1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 278 Breaking the Camp
"In the past two months, the Qing army in Changsha Prefecture has attacked the city of Baling in Yuezhou Prefecture four times, but was repelled by the troops of the Marquis of Dingtian (Qin Rigang) stationed in Baling City."

They were defeated by Prime Minister Wei (Wei Zhijun), who had withdrawn from Wuling, the capital of Changde Prefecture, to Baling and took over the defense of Yuezhou Prefecture.

Zhang Handai pointed to Baling City on the map and said.

"The main force of the Heavenly Army was able to stay safely in the three towns of Wuhan for more than three months without any worries, largely thanks to the upstream city of Baling as a protective barrier. This prevented the Qing army in Changsha Prefecture from directly crossing Baling City and sailing down the river to pursue the Heavenly Army."

Yuezhou Prefecture has been renamed Desheng Prefecture by Yang Xiuqing.

However, the name "Deshengfu" was only used by the high-ranking officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

People in various places, as well as those in the Northern Palace, still habitually refer to it as Yuezhou Prefecture, and even the place names on the maps have not been changed.

"Given the current situation, defending the three towns of Wuhan means defending Yuezhou Prefecture," Zhang Ze emphasized.

"We can concentrate heavy troops to defend strategic locations along the river, such as the prefectural city of Baling, Chenglingji, Linxiang County, and Yalanji, in order to cut off the Qing army's waterway to the east."

"Defending Yuezhou requires not only land forces but also naval forces," Chen Ajiu added, emphasizing that the defense of Yuezhou requires the combined use of land and water forces.

The main focus was on defending Yuezhou to guard against the main Qing army force in Changsha Prefecture, pushing the main battlefield to Yuezhou Prefecture, creating a relatively safe external defense line for the operation of the three towns of Wuhan, and expanding the strategic depth.

This was the prevailing opinion among the higher-ups in the North Palace, and there wasn't much dissent.

"The river defense line of Yuezhou Prefecture definitely needs to be heavily guarded, but just how heavily guarded? And how many troops can we allocate to defend the river defense line of Yuezhou Prefecture?"
In other directions, such as the county towns of Hanchuan, Xiaogan, and Huangpi north of Hanyang, although the possibility of the Qing army attacking from this direction is relatively small, we cannot completely ignore these directions, just in case.

We also need to leave some troops stationed in these areas to ensure the safety of the heartland of Wuhan.

"We should also send troops to take over the other cities in Wuchang Prefecture, and later, after the Eastern King and his forces withdraw from Huangzhou Prefecture. The three towns of Wuhan, needless to say, also require a large troop presence."

Huang Bingxian had a stronger sense of the big picture, and he also realized that if he stayed behind to defend the three towns of Wuhan and the surrounding areas, the original 20,000-plus standing troops of Beidian would inevitably be stretched thin.

How many troops could be allocated to defend the riverside defense line of Yuezhou Prefecture was a very real question.

After Huang Bingxian said this, the hall fell into a brief silence.

“When we handed over the defense lines to Qin Rigang’s troops in the Auxiliary Hall and Wing Hall, there was a window of time when our forces were relatively sufficient.” Peng Gang pondered for a moment, then walked to the map and shared his thoughts.

"The Qing army in Changsha Prefecture set up a large camp outside Yingxun Gate on the south wall of Baling City, confronting the Tianjun stationed in Baling City. Fifty miles south of Baling City, downstream of Xinqiang River, was the main camp of the Qing army."

Sometimes offense is the best defense. While Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun's troops are still in Yuezhou Prefecture, we can gather our elite forces, join forces with Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun's Heavenly Army, break through the Qing army's camp outside Yingxun Gate, and then march south to raid the main force of the Qing army in Hunan at the lower reaches of the Xinqiang River.

If the Qing army camps outside Yingxun Gate and downstream of Xinqiang River are captured, it will boost our morale and confuse the Qing commanders, making them unsure whether the main force of the Heavenly Army will remain in Wuhan or head east to the south of the Yangtze River.

Secondly, it could eliminate a portion of the Qing army's manpower, weakening the Qing army's strength in Hunan and buying more time to manage the defenses along the Yangtze River near Yuezhou and recruit new soldiers.

Peng Gang planned to take advantage of the handover of Yuezhou defenses and the fact that Qin Rigang's and Wei Zhijun's Taiping Army troops were still in Yuezhou Prefecture to launch a surprise attack on the two large camps set up by the Qing army in Changsha within Yuezhou Prefecture, one near and one far.

"I've also heard about the two Qing army camps within Yuezhou Prefecture. The camp outside Yingxun Gate south of Baling City is manned by Qing soldiers under Qin Dingsan and Zhou Fengqi, mostly from Guizhou and Hubei. The Qing army around Xinqiang River is manned by Hunan soldiers under the command of Hunan Governor Bao Qibao. Neither of these forces is particularly elite," Luo Dagang analyzed.

"These two Qing troops originally intended to recapture Baling City, open up the Yangtze River waterway to the three towns of Wuhan, and pursue the Tian Army. However, due to the unsuccessful attack on Baling City, they had no choice but to set up camp and confront the Tian Army in Yuezhou Prefecture."

Luo Dagang had learned about the Qing troops stationed at the southern camp of Baling City and the Xinqiang River camp.

Despite having a numerical advantage, these two Qing armies were unable to gain any advantage against Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun, which shows what kind of people they were.

Taking advantage of the handover of Yuezhou Prefecture's defenses, Luo Dagang believed it was feasible to launch a joint attack with Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun's Taiping Army to raid the Qing army's camp.

After discussing the matter, at Yang Xiuqing's invitation, he took over the positions of the Baishazhou and Dadikou artillery emplacements near Wuchang City.

He immediately left two regiments to be responsible for the defense of the three towns of Wuhan, and then mobilized the main force of the Northern Palace to travel by boat to Baling, the capital of Yuezhou Prefecture.

Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun, who were stationed in Baling City, were quite surprised to see Peng Gang and Luo Dagang personally leading 15,000 Beidian Paimian ships to Baling City to take over the defense of Baling.

The two of them knew that Bei Dian had volunteered to stay and guard the three towns of Baling and Wuhan.

The fact that Peng Gang and Luo Dagang, the top two figures in the Northern Palace, personally led troops to Baling City to take over the defense was somewhat unexpected for them. They felt that the Northern Palace's handover of defense responsibilities in Baling was not as simple as it seemed.

Luo Dagang could handle the handover of defense duties alone; Peng Gang didn't need to make the trip himself.

Indeed, just as Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun had guessed, Peng Gang's special trip to Baling was not simply to take over the defense of Yuezhou Prefecture.

Upon arriving in Baling City, before the handover of defenses could be completed, Peng Gang summoned Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun, who were busy packing their luggage, and got straight to the point.

"Lord Dingtian, Prime Minister Wei, are you interested in pulling off a big heist before leaving Yuezhou Prefecture? Come with me to raid the Qing army camp outside Yingxun Gate in the south of Baling City?"

"The Northern King is going to attack the Qing troops outside Yingxun Gate?" Qin Rigang's eyes lit up, and he laughed.

"The commander of the Qing forces in this camp is Qin Dingsan, the nominal admiral of the Guizhou camp, who is also an old acquaintance of ours."

The Qing army camp outside Yingxun Gate in the south of Baling City had more than 20,000 soldiers.

The Qing army failed to capture Baling City. Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun also tried to attack the Qing army's main camp, but due to insufficient troops, they failed and did not achieve any results.

Neither side could eliminate the other, and the battle at Baling City reached a stalemate.

"Is Marquis Dingtian interested?" Peng Gang asked.

"I couldn't be happier. If His Highness the Northern King is eating meat, I'll also have some soup with him," Qin Rigang said with a smile.

Peng Gang and Luo Dagang personally led more than 15,000 of the Northern Palace's main force to Baling City to take over the defense.

The balance of power between the enemy and ourselves near Baling City has actually been broken.

At this point, an attack on the Qing army camp outside Yingxun Gate would certainly be successful, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

At the beginning of the uprising, Qin Rigang and Bei Dian fought side by side in the Qianjiang River basin for half a year.

When Qin Rigang was enfeoffed as a marquis in Wuchang, a large part of his success in leading the Qing army to retreat with Luo Dagang's naval forces in the area south of Qianjiang was due to his contribution to the enfeoffment.

Before leaving Yuezhou Prefecture, Qin Rigang was eager to join forces with the Northern Palace and gain another great achievement. He couldn't be more eager for such a good opportunity.

"What does Prime Minister Wei think?" Peng Gang turned his head to look at Wei Zhijun, who had not yet expressed his opinion.

The defense line of Baling-Wuhan was originally guarded by Fu Dian.

The North Palace took the initiative to take over the defense of the three towns of Baling and Wuhan, and everyone in the Auxiliary Palace owed the North Palace a favor.

Since Peng Gang had taken the initiative to speak, and there was an opportunity to gain some credit by following Peng Gang, Wei Zhijun had no reason to refuse and immediately stated, "I will obey Your Highness's orders!"

Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun together possessed 8,000 cards in Baling City, two-thirds of which were face cards, demonstrating considerable strength. Otherwise, Yang Xiuqing would not have entrusted Baling City, the western gateway to the three towns of Wuhan and a key point for the flow of Dongting Lake into the Yangtze River, to Qin Rigang and Wei Zhijun.

The original 8,000 garrison troops in Baling City, plus the more than 15,000 elite troops from the Northern Palace brought by Peng Gang.

Compared to the Qing army under Qin Dingsan and Zhou Fengqi outside Yingxun Gate, the Taiping army in Baling City was no longer at a disadvantage in terms of troop strength.

Inside the Qing army's main camp, four or five li south of Yingxun Gate in Baling City.

Qin Dingsan and Zhou Fengqi, two sworn brothers who had traveled hand in hand from Liuzhou Prefecture to Yuezhou Prefecture, were now drinking and pouring out their hearts to each other in the commander's tent.

"Qin Titai, do you think Xiang Titai might be too scared to come to Yuezhou to fight the Taiping Rebellion because he was beaten by the Taiping Rebellion?" After a few pots of wine, Zhou Fengqi couldn't help but confide his dissatisfaction to Qin Dingsan.

"Six months ago, Xiang Titai used the excuse that he was preparing to train the Zhengan army and that the Zhengan soldiers had not yet been formed, so he dared not go to the front to see the Long-haired and Short-haired rebels in a real battle."

Six months later, Xiang Titai still showed no intention of going to the front line. Instead, Governor Zhou and the others made the two of us stand guard at the Yuezhou front line. Isn't this bullying?

"The Zhengan soldiers under General Xiang are new recruits, but are the soldiers of your and my Qian and E battalions all battle-hardened veterans?"

Zhou Fengqi was full of complaints.

It was Sai Shang'a who sent him and Qin Dingsan to the front line of Yuezhou Prefecture. Sai Shang'a was an imperial envoy who held the Ebilun sword and spoke with the imperial authority in his mouth. Zhou Fengqi did not dare to criticize Sai Shang'a's decision.

However, Xiang Rong, who was also a Han general and had lost some power due to his unsuccessful campaign against the bandits in western Guangdong, still dared to say a few words to Qin Dingsan in his presence when he was drunk.

Xiang Rong repeatedly cited the excuse that the Zhengan army was not yet fully trained and should not engage in reckless battles, thus refusing to go to the front lines to fight the Taiping rebels. Zhou Fengqi had long harbored resentment towards this.

After all, when they were in Guangxi, Xiang Rong's troops often served as the mainstay of the Qing army's suppression of bandits, fighting bloody battles against the Taiping and Taiping rebels.

After entering Hunan, Xiang Rong suddenly became timid and retreated to the second line, which Zhou Fengqi found very difficult to get used to.

“Zhou Zhentai, if you don’t trust Xiang Titai and Zhou Futai, do you not trust Luo Futai? We came to Yuezhou Prefecture because of Luo Futai.” Qin Dingsan, slightly tipsy, slowly picked up a piece of food and chewed it.

"The defense of Changsha was largely due to the efforts of Governor Luo. Governor Luo's planning and future prospects far surpass those of Governor Zhou. Governor Luo's statement that the bandits in western Guangdong would soon be going elsewhere for food is undoubtedly true."

"Once the bandits in the three towns of Wuhan leave, why would they stay in Yuezhou for long? Once the bandits in Baling City withdraw, we can easily recapture Baling; that would be a great achievement."

Luo Bingzhang made great contributions in defending Changsha, while the performance of the current Governor-General of Huguang, Cheng Yucai, in suppressing bandits was questionable. Emperor Xianfeng had long intended to replace Cheng Yucai.

However, due to the unresolved crisis in Shangsha and the safety of Hubei, Cheng Yucai was not dismissed or punished.

Changsha has been saved, but the situation in Hubei is in dire straits.

It was a foregone conclusion that Cheng Yucai would be removed from his position as Governor-General of Huguang.

Luo Bingzhang is a suitable candidate to succeed the vacant position of Governor-General of Huguang.

Luo Bingzhang has a bright future ahead of him, and his abilities surpass those of Zhou Tianjue. More importantly, he is not as harsh or unreasonable as Zhou Tianjue towards his subordinates.

Qin Dingsan believed that following Luo Bingzhang would be more promising and comfortable than following Zhou Tianjue, who was unpredictable, capricious, incompetent, and had a bad temper. He had long intended to switch allegiances.

Qin Dingsan was willing to risk his life to come to the Yuezhou front line not because of Zhou Tianjue and Sai Shang'a, but because of Luo Bingzhang.

"Will the bandits from western Guangdong really leave the three towns of Wuhan?" Zhou Fengqi was somewhat uncertain.

Qin Dingsan's wishful thinking was based on the premise that the Taiping army would withdraw from the three towns of Wuhan.

If the Taiping army in the three towns of Wuhan did not withdraw, there would be no reason for the Taiping army in Yuezhou Prefecture to withdraw.

If the Taiping army in Yuezhou Prefecture does not withdraw, how can he and Qin Dingsan's crooked and incompetent troops possibly recapture the prefecture city of Baling?
"From the beginning of last year until now, from Wuxuan to Wuchang, how many cities have the bandits in western Guangdong captured? Every time, they would loot a city and then leave."

Based on his past experience fighting the Taiping Army, Qin Dingsan firmly believed in Luo Bingzhang's assertion, thinking that the Taiping Army would definitely withdraw from the three towns of Wuhan; it was only a matter of time.

The two were talking.

As dusk fell, a thin mist rose over Dongting Lake to the west of the camp, obscuring the lights within the camp from view into a few scattered points.

The Qing army camp outside Yingxun Gate had been at peace for many days, and the Qing soldiers were extremely lax. The sentries were only conducting routine patrols, their steps languid, with only the chirping of insects and the occasional barking of dogs in the air.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a Taiping army raiding party had quietly crept towards their camp from the reeds two or three miles outside.

This raiding party was divided into three groups: one group used fire attack, carrying rockets soaked in tung oil, and was responsible for launching rockets into the camp using crossbows to set fire to the southwest corner of the Qing army's grain and supplies storage area, in order to disrupt the order of the Qing army in the camp.
One group consisted of swordsmen and spearmen responsible for assaults, specializing in breaching camp gates and decapitating the central army;
The last group consisted of musketeers providing fire support, tasked with following the swordsmen into the Qing army camp to provide cover from both flanks, shooting down any alert Qing soldiers to prevent them from forming ranks and defending the camp.

The three teams agreed on a simple signal to launch an attack: the archers would fire fire arrows, signaling the start of the raid and clearing of the camp.

As a thin beam of fire shot up from the reed marshes, hundreds of rockets of varying sizes soared into the sky, tracing fiery arcs before crashing down on the southwest corner of the camp with a piercing whistle.

That was where the Qing army stored their supplies and stables, with grain carts, hay, and other flammable materials piled up like mountains.

The tarpaulin canopy was quickly engulfed by flames, and from the raging fire came the terrified neighing of mules and horses and the howling of supply troops.

Meanwhile, a commando team composed of swordsmen and spearmen approached the Qing army camp silently from the west and north, reaching the camp gate.

The Qing soldiers on guard patrol outside the camp gate were quickly slit in the throat by veteran Taiping soldiers in the assault team, collapsing to the ground without even uttering a sound.

Immediately afterwards, the Taiping soldiers in the assault team carried sharpened wooden stakes and rammed them against the door bolt.

Before long, with a loud "click," the camp gate opened, and the assault team surged into the Qing army camp like a black tide.

The Taiping army's swordsmen and spearmen who flooded into the Qing army camp had a clear objective—to take the main tent.

At this moment, the Qing troops in the camp were still attracted by the raging fire in the southeast corner, and a large number of people rushed towards the fire to try to salvage supplies, leaving the central army empty.

The Taiping army moved as if they were in an empty field. When they encountered a few soldiers who tried to stop them, they would either slash with their knives or thrust with their spears, without engaging in any prolonged fights, in order to quickly penetrate into the central army camp.

The musketeers followed closely behind the swordsmen and spearmen, rushing into the Qing army camp and using volleys of gunfire to take down the Green Standard Army soldiers who were just about to form ranks.

The startled Qing soldiers cried out, "The camp is under attack by bandits!" but their shouts were quickly drowned out by the roar of muskets and the clatter of hooves from frightened horses.

Qin Dingsan and Zhou Fengqi, who were drinking in the commander's tent, were shocked to hear that the bandits from western Guangdong had broken into the camp under cover of night. They broke out in a cold sweat, their drunkenness vanished, and they sobered up instantly.

Just moments before, Qin Dingsan had confidently assured Zhou Fengqi that the Taiping rebels in western Guangdong would inevitably withdraw from the three towns of Wuhan and Yuezhou Prefecture, and that recapturing Baling City would be effortless. However, the Taiping army, which had stormed into the camp, slapped him hard across the face.

Damn it!
Governor Luo doesn't seem to be that reliable either.

If the bandits in western Guangdong were going to find food elsewhere, why did they send troops to attack Qin Dingsan's camp?
Qin Dingsan had no time to think. He rushed out of the tent, hurriedly jumped onto his horse, and organized his personal guards to break through the encirclement and head to the Xinqianghe camp.

(End of this chapter)