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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 508: Everything goes wrong

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    Xiao Yungui has been in a very bad mood recently for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that the Nian Army's uprising in Huaishang is not going well.  Lai Wenguang, Chen Decai and others led thousands of elite troops from the East Palace to the north. Although these troops were not equipped with new rifled guns and new artillery, the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was equipped with a lot of old-style muskets and artillery, and they  The soldiers and horses under his command are still the elite of the East Palace, and after going north, they will become a very powerful force.

    Although the force has become stronger, it has also aroused suspicion among the leaders of the Nian Army. The leaders of the Nian Army, Zhang Lexing, Gong Deshu and others, originally supported their own troops, and the Nian Army was not monolithic. With the arrival of the powerful force of the Taiping Army, the Nian Army  The internal balance of power was broken, and all parties began to be suspicious of each other.

    In order to cooperate with Lai Wenguang and others' march north, Lin Fengxiang and other troops also launched a series of feint attacks in Suzhong area. Lai Wenguang and others led the troops to break through the Qing army's defense line, including Huoqiu, Yingshang, Mengcheng and other places, and finally reached  Zhiheji.  After arriving at Zhiheji, Lai Wenguang and Chen Decai immediately met with Zhang Lexing and others and proposed to take action immediately to capture Suzhou and cooperate with Lin Fengxiang's troops to attack Xuzhou.

    However, Zhang Lexing and others were not interested in joining the main force of the Taiping Army in Xuzhou. Instead, Zhang Lexing proposed their own conditions for the Nian Army.  The condition of the Nian Army was to obey the title but not the command. The Nian Army agreed to nominally accept the leadership of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and also accepted the titles and titles of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. However, the Nian Army remained independent and was not subject to the command and deployment of the Taiping Army.

    Chen Decai and others were very angry. The Taiping Army worked hard to break through the Qing army's defense line and came here to support the Nian Army's uprising. The rebel flag was not even raised before they were busy asking for power.  Moreover, the Qing army had already deployed heavy troops to prepare for the Nian army's uprising. The military situation was so fierce that they were still so ignorant of the general situation.  It¡¯s really hard to accomplish anything big.  On the contrary, Lai Wenguang had a long talk with the King of the West before leaving. Xiao Yungui reminded him that no matter what conditions the Nian army put forward, they could agree to it, as long as they were willing to fly the banner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. They would not attack the Qing army elsewhere.  It's okay to cooperate with the Taiping Army in fighting. As long as they don't surrender to the Qing Dynasty and as long as they attack the Qing Army, they can agree to any conditions.

    So under the mediation of Zhang Zongyu.  Lai Wenguang persuaded Chen Decai and others to agree to the conditions proposed by Zhang Lexing and others, and Zhang Lexing and others were granted official positions with varying degrees of inspection.  Later, the Nian Army established a five-flag military system, using five-color flags of yellow, white, red, blue and black to distinguish the army.  Zhang Lexing is the leader of the Yellow Flag.  The leader of the general white flag is Gong Deshu, the leader of the general red flag is Hou Shiwei, the leader of the general blue flag is Han Laowan, and the leader of the general black flag is Su Tianfu.  There are big flags and small flags under the general banner.  Each banner leader has a leadership group based on clan, relatives, and village relationships.  Because the flags are not subordinate to each other.  There are many groups.  It is difficult to leave the homeland, resulting in its dispersion and backwardness.

    The Nian Army then changed its banner and displayed the banner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Zhang Lexing and others once again rebelled against the Qing Dynasty.  The rebels easily captured Sanhejian.  Sanhejian is a relatively prosperous town above the Huaihe River with prosperous commerce.  Zhang Lexing's Nian army attacked here to obtain money, food and materials. Their purpose was to rob large and wealthy businessmen. After robbing, they left and attacked the next target.

    This approach is very different from that of the Taiping Army. The Taiping Army has long given up on this rogue-style combat method.  This method of fighting has no solid rear, only destruction and killing.  Everywhere they went, the big and wealthy businessmen were wiped out, and even the slightly richer peasants were not spared.  Since the Taiping Army occupied Nanjing, especially the West Palace Taiping Army, they no longer looted the areas they occupied, but turned to protecting private property. They relied on collecting commercial taxes, land taxes, etc. to maintain military expenditures, and transformed into a legitimate political power.  Wherever the Taiping Army went, it gradually gained recognition from wealthy households.  As long as you do not support the Manchus, the Taiping Army will not seize your property, but you will have to pay taxes. Since ancient times, taxes and food have been paid fairly, so there will not be much resistance.

    But the Nian Army¡¯s approach was to dry up the swamp for fishing and burn the forest for hunting. After looting everything, Sanhejian, a prosperous commercial town on the Huaihe River, was reduced to ruins.  Although the Nian Army distributed some money and grain to the poor local people, the damage it caused to local production was incomparable.

    This time Lai Wenguang couldn't sit still anymore. He went to Zhang Lexing to discuss, hoping that the Nian Army would not stop looting the next time they captured a town, but should consider establishing their own base area.  Zhang Lexing came from a powerful background and knew this truth. However, the Nien troops did their own things and were difficult to control. Many Nien troops even participated in the uprising just to make a fortune. Where would the money come from if they didn't rob big families?

    So the Nian Army began to quarrel and argue again. Although Zhang Lexing liked power, he knew that the Nian Army could not fight the Qing Army alone, so he planned to go south to Huoqiu, Yingshang and other places to establish his own base and cooperate with Lu  Taiping operations in the state.

    Some Nien troops led by Blue Banner general Liu Yongjing insisted on returning to Huaibei and were killed by Zhang Lexing and others.  The Nian Army then split, and most of the banner leaders returned to Huaibei. Only a few such as Zhang Lexing and Gong De stayed in Huaibei.Then he turned south to attack Mengcheng.

    The Nian army that went north was encircled and suppressed by the Qing army of the Ronglu Division of the Qing army in Haozhou, Yongcheng and other places. It suffered heavy losses and tens of thousands of Nian troops were destroyed. In less than two months, the Nian army that went north was encircled and suppressed to only the Qing army.  There are more than ten weak forces left.  It turned out that Ronglu's command of the new army in the capital, together with Yuan Jiasan, Li Hongzhang and other troops, had been surrounding Zhiheji with eager eyes, and Ronglu himself was personally in charge of Xuzhou.

    Ronglu knew that the Nian Army was originally a scattered mass, but when 70,000 to 80,000 Nian soldiers gathered in Zhihe, and they were very likely to be supported by the Taiping Army, attacking them at this time would turn them into a monolith, so  He, Yuan Jiasan, and Li Hongzhang decided to divide their forces and garrison them at several strategic locations in the north, waiting for the Nian army to get into chaos.

    At first, Yuan Jiasan disagreed with this plan. Since he already knew the enemy's location, he could mobilize his troops to surround and annihilate them. Why wait for the enemy to rebel?  If the enemy invaders do not disorganize themselves but instead divide their troops to attack, the Qing army will be in a hurry.

    But Ronglu insisted on his opinion, and things developed just as Ronglu expected.  After the Nian Army split, the Nian Army in Henan, Shandong, and Huaibei were eager to return to their own territory, so they were encircled and suppressed by the Qing army on their way north.  Moreover, the Qing army's methods were very ruthless this time. Even the surrendered Nian troops were slaughtered without leaving a single person alive. Ronglu knew that these people could not be put back. After returning, they would become Nian troops again in a few days.

    The remaining Nian army numbered less than 20,000. Fortunately, thanks to the cooperation of Wenguang and other Taiping troops, they finally captured Yingzhou and got a place to rest.  After Ronglu wiped out the Nien troops returning to the north, he immediately sent his troops south to surround Yingzhou.  Zhang Lexing, Lai Wenguang and others stood firm in Yingzhou and asked for help from the Taiping Army in Luzhou.

    The battle of the Nian Army in Huaishang started almost at the same time as the Battle of Guangzhou. By the time the news of Yingzhou's request for help came back to Tianjing, the Battle of Guangzhou had been over for ten months, and the Taiping Army was sweeping through Guangdong.

    When he received the news that most of the Nian troops heading north had been wiped out and Zhang Lexing and others were besieged in Yingzhou, Xiao Yungui's expression looked like he had swallowed a fly. His original plan was to have the Nian troops on the Huai River disrupt the Qing army's deployment of the Yellow River defense line.  , so that the Taiping Army can take advantage of it.  But I didn't expect that the Nian army was in disarray. Instead of containing many Qing troops, they were surrounded by Yingzhou and asked the Taiping army to rescue them. I really don't know what Lai Wenguang and the others did.

    Before Xiao Yungui's anger subsided, bad news came again. Jiang Zhongyuan, the governor of Jiangxi, was transferred to the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. He had already led troops to Wuzhou, and together with the governor of Guangxi, Lao Chongguang, divided troops to guard Zhaoqing, Luoding and other counties.  Zhang Wenxiang's troops dispersed to attack the western part of Guangdong, but they encountered strong resistance in Zhaoqing.

    The news of Jiang Zhongyuan's transfer was not known until such a delay, which made Xiao Yungui extremely annoyed. Not only did the Baizetang branch in the capital not send back any news, the last news was only reported after the Jiangxi Baizetang branch made an investigation. At this time, Jiang Zhongyuan  The soldiers and horses have been fighting fiercely with Zhang Wenxiang's troops in Zhaoqing for a long time.

    The intelligence error caught Xiao Yungui off guard. More than 10,000 Taiping troops under Zhang Wenxiang dispersed to attack the western part of Guangdong. The troops were so scattered that it was difficult to concentrate for a while. If not for the fierce firepower of the Taiping troops, the Qing army in Zhaoqing might even have counterattacked.  possible.

    After a furious outburst, Tong Qiangsheng returned to Beijing to report on his duties. He was very frightened. The King of the West had not lost such a temper for a long time.  But Tong Qiangsheng still wanted to report another bad news, that is, the Baizetang sub-rudder in the capital was encircled and suppressed by the Qing court, resulting in heavy losses. The helm leader Zhao Jia died for his country, and now there are less than ten people left in the Beijing sub-rudder.

    After patiently listening to Tong Qiangsheng's report, Xiao Yungui felt relieved. It turned out that there was a problem with the capital sub-rudder. No wonder no news came back. After all, Sijiucheng was the home of the Manchus for many years, and Bai Zetang's training was meticulous.  Among the spies, there are not many people from the north, so sending southerners to the north to do detailed work can easily be noticed.  Moreover, the Manchu and Qing guard forces in the capital were very sufficient. After the assassination of the British and French envoys at Dagukou last time, the Manchu and Qing dynasties strengthened the guard forces in the capital. Although it was not to the point where water could not be poured in, Bai Zetang was active in the capital.  It is also very difficult to get up.

    Xiao Yungui pinched his temples and relaxed some of his tense nerves. Tong Qiang Shengqi Ai Ai then continued: "Your Highness the King of the West, this time the capital sub-rudder was destroyed and two people were arrested. Later, Qing Yao released one person.  Come out, this man has returned to Tianjing, and he has brought back a letter, saying it is a personal letter from Empress Dowager Cixi of Qingyao to you."

    Xiao Yungui was slightly startled, raised his head in surprise, and asked eagerly: "Where is the letter? Get it quickly!"

    Tong Qiangsheng handed over the letter sealed with fire paint. Xiao Yungui opened it and looked at it. His expression suddenly changed, his breathing became rapid, and he turned around and asked, "Where is Xuanjiao?"

    Tang Erniu, the captain of the personal guard, said: "The Queen of the West went to the imperial edict office in Tianjing today"

    Before Tang Erniu could finish speaking, Xiao Yungui hurriedly shouted: "??Go find her and tell her there is something important when she comes back!  "

    Tang Erniu and Tong Qiangsheng were both a little strange. What did Queen Mother Qingyao write in her letter?  Would the King of the West be so anxious?  Although the two of them were strange, Tang Erniu immediately turned around and ordered people to go find the Queen of the West.

    I saw Xiao Yungui walking back and forth, just muttering: "So she is really Cixi" (To be continued)
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