1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 252 The Ruler's Misfortune

They dispatched two full-strength infantry regiments, a mountain artillery battalion, and a naval battalion—so many troops—to attack the small Xiangxiang County and subdue the local militia.

Luo Dagang felt that this was making a mountain out of a molehill.

The local militia in Xiangxiang County provoked the Taiping Army, and it is indeed necessary to teach them a lesson and make an example of them, so that the militia forces in northern Hunan can see firsthand the consequences of actively provoking the Zuo army and the Taiping Army.

But it's not necessary to mobilize such a large force; these troops would be more than enough to attack the prefectural city.

Peng Gang is not an impulsive, easily angered, or emotional person; he uses military speed very rationally.

To be honest, Xiangxiang County has little military strategic value and is not particularly wealthy.

Luo Dagang racked his brains but still couldn't understand why Peng Gang would go to such lengths, targeting a county.

Settling a personal grudge?
This idea was quickly rejected by Luo Dagang.

Having known Peng Gang for so long, Luo Dagang had never heard Peng Gang mention any person from Xiangxiang who had ever offended him or the Peng family.

Luo Dagang wasn't the only one baffled by this; the surrounding senior officers also felt that Peng Gang's move was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Of course, some people in the team were able to guess Peng Gang's thoughts.

These two men were Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao, both from Changsha Prefecture.

The Eight Banners and Green Standard Army are no longer of use, and the restrictions on local militias in Hunan and Guangxi provinces have been lifted.

Compared to the Green Standard Army's militia, the militia that received formal training would become the biggest enemy and threat to the Left Army.

The Hunan militia, apart from the Chu troops organized by Jiang Zhongyuan and others in Xinning.

Among them, the militia training in Xiangxiang County led by Lao Liang (Luo Zenan) and Xiao Liang (Liu Rong) was the best.

The Chu army was already a formidable enemy of the Taiping army. The emergence of another Xiangxiang army would be far from a good thing for the Taiping army and the Zuo army.

Your Highness the Northern King is truly farsighted. Even before the Xiangxiang County militia had gained any real power, you were already aware that it would become a major threat in the future.

Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao secretly admired him.

Luo Dagang didn't have a deep understanding of the Xiangxiang County militia; he simply regarded it as a slightly stronger militia.

At the same time, he was also worried that sending too many troops to the North Palace would displease Yang Xiuqing.

After all, attacking Changsha was the most important thing for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at the moment. Back in Hengyang, Yang Xiuqing had already shown his dissatisfaction with the Northern Palace.

Thinking of this, Luo Dagang advised, "Your Highness, Xiangxiang County is nothing more than a matter of my own command. There is no need to make such a fuss and send so many troops to attack the county seat. If too many troops are sent, it may delay the war in Changsha and cause the Eastern King to blame and be angry."

“We don’t need our seven thousand men from the Northern Palace to attack Changsha,” Peng Gang said earnestly to Luo Dagang.

"The outline is that the Qing government has lifted the restrictions on the establishment of local militias in Hunan. From now on, the militias that are trained into armies will be our formidable enemies."

Of the three prominent figures in Hunan, Xiangxiang County ranks second. The fact that the local militia in Xiangxiang County is better organized than in other places is largely due to the efforts of Luo Zenan and Liu Rong, and it must be nipped in the bud.

To conquer Xiangxiang County, we must not only capture the county seat, but also wipe out the local militia. I want to see Luo Zenan and Liu Rong alive or dead.

"All the local men, especially the educated ones, were arrested and taken away. Those who refused were... especially the Zeng family of Heyetang—not a single one was spared. Do you understand?"

As he spoke, Peng Gang made a throat-slitting gesture.

Upon hearing Peng Gang's words and observing his demeanor, Luo Dagang felt that the Northern King was somewhat unfamiliar to him today.

But considering that the Northern King's decisions had never been wrong, and that the Northern King must have his reasons for doing this, he accepted the task: "Your subordinate obeys!"

Yang Xiuqing sent letter after letter urging Peng Gang to quickly lead his troops north to assist the main force of the Taiping Army in attacking Changsha.

Peng Gang estimated that it was mostly because the main force of the Taiping Army had not been successful in attacking Changsha these days.

Since the beginning of the war in Quanzhou, Yang Xiuqing's fear of the Northern Palace has grown increasingly stronger.

Yang Xiuqing, who was able to conquer Changsha on his own and seize the provincial capital, avenging Xiao Chaogui, would never allow Peng Gang to lay a finger on Changsha.

Without lingering for long, Peng Gang rested for three hours in Xiangtan before continuing to lead the remaining troops northward to Changsha by boat.

The following day, Luo Dagang, acting on Peng Gang's orders, organized his troops and marched westward up the Lianshui River, a tributary of the Xiang River.

More than 7,000 soldiers from the Northern Palace marched in a mighty force straight towards the small county town of Xiangxiang.

The entire Xiangxiang County was thrown into turmoil.

When the news reached Xiangxiang County, the county magistrate, Zhu Sunyi, was terrified.

Terrified and completely disoriented, Zhu Sunyi hurriedly asked his family to bring Luo Zenan, the deputy director of the Xiangxiang County Militia Bureau who was in charge of the militia training, Liu Rong, and Luo Zenan's students.

The main leaders of the Xiangxiang County militia, including Wang Xin, Li Xubin, Li Xuyi, Tang Jinghui, Xie Banghan, Luo Xindong, Wang Kaihua, Zhang Yunlan, Yi Lianggan, and Luo Zhennan, were summoned to the county government office to discuss countermeasures.

As for Luo Zenan's two disciples surnamed Zeng, Zeng Guofan's younger brothers Zeng Guoquan and Zeng Guohua.

At this time, they were busy arranging the funeral of their father Zeng Linshu in Heyetang and sending a letter to inform Zeng Guofan, who was an official in Beijing, that his father had been killed by the short-haired rebels. They had no time to continue being the leaders of their local militia and were not at the militia camp in Xiangxiang County.

The Xiangxiang County militia camp was located near the county seat and was specifically allocated by Zhu Sunyi to Luo Zenan and Liu Rong for training.

When Zhu Sunyi's family arrived at the Xiangxiang County militia camp and found Luo Zenan, Luo Zenan and his prized student Wang Xin were training in the drill ground on the western outskirts of the county town.

Since the ambush on the short-haired rebels failed, even Zeng Linshu, the head of the militia bureau who was watching the battle from afar in a sedan chair, was caught up by the short-haired rebels and killed by their artillery fire.

The morale of the militia in Xiangxiang County was severely dampened.

Luo Zenan and others realized that the short-haired rebels were no ordinary people like Li Yuanfa of the Hunan Heaven and Earth Society, and were even more ferocious and difficult to fight than the long-haired rebels.

Their proud Xiangxiang County militia, compared to the short-haired Mao Zedongs who had undergone rigorous training and been tempered by intense battles, and like their own career paths, still had much room for improvement.

Upon receiving a message from the county magistrate's family, Luo Zenan dared not slack off and summoned Liu Rong and his students to the Xiangxiang County government office to meet with Zhu Sunyi, the magistrate of Xiangxiang County.

"Mr. Luo, Xiangxiang County is in deep trouble! You've ruined our county too!"

Upon seeing Luo Zenan and his students stride into the county government office, the anxious Zhu Sunyi began to complain incessantly about Luo Zenan.

“Mr. Luo, I told you long ago not to provoke the cult bandits, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look what’s happened, tens of thousands of short-haired thugs are heading straight for our Xiangxiang County! What are we going to do?”

To be fair, among all the county officials in the Qing Dynasty, Zhu Sunyi was considered one of the more capable ones.

Zhu Sunyi not only dared to boldly employ Luo Zenan, Liu Rong, and their students to organize local militias, but also showed great courage.

During his early years as magistrate of Ningxiang and Changsha, he had a good reputation and even personally led local militias to suppress bandits.

Even so, they were still no match for the powerful, short-haired army that was coming on strong.

Zhu Sunyi was so frightened that he lost all his official decorum, revealing his true colors as a two-faced, shirking, and irresponsible person.

Zhu Sunyi dared to personally lead the local militia into the mountains to suppress the bandits because he knew he could do it and it was worth the risk. Now, facing the overwhelming force of the short-haired bandits, Zhu Sunyi was terrified and ashen-faced because he knew that the Xiangxiang County militia was no match for so many short-haired soldiers, and he was at his wit's end.

“Your Excellency, when we successfully raided the rebels and killed or captured some of them, that’s not what you said.” Wang Xin was very dissatisfied with Zhu Sunyi’s behavior of taking credit for everything and shirking responsibility.

The plan to ambush the religious bandits passing through Xiangtan and claim credit with the imperial court was actually a joint discussion among Zhu Sunyi, Zeng Linshu, Luo Zenan, Liu Rong, and others.

Without the permission of the local magistrate or the magistrate of the neighboring Xiangtan County, the militia of Xiangxiang County had no right to cross the county line and enter Xiangtan County to fight the religious bandits.

Not long ago, Zhu Sunyi had successfully ambushed two groups of long-haired rebels and tasted the sweetness of victory. He was not like this today. Instead, he was eager to support and encourage the Xiangxiang County militia to continue ambushing short-haired rebels passing through the area in order to achieve greater results and claim credit with his superiors. After all, the bounty for short-haired rebels was higher than that for long-haired rebels, which was very tempting.

The fact that short-haired people were recruited today is not entirely the fault of their militia; Zhu Sunyi is also partly to blame.

"When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it. Magistrate Zhu, there's no need to panic." Luo Zenan, however, appeared much calmer. He gave Wang Xin a wink, signaling him to say less, and at the same time advised Zhu Sunyi not to be so alarmed.

The short-haired Maoist army's deployment of troops to Xiangxiang County was completely unexpected by Luo Zenan.

Luo Zenan dared to request to cross the county to launch a surprise attack on the rebel army precisely because Xiangxiang County was not a necessary stop for them.

“Zhongyue, this is tens of thousands of short-haired soldiers, don’t make it sound so easy.” Zhu Sunyi, unable to contain his temper, couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Luo Zenan and said.

"As the head of this county, I have the responsibility to defend this land. With so many short-haired barbarians invading, the county seat of Xiangxiang will inevitably be difficult to defend! If I cannot defend the county seat, I will have no choice but to commit suicide to atone for the Emperor's kindness."

My life or death is secondary; what will happen to the people of Xiangxiang County if I die? What will happen to the local militia? And who will support Zhongyue in organizing the militia as wholeheartedly as I have?

Although Zhu Sunyi spoke with great righteousness and high moral character, in the end, he was still afraid of losing his official position and his head.

However, one point that Zhu Sunyi made was indeed true.

That means that without Zhu Sunyi, the next magistrate might support Xiangxiang County in continuing to organize local militias, but the level of support would probably not be as great as Zhu Sunyi's.

In order to preserve the future of the Xiangxiang County militia, Luo Zenan still had to find a way to keep Zhu Sunyi's official position.

"Lord Zhu, we are in the same boat, sharing both glory and misfortune. If you are in trouble, I, Luo, have no reason to stand aside. Lord Zhu, please tell me the truth: just how many short-haired thugs have invaded Xiangxiang County?" Luo Zenan said solemnly.

Luo Zenan knew that Zhu Sunyi was definitely exaggerating. The main target of the rebels was Changsha, and the Taiping Rebellion's attack on Changsha was not going well.

Even if the local militia in Xiangxiang County angered the communist bandits, the bandits would not send tens of thousands of short-haired soldiers to attack Xiangxiang County.

"There are approximately ten thousand short-haired soldiers. I hope Mr. Luo can also give us the answer. With the full strength of the county, is there any hope of defending Xiangxiang County?" Zhu Sunyi looked at Luo Zenan with expectant eyes, hoping to get the answer he wanted.

Upon hearing that nearly ten thousand short-haired rebels had invaded Xiangxiang County, Luo Zenan's brows furrowed into a deep frown, his expression one of deep worry.

After a long pause, Luo Zenan countered with a question to Zhu Sunyi: "Lord Zhu, how does the defense of Xiangxiang County compare to that of Hengyang, Lingling, and Quanzhou?"

The cities that Luo Zenan mentioned were all cities that the short-haired Maoist regime had captured single-handedly, and their scale was higher than that of Xiangxiang County.

"It's far better than that." Without much thought, Zhu Sunyi answered truthfully.

"Isn't that settled then? The short-haired rebels are at the height of their power, and their soldiers are mostly seasoned veterans. My two thousand Xiangxiang militiamen are mostly new recruits, barely able to defeat the long-haired rebels, let alone the short-haired ones." Luo Zenan was very clear-headed, knowing that Xiangxiang County could not be defended no matter what.

Luo Zenan, who always prided himself on his knowledge of military affairs, seemed to think that Xiangxiang County was beyond saving.

Completely despondent, Zhu Sunyi's face turned deathly pale. He even contemplated hanging himself with a white silk cord, stamping his feet repeatedly and saying, "Alas! What should I do? Must I, the county magistrate, atone with my death?"

"Although Xiangxiang County cannot be defended, I, Luo, have a plan that can protect the county magistrate, protect the Xiangxiang County militia, and also earn me great merit." After a moment of contemplation, Luo Zenan quickly came up with an idea.

"What is the plan? Mr. Luo, please tell me quickly." Zhu Sunyi's eyes lit up, and like a drowning person clinging to a straw, he grabbed Luo Zenan's sleeve and pressed for an answer.

"Withdraw from Xiangxiang County, and let the short-haired man's fist hit cotton, unable to exert any force," Luo Zenan revealed his plan.

"I thought you had some brilliant plan, sir." Zhu Sunyi was utterly disappointed after hearing Luo Zenan's plan and shook his head.

"According to your plan, sir, I might as well commit suicide and at least preserve my reputation for life. If you are afraid of death, then take the Xiangxiang County militia and leave. I swear to live and die with Xiangxiang County."

"Lord Zhu, please don't be hasty. Let me finish speaking." Luo Zenan revealed his plan to break the deadlock, urging Zhu Sunyi to join him in attacking Hengyang.

"Zhou Futai, Xiang Titai, and Xu Zhitai were defeated by the religious bandits and remained stationed there, not daring to go north to recapture Hengzhou Prefecture and its capital, Hengyang."

The cultists were in a hurry to get to Changsha. If Luo's prediction is correct, Hengyang, the capital of Hengzhou Prefecture, should be undefended at this time, or even an empty city.

If Magistrate Zhu could lead the Xiangxiang County militia to recapture Hengyang, the capital of Hengzhou Prefecture, how could the Emperor blame him for failing to defend the territory?

Hengyang was the territory of the short-haired Mao. The fact that the short-haired Mao launched a large-scale northward march indicates that they had withdrawn from Hengyang.

Two thousand militiamen from Xiangxiang County couldn't hold Xiangxiang County. Perhaps we could try to recapture Hengyang.

"That's right!" Zhu Sunyi slapped his thigh in sudden realization, feeling that Luo Zenan's brain was indeed sharp and worthy of the name "Old Liang".

The city of Hengyang, which Xu Guangjin, Zhou Tianjue, and Xiang Rong all failed to recapture, was recaptured by him, a mere county magistrate.

Zhu Sunyi not only managed to gain recognition from figures like Luo Bingzhang and Sai Shang'a, but also managed to make Emperor Xianfeng remember his name.

However, Zhu Sunyi still had concerns: "What if we can't take Hengyang and the Maoist rebels keep pursuing us?"

"By fortifying our defenses and scorching the fields, we can prevent the short-haired rebels from finding food in Xiangxiang County. They will take their food and flee south, into the mountains. Once they run out of food, they will inevitably retreat north to join forces with the long-haired rebels." After patiently explaining his ideas to Zhu Sunyi, Luo Zenan asked a question in return.

"Besides this approach, does Magistrate Zhu have a better method?"

Zhu Sunyi was speechless for a moment. He really had no better choice but to gamble with Luo Zenan and hope that the Xiangxiang County militia could take Hengyang.

"I will risk my life to gamble with Mr. Luo today!" Zhu Sunyi finally made up his mind and said resolutely.

"Please explain in detail how to proceed, Mr. Luo! This county fully supports you!"

Just as Luo Dagang was leading his troops to suppress the local militia in Xiangxiang County.

Peng Gang traveled all the way from Xiangtan to Changsha without lowering the sails or stopping the oars, without taking a break for a moment.

Upon arriving in Changsha, Peng Gang hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath before he learned about the enemy and friendly forces' situation inside and outside the city.

As soon as Peng Gang stepped ashore, Lin Qirong, who had been waiting on the shore for a long time, hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Greetings, Your Highness the Northern King. You have finally arrived. The Eastern King asked me to wait here and invite you to the command tent for a meeting."

"Where are the Heavenly King and the Southern King?" Peng Gang asked Lin Qirong.

"The Heavenly King and the Southern King are also inside the command tent," Lin Qirong replied.

Peng Gang nodded, indicating that he understood.

Huang Dabiao, who was following Peng Gang, quickly brought over a white horse and handed it to Peng Gang to ride.

Just as Peng Gang was about to mount the white horse, he remembered that Xiao Chaogui had been targeted by the Qing army and died because he was too ostentatious. Riding a white horse would be too conspicuous, so he withdrew his foot from the stirrup, glanced at the reins, and said to Huang Dabiao, "Huang Dabiao, go and bring me my Leopard Flower Steed."

Soon, Huang Dabiao brought over a more unassuming leopard-spotted horse.

Peng Gang mounted his leopard-patterned horse, instructed the regimental commanders to find suitable campsites and set up camp on the spot, and then led nearly two hundred riders from the accompanying training battalion to the Taiping Army's command tent to find Yang Xiuqing.

(End of this chapter)