Chapter 12 Fourth, determine the winning strategy for the westward attack

The Shangyu really came to Susong: "Zeng Guofan wrote the first reward and added the title of minister of the Ministry of War, and quickly drove to Jiangsu to act as the governor of Liangjiang." The news spread quickly, and Xiangyong generals stationed in Susong came to congratulate , the county magistrates of Susong, Taihu, Wangjiang and other counties came in sedan chairs one by one, and even Zhang Fu, the left deputy capital censor who was stationed in Huizhou, sent people to gallop to congratulate him.Zeng Guofan never saw anyone who came to congratulate him.He posted a notice on the wall of the big camp: "The governor of this office has received the grace of the emperor. He has a long way to go and has no time to socialize. Those who congratulate him stop here and return immediately. Don't slacken their duties. The governor of this office has only accepted it."

Because he already knew in advance that Zeng Guofan did not show too much joy at this edict, but felt deeply the great responsibility of accepting the order in the face of danger.The situation is grim: the whole of southern Jiangsu, except for a corner of Shanghai, has all fallen into the hands of the Taiping army; in northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui, the power of the Nian army has greatly increased, and its whereabouts are erratic, making it impossible for the prefectures and counties to deal with it; The troops bypassed Hangzhou and haunted the western Zhejiang area; Jiangxi Raozhou, Guangxin, Jianchang, Fuzhou and other places were often visited by Li Shixian's troops at will; In the east, there are at least five or six hundred thousand people from all walks of life in the Taiping Army.Zeng Guofan, who has entered the year of knowing his destiny, often feels desolate these days.When the imperial court was defeated in the Jiangnan camp and no one looked around, it only remembered to rely on Xiangyong's strength. When it was time to rely on it, it was still unwilling to simply award Jiang Du to him, the hero of Xiangyong, but Hu Linyi. .Could it be that the emperor's prejudice against him has always been brooding?Whenever thinking of these, Zeng Guofan felt a strong sense of grievance and frustration.One late night, staring at the lights, I actually wrote a five-character poem like this: The big leaves have not bloomed yet, and the cold wind blows my clothes.When the atmosphere of heaven and earth is turbid, everything is wrong when you look back.There is no resistance to disobedience in the empty boat, and grievances call for murder.Year after year, I get tired of stumbling things, and I look up to my neighbors and ridicule them.In the end, I learned from Huang Hu and flew in the mighty Cangming.After finishing writing, he himself also found it funny: how could he be so disheartened!

He thought, whether it is for the country or for himself, this kind of thinking is bad.He burned the poem, pulled himself together, and considered future military plans. In fact, these plans were discussed with Peng Yulin, Yang Zaifu, Zuo Zongtang, Hu Linyi, Li Hongzhang and others long before the failure of the Jiangnan camp.It's different now, the green camps in Liangjiang can be controlled by themselves.Of course, the Green Camp also includes Duolong Abe, who has fought with Xiangyong for many years. , The decision to attack from the east that often surrounds Jiangning has been proved wrong by history and reality, and the strategy of attacking from the west must be changed, that is, the plan to enter central Anhui that was made when he came back two years ago, that is, from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to the west. Surrounded by Jiang Ning.The Yangtze River has two important towns in Anhui, one is Anqing in the north of the Yangtze River, and the other is Chizhou in the south of the Yangtze River. Occupying them opens the door to attacking Jiangning.Winning Anqing was Zeng Guofan's first strategic mission after his comeback, but it was a pity that Li Xubin and Zeng Guohua failed to live up to their important responsibilities.Ten days ago, after being reminded by Hu Linyi, Zeng Guofan had planned to transfer his ninth younger brother Guoquan to Anhui.He sent a secret letter to his ninth brother: Treat Anqing as an exercise to encircle Jiangning, train his subordinates, accumulate experience, so that he can grab the first victory in conquering Jiangning in the future.Zeng Guoquan was a very successful person. After receiving the letter from his eldest brother, he set off immediately, and at the same time sent people back to Hunan to recruit another 5,000 people.

With the experience of attacking Ji'an, he is full of confidence in going down to Anqing.Zeng Guofan expanded the Zhenzi camp of Mandi Zhenqian to 2,000 people and transferred them to Anqing.Jiziying and Zhenziying are the real Zeng's army.Anqing can rest assured.How does Chizhou deal with it? Guarding Chizhou Mansion is Ding Tianyi Wei Jun, the leader of the left army of the Taiping Army.The Taiping Army went to Wuchang three times, and he was the commander-in-chief of two of them.In the sixth year of Xianfeng, he personally commanded and killed Luo Zenan at the head of Wuchang city.Zeng Guofan not only hated Wei Jun deeply, but also admired him as a rare general.Wei Jun is Wei Changhui's younger brother, did he not use force, but use scheming to make Wei Jun coerce Chizhou to surrender?In this regard, Zeng Guofan has no confidence.

The Taiping Army was deeply influenced by the worship of God and had a strong sense of unity. It would be difficult for them to defect to the enemy. Another big event is where is the governor of Liangjiang currently stationed?The imperial court strictly ordered to go to Jiangsu. Although Jiangsu could not enter for a while, it could not stay in Susong and ignore the imperial order.Zeng Guofan took out the map of Anhui Province presented by Li Hongzhang, and pointed out the route from Susong to Zhejiang.He stopped his fingers at the border of Qimen County.Qimen is surrounded by mountains, with a road running through the county, connecting Xiuning and Huizhou in the east, and Jingdezhen in Jiangxi in the south. There are natural mountains that can shield the old camp, and can communicate with Zhejiang and Jiangxi. It is a good place for festivals.

In addition, the governors of Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang provinces under Liangjiang are crucial officials who must be replaced gradually and quietly. They must be reliable confidants, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve the same effect .He already had two candidates for the post of governor: one was Peng Yulin, and the other was Shen Baozhen, a soldier in southern Jiangxi. Shen Baozhen, whose alias is Youdan, was born in Minhou, Fujian, and Lin Zexu's son-in-law. He has the character and ability of his father-in-law.What is especially important is that he worked in the Xiangyong Camp Office for more than a year during the five or six years of Xianfeng.It is really rare to have such a relationship with Xiangyong, who is a relative of a Fujianese and a famous official. It can not only be cited as a confidant, but also avoid the suspicion of using all the Hunanese.Two more people had to be found, and the current governors of Jiangxi Qiling, Anhui governor Weng Tongshu, Jiangsu governor Xue Huan, and Zhejiang governor Wang Youling were all replaced within a year and a half.

In addition, Zeng Guofan also thought that the name of Jiangsu is Zeguo, and the navy must be strengthened. In addition to the river and inner lake navy, the Huaiyang navy must be established to capture the grain and rice warehouses of the Lixia River, and the Taihu Navy should be built to recover Suzhou. The Ningguo Navy recovered Wuhu. It's really a lot of things, with thousands of threads. Relying on his careful thinking and years of military experience, Zeng Guofan thought carefully about a series of big and small things that have come and will come one by one.When it was basically ready, he personally drafted a letter of gratitude, and reported to the emperor the military plan to recover Liangjiang and capture Jiangning.In order to make the emperor adopt his strategy of not attacking from the east, but from the west, he carefully conceived such a passage: Since ancient times, the thieves in the south of the Yangtze River must be on the upper reaches, and they can succeed if they attack from the top.Since the fall of Jinling in the third year of Xianfeng, Xiang Rong, Hechun and other armies all attacked from the east. They originally wanted to shield Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but they made repeated advances and setbacks according to the conditions of the time. It is not the weakness of the army, but the failure of the actual situation.Now the southeast is broken, and the flames of thieves are growing. If they want to recover, the southern army must enter from Zhejiang, and the northern army must enter from Jinling.To restore Jinling, Anqing must be conquered on the north bank, and Chizhou must be attacked on the south bank, so that the generals can control the situation.If you still start from the east road, the internal and external hosts and guests will lose all the situation, and you will continue to repeat the same mistakes, and there will be no end in sight.

Zeng Guofan believed that the emperor would approve his winning strategy of attacking from the west, and if he disagreed, he would argue hard.On this important decision, he could not make the slightest compromise until he resigned as governor of Liangjiang. After Xie Enzhe was finished, it would be dawn, and he ordered Wang Jingqi to send the manuscript to the study room for transcribing, then blew out the candles, and fell asleep.This sleep did not wake up until dusk.In Zeng Guofan's memory, he has never had such a peaceful sleep.He was very happy, after dinner, Zeng Guofan sent Jing Qi to invite Kang Fulai, and he wanted to play a few rounds with him tonight.

Half a year ago, Zeng Guofan selected 200 simple and strong brave men from the Jizi camp, and Zhu Pinlong brought them to his side to serve as the personal camp.Zeng Guofan appointed Kang Fu as the commander of the pro-barracks, and Zhu Pinlong as his deputy.Under the training of Kang Fu and Zhu Pinlong, everyone in the pro-barracks is highly skilled in martial arts, one counts as ten, and they are loyal to Zeng Guofan. Kang Fu arrived at the call with his ancestral Yunzi, and the two got up happily. "My lord, your old skills have been greatly improved." When Zeng Guofan picked up the two sunspots that were surrounded, Kang Fu said with a smile.

"Compared to that year in Dongting Lake, it has improved somewhat, thanks to your guidance." Zeng Guofan was very happy tonight. He ate two more sons just now, and his spirits became even higher. "My lord, praise." Kang Fu said while watching the chess pieces. Now when dealing with Zeng Guofan, he must concentrate on it. If he is not careful, he may lose the chess pieces. "Price, you have played chess with many generals in the past few years. Who do you think is the best at chess?" "The one who plays the best," Kang Fu thought for a while, and said, "Mr. Luo Shan used to be the most skilled at chess, but now Commander Qing is the best player several times, and Commander Xueqin is also good at chess."

"Everyone of my Xiangyong generals knows how to play piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, which is rare in ancient times." Zeng Guofan said proudly.This is also true.The vast majority of Xiangyong generals were born as scholars, and playing piano, chess, calligraphy and painting is their specialty. "Your Excellency is right. But I also heard that there are some people with long hair who are good at Go." "Really?" Zeng Guofan asked with interest. "I heard that among the long-haired leaders who are good at Go, the first is Shi Dakai." "It's possible." Zeng Guofan nodded. "It is said that Shi Ni is different from other people. He can not only fight wars, but also write poems. I heard that Shi Ni wrote a poem impromptu in Jiujiang Xunyang Tower that year. As far as poetry is concerned, the writing is not bad." "How are Shi Ni's poems written?" Kang Fu asked curiously. Zeng Guofan thought for a while, and recited Shi Dakai's poem: "Raise the whip and come to the Central Plains generously, not for revenge or for kindness. I just feel that the heavens are sloppy, and I have to save Yuan Yuan with my bare hands. After three years of bridles and lamented horses, thousands of people are like sick apes.When the demon atmosphere sweeps away, the world is at peace, and there will be no trace of tears in the world from now on! " "The tone is not small!" Kang Fu smiled, and for a moment, his younger brother Kang Lu appeared in his mind: Where is he now?Will he drive into Sichuan with Shi Da? "To be honest, this person is also a talent, but it's a pity that he became the leader of the thief." Zeng Guofan felt sorry for Shi Da from the bottom of his heart. "What about the second one?" "The second one is Wei Jun." "Wei Jun can also play Go?" Zeng Guofan seemed to think of something suddenly and was very pleasantly surprised. "Yes, second only to Shi Ni, and takes the second place among the long hairs." "Okay, okay!" Zeng Guofan combed his long beard on his chest with his hands habitually, and stared forward with his eyes, making Kang Fu baffled. "Price, how about you and Wei Jun going to play two sets?" "Go with Wei Jun?" Kang Fu became more and more confused. "Yes, you go and beat him! Find Yang Guodong, and you go together." Kang Fu nodded as if realizing something.