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On the morning of October 13, 1852, on the eastern city wall of Changsha, two men in their 40s and a few bodyguards were watching the Taiping army from afar.
"Mr. Jiang, are those the Cantonese bandits?" Among the two men watching, the fierce-looking man with drooping eyelids, a lion's nose and a wide mouth asked in a deep voice. The other man was sitting on a stretcher with a wrinkled face and a thin face.
The one called Mr. Jiang was Jiang Zhongyuan. Hearing this question, he snorted coldly, "Ji Gao, that group of people are the Cantonese bandits. If these bandits are not eliminated, the Cantonese bandits will not die."
This fierce-looking man with a lion's nose and a wide mouth was Zuo Zongtang, the trusted aide of Hunan Provincial Inspector Zhang Liangji. Zuo Zongtang could understand Jiang Zhongyuan's mood. On October 6, the vanguard of the Taiping army met up with the Taiping army outside the city. After receiving support, the Taiping army planned to attack the Qing Army's position in the south of the city.
At this time, not only did the Taiping army's main force arrive in Changsha, but the Qing Army also gathered in Changsha. The Qing Army in Changsha was prepared in advance. Under the persuasion of Jiang Zhongyuan, they took the initiative to attack and tried to give the Taiping army a head-on blow. The Qing Army took the initiative to attack the Taiping army in the south of the city, but they were defeated.
During the battle, Jiang Zhongyuan, who was riding a horse to attack the Taiping army, was shot in the right arm by a Cantonese bandit and fell off his horse. If not for Chu Yong's desperate rescue, Jiang Zhongyuan would have died on the battlefield. Because he was shot, Jiang Zhongyuan could only sit on a stretcher and be carried by his bodyguards. Moreover, according to the news, Jiang Zhongyuan had lost to the Cantonese bandits. Therefore, Zuo Zongtang could understand why Jiang Zhongyuan would be angry when facing the Cantonese bandits.
Zuo Zongtang respected Jiang Zhongyuan very much, so he naturally wouldn't purposely expose this scar. Moreover, Zuo Zongtang was particularly concerned about the hairstyle of this Cantonese bandit. Although Zuo Zongtang didn't pass the examination, he was a famous person in Hunan and was very knowledgeable. He knew that these Cantonese bandits had the hairstyle of the Han people. Just this point alone made it worthwhile to observe them carefully. Needless to say, this band of Cantonese bandits had defeated too many Qing Army troops. Among all the Qing Army troops gathered in Changsha, this band of Cantonese bandits was very famous.
In the morning, Zuo Zongtang learned that the Taiping army had lined up in a battle formation and was launching an attack on the Qing Army in the east of Changsha City. Hunan's Inspector-General Zhang Liangji had great trust in Zuo Zongtang. He had entrusted the actual planning of Changsha to Zuo Zongtang. He was only in charge of issuing orders according to Zuo Zongtang's suggestions. Zuo Zongtang had set up several positions at Cai Gong's Tomb, Xiao Wu Gate, and the drill ground to prevent the Taiping army from moving freely in the south and east of Changsha City. And it was the famous Cantonese bandits who launched the attack on the Qing Army's positions.
The target of this Cantonese bandits was the Qing Army's Zongbing Ma Long, who was stationed near Xiao Wu Gate. Zongbing Ma Long was one of those who had never fought with the Cantonese bandits. Zuo Zongtang simply invited Jiang Zhongyuan to come and watch the battle. He wanted to receive some guidance from this famous figure in the two lakes.
After watching for a while, Zuo Zongtang couldn't help but sigh. "This Cantonese bandits can march in such an orderly manner … If they suddenly send a group to attack, I'm afraid they won't be able to resist."
"Ji Gao, I thought so too." Jiang Zhongyuan answered. Zuo Zongtang was somewhat puzzled by Jiang Zhongyuan's words. The meaning behind his words was that he didn't think highly of the Qing Army at all. Looking at the Cantonese bandits' marching style, their formation was horizontal. Row after row of troops marched forward in a silly manner. If this was during a drill, it would be fine. But during a battle, to march so slowly and orderly was simply old-fashioned.
In Zuo Zongtang's view, the Cantonese bandits' formation was even more unreasonable. The distance between each thin horizontal line was too large. If they were attacked by a column, they would be cut in half. There was no way for them to maneuver flexibly.
Without a doubt, this was not only Zuo Zongtang's opinion. The Qing Army's Zongbing Ma Long also had the same opinion. Ma Long's troops suddenly formed a column and launched an attack on the Taiping army. Looking down from the city wall, Zuo Zongtang was quite impressed by Ma Long's strategy. This was indeed the correct way to deal with the Cantonese bandits. The column cut into the horizontal line. Once the column cut into the horizontal line, the horizontal line would immediately fall into chaos. The Cantonese bandits' troops were all in horizontal lines. Once someone ran back, it would cause a chain reaction. The troops at the back would be swept away by the fleeing troops at the front. There was no way for them to resist.
Jiang Zhongyuan didn't show any approval or praise. He said coldly, "Let's see what happens first."
Less than an hour later, the muscles on Zuo Zongtang's face were trembling. He saw the Qing Army under Ma Long's command wailing and screaming as they ran for their lives. Behind them, the Cantonese bandits with long spears in their hands chased after them like wolves and tigers, killing the Qing Army until they were rolling and crawling on the ground.
More than an hour later, the muscles on Zuo Zongtang's face stopped trembling. Instead, the fat on his body began to tremble. Not only had Zongbing Ma Long's entire army collapsed, the two Qing Army's reinforcements had also been defeated by the Cantonese bandits' horizontal line. The Cantonese bandits seemed to be advancing in a sluggish horizontal formation. However, there was an old saying that went, "Don't be afraid of slow, just be afraid of standing." From beginning to end, the Cantonese bandits' troops advanced according to their own pattern. The troops fighting the Qing Army from the front did not stop. The troops responsible for flanking the Qing Army did not stop either. From their vantage point, it could be seen clearly that the Cantonese bandits' clean and efficient movements had routed the Qing Army. When the Qing Army was trying to stick together and defend, the Cantonese bandits had already finished moving their troops. They launched a pincer attack from three sides. In the end, the Qing Army was completely defeated. Because all the city gates had been sealed, the Qing Army's routed soldiers fled to the foot of the city wall and huddled together like ants.
Because the Qing Army's cannons were on top of the city wall, the Cantonese bandits did not send any infantry to chase after them. They pulled out the cannons and began to bombard the Qing Army. The cannonballs were accurate and ruthless. The miserable screams of the Qing Army could be heard clearly from the top of the city wall.
The corners of Zuo Zongtang's eyes drooped down. Because of his shock and anger, the corners of his eyes seemed to be slightly raised. But this angry stare did not have any real destructive power. He could only watch helplessly as the Qing Army was beaten and began to flee along the city wall. Meanwhile, the Xiao Wu Gate and the drill ground in the east of the city were forcibly seized by the Cantonese bandits.
At this time, the Taiping army outside the city and the Qing Army on top of the city wall had begun to bombard the city wall. Coupled with the gunfire from the battle just now, the east of Changsha City was already filled with smoke. Zuo Zongtang could no longer see the enemy's silhouette. But he had a very good memory. The battle just now was still vivid in his mind.
The Cantonese bandits' chance of victory began when the Qing Army took the initiative to attack. Unexpectedly, the Cantonese bandits, who were originally diagonally facing the Qing Army, did not regroup, nor did they temporarily retreat. Using the soldiers in the middle of the army as the axis, they formed a group of about 25 men on the battlefield. The left side of the group retreated, and the right side of the group advanced. After a short while, they had completely changed the direction of their formation.
After changing direction, the five Cantonese bandits, who were at odds with each other from the front to the back, unexpectedly adjusted slightly, and once again became a very orderly and fierce formation. Then, this horizontal formation faced the Qing Army in an orderly manner. The Qing Army fiercely charged into the horizontal formation. This time, the column's advantage of high speed was instantly nullified, and the column's disadvantage of having a small area of firepower was displayed to the fullest. After being hit head-on by the guns, the Qing Army fell into chaos. The gunmen in the rear of the Cantonese bandits' gun squad took advantage of the situation and charged forward, killing the Qing Army.
No matter what tactics the Qing Army adopted, the Cantonese bandits still faced the enemy in a horizontal formation. From afar, they used guns to shoot, and from close range, they used spears to stab. The Qing Army had no way of dealing with them.
Meanwhile, the Qing Army's reinforcements also tried using the gun squad to exchange fire with the Cantonese bandits. Zuo Zongtang watched helplessly as the Qing Army suffered greatly in this exchange of gunfire. Surprisingly, the Cantonese bandits' gun squad did not fear the Qing Army's guns at all. They continued to fire as they advanced. In the end, they managed to overwhelm the Qing Army with their firepower.
Taking advantage of the fact that both sides had fired enough guns and the smoke had filled the battlefield, the Cantonese bandits' gun squad launched a fierce charge, killing the Qing Army and causing them to be thrown off their feet.
Recalling the situation of the battle, Zuo Zongtang couldn't help but wonder who were the Qing Army and who were the bandits. In front of the Cantonese bandits, in terms of bravery, discipline, and tactics, the Qing Army was just a motley crew. Turning his head to look at Jiang Zhongyuan, who had taken a bullet to his right shoulder, Zuo Zongtang suddenly understood how courageous Jiang Zhongyuan had been when he had personally gone into battle. To be able to escape with his life from the Cantonese bandits' camp, Chu Yong could definitely be considered a brave warrior.
Just as he was thinking this, he saw the Cantonese bandits raise a long pole with a human head on it. On the white banner below, there were black and red words: "Head of the Qing Yao Army Commander Ma Long."
The black and red words should have been written in human blood. The Cantonese bandits had written the two words "??" as "Ma Long." The Manchu Qing examinations required the use of the Kangxi Dictionary's custom-made characters. If one were to take the exam with these two words, they would definitely fail. At this moment, Zuo Zongtang heard Jiang Zhongyuan, who had been silent throughout the battle, open his mouth. "These words are really ugly!"
This evaluation felt a little inappropriate, but Zuo Zongtang didn't know how to evaluate it at this time. Should he scold the Qing Army for being trash? Or pretend to be magnanimous and praise the Cantonese bandits for being able to fight? Zuo Zongtang didn't want to choose any evaluation. His mind was in a mess. When the Taiping army had rushed to Changsha, Zuo Zongtang had taken a rough look from a high vantage point. It was an army of forty to fifty thousand people. Although there were twenty to thirty thousand people who looked weak from afar, possibly even women, children, the elderly, and the weak. But if the remaining twenty thousand Taiping army were as good at fighting as the Cantonese bandits, Changsha City might not be able to be defended.
At this moment, he saw the Taiping army erect two long poles. Zuo Zongtang thought that two more commanders had died in battle. His originally shocked heart was now even more panicked. But when he looked closely, there were no heads on the poles. It was still black and red in color, and it was still written in simplified Chinese characters. The banner on the long pole on the left wrote, "Tiny Guan Zhong, I drape my hair to the left!" The banner on the long pole on the right wrote, "The barbarians of the Manchu Qing implemented the shaving of their hair. The Han people's hair style has been cut off from now on. Do you know how many of your ancestors were killed because they refused to shave their hair?"
The defeat of the battle only made Zuo Zongtang uneasy, but it didn't make Zuo Zongtang lose the will to continue fighting. These two paragraphs written in blood made Zuo Zongtang feel horrified. The Cantonese bandits with tied hair on the opposite side were using the flag of Huaxia to show that they were the righteous Huaxia people. At this moment, Zuo Zongtang still felt that the Manchu Qing Imperial Court was the government, and that the Cantonese bandits were rebels and bandits. But he couldn't think of a way to refute these two sentences in a dignified manner.
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