sjar Chapter 974 Island Raiders (Part 2)
Chapter 974 Island Raiders (Part 2)
The Battle of Qiongzhou has ended.
It was less a naval battle and more a one-sided massacre.
The Southern Army ships were not equipped with decent weapons, or rather, they were not prepared to engage the Daqing Navy at all.
Faced with the well-organized Qing army fleet, the Southern army's ships were like lambs to the slaughter, utterly powerless to resist.
The overwhelming victory came too easily, so much so that when Li Sheng and Xie Quan met on the ship, there was not much joy on their faces.
Instead, they all felt bored and listless, much like the sage's moment after paying their dues at home every day.
With the war going like this, there's really no sense of accomplishment to speak of.
Fortunately, the subsequent tallying of their spoils lifted their spirits.
In this battle, seven core generals of the Southern Army and six officials of the puppet regime of the second rank or above were captured in one fell swoop, along with countless other generals and officials!
Furthermore, the gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, and paintings carried by generals and officials, while some of them sank to the bottom of the sea, were well preserved in the ship's cabins.
Ironically, the Southern Army, barely able to save their own lives, had so many comrades left on the mainland, yet they managed to preserve these valuables in remarkably good condition.
Even more exciting is that Qin Huizhi, the prime minister of the puppet dynasty, was also captured in one fell swoop.
When the soldiers found him, the once powerful Prime Minister of Qin was clinging tightly to a mast, staring blankly at the corpses around him, muttering repeatedly:
"The water is too cold, you can't jump, the water is too cold..."
Jie Quan was an old follower of Li Che and knew that His Majesty had suffered a lot of open and covert attacks from Qin Huizhi when he was in the capital.
Upon seeing His Majesty's enemy, he personally stepped forward, grabbed the distraught Qin Huizhi from the ground, and slammed him hard onto the deck.
He then took out a rope and tied it up with four hooves, thus indulging in his role as a horse-like figure.
"You old bastard, you've finally met your match!"
Jie Quan spat, finally venting most of his anger.
Qin Huizhi looked at him in confusion: "Who are you? I don't know you!"
"Hahaha!" Jie Quan laughed loudly, "You don't need to know me, don't you know who you've offended?"
"I just don't understand, you old dog, why aren't you committing suicide? What are you hesitating for? Don't you know that the one thing my Great Qing has in abundance is a Minister of Justice?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Huizhi understood the implication in Jie Quan's words, and her eyes immediately filled with despair.
Since the dawn of humanity, the methods of tormenting one's fellow human beings have never been outdated, and have been updated and iterated in every era.
In such circumstances, falling into the hands of one's enemy, even death becomes a luxury.
Suicide... also requires courage, which he clearly lacked.
They thought that capturing Qin Huizhi was the biggest gain of the battle, but an even bigger surprise was yet to come.
In addition to the intact ships, those that had been hit by cannon fire and stopped were also gradually brought into the search area.
When the soldiers boarded a cargo ship with a broken rudder, adrift at sea, they were surprised to see a young man in a dragon robe emerge from the lower cargo hold.
The soldiers were stunned and momentarily forgot to capture him.
But Emperor Wenchu did not run away, nor did he have any intention of committing suicide.
He was lucky; his cargo ship was hit but didn't sink, otherwise it would have sunk into the strait and become fish food.
The soldiers dared not delay and quickly escorted him, along with the eunuchs and attendants beside him, back to the flagship.
When Emperor Wenchu was pushed onto the deck of the Zhenhai by naval soldiers, Li Sheng and Xie Quan were both stunned.
But this man had sparse hair, a dull look in his eyes, and a face as pale as paper. He didn't look like a king at all; he looked more like a monk who had just left the monastic life.
Although the thin dragon robe he wore was wrinkled, its shape and embroidery did not appear to be fake.
Li Sheng was startled and suspicious. He took a few steps forward and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you? Are you the imposter emperor's double?"
Emperor Wenchu seemed not to hear, staring blankly at the banner with the character 'Qing' fluttering behind Li Sheng.
He wanted to say something; his lips trembled slightly, but no sound came out.
Li Sheng frowned and asked a few more questions, but Emperor Wenchu still did not respond.
His foolish appearance made one wonder if he was mentally challenged.
At this moment, the old eunuch who was being escorted up behind Emperor Wenchu knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly.
"General, spare our lives! We are powerless people with no connections, forced into this situation by the traitors!"
Jie Ming impatiently kicked him over: "Stop talking nonsense, I'm asking you, is this person the false emperor of the Southern Dynasty?"
The old eunuch hurriedly said, "General, spare me! General, spare me! This...this is indeed Emperor Wenchu!"
Li Sheng and Xie Quan exchanged a glance, both seeing unbelievable ecstasy in each other's eyes.
Emperor Wenchu! He actually captured the false emperor!
They all originally thought that when the powerful families transferred their wealth to Qiongzhou on a large scale in the previous times, they would definitely take this puppet emperor with them.
At the time, Li Sheng let the boats go to avoid alerting the enemy, and he felt quite regretful about it.
Unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, the biggest fish was found again!
Seeing Emperor Wenchu's miserable state, Li Sheng and the other man understood.
With the war raging like this, Emperor Wenchu's identity is no longer so important.
In the Jiangnan region, calling out the emperor's name still had some effect, but in desolate places like Qiongzhou and Lingnan, the emperor was truly just a title.
In these places, local people and indigenous people lived together, and the power of the imperial court was extremely weak.
Those powerful families were probably hoping they would kidnap Emperor Wenchu, as they might be dreaming of becoming emperors themselves, ruling over their own territories on an island.
Although Emperor Wenchu is currently disliked by everyone, he is still a pseudo-emperor and nominally the brother of the current emperor.
Li Sheng and Xie Quan dared not delay and immediately ordered him to be placed under solitary confinement, provided with food and drink, to ensure his safe return to the capital.
Thus, the puppet imperial regime that had ravaged the south was completely annihilated in the Qiongzhou Strait.
The false emperor, the false prime minister, and their core group were all captured, and all the prefectures and counties in the south of Daqing have been liberated.
To achieve unification, all that is needed is to conquer Qiongzhou Island, isolated overseas, across the strait.
Landing operations are not a strong suit of the navy, and Qiongzhou Island is not a small island, but a large island with an area of 3.5 square kilometers.
The island is mostly mountainous with few plains. If the navy were to rashly land on the island, they wouldn't even be able to splash a drop of water.
It's better to keep them. Anyway, the fleet is gone, and those remaining noble families won't be able to escape much.
Therefore, Li Sheng and Xie Quan immediately led their fleet back to Lingnan and joined forces with the main force of the anti-rebel army led by Yang Zhongsi.
When Yang Zhongsi learned that the enemy fleet had been completely wiped out, he was overjoyed.
They immediately reorganized their troops, preparing for a sea landing while simultaneously sending the good news to the capital by fast horse.