Chapter 1196: Troops at the City Gates

Watching everything happen exactly as he had anticipated, Liu Zheng smiled slightly and nodded.

Nashadier, standing to the side, was extremely excited now.

This is Liu Zheng!

This is Young Master Liu!

Following him means having meat to eat; there is no doubt about that!

Who is Luojinsi?

Although he experienced a defeat in Australia, he still possesses some notoriety back in Britain.

He is a talented youth of the Royal Navy and comes from an aristocratic background.

Never expected...

Once this Liu Zheng made a move, he immediately wilted.

It is the second time...

The second time encountering a defeat.

These Longyan people are truly toxic!

Don't look at how Nashadier flirts with the British side; his stance is to follow Liu Zheng, so now that they are fighting, he is not being polite at all.

"Let's go back."

Seeing that the overall situation was mostly settled, Liu Zheng took Jiang Xuan and the others back.

He did not dare to linger here too long, not because he was worried about his side's combat strength, but because he was worried about Luojinsi.

If Luojinsi's navy were to sneak an attack on his fleet from the rear, then these fifty thousand men would certainly have unstable morale, and if Hans were to lead an army to strike, they would risk total annihilation.

However, it was clear that Liu Zheng's worry was superfluous.

Luojinsi simply did not have the courage to take the initiative to engage the Yinzhou ships in battle.

Last time in Australia, he had personally experienced the firepower and range of the Yinzhou ships; he is a man who seeks stability and would absolutely never make a move without certainty.

This man Luojinsi is indeed somewhat impeccable; his defense gives his opponents no opportunities at all.

However, this is not a good thing for him.

War is a very complex matter; opportunities in battle are always fleeting, and if missed, one might lose the initiative in the war.

The current Canal Bitter Remonstrance with Longyan is just like this.

Longyan hopes to drag it out. As long as they can continuously gain advantages while avoiding a major war, Liu Zheng is confident he can win this war.

Luojinsi not attacking proactively not only bought Liu Zheng time but also increased the conflict between their land and naval forces.

This is why, since ancient times, a famous general has been so important to a war. Because an experienced famous general is a decisive factor.

If a great general like Ushakov or Rumyantsev were in this situation, the reaction they would make would be very different.

They would decisively strike and seize the fleeting opportunity on the battlefield.

However...

Luojinsi is not Ushakov, nor is he Rumyantsev.

He is not even as good as Hans...

"Coward!"

"Coward, this damn Luojinsi, what does he want to do!"

"The dignified Royal Navy, just this?"

Hans is currently furious!

I am fighting hard against the Longyan people, and you are just watching the show on the side?

If it weren't for the existence of the United Kingdom, he would really want to wipe out these Englishmen.

Hans is British, but he is not English.

The former is a country, while the latter is an ethnicity.

Britain is not a unified country; it is a United Kingdom composed of four countries.

These four countries, from large to small, are "England", "Scotland", "Wales", and "Northern Ireland".

Wales and Northern Ireland, due to their weak strength, have always been controlled by England, but Scotland is different.

A long time ago, Scotland had already established a nation in Britain; it can be said that they are the original inhabitants of Britain.

As for England, they are the "invaders" who arrived in Britain only a few centuries ago.

The two sides have been fighting for hundreds of years, and now, it is only because England wants to better colonize overseas that they have turned swords into plowshares with Scotland.

Theoretically, uniting and developing together should be a good thing for both sides, but in reality, England enjoys all the benefits, while Scotland plays the role of doing the hard work without getting any credit.

England's shipbuilding technology is far superior to Scotland's, so the profits brought by the Age of Discovery almost all fell into the hands of the English, while the Scots only sent people to garrison and manage the occupied territories.

Hans plays exactly this role.

The taxes they collect from managing this place all have to be handed over to the parliament according to a certain proportion, and what actually remains in their hands is a very small portion.

Getting less money does not mean having less work.

Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance; when Britain began to levy heavy taxes and extort, the people in the colonies would certainly launch a wave of anti-colonial struggle. Although their overall strength is far from that of the British army, they would still cause casualties to the British army by taking them by surprise...

All the above is the reason for the discord between Hans and Luojinsi; branch of service and ethnicity, both have irreconcilable contradictions. Now, this invasion war by Longyan has already brought this contradiction to a critical value; if it is stimulated further, it is not impossible for them to have a civil war.

Liu Zheng, of course, does not hope for this; as long as he can hold on for a while longer, until Longyan recovers its vitality, that will be enough.

Although he is abroad, Liu Zheng has been paying attention to the movements back home.

Liu Zheng's intelligence organization reported the recent situation back home to Liu Zheng, and after reading the contents of the intelligence, Liu Zheng could not sit still.

Having been away for less than a month, the situation in Longyan has changed a bit too fast.

The Plague has actually spread in the Northeast!

The spread of the Plague caused the economic growth of Beidacang to enter a standstill instantly; that was the most important part of Liu Zheng's layout, and he never expected such an accident to occur.

The economy of the Northeast Region is the most powerful support for Liu Zheng's global layout; if problems arise in the Northeast, the impact on Liu Zheng's overall situation will be enormous, and to maintain the previous layout, the Longyan treasury would have to face a deficit.

Currently, Longyan is a large collective of interests, where various factions have come together because of profit, but if a fiscal deficit leaves these fellows with no profit to be made, then the system he worked so hard to build will be destroyed in an instant.

Fortunately, the Li Dynasty actually dispatched its navy and drove away the Tsarist Russia fleet, relieving the pressure on the Northeast Region; otherwise, Longyan would truly have been in danger of collapsing.

At the time, he only wanted to do a favor, so he sold a lot of Weaponry and Equipment to Li Xuanya, never expecting such an unexpected pleasant surprise!

Now, Liu Zheng must go back to take a look.

If the Northeast is unstable, the imperial court will certainly be in turmoil; at this time, he, as the Chief Minister, must return to the country to hold the line.

As for Suez, the previous surprise attack had already significantly weakened the strength of the Britain Egypt garrison; with the Assistance of Jiang Xuan, it should be no problem for Nashadier to barely hold it, and even if they did not have the strength to hold it, Liu Zheng would not be worried, because he had already found the best helper for Jiang Xuan.

"Young Master, are you heading back already?"

Jiang Xuan was somewhat reluctant to see him go.

Liu Zheng chuckled, noncommittal.

Originally, his focus in coming to Suez this time was to attend the opening ceremony of Suez.

But alas...

Once he arrived here, the situation became complicated.

However, this was also normal.

Suez is too important.

Neither Britain nor France would allow Suez to be completed so smoothly.

Originally, Liu Zheng also wanted to take a trip to France to see if he could find Napoleon and then support him in stirring up some trouble.

He did not expect that the Plague in the Northeast would spread.

It fell through...

He sighed.

"I leave this place to you. In a while, Xi'er and Mo Chen will come over, and it will be fun when you are all together."

That day, Liu Zheng's fleet set sail.

Liu Zheng was rushing back to Longyan, and at this time, another significant incident occurred in Longyan.

Dunhuang had fallen.

Rumyantsev had actually led a large army across the Gobi Desert and launched a surprise attack on Dunhuang!

Although Dunhuang was a vital military town, because Longyan had focused most of its energy on the Northeast and the Southeast, and because Dunhuang was already an inland city with little threat of war, its military preparedness was slightly lax.

With weak defensive capabilities, they were simply unable to withstand the 200,000-strong Tsarist Russia Army; the Tsarist Russia Army took this ancient city of Dunhuang with almost no effort, using less than five hours.

What kind of place is Dunhuang? It is within the territory of Liangzhou; Dunhuang is the western gateway to Liangzhou. Once Dunhuang is lost, the gates of Liangzhou are thrown wide open, and Liu Zheng's base is in danger.

Even Rumyantsev himself did not expect that he would cross the vast desert and risk everything in a desperate gamble, and he never thought he would actually gamble his way into a glimmer of hope!

Although they lost nearly 20,000 men during the crossing, the sacrifice was worth it to finally take Dunhuang!

Controlling Dunhuang is like placing a nail under Liu Zheng's backside; he wants to see how Liu Zheng will resolve this situation!

The crisis in Longyan does not all come from the Northwest; there is also a fatal threat directly to the north of Longyan.

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