Hefei was an important location, but Li Cheng had not held it for long.
The Qing army and the Taiping Army fought a brutal struggle in the areas around Hefei. Just outside Huo County, corpses littered the ground. Fleeing Qing and Taiping soldiers made peace with one another, running toward Huo County in groups while driving all the nearby civilians into flight as well.
Those closer to Huo County ran there. Those farther away fled west. Though it was not as stable as Huo County, the land there was vast and relatively safe. Even if its safety fell far short of Huo County's, it was not directly under Wang Yan's watch. With all sorts of oversight mechanisms and the inevitable compromises in implementation, only a certain degree of effectiveness could be guaranteed.
Even so, it was far, far better than the current situation, and it was constantly being adjusted and improved, always moving forward...
Another battle over Hefei came to an end. The Qing court suffered a crushing defeat, and the entire First Battalion under Pang Qingyun's command was wiped out.
As the senior officer commanding the First Battalion, Pang Qingyun naturally understood the situation better than the ordinary soldiers below him. So after playing dead, he mingled with the refugees and headed for Huo County...
After another period of development, Huo County's territory had expanded beyond its original boundaries, its reach extending to the outskirts of Lu'an and Shucheng. The land and houses here had been redistributed. As for their original owners, no one cared. That was war—death, departure, flight, and injury.
Perhaps once the fighting settled down, those who had survived would want to return. But by then, likely no one would acknowledge their claims. Of course, Wang Yan certainly would. Once they returned, they would naturally receive