1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 257 Even if you can't hold on, you have to hold on!

The city wall near the Kui Xing Tower on the south wall was blown up.

News reached the governor's office that General Ma Long, guerrilla commander Han Shixi, and Xinning training commander Liu Changyou, who were responsible for guarding the south wall of Changsha, were about to be overwhelmed by the Taiping Rebellion.

The once quiet governor's office suddenly became bustling with noise, and everyone was as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

The matter of supporting Shuiluzhou was tacitly put aside by everyone.

The Taiping rebels are about to storm Changsha, what do they care about the waterways and islands now!

"Jiang Zhongyuan!"

"Fu Cheng!"

Luo Bingzhang and Sai Shang'a simultaneously thought of their most trusted and capable generals, and immediately dispatched the most elite Chu troops and Shaanxi-Gansu Green Standard Army in Changsha to the breach in the south wall near Kui Xing Tower.

"Go to Kui Xing Tower immediately! No matter the cost, we must plug the breach and drive the Taiping rebels out of the city!"

Without time to think, Jiang Zhongyuan's Xi'an garrison commander Fu Cheng hurriedly accepted the order and rode swiftly to their respective camps to gather troops to support Ma Long and Han Shixi at Kui Xing Tower.

"I humbly obey His Excellency the Governor's (Grand Secretary's) command!"

Misfortunes never come singly. Just as Sai Shang'a and Luo Bingzhang were frantically mobilizing troops to reinforce the south wall...

On the west bank of the Xiang River, news arrived that the short-haired Mao, who had just captured Yuelu Mountain, was crossing the river to attack Shuiluzhou under the cover of artillery.

The south wall is under attack; Changsha is in imminent danger.

Whether it was Sai Shang'a, Luo Bingzhang, or other Qing officers and generals, their minds were entirely focused on the safety of Changsha City, and they tacitly ignored Shuiluzhou.

Losing Shuiluzhou would at most mean losing control of the Xiangjiang River waterway.

If the south wall falls, the entire city of Changsha will be doomed!
They all knew that before the short-haired rebels joined the fight, the reason why the Changsha garrison was able to maintain a balance of power with the long-haired rebels was because of this.

Because of the city walls of Changsha, the Taiping rebels could only look at the walls and sigh.

They dared not even think about what would happen if the tall, sturdy city walls were no longer there to protect them.

They could clearly distinguish between the importance of the water and land islands and the south wall.

As for the four or five thousand Hunan soldiers on Shuiluzhou and the Changsha prefect Cang Jingtian, they can only blame their bad luck. Hopefully, they can hold Shuiluzhou before the crisis at the south wall is resolved.

Jiang Zhongyuan was dispatched to reinforce Ma Long, Youji, and Liu Changyou at the section of the south wall near Kuixing Tower.

Luo Bingzhang was still uneasy and decided to personally lead his Fubiao Battalion on the mission: "Brothers of the Fubiao Battalion! Follow me to the south of the city to kill the Taiping rebels! For every Taiping rebel killed, you will be rewarded with forty taels of silver and promoted one rank! Wealth, honor, and a bright future are within your grasp!"

After speaking, Luo Bingzhang rode his yellow horse and led the hundred or so guards of the Fubiao Battalion straight to the south of the city.

As for the fact that the Fubiao Camp's troops had not yet been fully assembled, Luo Bingzhang had no time to care about that.

He simply sent one of the guards from the Fubiao Battalion to the Fubiao Battalion camp to gather the remaining Fubiao Battalion troops and head to the Kui Xing Tower in the south of the city.

Before Luo Bingzhang even reached the breach in the south wall, the sounds of dense gunfire and shouts of battle could already be clearly heard near the Kui Xing Tower.

Clearly, the fighting near the south wall was very intense at this time.

Luo Bingzhang could only silently pray that Ma Long, Han Shixi, and Liu Kunyi could hold off the Taiping rebels for a while and defend the breach before reinforcements arrived.

If a large number of Taiping soldiers were allowed to enter the city, the consequences would be unimaginable.

clang clang ~
As Luo Bingzhang was cracking his whip and praying silently, a piercing gong sound reached his ears.

Luo Bingzhang looked in the direction of the sound and saw Liu Kunyi, the leader of the Chu army, banging a gong.

Liu Kunyi and dozens of Xinning Chu soldiers around him banged gongs and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Move stones if you have stones, move wood if you have wood!"

Carry the stones and timber to the Kui Xing Tower! One stone costs one hundred coins! Twenty stones cost one tael of silver! Payment will be made in cash!

"What are you standing there for! Hurry up and move them! We're not letting you fight the Taiping rebels! Just move the stones!" "If the Taiping rebels invade the city, none of you will escape!"

"Let's move stones! We can earn money and protect Changsha at the same time! Normally, we wouldn't even have a chance to earn this kind of money!"

Under the coercion and enticement of dozens of Xinning Chu soldiers, the people near the south of the city transported all the stones and timber they could see to the vicinity of Kuixing Tower in twos and threes.

Luo Bingzhang recognized Liu Kunyi, who was the cousin of Liu Changyou, the commander of the Chuyong Regiment in Xinning, and currently served as a director of the Chuyong Regiment.

Although Liu Kunyi is Liu Changyou's cousin, he is twelve years younger than Liu Changyou and is only twenty-one years old this year.

Luo Bingzhang reined in his horse and asked Liu Kunyi, "Xianzhuang! What's the situation on the other side of the south wall?"

Upon seeing that the person asking the question was Luo Bingzhang, Liu Kunyi quickly bowed and reported, "Your Excellency, General Ma, Commander Han, and Commander Liu are fighting desperately to defend the city! Commander Liu has asked me to go to the south of the city to gather the people to transport stones to fill the gap."

"You did a great job." Luo Bingzhang nodded approvingly, secretly noting down the names of the Liu family uncle and nephew from Xinning.

Luo Bingzhang glanced at the people carrying stones and thought that carrying them piecemeal was too slow. He said to Liu Kunyi, "Searching and carrying stones like this is too slow. Let's just pry up the paving stones and smash the brick walls! Transport them to the south wall! The Hunan Provincial Governor will pay for it!"

Liu Kunyi had been waiting for Luo Bingzhang's words. With the governor's decree, Liu Kunyi told the Chu Yong around him to stop bothering the common people. The common people's houses were all made of rammed earth, how many bricks and stones could they possibly have in their homes?

Instead, he led Chu Yong and several hundred Changsha residents, using Luo Bingzhang's name, to boldly knock on the door and break into a grand mansion behind them.
Before long, Luo Bingzhang, weary from his journey, arrived near the South Gate, surrounded by his personal guards.

General Ma Long personally donned his armor and led his soldiers in a bloody battle against the Taiping rebels who swarmed in through a gap six or seven zhang wide.

Some soldiers and runners near Kui Xing Tower paid money to the people who brought the stones, while others organized the people to carry the stones up the city wall.

Guerrilla commander Han Shixi and Xinning military commander Liu Changyou were on the city wall, either directing their troops to fire cannons at the Taiping army at the breach or throwing stones into the breach.

The Taiping army attacked the city relentlessly.

Taiping soldiers who rushed into the breach were constantly killed or injured by a hail of lead bullets and stones, falling at the breach.

As soon as the Taiping soldiers in front fell, the Taiping soldiers behind them fearlessly stepped over the corpses of their comrades and braved a hail of bullets to rush into Changsha.

The breach in the south wall was already filled with the corpses of both sides; it would not be an exaggeration to describe the horrific scene at the breach as a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

Upon seeing Luo Bingzhang personally come to the south wall to supervise the battle, Ma Long and his personal guards, covered in blood, were greatly encouraged.

Ma Long slashed down a Taiping soldier who rushed towards him with his sword. Protected by his personal guards, he retreated, leaning on his sword, and asked Luo Bingzhang breathlessly, "Governor Luo, have reinforcements arrived? I can't hold on much longer!"

"We must hold on, even if we can't! Prefect Jiang's main Chu army and General Fu's Shaanxi-Gansu Green Standard Army are on their way." Luo Bingzhang drew the goose-feather saber from his personal guard and shouted sternly.

"I'll stand with you!"

Seeing that Ma Long was struggling with the only two or three hundred of his personal guards from the Zhenbiao Battalion, Luo Bingzhang didn't say a word and immediately sent all of his more than one hundred personal guards from the Fubiao Battalion to join him, hoping to hold out a little longer until reinforcements arrived.

Although there were many soldiers in Changsha, most of them could only go up the city wall to make up the numbers and show off their strength.

To fight the Taiping rebels face-to-face to the death, we could only rely on elite forces such as the Standard Battalion, the Chu Army, and the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Standard Army.

This explains why, despite having a significant numerical advantage, the Qing army in the Changsha battlefield was still besieged within the city and forced into a defensive position.

The main force of the Chu army is already on its way, as are the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Standard Army.

The governor personally led his personal guards to assist in the battle and even personally supervised the battle with a sword.

This scene greatly inspired and encouraged the defenders near the south wall.

Even wounded soldiers and civilians who could still move were organized to throw stones at the Taiping army that kept rushing into the breach.

Despite many stones hitting their own men, Luo Bingzhang still ordered them to continue throwing stones.

It's better to accidentally injure a few of our own men than to let the Taiping rebels storm into Changsha.

(End of this chapter)