Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

However, Zeng Guoquan was too anxious. He had almost no idea about Shi Dakai and the Taiping Army in this matter. He led the main force of the Hunan Army to rush to Anqing for support, completely unaware that he had fallen into a dangerous situation!

In Anqing, Shi Dakai sat in the Anhui Provincial Government Office, with more than a dozen generals standing on both sides. They were all elite soldiers he brought from Sichuan, and each of them was terrifying in appearance.

A brigade commander stood opposite him, "Qingshan, what's the situation in the east now?"

Brigade Commander Song Qingshan replied, "Your Highness, according to our scouts, Zeng Guoquan has already led the Qing army from Tianjing and is heading straight for Anqing. I'm afraid it will take another three to five days to reach Anqing."

Shi Dakai stood up, looked at the map hanging on the wall, and said in a deep voice: "Anqing was originally the northern camp of the Hunan Army and one of Zeng Guofan's most important bases. Now that it has fallen into our hands, Zeng Guoquan will definitely rush to support it and launch a counterattack..."

General Zhang Suimou, standing by, interjected, "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, Zeng Guoquan will definitely take advantage of our initial arrival in Anqing and our lack of foothold to launch a full-scale attack and recapture Anqing in one fell swoop. They will definitely not give us too much time to prepare."

Shi Dakai nodded and replied, "Yes, I think so too. Although both Tianjing and Anqing are adjacent to the Yangtze River, to get there, one has to go upstream. The Yangtze River is extremely turbulent, and the advance is slow. Zeng Guoquan lacks a large number of naval forces, so he will definitely not take the water route. The only option left is to march overland. Everyone, look at the map. I mean, Zeng Guoquan will lead his army across Chaohu Lake, through Tongling, and directly to Anqing. This is also the shortest route, a hundred or two hundred miles closer than other routes..."

Zhang Suimou replied: "Your Excellency is right, we need to make preparations early..."

Shi Dakai sneered, "He's just Zeng Guoquan. He can't do anything to us. As long as Zuo Zongtang, Shen Baozhen and others don't come together, what do we have to fear? Everyone, we will first defeat Zeng Guoquan's main force, then occupy Anqing, Tongling and Xuancheng, and bring the entire southern Anhui under our control. Now is not the time for us to wantonly expand our territory. We only have 50,000 troops, which are too scattered and can be easily defeated one by one. As long as we gain a firm foothold in southern Anhui and raise the banner, the remaining Taiping Army in the entire Jiangnan region will flock to us. At that time, we will gather enough troops to recover Tianjing in one fell swoop!"

Wang Haiyang, the commander of the front camp, said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, how are we going to fight this battle?"

Shi Dakai did not answer Wang Haiyang. He cast his gaze towards Tongling, thought for a moment, and said, "Look here, Wusong Mountain!"

The generals turned their eyes to one place, waiting for Shi Dakai's next words.

Shi Dakai continued, "Wusong Mountain is about 120 miles away from Anqing. It's located at the border between Anqing and Tongling, and it's also the only way from Tongling to Anqing. My plan is to have a decisive battle with Zeng Guoquan at Wusong Mountain. Relying on the strategic location of Wusong Mountain, I can defeat Zeng Guoquan in one fell swoop!"

When Shi Dakai left Tianjing, almost all the veteran generals around him were left to Hong Xiuquan. Not to mention the two talented generals Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng, even outstanding generals such as Zhang Chaojue and Chen Decai were left in Tianjing and Anhui. The generals around him now were basically promoted by him later. Although each of them has some level, their resumes are much worse. At least they were all juniors on the battlefields of the North and South camps, and they were very unfamiliar with the geographical environment around Anqing.

But just because they didn't know doesn't mean Shi Dakai didn't know. Shi Dakai fought a war for five or six years along the line from Tianjing to Anqing, and fought a life-and-death battle with Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi and others. He could describe the geography of this area almost clearly with his eyes closed.

Wusong Mountain, standing by the river, is steep and covered with lush forests. It is the most suitable place to hide ambushes. Moreover, Wusong Mountain is the throat of the road from Anqing to Tianjing. If you want to reach Anqing as quickly as possible, you can't go around Wusong Mountain anyway. This is the best place to ambush the Hunan Army!

Ji Qingyuan asked, "Your Highness, Zeng Guoquan brought a considerable force, a full 40,000 men. We left nearly 10,000 men in Jiujiang and Chizhou, leaving us with only about 40,000 men. If we advance to Wusong Mountain to engage Zeng Guoquan in a decisive battle, what will happen to Anqing? If we leave too many troops behind, it will be difficult to annihilate Zeng Guoquan. If we leave too few, there will still be many Qing troops around. Once Anqing is lost, we will have no solid base..."

Shi Dakai glanced at Ji Qingyuan with appreciation and replied, "You are right. Anqing must not be lost. Therefore, we must leave 10,000 troops to garrison Anqing and Qingyuan. This task is left to you and your rear camp. The other three camps will follow me to Wusong Mountain. 30,000 troops are more than enough for me to defeat Zeng Guoquan!"

Ji Qingyuan was startled and said quickly, "Your Highness, we can't take risks lightly. With 30,000 troops against the main force of the Hunan Army, I'm afraid..."

Shi Dakai laughed and said, "Qingyuan, if it was one or two years ago, or three or five years ago, I would not dare to easily use 30,000 troops to face the elite Hunan Army of more than 40,000 people. Although I dare not say that I can't beat them, the risk is too great. But now it's different. Do you think the Hunan Army still has the same combat effectiveness as before? As soon as Tianjing was captured, the Hunan Army slaughtered and looted in Tianjing. The entire Tianjing city was looted, and women and wealth were stuffed into the city. The Hunan Army, which was intoxicated by the words money and sex, is no longer the brave Hunan Army of the past. And the Hunan Army without Zeng Guofan's support is also a Hunan Army without soul. Even if Zeng Guoquan is brave and unparalleled, it is just a facade! The Hunan Army has long lost its previous combat effectiveness! If we occupy the advantage of terrain and wait for the enemy to tire, but still cannot defeat Zeng Guoquan, then our Taiping Army will be too useless!"

Ji Qingyuan blushed and stopped talking.

Shi Dakai turned around and shouted, "Suimou, lead 3,000 elite troops to the northeast side of Wusong Mountain and hold them there. Once the Qing army enters Wusong Mountain, block their retreat. Don't let them escape!"

Zhang Suimou is the most powerful general under Shi Dakai. He is best at defense. Having him pin the Qing army in the rear is naturally to prevent Zeng Guoquan from escaping!

"Zhongxin, you lead the left battalion to hide on the northern peak of Wusong Mountain. Tiande, you lead the right battalion to hide on the southern peak of Wusong Mountain. Pull all our artillery up and from this high ground, we will annihilate the Hunan Army in one fell swoop!"