Chapter 150 Hong Xiuquan sits in Beijing and watches the sky
Li Hongzhang won many battles. Zeng Guofan was delighted and said: Li Shaoquan is extremely sharp-sighted and sharp-handed.
Curator Ouyang Zhaoxiong said: Li Shaoquan's attack on the city and territory is progressing rapidly; Yuanfu and Ji Gao's offensive has slowed down a bit, can you give me some advice?
Zeng Guofan said: No, haste makes waste. On the short trip to Suzhou and Shanghai, the weather, location, and people are both advantageous, so we can attack everything. Ji Gao and Yuanfu will cook porridge over a slow fire until the time is right.
After saying this, Zeng Guofan immediately advised Zeng Guoquan: on the third day of the lunar month, he would receive a letter from Cheng Xueqi reporting that Suzhou had been restored, and on the fourth day of the lunar month, he had received a letter from Tang Zhongcheng that he had restored Huaiyuan. Zhang Shirui, a member of the Miao party, rebelled against the Miao government and offered the city of Huaiyuan, as well as gunboat No. 60, four thousand stones of rice, and three thousand strings of money. From then on, the hearts of the Miao people became more relaxed. The monk's residence is also in Mengcheng, and the siege of Meng should be solved immediately.
If Jinling is restored, I will work with Peng and Yang to quickly tell the general situation. Zheshou said: In order for the army to conquer Jinling, I would like to give a general description of the situation in advance, so as to comfort the deceased and pray for divine judgment. Zhemo said: Fu Qi, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor's holy book. Furthermore, I will receive a secret letter from Zeng Guofan. If Jinling is recovered, I will ask the three ministers to report the general situation first. If they arrive in Beijing as early as possible, Shenghuai will be relieved. The detailed situation is still in the official Zeng Guofan meeting. In addition to referring the detailed battle situation to Chu and Anhui separately for the continuation of the report, the combined statement is hereby reported.
The shorter the fold, the more wonderful it is. The whereabouts of Hong Xiuquan and the amount of money must be roughly stated. Everything else should be omitted. The city of Jinling is vast, so the siege should be slow. Hong Xiuquan does not waver, so my brother must not be impatient. Chang, Hang, Jia, and Hu are all conquered, and Jinling is the result of merit and justice. Hello.
When Li Hongzhang was killed and surrendered in Suzhou, Zuo Zongtang said angrily: "What you do as a fool is forbidden by me." In the past, when thieves broke into Hangzhou, they did not kill them rashly. Former chief envoy Lin Fuxiang, Qiantang Zhizao Hengfu, Taoist priest Liu Qiang, and general soldier Mi Xingchao were all treated well. If you fight, you will fight, and if you make peace, you will be harmonious. Why should you be capricious and kill people's way of survival?
Jiang Yili, the chief envoy of Zhejiang Province, said: Peng Yulan rebelled, and we gained gold; Li Shaoquan was killed and surrendered, which was very cold to the thieves' hearts.
Zuo Zongtang said: The thieves' hearts are as strong as iron, and the Huai tribe will fight with blood from now on.
Jiang Yili said: "I have reported to Commander Zuo that the returned chief Deng Guangming is very powerful. Our troops have been attacking for two months and have suffered heavy casualties and have not made any further progress."
Zuo Zongtang said: Deng Zhiyang's gun team, with more than 10,000 strong soldiers, killed Liu Li who was guarding me. General Xiong Jianyi and Taoist Wei Yuyi were also wounded. Deng Guangming is indeed a fierce thieves.
Jiang Yili said: Yesterday, when I was supervising the battle in front of the formation, I was also injured by a stray bullet.
Zuo Zongtang said: From now on, Brother Jiang can only make strategic plans and do not attack in front of the formation. He will rest for a while and wait for Chang Jie's army to arrive with artillery before fighting Deng Ni in a decisive battle. Yuhang blocked the road from Jiaxing and Huzhou and conquered this place. Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou were separated from each other. I immediately mobilized heavy troops from Fuyang, Fenshui and Wannan to assist your troops.
Jiang Yili said: Since Li Hongzhang led Huai Yong to Shanghai, he has been victorious and invincible in every attack.
Zuo Zongtang said: Instead of looking at the fish in the abyss, it is better to retreat and weave a net. Li's family is going smoothly, and it's the right time! As a soldier, it is a matter of life and death. Our troops must not attack rashly. We must fight steadily and advance step by step.
On that day, Zuo Zongtang reported: Among the rebels in Yuhang, Hangzhou, Deng Guangming and Wang Haiyang were the most famous for their cunning, followed by Chen Bingwen and others. Their conspiracy uses Hangzhou as its home base and Yuhang as its horn, hoping for help from Jiaxing and Huzhou and providing them with financial assistance. The road from Jiahu to Hangzhou is in Yuhang, so the army must first defeat Yuhang, intercept the road from Jiahu, and then encircle Hangzhou. Seeing that although Jiang Yili's army forced the gates of Qingbo in Fengshan, it could only control its west side. Although the rest of Hangzhou had surrounded its southeast, and there were no heavy troops stationed on the north road, thieves from the two cities could still travel freely between the two cities.
Both Suzhou and Wuxi were lost, and Li Xiucheng's morale declined greatly.
Li Shixian went to Danyang in person and told Li Xiucheng: "Brother Zhong, please do not return to Beijing. Go to Liyang quickly and find another way to make a comeback."
Xiu Chengdao: The Kingdom of Heaven is our skin. If the skin is not there, how will the hair be attached to it? I immediately arrived in the capital and urged the King of Heaven to let the city go.
On December 20, 1863, Xiucheng Qingqi entered the capital and reported to the King of Heaven that Zeng Yao's troops were in dire straits, the city was deep and fortified, there was little food inside, and foreign aid could not come, so it was better to leave the city alone.
Hong Xiuquanfu. Xiucheng persuaded him again and again, until he forced him to die.
Hong Rengan also said: With the loss of Anqing, Tianjing is in danger; with the fall of Suzhou, there is little hope of rescue.
Hong Xiuquan said: I follow the holy decree of God and the holy decree of my heavenly brother Jesus and come down to earth to be the only king of all nations in the world. What should I be afraid of! There is no need for you to report, and there is no need for you to deal with political affairs. If you want to go out or stay in Beijing, I will do whatever you want. My iron is connected to the country. If you don't help me, free people will help me. You say there are no soldiers, but my heavenly soldiers are more numerous than water, so why fear Zeng Yao! If you are afraid of death, you will die.
Hong Xiuquan insisted on going his own way, but Li Xiucheng had no choice, so he ordered his ministries to build a fortification near the city and build a moon city, which was connected below, to guard against the Hunan army's digging tunnels and sneak attacks. He also ordered Lin Shaozhang, the king of Zhang, to lead his troops to rescue Changzhou.
Lin Shaozhang received the order and led 20,000 troops to attack to the west of Changzhou. He was blocked by Li Hezhang and fought fiercely for two days before returning without success.
Benniu garrison general Shao Xiaoshuang, Luoshuwan garrison Xia Zhishan, Shiqiaowan garrison Zhang Bangzuo and others saw that the situation was not good, and led their troops to beg for surrender.
Benniu Town stands at the strategic point between Danyang and Changzhou. If this town is lost, Dan and Chang will be disconnected. Li Xiucheng did not dare to be careless, so he sent His Royal Highness Li Rongfa and King Ran Chen Shiyong to lead 30,000 troops out of the city to rescue.
Three generals, Lin Shaozhang, Li Rongfa, and Chen Shiyong, attacked together and killed the rebel general Zhang Bangzuo and less than a thousand people, and broke through more than a dozen fortresses.
Li Hezhang did not dare to neglect, and urgently ordered Liu Mingchuan and Guo Songlin to lead their troops to help.
The war in Changzhou was not going well. Li Hongzhang urgently ordered Cheng Xue to start his army, suspend rest and reorganization, quickly attack Pingwang, completely cut off the alliance between Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and then returned to Changzhou to aid.
Cheng Xueqi received the order, and together with Li Chaobin's navy, the troops were divided into four groups, advancing by waterways, and besieged Pingwang.
It was expected that the Taiping Army would not be afraid, filling the river with huge rocks and sinking boats, and crossing the small river with wooden piles and iron chains.
Li Chaobin's navy was unable to advance or bombard, so Cheng Xue inspired him to weaken the enemy and set up an ambush in the reed tent. The Taiping Army's sneak attack failed and suffered a disastrous defeat. Cheng Xueqi took the opportunity to divide the battalions and approach them for bombardment. The Taiping army was defeated and abandoned the city.
With the hope of peace shattered, Cheng Xueqi was eager to go south to Zhejiang and attack Jiaxing.
Li Hongzhang refused and said: Jiaxing and Huzhou are the forbidden areas of Zuo Jigao, and the land will not be moved for the time being; Liu Bingzhang, Pan Dingxin, and Wu Changqing worked piecemeal to prevent the thieves from counterattacking; Fang Zhong personally led a team to Changzhou to observe fighting.
When Cheng Xueqi went to Changzhou to inspect his master, Guo Songlin was annoyed by his arrogance, so he offered to kill him as a bait and spoke harshly to him. Cheng Xueqi did not show weakness and retorted.
Li Hezhang also knew that Cheng and Guo had always been at odds with each other, so he could only persuade them with good words, and said: "Brother Fang Zhong has arrived two days ago, and he can help me kill the rebels."
Cheng Xueqi said: The siege of Benniu Town has been lifted, the siege of Changcheng has been closed, Yang Dingxun and Kuang Wenbang's troops have also come to help, and the city will only be broken in a moment.
Li Hezhang said: I want to ask my brother to help me, how about that?
Cheng Xueqi smiled and said: "There is no need for icing on the cake. Brother Ji Quan is the dog's tail, so there is no need to add more."
