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On the morning of February 16th, 1852, the Dayao Mountains once again welcomed soldiers in traditional Chinese attire.
This time, the army followed the same route as last time. Military Commander Zhang Yingchen had set off on February 14th, and had already decided on the route, resting points, and camping spots two days before that. Not only did they have to prepare the route, but they also had to find fuel for heating and cooking, as well as where to get water.
Zhang Yingchen considered himself to be quick-witted, and he was the first among Vézé's old subordinates to be promoted to military commander. Although he might not be as valiant and skilled in battle as Wei Changrong and the others, he could still be considered an elite when compared to his brothers in the supply troops. He was naturally very pleased with himself.
When Vézé explained the duties of a military commander to him, Zhang Yingchen felt that he understood it very well. However, when it came to the real thing, Zhang Yingchen ran into a problem on the first day of the march. He had actually forgotten to find out where to get the fuel. This wasn't a march of twenty men, and they could simply gather some dry branches and hay. Some of the two hundred men had fires that burned well, while others didn't have enough fuel and were still emitting thick smoke. The smoke and fire greatly affected the troops' rest.
"Since we're walking the same route, and we have to maintain the same marching speed, these seemingly small details will become problematic. If some unlucky troops are affected every time they rest, it will accumulate and affect the entire troop. "Vézé didn't get angry. He simply explained to Zhang Yingchen as a matter of fact.
Zhang Yingchen was very impressed with Vézé. Although he couldn't understand the "severity" of the problem that Vézé mentioned, he understood his own situation and confirmed that he had indeed forgotten about the fuel. Because this was the first time he was able to command a troop of twenty men, Zhang Yingchen had been in high spirits throughout the journey, so he had forgotten about these specific details. Just as he was feeling ashamed, Zhang Yingchen heard Vézé say, "Zhang Sima, you should also take a closer look at that list."
"That list …" Zhang Yingchen felt even more ashamed. Vézé wrote a manual for Zhang Yingchen's reconnaissance team. Of course, the contents were drafted. At that time, Vézé had told Zhang Yingchen and the others to follow the rules on the list first, and if they encountered any problems in the process, they should write them down. These contents were constantly being adjusted and perfected.
Zhang Yingchen felt that he didn't need to worry so much since he had already walked this path. More importantly, Zhang Yingchen was literate, but he didn't know many words. There were a lot of words on Vézé's list that Zhang Yingchen couldn't recognize. When Vézé explained some of the words, Zhang Yingchen could understand them, but when Zhang Yingchen read them himself, he couldn't understand them. Therefore, after much effort, Zhang Yingchen gave up on following the contents on the list. Instead, he followed his memory and experience.
Now that Vézé asked, Zhang Yingchen hesitated a few times, and finally answered in a low voice, "Commander Wei Zu, I didn't read it carefully at first, and then I didn't read it again."
"Oh?" Vézé responded in surprise. Zhang Yingchen felt that Vézé was about to give him a good scolding. Everyone else who encountered this kind of situation would definitely be scolded. Zhang Yingchen felt guilty, and he really didn't want to make up something to deal with Vézé. He just waited for Vézé's scolding.
Vézé said happily, "Yingchen, I have to say, you told me the truth. You did a good job!"
Zhang Yingchen was stunned. Vézé's completely abnormal reaction made Zhang Yingchen not know how to answer.
Of course, Vézé's joy was not an act. He continued, "Yingchen, you can't do things according to the rules, so you must have encountered some difficulties. Come on, tell me why you can't do things according to the rules. "
Since Vézé was so considerate, Zhang Yingchen also let go. He was illiterate, so he couldn't understand Vézé's writing. It was difficult for him to understand the content. At first, Zhang Yingchen was too embarrassed to say it. He was afraid that he would hurt Vézé's face. However, seeing that Vézé was so calm, he was glad that he told him everything.
Vézé took Zhang Yingchen's marching regulations. According to the content that Zhang Yingchen proposed, he and Zhang Yingchen analyzed and revised it. After revising the beginning, the troops continued to march. Vézé and Zhang Yingchen talked and revised as they walked. They continued to revise at night. In the end, Zhang Yingchen got a marching regulation that was almost completely new. Naturally, this writing was written in the vernacular. After reading it one by one, he could basically understand it.
"Read it yourself first. Then, let the other brothers read it. If there is anything that you don't understand, come to me to revise it. "Vézé said.
"Commander Wei Zu, I don't care if they can read it or not. I will make them memorize it!" Zhang Yingchen was very determined.
Vézé waved his hand. "Yingchen, if you write something for people to read, you have to make them understand it. If nine out of ten people can't understand what you write, then what kind of nonsense is it? You don't need to care about me. Now, we have to let our brothers read it. "
Although Zhang Yingchen was very touched, he felt that Vézé was overestimating him. He reminded him, "Commander Wei Zu, eight out of ten of our brothers can't read."
"That's not a problem. I will teach everyone how to read." Vézé smiled. "Yingchen, do you remember? I told you that I will teach you everything I know. Not only you, I will teach everything I know to our brothers. You have to learn it for me! "
After daybreak, they continued to march. After all, they had traveled the same route. Plus, they had a special marching team and a logistics team. This time, the marching speed was much faster than last time. However, after two days of marching, some of the brothers gradually began to feel tired.
This year, the military training of the Chinese army was very lax. This was especially true for marching. The brothers of the Taiping army had high morale during the war. However, they did not have a lot of training for marching. Moreover, Vézé and the others had been marching for more than a month. Their current speed was not something that could be easily caught up with by ordinary brothers.
"Clench your teeth and hold on. Just do your best!" Vézé had no other way but to say this to everyone.
On the afternoon of February 18th, the exhausted troops finally arrived near the official road. Last time, it took Vézé and the others six days to get here. This time, it only took one-third of the time.
Early in the morning of February 19th, Zhang Yingchen brought back news along the official road. A group of more than 200 Qing Army grain escorting troops were marching along the official road toward Vézé.
On February 20th, the Qing Army grain escort officer waited until daybreak with red eyes. Not long after, a grain transport team was robbed on the official road, and many things were taken from them. Since then, the Qing Army escorting the grain became more vigilant. This time, the number of people in the grain escort team increased to more than 250. They were also much more vigilant. There was always a group of musketeers ready to fire at any time.
Since yesterday, a group of bandits had appeared near the official road. The grain transport team soon discovered the traces of the bandits and immediately fought with them. Bandits were, after all, bandits. Under the fierce gunfire of the grain escort team, they were quickly beaten away.
The grain escort officer didn't dare to be careless. According to his superior's instructions, these bandits were very brave and couldn't be underestimated. As expected, after the bandits were beaten away, they didn't give up. Instead, they followed the grain escort team like ghosts. It seemed like they were preparing to launch a sneak attack when the grain escort team was careless.
Following the Qing Army's method of dealing with the grain escort team, the grain escort officer sent someone to the sentry post on the official road to ask for reinforcements. There were still four to five hundred people at the sentry post. Nearly four hundred people would definitely be enough to make the bandits retreat. Perhaps they could even kill some bandits and take their heads back to report their achievements.
That night, the grain escort officer on the official road was on high alert. He used his gun several times to beat back the bandits' attacks. By the end of the night, everyone was exhausted. At this time, the grain escort officer no longer had any thoughts of making a contribution. He only hoped that the reinforcement team at the sentry post would arrive quickly and safely deliver the New Year's supplies. If it weren't for the fact that the imperial envoy had come to Xinwei to supervise the war, his superior wouldn't have forced him to deliver such a reward to the frontlines.
"Sir, should we move to the sentry post?" a subordinate asked the grain escort officer. After a sleepless night, not only was the grain escort officer's eyes bloodshot, but the subordinates transporting the grain were also exhausted. The bandits had harassed them several times, and the troops had fired their guns all night. More than a dozen of their brothers had been injured by the explosion of their guns. The troops' morale had fallen to rock bottom.
"Let's defend this place! No matter what, we can't give the bandits any opportunity, "the grain escort officer ordered.
As they spoke, they suddenly heard the sound of gunfire coming from the official road ahead. This time, the grain escort team was immediately alarmed. Could there be bandits lying in ambush ahead? If there were bandits lying in ambush, then who was fighting the bandits? Was it reinforcements sent by the sentry post?
"Sir! Sir … what should we do? Maybe it's our brothers at the sentry post ahead! "The junior officer's voice was trembling.
"Don't panic!" the grain escort officer shouted. "Get into formation and defend here."
The bandits were so cunning that they had set up an ambush ahead and even fought with the brothers sent by the sentry post. The grain escort officer had made up his mind to not take the initiative to attack no matter what.
The gunfire stopped after a while. After a while, the gunfire started again. The grain escort team's nerves were stretched taut as they focused on the official road ahead. The gunfire was getting closer and closer. Suddenly, seven or eight men dressed in commoner's clothes ran along the official road with spears in their hands.
"Get ready to fire!" The grain escort officer immediately ordered. A moment later, the densely packed flintlocks were raised and aimed at the seven or eight people running in front of them. The seven or eight people obviously didn't expect that there would be soldiers here. They were immediately stunned on the spot. But after a while, they continued to run. This time, they didn't run along the official road. Instead, they tried to run into the woods on both sides of the official road. At this moment, another twenty soldiers appeared on the official road. Because the bandits in front were stunned for a moment, they couldn't shake off the soldiers. The soldiers in front were carrying flintlocks, and with a few shots, they knocked the bandits to the ground. The soldiers seemed to be in high spirits, even though the bandits had been knocked down. The soldiers in the back were still trying their best to stab the bandits with their spears. At the same time, curses in Cantonese and Hunan could be heard from afar.
The grain escort officer let out a long sigh and ordered, "Send someone to invite the brothers on the other side over." When the Qing Army saw their allies, they felt relieved. Just to be on the safe side, the grain escort team still maintained a vigilant formation. If bandits suddenly appeared from another direction, it would be terrible.
After a while, the Qing Army arrived in front of them. Several of them had wounds on their bodies, and their military caps were tightly fastened to their heads. Some of them had bloodstains on their uniforms, and some were limping as they walked. It seemed that they had been through a fierce battle. After seeing the grain escort officer, the leader of the Qing Army troops quickly saluted the grain escort officer, then stood up and said, "Your Excellency, those bandits had set up an ambush in front of us. It wasn't easy for us to kill them. Our brothers in the back are currently cleaning up those bandits. A few of us chased after them. Fortunately, Your Excellency helped us and we were able to kill those bandits. "
This flattery was very smooth, and the grain escort officer was naturally pleased.
"Your Excellency, please lend us a few brothers with sabers to go with us to cut off those bandits' heads. We hope Your Excellency will agree. "The leader of the Qing Army troops had a worried expression on his face.
How could the grain escort officer not understand this fellow's meaning? They only had guns and spears in their hands. The guns had already been let go, so the spears naturally couldn't be used to cut off the bandits' heads. Furthermore, the grain escort officers had the advantage in numbers. If they borrowed the grain escort officers' sabers, the bandits' heads would definitely be taken away by the grain escort team.
As expected, the leader of the Qing Army troops took a few steps forward and respectfully said to the grain escort officer, "I hope Your Excellency will leave us two or three heads. Two will be enough."
"Haha!" The grain escort officer had been tired all night, and was now in a relaxed mood. Seeing that the other party was so tactful, he laughed and replied, "There's no harm in leaving you two heads."
Saying this, the grain escort officer ordered his subordinates to put away their guns and sent a few men with sabers to help. As soon as the grain escort team's formation opened, a few sabermen walked out.
At this moment, a man behind the leader of the Qing Army troops who had spoken at the very front suddenly lifted up the long ridge of his uniform and pulled out a saber from his waist. The grain escort officer was startled. Just now, that fellow had been limping, which was rather eye-catching. He hadn't expected that he had hidden a saber on his person. Before the grain escort officer could figure out what was going on, he saw the fellow pretending to be limping raise his other hand. The guy who pretended to be a cripple raised his other hand. In it was a double-barreled handgun.
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