Chapter 165 Zeng Guofan painted a river circle (5)
Zeng Guofan had commanded the army for half a year, but achieved very little. The Empress Dowager Cixi was dissatisfied and said: In recent years, Li Hongzhang has spared no expense in purchasing foreign craftsmen, hiring foreigners from Britain and France, and setting up bureaus to send people to study and make money. Each camp has this sharp weapon, which is enough to break down fortresses, conquer the enemy's direction, and clear out the areas south of the river one by one. The speed of the effect cannot be exceeded. However, Zeng Guofan, the governor of Huaiyong, suppressed the army for half a year without much success.
Prince Gong Yixin said: Zeng Guofan focused on fortifying strongholds and fighting stupid battles; attacking rogue bandits was not his specialty.
Empress Dowager Cixi said: "I feel sorry for my family. There are no heavy troops in Heluo, and there are no famous generals in Henan Province who can be dispatched." This place is in the middle of the world, and there is nothing to worry about. Li Hongzhang had a long history of strategizing and bravery, and he was still in his prime, so he could see it personally. Li Ke personally supervised and led Yang Dingxun and other troops to station at key points in the Heluo area, to assist Zengchen Guofan, suppress the Nian bandits nearby, and also take care of the entrance to Shaanxi. . When the governor of Jiangsu was vacant, Wu Tang was appointed as the acting governor; the governor's sealing duties for water transportation were handed over to Li Zongxi on a temporary basis; Ding Richang was familiar with foreign affairs, so he acted as governor of Jiangsu, and he was expected to be competent.
Empress Dowager Ci'an said: "Liang Jiang is Zeng Li Jin's wife, how can we give it away so easily!"
Empress Dowager Cixi said: For the sake of the Qing Dynasty's centenary plan, I am throwing stones to ask for clues!
Yi Xin said: "I will not accept your order from the king outside. If you interfere like this, I might not be able to obey your order."
Empress Dowager Cixi said: Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Wu Tang and others accepted this order and corresponded with each other. If they have the same opinion, they will quickly repeat the performance, issue the edict again, and follow the instructions accordingly. Jin and Hunan are far away, and Zeng Guoquan has not yet recovered from his illness, so it is difficult for him to go to his post. He can go to Hubei nearby and entrust him to his post for his use.
Zeng Guofan received the order and said: At present, the bandits are tending to focus on the east road. Not only Qin and Jin are not in danger for the time being, but Wan and Luo are also in less trouble, so we should focus on the east road with all our strength. Even if Li Hongzhang went to Luo, he could not suppress the thieves.
I relied on the bravery of the Huai army to suppress the Nian bandits. When Li Hongzhang entered Luoxi, if he withdrew the troops I had deployed, wouldn't he just sit back and watch Lu Su's corruption?
At the beginning of the year, Li Zongxi reported to the Salt Transportation Department and re-promoted the Anhui Nasi and Jiangnan vassals. They moved three times in one year, which was an extraordinary situation. This officer is more than honest, but a little short in talent. He has the power to be sealed, which is considered too sudden. Ding Richang was promoted to the Huaihe Transportation Department in recent years. Although he said he was familiar with barbarian affairs, his qualifications were too low and his financial prospects were not promising.
I have observed the clear teachings of previous history: the military advance and retreat, priorities, battles and defenses, and garrisoning are all controlled by the commander-in-chief, and should not be controlled remotely by the imperial court; the generals who are deposed in the temple, rewards and punishments of hundreds of officials, are controlled by the emperor and his left and right ministers, and those outside the palace are controlled by the emperor. It is not appropriate for me to interfere.
The troubles caused by the imperial court's remote control of military affairs are still superficial; from ancient times, the military commanders and important ministers controlled the country's destiny remotely, but there was no way to improve the latter.
Interference in internal affairs by outsiders is really harmful. If you don't dare to keep secrets secret, it is even more inappropriate to hold consultations. The minister did not wait for Li Hongzhang and Wu Tang to reach an agreement, but expressed his opinion directly, without examining whether it was appropriate or not just in case.
After the separation of the feudal vassals, Li Hongzhang urgently consulted Li Hongzhang: Wu Tang, the governor of the river, demolished the weirs to prevent disasters, besieged the city and sold land, and was not a good man. The governor of the river changed hands, causing troubles. The Liangjiang River is an important source of our salary. If the Liangjiang River is there, the army's salary will be sufficient. If you are not careful, you will lose everything. I would like to ask Shao Quansi to reconsider.
After Li Hongzhang received Zeng Guofan's message, he marched northward rashly. It was difficult to distinguish between power and responsibility, and it was easy to become a constraint, causing thieves to overflow, but he failed.
Empress Dowager Cixi followed Zeng and Li's remarks, sighed, and was speechless.
After the battle at Pheasant River, the Nian army divided into two groups. Liang Wang Zhang Zongyu rushed westward into Henan, bypassing Zhoukou and Xinyang, and entered Xiangyang in northern Hubei. King Zun Lai Wenguang and King Lu Renzhu joined hands to visit the north, lingering in the border areas of Anhui, Henan, Jiangsu and Shandong, waiting for opportunities.
In late November 1865, Lai and Ren followed Zhang Zongyu's approach, bypassing Zhoukou, forcibly crossing the Shahe River, and stationed at Hongji Bridge. All the soldiers were traveling month after month, suffering unspeakably.
Ren Zhu, King of Lu, reported: Liu Ming reported that the monsters have been following them quietly for nearly three months. Now they have gathered on the other side of the Shah River. Can they choose a place to encircle and annihilate them to avoid future troubles?
Lai Wenguang said: "Liu Yao has nearly ten thousand strong soldiers and foreign guns and cannons. It is very difficult to stop him. Unless he joins forces with the Liang King's army, we cannot gather together to annihilate him." Quickly send a horse to report to the king of Liang, turn back to the land of Yu, and work together to drive away the demon.
Ren Zhu said: If Liu Yao's army crosses the river, will they fight?
Lai Wenguang said: Small groups gather to annihilate, large groups avoid them; the art of war is to attack halfway across the river, pass on my military orders, station on the spot, bury pots to make rice, rely on the sand river, and wait for opportunities to fight.
Commander-in-chief Liu Ming led Ming's army and advanced slowly. At the end of December, they pursued them to Shahe.
Zhang Shushan, commander of the Shu Army, was stationed at Zhoukou and came here to offer a special message: The year before last, Lai Tie led the bandit army to march westward to Hanzhong. They attacked all the way and were invincible. Now they have surrounded and killed the Monk King. The provincial commander must not take it lightly.
Liu's generals Tang Diankui, Liu Shengzao and Liu Shengxiu all said: As time goes by, the enemy will become poorer, so don't pursue him.
Liu Ming preached: "Don't you know, the thief is trying to lure me back to the old path of the monk's residence!" If you know yourself and your enemy, you will be able to fight a hundred battles. The thieves will fall back on their old ways. I will be new and different, and advance slowly into a hasty battle. The army will cross in secret tonight, and surround the rebel bandits at dawn.
Zhang Shushan said: The thieves' cavalry is always erratic, but I stand still and wait. It's a shame for a general! I will report to the Commander-in-Chief, and I will also act as a traveler to fight against the thieves.
At dawn the next day, Ming's army forcibly crossed the Shahe River, firing volleys of 4,000 foreign guns and 300 cannons.
Thousands of Nian army cavalry rushed out, roaring out. The front team pounced on the ground, the rear team followed up, the rear team pounced on the ground, and the rear team rushed in again. This was repeated for more than ten times, and thousands of people fell to the ground; Lai Wenguang did not dare to Fighting again, he speeded up the remaining troops and pretended to cross the river to attack Zhoukou. Then he suddenly went south to Hubei to look for Zhang Zongyu, the king of Liang.
In January 1866, Lai Wenguang and Ren Zhulian attacked Macheng and Huangpi, one step away from Wuhan.
The co-organizer, a bachelor and the former governor of Huguang, sent an urgent order to the counties of Jing, Xiang, Ning, and Hubei to rush to support.
The commander-in-chief Liang Hongsheng did not hesitate to make more concessions and acted as soon as he received the order. Liang Hongsheng was originally under the command of Li Xubin and Ding Ruyi. He had fought with Li and Ding for many years. He was very powerful and his troops were fierce and brave.
Lai Wenguang used silence to set up an ambush on the outskirts of Huangpi City, and surrounded and killed more than 3,000 people under Liang Hongsheng.
Officials were frightened and hurriedly evacuated the two palaces. Wuhan was in a hurry. He consulted Zeng Guofan again and divided his troops to assist Hubei. He also urged Zeng Guoquan to take up his post as soon as possible.
Zeng Guofan received the advice and ordered Liu Mingchuan again. The horse, infantry, artillery and baggage teams all advanced on the sly, seizing the opportunity to gather and annihilate.
Liu Mingchuan did not comment, but still walked slowly. In mid-March, they arrived at Huangpi. After a short rest, they set up artillery and guns and surrounded and bombarded the city walls.
Lai Wenguang resisted for a day, abandoned the city and went north, heading from eastern Henan to northern Anhui and into southern Shandong. After turning around time, he finally met up with the Liang Wang Zhang Zongyu's tribe in Puyang at the end of April.
Lai and Zhang were very sad when they met.
Lai Wenguang said: Liu Mingchuan said Yao'er's artillery was very powerful and difficult to stop. My brother defeated Pan Dingxin and Li Zhaoqing two demons in Yuncheng and captured many explosives and foreign guns. No one can match my brother's fighting power.
Zhang Zongyu said: "Brother Liang said that after I said goodbye to him, I and King Jing and others traveled to dozens of places and fought dozens of battles. We lost thousands of troops and our combat power was greatly reduced." Yuncheng's small victory was a surprise and a sudden attack.
Lai Wenguang said: In today's situation, we can only make a difference by joining forces and defeating the demonic forces.
Zhang Zongyu said: "We will unite into one, wander and attack, and then encircle the points at Yuncheng in southern Shandong for reinforcements, and choose the opportunity to gather together to annihilate most of the Huai demons."
