1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 205 Short Hair's Target Was Not Chu Yong

Imperial Commissioner Li Xingyuan's bandit-suppression army gradually arrived near Shuitang Bay, where they joined forces with Jiang Zhongyuan's Chu troops.

Shuitang Bay was the last line of defense to prevent the Taiping Army from entering Hunan.

Li Xingyuan and Jiang Zhongyuan were both from Hunan, and they both took the impending battle at Shuitang Bay very seriously.

The soldiers in Li Xingyuan and Jiang Zhongyuan's army, apart from the three thousand Sichuan soldiers brought by Li Xingyuan, were all from Hunan.

This time, Li Xingyuan set off from Lingling, the capital of Yongzhou Prefecture. He generously rewarded the troops, using the pretext of protecting his hometown in Hunan to boost morale. Li Xingyuan himself personally supervised the expedition.

Therefore, the scene was much more impressive than when Liu Yongqing and Yu Wanqing led their troops to Suoyidu last time.

At least 7,500 to 7,600 of the 8,000 soldiers and militia that Li Xingyuan brought from Yongzhou Prefecture successfully arrived near Shuitang Bay.

Although there were still four or five hundred deserters, it was within Li Xingyuan's tolerance level.

Li Xingyuan personally led his troops to Shuitang Bay, which greatly encouraged Jiang Zhongyuan, who had been struggling to cope alone.

Especially since he had just received news two days ago that the Taiping rebels had lifted their siege of Guilin, the capital of Guangxi province.

Jiang Zhongyuan felt this was double the joy.

If the Taiping rebels fail to capture Guilin and withdraw their siege, not only will their morale be dampened, but it will also mean that the Taiping rebels have little food left.

Based on Jiang Zhongyuan's understanding of the religious bandits, he knew they wouldn't easily lift the siege when they had ample supplies.

Moreover, it was an attack on a city of great political significance, such as the provincial capital.

"With over 100,000 Taiping rebels withdrawing from Guilin and fleeing north, the Taiping rebels could not defend such a large force in every aspect. If General Xiang and Commander Wu can take advantage of the victory and pursue them, attacking their weak points, they will surely achieve some success."

Inside Chu Yong's command tent on Lion Ridge in Shuitang Bay, Jiang Zhongyuan stared excitedly at the map spread out on the table and said.

Jiang Zhongyuan had a good understanding of the Taiping Army and knew that the Taiping Army consisted of entire families who joined the army.

The majority of the hundreds of thousands of Taiping soldiers were elderly, weak, women, and children from the outskirts of town.

The Taiping army was a formidable fighting force, and in direct combat with them, the government troops rarely gained the upper hand.

However, by targeting the Taiping army's rear guard and the elderly and weak, the pursuit of their marching troops still yielded considerable results.

"The overall situation is very favorable for us. If we can encircle the more than 200,000 Taiping and Maoist forces from the north and south in the Hunan-Guangxi Corridor, even if we are trapped, we can still kill them in the Hunan-Guangxi Corridor." Liu Changyou, a student from Xinning who had just arrived at Shuitang Bay with 600 Xinning militia yesterday, said while staring at the map.

After assisting Xiang Rong and Jiang Zhongyuan in suppressing Li Yuanfa's Heaven and Earth Society, Liu Changyou prepared to calmly prepare for the special imperial examination in August of this year.

The provincial examinations in the Qing Dynasty were held every three years, usually in the years of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You, and were called "regular examinations". In addition, special "en examinations" were held to celebrate occasions such as the emperor's enthronement or birthday.

Emperor Xianfeng, Yizhu, ascended the throne in the first month of the 30th year of the Daoguang reign (1850). According to custom, a special imperial examination should have been held in the following year (1851, the year of Xinhai).

However, the Taiping Army was advancing aggressively and posed a threat to Hunan. Liu Changyou, who was quite wealthy, accepted Jiang Zhongyuan's invitation to temporarily put aside his studies and recruit and train local militia in his hometown of Jincheng Village to come to Shuitangwan to assist Jiang Zhongyuan.

“That is indeed the general trend, but Yinqu, you have never fought against the cultists and do not understand them. The cultists are not like the Heaven and Earth Society. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, they will not sit idly by and wait for death,” Jiang Zhongyuan said with a sigh.

"Lin Wenzhong initially adopted a strategy of 'sitting and besieging,' but the defenses of Governor Zhou and General Xiang, who were guarding the Wuxuan line, were riddled with holes by the short-haired rebels, resulting in repeated losses of soldiers and generals. Thus, the strategy of 'sitting and besieging' was rendered useless."

Lin Zexu's strategy of trapping the Taiping army in Zijing Mountain and pacifying the mountain was sound both in theory and in practice.

However, the Left Army became an unexpected variable. At that time, the Qing army's high command underestimated the strength of the Left Army. They did not expect the Left Army to be so capable of fighting and to repeatedly defeat elite troops such as the Chu Army and Zhengan Army led by Xiang Rong.

“Is Minqiao worried that we will repeat the same mistake Xiang Junmen made in Wuxuan at Shuitang Bay?” Liu Changyou frowned slightly upon hearing this.

Liu Changyou followed Xiang Rong's Chu army and Zhengan soldiers to suppress the Heaven and Earth Society.

Liu Changyou knew the level of Xiang Rong's Chu army and Zhengan soldiers.

Although the Chu army had the bad habits of the Green Standard Army, in general, in terms of combat strength, the Chu army was the best of the Green Standard Army. At least when they were pursuing and suppressing the Heaven and Earth Society, they were able to beat the Heaven and Earth Society like dirt chickens and clay dogs.

When Liu Changyou first heard that Xiang Rong's Chu army was struggling to win against the short-haired cult bandits, he was quite surprised and found it hard to believe.

"Whether we will repeat the mistakes made by General Xiang in Wuxuan depends on the troops that Lord Li brings." Jiang Zhongyuan's voice trailed off.

“If the troops that Lord Li brings are still the likes of Liu Changqing and Yu Wanqing, then Shuitang Bay is in danger, and Hunan is in danger.”

“Minqiao, there is still something I don’t understand.” Liu Changyou looked away from the map on the table and expressed his confusion.

"According to you, the short-haired bandit leader Peng Gang is not incompetent. Before Lord Li led his troops to Shuitang Bay, only your two thousand Chu soldiers were stationed in the Shuitang Bay area. At that time, the short-haired bandits had already captured Quanzhou City and had no worries about their rear. The short-haired bandits' strength was several times that of the Chu soldiers. Why didn't the short-haired bandits take this opportunity to attack Shuitang Bay directly with their superior numbers?"

"This shows that Shorthair's ambitions are far from small, and his target is not Chu Yong. He doesn't want to alert the enemy," Jiang Zhongyuan said.

Upon hearing this, Liu Changyou couldn't help but gasp: "Does Short Hair want to devour Lord Li's troops and seize Yongzhou Prefecture?"

The short-haired rebels' target wasn't the Chu army; it was more likely that they were eyeing the troops of Imperial Envoy Li Xingyuan. Annihilating Li Xingyuan's main force in Hunan would make their attack on Lingling, the capital of Yongzhou Prefecture, much easier. If, as Jiang Zhongyuan said, the short-haired rebels immediately laid out plans for Lingling after capturing Quanzhou, taking one step at a time and considering two steps ahead, could they really refrain from attacking the Chu army right under their noses?

Such an opponent is indeed very troublesome.

Jiang Zhongyuan nodded helplessly: "If I am not mistaken, the short-haired detachment may have already sneaked in and raided our rear, cutting off Lord Li's main road back to Lingling City."

“Since Minqiao has already seen through the Short Hair’s plot, why not report it to Lord Li, or send troops to repel the Short Hair’s detachment?” Liu Changyou asked, puzzled.

“I am merely a local magistrate, with little influence. Lord Li holds the power of an imperial envoy, bearing the heavy responsibility of suppressing the religious bandits, yet he has been stalled in Yongzhou. How can he explain this to the court?” Jiang Zhongyuan shook his head, sighed deeply, and said.

"Shorthai's flanking force is not so easy to defeat. According to Shorthai's habits, if Peng Gang leads the main force of Shorthai, the flanking force is usually led by Luo Dagang, a bandit leader who came from the Guangxi Tiandihui boat bandits."

Back in Xunzhou Prefecture, Luo Dagang had led a detachment of short-haired soldiers and joined forces with Qin Richang's main force to fight Zhang Gong to a standstill; this man was not to be underestimated.

The imperial court has successively dispatched two Han Chinese imperial envoys. If Li Xingyuan does nothing and remains holed up in Yongzhou Prefecture, the capital will inevitably consider replacing him.

With two Han Chinese imperial envoys failing to achieve substantial results in suppressing bandits, it is highly likely that a Manchu or Bannerman will be appointed as the new imperial envoy.

Many Manchu officials are mediocre; if a Manchu were to serve as imperial envoy, the situation would only be worse than it is now.

Li Xingyuan had to fight the cult bandits no matter what, and it would be best to fight them outside of Hunan Province in order to give the imperial court a satisfactory explanation.

If Jiang Zhongyuan informs Li Xingyuan of the news that the short-haired rebels are raiding his rear, it will cause Li Xingyuan to hesitate and make a fuss, affecting the morale of the main Qing army in Hunan, and even preventing them from sending troops south.

At that time, Jiang Zhongyuan would have no choice but to lead Chu Yong out of Shuitang Bay and watch as Duanmao swaggered into Hunan territory.

This is a situation that Jiang Zhongyuan is even less willing to see.

After all, with Li Xingyuan's arrival, there was still a glimmer of hope to keep the cult bandits out of Hunan.

There's not even the slightest hope if Li Xingyuan doesn't come.

"In that case, the situation in Hunan is not optimistic. There are too few Chu soldiers. If, as Minqiao said, we want to wipe out the religious bandits, we can't rely on the Green Standard Army alone. We can only follow the example of the White Lotus Rebellion and organize a large-scale local militia," Liu Changyou said thoughtfully.

"It's all up to us. Do your best and leave the rest to fate," Jiang Zhongyuan said, straightening his clothes as he turned around.

“Yinqu, Lord Li has already set up camp at Taipingpu. Come with me down the ridge to pay him a visit.”

"Thank you, Minqiao." Liu Changyou quickly tidied himself up and followed Jiang Zhongyuan to Li Xingyuan's residence to pay his respects to Li Xingyuan.

Jiang Zhongyuan performed exceptionally well in suppressing bandits in Guangxi and was awarded the title of Prefect. Now, he is also responsible for the important task of defending Shuitang Bay and is qualified to meet with high-ranking officials like Li Xingyuan.

Liu Changyou was merely a member of the Communist Party. Although he had contributed to the suppression of the Heaven and Earth Society, his reputation was not as prominent as Jiang Zhongyuan's.

For Liu Changyou, being able to appear before the imperial envoy was a rare opportunity.

Passing by the Qing army camp under Li Xingyuan, we saw the Qing soldiers that Li Xingyuan had brought with him.

Jiang Zhongyuan's heart sank.

The Qing troops that Li Xingyuan led were slightly better than the Qing troops that Liu Changqing and Yu Wanqing had led before, but that was all.

Jiang Zhongyuan began to reminisce about the days when he served Wulantai in Xunzhou Prefecture.

Although the Qing army at that time failed to wipe out the Christian bandits, it was strong and well-equipped, and its morale was high.

By forming fortified villages and engaging in prolonged battles to confront the Taiping rebels, they were able to gain the upper hand and suppress them.

What kind of trash are our allies these days?
They're lazy and lethargic; they're clearly not cut out for tough battles.

“With Minqiao guarding Shuitang Bay, there is hope of stopping the religious bandits.”

Li Xingyuan was very pleased to see Jiang Zhongyuan's visit.

Jiang Zhongyuan made a name for himself in Guangxi with Chu Yong, and now Jiang Zhongyuan is a very popular figure in Hunan.

Li Xingyuan did not treat Jiang Zhongyuan with the airs of an imperial envoy in the face of such a promising young talent.

Li Xingyuan not only warmly received Jiang Zhongyuan, but also patiently listened to Jiang Zhongyuan introduce Liu Changyou, whom Jiang Zhongyuan had brought.

Jiang Zhongyuan bowed to Li Xingyuan and said, "Junior Jiang Zhongyuan greets Lord Li. I am unworthy of such praise."

"Get up." Li Xingyuan gestured for Jiang Zhongyuan to stand up, and asked with concern, "The bandits are rampant. Does Minqiao have any good strategies to deal with them?"

"Yinqu can lead six hundred Chu soldiers to occupy the bridgehead and block the land route for the cult bandits to flee west to Xinning. I will follow Lord Li to block the riverbank and cut off the water route for the cult bandits to flee north to Lingling. The Chu soldiers are few in number, so I request Lord Li to send a detachment to garrison the east bank of the Xiang River, as a joint effort to stop the cult bandits." The situation was urgent, and Jiang Zhongyuan could not be polite at this time, so as not to waste time, he directly stated his suggestion.

(End of this chapter)