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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 308: After the Great Victory

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    On the second day after the Suzhou-Fuzhou New Deal Conference, which lasted for more than half a month, the victory reports of the Guangde Battle and the Yangzhou Battle reached Suzhou almost at the same time.  Xiao Yungui, who was holding a banquet to bid farewell to officials from various places, read out two good news on the spot. The entire Xiwang Mansion burst into cheers, and the entire Suzhou City became lively. The soldiers and civilians celebrated the Taiping Army's victory together.

    Guangde was called Tongrui in ancient times. Guangde County was established in the early Jian'an period of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The name means "the emperor's grace is vast and the emperor's virtue is vast". It has been more than 1,800 years ago. It is located in the southeast of Anhui Province, among eight counties in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces.  Junction.  Guangde borders Hangjiahu to the east, Suzhou, Xichang and Wuhu to the north, and Xuancheng and Wuhu to the west. By laying down the West Palace here, the Taiping Army can be connected with the Taiping Army of Wuhu. Lishui, Gaochun and other counties to the north will also naturally become Tianjing Taiping.  Army territory.

    As early as when Xiao Yungui went to Tianjing, Chen Yucheng's troops in the West Palace assembled 15,000 soldiers and horses in Huzhou to prepare for the Guangde Campaign to further consolidate the battle situation in the west of Sufu Province and open up connections with the Wuhu Taiping Army.  After Xiao Yungui gained the support of the East King in Tianjing, the East King also made it clear that Yang Fuqing's troops in the East Palace would attack Jiangxi after the beginning of spring. Therefore, Xiao Yungui asked Chen Yucheng's troops to launch the Guangde Campaign to capture this place first.

    In this way, the line from Zhenjiang to Danyang, Jintan, Liyang, and Guangde is under the control of the West Palace Taiping Army, which creates another link with Tianjing for Suzhou, Wuxi, Huzhou and other places that are backed by Taihu Lake.  Isolation line.  Xuancheng can be occupied by the soldiers and horses of the East Palace. After the spring, the East Palace can go south to Jiangxi from here, and the West Palace can station troops in Guangde. The entire rich land of the Yangtze River Delta is under the control of the West Palace.  Moreover, the Guangde land is rich in coal and can be mined for decades. The Guangde coal mine was not fully mined until the 1990s, and the reserves are also very large. After occupying it, it will also be conducive to the development of Xidian's industry and commerce.

    Guarding Guangde is Liu Changyou, the brave general of Chu.  After Jiang Zhongyuan defeated Suzhou and Hangzhou last year, Liu Changyou was ordered to lead a thousand Chu warriors and thousands of green battalions and regiments to guard Guangde.  Guangde, Xuande and other places were surrounded by the Taiping Army from three sides. The officials and gentry in the city were in panic all day long. There were police officers every day, and many people wanted to flee south with their families.

    After Liu Changyou's soldiers arrived, they sealed the four gates of Guangde with mud, stone and wooden piles, leaving only the small south gate for military supplies. The entire Guangde did not allow the common people and gentry to escape.  Liu Changyou vowed to die with Guangde City. When the news spread, all the gentry and wealthy households in Guangde were crying every night.

    After Chen Yucheng's troops arrived in Guangde, they fought fiercely with the Qing army at Xiaofenshan, Shuangmiao, Qiancun Temple and other places outside Guangde.  The Taiping Army's Western cannons were equipped with explosive shells that were very powerful, and Chen Yucheng tried a new strategy in this battle, which was to use the entire army's artillery in a unified manner.

    Later Qing court historians described it like this: "The thieves bombarded the Xiaofenshan camp with more than a hundred cannons. The bullets rained down and the sound was like thunder. The rocks were shocking, and the people and horses' trenches were all eroded. The thieves later attacked with troops. Xiaofenshan  There were almost no soldiers left in the camp. General Ma Cheng and guard Jin Huan led the remaining soldiers to resist. The thieves surrounded and killed them. The two generals and dozens of soldiers were martyred at the same time, and the camp fell."

    In fact, in the first salvo of artillery fire from the Taiping Army, the Qing general Ma Cheng and the defender Jin Huan were both killed and wounded by explosive shells. The Qing army scattered and fled without the command of their general.  After several volleys.  Chen Yucheng sent troops to catch up and captured the Xiaofenshan camp with almost no effort.  During this bombardment, Chen Yucheng's troops received a total of sixty new Western cannons and fifteen six-pound cannons deployed by Xiao Yungui.  There are twenty eight-pound cannons and twenty-five howitzers, for a total of sixty cannons. The rest include more than fifty old Taiping artillery pieces, for a total of more than one hundred and ten cannons.

    According to Napoleon¡¯s artillery configuration ratio in the Napoleonic Selections, a legion of 40,000 people is equipped with 60 cannons of various types. The artillery configuration ratio of Chen Yucheng¡¯s department is quite terrifying.  During the Opium War, a salvo of more than a hundred artillery pieces from the British Navy's battleships also brought such terrifying firepower. The impregnable Humen Fort had already fallen, not to mention the temporary fortification trenches like Xiaofenshan?

    This time, Xiao Yungui divided all the new Western artillery owned by the West Palace into two parts. One part was transferred to Chen Yucheng's Department and the other part was transferred to Luo Gang's Department. He just wanted the Taiping Army to feel the existence of this terrifying firepower, so that the Taiping Army could use it.  The military has a more intuitive understanding of Western firearms, which allows soldiers and generals to change some conservative ideas from the bottom of their hearts.  After all, in modern wars, artillery is the god of war.

    After clearing the periphery of Guangde, Chen Yucheng surrounded Guangde. Chen Yucheng, who had tasted the benefits, no longer played any holes in the city. Facing the short city wall of Guangde, Chen Yucheng directly ordered the artillery team to do the same.  Draw a gourd and concentrate artillery to bombard the city.  Three days later, a large section of Guangde's short and dilapidated earthen city wall was demolished, but the Taiping Army's artillery continued to bombard the gap, preventing the Qing army from organizing troops to plug the gap.  At night, Chen Yucheng led his troops into the city and fought until dawn to clear out the Qing troops in the city.

    ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? out of???Guangde Qing Army Guards General Liu Changyou of Jiangxi Nangan Town, Tongzhi Ai Yanhui, County Prime Minister Xingfu, Deputy General Song An, and more than 4,000 Qing officers under the general Dai Wenyuan?They were annihilated and more than two thousand people surrendered.  The Taiping Army only suffered more than a thousand casualties. Most of them were casualties caused by the Qing army's desperate resistance after entering the city and in street fighting.  However, the Taiping Army's casualties in this battle were still far less than those of the Qing Army, but this was due to the use of artillery.  After this attempt to concentrate on the use of artillery, the Taiping Army began to consider the issue of artillery and infantry coordination.

    Compared with the Battle of Guangde, the Battle of Yangzhou was much more difficult.  Although the Jiangbei camp in Yangzhou was destroyed, Shengbao and other Qing troops retreated and stayed in Yangzhou. Yangzhou salt merchants donated money and organized team training, and more than 10,000 people from Caoding and Caoding came to help. The Qing army gathered nearly 40,000 people in Yangzhou in total.  The remaining people guarded the place.

    Because the Taiping Army cut off water transportation, tens of thousands of Cao Ding who relied on water transportation gathered in Yangzhou. When they heard that Changmao was coming, these Cao Ding people were full of enthusiasm and wanted to help the army suppress the bandits. In the end, more than 10,000 capable Cao Ding were selected to join the army.  Although these Cao Ding people are in a turbulent mood, after joining the army, they also need food and pay. Without food and pay, they can't defeat these old men who are used to taking advantage of water transport.  In the end, the salt merchants in Yangzhou donated a large sum of money to collect Caoyong's food and salary.

    After more than 30,000 Luo Gang's men moved north from Guazhou, Lin Fengxiang led more than 10,000 troops, 3,000 foreign guns, and more than 100 cannons to Zhenjiang. The navy rushed to transport the troops, horses and artillery across the Yangtze River overnight, and it took five days to transport them all.  The soldiers and horses have been ferried across.  Later, Lin Fengxiang sat in Zhenjiang and dispatched troops, while Luo Gang led troops to attack Yangzhou.

    Luo Gangzhang made a mistake. He did not use artillery intensively like Chen Yucheng. Instead, he divided his troops into four groups and attacked Yangzhou together.

    At first, the Taiping Army crossed the river. Taking advantage of the lax defense of the Qing army on the first day of the year, they broke through the old camp in the northern part of Jiangbei Camp. Later, various Qing army units actively came to help, and the Qing army retreated to the outer camps of Yangzhou.  After Shengbao experienced the last big defeat at the beginning of his taking office, he rectified the military rules and disciplines. He also knew that Changmao on the opposite side would often launch surprise attacks at unexpected times, so he was not defeated for thousands of miles.  Camps were set up at various locations around Yangzhou to engage in battle.

    The raid did not achieve much results, and the Taiping Army fell into a battle with the Qing Army for the outer camps of Yangzhou.  Since the land of Yangzhou belongs to the alluvial plain of the Yangtze River Delta, there are many rivers and bays on it. In addition, when the troops were dispatched, Yangzhou encountered a heavy snowfall that was rare in a century, causing the roads to be muddy. The Taiping Army's soldiers, artillery, and  It was extremely difficult to transport baggage, so the battle was very painful.

    Due to the difficulty in transporting baggage and artillery, the Taiping soldiers often had to eat only cold dry food. When they were thirsty, they took ice and put it in their mouths, and then braved the shotguns and artillery fire of the Qing army to rush up. Therefore, the casualties were also very high.  .

    Fortunately, the weather improved in the next few days, the snow melted, and some of the frozen canals thawed. The Taiping Navy was able to transfer into the canal, and the Taiping Army's baggage and other transportation was improved to a certain extent.  After several days of hard fighting, the Taiping Army finally cleared the outskirts of Yangzhou City, and the Qing Army retreated to the city.

    After the ministries arrived at Yangzhou City, Luo Gang called the generals to discuss how to attack Yangzhou.

    Yangzhou City is an important town, with high walls and deep pools. There are many big cities, fortresses, and castles. Qishan had previously strengthened the city defenses, and later Shengbao also repaired the city defenses again. The defenses were extremely tight.

    After the peripheral battle, the Qing army lost more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, but the victory was cunning and cunning, and they all used Caoding, Salt Merchant Tuanlian and other troops in the front to consume. Their own soldiers and horses lost very little, and there were still more than 30,000 regular Qing troops in the city.  people, and tens of thousands of civilians recruited by Shengbao to help defend it.

    There were more than 8,000 casualties in the Taiping Army. Nearly half of them were injured or injured due to frostbite or illness caused by the heavy snow. Many southern soldiers even did not know the principles of snow. They stared at the snow after the sun came out and suffered from snow blindness.  disease.  Since the Taiping Army had also lost a lot of troops, it was not certain that the Taiping Army would win against the Qing army in the city.

    After the generals discussed, they all complained that the cannons were heavy and difficult to transport in the snow. The battle was over by the time the cannons arrived. Moreover, it took a long time to fire the cannons, and there were inaccuracies due to the large number of cannons.  At this time, Lin Fengxiang sent a letter to Luo Gangyang, and King Yanxi suggested that Luo Gangyang gather the artillery and use it in a salvo.

    In the end, Luo Gangyue seemed to understand that the scattered use of artillery could not demonstrate its power, so he ordered all ministries to concentrate their artillery to bombard the southern section of the city wall of Yangzhou City.

    The power of artillery is indeed greatly increased after being concentrated. Although a salvo takes a long time, firing hundreds of pellets at once is also very terrifying for the ancient city wall of Yangzhou City.  The turrets and towers of the south gate disappeared after several rounds of shelling. The Qing artillery and soldiers at the top of the city suffered heavy losses. "The thieves fired more than a hundred bullets, and there was almost no place to stand on the top of the city. Bricks and stones fell apart, although they were under the city.  Many people were injured even if they took shelter. All the soldiers and civilians in the city were horrified."

    Then it was only a matter of time before the city of Yangzhou was destroyed. However, due to the insufficient strength of the Taiping Army, Shengbao led his troops to flee. The Battle of Yangzhou still turned into a rout. It is estimated that more than 20,000 Qing troops escaped with Shengbao.  Go to Yangzhou City.

    War has always been the best driving force to promote military and technological changes. After the two battles of Guangde and Yangzhou, the Taiping ArmyThe large-scale and concentrated use of artillery to attack the city made many generals of the Taiping Army start to think about one thing. If they faced off against the armies of foreign powers and faced with such powerful artillery fire, could the Taiping Holy Soldiers perform better than the Qing army?  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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