"Exactly on time!"
"Win Bao clapped his hands, smiling brightly and said, 'I happen to have these thousands of long-haired pioneers to test the power of your holy bomb!'"
Lu Bi Chapter, upon hearing these words, immediately frowned heavily.
Since the Taiping Army captured Yong'an Prefecture, he has been reading the military reports sent back from the front line every day, and he believes he has a good understanding of the situation of the Taiping Army.
"Thousands of Taiping Army's elite are no small number! Even if you stack up the 1,800 of your Qing banner troops under Shen Bao and the 3,000 of the Qansheng Green Camp troops in Fucheng, they would still be unable to withstand a good beating from them!"
But before Lu Bi Chapter could speak to dissuade him, Zuo Zongtang asked with a very respectful expression, "I don't know how Shen Dadai plans to completely annihilate these thousands of long-haired rebels? And where can my Lu Dadai help? Although my Lu Dadai doesn't understand military affairs, he is also devoted to the country's suppression of bandits!"
Not versed in military affairs. Cooperation?
Luo Biao Zhang heard these two words and immediately had a bright idea.
He is just the Acting Governor-General of Hunan Province, while Shen Bao is the Acting Commissioner of General Affairs under the Emperor's Order for Military Affairs, and he is basically a deputy commissioner. Moreover, Shen Bao leads 1,000 troops of the Beijing flag and 3,000 troops of the Qansheng Green Camp to Changsha. The number of troops in his hand is more than double that of Luo Biao Zhang's control.
And his "assisting in military affairs" is to assist the Imperial Commissioner Sai Shanghe in dealing with the military affairs of suppressing the Taiping Rebellion. Now that the Taiping Army is approaching Changsha, and Sai Shanghe is far away in Quanzhou, unable to come to Changsha to handle matters related to the Taiping Rebellion, doesn't it have to be handled by Shen Bao as his assistant?
Therefore, it is quite reasonable for Shen Bao to take over the defense of Changsha. If Shen Bao is willing to take the responsibility, Luo Biao Zhang can take advantage of this opportunity to lower his head and send a memorial to Beijing, claiming that he is weak and sick, and does not understand military matters. He can hand over the position of Acting Governor-General of Hunan Province to Shen Bao, while he himself takes on the role of an assistant in military affairs.
If Shen Bao wins, he can share the glory and return to Beijing to take office. If Shen Bao loses, or even dies, as an assistant in military affairs, there is no responsibility for defending the territory, so there is no need to hang himself from the governor's mansion.
Having understood the key points, Luo Biao Zhang immediately bowed to Shen Bao with a smile and said, "Kezhai, I am an old scholar and can't compare to your ability in both civil and military affairs. Now, there are Taiping rebels everywhere in Hunan Province. Being an ex-official, I find it very difficult to command the troops. Why not let you, Kezhai, take over the defense of Changsha? I will report to the emperor and ask for your appointment as Acting Governor-General of Hunan Province. I can help with some military affairs."
Shen Bao heard this and immediately had a change of heart.
Although it is only a temporary appointment, which is unlikely to be converted to a full-time position, it is at least a record. He will be an official who has served as a governor in the future, and it will be much easier for him to be promoted to a full-time governor.
Upon pondering this, Shen Bao was already moved. After a show of reluctance, he agreed to take on the responsibility of defending Changsha city first.
As for the acting governor, it still needs the emperor's order.
After finally handing over the hot defense of Changsha, Luo Biao Zhang's mood improved greatly. He asked Shen Bao with ease, "Kezhai. What is your brilliant plan? Come and tell me?"
Shen Bao pondered for a moment, and a plan suddenly occurred to him. He smiled immediately and said, "Respected scholar, I plan to use a foolproof strategy to eliminate the rebels!"
"Open the door to exterminate bandits?" Luo Biao Zhang was taken aback.
Shen Bao smiled brightly and said, "Respected scholar, the 'open the door to exterminate bandits' strategy is to open the path of good fortune gate, lure the long-haired rebels into the main street of Changsha City through it, set up ambushes both inside and outside the city gate at the path of good fortune, and use firebombs to blast the rebels. If that demon himself leads his troops as vanguard, it would be an ideal chance to kill him once and for all!"
"Ah."
Luo Biao Zhang was rendered speechless upon hearing this.
The meaning of "open the door to exterminate bandits" is to open the city gates and let the bandits come in to be exterminated, right? But what if they can't be exterminated, and Changsha will just be handed over?
What kind of Shen Bao are you doing? Is it still Shen Bao? Don't let it turn into a defeated Shen Bao!
Luo Biao Zhang hurriedly turned his head to look at Zuo Zongtang.
Zuo Zongtang was also startled by Shen Bao's "brilliant plan," thinking to himself, "Oh no, I seem to have overestimated this Shen Bao! I've heard that Shen Bao is a rare talent among the Manchus, both literate and martial, with a noble background and being a confidant of Prince Gong. I had thought he was better than the old fool Sai Shanghe, but it seems he is far inferior."
What kind of strategy is it to open the city gates and let the bandits outside come in to be exterminated? Does he think there are fewer bandits inside the city than outside it? That can't work. I have to think of a way to maintain the strength of the Hunan militia gathered in Changsha. In the future, the safety of Hunan depends on them."
Thinking about this, Zuo Zongtang slightly bowed and asked Shen Bao, "I don't know how Shen Dadai plans to lure the enemy?"
Shen Bao twirled his beard, thinking to himself, "The credit for luring the enemy is also credit, and I can't let those Hunan savages get away with it. I won't take this credit for the eight banners; let's give it to the Green Camps of Gansu and Shaanxi!"
"I plan to dispatch one thousand five hundred troops of the Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camp, which are elite, to lure the enemy out of the city."
As soon as Shen Bao finished speaking, the General of Xi'an Garrison, Fu Cheng, stood up and made a kunnan salute, saying, "I, Fu Cheng, am willing to lead my elite troops out of the city to confront the Taiping rebels!"
Shen Bao nodded and smiled, "Very good. You are indeed the fine sons of the Manchu people! Just remember, you are luring the enemy out of the city, not defeating them! Don't get carried away and defeat those thousands of long-haired bandits."
"General Fu is confident in his capabilities and has a clear understanding of the situation," the narrator adds, as Fu Cheng's face shows arrogance, clearly not taking the Taiping forces seriously.
Zuo Zongtang looked at the Manchu general with a hint of sympathy, then asked respectfully, "I wonder how many troops, Win Dadai, would you need to set up an ambush on the Yellow Road Street inside the Yellow Road Gate? Do you also need to deploy defenses on the sides of the De Ren Gate and Liuyang Gate as a precaution? Moreover, the Tianxin Pavilion to the east of the Yellow Road Gate is a key to Changsha's fate and must be held by elite troops."
When he mentioned the Tianxin Pavilion, he gave Luo Biao Zhang a subtle glance.
Luo Biao Zhang immediately understood Zuo Zongtang's implication and took over his topic, pounding his chest and saying, "Kezhai, I am still the Acting Governor-General of Hunan Province and can still command the troops. It would be better to let my garrison guard the Tianxin Pavilion!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Bao nodded immediately and smiled, "That's a good idea. The Tianxin Pavilion, the Governor-General's residence of Hunan Province, and the other city gates outside of De Ren Gate and Liuyang Gate will be under the charge of your troops. As for the ambush inside the Yellow Road Gate, a thousand eight banners troops and fifteen hundred elite troops from Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camp are sufficient."
"One thousand eight banners troops and one thousand five hundred Green Camp troops may be insufficient," Luo Biao Zhang said. "There are still several thousand Hunan militia within Changsha City, although they may not be very elite, but they still number in the thousands."
"Quite enough," Shen Bao smiled and said, "The Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camp has cavalry, and they are also hard to beat in battle. Moreover, General Fu's 1,500 troops will lure the enemy once without suffering much loss. With them included, there are a total of 1,800 banners troops and 3,000 Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camp troops. This includes 500 cavalry from Shaanxi and Gansu banners, 800 bird guns made by the Inner Court Bureau, 20 double-cannon artillery pieces, over 1,000 bird guns made by Xianyang City, as well as dozens of small cannons!"
And there are also 1,000 explosive mines to defeat the demon!
With such excellent troops and capable generals, coupled with my strategy of luring them out of the city, I'm not worried that we won't be able to wipe out those mere thousands of long-haired bandits!"
Seems there is still some strength left!
Zuo Zongtang nodded slightly, thinking in his heart, "The weapons and horses are decent. They are better than the equipment and horses of the Xiao Lake militia and the long-haired bandits. Let's see how well they perform on the battlefield!"
Zhuzhou Garrison.
"The rent is high and the profits are good, but lately poor people have difficulty surviving. It's better to open the door to greet the Taiping, so that everyone will be happy. Kill the Qing demons and deal with evil officials, and welcome the Taiping with open arms."
The song "Welcome the Taiping" rang out in this large town on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River, where large groups of soldiers of the Taiping Dynasty, carrying rifles, spears, knives and shields, were marching through the city with their chests puffed out. They welcomed the poor people who joined them in singing "Welcome the Taiping" as they marched through the city.
The commander of this elite Taiping army, the Tai Ping Angel, the Chief Commander of the First Army, and the senior lecturer of Tianshi's Will - Luo Yao Guo, stood on a towering city wall and was arranging for his "Golden Lecturer" Wang Yan, Zhuang San, a captain in the dark chamber and Xue Xiang Gui, a female captain in the dark chamber to establish trade unions and agricultural unions in Zhuozhou Town. They were also planning to set up branches of Tianshi's Will and incite poor people to rise up in rebellion.
He had already done similar things many times, which can be considered to be familiar with the process. However, the "rebellious situation" within Changsha Prefecture is a bit different from that in Chenzhou, Guiyangzhou, and Yongzhou Prefecture. It's not as good!
