1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 277 Everyone is happy
Peng Gang came to the Eastern King's Mansion to inform Yang Xiuqing that he would stay behind to guard the three towns of Wuhan, not to discuss the matter with Yang Xiuqing.

Even though Yang Xiuqing insisted on sending the Northern Prince south for the sake of a safe victory in the Battle of Jiangning.

Peng Gang insisted on not going east with Yang Xiuqing, and Yang Xiuqing couldn't do anything about it.

Yang Xiuqing lingered in Wuchang for three months, partly to coerce the population of Hubei, and partly to wait until the autumn rice harvest before leaving.

Currently, the population that can be incorporated into the temple and taken away within the controlled areas of each palace, as well as the rice fields that can be harvested, have been almost completely harvested.

Continuing to stay in Wuchang would be meaningless for Yang Xiuqing and his group, merely a waste of money and supplies.

To feed the millions of men, women, and children of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Yang Xiuqing had no choice but to lead his army eastward as soon as possible to find food; he could not afford to remain in Wuchang and waste time with Peng Gang.

Judging from Yang Xiuqing's current attitude, he doesn't seem to object to Peng Gang's Beidian being responsible for guarding the Baling-Wuhan three-town defense line.

"If Seventh Brother is willing to lead the brothers of the Northern Palace to stay and defend the three towns of Wuhan, what fear is there of the Qing demons following our Heavenly Army and Holy Soldiers, and what worry is there of not being able to take Jiangning?" Yang Xiuqing appeared very cheerful, telling Peng Gang to speak freely about any difficulties he might have.

"Seventh Brother's affairs are my affairs. If Seventh Brother has any difficulties, please speak freely."

Wei Changhui held a negative attitude towards Fu Dian's defense of the Baling-Wuhan three towns line, believing that Fu Dian would not do his best to defend the three towns of Wuhan.

Yang Xiuqing was fully aware of this and was mentally prepared for it.

The Northern Palace's military strength was already superior to that of the Auxiliary Palace, and the achievements of the Northern Palace in fighting against the Qing army on its own were also evident to all.

Having Bei Dian remain to defend the three towns of Wubaling-Wuhan would indeed increase the chances of victory.

Moreover, the requirement for the North Palace to remain and defend the three towns of Baling and Wuhan was proposed by Peng Gang himself. The fighting spirit of the North Palace, which voluntarily stayed behind, was certainly higher than that of the Auxiliary Palace, which was ordered by the Heavenly Father to stay behind.

Furthermore, Peng Gang led the Northern Palace to remain in the three towns of Wuhan, far from the power center of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

This meant that Yang Xiuqing had lost one of his most powerful rivals in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's central leadership.

This is a situation that Yang Xiuqing is happy to see.

Moreover, Peng Gang's presence in Wuhan and its surrounding three towns, controlling the central hub of the Yangtze River shipping, would prevent Qing troops from advancing south from the upstream Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan regions.

This could alleviate a significant portion of the defensive pressure on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which sought to establish its base in Jiangnan.

As for the Northern Palace's growing power in the three towns of Wuhan, which led to its control of Jingzhou and Xiangyang to intimidate Nanjing.

Yang Xiuqing is not worried, at least not now.

Firstly, Jiangning has not yet fallen, so it is too early to consider such long-term matters.

Secondly, Wuchang is a strategically important location with few defensible terrains. Most of the population of Wuchang Prefecture has already been taken away by other palaces, so it is still uncertain whether the Northern Palace can maintain its foothold here for long.

Of course, there is no doubt that the North Palace will be able to hold the defense line of Baling-Wuhan for longer than the Auxiliary Palace.

Although Yang Xiuqing's words sounded good, whether they could actually help depended on the extent of Peng Gang's predicament.

Peng Gang stayed behind in the three towns of Wuhan, and all he needed were people and supplies.

During its three-month stay in the three towns of Wuhan, Beidian has maintained high standards for recruits, avoiding the practice of recruiting local residents into its ranks and pursuing a blind expansion of its personnel.

The number of personnel in other halls doubled directly in Wuchang, a remarkable achievement.

They even reached Yang Fuqing's troops in Jiujiang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, and began to recruit and coerce Jiangxi people into the various institutions of the Eastern Palace.

Dingkou is the base of each palace, and the key to whether they can conquer Jiangning and establish a foothold in Jiangnan.

If Peng Gang wanted men, Yang Xiuqing couldn't help much with that; at most, she could reluctantly leave some women, children, and the elderly for the North Palace.

It's impossible to allocate able-bodied men to the Northern Palace; all the other palaces are counting on these able-bodied men as auxiliary troops and reserves to fight in Jiangnan.

In terms of supplies, as long as Peng Gang doesn't ask for too much, Yang Xiuqing is willing to provide him with some material support.

"Fourth Brother, I need 40,000 able-bodied men, cattle from each palace, farm tools, and craftsmen from the Hubei Ordnance Bureau. For defending the city and blocking the river to delay the enemy, heavy artillery is indispensable, along with forty Hongyi cannons weighing over 1,000 jin each, and 500 dan of red powder are also necessary." Peng Gang stared at Yang Xiuqing's face and stated what he wanted.

"If Fourth Brother leaves me these things, and if the Northern Palace cannot hold the defense line of Baling-Wuhan, I will let Fourth Brother deal with me as he sees fit."

Peng Gang keenly noticed the subtle change in Yang Xiuqing's expression.

When he mentioned 40,000 able-bodied men, 40 cannons weighing over 1,000 jin each, and 500 dan of gunpowder.

Yang Xiuqing's facial expression showed subtle, almost imperceptible changes.

Yang Xiuqing's reaction shows that Yang Xiuqing, a craftsman from the Hubei Military Ordnance Bureau, was able to meet Peng Gang's requirements regarding cattle, farm tools, and equipment.

Yang Xiuqing was not very willing to provide the young men, cannons, and gunpowder, at least not in the quantities proposed by Peng Gang.

Of course, the number proposed by Peng Gang does seem to be an exorbitant demand.

But Peng Gang didn't expect to get so many able-bodied men, cattle, farm tools, cannons, and gunpowder from Yang Xiuqing.

As long as Yang Xiuqing provides the North Palace with enough cattle and farm tools urgently needed to restore production order in Wuchang, the quantity of able-bodied men, cannons, and gunpowder can be negotiated.

"All the cattle that haven't been slaughtered yet should be left to Seventh Brother, and all the farm tools that haven't been melted down into molten iron and forged into weapons should also be left to Seventh Brother," Yang Xiuqing said with a frown and a troubled expression.

"Seventh Brother needs so many young men, barbarian cannons, and beauties. I will have to get supplies from all the palaces."

My Heavenly Army marches eastward along the river, conquering cities along the way, including Jiangning and Jiangnan. This will require many soldiers and firearms. Where will Fourth Brother find so many able-bodied men, cannons, and women for Seventh Brother?

This time, the main force of the Taiping army sailed eastward by boat, and the cattle in each palace were mainly carried as meat reserves, rather than for pulling carts.

Herding cattle with the army was quite troublesome, requiring not only manpower but also the provision of fodder to feed the cattle.

In any case, they have already slaughtered a lot of cattle to make meat and grain, so it doesn't matter if the remaining cattle are left to the North Palace.

The situation with farm tools is similar.

After the expansion of the army in Wuchang, the Taiping army faced a severe shortage of weapons, and the weapons captured could no longer meet the Taiping army's huge demand for weapons.

Most of the farm tools had been melted down into iron and forged into weapons to solve the problem of whether or not new recruits in Hubei had weapons.

As for the artisans of the Ordnance Bureau, there were also Ordnance Bureaus in the provincial capitals along the way, such as Nanchang, Anqing, and Jiangning.

They can obtain craftsmen from the provincial capitals of Chang, Anqing, and Jiangning, and it is fine to leave the craftsmen from the Hubei Ordnance Bureau to the North Palace.

Yang Xiuqing was reluctant to give her anything else.

"The Qing dynasty's army of two to three hundred thousand is all in Hunan. They will soon march east to Wuchang. Almost all the people of Wuchang have been taken away by the various palaces and incorporated into their palaces," Peng Gang complained to Yang Xiuqing.

"Without enough able-bodied men, cannons, and women, how could the Northern Palace possibly defend the empty city of Wuchang?"

Yang Xiuqing got up and paced back and forth several times, seemingly taking stock of the wealth in the treasuries of each palace. After pondering for a long time, Yang Xiuqing finally stopped and said, "Young men are the lifeblood of each palace. Fourth Brother can't transfer any to you, but Fourth Brother will have each palace provide you with four cannons and four hundred loads of cosmetics. How about that?"

The original intention of demanding able-bodied men was to use them as bargaining chips in negotiations with Yang Xiuqing.

Peng Gang's main purpose in coming to Yang Xiuqing was to demand cattle, farm tools, as well as cannons and gunpowder.

The Taiping Army possessed relatively few heavy weapons like the Hongyi cannon, which weighed over a thousand catties.

Peng Gang had a rough idea of ​​how many cannons were in each of the palaces.

Even though they obtained the century-old cannons buried in Yuezhou Prefecture by Wu Sangui and Wu Zhou's army, and captured Wuchang and seized the Hongyi cannons in Wuchang.

Outside the North Palace, the Taiping army possessed only about seventy large cannons weighing over a thousand catties each.

Peng Gang wanted to take more than half of the army's heavy cannons weighing over 1,000 jin each.

Even if Yang Xiuqing verbally promised to give, the other palaces might not be willing to contribute.

The fact that each palace sent four large cannons weighing over a thousand catties to the North Palace is already a very good result.

As for the people that Yang Xiuqing abducted from Hubei.

These Hubei people did not have a high degree of recognition or loyalty to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. They could only be coerced at midday, and sooner or later some Hubei people would run back to their ancestral homeland in Hubei.

Peng Gang didn't need to keep focusing on the young men in his palace, so he decided to stop while he was ahead: "Thank you, Fourth Brother. I will definitely guard the western gate of the Heavenly Kingdom for you."

“There’s no need for thanks between brothers. You’re staying in Wuhan, so we’ll have fewer opportunities to meet in the future. Let’s have some tea and snacks together.”

Thinking that there wouldn't be many opportunities to meet again, Yang Xiuqing led Peng Gang to the inner courtyard and invited him to stay for tea and refreshments.

As soon as Peng Gang and Yang Xiuqing sat down, maids handed them two cups of locally brewed Tongshan tea. Another maid followed closely behind, bringing two plates of brownish-yellow Heyi cakes with gong and drum-shaped edges.

After taking a bite of the sweet and crispy Heyi cake and a sip of Tongshan tea, Peng Gang casually asked, "Fourth Brother, how is the Marquis of Butian's progress in Jiujiang?"

The Marquis of Butian was Yang Fuqing. Yang Xiuqing and Hong Xiuquan conferred four marquises in Wuchang.

Hu Yihuang was awarded the title of Protector of Heaven for his pioneering role in the Battle of Wuchang.

For his merits in killing Shuang Fu, the governor of Huguang, and capturing the city of Huangzhou, Yang Fuqing was granted the title of Marquis Butian.

Qin Rigang was awarded the title of Marquis Dingtian for his merits in capturing Yuanjiang and Xiangyin and delaying the Qing army.

Luo Dagang was granted the title of Prime Minister of the Winter Office for his meritorious service. He was also granted the title of Marquis of Fentian for his achievements in conquering Jiangling and destroying the entire city of Jingzhou.

At this time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had not yet established the six ranks of nobility: Yi, An, Fu, Yan, Yu, and Hou, nor had it indiscriminately conferred official titles; rewards and punishments were still relatively clear.

The four celestial marquises who were first awarded titles all had outstanding achievements to their name, making the titles highly prestigious.

“Fu Qing should have already taken Jiujiang Prefecture by now,” Yang Xiuqing said without hesitation.

"Fu Qing said that the Qing demons in Huangzhou Prefecture and Jiujiang Prefecture are very weak, and it will be much easier to attack the prefectural cities than in Guangxi and Hunan. In a few days, I will receive the good news that Fu Qing asked me and the Heavenly King to move the capital to Jiujiang."

“If the Qing forces downstream are so incompetent, Fourth Brother could consider leaving some outposts to guard the major cities along the river. Firstly, this would allow us to requisition grain locally to replenish the imperial treasury. Secondly, it would confuse the Qing forces and disperse their strength. Thirdly, in the event that the three towns of Wuhan fall, the Qing forces in Hunan, such as Sai Shang’a, Luo Bingzhang, Zhou Tianjue, and Xiang Rong, would not pose a significant threat to the main force attacking Jiangning for the time being. Fourth Brother could then focus on attacking Jiangning,” Peng Gang said.

As expected, the Qing soldiers they encountered after leaving Hunan performed increasingly poorly.

Nine years ago, the Qing army in the Jiangzhe region had already been defeated by the British, and even the entire city of Zhapu was looted and burned.

The performance of the Qing troops in these areas was even worse than that of the Qing troops in Huangzhou Prefecture and Jiujiang Prefecture.

Peng Gang hoped that Yang Xiuqing could leave some second-line troops to temporarily defend the major cities along the Yangtze River in Jiangxi and Anhui.

This would ease his defensive pressure within Hubei Province, as he wouldn't need to station too many troops at the border of Hubei with Jiangxi and Anhui provinces to guard against Qing troops from Jiangxi and Anhui invading from the west.

Then, more troops were concentrated to guard against and deal with the Qing army in Hunan.

"With my seventh brother in charge of the three towns of Wuhan, I'm at ease. There's no chance of anything going wrong," Yang Xiuqing said with a smile.

"If we can defend the major cities along the river by leaving only a few cards, it would be a good strategy. I will consider Seventh Brother's suggestion carefully later."

After having tea and snacks and chatting about military affairs for a while, Peng Gang bid farewell to Yang Xiuqing and headed east along the front street towards Zhongxiao Gate to visit the other brothers in the Shenxian family and exchange information with them.

When Wei Changhui learned that Peng Gang was willing to lead the Beidian to defend the Baling-Wuhan three-town defense line on behalf of the Fudian, he was very happy and said that he could immediately hand over the defense along the line to the Beidian. He was eager for the Fudian troops to withdraw from the Baling-Wuhan three-town defense line immediately.

Peng Gang also shared this sentiment.

If we wait until the main force of the Taiping army withdraws from Yuezhou Prefecture before taking over the defense, we will inevitably be caught off guard and give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

It would be better to take advantage of the fact that the main force of the Taiping army stationed in Yuezhou Prefecture has not yet withdrawn, and directly occupy Yuezhou. Even if the main force of the Qing army in Changsha Prefecture discovers this, there will be nothing they can do.

After returning to Hanyang, Peng Gang sent Peng Yi and Peng Yong to Wuchang to stay temporarily at the Jiangxia County government office, where they were responsible for receiving the supplies handed over by the main force of the Taiping Army.

Immediately afterwards, Peng Gang convened a military conference in the main hall of the Northern Prince's Mansion in Hanyang, bringing together the staff and officers of regimental rank and above in Hanyang to begin arranging the takeover of Hubei's defenses.

Before long, high-ranking military officers from the Northern Palace arrived one after another at the Northern King's Mansion and entered the main hall.

Peng Gang glanced at the high-ranking officers present. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he said, "The Taiping Army will soon withdraw from Hubei. We will take full responsibility for the defense of the three towns from Baling to Wuhan. What are your thoughts on the current situation between the enemy and us?"

Peng Gang reads the General Staff's reports every day.

Peng Gang had a clear understanding of the overall situation between the enemy and himself.

The reason for allowing these officers to speak and express their opinions was to give them an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and gain experience.

The decision to remain in Wuhan was made just today, and not many officers know about it yet.

Some officers stationed a little further from Hanyang were quite surprised to hear that the Beidian Palace had taken over the entire responsibility for the defense of the three towns of Baling and Wuhan, which was originally the responsibility of the Fudian Palace. They were clearly not prepared for this.

Zhang Ze, the deputy chief of staff, was the first to raise his hand and look at Peng Gang, requesting to speak. After receiving Peng Gang's nod of permission, Zhang Ze walked to the large map hanging on the map stand in the main hall, briefly prepared his speech, and then picked up the command stick to point out the landscape on the map.

"If we remain to defend the three towns of Wuhan, the Qing troops we will face will be: first, Qing troops from the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou to the west; second, Qing troops from the two provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Henan to the north; third, Qing troops from the two provinces of Anhui and Jiangxi to the east; and fourth, Qing troops from Hunan to the southwest."

Many of the Qing army's elite troops in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou had already been wiped out by us in Guangxi and Hunan, leaving them severely weakened and unable to form an army to invade on their own.

The elite Qing troops in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Henan provinces were also stationed in Changsha Prefecture. Unless the Qing court transferred large numbers of troops from other northern provinces, the Qing troops in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Henan provinces would not dare to invade southward.

The Eastern King and his forces are sailing down the Yangtze River, and the vanguard of the Eastern Palace has already advanced to Jiujiang Prefecture in Jiangxi. The Qing troops in Jiangxi and Anhui provinces are barely able to defend themselves, let alone gather a large army to advance up the Yangtze River and attack us.

Before the Qing army mobilized new troops to join the Hubei battlefield, the Qing troops that posed the greatest threat to us were those within Hunan province.

(End of this chapter)