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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 370: Jointly Send Troops

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    On the morning of the third day, the heavy snow had stopped, and the early morning mist had not yet dispersed. In the early morning smoke, the flag of the Qing army Dahonga was torn down from the Diao Dou flagpole in the Taizhou magistrate's office. It was bright yellow with white edges.  The flag of the West Hall slowly rose, followed by thousands of Taiping Army soldiers cheering like a tsunami.

    After two days of fierce street fighting, early this morning, officers and soldiers of the First Battalion of the Second Regiment of the newly formed First Division of the Taiping Army captured the last stronghold of the Qing army - Taizhou Zhifu Yamen. In the Zhifu Yamen, dozens of Dahonga and the following were captured.  He was a civil and military officer of the Qing army.

    After walking out of the gate of Taizhou Mansion Yamen, Dahonga looked up in despair and saw the flag of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rising in the west hall, and his heart was full of bitterness.  Dahong'a's hair turned a lot white overnight, and the sweat on his forehead couldn't stop pouring out in this cold weather.  He originally wanted to commit suicide, but was stopped by his men. Then the Taiping soldiers rushed in at lightning speed, giving him no chance to commit suicide.  He glanced bitterly at the Taiping soldiers escorting him, but he didn't know how these long-haired thieves would humiliate him.

    In the Taizhou Chief Envoy's Yamen, a huge pot of charcoal fire was burning in the hall. The flames radiated heat and made the Yamen lobby very warm. More than ten senior generals of the Taiping Army were sitting in rows. Lin Qirong and Chen, who had the highest official rank, were sitting in rows.  Bush sat in the first place.  The door opened and Dahonga and others were brought in.

    All the generals looked at these miserable-looking Qing generals fiercely, and they all wanted to kill these people immediately.

    Lin Qirong saw Da Hong'a and others coming in, and asked slowly: "Who among you is Da Hong'a?"

    All the generals of the Qing army did not dare to say anything, but they couldn't help but look at Da Hong'a.  Dahong'a took a deep breath, stepped forward and said, "I am Dahong'a, the commander-in-chief of Zhangzhou Town in the Qing Dynasty!" He held his head high and his tone was very arrogant, not like a prisoner at all.

    Lin Qirong and Chen Bushi looked at each other.  They all laughed together, and Lin Qirong said with a smile: "You are quite confident, aren't you afraid that we will kill you?"

    Da Hong'a twitched his face and said loudly: "Kill if you want. I have been a soldier all my life and can be loyal to the country. It is the duty of a minister to be loyal to the emperor. It is not like you and other rebellious ministers and thieves who use strange powers to confuse gods and use foreign religions."  To deceive people's hearts and cause trouble to the world, you will be defeated sooner or later, your bones will be shattered and your ashes will be thrown away, and you will never have peace forever!"

    Lin Qirong's face darkened, and he shouted at the escorting soldiers: "Let them all kneel down! What qualifications do prisoners have to stand and speak?"

    Several hits from the rifle butt hit Dahun'a's leg.  His legs immediately softened and he knelt down, but there was still an angry look on his face.  Lin Qirong also glared and stood up and shouted angrily: "It's been two hundred years since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs. How many Han people have been killed, how many sisters have been humiliated, and how much money have been robbed of me. Your dog emperor and his family were originally just the slaves of a border soldier in the Ming Dynasty. How can you steal the property?"  I have been Chinese for two hundred years? Today we are here to repay the blood debt!" After saying this, Lin Qirong clapped his hands and someone came out of the inner hall.  When all the Qing generals saw it, they all cursed angrily. The person who came was none other than Wang Youling, the former Qing governor of Zhejiang.

    Wang Youling didn't pay any attention to the scoldings. Immediately, the Qing generals were beaten and scolded by the Taiping soldiers around them.  Slowly it stopped.  Lin Qirong handed a piece of paper to Wang Youling and shouted loudly: "These are the crimes they committed in Taizhou. Read them out and let them understand!"

    Wang Youling took it calmly and read out one by one the evil deeds committed by the Qing army above. In fact, Wang Youling was involved in these evil deeds. Among them, Da Hong'a connived at the Qing army to harm the people in Taizhou City and killed them indiscriminately.  Innocents, massacres of villages, rape of civilians, and looting of people's property were all explained clearly one by one.

    Although Dahong'a's face began to turn pale, he still straightened his upper body without any intention of begging for mercy.  Halfway through the reading, the generals behind Da Hong'a began to beg for mercy. Just for massacres of villages and strongholds, the Qing army in Taizhou did no less than 30 cases, and thousands of civilians died in each case.  People, as few as hundreds of people, were killed by them and reported as military merits.  These generals naturally knew that these people died unjustly, and the Taiping Army would not let them go.

    Dahong'a turned back angrily and shouted: "Kill those rebels who colluded with Changmao. If you don't kill them then, they will become rebels when Changmao comes. What does it mean to kill a few rebels for the sake of national peace? You are still the same.  Are you a general of the Qing Dynasty? Stand tall! Don't beg for mercy!"

    Lin Qirong said coldly: "Dahong, I thought you still had some guts when you fought against the British. I will leave you a whole body and someone will drag him out and hang him! The rest will be punished according to law!"

    In this way, a group of generals from Taizhou City were taken out and sentenced to death in front of Emperor Wu's Temple in Taizhou City. Thousands of people came to watch. When they saw Da Hong'a and other vicious Qing generals being executed, they all clapped and applauded.  Some set off firecrackers to celebrate.  Many Qing generals were stoned to death by the people along the way before they arrived at the execution ground, which was considered an advantage for them.

      The Taiping soldiers and rural soldiers who besieged Taizhou withstood the severe cold test. After paying the price of more than a thousand casualties, they successfully captured Taizhou, the gateway to the Qing army's Wentai defense line, and annihilated more than 30,000 Qing troops in Taizhou.  Wenzhou sent more than 20,000 reinforcements.  The casualty ratio was ridiculous, but when the battle report reached Xiao Yungui, King Xi said that the casualties were still too great.  We need to know how many people died after the British and French forces invaded Beijing during the Second Opium War. It seems that there is still a gap between the Taiping Army and the British and French armies.  And if Wang Youling hadn't opened the west gate and surrendered, the Taiping Army's casualties might have been even greater.

    Two days later, Li Kaifang arrived with follow-up logistics troops and established a supply line to ensure sufficient supplies for the front line.  Judging from this battle, the strength of the Taiping Army has been greatly improved, but it will inevitably bring about the common problems of hot weapon armies, that is, it relies heavily on logistical supplies. The demand for ammunition alone for the entire army is very huge, and everyone also  Gradually I understood why the King of the West only dared to rotate training. If he suddenly spread out to recruit hundreds of thousands of hot weapon troops, no matter how wealthy the West Palace was, he would not be able to support it.

    After Li Kaifang arrived, the troops on the southern front also sent soldiers and horses back to join forces. Li Kaifang held an entry ceremony, requiring all ministries to send soldiers and horses back to participate, and at the same time assigned the next combat mission.

    Zhang Wenxiang's cavalry regiment was sent back to block Wenzhou's reinforcements on the southern front. Zhang Wenxiang's cavalry regiment made great achievements this time. They were the first group of Taiping troops to covertly cross the Lingjiang River southward, and they were also the first group to fight in the field.  The Qing cavalry was defeated and the cavalry's mobility was fully utilized.  Received praise from Li Kaifang.

    When entering the city, Zhang Wenxiang's cavalry regiment changed back into cavalry uniforms, red military uniforms with white edges, light-colored shirts, blue breeches, black riding boots on their feet, carbines on their shoulders, and two crosses on the chest.  A bullet belt, a saber at his waist, and an iron helmet with feathers floating on his head.  At that time, when they went south to fight, they took into account the need for covert operations.  So they changed into infantry camouflage uniforms, but it turns out that the tall cavalry can't be camouflaged anyway. Zhang Wenxiang and the others still have to insert themselves into branches every time, so in future cavalry battles.  Camo gear was never used again.

    After the city entry ceremony, Li Kaifang summoned the generals from various ministries to assign tasks.  Zhang Wenxiang's cavalry regiment was sent to the south of Chuzhou.  Cut off the connection between Chuzhou and Wenzhou, and Lin Qirong led the infantry regiment directly south to Wenzhou.  Li Kaifang's intention was to leave Chuzhou alone. Once Wenzhou was captured, Chuzhou to the north would naturally be destroyed.

    Wang Youling, Hu Xueyan and other surrenderers were escorted back to Suzhou by Li Kaifang, and Taizhou was governed by local officials appointed by Suzhou.

    ¡­¡­

    While the Taiping Army was fighting fiercely with the Qing Army in Wenzhou, a new front was about to open on the other side.  Late December.  In the reception room of the British Consulate in Shanghai, important figures from Britain and France in Shanghai, as well as important generals of the British and French coalition forces, gathered and important meetings were being held.

    Bao Ling is wearing a tuxedo with a neatly tied bow at the neck.  He coughed lightly, and everyone at the table slowly became quiet. He said slowly: "Gentlemen, our fleet resting in North America has returned to Shanghai. The war with the Russians in the west has also reached a critical moment. We  Having received authorization from the Parliament and the Cabinet, we will join forces with the Taiping Rebellion as mercenaries to fight northward."

    As soon as he said this, British Rear Admiral Robert Ho's thick sea lion beard trembled, and he said with great dissatisfaction: "Has our British Empire been reduced to the point where we need to cooperate with the yellow race to win?" That was the last time Uncle Ho's.  The commander who commanded the British and French combined fleets to attack the Russian port in the north, but because of the defeat, he has been relieved of his duties and only serves in the navy.

    Grant, the new commander-in-chief of the British Far East Fleet, was wearing a red serge general's uniform, a flannel shirt underneath, and a white helmet on the table. He looked at Uncle Ho and said calmly: "The Taiping Army has recently been accepting  Training by instructors from various countries. I watched one of their military exercises the day before yesterday. Their military quality is no worse than that of British soldiers. Please pay attention to Major General Ho. The Taiping Army is now our important potential ally, and if the Indian army hears the general¡¯s words, it will only  I'm afraid I'll be unhappy." Grant has just taken over the British army in the Far East, and has already discussed with France that Grant will be the commander-in-chief of the British-French coalition. The reason is very simple. The British fleet and personnel account for the majority of the British-French coalition.  .

    Uncle Ho didn¡¯t speak anymore. He knew that Grant had recently been working hard to weaken his influence in the army. He would not miss the opportunity to attack him, so he wisely kept his mouth shut.

    Grant did not embarrass Uncle Ho too much. He looked at the huge map of the Far Northeast on the table and said: "Our last failure was mainly due to the fact that too few troops were deployed on land. I wonder how many people the Taiping Army can mobilize to fight this time?"

    Bao LingshuoSaid: "In yesterday's meeting with the King of the West, the King of the West made it clear that he could send two standard infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment, totaling more than 3,000 people."

    French Navy Rear Admiral Rigo De Genouiri frowned and said: "Didn't artillery troops be sent?"

    Bao Ling shrugged and smiled and said: "The King of the West's infantry regiment is equipped with an artillery battalion, which is enough to cope with the war. The support of large-caliber artillery requires a navy. And according to our current maritime transportation capacity, we want to send more artillery regiments there.  It¡¯s also unrealistic.¡±

    Grant pondered for a moment and then said: "Our naval artillery fire can still destroy most of the Russian military facilities in the military port, but we don't know if the Russians have other defense facilities. After landing, everything will depend on the Taiping Army themselves.  .¡±

    The British Consul in Shanghai, Waitoma, who was silent on the side, suddenly said: "Your Excellency, Minister, has the Parliament agreed to the request of the Western King? I am referring to helping them build a navy."

    As soon as this statement came out, everyone looked in disbelief. The British wanted to help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom build a navy?

    Bao Ling nodded slightly and said: "Yes, the King of the West has accepted our shipbuilding plan. Our shipyard in Portsmouth will start building two sail and steam dual-powered cruisers for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After the war is over,  , five three-masted warships in the British Far East Navy will also be delivered to the Taiping Army."

    Uncle He was very dissatisfied and said: "If the Taiping Army has a navy, how will we maintain our maritime superiority in the Far East in the future?"

    Grant smiled faintly and said: "The country will send six more of the latest steam warships to the Far East next year. The Navy plans to gradually replace these sail warships in the next few years. Rear Admiral Ho does not have to worry. And according to the agreement, the Taiping Army  Many naval personnel, including sailors, are also coming to the UK for training. Are you worried that the students you teach will beat their teachers?"

    Uncle Ho didn't say anything anymore, and the French were not surprised, because yesterday Blomble also received a note from the King of the West ordering ships in France. The French also wanted a share of the pie, so neither Britain nor France cared too much about the Taiping Army.  Regarding the naval plan, they are very confident in their military strength and do not believe that the Taiping Navy, which has no foundation at all, will cause any trouble to them.

    The meeting finally decided that after the freeze period in the northern sea ends, the British and French combined fleets will send troops northward. The first fleet will be commanded by French Rear Admiral Rigo de Genouille and British Rear Admiral Robert Hooper, with eight main battleships and ten cruisers.  , the remaining gunboats, gunboats, armed merchant ships, transport ships, and various supply ships totaled more than 100 ships, plus more than 3,000 land troops of the Taiping Army. This time the British and French Taiping forces totaled more than 5,000 people.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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