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July 15, 1857.
The flag of the Xiang Army was finally raised in front of the Jiujiang Magistrate's office. This city on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River had many titles, such as "the mouth of the three rivers", "the thoroughfare of seven provinces", and "the land of the world". Each title represented the importance of Jiujiang in terms of transportation from a different perspective.
When they attacked Tianjing in 1853, the Taiping army gave up the three important cities of Wuhan, but they didn't give up Jiujiang. If they could defend Jiujiang, they would be able to defend the northern gate of Jiangxi and prevent the Qing Army from going downstream. In order to conquer Jiujiang, Ceng Guofan had fought multiple bloody battles with the Taiping army. He had once tried to commit suicide after being defeated in the Battle of Hukou. Under Ceng Guofan's command, the Xiang Army had never been able to conquer Jiujiang. Taqib and Li Yuandu, Ceng Guofan's generals, had attacked Jiujiang several times, but to no avail.
The general in charge of attacking Jiujiang was Hubei's Inspector Hu Lin Yi. Under his command, the Xiang Army finally won the final victory.
The battle was over, and the entire Jiujiang City was filled with smoke and the smell of blood. Other than the Xiang Army, there was no one else alive in Jiujiang City. Whether it was Ceng Guofan or Hu Lin Yi, both of them had the same attitude towards the Taiping army. The Cantonese bandits who didn't surrender and stubbornly resisted to the end had to be killed. The bandits who joined the bandits also had to be killed. This was how the Xiang Army dealt with the Taiping army's stronghold. The length of time the Taiping army stayed in one place would determine the intensity of the Xiang Army's massacre. For a stronghold like Jiujiang, which had been guarded by the Taiping army for many years, the Xiang Army would never let the residents of the city go.
Hu Linyi, the leader of the Xiang Army, who is in charge of this battle, has a happy and worried expression on his face. Conquering Jiujiang not only allows the Xiang Army navy in Poyang Lake to unite with the Xiang Army navy on the Yangtze River, but also strengthens the combat effectiveness of the Xiang Army. After opening the door on the Yangtze River, the next stronghold of the Taiping army would be Anqing. If they could conquer Anqing, the Xiang Army would be able to attack the capital of the Taiping Rebellion, Tianjing City. The Taiping Rebellion, which had lasted for several years, was likely to come to an end.
Now that the situation was so good, the imperial edict had arrived. Xianfeng Emperor agreed to Ceng Guofan's memorial to Ding You. When this memorial arrived, Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Xiang Army, was officially dismissed from his military post. He would pack up his things and return to his hometown in a short time. The Zeng brothers were the backbone of the Xiang Army, Zeng Guofan was not the only one who had to worry, all the Zeng brothers had to go back. According to the system, the Zeng brothers had to stay at home for 27 months.
Hu Linyi had always thought that if the Zeng brothers left the Xiang Army when the war was in full swing, it would certainly have a negative impact on the war situation. So, the emperor chose to "Steal the Love". However, the news that the emperor did not "Steal the Love" and agreed to let the Zeng brothers go home to "worry about Ding You" proved one thing. Xianfeng Emperor did not trust Ceng Guofan. If Xianfeng Emperor had used various kinds of reprimands to implicitly express this attitude, now he had clearly and unmistakably expressed it publicly.
For any emperor with real power, the trump card to control a place was the power of personnel. The Zeng brothers could, to a certain extent, command remotely in the more than two years of guarding Ding You, but the things in the officialdom were basically cold when people left. With Ceng Guofan away from the command center, and the emperor's public expression of distrust, the bigwigs who could influence the Xiang Army might try to free the Xiang Army from the control of the Zeng brothers. Hu Linyi was very optimistic about Ceng Guofan. He could not accept other people standing up to become the new leader of the Xiang Army.
Hu Linyi's mind was full of ideas on how to deal with this situation. However, the generals under Hu Linyi in the Xiang Army did not consider Ceng Guofan at all. Dolong A, Bao Chao, Li Jibin, and the others had made great contributions in the Battle of Hukou. Promotion and nobility were right in front of them. They left the cleaning of the battlefield to their subordinates and almost immediately came to Hu Linyi's tent. The first thing they said was, "Daren, you have made such a great contribution this time. This subordinate congratulates Daren!"
If one person had said this, it would not have been able to completely affect Hu Linyi's mind. However, two, three, four generals ran to Hu Linyi's tent and said the same words as if they had discussed it beforehand. Even though Hu Linyi's mood was originally heavy because of Ceng Guofan's matter, in the end, he could not help but smile. These generals were clearly congratulating Hu Linyi for his promotion, but in fact, what they really cared about was the benefits after their victory. This was originally human nature. After being repeatedly 'reminded' by his subordinates, Hu Linyi's joyous mood after a great victory also gained the upper hand in his heart.
After talking with the generals for a while, a bodyguard brought Ceng Guofan's messenger into the tent. Because he often exchanged letters with Ceng Guofan, Hu Linyi knew Ceng Guofan's messenger, so he could not help but feel a bit regretful. It seemed that Ceng Guofan was going to talk about leaving.
When he opened the letter, Hu Linyi's expression immediately changed. Ceng Guofan was indeed talking about leaving, but it was only a short sentence. After this sentence, Ceng Guofan told Hu Linyi that the Liberation Army had attacked Fuzhou in Jiangxi. Fuzhou had fallen, and the whereabouts of Ceng Guohua and the 8,000 soldiers guarding Fuzhou were unknown. Regarding this huge variable, Ceng Guofan told Hu Linyi to be more careful. The Liberation Army had already occupied Guangdong for more than a year. At this time, they should have the strength to send troops north.
Hu Linyi pointed to the messenger and said, "You and I will go to the back!" The surrounding generals looked at Hu Linyi with strange and even shocked gazes. How big of a matter was this? He had to secretly discuss it with the messenger behind the generals' backs.
Hu Linyi could not care so much. There was something in Ceng Guofan's letter that frightened him. Fuzhou was less than a hundred li from Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi. At this time, the Taiping Army Shi Dakai's troops had entered Zhejiang and given up on the tug-of-war with the Xiang Army in this area. From Nanchang to Fuzhou, it could be said that there was no obstruction. Thus, Ceng Guofan's "whereabouts unknown" was really subtle. It seemed to give people endless fanciful thoughts, but at the same time, it very clearly pointed out the only possibility. At the back of the battle, Hu Linyi hurriedly asked, "What exactly happened over there?"
The messenger had clearly received Ceng Guofan's orders to tell the truth at this time. He hurriedly replied, "Sir Hu, the Liberation Army took Fuzhou in two days. They only stopped in Fuzhou for one night before abandoning the city and fleeing to Guangdong. Everyone under Sir Ceng Guohua was killed by them. "
"They were all killed?" Hu Linyi seemed to be raising a question, but also seemed to be talking to himself.
Regardless of what Hu Linyi meant, the messenger replied, "Yes, a large pit was found outside the city. Inside were the corpses of the Xiang Army brothers. When I left, I had not heard of Sir Ceng Guohua's whereabouts. "
Hearing the messenger's words, Hu Linyi suddenly stood up and scolded, "How dare you send false information? Aren't you afraid of losing your head? "
The messenger was stunned. What did Hu Linyi mean by this? Had he taken the wrong medicine? But Hu Linyi did not seem to have taken the wrong medicine. He knew very well what he was saying. Hu Linyi continued to shout, "I'm asking you, why did you send false information?!"
This time, the messenger was so frightened that he immediately knelt down. "Sir Hu, if you don't believe me, you can send someone to Nanchang and ask Sir Ceng. Sir Ceng sent me to send a letter to Sir Hu. I did not send false information! "
Hu Linyi stared at the messenger as if he wanted to use his gaze to examine the "falsehood" on the messenger. This was because Hu Linyi could not accept this fact. His brother-in-law, Tao Tingyu, was killed in Ganzhou. According to the investigation, the Liberation Army conquered Ganzhou in a day. Now, there was the matter of conquering Fuzhou in two days. Ceng Guohua and the eight thousand men guarding Fuzhou could not possibly be "missing" under the attack of the Liberation Army. They were only about a hundred miles away from Nanchang. If they could escape from Fuzhou, they could quickly escape back to Nanchang. This "missing" meant "the entire army was wiped out."
Ceng Guohua was Ceng Guofan's third brother. The Taiping army had once conquered many cities in Jiangxi and isolated Ceng Guofan from the rear. Ceng Guohua ran to Wuchang and begged Hu Linyi for reinforcements. Hu Linyi gave Ceng Guohua five thousand men. Ceng Guohua led this group of people to conquer Xianning, Puqi, Chongyang, Tongcheng, Xinchang, and Shanggao districts. This time, Ceng Guohua led this rather meritorious army into Fuzhou. Unexpectedly, this army, along with Ceng Guohua, perished in Fuzhou.
The Taiping army was hard enough to deal with. Unexpectedly, compared to the Taiping army, the Liberation Army was a hundred times better.
A few days after the messenger left, Ceng Guofan arrived at Jiujiang from Nanchang. Hu Linyi saw Ceng Guofan at the pier and asked, "Duke Ceng, do you know the whereabouts of Wen Fu?"
Wen Fu was Ceng Guohua's courtesy name. Hu Linyi still had some hope that the Liberation Army was not as ferocious as the eight thousand Xiang Army.
Ceng Guofan shook his head but did not reply. "Duke Hu, the Cantonese bandits are now divided into three. Vézé occupies Guangdong and Guangxi, while Hong Ni is guarding Jiangning. They are all people who occupy land and cannot be defeated quickly. Right now, only Shi Dakai is fighting outside with the bandits. If you want to destroy the Cantonese bandits, you need to start with Shi Dakai, Hong Ni, and Vézé. You cannot start a war with them at the same time. "
Hu Linyi understood that this was Ceng Guofan deciding on his future strategy. Scholars were always reserved in their words. To not provoke Vézé, in Ceng Guofan's words, was to "not start a war with them at the same time." In fact, after his brother-in-law became a human skin lantern, Hu Linyi had no intention of starting a war with Vézé at the same time. Ceng Guofan had no intention of starting a war with them at the same time. But the tree longed for peace, but the wind would not cease. This time, Vézé took the initiative to attack Ceng Guofan.
There was no point in nitpicking at this point. Hu Linyi said, "Duke Ceng, I understand. Why don't we go into the city and talk in detail? "
Ceng Guofan shook his head. "No need. There are people all over Jiangxi who say that I am not filial and greedy for power. When I am worried about Ding You, I don't leave in a hurry and stay in Nanchang. That's why I won't stay in Jiujiang and will go home. "
When the Xiang Army fought in Jiangxi, military discipline was very bad. Wherever they went, they robbed and killed. In this era, it was normal for soldiers to be inferior to bandits. Ceng Guofan and Hu Linyi pretended not to see them. But the two of them commanded the Xiang Army to fight in Jiangxi. Their rations and pay had to be provided by Jiangxi. How could the local officials be willing to work for the Xiang Army? In addition to directly refusing to provide logistical supplies to the Xiang Army, military discipline was corrupt, and they invaded the countryside. Impeachment memorials using these as excuses flew to Beijing like snowflakes. In all fairness, these couldn't all be called lies. After Jiangxi refused to provide logistical supplies to the Xiang Army, the Xiang Army could only strengthen their looting in Jiangxi to gather supplies.
Hu Linyi felt very wronged. He wanted to shout at the local officials in Jiangxi, "If you are willing to obediently provide supplies, the Xiang Army will naturally reduce the number of looting. Why can't you understand such a simple truth?! It's your fault for being looted! "
The Jiangxi officials were clearly stones in a cesspit. Their brains were stinky and hard. After the emperor clearly expressed his distrust of Ceng Guofan, Ceng Guofan's actions of not keeping Ding You became the best target for attack. Even Ceng Guofan couldn't withstand the pressure. He could only quickly escape back to Hunan. Hu Linyi didn't want to give Ceng Guofan any more trouble. He said, "Since that's the case, Duke Ceng, you have to take care!"
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