The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 175: Attack Hong Xiuquan!
"Xiao, Xiao Chaogui! That must be Xiao Chaogui! How did he cross the Xiangjiang River?"

Before Xiang Rong could recover from his shock, Sun Yingzhao, the general of Yongzhou Town, had already awakened him with a frightened voice.

The army behind him must be the troops of Xiao Chaogui, the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom stationed in Lukou Town! Not only did they cross the Xiangjiang River, but they also ran to the vicinity of Jiangshe City. Isn't this coming too fast?

Xiang Rong thought: "Did these Taiping rebels fly here with wings? No, they couldn't have crossed the river today, they had crossed the river a long time ago. The Taiping rebels attacked Xiangtan County from the north in order to besiege the city and attack the reinforcements, and the one they were attacking was me, the unlucky 'reinforcement'!
Jiangshe City is also setting a trap here, the purpose is to absorb my more than 10,000 troops, so that Xiao Chaogui in the south can rush over and attack me from both sides! "

Xiang Rong was indeed a veteran general with many years of fame. After a moment's thought, he realized that he had fallen into the trap of the Taiping Army and was in big trouble.

"General Xiang, let's retreat quickly!"

Sun Yingzhao's voice was shaking as he spoke: "We are about to be attacked from both sides. If we don't retreat now, we won't be able to escape."

"Retreat? Where to retreat?" Xiang Rong turned around and glanced at Sun Yingzhao, "We have already sent 6,000 people to attack Jiangshe City. If we retreat now, we will abandon these 6,000 people?

Besides, it's late at night now, aren't you afraid of being ambushed again during the retreat? It's dark and everyone is panicking. If we get ambushed again, the team will be scattered, and we will die even faster!"

Xiang Rong is right!

His troops had been delayed in Jiangshe City for most of the day, which was enough time for the Taiping Army to send out a small group of elite soldiers to set up an ambush on the road where he was leaving the battlefield. Now it was night, and if they fell into a few ambushes, the troops would flee on their own.

"Then, what should I do?" Sun Yingzhao's head was buzzing and he had no idea what to do. He could only stare at his immediate superior Xiang Rong.

Xiang Rong's haggard face illuminated by the torch was somewhat distorted and covered with beads of sweat. His almost completely white beard was still trembling slightly, and tears were still flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"The only solution now is, only," Xiang Rong's voice trembled, "the only solution is to move the entire army into Jiangshe City!"

"What?" Sun Yingzhao was shocked. "Then, isn't that just getting into the encirclement?"

Xiang Rong smiled bitterly and said, "Besides this, what else can we do? After entering Jiangshe City, at least we can have some support and hold on until help comes."

"Wait for help?" Sun Yingzhao asked, "But now, who can come to our aid?"

"This..." Xiang Rong thought for a moment and said, "If, if the monk king can arrive in time, we may still have a chance of survival!"

Sun Yingzhao sighed: "Monk King? Alas, it can only be like this. I didn't expect that after fighting for such a long time, they would create an encirclement around me!"

The two agreed, and Xiang Rong no longer hesitated and immediately ordered the entire army to cross the stream bridge and enter the half of Jiangshe City that they had finally captured.
On the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, Hengshan County.

In the early morning, this small riverside town, which should have been peaceful and quiet, was now filled with the smell of gunpowder before a war was about to break out.

The small town had been under martial law two days ago. The local militia took over the county government office. All open and semi-open Tiandihui halls in the city were closed down. Dozens of Tiandihui leaders were dragged to the county government office and beheaded as a public display. The dock outside the city was also cleansed up by Jiang Zhongyuan's militia. The workers on the dock were either forcibly conscripted into the militia or beheaded!

On the day when Senggelinqin arrived with an army of 10,000, several city gates were closed to allow entry but not exit, without the orders of the four people: the Seng Wang, Guanwen, Hechun, and Jiang Zhongyuan.

Although there were 10,000 foreign Qing troops and 1,000 local militia organized by gentry stationed in this small city, there were only two flags on the top of the city wall: "Hengshan Training Bravery" and "Protecting the Territory and the People". Except for the city wall facing the Xiangjiang River, only able-bodied men wearing Hengshan County militia uniforms were walking on the other city walls.

From the outside, the whole town seemed to be controlled by a group of gentry who only wanted to protect themselves. But inside the city, there were the Eight Banners, Green Camp, and Hunan Army, with a total of 10,000 people.

On the city wall facing the Xiangjiang River, nearly twenty cannons weighing more than a thousand pounds were set up!

Senggelinqin stood on the east city wall of Hengshan City early this morning, holding a telescope in his hand and looking at the vast Xiangjiang River from time to time.

There were also spies disguised as ordinary people who kept running along the official road from the south of Hengshan City. When they arrived at the city wall where Senggelinqin was, they reported the enemy situation they had just obtained to Jiang Zhongyuan's three brothers Jiang Zhongji, Jiang Zhongshu and Jiang Zhongjun who were waiting there. The Jiang brothers who received the report would take turns carrying their official robes and jogging up the city.

"Your Majesty, the Changmao Army with more than 10,000 men is already 15 miles south of Hengshan City." "Your Majesty, the Changmao fleet is at least 20 miles away from us!"

"Your Majesty, the long-haired land division has divided its forces and seems to be going to surround Hengshan City from three sides on land!"

As news continued to arrive, the atmosphere on the city wall became increasingly depressing.

Senggelinqin was undoubtedly taking a big gamble!
The main force of the Taiping Army now advancing along the Xiangjiang River is conservatively estimated to be 50,000 to 60,000, while Senggelinqin only has more than 10,000 people on hand!
Ten thousand versus fifty or sixty thousand, the advantage is on the enemy!

Moreover, these 50,000 to 60,000 Taiping troops were by no means a mob. The combat effectiveness of the new brothers from Hunan was even higher than that of the Eight Banners and Green Camps of the Qing army, and the combat effectiveness of the old brothers from Guangxi was even higher than that of Jiang Zhongyuan's militia.

So this is using the weak to defeat the strong, and the advantage is still on the enemy!

What was even more terrifying was that the Taiping Army was not completely unprepared. With the experience of the Minoy Crossing in mind, they marched this time with more than 10,000 elite soldiers on each side of the Xiangjiang River to lead the way and provide cover, while the main force followed by boats.

If they encountered any towns along the way that were not temporarily controlled by the Taiping Army, the Taiping Army's land division would first besiege the city and then issue a warning to ensure that the main fleet could pass safely.

If any town's militia leader were so bold as to fire a cannon and disturb the emperor's presence, he would be dead - he's tired of living!
In other words, Senggelinqin had to fire at Hong Xiuquan's "black cannon" while being surrounded by the Taiping Army, and then had to break out of the encirclement before Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing mobilized a large army to besiege Hengshan City. It really seemed like he was tired of living.

But Senggelinqin's mouth corners slightly raised, and he smiled and said: "Good, there is nothing unusual, which means that the Changmao still doesn't know we are in Hengshan City!"

Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing indeed did not know that Senggelinqin was setting up cannons in Hengshan City and was ready to fire at them.

According to the intelligence they had, the main force of the Qing army had now gone to Changsha to fight Luo Yaoguo and Xiao Chaogui. On both sides of the Xiangjiang River south of Changsha Prefecture, there were only a few towns where stubborn gentry militias were defending them. There were many such small towns and large towns, and it would take a long time to clear them out one by one. Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing didn't have the time to wait for Feng Yunshan to clean them all up.

If we really wait until that time, Xiao Chaogui would have already been stationed in Wuchang, and Luo Yaoguo might have even set up a government in Jiangning. By then, don't let one of them become Xiao Youliang and the other become Luo Yuanzhang!

Therefore, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing were preparing for the future and discussing how to strengthen the centralization of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!
There are now signs of feudalism in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan and Luo Yaoguo all want to get a piece of territory and become the boss themselves.

Feng Yunshan was about to take over Yongzhou, Chenzhou, Hengzhou, and Guiyangzhou, a total of three prefectures and one state!
Xiao Chaogui has already reserved the two prefectures of Wuchang and Hanyang!
Luo Yaoguo had already informed Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing that he would guard the southeastern seaport for the Heavenly Kingdom, aiming at the Shanghai and Suzhou areas.

These three are all "living fathers". Yang Xiuqing doesn't want them to stay in the center, and Hong Xiuquan doesn't want Luo and Xiao to get together - once the bowl is knocked, Ji Du will be born!
Therefore, Hong and Yang did not mind enfeoffment of several prefectures for Xiao, Feng, and Luo. However, the territories outside these prefectures should still be directly governed by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's central government.

"Your Majesty, my idea is to set up four offices in each province, namely, the governor, the chief steward, the general manager, and the chief commander. This can be compared to the governor, the provincial governor, the provincial judge, and the admiral in the Qing Dynasty. First, we can set up the four offices of the governor, the chief steward, the general manager, and the chief commander in Hunan in Changsha as a pilot. It would be better to give Zhu Jiutao, who was recommended by my eighth brother, the position of the governor of Hunan and the governor of Changsha Prefecture, and then appoint Guozong Wei Jun as the governor of Hunan and the governor of Yuezhou Prefecture. As for the general manager and the chief commander, Huang Yukun and Hong Renzheng can take the positions first."

On the front deck of Hong Xiuquan's boat, Yang Xiuqing was following Hong Xiuquan, who was taking a walk after having morning tea. He looked like an obedient younger brother and introduced to Hong Xiuquan in detail his methods of strengthening the central power of the Heavenly Kingdom. He also showed an attitude of not taking power or reaching out. The Hunan General Manager recommended Wei Changhui's brother Wei Jun, the Director General was appointed by Shi Dakai's father-in-law Huang Yukun, the Commander-in-Chief was appointed by Hong Xiuquan's cousin Hong Renzheng, and the Chief Manager was appointed by Zhu Jiutao, a local snake recommended by Luo Yaoguo.

All parties benefited from it, but Yang Xiuqing himself did not want anything.

"Good, good, that's not right!" Hong Xiuquan said "good" twice in a row, then suddenly got stuck and said "not right" again.

What's wrong?

As soon as Yang Xiuqing had this thought, he heard a roar like thunder!

"Rumble"

Then there was the sound of "splashing" of heavy objects falling into the water.

Then Yang Xiuqing heard someone shouting, "There is an ambush! There are cannons on Hengshan City."

(End of this chapter)