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"Your Excellency Governor, General A's method is good, this is a good way to delay time. As long as we can drag until the reinforcements arrive, the city of Guangzhou will be saved. Guangdong Land Admiral Da Libao also hurriedly said.

Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang, was hesitant to threaten the Xinhua army with the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, which was contrary to his style of doing things. If he really decides to do this, it will undoubtedly be a stain on his life that can never be washed away. However, from the perspective of the Qing Dynasty, if the city of Guangzhou can be held, it will be very beneficial to the war with the Xinhua army.

"Lord Liang, what do you think?" Qi Gong asked.

"Your Excellency the Governor, I think General A's approach is very feasible. Although it is a bit unjust to plunge hundreds of thousands of people in Guangzhou into a crisis. But the national interest is the main thing. Between the big and the small, it's easy to make a choice. Liang Baochang, the governor of Guangdong, said sternly, as if he was a courtier loyal to the Qing Dynasty. At this time, he could only answer like this, otherwise, the other three would definitely be suspicious of him. Although Liang Baochang already has a different kind of thought in his heart, he has not yet written a single character, so he has to be cautious.

"Okay, since that's the case, let's do it according to General A's method! From now on, the whole city of Guangzhou will be under martial law, closing all city gates, and no one will be allowed to leave the city. In addition, send someone to inform the Xinhua army that if they dare to launch an attack on the city of Guangzhou, we will burn them with jade. Losses incurred. It's all up to them! Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang, said. Now, he has also made up his mind and is ready to fight to the death.

"Yes. My lord! Liang Baochang, the governor of Guangdong, A Jing'a, the general of Guangzhou, and Da Libao, the land governor of Guangdong, replied one after another.

"Alas! Your Excellency Governor's actions like this will push the people's hearts down to the side of Xinhua Kingdom. However, Ah Jing'a and Da Libao controlled all the armies in Guangzhou City, and they could only listen to them. On the way back to the governor's yamen from the governor's palace, Liang Baochang, the governor of Guangdong, thought secretly. Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang, adopted A Jing'a's suggestion and planned to use hundreds of thousands of people in Guangzhou City as human shields, which made Liang Baochang optimistic about the future of Guangzhou. It's even more unoptimistic. It was even more difficult for the Manchus to defeat the well-armed Xinhua army. Although the population of Xinhua is sparse, if they can win the hearts and minds of the people. Even if only the people in Guangdong support them, then the strength of the new Chinese country will increase exponentially. Xinhua was able to defeat the foreigners with a population of two or three million, and if it occupied Guangdong, it might really be able to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Maybe. It's really time to think about the way back. On the way back to the governor's yamen. Liang Bao often thinks a lot. From his heart, he no longer had hope for the Manchus. However, he was only in his fifties, and he still had decades to live, and he didn't want to be buried by the Manchus. So he started thinking about his future.

The next day, the Governor's Palace issued an official edict ordering martial law throughout the city. Meantime. Ask the people to stay at home and not go out. Otherwise, it will be dealt with in collusion with the Xinhua Army. The Eight Banners and the Green Battalion began to patrol the streets, and once they found someone who could do it, they immediately went up to check it, and if they didn't behave right, they would be punched and kicked, or even lose their lives. In addition, some soldiers with bad conduct also took the opportunity to start extorting the people in the city, which made the people in the city complain and have resentment against the Manchu officials.

After Fang Minghong, the consul of Xinhuaguo in Guangzhou, learned of this news, he passed the news to the Xinhua Army through secret channels. Of course, Xinhuaguo attaches great importance to the hundreds of thousands of people in Guangzhou. However, if the Manchus thought that they would be able to make the Xinhua army throw themselves into a trap in this way, it would be delusional. Even if the Xinhua army stormed the city of Guangzhou, it would cause some casualties. However, the people of Guangzhou City did not necessarily resent the Xinhua army, but would settle these accounts on the heads of the Manchus. If the governor of Liangguang had not ordered the closure of the city of Guangzhou, they might have fled from the city long ago. When the time comes, as long as Xinhua promulgates a new decree in Guangzhou and considers the interests of the broad masses of the people, the common people will certainly stand on the side of Xinhua Guo. The people are forgetful, and whoever is good to them, they will support! The attempts of Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang, and others were doomed to fail.

On the morning of November 12, the 5th Brigade of the Xinhua Army arrived at the city of Guangzhou. More than 6,000 officers and men were deployed in the south of Guangzhou. The neat appearance of the army, as well as the 24 cannons with their muzzles raised, all made the soldiers defending the city tremble. From the rout soldiers who fled back yesterday, they already knew the strength of the Xinhua Army. If nothing else, once the more than 20 cannons were fired, it would be enough for them to suffer heavy losses.

On November 13, the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the Xinhua Army arrived in Guangzhou and surrounded Guangzhou from three other directions. At the same time, troops were deployed to prevent troops from other parts of Guangdong from rescuing Guangzhou. The 1st Heavy Artillery Brigade of the Xinhua Army was still on its way to Guangzhou. The 105mm howitzers were too heavy, making them spend more time on the road.

The Xinhua army surrounded the city of Guangzhou, making the Qing army defending Guangzhou feel like a great enemy. A Jing'a, the general of Guangzhou, and Da Libao, the land governor of Guangdong, had to go to the city wall every day to inspect and cheer up the soldiers. The other is to warn the Xinhua Army not to attack Guangzhou. Otherwise, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in Guangzhou will also suffer. The arrival of the Xinhua army made the people in Guangzhou even more panicked. They are innocent, but once the battle starts, they will definitely be injured by mistake. Some people of high moral standing in Guangzhou went to the governor's palace to plead with Qi Gong, the governor of Guangzhou, hoping that he would open the city gate and let the people of Guangzhou out of the city, so as not to cause misery. However, Qi Gong refused their request. On the contrary, he claimed that as long as the new Chinese army did not attack the city of Guangzhou, the people of the city would not be killed or injured. This kind of scoundrel behavior made the common people of Guangzhou very dissatisfied, and if they were not afraid of the Qing army, maybe they would have begun to resist a long time ago.

"The army of the Xinhua Army has arrived in Guangzhou, and our reinforcements don't know where the road is. It seems that Guangzhou is really finished, and the situation in the whole of Guangdong will also be erosive. No, I have to find a way to connect with Xinhuaguo. Liang Baochang, the governor of Guangdong, thought secretly.

Then he called his confidant butler and whispered in his ear. The butler nodded with a heavy face, and left.

At four o'clock in the morning that night, a horse-drawn carriage carrying vegetables for the governor's yamen entered the governor's palace through the back door. When the carriage reached the kitchen, a man dressed in tatters jumped out of the carriage. The housekeeper, who had been waiting there for a long time, immediately greeted him, and then quietly took him to the study of Liang Baochang, the governor of Guangdong.

"Your Excellency Consul, it is really a grievance for your Excellency to come to the yamen in this way. On another day, Liang will definitely make amends for the consul. Seeing Consul Fang Minghong, who was a little embarrassed, Liang Baochang hurriedly said. This time, his posture was very low.

"The governor is too polite, as long as he can serve the hegemony of the kingdom, what is this grievance? However, I don't know why the Governor of the Road came to me this time? Consul Fang Minghong asked. This afternoon, he received a secret message from the Governor of the Yamen, claiming that Governor Liang Bao often had important matters to see him. After thinking about it for a while, Fang Minghong knew that Liang Bao often had the intention of falling to Xinhuaguo. This made him very excited, Liang Baochang can be regarded as a feudal official of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. If he falls to Xinhua, it will inevitably shake the Manchu government and the opposition deeply. In addition, Liang Bao is often familiar with the government affairs of Guangzhou and Guangdong, and can be of great help to Xinhua in this regard. After taking Guangdong, Xinhuaguo's first priority was to develop and consolidate this place, and use it as the main base for Xinhuaguo's march to other places.

"Your Excellency, as the Consul said last time, the Manchus have no way, they lose their power and humiliate the country externally, and they are not happy for the people at home. Now, Qi Gong, the governor of Liangguang, and others do not care about the lives of the common people at all, and want to threaten the Xinhua army with hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in Guangzhou City, which is really shameless. As a Han Chinese, Liang was naturally unwilling to work for the Manchu Qing anymore. Therefore, Liang hopes to be able to officially surrender to Xinhua Guocheng! Liang Baochang said sincerely.

Fang Minghong was not deceived by Liang Baochang's sincerity, he knew that the reason why Liang Baochang was willing to fall to Xinhua was entirely because the Xinhua Army now had the absolute upper hand. If the Xinhua army did not come to the city of Guangzhou, or if the Qing army had enough strength to defend the city, he would definitely be a slave of the Manchu Qing Dynasty with peace of mind. Such a person is a typical wall grass, and when the wind blows in that direction, he will fall in that direction. However, now that Liang Bao often falls to Xinhuaguo, it is undoubtedly of great benefit to Xinhuaguo. In addition, Fang Minghong also believes that with the strong strength of Xinhuaguo, it is enough for Liang Baochang to serve Xinhuaguo with all his heart.

"It's great that Lord Liang can have such an idea. However, Lord Liang has taken refuge in Xinhuaguo, so what about your family? Fang Minghong asked. In order to control the local governorates, the Manchu government required the families of these feudal officials to live in Beijing, which could be regarded as a kind of clamping on them. If these governors dare to rebel, their families will surely suffer.

"Your Excellency, rest assured, I don't have much family, only an old wife and two sons. I have sent a message to inform them. I believe they will succeed in escaping Beijing. Liang Baochang said. As long as he can have the right and status, everything else is not important, including his wife and children. Liang Baochang is such a person who values power more than anything else. (To be continued......)