Chapter 151 Cheng Xueqi died in Jiaxing
Cheng Xueqi watched the army for half a day and returned angrily.
When Li Hongzhang heard this, he snickered for a long time, then summoned Cheng Xueqi and said: Fang Zhong repeatedly said before that Guo Zimei misappropriated military pay, had concubines for pleasure, and oppressed good people. Is this true?
Cheng Xueqi said: "Below Anqing City, I had to surrender. Guo Songlin was eyeing me and wanted to kill me many times. I followed Li Shuai, turned over completely, and said a few words of ridicule. This is human nature." I am a surrender, and I am from Anhui, so I will not tolerate the Xiang people.
Li Hongzhang said: What did Fang Zhong say? I am also from Anhui.
Cheng Xueqi knelt down and said, "Cheng will never forget Li Shuai's kindness." Cheng Mou insisted on killing and surrendering, causing a huge disaster. Li Shuai not only did not blame him, but took the responsibility alone, making Cheng Mou feel ashamed.
Li Hongzhang hurriedly helped him and said: "Fang Zhong, Fang Zhong, please get up quickly, there will be no more trouble. Hurd and Magli mediate, Gordon has put aside their grudges, and will go to Changzhou to suppress the bandits in a few days."
Cheng Xueqi said: Li Shuai's hands and eyes can reach the sky, his supernatural powers are vast, and he is omnipotent. Cheng admires him very much.
Li Hongzhang laughed and said: How can you have so many powerful hands and eyes and so many magical abilities? Gordon loves money, and ten thousand taels of silver is enough! With Gordon's love for money, two hundred thousand silver is enough to dismantle the ever-victorious army. If Changzhou is defeated, this army will be disbanded. Fang Zhong quickly reorganized the army and ordered the troops, and went south to Zhejiang. He joined Liu Bingzhang, Pan Dingxin, and Wu Changqing's troops to capture Jiaxing. If he met the chief Cai Yuanlong, he immediately beheaded him in retaliation for Taicang's false surrender.
Cheng Xueqi said: Gordon came to pick a fight with a loaded gun and should be punished. Although Jiaxing is under the jurisdiction of Zuo Jigao, it was occupied by thieves and I attacked it myself. Congratulations to Li Shuai for finally getting rid of the sectarian view.
Li Hongzhang said: "The two palaces are very urgent and have to do it." The two powers benefit each other, whichever is more important, and the two powers that harm each other, whichever is less important, it is a helpless move, a helpless move! Zuo Jigao and I are casual acquaintances, and I got a few bad words out of him, which is harmless. Commander Di is my mentor. If I march into Jinling and take away people's beauty, wouldn't I be ungrateful?
Cheng Xueqi said: The main force of our army has arrived around Changzhou, and Gordon will arrive soon. Wouldn't Changcheng be destroyed at a touch?
Li Hongzhang said: Jinling has not yet been destroyed, so don't worry about Changzhou. Taking Taihu Lake as the boundary, to the north of the lake are the cities of Jinling, Danyang, Jintan, and Jurong; to the south of the lake are the cities of Huzhou, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, etc., all occupied by thieves; Yixing and Liyang are in the middle, connecting the north and the south. It is advisable to advance first; I will immediately send Guo Songlin, Gordon and a naval force to jointly attack Yixing, so as to divide the strength of the attack on Changzhou. Whether Changzhou is defeated or not, I have given advice, and Li Hezhang and Liu Mingchuan have their own sense of proportion.
In late January 1864, Cheng Xueqi summoned Liu Bingzhang, Pan Dingxin, and Wu Changqing to Pingwang to discuss the attack on Jiaxing.
Pan Dingxin said: The four cities of Zhapu, Pinghu, Haiyan and Jiashan were all obtained by rebel generals who dedicated their cities to the city. We can follow the example of the gourd and draw the scoop when we besiege Jiaxing.
Cheng Xueqi said: Suzhou was killed and surrendered last month, and I have no gourd to draw.
Liu Bingzhang said: No problem. The morale of our army is at its peak. We cannot recruit and surrender, but we can only attack!
Wu Changqing also attached.
Cheng Xueqi said: Li Shuai has ordered that if he encounters the tribe of Hui Chief Cai Yuanlong, he will immediately surround and kill them.
Cheng Xueqi and others besieged Jiaxing. Zuo Zongtang was angry and told Jiang Yili: "Li Hongzhang crossed the border to grab credit. He is so shameless that he must be impeached immediately." Jiaxing controls the ocean externally and is surrounded by lakes and lakes internally. It is the gateway to the provincial capital of Hangzhou and must be attacked immediately.
Jiang Yili said: Our army is besieging Yuhang and Hangzhou and is unable to take care of both. The day before yesterday, I met the chieftain Cai Yuanlong to beg for surrender. I thought about it and could not decide. This chieftain is capricious. He once pretended to surrender in Taicang and killed more than a thousand Huai people. How can I trust him? My intention is to pretend to accept this thief and behead him immediately after he captures the city.
Zuo Zongtang was furious and said: Xiangquan is wanton and extremely ridiculous! We are not like Li Hongzhang or Cheng Xueqi, who go back on their word, kill and massacre the city, and have no faith. The thieves have gone against the general trend, and Cai Yuanlong has no way out. Xiangquan will know if he is really surrendering or false.
On January 24, Jiang Yili went to the outskirts of Haining to meet with Cai Yuanlong.
Jiang Yili said: Do you really surrender?
Cai Yuanlong said: If you sincerely accept it, my 10,000-strong army will immediately shave off their heads and attack Tongxiang to clear the way for your army.
Jiang Yili said: "Commander Zuo has sent word that we are all from Hunan. If you are sincere, Commander Zuo will protect you and others."
Cai Yuanlong said: I am willing to go through fire and water for Zuo Shuai, even if I die!
On February 9, Cai Yuanlong led an army of ten thousand troops to counterattack and attack Tongxiang at night. The next day, Jiang Yili also led an army to attack.
Tongxiang guard He Peizhang resisted for six days and ran out of ammunition and food. Cai Yuanlong gave the city a call and surrendered.
Jiang Yili was overjoyed and said: "I will go to Jiaxing and advise the generals, maybe we can win without fighting."
Cai Yuanlong said: King Liao Fashou loved the Kingdom of Heaven. He ruled and marched without committing any crime. He loved the soldiers and the people as if they were family members. It is extremely difficult to persuade this person to surrender. The foreign gun team below them is extremely powerful and difficult to attack.
Jiang Yili sighed and said: The Jiaxing private school teacher said that for the rest of my life, I will not see gambling for the next thirty years. This is the only time. If you secretly think about Changmao's order, the local officials of the country and the dynasty will not catch it. Although Liao Rongfa went astray, he was still an upright person.
Cai Yuanlong arrived near Jiaxing and personally persuaded him to surrender, but was severely reprimanded by Liao Fashou.
Jiang Yili said: Li Hongzhang, Cheng Xuequi and others are attacking Jiaxing from the north. We will not compete with them for credit. Brother Cai takes a break and watches the snipe and clams fighting. I immediately returned to our division, drove back the reinforcements, and returned to attack Hangzhou.
Cai Yuanlong said: Li Hongzhang, Cheng Xueqi and others hate me to the core. Are you going to give me a favor?
Jiang Yili said: "Li Hongzhang came to consult me three times and ordered me to capture my brother and bring him to justice." If I make a mistake, Commander Zuo will cut off my head.
Li Hongzhang repeatedly asked Cai Yuanlong to no avail, and said angrily: "Zuo Zongtang is covering up Yue rebels, and he will be impeached immediately!"
Cheng Xueqi said: Now that we have broken our skin, why not attack Jiaxing by force and wipe out all the old and new grudges!
Li Hongzhang said: "The two palaces have issued another order, ordering me to conquer Jiaxing and Changzhou quickly and move into Jinling. Time does not wait for me. I have sent my military order to immediately besiege Jiaxing."
Jiaxing was in emergency. The blocking king Huang Wenjin, the auxiliary king Yang Fuqing, the you king Li Yuanji, the Kang king Wang Haiyang, the listening king Chen Bingwen, the returning king Deng Guangming, etc., consulted for assistance. The kings did not belong to each other, and it was difficult to communicate with each other in military orders, so they had to fight independently.
On February 28, Huang Wenjin came from Huzhou, Chen Bingwen came from Hangzhou, and Deng Guangming came from Shimen, each sending thousands of troops to aid Jiaxing.
Cheng Xueqi took the high position and took the low position, fought fiercely for the whole day, and defeated the reinforcements.
In the early morning of March 6, Cheng Xueqi, Liu Bingzhang, Pan Dingxin, Wu Changqing and other troops divided into four groups and worked together to attack the city.
After Huang Wenjin and Yang Fu heard about it, they immediately gathered the eighteen generals and supervised 30,000 troops, and then left Huzhou to reinforce Jiaxing.
Cheng Xueqi gave an order, and dozens of cannons blasted down more than ten feet of the city wall. Cheng Xueqi's deputy general and commander-in-chief He Antai took the lead and led more than a hundred death squads to rush in first.
King Rong Liao Fashou was well prepared and was about to throw a large barrel of gunpowder into the gap, killing countless Huai soldiers. He Antai died immediately. Cheng Xueqi was in great mourning, personally supervised his soldiers, and fought hard to attack again.
After receiving reports that the enemy had arrived in Wuzhen, Cheng Xue ordered guerrilla Yin Changqing to lead an army of two thousand to stop the attack first.
Yin Changqing received the order and led his troops to fight. He was killed in just one round.
After hearing the news, Cheng Xueqi ordered his troops to retreat and return to attack Huangyang's coalition forces. The battle continued until nightfall when the Taiping Army retreated.
On March 14, Yang Fuqing led an army of 20,000 to attack Tongxiang again, but the Huai army resisted and returned without success.
On March 24, Cheng Xuehaqi ordered a general attack. The Huai army fired cannons day and night, destroying more than 20 garrison forts. More than a hundred feet of city walls were destroyed. Cheng Xueqi personally led the barracks and took the lead in charging. Suddenly a bullet flew from the middle and hit the left side of Kai's forehead. Xueqi immediately threw himself to the ground and died in less than half an hour.
Liu Bingzhang, Pan Dingxin, Wu Changqing and others did not dare to slack off or retreat. They fired up the cannon again and blasted the city wall again. Suddenly they heard a loud noise and the Taiping Army's ammunition depot exploded. The defenders suddenly became chaotic.
Liu, Pan and Wu took the opportunity to cross Hao and invade the city. Wu Changqing took the lead and was shot in the left arm, bleeding like a stream. Changqing ignored it and still fought bloody battles. Some soldiers were afraid and retreated in panic. Changqing killed several of them, but no one retreated. As soon as the cannon sounded again, they all People swarmed in and Jiaxing was conquered.
