Just as the Western Expedition Army was destroying cities and villages with unstoppable momentum.
The Eastern Expedition Army also set off.
"Left General, I'll leave Fujian and Zhejiang to you!”
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. Even if I have to risk my old life, I will definitely offer Min and Zhe to Your Highness!”
Zuo Zongtang was very grateful to Lin Yu for entrusting him to lead his troops to the eastern expedition!
The Han King trusted him so much that not only did he let him lead the original army, but he also let him lead the army to attack the original jurisdiction.
He was very touched by this trust!
If it was anyone else, he reckoned that he would never be able to lead the Chu army in this lifetime, let alone bring the Chu army back to his base in Minzhe!
After all, the risk of doing so was very high. If Zuo Zongtang did not sincerely surrender, then it would be like letting a tiger return to the mountain. After they returned to their old nest in Minzhe, they would definitely jump to the Qing court and would no longer be loyal to Lin Yu.
Therefore, the usual method was to separate him from the Chu army under him and not give him the chance to continue to control the Chu army.
Then, he would find a casual position for him and let him separate from the army so that the Han army could slowly assimilate and take over the army.
If the Han army decided to go east, they would definitely choose from Lin Yu's most trusted generals and not him, a surrendered general of the Chu army.
However, Lin Yu did not do so. He treated Zuo Zongtang honestly and did not exclude him from the battle plan just because he was the former commander of the Chu army or the governor of Minzhe!
On the contrary, Lin Yu trusted him so much that he entrusted such an important task to him. This trust made Zuo Zongtang extremely moved. He even swore in his heart that he would repay him with his life in the future!”
"I'm relieved to hear your words. However, when we enter the Min-Zhe region, we must pay attention to Zeng Guofan's movements. This person has been staying in Tianjing for several months and has not made any moves. The imperial court ordered his army to move north, but he found various excuses to evade. It seems that our Lord Zeng seems to be planning something!”
Zuo Zongtang nodded seriously. He didn't know whether Zeng Guofan himself was ambitious or not, but his brothers were definitely ambitious, especially Zeng Guoquan.
Based on his understanding of Zeng Guoquan, if Zeng Guofan wanted to rebel, he would definitely be the first to stand up and support him. Even Zeng Guofan's rebellion was instigated by him!
If it was in the past, he wouldn't have bothered with the Xiang Army.
But now that he had joined the Han army, the Qing army, including the Xiang and Huai armies, had become the enemy of the Han army.
Since they were enemies, they naturally had to pay close attention to their every move.
……
On September 28th, Zuo Zongtang led 20,000 troops to launch an eastern expedition.
Because the Eastern punitive expedition was made up of the original Chu army, the local officials were not on guard against them. They thought that the news of their complete annihilation was fake, so they did not close the city gates to defend themselves.
Instead, they brought all the officials in the city out of the city to welcome their governor.
When Zuo Zongtang saw this, he immediately led his troops to detain them and then took down the city without bloodshed.
"M-Sir, w-what are you doing?”
When the local officials of the Qing court saw that Zuo Zongtang's Chu army had suddenly turned hostile, they were all stunned. They did not understand what was going on.
He had brought wine and meat out to reward the army and welcome the Governor's arrival. Why was he captured by the other party instead?
"Hehe, everyone, I'm sorry. I'm no longer the Governor of the Imperial Court!”
"You are the Governor of Minzhe appointed by the Imperial Court! Lord Zuo, you can't joke with us like this!”
Zuo Zongtang burst into laughter when he saw the confused faces of these people.
He suddenly thought of a good idea. Since the people here still thought that he was the Governor of Minzhe, then wouldn't he be able to use this identity to make a fuss?
Thinking of this, Zuo Zongtang immediately ordered,""Seal off the news strictly. Don't let anyone escape!”
As long as the news that he had joined the Han army was blocked, then wherever he went, the local officials would be like the Qing court officials in this city. They would open the city gates and welcome his army without any precautions!
In that case, not only could the Chu army take advantage of the situation to seize these cities, but it would also be the kind that did not shed blood or pay any price!
In this way, the Chu army's losses and consumption were very small. Moreover, because they had not experienced cruel battles, the various places basically did not suffer much damage.
The people would not be plunged into misery, and production activities would not be affected. The impact of the war on the people would be minimized!
Thinking of this, Zuo Zongtang suddenly thought of something."
"I understand now. So this is the reason why the King of Han sent me as the general of the Eastern Expedition!”
Zuo Zongtang felt that His Highness the King of Han must not have the heart to see the people affected by the flames of war, their lives plunged into misery, their families destroyed, and so he chose to take a huge risk and send him, a surrendered general, to lead a large group of surrendered troops to take on the mission of the Eastern Expedition!
The goal was to minimize the damage caused by the Eastern Expedition!
"The King of Han is indeed kind-hearted. He's a benevolent ruler!”
Thinking of this, Zuo Zongtang sighed with emotion and became even more determined to follow the Han King to the death!
If he did not pledge loyalty to such a benevolent monarch, would he continue to pledge loyalty to the fatuous emperor in the capital who did not care about the lives of the people at all?
As a former general of the Qing army, Zuo Zongtang was very clear about the conduct of the Qing army. He had also personally witnessed the actions of the Qing army in the war against Taiping Country!
Murder, arson, rape, plunder, and almost all kinds of evil. The imperial court's army was even more bandits than bandits!
Compared to the disciplined Han Army, which did not offend the people at all, such an army was like the difference between heaven and earth!
Thinking of this, Zuo Zongtang threw away the guilt in his heart and made up his mind to use his identity as the Governor of Minzhe conferred by the Qing court to cheat these cities!
And this move of his was carried out very smoothly.
In just half a month, Longyan Prefecture, Tingzhou Prefecture, Zhangzhou Prefecture, Yongchun Prefecture, Xinghua Prefecture, Yanping Prefecture, and a dozen other prefectures had fallen into the control of the Han army.
Some of the local officials of the Qing court, who did not know the truth, did not see through Zuo Zongtang's plan. Instead, they really thought that Zuo Zongtang had escaped death with the Chu army. Therefore, they happily wrote a memorial to report the good news and handed it over. This misled the Qing court into thinking that they still had a usable army in the south.
This misunderstanding led to a huge misjudgment in the following series of decisions made by the Qing court, causing a huge change in the entire course of history!
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