The Li River, in countless films, television and graphic works in the 21st century, is a stable and gentle water system, elephant trunk mountain, bamboo raft, like a mirror-like water surface, as if in the picture of the dusk and early morning quiet sleep.

Standing on the shore of this tranquil water, Wei Ze saw the wide river rushing like an excited dragon. During the flood season, the Li River is surging and roaring, and the turbulent river water is rolling as much as it can, and the aquatic plants, leaves and branches that fall into the river are all tumbling up and down in the river, and they are fast going away with the torrent to the southeast. The river slapped against the rocks on the shore, splashing patches of mist, and the river wind wrapped the droplets on Wei Ze's face, giving him a feeling like rain.

Marching and fighting on rainy days is no stranger to Wei Ze, standing on the edge of the Li River where there is no fighting life, the look on Wei Ze's face is much more dignified than marching and fighting in the rain. The original military plan was only to catch up with the main force of the Taiping army besieging Guilin, and things were much easier to do after returning to Guilin. But the Taiping army had already crossed the Li River and headed north, and Liu Changqing, a dog skin plaster, was coming, and Wei Ze could only change the original battle plan.

Liu Changqing escaped with his life in the face of a well-planned battle, and Wei Ze could only continue to revise his military plan. It was normal for him to think that he should collect the boats on the riverside and transport the baggage troops and the old and weak across the river first. By controlling the boats and the place to cross the river, Wei Ze was able to make the elite troops mobile and fight on both sides of the Li River. Once the main force of the Taiping army was found, Wei Ze immediately gathered his troops and rushed over as fast as possible. Because of his preconceived ideas about the Li River, Wei Ze even felt that if it was really not possible, it was not impossible to swim across the river with arms.

The wide and turbulent Li River in front of him ruthlessly shattered Wei Ze's thoughts, and he did not give up and sent a few soldiers into the water to try. The warriors who went into the water were proficient in water, but the turbulent water of the Li River quickly swept the warriors who were proficient in water to the bottom. Fortunately, before leaving, Wei Ze asked them to tie a safety rope around their waists, which can be regarded as pulling the person up, and it took a while of artificial respiration to save the person.

The Taiping army and the Qing army had already cleaned up the boats on the river, and Wei Ze was faced with a situation where there were no ships available. Ruan Xihao was also from half a boat army, and the Li River went straight from Guilin to Wuzhou, and he insisted that it was necessary to have no less than ten large canopy boats such as the boat army, so that the troops could be transported back and forth between the two sides of the river in a short time. And the reality is that not to mention the big awning boat, not even the bamboo raft in Guilin that Wei Ze has seen can not be seen.

"The boats are gone." The reconnaissance force sent by Zhang Yingchen also did not find the ship.

"Now I am returning to Wuzhou to find the brother of the boat army, and I don't know if it will be too late." Liang Changtai, who was born in the boat army, said very confidently.

"I'm afraid the ships are all over Guilin City." Wei Changrong said.

Zhang Yingchen saw that everyone was talking, and he said: "There are boats at the ferry in Guilin, but the ferry is guarded by hundreds of Qing troops. The place where the ferry is guarded is only afraid that there is artillery. If we hit the ferry, we can only attack. ”

The ferry port is very close to Guilin City, and it is likely that the ferry will encounter the problem of the Qing army attacking in the city. Even if they can break the Qing army that attacks, the defenders of the ferry will not be so light and wait there. If they row the boat away, it will be in vain to hit the ferry.

In Wei Ze's original plan, Wei Changrong only had to fight under the city of Guilin and harass the Qing army. The elite troops in Wei Ze's hands are only 8oo, and there are only tens of thousands of Qing troops in Guilin City. If you stay under the city of Guilin for a long time, you are afraid that you will be annihilated by the whole army, and Wei Ze at this time cannot afford to fight a war of attrition.

"Wei Checkpoint, if you had withdrawn from Wujia Town earlier, you should have been able to catch up with Nanwang's brigade. Now that we are separated by a river, how can the king of the south know that we have rushed over. Nanwang's guards looked at the wide river and couldn't help complaining.

Of course, Wei Ze also regretted it in his heart, but it was only two days late, and the situation was completely different. But since this is already the case, Wei Ze has no time to waste. Forcibly retracting his thoughts, Wei Ze said, "Brother Liang, is there a place to go downstream?" ”

"If you want to cross the river in winter, you definitely can't now." Liang Changtai, who was born in the boat army, gave quite professional advice, and he gave a concluding remark, "If you want to cross the river now, you must rely on a boat." If you want to cross the river quickly, you have to find a big boat. ”

Wei Ze sighed slightly, "Let's go downstream, we must cross the Li River and catch up with the team." ”

"Oh!" The brothers around just answered. Wei Changrong said a little unwillingly: "If only King Nan could order a ship to be sent to pick us up." ”

Wei Ze sighed, "The Taiping Army will not go south of the Li River again!" ”

This judgment is actually easy to determine, the Taiping army finally set the capital of Nanjing, from Guilin to Nanjing, thousands of miles away. It was learned from the captured Liu Changqing's subordinates that several Qing armies had crossed the Li River and pursued the Taiping army. In such a situation, it is impossible for the Taiping army to turn around and fight back. Moreover, Wei Ze's experience of going to Wuzhou has made Wei Ze understand that in Guangxi, where resources are poor, there are many people and little land, and the contradictions between the Turks and the Turks are fierce, there is no way to make the Taiping Army do anything.

"Changrong! The plan has changed, and we no longer have to think about going back and forth on both sides of the Li River, nor do we need to look for the main force of the Taiping Army. You still lead the troops to feint Guilin, and I will take the rest of the people down the river. You remember, you just go to Guilin to scare and scare the Qing demon, and then you turn around and feint Lipu. We look for a crossing along the river, and you help us buy time. We'll do our best. ”

"Yes!" was entrusted with such a difficult task, but Wei Changrong did not have the slightest timidity. He said: "Check it, and assign Captain Liang and Captain Ruan to me." ”

Wei Ze looked at Wei Changrong with complicated eyes, wanting to say a few more words, but he was afraid that saying too many words would hit Wei Changrong's self-confidence, so he finally said: "You must be careful!" ”

Soon, the army was divided into two, Wei Changrong led the elite troops of seven pawns to the west, and Wei Ze led the rest of the troops to the southeast.

The division of Weese's troops took place on May 22, 1852, and on May 23, the minister of the Imperial Mission, Cézanne, who was in Yangshuo near Guilin, received an official letter.

Cezanne had moved from Lipu to Yangshuo in April, when the Taiping army was besieging Guilin, and it was certainly impossible for the minister to put himself in danger. He handed over the burden of guarding Guilin to Xiang Rong, and he ran to Yangshuo, near Guilin, to "take charge of the overall situation".

Naturally, the news of the Taiping army's withdrawal had also reached Yangshuo, and Lord Cezanne also dispatched troops to organize a pursuit. After the Battle of Dayuan, the brave generals Ulantai, Qin Dingsan and others were killed. The rest of the Qing generals were all asking for more blessings and refused to go to war. The Qing army of 20,000 or 30,000 people was near Guilin, but it was a passive defense. When the troops and weapons were superior, they couldn't come out, and the Taiping army couldn't beat the fortified city of Guilin, so they broke the siege quite freely. It took a lot of effort for Cezanne to let a few Qing troops follow and pursue the Taiping army.

As soon as the Taiping army left, Cezanne got the news that the bundle of Taiping troops that had been concerned by Emperor Xianfeng for a time and had specially ordered to be found out finally appeared.

Before getting the news, Cezanne also conducted a detailed investigation of Shu's Taiping army. This time, the official army was defeated repeatedly, and Emperor Xianfeng made countless wills, but Cezanne failed to achieve the emperor's goal at all. Of all the wills, the least difficult thing to accomplish is to find out who the Taiping army is. Before becoming the minister of the imperial mission, Cezanne had already conferred the title of scholar of Wenhuadian University, the minister of military machinery, and the management of the household department, and was a real minister in the Manchu court. He knew very well the priorities of serving the emperor. It is more clear to find out the importance of the Han people's army to the Qing court.

When the Qing army besieged Yong'an, this bundle of troops specialized in robbing the Qing army's grain route. The last news of this army was in Dayuan, and it was this bundle of Taiping troops that was behind the troops of Xiangrong. Since then, the army has not been heard from again.

However, after the Taiping army highlighted Yong'an, it was difficult to capture prisoners. Moreover, all the units of the Taiping army besieging Guilin were dispatched, but they did not see a bundle of Taiping troops. Cézanne suspected that the information was wrong, and that the Taipings were called "long-haired" because they did not shave their heads, but rather wore a long drape. With a long head as a foundation, the bundle is very easy.

After the Taiping army withdrew from the siege, this bundle of Han Chinese troops suddenly emerged from the south. This made Cezanne wonder what the relationship between this army and the Taiping army was? Cézanne suspected that the army was not the Taipings, but perhaps the forces of some rebel attached to the Taipings. But this is no longer important, according to intelligence, this army, which is still on the south bank of the Li River, after breaking through Liu Changqing's army, turned out to be an attack on Guilin.

Cezanne knew very well that if he ordered the Qing army, which had crossed the river to pursue the main force of the Taiping army, to come back, the Qing army, which had no intention of pursuing in the first place, would be able to return immediately. But Emperor Xianfeng has already made it clear in the edict that "the provincial capital is important, and there must be no more negligence elsewhere." ”

At this time, the main force of the Taiping army fled north, and if the Qing army that crossed the river returned to encircle and suppress this bundle of rebels, it would be tantamount to allowing the Taiping army to move freely. At that time, even if he annihilated this bundle of rebels, it was impossible to get the approval of Emperor Xianfeng.

After much deliberation, the minister of the Imperial Mission, Cezanne, finally decided on his strategy. He ordered Xiang Rong in Guilin to investigate what was going on with this bundle of troops. At the same time, he ordered Yu Wanqing's troops, who were originally pursuing the Taiping army with Liu Changqing, to go south and block the Taiping army in Jiangbei. This is the experience of the minister of the Qin Mission, Cezana, based on the previous battles with the Taiping army. The Taiping army, which Emperor Xianfeng was very concerned about, was blocked south of the Li River. In case the pursuit of the main force of the Taiping army fails, the Qing army can be pulled back and this bundle of Taiping troops can be eliminated. Cezanne can no longer withstand any defeat, and there is no military merit that can be used, but it is not only a matter of not protecting his official position, but also the life of Lord Cezanne will also be in big trouble.

This was just the beginning, Cezanne wrote an official letter to Zou Minghe and Xiang Rong in Guilin, telling them that he was going to Guilin soon. And ordered the two to immediately organize troops and go to attack the rebels of Shu.

After writing the official letter, Cezanne immediately ordered his troops to prepare for the march to Guilin. He knew very well that if he could not go to Guilin, he would not be able to command any Qing army nested in Guilin under any circumstances.

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