Chapter 59: The Battle of Jingdezhen (Part 1)

  Two flowers bloom, each representing one branch.

  Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhijun led their troops to deceive and capture Fuliang, on the same day, Yang Fuqing also led his troops to attack Zhang Yunlan.

  The two armies met at Wenyu Mountain, thirty miles southwest of Jingdezhen. The two had been fighting in northern Jiangxi for several months, with over a dozen battles, big and small, so they were not unfamiliar with each other. There was no need to issue a challenge or engage in single combat; they simply charged into battle.

  The Xiang Army was extremely fierce and brave, with combat effectiveness slightly stronger than the Longhairs. However, the difference in numbers between the two armies was too great, so if they were to launch a full-scale attack, the Xiang Army would definitely be at a disadvantage. Therefore, Zhang Yunlan only dispatched a small force to test the waters with a probing attack. Yang Fuqing also hoped to slow down the battle, allowing Wei Zhi-jun enough time to arrive behind Zhang Yunlan's back and cut off his retreat, sandwiching him between two forces. With 50,000 against 5,000, today was the day they had to annihilate Zhang Yunlan completely.

  Neither side wants to go all out now, so they are both probing attacks with no major casualties.

  At this time, Xiao Qijiang was attacking Yingtan, although the military strength had the upper hand, but Yang Yiqing was defending and occupied the geographical advantage. After a long battle, the Xiang Army suffered heavy casualties, and Yingtan was as solid as gold soup. There were also subordinates who came to report that there was a large army coming to support from Jingdezhen, Xiao Qijiang had no choice but to withdraw his troops.

  Zhang Yunlan received the news and knew that the plan to lure the enemy into a trap had failed. It seemed that he could only pretend to attack on this side. He sounded the retreat, withdrew back to Wahu Mountain, set up camp and rested. In case the foreign gun team's movements were exposed, he could at least respond from here.

  Yang Fuqing saw Zhang Yunlan withdraw his troops and set up camp on the spot, and he was even more delighted. He didn't pursue them either, but instead set up a large camp five miles away. In Yang Fuqing's view, the longer the delay, the greater Zhang Yunlan's misfortune would be.

  Wei Zhi-jun's capture of Fu Liang's news reached Jingdezhen that night, and the news was sent to Yang Fu-qing's camp. After learning about it, Yang Fu-qing was furious and wanted to leave immediately, but he was afraid that Zhang Yun-lan would attack from behind. In the middle of the night, if Zhang Yun-lan took advantage of the chaos to launch a surprise attack, they might suffer heavy losses. So he led 10,000 troops back to the city first, leaving 10,000 to guard the camp, and planned to retreat again at dawn.

  Under the Carp Mountain, in the barracks of the Xiang Army.

  "General, the long-haired ones have signs of movement. Judging from the central commander's flag, Yang Fuqing seems to be retreating. However, there are still many long-haired ones left behind. The night is too dark, and it's impossible to estimate the number of people." The soldier who returned from the front line reported to Zhang Yunlan.

  "What? Yang Fuqing is actually withdrawing now?"

  Zhang Yunlan paced back and forth anxiously in the military tent, thinking about how to deal with this sudden event.

  Yang Fuqing retreated overnight, and there must be something important. Currently, there is only one possibility, that is, the foreign gun team that sneaked into Jingdezhen and the soldiers he sent to respond were exposed. If it were someone else, Zhang Yunlan would not hesitate so much, just let them die on their own. However, Li Mingfeng had saved Zeng Guohua's life before, and the foreign gun team also fought side by side with Li Xubin's Xiang Army, this kindness cannot be repaid.

  Zhang Yunlan thought for half a day and finally decided to try her best to rescue them.

  Zhang Yunlan ordered the soldiers to assemble immediately and go to rescue

  Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhi-jun led a 20,000-strong army to besiege Jingdezhen City. When they arrived at the city gate that evening, Yang Fuqing had already returned to the city. Li Mingfeng originally wanted to take advantage of the weakness within the city due to the fight between Yang Fuqing and Zhang Yunlan, but scouts from the front line reported back that Yang Fuqing had led an army of 10,000 into the city, forcing Li Mingfeng to abandon his plan.

  Li Mingfeng, with an army of 20,000, is no longer limited in military strength as before. Li Mingfeng, who has always been emotionally stingy, after incorporating Wei Zhi's troops, sent out a large number of scouts and spies to explore everywhere. Currently, within a radius of several hundred miles, any movement or news, Li Mingfeng can know first.

  Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhijun estimated that there were only 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Jingdezhen at present. If they wanted to take Jingdezhen, now was the best opportunity. Although the Foreign Gun Corps did not have the ability to capture independently, Xiao Qijiang and Zhang Yunlan were not decorations either. After some deliberation, Li Mingfeng and Wei Zhijun decided to first take advantage of Yang Fuqing's confusion and clear out the outer long-haired bandits, finally starving Yang Fuqing to death.

  Li Mingfeng ordered a division of 10,000 troops to quickly chop down trees and build a camp, preparing for a protracted war.

  Yang Fuqing had already learned that Wei Zhi-jun had surrendered to the Qing, and although he was angry in his heart, there was nothing he could do. Seeing the large army camping outside the city, at dawn on the second day, Yang Fuqing ordered his subordinates to lead 5,000 long-haired soldiers out of the city to attack, not allowing the foreign rifle squad to stand firm under the city.

  The advantage of Western weapons was thoroughly demonstrated at this time. The foreign gun team had 1,600 rifles, and in one volley, the long-haired rebels fell to the ground by the hundreds. Although the effective killing range was only 150 meters, this distance also allowed the foreign gun team to fire four volleys.

  Seeing the power of firearms, the morale of the long-haired soldiers had already weakened. The clever ones dodged to the ground, while those who reacted slowly were all shot dead. On Li Mingfeng's side, morale was greatly boosted. Seeing that the long-haired men were about to kill their way into their camp, Li Mingfeng gave a loud order and the 10,000-strong army, which had been on high alert, charged forward.

  Many against few, bravery against cowardice, victory and defeat can be known. The foreign gun squad will leave the city, and the long-haired ones have killed nearly two thousand, pursuing all the way to the foot of the city. Li Mingfeng saw that there were many archers on the city tower, and he could not fight against them, so he ordered to stop the pursuit.

  After this battle, the Taiping rebels were like a startled bird and did not dare to easily come out of the city to attack again.

  Zhang Yunlan, in order to rescue the Yang Gun Team, launched a fierce attack on the Long Mao camp under the cover of night. Since the commander-in-chief had already withdrawn, the Long Mao people were in a state of panic, rumors spread everywhere, and morale was low. Zhang Yunlan fought for two days, and the Long Mao army could not hold their main camp, so they retreated.

  This retreat was not a good thing, Zhang Yunlan followed closely and pursued, the long-haired troops gradually changed from retreating to fleeing.

  Catfish Mountain is dozens of miles away from Jingdezhen, and it can be returned in three hours. Li Mingfeng received the scout's report and personally led 5,000 troops to intercept them. The long-haired bandits who retreated from Catfish Mountain did not know that there were still enemy troops on the road ahead, and when they saw the Taiping Army uniforms, they thought it was a rescue team coming to their aid, but instead suffered heavy casualties and were killed in large numbers.

  Yang Fuqing received the news and personally led his troops out to respond. Li Mingfeng saw that their forces were strong, so he didn't entangle with them and retreated back to his own camp.

  In this battle, the 10,000 Longhairs of Wuchang Hill were killed or dispersed. Zhang Yunlan beheaded two to three thousand, Li Mingfang slaughtered one to two thousand, and two to three thousand fled. Only less than four thousand men and horses entered the city with Yang Fuqing.

  Zhang Yunlan led his troops to rush to the city of Jingdezhen, and now Jingdezhen was surrounded by more than a dozen large camps in the east and north, and he was also very surprised.

  Zhang Yunlan thought to herself, where did this army come from to attack Jingde Town? No wonder Yang Fuqing abandoned the main camp and ran back first, it turns out that the foundation is about to be lost.

  Just as Zhang Yunlan was puzzled, several horses came running towards him from the front. Looking far away, they were wearing Qing army uniforms. He ordered his subordinates to bring them closer, and upon taking a closer look, it turned out that they were none other than the generals he had sent to meet the foreign rifle team.

  "How did you end up here? Were you sent to meet the foreign rifle team and got no results? Why are only a few of you left?" Zhang Yunlan asked with a gloomy face, thinking that the foreign rifle team and the Xiang Army who went to meet them had all encountered danger, leaving only these few people returning.

  "Sir, all our brothers are in the camp. Look at these dozen or so large camps surrounding Jingdezhen, they are the foreign gun squad." The man replied.

  Zhang Yunlan almost fell off her horse when she heard this.