? Horses dragged the iron cannon on the road.
Even when they passed by the stone road, there was no ear-piercing sound of iron hoop rolling over stones. Even when they passed by the stone road, there was no ear-piercing sound of iron hoop rolling over stones. The iron wheels of the cannon were wrapped in rubber tires. Although they lacked bearings and were not light enough, they were still much faster than the artillery of other China armies. Lei Hu used these cannon as the core to organize the marching formation of the troops. The purpose of this trip was to hand over the 150 cannons and their supporting parts to Lin Fengxiang. Lei Hu would not let go of this opportunity to train the troops in the event of a war.
The troops were neat and tidy, and the reconnaissance troops constantly passed on information from the surroundings to the troops. Vézé thought that there might not be many battles on this trip north to Jiangxi, so the troops listened to them for the time being. As for Vézé's other words, "Do your job well!", the troops completely believed it and carried out Vézé's orders.
It was already June 27th. Lei Hu and the troops had already set off for 15 days. The troops' destination was Jingdezhen. Lin Fengxiang hoped that Lei Hu could deliver the goods here. Although Lei Hu did not agree with Lin Fengxiang's plan, he had to leave first. The Liberation Army was more than two thousand kilometers away from Lin Fengxiang's troops. They relied on messengers to pass messages back and forth. Even if they could travel eight hundred kilometers in one day and one night, it would still take five days to travel four thousand kilometers back and forth. Vézé was very sincere in supporting Lin Fengxiang. He ordered Lei Hu's troops to follow the main road to Jingdezhen. During the operation, the two sides would discuss again.
"Division Commander, the Taiping Rebellion shouldn't have taken so long to control Jingdezhen, right?" Brigade Commander Song Wu asked Lei Hu. The Liberation Army had passed by Jingdezhen when they went south, so they knew very well how close it was to Tianjing City. In another two or three days, the troops would arrive at Fuzhou. Up until now, the troops had maintained a strict marching posture.
Lei Hu did not reply immediately. Of course, he knew how close Jingdezhen was to Tianjing City, and he was even more aware of how far Jingdezhen was from Ganzhou. Lei Hu even remembered the investigation done by Vézé when they passed through Jingdezhen.
Jingdezhen was a famous porcelain capital in China, but it was almost finished in the 1850s. It was not that anyone wanted to make things difficult for or destroy Jingdezhen, but after the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the production of Jingdezhen porcelain went downhill from its peak. Its output, quality, variety, and shape were all in a state of decline. After 1840, due to the poor quality, the Imperial Equipment Factory, which had lasted for more than 500 years in Jingdezhen, came to an end.
The last time Lei Hu passed by Jingdezhen, he was not interested in these things. It was the same now. After thinking for a moment, Lei Hu put the matter of Jingdezhen, the declining porcelain city, to the back of his mind. Lei Hu recalled the information related to the war.
Shi Dakai had set off from Jingdezhen and marched to the west of Zhejiang. Commander Song Wu was right. The Taiping Rebellion had originally hoped that Shi Dakai's troops would be able to defend Jiangxi. This meant that the actual control of Jingdezhen had not been in the hands of the Taiping Rebellion recently.
The troops would arrive in Fuzhou in a few days, so it could not be said that the Taiping Rebellion had taken control of it. In March or April, Yang Fuqing had marched to the north of Fujian in an attempt to establish two separate but connected battlefields with Shi Dakai.
The intelligence staff rushed into the division headquarters. After saluting, he said, "Division Commander, the Qing Army has not shown any signs of withdrawing from Fuzhou."
"Continue the investigation," Lei Hu ordered. After confirming the news from Fuzhou, Lei Hu said to Song Wu, "I have already made an appointment with Lin Fengxiang to meet in Fuzhou to deliver the goods."
Vézé did not plan to let Lei Hu's troops start a massacre in Jiangxi. Lei Hu's order was to escort the silver back safely after handing over the cannons. Fuzhou had been a key place that the Qing Army and the Taiping army had repeatedly fought over. After Yang Fuqing left Fuzhou to attack the north of Fujian, the fighting there had indeed decreased a lot. But now, Fuzhou was in the hands of the Qing Army. When Lei Hu had set off, a Qing Army unit had entered Fuzhou and had not shown any signs of leaving.
Song Wu did not quite understand what Lei Hu meant. Wouldn't it be better to go straight to Jingdezhen after conquering Fuzhou? Why make an appointment in Fuzhou? The Qing Army's braided soldiers were stationed in Fuzhou, not the British's lobster soldiers. Could the braided soldiers stop the advance of the Liberation Army? So Song Wu asked, "Division commander, why do you have to do this?"
Lei Hu knew Song Wu's personality. If Zhao Di had been there, he would not have asked such a question. Actually, Lei Hu did not want to run. He wanted the Taiping army in Jingdezhen to go south to Fuzhou and both sides would attack Fuzhou "together." On one hand, he could show the Taiping army the use of the cannons. On the other hand, he could let the Taiping army control more strongholds. Song Wu was a straightforward guy, and it was difficult for him to understand this point. The problem now was that they had just sent people out. It was uncertain whether Lin Fengxiang would agree to go to Fuzhou from Jingdezhen to receive the cannons.
But that night, things changed a little. According to the observation of the scouts, the Qing Army stationed in Fuzhou showed signs of leaving the city.
"Did the Xiang Army take the wrong medicine?" Zhao Di asked in surprise.
"What is the Xiang Army up to?" Song Wu was also shocked.
Lei Hu looked at the chief of staff and silently waited for the chief of staff to give his opinion. The chief of staff furrowed his brows and thought hard, but could not find a reason. In the end, the chief of staff replied, "I guess the Xiang Army has not been taught a lesson enough, which is why they are so daring."
"Did the Qing Army formulate a special strategy to target us?" This was what Lei Hu was concerned about.
"We'll know when we fight." The chief of staff's answer was straightforward this time.
The one blocking Fuzhou was Ceng Guohua. Ceng Guohua was Ceng Guofan's younger brother. He had come to Fuzhou because Emperor Xianfeng had ordered him to take care of Shi Dakai's troops. Ceng Guohua had brought more than five thousand Xiang Army troops and three or four thousand Jiangxi regiments to Fuzhou. Knowing that the Liberation Army was heading north and approaching Fuzhou, Ceng Guohua, who had long been dissatisfied with the name of the Liberation Army, decided to fight the Liberation Army.
The Green Camp, the Xiang Army, the Taiping army, the Huai army, and the Chu army. In the past few years, they had won some battles, but they had also lost some battles. But the Liberation Army claimed to be undefeated in hundreds of battles, big and small. Many people in the Xiang Army were not very satisfied with this army that was praised to the skies. Ceng Guohua was one of them.
From the intelligence reports, the Liberation Army did not engage in fierce fighting along the way. When they could go around the cities, they did not choose to attack head-on. After gathering this intelligence, Ceng Guohua believed that if he did not make a certain statement, the Liberation Army would still choose to avoid fighting. The behavior of this Liberation Army was very much like they were going to defect to the Taiping Rebellion. With this speculation, Ceng Guohua chose to send troops out of the city and assume an offensive stance. If the Liberation Army's offensive was fierce, the Xiang Army would first retreat to Fuzhou.
After the Liberation Army decided to fight, a consensus was quickly reached in the pre-war conference. "Let's see what the Xiang Army can show off!" Everyone had long heard of the Xiang Army's special skill of "forming a stronghold to fight a slow battle." Now that they had the chance to see it for themselves, many people couldn't help but feel happy. This was the deep-rooted weakness of the military profession.
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