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The purpose of a soldier on the battlefield was to kill. The difference between limping and brisk footsteps was that the latter could save their own lives and increase the efficiency of killing the enemy. However, to the spectators, the brisk footsteps seemed to be for the soldiers to face their death earlier. At least, Lin Fengxiang, who had never trained his troops to walk, had this feeling.
The smoke outside the city had not completely dissipated. The Second Brigade of the 12th Division added more branches and leaves to the pile of firewood, and the soldiers who climbed the city wall prepared their grenades. Grenadiers referred to elite soldiers who were strong enough to throw more than ten kilograms of bombs. However, this unit had become an honorary title. At least in Vézé's army, there were no soldiers who were only responsible for throwing bombs.
Not only were the Taiping army fighting, but the Qing Army on top of the city wall also fired at them. The smoke from the guns on top of the city wall overlapped with the smoke from below the city wall, and the entire west side of the city seemed to be covered in a thick fog. Lin Fengxiang looked from afar but could not see anything. Suddenly, a series of explosions came from the top of the city wall. It sounded like artillery fire, but also like the sound of guns being lifted. Lin Fengxiang could not guess what kind of weapon it was, but he was sure that the 12th Division had started to attack the Qing Army. Originally, the smoke was the best cover for the Taiping army to attack the city, but now, the smoke made Lin Fengxiang feel sorry. If there was no smoke, he would be able to see how Vézé's troops attacked the city.
The muffled sound did not last long. Suddenly, gunfire erupted from the top of the city wall. Soon, a messenger from the 12th Division came to Ke Gongyu and Lin Fengxiang. The messenger stood at attention and saluted, "General, the Second Brigade has taken over the west wall and is expanding their control area."
Lin Fengxiang had never seen such a simple and powerful salute. The content of the report surprised him even more. Most of the Qing Army's troops were gathered on the west side of the city. Even if the 12th Division was good at fighting, they would not be able to take control of the city wall so quickly.
At this moment, gunfire erupted from the top of the city wall. Lin Fengxiang's troops were using matchlocks. To Lin Fengxiang, it sounded like three to five hundred people had climbed up the city wall and started firing continuously. How did the 12th Division get three to five hundred people up the city wall in such a short period of time? Not only did the smoke not dissipate, but the rapid firing also made the smoke even thicker. Lin Fengxiang could no longer see what was happening on top of the city wall.
"Got it!" Ke Gongyu answered calmly. His mind was no longer on the battle. The only thing the Qing army could rely on was the city wall. Without the city wall, they would be like grasshoppers after autumn. There was nothing they could do. Yes. Ke Gongyu was thinking about two things. One was what kind of Qing Army would attack him after he took over Xuyi. The other was what kind of Qing Army would make Vézé personally lead his troops to Anqing.
Just as he was thinking, Ke Gongyu heard someone call out, "Junshuai Ke!"
"Hm? What is it? "Ke Gongyu answered instinctively. After saying that, he noticed that it was an inspector beside Lin Fengxiang who came up to talk to him. Ke Gongyu had always been envious of the high-ranking officials in the other divisions. In theory, their status was much higher than Ke Gongyu's. However, in Vézé's army, a general could command five thousand soldiers. In other divisions, an inspector could at most command a thousand soldiers. There were even some who could be inspectors with only five hundred soldiers. In comparison, Ke Gongyu looked down on the other divisions of the Taiping army. Even for Lin Fengxiang's troops, the highest commander of an army was also an inspector. They were all commanding 5,000 people, and Ke Gongyu, as a general, did not have to be especially courteous to an inspector who was five ranks higher than a general.
"Junshuai Ke, after we take over Xuyi, how are we going to split the spoils?" The inspector seemed to know that Ke Gongyu would not take him seriously. According to the rules of the Taiping Rebellion, a general would not dare to be so "disrespectful" to an inspector. However, the inspector who was "disrespectful" did not even try to use his position to suppress Ke Gongyu. Although Ke Gongyu was only a general, Vézé was the Prince Of Qi. According to the rules of the Taiping Rebellion, the Prince Of Qi was a prince with a fief. If the Taiping Rebellion had already taken over the world, then Vézé would have to go to Shandong and "seal" it. Such a powerful backer was not something that Lin Fengxiang, the Prime Minister, could fight against.
The power in the Taiping Rebellion was divided into more than ten levels. The real core level of power was marked by the "military counselor." The core level of power in the first level was completely based on the person. The first level was the "official" military counselor, which referred to the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, and the West King, Xiao Chaogui. The second level was the "deputy" military counselor, which naturally referred to the South King, Feng Yunshan, and the North King, Wei Changhui. The third level was the "chief commander," which consisted of the Wing King, Shi Dakai, and the Tiande King, Hong Daquan (real name Jiao Liang).
By now, the West King, Xiao Chaogui, the South King, Feng Yunshan, and the Tiande King, Hong Daquan, had all "gone to heaven." The remaining three, the King Of The East, the North King, and the Wing King, formed the first level of the Taiping Rebellion.
Below the first level was the second level, which consisted of kings, grandmasters, and marquises. Vézé was the highest-ranking king in the second level, and a king with a fief. According to the system of the Kingdom of Tianping, the full title of Vézé, Prince Of Qi, was "Heavenly Prince Of Qi." Qin Rigang, who had just received the title of "Prince Of Yan," was "Heavenly Prince Of Yan."
Lin Fengxiang had already received the title of Marquis Jing Hu, and was ranked as a marquis. However, compared to Vézé, he was still two levels lower. Moreover, Lin Fengxiang's troops had interacted with Vézé's troops for a period of time. The inspector also knew that Vézé's troops attached great importance to the military system. Vézé's nephew, Wei Changrong, was also a marshal of one of Vézé's troops who was very good at fighting. Even though the marshal was five levels lower than the inspector, as Vézé's nephew, Wei Changrong, was "grandmaster", and grandmaster was one level higher than the marquis.
Although the marshals under Lin Fengxiang did not know why Vézé was doing this, they were very clear that when facing Vézé's marshal, they must not foolishly pretend to be ignorant. In fact, the marshals under Vézé were correct. Ke Gongyu, as the marshal under Lin Fengxiang, did not care about the marshals under Lin Fengxiang.
What Lin Fengxiang's marshals wanted to talk about was how to divide the things in Xuyi after killing their way into the city. At this time, in theory, the Taiping Rebellion still had a holy treasury. However, the holy treasury of each region was controlled by each region. Yang Xiuqing was a very capable leader. Vézé in Anhui did not resist the infiltration of Yang Xiuqing's forces. Even so, Yang Xiuqing only controlled the tax collection and the grain storage in the Chaohu region. In the vast area to the north, Wei Ze still firmly held the power of local tax collection, so naturally, he also held the power of the local "Holy Treasury".
This was the case even when the central and local officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cooperated well with each other. When the troops were not under each other's command, they could only settle their accounts with each other. If Xuyi was attacked by Lin Fengxiang or Ke Gongyu alone, or by either side, then entering the city to "collect money" was not a problem. After all, Lin Fengxiang had already fought for a while. According to the rules, even if Ke Gongyu conquered Xuyi, he could not take all the pawnshops, official silver, and banks in Xuyi alone. Even if Lin Fengxiang's troops only got some hard-earned money, they had to share it.
Ke Gongyu understood this. In fact, in the beginning, the order was for the twelve armies to attack the city and Lin Fengxiang's troops to surround the city. He did not expect Lin Fengxiang to take action himself. Ke Gongyu guessed that Lin Fengxiang also wanted to make more money. As for the marshals' questions, Ke Gongyu smiled and said, "Then how are you going to divide it?"
The two looked at each other like profiteers. After confirming that the other party had no intention of taking everything for themselves, they lowered their voices and began to discuss. If not for the fact that they were both southerners, they might have learned from the northern market and used their fingers to determine the quota.
After reaching an agreement, Lin Fengxiang's marshals went to report to Lin Fengxiang. It was better to settle this matter as soon as possible. If they waited until they entered the city, things might change.
The result was a two-eighty split, with Ke Gongyu getting eight. After hearing this, Lin Fengxiang did not say much. He stepped forward and asked, "Ke Junshuai, I see that the fire pots and guns in your troops are different from the guns in other places."
As for Lin Fengxiang's delay in raising this question, Ke Gongyu did not know whether he should praise Lin Fengxiang for his quick reaction or slow reaction. However, his question touched on the fundamental problem. The equipment of Vézé's troops was much better than that of the Taiping army and the Qing Army. Because of this, Ke Gongyu had no way of reaching an agreement with Lin Fengxiang. He smiled and said, "We made these ourselves."
While brushing off Lin Fengxiang, Ke Gongyu also hoped that Vézé would hurry from Anqing to Xuyi.
The military intelligence Ke Gongyu received was somewhat inaccurate. Vézé did not go straight to Anqing, but to Tong City. The Qing Army did not dare to directly attack Anqing, which was heavily guarded. Instead, they tried to attack Tong City. However, the Qing Army could not take Tong City, so they turned to attack Liu'an. Vézé had no choice but to change direction and go to Liu'an. If he knew that the Qing Army had seized the initiative and mobilized Vézé's troops to run back and forth, Ke Gongyu would probably feel very disappointed.
Vézé did this because he had no other choice. There were not many Qing Army leaders who could make Vézé personally lead troops to Anqing. The current Jiangnan admiral, He Chun, was definitely one of them. Among the Qing Army high-ranking officials who had a deep hatred for the Taiping Rebellion, He Chun could be ranked in the top five. King Of The East Yang Xiuqing had personally said that he hoped Vézé could take He Chun's head. This expectation really put some pressure on Vézé.
This time, the 13th and 14th armies were marching to Anqing. Because they had turned to Liu'an, Vézé had ordered Hu Chenghe, the commander of the Shouzhou military district, to send an army south to participate in the attack on He Chun. For this battle, Vézé had already ordered that even if they had to run more and disturb He Chun less, they would do their best to wipe out He Chun's troops in one fell swoop.
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