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Gu Xingzhi wiped the sweat off his forehead. Vézé had the same hairstyle in the army. Gu Xingzhi was 16 years old, of medium height, and his hair was tied up in a beautiful bun. The youths marching beside Gu Xingzhi's formation all had short hair. The newly joined warriors with the Money Rat Tails all cut their braids and grew short hair on their heads. Gu Xingzhi was also a member of the new soldiers, but he didn't have to go through the troublesome process of cutting braids and growing hair. The female soldiers only had to tie up their hair according to the army's rules.
Gu Xingzhi liked the new hairstyle very much. In particular, a comb was needed to keep long hair. Although a comb was a small thing, it required very good materials and craftsmanship. There was a logistics department in the army, and some of the soldiers in the army had been doing this for generations. The logistics department provided the soldiers with combs, a common equipment. Everyone in the army gradually got their own combs.
The combs were made of bamboo, and they were very simple to make. However, after joining the army, Gu Xingzhi could finally eat his fill every day. With the addition of combing his hair every day, his hair became darker and glossier. Even though there was a uniform hairstyle rule, Gu Xingzhi secretly left a lock of hair on his sideburns, instead of tying his hair up on top of his head. Soon, the entire female combat unit adopted this style, and the combat training officer didn't raise any objections. These days, when facing a large number of women, it took a lot of effort for the young trainers to speak fluently. They didn't dare to say anything unrelated to training.
Gu Xingzhi casually combed his thin hair. Judging from the position of the sun, the troops had been marching for more than two hours. Gu Xingzhi really didn't expect that one day he would become a soldier, and he didn't expect to learn so many things to become a soldier. He had to learn to read and write, and he had to learn mathematics. At least, before joining the Taiping army, Gu Xingzhi didn't know the word "hour", and he didn't know that the day was divided into 24 hours. He even got the name Gu Xingzhi after joining the Taiping army in Wujiazhen.
Before joining the Taiping army, Gu Xingzhi was called Big Sister Gu. Most of the women who joined the Taiping army did not have their own names. In the army, there were all kinds of big sister, second sister, and little sister names that gave them a headache, so they ordered all those who didn't have a big name to change their names.
The method of renaming was also quite special. He wrote a bunch of words, and everyone would pick whichever word they found pleasing to the eye. Then, the officer in charge of naming them made some changes and decided on new names for everyone. Gu Xingzhi was very proud of the fact that her name was given by Vézé and Wei Jiandian. A month after receiving this new name, Gu Xingzhi finally understood what "Xingzhi" meant.
To be more specific, he had joined Vézé's team. Gu Xingzhi did not regret joining Vézé's team. He could eat his fill and see the world. If there was anything he was upset about, perhaps it was because he had not joined such a team earlier.
As the second in command of the fourth brigade, Gu Xingzhi knew his mission. This mixed combat unit made up of women and new recruits would fight against the Qing Army. The commander who would lead this group of new recruits into battle was Vézé and Wei Jiandian. The opponent was Liu Zhangqing's team of the Qing Army.
Liu Zhangqing was also an old rival of the Taiping Rebellion. Vézé's evaluation of this man was that he was extremely cunning in battle, and he would escape as soon as the wind went against him. In the battle of Dadong, Wulan Tai's team that chased after the Taiping army was completely annihilated. Five of their commanders were killed in the battle. Xiang Rong, who was responsible for supporting Wulan Tai, only managed to escape with more than 300 defeated soldiers. Liu Zhangqing, who was facing the Taiping army, first led his troops to pillage villages. When the Taiping army tried to surround and annihilate Liu Zhangqing's troops, Liu Zhangqing abandoned them and ran back to his own camp in Nandong, unharmed.
Gu Xingzhi did not understand Vézé's evaluation of Liu Zhangqing, and there was even a hint of praise in it. "To be able to do this is also a part of Liu Zhangqing's ability. The Qing Yao troops that fought with Liu Zhangqing against the Taiping army were defeated and annihilated one after another. But Liu Zhangqing was defeated but not routed, and still retained a considerable number of troops. According to military discipline, Liu Zhangqing could be said to be passively avoiding battle and disregarding his allies. But it was the series of defeats of his allies that reflected Liu Zhangqing's' contributions. ' At this time in Guangxi, Manchu Qing really can't do without the troops under Liu Zhangqing. "
Gu Xingzhi, who came from a guest village near Wujia Town, had seen too many cases of the government colluding with Wujia Town to bully and even plunder the guest villages, so she could not understand Vézé's sense of humor. The weak were not worthy of praise. This was Gu Xingzhi's own experience. The weak would only be robbed and bullied. The guest village had turned the situation around by relying on the strength of the Taiping army led by Vézé. Gu Xingzhi had followed Vézé and the others because there were few males in her family, and the family did not dare to disobey the Village Head. They could only let their eldest daughter, Gu Xingzhi, join Vézé's troops. Gu Xingzhi was willing to follow the strong. This was the fundamental reason why she did not cry or make a fuss, and followed orders along the way. Gu Xingzhi could not understand why Vézé would praise such an incompetent person like Liu Zhangqing.
But Gu Xingzhi also understood one thing. Vézé believed that in order to defeat the Qing Army, they had to first eliminate Liu Zhangqing's troops. And the crucial task of eliminating Liu Zhangqing's troops had to be accomplished by this group of young men and women. Because he was worried that this group of youths would mess things up, Vézé personally led the troops. Most of the youths from the six guest villages had seen Vézé lead the Taiping army in parachuting down from the cliffs. That fearless figure flying through the sky made these youths feel a heartfelt admiration for Vézé. With Vézé leading the troops, Gu Xingzhi felt very calm, even filled with courage.
In the depths of a small path several li away from the youths, Liu Zhangqing had no idea that he was being looked down upon by a country girl. Even if he knew, Liu Zhangqing would not feel angry. Even within the Qing Army, there were many who spoke ill of him behind his back. Even the imperial envoy, Sai Shang'a, looked down on Liu Zhangqing. When Xiang Rong, Wu Lan Tai, and the others fought fiercely, the upper echelons of the Qing Army schemed and plotted against each other, but no one made Liu Zhangqing their support.
In this regard, Liu Zhangqing actually felt quite wronged. The subordinates assigned to him were all Cantonese soldiers. These people were extremely greedy. They did not dare to attack the enemy, and they never showed mercy when harassing the common people. When defending Guilin, there was even a saying: "Bandits pass like a comb, Cantonese are as brave as a razor." This had nothing to do with Yue Yong, so how could Liu Zhangqing care so much? Even the valiant Guizhou and Hunan soldiers, armed with guns and cannons comparable to the Eight Banners, had now been reduced to bones. Liu Zhangqing had persisted until now. Did no one remember this hard work?
Just like when the Taiping army fled north, Liu Zhangqing was responsible for pursuing them. Before he could go far, he was suddenly called back. It turned out that a Taiping army had popped out of nowhere and was advancing in the direction of Guilin. This order was clearly to torment him.
The imperial envoy, Sai Shang'a, ordered Liu Zhangqing to lead his subordinates along the official road to meet the Taiping army. This was another difficult task. The veteran General Xiang Rong was still in Guilin. Why did he, Liu Zhangqing, have to lead 1200 Qing Army troops to meet the enemy head-on?
Therefore, Liu Zhangqing only ordered his subordinates to advance cautiously. When he found out that the Taiping army was still about 20 li away, Liu Zhangqing led his troops to a fork in the road and made a turn, "towards the rear of the bandits."
From the direction of this fork, Liu Zhangqing's arrangement was correct. If they followed the fork, they would indeed be able to make a detour to the rear of the Taiping army. Liu Zhangqing slowly led his troops forward. News from the mounted scouts came in one after another. "The bandits' vanguard has already passed the fork." "The bandits have divided into two groups." "The bandits' rear are approaching the fork." "The bandits' rear have many women carrying military supplies."
When he heard the last piece of news, Liu Zhangqing's eyes brightened. He ordered, "Scout again!"
Very quickly, the mounted scouts brought back more accurate information. "The bandits' rear have more than 500 people. Half are women, the other half are youths. There are very few strong bandits. All the bandits are carrying a lot of parcels. "
Women, youths, parcels. These three keywords made Liu Zhangqing feel very good. His subordinates also laughed and said to Liu Zhangqing, "Commander, the traitors have made such arrangements, so they definitely aren't the old bandits from Guangxi. If we can defeat the rear of the traitors, it will naturally be a great merit."
This kind of suggestion was completely in line with Liu Zhangqing's thoughts. Women, youths, parcels represented a flock of fat sheep. If they were lucky, they would be able to obtain wealth, sex, and the enemy's head. Even if they were unlucky, they would still be able to obtain wealth and sex. Even if they were unlucky, they would still be able to obtain wealth and sex.
Fearing that there might be a trap, Liu Zhangqing quickly sent out his mounted scouts. Very quickly, he confirmed that the bandits' elites were at the front, while the women and children were at the back. At this point, Liu Zhangqing also made up his mind. He ordered his subordinates to speed up their march and attack the bandits' rear. 1,200 men against 500 men. Liu Zhangqing was still very confident that he could win.
After rushing around for a while, Liu Zhangqing finally led his troops to attack the Taiping army from the back. However, this army of women and youths was like a porcupine that was hard to swallow. After being attacked from the back, a small group of youths actually rushed out from the mixed army. They actually lined up neatly and formed a formation with firearms.
The Taiping soldiers slowed down their pace. After all, they were the official army. They knew what would happen if they were to face the firearms head-on. With such a delay, the girls and the youths ran away. This made Liu Zhangqing extremely anxious. He finally had a chance to render a meritorious service, but this cooked duck was about to fly away.
"Line up and fire!" Liu Zhangqing shouted hysterically.
After all, the official army had the advantage in numbers. The width and thickness of their troops was not something that the small group of Taiping army could compare to. Before the official army could even get close, the Taiping army started firing. The official army was only slightly surprised, but they did not show any fear. At this distance, it was impossible for the firearms to hit the target.
After that, the Taiping army actually turned around and ran away after firing. The aura of fighting to the death had disappeared without a trace.
"Chase!" Liu Zhangqing shouted as he looked at his dumbfounded subordinates.
After chasing for more than a kilometer, the Taiping army started to drop their firearms on the ground. After chasing for another kilometer, abandoned bags and straw sandals appeared on the ground. The Taiping soldiers excitedly rushed up to pick up the bags and opened them. Inside were clothes. When they rummaged through the bags, they actually found copper coins and some silver. Now, the Taiping soldiers who had untied the bags began to fight with each other. The Taiping soldiers who were outside the circle of fighting began to chase after the fleeing youths.
After all, the youths were weak. Some of them could not run anymore, so they threw the bags on their backs on the ground. In the beginning, the Taiping soldiers would open the bags to have a look. Every time, they would find clothes and money. Now, the Taiping soldiers who had already gotten some benefits wanted to get more. The Taiping soldiers who did not get any benefits wanted to fight with each other.
The group of youths ran very fast. Every time they threw a few bags on the ground, it would cause a fight among the Taiping soldiers. After chasing for another two to three kilometers, the Taiping soldiers only picked up two to three hundred bags. They actually could not catch up with the fleeing youths. Looking at the youths who were running at the back, they were panting and the bags on their backs were bouncing up and down. The group of Taiping soldiers who had chased for four to five kilometers without picking up a single bag cursed angrily and threatened them. They continued to chase like hungry wolves.
Liu Zhangqing was still relatively clear-headed. After chasing for so long, the 1200 Qing Army that he led had already run away like sheep. The whole group became a long line. The officer could not find the soldiers, and the soldiers could not find the officer. "Retreat! Retreat! "Liu Zhangqing shouted loudly, hoping that he could gather his troops.
"The Qing Army has started to retreat?" Zhang Yingchen soon received the information from the reconnaissance unit. Seeing Liu Zhangqing's quick-wittedness, Zhang Yingchen smiled happily and said, "Liu Zhangqing finally understood! But it's too late! "
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