Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 49: Heading East
"Governor Zhou, lead your troops to attack the Zijing Mountain area from the direction of Hualiang Village, with the goal of capturing the Pingling line."

"General Wulantai, lead your troops to launch an attack from the mouth of Dahuang River, aiming to attack the Xinxu area."

"Admiral Xiang, lead your troops to attack from the direction of Niu Niu Ridge and head straight to Jintian."

The three attack directions specified by Li Xingyuan are located in the east, south and north of the Zijing Mountain area.

The reason why Li Xingyuan arranged the combat mission in this way is obvious.

He wants to surround three people but lacks one!

By exerting military pressure on the Zijing Mountain area from the east, south and north simultaneously, the Taiping Army was forced to break out to the west.

Of course, there is no way out in the west!
Li Xingyuan continued.

"In addition, General Li Nengchen led his troops to ambush at Zhuzi Gorge."

"Zhuzai Gorge is the only way for those fleeing westwards from the Zijing Mountain area. If the long-haired bandits cannot withstand the three-sided attack from our imperial army, they will surely rush out in a panic towards Wuxuan in the west."

"When the time comes, General Li will lead his troops to cut off their retreat. When our army surrounds them from all sides, we will be able to wipe out these damned long-haired thieves in one fell swoop!"

As soon as Li Xingyuan finished speaking, Xiang Rong, Wulantai, Zhou Tianjue, Li Nengchen and others all bowed and obeyed his orders.

Then they took their leave and went to arrange their military affairs.

……

At the same time, in Jintian Village.

The God Worshipping Society is also holding a military meeting.

Hong Xiuquan, Feng Yunshan, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai, Hu Yihuang and others were all present.

Even Li Yi and others were allowed to attend as observers.

Hong Xiuquan, wearing a luxurious bright yellow dragon robe, sat in the main seat, looked around, and then spoke.

"I think everyone is aware of the current situation."

"The Qing demons are surrounding us from three sides, and their heavy troops are pressing into the Zijing Mountain area. This is truly a matter of life and death for our Heavenly Kingdom!"

"Everyone, tell me, what should I do next?"

As soon as Hong Xiuquan finished speaking, Yang Xiuqing was the first to speak.

"In reply to the Heavenly King, in my opinion, our Heavenly Kingdom must break through."

"Although the Zijing Mountain area is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack, it is also short of supplies and sparsely populated."

"If our Heavenly Kingdom is besieged by the Qing monsters in the Zijing Mountain area for a long time, we will surely be trapped to death, so we must break out."

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan nodded slightly.

"Xiuqing's words make sense. So where do you think the Kingdom of Heaven should break out?"

Xiao Chaogui stood up and said.

"In reply to the Heavenly King, the Qing demons are now surrounding the Zijing Mountain area from the east, south, and north. Only the west is not heavily guarded by the Qing army."

"If our army wants to break out, the west is the best choice."

Upon hearing this, Feng Yunshan objected.

"Your Highness is wrong. Since the Qing demons want to encircle the Zijing Mountain area, why would they leave a gap in the west?"

"The Qing demons are now surrounded on three sides and one is missing. They must have arranged a heavy ambush in the west. If our army breaks out from the west, it will be at their disadvantage."

Well, this is what Li Yi analyzed to Feng Yunshan privately.

Feng Yunshan and his companions might not understand the classic tactical example of "surround three and leave one behind" because they had not read military books. However, thanks to the speed of knowledge dissemination in the Internet age, Li Yi is very familiar with such tactics.

He saw through the Qing army's poor deployment at a glance!
When Feng Yunshan said this, many people couldn't help but feel shocked.

Just now when Xiao Chaogui said that he wanted to break out to the west, many people thought it made sense.

But when Feng Yunshan said this, many people felt a layer of cold sweat on their backs, and they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

Fuck, Qing Yao is so despicable!

When Xiao Chaogui heard this, he thought Feng Yunshan was deliberately targeting him, his face immediately fell, and he asked with a dark face.

"So which direction should we break out in?"

But before Feng Yunshan could speak, Hong Xiuquan, who was sitting in the main seat, spoke.

"Let's break out to the east!" "Let's fight our way to Guangdong!"

The reason why Hong Xiuquan said this was, first, because Guangdong was richer than Guangxi, and if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom attacked Guangdong, they could better replenish their troops and supplies.

The second reason is that Hong Xiuquan himself was from Guangdong, and he wanted to lead his men back to Guangdong, calling on his fellow countrymen to join his army and support him in his anti-Qing struggle, thereby continuing to increase his voice in the Heavenly Kingdom.

The third reason is that Guangdong has always been a disaster area where anti-Qing forces have gathered, and the influence of the Tiandihui is deeply rooted.

Once the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom invaded Guangdong, there would definitely be people who would follow suit.

Feng Yunshan heard this and immediately spoke.

"I agree with the king's idea."

In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Feng Yunshan and Hong Xiuquan had always stood together. In addition, since Hong Xiuquan was trying to rescue him this time, Feng Yunshan would naturally express his support without hesitation.

Yang Xiuqing, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai and others also expressed their support.

Seeing this, Xiao Chaogui had no choice but to nod and agree.

Seeing this, Hong Xiuquan nodded slightly and continued.

"In that case, all departments should go back and prepare for the eastward advance!"

"We will set out at dawn tomorrow."

Everyone clasped their fists in response.

……

After the meeting, Feng Yunshan took Chen Chengrong, Luo Dagang, Li Yi and other close people back to his residence, preparing to hold a small meeting to discuss the arrangements for their journey eastward tomorrow.

After they returned to Feng Yunshan's residence, Feng Yunshan asked them to take seats and served them tea.

Motioning for everyone to have some tea, Feng Yunshan began to ask.

"What do you think of my Heavenly Kingdom's plan to break out eastward and head to Guangdong?"

Luo Dagang spoke first.

"Mr. Feng, I think there is no problem."

"If our army can reach Guangdong, the brothers of the Tiandihui will certainly follow suit. By then, the power of our Heavenly Kingdom will be greatly increased."

Luo Dagang, like Feng Yunshan, Hong Xiuquan and others, is from Guangdong.

Moreover, unlike Feng Yunshan and Hong Xiuquan, Luo Dagang held a relatively high status in the Tiandihui.

If they could really fight back to Guangdong, with Luo Dagang's appeal in the Tiandihui, he could easily form a team.

Hearing this, Feng Yunshan stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

Then he turned to look at Chen Chengrong and asked.

"Chengyong, what do you think?"

Chen Chengrong smiled and said.

"I always listen to you, sir."

Feng Yunshan turned his gaze to Li Yi. Li Yi pondered for a moment and then spoke.

"From a purely military perspective, breaking out to the east is indeed the best option at the moment."

Hearing this, Feng Yunshan couldn't help but raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Li Yi, why do you say that?"

Li Yi said with a smile.

"In reply to your question, sir, in my opinion, since the Qing demons are surrounding us on three sides and leaving one behind, they must have deployed heavy troops on all four sides."

"If our army wants to break out, we must choose its weak point to have a chance of success."

"When it comes to bravery and fighting courage, the Guangdong soldiers are far inferior to the Guangxi and Hunan soldiers."

"The military pressure that the Heavenly Kingdom needs to bear when breaking out to the east will naturally be the smallest."

……

PS: This chapter is not a modification by the author. In the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan did plan to go east to Guangdong, but was later blocked by the Qing army and decided to go north to Yong'an.

(End of this chapter)