It dawns early in July. After breakfast, the Hunan army began to continue to build the barracks. Last night, the Taiping army came to rob the camp, and after being discovered by the Hunan army, they were repelled with a single burst of guns. The Hunan army had the experience of plundering a large number of people in Jiangxi and driving them to attack the city, and the Taiping army in Jiangxi also tried to rob the people captured by the Hunan army many times.

It's just that a small force took advantage of the chaos to pass through the Hunan army camp and escape from the encirclement. The Hunan army didn't care about the life or death of that small group of men, as long as the last four camps were built, Luzhou would be trapped to death. In the future, the Taiping army in Luzhou was difficult to fly.

The Hunan army was preparing for the attack in such an orderly manner, and the Huai army was not involved in the siege battle at all. Li Hongzhang knows his teacher Zeng Guofan very well, and in the propaganda of Zeng Guofan, the "people" are the big landlords and the people who follow the Hunan army, the landlord army, and this range is at most expanded to Hunan WWW.UUXS.CC. In addition, people from other provinces can be classified as "chaotic people" in the eyes of the Hunan army. For the rebellious people, Zeng Guofan's attitude is only to kill without forgiveness.

Therefore, under Li Hongzhang's construction, the Huai army camped far away on the periphery, and the officers and soldiers in the camp were not allowed to go out. The Hunan army and the Hunan army are driven by the people of Anhui, and most of the officers and soldiers in the Huai army are from Anhui, and if they see such a situation, they will only be dissatisfied.

"But I don't know if this method can deal with Wesser." Li Hongzhang raised a very interesting question at the meeting of the leaders of the Huai Army.

None of the participants answered this question for the time being, and the war in the last six months had progressed faster than expected, and it took only half a year to retake Huainan. The next step, naturally, was to attack Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. If the war can be the same as it is now, perhaps a year from now it will have to fight against the Liberation Army under the command of Weese. Up to now, the Green Battalion, the Hunan Army, and the Huai Army have not had the upper hand once in the face of Wei Ze. Will this be able to reverse this situation in future wars? The leader of the Huai army has no bottom in his heart.

But it is pointless to take a side-of-the-road approach to the matter, and Weeser clearly shows no sign of merely separating the two broads. All kinds of news prove that the Liberation Army recruited troops in Liangguang and Guangzhou, intending to pick up a bargain when the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Army were fighting to the death. It was precisely knowing this that the Hunan army and the Huai army did not dare to relax in the slightest. It is impossible for them to coexist with the Taiping army, so there is no possibility that they will unite with the Taiping army to destroy Wei Ze first.

Now the Taiping Army is in decline step by step, and it is this decline that makes the Taiping Army struggle even harder to survive. If the Taiping army wanted to survive, it could only rely on defeating the Hunan army and the Huai army. As the end of the Taiping army approached day by day, the days of the decisive battle between the Hunan army and the Huai army and Wei Ze were also approaching at the same speed.

Jiang Zhongyuan, the commander-in-chief of the Huai Army, finally broke the silence at the meeting, "When our army besieges Jiangning, Wei Ze is only afraid that there will be movement." It is not easy to hit Liangguang in a short period of time, and there is no need to think about this method now. ”

With Jiang Zhongyuan speaking, all the generals of the Huai army breathed a sigh of relief. Talking about fighting Weeser was too heavy a topic for them. At this moment, the rumbling of artillery in the direction of Luzhou was heard from afar, and listening to this movement, the siege battle had officially begun. Jiang Zhongyuan sighed in his heart, it seems that Zeng Guofan's attitude of attacking Jiangning is very firm. The Hunan army used to besiege the city, and if it weren't for the rush to attack the city, they would not have opened fire so violently.

The siege artillery rang out for three days, and for three days, the Huai army was only on strict precautions, and their task was to stop the Taiping army that might break out of the Hunan army. Although the generals of the Huai Army also asked for battle many times in the past three days, Jiang Zhongyuan unceremoniously vetoed the requests of these people to fight. The reluctance to compete with the Hunan army was of course an important reason, and Jiang Zhongyuan also agreed with Li Hongzhang's point of view, when these Anhui soldiers saw that the Hunan people drove the Anhui people to attack the city, they would not be happy. Because it is impossible to say that among these driven people are the relatives of the Huai officers and soldiers.

On the fourth day, the shelling intensified. After noon, the shelling gradually stopped. In the evening, Jiang Zhongyuan received a notice from Zeng Guofan that the Hunan army had broken through Luzhou and began to exterminate the bandit army in the city. The ability of the Hunan army to attack the city was so great that Jiang Zhongyuan was very surprised.

Zeng Guofan's action of sending people to deliver a letter to Jiang Zhongyuan was also opposed by the generals of the Hunan army, who were very worried that Jiang Zhongyuan would come to steal the credit. Zeng Guofan said calmly: "Minqiao won't be like this. ”

The generals didn't dare to deny Zeng Guofan's views in person, and seeing the herald out of the big tent, the generals hurriedly asked for help, "Marshal, I'll wait for the side to enter Luzhou to exterminate the Cantonese bandits." ”

"Go ahead!" Zeng Guofan agreed to the general's request. With Zeng Guofan's reply, in addition to the troops guarding the Chinese army, the various units of the Hunan army, which were originally responsible for encircling Luzhou, began to advance one after another and broke into the city of Luzhou.

Zeng Guoquan was in charge of the siege this time, and Bao Chao, the fierce general of the Hunan army, did not directly lead troops to attack. After receiving Zeng Guofan's order, he led his troops straight to the east gate. Outside the east gate, Bao Chao was surprised to see a group of Hunan troops surrounding more than 300 people, these people were wearing ordinary people's clothes, but all of them had long hair.

Reining in the horses, Bao Chaowei was in charge of guarding their Hunan army, "What do these people do?" ”

"My lord, these people are righteous people, and they have been in contact with us for a long time. This time, they suddenly attacked the Cantonese bandits and opened the east gate. The Hunan army officer in charge of guarding hurriedly replied.

Bao Chao knew that there was such a group of people in the city, but he didn't expect that these guys could really play a role. When he was condescendingly scanning these guys on his horse, he saw that one of them had the courage to shout to Bao Chao: "My lord, we are all righteous people." We have the paperwork given by Master Jiang. Please let us show the way. ”

Those who dared to raid the Taiping army were all courageous, and when they saw someone taking the lead in shouting, the people behind also shouted: "This lord, Lord Jiang said that my family will be safe after the city is broken, and I ask you to let us go home." ”

Bao Chao originally just thought this group of people was strange, but now he understands what is going on with these people. He turned his head and ordered: "There must be Cantonese bandits hiding among these people, kill them all!" ”

When the Hunan army heard the order, they immediately stepped forward and told the guards about Bao Chao's order in Hunan dialect. Soon, Bao Chao's troops and the Hunan army in charge of guarding them suddenly slashed at these people. Calculated or not, plus the number of the Hunan army was several times that of these guys who attacked the Taiping army, after a burst of screams, these people died on the spot. Many people were extremely shocked after they died, they never expected that they would risk their lives in exchange for such a fate.

Bao Chao's troops were extremely strict in their military orders, and they never dared to pick up property on the battlefield. Leaving the troops to clean up the battlefield, Bao Chao led his troops straight into the east gate and killed them in the city.

The city was already a world of blood and fire, and the Taiping army lost the head of the city, so they organized a defense in the city. The Hunan army immediately lit a fire, and the smoke from the rifle fire mixed with the smoke from the burning houses, making the entire Luzhou City very low visibility. The ground was full of corpses, and Zeng Guoquan's troops had at this time compressed the Taiping army to the vicinity of the Shuixi Gate in the west of the city. This was a strategy that had been set a long time ago, and the Hunan army only deployed sailors outside the Shuixi Gate, placing troops on both sides to prevent the Taiping army from escaping from land. When the Taiping army reached the shore, it was completely within the strike range of the Hunan army's naval division.

After the city was broken, under the onslaught of the Hunan army, the Taiping army could only retreat to Shuiximen. Bao Chao rushed here with his troops, and Zeng Guoquan quickly sent someone to contact Bao Chao to prevent him from participating in the final attack. "The Shuixi Gate has been besieged here, please be in the city."

Bao Chao knew that Zeng Guoquan didn't want to be shared, so he snorted coldly, and then replied: "You go back and sue Zeng Iron Bucket, I know." ”

After the herald left, Bao Chao ordered his opponent: "You go along the street to look, and if there is a notice posted at the door, go in." ”

When the adjutant general heard this order, he immediately obeyed the order and commanded the troops to go their separate ways. Those who posted the notice of avoiding death given to them by Jiang Zhongyuan must be rich in their families. These people are afraid that the city will be looted by the official army after it is broken, so they will be so active in contacting the official army. After Bao Chao killed the gang at the city gate, the deputy general understood Bao Chao's intentions. At this time, I was even more glad to receive the order. It is better to rob ten poor families than to rob one rich family. It was not easy to distinguish between the poor and the rich, but now the signs on the doors of each house are the best signs.

After the Hunan army broke through the city of Luzhou, the battle of clearing and suppression lasted for two more days. Three days later, the Hunan army withdrew from Luzhou. Jiang Zhongyuan led his troops to take over the ruling center of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Huainan. There were still more than two miles to go from the city of Luzhou, and the strong smell of corpse decay in the summer air had already informed what was going on in the city.

When they reached less than a mile from the edge of the city, the Huai army's ranks automatically slowed down. I saw that outside the city were patches of corpses, all of which were dressed in the clothes of ordinary people, and spread dozens of meters wide outside the city. Under the city walls, these corpses were stacked on top of each other, and they were built up high. As far as the eye could see, this was true under the city walls, and at least thousands of people died as far as the light could see.

As the soldiers approached the corpse-covered land, countless fat flies were alarmed and flew up from the corpses, as if raising a black cloud. In the twisted and open mouth, nostrils, and ears of the deceased, maggots also wriggled and crawled in and out.

The soldiers of the Huai Army have also fought and seen blood. Seeing this, many people can't help but vomit. Jiang Zhongyuan's brows furrowed, ignoring the stench in the air, and ignoring the thousands of corpses on the ground that were rapidly decomposing under the summer sun, he urged his horses to go straight to the city gate.

The gate of Luzhou was wide open, and after Jiang Zhongyuan's horses entered the city gate, the streets that were also full of corpses unfolded in front of his eyes. A large number of ravens pecking at the carrion of the dead were startled by the movement, and they spread their pitch-black wings, croaked in dissatisfaction, and flew into the air.

And Jiang Zhongyuan found that except for these crows who were desperately eating the dead, the entire city of Luzhou was quiet. There was not a single sound.

The Hunan army camp was bustling with activity, and there was a long queue at the door of the tent where the merchants accompanied the army, and the Hunan soldiers carried large bags of things and waited for the gang to make a firm valuation. Every time the Hunan army conquers a city, it will be lively like this for several days. These were responsible for the valuation of the booty, and the merchants had already paid a large sum of money to Zeng Guofan, and they bought the loot and shipped it to Hubei, Hunan and other places to sell. The Hunan army will bring their money back to their hometown.

It is said that in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, this business is doing better. There was a businessman named Hu Xueyan under Lord Zuo Zongtang, who not only purchased these materials, but was also responsible for depositing the silver money into the ticket number. You don't have to carry it around, and your money is safer. The merchants of the Hunan army did not provide such services, so most of the merchants of the Hunan army came out to fight, and the villagers were also in the same battalion. Even if someone dies in battle, family members and villagers can bring money back to their hometown.

However, at this time, the Hunan army also began to prepare its own ticket number, preparing to imitate the model of the Chu army, using paper money and silver bills to increase the security of soldiers' money.

Naturally, the soldiers boasted about their gains while they waited.

As a well-known scholar in Hunan, Zeng has been reading every day, keeping a diary every day, cultivating his mind every day, discovering his own problems, and seeking solutions to them. Over time, the results are quite good. At least Lord Zeng's subordinates can now understand Lord Zeng's political philosophy.

After understanding the truth told by Zeng Guofan, the Hunan army learned and applied it. After the Hunan army recaptured the city that was taken by the Taiping army in a short period of time, it naturally had to "collect grain, grass and military salaries", and the Hunan army would be in line with the attitude of self-reliance and abundant food and clothing, and collect the people in the city fairly, justly and openly. When the inhabitants of the city willingly degenerate into "chaotic people" and "diao people", and rise up to resist open expropriation, the righteous army of the Hunan army will immediately give them death.

For the cities that the Taiping army occupied for a long time after taking them, the Hunan army, according to the cognitive standards set by Zeng Guofan, was full of bandits. Jiujiang, Anqing, and other cities that have been entrenched by the Taiping army for several years, do not even distinguish women from them, and all the chaotic people are killed.

The entire Huainan region fell into the Taiping army for eight years, and there was no war for eight years. The Hunan army completely acted in accordance with the rules of the Hunan army in Luzhou, a city that had fallen into the hands of Cantonese bandits for eight years, and the gains here were much greater than those in the poor areas of Jiangxi. Talking about the benefits this time, all the Hunan troops were smiling.

Therefore, when Jiang Zhongyuan, the governor of Anhui, led the guards and rushed quickly through the Hunan army camp and went straight to the big tent of Zeng Guofan, these officers and soldiers only watched curiously, but they strictly guarded the queue, for fear that they would be squeezed out after leaving the queue.

Jiang Zhongyuan's heart was boiling with anger at this time, and he didn't look at the Hunan troops carrying big bags and small bags, and rushed into Zeng Guofan's big tent, so he shouted at Zeng Guofan: "Brother Disheng, what the hell is going on?" ”

Of course, Zeng Guofan knew what Jiang Zhongyuan was talking about, he sat firmly on the chair and sighed, "Minqiao, this kind of thing is unacceptable!" ”

"Can't?!" Jiang Zhongyuan took a few steps forward and approached Zeng Guofan, "If it is said that the Hunan army looted property, it can still be said." Why don't even women let go? ”

The Hunan army finally did not kill all the people in Luzhou City, and some very poor people hid relatively tightly, and finally escaped with their lives. When they told Jiang Zhongyuan about the murderous massacre of the Hunan army in the city, they told Jiang Zhongyuan something. The Hunan army not only killed and looted, but also robbed the good-looking women in Luzhou City. Jiang Zhongyuan was barely able to accept the slaughter of the Hunan army, but he couldn't accept the Hunan army's looting of women at all. Only then did he come to Zeng Guofan angrily.

Zeng Guofan sighed, "Minqiao, you and I are both members of the imperial court, and there are some things that we must be in power!" ”R1058