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PS: Only one chapter will be updated today. Two more chapters will be released tomorrow.
"The King Of The East has ordered us to split into two groups. One group will head north with Lin Fengxiang and the rest, and we'll come back after attacking Fengyang. The other group will head west towards Hanyang and Hankow. " While Vézé was explaining the contents of the order, the military order from Tianjing was circulated among the generals attending the military conference in Luzhou.
Everyone had already gotten used to it. When they heard the order, their gazes fell on a huge map of China. Those who were reading documents also looked at the map after handing it to someone else. No one looked happy. Instead, the generals looked gloomy and didn't hide their unhappiness at all.
Vézé continued, "Since the King Of The East has ordered us to defend Anqing and attack Luzhou, we'll definitely have to attack the north and east of Anhui. Heading west towards Hanyang and Hankow is also inevitable. It's just a matter of time. "
"But we only have a little over ten thousand men. We don't have enough manpower to defend Anqing and Luzhou, but we also have to advance north and west." Hu Chenghe subtly raised a completely different opinion from the King Of The East's Yang Xiuqing.
Vézé nodded slightly. "I don't mind telling everyone that it's very difficult to succeed in going north. It's a military taboo to go on a long expedition. If we can take down Guilin and other places in Guangxi, and pacify Changsha and Hengzhou (Hengyang) in Hunan, we definitely won't attack Tianjing. Since we've just occupied Tianjing, going on a long expedition to attack Beijing won't be easy without reinforcements or rations. "
"Then why didn't the Prime Minister report to the King Of The East and ask the troops not to fight like this?" Hu Chenghe asked.
Vézé replied leisurely, "It's not up to me! I might as well not say it. Besides, we're in Anqing and Luzhou. It's only a matter of time before we go north. "
These words completely stopped Hu Chenghe's complaints. No matter how he looked at it, Vézé had no chance of convincing Yang Xiuqing.
After the attempt to consider the strategy from the perspective of the Anqing Taiping army was rejected, Ke Gongyu took over the conversation. "Prime Minister, what do you think we should do now?"
"Guarding the river must guard the Huai! This was the law of the armed forces occupying Tianjing City. We can't do anything about the Northern Expedition now, but we have to do something about Anhui. At present, we have occupied Tianjing, Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. The Qing Army can attack from all directions. Qing Yao is using the Northern and Southern Military Camps to surround Tianjing, Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, three cities. We are going to control the area south of the Huai River, collect taxes and recruit soldiers. After that, we will destroy the Jiangbei Barracks and build a defensive line along the Huai River, so that the Qing Army in the Huai River area cannot move south … "
Vézé spoke with fervor and assurance. The generals who could understand looked at Vézé with admiration. The generals who didn't understand asked questions. And Vézé answered them one by one. Gradually, the generals understood Vézé's idea.
In this strategy, Vézé followed the traditional path of the Southern Dynasty in China. As a general in Anhui, Vézé didn't need to consider the westward advance, or rather, the westward advance would at most reach Hanyang and Hankou. Therefore, the strategic framework was much simpler. The core of the traditional Southern Dynasty's defense system was that guarding the river must guard the Huai River. In the Huai River area, they repeatedly fought with the enemy in the north for the control of the Huai River area. At the same time, they advanced westward and eastward, successively capturing the two lakes, Jiangzhe, Fujian, and Guangdong. Finally, they gathered the troops and carried out the Northern Expedition.
If one had seen the documentary about the Huai Hai Campaign, he would understand this point very clearly. However, the education level of the peasant army was limited, so this knowledge was no less than the Arabian Nights to them. In fact, the peasant army couldn't be blamed. In this era, even the Manchu Qing officials couldn't systematically summarize such a strategy.
Vézé was only halfway through his explanation, but the generals were already excited. When Vézé finished, the generals were all delighted. Anqing was hundreds of miles away from Tianjing, the core base of the Taiping army. In the Manchu Qing era, this distance was unimaginable for ordinary people. Even the generals who had fought all the way from Guangxi felt uncomfortable when they saw that Anqing was alone outside the core base of the Taiping Rebellion.
However, the strategy proposed by Vézé was logical and detailed. If it could be done, the future of the Taiping Rebellion to unify the world was clearly visible. This feeling of broadening their horizons made the generals feel refreshed. Hu Chenghe, who was relatively steady, simply said "good", while the other generals began to shout excitedly.
Vézé banged the table for a while to calm them down. "Brothers, no matter how good the plan is, we have to do it bit by bit. I repeat, if you want to fight, you have to have food and soldiers. You have to train the troops well. Without these foundations, without these preparations, everything is empty. "
"Prime Minister! Just tell us what we should do! "Ke Gongyu said loudly." With Prime Minister's guidance, we will fight wherever you point us to! "
"Exactly!" Lei Hu also said excitedly. "I thought it was difficult to fight a war, but now it seems that there are many more battles to fight."
"Then I will assign the tasks. The First Division and the Fifth Division will follow me north to escort Lin Fengxiang and the others across the Huai River. The Second Division will be stationed in Luzhou, Shucheng, and Tong. The Third Division will now prepare to set up a flag in the countryside. Let the landlords in the countryside know that we have many soldiers and can fight. No matter what, we have to start paying taxes in the Luzhou area. "
The Third Division's commander, Ruan Xihao, asked, "If those landlords refuse to pay taxes, what should we do?"
Vézé rested his left elbow on the table and pinched his goatee with his fingers. With a cruel smile, he said, "Then tell them that they are just hoping that Qing Yao can fight his way back to Luzhou. Then we will pay a visit to them in a month's time. If they still refuse to pay taxes, then we will kill them! Killing the chicken to scare the monkey still has to be done when the time comes! "
On the 18th of May, Vézé led his troops north to Dingyuan City. The Qing Army in Dingyuan City fled at the sight of them, and Vézé easily took over Dingyuan City. On the 19th of May, Lin Fengxiang led his troops to Dingyuan City.
"Wayne Brothers, you are the vanguard again!" Lin Fengxiang said with a smile when he saw Vézé waiting outside the city.
"Lin Da Ge, if you want to go all the way to Beijing, I will open the way for you. What's there to say?" Vézé also smiled.
The Prime Minister of the Prefectures, Li Kaifang, who followed Lin Fengxiang, was not familiar with Vézé. He only greeted Vézé without saying anything else.
Lin Fengxiang asked, "I have always been convinced by Wayne Brothers's ability to fight. I wonder what Wayne Brothers think? "
Vézé smiled. "Lin Da Ge, you know how I fight. I don't have any thoughts. I will just line up and fight Qing Yao."
Hearing this, Li Kaifang's expression changed slightly. He looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. Lin Fengxiang paused for a moment before saying, "If that's the case, can we let Wayne Brothers be the vanguard?"
Although Vézé didn't know what the two of them were talking about, he had no intention of finding out. He answered, "Sure!"
After discussing the next step, Vézé led his troops forward the next day. Because Vézé had taken over Luzhou, the Qing Army's main base in Anhui became Suzhou.
Vézé's troops advanced north, but they saw many refugees along the way. When he was in Luzhou, Vézé had heard that this year's spring famine was quite serious. However, Luzhou was still passable, so he didn't feel this problem for the time being. But when he reached Dingyuan, the number of refugees increased. Moreover, when they saw Vézé's troops marching, many of them actually asked to "join" them!
Vézé wasn't happy about this "joining". The refugees followed the troops in order to make a living during the spring famine. They had only met by chance, so there was no loyalty to speak of. Therefore, Vézé only gave them some food and suggested that they stay in Dingyuan or go to Luzhou. He didn't take them with him.
The troops headed straight for Shou Province. Shou Province was an important town in Huaibei, located in the Dabie Mountains. It was one of the important places the rebels had been defending at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Controlling Fengyang and completing the strategy of controlling the Huai River was an important step in taking over Shou Province.
Before they even reached Shou Province, they encountered people who had come to join the army. When the leader was brought in front of Vézé, he immediately knelt down. "I am Xu Kaiwen. Greetings, milord!"
"Brother, please rise. I heard that you want to join the army?" These days, there were many people blocking the road and asking to join the army. Vézé saw that Xu Kaiwen's clothes and complexion didn't look like a refugee and felt that he could talk to him.
When Xu Kaiwen received Vézé's courtesy, he immediately said excitedly: "Milord, this lowly one is from Shou Province and has been oppressed by the Manchus there. I heard that the Taiping army killed all the Manchus in Nanjing and wants to kill all the Manchus in the world. This lowly one has been waiting for milord to come to Shou Province for a long time! "
There were eight Bannermen in Nanjing, as well as twenty to thirty thousand Bannermen living in the city. After the Taiping army killed their way into Nanjing, the local officials and troops were all killed. However, the Bannermen defended the city and refused to surrender. Yang Xiuqing couldn't persuade them to surrender, so they could only attack the city. In the end, the twenty to thirty thousand people in the city were all killed. Vézé also sent people to spread this matter everywhere. These days, the Manchus were above China and the Bannermen had all kinds of special privileges. Although Vézé didn't have any dealings with the Bannermen, he still wanted to take advantage of any conflicts he could. He didn't expect that he would get a result here.
"Do you know that we are going to attack Shou Province?" Vézé asked.
"I know! This lowly one is willing to lend a hand to milord! " Xu Kaiwen said excitedly: "This lowly one has some foundation in Shou Province. Among the Green Camp brothers guarding the city, there are also some friends of this lowly one. If milord is willing to let this lowly one work for him, when milord attacks Shou Province, this lowly one might be able to persuade those brothers to open the city gates! "
Vézé stared at Xu Kaiwen: "Opening the city gates is naturally the best. However, if we attack the city gates, it will be extremely difficult to open them. I don't need you to persuade them to open the city gates. As long as you can throw down a few ropes and allow my brothers to climb up the city walls, it will be a great contribution! "
Hearing that Vézé's request was so simple, Xu Kaiwen became even more excited. "Milord! This lowly one will definitely be able to do this! "
"Brother Xu, the official positions in our Taiping army are obtained through fighting battles. I cannot allow you to become a military officer!" Vézé continued.
Hearing Vézé's straightforward refusal to be appointed an official, Xu Kaiwen's face became slightly gloomy. However, he still insisted: "This lowly one sincerely wishes to serve milord. A few official positions are not a problem."
Vézé nodded in satisfaction: "Although I cannot let you be a military officer, if we can conquer Shou Province, the civil officials in the city won't need military merits. When the time comes, Brother Xu will definitely become a high-ranking official! "
"Many thanks, milord!" Xu Kaiwen was overjoyed.
Two days later, Vézé's troops killed their way to the city walls of Shou Province. In these two days, Xu Kaiwen had already told Vézé about his experiences. The Xu family was considered a small wealthy family in Shou Province. Several generations ago, they had also produced a Jinshi. However, their descendants were not good at studying. Only Xu Kaiwen's grandfather had passed the Juren exam. The others didn't even have a scholarly title. After the family lost its strong support, it didn't decline, but it did seem to be on the decline.
Five years ago, Xu Kaiwen's father fought with someone for land. That person used the connections of the local Bannerman officials. Thus, the Xu family's nightmare began.
These days, the local officials ate the plaintiff before eating the defendant. The yamen's entrance faced south. Those who were in the right but didn't have money should not enter. Moreover, the Xu family might not be in the right. The Xu family lost a lot of money when they failed to fight for land. As a local tyrant, the Xu family made some harsh remarks. As a result, the local officials who came from the Bannermen bore a grudge.
As a tyrant, the Xu family was originally responsible for collecting taxes for the Manchu Qing. As a result, they offended many people. With the local officials adding fuel to the fire, one lawsuit after another was filed. The Xu family lost every lawsuit. If it were a Han official, the Xu family might have been able to resist. However, the status of a Bannerman official was higher than that of a Han official. The Xu family was powerless to resist. They lost their family property one after another. From a local tyrant, they became people that everyone could bully.
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