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"General, the Xinhua Army is menacing, and there are 10,000 of our Eight Banner soldiers left in Hangzhou now, I'm afraid we won't be able to resist the attack of the Xinhua Army!" A general of the Eight Banners said worriedly to Hangzhou General Qiying.

Qi Ying's face was also gloomy, as if he could drip water, his surname was Aixin Jueluo, he was a member of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and he was originally a general of Shengjing. During the Opium War, he was ordered to go to Jiangning as a minister to negotiate with the British and sign the first unequal treaty in Chinese history. After that, Emperor Daoguang appointed him as the general of Hangzhou. The status of General Hangzhou is far inferior to that of General Sheng Jing. As the land of Longxing of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Northeast has a high status. Qiying's transfer from General Sheng Jing to General Hangzhou can be regarded as a derogatory. Qiying also knew that this time the "Jiangning Treaty" made Emperor Daoguang very faceless, so he was angry. However, Qiying knows that as long as she lurks quietly for a few years, she will still have a chance. However, now the Xinhua army has called, and all his plans have failed.

"Damn the Xinhua Army, didn't they fight in Guangdong with the 300,000 troops of the Qing Dynasty? How did it suddenly appear in Hangzhou Bay? Qiying said aggrievedly, which made him feel that he was sitting at home and that disaster came from the sky.

"General, the naval strength of Xinhua is very strong, and transporting tens of thousands of horses to the north is simply a piece of cake." The general of the Eight Banners said. Then he looked at Qiying, waiting for him to come up with an idea.

"Gather your army and get ready for battle! General Ben served as the general of Hangzhou appointed by His Majesty. Naturally, they have to take on the responsibility of guarding Hangzhou. If the Xinhua army wants to capture Hangzhou, it will have to step on the corpse of General Ben. Qiying said.

"But General, we only have 10,000 men. And the armament is sluggish, I'm afraid it is not the opponent of the Xinhua Army. The general of the Eight Banners said. If you stick to Hangzhou, it is estimated that there is only one dead end.

"Bastard, do you want to give up Hangzhou? Say this kind of thing again, beware of General Ben cutting you off by disturbing the morale of the army! Qiying said angrily.

"Yes, General." The general of the Eight Banners shrank his neck and didn't dare to say more.

"General. The governor of Zhejiang, Mr. Liu Yunke, came to visit. "At this time, the butler of the General's Mansion came in and reported.

"The Governor is here? Please. Qiying said. You don't have to guess to know that Liu Yunke, the governor of Zhejiang, must have come for the invasion of the Xinhua Army.

"General. It's not a good thing, the Xinhua Army is gathering heavily in Hangzhou Bay, and Hangzhou is in danger. Please also ask the general to immediately lead the army to make arrangements to resist the invasion of the Xinhua Army. "As soon as I saw Jai. Liu Yunke hurriedly said.

"Lord Liu. Now Hangzhou is empty of troops. The main force of the Green Battalion has already gone to Fujian to fight, and the imperial court has not yet replied to our proposal to expand its forces. Now General Ben only has 10,000 children of the Eight Banners in his hands. If you want to defend Hangzhou City, it is indeed very difficult! Qiying said with some embarrassment. As the war between Xinhua and the Manchus lasted longer and longer, the high-ranking officials of the Manchus more or less learned a lot of news related to Xinhua. Even if they hate Xinhua very much, and they want to destroy Xinhua Kingdom, they must know themselves and their opponents. There is no doubt that after learning about Xinhuaguo. It made them even more afraid of Xinhuaguo.

"General, what are we going to do then?" Liu Yunke also panicked. He was nothing more than a civil official. I don't know much about military matters. However, he also knows how powerful the Xinhua Army is. Legend has it that the foreigners can't defeat the Xinhua Army. No matter how powerful the Qing army is, can it be as powerful as foreigners?

"Report! General, the Tianfei Palace Fort was destroyed by the navy of the Xinhua Kingdom. Now the Xinhua Army is beginning to land. At this time, an officer said to Qi Ying.

"It's over, it's over. The Xinhua army landed, and they rushed to Hangzhou. Liu Yunke suddenly lost his master.

"General, if the Xinhua army calls, can we hold it?" Liu Yunke asked.

"Lord Liu, to be honest, Hangzhou is a big city of hundreds of thousands of people, and it is very difficult for us to hold Hangzhou with our 10,000 Eight Banner soldiers alone. If the Xinhua army attacks Hangzhou on a large scale, we estimate that we will not be able to hold it. When the time comes, I'm afraid we will all have to be ready to die for our country. Qiying said. Whether it is in terms of equipment or training of the troops, the Eight Banners are all rubbish, where can they be compared with the experienced Xinhua Army? Qi Ying knew very well that once the war started, the Qing army would have no chance of winning.

"General, what are we going to do then?" Liu Yunke said with a blank eye. Now he still has the temperament of a Manchu feudal official, completely like a frightened person.

"Lord Liu, for the sake of today, we can only give up Hangzhou. We immediately gave up Hangzhou and went to Jiangning. Qiying hesitated, but still didn't plan to stick to Hangzhou. He knew that if he stubbornly defended Hangzhou, the end result would be absolutely a dead end. In that case, it is better to flee as soon as possible. Of course, he completely forgot that before he was still clamoring to defend Hangzhou and fight the Xinhua army to the end!

"General, but if the imperial court blames us, I'm afraid we won't be able to bear the responsibility!" Liu Yunke said with some worry. It would be great to be able to escape from Hangzhou. However, as the governor of one side, it is the responsibility to defend the territory, give up Hangzhou and escape, will Emperor Daoguang be able to spare them at that time?

"Lord Liu, I can't care about that now. There are many Xinhua soldiers, and we are not the opponent of the Xinhua army at all. Rather than wasting these troops in vain, it is better to retreat in advance. This is not to run away, but to preserve our strength so that we can launch a counterattack against the Xinhua Army in the future! Qiying said that he found a good excuse for his escape.

"Yes, yes, we are not fleeing, but retreating, for the sake of future counterattacks." Liu Yunke nodded again and again. Obviously, this excuse is very good, and if you are lucky, you may really be able to avoid being punished by Emperor Daoguang.

"Lord Liu, without further ado, let's prepare immediately. The Xinhua army has already landed, and in two or three hours at most, they will arrive in Hangzhou. We have to act fast. Qiying said.

"Okay, I'll go back and prepare." Liu Yunke hurriedly said goodbye.

An hour later, before the Xinhua army arrived in Hangzhou, Liu Yunke, the governor of Zhejiang, and Qiying, the general of Hangzhou, fled from Hangzhou, along with them, as well as the 10,000 Eight Banners guarding Hangzhou and the officials in Hangzhou, who retreated to Jiangning along the official road. The big businessmen and big landlords in Hangzhou also fled in a hurry. Unlike ordinary people, they are all people with a lot of money, and if they are looted by the Xinhua army, they will suffer heavy losses. Of course, when they fled, they took with them at most some soft ones. A large number of real estate, such as houses, shops, and fields, cannot be taken with them.

The poor people in Hangzhou also fled to the countryside in a panic. For a time, the road leading from Hangzhou to the outside world was crowded with people fleeing. Everyone fled here with big bags and small bags, dragging their families and mouths. In the propaganda of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Xinhua was also demonized by them, in order to smear Xinhua in the hearts of the broad masses of the people and make them panic about Xinhua Guo. It is clear that their purpose has been achieved. Limited by the level of knowledge, most of the common people are very simple, and they often believe whatever the government says. This also makes the bustling city of Hangzhou become an empty city in a very short period of time, except for a very small number of people who can't survive and have nowhere to escape, the vast majority of Hangzhou people have fled the city.

At half past six in the afternoon, the cavalry company of the 6th Brigade of the Xinhua Army arrived in Hangzhou as the vanguard. Originally, they were in charge of reconnaissance missions. However, when I arrived in Hangzhou, I found that there was no defense here. The gates were wide open, and there was not a single Qing army on the city walls. The roads were littered with stuff, as if the whole city had been robbed by a mob.

So, the soldiers of this company boldly entered Hangzhou through the city gate, but they found that there was not a single Qing army in the entire city. When they found some people who had not fled, they found out that the Qing army had fled before they came. Even most of the people in the city fled. Their cavalry company occupied the city of Hangzhou with a light yì.

At 9 p.m. that day, a battalion of the 6th Brigade of the Xinhua Army arrived in Hangzhou and took over the defense here. The 2nd Marine Brigade, after learning that Hangzhou was going down without a fight, stopped its advance and returned to the landing ground. Originally, their task was to cooperate with the 6th Brigade to capture Hangzhou, but now that the Qing army took the initiative to retreat, they naturally did not need to rush to Hangzhou. Besides, they will have to go north with the fleet and fight west from the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The Qing army took the initiative to abandon Hangzhou, much to the surprise of the generals of the Xinhua army. However, this also shows that the Qing army's will to resist was extremely weak, and it fled before encountering the Xinhua army. This is a very good thing for the Xinhua Army. Originally, everyone was still worried that they would encounter stubborn resistance from the Qing army. In this case, the attack of the troops will be greatly affected. After all, there are many big cities along the Yangtze River, and it will take a lot of time to fight one after another. It would be best if every city could go down without a fight like Hangzhou.

Of course, after the Hangzhou general Qi Ying and the Zhejiang governor Liu Yunke fled from Hangzhou to Jiangning, Jiangning also learned the news of the arrival of the Xinhua army in advance, making their combat preparations a little more sufficient. However, Jiangning, which was empty of troops, still could not withstand the attack of the Xinhua army. (To be continued......)