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March 1, 1861.
"The first person to reach the top of Luan City will be rewarded handsomely!" He Chun, the second-in-command of the Huai army, shouted with all his might.
At this time, the Huai army had already surrounded Luan City. At the artillery positions, the foreign instructors urged the Huai army artillery to fire fiercely at the top of Luan City. Shells flew out of the muzzles and exploded at the top of Luan City. The defensive facilities on the city walls were ignited by the cannon fire, and black smoke rose. Seeing this battle with his own eyes, He Chun's eyes were red, and he gave the order to boost the morale of the soldiers.
Luan was He Chun's sad place. His troops had fought with Vézé's troops in the Luan area. Twenty thousand soldiers were annihilated by Vézé in one fell swoop, and He Chun and a small number of guards narrowly escaped with their lives.
At that time, He Chun had no choice but to escape to Jiang Zhongyuan's place. After the imperial court dismissed He Chun from his post, they were going to execute him, but Jiang Zhongyuan did his best to protect him. He Chun was demoted to the bottom, and joined Jiang Zhongyuan's Huai army as a small soldier.
There were wrong names, but there were no wrong nicknames. Ceng Guoquan, who was known as Ceng Tietan, led the Xiang Army to besiege Anqing. The Taiping army north of the Yangtze kept sending troops to rescue them, but they were badly wounded in front of Ceng Guoquan's iron bucket chain of barracks. The Huai army's Zhizhou candidate, Wang Qinian, copied the fuse for the shells provided by the British. After the imported cannons from France could fire the shells, the combat power of the Huai army doubled.
Li Hongzhang came up with a battle plan. The Huai army suddenly rushed out of Fengyang, seemingly to attack Luzhou, but in fact, it was a feint. While attracting the Taiping army to gather in Luzhou, they used a small number of soldiers to distract the Taiping army in Luzhou. The main force of the Huai army went straight to Luan. After Anqing was captured by the Huai army, the Taiping army south of Luan felt great pressure, and did not dare to rescue Luan. The Huai army wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to take over Lu 'an.
Jiang Zhongyuan was also a bold person, and he was very supportive of Li Hongzhang's bold plan. He had long lost his patience with the long tug-of-war with the Taiping army at the Huaihe River defense line. The Huai army went all out in this campaign.
If they can seize Liu 'an through a surprise attack, the Huai army can turn to the north and join the siege of Shouzhou, the most important stronghold of the Taiping army in Huainan, from the south. With the fall of Shouzhou, the Huai army had complete control over the Huai River valley. Seven years ago, Vézé built the Huai River defense line with the strategic concept of "guarding the river must guard the Huai River." This defense line stood firm for seven years. Not only did they obstruct the Huai army's intention to invade the south, but they also controlled the vast land of Huainan. They also shielded Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Rebellion, and provided Tianjing with a large amount of food and resources, so that the Taiping army fighting south of the Yangtze River did not have to worry about pressure from the north.
Now, this kind of good days will come to an end. The loss of Anqing had already caused the Taiping army to lose their strategic fulcrum, and also caused the Taiping army to lose a lot of elite rescue troops. The Taiping army in Liu 'an also transferred a lot of troops to the rescue. After the loss of Anqing, they had always been worried about the Huai army coming from the south, but they did not expect the Huai army to fight to the death and attack from the east. The Taiping army, who rushed to meet the enemy, suffered a heavy blow from the bombs. After fighting for only one day, the defense at the top of the city wall was greatly weakened.
He Chun was also a veteran of the battlefield, and had experience in commanding troops in battle. How could he not see this? Therefore, he gave out a large reward, and wanted the troops to strengthen the attack and seize Liu 'an in one fell swoop.
The Xiang Army's starting position was piled high with a mountain of silver, and around the mountain of silver, strings of copper coins piled up into a large area. The officers also knew that if they could succeed in one attack, the chances of fighting in the future would be much easier. They shouted to the soldiers, "Brothers, this is all for you. Once we take down Liu 'an, we will immediately have more money than we can spend in a few years. Not only will we be promoted, but we can also go back home to buy land and get married. It's enough! Everyone, don't be afraid of anything. This kind of opportunity will not come again after this! "
The soldiers had never seen so much money, and their eyes were burning with greed. They had fought with the Taiping army for so long, and they could feel that the Taiping army in Liu 'an City would not be able to hold on for much longer. Soon, the Huai army finished reorganizing their formation. The cannons of the Huai Army crazily poured artillery fire onto the top of Liu 'an's city wall. Before the artillery fire stopped, the Huai Army completely ignored the danger of being hit by mistake. Like a flood, they rushed out from both sides of the mountain of silver and copper coins. When they reached the bottom of the city, the Huai army, who had set up a formation, started to fire at the top of the city. The troops in charge of attacking the city stepped on the corpses of the Huai army after they failed to attack the city. They erected a ladder under the city and started to quickly climb up the ladder.
The Taiping army was obviously afraid of the Huai army's explosive shells. When the Huai army attacked, they completely ignored the artillery bombarding the top of the city with explosive shells, while the Taiping army hid under the city and waited for the shells to pass. Based on past experience, they would still be able to reach the top of the city after the shells of the Huai army stopped firing. This time, the Taiping Army also adopted the same response, but it was only a short delay. When the Taiping army rushed to the top of the city, they saw the Huai army outside the city also climbing over the battlement using the ladder. Battle cries erupted from both sides as they raised their weapons and began to fight on the city walls.
The Huai army did not retreat. Following the ladder, more and more Huai army climbed to the top of the city wall and joined the battle. The bloody hand-to-hand battle went on for nearly an hour. The Huai army finally gained a foothold on the northern city wall. The Huai army, who had rushed to the top of the city wall, spread out along the two sides of the city wall. At the same time, they set up their flamethrowers and opened fire at the Taiping army who came to help. After another hour, when the Taiping army had mobilized almost all of their forces to try to recapture the northern city wall, the Huai army started to attack the southern city wall. This time, the southern city wall was easily captured. Along with the cheers of the Huai army, the southern city gate slowly opened. The Huai army, who had an advantage in numbers, rushed in through the gate. The defense system of Luan City was finally breached.
Luan City was a strategic location on land and water. There was a lot of food stored there. After the Huai army captured Luan City, they replenished their rations and then turned to attack Shou City. Shou City was originally supported by Luan City. Once Luan City was breached, Shou City became an isolated city. After the Huai army reached the walls of Shou City, they tightly surrounded the city. Shou City was next to the Huai River. This city, which was next to a mountain and next to a river, could only rely on food supplies from outside. If the food from outside couldn't be transported in, this city wouldn't be able to hold out for long.
The news of victory spread quickly. The Xiang Army and the Huai army had two great victories and captured two important cities. More importantly, the Taiping army's defense system on the west and north sides quickly collapsed. Tianjing City and Luzhou City were completely exposed to the Qing Army's direct attack.
The Xianfeng Emperor, who was feeling more and more unwell, ordered Hunan Inspector Mao Hongbin to organize an army to counterattack. Putting Guangxi aside, they had to at least try to take back Yongzhou and Chenzhou. They had to block the Taiping army's path from Lingnan to the Yangtze River basin.
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