1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 214 Feng Yunshan is a kind man

All the core high-ranking officials of the state government, except for those in the North Hall, who were at the level of Prime Minister of the Heavenly Kingdom, gathered together.

Discuss the next steps in the campaign.

At present, Yang Xiuqing is not yet able to reach the point where important matters are handled without holding meetings.

Important decisions still need to be made in smaller meetings, but the people who attend these meetings have varying degrees of influence.

People like Qin Rigang and Hu Yihuang, though holding the high rank of prime minister, were only second in status to the princes.

But at this level of meeting, they can at most offer their own suggestions and cannot influence the strategic decisions of the Heavenly Kingdom's top leadership.

As long as the opposition to Yang Xiuqing's decisions isn't too strong—to put it more clearly, if Xiao Chaogui and Feng Yunshan don't oppose Yang Xiuqing simultaneously—they can be passed and implemented immediately.

Although the main force of the Taiping Army now has a safe place to rely on and can rest and recuperate for a short time, it is only a short rest. The supplies of the whole prefecture have been almost completely requisitioned by the Northern Palace. After the main force of the Taiping Army catches its breath, it must immediately move to obtain supplies.

"The Heaven and Earth Society of Daozhou has repeatedly sent people to invite us, hoping that our Heavenly Army can send troops to attack Daozhou."

Yang Xiuqing used Daozhou as a starting point to open the curtain on this strategic meeting.

"It would be ideal if we could capture Daozhou and use its grain and fodder for our Heavenly Army. Daozhou City is similar in size to Quanzhou City and has been newly renovated, making it even more fortified and difficult to attack," Shi Dakai said, his brows slightly furrowed.

"The Northern Palace troops are well-trained and have ample medicine. They took half a month to besiege Quanzhou City. Although we have a large army, we used too much 'red powder' when we attacked Guilin. I'm afraid we won't be able to use the Northern Palace's strategy of attacking the city from underground to pass through Quanzhou City."

"We must send troops from Quanzhou to attack Daozhou. There are no waterways to travel by, so we can only go by land. We will have to cross many ferry crossings. Although there are official crossings such as Cenjiang Ferry, these crossings are far away and the water is deep, making crossing difficult." Qin Rigang also sided with Shi Dakai.

"Daozhou City is nestled against the mountains and surrounded by water. With the Xiaoshui River serving as a natural barrier and the surrounding mountains providing protection, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if we were to capture it, we would not be able to obtain much in terms of resources."

The Northern Palace has already captured Lingling, the capital of Yongzhou Prefecture. Both leaders of the Wing Palace are inclined to head north directly to Lingling and join forces with the Northern Palace to attack Hengzhou Prefecture and Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province.

Hengzhou Prefecture and Changsha Prefecture are both relatively wealthy prefectures in Hunan. If we can capture one of them, we won't have to worry about food for at least two or three months.

If we capture Changsha, we can even treat it as a mini-paradise.

Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's top leadership had not yet decided on a specific location to be the "small heaven," they had reached a consensus on the specifications of the small heaven: it must be at least a city of provincial capital size.

Firstly, only provincial capitals have the capacity to support hundreds of thousands of people who have taken off their jobs. Secondly, choosing a small city as a "little paradise" would be beneath one's dignity and prestige.

"The Northern Army's advance into Hunan has been unstoppable, indicating that the Qing forces in Hunan were nearly exhausted in Guangxi last year, leaving Hunan's defenses weak. Now is the perfect opportunity to launch a surprise attack and seize Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province." Xiao Chaogui advocated for a small number of elite troops to travel lightly and quickly to Changsha.

"If we launch a surprise attack and successfully capture Changsha with a small number of elite Heavenly Army soldiers, why would we have to worry about food supplies?"

Shi Dakai and Qin Rigang did not entirely agree with Xiao Chaogui's statement.

What do you mean by the Northern Army's unstoppable advance after entering Hunan? Didn't they also advance unstoppably in Guangxi?

As for the claim that Hunan's defenses were weak, everyone present agreed with it.

After all, Xiang Rong, who was behind them, was the previous governor of Hunan. The best of the Hunan soldiers were still in Guangxi, and they had been almost completely depleted.

"Although Daozhou City is dangerous, its geographical advantage is not as important as the people's support. Daozhou City doesn't have many soldiers, so taking it quickly shouldn't be difficult." Feng Yunshan pondered for a while, then turned his head to look at Yang Xiuqing.

"Fourth brother, are you only going to attack Daozhou, or are you going to attack Guiyangzhou and Chenzhou at the same time?"

Feng Yunshan also had contact with the Heaven and Earth Society and was quite familiar with the situation in Daozhou.

Daozhou doesn't have many soldiers right now, and with the Taiping army pressing in, they might be able to take Daozhou without bloodshed or a fight.

Daozhou City is located on the banks of the Xiaoshui River, a tributary of the Xiangjiang River, which leads directly to Lingling. By taking Daozhou along the way, one can directly purchase boats from Daozhou, load them with supplies and personnel, and sail down the river to reach Lingling in a short time.

Feng Yunshan approved of Yang Xiuqing's attack on Daozhou City.

However, Feng Yunshan was still unaware whether Yang Xiuqing would only take Daozhou, or whether he would also take the other two prefectures in southern Hunan: Guiyang and Chenzhou.

“Daozhou, Guiyangzhou, and Chenzhou are all relatively small cities with weak defenses, making them easy targets,” Yang Xiuqing cleared his throat and raised his voice. “We suffered heavy losses on this northward campaign. The people of Xiangnan are brave and fierce, with a strong and resolute character; they are excellent candidates for soldiers. If we can recruit them into our Heavenly Kingdom and have them join the Heavenly Army as holy soldiers, the strength of the Heavenly Kingdom will surely reach new heights.”

Although the Taiping army lost more than 7,000 men during its northward march, these were not members of the core inner circle, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could still afford this loss.

The claim of too many casualties was merely Yang Xiuqing's excuse.

Yang Xiuqing chose to cross mountains and valleys to attack the three prefectures in southern Hunan, mainly to recruit soldiers and strengthen the Taiping Army, especially the central army.

“Daozhou, Guiyangzhou, and Chenzhou are small cities with few soldiers, making them easy to attack without requiring many troops. The routes are mostly mountain paths and trails, so it's not advisable to send too many soldiers,” Xiao Chaogui said urgently.

"In my opinion, it would be better to split our forces into two groups: one to attack Daozhou, Guiyangzhou, and Chenzhou, and the other to head north to Hengyang and Changsha. In this way, we won't have to worry about these three poor prefectures not having enough food to feed us."

Yang Xiuqing wanted to attack the three prefectures in southern Hunan and recruited soldiers there, which Xiao Chaogui was eager to do.

In this way, he would have one less formidable rival vying with him for the credit of capturing Changsha.

After Wuzhou's failed attempt to march east to Guangdong, Xiao Chaogui's western palace weakened, and Yang Xiuqing seized the opportunity to gain control over the princes.

Xiao Chaogui was unwilling to accept defeat and wanted to regain the credit for attacking the provincial capital.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Yang Xiuqing nodded and said. “However, the Qing forces in Guangxi are still harassing us. We need to leave at least one army to cover our rear and contain them.”

After the battle of Guilin, Yang Xiuqing realized that the provincial capital was not so easy to capture.

If Xiao Chaogui wanted to launch a surprise attack on Changsha, he had to travel light and could not carry heavy weapons, making it difficult to successfully raid Changsha.

Furthermore, even if Xiao Chaogui were to actually capture Changsha, as long as Yang Xiuqing's expansion of his army in southern Hunan proceeds smoothly, the strength of the Eastern Palace would still be superior to that of the Western Palace, and Xiao Chaogui would not be able to threaten his position.

Merit is important, but strength is the ultimate truth.

Xiao Chaogui and Feng Yunshan did not object to splitting the army into two routes, one to take Xiangnan and the other to take Hengzhou and Changsha.

The decision to split the troops into two groups was a foregone conclusion.

The only problem is who to leave behind in Jeonju this time.

Yang Xiuqing looked around at everyone, but no one spoke. No one was willing to take on the difficult task of serving as the rear guard.

Not only was there no soldiers to recruit and no food to collect in the entire prefecture, but the rearguard also had to deal with the entanglement of more than 20,000 Guangxi Qing soldiers and local militia.

With no one volunteering, Yang Xiuqing had to choose someone.

Yang Xiuqing's Eastern Palace troops could not possibly cover the rear; they had to advance westward to attack southern Hunan.

Xiao Chaogui's Western Palace was determined to march north and attack Changsha, and his attitude of never covering the rear was written all over his face.

When the siege of Guilin was lifted, it was Feng Yunshan's southern palace that was at the rear. It would not be appropriate to have Feng Yunshan bring up the rear.

Yang Xiuqing looked around and finally focused his gaze on Wei Changhui's auxiliary hall and Shi Dakai's wing hall.

However, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai were also unwilling to stay behind.

Seeing that Yang Xiuqing was staring at the two of them, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai were about to decline when Feng Yunshan, who was always kind and honest, disregarded Hu Yihuang's dissuasion and took the initiative to stand up and say, "Let the rear guard stay in Quanzhou to cover the rear."

Shi Dakai cast a grateful glance at Feng Yunshan: "There are many Qing devils pursuing us in Guangxi. The Central Army is willing to leave 1,500 banners and 3,000 banners to assist Third Brother's rear guard."

“The Right Army is also willing to leave 1,500 tiles and 3,000 tiles to assist Third Brother’s rear guard.” Wei Changhui was not ignorant of human relationships.

Feng Yunshan took the initiative to accept the arduous task of guarding the rear, and Shi Dakai's wing palace also showed some appreciation. If Wei Changhui didn't do something in return, he would seem too heartless.

(End of this chapter)