Chapter 140: Hong Xiuquan advances to the north and attacks the south
Li Xiucheng withdrew his troops, and Hong Xiuquan was furious. The palace sternly reprimanded him and said: "You withdraw from the siege without permission, which will cause endless troubles."
Li Xiucheng said: "Zeng Yao's camp was strictly enforced, the forts were deep and fortified, and the wooden bridges were stacked on top of each other. This was also the advantage of the armored soldiers, and the camp regulations were clear." We arrived in August, but none of us had any winter clothes. It was cold and the soldiers had no food.
Hong Xiuquan said: "In Tianjing City, there are as many cotton-padded clothes and quilts as cattle hair; although there is little food and grass, it is enough for the military." As soon as the demon arrived, I immediately urged you to attack it. You delayed it for three months, and when you arrived again, the demon was already high and entrenched, standing firm on its heels. If you delay the military flight, are unable to supervise the battle, and withdraw the siege at will, I will become the King of Ger. Tell me quickly, what are your plans for the future?
Li Xiucheng said: Long live the King of Heaven, Tan Shaoguang, Chen Bingwen and others were defeated by the four mouths of Shanghai. The whole army was destroyed and Su Kun was empty. Today, Anqing is lost, as well as the two rivers. The wealth area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is Tianjing’s only support. If this area is lost again, the Kingdom of Heaven will be difficult to protect.
Hong Xiuquan said: Abandon the upper reaches of Tianjing and only use the prosperous areas of Su and Hangzhou. Once setbacks occur, they will not last long.
Hong Rengan said: I once advised my loyal brother that the ancient name of the Yangtze River was Long Snake. Hubei was the head, An Province was the middle, and Jiangnan was the tail. Today, Hubei is not gained, and Anhui is also lost. The snake is broken in the middle. Although its tail is born soon. Although I was determined to be in Shanghai, I was hindered from striving to reach the top.
Hong Xiuquan said: "I have ordered the Heavenly General Li Xiucheng to speed up the Heavenly Army, cross the Yangtze River to the west, and pass through Northern Anhui. He will join forces with Chen Decai, Lai Wenguang, and Zhang Lexing to reorganize their military power and jointly conquer Hubei Province." General Li Shixian quickly left Dongba and attacked Jinzhu Pass and Wuhu. Heavenly generals Yang Fuqing, Huang Wenjin, Liu Guanfang and others quickly left southern Anhui to attack Jiangxi and coordinate north of Jiangxi.
Li Xiucheng said: "It is absolutely forbidden to report it to the King of Heaven." After the loss of An Province, the demon army was divided into three groups. Zuo Yao Zongtang attacked Zhejiang, Li Yao Hongzhang entered Shanghai, and Zeng Yao Guoquan arrived in Beijing. The three demons advanced in order and conspired with our heavenly kingdom. I ask the King of Heaven to issue an order immediately. I will lead my entire army to look back at Suzhou and Shanghai, vowing to destroy Li Hongzhang's demon army. Once the situation in Shanghai is settled and Su Chang is stable, I will return to the rescue with all my life and fight to the death with this demon.
Hong Xiuquan was furious and said: My kingdom of heaven, if you don't support it, someone will help you!
Xiuquan was furious, Xiucheng did not dare to say anything.
After a while, Xiuquan said: "I am tired and will withdraw from the court."
The official who cited the praise immediately announced: "Retreat from the court."
All the ministers knelt and waited.
The lead officer called again: Xuan Li Xiucheng rests in the East Garden.
When Xiucheng entered the garden, Xiuquan took his hand and said, "Come with me for a walk."
The two of them walked past the half pavilion, Xiu Quan said: "Look at the world, just like this half pavilion, it will never be perfect." On the shore and in the water, there are half virtual and half real, with the Celestial Dynasty and the Qingyao on one side in the north and the south on the other.
Before Xiuquan finished speaking, he suddenly heard a child say: You, the king and your ministers, each have half of the kingdom of heaven.
Xiucheng was horrified when he heard this.
When Xiuquan saw that it was the young Lord Hong Tian Guifu, he told him: The loyal king is the pillar of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Kingdom of Heaven is his assistant.
Hong Tianguifu said: I don't want his help. Father, you are the second son of Heavenly Father and the younger brother of Heavenly Brother Christ. I am Heavenly Father's grandson. I have heavenly soldiers and generals to protect me. There is no need to be loyal to the king or traitorous to the king. Unless my city wall in Tianjing collapses.
Xiuquan was furious and said: You are talking nonsense, I will smash your mouth! You can't even ride a horse, how can you succeed?
The four young queens heard the king's instructions and hurriedly took the young master out.
Xiuquan held Xiu's hand again and said: "The demon army is surrounding you from three directions and intends to take Tianjing, don't I know!" After the King of England, the empire gradually declined; for several months, there was not even a hint of victory. If the demon army attacks me from three directions, the nest will be empty. I want my brother to take the main army, cross the Yangtze River and visit the west, and go straight to Zeng Guofan Yao'er's lair. If the demon army is saved, the siege of Tianjing will be solved; if the demon army is not saved, my brother can take advantage of the situation and behead Zeng Yao. If a demon has no leader, it will lead to chaos. Fu Wang Chen Decai traveled across Henan and Shaanxi and had already raised an army of 300,000. Wouldn't it be great if my brother entered northern Anhui, integrated the Chen Department, and jointly attacked Hubei Province to draw fire from the bottom of the cauldron. In addition, in the south of the Yangtze River, the Shi Wang attacked Jinzhu Pass, and Du Wang, Fu Wang, Xiang Wang, etc. left Anhui and entered Jiangxi, all of which were echoed by the brothers.
Xiuchengdao: The king of heaven has ordered that Xiucheng will obey it even if he dies! Within five days, I immediately sent the three kings Lin Shaozhang, Hong Chunyuan, and Gao Yongkuan and their subordinate Li Rongfa to gather 40,000 troops to attack first. I will return to Suzhou immediately, collect enough food, fire and powder, select an army of 200,000, and then follow up. Yang Fuqing, Huang Wenjin, Liu Guanfang and others are on the campaign in southern Anhui and will proceed as soon as the order arrives.
On December 1, 1862, Zhang Wang Lin Shaozhang, Dui Wang Hong Chunyuan, Na Wang Gao Yongkuan and His Highness Zhong Er Li Rongfa led an army of 40,000 people, crossed the river from Tianjing to Xiaguan, and headed westward.
When Huang Wenjin, the king of Du, received the order, he sighed and said to the filial king Hu Dingwen: "The order is changed in the morning and at night, and it is not the work of military strategists." I wanted to take advantage of Bao Yaojun's illness and take his life. However, Li Xiucheng and Chen Kunshu were short-sighted and withdrew the siege without permission without reporting it. What a shame!
Hu Dingwen said: I have cut off the water, land and food routes of the Bao demon. It only takes a moment to destroy the demon. It is a pity.
King Xiang Liu Guanfang received the order, and together with King Wenhong and King Gulongxian, they withdrew from the siege of Ning County. Before leaving to say goodbye, the auxiliary king Yang Fuqing sighed deeply and said nothing. He only ordered the army besieging Ningjun to attack again.
Li Shixian, the servant king, took the order and led an army of 40,000 to besiege Jinzhu Pass on December 28.
Zhu Nangui's Lu division and Yang Zaifu's naval division joined hands and resisted. They fought fiercely for half a month and temporarily blocked Li Shixian's offensive.
Zeng Guoquan assessed the situation and reported to Zeng Guofan urgently: The war in southern Anhui has not been extinguished, and the war between Jinzhu Pass and northern Anhui has resumed. The thieves want to split between the north and south banks and attack the hinterland in order to withdraw from the siege of Jinling. I will immediately transfer Zhu Hongzhang's fifth battalion to help Jinzhu Pass. I will transfer Wang Ke to the fifth battalion, open up the grain road of Ningjun, and guarantee the transportation road for the whole period to protect Baoying. Then Ningjun can defend; Ningjun will be protected and Wannan is safe; I will transfer Zhou Huitang's department. Seize the Xiliang Mountains and Yuxikou, and rely on the navy to protect the routes for transporting grain and civilian ships; mobilize the five battalions of Zhang Shusheng in Wuhu, cross the river to protect Wuwei Prefecture, and protect the grain routes of the camps in southern Anhui.
Zeng Guofan received the report and urgently ordered Xiao Qingyan's troops to move to Luzhou and Mao Youming's troops to Yingchao County.
Before Mao's troops arrived, Lin Shaozhang and Hong Chunyuan had already led the Taiping Army to conquer Hanshan, Chaoxian, and Hezhou, and to regain control of the three key passes of Yuncao, Tongcheng Gate, and Dongguan.
Zeng Guofan was shocked and said anxiously: Chao County leads directly to Luzhou in the northwest, and is close to Wuwei, Lujiang and other prefectures and counties in the southwest, so as to enter the provincial capital. If we make a little progress, the whole situation will be shocked. I ordered Zhang Shu's troops to fly across the river and garrison Wuwei and Lujiang. Wu Changqing's troops would not go to Shanghai for the time being to assist Zhang Shu's troops in guarding the city walls. Xiang Neng's troops will not cross south for the time being, but rush into Luzhou to assist Shi Qingji's troops and secure Lujun. Xiao Qingyan and Mao Youming merged into Shucheng. They regarded the war in Wuwei and Luzhou as urgent and provided support at any time.
In late December, all units of the Hunan Army were garrisoned and ready.
Before Li Xiucheng's army arrived, Lin Shaozhang and Hong Chunyuan stopped attacking and stationed troops in three cities to wait for each other.
Zeng Guofan rarely had time to spare, so he wrote to Zeng Guoquan: I have informed you in the previous letter that my younger brother's sudden advance and the rest of his arrangements underestimated the enemy and failed to judge carefully. This time, after a great panic and great experience, chiefs such as Zhong Zhong and Shi fled to rescue the enemy. My younger brother should take advantage of the situation and retreat. Now that the loyal and servants have retreated, my younger brother should retreat.
If my brother is determined to besiege Jinling, he might as well stir up the trouble, break the East Dam, suppress Liyang, capture Yixing, occupy the west bank of Taihu Lake, and then turn back and besiege Jinling again. It only takes a few months, so it is not too late. .
Advancing, retreating, opening and closing, unpredictable changes, are living soldiers; huddled in one place, old teachers are stubborn, and they are dull soldiers.
The army's habits have been deeply accumulated, and now it is impossible to change it all into live soldiers and light soldiers. For the time being, it can be changed to half live, half idle, half light and half heavy, and there will be a time for more fighting and mutual rest. I hope my brother can make a big plan, use Jinling and Jinzhu as dull and heavy troops, and use the attack on Dongba and Erli as live and light troops, it will be helpful for me!
Brother Ji fell ill due to overwork and passed away suddenly, so sad and sad! I will keep my brother Yuan safe, and I will tell you the truth, and everyone will listen and obey him.
Zeng Guoquan received the letter but did not take it seriously. He replied: The thieves used all their strength to break out of the encirclement. This is their old trick. Xiang Gong and He Zhengyi retreated to defeat them. If they make the same mistake now, and the thieves continue to drive westward, how can Wuhu be saved? What's more, the gangsters are undisciplined, how can they be frightened by the crowd? Thirty percent of our troops have died of illness, and there are still 30% of those who have not recovered from illness. If they move suddenly, thieves will surely take advantage of them. The thieves stationed at Molingguan and Liulangqiao, as well as the thieves staying at the forts outside the city, were not too lazy to hesitate, and they could not forget themselves for a day, so they were determined to hold on.
Zeng Guofan sighed and said: The heart is as hard as iron and stubborn.
