lead his troops to pretend to reinforce Hunyuan Prefecture, and our army will lie in ambush on the periphery. When the defenders see that it is him coming in person, they will not be suspicious. After letting him enter the city and seizing the city gate, our army's ambush troops will be sent out, and the fortified city can be captured."

"It's all linked together, brilliant! I was so anxious, I didn't expect that you had already set up a series of tricks, hahaha~" Melas laughed. (End of this chapter)