Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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The second-line troops of the Jiangnan Army had an advantage in fighting the Hunan militia. However, the Hunanese were in their hometown, a hometown that had been painstakingly built up over twenty years by an entire generation. They were determined and would fight even if they couldn't win. They would fight to the death, exchanging two for one or three for one.

The advance of the Jiangnan army is much slower than expected.

In fact, they could have won if they had just put in a little more effort. If we go back ten years, they would have been willing to fight. But now, they only suffer setbacks and then they don't want to fight anymore.

Chapter 1073 Does the Chairman Not Know Military Strategy? Artillery as Cavalry, An's Mobile Warfare

Shaoguan, Guangdong.

A small number of troops were temporarily recruited and assembled in Guangdong.

Excluding auxiliary troops, laborers, and soldiers, there were more than 20,000 people, including more than 1,000 extraordinary individuals.

Over the past two decades, Guangdong was the only place to produce a baby boom during this era of terrible climate in Seres, yet only this many people have been raised. The reason is that the new generation in Guangdong is too eager for progress. Farmers' associations are limited, and labor unions are even more limited. It is extremely difficult for ordinary farmers to become members of farmers' associations. If they want to make progress, the only option is to go to the front lines and risk their lives. However, even if they go to the front lines and risk their lives, there are still limited spots available.

This time, Zhao Jun, the first chairman of the Gongjinhui, personally took charge, with Ambrina as his deputy.

The reason Ambrina was chosen as the second-in-command was because most of the superhumans in the team were women she had recruited through connections.

Where did the man go? He's either on the front lines in the north, or he's already gone to Hunan.

"We should not send troops into Hunan, but rather hold our ground," a staff officer said at the meeting.

Zhao Junyong, of course, refused. The war was entering its final stage, and this was a good opportunity for him to show his face. How could he miss it? Besides, he originally planned to stay in Chenzhou after entering Hunan and wait for the right opportunity. When would that opportunity be? Of course, it would be when Hunan had almost exhausted the Jiangnan army. As for the fact that this would cause great damage to Hunan, he couldn't be bothered with that.

Anyway, this time he succeeded. Next, he will take over the war and establish his authority in the army.

However, before Zhao Jun could refute her, Ambrina yelled, "You're trying to disrupt morale, aren't you?" Before she finished speaking, she activated her magic-suppressing domain, pulled out a treasured magic staff from thin air, and started hitting the staff officer on the head repeatedly, killing him instantly.

"Come out and clean up the mess!" After shouting, Ambrina continued, "Since the Chairman is going to send troops, he must be confident of victory. Does the Chairman not know about military matters? At most half a month, he will crush those cowards from Jiangnan."

If it weren't for Ambrina's earlier actions that had startled everyone, the question "Does the Chairman not know about soldiers?" would have already made the staff officers and generals suppress their laughter.

"Then, Your Excellency Chairman, how should we fight?" Ambrina's best friend's daughter, who was also the leader of the extraordinary female soldiers, stepped forward and asked.

Chairman Zhao was taken aback, unsure how to respond. His strategy was to disengage, so he had no choice but to look at the secretaries he had brought in as advisors. However, none of them dared to speak up at this moment. With such high aspirations, aiming to defeat the opponent in half a month, what if things didn't go well? Wouldn't they be the ones to take the blame? In the past twenty-odd years, he had seen plenty of people take the blame for Chairman Zhao, and none of them had fared well.

At this moment, Ambriina spoke again, "Although we are outnumbered, we have more cannons and guns. Next, three hundred heavy cannons and five hundred field guns will advance at the fastest speed. The enemy's two hundred thousand troops have entered central Hunan, but they have not fully gathered. We will directly cut through them from the middle and head north to divide them up."

Today, Ambrina intends to use the artillery like cavalry, advancing rapidly, charging head-on, and blasting through these cowardly Jiangnan bastards who are wreaking havoc in eastern Hunan.

Her plan wasn't entirely without reason.

Because the overall structure of the Jiangnan Army was like a horizontal hourglass, with many people on both sides and a weak middle. The vanguard was in front, trying to defeat the main force of the militia that had been repeatedly defeated. In the middle was a thin, long line to protect the supply line and prevent local militia guerrillas from harassing them. Behind them was the main force, which was used to defend against the small number of regular troops in Changsha to the north and to defend against the traitors in southern Jiangxi who had fallen into the hands of the Gongjinhui.

"Heavy artillery can't be transported that fast," a staff officer said cautiously.

Ambrina sneered, "Why not just use superhumans like mules?" She thought to herself that mules were not as useful as superhumans. A mule would struggle to pull something weighing several thousand pounds, and it would be slow and difficult. Superhumans were different.

The moment those words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

Is this even allowed?

I really think it's possible.

The problem is that most of the more than 20,000 people gathered here are superhumans, mostly young ladies or wives of other families. Is it really okay to use these young ladies and wives as mules?

After a long while, a general spoke up, “Even if we divide them up, we will be attacked from two sides. They have nearly 200,000 men, with 50,000 in the vanguard alone. We only have a little over 20,000 men in total. The disparity in strength is too great.”

With 20,000 against 50,000, the advantage lies with the enemy.

Ambriina felt that the other side was simply afraid of the enemy. "How could we be attacked from two sides? The entire western side was full of the main force of the Hunan militia. We first broke through the weak connection between them, and then broke through to the west. At this time, we joined forces with the main force of the militia to surround their 50,000 vanguard."

"If you're fast enough, no pocket can hold you back."

"Let alone whether we can break through their lines, even if we do, we'll be exhausted. How can we speed up then, how can we break out?" A staff officer, seeing that the two men in front of him were fine, bravely raised the question.

"Once we break through, we don't need any heavy artillery or field guns anymore. We'll just rush west." After saying that, Ambrina stopped and looked at everyone. "Anything else you want to ask? If not, hurry up and arrange the execution. Tell all the superhumans involved that they will have a chance to get enhanced power after the mission is accomplished. Tell the other conscripts from the farmers' association and the guild that their subsidies and compensation will be doubled."

The meeting ended just like that.

And inexplicably, Ambriina seized power, sidelining head coach Zhao Junyong.

Ten days later, they engaged the enemy.

The Jiangnan Army never expected that someone would push forward with heavy artillery. Three hundred heavy artillery pieces and five hundred field guns overwhelmed the weak central supply and escort forces in just a couple of waves.

They crushed the enemy and showed no intention of stopping. They abandoned all their artillery and headed west. This wasn't a breakout; it was a direct attack on the enemy's vanguard.

Because of the presence of superhumans, the news spread quickly, and the enemy's vanguard and the main force soon received the message.

The vanguard reserve became the rearguard, preparing to return and join the main force to launch a pincer attack, annihilating the 20,000 overconfident men led by Ambrina.

Without those 20,000 men, some of them kept an eye on the Hunan militia, while others went directly south and stormed into Guangdong.

But what they didn't expect was that Ambrina's side arrived too quickly, and they didn't even continue their march with their cannons.

They were expected to arrive in two or even three days, but they arrived in just one day.

Moreover, Ambrina's side charged into battle immediately upon engaging the enemy.

At this time, the vanguard of this second-line force in Jiangnan had not yet completely shaken off the local militia, and the main force behind them had not yet encircled them.

The front ranks, with their stronger fighting spirit, did not move to the rear ranks.

More than an hour later.

Ambrina's exhausted but excited army had already decimated the rear guard of the Jiangnan vanguard.

The officers of the vanguard were dumbfounded. What the hell? How did it turn out like this?

At that moment, the militia also rushed towards them.

Instantly, someone shouted, "Our army has been defeated! Our army has been defeated!" This shout spread like wildfire. A group of people ran around repeating "Our army has been defeated!" The supervisory team couldn't keep up with the killings.

Defeated?

Chapter 1074 Chairman Zhao suffers another setback, but finally wins. Should we have an emperor?

There was no defeat at all. The troops led by Ambrina suffered heavy casualties, and no matter how high their morale was, it couldn't change the fact that they were already at their last gasp.

They were simply mindless brutes. If they had held on a little longer and stabilized, these brutes, exhausted from their continuous march and suffering heavy casualties from their reckless attacks, would have had to shut down. In another day, they would have nowhere to run.

As for that seemingly large militia, they are nothing but a rabble. Dozens or hundreds of people can fight quite well, but tens of thousands gathered together are just a bunch of pigs.

Relying on their home advantage, the local militia can effectively conduct guerrilla warfare when scattered, but when they gather together, they can turn around and strike you down at any time.

But now, they've been defeated by a bunch of pigs and a bunch of brutes.

What to do? Run, run as far as you can.

When the main force in the rear received this news, they had no choice but to abandon the original plan, hold their ground, try their best to support the retreating remnants, and then slowly withdraw from Hunan.

"Haha, see? Under the wise leadership of our Chairman, didn't we defeat those good-for-nothings in just half a month?"

Ambrina said with a smile.

All the people could do was force a smile; everyone knew exactly what had happened.

"Madam An, shall we pursue them?" a general asked.

"Maybe we should wait a bit. I'm exhausted. Also, I need to take a good shower. I've been traveling for over ten days, and I smell terrible," Ambrina said.

This statement fits her persona perfectly. After all, she was once an empress from the West, and her extravagant lifestyle during her twenty years in Guangdong was well-known.

At this moment, Zhao Junyong stepped forward and said, "Listen to my command, have the militia follow behind and catch up."

After everyone left, Ambrina gave a cold laugh.

Don't you understand the principles of "don't stop a retreating army, and don't pursue a desperate enemy"?

The enemy was indeed routed, but not many were actually annihilated. They did abandon their heavy firepower, but they still had muskets. Moreover, these were rifled muskets that were first invented in Guangdong during this war that lasted for more than 20 years and were later copied by various parties. Some of them were breech-loading, not the muzzle-loading smoothbore muskets of the past. The skirmishers were also capable of fighting.

As expected, Zhao Jun was thwarted.

In other words, the enemy's morale was low and they only wanted to run away. In addition, the militia followed up. Otherwise, he would have been surrounded. With his cultivation level of only the third rank, he would have been killed if he had been unlucky.

This completely branded Zhao Jun as a "military-illiterate" chairman.

Ambrina's mission can be considered successfully completed.

Defeating the people from Jiangnan was just a side effect; the main goal was to put pressure on Chairman Zhao.

After suffering a defeat on the Hunan battlefield, the Jiangnan force retreated to eastern Hunan, where Jiangxi borders Hunan, and Jiangnan completely lost any chance to turn the tide.

All that remains is the countdown to destruction.

In 1639, the court gave up resistance, the emperor abdicated, and surrendered to the Progressive Society.

At the same time, consultations began on forming a new government.

Twenty years ago, you could say that the court was mostly filled with parasites, but in the past twenty years, the court has been constantly reforming.

Without reform, how could we fight the Northwest Army, the Jiangnan Army, and the Gongjinhui in an increasingly worse climate?

The economy is changing, politics is changing, and the military is changing.

Soldiers and officers are human too. If they are not fed and paid enough, they would have quit long ago. Local powerful and wealthy merchants are even more opportunistic. If the economy were to collapse, they would have already colluded with foreign enemies on a large scale.

Ultimately, if the Central Plains occupied by the imperial court were like the Central Plains under the rule of the Khmer Party led by the bald man in Luo Nan's original timeline, it would have been finished long ago. It would have been swiftly and decisively eliminated within three to five years. Not to mention resisting the well-equipped Gongjin Society and Jiangnan, they wouldn't have been able to stop even the veterans of the Northwest Army and the mixed barbarians.

At the beginning of 1640, the small court in Jiangnan, seeing that its power was waning, broke out in internal strife.

The Zhang, Gu, and Qian families were massacred, and a large number of high-ranking officials in the small court were also killed, including the innocent "false emperor" and his entire family.

To avoid any further complications, even several seventh-tier cultivators who had been observing from the sidelines took action.

This is something that can't be helped, and it's something that has been happening for thousands of years.

The emperor of the imperial court can abdicate, and his officials can change jobs because they are the legitimate rulers. But the small court in Jiangnan cannot do that; if they lose, they will be a bunch of traitors nailed to the pillar of historical shame.

In order to preserve the "vitality of Jiangnan", a group of people had no choice but to set things right in time. They borrowed the heads of the various masters and even the transcendent seventh-level beings had the same attitude. In order to prevent some people from being unwilling to be dignified, they would first help them to be dignified.

In July, the Progressive Society took full control of the North.

However, the founding ceremony was not held immediately.

Because there is another extremely important matter that has become controversial.

Do we still need an emperor?

The original emperor abdicated, not ceded the throne, and Zhao Junyong became the first chairman of the Gongjin Society.

Therefore, a major conference had to be held.

Ronan spoke first, “Starting from the previous dynasty, apart from the first two generations, or the occasional resurgence in between, it can be said that the further back in time the emperors went, the less power they had. Power was basically in the hands of a few powerful ministers. The previous dynasty was especially terrifying. The powerful ministers in the court were no longer useful, and the local areas were completely controlled by the military governors who were high-level superhumans.”

"The endless fighting has caused great damage to the country. Some once glorious cities have not yet recovered their vitality. In the end, even the high-level superhumans are tired of it."

High-level superhumans cause destruction without any reason, and it's impossible to stop them.

The once glorious Chang'an and Guanzhong were repeatedly ravaged by high-level superhumans and were completely destroyed.

At the height of the chaos, destroying farmland and irrigation systems was a minor matter; if the Yellow River was breached, millions of people would be displaced in the blink of an eye.

The same thing has happened in the West.

"In the end, even the high-level superhumans got tired of it and simply withdrew from the secular world, because they knew that only in this way could their own interests not be harmed."

"By the time of the previous dynasty, military power had finally been centralized, and the court had truly begun to consolidate power. But the emperor remained the same."

"This dynasty is better than the previous one. The villages and communities have ensured a stable source of soldiers and provided many people with opportunities and channels for promotion. But as for the emperor, I don't need to say more."

"If you ask me, there's no need for an emperor. From now on, there will be a chairman, who will be selected from the standing council members of the presidium, serving a ten-year term. Of course, our Chairman Zhao's past terms don't count; it will be counted from the date of his formal assumption of the throne. What do you all think?"

There was a lot of discussion, but no one publicly expressed their opinion.

Most of the higher-ups think it's a good thing, because this way everyone has a chance, right?

The middle management also thought it was alright; after all, they were used to Zhao Jun being just a figurehead.

Those who originally belonged to the court thought it was good, since they were the reformers and the new government would need them anyway. But the other group, who were not very capable and just wanted to curry favor with the new emperor to get a position, were opposed in their hearts, but they dared not speak out.

Within the Gongjinhui, those who had attached themselves to and aligned themselves with Zhao Junyong over the years naturally had many complaints.

If Zhao Jun is not a suitable founding emperor, they cannot ascend the throne.

Zhao Jun was also anxious. Why was no one speaking up? He couldn't very well come out and say that he wanted to be emperor.

Chapter 1075 Having given birth to a bunch of children, they will eventually fall into depravity; the unity of workers and peasants becomes capital.

The meeting ended without reaching a conclusion, and it was agreed that it would be held again in three days, with a result required at the next meeting.

These three days are the time for both the faction advocating for and opposing the imperial system to persuade the neutral faction.

In any case, it all comes down to individual ability.

Inside the temporary residence, Ronan was drawing and writing again when Guo Hanlu quietly came over and hugged him from behind.