Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 133 It’s Too Late to Regret
“Besides, after we break through the enemy’s position, it’s hard to say how many of the enemy we can kill and how many of our own people will be left. Do we have to divide our forces and leave some to guard the artillery while others go into the mountains to continue the pursuit?
That will only make us die faster. Now that we lose this battle, let’s not think about achieving any results. Let’s think about how to save our lives, otherwise we will end up like Addis and Delentang!

I am finished. My only promising son is dead. If I lose this battle again, I am afraid that the Feimo family will never be able to recover. But if I lose this battle too badly, I am afraid that you, the Zhangjia family, will not have an easy life either!"

Le Bao spoke some heartfelt words. He was now filled with despair and regretted coming to Jiangjin. If he had stayed in Chengdu, these would have been other people's business.

Moreover, no matter how powerful Chen Gu was, it was impossible for him to go out with such a small force to attack cities when Sichuan’s military strength was fully available.

But now the situation is very different. If his 9,000 soldiers are lost here, the 2,000 soldiers in Jiangjin County will not be spared. And if 11,000 soldiers are lost, the whole Sichuan will be full of loopholes.

Le Bao knew that even if he could escape this time, he would be doomed. He was the Governor of Sichuan. If the whole Sichuan was in flames, he, as the governor, could only atone for his crime by dying.

Le Bao regretted it, and Na Yancheng regretted it as well. He regretted leaving the capital for Chongqing, and he regretted coming to Jiangjin even more. If he had stayed in the capital instead of coming to Chongqing, he could have been safely promoted to the position of Vice Minister of one of the six ministries in two years. If he had not come to Jiangjin, he would have allowed Le Bao to be defeated, and he would have had room for maneuver.

Even with the strength that Chen Gu showed at this time, it was only a matter of time before the whole Sichuan was corrupted. With his profound background and ability, he might even be able to take the position of Governor of Sichuan in an emergency.

By that time, Chen Gu's true colors would have been exposed. He would make careful plans, rely on the whole world, and gather the strength of the entire Sichuan to compete with Chen Gu again. It would be unknown who would win.

But it's too late to say anything now. Even if he could escape, what awaits Na Yancheng is only Jiaqing's reprimand and then sitting on the bench for the rest of his life.

Three million Manchus are few compared to the 300 million Han people, but they are a lot compared to the people in the court. The emperor has no shortage of people to use.

Na Yancheng thought for a moment and said, "Since Uncle Shi has decided to retreat, let's leave now without further delay to avoid any more trouble!"

Le Bao shook his head and said, "There is no rush. We have been busy all day and are already exhausted. It is time for a snack and we are hungry. In addition, we have lost a battle and our morale is low. If we retreat now, we will probably be defeated.

If the enemy army resists resolutely, they may not even be able to get through the thirty miles, and then we will be really finished. Moreover, if my prediction is correct, the main camp has probably fallen into the hands of the enemy army by now.

Therefore, even if they risked their lives to walk these thirty miles, there might not be a safe place to rest. By then, the soldiers would probably become desperate. It would be better to rest here for a night, let the soldiers eat and drink enough, and then tell them the truth tomorrow. If they cannot escape, they will be trapped to death here.

In order to survive, I think everyone will try their best to escape. We have a whole day, and even if we need to walk 50 miles to the river, most of us should be able to escape!"

"But if we continue to camp here, we may encounter many troubles!" Na Yancheng reminded. He was really afraid of Chen's army. He felt that he had fallen into the enemy's calculations everywhere.

Le Bao thought for a moment and said, "Let the Green Camp rotate to light more bonfires on the periphery, and the Eight Banners Firearms Camp rotate inside. Even if the enemy launches a sneak attack, the worst that can happen is that they will only lose a few Green Camp soldiers, which will not affect the overall situation."

Seven thousand green camps were stationed on the hillside with more bonfires, five hundred and eight banner cavalry and five hundred and eight banner musketeers were on the hill, and there were ten cannons guarding. Even at night, Chen Gu naturally did not dare to launch a large-scale sneak attack. However, Chen Gu would not let the other side have an easy time. He sneak attacked the west at the first watch, the east at the second watch, and the south at the third watch. Although the results were not great, he disturbed the other side and kept them in a state of tension.

After three sneak attacks, on the hill where the imperial court was stationed, five meters underground, a special company of soldiers turned an hourglass upside down. After the sand in the hourglass had drained out, Shao Shantou would launch another sneak attack, which was also the beginning of their action.

Seven days ago, when Chen Gu was planning to evacuate, he called Yun Hua, whom he trusted the most, to Zhongyi Hall to conspire, and then sent Yun Hua to take away all the kerosene.

Although the special forces company still went out to attack with all its members, the intensity of the attacks on the civilians weakened because more of their people were involved in digging tunnels.

The location where the tunnel was dug was on the hill where the imperial army was stationed at that time.

Digging tunnels was not for fighting underground warfare. Although Chen Gu was very familiar with underground warfare, there was no need to fight underground warfare at this time.

The tunnel was dug to store kerosene and soldiers. There was not much kerosene, only three thousand kilograms, and there were only thirty soldiers.

The tunnel is five meters deep and just big enough for a person to jog with a bent back. It goes in a circle around the top of the mountain. There are thirty exits, all next to big trees to prevent anyone from walking around and discovering anything.

In fact, even if someone passed by, it would be difficult to find anything, because after people went in yesterday, they sealed the entrance of the cave with a thin stone slab and a thick wooden board, and then covered it with fresh moss to hide it. Unless you squatted down and studied it carefully, it would be basically impossible to be discovered.

As it turned out, even the thirty holes were not discovered.

At four o'clock in the morning, Chen Gu launched another sneak attack. This time the attack was the most intense. He launched sneak attacks from three sides at the same time. Although he retreated quickly as usual, the noise was quite loud.

Taking advantage of the noise made by Chen Gui's sneak attack, the soldiers in the tunnel smashed the stone slabs with hammers, pushed away the wooden boards and the moss on top, and then carried two kerosene jars outside.

Just when the soldiers on the imperial side thought that the sneak attack was over and were preparing to go back to sleep, a series of explosions were heard, and along with the explosions there were large balls of fire.

It was really a huge ball of fire. The affected area of ​​a ball of fire was at least several dozen square meters. The largest one could even reach a diameter of more than ten meters, which is one hundred square meters.

Moreover, after these flames exploded violently, although they weakened, they did not completely extinguish. Not only did they ignite the branches of the trees that had just been cut down, but even the bare ground continued to burn, and naturally they would continue to burn on people's bodies.

"Ah~!" The entire mountain was instantly filled with tragic wails.

(End of this chapter)