Chapter 163: Zuo Zongtang Cleanses the Kingdom of Heaven (5)

After the Battle of Huangpiwei, Wang Haiyang got rid of the pursuing soldiers, led the army into Jiangxi, was intercepted by Xi Baotian and Lou Yunqing, returned to Guangdong, sneaked over the mountain trails and paths at night, conquered Heping County, completed the looting, attacked Lianpingzhou City in the west, and attacked the city for two days and nights. He then returned to the territory of peace.

At that time, Xi Baotian and Wang Kailin's troops had already followed and arrived, and Lou Yunqing's troops also went around to intercept them.

Wang Haiyang was afraid of being trapped in Changwei, and quickly returned to the area of Lianping Shangping. Wang Haiyang inspected the topography and saw that it was surrounded by thousands of mountains, and the path was tortuous. The sea then ordered all the troops to camp and build forts, densely spread forts, and hold on layer by layer, in order to take advantage of the danger.

When Zuo Zongtang got the news, he didn't think so, and said: Wang rebelled for hundreds of miles between the ten days, and after the Huangpiwei War, it was a trend to invade Jiangxi from Fujian. The Fujian army all entered the river and Guangdong, which was originally the way to intercept the thieves and go to Fujian Riyuan. This time, the rebels took advantage of the weakness to flee back, and there was no deterrence, and the Fujian army was separated by thieves. And in the area of the Dongjiang River, bandits everywhere, the Chu army team, and those who lagged behind were all robbed and killed. Gao Liansheng and Liu Qingliang repeatedly wrote the same. After the epidemic was prevalent, the fatigue of the armies was very great. This time, the response cannot be carried out quickly, and it has been expected. Where are the armies of our three provinces?

Liu Diandao: Qiyu Zuo Shuai, Wang Kailin, Lou Yunqing, and Xi Baotian surrounded and intercepted the outside, and the Guangdong military Zhaoxuan and Zheng Shaozhong have returned to defend Lianping; Liu Qingliang's troops also rushed to peace; Gao Liansheng Department entered the source of the river and strung the South Road.

Zuo Zongtang said: Quickly pass on my order, Li Futai, Guangdong Zhensi, and quickly go to Lianping to supervise the battle. Xi Baotian, Lou Yunqing, and Wang Kailin do not need to advance step by step, causing the thief to flee again; three parts of Zhalong , Ding, Xinfeng area; Brother Ke'an and Li Yao in the south quickly entered the two places of Zhananxiong and Shixing, and intercepted them on the border of Jiangxi. Huang Shaochun's department, from Ganzhou to Xinfeng, strangles the northwest. Gao Liansheng Department, quickly from the source of the river into Changning, to prevent thieves from invading the provincial capital.

Liu Diandao: Zuo Shuai is so arranged, east of peace, there are almost no male soldiers.

Zuo Zongtang Road: East of peace, near the Ting River, south of the sea; Wang rebelled and went to the east, and he went to death.

The Taiping army was stationed in Lianping for more than a month and fell back into a heavy siege; Wang Haiyang thought about it again and again and decided to take a detour to the east.

On November 29, Wang Haiyang led his army into Heping County; The next day, it suddenly entered Longchuan again; On December 5, he attacked Xingning again and made a feint to Pingyuan and Jiaoling; On the 6th, he returned to Mabugang, Longchuan, rested for a while, and marched eastward, walking 300 miles in a day and night, and arrived at the city of Meizhou at dawn; Immediately erect a bamboo ladder and attack the city on all sides.

In their sleep, the Meizhou defenders were caught off guard, resisted a little, and scattered; The Taiping army climbed up, entered the city to fight, and surrounded and annihilated more than 100 officers and soldiers below the guerrilla Yingxiu; Cheng Peilin, the prefect of Meizhou, saw that the situation was not good, and fled in a panic.

Wang Haiyang conquered Meizhou, and immediately followed the terrain, built a camp, and built a fence to resist the pursuit of the army.

King Tan Tiyuan and Heavenly General Hu Yongxiang all said: Meizhou is located in the east of Guangdong, and the south is bordered by the ocean, so it cannot be stayed for a long time.

Wang Haiyangdao: Months of war, lack of food, no fixed residence, hunger and exhaustion, temporarily live in this city, rest and replenish. Quickly pass on my order, brave and brave, enter the city, and protect the city walls; The rest of the soldiers built fortifications on the east, west and north sides of Meizhou to protect the city. Dispatch a department, collect all the civilian ships, and wait to transfer to Chaozhou Mansion.

Tan Tiyuan said: Within ten days, this city will definitely be surrounded by the demon army. I intend to rest for three days, raise enough food, and quickly abandon the city and find another place to go.

Wang Haidao: The marching formation is important in destroying the enemy; Panic is like a lost dog, blindly fleeing, and sooner or later he will be punished. Last year, we completely annihilated Zhang Yunlan's demon department before we could gain a foothold in the rest of the year; Two months ago, I was equal to Huang Piwei who defeated Gao Liansheng and the Kang Guo Weapon Demon Department, and I still had this opportunity to breathe. I intend to rest and wait for the left demon to come, and then gather the whole army and fight to the death.