Han’s Son is Not a Slave

The three assaults of the Qing army caused heavy casualties for the Taiping army, which can be said to be the most casualty battle since Luo Ding established his army.

The Zhenlu Battalion, which had the largest number of soldiers before the war, had 465 people in the entire battalion, and only 178 people remained after the war; before the war, the Xiongwei Battalion had the smallest number of soldiers of the five battalions, with only 390 people, and now there are only 160 people; Before the war, there were only 410 people in the trap camp, which was compiled by the workers of the Zhuang Copper Mines. Now there are only 230 people. The reduction rate of the Hujie camp has also reached 60%.

Although the guard battalion is the battalion head with the largest number of troops, since the reorganization of Guifeng Mountain, the guard battalion has not been full. With the addition of Zhenlu and Xiongwei, the actual number of soldiers in the guard battalion is the smallest among the five battalions, and only 108 people remain today. Such tragic casualties caused the five battalions to exist in name only, and the total strength of the five battalions was less than 1,000.

Compared with the death rate of soldiers, the death rate of officers is higher. Before the war, there were 35 officers above the small flag in each battalion, and the total number of officers in the fifth battalion was 175. Now the entire Taiping Army, including the thousand households Zhou Shixiang, also has a number of officers. There are only 48 people left.

The casualties of the five major battalions were so high, and the security regiments assigned by the returned camp also lost more than half. After the Qing army retreated again, Song Xianggong asked Zhao Sihai to make a special count, including the original Gongku army, plus those who were lightly injured and could continue to fight. , the entire security team has less than 400 people.

After the Taiping Army invaded Xinhui, Liao Ruixiang, who was appointed as the temporary magistrate of Xinhui, with the assistance of the Taiping Army, organized the young and strong residents of the city to be responsible for material transportation and order in the city. He was forced to go to the top of the city. Fortunately, Zhou Shixiang did not expect these young men to serve as soldiers and fight against the Qing army, so they were mostly asked to do some auxiliary work in the city. Although there were certain casualties, the young men who survived There are also many people.

Although these young men can't really be used as soldiers. But after all, he also guarded the top of the city for a few days, and saw a lot of blood and corpses. Some brave young men even fought against the Qing soldiers who climbed the top of the city. Therefore, for the Taiping army, which suffered more than half of the casualties, they were all urgently needed soldiers in each battalion.

No need to mobilize. The more than 300 young men who survived volunteered to join the Taiping Army, and were sold out by each battalion. Even those yamen soldiers that Liao Ruixiang had placed in the yamen as a facade were recruited by each battalion. The young soldiers and yamen who joined the Taiping Army knew that at this point, the Qing army outside the city had lost so many people, and if the city was destroyed, no one in the city would be lucky enough to survive. So it doesn't matter if it's for your own life or your family's life. They all had to carry their heads to the city and fight the Qing army desperately.

After the Taiping army invaded Xinhui City, hundreds of Qing troops were captured one after another. Except for some Han flag officers who were beheaded, the rest were left to serve as hard labor for the city wall. Under the scorching sun and the urging of the Taiping Army to rush to work, half of the prisoners died of exhaustion on the city wall construction site. After the Qing army approached Xinhui, the remaining prisoners were ordered to go to the city to fire artillery, except for the Han army flag soldiers who knew how to use artillery. In the subsequent siege of the city by the Qing army, these prisoners also suffered some casualties, and there are still more than 400 people alive today. Half of them were Chaozhou soldiers.

These Chaozhou soldiers originally numbered 500. When Li Dingguo approached Xinhui last year, the defenders were insufficient. Shang Kexi dispatched troops from various prefectures and counties, including Chaozhou soldiers. After the Taiping army occupied Xinhui, because the leading Qianzong died in battle, these Chaozhou soldiers had no command and the city was broken, so they surrendered together with other Qing soldiers.

Because Zhou Shixiang has always wanted to build a Taiping army navy plan, so these water are good, many Chaozhou soldiers who served in the navy were deliberately retained, and the intention is to build a Taiping army based on these Chaozhou soldiers in the future. team of sailors. Zhou Shixiang, the hard laborer who built the city in the early days, specially ordered the Chaozhou soldiers to work less, so that they did not suffer from exhaustion like other green battalion soldiers. As a result, these Chaozhou soldiers were envied by other Qing prisoners. After the Qing army attacked the city, no matter what Zhou Shixiang planned to do in the future. In the extreme shortage of soldiers to defend the city, these Chaozhou soldiers were also thrown into the city. Under the desperate battle again and again. There are still more than 200 Chaozhou soldiers and prisoners.

Like the security regiment's Ding Ya service, the surviving Qing army prisoners were also integrated into the military battalion. 300 soldiers.

Because of the large number of officers killed in battle, the new officers were selected from the soldiers who were defending the city. Even some brave young men were awarded as small flag officers, and the Han army flag soldiers who could use guns among the prisoners were separately classified as A general flag, below the general flag are selected by the prisoners themselves. In order to strengthen the loyalty and control of these prisoners, Zhou Shixiang also deliberately mixed the Green Camp prisoners with the Han army flags.

Almost all the men in the entire Xinhui City were taken away, so that the Taiping Army was reorganized to 2,500 soldiers, but the price was that there were no more young men in the city to be replenished. If the Qing army still did not count the previous three times Casualties, a fierce attack at any cost, the city will be destroyed sooner or later.

The greatest fear of an army trapped in an isolated city is not how strong the enemy is, but the lack of any supplements on its own.

Previously, on the way of the Taiping army going south to Xiangshan~www.wuxiaspot.com~ In order to facilitate the transfer and settlement of the elderly, the weak, women and children, Duke Xiang of Song once selected a group of stronger women to serve as security guards. Later, after the Taiping army occupied Xinhui, because The usual contempt for women, so these female security guards were quickly dismissed. After the Qing army's second storm, Song Xianggong, with the idea of ​​mobilizing all the people to defend the city desperately, resisted the criticism of the old campers, and again selected 500 healthy women as auxiliary soldiers. Because of the use of these female soldiers, the Taiping Army's manpower can be more effectively used in the front-line confrontation between Chengtou and the Qing army, so after the war Zhou Shixiang officially agreed that the Houying Security Regiment could set up a female battalion. Of course, there are no men in the current rear camp security regiment, and it is these women soldiers who are carrying the mission of the security regiment.

The food in the city can barely support half a month, the salt, vegetable oil and other materials are almost exhausted, and there is not much left of the wood and lime that can be used for the guards at the head of the city.

Six officers above the general banner were killed in battle, two in the trapped camp, Zheng Tiezhu, and Zheng Daniu were both killed in battle. , his death made Zhou Shixiang extremely sad, and Ge Zheng's serious injury made him even more uncomfortable, because Ge was stabbed with a spear by the Qing soldiers who rushed up behind him just to save him. To be continued.

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