1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 125: Not very harmful, but extremely insulting [Fourth update]

"It's just a gesture. Don't we know what kind of people the Green Standard Army of Xunzhou is? It would be best if Li Dianyuan brought troops to our aid, then we would surround and attack the reinforcements."

Li Dianyuan's Xunzhou Green Standard Army had been holed up in Guiping City, and Peng Gang was worried about not finding an opportunity to deal with Li Dianyuan's Xunzhou Green Standard Army.

The fighting strength of the Xunzhou Green Standard Army was far inferior to that of the Liuzhou and Guilin Green Standard Army. Dealing with Li Dianyuan's Green Standard Army was not as troublesome as dealing with this group of Liuzhou soldiers in Guilin.

“That’s true. In my haste, I forgot about that. We can besiege the stronghold and attack the reinforcements. Li Dianyuan’s Xunzhou garrison is not a threat.” Yang Xiuqing said, rubbing his forehead.

This is Yang Xiuqing's first time commanding a large-scale battle involving tens of thousands of people, so it's understandable that he's not performing as maturely as he should.

The generals of the Taiping Army were basically tempered in the flames of war; everything takes time.

I heard that the Guiliu soldiers and local militia were besieged on the hilltop on the south bank of Dateng Gorge.

The indignant people from Wuxuan in Peng Gang's team volunteered to fight.

If we were to ask who among the Taiping army hated the Guiliu soldiers the most, it would undoubtedly be the Wuxuan people, whose families were ruined by the Guiliu soldiers.

However, Peng Gang rejected their request.

After all, these people from Wuxuan had only been in Peng Gang's team for less than half a month and had not yet received basic military training.

Sending them to fight the Green Standard Army's personal guards and veteran militiamen on the mountaintops is basically no different from being cannon fodder.

Furthermore, a formal decision has not yet been made on how to attack the Guiliu soldiers and the local militia leader Yang Xiuqing on the hilltop.

Perhaps they were exhausted from fighting during the day, or perhaps they were intimidated by the Taiping Army's tight defenses and could not find an opportunity to break out at night.

All night long, the Liuzhou soldiers and local militia on the hilltop remained completely still.

The following day at noon, Peng Gang returned to Zuo Jun's garrison after finishing the meeting.

Xie Bin and Hou Jiyong, along with several company commanders from rifle battalions, approached Peng Gang, eager to join the battle.

Xie Bin and others argued that in previous battles, Peng Gang always prioritized using musketeers.

Yesterday, Luo Dagang also led two boat battalions to participate in the battle.

Of the entire Left Army, only three spear battalions had not participated in the Battle of Dateng Gorge.

Gui Liubing and the local militia were trapped on a hilltop on the south bank of Dateng Gorge.

Such a good training opportunity is rare, and Xie Bin didn't want to miss this great opportunity.

“If you want to fight, there will be plenty of wars for you to fight in the future. The only problem is that you might not be able to fight them all.” Peng Gang smiled with satisfaction.

Peng Gang was very pleased and gratified by the Long Spear Battalion's eagerness to volunteer.

Peng Gang wasn't just making empty promises to them.

The reason there are few battles now is because the Xunzhou garrison of the Green Standard Army is cowardly and avoids fighting, and reinforcements from other provinces have not yet entered Guangxi.

Once the troops from other provinces entered Guangxi, they would have an absolute advantage in troop strength over the Taiping Army, and there would indeed be endless battles to fight.

"Can't it be this time?" Xie Bin looked earnestly at Peng Gang.

Xie Bin was unable to participate in the attack on Wuxuan City because his injuries had not fully healed.

Now that his injuries have healed, he's itching to show off his skills.

“Commander Yang is the supreme commander of this battle, and I must obey his command,” Peng Gang said to Xie Bin with a serious expression.

"Commander Yang has decided to adopt a strategy of encirclement and siege against the Qing troops on the hilltop, luring the Xunzhou Green Standard Army reinforcements in Guiping City out of the city. If you want to take the initiative to fight, I can certainly apply for it for you."

Before the battle, Peng Gang had publicly recommended Yang Xiuqing as the supreme commander of the battle.

The Battle of Dateng Gorge was not yet over, and Yang Xiuqing's arrangements were reasonable. Peng Gang had no reason to break his promise and bypass Yang Xiuqing to arbitrarily mobilize the Left Army to attack the Qing army.

If, in the Battle of Dateng Gorge, he fails to keep his word and lead by example, and instead goes back on his word to Yang Xiuqing, outwardly complying but inwardly opposing him.

His style inevitably influenced the officers under his command. After all, like boss, like subordinates.

As the supreme commander of the left army, he had to set an example.

His every word and action affects every officer under his command.

He did not want his army to experience insubordination in the future.

"We hope the commander can apply for our pike battalion to participate in the battle," Xie Bin said.

“If you have the will, I will apply for it for you. Go back and wait for news.” Peng Gang nodded. This request did not violate his principles, and he could agree to Xie Bin’s request.

Min Zhengwen's Guiliu soldiers and local militia looted a lot of cured meat when they passed through Wuxuan.

When it was time for dinner, the Taiping soldiers cooked their meal in front of the Guiliu soldiers and local militia members on the hilltop. They ate stir-fried cured meat with the cured meat they had captured, and the aroma of the meat wafted out with the mountain breeze.

Enraged, the soldiers and militia members on the mountaintop went hungry for a whole day, pounding their chests and stamping their feet in frustration.

News of the Guangxi Governor's troops being defeated by the God Worshippers at Dateng Gorge traveled down the Qianjiang River and reached Guiping City. The Qing court's intelligence work remained as poor as ever.

They were unaware of such crucial intelligence as the fact that the God God Society's army had been renamed the Taiping Army and called itself the Heavenly Army and Holy Soldiers, and still referred to themselves as God God Society bandits or religious bandits.

Perhaps the entire Xunzhou Prefecture government was diligently gathering intelligence on the God God Society, and officials were trying to gain a deeper understanding of the God God Society.

Only Li Mengqun, who was sent to Wuxuan County by Gu Yuankai and was eager to make a name for himself, remained.

As soon as Li Mengqun left Guiping City, everyone in the city was still completely clueless about the God Society's situation.

The Guangxi governor's troops were defeated by the God Society bandits within his own jurisdiction, and their fate remains unknown to this day.

As the deputy commander of Xunzhou, Li Dianyuan was naturally to blame.

Under pressure, Li Dianyuan had no choice but to select a battalion of Green Standard Army soldiers and mobilize a thousand local militia to leave the city.

Of course, Li Dianyuan didn't dare to enter Pingzaishan to rush to Datengxia to support and assist Min Zhengwen.

He just wanted to go out of the city to take a stroll on the edge of Pingzai Mountain and then come back to report to Gu Yuankai.

Little did they know that Guiping City had already been targeted by Yang Xiuqing, who was determined to besiege the city and attack any reinforcements.

Li Dianyuan's 1,500 Green Standard Army soldiers, having just reached the edge of the mountain by boat, dared not continue rowing forward and quickly turned back to Guiping City to report to Gu Yuankai.

Seeing that Li Dianyuan, this coward, had no intention of entering Dateng Gorge, Lin Qirong, Chen Chengrong, and Lin Fengxiang, who were in charge of intercepting reinforcements, hurriedly led their troops to pursue Li Dianyuan.

Li Dianyuan had no intention of continuing the fight and sailed towards Guiping City without looking back.

Lin Qirong, Chen Chengrong, Lin Fengxiang, and others rowed their boats in hot pursuit.

What was originally intended as a siege and reinforcement operation has turned into a pursuit battle.

Lin Qirong, Chen Chengrong, Lin Fengxiang and others chased after them to the North Gate Wharf of Guiping City.

Li Dianyuan then fled back to Guiping City in a panic and disheveled state under the cover of artillery fire within the city.

Although Lin Qirong, Chen Chengrong, Lin Fengxiang and others did not achieve great results in this battle because Li Dianyuan ran too fast, they only killed more than 30 Green Standard Army militiamen and captured 112 people.

It is not very harmful, but it is extremely insulting.

In the past, the Heaven and Earth Society had caused a lot of trouble, but there had never been a government army that had been chased and beaten by the Heaven and Earth Society all the way to the north gate of Guiping City.

Now everyone in Guiping knows that not only was the governor sent from Guilin, the provincial capital, to Guiping to oversee the suppression of the God Society bandits defeated by the God Society bandits at Dateng Gorge.

Even Li, the deputy general who went out of the city to rescue the admiral, was chased back into the city by the God Society bandits like a rabbit.

The entire city of Guiping was gripped by fear, with people thinking that the God Society bandits would soon attack the city.

Gu Yuankai was furious and angrily rebuked Li Dianyuan for his incompetence, threatening to impeach him.

Despite his anger, Gu Yuankai never mentioned sending troops to rescue Min Zhengwen again after that.

Although the rumors that the God Society bandits would attack Guiping Prefecture were just that—rumors.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

If Li Dianyuan's Xunzhou Green Standard Army is completely wiped out, Gu Yuankai will only be able to rely on local militia and five hundred Liuzhou soldiers to defend the prefectural city.

Min Zhengwen's life or death was nowhere near as important as the safety of the prefectural city.

In any case, he had urged Li Dianyuan to leave the city to rescue Min Zhengwen, and Li Dianyuan did indeed leave the city to provide assistance.

It wasn't that Gu Yuankai was unwilling to help, but rather that the God Society bandits were too fierce and he was no match for them.

Since being chased back to Guiping City by Lin Qirong and others, Li Dianyuan was terrified and dared not even step out of the city gates.

Yang Xiuqing knew that it was no longer possible to get reinforcements from Li Dianyuan.

To besiege a point and then attack its reinforcements, the enemy must dare to send reinforcements.

The Guiliu soldiers and militia on the mountaintop on the south bank of Dateng Gorge had also been starving for four days. Yang Xiuqing could see the Guiliu soldiers and militia on the mountaintop from below the mountain using the telescope she borrowed from Luo Dagang. They were eating tree bark and grass roots to fill their stomachs, and they were even walking more steadily than before.

Yang Xiuqing believed that the time was ripe to completely annihilate this group of Guiliu soldiers and local militia.

Early that morning, Yang Xiuqing selected four teams.

The three battalions of the central army were commanded by Lin Qirong.

The three battalions of the Left Army were commanded by Xie Bin.

The three battalions of the rear army were commanded by Hu Yihuang.

The three battalions of the First Army were commanded by Qin Richang.

(End of this chapter)