1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 242 Xiuqing's Strategy

"It doesn't matter why Xu Guangjin entered Hunan. Now that he's in Hunan, he's our enemy," Yang Xiuqing said calmly.

"When soldiers come, we will block them; when water comes, we will dam it. We will simply send troops to repel them. The Guangdong Green Standard Army is strong in its navy, and although its land forces are stronger than those of the Guangxi Green Standard Army, the difference is only slight."

Yang Xiuqing had directly clashed with Xu Guangjin. During his occupation of Cangwu, he personally led the Eastern Palace troops to defeat Xu Guangjin's Guangdong Green Standard Army. Yang Xiuqing had a direct understanding of the level of the Guangdong Green Standard Army.

"How many soldiers from Guangdong did Xu Guangjin bring to southern Hunan?" Feng Yunshan, who had been silent all along, finally asked.

The main forces of the Taiping Army in Hengzhou Prefecture consisted of four units: the East Palace, the South Palace, the North Palace, and the West Palace.

The North Palace took the initiative to contain the Qing army under Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong, the East Palace was to be stationed in Hengzhou Prefecture to guard against the main force of the Qing army in Changsha Prefecture, and the West Palace was focused on avenging Xiao Chaogui and had its mind entirely on Changsha City.

Feng Yunshan believed that it was most appropriate for Nan Dian to carry out the task of blocking and even defeating Xu Guangjin's Qing army.

Although the South Palace suffered considerable losses in the mission of covering the rear in Quanzhou City.

Fortunately, the Northern Palace was kind and still remembered the Southern Palace. It recruited 25,000 new men for the Southern Palace in Yongzhou Prefecture, from which the Southern Palace was able to spare 5,000 to 6,000 men to supplement the army.

As long as Xu Guangjin's troops entering Hunan are not too large, Feng Yunshan is still confident in preventing Xu Guangjin from advancing north.

“Xu Guangjin’s troops already in Hunan are no less than Qin Dingsan’s,” Yang Xiuqing said earnestly, stroking his chin.

"Fu Qing and the others sent a message saying that Qin Dingsan, He Chun, and Zhang Guoliang have stopped following so closely these days. Many Qing demons are retreating south towards Chenzhou. Presumably, Qin Dingsan, He Chun, and Zhang Guoliang are waiting for Xu Guangjin behind them, hoping to join forces with him."

In other words, after Qin Dingsan, He Chun, and others joined forces with Xu Guangjin, their military strength exceeded 10,000.

After listening to Yang Xiuqing's speech, Feng Yunshan calculated the strength of the Southern Palace. Including the new recruits drawn from Yongzhou, the Southern Palace's strength was roughly equivalent to that of the Qing army.

Although the newcomers from Hunan who were added to the Southern Palace were not comparable to the old men from Guangxi who had fought their way from Jintian Village in Guangxi to southern Hunan.

However, based on his experience fighting the Qing army for more than a year, Feng Yunshan had some understanding of the Qing army's situation.

The Taiping army expanded into southern Hunan, and while many of the new recruits were new local militias brought in by the Qing army, a large proportion were also conscripted men temporarily brought in to fill the ranks.

"The Southern Palace is responsible for blocking the Qing demons under Xu Guangjin, Qin Dingsan, and He Chun in the Chenzhou area."

After a moment of contemplation, Feng Yunshan volunteered.

“No.” Yang Xiuqing waved his hand, revealing his thoughts.

"The Qing demons under Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong were terrified of the Northern Palace and feared its troops like tigers. They didn't even dare to engage the Northern Palace in battle. It would be difficult for the Northern Palace to achieve much against the Qing demons under Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong."

Although the Guangdong Army cannot compare to our regular army, its strength should not be underestimated. Xu Guangjin has not yet fought against the Northern Army, which is strong and well-equipped; it would be more appropriate for the Northern Army to confront them.

Only in this way can more Qing demons be killed.

Yang Xiuqing already knew about Peng Gang's trip to Quanzhou City to meet Feng Yunshan.

The Qing troops under Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong retreated before even engaging in battle.

If Peng Gang were to continue fighting Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong, these two old enemies, the Northern Palace troops would probably have already disappeared by the time they turned south.

Defeating the Qing army and winning battles was not a difficult task for the Taiping Army.

The difficulty lies in how to maximize the gains and annihilate the Qing army's manpower to the greatest extent possible.

Yang Xiuqing largely agrees with Peng Gang's saying that it's better to break one finger than to injure all ten.

If we're going to fight, we should at least give the Qing troops behind them a good beating.

"I'll leave it to Fourth Brother's arrangements." Peng Gang had no objection to Yang Xiuqing's plan.

Peng Gang agreed with Yang Xiuqing's point of view. Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong were so frightened by him that they ran away faster than the other before they even engaged in battle.

The Northern Palace couldn't gain much from fighting Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong.

It would be better to fight Xu Guangjin, a new opponent.

Furthermore, the Guangdong Green Standard Army was better equipped, with higher quality firearms.

Fortunately, the Northern Palace was short of muskets after this expansion, so the Guangdong army fighting Xu Guangjin could get more equipment. Although the Northern Palace had the largest arsenal in the Taiping Army, capable of producing its own muskets and mountain cannons.

The North Palace's arsenal, to be more precise, was a large-scale handmade weapons workshop, and its output was barely enough to cover losses and the armed training camp.

This is far from enough to address the weapons shortage for over 10,000 new recruits.

Most of the weapons in the North Palace, especially firearms, were still captured.

After Peng Gang accepted the task, Yang Xiuqing pondered for a moment and said, "The Southern Palace has just experienced a great battle and has just replenished its ranks with many new soldiers. Zeng Shuiyuan, the inspector of the Western Palace, has selected four thousand soldiers to assist the Southern Palace in defending against the Qing demons under Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong in the direction of Lingling."

After speaking, Yang Xiuqing turned her head to look at Hong Xiuquan.

With the combined efforts of Feng Yunshan, Peng Gang, and others, Yang Xiuqing was forced by pressure to appoint Xiao Chaogui's eldest son, Xiao Youhe, as the King of the West.

However, Xiao Youhe is still too young to take charge of the military affairs of the Western Palace. Currently, the military affairs of the Western Palace are temporarily managed by Hong Xiuquan.

"It's all up to Fourth Brother to decide. Fourth Brother will issue an order to Zeng Shuiyuan later." Having won without lifting a finger, Hong Xiuquan was losing interest in fighting and was getting tired of listening. He just hoped the meeting would end soon, so he couldn't help but laugh and say.

Hong Xiuquan's reaction not only disappointed Peng Gang, but also greatly disappointed Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai.

The Heavenly King is so lazy that he can't even eat when food is fed to him.

"What are your plans for the two of us, Fourth Brother?"

With a sigh of relief, Shi Dakai asked Yang Xiuqing about the arrangements for the Wing Hall and the Auxiliary Hall.

The main forces of the auxiliary hall and the wing hall are all in Baoqing Prefecture.

The main forces of the auxiliary hall and wing hall would not go to Hengyang City, as Shi Dakai, Wei Changhui, and Yang Xiuqing had said beforehand.

Yang Xiuqing agreed.

The number of personnel in the two auxiliary halls, including the elderly, women and children, exceeded 100,000. All the supplies and boats acquired by the two halls were in Baoqing Prefecture.

There was no direct waterway connecting Baoqing Prefecture and Hengyang Prefecture. Relocating all personnel from both prefectures to Hengyang City would not only be a massive undertaking with enormous costs, but would also require abandoning the boats and rafts acquired in Baoqing Prefecture.
All the personnel from the various palaces gathered in Hengzhou Prefecture, and the logistical pressure was unbearable for the Taiping Army.

It would be better to leave the main force of the two auxiliary palaces in Baoqing Prefecture and make other arrangements.

“Since the Second Prince has acquired some boats and rafts and trained some naval forces in Baoqing Prefecture, why not go down the Zi River directly and conquer the three counties of Yiyang, Yuanjiang, and Xiangyin on the south bank of Dongting Lake?”

Yang Xiuqing got up and walked to the Hunan map that Peng Gang had given him, pointing out the landscape in the map.

"Most of the Qing troops rushing to Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, enter Changsha via Dongting Lake and the Xiang River. If the Fu and Yi Palaces can block the Xiang River waterway and prevent the Qing troops from entering Changsha, the pressure on us to attack Changsha will be much less."

The Zi River, also known as the Zishui River, is a tributary of the Yangtze River. Its left source, the Nanshui River, originates in Beiqingshan Mountain in Chengbu Miao Autonomous County, while its right source, the Fuyi River, originates in Yuechengling Mountain in Ziyuan County, Guangxi. It flows into Dongting Lake near Yuanjiang County, about 60 li north of Yiyang. (The lower reaches of the Zi River in the Qing Dynasty differed from the modern course; the modern Zi River flows into Dongting Lake via Ganxi Port in Yiyang City. Furthermore, Dongting Lake in the Qing Dynasty was quite different from today. Although land reclamation was carried out around the lake during the Qing Dynasty, Dongting Lake remained a unified whole and had not yet been fragmented.)
Although the main forces of the Auxiliary and Wing Palaces were in Baoqing Prefecture, Yang Xiuqing did not intend to leave Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai idle. Before the meeting, Yang Xiuqing had already made arrangements for the two palaces.

The Qing government continuously reinforced its troops in Changsha, adopting a posture of defending Changsha to the death and attempting to block the Taiping Army from entering Hunan.

Sai Shang'a and Luo Bingzhang set up iron chains to block the Xiangjiang River in the middle and upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River south of Changsha City, near Huilongtang, Muyun City, and Xiangtan County, and dispatched Hunan sailors to guard the area.

They attempted to use this to prevent the Taiping Army from advancing northward through the Xiangjiang River to Changsha.

The Xiang River was crucial to the fate of Changsha, and the Qing army defended it very tightly.

If the entire Taiping army were to converge in Hengzhou Prefecture, Yang Xiuqing would indeed be unable to extend his reach north of Changsha to prevent Qing troops from other areas from using boats to travel downstream along the Xiangjiang River to reinforce Changsha.

However, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai's main forces were in the Zijiang River basin, and the Qing army's defenses in the Zijiang River basin were weak, which was a ready-made solution to break the deadlock.

Yang Xiuqing could have easily sent Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai's troops directly down the Zi River into Dongting Lake.

Firstly, it could distract the Qing army and force them to divide their forces to take care of this detachment that also served the auxiliary and wing palaces.

Secondly, it could also control the entrance of the Xiang River into the lake, preventing the Qing army from using the waterways of the lower reaches of the Xiang River to reinforce Changsha.

Once the Taiping army enters Dongting Lake, even if it is only a small force, the Taiping army will have a more advantageous position.

(End of this chapter)