Yongle Emperor's grandson: Zhu Yuanzhang with cheats, Zhu Di went crazy

Chapter 226: Say the Biggest Words, Get the Biggest Punishment

“It’s amazing how you feel about handling yourself?”

Zeng Guofan, who had regained control of the Hunan Army, could not help but sigh after reporting to Zhu Zhanjun.

Zhu Zhanjun smiled and joked, "This is just to accumulate experience. If you happen to encounter someone from the same time and space again, you might have to deal with it again."

Zeng Guofan was stunned for a moment, then he started laughing too.

"Your Highness, I have already taken control of the Hunan Army. I wonder what your plans are for the Taiping Army?"

At present, the entire Hunan Army is besieging the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's army.

Zhu Zhanjun's plan for Zeng Guofan was to replace people first and then take control of the Hunan Army.

Now that he has finished, he needs to ask Zhu Zhanjun about his next plan.

"Plan, haha, their purpose has been fulfilled, what's the point of keeping them."

Zhu Zhanjun sneered and determined the fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's army.

The Qing dynasty was shit, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s army was not much better.

Although they claimed to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, what those kings and their troops did was no worse than what the Qing Dynasty did.

As long as the local people who are controlled do not believe in them, their fate will definitely be more miserable than death.

When the Taiping Rebellion broke out, almost all the people in the entire covered area were killed, except for those who joined the Taiping Rebellion army.

Zeng Guofan, who once shaved his head and killed countless people, was actually not a good person within the Taiping Army. Both sides were killing each other.

Anyone who does not follow them is a rebel.

Zhu Zhanjun’s evaluation was, the eldest shouldn’t laugh at the second, because neither of them is a good person.

Now that he controls the two capitals, his next step is to sweep across the country. There is no need to keep the man who was the first to establish the Qing Dynasty.

The peasant uprising, especially the peasant army with faith and church, was able to recruit people very quickly.

Once you give them a chance, you'll be asking for trouble.

Now that the problem has been solved, we might as well cut the weeds completely to avoid further trouble later.

"Yes."

It was the end of November 1860 and the twelfth lunar month was approaching.

However, this year's Spring Festival, the people did not feel so at ease.

There were wars everywhere, and emperors and generals everywhere.

You hit me today, and I hit you tomorrow. The flags on the city walls keep changing.

Just when everyone thought that the chaos would continue like this, the Ming army that controlled Peking actually launched an attack during the twelfth lunar month.

The Ming army, under the banner of pacifying the world and appeasing the people, dispatched 15 troops, divided into three attacking corps.

One route went north to resolve the Liaodong issue, while the other two routes went south and west respectively, starting the Ming Dynasty's conquest journey.

The major forces were not willing to be outdone. In their minds, the Ming army was just taking advantage of a loophole.

While the Qing Dynasty and the foreigners were both suffering heavy losses in the war, a fisherman came along and took advantage of the situation.

Some guys even announced that they wanted to destroy this Ming Dynasty army and completely sweep the Ming Dynasty, which had been extinct for who knows how many years, into the dustbin of history.

But the fact is, those who say the loudest words will receive the worst beatings.

The three armies of the Ming army pushed forward all the way and were almost invincible wherever they passed.

Those sophisticated cannons and muskets with extremely long range confused all the major forces.

Before New Year's Eve, the three armies of the Ming army and the northern army had already pushed forward to Shengjing.

The Southern Army reached the territory ruled by Zeng Guofan, and from the outside world's perspective, the two armies were in a stalemate.

The Western Army has already reached northern Shaanxi, and it is believed that it will soon be able to sweep across the entire Northwest.

What made the various forces even more depressed was that the Ming army not only did not suffer heavy casualties when fighting with so many forces, but the number of troops was increasing rapidly.

In response to this, the generals of each army could only humbly spread their hands.

They have good welfare and treatment, and with propaganda slogans, they are Han people's own troops, and their discipline is many times better than that of the Qing Dynasty and the armies of those kings, so the people naturally accept them.

Now the three attacking corps, from the initial 50,000 troops, the largest corps attacking the northwest has reached 180,000 troops.

The total strength of the three legions under Zhu Zhanjun has now reached 40, which is already the largest force in the entire Yanhuang forces.

The only forces that could fight against Zhu Zhanjun were the Hunan Army and several other imperial forces.

However, something happened on New Year's Eve that shocked all the forces in the world, and they all lamented that the world was going to be taken away by the Ming Dynasty.

The Hunan Army, which was in a stalemate with the Ming Army, actually surrendered to the Ming Army under the leadership of its commander Zeng Guofan.

With Zeng Guofan's surrender, the area south of the Yangtze River fell completely into the hands of the Ming army, laying the foundation for its power to dominate the world.

.........

"Boss, are we really going to go to war with the foreigners?"

In the waters near the mouth of the Yangtze River, two ironclad warships, leading a dozen sailing ships, were sailing slowly.

On one of the ships, a man with a shaved head and wearing a Ming army uniform asked the captain next to him nervously.

"Why, you're scared, kid?"

The captain held a telescope in his hand, observing the signals from the main ship while smiling and teasing his subordinates around him.

Ever since the defeat of the Anglo-French coalition forces, the two countries felt humiliated and were determined to get back at each other.

In Britain, Victoria was the holdback, and Parliament was still caught in endless quarrels.

The Gallic rooster, however, could not tolerate it any longer and directly drew warships from various colonies to form a new expeditionary force in an attempt to get back at the enemy.

Although Zhu Zhanjun was busy taking over mainland territory, he did not relax his vigilance at sea.

After Zheng Zilong arrived, he directly gathered naval forces from all over the country and formed the Second World Ming Navy.

They also worked overtime in space and finally sent out two Warrior-class ironclad ships before the war broke out.

Three days ago, the Ming army received intelligence that the French expeditionary force had arrived in Fujian and was heading towards the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Zhu Zhanjun was still waiting to get married in the Ming Dynasty, so he conveyed the order to Zheng Zilong, asking him to destroy the invading enemy.

After consideration, Zheng Zilong decided to intercept at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The main reason I chose this place was out of helplessness.

Most of the warships of the Qing Dynasty were coastal warships and could not sail far into the ocean. Many of them could only operate in the Yangtze River and other areas. In addition, they lacked maintenance for many years, so it was a good thing that they did not capsize at sea.

Fortunately, two steel battleships were sent from the space, otherwise Zheng Zhilong would have to consider whether to let the other party go ashore and fight them directly on land.

"I'm not afraid, it's mainly because the foreigners' artillery is very powerful and our ships are in disrepair, so it's hard for us to gain an advantage."

The captain snorted and patted the new cannon beside him.

"Don't worry, kid, our guns are more powerful than his."

The sailor who asked the question opened his mouth, but finally shook his head helplessly.

The captain was also aware of this phenomenon.

These sailors were frightened by foreigners during the Qing Dynasty, so even with new weapons, they were still afraid.

If we want to restore their morale, we must use a complete victory to get them back on their feet.

"Ding ding ding..."

Suddenly, the preparation bell rang on the battleship.

After reading the flag signal, the captain put away the telescope and shouted, "Enemy warship spotted, five nautical miles away, all troops ready for battle."

As the order was given, the sailors quickly got busy.

Some were loading cannons, some were loading bullets into their muskets, and some were even holding short swords and shields, ready for boarding battle.

At the same time, the sails were quickly pulled up, and accompanied by the surging sea breeze, the ship quickly followed the main battleship and moved towards a favorable position.

The French army on the opposite side also discovered the Ming Dynasty warships and prepared for battle.

Although they looked down on these Han people from the bottom of their hearts, the last failure was right in front of them, and they didn't want to suffer the same fate as the first wave of expeditionary forces.

"Damn it, who sold them the ironclad battleship?"

The French commander who was commanding his team saw two ironclad warships emitting thick smoke and moving quickly through the telescope, and his face turned green.

The first mate next to him frowned and thought for a while, then said uncertainly, "It looks a bit like John Bull's Warrior." Then he asked again with some doubt, "Didn't theirs just launch? How come there are two of them here?"

"Damn it, this battle is going to be difficult."

Hearing that it was like the British Warrior, the commander's face turned even uglier.

As a sailor, he had heard of the British newly launched HMS Warrior and knew some of its statistics.

Looking at the old-fashioned cannons on the ship, the commander doubted whether they could penetrate the enemy's armor.

But now the arrow is on the string and has to be shot. The two sides are face to face. If he goes back without fighting, he will have no explanation at all.

Thinking of the hateful faces of those guys in the parliament, the commander gritted his teeth and ordered: "Inform the transport ships to retreat, and the other warships to prepare for battle."

The two sides approached each other quickly. The two ironclad ships of the Ming army took advantage of their speed and were the first to seize a good position.

Zheng Zilong, who was commanding on a ship, observed the other side with a telescope and kept conveying various commands and data.

Following Zheng Zilong's orders, the fleet adjusted quickly and the artillery began to adjust its elevation angle.

When the distance between the two sides was less than one nautical mile, Zheng Zilong shouted coldly.

"fire!"

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The Armstrong guns equipped on the two battleships were the first to start roaring.

One shell after another whizzed out and bombarded the French warships in the distance.

Hearing that the other side had fired first, the French commander's face became more serious, but he still ordered the warships to move forward quickly.

Hitting the enemy in naval battles requires 90% luck and 1% calculation.

In the era of pure mechanical aiming, in the vast sea, if you could hit a warship moving in the waves, it was a blessing from God unless you were shooting at it face to face.

In the first round of shooting from the two warships, only one bullet hit the mast of one ship, and the rest all missed.

Instead of cheering, the French army was frightened and broke into cold sweats.

The fact that they were able to hit the target by chance at such a long distance shows how high the enemy's military quality is.

But before they could even start to worry, a second round of artillery fire whistled from the opposite side.

Perhaps in their own waters, the old Dragon King and Mazu were protecting their descendants. In the second round of shooting, six bullets hit the enemy warship.

One of the shells hit the deck, and several sailors were unable to dodge and were either hit by the shell or stabbed by the wood chips that were blown up.

"Report, arrive at the firing position."

In war, no one cares about casualties, and no one will hug their dead and injured comrades in frustration and rage.

Once the battle begins, the only thought in the soldier's mind is to defeat the enemy, and everything else will have to wait until after the war.

Faced with the wailing of their comrades, the French soldiers showed no expression and quickly estimated the distance between the two sides.

When you reach their artillery range, report immediately to the fleet commander.

"fire!"

With the rumbling sound of artillery fire from the French fleet, the battle between the two sides officially began.

However, the outcome of the war gave the French commander a headache.

The two steel battleships relied on their fast speed and went straight to the front, blocking most of the artillery fire.

The shells fired by the French army left little reaction except for a few marks on the ship and a few sparks.

On the French side, two of the warships had been riddled with holes, and some of the damaged warehouses had already started to take in water.

"We can't fight like this anymore, get ready for a boarding battle!"

The French officers looked at their damaged warships and realized that if they continued to bombard them like this, they would sooner or later be blown into the sea and fed to sharks.

He never even thought of running away.

It was not that he had the spirit of a warrior, but that his sailing warship could not outrun the enemy's steamship when the wind was not in his favor.

At present, there are only two ways for him to defeat the enemy. The first is to surrender, and the second is to fight directly in the most brutal battle.

Between the two, he chose the second.

As he gave the order, the French warships no longer avoided the artillery fire and directly rammed into the Ming army ships.

(End of this chapter)