There is only one telegraph machine in Yixian County. The telegraphs that electrify the whole country have to be sent out one by one. It is not like ordinary people sending telegrams, each word is worth a lot of money. Of course, the number of words in the rebellion announcement is indispensable.
It took half an hour to send a telegram, and it dragged on until dark in the evening and was still ticking.
In the afternoon, the army had already set off, and the 140,000-strong army began to approach the north along three roads!
There is no railway in Yixian County, so the army started walking towards the east. Within a few dozen miles, a group of troops started heading north along the edge of the foothills, heading straight for Fangshan Mountain!
The second army stormed Dingxing, where the railway passed. A part of the army was to be guarded here to resist the defenders of Baoding Prefecture who might move north.
The rest continue north along the railway!
The third army, after passing through Dingxing, marched towards the Baigou River area of Xincheng, then moved northward to capture Gu'an City, and then quickly crossed to the north of Zhuozhou, looking for opportunities to attack Liangxiang.
All plans were aimed at the camp of Emperor Tongzhi's new army in Zhuozhou. The three armies would contain them all the way, while the left and right wings would attack the defenders in Fangshan and Liangxiang and outflank Prince Dun's retreat.
At this moment, the intelligence shows that Prince Zhuozhou Dun has just gathered 30,000 vanguard troops, and the number is simply not enough. If he can eat up this vanguard force at this time, then the subsequent battle will be easier to fight!
"Rong Lu! You lead a force of 50,000 troops straight to the Baigou River in the new city and take charge of the eastern front..."
"Na Duobao, Yisiha... you lead a force of 50,000 people along the foothills of Taihang Mountains and attack Fangshan Mountain, and take charge of the west road..."
"I led the remaining 40,000 elite troops to station in Dingxing and confront the Fifth Brother in Zhuozhou along the railway line..."
"No!" Ronglu was shocked when he heard this. "Your Majesty, you can't just sit back and take it easy. It's too dangerous. There are a total of 40,000 people, so you have to be prepared for attacks from the north and the south!"
"Prince Dun is in the north, Zuo Zongtang is guarding Baoding Prefecture in the south, and there is railway communication in the middle... Once the north and south attack and outflank His Majesty, the situation will be dangerous!"
Other generals also tried to dissuade them, but Guiziliu shook his head firmly, "No, no, no, I have to sit back and calm down. I am the only one who can hold on here!"
"The east and west routes are fighting military battles...but the center route is fighting political battles!"
"Haha... I want to see if the fifth brother can be cruel to me. I want to see if the adopted fifth brother has made any progress in these years!"
"Your Majesty! Even if Prince Dun is thinking about family ties and refuses to kill him... Zuo Jigao is not easy to deal with! He is a hero of Ping Changmao and the Western Regions. His reputation is too high and his experience is extremely rich..." Rong Lu still refused to give up. .
"Haha... High reputation? Can fight? But don't forget, he is Hanchen! His life was saved by me and Sushun! Haha, as long as he dares to attack me, let's see if he dares to carry this What a reputation for ingratitude!”
Hiss... Ronglu suddenly remembered the old things from his youth. Back then, Zuo Zongtang was in Luo Bingzhang's secretariat. Because of a conflict with the Manchu minister Fan Xie, Zuo Zongtang even beat Fan Xie violently.
The Manchus were beaten by the Han people, and Fan Xie was so angry that he asked Emperor Xianfeng for a copy. The furious Emperor Xianfeng captured Zuo Zongtang and took him to prison.
This was a landmark event in the power conflict between the Manchus and Hanchens in the early days of the Taiping Rebellion. The two sides wrestled many times in the court.
The Manchus demanded that Zuo Zongtang be executed, but the Han officials collectively fought to protect him. In the end, the Han officials took the path of Sushun!
But Sushun was a Manchu minister after all. Even if he had a good impression of Hanchen, it was taboo to protect Zuo Zongtang directly like this!
In the end, something shocking happened. Not only did Sushun protect Zuo Zongtang, he even got Emperor Xianfeng to issue an order to remove Fan Xie from his official position and promote Zuo Zongtang!
The government and the public were in an uproar. Many people among the Manchus didn't know the reason, and Ronglu didn't know it either at the time!
In fact, this was not the first time that Sushun protected Hanchen. Sushun, a bannerman, had a very strange temper and naturally disliked the playboys and prodigal sons in the Eight Banners.
He even cursed the trash in the Eight Banners on many occasions! But despite the criticism, it was impossible for Sushun to withstand the pressure of the entire Eight Banners.
So in the eyes of people like Ronglu, Sushun risking his life to save Zuo Zongtang might be able to save his life, but that's all.
How come in the end not only was his life saved, but Zuo Zongtang was also promoted? Not only was he promoted, but Fan Xie also lost his official title?
Everyone was shocked, and what they didn't expect was that after Sushun took care of this matter, there was not much protest within the Eight Banners, as if so many forces had been suppressed by invisible hands!
Today, Prince Gong Yixin finally solved the mystery. At that time, the person who suppressed the anger within the Eight Banners was none other than Guiziliu himself.
Among the nobles of the Eight Banners at that time, apart from the emperor, he was the only one with the highest reputation!
People looked at Yi Xin and couldn't help but feel a little awe again. Only then could they know how many things Prince Gong had done in his life, and how many of them were unknown to others.
"Haha... When I was growing up, if I hadn't been secretly protecting these Han ministers from behind, these Han ministers wouldn't have had so many rights!"
"Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guoquan, Li Hongzhang...Zuo Zongtang, who among them has not received my favor? How many impeachment attempts have I helped them suppress, and how many angers within the Eight Banners have I coordinated?"
"It's all for the sake of the Qing Dynasty. I have endured humiliation and endured great hardships for half my life! The fact that the world can be stabilized and the Qing Dynasty has not fallen... is largely due to me!"
"What can the four of me do? I only know how to drink deer blood and find women... After giving birth to this son, you still want to ride on my head, and you still want to mess around in the Qing Dynasty?"
"Hehehe... The telegram should have arrived at Baoding Mansion by now, right? I asked Zuo Jigao to hit me, let him hit me..."
At this point, the generals no longer dared to persuade, Ronglu clasped his fists on horseback and saluted, "Your Majesty! Since your Majesty has made up his mind, I will say nothing more..."
"But you can't bring 40,000 people! It's too few... Let's allocate 10,000 to the east and west. His Majesty will bring 60,000 to the middle, and we can bring 40,000 to each side..."
"Haha, no need!" Yi Xin waved his hand, "I only have these 140,000 soldiers and horses. At this moment, the southern part of Zhili, as well as Shanxi, Shandong and Henan, all have reinforcements coming to support us!"
"Although they are just a few refugees, the ants will bite the elephant to death! 1.8 million refugees can still suppress Zai Chun's army!"
"If Zuo Jigao is mad, I'm not afraid of him! Baoding Mansion has more than 10,000 soldiers, including 7,000 Green Camp soldiers and 3,000 Eight Banner soldiers throughout the city!"
"The Three Thousand Flag Battalion, dare to confront me? I'm afraid if I shout a few words in front of the army, they will come over!"
"The remaining 7,000 Green Battalion soldiers have not been trained for many years... The 30,000 to 40,000 refugees will disappear in a rush!"
"Hahaha... From the moment Zuo Jigao left his 100,000-strong army in the Western Regions, he was already a tiger without teeth!"
