Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 71 Breaking out to the North
Just as Feng Yunshan finished speaking, a messenger suddenly ran in from outside.

"Report! Report to the Heavenly King!"

"Xiang Rong's Qing demons have withdrawn..."

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan stood up from his seat and asked.

"what is going on?"

Hong Xiuquan was really a little confused.

The battle was going well and the Qing demons clearly had the upper hand, so why did they suddenly withdraw?

This is not common sense!

Upon hearing this, the messenger replied.

"To reply to the Heavenly King, according to the reports from our scouts, someone must have raided Xunzhou. The fighting in Xunzhou was tense, so Xiang Rong withdrew from Dongxiang and led his troops back to support Xunzhou."

Yang Xiuqing blinked his uncomfortable eyes and asked.

"Do you know who did it?"

The messenger shook his head and said honestly.

"To reply to the military advisor, we are not too clear about the specific situation, but based on the existing intelligence, it is inferred that the raid on Xunzhou should be a detachment of our Taiping Army."

Feng Yunshan heard this and spoke.

"It could be Ling Shiba's unit."

"Ling Shiba's troops received an order from the regiment a while ago, and they rushed from Guangdong to Guangxi. Calculating the time, they should have arrived in Guangxi by now."

"Perhaps they are the ones who relieved the pressure on the main force of my army during this raid on Xunzhou."

Feng Yunshan didn't think about Li Yi at all in this matter.

Because in his opinion, Li Yi's troops should have been wiped out in the last battle at Dahuangjiangkou.

Based on the battle situation at Dahuangjiangkou at that time, Feng Yunshan did not think that Li Yi had any chance of successfully breaking out.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chaogui spoke.

"Don't worry about Ling Shiba or not for now. Since the Qing demon leader Xiang Rong's troops have withdrawn, there must be a loophole in the Qing demon's siege of Dongxiang."

"If we don't seize this opportunity to break through, when will we?!"

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan nodded in agreement and then asked.

"Brothers, which direction do you think we should break out in?"

"North? South? East? Or west?"

Yang Xiuqing hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Head north!"

"The main force of the Qing demons is currently concentrated near Xunzhou."

"If our army wants to escape the pursuit of the Qing army, attacking Xiangzhou and Liuzhou to the north is the best choice."

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuquan nodded.

"Okay, then head north!"

"Order the entire army to prepare for a breakout immediately."

After saying this, Hong Xiuquan turned his gaze to Xiao Chaogui.

"Chao Gui, this time you will be the vanguard of the army and tear open the Qing Yao's defense line for our army."

"any questions?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chaogui nodded vigorously.

"Don't worry, my king. I promise to complete the task..."

As the most powerful general of the Heavenly Kingdom, Xiao Chaogui has no choice but to take responsibility for such matters.

……

On February 18th, the first year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Li Yi led his troops to withdraw from Xunzhou early, and went eastward along the Xunjiang River towards Teng County.

But at noon, a rumbling sound of horse hooves was heard outside Xunzhou City. The Qing army reinforcements led by Xiang Rong rushed all the way from Wuxuan to the outside of Xunzhou City.

Xiang Rong rode his horse to the gate of Xunzhou City, looked up at the empty city in front of him, and couldn't help frowning.

"The long-haired thief ran away?"

Immediately, he spoke again.

"Quick, send someone into the city to investigate the situation. This admiral needs to know which direction the bandits fled to."

It was obvious that even if Li Yi led his army to withdraw from Xunzhou, Xiang Rong was not going to let Li Yi's troops go easily. Instead, he planned to lead his army in pursuit!
Even if we cannot completely wipe out Li Yi's troops, we must inflict a heavy blow on them to prevent Li Yi from invading Xunzhou again.

Xiang Rong's military order was issued, and immediately several fast horses galloped into Xunzhou City.

Soon, someone came back to report.

"Report! Report to the military commander!"

"The bandits withdrew from Xunzhou before daybreak today and fled eastward along the Xunjiang River."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Rong couldn't help but frown and think.

The bandits set out before dawn, which means that half a day had already passed.

With half a day's work, even if the enemy soldiers marched slowly, they should have covered at least twenty miles.

It would be fine if the bandits didn't run far.

But now the bandits have already run twenty miles away.

Xiang Rong temporarily gave up the idea of ​​chasing.

Well, even if we want to chase, we have to rest first and let the horses recover their power before we can chase.

Otherwise, their horses might not be able to run any longer and would give up halfway through the pursuit.

He took a deep breath and waved to Xiang Rong.

"Let's go to Xunzhou!"

But just as he finished speaking, he saw a man coming out from Xunzhou City.

"General Xiang, you are finally here!"

"With the arrival of the military commander, Xunzhou will have a clear sky. With the arrival of the military commander, Xunzhou will have peace!"

"The people of Xunzhou have long been waiting for you to lead your army to help..."

Xiang Rong couldn't help showing surprise when he heard this familiar welcome speech. He rode his horse forward a few steps and then asked.

"Prefect Cai, are you okay?"

When Li Xingyuan evacuated from Xunzhou, he did not have time to take Cai Bingwen with him. The entire Qing army, including Xiang Rong, thought that Cai Bingwen had died a heroic death for his country.

Unexpectedly, he is still fine now!
Upon hearing this, Cai Bingwen forced an awkward yet polite smile on his face and began to speak.

"What are you talking about, General Xiang?"

"Although the bandits managed to capture Xunzhou by chance, as long as our government remains, they will never be able to gain a foothold in Xunzhou."

"Now, under our heroic resistance, the enemy troops have retreated!"

Li Yi is lucky enough, but Cai Bingwen is not bad either.

Li Yi attacked Xunzhou three times, but failed to capture him, the prefect of Xunzhou, three times!
The corners of Xiang Rong's mouth twitched, and he obviously didn't believe what Cai Bingwen said, but he didn't continue to argue with Cai Bingwen. Instead, he gave orders.

"The soldiers have traveled a long distance from Wuxuan to support Xunzhou. The whole army is exhausted. Thank you, Governor Cai, for preparing wine, meat, food, and hot water barracks for the army to rest..."

Seeing this, Cai Bingwen was about to agree.

A group of fast horses came running again in the distance.

"Report! Repay!"

"Reporting to the general, last night, the main force of the long-haired bandits launched a surprise attack on our military camp at night, and the troops of Guangxi Governor Zhou Tianjue were defeated."

"The bandits tore a hole in our encirclement. The main force of the long-haired bandits broke through from Wuxuan Dongxiang and headed towards Xiangzhou!"

"The Imperial Envoy has ordered that after you recapture Xunzhou, you must immediately lead your troops back to Dongxiang to assist and pursue the main force of the long-haired bandits who have fled north."

"No mistakes!"

When Xiang Rong heard this, he stood there in a daze.

No, I’m fucking crazy!

Zhou Tianjue is such a fucking waste!

At this moment, Xiang Rong had the urge to curse.

He had just left Dongxiang not long ago, but that bastard Zhou Tianjue gave him a big job.

It was not easy for them to encircle the Taiping rebels in Dongxiang. In the Battle of Dahuangjiangkou, Li Nengchen's troops were defeated and Ulan Tai was killed in the battle. All units of the Qing army paid a huge price before they completed the encirclement of the Taiping rebels.

This time we let the tiger back into the mountains, and the subsequent suppression of bandits will probably be troublesome!

……

PS: I would like to recommend a book by my friend, “Anti-Qing 1850”, which is also about anti-Qing literature. If you are interested, you can read it.

(End of this chapter)