Steaming River is a large tributary of the Xiangjiang River, commonly known as the Grass River, originates in Shaodong County, enters in Hengyang Jinlan Town, presents a "B" shape, flows through Sanhu Town, Zhajiang Town, Taiyuan Town, Xidu, Santang, Duyingling and other places in the county, and flows into the Xiangjiang River in Hengzhou City Stone Drum.

Located in the west of Hengzhou City, the town of Dangyingling on the bank of the grass river faces Hengzhou City across the river in the east, borders Hengyang County in the west, and connects with Hengshan County in the north, which is an important window and gateway in the west of Hengzhou City. After the Taiping army conquered Hengzhou City, Zeng Tianyang and He Zhenchuan were left to guard Hengzhou City, Zeng Tianyang and He Zhenchuan set up to defend Hengzhou City, and sacrificed the Taiping Army's strategy of guarding danger and not guarding the city, the west place was set up in the Eagle Ridge and the town on the north bank of the Grass River, and there were 500 Guangxi veterans and 1,500 Hunan recruits to guard here, there are three pontoon bridges on the grass river to communicate Hengzhou City, once the Eagle Ridge was attacked by the Qing army, the Eagle Ridge will be fireworks, and the Taiping Army of Hengzhou City can be reinforced by the pontoon bridge.

This day is the New Year's Day of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and after the third watch, the Taiping Army units in the town will play gongs and gather to prepare for the New Year's Day worship of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Each ministry to two Sima as a group, and the town people, with the army and the people, light two lamps, three cups of tea, three plates of vegetables, three bowls of rice, two Sima and the military officer stand in the middle, everyone stands on both sides, chant the praise, and then by the warden to write the yellow table chapter, write one or two Sima in the name of the person, so everyone knelt down, by the warden kneeling after reading that is incinerate.

After the Yellow Table is incinerated, everyone can not disperse, and the kings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are congratulated, and then they listen to the warden to reason, recite the scriptures, zuihou to share the food with the offerings, and after the dawn can receive a sumptuous meal from the chef.

Because the soldiers and horses of the Taiping Army in Hengzhou are Zeng Tianyang's relics, most of them are people from the east hall, and the set of grievance complaints in the west hall has not been handed down. More often than not, the Celestial Empire Brigade had the same set of doctrines, so that even the soldiers who were scattered on the periphery of the outposts returned to the camp to attend the service overnight.

Just when the Taiping army in Duying Ridge and the town was listening to the Heavenly Father's holy teachings around the bonfire, a Qing army in the north was quietly approaching through the night, and this Qing army was the Zhenxiao Miao soldiers led by Rong Lu!

Most of the earlier Zhenxiao Miao soldiers were in Deng Shaoliang and Xiangrong's troops, and they were wiped out in the first battle between Xiangtan, Siyeshan and Xidian Taiping Army, and there were still hundreds of people and horses in the Qing army in the Yiyang Hulin Wing. Rong Lu is now leading the newly recruited soldiers of the Qing army at the beginning of the year, of which the Miao soldiers account for most of them, and the rest are the Miao Han soldiers.

Although this town Miao soldier is a new recruit, the Miao people in Xiangxi have always been martial, and men must wear swords when they are twelve years old. Many of the village men are 14 years old. The coming-of-age ceremony is also quite brave, and the Miao men who want to perform the coming-of-age ceremony must go out of the village alone, only carry knives and ropes and other things, go alone to the mountains and forests to catch prey, and then take the prey alone to the nearest town market to exchange for salt and cloth. You have to do this to be considered an adult.

At this time, the land of Xiangxi has always been a remote land, with high mountains and dense forests. Infested with wild beasts. It is to think that a 14-year-old boy has to go into the mountains alone to hunt, and then have to solve the problem of eating by himself, and after he is done, he has to carry the prey to walk dozens of miles of mountain roads to the towns where the Han people gather to exchange goods, and the hardships and dangers can be imagined. That's it, the Miao soldiers have always been good at hunting, walking mountain roads, and even better at lurking.

Rong Lu and Li Zhong took the lead with more than 1,000 Miao soldiers. Everyone was covered with branches and straw bags, and many Miao soldiers also painted their faces with flowers, which looked as hideous as mandrills, and the Miao soldiers had sharp blades in their mouths. Holding a shuttle and bow and arrow simmered with poison, the cat slowly approached the prey not far away like a cheetah in the dark, just like they usually hunted.

Then the fire in the Taiping army camp, the first round of raids began quietly, Miao Bing's poisoned arrow shot the Taiping soldiers on the watchtower to death, the poison on the poison arrow has a strong neurological paralyzing toxin, the person who was shot will immediately be numb all over the body, Zuihou heart paralysis and death. The Taiping soldiers in the camp were all devout and listened to the Father's hadiths, so that no one noticed the danger coming, and it was not until the Miao soldiers climbed over the trench and began to cut the wooden fence outside the camp that the Taiping army became alert.

"Demon soldiers are coming!" The mournful shouts emanated in the camp, but the Taiping army who shouted was immediately pierced through the throat by poisonous arrows, and the second shout was never issued again, but this shout attracted the attention of the Taiping army, and when the army looked back, they saw that outside the wooden fence was full of people wearing branches and straw bags, these people had feathers on their heads, their faces were painted with patterns, and their faces were as hideous as mandrills.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! The shouts of the Taiping army resounded throughout the camp, and the Taiping army with waist swords immediately drew their knives and stepped forward to meet the enemy, many Taiping soldiers did not bring weapons, and ran back to the barracks to get swords and muskets. The Miao soldiers had already broken through the wooden fence and burst into the camp, and the two sides soon fought hand-to-hand.

The Taiping army was attacked, and the panic failed to line up, many Taiping soldiers were fighting on their own, and were soon surrounded and slaughtered by the Miao soldiers, and the remaining Taiping soldiers who had not yet found weapons were also chased and killed by the Miao soldiers, and the Taiping army camp in the entire Eagle Ridge and the town was in chaos.

The commander of the division guarding this place quickly ordered someone to release a sky-high smoke cannon for help, and took his two hundred personal guards to block the camp to fight and intercept. This personal guard was all Guangxi veterans, and they quickly stabilized their position, but more and more Qing troops had no choice but to pour into the camp, and Zuihou was killed on the spot.

Fighting until dawn, the Taiping army only escaped more than 100 people, the Miao soldiers chased the past, seized the three pontoon bridges on the grass river, and then the Hunan Yong led by Zeng Guofan came to gather, the Qing army began to cross the grass river, lined up along the river.

At this time, it was early in the morning, Rong Lu ordered the soldiers to rest for a while, eat some dry food, and at the same time sent sentry cavalry to investigate the movements of the Taiping army in Hengzhou City. When he was young, the horse was returned, and thousands of Taiping troops in Hengzhou City flocked to him, and Rong Lu and Zeng Guofan immediately ordered to prepare for a fight.

Liang Litai and He Zhenchuan in Hengzhou City heard that the Qing army had killed thousands, that the Duying Ridge and Caohe pontoon bridges had been lost, and that only 100 people had fled back from the 2,000 parts, and the two were immediately furious. Historically, the Qing army in Xiangxi has only been beaten by the Taiping army, when did the Qing army dare to come and pluck the tiger's whiskers? As soon as the two of them combined, they decided to take advantage of the fact that the Qing army had not yet gained a firm foothold, lead troops out of the city to break the Qing army, resist the enemy on the north bank of the Cao River, and burn the pontoon bridge on the Cao River at the worst time.

When the Qing army led by Rong Lu and Zeng Guofan arrived at Wuli'ao on the east bank of the Cao River, they met the Taiping army that came out to meet them. The Taiping army saw that the officers and soldiers were coming, and they avenged the brothers who died in the battle of Duyingling. Enthusiastically asked for battle, hoping to kill the officers and soldiers who came from afar.

The two armies met and fought with drums. Xiang Yong's Taqibu took the lead, and the prancing horse rushed to the front of the battle and fought with the Taiping army. The Taiping army then fired arrows at Taqib, who was not afraid and waved the sword in his hand to pick the arrow away. At this time, the artillery and muskets of the firearms battalion of Li Chongbu under Rong Lu began to bombard the two wings of the Taiping army. Although Rong Lu got 3,000 Western muskets and artillery, the Miao soldiers were used to using shuttles and bows and arrows, and it was difficult for them to learn muskets in a short time. The firearms battalion that came to help in the battle this time was the 300 personal guard firearms battalion that Rong Lu had brought with him when he was in the Jiangbei camp, and after they changed to new muskets and artillery, the firepower of the 300 people was even more ferocious than the firepower of thousands of Taiping troops.

In terms of firearms, the Taiping army still used the firearms of the captured officers, so the firepower of the Qing army obviously had some upper hand. Artillery exploded in the Taiping array. Some of the corpses of the Taiping soldiers flew into the sky. However, after a sudden shelling. The Taiping army did not mess up. Shelling also began. The smoke of gunpowder was thick in front of the positions of both sides, or because the smoke of black powder was too large. The artillery of both sides exploded for an hour, and they did not give in, but they could hardly see the target, and only fired the gunpowder and shells forward. In this scuffle, both sides did not have time to camp in formation. That's it.

The Hunan army and the Zhenxiao Miao soldiers began to charge forcibly under artillery fire, and they were armed with sharp machetes and Miao knives, regardless of the possibility that their own artillery fire might fall on their heads, and rushed to the front of the Taiping army. Engage in white-knuckle combat with the enemy. Since the start of the war in Guangxi, the Taiping army has never seen the officers and soldiers take the initiative to fight hand-to-hand, and this is the first time to see the Qing army charging first without fear of death. In the past, it was the Taiping army that was the first to charge, rushing to the front of the official army and slashing and killing, but today it is the other way around. The commanders of the Taiping Army, Liang Litai and He Zhenchuan, were greatly shocked and immediately organized troops to engage in short combat.

The Zhenxiao Miao soldiers and the Hunan soldiers divided the road, and under the cover of artillery, forcibly attacked the Chinese army array of the Taiping Army, intending to kill the generals and capture the flag in one fell swoop. However, Rong Lu ordered Li Zhong to take 300 firearms battalions and 500 Zhenxiao Miao soldiers to clash on both flanks.

As its name suggests, Wuli'ao is slightly higher on both sides and slightly lower in the middle. After Li Chong and the firearms battalion and Miao soldiers broke through the array of the Taiping army on both wings, he set up artillery and muskets on a high place to bombard the Taiping army.

Liang Litai saw that the Qing army was sharp, so he had to order the Taiping army to retreat from Wuli Pass first, and hundreds of Taiping troops in the front army did not retreat, Liang Litai led the army to retreat to Xinqiao Town, not far away, where the army was reorganized, the rear army was the front army, the front army was the rear army, and the Taqib pursuers fought again.

At this time, the Taiping army also drove four reinforcements from the city, and the five Taiping troops attacked the Xiangyong and Zhenxiao soldiers who rushed over from three sides, and suddenly formed a local advantage, and the number of Taiping troops was more than double that of Xiangyong and Zhenxiao's chasing soldiers.

The chasing Xiang Yong and the Zhenxiao soldiers were stunned by the red turban soldiers all over the mountains, and began to panic a little. Tazib and Zabdonak, who commanded the town's soldiers, were still in the lead, and the two of them shouted in unison with their knives: "Those who retreat bravely, kill the captain!" Wu Chang retreats, kill Shi Chang! ”

Zabudonak is a Mongolian, although this person is not very bright, but the battle before the battle still maintains the courage of the ancestors of the Mongols, often only advance and not retreat, he drank the panicked town soldiers, lined up to meet the Taiping army that came to the countercharge.

Xiang Yong's side was also a burst of shouting and scolding, Xiang Yong fought in front of the battle, taking the army as a unit, paying attention to advancing and retreating together, and cooperating and helping each other in the battle. The captain was worried about the innocent beheading, so he also pointed a knife at the back of his companion: "Whoever retreats will kill whom!" Enter, not necessarily die; If you retreat together, you will definitely die! Everyone can only see death as home! ”

At this time, Taqibu rode his horse to the front of Xiang Yong, who was carrying the flag, grabbed the flag and held the big flag in person, waving it in front of the formation, which was indeed an invisible spiritual inspiration for Xiang Yong. Another member of Xiangyong, Li Xubin, took over from Taqibu to strictly supervise the rear team, and six people retreated from the battle. Each team has a supervisor who stands under the banner of the commander, and those who retreat are beheaded. In a situation where there is no way to retreat, the way for Xiang Yong to survive is to rush over and defeat the enemy. Xiang Yong came back to his senses, and in the face of fate, he had no choice, so he loudly waved his knife and went wild.

In this melee hand-to-hand fight, the corpses were all over the field, and each other was greatly injured. Nine brigade commanders and division commanders of the Taiping Army were killed, 3,000 soldiers were killed in battle, countless firearms were killed and wounded, and hundreds of people were captured alive. Eventually, the strong Taiping army had to begin to relent. The soldiers of Hunan Yong and Zhenxiao from all walks of life advanced one after another, and killed countless Taiping troops, seized a Hongfeng official hat, countless red scarves and flags, hundreds of guns and bird guns, countless banners and knives, and seized 50 barrels of gunpowder, 3,000 catties of lead bullets and other military supplies.

This fierce battle was fought from midnight to the afternoon of the next day, and the Xiangyong and Zhenxiao soldiers won a great victory and pursued them until the city of Hengzhou, and about 500 Taiping soldiers were killed. A group of Taiping soldiers were driven to a pond by Li Chong's firearms battalion, and there was nowhere to run, and all of them were shot dead in the pond by the Qing army.

The Qing army pressed step by step, like killing a red-eyed gambler, and went straight to Baixi Lane outside the city. Liang Litai, He Zhenchuan and other generals led the Taiping army to defeat more than 1,000 soldiers and walked around the city, but the Qing army pursued very closely, and the city did not dare to open the city gate, and Liang Litai did not dare to enter the city, so Zuihou had to lead the troops to flee to Xiangtan. After chasing for several miles, the Qing army returned victoriously, and thousands of Qing troops surrounded the city of Hengzhou, ready to break the city after a full meal and a night's rest. (To be continued......)