Chapter 1547: Post-War Work

"Defeated..."

The Military Department Minister watched the Longyan army charge into the city.

The other French Army units in the city, under the Longyan army's successive cannon barrages, were either dead or fleeing.

Most French Soldiers were completely broken by this Longyan method, which lacked technical sophistication but was extremely simple and brutal.

Since the first war recorded in human history, no one had ever heard of a battle being fought like this.

The Military Department Minister sighed deeply, walked outside the command room, and looked at the devastated city wall that had been forcibly blasted open and had collapsed directly.

The tens of thousands of troops in the city were in total chaos.

Even after experiencing the Longyan army's "plowing" by artillery fire, the French Army's troop strength still far exceeded that of the Longyan army.

However, the Military Department Minister knew these units no longer had the ability to fight the Longyan army.

The discipline of the Nashadier troops was learned from the Longyan army.

The military discipline of the French Army was even far inferior to that of the Nashadier troops.

Now the French Army was in such a state of chaos that they could not form any combat effectiveness at all.

Asking them to fight the high-spirited Longyan army now was simply a pipe dream.

This battle, which lasted less than an hour, was a shadow he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Longyan broke through the Inner City, and after Jiang Xuan entered the city, he swept a glance over the French Army and shouted coldly.

"The Longyan army treats prisoners of war well; those who surrender shall live, those who do not shall die!"

Once these words were spoken, the French Army stopped their commotion, and the soldiers holding muskets, Crossbows, and other weapons were slightly stunned.

They were hesitating whether to surrender.

Surrendering was equivalent to treason; returning to France meant certain death!

But not surrendering meant certain death right now!

The soldiers were deeply conflicted inside, when suddenly they heard a 'clatter'—it was the sound of a musket hitting the ground.

A voice followed immediately, ringing out despondently: "I surrender..."

"I surrender, the city is broken, and the ships at the harbor have already sunk."

"Going back is death, staying to fight is also death; I surrender, I surrender!"

The soldiers felt a chill in their hearts, their despondent gazes fixed on the Longyan army and Jiang Xuan.

The harbor was their only hope; it held a large amount of supplies, and there were also the Warships for their return to France.

Previously, they did not know the shipping lanes had been blockaded by the Longyan army's fleet.

And they did not know that the Longyan had just destroyed all the ships in the harbor.

They felt despair.

When people are in despair, some fall into madness, and there were such elements among the French Army.

"Kill, kill all these Longyan soldiers!"

"There must still be reinforcements for us outside!"

Some French Soldiers rose up to resist, and Jiang Xuan looked at them coldly.

He gave the order to shoot.

Countless French Soldiers fell; Jiang Xuan was indifferent, staring at the remaining French Soldiers and saying flatly: "Since you chose to resist, you chose death; kill them all."

"General of the Longyan army, we surrender."

Just at this moment, a loud shout came from the French ranks.

Jiang Xuan's gesture to order the massacre hung in mid-air without falling; he watched indifferently as the French ranks parted to make a path.

Walking toward him was a person who was heavily wounded and limping.

The Military Department Minister looked up at Jiang Xuan sitting on his horse, seeing that he was high-spirited and cold-bloodedly extraordinary.

Moreover, to have become a general of the Longyan army at such a young age showed that this person was no ordinary man.

He himself had been a soldier for half his life, but because his background was not particularly good—just an average Noble family—

he had performed countless meritorious deeds for France.

Yet he was only a Military Department Minister; though called a minister, he was actually just a Strategist, as the true power of the Military Department had always been held in the hands of people like Sashaer, a true Noble.

How lamentable!

The Military Department Minister looked at Jiang Xuan, filled with emotion.

It was he who used the Longyan Cannon to utilize their equipment advantage, using a force of thirty thousand men.

To breach the city.

Although from a strategic perspective, such an attack was too simple and brutal.

It was, however, extremely practical.

If there were no surprises, this war, once spread, would greatly change the current situation of warfare.

Losing to such a person was no grievance!

He offered a reluctant salute and said in a deep voice: "We have lost this war."

"General from Longyan, we surrender."

The Military Department Minister raised his hands, and the remaining French Soldiers, seeing that the Military Department Minister had already surrendered, threw down their weapons one after another.

They raised their hands.

Jiang Xuan revealed a smile.

Nashadier looked at Jiang Xuan and pulled him to the side.

Nashadier said coldly: "So many French troops, and you are taking them as prisoners of war."

"If they pick up their guns again, they will all be soldiers."

"You've taken in so many soldiers, where are we supposed to send them, and do we even have that much food?"

The French general roughly estimated there were still about seventy thousand people; transporting these people anywhere carried risks.

Jiang Xuan glanced at Nashadier and said indifferently: "So what is your meaning?"

Nashadier made a 'kill them' gesture, his gaze turning stern as he looked at the Military Department Minister, and without concealing his killing intent, he whispered: "Only by killing them all; these prisoners of war cannot be kept!"

"Kill them..." Jiang Xuan glanced at him.

Nashadier responded coldly: "Benevolence does not command troops; this is an old saying from your Longyan."

"We may have won this battle, but what about the next one?"

"Britain might take advantage of the fact that we have just finished fighting to attack us."

"At that time, these French prisoners of war will be our greatest hidden danger."

Jiang Xuan glanced at him and said indifferently: "The prisoners of war here should naturally be left for the British to worry about; what does that have to do with us?"

Nashadier was stunned upon hearing this; when Jiang Xuan originally cooperated with Britain, Britain's condition was that they had to exchange two French port colonies for mineral veins and Longyan's Giant Steam Engine.

As it turned out, the British army contributed the least in this battle.

Now that they had paid a huge price to capture this city, thinking about having to hand it over to others made Nashadier feel a stifled breath in his chest that he couldn't release.

"Jiang Xuan, you aren't really going to hand over the city that we paid such a huge price to take, are you?"

Jiang Xuan gave a wicked laugh and said: "War is the art of deception."

"My goal was never this French port city; Nashadier, use your head and think carefully."

"If we leave a large number of French prisoners of war in this city, what will the British do?"

"They will face the same problem as us, but they will choose to kill these prisoners of war without hesitation."

"What if we leave these prisoners of war with enough weapons?"

Nashadier's eyes suddenly lit up, and he stared at Jiang Xuan in astonishment: "At that time, the British will definitely suppress the internal unrest, and they won't give up this port; are you trying to plot..."

"Correct, those mining areas and resources are our true targets," Jiang Xuan laughed.

Nashadier took a deep look at Jiang Xuan, secretly marking him in his heart as a person who must absolutely never be provoked.