?
/
"Changzhou's three thousand garrison troops came out in full strength and fought the Cantonese bandits after leaving the city. The Cantonese bandits attacked Changzhou, and the garrison troops had to retreat to Xuan City. "Emperor Xianfeng said word by word to the Grand Council.
The Manchu Qing officials were like dogs in front of the emperor. The Grand Council was just a dog favored by the emperor, and there was nothing special about him. Ever since the Taiping army rebelled, the Grand Council had been scolded countless times. Seeing the emperor's appearance this time, everyone knew that this scolding was inevitable. Habit became second nature, and the Grand Council didn't care in their hearts.
Although they didn't care in their hearts, they still had to show fear and trepidation on the surface. So the Grand Council's brain began to spin rapidly, trying to guess the emperor's thoughts.
After the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks were defeated, the forty thousand Qing Army converged with the ten thousand Qing Army of Jiangsu Inspector Jierhanga at Mount Jiuhua and retreated in defeat. The fifty thousand Qing Army retreated in the direction of Xuan City and Huzhou.
It wasn't that the defeated Qing Army didn't have the chance to retreat to Changzhou, but they retreated to the Xuan City area, clearly treating Changzhou as a sacrifice. Even if the imperial court wanted to blame the defeat of the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks, it would take some time. Changzhou was very close to Zhenjiang, and the Taiping army wouldn't let go of Changzhou. Once Changzhou fell, the door to Suhang would be wide open. To prevent the situation from worsening, the imperial court could only temporarily let go of the punishment of the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks and let the defeated generals "atone for their crimes". Although they couldn't let these people completely escape punishment, they could at least win some breathing time.
However, the Taiping army moved slowly, and after more than half a month, they still hadn't advanced to Changzhou, which was a hundred li away from Zhenjiang. The Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks had another chance. The commander of the Jiangnan Barracks, Xiang Rong, committed suicide after the defeat and bravely took responsibility. No matter how powerful Emperor Xianfeng was, he couldn't go to the netherworld to severely punish a dead man. At this time of defeat, using the dead Xiang Rong could only further damage the morale of the Qing Army. So Emperor Xianfeng could only severely punish the commander of the Jiangbei Barracks, Jiangning General Tuo Ming, and put him in prison.
The matter of punishing the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks was temporarily resolved, and the group of generals finally temporarily relieved the heavy burden on their hearts. However, Changzhou could only rely on its own strength to face the aggressive attacks of the Taiping army. None of the Grand Council Ministers were fools, and the tricks of the Changzhou garrison could not be said to be very clever. The Grand Council could see through the mentality of their colleagues, but if they were thrown into that position, they might not necessarily do so. What Manchu Qing said was that it was a duty to defend one's territory. No matter what the reason was, giving up defending the city would only lead to death. The Grand Council could empathize with those who were running for their lives. Vézé was now famous, and the defenders of Changzhou would definitely die. Since the defenders of Changzhou refused to surrender, they could only choose to run in a roundabout way.
It was no longer important to understand the hardships of his colleagues. The ones who had lost the battle were the good-for-nothings, and the ones who were scolded every day were the ministers in front of the Emperor. For the ministers of the Grand Council, how the battle situation on the front lines developed was a matter that could be dealt with later. The first task at hand was to pacify the Emperor. Every minister of the Grand Council began to think about how to dispel Emperor Xianfeng's anger.
However, the ministers of the Grand Council were wrong. Emperor Xianfeng was not angry. The bad news over the past few years had numbed the young Emperor's nerves and made him much more open-minded. What attracted all of Xian Feng's attention now was an even more dangerous situation.
The Small Swords Society was rebelling in Shanghai, and the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks had been broken through. Vézé began to move eastward again. Needless to say, the final goal was to attack Shanghai. The Small Swords Society had tens of thousands of people and had captured Songjiang and other places. When Vézé's troops arrived in Shanghai, they would be able to join forces with the Small Swords. At that time, the Cantonese bandits led by Vézé would number one hundred thousand. Just thinking about this number gave Xian Feng a splitting headache.
If they took southern Jiangsu, they could take advantage of the situation to attack Zhejiang. The army of one hundred thousand tigers and wolves, under the leadership of the fierce bandit Vézé, would certainly turn Jiangzhe upside down. Once Jiangzhe was corrupted, Manchu Qing's financial resources would be cut off. At that time, the Qing Dynasty would be on the verge of collapse. As for what would happen to the Changzhou garrison, Xian Feng didn't care. In all fairness, the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks with nearly one hundred thousand people couldn't stop Vézé. Xian Feng really didn't think that the three thousand soldiers in Changzhou could defeat Vézé's army of tens of thousands.
"Do you have Ceng Guofan's latest memorial?" Xian Feng asked coldly.
The Grand Council's request? Mu Yin immediately replied, "Reporting to Lord of Ten Thousand Years, according to Zeng Guofan's memorial, the navy only has five battalions of Xiangtan, about two thousand men, the Army only has Xiangtan and Pingjiang defense, about two thousand men. Therefore, there is an urgent need to recruit soldiers, repair warships, purchase firearms, and rest and replenish. "
Jiang Zhongyuan of Northern Anhui was ordered to establish the Huai army. With the assistance of Li Hongzhang, the Huai army was established very quickly. By the beginning of October 1854, there were already twenty-four thousand people. In Jiang Zhongyuan's memorial, he was speeding up the training of this Huai army. Moreover, the Taiping army in the central Anhui area had nearly one hundred thousand people, most of whom were trained by Vézé. In addition, the Nian Army of Northern Anhui followed Vézé to the north. After wantonly plundering in the north, they returned to Northern Anhui. The Nian Army led the local areas and did their best to resist the taxes, entangling with the Qing Army. Jiang Zhongyuan's twenty-four thousand people could only defend Suzhou. They defended the north of the Huai River, preventing the Taiping army from advancing north.
The Qing Army in other areas suffered repeated defeats. Amidst this defeat, only the Xiang Army established by Ceng Guofan in Hunan launched a counterattack. After defeating the Taiping army in Xiangtan, the southern troops of the Western Expedition Army seized the opportunity to pursue and attack. Under the attack of the Xiang Army, the Taiping army retreated little by little. In the end, they were barely able to hold on at Changde.
Xianfeng had a deep impression of Ceng Guofan's battle report. He ordered, "Ceng Guofan's report says that he wiped out the Cantonese pirates' navy. Now there are no more Cantonese pirates on the Yangtze River who can oppose Ceng Guofan. Then order Ceng Guofan to lead the navy down the river, seize strongholds along the way, and then directly attack Jiangning! "
This order gave the Grand Council's Chancellors a fright. Trust and leverage? Mu Yin said tentatively, "The Taiping army controls both sides of the Yangtze River from Jiujiang to Zhenjiang. It is too risky to rely on the navy to go downstream. Moreover, Ceng Guofan's home is in Hunan. If he leads the navy deep in, where will the logistical supplies come from? Vézé's purpose in advancing east to Changzhou is obviously to attack Suzhou. Even if Ceng Guofan relies on the navy to reach Jiangning, he will still have to go downstream to rest and reorganize. Jiangsu will not listen to Ceng Guofan. When the time comes, what will happen to the supplies? "
However, the Emperor had spoken. The Grand Council's Shu Xinga immediately expressed his support for Xianfeng. "His Majesty is right. If Ceng Guofan attacks from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and tightly closes Jiangning, the Cantonese bandits will certainly mobilize their troops to rescue them. The Cantonese bandits would certainly mobilize their troops to rescue them. The one closest to Jiangning was the leader of the Cantonese bandits, Wei Ze. He would certainly return to rescue them. Won't that save Suzhou immediately? "
This group of Grand Council officials were all northerners and knew nothing about naval warfare. Although Shu Xinga's words were very reasonable, they were not confident in their hearts. However, since Xianfeng had spoken, this group of people could not come up with any other ideas. No matter how nervous they were, they were happy to let Xianfeng, who had given the order, bear the responsibility.
Therefore, someone immediately began to draft an order, translating Xianfeng's decree into words.
At this time, Xianfeng said, "Jiang Zhongyuan has recommended Zuo Zongtang several times. Let Zuo Zongtang be the Minister of Regimental Training and set up a Regimental Training in Zhejiang."
There were many people who recommended Zuo Zongtang. Jiang Zhongyuan was the one who worked the hardest recently. Since Xianfeng had given such an order, the Grand Council officials did not object and immediately began to draft the transfer order.
At this time, Vézé had already led his troops to Changzhou. King Of The East Yang Xiuqing did not blindly weaken Vézé's strength. When they broke the siege of Tianjing, the Qing Army in Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks had been defeated. Yang Xiuqing had arranged for Vézé to advance east. One of the strategic objectives was to completely defeat the Qing Army, or at least expel the Qing Army. To prevent them from threatening Tianjing again.
The General Staff Headquarters believed that at this stage, if the Qing Army, which had retreated to the Xuancheng area, attempted to counterattack, they would first contain the Qing Army's attacking troops. Then, they would make use of Lake Tai's water transportation to cut off the Qing Army's retreat and surround and annihilate the Qing Army that dared to attack. Vézé had already told King Of The East Yang Xiuqing his strategic plan. Moreover, Vézé felt that there were definitely people hidden by King Of The East among his troops. Therefore, Vézé was not worried that his plan would not be understood by Yang Xiuqing.
At this time, Vézé was overjoyed that he could finally approach Shanghai and do business with the foreign devils. In this era, no one in China could understand how to do business with the foreign devils better than Vézé. Vézé was very confident this time.
After Vézé seized Changzhou, he asked King Of The East Yang Xiuqing who would guard Zhenjiang. This idea was quite selfish. If Vézé continued to guard Zhenjiang, he would still be responsible for supporting Tianjing when it was attacked. After throwing Zhenjiang, this hot potato, out, Vézé could focus on the east and implement his strategy.
After submitting the memorial, Yang Xiuqing did not immediately reply. Vézé also did not dare to leave Zhenjiang with his troops. If he was not in Zhenjiang and Yang Xiuqing suddenly ordered the troops stationed in Zhenjiang to be directly under Yang Xiuqing's command, then it would be a big loss. After losing Zhang Yingchen's ten thousand men, Vézé could still hold on, but if another ten thousand men were taken away, Vézé would really not be able to hold on.
At this time, Ceng Guofan received Emperor Xianfeng's imperial edict. The imperial edict ordered Ceng Guofan to send the navy down the river, break the Taiping army's defensive line on the Yangtze River, and threaten Jiangning. Moreover, he would use the navy to cruise on the Yangtze River, cut off the Taiping army's supply line on the Yangtze River, and cut off the Yangtze River. The imperial edict especially emphasized that Jiangning must be prevented from smoothly receiving food and supplies from the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Holding this imperial edict, Ceng Guofan's brows furrowed into a knot. If it was three months ago, before Vézé had swept through the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks, Ceng Guofan also had such a plan. At that time, the Xiang Army had defeated the Taiping army in Xiangtan and was counterattacking with irresistible force. Ceng Guofan was full of ambition and wanted to lead the navy to attack outside Jiangning and cooperate with the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks to take down Jiangning in one fell swoop.
But now that the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks no longer existed, the original ambitious plan had become a very dangerous operation.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
