Chapter 43 Jiang Zhongyuan died in Luzhou
Tianjing was in a hurry, and Yang Xiuqing ordered: Shi Dakai returned to help Tianjing, Qin Rigang took over the defense of Anqing; Hu Yihuang must defeat Luzhou within the month.
Shi Dakai led his troops back to Beijing and set up camp step by step from the Yuhuatai outside the city to the Shangfangqiao ground, intending to outflank the back roads of the Jiangnan camp. He also ordered Lai Hanying to lead his troops to camp outside Taiping Gate, watch along the dragon's neck, and attack the Jiangnan camp head-on.
Seeing this, Xiang Rong mobilized his troops and generals day and night to cause more conflicts. After more than a month of fierce fighting, little progress was made.
Xiang Rong had no choice but to go to Shu: Jinling City is large and strong and cannot be broken through repeated attacks. The thieves are all hiding behind our old troops. The barriers are high and thick, the trenches are overlapping, and the water is bending around them. The rivers are getting wider and wider. There is no gap to take advantage of, and there is no surprise to get out. Although we try our best to attack day and night, there are no cunning enemies in this strong city! If the thieves rebel and refuse to defend the fortified city, it will be impossible for them to attack it with force. Wei Chen believes that the Jinling thieves in Guazhen are prioritized, and the suppression campaign has its own order. The main task is to clean up the adverse ships and clear the river as soon as possible. The strategy of suppressing and washing must be to cut off the thieves and support them, Guazhou first, then take advantage of the situation to attack from both sides, and then conquer Zhenjiang. Jinling is the leader of the rebellion, and there are especially many pirate ships. It is also an area where the upstream and downstream gather, so it is necessary to have the ships of big countries to sweep them together. As soon as the Guangdong division's red single ship arrived, it anchored briefly in the upper reaches of Jinling to block the pirate ships coming and going, so that the pirates could no longer communicate between the north and the south, and cut off their way to transport food. After that, they will join forces with the Lu Division and block the canal with more efforts, so that they can sweep the holes and capture the canal.
Emperor Xianfeng also lamented after the memorial: Jinling's fortified city is difficult to break, which is expected; to attack the east and attack the west, to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, Luzhou is still the top priority.
Hu Yihuang failed to attack Luzhou for a long time, so he ordered the earth camp to dig tunnels, install gunpowder, blow up the walls and breach the city; or he could escape and enter the city, and respond with surprise troops.
Jiang Zhongyuan saw through it and dug inside the city, breaking more than ten tunnels. Wherever the city wall was damaged, Zhongyuan would jump on his horse and raise his spear to supervise the troops to resist.
Hu Yihuang tried his best to find nothing.
Zeng Tianyang said: "The Qingyao reinforcements have reached 20,000 people. The governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Shu Xing, has 4,000 people from the Yao tribe who have arrived at Gangziji in the northwest of Luzhou. The Jiangnan admiral and the Chunyao tribe with 1,000 people have entered Liangyuan in the northeast of Luzhou. . Ximen Jiang Zhongjun, Liu Changyou, and Jiang Zhongxin tried their best to attack without stopping for a moment. Jiang Yao Zhongyuan had some experience. In the fierce battle in Nanchang in March, the city walls were blown down in all directions, and the width was more than 20 feet. There was nothing they could do. This house Whether you want to attack or withdraw from a state or city, you must make a decision early."
Hu Yihuang said: "Shu Xing, you are a demon governor in vain. You dare not fight in a battle. His soldiers abandoned their horses and fled, hiding in the pine forest, sitting in parallel and weeping. When my heavenly soldiers arrived, they actually cut their necks and received swords. Such soldiers, What's there to be afraid of! He Chun Yao'er, on the other hand, was diligent and waited for the Jiang Yao to be destroyed before killing this monster. He passed on my orders and blocked the reinforcements, leaving a few soldiers on guard. The main force retreated and joined forces to attack. He also whispered to Zeng Tian. Yang: I want to dig several more places next to the Moon City at the west gate of the water. They are shaped like curves and are stacked into upper and lower layers. This is particularly important. There are two explosions at intervals. When you hear the first explosion, you don’t have to respond. Wait for it to be blocked with force; If it explodes again, the Jiang Yao will be defenseless and Luzhou will be destroyed."
Zeng Tianyang said: "The situation is critical and the situation is urgent, so it should not be delayed."
Hu Yihuang said: "Start attacking immediately!"
On the night of January 14, 1854, Hu Yihuang ordered his soldiers to ignite the upper layer of gunpowder and blow up six feet of the city wall.
Jiang Zhongyuan took it for granted. He supervised the troops to block the blockage and repaired it in two hours. Suddenly there was another deafening explosion, and the repaired city wall collapsed again. The army and people of Luzhou were in chaos and dispersed. Jiang Zhongyuan killed many people and could not stop them.
Hu Yihuang took the opportunity to rush in, and the Xiaonan Gate and Xiaodong Gate were also breached by Zeng Tianyang.
Hu Yuanwei, the prefect of Luzhou, was frightened and panicked and surrendered on his knees.
Governor Jiang Zhongyuan led his soldiers and Chu Yong to fight in the streets. At dawn, heavy fog filled the air. Zhongyuan was injured in many places. Du Sima Liangxun carried Zhongyuan on his back and fled. Zhongyuan bit his ear. He picked up his knife and fought again to the ancient pond of Shuiguanqiao. He was injured in seven more places. He could no longer support himself. Drink: "The world of mortals is enviable, but it is a pity that there is no way back; to help the world is a common man's ambition."
After Zhongyuan finished speaking, he jumped straight into the ancient pond. Chief envoys Liu Yuzhen and Li Benren, Chizhou magistrate Chen Yuanyan, Tongzhi Zou Hanxun, county magistrates Xingfu and Ai Tinghui, deputy general Song'an, and staff general Dai Wenyuan also died in the battle.
Hu Yihuang defeated Luzhou and finished the killing. He continued to attack Lujiang, Lu'an, Qianshan, Wuwei and other prefectures and counties without stopping. Yang Xiuqing liked Hu Yihuang's wisdom and bravery, and enfeoffed him as Protector of Heaven. He was promoted to King of Yu, and he led an army of five thousand to defend Luzhou.
Zhongyuan died, the Qing army was defeated like a mountain, Shu Xing'a disappeared, Liu Changyou retreated to Xiangdi, Hechun could not sing, and he retreated to Sanligang during the war, and went to Shudao: Luzhou and its subordinate counties were all captured, and contacted the Anqing rebels. Once angry, it is very difficult to eradicate. Although there are more than ten thousand brave soldiers in Anhui Province, most of them have not been in battle. Please mobilize the Hunan troops from Zhenjiang's old army, and allocate three thousand capable officers and soldiers from Jinling, and hand them over to the commander-in-chief Qin Dingsan and Zheng Kuishi to help suppress the attack.
Yuan Jiasan, the minister of suppression of Huaibei, impeached Shu Xing'a, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and sat back with his troops. Luzhou was lost.
Emperor Xianfeng sighed: "Since last year, Anhui has been lost many times, but Yuan Jiasan, the minister of suppression in Huaibei, captured three Nian heads alive and wounded one Nian head. The more he fought, the braver he became, and the army was very victorious. I ordered: Shu Xing A Bu After retreating from the battle, his position was taken away, and Yuan Jiasan was promoted to the left deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Anhui Province involved the north and south, blocking the thieves from advancing north, and the terrain was dangerous and could not be lost again. The two battalions of Jiangbei and Jiangnan were divided into five thousand troops. Rush to Anhui. Fuji, the governor of water transportation, rushes to Anhui and takes office as governor of Anhui and prime minister of military, political and civil affairs in Anhui."
Fuji received the order and dispatched 600 soldiers from Caohe to go to Lu, but they were scattered halfway: according to statistics, more than 20,000 troops were mobilized, and the monthly salary was no less than 150,000 or 60,000. Please order the ministers of Zhejiang, Lu, Qin, and Jin to assist; ask Qishan to mobilize two thousand elite soldiers to guard Guanshan and Jianxi to prevent thieves from fleeing north; ask Pan Xien, the former governor of the river channel, and Sun Mingen, the academic administrator of Anhui, to organize the affairs of Huizhou and Ningguo , Guangde three prefectures to prevent and suppress.
Wang Maoyinshu, the right minister of the Ministry of War, said: The capital of Anhui Province has moved north to Luzhou, and it is difficult to take care of southern Anhui. It is better to temporarily transfer Huizhou and other places to the jurisdiction of Zhejiang Province.
Emperor Xianfeng agreed and ordered Huang Zonghan, the governor of Zhejiang, to send Taoist priests to Huizhou, and also ordered troops to be sent to Xiangrong for reinforcements.
In response to the order, Xiang Rong sent guerrillas Zhou Tianshou and Du Si Jiang Changgui to rush to southern Anhui with a thousand troops, and then they were sparse: there were not many soldiers in the southern camp, and the number became smaller after repeated divisions. The city of Jinling was adjacent to the river, and it was not enough to attack from the east and west. Unable to express. Today, there are less than 6,000 soldiers in the southern camp who can actually fight. The Wei ministers used blockage as a means of suppression, and waited for the arrival of the Cantonese red single ship to block the river channel before attacking with all their strength.
Zhang Guoliang said: "Huizhou is the junction of the three provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi. There are few soldiers and nothing to do."
Xiang Rong sighed: "In the border area, the powers are different. If one party is active, many parties are holding back, so we are doomed to do nothing. I just wait for my emperor to punish me!"
As expected, Emperor Xianfeng reprimanded Xiang Rong again: Don't wait and see based on the division of troops into small generals; don't delay the time by holding a large number of troops. He also told Hechun and Fuji: Luzhou is connected to the north and south. This county was suddenly lost and the Jianghuai River was severely affected. The two ministers must do their best to attack the enemy and recover it as soon as possible.
He and Fu received the order and led Qin Dingsan, Zheng Kuishi, Jiang Zhongjun and others to besiege them. After more than a month of fierce fighting, they failed to make any progress.
Fuji said: "Luzhou is a vast area, the bandits are very powerful, and the defense is very strict. We are short of pay and soldiers, so the handling is extremely difficult."
He Chun said: "We will attack from the east, west and north to block the way for the thieves to escape north. To the south is Shang Shu and Tong. We must send an army to attack Shu City from the south to block the way for the thieves to get reinforcements."
Qin Dingsan said: "This is a wonderful work, I will be willing to go there in the end."
He Chun said: "To attack Jinling from the military gate, do you have any new tactics?"
Zheng Kuishi said: "We go out every day, attack during the day and attack at night, which is a waste of time."
He Chun sighed: "It is so difficult to conquer the fortress. I am anxious and sleepless day and night. I can only show my beauty by dying."
