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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 399: The Hunan Army Departs

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    On November 18, Yi Mao year, on the Miaofeng Peak of Changsha City, in the cold wind filled with the smell of blood, the Taiping Army's flag quietly fell, followed by the cheers of the Qing Army's Xiang brave men all over the mountain.  Voices.  Under the shouts of the generals of the Hunan Army, the Hunan heroes, whose heads were wrapped in gray cloth and had long braids trailing behind them, ended their short celebration and began to quickly clean up the Taiping Army positions on Miaofeng Peak.

    More than a month ago, when the Hunan Army swore an oath to fight, Marshal Zeng published the famous "Essay on Discussing Cantonese."  The Hunan Army's 40,000-strong army marched on land and water side by side, and rushed straight to Xiangtan along the Xiangjiang River. All the capable officers and generals of the Hunan Army came out together, and they had the momentum to defeat Hunan in a single battle.  But the only thing missing from the Hunan Army was Commander Zeng's future son-in-law Ronglu. The upper-level generals of the Hunan Army all knew that Marshal Zeng's son-in-law had already led eight thousand Hunan troops south to Guangdong Province to assist in the suppression.

    Seeing the Hunan Army¡¯s flag raised on Miaofeng Peak, Zeng Guofan, who was standing on a naval battleship in the Xiang River, burst into laughter at the sight, and all the staff and staff around him also clapped their hands and celebrated together.

    "Commander, Miaofeng has been captured, and Changsha City can be broken in a day." Guo Songtao, Zeng Guofan's chief staff officer, tightened his cloak and said with a smile: "The Xiangjiang River has been controlled by our navy, and the north and east are also fortified.  In the hard stronghold, the Changmao Mountains all rely on Miaofeng Peak to protect the south of the city. Now that Miaofeng Peak has fallen into our hands, when the Western artillery is transported to Miaofeng Peak and deployed in formation, all the Changmao Mountains in the city will become turtles in the urn."

    Zeng Guofan stroked his long beard under his chin and said with a smile: "It took more than a year of hard work to train troops, build ships, and train navy. It is all thanks to the great efforts of the princes and the dedication of the soldiers to serve, that we can achieve today's great victory. After regaining Changsha, our army can advance in a big way.  After regaining Xiangyin and Yuezhou, the entire Xiang Province will be restored."

    Zeng Guoquan, a strong general of the Hunan Army on the side, laughed and said: "Brother is right, but to be honest, the scale that Xiangyong is today is inseparable from the contribution of that boy Ronglu."

    Speaking of Rong Lulai, the smile on Zeng Guofan's face became more obvious, and his little triangular eyes narrowed even more.  Guo Songtao also knew that Commander Zeng valued and relied on his son-in-law the most, and immediately agreed: "Yes. The Rongjun family is young and promising, and he has made great achievements in battle at a young age. He has great achievements, which is the heroic appearance of his ancestor Fei Yingdong.  It is truly God¡¯s blessing to have such a handsome son-in-law.¡±

    Zeng Guofan smiled and waved his hands and said: "Don't speak too loudly. Even if a tree is as beautiful as the forest, the wind will destroy it. Children still need to practice more. Full of losses, modesty will benefit. Too much praise can't protect you.  That boy won¡¯t be proud.¡±

    Although Zeng Guofan was preaching a lesson, he always had a smile in his eyes. Everyone in the Hunan Army knew that Ronglu never put on any airs in the Hunan Army and could get along well with ordinary soldiers.  He was even more polite and courteous to the generals and staff of the Hunan Army, and he was not ashamed to ask questions about things he didn't understand. How could he be so proud?  Zeng Shuai was just being self-effacing, but it was obvious that Zeng Shuai already regarded Ronglu as half a son.

    Guo Songtao smiled slightly and said: "Since the Rongjun Sect formed an alliance with Zeng Shuai, they have raised a large amount of money, food and firearms every month. With this money and food, our Xiangyong have today's more than 60,000 land and water troops, naval warfare  There are more than a thousand ships. Although the Invalids are still young, they have nothing to say about their actions. The commander's words just now are too modest."

    Zeng Guohua, one of the five brothers of the Zeng family, also suddenly said: "Yes, Ronglu, this kid, assesses the situation and has a broad vision. He is indeed worthy of everyone's praise."

    Zeng Guofan glanced at his brother and knew his brother's temperament. He had a high vision and seldom praised others.  Even he said this, which shows that Ronglu is indeed very popular among the Hunan army.

    Zeng Guohua now holds the official title of Tongzhi. He helps with military affairs in the Xiangyong. His main responsibility is the money, food and weapons of the Xiangyong. He has been in Hengyang for less than half a year, and he has many contacts with Ronglu.  Ronglu relied on trade with Guangdong Province and cooperated with the three provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong and Hunan to extract lijin tariffs.  Bringing very generous money and food to Xiangyong greatly touched Zeng Guohua, so Zeng Guohua was quite satisfied with his niece-in-law.

    Before Zeng Guofan could answer, Zeng Guobao, who was beside Zeng Guohua, interrupted and said with a smile: "Brothers all value this honor so much. It seems that I, as an uncle, have to catch up."

    Zeng Guobao is the youngest of the five Zeng brothers. At first, he had been looking after the family in his hometown. Recently, Zeng Guofan brought his family to Hengyang to live temporarily, and Zeng Guobao also followed. Now he serves as an aide in Zeng Guofan's shogunate.  When he arrived, Ronglu had already gone to Guangdong and could not see him, but he had admired his name for a long time.

    Zeng Guofan smiled and said: "Ji Hong (Zeng Guobao's nickname) really should work harder, so as not to let the juniors compete."

    Zeng Guobao's face turned red when his brother said this. He was just joking, but he didn't want to be overtaken by his brother, so he said with some reluctance: "Brother, let's attack Xiangtan first, and then besiege Changsha. If we make such a big noise, it's just a matter of time."  I'm afraid Changmao won't sit back and wait for death. If Changmao from Jiangxi comes to support us, I'm afraid our army will be trapped by enemies from both sides."

    Xiangtan 1At this time, the Hunan army was at its peak and conquered Xiangtan within five days. All the 5,000 Taiping defenders in the city were killed in the battle.  Because the Hunan army was conquering the city of the province, they were not too wanton and did not kill heavily.  Subsequently, the Hunan Navy, led by Yang Zaifu and other powerful generals, and the Yiyang Qing Navy led by Peng Yulin in the north, defeated the Taiping Navy in the Xiangjiang River in Changsha, and jointly controlled the Xiangjiang River.  Then the Hunan army surrounded the city on all sides and stormed the Taiping Army position at Miao Peak in the south of Changsha City.

    The Miaodaofeng position was a fortress set up by King Xi when he was guarding Changsha. Later, it was reinforced by Changsha garrison Lai Hanying. It can be said to be extremely strong.  The Hunan Army fought fiercely for more than 20 days and fought several bloody battles before they finally captured it today.  It stands to reason that Zeng Guobao's worries are indeed correct. Nanchang, Jiangxi, was captured by the Taiping Army. The Taiping Army in Tianjing is said to be one million people, and the Taiping Army in Jiangxi has no less than 300,000 people. If the Hunan Army takes too long to defeat Changsha, it will indeed  Extremely vulnerable to attack by the Jiangxi Taiping Army.

    Zeng Guofan squinted his eyes and said calmly: "Now the signs of civil strife in Changmao have appeared. Yang, the false king of the east, is busy dealing with Xiao, the false king of the west, and has no time to look west. This is a great opportunity for our Hunan army to send troops."

    Zeng Guobao frowned slightly and said, "Brother, if we beat him until our hair hurts, will they stop temporarily and turn around to deal with us?"

    Zeng Guofan smiled and said nothing, and Guo Songtao said: "Ji Hong doesn't know something. Although the Changmao bandits are in great strength, the Changmao false kings are very ambitious. The false Northern King is in Anhui and the false Yi King is in Hubei.  , the Puppet King of the East is in Jiangxi, and the Puppet King of the West is in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian. Although the Puppet Heavenly King Hong Thief is the nominal co-owner, there are few people that Hong Thief can actually command, and Hong Thief is not very good at governing. All military and political affairs are controlled by the Puppet East King.  Mr. Wang, several false kings are fighting for power, and there will be civil strife, and the situation will end in death."

    Zeng Guoquan nodded and said: "Yes, the puppet King of the West is now the most powerful, and has become a serious problem for the King of the East. The other kings also regard him as a thorn in their side. I heard that hundreds of thousands of troops of the Puppet East King and the Puppet West King are confronting each other in Huzhou.  It's ten months. Although the big fights haven't started yet, the small fights are going on. If this goes on, sooner or later the two sides will fight each other."

    Zeng Guobao asked curiously: "Why do you know so well what's going on over there with the long-haired thieves?"

    Zeng Guohua was serious about his words and just said lightly: "You have only been in the army for a short period of time, so it is not surprising that you don't know. These are all obtained by the Ronglu sect's detailed inquiries from Changmao, and they can also be obtained from foreigners."  Little news.¡±

    Zeng Guobao let out a sigh and said: "It seems that King Taiping's motto of killing the king will come true. If this is the case, we Xiangyong can take advantage of the opportunity to regain the lost territory in central Hunan. Only then will we have the capital to gain the upper hand in the future."

    Zeng Guofan narrowed his triangular eyes and said: "Ji Hong is right, the civil strife in Changmao is a good time for our expansion. Ronglu said it when he wrote to me before to persuade me to send troops. Time waits for no one. If we wait for a few Changmao thieves  The Puppet King has decided the winner and after integrating Changmao, it will be difficult for us to have such a good opportunity again. Therefore, Brother Wei led Xiang Yong to go out this time, in order to take advantage of this opportunity to get the greatest results."

    Zeng Guoquan touched the short beard under his chin and suddenly said: "That said, Ji Hong's worry is not unreasonable. There are always more soldiers in Jiangxi, so we should be careful."

    Zeng Guofan smiled and said: "Rong Lu already mentioned this in his letter yesterday. You don't have to worry. He sent a batch of money and food to Jiang Zhongyuan who retreated to Tonggu. At the same time, after discussing with Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he transferred three thousand Xiangyong to help.  Jiang Zhongyuan stabilized the situation in the west of Jiangxi. Jiang Minqiao (characterized by Jiang Zhongyuan) was quite capable. He became more courageous with every setback, and would never admit defeat. Today, Jiangxi still has several western prefectures and counties such as Tonggu, Yichun, and Pingxiang.  As long as you give him some money and food in your hands, he will surely be able to gain a firm foothold, make a comeback and continue to deal with Changmao."

    Zeng Guoquan said with some dissatisfaction: "Why did Zhonghua borrow troops again? You must know that it is not easy for our Xiangyong to organize and train. We borrowed from the east and the west. What should we do ourselves"

    Zeng Guofan didn't wait for him to finish speaking.  He immediately scolded: "Short-sighted, Jiangxi and Guangdong are blocking the two thieves from the east and west in our Hunan region. You need to know the truth. If I were not brave in Hunan, and it was Li Tingyu of Fujian, you should have hundreds of thousands of troops to defeat them.  Can we defeat the puppet King of the West? Zhonghua has his own reasons for borrowing troops. The situation in Guangdong is unstable, and Governor Ye does not have many available troops. Heaven and earth will rebel and conspire to cause trouble. If we do not borrow troops, after the fall of Guangdong Province,  , our biggest financial source will be cut off. Even if we have a hundred thousand soldiers at that time, they will be defeated sooner or later. When you look at the long-haired thieves on Miaofeng Peak, aren't they all wiped out when they run out of ammunition and food? "

    Guo Songtao nodded and said: "Master Jiu, what Commander Zeng said is true. Borrowing troops can also gain a good reputation. At the same time, it also lays the groundwork for Xiang Yong to go out to fight in the province in the future. As long as the imperial court thinks that I, Xiang Yong, can win the battle, they will definitely win the war in the future."  It will be reused more. For others and yourself, this soldier is extremely clever."

    Zeng Guoquan stopped talking. Zeng Guofan glanced at everyone and said: "The wonderful peak has descended, and then we will storm Changsha City.Yuan, retaking Changsha has been our Hunan people's long-cherished wish for the past three years. You should all move forward and conquer Changsha as soon as possible!  "Everyone took the order loudly and went about their business, leaving only Zeng Guohua standing still.

    Zeng Guofan looked at Zeng Guohua and asked, "Sixth brother, do you have anything else?"

    Zeng Guohua said: "Zhonghua has great ambitions. Although the marriage is set, there will inevitably be complications. We should get Ji Jing to marry him as soon as possible."

    Zeng Guofan nodded and said: "Brother has been thinking about this matter these days. I will write a letter to Guohuang in Hengyang and order him to start preparations. Ji Jingxu is already fifteen years old, and Heji has left the cabinet."

    Zeng Guohua nodded and said: "I will go back and repair the book for my fourth brother." After saying that, he bowed and left.

    Zeng Guofan looked at the silhouette of the Changsha City wall in the distance in the gunpowder smoke, sighed softly and murmured: "I never thought I would have the day to lead my troops back"
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