1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 134 Battle of Togo
Dongxiang is situated in a small basin surrounded by mountains on all sides, bordered to the west by the Dongxiang River, a tributary of the Qianjiang River. Interspersed with small hills and ridges, the area is dotted with villages and fertile fields with abundant grain.

Centered on Dongxiang, there are fifty or sixty villages and towns of varying sizes nearby.

The Dongxiang defense line was designed by Yang Xiuqing and was not only for defending Dongxiang.

Yang Xiuqing made use of all the nearby villages and hills.

This formed a deep defense system centered on Dongxiang, with surrounding villages and mountain passes as support points, allowing for mutual support and protecting the western gate of the Zijingshan base area.

Unfortunately, Yang Xiuqing's previous focus was on attacking Pingnan County.

The number of troops left to guard Dongxiang was not very large, only 1,200.

The central army consisted of only 430 men, with the remaining defensive forces being the rear guards of the central army.

Yang Xiuqing's troop deployment was also quite interesting.

The high mountains and strategic passes surrounding the Dongxiang military camp were all guarded by Paiwei.

The main force of the central army was all concentrated and stationed at the Dongxiang military camp.

Peng Gang dispatched a musket battalion, two rifle battalions, and an artillery company to Dongxiang to attack the Qing army troops from Guizhou who were stationed at Sanlixu.

Lin Qirong had always wanted to fight the Guizhou army under Li Rui, the general of Guzhou Town, stationed in Sanlixu, in order to eliminate the threat from the outskirts of Dongxiang.

However, the Qing army near Sanlixu was numerous, and Qing reinforcements were constantly arriving at Sanlixu.

Lin Qirong only had one battalion of regular troops capable of fighting tough battles. He was worried that if the regular troops were lost, the entire Dongxiang defense line would be in danger, affecting Yang Xiuqing's plans. Therefore, he did not dare to make any moves.

Peng Gang's initiative to lead the Left Army to attack Sanlixu was a timely help, and Lin Qirong was naturally very happy and welcoming.

He warmly welcomed Peng Gang's Left Army at the Dongxiang military camp, even preparing the campsite in advance for them. The food and fodder the Left Army wanted were also provided promptly without any shirking or delay.

Peng Gang's left wing was brave and skilled in battle, and Peng Gang was resourceful and wise. He would not use friendly troops as cannon fodder in battle, and he would not be biased when distributing spoils. His fair treatment of others had spread throughout the Taiping Army.

Peng Gang's Left Army had an excellent reputation within the Taiping Army.

Lin Qirong's good friend Chen Chengrong fought alongside Peng Gang and always gave Peng Gang a thumbs up when talking about him.

Therefore, Lin Qirong was full of expectations for fighting alongside Zuo Jun in the future.

After finishing their meal, Peng Gang led his officers to a nearby cliff to work on mapping, while also dispatching more than ten scouts to ride off towards Sanlixu to scout out enemy activity.

The army had just arrived in Dongxiang after a long march. Peng Gang planned to rest in Dongxiang for a day, and wait until the soldiers were well-fed and the horses were ready to scout out the strength of the Qing army in Sanlixu before launching an attack on them.

"What do you think of Commander Yang's deployment of the Dongxiang defense line?"

Standing atop the cliff, Peng Gang found a clean rock and sat down, gazing at the Dongxiang defense line set up by Yang Xiuqing, and asking his officers questions.

"Although the fighting strength of the central army's rear guard is not as good as that of the main army's front guard, they hold their ground by occupying strategic passes and high points, so the Qing army will not be able to take them down in a short time," said Lu Qin, the musket battalion commander, after surveying the Dongxiang defense line for a moment.

"It is very clever not to disperse the First Battalion's regular troops to various strategic passes. Commander Yang has set up at least fifty defensive strongholds on the nearby mountain passes. If the regular troops are dispersed to various defensive strongholds, each stronghold will not even be able to allocate ten regular troops. It is better to concentrate the regular troops for use."

“Even if several strongholds are captured by the Qing army, as long as the First Battalion of the Zhengjun Army stationed in Dongxiang reacts in time and sends troops to repel the invading Qing forces, the entire Dongxiang defense line can still be kept safe,” Zhang Ze said after thinking for a moment, stroking his chin.

"The Qing army's Green Standard Army made the mistake of dividing its troops for defense. Even when thousands of men were mobilized during wartime, they lacked coordination and training and often fought independently, struggling even to deal with fierce bandits," Xie Bin said with deep insight.

"Elite troops should be concentrated and used in a concentrated manner."

Yang Xiuqing's central army, which had been trained intensively in Mengchong since the Battle of Mengchong, was one of the Taiping Army's top elite forces. Using them in dispersed groups would indeed be a move to avoid their strengths and maximize their weaknesses, which would greatly weaken the central army's combat effectiveness.

Yang Xiuqing's Dongxiang defense line also had a high margin for error. It's hard to imagine that such a defense line was created by an illiterate charcoal burner.

As they were talking, a column of smoke rose from the direction of Mocun, due west.

Peng Gang's scouts, who had just been dispatched, arrived at the main camp of the Qing army in Dongxiang almost one after the other, along with Lin Qirong's scouts, to report to Peng Gang and Lin Qirong the news that the Qing army was attacking Dongxiang from the west.

Upon hearing this news, both Peng Gang and Lin Qirong were greatly surprised, and at one point thought they had misheard.

"Is the Qing army stationed at Sanlixu or attacking Dongxiang? How many men are there? Please be clear about this." Feeling incredulous, Peng Gang repeatedly confirmed with the scout.

The Qing army's entry into Sanlixu and its attack on Dongxiang were two completely different things.

Before Peng Gang's left wing arrived in Dongxiang, the situation between the Taiping army and the Qing army was at a stalemate.

Lin Qirong's expedition to attack Sanlixu from Dongxiang was very risky.

It was not an easy task for the Qing army to attack Yang Xiuqing's meticulously arranged defense line in Dongxiang.

No Qing scout activity was found near Dongxiang.

Even if the Qing army's generals were unskilled or incompetent, they wouldn't have launched an attack without sending out scouts or thoroughly investigating the situation in Dongxiang before the battle.
"It's an attack on Dongxiang! Three or four thousand Qing troops, a massive army, are all marching towards Dongxiang. I even saw the Qing commander-in-chief's entourage! This time, the Qing commander-in-chief's entourage is even more impressive than that of a general! It must be the Qing commander-in-chief personally leading the expedition to Dongxiang!" the scout replied with great certainty. Soon, Lin Qirong also confirmed with Peng Gang that the Qing army was indeed going to launch an eastern expedition to Dongxiang, and not just stationing themselves at Sanlixu as before.

"The Qing demons are advancing too fast this time; they've probably already reached Renhe by now."

Before the Qing army attacked, they didn't even send out scouts, and there was no sign of an attack whatsoever, which Lin Qirong found incredible.

In the past, the Qing army rarely even left Sanlixu, but this time they actually advanced all the way to Renhe, which is less than 20 li away from the Dongxiang camp. This is truly unbelievable.

Peng Gang stroked his chin thoughtfully, analyzing the information and intelligence he knew.

There has been no news of any Qing Dynasty governor-general or imperial envoy entering Guangxi.

The ceremonial guard that the scouts were referring to, which was even more impressive than that of a general, could only be the guard of a governor or an admiral.

Could it be that Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong have already arrived in Wuxuan?
Xiang Rong was a veteran general of the Green Standard Army, known for his cautious and steady approach to military affairs.

If Xiang Rong wanted to attack Dongxiang, he wouldn't have failed to send out scouts.

After much thought, the only Qing official who could employ such abstract military tactics could be the extraordinary Zhou Tianjue.

Peng Gang wondered if Zhou Tianjue would kill the Taiping Army as if they were the White Lotus Sect or ordinary bandits.
On second thought, it doesn't seem that bad.

Zhou Tianjue had never fought against the Taiping Army, but Li Mengqun had. Not long ago, Li Mengqun's Wuxuan militia had suffered a loss at the hands of Qin Richang.

Even if Zhou Tianjue didn't understand the Taiping Army, Li Mengqun would definitely tell Zhou Tianjue the Taiping Army intelligence he had when reporting to this new leader.

The only reasonable explanation Peng Gang could think of was that Li Mengqun truthfully reported the situation of the Taiping Army in Zijing Mountain and Pingzai Mountain to Zhou Tianjue, but Zhou Tianjue did not listen and insisted on sending troops to attack Dongxiang.

"When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it. Let's send troops to meet the enemy!" Peng Gang returned to the Left Army's camp and mustered his troops to advance westward.

Since the Battle of Dateng Gorge, Peng Gang's left wing has not fought a major battle for more than two months. It is a good opportunity to test the training results of Zhou Tianjue's Qing army over the past two months.

Zhou Tianjue's advance was very sudden. Sanlixu was not far from Renhe and Mian, the front-line positions of the Dongxiang defense line.

The Taiping troops defending Renhe and Mian were all from the central and rear positions, and the total number of the garrison troops in the two places was only about 120.

Zhou Tianjue's 1,200 Guizhou soldiers, 500 Yunnan soldiers, 800 Zhuangyong, 600 Yaoyong, and 700 Wuxuan militiamen quickly captured Renhe and Mumian, seizing 78 shi of grain stored there.

Overjoyed at the first victory, Zhou Tianjue sat comfortably in his sedan chair, smoking his pipe with a relaxed air: "In the past, Yue Fei defeated 100,000 enemy soldiers with 800 Beiwei soldiers. I have 4,000 elite troops under my command. What difficulty is there in defeating 100,000 God Society rebels? Besides, the number of rebels is not even 100,000."

"You fear the God Society cult members like tigers, hesitant to advance in battle. I thought they were some formidable bandits, but today's battle shows they are nothing but shrewd thieves."

Zhou Tianjue was in high spirits, feeling that the Catholic Church bandits in Guangxi were nothing to fear, and that as long as he, Zhou Tianjue, was there, the situation would be peaceful in no time.

“Your Excellency, we were just attacking the tail end of the God's Society's formation, not their main force,” Li Mengqun reported to Zhou Tianjue after carefully examining the bodies of the twenty-odd God's Society cult members they had just killed.

This was not Li Mengqun trying to make amends for his previous failures.

These cult members who were killed were all long-haired rebels, not the elite short-haired rebels who had cut off their braids and kept a head of stubble.

Furthermore, these long-haired individuals had only a stubble of less than half an inch on their foreheads, were thin, and were either too old or too young, clearly new bandits among the long-haired ones.

Three thousand eight hundred men besieged over a hundred God Society bandits, but only killed twenty-odd of them. The remaining nearly one hundred God Society bandits all escaped.

On our side, seven or eight were killed in the battle, twenty-one fell into the pit and were killed by bamboo spikes and wooden splinters, thirty-eight were injured by thorns, and more than twenty were injured by stepping on caltrops.

Such an ugly victory is hardly something to be proud of or boast about.

Zhou Tianjue was in high spirits and, out of respect for Li Mengqun's father, Li Qinggu, didn't hold it against Li Mengqun.

"Your Excellency, our troops are somewhat scattered. Should we set up camp here, reorganize the troops, and then make further plans?" Qin Dingsan asked for instructions.

Although his Guizhou army suffered considerable losses in this battle despite outnumbering his troops, it was not a particularly impressive victory.

Qin Dingsan had at least clashed with the God Society cultists.

Most of the casualties among the Guizhou army, Yunnan army, and local militia were caused by enemy traps.

Few of them actually died in battle; the fighting strength of the God Society bandits wasn't particularly strong.

After the battle, Qin Dingsan also believed that his colleagues in Liuzhou and Li Mengqun had exaggerated their assessment of the God Society bandits.

The Guizhou and Yunnan armies he brought, along with the accompanying local militia, might not be unable to put up a fight.

Thinking of this, Qin Dingsan felt more confident.

"Let's press on and march straight to Dongxiang! I intend to set up camp in Dongxiang!" Zhou Tianjue, inside his sedan chair, pointed his pipe toward Dongxiang and said.

(End of this chapter)