The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 170 Our Taiping Army...is finally here!
If anyone travels along the official road north of Xiangtan during this chaotic time, he will always see some ragged, skinny farmers on both sides of the road, looking at the east bank of the Xiangjiang River in the distance with extremely enthusiastic eyes.
On a hill less than ten miles away from Xiangtan County, two figures sat in the weeds on the top of the hill, with a spear stuck beside them. They were both wearing straw sandals and ragged cotton jackets, their faces were rough and dirty, and they shivered in the cold wind of early winter, but they still refused to leave and kept looking at the Xiangjiang River.

The two were tenant farmers in Zhangwang Village on the official road. The autumn harvest season had just passed, and their lives were more difficult than in previous years, because the landlords were pressing them harder and more urgently than before! The county government had assigned them another "military training donation", saying that they wanted to train 2,000 militiamen to fight the Taiping Army on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River.

As a result, after paying the rent, interest, levies, and land taxes, there was little left from the autumn harvest for both families. The family only had enough sweet potatoes to last until next spring, but they were still full of hope for the future.

Because they know that these dark days will soon be over!
The Taiping Army is coming soon!
The poor people on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River have risen! Many poor people on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River have also risen. In the mountainous area of ​​Xiangxiang County, there is the Taiping Army's territory. The poor people there have been allocated land, burned their IOUs, and lived a good life.

Next, it will be the turn of the poor people in Xiangtan County on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, right?
But the Taiping Army must come quickly. The gentlemen in the village have learned their lesson. They have moved all the grain, silver, copper coins and other good things to the county town. They have also formed a group to organize militia. They have already recruited 2,000 people and are said to be planning to recruit another 2,000.

A few days ago, a governor came to Xiangtan with three thousand soldiers. Now there are five thousand soldiers and militia in Xiangtan city. It will not be easy to fight!

If they fail to capture Xiangtan, they will not be able to take back the food that the masters have moved into the city.
Suddenly, there was a sound of horse hooves on the official road, and knights were coming from the north. The two men looked over and saw six cavalrymen dressed in green camp uniforms, whipping their horses with whips, looking very anxious.

"Hmph, are you in a hurry to reincarnate?"

"No, I'm not in a hurry to reincarnate, I'm in a hurry to escape. Look, red-headed people, many red-headed people, are coming along the official road."

"Red-headed people? Is that the Taiping Army? Our Taiping Army is finally here!"

“Finally here”

The two poor men looked at the red-headed men from the brigade who had just come into their sight and actually shed tears of excitement!

One of them wiped his tears, pulled out the spear beside him, and said to the other: "Let's go back to the village, gather all the poor men, and fight Xiangtan with the Taiping Army!"

Another man also picked up the spear and gritted his teeth and said, "The Taiping Army is our team. I want to be a Taiping Army soldier and fight the Qing monsters!"

The Taiping Army is our team!
We can only live a good life when the Taiping Army comes!
We must help the Taiping Army fight the Qing monsters!

With the vigorous land distribution and debt cancellation movement being carried out by the Hunan-Jiangxi Border Headquarters of the God Worshipping Society in various places on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River these days, the poor people on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River also regarded the Taiping Army as their only hope and stood on the side of the Taiping Army without hesitation!
Therefore, as the Taiping Army's Upper One and Upper Two Armies crossed the Xiangjiang River and headed for Xiangtan, their ranks began to expand, with poor men joining them along the way, either spontaneously or mobilized by the "underground society" of the God Worshipping Society.

Most of these poor men had their own javelins and wooden sticks, and a wooden stick with an iron spear tip turned into a short spear! So the Taiping Army only needed to bring some red turbans and iron spear tips, and bring some lecturers from the lecturer crash course, and they could immediately expand their army on the battlefield!
Although these newly joined Taiping Army soldiers could not serve as the main force in the siege, they were enough to boost momentum and could also turn the Qing troops in Xiangtan City into an isolated force within the high walls in an instant!
The unfortunate Governor of Huguang, Cheng Yancai, sat on the north wall of Xiangtan City, staring in amazement at the large crowds of Taiping Army pouring onto the official road. Due to the activities of the underground God Worshipping Society and the Heaven and Earth Society in the villages around Xiangtan City, and the fact that gentry in Xiangtan area fled into the city for refuge, he knew nothing about the movements of the Taiping Army on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River.

Moreover, he was unwilling to break up his only cavalry and use them as scouts - it was not safe outside the city, and the scouts sent out would inevitably suffer losses, and if the losses were too great, these cavalry could still help him escape if anything happened!

He was the Governor of Huguang. Although he had been dismissed from office but retained his position, the city of his duty was still Wuchang. There was no reason for him to die in Xiangtan.

If the imperial envoy Sai Shang'a had not asked him to send out scouts, he would not have sent out a single cavalryman.

But Sai Shang'a's order was still a beat late.

Not long after Cheng Yancai's cavalry went out, they encountered the Taiping Army that was coming like a tide!

"Cheng Zhijun, Changmao, the Changmao army is coming, what should we do?"

Xiangtan County Magistrate Pan Dawei was so frightened when he saw this that his voice was trembling. "General, I can help you break out of the encirclement!"

Chunrong, the deputy general of the Central Army under Cheng Yancai, was a Manchurian master who smoked foreign cigarettes. But even though he was full of foreign cigarettes, he was so frightened that he broke out in a sweat when he saw the endless red-headed men coming on the official road from the north. There was only one thought in his mind - run away quickly!
But Cheng Cai was still not dizzy yet, because that old man Sai Shang'a was watching him!
If he runs away, he will be deserting the battlefield. If Sai Shang'a issues a warning, he might even lose his head!

Cheng Yancai tried hard to suppress the thought of escaping, turned around and said to his deputy general of the central army: "Deputy General Chun, it is better to quickly dispatch soldiers to the city wall to defend the city. Amitabha! Xiangtan must not be lost!

Send someone to ask for advice from Sai Zhongtang, and tell him that Chang Mao's main force has crossed the river, and it is the main force, at least 30,000 people, and ask him to return to Xiangtan for the sake of the Qing Dynasty! "

"How long will it take Senggelinqin to return from the east bank of the Xiang River?"

On a hill in the north of Xiangtan City, Luo Yaoguo was holding a telescope and observing the Xiangtan city wall seven or eight miles away, while asking Yu Mieqing beside him.

At this time, he didn't know that Senggelinqin didn't come at all. Although he enthusiastically "drafted" a decisive battle plan for Senggelinqin, he couldn't resist Senggelinqin's own drama!
"Reporting to Your Highness, Senggelinqin's men probably haven't built the pontoon bridge yet. His troops can only rely on ferries to travel between the two sides of the Xiangjiang River. In a hurry, we can only mobilize the troops in Yisuhe City to support Xiangtan!"

"With such a small number of people, they will definitely never come back!" Su Sanniang interrupted.

"Yes!" Luo Yaoguo nodded, "Sanniang, who can eat them?"

"I will go there myself!" Su Sanniang said, "The siege of Xiangtan can be handed over to Zeng Tianyang and He Damei's Upper Second Army. I will lead the main forces of Li Shoucheng and Li Shixian's Upper First Army to Jiangshe City to block the attack. We must stick to Senggelinqin, and it would be best if we can bring Senggelinqin's people into Jiangshe City to grind them into meat.

The Western King's army should have crossed the river by now, and will soon bypass Yisuhe City and head to the south bank of the stream. Then they will attack Senggelinqin from both the north and the south, and maybe even cut off the demon monk's head."

"Okay!" Luo Yaoguo nodded gently and said, "Sanniang, be careful. Don't lead the troops into battle. You are the commander-in-chief of the upper army now. You cannot afford to make mistakes."

Su Sanniang smiled and nodded: "I understand, I will be fine!"

"Report"

With the sound of a "report", the news that the main force of the Taiping Army had crossed the Xiangjiang River and was approaching Xiangtan was finally delivered to Sai Shang'a's camp in Xialang after dark.

"crash"

"What? At least 30,000 Taimao are approaching Xiangtan County? How is this possible?"

Sai Shang'a, who was being served by a Goshaha brought from Beijing, could not sit still after hearing the report from another Goshaha under his command. He stood up suddenly and accidentally knocked over the foot basin, causing the foot washing water to spill all over the floor.

Sai Shang'a stood there in a daze for a while, and had already made up his mind - Xiangtan County must not be lost!

There is a Governor of Huguang in Xiangtan County, with 3,000 governor's flags and 1,000 to 2,000 militiamen. If he gets lost because of Sai Shang'a's failure to help, he will not be able to bear the blame.

He is now actually a criminal, and he has to bear the blame for the corrupt situation in Hunan. If he loses another governor, even if the emperor can tolerate it, he will be buried with the impeachment of all officials!
Thinking of this, he immediately ordered: "Quick, tell General Xiang to lead Generals Liu and Sun to support Xiangtan immediately! Tell General Xiang that Xiangtan cannot be lost!"

(End of this chapter)