Chapter 152 Chen Bingwen abandons Hangzhou
After Jiaxing was lost, King Chen Bingwen was frightened and summoned Kang Wang Wang Haiyang, Du Wang Huang Wenjin, Fu Wang Yang Fuqing, and Gui Wang Deng Guangming to discuss the war in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Chen Bingwen said: Jiaxing, Yixing, and Liyang are all lost, and Hangcheng and Huzhou will definitely not be saved. I want all the armies to gather together, abandon Zhejiang and move to Jiangxi, and make other plans.
Deng Guangming said: "Your Highness, King Qi, I think that even if we withdraw our troops, we should march to Tianjing, join His Highness King Zhong, and rescue the King of Heaven."
Wang Haiyang said: Anqing, Suzhou and Wuxi have all been lost. Our army no longer has fighting power, and Tianjing will not be protected. Zhongdian tried hard to persuade the city not to leave, but the king of heaven did not listen. We have been holding on to Hangzhou for half a year. We have run out of ammunition and food and are unable to fight anymore.
Huang Wenjin said: "Previously we could defend and wait for help, but now everyone is in emergency and there is no help for each other. We are about to retreat and we must find a place that is good for both offense and defense."
Yang Fuqing said: There is a vast ocean to the east, high mountains to the south, and the Huai demons to the north are looking at us. We can only go west to Jiangxi to raise food and supplies to support Tianjing.
Deng Guangming said: My department will stick to Shimen and respond to Huzhou to wait for changes. If the King of Heaven gives orders, our troops will come back to help you at any time. Now, together with the brothers under my command, I will defend Shimen to the death.
On March 28, 1864, Zuo Zongtang ordered a general attack on Hangzhou. The French commander Dirk Stele led Chang Jie's army and set up artillery on Mantou Mountain to bombard Fengshan Gate, destroying three or four feet of the city wall; Jiang Yili and Gao Liansheng led their troops to close the gap. .
Chen Bingwen shouted: "That foreign gun team is capable of attacking far away. I will drive them away in hand-to-hand combat." After Bing Wenyan finished speaking, he personally led a team to the missing place.
The two armies fought hand to hand for half an hour. The Chu army suffered hundreds of casualties. General Gao Liansheng and Wang Lianfang retreated due to injuries, and Jiang Yili was forced to retreat outside the city.
On March 30, Jiang Yili personally led the military camp to attack Wulin Gate and broke through Shili Street in one fell swoop.
After hearing the news, Chen Bingwen personally led the reinforcements out of the city to stop the attack. The two armies fought in close combat until dark, and Chen Bingwen retreated to the city.
Chen Bingwen's brother Chen Dagui said: Since you have decided to abandon the city, why not just leave!
Chen Bingwen said: Counterattack with two strikes, and you can walk away calmly. He ordered all armies to join Wang Haiyang's Ministry, eat at the third watch, and abandon the city at the fourth watch.
In the early morning of the 31st, the Chen and Wang troops met at Pingyao and retreated to Deqing.
Ten days later, Li Shixian, Yang Fuqing, Huang Wenjin, Li Yuanji, Fan Ruzeng, Huang Chengzhong, etc. arrived one after another. On that day, the king's servant summoned all the kings to discuss the situation of the war.
Li Shixian said: "King Zhong ordered us to divide our troops to attack Jiangxi and raise food to support Beijing. I intend to enter Jiangxi from southern Anhui. What do the brothers and kings mean?"
Huang Wenjin, the king of Du, said: "We have all entered Jiangxi. Huzhou will be lost soon. Once Huzhou is lost, Zuo Yao will send his troops north to besiege Tianjing, adding fuel to the fire!" Our troops will not enter Jiangxi for the time being, and will immediately support Huzhou to contain Zuo Yao.
The auxiliary king, Yang Fuqing, said: "Our troops are also assisting Huzhou. The demons are powerful and our army is retreating steadily. However, we must fight without fighting. Escape without fighting is worse than a pig or a dog!"
The first king, Fan Ruzeng, said: "The foreign monster's cannons are really fierce. After a few cannons, the city wall has collapsed. Li Hongzhang's monster army is all strong and brave, and they are not afraid of death in both offense and defense. It is a blessing for our troops to hold on to Yixing for six days." . The defenders of Liyang surrendered without a fight, which is extremely abominable!
Yang Fuqing said: Sheng Mingwen, the guard of the Jintan, has been holding on for more than 20 days and has killed the foreign monsters. Now the Jintan is intact.
Li Shixian said: It is indeed brave to hold on to the golden altar in the name of Heaven's righteousness and prosperity. The foreign monster cannon destroyed the city wall, and the monster soldiers swarmed in. Brother Sheng personally supervised the soldiers to fight with fire pots, bricks and stones, risking their lives to attack them. They destroyed the foreign gun team, killed the foreign general Major Tuite and three other members, and killed more than a hundred foreign soldiers. Gordon Yao'er was injured several times and staggered away. However, a small local victory cannot shake the overall situation; the three demon armies of Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang are no longer the pure demons they used to be; unless our whole army fights to the death, it is difficult to turn the situation around. There is no need for you to discuss the merits and demerits, each department will prepare quickly, go their separate ways, and fight the monster again.
The kings negotiated for a day and decided to divide their troops into two groups. Li Shixian, Chen Bingwen, Wang Haiyang and others went west to southern Anhui to attack Jiangxi, raise supplies and return to Tianjing to aid; Yang Fuqing, Huang Wenjin, Li Yuanji and others stayed in Huzhou to contain the Chu army.
Gordon repeatedly failed to attack Jintan and was wounded again. He temporarily stayed in Liyang to recuperate.
Seeing this, Li Hongzhang had to suspend the siege of Jintan and wrote to Zeng Guofan: Commander Di is well, but the recent war has been quite unsatisfactory. In the battle of Jiaxing, a thousand people including Cheng Fangzhong and He Antai were killed; in the battle of Liyang, more than a hundred soldiers were injured. , Guo Songlin and Teng Siwu were seriously injured; in the battle of Jintan, hundreds of people from the foreign gun team were killed, and Gordon was injured and retired. I intend to postpone the attack on Jintan, concentrate our forces, and attack Changzhou. If Changzhou is defeated, the major event will be decided.
When Zeng Guofan heard the news, he immediately ordered Bao Chao to speed up Ting's army and move into Jintan.
Bao Chao refused to attack in the name of Ding's father's worries.
Zeng Guofan repeatedly persuaded Bao Chaofang to lead Ting's army to besiege Jintan.
On the occasion of Tianyi, Sheng Mingwen stayed at the Golden Altar for more than a month. With all the food and supplies and the last few gunpowder and arrows, Sheng Mingwen thought over and over again and decided to shave his head and surrender.
Bao Chao immediately ordered a battalion of soldiers to enter the city to take over the defense. Bao Jun entered the city and fought in the streets, robbing everyone and bullying everyone.
Sheng Mingwen was angry and closed the city gate again, killing all the five hundred soldiers who entered the city.
Bao Chao angrily scolded Sheng Mingwen for going back on his word.
Sheng Mingwen said: "My troops are still at war, and you will bully me wantonly. If I had restrained my hands, I would have been dead on the city wall."
Bao Chao was wrong and speechless, so he ordered all his troops to besiege Sheng Mingwen on all sides, and captured and killed Sheng Mingwen.
Bao Chao led his army to besiege for two days, but failed. After receiving Zeng Guofan's order to assist Jiangxi, Bao Chao angrily withdrew his army and marched to Maoshan. His resentment was relieved, and he said to the two commanders Lou Yunqing and Song Guoyong: "Two brothers, follow me, and you will taste everything." The world is hot and cold. A mere golden altar is within easy reach, but unexpectedly it ends up in this mess.
Lou Yunqing said: "Commander Bao, don't be upset. He is short of pay and food, and cannot clean up all the ministries. That's why he is like this."
Song Guoyong said: After the death of Commander Run, my department has become more military! Feng Zicai from Zhenjiang actually asked me to assist Danyang, which is extremely hateful. Our situation is not as good as the grass on this Maoshan Mountain!
Lou Yunqing said: Most of the people who are unfaithful are scholars, and those who are upright are those who slaughter dogs.
Bao Chao said with a smile: "Desheng has also read the books of saints and sages, so he must be inspired by his feelings." Maoshan is not only filled with grass, but the terrain is also suitable for setting up ambushes. If our army attacks but fails to defeat it, and if it suddenly retreats, the thieves will pursue it. The second brother quickly chose a place to set up an ambush, and I waited for the chicken to be slaughtered and had a full meal.
Ting's army suddenly retreated, but Sheng Mingwen didn't do what he thought, and led his army to pursue and kill them. They went straight into the ambush and the whole army was almost wiped out. Upon seeing this, the Jintan defenders also fled out of the south gate.
Jintan was conquered, and the alliance between Changzhou and Jinling was eliminated. Zeng Guofan was very happy. However, Li Shixian gathered an army of 100,000 and suddenly entered Jiangxi. Zeng was frightened and wrote to Zeng Guoquan: Jintan was restored, which is a great relief. Bao Jun came to support Jiangxi, and I sent a message to mobilize him. However, in the first year of the year, Chun Ting had a difficult winter and tried to return to his hometown for mourning. I promised to open up the thieves on all sides of Ning State and he would be allowed to return to his hometown. In February of the second year, Chun Ting asked me to fulfill my promise. I promised to conquer Dongba and then return home. After Dongba conquered, Chun Ting asked to fulfill the previous agreement. I gave it a deadline of five months, which will be at the end of February this year. By the beginning of March, Chun Ting's demands were very pressing, and I promised to conquer Jinling. This time, I did not wait for the recovery of Jinling and rushed to the aid of Jiang. For me, I have broken too many promises, but for Ting, I insist on returning Shu. This is what I want, and there is no way to force it.
I hope that my brother will discuss it with him again and again, but I will use his reputation to save Jiangxi and calm the hearts of the officials and people of Jiangxi. As long as Song Zhen, Lou, Feng and others lead their troops there, there is no need for Chun Ting to personally supervise the matter. When Chun Ting traveled to Anqing and other places, I immediately wrote a memorial asking for permission to return to his hometown for funeral arrangements. Once in Jiujiang, Chun Ting can return to Shu, and Song, Lou and others can lead a team into Jiangxi to assist in the suppression. If there are too many broken appointments, people will no longer see the letter. I hope my brother will tell Ting one by one in detail, saying that there is no reason to break the appointment. He also asks Chun Ting to send a notice to Jiang as soon as possible, saying that he will come to help soon to reassure people. The most important thing.
Yesterday I made a brief statement about my illness. One reason was that I had been working for too long, and I was afraid that China and foreign countries would suspect that I had too much military power and too much power. If Jinling is defeated by luck, all brothers should retire, and this will be used as Zhangben.
Hello. I would like to send you a message from Tiao Chunting. Please send it specially.
