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February 20, 1852 was the first day of the first lunar month. The Qing Army's Xindike Barracks, which should have been in a festive mood during the New Year, was not at all festive at all. It was already nighttime. Lanterns had long been lit in the main tent. Seated in the middle of the tent was the imperial envoy Sai Shan-a, who had been sent by the Imperial Court to exterminate the rebels in Guangxi. Naturally, Lord Seishan was facing the south with his back to the north. To his left was a row of people, led by the commander of the Northern Barracks, Xiang Rong, who had already been restored to his post. There was also a row of people sitting on Cezanne's right, led by Adjunct Yao Ying.
The two rows of people facing each other did not smile at all. They did not even look at each other. Everyone's gaze fell on a junior officer kneeling on the ground. The tent was brightly lit, and the young officer kneeling on the ground had a deathly pale face. He had said all that he needed to say. At this moment, he lowered his head and waited for the higher-ups to deal with him.
The imperial envoy Seishan'a was silent, but his heart was in turmoil. This was the second time the grain team on the official road had been robbed. If the previous robbery of the grain transport team could be attributed to carelessness, then the second robbery was completely different. The robbers first used small-scale harassment to delay the grain transport team. The grain transport team sent people to the checkpoint in front of them to ask for reinforcements. More than a hundred people were sent to guard the sentry post, but they were ambushed before they could even travel five kilometers.
After the bandits had killed almost all of the more than a hundred Qing Army soldiers, they left some nearly naked Qing Army corpses on the ground. Not only did the bandits not flee, they even left some people by the side of the road to restrain the reinforcements sent by the sentry post. Another small group of robbers disguised themselves as the Qing Army and went to swindle the grain convoy.
The Qing Army's grain convoy did not manage to see through the robbers' ruse. As soon as their formation was broken, the robbers charged into the grain convoy's formation. Under this sudden attack, the Qing Army's supply team was thrown into disarray. The bandits who had been lying in ambush by the roadside took advantage of the situation and swarmed out. Under the attack from both inside and outside, not many people from the Qing Army's grain transport team managed to escape. The new year's rewards were also completely plundered by the robbers.
By the time the Qing Army's front and rear sentry posts had sent troops over, the robbers had already disappeared without a trace. This time the Qing army officers at the sentry post did not dare to tarry; they sent several Qing soldiers who luckily escaped with their lives to the main army.
The loss of supplies was certainly heart-wrenching, but what frightened the imperial envoy even more was the robbers' ferocity. The group of bandits who had disguised themselves as the Qing army to swindle the grain transport team only had less than ten people, but they were incomparably valiant. Especially that ruthless bandit who used a handgun to kill the grain escort officer, and used a saber to kill more than a dozen imperial soldiers in succession. Qing Qing, the robbers' Qing Dynasty. "Qing," Qing, of the Qing. I said. Qing. "Army, Qing, Dynasty 'Shan," Dynasty'
"Hai" of, of, Dynasty, they "Qing Qing,", and "Qing, and, Qing, of the" Qing, and.., Dynasty, Qing Qing, of Yu, "Dynasty," Dynasty. "Take him away and keep an eye on him," Ceishan finally said.
"Take him away and keep an eye on him," Ceishan finally said. The imperial envoy wasn't someone who didn't empathize with his subordinates. The low-ranking officer who had escaped was of an extremely low rank. The general responsible for suppressing the supplies had already been killed. Killing this insignificant officer was useless.
As soon as the officer was taken away, Adjunct Yao Ying immediately rose and saluted Ceishan. "Milord," she continued, "Before Admiral Xiang moved the camp, this lowly officer had already said that rashly moving the camp would only leave the rear empty. If the rebels launched a surprise attack with light troops, the consequences would be unfathomable. Currently, the rebels have already cut off the supply routes several times to rob the army. This lowly officer believes that Admiral Xiang should retreat for the time being and first defend the route of retreat. If the Northern Barracks were to be seized by the rebels, that would truly be a disaster! "
Hearing this, Xiang Rong's expression was as unsightly as it could be. Adjunct Yao Ying had always been on Ulan Tai's side. During the day, Yao Ying had even complained to Ceishan that Xiang Rong was being domineering and had no respect for his superiors, even dismissing a thousand soldiers. Ceishan 'a lightly said, "I had Xiang Rong do this." Only then did Yao Ying finally shut her mouth.
Because of this blow from Ceishan 'a, Yao Ying had finally calmed down a little. But now, with this matter of robbing the army, Yao Ying was once again making things difficult. Moreover, she wanted Xiang Rong to attack the entire camp from seven miles away from Yongan City.
Ceishan 'a frowned slightly. Jiang Zhongyuan's plan sounded very reasonable. He asked, "How many soldiers will be needed?"
Jiang Zhongyuan replied seriously, "Milord, the scouts will need the cooperation of the Northern and Southern Barracks. If we are to surround and annihilate them, we will need three to four thousand soldiers. " Jiang Zhongyuan was afraid that Ceishan 'a would feel that this was not worth it, so he continued to explain, "Milord, these bandits are the elites of the rebels. As long as we catch them all in one fell swoop and leave their corpses in front of Yongan City, the traitors in the city will definitely suffer a great blow and no longer dare to come out to rob the army. It's just that it will take some effort now, but there's no need to densely cover the official roads with sentries. It will also intimidate the rebels. We can't be stingy with soldiers here. "
"How long will it take?" Ceishan 'a continued to ask Jiang Zhongyuan.
Jiang Zhongyuan did not exaggerate. He replied, "It's hard to say how long it will take. At least five to six days, at most ten days. But we have to send troops now. If we wait, I'm afraid those bandits will run back to Yongan City first. "
Ceishan glanced at Xiang Rong, who had a cooperative expression on his face. He then looked at Yao Ying, but Yao Ying didn't say a word. Ceishan 'a understood that Yao Ying was determined not to let Xiang Rong lead the Northern and Southern Barracks. The gloomy imperial envoy could only change the topic.
This awkward situation finally came to a temporary end when Ceishan 'a announced that the meeting would continue tomorrow. However, Jiang Zhongyuan did not immediately return to his residence. Instead, he waited at the entrance of the large tent. Xiang Rong first invited Jiang Zhongyuan to his residence for a chat. Jiang Zhongyuan knew that Xiang Rong was preparing to rope him in. He politely replied, "Tomorrow, I will definitely go to Admiral Xiang's place to harass him."
After Xiang Rong left, Jiang Zhongyuan stopped Yao Ying, who was preparing to leave.
Yao Ying had purposely left the large tent a little later. Having been ignored by Ceishan 'a this time, Yao Ying was very discouraged. Seeing that Jiang Zhongyuan had taken the initiative to come over, he naturally could not let him go. The two of them arrived at Yao Ying's residence. They had just sat down when Jiang Zhongyuan said, "Sir Yao, I have great admiration for your defense of Taiwan!"
Yao Ying had been in charge of Taiwan's military. During the First Opium War, he had defended Taiwan and repelled the British attack. After the Treaty of Nanking was signed, the British demanded that Taiwan be held responsible for "resisting the British."
Guangdong Governor Qi Ying wrote a letter to a certain minister in the capital, declaring, "If we don't kill Taiwan's military, we won't have a place to stand." When the news came, the court and the public were in an uproar. They all cried out for Yao Ying. When Yao Ying was detained in the capital, more than 30 famous people, including Ceng Guofan, fought to drive to Changxindian on the outskirts of the capital to welcome him. Yao Ying was imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's prison. Later, he was rescued by a friend and released after six days of detention. Even though he had received such treatment, Yao Ying did not have too many complaints.
Yao Ying knew that this was what Jiang Zhongyuan was talking about, and his heart was quite relieved. Seeing that Jiang Zhongyuan was expressing his goodwill, he replied, "Jiang Zhongyuan, three times you carried a coffin back to Hunan, shaking the world. I know your character is noble and unsullied, so I have something to say to you. It's not that I have any personal grudges against Admiral Xiang Rong. After Admiral Xiang was restored, he changed his past mistakes. He has made great progress in commanding troops and pacifying the army. However, his methods of commanding troops are truly inferior to Wulan Tai … "
Yao Ying was speaking from the bottom of his heart. He didn't want to kill Xiang Rong, but he sincerely hoped that Wulan Tai would be in charge of military affairs. Yao Ying also felt extremely wronged by Cei Shan-a's cold treatment.
Jiang Zhongyuan's original intention was to persuade Yao Ying and Xiang Rong to work together, but he hadn't expected that Yao Ying would still insist on his own opinion. Jiang Zhongyuan also tried to persuade him a bit, but Yao Ying's line of thought was still in his own way. Xiang Rong couldn't and had to listen to Wulan Tai.
As a straightforward person, Jiang Zhongyuan knew that his idea couldn't be realized. No matter what, Yao Ying would insist on Wulan Tai's attitude. Taking advantage of Yao Ying's silence, Jiang Zhongyuan interjected, "Official Yao, the Northern and Southern Barracks must work together to exterminate that small group of bandits. Who will be in charge? Can we put this matter aside for now?"
Hearing Jiang Zhongyuan's words, Yao Ying slightly narrowed his eyes. Under the current circumstances, if Yao Ying were to make the slightest concession, it would definitely be Xiang Rong who wielded authority. Thinking of this, Yao Ying began to suspect that Jiang Zhongyuan had been leaning towards Xiang Rong all along and was now here to persuade him. With this in mind, Yao Ying's words also began to be evasive and full of hidden meaning.
Jiang Zhongyuan was a high-ranking official, so how could he not understand the meaning behind Yao Ying's words? He had originally wanted to mediate this matter. Now that he had incurred Yao Ying's suspicions, he couldn't even speak reason.
After leaving Yao Ying's residence, Jiang Zhongyuan let out a long sigh. He was a straightforward and easy-going person, which was why he had dared to try and mediate the conflict between the two military governors as a fellow comrade. Seeing that the matter had failed, Jiang Zhongyuan was disheartened. He decided to leave the Xindike Barracks the next day. After returning to Chu Yong's encampment, Jiang Zhongyuan would write a letter of sickness and return to Hubei with the Chu Yong soldiers.
After confirming his intention to leave, Jiang Zhongyuan thought of the group of Taiping army bandits he had prepared to deal with. If the Qing Army besieging Yong 'an could really unite as one, Jiang Zhongyuan was confident that he had at least an 80% chance of wiping them out. But in this situation, the imperial envoy Sai Shang 'a didn't understand military affairs, much less the way to govern. The infighting in the Qing Army was even more intense than in battle. His plan to set up an ambush to wipe out the bandits who were robbing the supply route would definitely fail.
"Consider yourselves lucky!" Jiang Zhongyuan silently said in his heart. However, Jiang Zhongyuan actually knew why he was so concerned about this group of rebels. From all the information he had gathered, this group of bandits actually tied up their hair. This piqued Jiang Zhongyuan's curiosity. At this thought, Jiang Zhongyuan interrupted his train of thought. Some things couldn't be overthought.
Just as Jiang Zhongyuan had predicted, Vézé was currently plotting a plan to rush back to Yong 'an as soon as possible. In this attack on the Qing Army's supply team, Vézé's troops had gained complete control of the battlefield. All of the Qing Army's supplies had fallen into Vézé's hands.
Although he had over 200 subordinates, due to the proper tactical arrangements, there were few casualties. However, Vézé had seized over 20,000 jin of supplies. The troops couldn't take it all away, so Vézé could only move the supplies to the hiding place. He had already sent people back to Yong 'an to contact them in hopes that they could move the supplies back to Yong' an City as soon as possible.
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