?
The result of the meeting was to ignore Jiang Zhongyuan for the time being. Those who should be trained would be trained, and those who should be prepared would be prepared. After the meeting, Vézé called Wei Changrong and Zhang Yingchen for a small meeting.
"Yingchen, are you used to being a general?" Vézé asked kindly.
Of course, Zhang Yingchen felt very uncomfortable. Looking at Vézé's face, Zhang Yingchen said perfunctorily, "Prime Minister, I can still do it."
Vézé patted the stool next to him and asked Zhang Yingchen to sit down next to him. Then he said, "Yingchen, we have gone through fire and water together. Among the twenty or so old brothers, I am most optimistic about you, Chang Rong, and Lin Asheng. Now the two of them are doing very well. Whether it is leading the troops or working in the General Staff Headquarters, they are all very happy. I see that you are not happy, so I want to chat with you. No matter how hard it is, I can't let my brothers be wronged, right? "
His words were considerate, and Zhang Yingchen felt warm in his heart. He hurriedly said, "Prime Minister, I don't feel wronged. I just feel that we are very different from before."
"Sit, sit!" Vézé asked Zhang Yingchen to sit down first, and then asked, "What's different?"
Seeing that Vézé was so kind, Zhang Yingchen simply said what was on his mind, "Prime Minister, I think you are a little biased. Some of us old brothers do not learn things as fast as the new brothers, but you are building the General Staff Headquarters and mobilizing the troops. The old brothers are not as good as they used to be. "
After listening to Zhang Yingchen's complaints, Vézé smiled dryly and waved his hand. "Yingchen, I am not asking you to fight for the old brothers. I am asking what made you unhappy."
Zhang Yingchen thought about it carefully, but he didn't know why he was unhappy. He just felt very disappointed. Half a year ago, when he followed Vézé, Zhang Yingchen felt that he was the only one in Vézé's army with his ability to identify directions. Now, there were more and more brothers who were talented in this aspect, and according to the rules set by Vézé, the selected brothers had nothing to do with Zhang Yingchen. Even Zhang Yingchen, the chief of staff, was easily stripped away. The original reconnaissance troops and staff officers were divided into various units, and in the blink of an eye, they had nothing to do with Zhang Yingchen.
As for Wei Changrong, Hu Chenghe, and even many of the new brothers, they were all getting more and more powerful as they became officials and had more and more subordinates. Zhang Yingchen was the only one left. Without his own troops, he felt like a loner.
Just when Zhang Yingchen was feeling sad, Wei Changrong couldn't help but say, "Yingchen, if you think that these old brothers all have their own subordinates, and you are the only one who has nothing now, you are wrong. When we were in Yongan, there were only 300 people in total. Now, you are leading a thousand soldiers, which is a quarter of the whole army. What are you not satisfied with? "
His words were quite blunt, and Zhang Yingchen also became agitated. "You want me to lead so many people, but I am not willing to! I want to lead the original people of the chief of staff. "
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, Vézé felt dizzy. He was not good at dealing with this kind of thing, and Vézé felt that it was okay if the work was difficult, but if the work was completely unhappy, then they would really have to change their positions. Not to mention, a senior officer like Zhang Yingchen must be very enthusiastic about his position. "Alright, alright, stop quarreling! Yingchen, tell me the truth, what do you want to do? "
Zhang Yingchen thought for a moment, and then replied, "Prime Minister, I want to follow you. I can do anything if I follow you! "
Vézé was a little puzzled. Did Zhang Yingchen only want to be a close official? Or was Zhang Yingchen not used to the current organizational system, so there was no way for him to integrate into the new system?
But since Zhang Yingchen had spoken, Vézé had no choice but to respect Zhang Yingchen's wishes. He said, "How about this, I want to set up an organization to be responsible for the assessment and promotion of officers at all levels. This needs us old brothers to oversee it, and I really can't find any old brothers to do this. If you are willing, Yingchen, then you can do this first. What do you think? "
Zhang Yingchen asked Vézé for a while, and then found out that the organization was for the management, and immediately agreed. "I am willing to do this!"
Wei Changrong was so angry that he laughed. He couldn't help but laugh at Zhang Yingchen's muddle-headed desire to manage people. But after hearing Zhang Yingchen's words, he didn't seem to care at all. In the face of this demonic attitude, Wei Changrong could only let Zhang Yingchen make his own choice.
After sorting out the internal problems for the time being, Vézé finally put his mind on the war. Soon, based on past successful experiences, the Operations Department of the General Staff came up with a plan. If Jiang Zhongyuan and Zhang Guoliang blindly attacked Jiang Hua and Yongming, then Vézé and Luo Dagang would attack together and annihilate them.
But on the 6th of August, before Vézé could make further adjustments to the upper echelons of the army, Vézé received an order from the Supreme Commander of the Taiping army, Yang Xiuqing. The order asked Vézé and Luo Dagang to join forces and rush back to Daozhou as soon as possible.
"Commander Zhang guessed correctly!" Ke Gongyu said in surprise. "Prime Minister, what should we do now?"
"We have to obey the King Of The East's order. But we can't let Qing Yao follow us so easily. "Vézé and Lin Fengxiang had some discussions before, and he agreed with some of Lin Fengxiang's ideas. "Let's choose an elite team and go to Guanyang to scare Qing Yao. We'll make them think that we're going to attack Guanyang again. When they defend Guanyang, we can retreat easily. "
As soon as Vézé finished speaking, Zhang Yingchen stood up and said, "I'm willing to lead the troops!"
He looked at Zhang Yingchen carefully and saw that he looked a little embarrassed and didn't dare to look at Vézé directly. Vézé, on the other hand, was relieved. It seemed that Zhang Yingchen wasn't going to throw a tantrum anymore and was ready to be the commander of the 1st Division. Vézé was naturally very happy with Zhang Yingchen's idea. It was very difficult for Vézé to deal with the core members of the army quarreling.
"I don't think this will work. There's not enough time. "Hu Chenghe said." Send a team to pretend to attack Guanyang. It's useless if we send too few. It'll take us at least a day to go back and forth in the mountains. Scaring Qing Yao will take another day. If we're delayed for two days, the brothers behind us won't be able to catch up with us. If we want to attack Qing Yao, why don't we set up an ambush along the path of retreat and lure Qing Yao into the encirclement and annihilate them. According to the regulations on making battle plans, this is more cost-effective. "
Vézé not only made regulations on battle techniques, but also on how to make battle plans. After all, this was a brand new team. There was no need to expect this team to have deep battle experience. Relying on existing knowledge and experience to make a very rigid plan might seem inefficient, but it was also a solution. At least there wouldn't be any head-smacking incident.
Moreover, Hu Chenghe's suggestion was very standard. Even if it wasn't exquisite, it couldn't be called a stupid move. No one had a better idea, and they couldn't find any objections, so Hu Chenghe's suggestion was approved.
With a direction, the rest of the matters began to be handled. Where to set up an ambush and how to lure the Qing Army into a quick pursuit. After some discussion, the General Staff Headquarters decided on a battle plan.
On the 7th of August, Jiang Zhongyuan's team cautiously arrived at the outskirts of Jianghua County. The county gate was wide open, and there was no one on top of the city walls. The situation looked very familiar. When Jiang Zhongyuan led his team to Guanyang for the third time, Guanyang City looked like this.
"Send someone to take a look!" Jiang Zhongyuan ordered. Now, this Manchu Qing magistrate no longer had any thoughts of underestimating the Taiping army. The defeat at Guanyang City had left an unforgettable impression on him. Both sides had openly fought, and the imperial army had been utterly defeated by the rebels. Most of the Qing Army in Guangxi had been defeated by the Taiping army, but Jiang Zhongyuan was one of the rare Qing Army soldiers who had won a battle. It was because he had killed nearly a thousand Taiping army soldiers that Jiang Zhongyuan had obtained his current status.
Jiang Zhongyuan was very confident in himself, and this confidence was built on the numerous victories he had against the Taiping army. The crushing defeat at Guanyang City had shattered Jiang Zhongyuan's confidence. Over the past few days, he had repeatedly thought about the battle, trying to think of a way to win. Faced with the seemingly defenseless Yongming County, Jiang Zhongyuan was very cautious.
A small group of Qing Army soldiers approached the wide open city gate. Just as they reached the city gate, they saw a dozen or so people suddenly stand up on top of the city wall and fire a volley of muskets. Their aim was not very good. The combined firepower of the dozen or so people only managed to injure one Qing Army soldier. The remaining Qing Army soldiers were so frightened that they screamed and fled back to Jiang Zhongyuan's side.
Jiang Zhongyuan focused his attention on the top of the city wall and saw that the Taiping army soldiers had bent down and were hiding behind the battlements on the city wall. Thinking back to the bombardment during the previous battle, Jiang Zhongyuan raised his hand and ordered, "Retreat!"
The Chu Yong soldiers quickly retreated far away according to Jiang Zhongyuan's order.
Three hours later, Vézé received the news. The troops on top of the city wall were newly formed reconnaissance troops. The soldiers were very clever. Seeing that Jiang Zhongyuan did not give the order to attack Yongming County, they immediately bent down and retreated from the top of the city wall.
"It's not going well!" Vézé said to his brothers in the Operations Department.
Hu Chenghe, the head of the Operations Department, scratched his head. The General Staff Division had also considered the possibility of such a situation. If the distance between the troops and the Qing Army exceeded a certain marching distance, then it would not be suitable for them to continue with the ambush. Hu Chenghe suggested, "Prime Minister, let's retreat. The brothers in the reconnaissance troops are fast. The Qing Army will not be able to outrun them. If they are too far away from the main force, it will be unnecessary. "
By now, the main force had already been moving for nearly four hours. Vézé also felt that there was no point in waiting like an idiot. One of the basic requirements of the original battle plan was to lure the enemy. If Jiang Zhongyuan had immediately sent the main force to chase after them after they encountered an ambush, then that would be called luring the enemy. Now that this basic requirement did not exist, the entire battle plan had to be adjusted.
"Retreat!" Vézé ordered. After the troops retreated from the various ambush points and onto the road, the reconnaissance troops that had been left far behind did not send back any news of the Qing Army's pursuit.
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