Chapter 173: The End of the Western Twist Army (4)

On May 21, 1868, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang had a good conversation in the Mulberry Garden in Dezhou, and they had a good meeting.

Li Hongzhang said: Everyone is confused by the monk's residence, Zhang Gongshushan, and Peng Gongyutang, but Zuo Gong is looking for a thief, moving forward, daring to be the first, Hongzhang admires it. In the rainy season, the Zhilu Plain, thousands of miles of quagmire, the advantage of the thief's fierce riding is gone. I intend to set up a long siege to trap the Yellow River in the south, a canal in the west, the sea in the east, and a river in the north. Guo Songlin, Yang Dingxun, Song Qing, Zhang Yao and other armies chased after each other, and great things could be accomplished.

Zuo Zongtang said: Brother Li has eliminated Lai Twist, and he is confident. In view of the extinction of Lai Twist, Zhang Twist was vigilant day and night, and when he heard the siege, he was desperate to fight, and it was as fast as the wind, and it was fleeting. If you don't send the wanderer to chase after you, the thief will wait for the opportunity to disturb the perfect area.

Li Hongzhang said: Zuo Gongzhen is as careful as a hair. Hongzhangyi, the northern section, can be jointly guarded by Pan Dingxinding army and Chonghou's foreign gun team, re-excavate the Jiedi dam of Cangzhou, divert the canal water into the reduced river, and use both water and army to strictly stifle Zhang Twist to the north; In the southern section, the ferries of the Yellow River were strictly sealed, and the ships on the north bank were all transferred to the south bank and guarded by Shandong officials; In the eastern section, it is strictly forbidden for fishing boats to go to sea to prevent thieves from crossing the sea and overflowing; In the west of Zhangqiu, the water of the Yellow River was led into the canal, and the Huai army, the Lu army, and the Anhui army were defended in sections; In order to prevent trouble before it happens, Zuo Gongdu led Liu Songshan, Guo Baochang and others to strictly strangle the west of the canal and provide the strongest support for our armies.

Zuo Zongtang said: Brother Li has mountains and rivers in his chest, and Zuo obeys it.

Li Hongzhang said: The most efficient way, take the Yellow River to subdue the flood, shrink the land and encircle, take the canal as the periphery, the Mache River as the inner encirclement, compress the west twist in the south of the Mache River, the narrow strip north of the Tuxiao River, the strong wall clears the wilderness, so that the thief has nothing to eat, and then surround and punish him, and the big thing will be done.

Zuo Zongtang said: It is a good thing to drive the thieves to the area of the Mache River and the Tuxiao River, and to surround and annihilate them, but the place is too narrow, so it is necessary to prevent the thieves from overflowing.

Li Hongzhang said: Don't worry about Zuo Gong, the thief is the end of the strong crossbow, and there is no more courage, and there is no fear of overflowing. Di Shuai sent a letter, saying that he had sent people to Hefei in accordance with the order, urging Liu Ming to sell the fake and go to the military camps in Zhili and Shandong. And Li Chen: The division of twisting, seeking courage to Liu Mingchuan is the most, and the labor is tired, and the army is very unique. Thinking of the police of this year, if it weren't for the last year, the overall situation would be unimaginable. Earnestly send an edict to win his merit and comfort his labor, then the praise of one word in heaven is better than the letter of the minister. Liu Xing's three to, Zhang Twist's death is over!

Zuo Zongtang said: I heard that the battle of Yin Longhe was the first time that Liu Province missed the appointment, did Brother Li know everything?

Li Hongzhang said: In the battle of Yin Longhe, I have consulted Di Shuai and Yuan Fu in detail, and they all said that the Thunder Army was violent, and there was a Chrysostom mutiny first, and the imperial court also offset it with merits and demerits, and did not investigate deeply, Bao Chunting voluntarily opened a vacancy, who can do anything?

Zuo Zongtang said: Don't talk about other things, if the two armies of Ting and Ming go hand in hand, the rebellion would have been extinguished, and there would be no such thing as today.

Zhang Zongyu led the remnants of the army to attack Tianjin, and then went south into Shandong. It was the end of summer, and it was raining continuously, and the Yellow River, the canal, and the Tuxiao River were all rising. Zhang Zongyu stopped in Gaotang, looked at the water and sighed: Ten years ago, Brother Tian's Northern Expedition was unsuccessful and died here; Could it be that we are repeating this again? My life is up to me, not to heaven, and the army quickly crossed the Tuxiao River and escaped to heaven.

Zuo Zongtang inspected and observed the battle situation, and said: The traitor is unable to succeed in the south, and he will still be wanton in the north, and if he waits for the thief to arrive, he will definitely be caught off guard. Although the ministers, Liu Songshan, Guo Yunchang, and Xichang Ma Bushu troops temporarily shared the defense of the river and canal, and also recuperated, but after analyzing the situation of the thieves, they would inevitably flee north in the near future, and they could also change the encirclement and pursuit of the army into a blockade and cross-section, which was not unhelpful to suppress the situation.

The Empress Dowager Cixi heard the music, and said angrily: Surrounding and chasing and intercepting more than a month, the west twist has not yet been flattened, and now the month limit is full, and it is still running freely, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang are powerless to chase and intercept, and both are handed over to the ministry to strictly discuss the situation, and the general of Shengjing is awarded the minister of Duxing Aqin to pass the defense, and gallop to supervise and suppress.

Li Hongzhang received the order, disagreed, and said: The general will not accept the order of the monarch outside, and the queen mother will know the war in Ludi! The Beijing division is far away from here, 600 miles away, Duxing A has not arrived, Zhang Twist or has killed himself, pass my military order, Liu Mingchuan President pursues and encircles the army, and must destroy Zhang Thief in the land of northern Lu.

The West Twist Army was confined to northern Lu, with nothing to eat in the wilderness, and it was repeatedly sudden, and it was tossed and turned for two months, and its situation was embarrassing. In early August, Zhang Zongyu and others broke through to Dezhou Sangyuan, forced to cross the canal failed, then from Gaotang, Boping rushed to Dongchang, halfway with Liu Mingchuan, Guo Songlin, Pan Dingxin, Song Qing, Zhang Yao's encounter, several battles, two thousand West Twist remnants of the army most of the battle died, Zhang Zongyu quietly crossed the Tuxiao River, broke out, counted the people and horses, only 18 war horses remained.

Zhang Zongyu sighed: We entered Lu from Qin, but to rescue King Zun! The power is one, thousands of miles of camps, autumn high horses fat, only hope to cross; Unintentionally blocked by the Yellow River, reverted to the autumn rain, and lost the time and place at the same time, this is the sudden occurrence of the matter, not the unforeseen plan.

Everyone shouted in unison: This life is over, eighteen years later, under the command of Liang Dian, kill demons and demons.

Zhang Zongyu said: The road is not exhausted, this life is not over, you brothers and follow me again, enter Yu and go to Sichuan, and revisit the whole country.

Zhang Zongyu said, led 18 war horses, ran overnight, and at the time of the third watch, he touched a village in Eping and slept soundly.

In the early morning of the next day, everyone woke up from a dream, but they did not see the figure of King Liang, and searched all over the four fields, and they were shocked by the river, leaving only his two tracks.

The West Twist Army was wiped out, and Li Hongzhang was quickly sparse: the official army had completely annihilated the West Twist bandits, and the thief Zhang Zongyu had also thrown himself into the water to kill himself.

Lai and Zhang Erwan were all extinguished, the two palaces wept happily, quickly told the cabinet, rewarded Li Hongzhang with a yellow coat and dazzling eyes, rewarded the title of prince and Taibao, co-organized the university scholar, and awarded the governor of Huguang; Zuo Zongtang was rewarded with the title of Prince Taibao, the previous punishments were revoked, and Ding Baozhen, Yinghan and others were handed over to the ministry for first-class military merits.

Zuo Zongtang received the order, very angry, not to the Huai army to annihilate the thief, nor to play the merit, to see the death of Zhang thief Zongyu's person to find the body of Zhang thief Zongyu, the overseers came out in all directions, and searched in many ways.

Li Hongzhang was furious and sent a letter to Zeng Guofan: The destruction of Zhang Twist this time is a combination of time, place, and people. His true colors are concealed, and he is revealed here, and I don't know why Hu Wenzhong pushed it so hard that day.

Hongzhang letter stopped, and then went up and sparse: it has been more than ten years of rebellion and rebellion, although it has not been based on the city, its good attack and defense are not as good as the Guangdong bandits, and the plagiarism and good war are really excessive.

Zeng Guofan, the current governor of Liangjiang, took over the task for more than a year, and planned for the war, although he did not immediately see quick results, and the strategy of encircling the long wall has already obtained its essentials. And since returning to office, he has worked together with his ministers in everything, spared no effort in raising salaries and troops, and stayed with loyalty and sincerity.

Now that I am fortunate to rely on the Holy Lord Welling, the Central Plains is determined, can we give grace to comfort the loyal people separately? In addition, all civil and military officials, officials of all colors, sacrificed their lives for the country, and did not have any royal affairs, can they be investigated by the ministry to promote grace and use the Guanghuang benevolence as morale.

The Empress Dowager Cixi took over and said: Zeng Guofan prepared for the Huai Army's rear road munitions, and Li Hongzhang and others made all their contributions, and rewarded Zeng Guofan with the position of a cloud cavalry captain, and the Ministry of Communications was preferentially discussed.

Prince Gong said: Hong Rebellion has poisoned the south of the Yangtze River for more than ten years, plundering countless times; Jinling City is broken, but there is no trace of wealth, and the children in the market also know the strangeness.

Empress Dowager Cixi said: Hair and twist are completely destroyed, and in terms of meritorious deeds, Zeng Guofan dominates; Quickly issued a message to the cabinet, Zeng Guofan transferred and supplemented the governor of Zhili, and the governor of Liangjiang and the governor of Zhejiang, Ma Xinyi; Li Hongzhang should quickly enter Beijing to see His Majesty, and then go to the post of governor of Huguang.

Empress Dowager Ci'an said: Although Ma Xinyi followed Yuan Jia's three suppressions, but his achievements were mediocre, can he deter recklessness?

Yi Xun also said: Ma Xinyi's qualifications are straightforward, and it may be difficult to go to Liangjiang; In the fourth year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan tried his best to prevent Wu Tang from supervising Liangjiang, and this time he must be blocked.

Empress Dowager Cixi said: The direct governor is the head of the territory, and Zeng Guofan refused all difficulties; Ma Xinyi went to Liangjiang to ask for directions, and the palace watched the competition from all sides. Peng Yulin was the best choice for the governor of these two rivers, but he had no choice but to resign as governor of Anhui, then as governor of Caoyun, and as a squire in the military department; Peng started with the Hanshi, and returned with the Hanshi, with one meaning, who can do anything?

Empress Dowager Ci'an said: That is, the decree is issued, and the actions of all the dignitaries are observed.

The Empress Dowager Cixi said: Hair and twist are destroyed, and in a peaceful world, there is no need to fight and kill; Quickly spread that Ma Xinyi entered Beijing to see His Majesty, and the palace should be taught face-to-face. In addition, Zeng Guo's feudal domain was sparse, and all the eastern and western strands were purged, and the armies of Hunan and Huai should be quickly dismantled in order to relieve the people's hardship by saving salaries. Passed the decree to Li Hongzhang, before entering Beijing to face the saint, he first asked for the abolition of Huaiyong.

Zeng Guofan received the decree, and also sighed a lot, and wrote to Li Hongzhang and said: Since last autumn, there have been many waves, doubts and slanders are not shaken, pets and humiliations are not shocked, and the pawn can be difficult and twisted. This time, the north is in Xinjiang, the responsibility is huge, and the joys and sorrows are superimposed.

Li Hongzhang received the letter and replied: If the teacher meets, the hair and twist are destroyed, and the bird bends the bow, and he hereby informs the teacher of the disarmament matter and prays for the teacher to be correct. Most of the Jianghuai armies were withdrawn, but Liu Mingchuan's army was stationed in Zhangqiu Town, south of Jinan, and garrisoned Gyeonggi; Guo Songlin's Wu Yi Army was reduced to five battalions in case of urgent need; Pan Dingxin and Zhou Shengbo both insisted on opening the default province, I intended Pan Zhiding's army to suppress bandits from Zuo Shuai, and Zhou Zhisheng's army followed me into Hubei. The teacher admonished that the family was full, and the profit was lost, and after Hezhang and Zhaoqing retreated, they returned to their hometown, which was also complete; Zhou Sheng Chuandu led Sheng and passed the second battalion with me into Hubei, passing through Jinling at that time, and then asked the teacher to inquire.

The West Twist Army was completely destroyed, and the court rewarded him very well, and Zuo Zongtang was sullen.

Liu Songshan and others repeatedly pleaded.

Zuo Zongtang said: Eliminating Zhang Twist is a great task given by our emperor, but he has repeatedly lost the opportunity to fight, but in the end he makes wedding clothes for others.

Liu Songshan said: Rong Ma is handsome, the war is impermanent, and Zuo Shuai has done his best.

Zuo Zongtang said: With the river circle system, the tour master pursues and suppresses, the established policy of Benwu and Li Hongzhang, but the Li family has the right to unify the army, and sends the Huai people to compete, and my division can only watch from the wall, looking at the thief and sighing. I am not stretching out the Qin master and suppressing Huaiyong, but what the Li family did before and after was indeed a great joy and pretentiousness.

On that day, Zuo Zongtang played again: Fu Si reversed the twist and crossed Shanxi by the ice bridge, and the minister was negligent in planning and thinking, and there was no excuse for it; chased the thief at the junction of Shanxi and Henan, but failed to finish the matter as soon as possible; When the thieves rebelled and disturbed Shandong, spied on Tianjin, Zhigu, and the ministers prevented and suppressed, and failed to annihilate the thieves on the limited day, the minister's dispatch was not in a way, which can be glimpsed from it.

The two palaces received Zuo Zongtang's recital, and he also said: Zuo Chen chased thousands of miles and worked hard, and there is no need to discuss it. The military affairs of Shaanxi and Gansu were critical, and Zuochen Zongtang must lead Liu Songshan, Guo Baochang, Xichang and other armies to cross the river from Jin to Qin, and sweep away the bandits in Yanzhou, Yan'an, Suide, Yulin and other places; Before Zuo Chen entered Qin, he first entered Beijing to see His Majesty.