?
Wei Ze touched his chest. The document that Chen Delong had gotten for him was securely placed close to his body. He had gone to Chen Delong's residence yesterday. This guy did not live in the southern part of the city, but in the eastern part. This document was Vézé's life-saving measure. If things did not go as planned, Vézé would go straight to Chen Delong's residence in the eastern part of the city and drag Chen Delong with him. In the name of mobilizing troops to suppress the rebels, they would rush back to Changzhou, or at least to Zhenjiang to meet up with the troops.
Once he had troops, Vézé would have the initiative. At that time, it would be troublesome to send troops to Tianjing City, but it would not lead to the worst result. As for Vézé's family, they could only be temporarily left in Tianjing City. If something really happened, Vézé could only accept it.
As the troops moved forward, they saw more and more small groups of soldiers and horses in panic. Vézé ordered, "Raise the flag!"
The guard captain looked at Vézé's team of less than thirty people and could not help but say worriedly, "Chief of Staff, should we be more careful?"
Vézé sneered, "What's there to be careful about at this time? The more careful you are, the more sneaky you look. If we raise the flag of Prince Of Qi, those people with ulterior motives will see that we are in the right and will not dare to stop us. Those who have no ulterior motives will naturally reason with us. At that time, I am the Prince Of Qi. Even if I cannot order them, do they really dare to arrest me? "
The guard captain was originally only worried about being ambushed. Now that he heard Vézé's confidence, although he did not really understand what Vézé was saying, he felt that he had a backbone. He ordered, "Raise the flag!"
The eight feet long and wide yellow silk flag was raised. The triangular flag was embroidered with water red edges and the words "Taiping Rebellion Prince Of Qi Wei" were written in red. Under the guidance of this flag, Vézé's 30-odd men immediately seemed to gain momentum.
Naturally, Vézé had an unspeakable reason in his heart. Even if someone wanted to stop him, as long as the flag was raised, they could only bring Vézé to the King Of The East. In any case, Vézé was still considered the number one general under the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing. In a time of chaos when the King Of The East was killed, Vézé's name was still a sufficient deterrent.
Things were not as bad as Vézé had imagined, or rather, it was similar to what Vézé had imagined. The King Of The East was killed in a meticulously planned beheading operation. After the ambushers killed the King Of The East, they could only choose to protect themselves due to the lack of troops. The King Of The East's troops were like a group of dragons without a leader and were in a state of panic. At this time, Vézé's swaggering movement was not only that no one dared to stop Vézé, many of the Taiping army's troops also hurriedly followed the rules of the Taiping Rebellion and knelt by the roadside to welcome Vézé.
At this time, the focus of the city was near the King Of The East's residence in the south of the city. The further north it was, the more peaceful it was. There were no obstructions along the way. Vézé's troops went straight to Chen Degui's barracks in the north.
When they were about a kilometer away from Chen Degui's barracks, Vézé's troops slowed down. Yesterday, Vézé's guards had privately contacted the staff officers in Chen Degui's army. Both sides had agreed to meet here to discuss the issue of returning this troop, or at least the abolished staff officers, to Vézé's troops after the coronation ceremony. This was, of course, a reasonable reason, and also an excuse that Vézé had arranged.
Vézé looked nervously at the place where they had agreed to meet. If he did not see the original Zhang Yingchen's troops here, he would have to carefully consider whether he should continue to take the risk and go to Chen Degui's barracks, or simply follow another set of plans and head east to meet up with Chen Delong. He had to leave Tianjing City quickly and head east to meet up with the troops.
Just as he was feeling uncertain, a few people suddenly appeared at the corner of the street in front of him. Vézé's troops immediately tensed up. Even Vézé subconsciously reached for the handgun at his waist.
"Chief of the General Staff!" The few people shouted as they ran. "Is this the Chief of the General Staff?"
This form of address made Wei Ze feel somewhat relieved. In the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, people who used this form of address were basically their own people.
When the few people ran closer, they were immediately stopped by the guards. Soon, the guard in charge of contacting the staff officers shouted, "Chief of the General Staff, these are our brothers."
"Let them come over!" Vézé hurriedly ordered.
The leader of the group ran in front of Vézé, his face full of excitement. "Chief of the General Staff, you're here! I'm the head of the 16th Division's Combat Training Section, Ye Shan! When we heard that something had happened in the city, we first contacted our brothers in the army's staff officers, then rushed over! We remembered that the Brotherhood would come here to meet us today, so we ran out to see if we could meet our brothers. We waited for so long, but you didn't come. We only heard that something had happened to the King Of The East, so we were worried that something had happened to you! Just now, someone ran over to say that the Prince Of Qi's residence had also been attacked by traitors. Someone said that something had happened to you too! "
At this point, Ye Shan's eyes were filled with tears, and his voice was choked.
"How is the military?" Vézé hurriedly asked.
Ye Shan hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and quickly replied, "When the military learned that something had happened to the King Of The East, everyone was temporarily in a mess. However, after the brothers in the staff officers contacted the commanding officer and comforted the brothers, the military actually calmed down. Now, everyone feels that this is not the time for chaos. We have to first stabilize the military's morale. However, everyone has said that they are all waiting for the Chief of the General Staff to arrive. With you around, we will have our backbone. "
Vézé secretly heaved a sigh of relief. He hurriedly asked, "How many brothers did you bring out?"
Ye Shan answered, "More than eighty! However, our brothers are all at the camp gate. Chief of the General Staff, I will lead the way. Let's hurry! "
"Lead the way!" Vézé ordered.
Ye Shan hurriedly ran to the end of the street. Soon, more than eighty soldiers ran out with him. At this point, there was no need to worry about anything else. The most important thing now was to rush to the camp and control the troops.
Vézé's troops ran behind Ye Shan's troops. Soon, they saw the camp gate. Hundreds of soldiers were lined up neatly outside the camp gate. Not only were there infantry, but artillery soldiers also dragged out their cannons, eyeing the street that led straight to the camp gate.
Although he knew that the target of the opposing troops wasn't him, and that they were once his subordinates, Vézé's heart couldn't help but tighten when he saw the strict layout. If this troop wasn't reliable, it would only take a few minutes for his 30-strong troops to be wiped out. Not only was Vézé worried, but the guards also subconsciously slowed down their pace.
On the other hand, Ye Shan's troops quickly met up with the troops at the camp gate. A moment later, the troops blocking the camp were divided into two rows and stood at attention on both sides of the path leading to the camp gate. All the troops placed their rifles on the left side of their bodies, and the gate leading to the camp opened.
Later, it was recorded in the "History of China's General Staff Division": "After the Tianjing Rebellion, the General Staff Division of the former 16th Army, which had been stripped of its power, resumed its work, stabilized the people, and quickly accepted the leadership of the central government, saving countless lives. This experience proved that the General Staff Division's system was very reliable and very advanced. Even if it suffered a setback, as long as there was a chance, the General Staff Division would still be able to resume its operations. It was because of this advanced system that the victory of the revolution was ensured … "
In the military history of the former 16th Army, it was recorded as follows: "… After the Tianjing Rebellion broke out, the Emperor immediately rushed to our army. Our army, which had been stripped of its 16th Army designation, did not lose their revolutionary ideals in this chaotic moment. Instead, they quickly gathered around the Emperor and saved the revolution …
At around 7 on the 24th of January, 1855, the Emperor rode a white horse straight to the camp. The flag in front of the troops fluttered in the wind. Seeing the Emperor's flag, our soldiers immediately lined up. The Emperor rode into the army, and all the soldiers cheered … "
Later, our army achieved a special collective merit … "
Apart from the fact that not everyone was cheering, the actual situation was not much different from what was recorded in the military history. At that time, there was no time to cheer. At that time, the General Staff Division had already taken control of a corner of the camp. In fact, Vézé had secretly entered the camp. Faced with all the members of the General Staff Division who had seized the opportunity to come, Vézé solemnly told them all the news. "The King Of The East has been killed. The one who killed the King Of The East was the Heavenly King Group!"
Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan was not particularly sacred in Vézé's army. As for the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, since he had already been killed, there was no reason for them to pay attention to him.
However, this news still shocked the hundreds of people in the General Staff Division. "Is it really the work of the Heavenly King?" One of the staff officers immediately asked.
Vézé said loudly, "You should have received the news by now. The troops that attacked the King Of The East's residence are also our brothers in the Taiping army. According to what I know, according to the King Of The East's deployment, Prince Yi and Prince Yu are in Hubei, the North King is in Jiangxi, and the Yan King is in Taizhou. I only brought a few dozen people with me in Tianjing City. There are no troops in the entire Tianjing City other than the King Of The East's subordinates. According to the intelligence, the ones who killed the King Of The East were the North King, Wei Changhui, and the Yan King, Qin Rigang. If the two of them did not have a spy, how could they sneak into Tianjing City, kill the King Of The East, and attack the Prince Of Qi's residence? We are all from the General Staff Division. Would you believe me if I said there was no spy? "
Hearing Vézé's words, many of the staff officers laughed coldly. There was no need to discuss this logic in the General Staff Division. If it was a sudden action by a few people, there might be a huge element of chance involved. An action carried out by a few thousand troops would have a very low element of chance.
Vézé waved his hand to get everyone to quiet down. "Then who could persuade the King Of The East's troops to change sides? Other than the Heavenly King, no one else could do it. Does anyone have any questions about this? "
"Then Chief of General Staff, how did you escape?" One of the staff officers couldn't help but ask. This question immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Vézé sighed. "I got married a few months ago and just returned to Tianjing City. My wife wanted to go back to her parents' home. The curfew was so strict, so I decided to stay at my father-in-law's place. I didn't expect to escape with my life. "
Hearing such a reasonable reason, everyone couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. They felt gratified for Vézé's good fortune.
"After I escaped, I felt that I couldn't just leave like that, so I hurried here. Brothers, this time, the Heavenly King didn't just attack the King Of The East. He wanted to wipe out all of the King Of The East's subordinates in one fell swoop! That's why I'm here this time to bring everyone with me! "
"Wipe out all of them in one fell swoop? Why? "The Chief of General Staff was surprised by Vézé's analysis.
Vézé said solemnly, "This time, not only was the King Of The East attacked, but my Prince Of Qi's residence was also attacked. What does this mean? It means that the attacker's goal was very clear. They weren't attacking the King Of The East to vent their anger. Instead, their goal was to wipe out all the higher-ups in the King Of The East's residence. They wanted to completely destroy the influence of the King Of The East's faction. Once the higher-ups are wiped out, it'll be our turn. "
"This …" The struggle between the higher-ups made these smart fellows in the General Staff scratching their heads.
Vézé continued to explain, "If the King Of The East and I are gone, the remaining people in the King Of The East's residence will still hold the military power, but they won't have the right to speak in the government of the Taiping Rebellion. In other words, they won't be able to speak. At that time, no matter what they want to do, they'll have to go through the higher-ups like the Heavenly King in order to take action against the North King and the others. If they go to the Heavenly King to reason things out, they'll fall right into his trap. According to the rules, they can't bring weapons when they go to see the Heavenly King. However, the people who killed the King Of The East were armed … "
Vézé didn't care about explaining the twists and turns of the struggle between the higher-ups to these people. Firstly, Vézé didn't think that he would use such a method to deal with his subordinates. Secondly, he needed these subordinates to be witnesses. This definitely wasn't the end of the Tianjing incident. With the death of Yang Xiuqing, a new phase would begin. This was like the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The death of the Ten Attendants and the nobles didn't mean that the struggle was over. First, it was He Jin, then Dong Zhuo, then Situ Wangyun. Next, even Lu Bu, a general under Dong Zhuo, could jump in and cause chaos in the court. Once the bloody battle within the system started, it would basically be impossible to stop without mutual destruction.
"I only have one question now. Do you want to leave with me?" Vézé shouted.
The staff officers looked at each other for a moment. There was no need to discuss the answer. All the staff officers replied loudly, "We will follow the Chief of Staff resolutely!"
The staff officers were originally the core organization of the military. Now that the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, had been killed, the system that had once suppressed the military basically no longer existed. Vézé was the Prince Of Qi. From the perspective of the Taiping Rebellion's system, once Yang Xiuqing died, Vézé could rely on his status as the Prince Of Qi to order any military officer who was lower in rank than him.
More importantly, the staff officers who had been disbanded were undoubtedly looking forward to rebuilding the staff officers. Now, all reason was on Vézé's side. In addition, there was no movement of personnel from the military with other military units. With Vézé taking the lead and the staff officers following, the commanders or former commanders of the various military units were called into Vézé's camp. They all expressed their willingness to follow Vézé again.
The white cloth in the logistics warehouse was taken out and rearranged according to the previous organization of the military units. Everyone's left arm was tied with a white cloth. On one hand, it was to distinguish them from other Taiping army units. On the other hand, it was to express their condolences for the death of the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing.
In the morning, Marquis Zuotian Chen Cheng entered Chen Degui's camp. By the time he entered Chen Degui's camp, Vézé had already reorganized more than half of the troops.
The first to be reorganized were the troops whose commanders were still in charge of Vézé's troops. There had been no conflict yet. When this part of the troops was reorganized, Vézé and the rest immediately began to "protect" the commanders that Yang Xiuqing had placed.
These people could not understand the fact that they were being protected, and a small-scale conflict broke out. This movement immediately alerted Chen Degui and Chen Chengxiang in the tent.
As the two were talking, they suddenly heard a noise from afar. Chen Cheng? This was the first time he had come to Chen Degui's military camp. Chen Degui could clearly hear that this noise was actually coming from within the military camp. At this moment, Chen Degui had already become a frightened bird. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates, "All of you, go take a look and see what's going on!"
The people that were sent outside left quickly, and returned quickly as well. They returned to the main tent under the direction of the muzzle of the gun.
"Are you guys rebelling?" Chen Degui, who was quickly restrained, shouted in fear.
"They're not rebelling, they're just following orders!" Following this voice, Vézé appeared at the entrance of the main tent with his guards.
"Prince Of Qi! What's the meaning of this? "Chen Degui was still young. Seeing this situation, he shouted at Vézé.
Vézé did not answer this meaningless question. He calmly asked, "Chen Degui, why didn't you kneel when you saw this king?"
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