1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 208 Don't accidentally kill Li Xingyuan!
Having made up their minds to break through towards their hometown of Xinning, the Jiang brothers did not dare to delay for a moment. They gathered Chu Yong, abandoned Lion Ridge, and fled in panic toward the western mountains.

The two Qing armies were defeated one after the other.

Most of Li Xingyuan's Qing troops fled north by boat along the Xiangjiang River, while Jiang Zhongyuan's Chu troops fled west.

Peng Gang also faced a choice: whether to pursue and annihilate Jiang Zhongyuan's Chu troops or to pursue and annihilate Li Xingyuan's main Qing army in Hunan.

Given the opportunity, one should naturally not make a choice but want them all.

However, although the Qing army was routed, the number of defeated soldiers was considerable.

The left wing did not have an overwhelming advantage in troop strength.

Chu Yong was a first-class force in the Qing army, and it was also fighting on home ground. If too few troops were sent to pursue and annihilate Chu Yong, it would be impossible to wipe them out. If too many troops were sent, the forces pursuing and annihilating Li Xingyuan would be stretched thin.

In a flash, Peng Gang made the decision to pursue and annihilate Li Xingyuan.

The Left Army has a large number of soldiers and a great need for food.

These days, the Zuo army has only managed to procure a little over 13,500 shi of grain in Quanzhou, which is not even enough for half a month's rations.

The question isn't whether Chu Yong's stronghold, Xinning County, can be attacked, but whether it's worth attacking.

Taking Xinning would require traversing mountains and valleys, but the key issue was that Xinning was not a wealthy county to begin with. Furthermore, the county seat of Xinning had already been exploited by Li Yuanfa two years prior, so even if Xinning were captured, there wouldn't be much profit to be made.

Xinning is like bones with bits of meat, while Yongzhou is like meat with bits of bone.

After weighing the two options, Peng Gang decided to pursue and annihilate Li Xingyuan's main force of the Qing army in Hunan.

As for Jiang Zhongyuan's Chu Yong, it is sufficient to send Qiu Zhongliang, the fourth battalion commander with mediocre military ability but extremely obedient to orders, along with the fourth battalion and the provisional ninth battalion, to pursue them for a while.

"Zhongliang, you lead the Fourth Battalion and the Provisional Ninth Battalion to pursue the Chu soldiers who are fleeing westward. Remember, chase them to the foot of the mountain and stop when you see the advantage. Don't linger and chase them into the mountains!" Peng Gang instructed Qiu Zhongliang.

After giving his instructions, Peng Gang personally led the main force northward along the Xiang River, pursuing and annihilating the main force of the Hunan Qing army under Li Xingyuan like a hunter.

However, since most of the Qing troops had already boarded the ships, and the stakes and stakes near Shuitang Bay had not yet been cleared, Peng Gang could not take a boat to pursue the remaining Qing troops. He could only hunt down the prisoners who had not yet boarded the ships and were fleeing on land.

Along the way, Peng Gang made some gains, but the results were not significant.

Whether they can expand their gains and annihilate Li Xingyuan's main force of the Qing army in Hunan depends on whether Luo Dagang can stop the fleeing Qing troops at the front.

Luo Dagang blocked the Qing army at Huangsha Pass (later Huangshahe Town), which is 40 li north of Shuitang Bay.

Huangshaguan is under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou, Guangxi, and is still within Guangxi, but it is located at the border of Hunan and Guangxi.

When Luo Dagang arrived at Huangsha Pass, Chen Shiqing had already contacted more than two thousand members of the Heaven and Earth Society under Li Yantong in southern Hunan, who were waiting for Luo Dagang at Huangsha Pass.

Li Yantong learned that the main Qing army in Hunan led by Imperial Commissioner Li Xingyuan was the one they were about to intercept.

Feeling apprehensive, he was reluctant to risk joining the rumored God Society forces to intercept the Qing army.

After all, Li Xingyuan commanded the elite troops of Hunan and Hubei, along with nearly ten thousand local militia from Yongzhou. He was not someone a nobody like Li Yantong could afford to offend.

No matter how powerful the Taiping army of the God Society was, Li Yantong had only heard of it and had never seen it with his own eyes.

Chen Shiqing assured Li Yantong that the Left Army definitely had the strength to defeat Li Xingyuan's Qing army, but that was just a verbal guarantee from Chen Shiqing, and Li Yantong didn't take it too seriously.

Before even seeing Zuo Jun's troops, Li Yantong, with the intention of giving Chen Shiqing and Peng Gang some face, led his men to capture Huangsha Pass, which was only guarded by a few dozen Qing army guerrillas.

As for whether or not to fight alongside Zuo Jun to intercept Li Xingyuan's nearly 10,000 Qing troops, we'll decide after we see Zuo Jun in person and see what kind of people he really is.

If Zuo Jun is really as strong as rumored, then following Zuo Jun to fight a winning battle and crush the Qing army's routed troops would be a good deal for him.

If Zuo Jun doesn't perform as expected, he can simply find an excuse to leave Huangsha Pass, this place of trouble, and continue being the leader of his Heaven and Earth Society.

After witnessing Luo Dagang lead the Third Battalion of the Left Army to Huangsha Pass via a shortcut, Li Yantong finally felt reassured and made up his mind to follow Luo Dagang to intercept the Qing army at Huangsha Pass.

The troops that Luo Dagang led were the Second Battalion, the Third Battalion, the Sixth Battalion, and the Mountain-Splitting Artillery Company, all of whom were elites from the Sixth Battalion of the Left Army.

Their military bearing was impeccable, disciplined, menacing, uniform, and well-equipped; they were clearly a formidable army honed through countless battles, far superior to Li Xingyuan's Qing army.

Just watching the enemy march, their orderly footsteps rustling loudly, filled Li Yantong and his old brothers from the Heaven and Earth Society with fear, but they were also thankful that these people were allies, not enemies.

Luo Dagang predicted that the Qing army would definitely flee by boat, so he decided to use their own methods against them and also set up hidden stakes on the Xiangjiang River near Huangsha Pass to intercept the Qing army's boats.

From the moment he entered Huangsha Pass, Luo Dagang searched everywhere for timber and spent money to hire local people who were good at swimming to go into the water and drive hidden stakes.

The Qing government's rule in southern Hunan was not stable. Li Xingyuan twice sent troops or personally led troops up the Xiang River.

The Qing army's two marches were both very slow. Besides the fact that the Qing army was afraid of the enemy and did not advance, another major reason was that they wasted a lot of time looting along the way.

Having suffered two major military raids within half a month, the people along the way had long harbored deep hatred for the Qing army, but dared not speak out against it.

I heard that Zuo Jun and the Heaven and Earth Society are going to join forces to fight the Qing army that has harmed them. These people do seem to have the ability to defeat the Qing army, and they also get paid.

Under the coordination of Li Yantong's Heaven and Earth Society, the people near Huangsha Pass were very active and enthusiastic, some looking for timber, some looking for stones, and some going into the water.

In just two days, Luo Dagang led the soldiers of the Sixth Battalion, with the help of the local people, to drive more than 320 large and small hidden stakes into the Xiang River.

Luo Dagang wanted to plant more spies, but the scouts had already sent back news that Li Xingyuan's Qing troops had been defeated at Shuitangwan and were about to escape to Huangshaguan.

Luo Dagang had no choice but to give up and set up an encirclement, leading his troops to ambush on both banks of the Xiang River, waiting for the Qing army's fleet to run into the hidden stakes they had laid.

The Xiang River flows from Guangxi into Hunan. At Huangsha Pass, it narrows as if cut by a knife. The river is only about thirty feet wide, but the current is particularly rapid, with waves roaring and rocks hidden among the rocks.

Huangsha Pass was originally just an ordinary ferry crossing between Hunan and Guangxi, but now it has become a perilous crossing set up by Luo Dagang. The main force of the Qing army in Hunan, led by Li Xingyuan, was routed in multiple directions at Shuitang Bay.

The remnants of the army didn't even have time to pack their supplies, and they rushed north in a panic, trying to escape back to Lingling, the capital of Yongzhou Prefecture.

More than 340 boats, sampans, and fishing rafts of various sizes were crammed onto the Xiang River. The boats were packed with Qing soldiers and local militia covered in dust, as well as officials and officers fleeing in panic. There were even some grain transport soldiers and laborers. The river was crowded with boats and people, and the sounds of cursing, shouting, and oars mingled together, creating a cacophony that was noisier than the rolling waters of the Xiang River.

Many Qing soldiers lay on the ground at the stern of the ship, covered with blankets that looked like shrouds, with unlit pipes or opium pipes still in their mouths, looking utterly dazed.

From time to time, Qing officers urged their personal guards to go out of the cabin to see where the short-haired pursuers had gone. Only when they heard that the short-haired men's two legs had ultimately failed to catch up with their boats traveling down the river did they breathe a sigh of relief, put down their worries, and lie down to smoke opium.

No one expected that Huangsha Pass ahead had already laid a trap for them.

Luo Dagang had already ordered his men to plant more than 320 cedar wood stakes at an angle on the riverbed. Each stake was more than 30 feet long and the bottom was weighed down with bluestone and supported by horizontal timbers, in preparation for the Qing army fleet to enter the trap.

When the first Qing army command ship entered Huangsha Pass, a captain on board ordered his men to steady the rudder. However, before the ship could slow down, it suddenly shook violently with a loud "thud," and the entire ship came to a sudden stop. It was as if the bow of the ship was suddenly pulled by an invisible hand and tilted sharply to one side!
The bottom of the boat had been pierced by a long stake hidden underwater, the oars were broken and the bottom was cracked, and the water of the Xiangjiang River rushed into the cabin.

Immediately afterward, a second warship carrying sixty or seventy Green Standard Army soldiers from Yongzhou Town arrived and crashed into the broken stern of the preceding ship. The mast collapsed with a loud crash, crushing the soldiers in the foreboard, and pig-like screams echoed from the deck.

Immediately afterwards, the third, fourth, and sixth ships, along with a series of other vessels, collided with the same spot, some were pierced by hidden stakes, some struck wreckage, and some capsized.

The Qing fleet was thrown into chaos.

A soldier was struggling in the water and had just grabbed onto a floating plank when he was hit from behind by the next out-of-control ship, his brains splattered.

Several defeated soldiers wrapped in cotton-padded clothes struggled in the water, shouting "Help!" but were overwhelmed by their panicked comrades who jumped into the water from behind.

The few warhorses that were brought aboard were startled and neighed, kicking wildly with their hooves, causing the already unstable ship to sway violently from side to side.

In an instant, shouts of men and neighing of horses filled the air, weapons sank into the river, and cries of agony echoed everywhere.

On the shore, Luo Dagang witnessed the chaos, drew his sword and pointed it at the Qing army fleet on the Xiang River: "Mountain-splitting artillery company, fire!"

Upon hearing Luo Dagang's order, the flag bearer beside him waved the flag, conveying Luo Dagang's command.

Fires erupted on both banks of the Xiang River. The sixteen mountain guns, which had been lying in ambush on the river, removed their camouflage and fired. The roar of the cannons was like the fury of a dragon, and the shells pierced the sky and plunged into the river with a sharp whistle.

The foremost sampan was attempting to turn sideways when it was hit by a cannonball, causing the eight or nine Qing soldiers on board to jump into the water to escape.

"That felt great! That felt great!"

Looking at the groups of Qing soldiers on the river, looking utterly disheveled and like drowned dogs, Li Yantong clapped his hands in delight.

The Heaven and Earth Society in southern Hunan had been suppressed by the government troops for a long time, and today they finally got their revenge.

Having seen big scenes and fought big battles, Luo Dagang appeared much more composed.

Luo Dagang simply used his binoculars to examine the river surface and search for Li Xingyuan's boat.

The ships and flags of imperial envoys in the Qing Dynasty were subject to strict regulations, so it was not difficult to find Li Xingyuan's ship among more than 300 vessels.

Soon, through the telescope, Luo Dagang's gaze locked onto a large three-cabin ship converted from a cargo ship.

The ship is about twelve zhang long and has three compartments: front, middle and rear.

It stood out among the many small boats, each three or four meters long.

Generally speaking, when imperial envoys traveled by boat in the Qing Dynasty, the fore cabin was used for their staff to work and for their guards to stay. The middle cabin was where the imperial envoy lived and conducted business; it was the most luxurious cabin, with carved doors and windows, and official couches and desks. The aft cabin was used for servants to live in and for storage.

The imperial envoy's boat was accompanied by patrol boats (guards), baggage boats, and supply boats, forming a small fleet.

Li Xingyuan's imperial envoy traveled in a boat that resembled a floating palace. The prow of the vermilion-lacquered boat was carved with fierce-looking, fanged mythical beasts to suppress the water. Amidst the splashing waves, six gilded tiger-head plaques were arranged on the side of the boat, with blood-red characters for "Silence" and "Avoidance" hanging below them, and golden maces adorned with black tassels, gleaming coldly.

The most dazzling feature was the triangular yellow dragon flag at the top of the mast, embroidered with the two black characters "Imperial Order," representing Li Xingyuan's status as an imperial envoy.

The bright yellow brocade, over ten feet long, billowed in the river breeze like a raging dragon turning over, its black embroidered scales shimmering in the sunlight, and the two characters "Imperial Decree" under the dragon's claws seemed about to tear the silk open.

The imperial envoy's entourage on the deck also exuded an aura of power and authority.

The crescent blade of the coiled dragon iron halberd reflected the shimmering water. Surrounding it were three pairs of vermilion and gold-painted nameplates, which were inscribed with "By Imperial Order to Supervise Military Affairs in Guangxi" and "Minister of War and Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate" respectively.

Each plaque is topped with a bronze Pixiu holding a pearl, its sharp metal teeth gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"Tell Liang Zhen to fire the cannons while avoiding Li Xingyuan's imperial envoy ship. Be careful not to accidentally kill Li Xingyuan!"

Seeing cannonballs falling on Li Xingyuan's fleet from time to time, Luo Dagang hurriedly spoke to the messenger beside him.

This was the first time Luo Dagang had ever seen the imperial envoy's boat in person.

Lin Zexu, the first imperial commissioner to oversee the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, was always active on the eastern front and traveled in a relatively low-key manner.

Luo Dagang, who had been fighting in the Bitanxun area, had no chance to see Lin Zexu's imperial envoy fleet.

Upon first seeing the impressive imperial envoy fleet, Luo Dagang harbored a desire to capture the Qing court's imperial envoy alive.

Since the uprising began, Zuo Jun has killed and arrested county magistrates, prefects, and military commanders, and more than one of them.

But the imperial envoy has never arrested or killed anyone.

The shock to the Qing court from capturing the imperial envoy alive was far greater than the impact of conquering a county, a prefecture, or even an entire province.

Thinking of this, Luo Dagang couldn't help but feel his blood boil.

(End of this chapter)