Han’s Son is Not a Slave

In the Battle of Lutouhe, the incompetence of the Qing army's green battalion made Zhou Shixiang assess the situation. Instead of the previous conservative battle, he ordered the entire army to march towards Panyu. Activities in Zengcheng and other counties under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture.

In fact, with the current strength of the Taiping Army, there is no way to attack Guangzhou City. Although Lutouhe won the battle, the left battalion of the infantry also suffered heavy losses. Before the war, it was full of 3,000 troops, and now there are only more than 1,400 people left. This will even count Zhou Shixiang. To mobilize all the Taiping troops from Xiangshan to advance northward, it is still impossible to surpass the Qing army in terms of strength alone. Therefore, it was unwise to abandon the plan formulated before the war, and to retreat to Xiangshan quickly after the successful ambush in the Lutou River.

When Duke Xiang of Song in the rear knew that Zhou Shixiang led his troops to cross the Lutou River and marched towards Panyu, he had people bring his letter on horseback. In the letter, he naturally questioned Zhou Shixiang's decision and strongly urged Zhou Shixiang to immediately stop this. An unwise move, he immediately led the army back to Xiangshan.

Zhou Shixiang's reply to Song Xianggong explained the reason why he wanted to venture north. He believed that it was impossible for Guangzhou to deploy enough green battalions to deal with the Taiping army, or that they did not have enough mobile troops to deal with Taiping. military.

With the annihilation of the Guangzhou Green Camp in the Lutou River, the Qing army basically lost its offensive power against the Taiping army in Zengcheng and Panyu. It is a miracle, how can it cause heavy damage to the Taiping army.

Guangzhou Green Battalion is one of the three elites of Guangdong Green Battalion. The other two are Zhaoqing Green Battalion and Chaozhou Green Battalion. One of these two Green Battalion soldiers is responsible for the defense of western Guangdong, and the other is responsible for the Fujian Zheng Clan. Under the pressure, Shang Kexi and Li Suotai would not send them all the way to fight the Taiping unless their brains were broken.

Now that the Guangzhou Green Battalion has been wiped out, the only Green Battalion that Guangzhou can mobilize is the battalion stationed in the Sanjiangkou area. According to Zhang An's intelligence, there were about 6,000 Qing troops in the Sanjiangkou defense line, including nearly 2,000 Han flag soldiers under the command of the two vassals. The Green Battalion has about 4,000 soldiers.

Most of the more than 4,000 green battalion soldiers were not local soldiers from Guangdong, but guest soldiers from Jiangxi and Fujian. One of them was Jiangxi soldiers led by Shao Jiugong's old boss, Kong Guozhi, the general of Ganzhou.

The importance of the Sanjiangkou line of defense is no less than the significance of Xinhui City to Guangzhou. What's more, in the twelfth lunar month of last year, Chen Qice and Zhu Tong just commanded the Ming army to attack Sanjiangkou. Although it was unsuccessful, it forced the Qing army in Sanjiangkou to not move a step. . As for the garrison battalions in counties such as Shunde and Nanhai, Zhou Shixiang did not think that they might be transferred out to attack the Taiping Army. First, these two counties have to support the Sanjiangkou defense line, and secondly, the number of battalions in the two counties is not large. Relative to the scale of the Taiping Army, which has nearly tens of thousands, it is obviously not worth mentioning.

Combining Zhang An's intelligence and the heavy damage to the Qing army due to the victory of Lutouhe, Zhou Shixiang determined that the Governor of Guangdong, Li Ruotai, had no troops to adjust, and the only people who could be sent by Guangzhou to encircle the Taiping Army were the Han army flag soldiers under the Ping and Jing vassals. And the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers stationed in Guangzhou.

Both of these two troops could pose a threat to the Taiping Army, and both had the ability to seriously damage the Taiping Army, but Zhou Shixiang made the decision to move north after much deliberation. The performance of the Han flag cavalry was the greatest confidence in his decision.

Although the prefectures and counties in Guangzhou were equally divided into plains and hills, the plains had extremely developed water systems, often a river within a few miles, so it was not suitable for large-scale cavalry operations. This can be seen from the Battle of Lutouhe that the Qing army only dispatched one Niu Lu from the Eight Banners of Manchuria and one Niu Lu from the Han Army.

The most important thing is that the performance of the two brigades of the infantry's right battalion in annihilating the Han flag cavalry in the Lutou River made Zhou Shi's combat effectiveness relative to the infantry's right battalion unprecedented. With these two brigades of gunmen as the backbone against the Qing army, plus the cooperation of the rest of the battalion and artillery battalion, Zhou Shixiang had a 70-80% chance of winning.

The time does not wait for me, and the opportunity does not come again. Take advantage of his illness to kill him. Since the Qing army in Guangzhou could no longer pose a great threat to the Taiping army, Zhou Shixiang naturally had to go to the other side's hinterland for a walk. This would not only make the Taiping army famous, but also raise food and grass in the Qing-occupied area to destroy the Manchurian to the greatest extent possible. The Qing rule in these areas made it impossible for the Qing army in Guangzhou to obtain food and wages in these areas. The Taiping Army can train the army and obtain supplies through this way of fighting to support the war. Why not do it.

As for the consequences of the people in the areas where the Taiping Army was "looted" by the Taiping Army, Zhou Shixiang tried his best not to think about it. to comfort yourself. It seems that as long as he does so, his conscience will be greatly improved

In the Battle of Lutouhe, the Taiping Army annihilated 2,600 people under Lin Jinzhong, the general soldier of the Guangzhou Green Battalion, captured more than 1,800 people, and annihilated more than 400 people from the Blue-Han Army Flag Unit. 37 doors, and countless other weapons and armaments.

The Lutouhe Victory was another major victory for the Taiping Army after the Xinhui Battle. The news spread to Xiangshan, and Liao Ruixiang, the magistrate, organized the whole city to celebrate. The army and the people can celebrate with wine.

After hearing the news of the great victory, Guo Shao, the ambassador of the Liangzi Township Salt Inspection Institute, quietly asked his family to remove dozens of packages that were put on the carriage and put them back to their original places.

There are not a few people who did the same thing as Guo Shao, especially those scholars who worked for the Taiping Army in the county government. It is unknown how some landowners and gentry in various townships who had been "persuaded" by the Taiping Army behaved.

It can be seen that the people of the townships are really happy about the Taiping army's victory, because only when the Taiping army wins can they continue to share the benefits brought to them by the Taiping army, and they don't have to worry about their own unlucky after the Qing army kills them. .

Many young adults who were still on the sidelines, under the persuasion of their families, took the initiative to sign up for the army at the township office, and asked the township office to include their family in the treatment of the Taiping Army. For several days, there were no less than two or three thousand young people who signed up for the army in the township offices, but except for a small number, the rest were persuaded to return, saying that they were busy with spring ploughing and that there were few people in the fields. It's not too late to join the army

Song Xianggong couldn't stop Zhou Shixiang's move to the north, so he could only fully support and cooperate.

Under the order of the military commander's office, the troops of the 2 brigade left behind in Liangzi Township of the Infantry Battalion immediately moved north. In addition, the former Shanzhai Reserve Barracks dispatched 1,000 troops to urgently replenish the front line. The security teams in the townships also stepped up their drills, ready to replenish the reserve barracks at any time, and the external propaganda was to prevent the Qing army from running over and harming the people.

On the 19th, Zhou Shixiang led the entire personal battalion, 2 brigades of the left battalion of the infantry, 3 brigades of the right battalion of the infantry, 2 guards of the artillery team, and the remnants of the cavalry battalion, a total of 5,600 people, and marched to a place less than 20 miles away from Zhizini Town, Panyu County. Lingshan Town is only more than 30 miles away from Guangzhou City. The green battalion of the Lingshan garrison army fled without a fight during the flood season. Before leaving, the green battalion soldiers wanted to set fire to the town, but the Taiping army cavalry battalion was killed as soon as the fire started. The battalionmen threw down their torches and ran north.

Cavalry battalion officer Shao Chengguo was afraid that the fire would burn and burn the entire town, so he gave up chasing and killing those battalions. Organize the people in the town to put out the fire.

After occupying Lingshan Town, Zhou Shixiang ordered the entire army to suspend the advance and set up a defense line in Lingshan Town on the spot.

The Taiping army dispatched to various places received good news one after another. The Yellow Fourth Division of the Infantry Right Battalion captured Daliang Town, and the Green Battalion in the town, led by the defender Hu Mingyi, surrendered to the Taiping army. After the Taiping army entered Daliang Town, they went to "persuade pay and food" to the big households in the town. During this process, some big households with surnames of 10,000 organized their families to resist the Taiping army and were suppressed.

Jiang Fan, deputy battalion officer of the Infantry Left Battalion, led a brigade of soldiers to occupy Dagang, Nangang, Huangni and other places successively, annihilating more than 200 Qing troops and capturing more than 800 local militia groups. In addition, more than 300 local anti-Qing activists came to vote.

On the 21st, Huang Sibu Kuai Ma newspaper in Daliang Town received the Green Battalion guerrilla Yu Tianen to vote. He not only brought thousands of Green Battalion soldiers, but also seized Zengcheng and dedicated it to the Taiping Army.

After receiving the report, Zhou Shixiang immediately ordered Shao Jiugong to go to Daliang Town to dispose of Yu Tianen to cast his friendship. Zhou Shixiang Xu used Yu Tianen's department as a single battalion of the Taiping Army, named "Volunteer Camp". He was awarded the title of brigade commander and general, and after returning to the army, he formally invited him to the Yongli court.

As for Zengcheng, he was ordered to give up. If Yu Tianen was willing to garrison Zengcheng, he would be stationed there. The Taiping Army could provide him with some money and food in case Zengcheng was attacked by the Qing army. The Taiping Army will also give some support. Of course, when Shao Jiugong saw Yu Tianen, he didn't say that.

Zhou Shixiang also issued a document to the various ministries, all those who took the initiative to join the Qing army, bandits, were all accepted, and those who had less than a thousand soldiers were awarded by the original officials. Those who have more than 1,000 will be granted one level, and the appointment of deputy general and below is promised. Those who brought the city to donate were also the same as Yu Tianen's ministry. Volunteers and young people from local regiments were screened and then recruited into various ministries, and the leader was awarded the Taiping military rank.

The good news from various places and the constant arrival of the Qing army made the Taiping army feel that the situation is very good. It seems that as long as they work harder, they can really win Guangzhou City in one go. The optimism of the officers also infected the soldiers. For a time, the Taiping soldiers in Lingshan Township People are gearing up to invite the military commander to fight against Guangzhou. Fortunately, the Pearl River will hold what the military commander calls a "hundred boat racing" competition.

In view of this, Zhou Shixiang had to convene a military meeting of officers above the general banner to explain his intentions of the northward march and the future direction of the Taiping Army to the generals. He described the operation by cutting down trees.

"Cutting down the Qing Dynasty is like cutting down a tree. The Manchu court is like a big tree with deep roots and thick roots! The Manchurians are the root of this big tree, the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Eight Banners are the trunk of this big tree, and the green camps in various places are The branches of this tree, and those Han gentry and landlords who support the Manchu Qing are the leaves of this tree. How do you cut down such a big tree?"

"The answer is to chop it down one by one, or you won't be able to cut it down at once! What we're doing now is to cut off the branches of this tree first, and pull off all the leaves on those branches, so that This tree looks bare and not so heavy. In Guangdong, Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao are the trunk of the Manqing tree, or the root of the tree. Those green camp soldiers are the branches. Everyone has chopped down the tree. How to chop down a tree, this axe definitely can’t chop down the root of the tree directly, because it can’t reach, and it can’t chop down, why? Because there are too many branches and leaves, we can’t chop it down!”

"What if we can't cut down the trunk directly, why don't we just cut it? That's definitely not possible, so we're not going to Panyu this time to cut down the trunks of Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao directly, we're just here to cut those branches and leaves. Sawed off!"

"Think about it, everyone, how can Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao lead thousands of Han army flag soldiers to occupy Guangzhou steadily? Isn't it because they have too many green battalion soldiers to help them fight, these green battalion soldiers are stationed in various places for them, They fought with our Ming army and suppressed the resistance of our Han people on their behalf, so it is gratifying that although their Han army banners are few, they can still live their stable life in Guangzhou."

"How to saw the branches and leaves of the Qing army in Guangdong? The first is to fight the green camp soldiers first, and the persimmons are so soft! Compared with the monk Kexi, the Han army flag soldiers under Geng Jimao and the Manchu soldiers, we The strength is still very weak, they really want to fight with us, and send the Eight Banners soldiers to attack us, don't be convinced, we really can't beat us! Even in terms of head count, there are more people than us!"

"I brought everyone here this time, not really to fight Guangzhou, I just came to pretend to be a hero. The purpose of pretending to be a hero is to scare Guangzhou, and by the way, rob all the strategic materials in these places."

"What are strategic materials? Strategic materials are grain, population, salt and iron! Our Taiping Army has no iron, no salt, no grain, and no cloth. In short, our territory is very small, we have very few things, and our people also Very rarely, as soon as our stuff doesn't support our development, we starve and get beaten!

We can't take a bigger turf right now, but we have these things, what should we do? One word, grab! Grab the Qing army! Otherwise, we are always worried that the rations will not be enough, the weapons will not be replenished, and the clothes will not be made of new materials. How can this be done? So I brought everyone here, to the Qing army's territory. I didn't want you to go down to Guangzhou and meet with blood~www.NovelMTL.com~ I wanted you to **** things! "

"You think, if we grab these things, won't the Qing army be gone? We are strong, the Qing army will be weak, even if they still look huge, but as long as we continue to grab things from them, One day, we will become stronger than them, richer than them. It's like our neighbor is a rich man, but we are a beggar who can't even wear pants. One day, we beggars Hanako got up and beat the rich man, grabbed his clothes to wear, grabbed his meat to eat, grabbed his money to spend, we beat him so much that he didn't dare to look for us, otherwise we would become rich Are you rich!"

"To defeat the Qing Dynasty, we must constantly weaken it, so that the wealth of the Manchu Qing Dynasty can be used by our Taiping Army, so that the people under the Qing Dynasty will no longer be cattle and horses for them. National strength is manpower, manpower is vitality, less If a person works for the Manchu Qing, the Manchu Qing will lose a point of vitality, and if you lose a point of vitality, the Manchu national strength will naturally be reduced by a point. If this disappears and the other rises, I will finally be able to rise up and completely destroy the Qing demon!"

After talking so much, Zhou Shixiang was also too tired. He swept away the generals and asked them loudly: "This, I said so much, do you all understand?"

The generals look at me, I look at you, and finally stood up together and said loudly: "Understood, the commander wants us to be robbers!" To be continued. Mobile users please visit