?
Being hit head-on by the guns, the Chao Yong soldiers forgot that they were being fired by a group of women. They also forgot that not long ago, they had been satisfied with their dirty mockery and tried to easily break through the women's line of defense. Facing the flying bullets, the Chao Yong soldiers turned and ran. Their so-called courage at the beginning was only a psychological advantage when facing women. When they encountered strong opponents who dared to fight, the only choice left for these Chao Yong soldiers was to run.
The Qing Army's escape meant that they had given up their last chance of survival. The pikes on either side of the women began to charge at the Qing Army. In the blink of an eye, they were in pursuit. Ever since the Taiping army had started the uprising in Jintian, there had been many such battles. Once the Qing Army's line of defense retreated, the entire Qing Army would collapse. In the past, when the Qing Army collapsed, the Taiping army could only cover up and kill them. This time, the Qing Army had fallen into the Taiping army's well-planned trap. Just like in the battle in Dadong, the Qing Army had been surrounded and annihilated.
As the sun began to set, Zhang Yingchen yelled at the soldiers in charge of searching for the corpses: "What? You didn't find Liu Zhangqing? "
In the army, Vézé had repeatedly ordered that they were not allowed to curse. Cursing was only because they were unhappy, and it did not solve any problems. For someone like Zhang Yingchen, who greatly admired Vézé, this loud shout was a sign of extreme anger. Zhang Yingchen's anger was also justified. After his meticulously planned battle was completed, Liu Zhangqing's subordinates were annihilated. However, when he examined the captured Qing Army soldiers and the Qing Army corpses, he could not find Liu Zhangqing.
Not being able to kill Liu Zhangqing in battle was tantamount to letting a tiger return to the mountains. After the rise of the Taiping army, there were many officers who had been completely annihilated. As long as there were people protecting them from above, the Qing Army would still assign new subordinates to these high-ranking officers. For example, Xiang Rong had already been defeated twice. Almost all of his troops had been killed or injured. According to the statement of the captured officer, Xiang Rong was still guarding Guilin.
They had failed to kill Liu Zhangqing and had only annihilated Liu Zhangqing's current troops. That was not equivalent to annihilating Liu Zhangqing's troops. Not long after, Liu Zhangqing's troops will continue to appear on the battlefield to tangle with the Taiping army. As the chief of staff, Zhang Yingchen felt that his contribution had been greatly discounted. He did not get the results he had hoped for.
Not long after Zhang Yingchen finished drinking, Vézé arrived at the General Staff Department. He looked at Zhang Yingchen's flustered and exasperated expression and asked for the reason. After learning that Liu Zhangqing had escaped, Vézé couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Liu Zhangqing really can't be underestimated."
Vézé's laughter helped Zhang Yingchen out of trouble. If Vézé had ignored Zhang Yingchen's hard work and criticized him, then Zhang Yingchen would have felt deeply wronged. Zhang Yingchen could only say bitterly, "Next time, I will send more troops to pursue them. I will not let these cunning bastards escape. "
Patting the annoyed Zhang Yingchen on the shoulder, Vézé comforted him, "Let's talk about next time. How can a few miles of encirclement be foolproof?"
Sighing, Zhang Yingchen asked Vézé, "What should we do with these captives?" Of the 1200 Qing Army soldiers, 700 were killed in the battle. Other than a small number who escaped the encirclement, 300 were captured. The Taiping army ordered the Qing Army to clean up the battlefield and search for the corpses. After searching the corpses, they ordered the 300 captives to take off their clothes. As a result, when the Qing Army searched the corpses, they did not forget to secretly stuff things on their bodies. Some of the Qing Army soldiers even hid silver in their mouths. However, the way they kept their mouths closed was too conspicuous. After being ordered to open their mouths, they were exposed. After the victory, the Taiping army soldiers were in a good mood, so they did not execute the captives. Instead, they ordered each of them to open their mouths and examined them one by one.
Speaking of the strange story of the captives still wanting money more than their lives, Zhang Yingchen, who was full of anger, was amused. Vézé found it even more hilarious. He couldn't help but laugh, "Take away their weapons and strip their clothes. Keep a few of them as guides, and let the rest go. "
The Taiping army was extremely fierce in battle, but they rarely executed captives. Even in the Taiping army, there were "Dong Yong" soldiers who defected to the Taiping army during the defense of Yong 'an. These Dong Yong and the Taiping army had reached an agreement during the battle to only shoot blanks at each other. The Dong Yong even secretly sold their own supplies to the Taiping army. Naturally, this kind of attitude could not satisfy the upper echelons of the Qing Army. Therefore, the frontline camp disbanded the Dong Yong. As a result, many people in Dong Yongzhong who had received the severance pay joined the Taiping Army after receiving the severance pay.
Because Liu Zhangqing escaped, Zhang Yingchen was unhappy. In addition, these Dong Yong had been fighting against Vézé and had no intention of cooperating or defecting. He couldn't help but advise, "Isn't it not good to just let them go like this?"
"If we don't let them go, are you going to kill them all?" Vézé asked.
When it came to killing the captives, Zhang Yingchen no longer insisted. While they were talking, the brigade marshals also arrived at the General Staff Department. After such a great victory, everyone was in high spirits. Even though they knew that they hadn't caught Liu Zhangqing, they weren't discouraged. Wei Changrong even laughed and said, "If we didn't catch him this time, there will be a next time. One day, he will fall into our hands."
The staff officer had already set up a drawing board. The map was pinned to a thick cloth. Once the cloth was fixed to the drawing board, the battle discussion was ready. Vézé knocked on the map that had been hung up. "According to the information obtained from the captives, the main force of the Taiping army has already crossed the Li River and is heading north. Several Qing Army units have also crossed the river in pursuit. Guilin, Lipu, Yongan, and other places are all guarded by Qing Army units. Does anyone have any ideas? "
Wei Changrong immediately said, "Now we have to send people to catch up with the King Of The East and the others. As long as we know where the King Of The East and the others are going, we can chase after them. We will definitely be able to catch up. If we blindly chase after them, and the Qing Army turns back to deal with us, we won't be able to handle it. "
This was a good suggestion. Hu Chenghe hurriedly added, "I have already arranged for some brothers to go ahead and investigate. I believe it won't be long before we get news of the Taiping army."
Vézé nodded slightly. "I don't think we can just wait here. Now that this battle is over, the Qing Army will know that we are here no matter what. If the Qing Army is scared witless and calls back the troops that are chasing after the King Of The East to deal with us, we won't be able to handle it."
"Then what should we do?" Lin Asheng, who was in charge of logistics, asked. The logistics unit carried a large amount of supplies and moved slowly. The movement of troops had the greatest impact on the logistics unit.
"We have to take the initiative to let the Qing Army think that they know where we are. We can't let the Qing Army know where we are," Vézé replied.
"News of the holidays?" Wei Changrong frowned.
Vézé nodded. "That's right! We have to spread fake news, but we don't have to find people to spread it. We have to use the guns in our hands to spread it! "
"Then what should we do?" Wei Changrong asked. Wei Changrong wasn't the only one who didn't understand Vézé's plan. Most of the officers at the meeting didn't understand what Vézé wanted to do.
Vézé replied, "We need to cross Li River, but we can't let the Qing Army think that we have already crossed Li River."
Everyone frowned and thought for a while. 3rd Brigade Commander Lin Asheng was the first to understand. "This is to let the supply troops cross Li River. But if the other troops continue to harass the Qing Army, will the Qing Army think that we are still south of Li River?"
With this reminder, everyone understood what was going on. Hu Chenghe replied, "As long as the supply troops cross Li River, they will have a confirmed point of contact."
Wei Changrong wasn't very happy. "If we split up our forces like this, the troops south of Li River may not be in any more danger than the supply troops crossing Li River. If the Qing Army runs into the supply troops, their main forces will still be here in Jiangnan. They won't be able to rush over in time to save them. "
Vézé nodded. "So, our troops south of Li River will have to suffer. No matter what, we have to make the Qing Army confused."
"Wei Jiandian, are you going to stay in Jiangnan?" Zhang Yingchen asked. Although it was a question, Zhang Yingchen sensed that, given Vézé's style, he wouldn't stay in a more comfortable place.
Wei Changrong suggested, "Wei Jiandian, don't stay in Jiangnan. I'll stay here. The Qing Army on this side of Jiangnan are all landlords. They've suffered several major defeats in a row, and Liu Zhangqing has been beaten to this state. They're not very willing to leave the city. Even if the Qing Army boldly leaves the city, I can't beat the Qing Army. As long as I run, the Qing Army won't be able to catch me. Jiangbei, on the other hand, is in a more pressing situation. "
As soon as he said this, everyone nodded. According to the information provided by the captives, the Qing Army's Xiang Rong's troops were defending Guilin, while Changlu, Kailonga, Yu Wanqing, Li Nengchen, Zhang Guoliang, and the other troops had led twenty to thirty thousand men in pursuit. Liu Zhangqing was originally a member of the pursuing troops, but because he learned that Vézé's troops were heading straight for Guilin, he had been temporarily transferred back to meet the attack.
Right now, the scouting troops had not yet crossed the river, so they weren't clear about the Qing Army's deployment north of Li River. On the other hand, they were south of Li River. Everyone had made this trip, and with the help of the local Tian Di Hui, it was actually a lot easier. It wasn't easy for the supply transport troops to march, and there were also a large number of old and weak people who would certainly have to follow the supply transport troops. If any of the Qing Army troops north of Li River collided with the supply transport troops, with or without Vézé overseeing Jiangbei, the result would be very different.
Since everyone thought this way, Wei Changrong also volunteered to take on the harassment work in Jiangnan, and Vézé also agreed to lead his troops north. After finalizing the division of labor, Zhang Yingchen suddenly said, "Wei Jiandian, since it's like this, we should make good use of those captured Qing Army troops!"
"What do you think?" Vézé saw that Zhang Yingchen's face revealed a malicious expression. It seemed that Zhang Yingchen had thought of a rather interesting idea.
"It's useless if I'm alone. I'd like to ask Wei Jiandian to help me with something," Zhang Yingchen replied.
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