Chapter 163 Don't ask about the withered bones at the pass, who will cover the hills?
Chapter 163 Don't ask about the withered bones at the pass, who will cover the hills?
When the Huai Army arrived at Kou'anpu, the newly appointed Tongzhou prefect You Sihai was already waiting there with the Yunsheng fleet.
Yu had a keen eye for investment. She took advantage of Shao Quanzhong's big, golden legs, gave up 100,000 silver coins in freight revenue, and sent the Huai Army into Sichuan.
Just two months later, You Sihai was granted the status of a Jinshi and was promoted three levels to become the magistrate of Tongzhou, a higher position than his father, who was also a Jinshi.
Now Youshi is Shao Quanzhong's die-hard supporter and is firmly tied to a boat.
Following Shao Quanzhong, you can't eat meat every day for free. When you heard that Shao Quanzhong had acquired the Asben Fleet, You immediately sent another 600 sailors with experience in steamship driving to join the Nanyang Navy.
What should the You's Chamber of Commerce do if it is short of sailors? We can train more of them ourselves.
Dozens of steam cargo ships owned by the Yu family, sailing on the Yangtze River, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, have become reserve training ships for the Nanyang Navy.
Ma Han, the acting admiral of the Nanyang Navy, also brought the entire Nanyang Navy to meet up at Kouanpu.
The position of Admiral of the Nanyang Fleet was reserved for Liao Rong, and Ma Han only took over temporarily for a few years.
As for the Nanyang Navy now, its combat effectiveness is a disgrace to other navies.
It's not the ship, the guns, or the sailors that are bad, it's the captain.
Only the Haichang, captained by Mahan himself, could exert its 100% combat capability. For the others, it was good enough that they could be used for show.
Shao Quanzhong was a nepotist. All the captains of the Nanyang Navy, including the supply ship Fengtian and the unpowered barge Ballarat, were students from the Zhenjiang Naval Academy who were only fifteen or sixteen years old and came from Jiangyan.
These students have only studied for half a year under the guidance of Ma Han, a world-class master. They have no experience and are directly appointed as captains. The only thing they have is loyalty to Shao Quanzhong.
Fortunately, each captain was equipped with a junior British officer as his deputy captain. The crew consisted of half British sailors and half Chinese sailors sent by Yu. All had driving experience, so the ship was finally able to sail away.
Shao Quanzhong's perverse actions have made it impossible for the Nanyang Navy to fight now.
Fortunately, there were no enemies on the Yangtze River now. Shao Quanzhong's order to Ma Han was to train, high-intensity training, until his fifteen or sixteen-year-old fellow villagers could be trained into qualified captains.
Well, it is easy to train captains of small warships of a few hundred tons, but basically, the Nanyang Navy won’t be able to borrow any help in the next two or three years.
If they could not borrow any strength, the Nanyang Navy would also participate in the expedition to Nanjing. Shao Quanzhong generously approved Ma Han a military budget of 100,000 taels of silver, so that they could burn as much coal as they wanted and fire as much artillery as they wanted. This battle was a practical training for the Nanyang Navy.
Shao Quanzhong wanted to use money to accelerate the growth of his fellow villagers in Jiangyan.
Ten warships of the Nanyang Fleet escorted the Yunsheng steamship fleet straight to Nanjing.
Half a day later, the fleet docked at Xiaguan Wharf.
Thanks to the Hunan Army's bloody battles with the Taiping Army, all the outposts outside Nanjing have been captured by the Qing Dynasty.
Shao Quanzhong's troops went ashore and lined up. Li Chendian, the general of the Hunan Army who was in charge of Guide Town in Henan, was already waiting there.
"Governor, I am hereby informed by Commander Zeng that the Huai Army is responsible for attacking the Shen Ce Gate."
The Hunan Army arrived first. The people outside Jinling City have been fighting for more than a year. Shao Quanzhong has no right to pick and choose the battlefield. It's good enough that they are willing to give you a gate.
Zeng Guoquan's main force confronted Li Xiucheng at Yuhuatai, and the fighting was fierce every day.
Li Chendian attacked Taiping Gate, Xiao Fusu attacked Chaoyang Gate, and Zhang Shiri attacked Shence Gate, all of them were small forces.
Shao Quanzhong led his men, took a detour along the river, and went to Shen Ce Gate to take over the defense line.
Zhang Shiri, who was awarded the title of admiral and a yellow jacket, was still reliable. He waited until the Huai Army arrived before withdrawing his troops from the Shence Gate.
With the help of the Huai Army, the Xiang Army was able to unite its forces. Zhang Shiri joined forces with Li Chendian and Xiao Fusi to attack Zijin Mountain. Shao Quanzhong set up a large camp outside the Shen Ce Gate, but was not in a hurry to attack the city. He sent the grain official Le Sen to Dasheng Pass to contact for grain and grass.
Dashengguan is where the Qing Dynasty set up a grain depot when it besieged Nanjing. There is a Yangtze River wharf here, and it is also close to Yuhuatai where Zeng Guoquan, the main force behind the siege, was located.
The food was collected by Mr. Qiao and transported regularly by the Wen family's transport fleet. Le Sen's mission was to lead the logistics soldiers to transport food and grass from Dasheng Pass along the Yangtze River to the Huai Army's camp.
If an elite team of the Taiping Army descended from the city wall to rob the grain road, it would be very dangerous. But the main task was to attack the city, and we couldn't send too many regular troops to protect the grain. What should we do?
The Nanyang Fleet was tasked with assisting in protecting the grain route.
When Li Taiguo tricked the Qing government into buying the Asben fleet, he said that with the support of the fleet's naval guns, the city of Nanjing could be captured in one day. This was pure deception.
Jinling City is indeed along the river, but the city wall is directly adjacent to Xuanwu Lake. Xuanwu Lake is shallow and can only accommodate small boats under two tons. How can a warship, which weighs several hundred tons at the lightest, help?
Shao Quanzhong's logistics troops are different from the Hunan Army's logistics troops. They are all equipped with carbines and are also capable of fighting.
With the support of naval artillery cruising along the river, we will be safe.
From then on, the Nanyang Fleet's barge, the Ballarat, was docked at the Dashengguan Wharf, responsible for transporting the grain, vegetables, coal and fresh water needed by the fleet from the granary on the shore to the barge.
The supply ship Fengtian received supplies from the barge and supplied the eight naval warships on the Yangtze River.
The warships cruised back and forth on the river. The young captains were constantly familiarizing themselves with the command of the warships. They fired a few shots from time to time for training, in order to deter the Taiping Army from provoking the Huai Army's food supply.
From then on, the sound of cannons could be heard on the river every day. That is to say, the Wen Arsenal could supply coal, gunpowder and shells by itself, otherwise this expensive actual combat training would cost a lot of money.
Shao Quanzhong stood with his hands behind his back, looked at the majestic Shen Ce Gate and sighed.
I am about to lead my men to fight the Taiping Army here, and losses are inevitable. I don't know how many Taiping Army soldiers and my brothers will be buried here.
"Report, the spies we sent into the city before the siege have reported that Li Xiucheng is trying to persuade Hong Xiuquan to abandon Tianjing and break out to Xiamen, then go out to sea to seek another way to make a living. However, Hong Xiuquan disagreed. He would rather die in Nanjing than flee and organize a government in exile."
Le Sen arranged the logistics and also had to carry out his duties as the Chief of Intelligence.
Tian Xing was eager to try, "Should we just take Hong Xiuquan and Li Xiucheng to the United States?"
Zhang Zhidong waved his hand and said, "My lord, you killed Li Shixian, and we are already mortal enemies with Li Xiucheng. This road will not work."
Shao Quanzhong sneered, "The mercenaries I send to the United States must be like the King of England and the King of Yi, loyal and capable warriors. What can Hong Xiuquan do? Is he going to be a boss to our soldiers?"
Le Sen, who was listening in, supported the two bosses, "Hong Xiuquan's head is a military achievement, we can't give it away."
He is now a county magistrate who has been granted the title of Juren. He hopes that if he can get the title of Jinshi in Nanjing, he will be eligible to propose marriage to the Wu family.
If we miss this opportunity, there will be no chance to make great achievements in the short term. Miss Qingfeng has been practicing in a nunnery with her hair uncut for more than two years...
For Qingfeng, Hong Xiuquan's head, which is worth one million points of military merit, must be kept and cannot be taken away.
"Report, the city garrison commander Zhang Jigen has sent someone to disguise himself and come to see the ruler."
The city's garrison sent someone to see me? This is strange. "Let him in."
A servant of the Zhang family came in, knelt down, looked around, and said, "Sir, please ask the commander to dismiss the attendants. I have confidential military information to report."
Shao Quanzhong snorted, "These are all my confidants, but you can say whatever you want."
"General Zhang Jigeng has long heard of the Huai Army's reputation for being good at fighting, and he is unwilling to fight the commander. He is willing to surrender the pass and lead the Huai Army into the city, so that the commander can gain the great merit of being the first to enter Nanjing."
(End of this chapter)