Going down the river, Flame Dragon and the troop-carrying ship had already passed Guazhou and arrived at Taiping Continent before dawn.
Taiping Continent was a River Heart Continent near Pill Sun. It was not large and did not have Qing troops stationed there. The fleet was temporarily docked here to rest.
Li Xiucheng's troops had just changed their equipment not long ago. They still needed some time to get used to this new type of firearm. Now, before the enemy caught up, they could train them during this period of time!
"My lord, where do you plan to go next?”
Li Xiucheng was very concerned about Lin Yu's future.
"What do you have in mind?”
Lin Yu glanced at the army that was training and turned around to ask.
"Right now, the enemy is heavily concentrated. There are hundreds of thousands of Xiang troops in the Tianjing area, and Li Hongzhang's Huai troops in the Jianghuai area. They have already grown to about 60,000, and their strength cannot be underestimated.
" In the south, in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, Zuo Zongtang's Chu army is slightly weaker than the Huai army, but they still have more than 40,000 people. This is not including the two Qing armies in Jiangnan and Jiangbei. In total, the enemy's total strength in the hundreds of miles around us exceeds 300,000!”
Because Taiping Country had just been destroyed, the Qing court had mobilized most of the elite troops in the country to destroy it.
Moreover, unlike the decadent Qing army, the Qing army at this time had rich combat experience and was still very strong.
Lin Yu's military strength was relatively small. Including the Taiping Army captives, there were only about 5000 people, including 2600 navy and 3000 land troops.
Using 3,000 people to fight 300,000, this battle was definitely not easy to fight.
Therefore, they should avoid the enemy's main force and attack where the enemy's forces were weak!
Li Xiucheng had the same opinion.
"Our army has few soldiers, so it's not suitable to fight them head-on. However, the general has absolute control over the sea. With the great power of the Flame Dragon, the enemy's navy is not worth mentioning!“
After witnessing the water battle last night, Lee Xiucheng fully recognized the powerful combat power of the Flame Dragon.
In his opinion, with the Flame Dragon, the Qing navy was like clay chickens and pottery dogs, not worth mentioning at all.
Fortunately, they were in the middle of the river last night. The Flame Dragon was too big and it was not convenient to turn around, so a portion of the Xiang Army's navy could escape.
If the battlefield had been on the sea, the Xiang Army would have been wiped out.
"Therefore, I think we should find a place near the sea. The enemy's forces are not that many, and the defense is relatively weak.”
As expected of a famous general of Taiping Country, Li Xiucheng's knowledge was indeed extraordinary.
In fact, Lin Yu thought so too.
"Moreover, the economy of this place has to be developed and the population has to be large enough. With more people, it will be easier for us to recruit soldiers. With a developed economy, it will be easier for us to collect taxes and have money to feed the army!”
"My lord is far-sighted, this subordinate admires you!”
Li Xiucheng admired him from the bottom of his heart. The other party had seen through his thoughts at a glance and even said something that even he had not expected.
Such strategic foresight was indeed rare!
If the Heavenly King of Taiping Country, Hong Xiuquan, was as knowledgeable as his lord, they wouldn't have ended up at the end of the road and been destroyed by the enemy!
"Hehe, General Li, you're too modest. I think you must have an ideal place in your heart. How about this? You and I will write down what we think at the same time and then uncover it together to see if our thoughts are the same!”
"Since my lord is so elegant, I will naturally accompany you!”
The two of them then wrote down the ideal place they had in mind and unveiled it together.
After seeing the other party's answer, the two of them were stunned for a second, then they looked at each other and smiled.
Their answers were surprisingly the same. Both of them wrote the words 'Guangdong and Guangdong'!
At present, Guangdong and Guangxi were the first places to open up to the outside world in the Qing Dynasty. Not only did they have the earliest 13 banks in Yuecheng, but they were also trading ports stipulated by the great powers after the Opium War.
In addition, Xiangjiang Island, which was ceded during the Opium War, was nearby. Whether it was doing business with foreigners or other parts of the country, transportation was very convenient.
Therefore, the business here was very developed, with a large number of trading companies and banks.
If they occupied this place, with the wealth of Guangdong and Guangxi, they could feed an army of hundreds of thousands of people!
Not only that, the Guangdong and Guangxi regions had a large population and strong folk customs. They were a very good source of soldiers. If they occupied this place, they would not have to worry about the problem of soldiers!
More importantly, at this time, the military forces in Guangdong and Guangxi were empty. The Qing court had less than 20,000 troops stationed here, and they were scattered in dozens of cities in Guangdong and Guangxi.
With the speed of information transmission in this era, they could completely destroy all the cities one by one.
There was no need to face the Qing army's field troops that had tens of thousands of soldiers. Therefore, even with their current strength, they could easily defeat the other party. Therefore, if they went south now, they could immediately attack the city and seize territory!
Even though the Qing court had mobilized the Xiang, Huai, and Chu armies to attack them after receiving the news.
The mobilization of these troops also required a lot of time. By the time they arrived at Guangdong and Guangxi, Lin Yu and the others would have already established a firm foothold and even armed a stronger and larger army!
At that time, with better weapons and more troops, they would have no need to fear the Qing army at all. They could completely fight the other party openly!
"Indeed, great minds think alike. In that case, let's go here!”
With Lin Yu's order, the fleet set sail again.
When he passed by Songjiang Prefecture, Lin Yu looked at the relatively dilapidated Songjiang Prefecture and sighed with emotion.
A hundred and fifty years later, this would be the most prosperous city in the entire Celestial Empire!
However, at this moment, this was just a small county.
Although the Flame Dragon didn't stop at Songjiang Prefecture, the local Qing army of Song Jiang was nervous.
Even the foreigners in the concession ran out and pointed at the Flame Dragon that was sailing south across Song Jiang.
"Oh my god, which country's warship is that? It was simply too beautiful and spectacular!!”
Flame Dragon's clean and neat design, its huge main cannon, and its majestic body left a deep impression on the Westerners. They couldn't help but exclaim!
"It must be the Royal Navy of the Empire of the Sun Never Sets, right? In this world, who else would have such a huge warship besides them?”
"However, the flag on it doesn't look like the Union Flag at all. It looks more like a dragon flag!”
"Dragon flag? Isn't that the flag of the Celestial Empire? How could an inferior race like China have such an advanced warship? Are you crazy?”
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