Chapter 106: The Battle of Wuwei
Chapter 106: The Battle of Wuwei
"Brother Zhang, I've fought before when the soldiers were not fully trained. But that was to suppress bandits. We were outnumbered and the enemy was even worse. Chen Yucheng is well-known. He recruited 100,000 Nian troops and occupied Tongcheng for several years. The Hunan Army couldn't do anything to him. How could the bandits compare to him?"
Zhang Zhidong smiled slightly and said, "The 100,000 Nian troops are a mob. Chen Yucheng only trained 20,000 elite troops from them."
"Then we can't possibly win. If our five battalions of infantry are fully trained, we can still protect ourselves against Chen Yucheng. Once the cavalry and artillery are fully trained, I have the confidence to capture Tongcheng. Right now the cavalry is far from good enough, and the artillery hasn't even received adequate training..."
"I know all about this. I also know that the Taiping Army's reinforcements, Lin Shaozhang and Huang Wenjin, have joined Chen Yucheng. Chen Yucheng's elite troops have reached 30,000."
"Wouldn't that make it even harder to fight?"
"Also, the Taiping Army's second reinforcement, Yang Fuqing, will lead 20,000 elite troops originally guarding Nanjing. He will cross the river in Wuwei within five days and join Chen Yucheng. After the joining, Chen Yucheng's elite troops will exceed 50,000."
"So we are going to fight against 50,000 battle-hardened elite Taiping troops with 10,000 untrained Huai troops? Isn't this courting death?"
"Yang Fuqing hasn't joined up with Chen Yucheng yet. According to our latest intelligence, he plans to cross the river at Liudu in Wuwei Prefecture..."
Shao Quanzhong's eyes swirled, "You mean - attack them halfway across the river? If Chen Yucheng comes to help, won't it be in vain?"
"Warfare is not simply a comparison of numbers and strength. We can use favorable conditions to prevent Chen Yucheng from coming. During this period, I have sent an action team from the Intelligence Department to gain a clear understanding of the geography around Jinling and Tongcheng."
Zhang Zhidong pulled out a topographic map from the cabinet and spread it out on the table. "This is the detailed topography around Wuwei. This is Yang Fuqing's expected marching route. This is Chen Yucheng's unit, and this is the friendly Dexing A unit. My plan is like this..."
Zhang Zhidong held a pointer in his hand and carefully explained his battle plan with the help of a map. Wu Wenxi and Shao Quanzhong leaned forward to look at the map. After a while, Le Sen quietly came out from the next room and joined the audience.
The three people were listening intently. Wu Wenxi didn't even notice who was squeezing over to block his view. He pushed the person away and squeezed together with Le Sen to listen, looking like they were very close.
After Zhang Zhidong finished speaking, the three listeners pondered and put forward several suggestions respectively. The four of them huddled together and discussed enthusiastically.
Half an hour later, Shao Quanzhong shouted, "Siwen! Gather all officers at the headquarters to hold a combat meeting!"
In the command center, in the conference room which was converted from the living room of Shao’s house, there was a long rectangular table built according to Shao Quanzhong’s wishes.
A large map of Wuwei and its surroundings was hung on the back wall, with Shao Quanzhong and Zhang Zhidong sitting at the head.
A dozen Huai Army officers sat opposite each other on both sides of a long table, each with their backs straight and their backs straight.
This posture is completely different from the current situation of our Qing army holding meetings in tents, and Shao Quanzhong felt very comfortable watching it.
Seeing that everyone was present, Shao Quanzhong stood up and said, "Brothers, I have decided that the Huai Army will follow the order of General Zeng and send troops to Huainan to intercept Yang Fuqing's troops who are crossing the river from Nanjing to support Chen Yucheng's troops and deal a heavy blow to them. Now, Chief of Staff Zhang will make the combat deployment."
Zhang Zhidong was dressed in military uniform and looked very proud. "I order——"
All the generals were in awe.
"Wu Ziyi!"
Wu Ziyi stood up and touched his heels to attention.
"Send someone to notify the Haichang and You's Yangtze River Fleet to assemble at the port in two days, and then take the engineering battalion with you as the first group to set off. The specific combat orders are as follows..."
"Yes!"
"Lesen!"
"exist!"
"The Intelligence Department will follow up on the movements of Yang Fuqing's and Chen Yucheng's troops at any time and report to the headquarters!"
"Yes!"
"Lord Wu Wenxi!"
Wu Wenxi, who was present at the meeting, was stunned. What about me? He stood up and stood at attention subconsciously, but suddenly realized that I was a higher official than them, so I didn’t need to stand at attention…
"Please ask Lord Wu to go to Dexing Abu of the Hunan Army and ask the friendly forces to cooperate and launch a feint attack on Tongcheng at the appropriate time."
"Yes! - Ahem, I'll set off right away." "Haiqing! Lesen!"
"exist!"
"Logistics, artillery, and cavalry units are equipped with carbines and temporarily serve as infantry. They are stationed in Nihan and Shentang. The specific orders are as follows..."
……
……
Shao Quanzhong finally stood up, took out his pistol and slammed it on the table.
"This battle is about the life and death of our Huai Army. Brothers, you must strictly implement the battle plan. Whoever fails to follow the plan will be killed by me! I declare that the Wuwei Battle begins now, and we must act immediately!"
All the generals stood up together, "Yes!"
With the sound of more than a dozen pairs of military boots marching out of the command center in unison, the Huai Army's first combat operation involving more than 10,000 people began.
…………
June 19, the eleventh year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign, at Liudu section of the Yangtze River in Wuwei Prefecture.
Twenty thousand elite Taiping troops gathered on the south bank of the river. More than one hundred temporarily requisitioned civilian boats, loaded with Taiping soldiers with red scarves on their heads, were urgently crossing the river.
Five thousand of the most elite troops have reached the other side. On the simple dock of Liudu, Prince Fu Yang Fuqing stroked his sword with a worried look on his face.
He was not worried about crossing the river. He was one of the backbones of the Taiping Army and was considering the overall situation.
Anqing had been besieged by the Hunan Army for a year. If Anqing fell, there would be no more dangerous passes on the road to Tianjing, and the Hunan Army would attack Tianjing directly, and the situation of the Heavenly Kingdom would immediately become precarious.
Therefore, Anqing must be saved.
Li Xiucheng had his own army and was independent. He hardly obeyed the Heavenly King's orders and devoted himself to managing his fiefdom, Sufu Province. The Heavenly King was helpless.
The heavy responsibility of rescuing Anqing now falls on the shoulders of the loyal Chen Yucheng.
In order to strengthen Chen Yucheng's power, the King of Heaven assigned all the money used to guard Tianjing to himself.
Once these 20,000 troops arrived in Tongcheng and joined forces with Chen Yucheng, the 50,000 elite Taiping troops could attack the Qing army besieging Anqing from behind. Success or failure depended on this move.
"Boom! Boom!"
Several shells landed around the civilian ships that were crossing the river, stirring up huge columns of water. One civilian ship was hit by the cannon and was instantly shattered, with dozens of Taiping soldiers on board falling into the water on the spot.
A steam warship of over 1,500 tons went upstream, puffing out black smoke, and began to bombard civilian ships crossing the river.
There were two big characters "Haichang" on the ship, and a big flag with a big character "Shao" on it was hung on the bow.
"Whose army is this? How come the Qing demons have steam battleships?"
Zhenjiang was a Qing-occupied area, and the Haichang had been anchored there without having ever been involved in a battle. The Taiping Army had not yet received the news that the Qing Dynasty had a steam battleship.
The Taiping Army's Yangtze River Navy had already been wiped out, so how could civilian ships withstand the bombardment of warships? Chaos ensued on the river.
The Haichang lay across the middle of the river, continuously bombarding civilian ships. After a short while, the ships on the river sank or ran away, leaving only the Haichang standing on the river showing off its might.
Thick smoke billowed out, and the Haichang suddenly turned its rudder and faced the two banks.
"boom!"
Armstrong's huge cannon hit Yang Fuqing.
(End of this chapter)