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In 1852, Guangxi was a poor place. In this impoverished Guangxi, Dayao Mountain was a stretch of wilderness. Dense trees and shrubs surrounded them from all sides. Beneath their feet was grass that reached up to their calves. Vézé's troops were traversing through the wilderness where there were no roads.
Vézé, who was walking at the front, naturally had to take on the role of opening up a path. A tree branch that was neither too high nor too low blocked Vézé's path. Vézé did not go around it, nor did he push the branch aside. He waved the saber in his hand, and the sturdy branch, which was as thick as a thumb, was cut in half. After cutting down the branch, Vézé temporarily stopped. As he tried to catch his breath, Vézé looked at the dense forest on the hillside where his vision could not penetrate. He muttered in his heart, "Looking at the mountain is like running a horse to death!"
It had been five days since they set off from Yongan City. In yesterday's encounter, they had annihilated more than ten Qing Army soldiers. The joy of this victory did not last long. Before they set off this time, everyone carried a square military backpack on their backs. They carried dry rations and their own equipment. After winning the battle, they carried the seized Qing Army equipment with them, which increased the physical exhaustion of everyone. Everyone's chest was soaked in sweat. The soldiers with spears were using them as crutches. The soldiers with heavy guns were even walking stiffly, and their eyes were dull. Those who had used up too much of their physical strength were on the verge of collapsing when they walked. After several days of marching on this desolate mountain, the Taiping army brothers who had been following behind Vézé were already exhausted. Vézé paused for a moment, and the troops behind him stopped automatically.
"Ha … ha … Fourth Uncle, should we … should we rest?" Wei Changrong, who was following behind Vézé, asked when he saw Vézé stop. Due to exhaustion, Wei Changrong's face was a little pale. After asking this question, Wei Changrong no longer had the strength to continue speaking. He could only lean on the spear shaft and bend over to catch his breath.
Vézé could totally understand Wei Changrong's suggestion to rest. Leading the team, they traversed through the mountainous terrain where there were no paths at all. He had long lost count of the number of branches and shrubs that blocked the way, as well as the number of weeds and shrubs that were as tall as half a man. Even the energetic Vézé was drenched in sweat and his feet were swollen. However, the problem of marching through the mountains and forests of Guangxi during winter wasn't just that. Unlike the dry and cold winter in the north, Guangxi's winter was damp and cold. The humidity in the air seeped through the gaps in his clothes and reached his skin. Just by standing there for a moment, Vézé felt a bone-piercing chill.
Lifting his head to look at the impenetrable forest in front of him, Vézé turned around and shouted, "Brothers, we also rested in the forest the last time, but we couldn't continue after resting for a while. Later on, we found out that we would be able to walk out of the forest in less than a hundred feet. The Yin energy in the forest is so strong that resting for too long will harm our bodies. Previously, some of our brothers caught a cold and had a fever. Since we've suffered, why do we need to rest in the forest like before? Let's continue walking! "
Vézé's voice was clear and bright. His Hakka words were full of energy. After shouting, he continued to move forward. Seeing that Vézé was so insistent, Wei Changrong didn't say anything else and continued to follow Vézé. Some of the brothers behind him had indeed caught a cold from resting in the forest for too long. Hearing Vézé's words, they continued marching forward with heavy footsteps. With someone taking the lead, the whole team continued moving forward. After walking for a while, they found that they had finally passed through the forest and arrived at an open space on a gentle hillside. An open space meant that they could rest. The brothers who had held on until now immediately slumped to the ground.
The first to reach this open space was naturally Vézé. After arriving, he didn't sit down, but stood on the hillside and looked around. Seeing that there were no traces of people around and the team had also passed through the forest, Vézé shouted, "Zhang Yingchen, Wei Changrong. Lead your subordinates and start a fire to cook. "After saying that, Vézé brandished his machete and chopped the branches around him.
Zhang Yingchen and Wei Changrong were both sergeants, and they each had four soldiers under them. Seeing that their commander had disregarded his fatigue and was personally doing the work, they saw that life was obviously beneficial to everyone. The two of them endured the fatigue and worked together with their subordinates. With a team of five and Vézé, the eleven of them worked hard and soon, two bonfires were lit. The wet and cold weather in Guangxi was indeed unbearable. Once the fire started, even the brothers who were almost paralyzed on the ground began to move. Everyone stood up shakily and gathered around the bonfires. After everyone gathered around the two bonfires, Vézé sat on a square military backpack like the other soldiers.
Half a month ago, the complete military and economic blockade of the Qing Army had forced the Taiping army into a desperate situation. Yang Xiuqing, the King Of The East of the Taiping Rebellion, had ordered many small units to go out and try to find a way to communicate with the outside world. Over the past half a month, Vézé had led the troops out several times. This was the farthest they had gone, and the troops had been marching for five consecutive days.
The heat from the bonfires drove away the coldness of the soldiers. Some of the soldiers seemed to have regained their vitality, while others couldn't help but doze off. A soldier was trying to change his sitting position, but his body twitched and he suddenly let out a groan. He fell to the ground holding his leg. The soldier hugged his leg and groaned in pain. He couldn't help but take deep breaths because of the severe pain. No one was surprised. Everyone had experienced this a few times in the past few days. The soldier had a cramp.
The soldiers next to him followed Vézé's method and straightened the soldier's leg. They turned the leg back and slowly rotated it clockwise.
"The cramp is because he hasn't eaten salt for a long time! This time, we'll go around to Qing Yao's back. We must get salt! Otherwise, in a few more days, we won't be able to stand it. "Vézé said loudly. In the past five months, the Manchu Qing's siege of Yongan City had not been effective. However, the three months of total material blockade had dealt a great blow to Yongan City. Yongan City was extremely short of gunpowder and salt.
The shortage of gunpowder allowed the Qing Army, who relied on firearms, to gradually reverse their disadvantage in combat against the Taiping army. The shortage of salt had directly begun to weaken the Taiping army's combat strength. Loss of appetite, weakness in the limbs, cramps, and headaches were all the results of the lack of salt. If this continued, the Qing Army would sooner or later have an overall advantage over the Taiping army.
The soldier with the cramp was still a young man. Under the severe pain, he couldn't help but tear up. After a while, he recovered with the help of his comrades.
"Heat up the food!" Vézé shouted. They had seized a small amount of gunpowder and a small amount of salt from the Qing Army that had been destroyed yesterday. Vézé had wanted to save salt, but it seemed that it was impossible now. He ordered Lin Asheng, who was in charge of logistics, to take out the salt and distribute it to everyone. The Qing Army didn't carry much salt, so when it was distributed to each of the brothers, it was only a little. Immediately, some of the brothers put a few grains of salt into their mouths. Although they frowned and smacked their lips because of the saltiness, they couldn't hide the comfort in their hearts.
Zhang Yingchen, who was sitting next to Vézé, took out his food like the other soldiers. It was a small bamboo tube that had been broken in half. It was tied up with long grass to make it look like it was before it was broken. One bamboo tube was one meal. It was easy to calculate and carry. Everyone put their bamboo tubes next to the fire and used the fire to heat up the bamboo tubes. Sitting by the fire and rubbing his calf, Zhang Yingchen said, "Wei Sima, the Qing Army has set up camps everywhere. It's too difficult to go around from the north. If we continue to head north, we will very likely enter the Yao people's territory. We might as well go back to Yongan first. After returning to Yongan, we won't go north, but east. There are Qing Army on the small roads in the north. There are more small roads in the east. We should encounter less Qing Army. "
Without answering Zhang Yingchen's question, Vézé took out a leather bag from his military backpack. This was a "leather bag" made by punching holes on both sides of the leather, folding the leather in the middle and threading the holes with rattan tendons. Vézé took out an account book. After opening it, the blank pages of the account book were filled with charcoal sketches of the terrain. Because it was drawn many times, the thickness of the handwriting was different. After looking at the map for a while, Vézé pointed in a direction and asked Zhang Yingchen, "Is that southeast?"
As a platoon leader, Zhang Yingchen was responsible for identifying the direction. He looked at the sky, then at the top of the mountain. "That's east."
"Very well, let's go southeast." Vézé said to Zhang Yingchen. Then, Vézé turned to look at Wei Changrong. "Changrong, when we reach the pipeline, follow me and charge!"
"Don't worry! We will definitely kill Qing Yao! "Wei Changrong answered confidently.
Zhang Yingchen was a native of Yongan. He joined the Taiping army after the Taiping army conquered Yongan. After the Qing Army besieged Yongan City, the Taiping army fought with the Qing Army many times. Even though the Taiping army did not lose, they were unable to break the Qing Army's siege.
After being assigned to work under Vézé, he had been sent out several times to scout. The Qing Army had blocked all the roads north of Yongan City. Each Qing Army unit consisted of at most a hundred people, and at least fifty to sixty people. They were armed with a large number of firearms. When Vézé's 26-man unit came across the Qing Army's strongholds, they would always take a detour. It was only when they encountered the Qing Army yesterday that they attacked.
The battle yesterday had been easy because the Taiping army had carried out an ambush and outnumbered the Qing Army by two to one. Even if this kind of victory wasn't an unfair one, Zhang Yingchen didn't find it strange at all. The arduous march over the past few days had numbed Zhang Yingchen's nerves. Compared to the physical exhaustion and mental exhaustion, a small victory could not be considered particularly encouraging.
Zhang Yingchen did not feel that his suspicions were excessive. After exploring the road several times before, this time Vézé decided to take a path that did not even have a road. Along the way, he cut through thistles and thorns, traversed mountains and valleys. After expending a great deal of energy, it seemed that he was still wandering in the mountains. Zhang Yingchen was a native of Yongan. The path that Vézé was taking was one that even he, a native, would not take. After going around and around, Zhang Yingchen himself did not know where he was. If Vézé truly believed that he could defeat the Qing Army, then why would he take this path? It was obvious that Vézé still could not defeat the Qing Army.
Speaking of the official road, not only did Vézé look as if victory was within his grasp, but the Taiping army's "old soldiers" who were similarly depressed during the march were also full of confidence. Zhang Yingchen was particularly puzzled. Why did Vézé and the "old Taiping army" have such confidence?
Just as Zhang Yingchen was feeling puzzled, he heard Vézé shout: "Eat! Eat! "
After receiving the order, the soldiers all took out their bamboo tubes. They untied the grass outside the bamboo tubes. Inside the bamboo tubes were cooked rice mixed with many other beans. The brothers sprinkled the salt in their hands on the rice. Other than that, there were no other dishes or sauces. This kind of meal had been the norm for the Taiping army for the past month.
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