1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 219 Radicalism and Prudence
“The Qing forces in Changsha are numerous, and local militias are flourishing in places like Xiangxiang. It would be more prudent for us to join forces, take Hengzhou Prefecture first, and then plan our move on to Changsha,” Peng Gang said slowly after a moment of contemplation.

Historically, Xiao Chaogui lost his life at the gates of Changsha because he was too impatient, underestimated the enemy, and acted rashly.

Although among the sons-in-law of God, Peng Gang and Xiao Chaogui did not have a good relationship, Xiao Chaogui was also the most unfriendly to Confucianism and scholars among these sons-in-law of God.

But Xiao Chaogui was ultimately his comrade-in-arms in the fight against the Qing Dynasty. If Xiao Chaogui lived, he could at least keep Yang Xiuqing in check. Peng Gang still hoped that Xiao Chaogui, this fierce general of the Heavenly Kingdom, could survive.

Since the Left Army directly captured Lingling, the capital of Yongzhou Prefecture, it was only a matter of time before the Taiping Army swept across the entire southern Hunan region.

The Hunan authorities reacted strongly to this, and various localities followed Jiang Zhongyuan's example and started to organize local militias.

Among them, Xiangxiang County in Changsha Prefecture was the most active in organizing local militia training.

Zhu Sunyi, the magistrate of Xiangxiang County in Changsha Prefecture, had already established a militia bureau, inviting Zeng Guofan's father, Zeng Linshu, to be the bureau chief and Luo Zenan, the old man, to be the deputy bureau chief. They were responsible for leading the local gentry of Xiangxiang County to donate money and grain to organize a large-scale militia.

Perhaps it was because the group of frustrated Hunan scholars in Xiangxiang County finally saw an opportunity to prove themselves that Luo Zenan and his students were very active in organizing local militias.

According to news from the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society) in Xiangxiang to Lingling, the Xiangxiang militia has now established three battalions, totaling about a thousand people, and is also opening branch offices, continuing its expansion.

The Xiangxiang County militia, which would form the core of the future Hunan Army, had already begun to take shape.

Based on a rough estimate of intelligence from various sources, Peng Gang currently knows that the garrison in Changsha includes the Changsha Green Standard Army, Luo Bingzhang's Hunan Provincial Governor's Battalion, Bao Qibao's Hunan Provincial Commander's Battalion, Changsha militia, Chu soldiers, and even Xiangxiang soldiers.

Based on this calculation, there must have been several thousand troops defending Changsha.

Currently, most of the students from Hunan are gathered in Changsha, the provincial capital, to prepare for this year's special imperial examination. If Luo Bingzhang can organize and mobilize these students, who have been influenced to some extent by the pragmatic and worldly-oriented style of the Hunan School of Learning, the militia he can organize will be quite impressive in both quantity and quality.

Peng Gang did not believe that Xiao Chaogui could succeed in attacking Changsha with a mere three thousand Xidian soldiers.

“By the time we take Hengzhou, Changsha will already be prepared. It won’t be as easy to attack Changsha then.” Xiao Chaogui stubbornly shook his head, insisting on his own opinion. “If the Gang people are unwilling to lend ships and grain to the Western Palace, the Western Palace can simply buy them from the Gang people with silver.”

"I'll borrow 130 fast boats from the West Palace, and 1,500 shi of grain. Would that be enough?" Since Xiao Chaogui wouldn't listen to advice, Peng Gang saw no need to waste his breath.

"That's enough. These ships and grain, as well as the cosmetics that Fengxiang borrowed from you at the Great Market last time, can be considered as the West Palace spending 20,000 taels of silver to buy from the North Palace."

Xiao Chaogui didn't want to owe Peng Gang a favor, so he asked Lin Fengxiang to fetch 20,000 taels of silver to buy boats and grain from Peng Gang.

Peng Gang wrote a list and had his men deliver it to Peng Yi, specifying 130 fast boats and 1,500 shi of grain to be handed over to the West Palace.

Before long, Lin Fengxiang arrived at the Yongzhou Prefecture government office with a group of officials from the West Palace carrying 20,000 taels of silver.

"That's just how the Western King is; he's used to being straightforward. I hope His Highness the Northern King won't take offense."

After delivering the money, Lin Fengxiang said apologetically to Peng Gang.

Xiao Chaogui was so focused on the surprise attack on Changsha that he spoke recklessly. Even Lin Fengxiang felt that Xiao Chaogui's words were a bit excessive.

The West Hall and the North Hall rarely interacted, and Lin Fengxiang and Peng Gang actually had more contact with each other than Xiao Chaogui.

Lin Fengxiang did not think Peng Gang was a petty, calculating person who was afraid that the Western Palace would steal the credit for capturing Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province.

To take a recent example, when Lin Fengxiang chased the Chao and Min soldiers to the Guilin Prefecture Market, he asked Peng Gang to borrow 400 catties of gunpowder.

Peng Gang didn't make any excuses; he readily lent the gunpowder, not a single pound less, and didn't try to pass off inferior gunpowder as the real thing.

If Peng Gang had wanted to claim credit, he wouldn't have sent Luo Dagang to attack Hengyang.

After all, Peng Gang's left wing was the first to enter Hunan. Peng Gang had the ambition to take Changsha, and no matter how fast the other troops ran, they couldn't outrun Peng Gang.

Lin Fengxiang was willing to believe that Peng Gang's advice to Xiao Chaogui to first attack Hengyang together with the Northern Palace, and then gradually take Changsha after establishing a foothold in Hengyang, was based on considerations of the battlefield situation, rather than on personal motives.

“If Brother-in-law Gui wants to attack Changsha, no one can stop him,” Peng Gang said to Lin Fengxiang. “Inspector Lin, Brother-in-law Gui likes to wear a yellow robe and ride in a large yellow sedan chair to personally command the battle at the front. It would be better to keep a low profile on the battlefield and be more careful.”

"Your Highness, please rest assured, Fengxiang will certainly protect Your Highness, the Western King." Lin Fengxiang glanced at Peng Gang, who was dressed in a simple homespun round-necked robe, and then thought back to the time when they attacked Guilin City. Xiao Chaogui, dressed in a bright yellow robe and sitting in a yellow sedan chair, was almost hit by the cannons of the Guilin defenders. He secretly remembered Peng Gang's words. After the Western Palace troops left Lingling, the troops of Wei Changhui's auxiliary palace and Shi Dakai's wing palace gradually arrived in Lingling.

When the troops from the Auxiliary Hall and Wing Hall arrived in Lingling City, their rations were already running out.

Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai came to Peng Gang's door to ask for an audience and to buy grain.

Peng Gang held a higher position within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom than Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai.

When the two of them came to see Peng Gang, their attitude was much better than Xiao Chaogui's; they both adopted a more humble posture.

Even the immortal brothers had to keep clear accounts. Peng Gang sold 20,000 shi of grain to Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai respectively, relieving the urgent needs of the auxiliary hall and the wing hall.

Although it was a business transaction, both Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai were shrewd businessmen.

They knew that the current food shortage in all the palaces was caused by their earlier refusal to heed Peng Gang's advice and their prolonged stay in Guilin, and had nothing to do with Peng Gang.

Furthermore, Lingling, the capital of Yongzhou Prefecture, was captured by Zuo Jun single-handedly. Zuo Jun had previously left 4,000 shi of grain in Quanzhou for the main force of the Heavenly Army to follow. The Northern Palace has already done more than enough for them and owes them nothing.

Even if the North Palace doesn't sell them grain now, or only offers a few thousand shi as a token to the Auxiliary Palace and Wing Palace to provide them with enough food for a few days, they can't say much.

Peng Gang's willingness to sell 40,000 shi of grain to the auxiliary and wing halls far exceeded Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai's original expectation of 10,000 shi per hall.

"Thank you, compatriot Gang."

Both Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai were extremely grateful to Peng Gang.

"What are Zheng Bao and Da Bao's plans for the future?" Peng Gang asked Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai.

He didn't need much verbal thanks from Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai.

Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai's cooperation in resisting the Qing dynasty and relieving some of the pressure on the Left Army was the best way to thank Peng Gang.

"On the way here, the two of us discussed and planned. The East Palace has already sent troops to attack Daozhou, Guiyangzhou, and Chenzhou in southern Hunan. The West Palace has taken the lead and is heading straight for Changsha. The North Palace has besieged Hengyang. The fall of Hengyang is just around the corner. The Auxiliary Palace and the Wing Palace should join forces to attack Shaoyang, the capital of Baoqing Prefecture."

"If we can capture Shaoyang, our two palaces will stay there for a while to recruit soldiers and horses. If we cannot capture Shaoyang, our two palaces will settle for occupying some county towns and market towns as well." Shi Dakai explained his and Wei Changhui's plan.

Compared to Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai's marching plan was much more stable and down-to-earth, and they planned to jointly attack Shaoyang, the capital of Baoqing Prefecture.

In fact, their earliest target was the more prosperous Hengzhou Prefecture.

However, on the way, they heard that Peng Gang had already dispatched Luo Dagang to send troops to Hengyang, the capital of Hengzhou Prefecture, and had surrounded the city.

Now that they've bought grain from the Northern Palace again, and are setting their sights on Hengyang, competing with the Northern Palace for Hengyang, they're just being foolish.

The two decided to bypass the North Palace and send troops to Shaoyang, Baoqing Prefecture, three hundred miles northwest of Lingling, to recruit soldiers and horses.

“The Baoqing Green Standard Army only has one battalion with less than 700 men, and the Xinning Chu Army was also transferred away not long ago. There are no strong troops left in Baoqing Prefecture. Now is the perfect time to send troops to attack Baoqing Prefecture,” Peng Gang said with a slight nod.

The Qing government's Green Standard Army forces in Hunan were mainly concentrated in Yongzhou Town, which is located at the border of Hunan and Guangxi, the Xiangxi region where local chieftains frequently rebelled, and Changde Prefecture and Changsha Prefecture, which were important tax-paying areas.

The Green Standard Army was relatively small in Hengzhou Prefecture and Baoqing Prefecture in the heart of Hunan.

When fully staffed, the Hengzhou Xiehe and Baoqing Xielu Battalions had 683 and 693 soldiers respectively, totaling only one battalion.

Considering the vacancies, it would be a miracle if these two detachments had even four hundred Green Standard Army soldiers on duty.

With the combined forces of the Auxiliary Hall and the Wing Hall attacking Baoqing Prefecture, Peng Gang felt that taking over the rest of the city should not be too difficult, except for the fact that Chu Yong's stronghold, Xinning County, would be more challenging.

Even if they fail to capture Baoqing Prefecture, they still have Yongzhou Prefecture, occupied by the Northern Palace, and Hengyang, which they are about to occupy, as a fallback plan.

(End of this chapter)