Xiang Rong and Qi Shan accepted the order and did not dare to be lazy. They attacked east and south. They relaxed day and night. Soon, the two armies met in Anqing.
Xiang Rong disdained Qi Shan and reported: Although the troops led by the imperial envoy Qi Shan are full of strength, they have never faced a serious enemy and dare not take the lead suddenly. The troops of the minister go first, and the troops of Qi Shan follow behind to support them. Watching the troops in the front fight bravely for several battles will make them clear-sighted and courageous, and they will know the tricks of the thieves.
On March 30, 1853, Xiang Rong chased to Jinling, inspected the terrain, and said: The enemy first dug many pits outside the city, densely lined them with bamboo sticks, built earthen cities on the left and right of Changshou Bridge, and set up several camps. The defenses are very tight to block the advance of our troops. In addition, they are all connected to small rivers and cannot be bypassed. The soldiers must attack from the bridge. It's time to defy the strong wall and defend, and if our troops attack, it will be difficult to use our momentum. You cannot succeed unless you avoid the real and attack the weak. Because the area around Xiaoling and Chunhua Town on Chadong Road has a spacious terrain, it is easier to attack, and it can also prevent thieves from escaping through Su Chang's land route. Immediately, he led his troops around the Molingguan area, rushed to the east road, set up camp in the area, and moved in to suppress the enemy.
On the 31st, Xiang Rong led his army to Shasha Gang in the east of Jinling City and Xiaolingwei area at the southern foot of Zhongshan Mountain to build the Jiangnan camp. Qishan led his troops to the outskirts of Yangzhou and built the Jiangbei camp.
General Su Butong of Jiangning said to Xiang Rong: "Qijing'an has been stationed outside Yangzhou City, and the north and south battalions have been established. Does Xiang Shuai have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"
Xiang Rong said: "The two major battalions in the north and south of the Yangtze River are echoing each other, waiting for the opportunity to attack Jinling, capture Yangzhou, and capture Zhenjiang. This is a distant thought. There are hundreds of thousands of thieves, and we are single, and it is difficult to defeat them. Now that we are in Jiangning, we can only If we attack it, we must save it. We must move in as quickly as possible. If we can capture Zhongshan within a day, we can attack the provincial capital. I believe that the thieves who have divided their forces will definitely withdraw, which is a plan to encircle Wei and save Zhao. I would like to ask Li Rui, the general of Tianjin Town, and Rui, the deputy general. Ge led two thousand troops, rushed to Changzhou, gathered with Yang Wending's troops in Jiangyin, intercepted the bandits and invaded the southeast, and attacked the town with his camera."
Su Butong sighed and said: "First seize Zhongshan, and use the physical force to win; clean up the outer base, and then try to attack the city. This is the only way, but it is still far away!"
That night, Su Butong Ami summoned He Chun, the admiral of Jiangnan, Fuxing, the admiral of Guangxi, Ji Shun, the commander-in-chief of Hezhou Town, and Yin Debu, the commander-in-chief of Heli Town, and said: "My emperor has issued a secret edict, please pay attention to Xiangrong's movements, and do not let the Han people take control." .”
He Chun said: "If my emperor allows us to specialize in Jinling, can we have any strategies to surpass others? We have fought all the way to the army gate. We are brave and good at planning. We are actually the generals who lead the army."
On April 10, Xiang Rong issued an order to attack, but the Zhongshan Taiping Army refused to engage and only fired shots inside the wall. The Qing soldiers approached, but they were injured in vain, which was of no use. Xiang Rong had no choice but to postpone the attack.
On the 13th, Su Butong'a led his troops to pretend to attack Zhongshan and Zhonghe Bridge. He Chun, Qin Dingsan, Deng Shaoliang and others led the main force to attack the camp outside Tongji Gate. Zhang Guoliang Jieyong detoured and broke through three bases in a row. Yang Xiuqing mobilized heavy troops to go out of the city to fight, but Hechun was defeated and returned to the camp in defeat.
At midnight on the 18th, when the fog filled the air, Xiangrong's soldiers were divided into four teams, all flags and drums were silenced, and they made a sneak attack on the Qiqiao Weng camp. The defenders were unprepared and immediately dispersed. Xiangrong sent his troops to attack Zhongshan again. The seven bridges and the urn were lost, and Zhongshan lost its horns. The defenders no longer defended, burned the camp and retreated.
The danger to the east of the city must be exhausted. Xiangrong is overjoyed and attacks the Yuhuatai again. Yang Xiuqing was frightened and sent heavy troops to guard him. Xiang Rong attacked continuously for five days, but failed. Set up camp on the spot and besiege them.
Li Rui, the commander-in-chief of Tianjin Town, arrived in Changzhou, but he delayed the attack because the city walls were too old and difficult to defend. Yang Wending, the retired minister, also couldn't rush to attack the town because the ships at sea had not arrived.
Xiang Rong angrily dismissed Li Rui and ordered Deng Shaoliang to attack Zhenjiang, and then retreated: the Jinling rebels were defeated in repeated battles, and their power became increasingly isolated. If they knew it was difficult to defend, they would flee from the river, making it even more difficult to pursue and suppress them. It is better to delay the attack on Jinling, and first remove the ships from the water, so that the thieves in Jiangning, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou cities cannot take care of both the head and the tail, and then they can be killed.
Looking at the patterns of the three cities, Zhenjiang is the most concise. Gai Zhencheng is far away from Guazhou, and Zhencheng is the only way for Shanghai warships to attack. Recover Zhenjiang first, then the thieves from Yangzhou and Jiangning will be supported by many obstacles.
I sent Deng Shaoliang's troops to attack Zhenjiang from Maling and Xinfeng. The bandits in Zhenjiang are now trapped and cannot disturb Su Chang any more. To the south of Jinling City, our troops set up camp one after another and moved in to suppress the enemy. This is the only way for Dongba to go, so we can escape safely.
In Lishui, Gaochun and other places, the Fu minister Xu Naizhao also ordered the county regiment to train the local braves to boost the momentum. I sit back and observe the current situation. As soon as there is an opportunity to take advantage of the provincial capital, I will attack according to the situation and strive to recover. I dare not be constrained by the prejudice of recovering Zhenjiang first.
Deng Shaoliang took over the Zhenjiang attack order and arrived at Gantang Bridge with Jingkou Deputy Dutong Wenyi. Luo Gangyou led his army to attack. The two armies engaged, and Gangyou pretended to be defeated. Shaoliang pursued him to the south of Zhenjiang City, but a Taiping army suddenly killed him from behind Fuding Mountain. He went out and copied the Qing army's rear route. Shaoliang was unable to take care of both the front and the rear, and suffered a loss of 300 troops.
Literature and art report a small victory. Emperor Xianfeng issued stern instructions: This Ming attack was preceded and followed by thieves, and the battle was severely defeated. Why not describe it in detail?
Xiangrong Fusheng and Chun Du sent 20 boats to attack the town, and Wu Ruxiao led 300 warships to surround them. He Chun was defeated and Dantu was defeated.
Xiang Rong then sent Heli Town Commander Yin Deb with 1,200 troops to rush to the rescue. Deng Shaoliang was so energetic that he moved to Jingyan Mountain and attacked from a high position, but he could not advance.
On the north bank of the Yangtze River, the camp north of Qishan lacks artillery and blunt artillery, so it cannot be effective. At present, we can only delay the attack and delay the attack on Yangzhou.
Jiangbei Assistant Minister Shengbao shouted: "I am so anxious that I can't wait to leave the team every day!"
Chen Jinshou, the commander-in-chief of Zhili, also said: "Attack the city with one drum and it can be recovered immediately."
Qi Shan said helplessly: "If you want to attack, attack now!"
On April 19, 1853, Shengbao broke through the east camp of the city, stationed at Situ Temple, and then attacked Guanyin Mountain. On the 26th, guerrilla Feng Jingni, with five hundred soldiers, rushed into Xu Ning's gate. Qishan was afraid of an ambush and ordered to withdraw urgently.
On May 7, Shengbao and Chen Jinshou defeated the west gate and south gate Tucheng and captured the Twenty-Four Bridge Camp. Sheng and Chen were eager to attack again, but Qi Shan was afraid of being ambushed. He angrily criticized Shengbao and Chen Jinshou for attacking too hard and overdoing it, so he stopped his troops for a few days and waited for another attack.
Shengbao Nushu: Whenever the attack is tight, Qishan has already withdrawn his team. Although the slaves supervise the formation day and night, they are restrained and cannot achieve success alone. The intention seems to be that he does not want his slaves to witness his recovery in Yang. Qi Shan is a man with abundant talents, but he can't help but be jealous. He has little ability to accommodate things, and he is not modest. He is suspicious when things happen, and he is afraid that people will be on his right. Every time there is an interruption, everything is changed and extravagant. But in order to stand on their own feet, regardless of actual achievements, they did not know that they were secretly causing so many mistakes that it was a pity that the bandits in Yangcheng could not be swept away quickly.
Qi Shan disapproved and dismissed: large groups of bandits were entrenched in Jiangning, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou, relying on the three cities as horns. Chen and Xiang Rong attacked Jiangning and Yangzhou respectively. The armies of the north and the south were all on land, so it was difficult to communicate with them in strength, and their waterways and boats were far away in Zhenjiang. Now the thieves defeated in Jiangning and Yangzhou can go to and fro in the river without any obstruction, and they can land at Pukou, Liuhe, Yizheng and other places. If the thief comes from Jiangning to Zhenjiang, the distance is still more than 180 miles. If he goes to Pukou and other places, he can cross the river path and be connected by the same water. Kuang Zhenjiang continued to mobilize the boats and ships once they arrived and intercepted the river, they would not be able to go south and would inevitably move towards the north bank. Pukou, Liuhe and Yizheng had very few defensive troops. They only had cavalry and no troops, so they could not reap the benefits of complementing each other. For the current plan, instead of dividing our troops to defend at a distance, we should join forces to attack and suppress them. Thanks to God's grace, I quickly added troops to the Green Camp on the North Road, and went to Pukou, Liuhe, and Yizheng at the same time, so that the rebels would know that I was prepared and would not dare to flee north.
