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Time was the same for everyone, whether it was when Manchu Qing knelt before the foreigners, or when Vézé understood that he had to start comprehensive enlightenment education, or when Vézé's wife, Qi Hongyi, was not satisfied with the future imperial power and was criticized by Vézé. The days of 1859 passed one by one.
The Restoration Society began to conduct political education internally, while the entire army trained while participating in the construction of various industrial projects. Everyone's days were very fulfilling. Only a few people knew that Vézé was waiting for an opportunity to march into Guangxi.
The time was ripe. Ever since September 1859, Shi Dakai's forces, which had retreated into Guangxi in defeat, had completely split up. After Shi Dakai retreated to the barren land of Guangxi, he was in low spirits. In November, when his subordinates questioned him about what he should do, Shi Dakai couldn't take it anymore and declared in public that he was going to "retire to the mountains".
Originally, Shi Dakai's subordinates had wanted to fight their way into a new world, but they had run into walls in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Hunan. After traveling for thousands of li, it wasn't incomprehensible for him to question Shi Da. However, the result of the interrogation was that he said "to live in seclusion in the mountains". This completely broke the hearts of the brothers.
A few days after Shi Dakai said that he would retire to the mountains, an American soldier from Guangdong left Shi Dakai's ranks. The leaders of this team were Li Hongzhao and Zheng Qiao, while the vanguard was Tan Xing. In 1855, Guangdong's Tian Di Hui and Triad Society revolted. After they failed to besiege Guangzhou, this troop marched westward into Guangxi, and then northward into Hunan, and finally into Jiangxi. He joined Shi Dakai's fighting force in Jiangxi.
This troop was not loyal to the Taiping Rebellion. After being disappointed with Shi Dakai, they chose to be independent. He hoped to establish an independent force in the area. They did not go to Guangdong, which was occupied by Vézé. Instead, they moved to Hunan to fight.
After the troops that were loyal to him and believed that he could carve out a new world in this chaotic world left in November, the troops that were still loyal to the Taiping Rebellion began to leave Shi Dakai's troops. Fu Zhongxin and Tan Tiyuan were the equivalent of Prime Minister level officials in Shi Dakai's new system of government. The two troops embarked on the road back to the Taiping Rebellion in early December.
Within a month, nearly thirty thousand soldiers had left. This was a huge blow to Shi Dakai's forces, who had claimed to have two hundred thousand soldiers when they first entered Guangxi. In reality, they only had a hundred and twenty thousand.
Even so, Shi Dakai hadn't learned his lesson. He didn't send troops to chase after his brothers, but he also didn't reflect on his actions at all. Other than guarding Qingyuan and preparing for the winter, Shi Dakai behaved the way he did when he left. He did not contact or cooperate with the other rebel troops who were still fighting in Guangxi.
In January, a troop set off east from Bai in an attempt to rendezvous with Shi Dakai's troops. The leader of this troop was Shi Zhenji, Shi Dakai's relative. He was an old general who had followed Shi Dakai when he brought four thousand people from his clan to join the Taiping Rebellion. However, Shi Zhenji and Shi Dakai had conflicts. If it wasn't for Shi Zhenji's ability to fight, Shi Dakai would have killed him long ago.
When Shi Dakai attacked Zhejiang, Shi Zhenji led an army and left Shi Dakai's control. Since there was a high chance of misfortune in Yi Wang's troops, it was better to separate.
After Shi Dakai was defeated in Fujian and retreated to Jiangxi, Shi Zhenji led his troops west from Jiangxi. He didn't fight the Qing Army in Hunan. Instead, he killed his way back to Guangxi. When Shi Dakai entered Guangxi, Shi Zhenji was attacking Baise in an attempt to occupy the provincial capital.
If it wasn't for the fact that he had no other choice, Shi Zhenji wouldn't have chosen to seek refuge with Shi Dakai again. After failing to attack Baise, Shi Zhenyoshi originally wanted to take a detour. When he passed by Tianzhou, the governor of the prefecture offered horses as tribute and surrendered. According to the military discipline of the Taiping army, Shi Zhenji indicated that he would not invade a single blade of grass or tree, and he would not arrest a single person. Those who disobey will be executed.
The military discipline of the Taiping army was very strict. Even at this point, Shi Zhenji himself still insisted on the integrity that was cultivated from habit. Seven years ago, when the Taiping army set out from Guang Xi and marched all the way up north, no matter what rank the officers were, those who abducted civilians and looted money were killed without mercy. The strict military discipline also ensured that the Taiping army had never encountered any resistance from the people.
Most of Shi Zhenji's subordinates were from the Hubei region, and he had already captured more than a thousand of them. Shi Zhenji ordered the return of the people. All the tribes released the people. But he begged Shi Zhenji to let his wife go. Shi Zhenji was greatly surprised. After giving the order to release them, there were still people who dared to hide? He immediately led his men to search, and unexpectedly found Cen Xiang among the Hubei vanguard officials. My wife. According to the military discipline of the Taiping army, such a serious crime was naturally punishable by death. Shi Zhenji immediately beheaded the Hubei vanguard as a warning to others.
But the current Taiping army was no longer the same Taiping army that had fought its way out of Guang Xi. Rumors immediately spread among Shi Zhenji's troops that Shi Zhenji was going to attack the Hubei people. The officers from the two provinces contacted each other, using the excuse that Shi Zhenji was shielding the people from Guang Xi to swear a blood oath to kill Shi Zhenji. As a last resort, Shi Zhenji led his trusted subordinates and separated from the main force to meet up with Shi Dakai.
Along the way, Shi Zhenji was extremely resentful. The rebellion of the Hubei soldiers had pained Shi Zhenji. They had followed Shi Zhenji from Hubei to Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, then Jiangxi, through Hunan, and finally to Guang Xi. They had traveled tens of thousands of li, but in the end, they had ended up fighting each other on the battlefield. They were also extremely angry with the Wing King Shi Dakai. Shi Dakai had hundreds of thousands of troops under him. After entering Guang Xi, they had not attacked everywhere and turned Guang Xi upside down. Instead, they had holed up in the Qingyuan area and seemed to mind their own business with the Qing Army.
The Qing Army did not have enough troops, so they naturally did not dare attack Shi Dakai. However, the Qing Army had chosen to attack other smaller forces. Shi Zhenji had encountered the relentless attacks of the Qing Army.
Just as he was thinking, a commotion suddenly came from the front. A moment later, a brother from the vanguard ran back to report, "Big Brother, someone is attacking!"
"Is it the Qing Army?" Shi Zhenji hurriedly asked.
"It's not the Qing Army. It looks like it's the Tu family," the brother in front replied.
Hearing that there was no Qing Army, Shi Zhenji finally relaxed. He scolded, "What's there to be afraid of about the Tu family? Lead the troops and charge! "
The battle immediately began.
One day, two days, three days, four days, five days. Shi Zhenji's rations had almost run out, but not only had the Tu family troops not broken through, they had even surrounded Shi Zhenji's troops near the Red River.
The valiant Guang Xi troops weren't limited to the Hakkas. In the battles between the Hakkas and the Hakkas, there were heroes like Vézé who owed the Tu family a huge debt of blood, as well as warriors who had massacred the Hakkas. Back then, Vézé had brought Wei Changrong to the Taiping army. Because he had killed too many Tu people, he had been besieged by a large group of warriors hired by the Tu family at a high price. After Vézé had fought his way out of the encirclement and escaped with his life, he realized that he couldn't return to his hometown and could only run.
The Taiping Rebellion had left Guang Xi with a large number of Hakka heroes, but that didn't mean that Guang Xi was safe from then on. Without the powerful Hakka leaders, the Tu family could calmly form regiments with the support of the Imperial Court, build fortresses, and then launch attacks on the Hakkas. Shi Zhenji had encountered the Tu family regiments in the Red River region.
Seeing that their rations were about to run out, Shi Zhenji had no choice but to fight to the death. He led his troops to break out of the encirclement.
The difference in numbers between the two sides was too great. Shi Zhenji's troops only had a little more than a thousand men, while the Tu family regiments had gathered more than ten thousand men. They were familiar with the terrain and used muskets to seal off the strategic areas. Even when Shi Zhenji's troops were equipped with muskets, they didn't have the upper hand.
Shi Zhenji personally commanded the muskets. He cleverly used his muskets to provoke the Tu family troops to fire simultaneously. Smoke gradually spread across the battlefield. Shi Zhenji had been waiting for this opportunity. If he could use the muskets to open up a path, he would have done so five days ago, much less now. The Tu family regiments had a strong military force. For the past five days, they had tried to use the muskets to break out of the encirclement, but every time they tried, they would suffer dozens of casualties. The Tu family regiments that occupied the high ground were even more ferocious and fearless than the Qing Army in the Yangtze River region.
But when the smoke spread, the muskets' power had reached their lowest point. Now it all depended on the close combat skills of Shi Zhenji's troops. He shouted: "Brothers, follow me and charge!" Shi Zhenji led the remaining five hundred brothers and charged forward. Those who could move at the back also used their crutches to follow. If Shi Zhenji's troops could charge out, they wouldn't turn back to help the injured. Only death awaited those who couldn't keep up with the team.
Sensing the charge of the Taiping army, the Tu family regiments in the smoke started to make a ruckus. This wasn't the wailing of fear, but the howling of a close combat charge. A moment later, the opposing Tu family regiments also came out from the high ground and charged down the hill.
Shi Zhenji heaved a sigh of relief. It was good to be able to engage in close combat with the enemy. These fellows relied on their abilities. Killing one was breaking even, killing two was a profit. Thinking about this, Shi Zhenji exerted more strength in his legs and quickened his pace amidst the white smoke.
Suddenly, Shi Zhenji felt an intense pain in his leg. He subconsciously reached out and saw that he had grabbed onto a thin bamboo pole. On the tip of the pole, there was a long metal needle. This metal needle had pierced deeply into Shi Zhenji's thigh. Because he had used too much strength, it had completely pierced through Shi Zhenji's thigh.
Shi Zhenji only felt intense pain from his wound, followed by a burning sensation. Following that, he felt as though all his strength had been sucked away by the metal needle. His knees buckled and his injured leg fell to the ground.
Looking at the Tu family regiments charging down from the smoke, Shi Zhenji knew that his path had come to an end. Past events flashed through his mind like a lantern. One of them was from nine years ago, not long after the Jintian Uprising. The Qing Army and the Taiping army were engaged in an intense battle. The Taiping army lacked long pole weapons, so they used the method of tying long metal needles to bamboo poles to deal with the Qing Army. During that battle, this weapon performed well. Shi Zhenji used the long bamboo pole to stab the charging Qing Army. In the end, the Taiping army defeated the Qing Army!
"Is this the cycle of karma?" Shi Zhenji couldn't help but wonder.
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