In the early morning of July 25, Wang Shizhen and others had just found a roadside inn and were about to take a rest when they were suddenly awakened by an urgent knock on the door.
"Something serious has happened. Please follow me to Shangjie Town to rescue people. If you arrive late, it will be too late!"
As soon as the door was opened, a man in shabby clothes immediately grabbed Wang Shizhen's hand and said anxiously.
"You are the person sent by Mrs. Yang to pick up Mr. Li."
Wang Shizhen recognized the other party's appearance and tried to stay calm and said, "I'm going to wake everyone up right now. Don't be anxious. Tell me slowly, what happened over there?"
"After we met up with President Wang Qian the day before yesterday, we discovered a few sneaky people following us on the road. President Wang Qian and your brothers took advantage of the night to kill three of them, but who knew there was still one person who escaped?
Got out.
This evening, we escorted the second young master to Xincuo Village. We were planning to hurry up and rush to Shangjie Town to stay overnight. As a result, we encountered a group of officers and soldiers ambushing and attacking at night. The number of officers and soldiers was far more than the number of escorting the young master, and they were also equipped with equipment.
Armed with hundreds of foreign guns, our people are no match for the officers and soldiers. The leader, General Wang Qian, and one of your brothers named Zhao can only escort the young master to retreat to a small hill, relying on the terrain to block the officers and soldiers' attack.
The escort only carried fourteen short guns, eight foreign guns, and not much ammunition. Before leaving, the brother named Zhao asked me and the other two brothers to break out of the encirclement of the officers and soldiers, and then contact you here.
After that, immediately go to Xincuo Village to meet them."
"Zhao Zimin and the others plus the people you sent to respond are only about twenty people in total. Since the officers and soldiers can set up an ambush on the road, they must be well prepared."
Wang Shizhen suddenly felt the seriousness of the matter, and immediately ordered the 30 or 40 men who were resting in the inn to discard unnecessary items and only carry short guns, muskets, ammunition, and grenades. No longer worried about being discovered by others, they immediately gathered to attack.
Head towards Xincuo Village.
"Brother Wang, the Qing army is approaching from the side and rear wing. Hurry up and get a few brothers to block them!"
Under the dark night, a bright moon hung high above the mountain forest, which not only provided the more than 20 people on the hill with a bird's-eye view, but also facilitated the Qing soldiers attacking upward in the middle of the hill.
"Two of my soldiers are dead, four are injured, and the rest are all here! If we want to send people, we can only send them from your direction."
The blood and sweat on Mr. Qian's face from Jianning Town, surnamed Wang, were stuck together. The scars that had not yet solidified began to ooze out a trace of blood due to the violent shaking of his face.
"Reckless idiots! If you hadn't leaked the news, why would we have been surrounded by so many Qing troops? Damn it, today is really bad!"
The officer surnamed Zhao cursed the other party bitterly, raised his head, and said loudly, "Sun Rong, Ma Wei, Zhao Shi, the three of you bring ten grenades and set up defenses on the side and rear wings. Remember to save grenades and ammunition."
Use it, wait until they get close and then throw it away, that’s all we have ammunition!”
"Lieutenant Wang Zhao, be careful, the three of us will go over right now."
The three men each grabbed a few grenades from around them, turned around, crawled for a while, stood up, and ran quickly in the other direction.
"Brother Zhao, there are too many officers and soldiers. If we continue to fight like this, we will lose all our men in less than half an hour. We must change our attack method and use the opportunity of the officers and soldiers to attack with all their strength. Attack from the northeast steep slope. As long as we break through the front
The officers and soldiers, our people fled into the woods at the foot of the steep slope, so that the remaining people could have a chance of survival."
Li Rongfa, the second son of the loyal king Li Xiucheng, who was called Mr. Li by the group and was actually nearly forty years old, saw that the situation was critical.
He quickly lowered his body and moved to Lieutenant Zhao.
"Launching a countercharge from the direction of the steep slope will cost too many casualties. I don't agree with this!"
Although the opponent was the cousin of Han Emperor Li Mingyuan, Lieutenant Zhao did not follow the opponent's advice when facing a battle.
"The responders are thirteen or fourteen miles away from Xincuo Village. It will take two to three quarters of an hour to arrive at the fastest speed. Do you think that with these people on the hill, we can hold on until they arrive?"
After all, Li Rongfa had the experience of leading troops alone in war, and he had a certain understanding of the current comparison of forces between the enemy and ourselves and the changes in the battle situation.
"Standing still and waiting for help seems safe, but there is no chance of survival. Only by attacking from the weak direction of the enemy's encirclement can there be any hope of success!"
Li Rongfa raised his voice and said firmly, "Don't let me interfere with your normal judgment. I, Li Rongfa, have been hiding in Tibet for more than ten years. Even if I have not inherited my father's ambitions, I have worked hard to accumulate strength in order to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and I have not done anything like this."
My cousin Mingyuan rose up against all odds and accomplished such great things overseas!
Rong Fa is nothing more than a mediocre and unfilial son. His ability to live till now is due to the gift of Heavenly Father. Even if I die in today's battle unfortunately, I will not implicate or blame others.
Brother Zhao, make a decision immediately, gather all the brothers who can hold guns together, break through from the southwest, and open a way down the mountain for the brothers who are lucky enough to survive and the wives and daughters below."
"Master Li really decided to do this?"
"We have no other choice but to do this. Brother Zhao, the gunfire is merciless. If I die unfortunately, please consider that Yu Xi is your emperor's niece and try your best to protect her and her mother's safety."
"Don't worry, Your Excellency, even if Zhao dies in battle, your wife and young lady will not fall into the hands of the Qing army."
If Li Rongfa and others were killed in battle and the surviving wives and daughters fell into the hands of the Qing army, it is unspeakable how cruel abuse they would face.
Li Rongfa understood the meaning of the other party's words. As the surviving descendant of the loyal king Li Xiucheng, he, his wife, and his daughter had already predicted the fate they might face hundreds of times in their minds.
The fate of his family and history cannot be reversed. All he can do is pray to the so-called Heavenly Father to bless his wife and daughter to be safe and escape...
"My lord, my lord!"
The green battalion officer who was the first to report the news to Ma Ronghe ran to the center of the Qing army and shouted excitedly, "I heard from the two captured soldiers of Jianning Town that the rebels on the hill are long-haired remnants. They
Escorting Li Rongfa, the second son of the pseudo-loyal king Li Xiucheng, preparing to rendezvous with the wife of Cai Yuanji, the commander-in-chief of Jianning Town, and then sail to South America!"
"Cai Yuanji is so courageous. He surrendered to the court, and then secretly colluded with the long-haired rebels! It's really impressive."
Ma Ronghe stroked his beard with one hand and held the handle of the knife at his waist with the other, and said energetically, "Come here, tell the generals, all of them have their muskets loaded and attack the hill. Anyone who captures the long-haired remnant Li Rongfa alive will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and be promoted."
Level one!"
"Kill, kill, kill, capture Li Rongfa alive!" After Ma Ronghe's words fell, the Qing officers and soldiers who had already suffered more than 20 casualties seemed to have smelled fishy animals. They forgot about the fierce battle just now and regained their fighting spirit to launch an attack on the top of the hill.
The battle was changing every second. When Li Rongfa and Lieutenant Zhao led their men to break through, they encountered the Qing army attacking head-on. The two sides experienced a fierce battle with huge disparity in power. The battle lasted until 1:13 midnight.
Lieutenant Zhao's side paid the price of a total of 24 people, including Li Rongfa and General Wang Qian, dying in the battle. Only four wounded intelligence agents from Han soldiers were left, escorting Li Rongfa's wife and daughter towards the country.
Escape towards the woods.
At 1:27 in the morning, Wang Shizhen arrived with people and rescued the surviving Li Rongfa, his wife, daughter and four intelligence agents. In the first round of battle with the Qing army, he killed the admiral of Fujian Zuoying who was leading the army.