The darkness provided cover for the Taiping Army escorting supplies, and also made it easier for the Huaihai Navy to hide themselves in an ambush.
It is impossible for the Taiping Army to escort supplies in complete darkness. The person leading the way always holds a few torches, which facilitates the investigation of the scouts. The entire team has more than fifty large vehicles, more than a thousand escort soldiers, and two
It consisted of three hundred drivers. The team was three to four hundred meters long from front to back. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the team arrived at Bali Town, took a short rest, and then continued southward.
At this time, four thousand troops were already well ambush in the tall reeds in the wilderness beside the road in the south. The reeds in July were green and dense, with no gaps, making it a good place to hide an ambush. But there were too many mosquitoes, and there were still a few
A soldier was bitten by a poisonous snake and left the battlefield before the battle began.
Ding Li is now the platoon leader of the 2nd Platoon of the 2nd Company of the Teaching Regiment. They had been informed of the discipline of lurking before entering the ambush position. Even if they were bitten by mosquitoes on their faces, they could not reach out to hit them. Ding Li naturally gritted his teeth with his soldiers.
They persisted. They knew that if they exposed the army because of their speaking out, it would most likely mean the failure of this battle.
Many soldiers smeared mud on exposed parts of their bodies to prevent mosquito bites, but it made them look like evil spirits traveling late at night.
Liu Qingnan's character is more like a fierce general. He likes to charge into battle with the soldiers. Compared with the position of chief of staff, he prefers to be the leader of his teaching group.
Suddenly, several figures flashed out of the darkness. One of them whispered to the reeds: "Hong Xiuquan is a big liar!"
Reed immediately flashed out a figure and brought these people in.
"Report to the Chief of Staff, the Taiping Army escort team is still 3 kilometers away from here. The team consists of more than fifty large vehicles, more than a thousand escort soldiers, and two to three hundred truck drivers. The entire team is three to four hundred meters long from front to back.
"
"I know, you go to the canal and notify Yan Canjun to be ready to receive supplies."
"Command the entire army to prepare for battle." Several messengers ran quietly and whispered the order to each company. According to the previous agreement, once the order to prepare for battle is given, the soldiers should close their eyes and wait.
Only open your eyes after hearing the sound of the flare. This prevents the flare from temporarily blinding your own eyes and losing the best time to attack.
About ten minutes later, the Taiping Army's escort team finally arrived. Everyone could hear the footsteps of the Taiping Army soldiers and the creak of the cart's axle. The soldiers kept their eyes closed, and no one opened their eyes to peek.
Although these honest soldiers from poor backgrounds are a little stupid, they have a strong sense of discipline. They are now being treated very well. No one wants to be driven home by the army because of making mistakes. Not only will they be unable to hold their heads high, but they will also be punished.
Even family members are despised by the surrounding neighbors.
"Bang bang bang..." Five flash bombs sounded in succession. Ding Li and the brothers beside him opened their eyes. Five flash bombs slowly fell from the sky with white light tails.
A escort team several hundred meters long clearly appeared in front of everyone.
All the soldiers picked up their loaded rifles and fired their first bullets, more than 4,000 bullets for more than 4,000 people. A large number of Taiping soldiers fell instantly in the escort team.
Then the explosion of grenades rang out in the crowd. According to the pre-war deployment, the soldiers throwing grenades should try to avoid the carts pulling supplies. Fortunately, the Taiping Army's escort team did not mix with the convoy. Neither did the escort generals.
It is out of caution to prevent the carriage from running around and disrupting one's own formation when attacked.
Who knew that this would give Huai Haijun grenades room to use.
After throwing the grenades, a long whistle sounded, and the soldiers picked up their rifles with bayonets and rushed forward. By this time, the first wave of flares was about to land.
"Bang bang bang..." Five more flares shot up into the sky, illuminating the Taiping Army's chaotic team.
Only then did the few remaining Taiping soldiers see the people rushing towards them. Their faces were covered with something black, and only a pair of eyeballs could be seen. The bright bayonets on the muzzles reflected the flares.
of light.
"A hundred ghosts march at night, they are a group of devils." I don't know who shouted. The other side of the motorcade was in chaos. The coachmen were not soldiers of the Taiping Army. They abandoned the carriage and ran to the other side of the road.
Although the hearts of the remaining hundreds of Taiping soldiers were full of fear, they still launched a resistance under the organization of the officers. However, Huai Haijun still had a shotgun, a close combat weapon. After several rounds of shotguns, the front
There were only a few Taiping soldiers left who were still rolling and struggling.
"Stop the pursuit, quickly clean the battlefield, and escort the supplies away."
The soldiers quickly cleared the battlefield and eliminated all threats, then gathered up the scattered carriages and withdrew toward the canal. It was less than ten minutes before the first gunshot was fired.
Both Yangzhou City and Guazhou heard the explosion and sent reinforcements at the same time. However, the reinforcements were afraid of an ambush and did not dare to go too fast. By the time they arrived at the scene, the Huaihai Navy had already evacuated and boarded the warship.
There was no one alive on the ground, except for the driver who ran away. This time the Taiping army was completely destroyed again.
When the soldiers who went on the expedition returned to the camp, it was almost the time of the ugly. Dong Shuheng asked the kitchen to make supper for the soldiers. He himself accompanied the Huaihai Company's accountant to count the spoils of the battle.
It has to be said that the Taiping Army's ability to scrape land was stronger than that of the Qing Army. People basically just grabbed a handful and left. The Taiping Army completely institutionalized the looting of people's property. The men's and women's branch was only the first one, and then all individuals
The property was returned to public ownership. However, the Taiping Army did not share the property for public use.
Ordinary soldiers even had their wives sent to the women's pavilion and were not allowed to see each other. The Heavenly King and the Eastern King in Tianjing both had three thousand beauties in their harems. Ordinary soldiers could only receive a small ration every day, but the prince in Tianjing did not.
Living a life of luxury and lust, Hong Xiuquan spent a lot of financial resources to build his own Heavenly Palace, and asked the Taiping Army from various places to transfer finance to him, so he had to step up his search for places.
After counting, this time there were more than 7 million taels of gold and silver alone, and even more various jewelry. In general, the total value of this batch of materials will not be less than tens of millions. These are the people of Yangzhou.
.
But Dong Shuheng will not directly return the money to the people of Yangzhou. He will give it back to the people of Yangzhou City in another way.
He wouldn't spend the money on his own enjoyment anyway.
Dong Shuheng's personal requirements for material life are very simple. Three meals a day, and at most one woman to accompany him. His words and deeds also affect everyone in this group. No matter what era, people need leaders
, and leaders influence everyone under their rule through their words and deeds.
The soldiers finished their supper and fell asleep quickly. Dong Shuheng returned to the war room. Yan Shikun and several counselors continued to perform deductions on the sand table. The old guy has become addicted to sand table deductions recently.
"Old Yan, it's so late and you haven't rested yet. Can your body bear the stress of staying up late at such an age?"
"My old man is old and sleeps short, but President, you are young and sleeping late will affect your health." Lao Yan is now used to bickering with his president. This is a little fun between the two of them.
"Old Yan, do you think we should send someone to greet Zeng Lichang? I'm really worried that he will come to us tomorrow if he gets hot-headed."
"Judging from some previous events, Zeng Lichang is a bit of a dignified person and is not so impulsive. I think that with this battle, it will be easier to persuade him to retreat. After all, you have to let people take a step back.
Dry your muscles!"
"What you said makes sense, but you'd better send someone to deliver a letter. Since you don't want to sleep anyway, go and draft a letter to Zeng Lichang. In addition, issue a peace notice to the people of Yangzhou. After writing it, give it to Ji Mingshan. He can deliver it.
Go in."
"Okay, President, you should take a rest early, and you should also go and take a rest." He said to Dong Shuheng and several counselors beside him.
Dong Shuheng slept very soundly all night. For Dong Shuheng, who was used to sleeping late in his previous life, he slept well at this time. In the morning, the wake-up call in the military camp rang, and Dong Shuheng also got up. The official siege of the city was about to begin today, and sometimes I really wanted to go to bed.
The Taiping Army in Yangzhou retreated voluntarily as soon as his body was shaken. It was really boring to fight with his own people. Sometimes Dong Shuheng felt that he had the urge to push the army to Shanghai and kill the foreign powers in the concession first. But the reality is cruel.
Most of the time our ideals succumb to reality.
This night was a sleepless night for Zeng Lichang. His eyelids kept twitching during the night, so he called his soldiers and accompanied them to the South City Tower.
Finally, he vaguely saw the flash bombs on the southern horizon, and even heard the faint sound of explosions. He immediately asked the Nancheng garrison to lead troops to support, but in the end it was too late. He was once again shocked by the combat power of the Huai Navy.
Now, with the four thousand veterans left in our hands, how can we withstand the Huai Navy's attack?
As for the tens of thousands of local young men in Yangzhou, he didn't count on it. It would be good if these people didn't defect before the battle. He would not foolishly believe that he could win the allegiance of these local young men by shaking his body.
When he returned to his mansion, Zeng Lichang still couldn't sleep. He could withdraw if he wanted to. Now he would not be punished by the King of Heaven for withdrawing. Of course, he would probably still be punished for losing his property.
At Yinshijie, the guard outside suddenly sent a letter, signed by Huai Haijun. The general meaning of the letter was: Huai Haijun had no intention of becoming an enemy of the Taiping Army, but as a Yangzhou native, he had a responsibility to regain his homeland. He hoped that the Taiping Army could
Automatically withdrawing from Yangzhou City, Huai Haijun promised not to pursue, but he could not coerce the people of Yangzhou, and was not allowed to rob Yangzhou property. In these two battles today, you have also seen the strength of Huai Haijun.
This letter also revealed that there were members of the Huai Navy in the city. No wonder he was robbed twice when he transported supplies. But just one letter was not enough to prompt Zeng Lichang to order a retreat.
Early the next morning, the patrols in the city came to report that Huai Haijun's notices were posted around the men's and women's halls in the city. The general content of the notice was: We, Huai Haijun, are soldiers from Yangzhou. Now we have recovered Yangzhou.
He is an enemy of the people in the city. He hopes that everyone will pay attention to avoid the war. After the Huaihai navy enters the city, he will ensure that he will not do any harm to the people.
This fierce punch can be regarded as digging out the roots of the Taiping Army in Yangzhou City. On the one hand, they are deceiving and plundering out-of-town bandits, and on the other hand are their own local soldiers. The people of Yangzhou will naturally vote with their feet.
Zeng Lichang had secretly made the decision to retreat, but he still wanted to fight Huai Haijun and weigh this opponent personally.
But after dawn, Huai Haijun's attack completely gave him no confidence in continuing the fight.