"Commander He, Yan Lisan's troops have begun to attack. What should we do?" After receiving the news, the commander Qiu Shaogang felt a little anxious and reminded He Zilong.

"What else can we do when they attack? We don't have long-range artillery, so we can only stare at them within the range of their cannons." He Zilong, who is wide and fat, was depressed. He did not expect Zeng Shanbao to be dealt with by Yan Lisan overnight. He had no hope of defeating the other party at this time, and had no intention of fighting against Yan Lisan for a long time. He thought that whoever took over this team would be in trouble, would rather leave early.

"Then if we don't resist with all our might, how can we block the mouths of the ministers in the court?" Qiu Shaogang has always been in charge of the battle. He did not want to give up because of the strength of his opponent. The blood of the soldiers has been flowing in his heart.

"We can send two hundred people to fire a few shots, and then say that the other party's firepower is too strong and he has to retreat. It can be regarded as an explanation to the above. He really cannot accept it. In this way, I will become the commander of the barely-armed commander. Who will give me face to the Qing soldiers in Jiangsu in the future?" He Zilong's eyes showed a hint of cunning. After thinking for a moment, he said to Qiu Shaogang.

"Shaogang, you can do it now!"

"Okay, I'll make arrangements now!" Qiu Shaogang was very depressed. As a general, he could not lead troops to fight with the enemy on the battlefield. It was really against the mission of a soldier, but he had to abide by the orders.

Not long afterwards, two teams of He Zilong's soldiers appeared on the city tower ahead. They began to shoot at the vanguard troops that Yan Lisan appeared outside the city. Then the Fifth Artillery Battalion immediately fired a gun and fought back. Two hundred people resisted for less than ten seconds and retreated immediately, leaving dozens of corpses on the ground, and the city walls were blown down several places.

"Okay, we have completed the task. Let the dozens of dead brothers be scapegoats for us. If we continue to resist, we will all be done." He Zilong immediately said with relief when he received the news that his two hundred people had withdrawn.

"Transfer my order, everyone retreated to Zhenjiang and gave up the defense zones of Wuxi and Changzhou!" He Zilong then issued a retreat order. He knew that there was no hope of retreating to Changzhou. It was safer to retreat directly to Zhenjiang. After arriving there, the reinforcements from Nanjing would probably arrive.

"Mr. Cheng asked us to guard against each other!" Qiu Shaogang was still a little unwilling. As a soldier, it was a shame to give up his position without resisting. He said to He Zilong righteously.

"Shaogang, you are too straightforward and rigid. They asked me to guard against each other, but they hid behind me. Grandma, we don't do it. If you listen to me, you will retreat to the safe area. If Yan Lisan comes to chase us, we will continue to run back." He Zilong was determined to escape and save his life, and he could not listen to any objection.

"Oh! We are just eating the court's salary. As a soldier, we don't serve the court. How can we bear it?" Qiu Shaogang said with a look of shame.

"Stop talking nonsense, am I the commander, or are you the commander, go down!" He Zilong yelled impatiently when he saw that Qiu Shaogang refused to give up.

Qiu Shaogang had no choice but to shake his head, retreat helplessly, and went back to mobilize the soldiers. He Zilong quickly fled with five thousand patrol battalions, and handed over Wuxi and Changzhou to the Li family army. Yan Lisan easily occupied Wuxi City after dozens of shells. The main officials of Wuxi City had fled, and the defense forces that fled in a hurry did not even have time to destroy the railway from Wuxi to Changzhou. In this way, Yan Lisan could take the train they left behind to enter Changzhou more calmly, without having to fight with the Qing soldiers who set out from Nanjing to rush to rob Changzhou, because a group of Qing soldiers from Nanjing was about 5,000 people rushed over, only fifty kilometers away from Changzhou City, and Yan Lisan was more than thirty kilometers away from Changzhou, and he still needed to compete with them for time.

"Stand in Wuxi and Changzhou!" Yan Lisan was full of energy at this time, sitting on a group of red and tall horses, waving to the few curious people watching the streets of Wuxi along the way.

The people in Suzhou and Wuxi have a special attitude. Although they do not have much favoritism for the corrupt and incompetent Qing soldiers, they are not familiar with Yan Lisan's troops. So after seeing Yan Lisan's troops coming, they avoided them and were at a loss. They were also a little afraid. The rest remained silent. No social groups and local forces have come out to express their attitude, worried that if they have an affair with the Li family army, if the Qing government comes back in the future, they will definitely be treated as a rebellion.

Yan Lisan also understood these principles, so he did not disturb the people and local forces in Wuxi City for the time being, and ordered the troops to strictly abide by discipline and not to invade private houses or take items privately.

Various shops and people in the street market in Wuxi City closed their doors after learning that Yan Lisan had come, fearing that they would lose their property by the war. Only a few shops were still open, and there were more than 90% fewer hawkers doing business on the street. Only a few people were scattered everywhere, and there were even fewer people buying things. The originally lively streets and alleys became a bit deserted.

"My fellow villagers, don't be afraid. We are the Li family army's team. Our team will not hurt the people. Everyone should not panic. Everyone should do their own things. Don't affect your production and life because of our arrival. All production activities can return to normal." Yan Lisan then shouted to some ordinary people who came out to wait and see along the way.

Soon, Changzhou also fell into the hands of the Li family army. After Yan Lisan ordered the troops to rest, he began to deploy defenses in Changzhou, preventing more than 10,000 Qing soldiers from the Nanjing direction from rushing to counterattack Changzhou.

Yan Lisan then ordered his subordinates to post announcements everywhere in the three cities of Suzhou, Xi and Chang. It said that the Li family army was a just army with strict discipline and would never disturb the people or invade the people. They would take the people one by one, otherwise they would have to be dealt with by military law. The Li family army's actions to occupy Suzhou and Wuxi and Changzhou were only targeted at the corrupt Qing Dynasty, not ordinary people. If there were any children of ordinary people who were willing to join the Li family army, the Li family army would open their doors to accept it. After each soldier joined the army, he would receive six yuan of salary every month, and double salary every month during the war, and other materials would be distributed.

Yan Lisan began to do a lot of political and ideological work, instilling in the people some ideas about how rigorous the Li family army was in charge of how to govern the army and how to be kind to the people. The people of the three cities gradually put aside their guards and slowly walked out of the streets, and no longer had the mystery and awe of the Li family army as they were at the beginning.

"Issuing an announcement to the whole country, we have occupied southern Jiangsu, and the southern Jiangsu region has been controlled by the Li family army!" Li Tiancheng generated a power generation to congratulate Yan Lisan on his great victory, and then ordered the announcement to issue an announcement to the whole country, so that the Li family army, who had been hidden in people's sight for several years, officially appeared on the stage of history and began to be gradually understood by people across the country and the world.

Then Ma Chaoyun's troops sent some people to guard Songjiang, allowing Yan Lisan's men to deploy defenses to Changzhou. Both the Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou railway lines were suspended. The Zhejiang section of the Shanghai-Hangzhou line, at the junction of Shanghai and Zhejiang, was also destroyed several sections by the special team of the Li family army to prevent the Qing troops from heading north.

Almost overnight, the name of the Li family army was heard throughout China, and even the powerful countries far away in Europe were greatly shocked. Some countries were ready to send envoys to contact the Li family army because they still had huge interests in China and could not be destroyed by this emerging force.

Almost all newspapers such as Shenbao and Minbao published the name of Li Tiancheng and the news that the Li family army occupied southern Jiangsu. People were talking about it. Some people who were not very familiar with Li Tiancheng, remembered this famous name overnight through various rumors on the streets and alleys. The whole world was ignited. Some people expressed their understanding and support for the Li family army, some people thought that he was a rebel and should help the Qing soldiers strangle it, and more people were waiting and watching, and they were not concerned about themselves and hung up.

Li Tiancheng immediately announced in Shanghai that the Li family army would temporarily manage military and political affairs in southern Jiangsu, and all military and political officials were selected from the Li family army.

Yan Lisan was appointed as the temporary governor of the Southern Jiangsu Military Government by Li Tiancheng. The Governor's Office was established in Suzhou. He used the office of the former governor of Jiangsu to be in charge of military and political affairs in southern Jiangsu, which was equivalent to the position of commander-in-chief. He was required to lead his subordinates to build barracks in Wuxi, Changzhou and other places, garrison four important places, and set up several conscription sites in the three cities, and began to collect soldiers and expand the scale of the team.

In addition, regarding the defeat of the 2,700 prisoners captured by Zeng Shanbao, Yan Lisan later considered the opinions put forward by the generals and sought the ideas of the prisoners. Regarding the more than 1,000 people who were unwilling to continue to serve in the army, Yan Lisan sent people to arrange them to work in production positions, most of which were working in the construction and mining industries. Another thousand soldiers expressed their willingness to stay under Yan Lisan's tent to serve. The leader was led by a battalion commander of the former new army. Later, these people were organized into four infantry companies by Yan Lisan and divided into four battalions. As infantry companies, they had to undertake charge tasks. Radar Ming temporarily only served as a company commander of the third battalion. Several of the subordinate officials were under Yan Lisan's subordinates. Most of the commanders of the other companies were appointed by Yan Lisan to serve as his own people in case these soldiers of the new army mutiny.
Chapter completed!