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On the 14th of July, the Taiping army dispatched a small unit to the vicinity of the Qing Army's Wuliting Barracks. They erected a tall pole opposite the Qing Army Barracks, and hung a human head from the pole. Just like before, the Qing Army did not dare to immediately launch a counterattack. Instead, they waited for the small unit of Taiping army to leave before sending out their own troops.
In the Qing Army's main tent, the current Commander-in-Chief He Chun had already received the news. An uneasy feeling arose in his heart. He Chun had originally been Xiang Rong's commander-in-chief. His old superior, Xiang Rong, was currently using his illness as an excuse and holed up in Guilin, refusing to move out. Forced to do so, Imperial Envoy Sai Shang A gave He Chun the rank of Commander-In-Chief. First, he was put in charge of pursuing the Taiping army. Now, he was put in charge of besieging the Taiping army in Daozhou.
He Chun originally did not understand why his old superior, Xiang Rong, was so dispirited. First, Xiang Rong had suffered a major defeat at Dadong, and then he had barely managed to defend Guilin. According to Manchu Qing customs, Xiang Rong's two affairs could be said to have balanced out his merits and demerits. After all, Wu Lan Tai, who had always been at loggerheads with Xiang Rong, had simply died at Dadong. When the Taiping army attacked Guilin, they hung Commander-In-Chief Wu Lan Tai, Qin Dingsan, and several other commander-in-chief Wu Lan Tai, who had died at Dadong, on a pole outside Guilin. This dealt a significant blow to the morale of the Qing Army.
With Wu Lan Tai and the others at the bottom, He Chun originally did not understand why his old superior, Xiang Rong, was unwilling to continue fighting the Taiping army. However, after serving as a chief in Daozhou for a period of time, He Chun felt that he somewhat understood. The infighting in the Qing Army was quite serious.
Originally, Chu Yong Chief Jiang Zhongyuan had wanted to mediate the conflict between Xiang Rong and Wu Lan Tai, and He Chun had been very supportive. After Wu Lan Tai died, Jiang Zhongyuan and Army Supervisor Yao Ying, who had originally supported Wu Lan Tai, seemed to be on the same side. The Qing Army has just arrived at the border of Daozhou from Yongzhou. Yao Ying, who had joined the army, wrote a letter from Guilin, requesting He Chun to immediately launch an attack on the Taiping army. Jiang Zhongyuan also repeatedly shouted in the army. He said that the Taiping army now has less than ten thousand people, and that it is a good time to wipe them out. If they waited for the Taiping army to recover, it would be difficult to exterminate them.
It was reasonable, but He Chun felt that Yao Ying and Jiang Zhongyuan were playing dumb. It's true that the Taiping army only has less than ten thousand men, but the Qing Army only has less than 1300 men. To attack the nearly ten thousand Taiping army defending the fortified city, there was simply no possibility of success. Not long ago, forty thousand Qing Army troops besieged Yongan, which was defended by ten thousand Taiping army troops. After the Taiping army broke through Yongan, the Qing Army's elite troops pursued them with all their might, but in the end, they still returned in defeat.
Yao Ying, on the other hand, was in the army. When Jiang Zhongyuan was defending Guilin, he defended the Taiping army and defeated the Taiping army three times. He made great contributions and was promoted to magistrate by the imperial court. When they were pursuing the Taiping army, they won the battle at the Crossing of the Cowhide Raincoat, killed the Taiping army's main leader, and seized the Taiping army's military supply chain. Now their arrogance was very rampant.
With Yao Ying and Jiang Zhongyuan quarreling, one at the front and the other at the rear, He Chun had no choice but to try to enter Daozhou at the end of June. However, the Taiping army's strength was not as "only eight thousand" as Yao Ying and Jiang Zhongyuan had expected. Based on the results of the battles, the Taiping army's strength had already reached ten thousand. In the end, He Chun went through untold hardships to set up camp at Five Mile Pavilion outside Daozhou City.
Fortunately, Daozhou was a city with mountains on one side and a river on the other. There were only a few main roads. He Chun's more than ten thousand soldiers split up to block the land and water routes outside Daozhou City. Finally, they controlled the north and east sides of Daozhou City. He Chun immediately requested for reinforcements, hoping to seal off the Taiping army in Daozhou City as soon as possible.
However, the reinforcements did not come. Instead, the news of the Taiping army hanging a tree pole outside the Qing Army's camp came. After seeing the Taiping army's hanging Ulan Tai's head outside Guilin City, He Chun felt very uneasy when she heard this news. When the Taiping army withdrew from Guilin, they took the heads of Ulan Tai, Qin Dingsan, and the others with them. According to the information obtained from the captured Taiping army, when the Taiping army crossed the Li River, they threw the heads into the river. And this time, the Taiping army once again hung a head in such a high-profile manner. It must be an important figure in the Qing Army.
He Chun anxiously waited for news from outside. He Chun also began to gather the generals. If something big really happened, it was better to be prepared than not. Just as the generals of the various battalions gathered, Qing Army soldiers ran into the tent from outside. "Reporting to Commander, Guanyang has been seized by the Guangdong bandits!"
He Chun originally thought that they were trying to figure out the identity of the head outside. He never expected that they were actually trying to find out about the fall of Guanyang. He was a little dazed.
As for how to address the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing Army's frontline had finally come to an agreement. Basically, they all referred to it as the Guangdong bandits. When the generals in the tent heard this news, they were all shocked. "How could this be?" "When did the Guangdong bandits circle around to Guanyang?" Nonsense like this was piled on top of each other.
Just then, another Qing Army soldier ran in to report, "Reporting to Commander, the head outside has been retrieved. Does anyone think it looks like Lord Liu Zhangqing's head? "
"What?" He Chun had already stood up. In fact, he also basically believed that it was Liu Zhangqing's head. Because he had requested reinforcements, He Chun had repeatedly contacted the imperial envoy, Ceishan 'a. Ceishan' a had said that he had already ordered Liu Zhangqing to go from Guanyang to Daozhou. Since Guanyang had already been captured by the Taiping army, Liu Zhangqing was naturally in danger.
Just as everyone was venting their confusion and unease, Jiang Zhongyuan suddenly stood up. With a gloomy expression, he said, "I'm afraid that Quanzhou is no longer safe!"
When this substantive topic was brought up, the Qing Army generals in the tent fell silent. All the generals had chased the Taiping army all the way here from Quanzhou. Guanyang was to the south of Quanzhou, more than 80 li away. The Taiping army had used a cave attack to capture Quanzhou. Because of the urgency of their pursuit, and the fact that the people of Quanzhou had fled from the cities when the Taiping army besieged Quanzhou, it had only been slightly more than a month. Many of the people who had escaped had yet to return to Quanzhou, and no one had repaired the huge gap in the city walls.
At this time, the main force of the Guangxi Qing Army was either holed up with Xiang Rong in Guilin or following He Chun in besieging Daozhou. A small portion had followed the imperial envoy, Ceishan 'a, to Yongzhou to hold the fort. Quanzhou just so happened to be unguarded. Since Guanyang had already been captured by the Guangdong bandits, they could easily take Quanzhou once more if they marched north.
Not only was Commander He Chun's face pale, even his lips were pale. His army's food supply depended entirely on the Guangxi granary. Last month, Adjunct Yao Ying had said, "We can still hold out in June, but we can't in July." If the Taiping army captured Quanzhou, it would completely cut off the Qing Army's food supply from Guangxi to the Daozhou frontline. Without food, the Qing Army would have to retreat without a fight.
Jiang Zhongyuan could still be considered calm. He cupped his hands and said to He Chun, "Commander He Chun, we should immediately recapture Guanyang!"
He Chun frowned and thought for a moment. "No, we can't split our forces at this time."
"Why?" Jiang Zhongyuan looked at He Chun in surprise.
He Chun replied, "Since the Guangdong bandits in Daozhou delivered Commander Liu's head, it must have been sent to Daozhou by the Guangdong bandits in Guanyang. How could they not know that we will send reinforcements to Guanyang? If we split our forces and our camp at Wuli Ting is attacked by the Guangdong bandits, the situation will be unthinkable. "
Jiang Zhongyuan was originally very dissatisfied with He Chun's attitude of not sending troops. After hearing He Chun's idea, Jiang Zhongyuan didn't even have the mood to argue. It was indeed not easy for the Qing Army to attack a city like Daozhou, but it was equally difficult for the Taiping army to attack the Qing Army's camp. He Chun made all sorts of excuses. In the end, he just didn't want to send troops.
Since he knew He Chun's attitude, Jiang Zhongyuan simply said, "Since it's like this, then let me lead troops to recapture Guanyang."
Jiang Zhongyuan was a prefectural magistrate in name. His status couldn't compare to He Chun, who was a real commander. Moreover, He Chun had the rank of commander. However, Jiang Zhongyuan had less than two thousand Chu Yong in his hands. In addition, Jiang Zhongyuan was in cahoots with Yao Ying, who was in charge of logistics. He was clearly Yao Ying's mouthpiece at the frontlines. He Chun had no way of suppressing Jiang Zhongyuan. He could only pretend to persuade, "Magistrate Jiang, please reconsider."
Jiang Zhongyuan didn't really want to quarrel with He Chun. He said with emotion, "What's there to reconsider? The Guangdong bandits attacking Guanyang may be fierce, but Quanzhou is a large city. If he can't lead all his troops, I'm afraid he won't be able to take it. Right now, I'm afraid there aren't many Guangdong bandits left in Guanyang. It hasn't been long since Guanyang was taken. If I lead troops to attack, I'm afraid the Guangdong bandits won't even think about it. "
The Qing Army was having a heated discussion about the sudden change in the situation. In Daozhou, not far from them, the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion were also having a discussion. The news that the Qing Army had taken Liu Zhangqing's head had reached the city. Hong Xiuquan snorted mockingly through his nostrils. "I think Qing Yao must be scared out of his wits."
Xiao Chaogui, the Western Prince, laughed. "I didn't expect Vézé to be so young and vigorous. He wrote a letter requesting to attack Yongzhou after Quanzhou. He even said that even if he can't take Yongzhou, he can go south along the road north of Yongzhou and attack Qing Yao from behind. "
Yang Xiuqing didn't laugh. He asked seriously, "Did the Western Prince send someone to summon Vézé back to Daozhou?"
"Of course I did!" Xiao Chaogui stopped smiling. "I've already sent Lin Fengxiang to Quanzhou. Before he left, I told him that even if he had to be tied up, he had to summon Vézé back! He's just messing around! "
"Indeed!" Yang Xiuqing sneered. "If he has the strength to attack Yongzhou, he might as well go back to Daozhou and attack Qing Yao. I wonder what Vézé is thinking."
Xiao Chaogui saw that Yang Xiuqing was rather unhappy. Instead, he put in a good word for Vézé. "King Of The East, although Vézé's idea is absurd, it's a great contribution. The food from Yongning and the other provinces has already been transported to Daozhou. If we can take Quanzhou, it's an even greater contribution. It's just that Vézé's idea after taking Quanzhou is preposterous. "
"I don't mean to blame him," Yang Xiuqing replied. "It's just that Vézé can't be too far away. Who knows what he'll do if we're not careful."
Xiao Chaogui nodded. He agreed with Yang Xiuqing on this point. However, Xiao Chaogui was talking about something else. "King Of The East, are you still insisting on going north to Changsha?"
This was the issue that the Taiping army's higher-ups were most concerned about. At this time, there were already many opinions in the army. Some wanted to return to Guangxi, while others suggested going to Guangdong. Yang Xiuqing himself was determined to fight in Hunan. Therefore, Yang Xiuqing didn't want Vézé to waste time waiting in Quanzhou. If Vézé continued to cause trouble outside, it would be too much of a waste of time.
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