1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 113: Root Cause
It wasn't just the Jintian Regiment that lacked weapons.

With the army suddenly expanded fourfold, Peng Gang's Honglian Village regiment also lacked weapons.

Although the attack on Wuxuan County had previously captured the Wuxuan Armory, as well as weapons from the Wuxuan Green Standard Army and local militia stationed there.

However, Peng Gang allocated half of these military supplies to Yang Xiuqing, so it wasn't all his.

The shortage of cold weapons is relatively small. In another ten days or so, the Honglian Village Armory will be able to fill the gap in cold weapons and even stockpile some.

The biggest gap is in firearms.

Including the three mountain-splitting cannons, sixty-five bird guns, and nine matchlock guns seized in Wuxuan County.

Peng Gang now has fifteen mountain-splitting cannons, 465 muskets, including 120 flintlock muskets, and nine matchlock muskets.

Before the expansion, Peng Gang's six companies had a firearms corps accounting for just over half of the total, which was roughly the same as the Qing army's Green Standard Army.

After the expansion, the proportion of firearms soldiers plummeted to less than one-fifth.

Fifteen mountain-splitting cannons may sound like a lot, but in reality, most of them were small cannons weighing less than 200 pounds; to put it bluntly, they were just large-sized muskets.

These cannons are suitable for field battles and attacking ordinary civilian houses.

To think that these small mountain cannons could be used to attack a city was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Even Yang Xiuqing couldn't take down Huangjia Tubao in Wuxuan East Township with two 600-pound cannons, let alone these small mountain-splitting cannons.

I originally thought that after capturing Wuxuan County, I could get one or two heavy artillery pieces for future sieges.

It turns out he was overthinking.

When he was in Wuxuan, he searched the entire town inside and out, and only managed to find six small, barely usable mountain-splitting cannons.

Peng Gang held a grudge over this matter and even interrogated Huang Can, the captured commander of the Xunzhou Green Standard Army, and Chen Nanshan, the captain.

It was only during interrogation that it was learned that the Qing government had very strict control over heavy artillery.

Not to mention Wuxuan County, even in the prefectural city, there are few places with the red cannons that Peng Gang wanted.

Only Guilin, the provincial capital, and Liuzhou, a military stronghold, where the 38 Banner Army was stationed, had heavy artillery.

It seems we won't be able to get heavy artillery anytime soon.

Even with the Taiping Army's current strength, it's already difficult to capture Guiping City, let alone the two important cities of Guilin and Liuzhou.

We can only wait until Guangdong Deputy Commander-in-Chief Wulantai enters Guangxi to suppress the Taiping Army and then send him a batch of supplies as the transport captain.

This fellow is a Manchu from the Plain Red Banner. He rose through the ranks from a musket guard in the firearms battalion to become the deputy commander of a province. He has a special fondness for firearms and enjoys using them. Currently, he commands the firearms battalion of the Eight Banners in Guangzhou.

Relying solely on self-made weapons would be insufficient to fill the huge gap in firearms in a short period. Before Ulantai arrived in Guangxi, the only option was to try to fight the Guangxi Green Standard Army and rely on captured weapons for emergency use.

Peng Gang organized six battalions, each with 432 men.

After careful consideration, it was decided to concentrate all 465 muskets and equip a musket battalion.

The remaining five battalions.

The three battalions were formed into a long spear battalion, and Xie Bin was first assigned to lead them in long spear practice.

The two battalions of former boatmen were reorganized into a boat battalion, with Luo Dagang and Chen Ajiu leading them in marching drills, discipline training, and naval warfare drills to solidify their old skills.

In addition, an extra company of mountain-splitting artillery and a company of muskets will be trained using the existing mountain-splitting artillery and muskets.

Peng Gang obtained a large quantity of cloth in the Battle of Wuxuan.

Peng Gang drew several sketches of cross-collar short jackets and sent them to the women's camp along with the fabric.

Zhao Hanwei and her three aunts were instructed to lead skilled female workers in the women's camp to make a batch of cross-collar garments as military uniforms.

After finishing these tasks, Peng Gang returned to his residence and unfolded the Guangxi map and Xunzhou Prefecture map that he had been continuously supplementing and improving over the past two years, thinking about how to deal with the Qing army's encirclement and counterattack.

The God Society in the Zijingshan, Pingzaishan, and Jintian areas has a long history and a solid foundation.

In particular, Zijing Mountain has been under the management of Feng Yunshan for five years since he came to preach there, and it has a good mass base.

Zijing Mountain, the base area of ​​Pingzaishan, is surrounded by mountains on three sides. To the northeast is Penghua Mountain area of ​​Pingnan County, to the southwest are Lianhua Mountain and Long Mountain of Gui County, and to the north is the continuous Dayao Mountain.

It is blocked by the Qianjiang River to the south.

It is a strategically important location, bordered by water on one side and surrounded by mountains on the other three.

The mountainous terrain was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and their familiarity with the local terrain far surpassed that of the Qing army.

Relying on Zijing Mountain, Pingzai Mountain, and Jintian, we can definitely hold our ground for a short period of time and buy three or four months for the regimental training.

Of course, the drawbacks are also obvious.

That is because the Zijingshan and Pingzaishan base areas were too poor, with limited resources, and could not support 50,000 people for a long time, so they could only hold out for a short period of time.

If the Qing generals and commanders were not out of their minds, they would definitely have adopted the strategy of trapping them and trying to starve them out.

Although the Qing army in Guangxi was timid and had low morale.

They certainly didn't have the courage or the ability to send them into the mountains to wipe out 50,000 members of the God Society bandits.

However, the Qing army certainly had the capability to deploy heavy troops and artillery to defend key passes leading out of the mountains, cut off the God Worshippers' contact with the outside world, and sever their supply channels.

Although Peng Gang obtained food and supplies from Wuxuan County and its surrounding villages, it was only enough for the entire God Worship Society to feed them for three or four months.

Of course, Peng Gang was well-prepared, having not only made preparations before the regiment and battalion issued the order, but also purchased and stockpiled grain and fodder.

Following the order to attack, the regiment launched a surprise attack on Wuxuan County, seizing Wuxuan's grain for its own use.

His grain reserves were the most abundant among all the departments, enough to sustain him for about eight months.

But the God's Society is, after all, a collective. If headquarters and other units knew he had surplus grain, they would certainly ask him to allocate food to support headquarters or other units within the God's Society. He wanted to avoid being trapped and killed by the Qing army at his base in the Zijing Mountain and Pingzai Mountain areas.

Stockpiling as many supplies as possible before the Qing army could encircle them was only a temporary solution.

To fundamentally solve this problem, it is necessary to expand the base of operations and broaden the scope of the God Society's activities.

This would prevent the Qing army from cutting off their contact with the outside world by holding a few mountain passes.

After scanning the map, Peng Gang's gaze finally settled on Qianjiang.

Qianjiang Waterway!

The pro-independence camp in Guangxi is rotten, and the pro-independence and pro-independence water camps in
The Guangxi naval forces were extremely weak, with hardly any decent boats.

Peng Gang has now incorporated the boat corps that has long been active in the Qianjiang and Xunjiang areas!

The number of boats seized in Wuxuan was also considerable!
Naval warfare is the specialty of the submarine force.

Although the boat corps had not succeeded before, it had never been defeated by the Green Standard Army's naval forces in Guangxi.

They were mostly defeated by the Qing army's land forces after landing.

There are two naval battalions formed by former members of the boat corps who are well-versed in water.

Peng Gang was not intimidated by the three naval battalions of the Guangxi Green Standard Army and fought with the Qing army for control of the Qianjiang River.

Once he controlled the Qianjiang River, he could expand his activities to both banks of the Qianjiang River, and even to the banks of the Xunjiang River downstream, preventing the Qing army from completely cutting off his access to supplies from the outside world.

Of course, this doesn't mean that as long as the Qing army controlled the Qianjiang River, they couldn't trap him.

Rather, if the Qing army lost control of the Qianjiang River, the cost of blockading it would increase significantly.

We must extend the blockade line, set up camps on the south bank of the Qianjiang River, and keep a close watch on his movements.

Once the Qing army's blockade line is extended and its forces are dispersed, loopholes are likely to appear.

Peng Gang's goal was thus achieved.

Rumors are circulating that Feng Yunshan and Hong Xiuquan want to bring him into the core decision-making body, but it is unknown when this will be implemented.

There is an even more important reason why Peng Gang is unwilling to go to Jintian now.

The God Society's leadership advocated concentrating all its forces at its headquarters in Jintian Mengchong, hoping to gain a numerical advantage over the Qing army in the face of their impending encirclement and suppression, and defeat the Qing army by overwhelming them with superior numbers.

Peng Gang did not want to give up the Pingzaishan base area, which he had painstakingly built up over two years, and his ideas differed from the decision-making level.

It's not that Xiao Chaogui, Yang Xiuqing, Feng Yunshan, and others made the wrong decisions.

Their claims are also valid.

The problem was that the Qing government, after all, controlled the entire state apparatus and could mobilize resources from Guangxi, and even from across the country, to suppress the God Worshippers.

They concentrated their forces and defeated the first wave of Qing troops' encirclement and suppression, but there was another wave to come.

Winning one or two battles cannot solve the problem at its root.

Peng Gang's ideas, however, were more positive and radical.

If he can enter the core decision-making level, he can formulate the God Society's next strategic plan.

He even considered deploying the formidable Guixian army, led by Shi Dakai and Qin Richang, on the south bank of the Xun River to expand the strategic depth of the base area.

In coordination with his Pingzai Mountain Army on the north bank, they cut off the Qing troops coming from Liuzhou and Guilin from reaching the Qing troops in the Xunjiang River basin via the more convenient Qianjiang waterway, and transported grain and military supplies to Liuzhou and Guilin.

Furthermore, the dispute over the local land in Guixian County has reached a fever pitch.

He, Shi Dakai, and Qin Richang all shared the identity of being from Guixian County.

As long as they could establish themselves in Guixian County on the south bank of the Qian River, they could not only contend with the Qing army but also continuously recruit people from Guixian County to replenish their ranks.

However, these were merely wishful thinking on his part.

The meaning of God's decision is already very clear: to guard Jintian and Zijing Mountain.

Before entering the decision-making level, he only had the right to make suggestions, not the right to make decisions, and it was difficult for him to change their minds.

The headquarters decision-makers would never allow him to allocate the two elite troops of Tiao Shidakai and Qin Richang.

Peng Gang has incorporated the submarine force, greatly increasing its strength.

If Shi Dakai and Qin Richang were to be used by Peng Gang again, he would have the power to directly rival the headquarters.

Moreover, all three of them are from the same hometown in Guixian County. Even if Peng Gang didn't have such thoughts, it would be difficult to stop others from thinking in that direction.

After Shi Dakai and Qin Rigang crossed the Xunjiang River north of Baishawei.

In order to maintain close contact with Peng Gang and support each other, Shi Dakai originally sent a detachment of the Shi family forces led by Shi Zhenlun to join Peng Gang and assist him in guarding the Bitan outpost.

However, the order was quickly halted by headquarters. Headquarters ordered all the Guixian followers under Shi Dakai and Qin Richang to immediately assemble at Jintian Camp and form a unified camp, without delay or severance.

"Commander! Major military intelligence!"

Just as Peng Gang was feeling frustrated, Xie Bin, whose injuries had almost fully recovered, rushed in with a serious expression.

Although Xie Bin has little experience, he has a military background and some skills.

During this military expansion, Peng Gang promoted him to battalion commander, giving him command of a pike battalion and making him the pike instructor responsible for training the pikemen.

"Come in and sit down. Catch your breath and speak slowly." Peng Gang brought over a straw mound that had been made last autumn for Xie Bin to sit down and catch his breath before speaking.

(End of this chapter)