Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 161 Tazib: Pay attention and don’t lose face!
After Tazibu led his troops to leave the Hunan Yong camp outside Changsha City, they headed straight for Maguan Village outside Changsha City.

Maguan Village is only thirty miles away from Changsha City. There are more than a thousand households in the village, making it one of the largest villages outside Changsha City.

When Zeng Guofan was recruiting soldiers to form the Hunan Braves, under the encouragement and organization of several wealthy families in the village, most of the young and strong men in Maguan Village joined the Hunan Braves.

A considerable number of the current Hunan Army’s troops come from Maguan Village.

In addition, the distance is relatively close, Maguan Village is only thirty miles away from Changsha City.

Therefore, Maguan Village was the first target of the Tang army's sweep of the countryside and capture the families of the Hunan braves.

After learning that the Tang army was heading straight for Maguan Village, Tazib naturally could not sit idly by.

Choose to lead the troops to block the attack!

The rumbling sound of horse hooves could be heard, but before Tazibu led his troops to Maguan Village, they encountered Tang cavalry who had been ordered to stop them.

The cavalry of both sides met head-on on the battlefield. The clouds in the sky were very low, as if it was going to rain, and the atmosphere in the air began to become heavy and depressing.

Tazib gritted his teeth, swung the braid behind his head, wrapped it around his neck, and shouted at the top of his voice.

"Soldiers, follow me and let these Tang thieves see our Qing cavalry and the power of our northern men."

"Everyone, pay attention and don't lose face!"

The elite of the Hunan Green Camp, including various cavalry units, had long been transferred by Xiang Rong to Jiangnan to encircle the Taiping Army.

The cavalry led by Tazibu was brought from the capital by Zeng Guofan.

There are not many people, only about two thousand.

Two thousand cavalrymen may not be enough in the north, but in the south, which is seriously lacking in cavalry, it is a considerable force.

The main force was the cavalry transferred from the Green Camp of Zhili and Shanxi.

The remaining part was the Eight Banners "Iron Cavalry" of the capital.

Of course, we didn't expect these Eight Banners "Iron Cavalry" to actually go to the battlefield.

The reason why these Eight Banners "Iron Cavalry" were sent to Zeng Guofan by Emperor Xianfeng was that they were good at carrying bird cages, eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and were even better at archery, horse riding and shooting.

His main task was actually to supervise the war, or it could be said that he was sent to monitor Zeng Guofan to prevent him from taking advantage of the militia to become powerful in the local area.

Well, Tazibu, who was born in the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, is one of them.

Therefore, Tazibu was highly valued by Zeng Guofan and was promoted rapidly.

To put it bluntly, Tazib was a tool used by Zeng Guofan to prove his loyalty to Emperor Xianfeng.

Of course, Tazib certainly has his own abilities.

With a shout, Tazibu led his troops and charged straight at the Tang cavalry in front of them.

"Kill!"

"Serve the Qing Dynasty and swear to kill the Tang thieves!"

Tazib shouted at the top of his lungs, his heart full of confidence at this moment.

When it comes to boat handling, northerners are far inferior to southerners.

But when it comes to riding a horse and shooting at enemies, Tazib is absolutely no slouch.

How could the Qing cavalry, which was mainly composed of northerners, be unable to defeat the Tang bandit cavalry, which was mainly composed of southerners?
Isn't this a joke?
When Chen Chengrong, commander of the Tang army's cavalry, saw the Qing cavalry charging at him, his expression became serious and he immediately started shouting.

"Soldiers, follow me and kill!"

"Drive out the Tartars and restore China!"

"Kill the demons and divide the land!"

Faced with the Qing cavalry that came to attack them, the Tang army showed no fear and rushed forward on horseback, ready to meet the enemy.

As the distance between the two sides shortened, Tazib immediately shouted at the top of his voice.

"Get ready for horseback shooting!"

As soon as he finished speaking, flags were waved and the Qing army drew their bows and arrows, ready to ride and shoot.

The Tang army also followed suit and took out their loaded revolvers.

The cavalry of the Tang and Qing armies spread out on the battlefield.

If you look down from a high place, you will find that both sides have stretched their arrays very long, like two non-intersecting parallel lines, approaching rapidly and about to intersect.

This was so because neither side was prepared to charge directly into the battle formation, but rather to fight the enemy with cavalry and archery.

Once the cavalry archers have caused a certain amount of damage to the enemy and suppressed their morale, it will be the best time for the cavalry to charge.

Soon, the two sides approached each other, and at the moment when the arrays were parallel, the sound of bowstrings trembling and the bang of revolvers firing rang out on the battlefield.

collapse! Bang bang!

clap clap clap!clap clap clap!
Bullets and arrows rained down.

The battlefield was filled with smoke and screams were heard along with the thud of horses falling.

After the cavalry of both sides crossed each other on the battlefield, the smoke gradually dissipated.

It is very obvious that the Qing army left far more corpses on the battlefield than the Tang army.

Tazib's heart was beating fast, and his mind was filled with the bursts of gunfire that were as dense as popping beans.

He was a little confused as to how the Tang bandit cavalry could fire such intensive gunshots.

Feeling a little uneasy in his heart, Tazib subconsciously looked back, and then his eyes widened instantly.

The Qing cavalry following behind him suddenly lost two or three hundred people. Many war horses, having lost the control of their masters, began to run around wildly, disrupting the Qing cavalry formation.

On the battlefield behind him, there were corpses and wounded soldiers lying everywhere, and screams could be heard everywhere.

Seeing this scene, Tazib's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"How could this happen? Why is the loss so great?"

"When did the bandit cavalry become so powerful?"

On the other side, Chen Chengrong also noticed the tragic situation on the battlefield behind him.

Although the Tang army suffered less casualties than the Qing army in this battle, he was not happy.

This was because the Tang cavalry might not be as good as the Qing cavalry in terms of riding skills, and their shooting accuracy on horseback was far inferior.

But they have an absolute advantage in terms of weapons and equipment.

The difference between a revolver and a traditional bow and arrow is as huge as the difference between heaven and earth.

Each Tang cavalryman was equipped with two revolvers, one with six bullets, which means a total of twelve bullets.

The moment the cavalry of both sides intersect, they can attack quickly.

But what about the Qing cavalry? When the cavalry of both sides crossed, they could only shoot two or three arrows at most.

The gap in firepower between the two sides is huge.

But even so, the Tang army still suffered a lot of casualties when fighting with the Qing army on the battlefield.

Chen Chengrong's expression naturally didn't look good.

Damn, I still need to practice my shooting skills more!
Chen Chengyong swore that after this battle, he would train these wolf cubs under his command well and give them some extra food.

"Everyone, quickly finish loading your revolvers and have another round of horse shooting."

"The Qing demons suffered more casualties than us just now. Brothers, work harder and try to defeat them in one go."

Amid the shouts, the Tang army's cavalry began to load their revolvers on horseback.

Although the bullets used in the revolvers equipped by the Tang army are not metal-loaded bullets, they are paper-shell-loaded bullets.

Plus, the pistol has a shorter barrel, making it easier to operate.

Therefore, as long as you are properly trained, the loading work can be completed on horseback.

The cavalry of the Tang army needed to practice, besides riding horses, loading and shooting on horseback.

The more you practice, the more proficient you will become!

The cavalry of both sides made a big circle on the battlefield, accumulated horsepower, and then rushed towards each other again.

The rumbling sound of horse hooves echoed across the battlefield.

This was followed by another volley of musketry and bows and arrows.

The two sides crossed each other, and the ground was covered with corpses and blood. The atmosphere in the air became more and more gloomy!

Tazib was shot in the waist and abdomen. Blood kept gushing out of the wound, staining his cotton armor red.

If it weren't for the cotton armor on his body that blocked the bullet, the bullet would have directly taken Tazib's life.

Tazib covered the wound on his waist and abdomen, his face turned pale due to the severe pain, and the corners of his eyes kept twitching.

"Withdraw! Quickly withdraw!"

"Withdraw troops immediately and retreat back to the camp!"

After two rounds of fighting, as many as five or six hundred Qing cavalrymen fell off their horses.

The morale of the entire army has dropped to freezing point, and they have almost no courage to fight the Tang army again.

In addition, Tazib himself was shot and injured, so he had no choice but to lead his troops to retreat.

They planned to withdraw to the Hunan Brave Camp outside Changsha first, and then make long-term plans.

Under Tazibu's military order, the Qing cavalry moved, roaring out of the battlefield and trying to retreat towards Changsha city.

But how could the Tang army's cavalry let the Qing army withdraw easily?
If the Qing army were allowed to withdraw so easily, wouldn't all the sacrifices and costs they had paid before be wasted?
"Brothers, Qing Yao is no longer viable."

"Kill with me!"

Chen Chengrong pulled the reins, and the warhorse under his crotch stood up, and he led his army to attack Tazib who wanted to withdraw from the battlefield.

"Kill!"

"Kill the clear demon!"

"The Tang Dynasty is victorious!"

"..."

The Tang cavalry rushed forward with a roar, chasing after the fleeing Qing army.

Seeing this, the Qing cavalry fled even more desperately, leaving their bodies all over the ground as they were pursued by the Tang army.

By the time they retreated to the Hunan Army Camp outside Changsha, nearly half of their troops had been killed...

As Tazibu rode his horse into the Hunan Yong camp, he didn't have time to utter a word before his eyes went dark, his body fell limp on the horse's back, and he fell heavily to the ground with a dull thud!
Several Qing soldiers came forward to check and found that he had fainted.

"Oh no! Admiral Ta has fainted."

"Someone come quickly, Admiral Ta has fainted."

"Quickly call a military doctor, call a military doctor!"

"..."

Amid the commotion, Tazib was carried back to the tent and a military doctor came forward to treat him.

Zeng Guofan, who was patrolling the camp, also received the news that Tazibu had returned defeated, and hurried over to check.

Seeing Tazibu lying on the dying bed, Zeng Guofan called the military doctor and asked.

"How is it? How is Admiral Ta's injury?"

The military doctor wiped the blood off his hands and replied.

"In reply to Lord Zeng, Admiral Ta was seriously injured."

"The bullet has penetrated deep into the abdominal cavity. Although it has not damaged the lungs, if the bullet cannot be removed quickly, the fire poison on it will probably penetrate deep into the lungs."

The so-called fire poison is actually heavy metal poisoning caused by lead bullets entering the body.

But people of this era did not understand this, so it was called fire poison.

Zeng Guofan frowned.

"Then take it as soon as possible!"

"If anything happens to Lieutenant General Ta, I will bury you with him!"

Tazibu was the military supervisor sent by Emperor Xianfeng to Zeng Guofan. If Tazibu died, Zeng Guofan would have a hard time explaining to Emperor Xianfeng.

Upon hearing this, the military doctor spoke immediately.

"In reply to your words, sir, I have already asked my apprentice to prepare the instruments and herbs for the operation."

"Once the equipment and herbs are brought in, we can start."

Zeng Guofan's expression improved slightly after hearing this.

But it's only a slight improvement.

Tazibu's defeat meant that the Tang army's plan to attack Changsha by taking the families of the Hunan warriors with them was irreversible.

This is not good news for Zeng Guofan!

Zeng Guofan was very distressed. How could he make the Hunan Army believe that the person outside the camp who looked so much like your father/mother/second uncle/third aunt/eldest nephew was really not your family member?
Zeng Guofan took a deep breath, his face full of helplessness.

Time passed quietly and night fell soon.

Zeng Guofan summoned all the generals to discuss the matter but failed to reach a conclusion. Instead, bad news kept coming.

The only good news was that Tazib had survived the critical period and woke up from his coma.

Zeng Guofan put aside his current affairs for the time being and went to express his condolences with Luo Bingzhang, Hu Linyi and others.

"How is your injury? Are you feeling better now?"

Zeng Guofan came to Tazibu and asked.

Taziwen still looked a little listless, his forehead covered in cold sweat from the pain of the wound.

Zeng Guofan came to show concern, and he nodded and said.

"Thank you for your concern, I am fine..."

Zeng Guofan patted Tazibu's shoulder and continued to comfort him in a gentle voice.

"I'm glad you're alright. Just rest and recover."

Upon hearing this, Tazib said with a guilty look on his face.

"We were defeated by the Tang bandits in the cavalry battle and have not yet completed the mission assigned by you. I... I am truly ashamed..."

Zeng Guofan said with a slightly grim expression when he heard this.

"What exactly is going on in this battle?"

"If it's an infantry battle, we'll lose. After all, the Tang bandit infantry has defeated the foreigners before. They are the best in the world. It's normal for our Qing Dynasty to be defeated by them."

"But how can a cavalry battle be defeated?"

"When it comes to riding horses, can the men from Shanxi and Zhili really lose to the southerners?"

Zeng Guofan was a little bit unconvinced.

Upon hearing this, Tazib's eyes became blank and he fell into memories. After a moment he spoke.

"To reply to your Excellency, the riding skills of the Tang bandits' cavalry are just average."

"People often even fell off their horses while they were galloping."

"Speaking of riding skills, they are far inferior to our Qing cavalry."

"However, the weapons equipped by the Tang bandit cavalry are quite sharp."

"This time our army fought against the Tang bandit cavalry, and the Tang bandit cavalry used a type of musket that could fire continuously and be quickly reloaded."

"The Tang bandits' muskets can fire very dense firepower at the moment when the cavalry of the two armies intersect, causing huge casualties to our soldiers."

"And this is precisely the main reason why our cavalry was defeated in this battle."

Zeng Guofan couldn't help but fall silent when he heard this.

The expression on his face became somewhat serious and solemn.

"Firearms, firearms again!"

"Where on earth did the Tang thieves get all these strange and bizarre firearms?"

"Are the foreigners really so generous? They sell all kinds of firearms to the Tang thieves?"

(End of this chapter)