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Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 293: Fierce Battle in Hengzhou

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    The Zhishui River is a larger tributary of the Xiangjiang River, commonly known as the Cao River. It originates from Shaodong County and enters Jinlan Town, Hengyang. It is shaped like a "B" and flows through Sanhu Town, Zhajiang Town, Taiyuan Town, Xi'an Town, and Xi'an Town in the county.  It flows into the Xiangjiang River at Shigu in Hengzhou City in places such as Du, Santang, and Dayingling.

    Daiyingling Town on the bank of Caohe River is located in the west of Hengzhou City, facing Hengzhou City across the river in the east, bordering Hengyang County in the west, and Hengshan County in the north. It is an important window and gateway to the west of Hengzhou City.  Last year, after the West Palace Taiping Army captured Hengzhou City, Zeng Tianyang and He Zhenchuan were left to guard Hengzhou City. When Zeng Tianyang and He Zhenchuan deployed to defend Hengzhou City, they adopted the Taiping Army's strategy of guarding danger but not Pi.  Camps and trenches were set up at Daiying Ridge and the town on the north bank of the Caohe River. There were 500 Guangxi veterans and 1,500 Hunan recruits guarding the place. There were three pontoon bridges on the Caohe River to communicate with Hengzhou City. Once Daiying  If the Qing ridge is attacked by the Qing army, Daiying ridge will use fireworks as a signal, and the Taiping army in Hengzhou City can reinforce through the pontoon bridge.

    This day is the New Year¡¯s Day of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After three o¡¯clock, the Taiping Army units in Dayingling and the town gathered together to prepare for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom¡¯s New Year¡¯s Day service.  Each department is composed of two commanders, together with the people in the town and the soldiers and civilians, they light two lamps, serve three cups of tea, three plates of vegetables, and three bowls of rice. The two commanders and the military code officer stand in the middle, and everyone stands on both sides, singing praises in unison.  , and then the Dian Guan wrote the memorial in a yellow form, including the names of one or two Sima officials. Everyone knelt down, and the Dian Guan knelt down to read it and then burned it.

    After Huang Biao's memorial was burned, the ceremony was completed, and everyone could not disperse. They also wished the Taiping kings from a distance, and then listened to the officials' explanations, recited scriptures, and finally shared the food with everyone. Everyone can do it after dawn.  Get a sumptuous meal from the cook.

    Since the soldiers and horses of the Taiping Army in Hengzhou were from Zeng Tian's posthumous army, and most of them were from the East Palace, the practice of complaining in the West Palace was not handed down.  It was more of the doctrinal style of the Tianchao brigade, so even the soldiers scattered on patrol at the outer perimeter returned to camp to attend the service overnight.

    While Daiying Ridge and the Taiping Army in the town were listening to the Dian Guan's Holy Instructions from the Heavenly Father around the bonfire, a Qing army from the north was quietly approaching under the cover of night. This Qing army was the Zhenyu Miao army led by Ronglu.  Soldier!

    Most of the early Miao soldiers who suppressed the Miao army were in Deng Shaoliang and Xiangrong's tribe. They were wiped out in the battle with the Xidian Taiping Army in Xiangtan and Siyeshan. There were still hundreds of troops in the Qing army of Hu Linyi in Yiyang.  What Ronglu is now leading is the soldiers newly recruited by the Qing army at the beginning of the year. Among them, the Miao soldiers account for the majority, and the rest are Han soldiers from the Miao area.

    Although this Miao soldiers are newly recruited, the Miao people in western Hunan have always been martial arts, and men are required to wear swords when they are twelve years old.  Men in many villages become adults at the age of fourteen.  The coming-of-age ceremony is also quite brave. Miao men who want to undergo the coming-of-age ceremony must go out of the village alone, carrying only knives, ropes and other items, go to the mountains and forests alone to capture prey, and then take the prey to the nearest town market to exchange for it.  Some salt and cloth.  You have to complete this thing before you become an adult.

    At this time, the land of western Hunan has always been a remote land with high mountains and dense forests.  Wild beasts are out and about.  It is thought that a fourteen-year-old boy has to go into the mountains to hunt alone, and then has to solve the problem of eating by himself. After that, he has to carry the prey for dozens of miles through the mountains to exchange goods in the towns where Han people gather. The hardships and dangers involved can be imagined.  That's it. Miao soldiers have always been good at hunting, walking on mountain roads, and even better at hiding.

    Ronglu and Li Chong took the lead with more than a thousand Miao soldiers.  Everyone's body is covered with branches and straw bags, and many Miao soldiers have their faces painted, making them look as ferocious as mandrills. Each Miao soldier has a sharp knife in his mouth.  Holding poisoned spears, bows and arrows in their hands, just like they usually hunt, the cat crouched like a cheetah in the dark and slowly approached the prey not far away.

    Then the fire in the Taiping Army camp began, and the first round of raids began quietly. The Miao soldiers shot the Taiping soldiers on the watchtower to death with poisonous arrows. The poison on the poisonous arrows contained a strong nerve-paralyzing toxin.  , the person who was shot will immediately become numb all over the body, and eventually die of cardiac paralysis.  The Taiping soldiers in the camp were devoutly listening to the Holy Instructions of Heavenly Father, so no one noticed the danger coming until the Miao soldiers climbed over the trench and arrived at the wooden fence of the camp and began to cut down the wooden fence.  Someone from the army came over on alert.

    "The demon soldiers are attacking!" A shrill cry emanated from the camp, but the Taiping Army who shouted was immediately pierced by a poisonous arrow through the throat. The second cry was never heard again, but this cry caused the Taiping Army to panic.  Note that when the troops looked back, they saw people outside the wooden fence gathered in twigs and straw bags. These people had feathers on their heads, painted patterns on their faces, and looked as ferocious as mandrills. When the Taiping Army came over on alert, everyone was stunned.  It was screaming strangely, and arrows and poisonous arrows were coming like rain.

    "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" the Taiping soldiers' shouts resounded throughout the camp. The Taiping soldiers with waist knives drew their knives and stepped forward to fight against the enemy. Many Taiping soldiers did not bring weapons and ran back to the barracks to get their weapons and muskets.  .  The Miao soldiers had already broken through the wooden fence and broke into the camp, and the two sides soon fought hand to hand.

    When the Taiping Army was attacked, they failed to form their formation in a panic. Many Taiping soldiers fought independently., were quickly surrounded and slaughtered by the Miao soldiers. The remaining Taiping soldiers who had not found weapons were also hunted down by the Miao soldiers. The entire Daiying Ridge and the Taiping Army barracks in the town were in chaos.

    The division commander who was guarding this place quickly ordered people to release smoke cannons to cry for help, and led his two hundred personal guards to block the camp to fight and intercept.  The guards were all veterans of Guangxi and quickly stabilized their position. However, more and more Qing troops poured into the camp, and eventually they all died on the spot.

    The fighting lasted until dawn, with only a hundred Taiping soldiers escaping. The Miao soldiers pursued them and seized three pontoon bridges on the Cao River. Then the Xiangyong led by Zeng Guofan came to gather together, and the Qing army began to cross the Cao River, along the  River array.

    It was already early in the morning. Ronglu ordered the soldiers to take a rest and eat some dry food. At the same time, he sent sentries to investigate the movements of the Taiping Army in Hengzhou City.  After a while, Tan Ma reported back that thousands of Taiping troops swarmed in Hengzhou City. Ronglu and Zeng Guofan immediately ordered to prepare for a fight.

    Liang Litai and He Zhenchuan in Hengzhou City were immediately furious when they heard that thousands of Qing troops had arrived, that Daiying Ridge and the Caohe Floating Bridge had been lost, and that only a hundred of the two thousand soldiers had escaped.  Historically, the Qing army in western Hunan was only beaten by the Taiping army. When did the Qing army dare to come and stroke the tiger's beard?  Together, the two decided to take advantage of the fact that the Qing army had not yet established a firm foothold, to lead troops out of the city to defeat the Qing army, and to defend the enemy on the north bank of the Cao River. At the worst, they would burn the pontoon bridge on the Cao River.

    When the Qing troops led by Ronglu and Zeng Guofan arrived at Wuli Ao on the east bank of the Cao River, they met the Taiping troops who came out to fight.  The Taiping Army saw the officers and soldiers coming towards them, and they avenged the brothers who died in Daiying Ridge.  They enthusiastically asked for battle, hoping to kill all the officers and soldiers who came from afar.

    The two armies met and beat drums to fight.  Taqibu, the brave general of Hunan, took the lead and rushed to the front of the formation on horseback to fight with the Taiping army.  The Taiping army immediately fired arrows at Taqibu. Taqibu showed no fear and waved the sharp sword in his hand to deflect the arrow.  At this time, the artillery and muskets of Li Zhong's firearms battalion under Ronglu began to bombard the two wings of the Taiping Army.  Although Ronglu obtained 3,000 Western muskets and artillery pieces, the Miao soldiers were accustomed to using shuttlecocks, bows and arrows, and it was difficult to learn muskets in a short period of time.  Therefore, the firearms battalions that came to assist this time were all part of the 300-guard firearms battalion that Ronglu had brought with him when he was in the Jiangbei camp. After they replaced them with new muskets and artillery, the firepower of the three hundred men was actually greater than that of thousands.  The firepower of the Taiping Army was even more ferocious.

    In terms of firearms equipment, the Taiping Army still used the firearms captured by the government troops, so the Qing army's firepower clearly had the upper hand.  Artillery exploded in the Taiping array.  Some Taiping corpses flew into the sky.  However, after being suddenly bombarded.  The Taiping Army was not in disarray.  Shelling also began.  Gunpowder smoke filled the air in front of both sides' positions. This was due to the excessive black powder smoke.  The artillerymen on both sides blasted for an hour, each refusing to give way, but they could hardly see the target. They just fired the gunpowder and shells forward desperately.  In this melee, neither side had time to form a formation and set up camp.  Just killed it.

    The Hunan Army and Zhenyun Miao soldiers began a forced charge amidst the artillery fire. They were armed with sharp machetes and Miao knives, and rushed to the front of the Taiping Army regardless of the possibility that their own artillery fire would fall on their heads.  Engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.  Since the beginning of the war in Guangxi, the Taiping Army has never seen the officers and soldiers take the initiative to engage in hand-to-hand combat. This is the first time they have seen the Qing army charging ahead without fear of death.  In the past, the Taiping Army, which was all over the mountains and plains, was the first to charge, rushing to the front of the official formations and killing indiscriminately, but today it was the other way around.  The Taiping Army commanders Liang Litai and He Zhenchuan were greatly shocked and immediately organized their troops to fight in close combat.

    Under the cover of artillery, the Miao soldiers and Hunan soldiers of Zhenzhen were divided into separate groups, and they forcibly attacked the Taiping army's array, intending to kill the generals and seize the flag in one fell swoop.  However, Rong Lu ordered Li Chong to lead 300 firearms battalions and 500 Miao soldiers to fight on both wings.

    The terrain of Wuli'ao is as its name suggests, with the two sides slightly higher and the middle slightly lower.  After Li Chong led the firearms battalion and Miao soldiers to break through the Taiping Army arrays on both wings, he set up artillery and muskets from a high place and bombarded the Taiping Army's center with lifeless force.

    Liang Litai saw that the Qing army had sharp weapons, so he had to order the Taiping army to retreat from Wuli'ao first. Several hundred Taiping soldiers in the front army fought to the death. Liang Litai led his army to retreat to Xinqiao Town, not far away, where he reorganized the army and made preparations for the rear army.  The front army acted as the rear army and once again engaged Taqib's pursuers.

    At this time, the Taiping Army also sent four lines of reinforcements from the city. The five lines of Taiping Army attacked the Xiangyong and Zhenyu soldiers from three directions. They immediately formed a local advantage. The Taiping Army outnumbered the Xiangyong and Zhenyu soldiers.  more than double.

    The Xiangyong and Zhenyu soldiers who were chasing after them were stunned by the red scarf soldiers all over the mountains and plains, and began to panic.  Taqibu and Zabudonak, who commanded the troops to suppress the enemy, still took the lead. They raised their swords in unison and shouted loudly: "If you retreat, kill the commander! If the commander retreats, kill the commander!"

    Zabdonak is a Mongolian. Although this man is not very clever, he still maintains the bravery of his ancestors Mongolians when fighting in front of the battle. When facing battle, he often only advances without retreating. He stopped the panic of the soldiers and marched  The formation faced the counter-charging Taiping Army.

    Xiangyong is also hereThere was a burst of shouting and cursing, and the soldiers of Xiangyong were fighting in front of the formation. The troops were used as a unit, and they were particular about advancing and retreating together. They cooperated and rescued each other during the battle.  The corps commander was worried about beheading innocent people, so he also pointed his knife at the back of his companion: "Whoever retreats will be killed! If you advance, you will not necessarily die; if you retreat together, you will definitely die! Everyone can only regard death as home!"

    At this time, Taqibu rode his horse to the front of Xiang Yong who was carrying the flag, grabbed the flag, held the flag personally, and waved it in front of the formation, which was indeed an invisible spiritual inspiration for Xiang Yong.  Another Xiangyong warrior, Li Xubin, took over from Taqibu to supervise the rear team and continued to advance. Six people retreated in the face of the battle.  Each team has a supervising and beheading officer who stands under the commander's flag and anyone who retreats will be beheaded.  In a situation with no retreat, Xiang Yong's way to survive was to rush over and defeat the enemy.  Xiang Yong came to his senses again. In the face of fate, he had no choice, so he shouted loudly and swung his sword to advance.

    This melee was a hand-to-hand fight, with corpses scattered all over the place, and both sides were severely weakened.  Nine brigade commanders and division commanders of the Taiping Army were killed, three thousand soldiers died in the battle, countless were killed and injured by firearms, and hundreds of people were captured alive.  Eventually, the powerful Taiping Army had to begin to retreat.  Xiangyong and Zhenjun soldiers from all walks of life advanced, killed countless Taiping soldiers, captured a red wind official hat, countless red scarves and flags, hundreds of rifles and shotguns, countless flags, swords and spears, and seized fifty pieces of gunpowder  barrels, three thousand kilograms of lead bullets and other military supplies.

    This fierce battle lasted from midnight to the afternoon of the next day. The Xiangyong and Zhenyu soldiers were victorious and pursued them all the way to the Hengzhou City. About 500 Taiping soldiers were killed.  A group of Taiping soldiers were driven to a pond by Li Chong's Firearms Battalion. With nowhere to run, they were all shot and killed by the Qing army in the pond.

    The Qing army marched towards Baixi Lane outside the city like a red-eyed gambler.  Generals Liang Litai, He Zhenchuan and other generals led more than a thousand defeated Taiping troops to rush around the city. However, the Qing army was pressing hard and they did not dare to open the city gate. Liang Litai also did not dare to enter the city. In the end, he had to lead his troops to escape to Xiangtan.  After chasing for several miles, the Qing army returned victorious. Thousands of Qing troops surrounded Hengzhou City, preparing to break the city after a feast and a night's rest.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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