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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 529: Battle of Chishui

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    That night, Aliguo was packing his things, preparing to board another battleship, the Rattlesnake, to return to Shanghai tomorrow morning. The task this time was not easy. Aliguo had dealt with the cunning King of the West and knew how cunning the prince was.  He can always find your weak points and attack them most directly and effectively, but the places where he seems to expose his weak points are often traps.

    Recently, the Western King gave the Americans a hard time. A whole line of firearms production machinery and equipment sold by the Americans to the Qing Dynasty was seized in Guangzhou. The Americans issued a note of protest, but the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom responded with equally strong words.  Accused the Americans of not abiding by the neutrality treaty and selling weapons to the Qing Dynasty.

    Businessmen doing business in the entire Far East know that China is currently trapped in a civil war, and huge arms transactions are being carried out either overtly or covertly. The so-called neutrality of various countries is just a matter of appearance, but secretly businessmen from Britain, France, the United States, etc.  They all sold weapons or machinery and equipment for making bullets to the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Rebellion.  The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which occupied five trading ports in the southeast, was the largest buyer of arms and machinery. The Yankees were very angry. Officials from the Diplomacy Department of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Ministry of Rites actually accused the United States of selling arms and violating neutrality?

    But the anger turned into anger. In the end, the American dumb man swallowed his breath. At first, Aliguo did not understand why the Americans gave in so easily. Later, when a huge fleet arrived in Shanghai from the east coast of the United States, Aliguo  A sudden realization.

    This fleet carried equipment and technical personnel from several bankrupt shipyards purchased by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the United States. Aliguo heard that an Oriental was frantically acquiring some bankrupt American companies in the United States, and the American companies after these acquisitions were without exception.  All received official orders from the Taiping Rebellion.  Aliguo understood that this was the arrangement of the Western King. He was using his own capital to acquire American companies. The Americans saw this move as injecting vitality into the sluggish American economy, so the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom both openly and secretly  Having taken advantage of it, the Yankees naturally did not dare to make any more trouble.

    Since Aliguo cannot figure out the true intentions of the Western King, what benefit will it bring to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by participating in the five-party negotiations?  Aliguo, who was packing his luggage, suddenly stopped. He lit his pipe and leaned on the soft chair in a daze.

    at this time.  His attendant knocked on the door and said, "Sir, Gong is back." Aliguo opened the door and let Gong Cheng in. After pouring Gong Cheng a cup of coffee, Aliguo asked, "Did you gain anything?"

    Gong Cheng held the coffee cup and said: "Sir, Mr. Rong's cooperative attitude is very sincere. His idea is to build a more open and civilized Qing Dynasty. The military deployment from Dagukou to the capital is in the hope of clearing out the conservative forces in the country.  ." Then Gong Cheng told some things he had discussed with Ronglu.  There was no mention of Ronglu giving him shares.

    After hearing this, Aliguo frowned and said: "Rong and I are old acquaintances. He also thinks that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom may sabotage this negotiation? But you don't know that Midile came from Shanghai this morning and brought a note from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Instead, they  Ask to participate in this negotiation.¡±

    Gong Cheng was slightly startled and said: "Sir, this is exactly a means used by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to sabotage negotiations."

    Ali Guo took a puff of his pipe and said, "Go on." Gong Cheng analyzed: "What our countrymen pay attention to is the destiny of the people. As the saying goes, there are no two days in the sky and the people have no two masters. Since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established its name, the Qing government  We are sworn enemies with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom until death, so asking the Qing government to agree to participate in negotiations with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is tantamount to wishful thinking!"

    Then Gong Cheng spent a lot of time telling Aliguo about the complicated relationship between imperial power and people's hearts in China for thousands of years, as well as the so-called justice, etc. Aliguo finally understood that although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the independence of the United States were both acts of rebels  .  But the Qing emperor was obviously not the British king. If the British king could not win the war, he could sit down and negotiate with the thirteen independent states of the United States. However, the Qing emperor would never sit down and negotiate with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Either the Qing Dynasty would destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would kill the Manchus.  In the end, there will always be one party that wants to unify the whole of China. Before that, there will be no peace negotiations, and neither side recognizes the other.  Where to negotiate?  This is the difference between Eastern and Western imperial culture.

    Aliguo frowned and thought deeply, and finally said slowly: "Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has the intention to sabotage the negotiations, we cannot give up this opportunity. In comparison, it is better to let the weaker Qing Kingdom surrender than the powerful Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  And even if the Qing Dynasty is really unwilling to negotiate in the future, don¡¯t we still have a good friend Rong? If he can really provide the Qing Dynasty¡¯s military deployment, we have a great chance of winning.¡± At this point, Aliguo paused and said, ¡°It¡¯s just that  Rong¡¯s ambition is too great. He is not an easy puppet to control.¡±

    Gong Cheng smiled and said: "But there seems to be no more suitable candidate than him at the moment, right? Sir!"

    Ali Guo breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, I'll wait until I report this matter to Lord Elgin in detail."We'll talk about it after the report. You can go back and rest.  Come back to Shanghai with me tomorrow morning. We still need to meet His Excellency King Xi.  "

    ¡­¡­

    The throat of Guangdong and Guangxi and the confluence of three rivers, Wuzhou.  It was already September, but the sky was still not cool at all. The scorching sun mixed with scorching heat waves licked the earth. Only the Guijiang, Xunjiang, and Xijiang rivers near Wuzhou had the slightest cool breeze.

    But at this time, people in Wuzhou could not leave the city. The city gate had been closed long ago. Thousands of boats were coming from the Xijiang River, which was densely packed and blocking the sky.  The cavalry supported them, and the trumpets and cheerful drums of the watermen shook the whole place.

    Soon the scattered scouts came back and brought news of Wuzhou to Chen Yucheng, who was on a boat in the middle of the Xijiang River. The four gates of Wuzhou City were tightly closed, and the Qing army built several defensive lines outside the city wall based on residential buildings and cottages.  Wuzhou city wall has a history of more than 500 years. It is built with bricks and stones. It has four gates, divided into east, south, west and north gates. It is more than six miles in circumference, more than two feet high and more than ten feet thick. It has five gates.  There is a building above.

    Directly south of the city wall is Nanxun Gate. The city wall extends west to Dezheng Gate, then northwest to Xijiang Gate, then bends north to Dayun Gate, then east to the foot of Beishan, and southeast along Beishan to Yangmingmen.  , and then turn back to Nanxunmen.  The city wall is surrounded by Hao on three sides: east, south and west, and Beishan on the north.  The city-encircling Hao, also known as the Dragon-protecting Embankment, is more than two feet wide. Willows are planted on the side of the Hao, and there are tree fences outside the Hao. The Hao water flows back from the crocodile pond outside the east gate, to the south gate, the small south gate, the west gate, and to the foot of the Tochigi Bridge.  Injects into Guijiang River.  The Qing army not only strengthened the dragon embankment, but also built fortresses behind the dragon embankment based on residential buildings to consolidate the city defense. This was clearly the work of Jiang Zhongyuan.

    After hearing the report, Chen Yucheng stared at the high-flying river-character flag at the top of the city for a while, then slowly said to the generals behind him: "Tonight, we will rest along the river bank. Tomorrow, the navy will return to Deqing to join the battle. The cavalry will go ashore along the Xijiang River.  Rush to Teng County from the south bank!"

    Seeing the Taiping Navy's appearance, Jiang Zhongyuan, who was standing at the top of Wuzhou City, was also secretly worried. Since the Guangdong and Guangxi Navy was completely wiped out in the Battle of Guangzhou, there is no navy in the Guangdong and Guangxi water systems that can compete with the Taiping Army. Although the inland water system  The large Western ships of the Taiping Army could not sail in, but the captured Qing army sand ships and red single ships could enter and exit freely. The Taiping Navy navy ignored the first Qing army defense line in Deqing Prefecture and Luoding Prefecture and appeared in Wuzhou, which shows that  Chen Yucheng started his usual running tactics.

    In the evening, the Taiping Army landed and began to set up camp. The camp seemed loose, but Jiang Zhongyuan resisted the suggestion of his subordinates to go out to Kaicheng and charge for a while. He saw that there were a large number of cavalry in the Taiping Army, and there was no way for them to go out to fight.  of any benefit.

    So neither side launched an attack. In the middle of the night, Jiang Zhongyuan couldn't help but send a group of Qing troops to attack the Taiping Army's camp at night, intending to explore the truth. As a result, of the 500 dead soldiers who went out, only more than 40 were injured.  Personally, it seems that Chen Yucheng has been prepared.

    At dawn, the Qing army was surprised to find that the Taiping Army's camp was empty. After defeating the Qing army's night attack last night, Chen Yucheng left camp overnight and headed west.  Jiang Zhongyuan was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat. He headed west to places such as Tengxian County and Xunzhou Prefecture. In order to resist the Taiping Army's eastward advance, Jiang Zhongyuan mobilized a large number of Qing troops in the west of Guangxi to advance eastward. The troops of Tengxian County and Xunzhou Prefecture were  It is extremely empty. Once Chen Yucheng breaks through Teng County and captures Xunzhou Prefecture, he can attack from all sides. By then, the entire Guangxi will not be peaceful.

    Another point is that Xunzhou Prefecture is where Jintian Village was where the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom raised its troops. Jiang Zhongyuan did not dare to think about the repercussions that Chen Yucheng would lead the Taiping Army to fight back among the people.

    After much thought, Jiang Zhongyuan decided to let his brother Jiang Zhongshu lead 5,000 troops to follow the Taiping Army in preparation for the rescue of Teng County and Xunzhou Prefecture.  Before leaving, Jiang Zhongyuan repeatedly told Jiang Zhongshu to be careful of Chen Yucheng's reciprocating rifles. If something went wrong, he would occupy dangerous terrain and hold on to it. He sent envoys to ask for help. Jiang Zhongyuan would personally lead the troops to come to the rescue.

    At noon on the second day after the reinforcements were dispatched, hundreds of Qing troops fled back to Wuzhou. Jiang Zhongyuan was shocked. Could it be that Jiang Zhongshu was still defeated?  When the defeated troops were brought into the city and questioned, it turned out that Jiang Zhongshu was attacked by the Taiping cavalry at Chishui Ruins, thirty miles west of Wuzhou.

    Although Jiang Zhongshu was very careful and sent out sentries more than ten miles away, he ignored the Xijiang River in the north. Chen Yu formed a regiment of cavalry to cross the Xijiang River and lay in wait in the dense forest on the north bank. After Jiang Zhongshu's brigade passed by, this  A cavalry regiment returned to the south bank and attacked from behind. Jiang Zhongshuguang paid attention to the movement in front and ignored the movement behind, so the Taiping Army's carbine and saber quickly defeated the Qing army.  In this battle, in addition to hundreds of Qing troops who escaped, more than 4,000 Qing troops were annihilated, and Jiang Zhongshu died on the spot.

    Jiang Zhongyuan almost fainted after hearing this. At this moment, more than a hundred Taiping Army cavalry roared in, hung Jiang Zhongshu's body on a big tree not far from the Dragon Guard Embankment, and nailed a wooden sign.He wrote: "Now that your brother has returned to his homeland, he will have the same style as his emperor."  The group of cavalrymen who sent the corpses laughed and fired a burst of shots at the Qing troops guarding the dragon embankment, and then walked away swaggeringly.
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