1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 175 Conquering Cangwu
In December 1850, the main force of the Taiping Army, which had been lying in wait at Zijing Mountain for several months, finally marched out of Fengmen Pass and launched an attack on the Qing army's defense line outside Fengmen Pass.

With Xiao Chaogui personally leading the vanguard as the trailblazer, the Taiping army charged straight at the Qing army camp like tigers descending a mountain.

The morale of the Qing army was low, and they collapsed at the slightest provocation.

Having broken through the outer defenses of Fengmen'ao, Xiao Chaogui's fierce generals Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang continued their eastward advance.

The vanguard swept through the enemy with overwhelming force, and within just half a day, they had recaptured Jintian and Xinwei.

They destroyed the Qing army's camps at Jintian and Xinwei.

The next day, the Taiping army pressed on and swiftly captured Jiangkouwei. The 8,000 Qing soldiers and local militia stationed at Jiangkouwei fled back to Guiping overnight.

Yang Xiuqing had long anticipated that the Qing army at Jiangkouwei would flee back to Guiping. He set up an ambush in the Xunjiang waterway near Shizui Village to pursue the fleeing Qing soldiers, achieving a brilliant victory by killing more than 1,800 of them.

After recapturing Jintian and then capturing Xinwei and Jiangkouwei, the Taiping Army's military prestige was greatly boosted.

The last line of defense for the Qing army against the Taiping army collapsed less than half a month after Lin Zexu's death, under the fierce offensive of the main force of the Taiping army.

At this point, the three lines of defense that the Qing army had set up around Zijing Mountain and Pingzai Mountain, located in the east, west, and south, were completely wiped out.

The Taiping army arrived so quickly that the Huang family, the most prominent gentry in Xunzhou Prefecture, had not even had time to leave Jiangkouwei before they were caught red-handed by the Taiping army.

Although the Taiping army killed or captured more than 3,700 Qing soldiers during their counterattack.

However, the Qing army's commanders and leaders fled too quickly, and they were unable to capture any high-ranking Qing officials.

Xiao Chaogui and others then used Huang Tizheng's clan as a sacrifice.

It is widely rumored in Xunzhou Prefecture that the Huang family has buried a large amount of treasure in their ancestral hall and ancestral tombs in Xinwei.

When the patriarchs of the Huang family were alive, no one dared to touch the Huang family ancestral hall or ancestral graves.

After the Huang family members died, local ruffians and vagrants came with hoes and shovels to dig up the Huang family's ancestral hall and graves.

Upon seeing this, Wei Changhui hurriedly dispatched troops to disperse these ruffians and ordered the Right Army to excavate the Huang family ancestral hall and ancestral graves.

The rumors are not unfounded.

Wei Changhui did indeed dig up a cellar containing hidden silver in the Huang family ancestral hall, finding around 60,000 taels of silver.

As for the Huang family's ancestral graves, not many valuable burial items were found.

The main force of the Taiping army collected more than 5,800 shi of grain from the abandoned camps of the Qing army. If they ate sparingly, it would last for eight or nine days, and the food crisis of the main force was temporarily relieved.

They learned that the Taiping army had broken through the encirclement and reoccupied Jintian Village, Jiangkouwei and other places.

Zhou Tianjue, who was temporarily in charge of military and political affairs in Guangxi and was in charge of suppressing the Heaven and Earth Society and the God Society, urgently ordered the Qing troops near Guiping City to attack and fight against the Taiping Army.

Unfortunately, the veteran soldiers and generals of the Qing army in Guiping were dwindling, some dying and others leaving.

There are no capable generals or soldiers left in Guiping City.

The remaining Qing soldiers, no matter how much Zhou Tianjue urged them, remained holed up in Guiping City and refused to come out.

The Qing army in Guiping City dared not leave the city to contain the main force of the Taiping army. The main force of the Taiping army moved as if it were in an empty field. After capturing Jiangkouwei and seizing the Qing army's river boats, the central and vanguard armies continued to march eastward.

The main Qing army forces were concentrated in Guiping City, leaving other areas with very weak defenses.

The Taiping army made rapid progress, and the Qing army had no time to react.

The Taiping army swept through the enemy lines, successively occupying Pingnan County and Teng County along the Xunjiang River.

After capturing Tengxian County, the Taiping Army made some brief rests in Tengxian, recruited soldiers and horses on the spot, and then continued to sail down the Xunjiang River, with their army heading straight for Cangwu City, the capital of Wuzhou Prefecture.

The city of Cangwu is high and the moat is deep, and its defensive forces are more abundant than those of Tengxian.

The defense was supported by over 300 Green Standard Army soldiers from the Wuzhou Left Battalion and over 2,300 local militia members spontaneously organized and raised by gentry and merchants.

With the cooperation of the Heaven and Earth Society within the city, Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui bombarded Cangwu City with heavy artillery, followed by a strong attack.

Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui, who were in charge of attacking Cangwu City, made full use of the Taiping Army's firepower and manpower advantages.

Cangwu City, the capital of Wuzhou Prefecture, is the most developed commercial city in Guangxi, with numerous shops and residences near each city gate.

The Taiping army arrived quickly, and with the opposition of local merchants and gentry, the garrison commander of Cangwu City, Wuzhou Deputy Commander Aljin'a, and the prefect of Wuzhou, Chen Ruizhi, had not yet had time to burn down the buildings near the city gate.

This greatly facilitated the Taiping army's attack on the city. Under the cover of shops and houses near the city gates, they launched a fierce attack on the Dezheng Gate, Nanxun Gate, Zhengdong Gate, and Dayun Gate of Cangwu City, forcing the Qing army garrison inside the city to be busy redeploying troops and have little chance to catch their breath.

After three days of fierce fighting, both the Qing army and the Taiping army suffered casualties, with the Taiping army suffering heavy losses. The central and vanguard armies together suffered more than 360 dead and wounded, yet still failed to capture Cangwu City.

Fortunately, the Taiping army obtained 13,560 shi of grain in Teng County, which was enough to sustain them.

There was no indication that the Qing troops in Guiping and Zhaoqing were providing support to Cangwu.

Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui decided to continue their attack on Cangwu City.

On the tenth day, Yang Xiuqing led the central army in a fierce attack on Dezheng Gate, Nanxun Gate, and Zhengdong Gate, while Xiao Chaogui temporarily slowed down his offensive on Dayun Gate.

The intense fighting over the past few days has left Wuzhou Deputy Commander Aljing Ajing exhausted, both physically and mentally.

The Taiping army launched a strong attack on the three gates of Dezheng Gate, Nanxun Gate, and Zhengdong Gate. Among them, Zhengdong Gate was at risk of falling. The Taiping army's offensive on Dayun Gate slowed down.

Aljing Asui transferred the garrison of Dayunmen to support the Zhengdongmen.

This move was exactly what Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui wanted.

Seeing this, Xiao Chaogui personally led 800 elite soldiers to launch a fierce attack on Dayunmen.

The Qing army garrison at Dayunmen was unable to withstand the Taiping army's offensive. Xiao Chaogui himself even achieved the feat of being the first to scale the walls of Cangwu City.

Seeing that Military Advisor Xiao had climbed the Cangwu city wall and killed seven or eight Qing soldiers in succession, he gained a foothold on the top of the Cangwu city wall.

The Taiping army's morale soared, and a thunderous cheer erupted.

"Long live Military Advisor Xiao!"

"Follow Military Advisor Xiao to the city walls!"

If the commander-in-chief is willing to risk his life to achieve the victory of being the first to scale the walls, why should these lowly soldiers be so concerned about their lives?
The Taiping soldiers of the vanguard charged forward one after another, following Xiao Chaogui, and successively climbed the city wall, occupied and controlled Dayunmen.

With the city gates of Dayunmen wide open, the Taiping soldiers of the vanguard swarmed into Cangwu City through Dayunmen.

After ten days of relentless attacks on Cangwu City, and at the cost of 621 casualties, the Taiping Army finally captured the city!
Cangwu City was the first prefectural city captured by the Taiping Army since the Jintian Regiment Order was issued!
After the fall of Cangwu City, the defending general of Wuzhou, Aljin, was beheaded by Lin Fengxiang.

Aljina was the second Manchu high-ranking general to die at the hands of the Taiping Army, and also the first Manchu high-ranking general killed by the main force of the Taiping Army.

Prefect Chen Ruizhi of Wuzhou Prefecture committed suicide with his entire family at the Wuzhou Prefectural Government Office, becoming the first prefectural official since the Jintian Military Camp Commander to be buried alive with the Qing Dynasty.

Liu Tishu, the magistrate of Cangwu County, drowned himself in a well (Cangwu County, like Guiping County, was an attached county).

Cangwu City, the capital of Wuzhou Prefecture, is located at the confluence of the Xijiang, Xunjiang, and Guijiang rivers, serving as a vital trade route between Guangdong and Guangxi.

Its level of wealth far surpasses that of Guiping City.

After capturing Cangwu City, the Taiping Army quickly took control of the Cangwu Treasury.

More than 50,000 shi of grain were confiscated from the official granaries alone.

Although the prefectural treasury held less than 20,000 taels of silver, the local wealthy merchants had not yet consumed it. Cangwu City was a crucial transit point for Guangdong salt entering Guangxi, and there were many salt merchants in Cangwu City.

Not to mention other wealthy families, just the salt merchants of Cangwu City alone meant that the Taiping Army wouldn't have to worry about salt and silver for a long time to come.

When Cangwu fell, it was not Zhou Tianjue who was most anxious.

It was Xu Guangjin, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

With the fall of Cangwu City, Zhou Tianjue was more than happy that the Taiping Army would continue its advance down the Xunjiang and Xijiang rivers, causing trouble for Xu Guangjin, who had been watching from the sidelines, and letting Xu Guangjin experience the power of the Catholic Church. This would save Xu Guangjin from having to stand on the dry bank and criticize him.

Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom attacked Cangwu City to obtain grain and fodder, they did not intend to go east to Guangdong, but planned to go north along the Gui River to Guilin.

Xu Guangjin was unaware of these things.

Furthermore, following the conventional route of advance.

After capturing Cangwu City, it would indeed be the most convenient and logical course of action to continue down the Xunjiang-Xijiang River and head straight for Guangdong.

Xu Guangjin was truly anxious this time and hastily dispatched the Guangdong navy to block the West River in order to cut off the God Society's route eastward to Guangdong.

This time, Xu Guangjin unprecedentedly ordered the Guangdong navy to sail up the West River into Guangxi, making it seem as if he intended to recapture Cangwu City.

(End of this chapter)