514 Switching Sides (1/2)

”Remember, do not let him kill himself; I want him alive.”

At the end, Baiqi was still not fully at ease, so he reminded the military intelligence officer.

Baiqi had a rough impression of Li Xiucheng. When he discussed matters with the Lord, the Lord had given him a short evaluation of all the generals.

Amongst the Taiping Country generals, there were three that the Lord paid the most attention to. They were Shi Dakai, Li Xiucheng, and Chen Yucheng. Hence, Baiqi naturally needed to keep Li Xiucheng alive.

As for how the Lord would manage to convince him, it was not within Baiqi’s consideration range.

”Do not worry, my general!”

As the intelligence officer spoke these words, he turned around and left. Li Xiucheng had continuously tried to kill himself since the captured, and he declined food in protest. However, if the young officer could not even handle such simple matters, he was unsuitable for his occupation.

The Military Intelligence Division was not useless.

After the short interruption, Baiqi continued to write the battle report. He also wrote of the situation regarding Li Xiucheng at the end.

That evening, the report was passed through the relay to Chiyou City.

Wuzhou Prefecture Chiyou City, Lord's Manor.

Similar to Baiqi, Ouyang Shuo was still awake. The Battle of Mulan Stronghold concerned the entire situation. Without receiving the latest battle report, Ouyang Shuo could not rest at ease.

Just half an hour after Baiqi sent the battle report, Ouyang Shuo received it.

The appearance of cannons astonished Ouyang Shuo. He did not expect Taiping Country to actually possess such a bug weapon; he was really feeling a cold sweat for Mulan Stronghold.

Of course, this was a dangerous situation but also a great chance.

Just the thought of Hong Xiuquan holding the relevant technical manual made Ouyang Shuo’s his blood boil.

Cannons were something that Ouyang Shuo had yearned for for a long time.

Of course, he did not think that with cannons alone he could step into the thermal weapons era.

Such thinking was not practical.

Ouyang Shuo just wished to equip the warships with cannons. With that, the navy could use cannons instead of just bows.

A navy squadron with and without cannons were two utterly different concepts. One could even say that cannons were an indicator of whether the squadron was a local squadron or a squadron that could survive in the seas and oceans.

Without cannons, the squadron could basically only travel through inner rivers. Ouyang Shuo ambitions for the oceans meant that he could not accept that.

The appearance of cannons presented a divine opportunity.

Apart from that, cannons could also be placed on the city walls to increase the defence. Think about that, with both the three bowed arcubalistas and the cannons, the territory defence would be a huge nightmare for the enemies.

Most importantly, the existence of No.7 Institute meant that Shanhai City had the ability to modify and improve the Ming Dynasty Cannons.

With that, they could close the technological gap with the western countries.

All of the above were enough to make Ouyang Shuo feel pumped up.

Thinking about these points, Ouyang Shuo immediately wrote a letter to Black Snake to ask him to use the spies hidden in Xunzhou Prefecture. Especially those in Tianjing City; they needed to investigate those cannons.

Most importantly, he needed to confirm whether the cannons that appeared in Mulan Stronghold were rare or mass produced; this would confirm whether the technical manual existed.

Compared to Wuzhou Prefecture, the Black Snake Guards and the Military Intelligence Division were highly successful in their infiltration of Taiping Country. After all, when Hong Xiuquan had entered the wilderness, the two intel organizations had fixed their eyes on him.

Furthermore, they had recruited people on a large scale, so it was naturally easy for them to infiltrate.

Till date, the spies of the two organizations had spread across the three prefectures of Taiping Country. One could even say that beside the important people of Taiping Country, spies of the Black Snake Guards had infiltrated every other group.

Ouyang Shuo believed that Black Snake would definitely give him a satisfying answer.

……

Li Xiucheng’s capture surprised Ouyang Shuo. Of course, his stubbornness was also expected. These Taiping Country generals were all famous for being as stubborn as rocks.

Before dealing with Hong Xiuquan, Ouyang Shuo did not have any high hopes of persuading any of the generals.

Even when they took over Taiping Country in the future, Ouyang Shuo would not instantly make use of these fallen generals. To the current Ouyang Shuo, loyalty was the most important aspect.

……

However, towards Yang Xiuqing and the like, Ouyang Shuo was planning something.

After Li Xiucheng’s capture, as the main general of the south troops, Yang Xiuqing would definitely be chided by Hong Xiuquan. These two opponents in the last life would grow further and further apart.

Thinking about this point, Ouyang Shuo immediately wrote a letter to Baiqi

In it, he wrote, ‘Yang Xiuqing can be used, but one must treat him carefully. If the Taiping Army fails, general can release him to go against Hong Xiuquan.’

Although Yang Xiuqing was an ambitious person, that was during the chaotic times of the uprising army.