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The Li people in Guangxi used animal skins to make clothes. Lin Fengxiang had seen those crude clothes. But he never expected that one day he would wear a sheepskin jacket like that.
Standing in the yard with the sheepskin jacket draped over him, Lin Fengxiang could clearly see the white mist he exhaled. During the first Northern Expedition more than ten years ago, the Taiping army sent all its elites and overcame countless difficulties along the way. However, when they reached Hebei and Shandong, the Northern Expedition Army felt the power of winter in the north. The winter in Shaanxi was even colder than that in Hebei and Shandong.
Li Xiucheng also wore a sheepskin jacket and stood beside Lin Fengxiang. He said, "Ever since the Heavenly State started the war, there have been many mistakes. The first Northern Expedition was a big mistake. If they hadn't started the Northern Expedition, they would have taken Huguang by now. "
After Shi Dakai left the Heavenly State, the Taiping army changed a lot. The biggest change was the change in personnel. A large number of young generals gradually became the real backbone of the Taiping Rebellion. Li Xiucheng, Chen Yucheng, and the others quickly grew up. Three years ago, when the Taiping Rebellion left Nanjing and went north to Shaanxi, everyone felt that the future was bleak. But when they really embarked on this path, Chen Yucheng became the vanguard and attacked cities and territories. Li Xiucheng was in charge of the rear army and could command a large number of people who lacked combat power to keep up with the main army. The strength they displayed was no less than the veterans of the Taiping Rebellion.
At this time, Li Xiucheng was telling Lin Fengxiang about his reflections on the Taiping Rebellion in Jiangnan. This was also what Lin Fengxiang had asked Li Xiucheng to do. Of course, reflection was not to remember the unhappy things in the past. Li Xiucheng continued, "King Zhang, I think it's a good idea to let the Nian Army attack Beijing. As long as the Nian Army can reach Beijing, Sengrinchen will definitely go back. Then we can take advantage of the situation to seize Hetao. "
The Taiping army had already seized Hanzhong. If they continued south, they would be able to seize Sichuan. But Lin Fengxiang himself might not really want to seize Sichuan. It was not that Sichuan was not good, but what would happen after Sichuan was conquered?
Transporting grain to Shaanxi? The journey was difficult and dangerous, so the amount of food that could be transported was actually very limited. Or go down the river and attack Hubei? Now was not the time to completely fall out with Vézé. Sichuan was a good place, but it wasn't the main goal at the moment. It would be more efficient to use their precious military power to expand their territory in the northwest.
"I'm just worried that after the Nian Army wreaks havoc in Hebei and Henan, the Liberation Army might head north," Li Xiucheng said.
"Prince Of Qi wouldn't do that." Lin Fengxiang didn't support Li Xiucheng's statement.
"Why? This is a great opportunity for Prince Of Qi. "Li Xiucheng didn't understand. Actually, Vézé was no longer Prince Of Qi. When he "sent" the Taiping Rebellion to Shaanxi, Hong Xiuquan had officially taken away Vézé's title of Prince Of Qi. But the upper echelons of the Taiping army still habitually called Vézé Prince Of Qi. This had nothing to do with their positions. These people were very respectful of Vézé's power, and they had no intention of changing the way they addressed him just because of Hong Xiuquan's attitude.
Lin Fengxiang said with a hint of regret, "Wayne Brothers is very cautious. If he can't straighten out the territory he has already occupied, he will never be in a hurry to take over new territory. This is something that ordinary people can't compare to him in. However, when Brother Wei really wants to make a move, no matter how difficult or dangerous it is, nothing can stop him. "
During the Second Northern Expedition, Vézé's troops fought their way to the vicinity of Tianjin. It wasn't that no one in Lin Fengxiang's troops thought of joining forces with Vézé to attack Beijing. Wei Ze, on the other hand, chose to withdraw without hesitation. Although Lin Fengxiang firmly supported Vézé, it would be a lie to say that he didn't have any grudges. But looking back more than ten years later, it was the right decision to withdraw the troops quickly. If they really attacked Beijing, it wasn't like they didn't have a chance to take Beijing. But what if they took it? Just the thirty to forty thousand soldiers alone would not be able to completely surround Beijing. Xian Feng could pat his buttocks and leave, but Wei Ze, Lin Fengxiang and the others would not be able to evacuate Beijing. If they didn't defend Beijing after taking it, Vézé, Lin Fengxiang, and the others would be waiting to be beheaded when they returned to Tianjing.
Defend Beijing and hope that the Taiping army in Nanjing would come to Beijing in full force? When Lin Fengxiang thought of this strategy, he felt that it was ridiculous. But if that really happened, there was a 90% chance that it would happen.
If the Taiping army didn't come to Nanjing's aid, the tens of thousands of troops in Beijing would be waiting for death. If the Taiping army from Nanjing rushed to Beijing, they would be surrounded by the pursuing enemy in Hebei. In Hebei, which was unfamiliar with the people and the land, no matter how good the Taiping army was at fighting, they would eventually die.
The reason why Lin Fengxiang asked Li Xiucheng to summarize the advantages and disadvantages of the war strategy before the Taiping Rebellion was that he wanted to see the root of victory and defeat. Vézé had given the Taiping Rebellion a second chance. Lin Fengxiang really didn't want it to fail again.
Li Xiucheng's experience was much less than Lin Fengxiang's, so he was less emotional. He said excitedly, "King Zhang, if the Prince Of Qi doesn't go north, then we'll wait and see if the Nian Army can win. They can do whatever they want in Hebei and Henan. As long as Sengrinchen leaves, we can attack Shanxi after we take Hetao. After we take Shaanxi, Shanxi, Ningxia, and Suiyuan, we can take Sichuan. Then we can divide the world into three. I read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Zhuge Liang worked hard all his life for this. Divided into ten percent, we can attack and defend at will. The situation will be completely different. "
What Li Xiucheng said was a common view among the kings. As long as they could take Shanxi and other places, they could take the Eight Taihang Mountains. These eight mountains led directly to Hebei, and the military capital Xing was very close to Beijing. If they had enough power, the Taiping army could attack Beijing at any time. It could be said that the key to victory against Manchu Qing was in the palm of their hands.
Lin Fengxiang didn't object to it at that time, but he still felt it was not enough. Lin Fengxiang always felt that the kings were much weaker than Vézé. Years ago, Vézé proposed the Huai River Defense Line, which was later built. When Vézé decided to leave the Taiping Rebellion, he met with Lin Fengxiang for the last time and had a deep discussion about this matter. At that time, when Vézé proposed the Huai River Defense Line, he didn't talk much about the meaning of this defense line. Instead, he explained clearly how to maintain this defense line and the reasons why it should be implemented.
He looked at this matter from the perspective of standing at the top of the Taiping Rebellion. Lin Fengxiang felt that Vézé thought the Huai River Defense Line was the bottom line and the base of all strategies. It was a task that had to be completed. After completing the Huai River Defense Line, Vézé also used this as a limit and didn't pursue other developments in the north. In Lin Fengxiang's memory, Vézé thought that after stabilizing the north, he would transfer forces to complete the strategic frontier of the Taiping Rebellion on other defense lines. Finally, he would integrate the internal forces and strive for a new breakthrough.
The three Prime Ministers of the northern expedition led by Lin Fengxiang later insisted on Vézé's strategy. Therefore, no matter how fierce the battles in the east and west were, the Huai River Defense Line was as stable as Mount Tai, fulfilling the original purpose of the strategy. It wasn't until the Xiang Army broke through Anqing and after a series of bloody battles, Huainan was completely destroyed and the Huai River Defense Line was finally finished. After the Huai River Defense Line was destroyed, the strategic situation of the Taiping Rebellion deteriorated day by day. Soon, it was on the verge of destruction.
On the other hand, the leaders of the Taiping Army believed that their strategy was to win from one victory to another. They seemed to be forever pursuing a limit. Stabilizing Shaanxi was for a certain Hetao. After seizing Hetao, they would seek for Ningxia, Shanxi, and Sichuan. When Shi Dakai left, he took 200,000 soldiers with him. However, at that time, the Taiping Army still had more than 100,000 elites. They could really come up with a long-term strategy and the bottom line of the strategy, and then complete it one by one. In the end, the situation wouldn't collapse to the point of collapse.
Now, Li Xiucheng, who was regarded as the leader of the new generation, was also like this. This feeling, to be honest, made Lin Fengxiang feel a little uneasy.
The tug-of-war between the Taiping Army and the Xiang Army in Jiangxi was like this. The tug-of-war in Zhejiang was also like this. After gathering their troops, everyone started to fight for a goal that seemed to be able to solve a major problem immediately. In the end, the new goal was not achieved, and the old problem was worsened. Although Lin Fengxiang had long understood that there was no such thing as an everlasting strategy in this world, reality clearly made Lin Fengxiang realize that if a strategy did not have a long-term focus, then this strategy would lead to long-term failure.
However, this was not the time to criticize Li Xiucheng. If Li Xiucheng was really at Vézé's level, then Zhejiang and Fujian would have long been conquered, and the Taiping Rebellion would not have come this far. Lin Fengxiang pushed these thoughts out of his mind and changed the topic. "Since we are going to let the Nian Army attack Beijing, let's give them more firearms."
Li Xiucheng replied, "We have already given them 1,000 rifles."
Lin Fengxiang replied, "I'm afraid 1,000 rifles won't be enough. I think we should give them 5,000 rifles."
"5,000 rifles?" Li Xiucheng asked in surprise. The rifles were new rifles that the Taiping Army had exchanged from Vézé. Although Li Xiucheng did not know that these were rifles that Vézé had ordered the military department to work overtime to produce, he could at least see that these rifles were new. Rifles were the foundation that the Taiping Army relied on to win battles. As a direct descendant of the Taiping Army, Li Xiucheng was naturally unwilling to give them these rifles. He said awkwardly, "Prince Zhang, we only have 100,000 rifles. If we give them 5,000 rifles at once, if they lose the battle, then wouldn't these rifles go to Qing Yao?"
Lin Fengxiang said helplessly, "If there are too few rifles, and the Nian Army cannot win the battle, then giving them 1,000 rifles would be too much for Qing Yao. If they think that the Nian Army cannot win the battle, then giving them even one rifle would be too much. If the Nian Army can win the battle, then five thousand rifles is not much at all. "
Seeing that Lin Fengxiang's attitude was firm and his reasoning was persuasive, Li Xiucheng asked, "Then will the Zhu brothers be willing?"
Lin Fengxiang was very disappointed in Li Xiucheng's attitude. When Vézé left the Taiping Army, and after he left the Taiping Army, he had always been very serious about helping the Taiping Army. Of course, it could be said that Vézé had his own plans. He had hoped that the Taiping Army could hold out for a while longer, so that Vézé would have more time to develop himself. But precisely because of this, Vézé's help had been very effective. The method of making the cap, the method of modifying the matchlock guns, and even the sale of the cannons had all been useful. This kind of effective help had indeed achieved Vézé's goal.
The Nian Army was indeed not a direct descendant of the Taiping Army, but the Nian Army was no fool. If they couldn't convince the Nian Army that they had a chance of winning the battles in Hebei and Henan, why would the Nian Army foolishly charge forward and fight to the death with the Qing Army?
When he thought of this, Lin Fengxiang didn't bother arguing with Li Xiucheng. He asked, "Xiucheng, you are one of the princes. In the future, I will ask the others for their opinion. Let me ask you first: are you willing?"
When he saw Lin Fengxiang's resolute attitude, Li Xiucheng sighed awkwardly. After a long time, he finally said, "At most five hundred rifles. I will give you five hundred rifles at most."
Lin Fengxiang didn't care about Li Xiucheng's cleverness. He calmly said, "One person will give you five hundred rifles, so ten people will give you five thousand rifles. That's enough. Also, I want to send someone to inspect these rifles. If you try to fool me with some bad rifles, I won't be able to tell that you have five hundred rifles. "
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