Wang Ju felt it: "Today's big disadvantage lies in not being brave and not in harmony, and in defeat, not saving each other. Because at the time of the recruitment, the soldiers came from all over the place, the soldiers were not familiar with the soldiers, and the generals were not in harmony, one battalion went to war, and the other battalion stood by and watched, gloating, so how can the anti-thieves be extinguished, unless everyone is united, breathing and caring for each other, and the pain and itching are related, everyone can live and die together, and share blessings and misfortunes! ”

Zeng Guofan was ashamed and ashamed, and said to Wang Zhu: "It is my fault to turn forward, I will change it, and in the future, the Hunan army will not be saved when they see death, and those who abandon the army and flee, together with me, will not be spared!" ”

The audience spoke freely, and Bao Chao also said the question that had been held in his heart for a long time, "Marshal Qiqi, our army is fighting, and many battalion officers, sentry officers, and even commanders are all standing behind the soldiers to avoid danger, so that the soldiers also have the idea of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, who still fights with their lives!" ”

Because the Hunan army expanded rapidly and lacked a large number of battalion officers, Bao Chao was promoted to the deputy battalion officer of the former battalion of the navy.

It turned out that the soldiers rushed to escape and disperse, and the officials took the lead! Zeng Guofan suddenly realized in an instant, in the past, he only focused on training soldiers, but did not restrain officers, and deserved such a big defeat!

Zeng Guofan closed his eyes in pain, blamed himself for being confused, and opened his mouth to teach: "The officers of our Hunan army are all glorious and all the years old, and in the future, if there are people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, and who escape from the battle, they will all be expelled from the Hunan army with their relatives and friends, and they will never be allowed to associate with them. ”

Everyone is awe-inspiring, if you violate this article and be expelled, not only will your reputation be reduced, but you will also be ruined.

Liu Rong was also very touched by the defeat this time: "We plan to draw a good plan every time, before taking the next step, who knows that the plan can not catch up with the rapid change, the short hair is cunning and the long hair is fierce, and will not act according to our expectations, I suggest that in the future, we should make a decision on the spot, and respond to the situation, so that the long and short hairs will not have a chance to take advantage of it." ”

Guo Songtao thought that many Hunan army camp officers on the battlefield could not find their own soldiers, and suggested: "I see that the short-haired military uniform has its own team name, why don't we copy it, for example, the corporal under the command of Taqib will mark the name of a certain team and a certain team of the forward battalion and the brave soldiers, which will not only increase the sense of honor of the officers, but also inspire the soldiers to kill the enemy." ”

……

Zeng Guofan nodded with satisfaction, stroked his beard and smiled, and in the future, he would have a few more meetings like this to criticize and fill in the gaps, and concluded: "The responsibility for the defeat of Baling County this time lies with me, I will ask the emperor for the guilt, I have already sent the excerpt to Lu, you just have to perform your duties, kill the thief and serve the country, and I will solve the rest!" ”

The crowd was in high spirits and said in unison: "The lowly rank fights hard to kill the thief to repay the country's kindness." ”

Xiangxiang County, the camp of the Taiping Army

Huang Weikun read: "Tianjing is in danger...... Wing King Shi Da quickly brought elite soldiers back to help! The Eastern Expeditionary Army was handed over to Lai Hanying, the deputy prime minister of Xiaguan. ”

Lai Yuxin and Fu Zhongxin glanced at each other, their eyes were full of resentment, the king of heaven was so unfair, he actually let his wife and uncle command the army of the Eastern Expedition, this Lai Hanying has no experience in leading the army, and he has always been a civil official before the capital Tianjing, so he can serve the public?

Shi Dakai received the will of the Heavenly King, handed over to Lai Hanying, and led 13,000 people from the Wing Hall to return to Tianjing by water.

Unexpectedly, taking over the commander of the Eastern Expedition so smoothly, Lai Hanyingzhi was complacent, quite a little fluttering, and convened the remaining generals above the division commander to discuss the matter.

"The Wing King has been recalled by the Heavenly King to Tianjing for another important use, and I will temporarily act as the commander of the Eastern Expedition, if you have any suggestions, you can speak freely, and you don't have to have any scruples,"

Yu Zhongfu didn't seem to look down on Lai Hanying, a local man, and he didn't look at him when he spoke, and said to everyone: "Now our army has two places to go, first, return to Wuchang; The second attack on Changsha. If you have any suggestions, just say. ”

Zeng Lichang said: "I choose the second one, our army has already entered Hunan, less than 50 miles away from Changsha, it is a pity to retreat to Wuchang like this." ”

Huang Zaixing was a little worried about attacking Changsha, and said frankly: "Changsha has a high wall and a thick city, and the defenders are sufficient, so it is not easy to attack. ”

Lai Hanying seemed to mean that he was not as good as Shi Dakai, and with Shi Dakai, he could win the battle, and if he was replaced by Lai Hanying, he would lose the battle! frowned, didn't speak, and already regarded Huang Zaixing as an alternative in his heart.

Ji Qingyuan looked at Lai Hanying's face and knew that Huang Zaixing had offended him, and he didn't understand what Huang Zaixing thought, he was born as a penman of the Heavenly King, so why should he offend Lai Hanying, a legitimate uncle. Looks like there's time to remind him.

Lai Hanying saw that the generals who were willing to attack Changsha accounted for the majority, so he just took advantage of his thoughts and announced: "Since everyone is willing to send troops to Changsha, all the generals will immediately go back to rectify the soldiers and horses......

"Report ...... Qi Yu Prime Minister, there is a division commander outside who claims to be Prime Minister Zeng's subordinates and asks to see him. "The soldiers came in and kowtowed.

Lai Hanying thought that Zeng Tianyang had sent someone to contact, and immediately replied: "Hurry up, please!" ”

After a while, a ragged, gray-faced, unkempt beggar came into the lobby, only to see him just kowtow and cry, and did not answer, as if he had a great grievance to confide.

Yu Zhong stepped forward to help him up and comforted: "I wronged you, was Prime Minister Zeng sent you back?" Come on! ”

When the man heard Zeng Tianyang's name, he cried even more, and replied: "The little one's name is Jiang Nanxun, the commander of the Left Tenth Army, the prime minister has been killed by the Qing Demon Taqibu, and our Left Tenth Army has also been wiped out!" ”

From Lai Hanying to ordinary commanders were frightened by his words, this Zeng Tianyang is not an ordinary person, he is born as a guard of the Heavenly King, he is the same as the inspection, and he is extremely brave, because of his repeated military exploits, he was named prime minister, but he didn't expect to die in the hands of the unknown Taqibu, many generals have secretly cried, gritted their teeth and swore to avenge Zeng Tianyang!

Lai Hanying felt sad for the king of heaven, Zeng Tianyang was Hong Xiuquan's ironcore, with military achievements and prestige, and was the person who was scrupled by Yang Xiuqing, the king of the East, and now he died suddenly, Yang Xiuqing is afraid that he will be even more unscrupulous, excluding dissidents, and he may not be able to do it for long.

Zeng Lichang wiped away his tears, stood up and shouted: "This time I sent troops to Changsha, I must kill the dog thief named Taqibu and avenge the prime minister!" ”

The only calm person present was Huang Zaixing, and solemnly asked Jiang Nanxun: "The 3,000 men of the Left Tenth Army, you are the only one who survives?" ”

Jiang Nanxun replied: "Originally, many brothers escaped, but we were not familiar with the place in Hunan, and when there were many people, those landlords did not dare to provoke us, but instead sent us silver and grain, but we did not expect that we lost the battle, they became like wolves and tigers, chasing us until they drove us out!" ”

Yu Zhongfu patted his thigh angrily, "These brutes, I Zeng Lichang will never let them go!" ”

Lai Hanying hesitated a little, the Qing Demon can completely annihilate the Left Tenth Army, which greatly surprised him, now he only has 20,000 troops, and the number of people fighting Changsha is no longer advantageous, so why not continue to attack Changsha? subconsciously looked at Huang Zaixing, hoping that he would speak out against it, so that he could have a step down.

Huang Zaixing bowed to Lai Hanying and said, "Please attack Changsha immediately and destroy this group of Qing demons, otherwise they will become the henchmen of my heavenly kingdom!" ”

"Please send troops to take revenge!"

"Please send troops ...... Prime Minister"

…………

The crowd looked so angry that they all shouted in unison.

Lai Hanying had no choice but to announce: "All armies will be divided into three routes according to the plan set by King Yi, and the north and south will be flanked to cut off Changsha's foreign aid!" inspected Yu Zhongfu and military commander Huang Zaixing led 4,000 men to attack Jinggang Town, ten miles north of Changsha; Commanding Zeng Lichang to lead 6,000 people to attack Ningxiang County, I commanded the rest of the soldiers and horses to attack Xiangtan County, and after the three-way soldiers and horses succeeded, except for some soldiers and horses left behind to block the Qing demon reinforcements, the rest all marched to Changsha. ”

"Honorable Order"

……