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Lin Fengxiang was very envious of Vézé's General Staff Headquarters system. This system could solve the problem of "having soldiers as generals." Wei Ze only had thirty thousand soldiers and horses in his hands, yet he was able to move unhindered across the world. The Taiping army now had more than two hundred thousand soldiers, more than seven times the number of Vézé's. However, when faced with the encirclement of the Qing Army, they still couldn't break through. The biggest problem was that all the troops were under the command of the generals.
The Five Armies Commander System or the Five Regions Commander System. In theory, the five commanders were all under the command of the central government. When Yang Xiuqing was in power, he could still manage all the generals. Once Yang Xiuqing died, the local generals in Heavenly State became independent. Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan couldn't mobilize the generals at will, let alone manage the generals' troops.
Even Shi Dakai, who had the highest status and the most influence in Heavenly State, had to face the same situation. When they went to Jiujiang, Shi Dakai was in charge of the entire Western Expedition Army and the troops he brought from Tianjing. But when Shi Dakai wanted to leave Heavenly State, he couldn't command Wei Jun, Li Xiucheng, and the other generals. He could only "send" these generals who were willing to follow the Taiping Rebellion back to Tianjing.
This time, Hong Xiuquan established the five generals' system, and the situation didn't change. Lin Fengxiang led his troops again, which was easy. But now he wanted to bring the other four troops under his command. Hong Xiuquan wouldn't agree, and the generals of the four troops wouldn't agree either. Then Lin Fengxiang had to accept this reality. Because the soldiers only listened to the general's orders.
Fortunately, Lin Fengxiang wasn't a narrow-minded person. In the face of such a situation, he was at ease. When Lin Fengxiang gathered the generals and deputy generals of the other four troops for a military meeting, he first asked Li Xiucheng, "Xiucheng, can Jiujiang still be saved?"
Li Xiucheng had an ugly expression on his face. When he replied, his voice sounded as if he was venting his anger at someone. The others all knew that Li Xiucheng hated Shi Dakai. "Reporting to Lin Da Ge, if we had mobilized the entire army in January, we might have been able to save him. I'm afraid he can't be saved now! Qing Yao's navy is stronger than ours to begin with. It's impossible for us to send aid via water. On the road, Qing Yao has surrounded the whole of Jiujiang with several layers of camps. No matter how we challenge him, Qing Yao won't come out. "
The Qing Army had been besieging Jiujiang for more than a year, so everyone knew what was going on. Every time the Xiang Army attacks an attack, it will inevitably form a fortified stronghold and fight in a daze. The Taiping army is not afraid of the Xiang Army in the field, but facing the Xiang Army's tortoise formation, the Taiping army also feels numb. After listening to Li Xiucheng's account of Jiujiang's situation, the generals began to curse Shi Dakai for his lack of loyalty. Although they didn't all join in, Shi Dakai had cast Jiujiang aside in the name of aiding Jiujiang. To do such a cruel thing, Shi Dakai's heartlessness made everyone feel bitterly disappointed.
At this time, someone announced that Zhang Yingchen had arrived. Everyone froze. Lin Fengxiang smiled. "I invited Brother Zhang."
Everyone knew that Vézé was good at fighting head-on battles. As Vézé's subordinate, Zhang Yingchen had always been able to win smoothly against the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks. If Zhang Yingchen hadn't been Hong Xiuquan's confidant, Hong Xiuquan would never have allowed Zhang Yingchen to be too far from Tianjing, nor would he have let Zhang Yingchen fight head-on with the Qing Army. He would have long since become the vanguard to save Jiujiang.
"Brother Zhang, if Prince Of Qi were here, how would he fight Jiujiang?" Lin Fengxiang asked directly. No one in the Taiping army dared mention Prince Of Qi and Vézé so openly. After hearing Lin Fengxiang's question, everyone looked at Zhang Yingchen with a complicated expression.
Zhang Yingchen's expression changed slightly. After a pause, he replied, "I know a little about Jiujiang. If Prince Of Qi were to save Jiujiang, he would certainly gather his elite forces and use the artillery as the vanguard. He would first blast open Qing Yao's barracks and then kill his way in. But I heard that Qing Yao bought a lot of foreign cannons from the foreigners, and their firepower is very strong. Is that true? "
Li Xiucheng nodded angrily. "That's true. The foreigners are selling spears and cannons to the Xiang Army. Our Craftsman Battalion has only recently changed the matchlock guns to flintlock guns. But the Xiang Army is already using flintlock guns. "
After saying that, Li Xiucheng added angrily, "Many of our spears were taken away by Yi Wang!"
Lin Fengxiang didn't want this meeting to turn into a scolding session for Shi Dakai. There were almost 20,000 Taiping army soldiers in Jiujiang. The defending general, Lin Qirong, was a fierce general in the Taiping army. He was able to defend Jiujiang for more than a year under the siege of the Qing Army. These people were very valuable soldiers. Even if Jiujiang fell, Lin Fengxiang felt that it was worth it if he could find a way to get them out.
"Where are we going to get cannons that are more powerful than the Xiang Army?" Lin Fengxiang asked Zhang Yingchen a question he already knew the answer to.
Zhang Yingchen laughed bitterly. "Lin Da Ge, if we are talking about who can get good cannons, other than the foreigners, I'm afraid the only one left is Prince Of Qi. My subordinates originally had some 12-pound mountain howitzers, but only a few of them were used to defend Tianjing City. The rest were taken away by Prince Of Qi. If you want me to get those cannons, Lin Da Ge, why don't you do it? "
Lin Fengxiang knew that Zhang Yingchen was telling the truth. He hesitated for a moment and said seriously, "Brother Zhang, I can't say this, but I really want to save our brothers in Jiujiang. We don't need to destroy Qing Yao, we just need to open a passage to save our brothers in Jiujiang. But only you, Brother Zhang, can fight such a tough battle … "
But Zhang Yingchen only heard half of Lin Fengxiang's words before he interrupted, "Big brother Lin, the soldiers in my hands right now are not the same soldiers from back then. They are all new soldiers that came later. They can still fight the heavy smokers of the Jiangnan camp. But these people are much worse than they were back then. If Prince Of Qi hadn't left, the old soldiers would still be there, with all the firearms, and Prince Of Qi leading the army. I wouldn't even bat an eyelid if he asked me to charge. Not to mention opening the passage to Jiujiang, I don't think it's a big deal to kill all of Qing Yao. But times have changed, I really can't do it now. "
Hearing Zhang Yingchen's refusal, not only Lin Fengxiang, but the other generals all looked disappointed. But Zhang Yingchen had refused, so there was nothing they could do. In fact, even if Zhang Yingchen hadn't refused, Hong Xiuquan might not have been willing to let Zhang Yingchen waste his elite troops in Jiujiang.
Looking at everyone's expressions, Zhang Yingchen stood up and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
Lin Fengxiang personally sent Zhang Yingchen out. In the front yard, he pulled Zhang Yingchen and said in a low voice, "Brother Zhang, do you think Wayne Brothers will sell us good guns?"
Zhang Yingchen looked around and sighed. "Lin Da Ge, it's not like you haven't dealt with Prince Of Qi before. Given the King of Qi's temperament, do you think that he would allow his brothers to throw away their lives for nothing? But I can't say anything about Prince Of Qi, and I can't provoke him. So, Lin Da Ge, do as you see fit. "
Lin Fengxiang knew Zhang Yingchen's difficulties, so he didn't ask any more questions and just sent Zhang Yingchen out.
When Lin Fengxiang returned, Li Xiucheng asked, "Lin Da Ge, can we buy some cannons from Prince Of Qi? If we're in a hurry, we might be able to use them when we attack Jiujiang. "
"That's the only way!" Lin Fengxiang answered. First, he sent someone with money to recruit Vézé in Guangdong. Then, Lin Fengxiang started to discuss with everyone about the five commanders.
Although Jiujiang was important, the Qing Army was attacking from all five directions. Everyone divided their responsibilities. Lin Fengxiang was naturally in charge of upstream, Li Kaifang was in charge of Shouzhou, and Yoshibuwon was in charge of Luzhou, fighting the Huai army coming south from Fengyang. Ceng Lichang was still fighting in Wannan. Although Shi Dakai was currently in Jiangxi, who knew where he would go next? Meanwhile, Li Xiucheng was transferred to the Changzhou area to deal with the Qing Army in Jiangnan and Jiangbei.
After confirming the directions each army was responsible for, the commanders of the other four armies bid farewell to Lin Fengxiang. Lin Fengxiang knew that the military situation on their side was indeed more urgent. However, Lin Fengxiang also knew that everyone knew that Jiujiang would be difficult to save, so they simply let Lin Fengxiang carry the burden. If he left earlier, it would save him some trouble.
After everyone left, Lin Fengxiang ordered someone to take out a map. Looking at Jiujiang's position, and then thinking about the situation in the other areas, Lin Fengxiang became more and more depressed. He slapped the map in frustration. Because of the huge vibration, the teacups on the table toppled over, and the tea inside spilled out. Lin Fengxiang quickly grabbed the map and shook off the water. Then, he found a cloth and carefully wiped the map dry. This was a very exquisite map, one of the maps Vézé had given to Lin Fengxiang when he left the Taiping Rebellion. To Lin Fengxiang, this was a resource more precious than hundreds of spears.
Looking at the map, Lin Fengxiang couldn't help but think of Vézé. Both of them had left Heavenly State, but Lin Fengxiang didn't feel any anger or resentment toward Vézé. If Vézé hadn't left, he would have been forced to fight with the other brothers of the Taiping Rebellion. But Shi Dakai's departure was to step on the brothers of Heavenly State to achieve his personal goals.
Thinking of this, Lin Fengxiang suddenly remembered the question raised by Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. "Is Shi Dakai trying to learn from Vézé?"
If Shi Dakai really wanted to learn from Vézé, it would be to occupy a piece of land and completely break with the Taiping Rebellion. But now, it seemed that Shi Dakai wasn't trying to learn from Vézé at all.
The strongest army in the Taiping Army was the Western Expedition Army in Jiangxi, followed by the three Prime Ministers' subordinates in Anhui. Based on Lin Fengxiang's investigation, it was estimated that Shi Dakai would be able to take away at least a hundred thousand men from the Western Expedition Army. Previously, Yang Fuqing had attacked Fujian, but after being repelled by the Qing Army, he had rested in Jiangdong. It was said that Yang Fuqing was in contact with Shi Dakai, preparing to attack Jiangzhe with him.
If things really progressed to this stage, then there would be a huge strategic gap in Jiangxi. Transferring Yangzhou's Ceng Lichang to Wannan was also to have him assist Lin Fengxiang in dealing with this serious situation.
Lin Fengxiang had thought that the chaos caused by the Tianjing coup would end by now, but he didn't expect that his efforts to maintain it would only last for a year. The real rupture had finally appeared. Shi Dakai was determined to establish a new world. For a smart person like Shi Dakai, the first condition to establish a new world was to let the Taiping Rebellion attract the fierce attacks of the Qing Army. He would then look for weak spots in the surroundings and establish a stable territory as soon as possible. Zhejiang was undoubtedly a good choice.
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