In order to make the bandit-suppressing army stronger, Zhang Rui worked hard. Although the bandit-suppressing army can quickly capture several cities now, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has not yet reacted.
Wu Sangui's troops in San Francisco were strong enough, but they still failed. Although there is Wu Sangui's problem in this, it also shows the strength and tenacity of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Today's bandit suppressing army is much weaker than any of the three vassals back then, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty is also stronger and more stable than the three vassals back then.
All the comparisons made Zhang Rui dare not have any thoughts of laziness and relaxation.
In addition to bringing a practical military boxing set to Zhang Rui, Hong Xiguan's arrival also brought a piece of news.
Guangzhou City had previously asked Li Shiyao to order a total of nearly 80,000 people from Guangzhou Prefecture, Shaozhou Prefecture, Huizhou Prefecture, Chaozhou Prefecture, and several other Zhili prefectures to gather outside Guangzhou City.
The ultimate goal of these troops is to wait for the bandit-suppressing army to attack the city, create a large encirclement for the bandit-suppressing army, and then follow up to capture the land captured by the bandit-suppressing army.
Zhang Rui had no doubts about the information that Hong Xi had pried out from the mouths of the Manchu generals who had escaped from Guangzhou. This is really in line with their approach: rely on more people to fight and consume.
Official Hong Xi's information made Zhang Rui feel that it was not optimistic. Guangzhou City had just been captured, and before they could even take a few breaths, the opponent mobilized their troops to find a place for them again.
Keep or give up?
If we defend Guangzhou City and are surrounded by the opponent, we will be helpless. This is a dead end and is absolutely not advisable.
But giving up the city of Guangzhou just after they captured it would greatly reduce the morale of the surrendered troops, which would be very detrimental to future uprisings.
So, Zhang Rui decided to go out of the city to fight back.
Guangzhou City only has two thousand soldiers and horses to garrison, just to avoid civil strife.
Didn’t the Manchu Qing mobilize more than 60,000 troops? Then it depends on who is better.
After Hong Xiguan left, Zhang Rui also ordered the recruits who had been recruited and trained in Wuzhou and Zhaoqing for more than ten days to come to Guangzhou City.
Due to the severe wear and tear of muskets, most of the muskets built were used to replace the old muskets of today's musketeers.
Although Zhang Rui had ordered to increase the production of muskets earlier, the time was too short after all, and the bandit suppression army now only has more than 3,000 musketeers.
Although the bandit-suppressing army's musketeers are not ideal, the artillery does have thirty-four six-pounders, and this number is still increasing.
"Since the Qing Dynasty wants to fight, let's do it! If my life is not saved this time, then the whole Guangdong will be mine." At this time, Zhang was looking at the bright moonlight in the sky in the inner courtyard of the Governor's Palace of Guangdong and Guangxi. Rui said secretly
"Brother Six, haven't you rested yet?" asked Wang Kaiyuan, who found Zhang Rui in the corridor.
Because the time was too short, and the Guangdong and Guangxi Governor's Mansion occupied a large area. Therefore, when Zhang Rui lived in the Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi, he also located all important offices here. This is why Wang Kaiyuan still walks in the corridors of the Governor's Palace of Guangdong and Guangxi at night.
"The moonlight is nice, let's go out for a walk. Kaiyuan, why don't you rest?" Zhang Rui asked Wang Kaiyuan, who was still looking excited.
"There is nothing to do when I go back to the room. There are still some official matters that need to be dealt with, so I just deal with them and don't get to rest." Wang Kaiyuan replied.
"Oh, thank you for your hard work. The weather is starting to get colder. You should go to bed early. There are still a lot of things to be busy with tomorrow." Zhang Rui said with a concerned tone.
"Thank you, Sixth Brother, for your concern. I understand. Sixth Brother, please rest early. After all, you are the most tired." Wang Kaiyuan was inexplicably moved after hearing Zhang Rui's words, even if it was just a simple word from Zhang Rui. .
"Okay, then I won't bother you to go to work." Zhang Rui replied
Neither party was too polite. After all, time was tight and there really wasn't much time to waste here.
Four days later, more than 25,000 troops recruited by Wuzhou Prefecture and Zhaoqing Prefecture arrived in Guangzhou City.
When these troops arrived on the road to Guangzhou City, Li Shiyao thought about letting his Qing soldiers take the initiative to attack these incoming bandit suppression troops.
However, at this time, the soldiers and horses mobilized by the Qing army had not yet arrived, and they did not have an advantage in numbers.
Li Shiyao was afraid that if he attacked rashly, he would be entangled by these bandit suppressing troops. If the "rebels" in Guangzhou City come out and defeat their own troops, then they will really have no chance of making a comeback.
During these four days, the bandit suppression army also recruited nearly 10,000 troops in Guangzhou City.
Much of the credit for recruiting so many people came from the propaganda of the Tiandihui and other anti-Qing people.
Since most of them were introduced by local people in their hometown, and the superior conditions offered by the bandit suppression army, it was much easier to recruit them.
As for "rebellion" being beheaded?
Just kidding, Sixth Brother is protected by a "god", and he is also the true god of us Han people.
Do you think you won't have to die if you don't join the bandit suppression army? Given the Manchu Qing's tendency to massacre cities at every turn, staying here would definitely lead to death.
Even if you are let out of the city now, unless you can give up everything you have now and avoid capture by the Qing army, you will die.
Since they are all dead, why not fight with them? The bandit suppressing army has never been defeated before, and the casualties are very small. Unless your luck is extremely low, there is no need to worry at all...
Therefore, under various remarks of this kind, the bandit suppression army was overcrowded when recruiting. If the bandit-suppressing army didn't have a recruitment standard, there would definitely be more than this number of people recruited.
If it weren't for the fact that there were Qing troops gathered around them, the bandit-suppressing army could easily recruit more than 30,000 people by sending its propaganda department and recruitment department to the counties under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture.
Even so, the anti-bandit army had gathered more than 50,000 troops in Guangzhou City at this time.
This number seems to be quite large, but the number of soldiers who can really fight a tough battle is only the nearly 10,000 soldiers of the previous bandit suppression army.
The former Green Battalion that surrendered can fight with favorable winds, but it is easy to retreat in difficult battles. After all, the reason why they surrendered is mostly due to the superior strength of the bandit suppressing army. If the bandit suppressing army shows a defeat, they are not expected to be able to do so. Hold on.
The fighting will of those bandit suppressing troops who have not been trained for a long time may be better, but Zhang Rui doesn't know the specific combat effectiveness. It is estimated that it is not optimistic.
As for the nearly 10,000 people recruited in Guangzhou City. From Zhang Rui's point of view, they are currently just there to increase their numbers and increase their popularity. There is no training yet, and there is basically no battlefield.
On the third day after the bandit suppression army gathered, the Qing army also officially gathered.
Li Shiyao couldn't help but not be in a hurry.
The city of Guangzhou "fell", and he, the garrison general, had come to an end. Now Li Shiyao could only take advantage of the fact that the imperial court had not seized his power, and gathered troops and horses as quickly as possible in order to regain the lost territory and alleviate the imperial court's anger.
