1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 248 The Qi Steams Over Yunmeng Marsh

The Qing army's northward advance from Yongzhou and Chenzhou in southern Hunan suffered setbacks, resulting in heavy losses.

Sai Shang'a's strategic plan to gather troops from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces to jointly suppress the religious bandits in western Guangdong thus failed.

Sai Shang Aben, inside the Hunan Provincial Governor's Office, was extremely depressed.

Before the gourd could be pressed down, the ladle floated up again.

News of Xiangbei's devastation spread to Changsha like snowflakes.

With Yiyang and Yuanjiang falling one after another, Xiangyin, at the mouth of the Xiangjiang River where it flows into the lake, is now in grave danger.

To protect Changsha, Sai Shang'a and Luo Bingzhang amassed a large force in Changsha.

The defenses of Xiangyin County were quite weak, with only a few dozen garrison troops and four or five hundred local militia stationed there.

It will probably not be long before news of the fall of Xiangyin reaches Sai Shang'a's desk.

With the influx of religious cult bandits from western Guangdong into Dongting Lake, the initiative on the Hunan battlefield was now in their hands.

Sai Shang'a and Luo Bingzhang's trump card, or rather their last fig leaf, was the city of Changsha.

After reading the letter from Chang Dachun, the governor of Hubei, requesting the return of the Hubei garrison, Sai Shang'a did not reply.

Although Sai Shang'a knew that Chang Dachun would inevitably join forces with officials and gentry in Hubei to impeach him for doing this, he didn't care.

Despite over two hundred years of domestication, the Manchu officials of various ethnicities were no different from dogs in front of the emperor.

However, dogs also have different bloodlines, and some are favored while others are not.

Manchu and Mongolian dogs are naturally more likely to gain the emperor's trust than Han dogs.

Sai Shang'a, who came from a Grand Council, was the most favored Mongolian dog of Emperor Xianfeng at the time, and had a noble bloodline.

Lin Zexu and Li Xingyuan were appointed as imperial envoys to suppress the religious bandits in western Guangdong, but they were hampered at every turn, and even the soldiers' pay had to be raised with great effort.

The fact that Sai Shang'a was appointed as the imperial commissioner, and could freely mobilize troops and provide funds and provisions as needed, is the best proof of this.

As long as Emperor Xianfeng still favored Sai Shang'a, no matter how fiercely or reasonably Chang Dachun impeached him, he could do nothing to Sai Shang'a.

"Governor Luo, Chang Dachun said that the main force of the cult bandits in western Guangdong who entered Dongting Lake is the Hubei garrison in Changsha. What do you think, Governor Luo?" Sai Shang'a handed the letter sent by Chang Dachun to Luo Bingzhang.

He believed that as long as Luo Bingzhang wasn't mentally unstable, he would definitely stand on his side.

After all, with the rebel army from western Guangdong at the gates of Changsha, he and Luo Bingzhang were now in the same boat.

"Nonsense."

As expected, after reading the letter, Luo Bingzhang immediately spoke to Sai Shang'a.

"The rebel forces from western Guangdong in Hengzhou Prefecture have just defeated Governor Zhou, Prefect Xiang, and Governor Xu, while the rebel forces from western Guangdong in Changsha Prefecture are sweeping through the city and advancing directly to the gates of Changsha. How could they possibly be a detachment? However..."

Since the Daoguang reign, officials in Hunan's officialdom have gradually begun to distinguish themselves.

Chang Dachun, who had just taken office as the governor of Hubei, was also from Hunan, specifically from Hengyang, Hengzhou Prefecture, Hunan.

Unfortunately, Hengzhou Prefecture had been occupied by the short-haired rebels for more than two months. As one of the top wealthy families in Hengzhou Prefecture, the Chang family was naturally a key target for the short-haired rebels to confiscate their money and grain.

The Chang family had a large collection of books. It is said that during this raid on the wealthy households in Hengzhou Prefecture by the short-haired rebels, not only were the Chang family's money and grain confiscated, but their entire collection of books also fell into the hands of the rebels intact.

More than two months have passed since this incident, so Chang Dachun must be aware of it.

If Hengzhou Prefecture were still in the hands of the government troops, Chang Dachun's insistence on transferring back the Hubei garrison would not have been so strong.

Compared to Chang Dachun's request to be transferred back to the Hubei garrison, Luo Bingzhang is currently more worried about another issue.

That was Wuling, the prefectural capital of Changde Prefecture, which was very close to Dongting Lake. Or even Baling, the prefectural capital of Yuezhou Prefecture, which was right on the shore of Dongting Lake.

“But what? There are no outsiders in the hall, Governor Luo, please speak freely.” Sai Shang’a gestured for Luo Bingzhang to continue.

“Changde Prefecture and Yuezhou Prefecture are important tax-paying areas in Hunan. There is a lot of military supplies stockpiled in Baling, the capital of Yuezhou Prefecture,” Luo Bingzhang said with concern.

"The rebels in western Guangdong are all families who have joined the army. This time, they have also taken a large number of refugees with them in southern Hunan. The amount of food, fodder, oil, and salt they consume every day is not small. Once the rebels in western Guangdong who are besieging Changsha run out of food, they will definitely go elsewhere to find food. But if the rebels in western Guangdong get the money and food from Changde Prefecture and Yuezhou Prefecture, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Changsha, as the capital of Hunan Province, already has the most abundant granaries in the province. In the past month or two, he and Sai Shang'a have transferred more than 200,000 shi of military rations from other places, which is enough to outlast the rebel army that only received money and rations from the southern Hunan region.

However, once the rebels take over Changde Prefecture and Yuezhou Prefecture, the situation will be hard to predict.

What Luo Bingzhang said was exactly what Sai Shang'a was most worried about. The Second World War in Yong and Heng had already shown that the religious bandits were capable of taking over the prefectural city, especially the prefectural city with relatively weak defenses.

The situation in southern and northern Hunan was chaotic, but Sai Shang'a was merely annoyed and did not lose his composure. His confidence stemmed from the well-stocked and well-armed city of Changsha.

No matter how much grain Changsha has stored, it will eventually run out.

The anxious Sai Shang'a got up and paced back and forth several times. After thinking hard for a long time, he finally came up with an idea: "Order the prefects of Changde and Yuezhou to recruit more local militia to help the Green Standard Army defend the city."

No matter how much grain the rebel forces in Dongting Lake obtain, as long as we cut off their supply lines, the rebels in Changsha and Hengzhou will not be able to get the grain from Changde and Yuezhou.

The Xiangjiang River waterway is the most crucial part of Hunan's grain supply route. Strengthen the defense of Orange Isle, control the Xiangjiang River waterway, and sever the connection between the two groups of religious bandits.

Saishana once used iron chains to block the river.

However, the Xiangjiang River defense line in Xiangtan, Huilongtang, and Muyun City has been breached by Yang Xiuqing's Eastern Palace troops due to the inadequacy of the defending forces.

Currently, the only remaining Xiangjiang defense line on the west side of Changsha City is the Orange Isle in the middle of the Xiangjiang River. Due to its proximity to Changsha City, it has a large number of troops stationed there.

In the past few days, Yang Xiuqing, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang and others have been focusing on attacking Changsha City and have no time to spare to attack Orange Isle.

The Xiangjiang River defense line at Orange Isle is temporarily secure.

The vast expanse of Tinghu Lake, where water and sky merge into one, shimmers with silver light under the blazing sun at the end of May, sparkling like shattered jade.

The Auxiliary and Wing Palaces acquired a large number of boats from Yiyang and Yuanjiang, and recruited local fishermen and river bandits into their ranks.

The scale of the water camps for the two palaces was expanded.

At this moment, the vast expanse of Dongting Lake is bustling with activity, with thousands of boats sailing in competition, creating a magnificent sight.

Shi Dakai and Wei Changhui stood side by side at the bow of the boat, the waves crashing against the tung oil-soaked planks, the splashing water wetting the hems of their apricot-yellow battle robes.

With their hair disheveled and hands clasped behind their backs, the two gazed at the vast lake before them, feeling a surge of heroic spirit within them.

They all grew up in the remote and impoverished mountains of Lingnan, and had never seen such a vast body of water since childhood. Today, as they sailed on the lake, seeing the immensity of the world and the breadth of their hearts, they were deeply moved.

"Fifth Brother, Dongting Lake truly lives up to its name of 'eight hundred li of Dongting Lake.' The water and sky meet at the same point, and it really looks like the sea." Shi Dakai gazed into the distance, marveling at the vastness of Dongting Lake.

Wei Changhui nodded and said, "Since the Jintian Regiment raised the flag to revolt, we brothers have fought our way here. We never thought that one day we could lead thousands of people to sail across Dongting Lake. This is something we never dared to dream of back then."

Shi Dakai smiled and turned his gaze to the river beside him. He saw the auxiliary ships of the two palaces lined up in an orderly fashion, their tarpaulins billowing high, soldiers with swords and spears at their waists and muskets in their hands, standing solemnly on the boats. Grain ships and supply ships followed slowly in the surrounding area, the line of ships stretching for several miles, a magnificent sight.

“In the past, the people of Chu lamented the autumn here, but now our Heavenly Army roams the rivers and lakes in great numbers. How delightful!” Wei Changhui said with surging emotions.

"The two groups of Qing demons who came after us from Guangxi and Guangdong have been defeated by the Third Brother and the Seventh Brother. The situation is very good, and the demon court is just a charade."

Shi Dakai turned around and looked at Wei Changhui: "Qin Rigang has already sent troops to attack Xiangyin County. Most of the Qing demon soldiers are in Changsha, and other places are poorly defended. Xiangyin County will fall soon."

Since leaving Shaoyang, the capital of Baoqing Prefecture, our two armies have not been able to regroup in a major city for many days. There are many major cities around Dongting Lake; Fifth Brother, is there a city you prefer?

The floodwaters have already reached Yiyang and Yuanjiang.

He dispatched Shi Zhenlun to Baishuidong in Xiangyin to find the Zuo and Guo families that Peng Gang had asked him to find.

Instruct Qin Rigang to send troops to attack Xiangyin County.

The troops of the Auxiliary and Wing Palaces not only completed the task that Yang Xiuqing had given them in Hengyang City with unexpected speed, but also...

Shi Dakai had already completed the private matters that Peng Gang had entrusted to him.

With a combined force of 20,000 to 30,000 men in the auxiliary and wing palaces, it was impossible for them to be confined to the three small county towns of Yiyang, Yuanjiang, and Xiangyin.

Now Shi Dakai and Wei Changhui have two choices: one is to go south along the Xiang River and join forces with Yang Xiuqing's main force to attack Changsha.

Secondly, they could take advantage of the fact that the Qing army near Dongting Lake had not yet completed its deployment, catch the Qing army off guard, capture the prefectural cities around Dongting Lake, observe the situation, and give the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom another option.

Of course, it could also be said that they were preparing for the worst-case scenario of failing to capture Changsha and making arrangements for their retreat in advance.

After all, the painful lessons of Guilin are still fresh in our minds.

Shi Dakai had thought more than once about what would have happened if Peng Gang's Northern Palace troops hadn't followed the attack on Guilin City, but instead had chosen to head north to open up the Hunan-Guangxi Corridor, paving the way for the main force that had failed in the attack on Guilin City to enter Hunan.

Now, the Auxiliary and Wing Palaces are ahead of the main force, and their situation is quite similar to that of the North Palace when it captured Quanzhou City.

The only difference was that the Qing army they encountered in Dongting Lake was far weaker than the Qing army they encountered when Bei Dian entered Hunan.

(End of this chapter)