In the midst of the vast night sky, two fire dragons were flying in a tortuous road outside Daozhou city, moving forward like lightning!
One of the two fire dragons, carrying a lantern, was coming from Meihua Town to the southeast of Daozhou, with a grand procession of 1,500 Taiping troops led by Luo Yaoguo, Su Sanmiao, and Zeng Tianyang.
The "Da Zhou Miner Uprising" was a model project that Luo Dachuan used to demonstrate the correctness of his own path, for which he invested thirty thousand taels of silver! There was no room for failure there.
Therefore, Luo Yaoguo, who arrived at Meihua Town yesterday afternoon, immediately led Su Sanmiao and Zeng Tianyang, two of his important generals, with a total of 1,500 male and female foot soldiers and horsemen to reinforce the Yimin soldiers inside Daozhou City upon seeing the glow coming from the direction of Daozhou City!
Historically, due to Yu Wanqing's retreat without a fight, Daozhou City was easily captured by the Taiping forces. Now that Yu Wanqing has become Yu Miaocheng, the city should be even more vulnerable.
In Luo Yaoguo's mind, as long as Jiao Hong and Yu Dabao could stir up the miners in Daozhou and the Green Camp, seize a city gate to welcome these 1,500 Taiping troops inside, this grandiose "Daozhou Miner Armed Uprising" would be a resounding success.
And Yang Xiuqing is still hard-bitten in attacking the city of Yongzhou Prefecture, Liling... As long as the Daozhou Uprising is successful, Luo Yaoguo will be able to take the initiative in subsequent struggles!
The other "fire dragon" was a group of more than 1,000 Qing troops coming from the west of Daozhou City, near Guangxi's Guanjiangkou Town. They were also carrying torches and marching at night. The leader of this Qing demon army was Zhuang Guoliang, a guard under the command of Xiang Rong.
Now that all the other demon heads are dodging the Taiping army, this Zhang Yuantou, Zhang the Demon Head, is so diligent, even leading his subordinates "small demons" to work overtime and march late at night. Of course, there's a reason for this. Because this Zhang Yuantou's background is bad; he wasn't always a "demon." He was originally a big shot in the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society), and he was also a famous leader of the Yi troops in the Guizhou area of Guangxi. He was a key figure in the uprising surge of the Tiandihui in Guangxi back then.
When Su Sanmiao, Luo Da Guang, and Wu Ruxiao first saw Zhang Guoliang, they had to bow respectfully and call him "Da Jia"!
But such a figure was even accepted by Lao Chuangong, the Guangxi Liwei (Provincial Civil Administrator), who offered him to surrender and lead 1,000 troops under the Qing demons as a minor commander.
Although it was just a small post as a captain, Zhang Guoliang cherished this "position" greatly. After becoming a lackey of the Qing Dynasty, he immediately raised the sword against his former Tiandihui brothers. By cutting off the heads of his former comrades, he finally rose to become a zhengwu (official rank) at the level of a full fifth-rank guard in the year Xianfeng (1851).
A full-fifth-rank guard in the green-clothed army is really not much in the Qing Dynasty's official hierarchy. Even when meeting Wang Kuiyi, a prefectural magistrate, he has to kneel and call "Dad" and claim himself as a " humble official".
Moreover, he is a traitor from the Tiandihui, and he is fundamentally no match for a military graduate like Yu Wanqing, or a martial officer from a family of the green-clothed army in Gansu and Shaanxi like Xiang Rong.
If it weren't for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom following the Guangxi Tiandihui uprising wave, this fellow wouldn't have lasted long before being scapegoated and relieved of his duties, then returning home to await the queue of vengeance from the Tiandihui heroes...
Therefore, other heads of the green-clothed army couldn't wait to get as far away from the Taiping army as possible. Only Zhang Guoliang, who has neither a fear of death nor of hardship, is determined to kill the Taiping forces and earn military achievements.
It's a pity that his immediate superior, Xiang Rong, is still in a state of guilt and might have to go to Xinjiang at any time. This has caused him to accumulate a lot of merit without being able to cash it in.
However, Zhang Guoliang still has to struggle on, otherwise he won't have a chance!
Moreover, there are many of the Taiping rebels who were once his "good brothers" and "good sisters." They all want to eat him alive!
If the Taiping rebels really gain power in Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces, he is definitely doomed!
After receiving the military order from Xiang Rong to immediately head to Daozhou for deployment, he led his troops in a rush. The day before yesterday afternoon, when he was at the Guanjiangkou Town, he received an urgent report from Daozhou City that "the Taiping forces are approaching and civil unrest is imminent!"
Therefore, he also threw himself into it, leading his brothers under him to march at night!
It's thanks to the fact that his soldiers are all traitors from the Tiandihui, who haven't started smoking opium yet, and he also dared not deduct their salaries. That's why these seasoned soldiers could still make their way through the night roads.
However, the pace is still a bit slow...
Zhang Guoliang was riding on his horse and hurrying along, when suddenly one of his close guards shouted: "Da Jia......there's a fire, it seems like the city of Daozhou is on fire!"
Dao... Daozhou on fire?
Zhang Guoliang was shocked and quickly raised his head to look. Although he didn't see the fire in Daozhou, he did see a "fire dragon" made up of torches slowly descending from the northeast in the darkness!
"Long......the Taiping forces are also mobilizing their troops!" Zhang Guoliang cried out in shock, "Quickly, quickly......we must march quickly and not let the Taiping forces enter the city of Daozhou first!"
The common soldiers below heard their "big boss"'s order, and each of them showed a look of bitterness. Marching at night without sleep, with no extra pay from above, and now being told to "march quickly," it's really as if the Qing Dynasty was run by the big boss' family.
Is this big boss surnamed Zhang or Xinjueyoluo?
"Cha..."
Although everyone was reluctant, they still weakly responded with a "cha," then slightly quickened their pace.
On the other side, 1,500 Taiping soldiers were marching at an urgent pace, everyone sweating profusely but their footsteps didn't slow down at all.
Luo Yaoguo was also in the ranks. He did not ride a horse or a bicycle, but instead leaned on a wooden stick, wrapped his legs with bandages, and put on the running shoes that came from "heaven." He walked with such agility. Surrounded by soldiers, the fire illuminated the old brothers and sisters from Guangxi who saw their Taiping angel, God's son, and the total instructor of Heaven walk step by step along this night path just like them. Everyone couldn't help but quicken their pace a bit more.
To be aware, the other "Family of God" members all ride in sedan chairs and are carried onto the battlefield during military campaigns!
Luo Yaoguo walked and cheered at the same time, giving encouragement to the people around him: "Brothers and sisters, victory is just ahead!"
The miners in Daozhou City have already successfully risen up......If we put in a little more effort, we can finish the last twenty or thirty miles, enter the city of Daozhou, and we can open up a base area!”
Suddenly, Su Sanmiao, who was leading the horse squad at the front, turned her horse around and galloped to Luo Yaoguo. "Reporting to the Heavenly Messenger, a fire dragon has appeared ten li away in the southwest and is rapidly approaching Daozhou City!"
"Oh..." Luo Yaoguo was startled in his heart, but he still kept his composure - he didn't show any emotion. He walked out of the ranks with his four female guards and stood by the roadside.
"It should be Qing demons!" Su Sanmiao dismounted and knelt down, saying, "from the direction of Quanzhou... God's son, my suggestion is to change our route to intercept them and fight them at night!"
"Fight a night battle... Do you have confidence in that?" Luo Yaoguo asked.
"Yes!" Su Sanmiao said, "Night battle emphasizes the bravery of those who meet on a narrow path! Although these Qing demons can walk at night and are certainly skilled soldiers, they are still not as brave as our heavenly soldiers. We should take advantage of tonight to defeat them and make the other Qing demons afraid to invade Daozhou. Then, we can safely divide up the land in Daozhou."
"It makes sense!" Luo Yaoguo nodded, musing to himself: "Historically, the Taiping forces were always blocked by the Qing army at the very door of their fortified camp. One of the main reasons was that they could not engage in total war! If I want to test thoroughly the true meaning of land redistribution in Daozhou, I must severely strike down the Qing demons' elite troops! These Qing troops who can walk at night must be elite units, either led by Xiang Rong himself or that traitor from Tiandihui, Zhang Guoliang. Even if I can't kill them, I must make them fear me!"
So Luo Yaoguo ordered: "Pass the command, stop advancing and form ranks immediately!"
"Yes!"
Li Cuihua, the leader of the four female guards, replied with a "yes" and then took out a suona flute and blew hard twice.
With the two piercing sounds cutting through the air, the large army, which had been marching with heads down, suddenly stopped. Then, the tribal leaders issued commands for forming up.
Zeng Aimei, another female guard of Luo Yaoguo, brought over a gentle draft horse at this time. Wei Xuelian placed a bench next to the horse, and Ji Chunhua helped this novice rider onto the horse's back.
Then, with the horse led by Li Cuihua, it walked to the front of the 1,500 Taiping soldiers who had just finished forming up.
Now it's summer, even at night, the weather is still hot and muggy. Everyone is drenched in sweat, with the torches illuminating faces covered in sweat, full of confidence and combat spirit!
Luo Yaoguo nodded and loudly said: "Children of the Supreme Heavenly King, the Supreme Heavenly King teaches us, 'where there is a narrow path, the brave wins!' Now that the Qing demons are marching towards Daozhou City, we must intercept them and defeat them... Do you have the confidence to win?"
"Yes!"
"May the Supreme Heavenly King bless us!"
"Taiping Army, ten thousand victories!"
The 1,500 male and female saint soldiers roared in thunderous cheers.
"Good!" Luo Yaoguo nodded and loudly issued the order: "Rest for fifteen minutes and have a ration of marching food... Then march light and run forward to engage in a decisive battle with the Qing demons!"
Remember, the brave wins on a narrow path!"
