The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 129 Zuo Zongtang: Beat that tall guy to death (asking for monthly votes)
Changsha City, Huangdao Gate

Luo Yaoguo thought to himself that there were secret books such as "History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", "Complete History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War" and "Complete History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" in his "Tiantian Mirror". He did not take Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, the so-called three heroes of the late Qing Dynasty, seriously. He just thought that as long as he followed the secret books step by step, and added the secret methods in Volume 1 of "Anti-Classic" which he wrote based on the experience of rebellion in modern times, how could Zeng, Zuo and Li be his opponents?
Unexpectedly, Zuo Zongtang only used a few tricks to let him know that those people who can occupy a large section of history books and are praised a lot are not easy to deal with! And this Zuo Zongtang also made a great name in the chaotic late Qing Dynasty. He suppressed the Heavenly Kingdom, destroyed the Nian Army, and recovered Xinjiang. He is really famous in history and has left a legacy for future generations. He is much better than Zeng Guofan who tried hard to be a "saint" and Li Yao who tried hard to be an official.

Su Sanniang seemed to see the worry in Luo Yaoguo's heart, and said, "Your Highness, Sanniang will immediately mobilize the troops to attack Chao Zongmen's rice market and grab some rice!"

Luo Yaoguo pondered, "This Zuo Zongtang is known as a wise man, and he is full of evil intentions!
He burned the food supplies of 300,000 people, and then threw these people and the entire Changsha to me. I don't even need to think about it. He must be trying to ruin my plans!"

Luo Yaoguo thought for a while, and finally whispered: "That's the life of 300,000 people. We have to give it a try, Sanniang. I will go with you. Go and mobilize the troops!"

"Yes!" Su Sanniang received the order and turned around to dispatch troops.

When Yu Mieqing saw Su Sanniang going out to the battle, he took a step forward and filled in for Su Sanniang, and began to report the military intelligence he had just received to Luo Yaoguo: "Your Highness, General Lin led his troops to pursue Shengbao along the Changsha city area. A quarter of an hour ago, he had already planted a flag at Derun Gate. The next one should be Yibu Gate, and then Chao Zongmen. I suggest sending someone to urge General Lin to advance quickly and see if he can seize the Chao Zongmen wharf and force the Qing monsters there to retreat."

Luo Yaoguo always followed the advice of Su Sanniang, Yu Mieqing and others on specific tactics, and nodded: "Okay, immediately send someone with my angel order to give orders to Lin Fengxiang."

Yu Mieqing continued, "Tianxin Pavilion is very difficult to defeat. It would be better to let General Li leave 300 to 400 people to guard it, and transfer the rest of the troops to Deputy General Manager Su, so that she can have more confidence.

In addition, it is a bit of a waste for General Li of the Upper Second Army to lead a thousand soldiers to guard Cai Gong Tomb. It is enough to leave three hundred people. The remaining seven hundred will be transferred to Huangdao Gate. I will ask General Li to lead five hundred people to Chaozong Gate for support. Huangdao Gate can just keep two hundred people for bluffing. "

The two suggestions put forward by Yu Mieqing this time are very comprehensive and he is indeed a good adviser.

"Okay! Let's do it!" Luo Yaoguo nodded. When Yu Mieqing was giving orders to the young soldiers under him, he began to think about it in his mind.

Zuo Zongtang helped Luo Bingzhang defend Changsha in history and made a great name for himself. But now he is pretending to burn grain and abandon the city. What is he planning? Is he trying to use scorched earth tactics to force me to retreat with the 200,000 or 300,000 hungry mouths in Changsha? Or is he trying to force me to send troops to plunder grain around Changsha so that he can send troops to ambush me?
Luo Yaoguo thought about it over and over again, but he couldn't guess what Zuo Zongtang was thinking.

Just as he was secretly trying to figure out Zuo Zongtang's thoughts, he heard footsteps beside him again. He turned around and saw that it was Yu Mieqing who had already conveyed the order and was approaching him with a bow, his attitude quite respectful.

Seeing Yu Mieqing's servile appearance, Luo Yaoguo suddenly remembered Zeng Guofan, the biggest slave in the Qing Dynasty's history.

I don’t know whether Xiao Chaogui has sent troops to Xiangxiang?
No matter how capable Zuo Zongtang is, he is no longer a subject of the Qing emperor, but a commoner. Luo Zenan, Li Xubin and other famous generals of the Hunan Army are mostly civilians now. Neither they nor Emperor Xianfeng have the status of emperor and subject. In troubled times, they can certainly choose to live in seclusion.

Even if they were allowed to form an army and occupy the provincial capital, the Taiping Army could still negotiate with them.

The "God" now is "Haotian God". We all worship the same God. No matter how high or low the God is, we are all from the same sect, so we can just be given titles and official positions!

But once Zeng Guofan came to power, there would be big trouble. This guy was organizing militia under the order of Emperor Xianfeng, and he could ask for official positions for his subordinates one by one.

Moreover, he was still a desperate servant and had no intention of asking for the importance of the throne!
Thinking of this, Luo Yaoguo called out, "Ninth sister!"

"My subordinate is here!"

Zeng Jiumei immediately stepped forward and accepted the order.

Luo Yaoguo took out a red "Angel's Order" and handed it to her, saying, "You should go to Zhuzhou right away. The King of the West should be here soon! Take my Angel's Order to see the King of the West and tell him that I have learned the secret. Tell him to lead his troops to attack Xiangxiang immediately without delay. Zeng Guofan must be captured or killed. This thief must not be left alive!"

"Yes!" Not long after Zeng Jiumei took Luo Yaoguo's "Angel Order" down, Su Sanniang had assembled seven or eight hundred male and female holy soldiers, and quickly went upstairs to report to Luo Yaoguo.

The total strength of the Taiping Army that followed Luo Yaoguo to attack Changsha this time was no more than 5,000 people. It was not enough to capture Changsha City, which covered an area of ​​more than ten square kilometers, had a population of 200,000 to 300,000, nine city gates and a fortress.

So now Su Sanniang can't spare too many troops to follow Luo Yaoguo to Chaozongmen Rice Market.

"Mie Qing!" Luo Yaoguo took out a few more "Angel Orders" and handed them to Yu Mieqing. "You stay at Huangdao Sect, Sanniang and I will go to Chao Sect!"

"Yes!"

"Ji Gao, there are eight or nine hundred people here. Judging from this team, they should be the elite long-haired soldiers. There are also two or three hundred muskets. Do we really want to fight?"

Chen Qishu's slightly panicked voice sounded in Zuo Zongtang's ears.

It was already bright in the sky. Gusts of west wind blowing from the Xiangjiang River blew away the thick smoke from the fire in the Chaozongmen Rice Market. Zuo Zongtang and Chen Qishu, who were standing on the horse path inside Chaozongmen, had a good view, so they saw from afar the eight or nine hundred red-headed men coming from the direction of the Hunan Governor's Office.

Zuo Zongtang ignored Chen Qishu and looked through a telescope imported from the West, as if he was trying to find a big Tai-Hang. But this group of Tai-Hang looked very strange. They were in a very neat formation and dressed neatly. Everyone wore red robes and scarves, and there was almost no difference between them. It was difficult to tell who was a high-ranking official and who was a soldier from their clothes.

Fortunately, Zuo Zongtang had good eyesight and soon found a tall man in the team who was not carrying a shotgun or long weapons. So he handed the telescope to Chen Qishu, pointed in the direction of the two tall men and said, "Bowen, do you see that tall man?"

"I saw it!" Chen Qishu nodded. "He looks young, so he's unlikely to be a long-haired guy, right?"

"Never mind," Zuo Zongtang shook his head and said, "He didn't bring a musket or long weapon, so he must be the leader. It must be him!

First, arrange for the sharpshooters to shoot with their shotguns, and then order Zhang Dingxiang to lead the death squad to charge and see if they can chop off the man's head!"

"Yes!"

Chen Qishu received the order and turned to go down, but was stopped by Zuo Zongtang: "Wait. Tell your people to be calm and wait until the Taiping rebels send people to put out the fire and grab food before attacking. We will catch them off guard!"

"Yes!" Chen Qishu responded loudly, turned around and ran towards the city.

The tall man that Zuo Zongtang discovered was no one else but Luo Yaoguo, the commander-in-chief of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's upper army, the chief lecturer of the God Worshipping Society, and the Angel of Taiping himself!
Although he was very careful to hide his tracks on the battlefield, he was too tall, a 1.78 meter tall "big man"! He was too eye-catching among hundreds of Guangxi brothers who were generally short. Even though he didn't ride a sedan chair or a horse, and didn't wear a dragon robe, but wore an ordinary red robe that faded after washing, and tied a red scarf, Zuo Zongtang, the "modern man", found him at a glance.

Luo Yaoguo did not sense the danger. He drove here with Su Sanniang, Li Kaifang and more than 700 old brothers and more than 100 sisters from Guangxi!
That’s an old brother!

When the army was being reorganized in Daozhou, these old brothers had another round of training. Each of them was strong and healthy. Although there were only 900 of them, even if the Green Camp soldiers, Eight Banner soldiers, and Hunan militia had 2,000 or 3,000 of them, they would not be enough to defeat them.

Moreover, the nearby Chao Sect seemed to have stopped its activities, and it looked like it had been abandoned. Zuo Zongtang's men should have fled after setting the fire.

Changsha has been beaten to this point, and if you don't run away, are you still waiting to become a loyal martyr of the Qing Dynasty?
Therefore, Luo Yaoguo's entire attention was focused on the raging fire in Chao Zongmen Rice Market.

He never imagined that several shotguns had already quietly aimed at his head.
(End of this chapter)