When the official document refused to help, Li Xubin sighed: If people don't do their best, the times will be bad! Win Luzhou, then compete with the officials!
That night, Xu Binshu said: I have 8,000 men, but more than 3,000 men have been separated from Qian, Tai, Tongcheng and other places to stay on the defensive. They have been fighting hard for several months without stopping for a day. The elite have been injured and devastated everywhere. , there are now less than five thousand people, all of whom are tired. In the area around the Three Rivers, the terrain is flat, with no hills and swamps, criss-crossing dikes, dry fields and hidden grass, small rivers lingering in between, and the autumn water is half dry. Although there are many thieves, it is still enough to control them on your own. If a large group of thieves comes to the aid of the thieves, the troops may not be able to support them.
On November 3, 1858, Governor Li Xubin led 5,000 soldiers and arrived near Sanhe Town.
According to reports, the Sanhe Castle was built along the water, with countless rice grains and munitions stored inside, and nine fortresses built outside the city. Ten miles east of the city, at the foot of Baishi Mountain, camps were set up everywhere. The city, the mountain, and the fortress depend on each other, and the horses and infantry are linked to each other. Wu Dinggui, the general of the Taiping Army, has been in charge of the defense for many years. He has been repeatedly defeated. Sanhe Town is indeed easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Li Xubin said: No problem! The army is everywhere, wiped out in ashes!
On November 7, Li Xubin divided his troops into three groups and first attacked the ninth base outside the city. The defenders relied on the wall to resist, and the arrows and artillery fire were like raindrops; the Hunan troops fell to the ground one after another. Xu Bin was unmoved and followed the order to attack with all his strength. He also ordered the soldiers to set fire to the stronghold, and the defenders gradually became exhausted.
Wu Dingju sent all his main forces out of the city to respond, and also ordered the Baishishan garrison to respond after the attack. All the Taiping sergeants from the ninth base retreated from the inner city.
Li Xubin forced the city to camp and besieged it on all sides. The attackers, each carrying a few spears, prepared to board the city, filled the trench with grass, and swarmed under the city. Guns and artillery rained down on the city, and the Hunan army suffered many casualties.
Xu Bin continued to attack for two days, and said sadly: "Thieves can also defend, but it is a pity that they are the ears of thieves!"
Zeng Guohua said: Although the outer fortress is broken, I have lost more than a thousand soldiers; the thieves in Sanhe Stone City are rich in resources; even if they are defeated, my four thousand Hunan descendants may lose half of them again; the enemy's reinforcements are on the way, and it is difficult for us to find them; retreat and try again. Only by fighting can you be safe.
Li Xubin said: "Seven edicts in ten days, I have been greatly favored, how can I say retreat?" I ordered the Chang camp of Chen Deyuan in Xuancheng to fly to Qianshan; the Yuanzhong and Zhenyou camps of Tongcheng were to fly to Shucheng. Xie Yonghu from Shucheng and Yuan Huaizhong from Shudong quickly divided their troops and rushed over. Orders were sent to each battalion to dig roads and trenches, fill more supplies with medicine, and break the city for a decisive battle.
Zeng Guohua said: Xie's troops are weak and cannot be relied on; Yuan Nai was sent by Li Mengqun, so he cannot be relied on!
Li Xubin said: "This opportunity is at stake. It's a critical moment. Yuan Ruo disobeys the order and kills him immediately." He was anxious to consult Du Xing'a and quickly dispatched a cavalry team to help.
Peng Yulin was still uneasy in Shuiying, so he wrote to Li Xubin: "I will attack Sanhe with a huge army. I understand that the thieves are wandering spirits, and it will not be difficult to overthrow them." The areas around Weishu and Tong were kept on guard, with separate forces. And the Hu and Peng armies have to come to Puqin Hall before they can change their defenses and transfer to the main camp. I don't know whether the future and the resources for deployment are meager. I always think about it. Xunjiang River and Feishui River are far away and difficult to pass through, and the bridge is deep.
Wu Dingzhi fought for seven days and lost half of his troops. Five coins a day were sent to Liuhe. This was an urgent warning. Chen Yucheng had no intention of staying in Suzhou, so he joined Li Xiucheng's troops, led troops back to Anhui, passed Chao County, crossed the Lujiang River, and went straight to Jinniu Town, cutting off the connection between Sanhe and Shucheng, and cutting off Li Xubin's retreat.
When the Qing general Yuan Huaizhong heard that Chen Yucheng had arrived, he quickly left with 2,000 soldiers.
On November 12, 1858, Li Xiucheng asked Xue Zhiyuan to guard Jiangpu and Pukou. He led the main force and arrived at Baishi Mountain in two days to control the east road. Wu Ruxiao also left Luzhou, gathered Zhang Lexing's Nian army, and marched from north to south to attack Sanhe Town.
Chen Yucheng looked at the terrain of Sanhe and asked Li Xiucheng happily: Sanhe Town is surrounded by three rivers, and the river branches are densely covered with the shape of the character "人". Li Yao relies on the ten-mile long embankment to form an army. I will set up camp along the embankment. Then it is a formation, as if setting a solid siege, luring the thieves into the urn, dividing them and annihilating them.
Surrounded within siege, with enemies both inside and outside, Li Xubin was not afraid and shouted proudly: "I will fight in a bloody battle. If you kill one more thief, you will eliminate one more harm to the people." The cauldron and the boat will be broken, and a fight will be fought to the death; if Chen Niyu is successfully killed, the thieves and bandits will be defeated!
General Ding Ruiyi said: There are thieves on all sides, there are many casualties, and there is no way to advance or retreat. It is better to gather the troops in one place, retreat to Tongcheng, and still be undefeated!
Xu Bin said: "How cowardly are you trying to defeat tens of thousands of thieves with a thousand men?" My order: Each battalion will be divided into 60% troops, led by Jin Guochen, directly across the Changdi, attack Jinniu Town in the west, kill the Chen thieves, open Shucheng; lead the troops to counterattack, cooperate with the inside and outside, and the thieves will be defeated.
On May 15th, Jin Guochen, who knew Tongzhi, led two thousand troops, divided into three groups: left, center and right, and marched westward boldly. At dawn, they attacked the suburbs of Jinniu Town. Suddenly a heavy fog filled the air, making it difficult to tell what was close at hand.
Chen Yu formed a group to fight head-on and led his main force to follow along the left wing. There was a direct conflict in Yucheng. The Houren camp on the left side of the Hunan army collapsed first, and the Yizhong, Yizuo, Yiyou and other camps left one after another. Yucheng took the opportunity to surround him from the middle and right sides.
Li Xubin saw that Jin Guochen was in danger and personally led his troops to rescue the siege. They stormed dozens of times but to no avail.
It was already the Ming Dynasty, and Wu Dinggui, the guard of Sanhe, led his troops out of the city wall. Li Xiucheng also personally led his troops to Sanhe Town.
Li Xubin fought for five days but could not enter. He returned to the camp and closed the gate. He sighed and said: "Dong Di and Run are two men, and one person is in the middle. How can this be done!" Today is defeated! See the moon shining on the ground and walk.
When the officers and soldiers received the order, they all bundled up and waited for the moonrise. Xu Bin hesitated again and again, but was finally defeated by the siege and plotted a bloody battle. He also told the generals that after ten years of military prosperity, they all retreated and damaged the country's prestige. I fought hundreds of battles before and after, and once I left the team, I had no hope of surviving. You will die today, and those who do not want to follow will do so at their own risk! After saying this, he kowtowed three times to the north, leaped on his horse and held a gun, and then entered the battle formation. However, the army's morale was moved, the formation could not line up, and they were immediately surrounded. Li Xubin failed to fight and fell into the formation and died. Zeng Guohua followed and died. Tongzhi Ding Ruiyi gathered the defeated troops, retreated and stood firm, and sent reinforcements from Tshu and Tong in order to preserve the Chinese army.
Chen Yucheng sent more than 10,000 troops to besiege on all sides. The artillery and stones were like rain, and they advanced one after another, day and night. Ding Ruiyi resisted for two days, all the lead potion, water and rice were exhausted, his camp was broken and he died.
Sanhe was defeated and Shucheng was destroyed. Zhang Lexing led the main force of the Nian army to Guangming and Xuyi in the east, and Chen and Li's army quickly attacked Tongcheng.
Yucheng said that Xiuchengdao: Twist the lead to win and protect the demon child, I have no worries! My brother entered Tongcheng from Kongcheng and reached behind the enemy's rear to cut off their retreat. I entered Tongyi from the mountainside and besieged it on three sides.
On November 24, Yu Cheng gave an order, and 30,000 Taiping troops rushed to Tongcheng all over the mountains and plains.
Zhao Kezhang, the commander-in-chief of the Qing Dynasty, divided his troops into three groups. One guarded the camp outside the city, and the other guarded the city wall. He led 2,000 soldiers and horses out of the west gate to fight. From noon to the chieftain, they fought fiercely for four hours. Lieutenant General Zhu Xiguang gradually became exhausted. His troops were defeated first, and the other three The camp was in chaos; Ke Zhang was frightened and retreated to resist.
After Chen Yucheng sent his generals to bypass the blockade, he personally led the main force into Changhao and surrounded each base one by one. Ke Zhang was shocked and broke out to escape. Yu divided his troops to intercept and kill, Xiucheng just came out of Doupu and rushed into the battle group. Hunan generals Li Cunhan, Zhao Youcai, Li Changlin, Peng Xiangrui, Liu He and others were all beheaded, and most of the Hunan soldiers suffered casualties. The soldiers in the city were all gone, and they were scattered across the city.
The Qianshan and Taihu Hunan troops retreated one after another in fear of the 20% advance. General Du Xing'a of Jingzhou, fearing to make the same mistake as Xubin, also withdrew from Anqing. In five days, he retreated from Shibei and Sanqiao Town to Susong and Erlanghe to garrison.
