After setting the Xinhui strategy with Chen Qice, Zhou Shixiang finally led the Taiping army to cross the river on the 10th day of the first month.

In the months-long battle of Xinhui, the Taiping army killed 1,420 officers and soldiers below 100 households, wounded 570 people, and captured 850 people by the Hou Zheng Security Regiment Ding and Xinhui people, and the Qing army, with casualties amounting to more than three-quarters of the whole army. By the time it was decided to cross the river, there were only 1,165 officers and soldiers in the five major battalions of the Taiping Army, more than 7,800 old and weak in the rear battalion, and 320 wounded soldiers.

The 2,000 people who supplemented the Taiping Army accompanied the Taiping Army at the "request" of the Taiping Army. Zhou Shixiang selected 1,500 young and strong people to fill in the battalions, and the rest were included in the rear battalion security regiment and the public treasury army.

After several days of reorganization and screening, the 1,700 Qing prisoners were also added to the Taiping Army and the Security Corps in batches. 800 green battalion soldiers from various prefectures and counties in Guangzhou were added to the Taiping Army in the first batch, more than 600 Qing troops who were not from Liaodong were added to the second batch, and the remaining 200 Han soldiers from Liaodong were transferred to the newly built artillery barracks for gunners.

The key to going to Xiangshan is to gain a foothold, and Xiangshan is too unfamiliar with the Taiping Army, so the more than 100 green battalions that originally belonged to Xiangshan County have been valued by Zhou Shixiang, and they were placed in each battalion as deputy bannermen, taking them as guides when the battalions occupied Xiangshan.

The addition of 1,500 people and 1,700 Qing troops made the Taiping Army's military strength reach more than 4,000 people, not only the previous five battalions were all full, but the new artillery battalions also reached 600 people, so that not only the six major battalions of the Taiping Army reached 3,200 people, but the security regiment and the public treasury army belonging to the rear battalion also had nearly 2,000 people.

The months-long battle to defend the city and the decisive battle out of the city caused a large number of Taiping officers to be killed, and now that so many people and soldiers have been added at once, it is inevitable that there will be problems in command and management. Zhou Shi's solution to this was to promote a large number of soldiers who had made meritorious contributions to the battle to serve as small banners, and selected 20 people from among the people and prisoners to serve as small flag officers. In addition, for the replenishment and change of the surrendered troops, Zhou Shixiang also had other means. That is the existence of the Anjun envoy.

Zhou Shixiang was a member of the people's army in his previous life, and he knew a little about military history and war history, so he naturally knew how the people's army absorbed and reformed those Kuomintang army prisoners during the Liberation War. After telling Song Xianggong about some of the transformation methods in his previous life, the latter looked for candidates for the Anjun envoys to be added to each battalion one by one, and from the first day of the surrender of troops into the barracks, the Anjun envoys began to play a role. Judging from the current situation alone, the work of the An military envoys was very effective, at least, the Qing prisoners who joined the Taiping Army were generally quiet. Most of them have become accustomed to the change of their identity, and even some captives began to take the initiative to find the An military envoys, telling them how they became Qing soldiers and how they did evil under the leadership of the officers, and finally asked for forgiveness from the Taiping army, and decided not to share the sky with the Qing army.

Although the officers of the battalions were a little dissatisfied with the sudden appearance of the security envoys, they could not accept that their orders would be questioned by another person, their own punishment of their subordinates would be obstructed, and even this person would overstep the level to report his wrongdoing. made him, the chief officer, very faceless. But in any case, the stabilizing effect of the Anjun envoys on the morale of the army is still seen by officers at all levels, so they also reluctantly accept the existence of the Anjun envoys.

Although the months-long fierce fighting caused huge casualties to the Taiping army, it was also a real battle elite soldier for the Taiping army. The surviving people, whether officers or soldiers, are much stronger than before, and the soldiers of the Taiping Army who have experienced the heaps of blood and corpses are already comparable to the elite. The number of additional soldiers has exceeded the total number of officers and soldiers of the original number, but under the cohesion and leadership of these Taiping soldiers, the combat effectiveness and loyalty have not decreased too much. The next thing Zhou Shixiang has to do is how to completely transform this complex army. Build it into a powerhouse that can change the situation.

The 100 households of the Xiongwei Camp are still held by Shao Jiugong, and the Zhenyu Camp is officially held by Ge Yi, the younger brother of Ge Zheng, the original 100 households, and Tie Yi continues to hold the position of 100 households in the trapped camp. Jiang He, a bald man of the 100 households in the guard battalion, was unable to move because of an injury to his foot, so Zhou Shixiang changed Zhao Sihai of the Gongku Army to serve as the 100 households of the guard battalion, and Jiang He transferred the Gongku Army to make a decision after he recovered from his injuries. The 100 households of Hujie Camp are still served by Qin Zhisheng. The 100 households killed in each battalion were also reported by the 100 households in each battalion, and none of Zhou Shixiang were inaccurate.

Zhou Shixiang, the candidate for the 100 households of the newly built artillery barracks, decided on Qi Hao, although Qi Hao was the chief soldier of the Great Western Army in the past, but now he is only a member of the Taiping Army. Qi Hao, who had made great contributions to buying salt and bombing the camp, was also a high-ranking officer of the Taiping Army, and his appointment did not arouse the disgust of other generals. The gunners of the artillery battalion were all captured Han army flag gunners, at first, after serving as a hundred households in the artillery battalion, Qi Hao was also worried that these Han army flag soldiers would not obey the control, but what surprised him was that there was no need for him to act at all, the original Han army flag soldiers who joined the Taiping Army first could suppress the new flag soldiers and manage them well, which made Qi Hao very relaxed.

In order to restore the physical strength of those people who were about to starve to death to the greatest extent, Zhou Shixiang also took out the little food at the expense of blood, so that the people could recover a little, but they were still far from being strong. He was in a hurry to leave Xinhui and go to Xiangshan, also because of the urgent need for food. The vicinity of Xinhui has been ruined by the Qing army, Chen Qice has been sending sailors along the river to search everywhere for days in order to raise grain, and Zhou Shixiang has no sailors to send to raise grain, so he can only choose to leave here immediately and go to Xiangshan. Compared with the dilapidated Xinhui, Xiangshan is a treasure land, rich in products, and closer to Macao, whether it is grain, grass or ordnance, as long as it is well managed, it can be obtained.

Originally, Zhou Shixiang wanted the remnants of Xinhui City to stay in the city and not have to act with the Taiping army, but he never thought that these people would take the initiative to ask to go to Xiangshan with the Taiping army. Somewhat puzzled, he asked Song Xianggong why the people were like this, and Song Xianggong told him that there were many women in Xinhui who had military marriage relations with the Taiping soldiers, although many of the men married by these women were killed in battle, but to some extent, these Xinhui people, especially those women, were already members of the Taiping Army, so they could not leave the Taiping Army to live alone. Second, the military discipline of the Taiping Army is very good, and they take care of the old and weak, and whether the new sailor who took over Xinhui can be like the Taiping Army, the people have no bottom in their hearts, so they would rather go to Xiangshan with the Taiping Army than stay in Xinhui to take risks. said a thousand ways and ten thousand, these people in Xinhui are still afraid that the military discipline of the sailor is not good, and they are also afraid that they will not be able to hold Xinhui, and as a result, they will be harmed by the Qing army again.

Chen Qice provided the greatest help to the Taiping army's march into Xiangshan, as he had promised before, within two days, he transported all the personnel and materials of the Taiping army to the other side by boat, and gave some armor captured from the Qing army.

After the whole army crossed the Tan River, Zhou Shixiang issued a military order: Go to Xiangshan not to kill, not to ****, not to rob property, not to slaughter cattle, and not to set fire. (To be continued.) )