52. Chapter 52
"none"
Li Rongbao was so frightened that his face turned pale and he took several steps back. He stared at Qi You in disbelief, trembling and shaking, unable to utter a word.
Suo Etu was also stunned. After coming to his senses, he quickly advised with a bitter face, "Seventh Prince, please don't be impulsive! Chief Steward Li is an official appointed by the imperial court. How can you just kill him without authorization?"
Qi You smiled and ignored Soetu, saying slowly, "Li, this is the most powerful gun that the Portuguese presented to Khan Ama. Khan Ama gave it to me before I set out. I'm not very proficient in using it yet, so I don't know if it will go off accidentally."
Li Rongbao leaned on the armrest of the chair and managed to calm himself down. Just as he was about to speak, Qi You raised his hand and pointed the gun at his head.
Seeing his pupils suddenly dilate and contract, Qi You raised his eyebrows, put down his gun, and smiled faintly: "I pointed a gun at your head and ordered you to attack Galdan and the invading Luosha troops. If you didn't go, I would lead the two hundred soldiers myself. The prince of the Qing Dynasty and important officials of the court came to ask for help, but you turned a blind eye. You can do the math and see if your entire Fucha family is enough to save the lives of me, Lord Suo, Lord Tong, and a number of court officials and interpreters."
Suo Etu had a splitting headache and wiped his face with his hand. He thought Qi You brought him along to persuade Li Rongbao with his help.
He never thought that Qi You just wanted to use him as a bonus.
Sending troops without authorization is a serious matter. For a military commander, being impeached is not a big deal, but being suspected by the emperor is a big deal.
Faced with the current situation, Li Rongbao had no choice but to send troops.
Qi You is brave, resourceful and responsible. Once the gun was fired, it was clear that Li Rongbao was forced into this matter.
If he continues to be stubborn, Qi You will probably target the entire Fucha family.
In the past, Soetu thought Qi You was just impulsive as a child, but after seeing his arrangements and actions along the way, Soetu was terrified and had no doubt that he could destroy the Fucha family without any effort.
Soetu guessed wrong. Qi You's move was actually to protect Li Rongbao and himself at the same time.
He could have been polite and persuaded Li Rongbao to send troops, which would have been a win-win for both parties.
But his relationship with Li Rongbao could never be harmonious.
The reason for bringing Soetu along was to make him see that it was he who forced Li Rongbao.
Associating with military officers would be a taboo for Kangxi. Given Soetu's cautious and suspicious personality, his words in front of the crown prince would probably not be so pleasant.
Qi You was not afraid of these things, but he had more important things to do and was unwilling to get stuck in the quagmire of Kowloon.
He could also completely ignore the current turmoil, return to the capital, and wait until the location for the peace talks with the Rakshasa Kingdom was re-planned, such as Nerchinsk.
If, in order to protect themselves, they ignored the suffering in the northern desert and allowed Galdan to leave in a show of force, they would have fought with the Qing Dynasty for dozens or even hundreds of years, and Tibet, Qinghai and other places would have remained isolated for a long time.
The hands of the Rakshasa Kingdom were stained with the blood of the Qing people, and it was acting arrogantly on Qing soil.
Qi You couldn't do it, even if it meant he would be torn to pieces.
Soetu couldn't help but look at Li Rongbao. He slumped in the chair, his face turning red and black, as if he was lost in thought.
After a moment, Li Rongbao stood up again and said indignantly, "Seventh Prince is really going too far. No matter what the consequences are, I must have a good argument with you in front of the Emperor."
He turned to Suo Etu and said, "Master Suo, you have seen what happened today. I would like to trouble you to testify for me in front of the emperor in the future. I was really forced to do this."
Soetu subconsciously looked at Qi You first. Seeing him fiddling with the gun slowly, he laughed awkwardly a few times and did not respond for a while.
Qi You thought Li Rongbao was really smart. He laughed and said, "Since General Li has understood the situation, he should give the order to gather all the soldiers and march immediately!"
Li Rongbao flicked his sleeves and said, "Seventh Prince, there's no need to rush me. I'll do it myself. However, there are still some soldiers and garrisons scattered outside, and the food and fodder will take some effort. You two will have to wait a while."
Qi You thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Let the elite troops be the vanguard first, and the new recruits and weaker teams will be the rear guard."
Li Rongbao was horrified. Thinking that Qi You probably didn't know how to fight, he kindly explained, "Seventh Prince probably doesn't know that elite soldiers are extremely rare. New recruits who survive the battlefield become veterans, and only veterans can really fight."
Qi You said calmly, "I know. In other words, they're throwing new recruits onto the battlefield to test their skills and fill the artillery fire, exchanging their lives for elite troops. This time, I'm going to change it up a bit, like Tian Ji's horse race. I want you to take the best horses and directly go against the medium and low-quality horses of Galdan Luosha's soldiers."
Li Rongbao was stunned, stiffening his neck and saying, "Seventh Prince, Galdan's soldiers are always brave, and so are the Luosha soldiers. How could they be riding on average or even inferior horses? Never underestimate the enemy in battle."
Qi You said, "They've already made a long march and fought against the Khalkha. Both their weapons and physical strength have been depleted, and they're already exhausted. You must give it your all this time. Don't worry about food or artillery. Bombard them first. Once you've used up all your ammunition, use your cavalry to strangle them."
Li Rongbao's eyes lit up and he swallowed subconsciously. Suo Etu was also stunned.
This kind of playing style sounds really cool!
If they followed Qi You's arrangement and bombarded the enemy with artillery fire first, even if Galdan was not frightened, he would be confused and wonder whether a large number of reinforcements had arrived from the Qing Dynasty.
The enemy soldiers did not have the courage of Galdan. Once they were frightened, they fled for their lives.
This battle is mostly won.
The subsequent elite cavalry followed up and faced the enemy's fleeing soldiers. The outcome can be imagined.
After all, Li Rongbao had a lot of dealings with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, and he knew the moral character of these people. He had always treasured the little food, fodder, ammunition and equipment that Chahar had.
After hesitating for a moment, Li Rongbao said tactfully, "Seventh Prince, Chahar isn't rich either, and we don't have that much to fight for."
Qi You understood Li Rongbao's thoughts and said, "I don't know whether Chahar is rich or not, but I am good at checking accounts. I will find out after checking."
Li Rongbao's face turned pale and he felt cold sweat on his back.
With such great power in the military, politics, taxation, etc., no one can withstand scrutiny!
Qi You only mentioned it briefly, using both kindness and force: "The imperial court will send reinforcements later. If we fight too late, the credit may go to the reinforcements."
Soetu looked at Qi You, his heart in turmoil. Only he himself knew how he felt.
Qi You sees all the little things going on in the court too clearly, which is both respectable and terrifying.
If the prince were to confront him...
Suo Etu changed his mind and became more proactive, persuading: "Li Zongguan, the Seventh Prince has already sent an urgent letter to the Emperor. Since he came to find you, the Emperor will also know about the food and grass you are short of. Not a single blade of grass will be missing from you. It is your credit, and it will be yours."
Li Rongbao was still hesitating when Suo Etu cried out, "You better hurry! Lord Tong is still leading less than 200 men, holding back Galdan and the Luosha soldiers. If anything happens to Lord Tong, you'll be held responsible!"
Li Rongbao was so angry that Soetu, who had been standing by and watching, began to threaten him.
One was the Minister of the Imperial Guard, the prince's uncle. Another was the prince favored by the emperor. And another was the emperor's uncle.
Li Rongbao couldn't afford to offend any of these people, let alone all of them together.
Li Rongbao gritted his teeth, reluctantly took out all his family assets, and urgently ordered all the soldiers to set off immediately.
*
Under the scorching sun, Tong Guogang's lips were dry and cracked, and the sweat all over his body dried and wet, wet and dry, and now it was wet, as if he had been fished out of the water.
He didn't care about anything and rode away with his companions and the young and strong men of Khalkha.
Behind them, Galdan himself led his personal guards in pursuit. The earth-shaking sound of horse hooves and furious roars was like a dark cloud pressing down on them, seemingly threatening to crush them.
A few days ago, Tong Guogang led his men to launch several surprise attacks on Galdan. He could not get close to Galdan, so he could only set fire to the rear of the troops, shoot a few arrows, and then run away.
At first, Galdan ignored them and withdrew his troops after chasing them for a while. Soon, Galdan adjusted his deployment, put the captured Khalkha people at the end, and continued to head towards Hangai Mountain.
Tong Guogang felt both hatred and anxiety when he saw how cunning Galdan was.
Continue the sneak attack, the innocent people of Khalkha are behind us and they will suffer.
Let's not hold Galdan back. As Qi You had expected, they had already planned to return.
Moreover, Galdan ignored them. Tong Guogang thought about it and concluded that they were in a hurry to go back.
Tong Guogang was more cautious and found a Khalkha citizen who was familiar with the surrounding roads. He led him to take a shortcut and lie in ambush ahead, and witnessed the passage of Galdan's army with his own eyes.
After this, Tong Guogang finally saw everything clearly and was immediately overjoyed.
Galdan claimed that he had an army of 30,000, and Tong Guogang counted them carefully from beginning to end.
Even if he didn't count correctly and there were deviations of hundreds or thousands, he could basically conclude that Galdan's 30,000-strong army actually had only about 15,000 people at most.
The most important thing is that Galdan didn’t have any cannon at all!
Come to think of it, Galdan had to cross the steep and dangerous Hangai Mountains, which were over 4,000 meters above sea level, and it was impossible for him to bring cannons with him.
It seems that the cannons that Galdan used to fight against Khalkha were borrowed from the Rakshasa Kingdom and returned to them after the battle.
As for how many guns Galdan had provided by the Luosha soldiers, plus his own equipment, Tong Guogang was unable to see clearly.
However, after defeating the three Khalkha tribes, there probably weren't many left.
Galdan was truly cunning and cautious. No wonder he wanted to return as quickly as possible, not daring to venture deep into the Khalkha tribe. He was even more worried about the arrival of the Qing army, so he had to return to his lair as quickly as possible.
In this battle, Galdan brought his troops to Caogu simply to make a feint, to express his dissatisfaction and to provoke the Qing Dynasty.
Tong Guogang couldn't help but sneer in anger.
Those damn Rakshasa soldiers fought and robbed and ran away. It was a pity that they didn't meet them. It was a waste of Qi You's instructions.
Seeing that Galdan's army was getting closer and closer to Hangai Mountain, the vanguard had already started to go up the mountain, but the Qing soldiers were still nowhere to be seen.
Tong Guogang became anxious and made up his mind. He went around to the food and supplies area and fired several rockets at them.
Seeing the wheelbarrow on fire, the enemy camp was in turmoil and he quickly called his companions to run away.
This time, it was Galdan and his personal soldiers who caught up with them.
Galdan did not see the Qing army coming, and he was about to leave Khalkha, so he was no longer polite.
Seeing that Tong Guogang's group consisted of no more than a hundred men, Galdan sneered and shouted, "Bring the leader to me, and capture the rest alive. Whoever captures them will become my slave!"
Galdan's personal soldiers immediately let out strange cries and chased after Tong Guogang and the others like bloodthirsty beasts.
Tong Guogang was extremely anxious and cried out inwardly, "Oh no! This time, I'm afraid I'm going to die here."
Seeing the pursuers getting closer and closer, Tong Guogang's blood boiled. He reined in his horse and shouted, "Galdan is right in front of us. Kill him, take his dog head, and return to Beijing to be promoted to a higher position!"
The soldiers who came with the delegation were all elite soldiers selected by Kangxi, and they were invincible. Upon hearing Tong Guogang's words, they immediately turned around and rushed towards Galdan's troops.
At this moment, a sharp whistle sounded, and Tong Guogang was shocked. He shouted in ecstasy: "Retreat! Retreat!"
This group of soldiers also heard the whistle, and without hesitation reined in their horses, turned around again, and galloped forward following Tong Guogang.
Galdan was riding on his horse and saw the group of people stop and then turn around and run away. He was stunned for a moment, as if he realized something was wrong.
Hearing the noise coming from the front, Galdan's expression changed drastically. He waved his hand and ordered everyone to return to the camp.
Behind him, the sound of horse hooves shook the earth.
"boom!"
The artillery fire flew over and exploded among the personal soldiers, splattering blood and flesh everywhere.
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