Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Yuezhou Prefecture, Linxiang, Niejia City.

This place was originally just a small market town, but after more than 3,000 Xiang Army soldiers entered, all the residents had fled.

Outside the town, the Xiang Army dug deep trenches to block traffic.

At the same time, fences were erected using stone slabs and logs.

The soldiers of the Xiang Army hid in the market town and used various weapons to resist the Taiping Army's attack.

The 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division of the Taiping Army's Imperial Guard Corps was responsible for attacking Niejia City. In addition, the 4th Division of the 3rd Army of the Taiping Army's Western Expeditionary Corps was responsible for assisting them.

"Boom! Boom!"

The Taiping army's six 75mm mountain guns were firing continuously.

The shells hit the town and exploded violently.

However, black powder is not very powerful to begin with, and cannot be compared with smokeless powder, let alone with high explosives such as TNT and RDX.

Faced with the fortified camps of the Xiang Army, it would undoubtedly be very difficult for the Taiping Army to chip away at them bit by bit.

"Commander, the Xiang Army's defenses are strong, and our attacks will be difficult to achieve. We still need to suppress them with concentrated firepower, then fill in the trenches outside the town, and then use gunpowder to destroy the Qing army's camps," reported Lieutenant Colonel Song Shihong, the regimental chief of staff.

Colonel Dai Yuanfei, the regimental commander, nodded.

"Attack according to plan! The Xiang Army's defenses are as strong as a tortoise shell. But I believe that even the toughest tortoise shell can't withstand the artillery and muskets of the Imperial Guard. Let the brothers smash the Xiang Army's tortoise shell to pieces!" Colonel Dai Yuanfei ordered.

"Yes, Commander!" Lieutenant Colonel Song Shihong replied.

The Royal Guard Corps quickly made preparations.

One infantry battalion launched an attack from the front, while two other infantry battalions flanked from the flanks. Meanwhile, more than two thousand soldiers of the 4th Division of the 3rd Army of the Western Expeditionary Force lay in ambush behind the Hunan Army.

If the Xiang Army cannot withstand the attack and wants to abandon its defenses and flee...

The Western Expeditionary Army was able to block the Xiang Army's retreat.

"Thump! Thump!"

One after another, 120mm and 80mm mortars provided cover for the infantry as they approached the Hunan Army's camp.

The soldiers in the fire support group carried heavy machine guns and advanced until they were only a hundred meters away from the Xiang Army camp.

Although the Hunan Army inside the camp was also retaliating with artillery.

However, the Xiang Army was not equipped with many artillery pieces, and those that were were all old muzzle-loading cannons with very poor performance.

Faced with the Taiping Army's advanced artillery, the Xiang Army's artillery was simply no match for it.

In previous battles, these old artillery pieces of the Hunan Army had already suffered heavy losses, with very few remaining.

"Da da da!"

The heavy machine guns began firing, and dense bullets swept towards the Hunan Army like a storm.

Many Hunan Army soldiers who poked their heads out were shot in the head.

As a result, the remaining Xiang Army soldiers had no choice but to stay behind the stockade wall and dared not show their faces again.

The infantrymen of the Imperial Guard also held up their rifles, ready to fire at any moment.

Especially the sharpshooters, who were completely focused.

Then, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard carried sandbags and charged toward the Qing army's camp. They needed to use these sandbags to fill in the trenches.

"Quickly, shoot the arrow!"

"The long-haired rebels want to fill in the trenches; shoot them!"

Upon discovering this, an officer of the Hunan Army immediately issued an order.

A group of archers inside the camp immediately began launching projectiles.

Arrows shot into the sky and then fell back down.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Several Guards soldiers were shot dead on the spot, and many others were wounded.

But then several mortar shells rained down on the Hunan Army troops inside.

These mortars could also fire indirect fire. Even if the Xiang Army archers hid inside the stockade walls, they could not completely avoid them.

Many of the Xiang Army archers were blown to pieces.

The soldiers of the Imperial Guard also took this opportunity to approach the Xiang Army's camp.

The soldiers threw the sandbags they were carrying into the trench, filling it in and creating a passage leading directly to the camp below.

Afterwards, the engineers buried a large amount of gunpowder under the Hunan Army's camp.

"boom!"

A violent explosion rang out, followed by a violent earthquake.

The Xiang Army's fortified camp was blown open, creating a gap more than ten meters wide.

The well-prepared Imperial Guards immediately launched an attack through the breach.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The soldiers opened fire with their rifles, shooting down the Hunanese soldiers inside.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Xiang Army were also fighting back with their muskets.

However, the Xiang Army's muskets were mostly old and had limited range. In addition, their rate of fire was slow. As a result, they were almost completely overwhelmed by the Imperial Guard.

The other two infantry battalions of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division of the Guards Corps also blew up the Hunan Army's camps from two other directions.

Faced with the siege of the Imperial Guard, the Xiang Army was completely unable to resist and could only retreat in defeat.

Seeing that they could not hold out any longer, the Xiang Army generals had no choice but to lead their troops to flee.

But as soon as they escaped the camp, they ran into the Taiping Army's Western Expeditionary Corps, which was lying in ambush there.

After a fierce battle, the Hunan Army suffered heavy losses.

Except for a very few who managed to escape in the chaos, the rest were surrounded and annihilated by the Taiping Army.

A large portion of them surrendered to the Taiping Army when they had no other options.

The battles within Yuezhou Prefecture were extremely fierce.

Despite the fact that the Xiang Army implemented the tactic of "building strongholds and fighting a protracted war," they still managed to establish numerous camps in various towns and cities of Yuezhou Prefecture.

Large camps were defended by thousands or even more troops. Smaller camps were often defended by only a few hundred or even fewer troops. If the Taiping Army wanted to defeat the Xiang Army, they could only destroy these camps one by one.

Although these camps were very well-fortified, they still could not withstand the powerful firepower of the Imperial Guard.

However, this caused the Taiping army to waste a lot of time in this battle.

Although the losses were not significant, the consumption of ammunition was substantial.

By the end of September, the Taiping army had only occupied less than half of Yuezhou Prefecture.

Baling was the capital of Yuezhou Prefecture.

Zeng Guoquan and Li Xuyi are studying the current situation.

The Taiping army pressed forward relentlessly, eliminating one Xiang Army camp after another. This not only caused them to lose a large amount of territory but also incurred enormous losses.

Even if the Hunan Army can still manage to hold on for now, they will eventually collapse as their losses mount.

"Ninth Commander, we can't continue like this. The Taiping rebels are already approaching Baling. If we let them take down our camps one by one, we'll soon run out of troops to defend Baling."

We either have to take the initiative and fight the Taiping rebels head-on, or we can only plead with the governor for more reinforcements.

Li Xuyi suggested.

"Even if we launch a preemptive strike and deploy all our cavalry, we're probably no match for the Taiping rebels." Zeng Guoquan was not a reckless man. Especially on the battlefield, he knew he had to be extremely cautious.

"Ninth Commander, the Long-haired Rebels' firearms are formidable. But after careful consideration, I believe we are not without a chance."

During the day, the long-haired soldiers can fully utilize their superior firepower. But what about at night?

In complete darkness, could the long-haired marauders' cannons and muskets still be so accurate?

"If I lead my cavalry in a charge, I can easily destroy the Taiping rebels' defenses in one fell swoop. Then, I can slaughter them at will!"

Li Xuyi explained his solution.

In order to avenge his brother, Li Xuyi has been thinking about how to defeat the Taiping Army.

In his view, during the daytime, the Taiping Army could fully utilize its firepower advantage, and the Taiping Army would have no chance of winning.

They only have a chance at night, when they can launch night raids using cavalry.

Once the cavalry can break through the Taiping army's defenses, they can use their powerful charge to wreak havoc.

Zeng Guoquan's eyes lit up. He also thought that this might be an opportunity to break the deadlock and defeat the Taiping Army in one fell swoop.

"Using the cavalry to launch a night attack is indeed an opportunity. Let's discuss this carefully and strive to defeat the Taiping rebels in one fell swoop!" Zeng Guoquan said.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was undoubtedly a major enemy of the Xiang Army, and they had to go all out to defeat it.