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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 717: Let Him Go

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    The Taiping Army's waterway offensive was so fierce that it drove the Hunan Army's navy back to the sampan era overnight. Perhaps to be more precise, even some sampans were hidden in small rivers and harbor branches by the Hunan Army's navy officers.  can be saved within.  ¡èThen the Taiping Navy used the four major water systems of Yuanjiang, Xiangjiang, Zijiang, and Fengshui as boundaries to separate the Hunan Army. Patrol ships on the water were constantly coming and going, completely cutting off the waterway connections between the Hunan Army everywhere.

    The Taiping Navy often patrolled the river with fast sentry boats. Once they found that the Hunan Army was gathering on the shore and wanted to cross the river, a large fleet would arrive soon, and then they would bombard the shore.  , dispersed the Hunan army, destroyed the pontoon bridge and everything that could be used to cross the river.  In short, within a month, a small group of Hunan troops may be able to steal through these water systems, but a large group of troops and baggage will definitely not be able to cross.

    A month later, a large number of Taiping fleets swaggered south along the Xiangjiang River. These boats were all Taiping soldiers. When they passed Changsha, even Zeng Guofan climbed up to look at them. Zeng Guohua said worriedly: "It seems that these long-haired troops are riding  The ship is heading south to attack Hengyang."

    Hengyang is the place where Zeng Guofan made his fortune. If Ronglu and the Hunan Army had not captured Hengyang, the Hunan Army would not have had a place to stay. After occupying Hengyang, Zeng Guofan expanded the Hunan Army here and created the Hunan Navy.  , it can be said that Hengyang is Zeng Guofan¡¯s second favorite after Changsha.

    Zeng Guoquan said hurriedly: "Brother, we can't just sit back and watch Changmao attack Hengyang. We should lead the reinforcements from the land immediately!" Zeng Guohua immediately said: "Hengyang is surrounded by water on three sides. How do you cross the river when you get to the north of Hengyang?" Zeng Guoquan stamped his feet and hated it.  He said with hatred: "Are you just going to watch Hengyang fall?"

    The generals were speechless for a moment.  After losing the navy, they could only watch the enemy show off their power on the water and come and go freely. In fact, this is how the Hunan Army used the navy to besiege the Taiping Army in history.  Historically, in the later stages of the war, the Yangtze River Navy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was completely lost. The Hunan Army relied on the power of the navy to besiege Tianjing calmly, but Li Xiucheng and other famous Heavenly Kingdom generals led many soldiers and generals were unable to relieve the siege.  But I never thought that now that time and space have been reversed, the Taiping Army will rely on the power of the navy to divide and surround the Hunan Army.

    In the end, Zeng Guofan still sent out troops to support Hengyang from land. He had to send troops there, otherwise the Hunan army in other places would see no hope.  They must be besieged and forced to land one after another by the Taiping Army. What's the point of holding on to Changsha in the end?

    Ten days later, Zeng Guoquan and Zeng Guohua led troops to the north of Hengyang.  From a distance, they could see the Shigu Mountain separated by the confluence of the Zheng, Xiang, and Lei rivers. Over there was Hengyang, but now they could not cross the three rivers because the Taiping Army fleet was parked on the river.  Hengyang has been heavily surrounded by Taiping troops.  Looking at the embers outside Hengyang that have not yet dissipated.  There are ruins everywhere. It can be seen that the Hunan Army outside Hengyang had a fierce battle with the Taiping Army, but was eventually captured by the Taiping Army.

    Zeng Guoquan, Zeng Guohua and others could only watch from the other side as the Taiping Army began to attack Hengyang City. The Taiping Army's artillery array was no longer what it used to be. The Taiping Army's land artillery array and the artillery on the navy ships totaled thousands.  The remaining cannons fired at the top of Hengyang City, and thousands of rockets flew towards Hengyang City with long tail flames. In an instant, the entire Hengyang City was engulfed in a sea of ??flames.

    Zeng Guoquan, Zeng Guohua and others looked on dumbfounded. Those who had been fighting them were the troops from the East Palace and Wing Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  Except for the navy, they had never fought against the West Palace Taiping Army. It was not until today that they intuitively felt the sense of powerlessness and coercion.

    The artillery fire destroyed the last fighting will of the defenders in the city.  Under the tsunami-like offensive of more than 10,000 Taiping Army soldiers, Hengyang fell completely that day. The ancient city walls and fortifications completely lost their effect in the face of the extremely developed thermal weapons.

    When Zeng Guoquan saw the flags of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom raised on the incomplete walls of Hengyang City in the afterglow of the setting sun, he murmured: "How many days can Changsha defend under such artillery fire?" Zeng Guohua was silent for a moment and then said:  "Lao Jiu, we should return to the division immediately. If our retreat is cut off by the Changmao Navy transporting land troops, we may not even be able to return to Changsha."

    Fortunately, the Taiping Army did not send troops to cut off Er Zeng's retreat, and Er Zeng returned to Changsha with his troops in despair.  Subsequently, a lot of leaflets appeared in Changsha City and were posted everywhere. They were all about the Battle of Hengyang. They also talked about the generals of the Hunan Army who, for the sake of their own glory and wealth, failed to recognize the general trend of the world and intended to resist the heavenly soldiers of the Kingdom of Heaven.  , which led to the arrival of war in Hunan, calling on the people of Hunan not to follow the Hunan army and die.

    Seeing this kind of leaflets, Zeng Guofan was naturally furious and ordered his people to collect them all. However, the next day they were all over the city. Only then did the Hunan Army understand that there were not many Taiping soldiers in Changsha City.Done.

    After Er Zeng told Zeng Guofan and other Hunan Army generals about the battle in Hengyang, everyone present fell into deep contemplation.

    At the end, Zeng Guofan sighed and said: "At first, I was reluctant to leave other places in Hunan. More than 100,000 Hunan Army soldiers were scattered in various places. Later, the waterways were blocked. It was impossible to gather together and defend a few big cities. Now our army is divided and surrounded. Later,  Even if they are defeated by the enemy one by one, what can they do?"

    Zeng Guohua hurriedly said: "Brother, this battle can't go on any longer. For the future of the generals like me, we have to sacrifice the lives of many soldiers and civilians in Hunan. That will harm the peace of the world. Fish  Even if you die, the net may not be broken!"

    This time Zeng Guoquan was silent, and Guo Songtao sighed deeply: "Commander Zeng, maybe we have only one way to surrender. Now the world's situation is irreversible. If the entire Hunan land is caught in the flames of war and all lives are devastated, we will be in trouble forever."  Sinners, the worst we can do is bear all the blame for the crime, and we can kill or behead them all as you please. It might be worth it to exchange a few of us for the peace of the entire Xiang region."

    Zeng Guofan smiled miserably, stood up and said to the generals present: "I heard that some of those people who were dealt with by Taiping did not even talk about sitting together. If one person commits a crime, one person will be blamed. It will not affect the wife and children. You guys should think about it carefully when you go back. In three days we will  After discussion, we decided that if there are many people who agree to surrender, we will surrender."

    For three days, Zeng Guofan no longer dealt with any military and political affairs, but concentrated on enjoying family happiness with his family, especially Zeng Jijing's son. Zeng Guofan liked this grandson very much, and he would play around with his grandson all day long, but he didn't care.  Like an overlord who is surrounded on all sides and is constantly in trouble.

    Three days later, a group of Hunan Army generals gathered at the Governor's Yamen. Still in the lobby, Zeng Guofan looked relaxed and said without saying anything: "You have followed me in the army for several years. Although you fought hard, you can't help but I'm not around.  Now that the situation is over, in order to avoid the tragedy like Hengyang in Hunan, we will discuss the matter of surrender today. Those who agree to surrender please stand on my left hand, and those who disagree on the right hand."

    At that moment, all the generals bowed their heads and remained silent. Although they all understood that the situation was over, they were still a little hesitant to be the first to stand up and agree to surrender out of the honor of a warrior. However, Guo Songtao did not hesitate to be the first to stand.  Go to the left.  After the first one, there will be a second and third one, so gradually more and more people stand on the left side.

    Among the generals of the Hunan Army in the hall, many of them had not participated in the interception of the defeated Taiping soldiers in Hengyang, the massacre of the Tiandihui in Guangdong, and the battle of Changsha. Many of them were generals who had been promoted later, so they felt that the Taiping Army  He would not embarrass them too much, so he decided to surrender.  A few unwilling people stayed on the right side, but the number was very small. Zeng Guoquan was among them, but Zeng Guohua sighed and said: "Old Jiu, the Zeng family is going to continue, so it's better to use a few of us in exchange for it."  It's worth it." At that moment, Zeng Guohua stepped to the left hand side. Zeng Guoquan's mouth twitched and he wanted to take a step forward, but in the end he stayed where he was.

    Zeng Guofan didn't say a word during the whole process. Finally, he stepped down from his position and stood on the left hand side. Finally, everyone stood still. Zeng Guofan sighed and said: "Since all the princes have made a decision, we will follow the opinion of the majority."  Go ahead and do it. If you don't want to surrender, please hand over your military seal letter. I don't want to see you go to a dead end, so you can dress up and go out of the city to the countryside to escape. I hope you can escape with your lives after living in seclusion in the mountains and forests.  .¡±

    After saying that, all the generals present looked sad, and a few who were unwilling to surrender burst into tears. After they stepped forward to hand over their military talisman seals and official uniforms, they knelt down and kowtowed to Zeng Guofan.  Then he stood up and strode away.

    Soon Zeng Guoquan was the only one who was unwilling to surrender. His eyes were red and he said: "Brother, I have asked my men in the camp in the past few days and there are 321 people who are unwilling to surrender.  Lao Jiu took them to have a last-ditch fight with Changmao, which also kept the reputation of our Hunan Army alive. My wife and children at home asked my eldest brother to take care of them!" Despite the persuasion of Zeng Guohua and others, Zeng Guoquan still took a big step forward.  After walking out without even looking back, Zeng Guofan was stunned for a long time, and finally just sighed and said: "Let him go!"

    On August 15, 1861, 130,000 Hunan troops under the command of Commander Zeng Guofan surrendered to the Taiping Army. The day before, the ninth commander of the Hunan Army, Zeng Guoquan, led more than 300 Hunan soldiers who dared to die on a sampan and headed towards the Taiping Army.  The naval camp of the Taiping Army on the other side of the Xiangjiang River launched an attack, and all of them died in the battle. At this point, the era of the Hunan Army may have ended, and the last land outside the Kingdom of Heaven in the south of the Yangtze River was also declared to be included in the territory of the Kingdom of Heaven (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature,  The novel is better and updated faster!
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