Chapter 163 Zuo Zongtang cleanses the Kingdom of Heaven (3)
When Liu Dian arrived at Xiaba, he ordered Gao Liansheng to attack Fenshui'ao, an important pass on Jiaoling North Road; he also ordered Huang Shaochun's troops to respond from behind.
Gao Liansheng received the order and divided his troops into three groups to attack Fenshui Ao and capture it with one blow.
When Fenshui Ao fell, Wang Haiyang was shocked. He personally led the main army and launched a strong frontal attack. He also sent two troops and divided his troops into two groups to copy Gao Liansheng's retreat.
Gao Liansheng fought on all sides and was still strong; Huang Shaochun heard the news and rushed with reinforcements. The two armies joined forces to repel the Taiping Army. However, Gao Liansheng did not dare to stay at Fenshui'ao anymore and retreated ten miles to build a fort and wait and see.
Wang Haiyang retreated back to the city and immediately summoned the generals to discuss the withdrawal of troops.
Wang Haiyang said: "The battle just now has disabled Gao Liansheng's demon tribe. If I abandon the city and leave, the demon army on the north road will definitely not pursue me." All ministries organized their troops and weapons and made preparations quickly.
Five days later, Wang Haiyang suddenly ordered the general Hu Yongxiang to attack the Kangguoqi Department in the east as a containment; the remaining troops were divided into three groups, leaving the city to the west and rushing to Pingyuan.
When Liu Dian knew that the Taiping troops had fled, it was already after sunset. Liu Dian quickly ordered all his troops to march into Jiaoling City and garrisoned the troops to secure the people. Liu Dian ordered Gao Liansheng and Kang Guoqi to secretly pursue them.
The Taiping Army withdrew from Jiaoling and was intercepted halfway by Lou Yunqing and Xi Baotian before reaching Pingyuan County. The two armies fought fiercely for four days in Dongshi and Dazhe, but the Taiping army was defeated.
Lou Yunqing and Xi Baotian divided their troops to garrison Huangxiangbao and Egongwei. It was impossible to enter Jiangxi from the far north of Pingping, so Haiyang led his army to continue westward. On October 2, they arrived at Huangpiwei, Xingning.
Wang Haiyang inspected the terrain and decided to garrison the troops for rest and set up an ambush.
On October 3, a Chu army's baggage team traveled a long distance and accidentally entered Huangpiwei. More than a hundred of Changfu's soldiers were killed, and all the baggage and weapons were robbed.
Gao Liansheng was furious and personally led his main army across Huangpiwei to pursue the Taiping army. Wang Haiyang once again set up ambushes in the steep mountains and shaded areas of trees to lure and attack the high places.
Gao Liansheng bravely moved forward and went straight into the ambush; Wang Haiyang ordered all the troops to close the retreat, and immediately launched artillery, gunfire and arrows. Gao Liansheng was fearless in the face of danger, divided his troops into two groups, and tried his best to counterattack. Kang Xiongfei, the candidate prefect, did not dare to retreat, but also led his army into the ambush to help the high command.
Seeing this, Wang Haiyang mobilized another 20,000 troops and pressed forward layer by layer. After one day of fierce fighting, the Chu army was defeated. More than 2,000 people including Du Siguan Zhenbang, deputy general Kang Daben, and general Zou Chaorui were all killed; there were countless wounded.
Kang Guoqi was furious and wanted to kill Kang Xiongfei to correct military law.
Gao Liansheng resisted, and said: "This has nothing to do with Xiong Fei. Drive straight in, chase and hide in the middle, the responsibility is mine. If you want to kill or behead, let Zuo Shuai handle it."
Zuo Zongtang was furious when he heard of his defeat, and immediately reported: "Wang Nihaiyang was in Jiaoling, and he was thinking of rushing to Jiangxi from the Fujian border, but failed, so he changed his way to Pingyuan to find a way out. Wang Ni knew that the thieves wanted to disperse, so they rushed out from Jiaoling and packed all the thieves and their baggage into the center. His close friends and close friends were divided into front and rear to resist the government troops.
After Wang Ni escaped from Jiaoling, he ran around day and night without stopping. Half of the fierce party had been wiped out. The puppet king Pingdong, the puppet king You, and the traitor Huang Chaizi from Tingying camp have all been wiped out and fled.
Wang Ni conspired to cross Jiangxi to find another way out. The Fujian army blocked Wuping and was unable to move north, so they attacked Pingyuan from the southwest of Jiaoling. The Shijiang army intercepted the east stone at Xi Baotian, and the Fujian army hurriedly followed it, then changed the route from Dazhe to Huangpiwei and Luofusi in Xingning.
Gao Liansheng and other troops pursued and exterminated the bandits for six days and nights without stopping, and they did not hear of a single pawn or cavalry attack from the Cantonese army. This time, the bandits followed closely and dared to be ruthless. They intercepted baggage and munitions, accepted heavy bribes from the thieves, and killed the officers and soldiers. As a result, they were able to take advantage of the opportunity to turn north again, trying to escape from Changning in Jiangxi Province. .
