Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

The Taiping Army grew in number, and in the pitch-black night, they launched a swift and fierce offensive against the Hunan Army. How could the exhausted Hunan Army resist? They broke apart and fled in all directions!

Bao Chao was furious and tried his best to organize a counterattack, but it was of no avail. He could not stop the crazy Taiping Army at all!

Bao Chao had no choice but to lead his army in a retreat all the way to the east. The Taiping Army, under the command of Shi Dakai, followed in pursuit, chasing them for more than thirty miles in one breath. Seeing that the sky was gradually getting brighter, they stopped the pursuit and returned to Wusong Mountain!

Bao Chao gathered his defeated troops. The previous siege of Zhang Suimou resulted in the loss of more than 3,000 army men. Then he encountered a crazy siege by the main force of the Taiping Army, and the army suffered another 3,000 to 4,000 casualties. The most unfortunate thing was that in the middle of the night, the defeated Hunan Army kept abandoning the team and deserting. When Bao Chao completed the reorganization of the army, there were only less than 6,000 people left, and the loss was heavy!

Not only did the army suffer heavy casualties, but the most unfortunate thing was that it could not withstand the Taiping Army's attack and was forced to retreat. The army could not take away the mountains of baggage, and all of it became the spoils of the Taiping Army. This was the baggage of 100,000 people, including not only a large amount of food, gold and silver, but also a large amount of bullets and artillery shells, all of which were lost to the enemy!

Bao Chao was now caught in a dilemma. Should he return to Tianjing? Zeng Guoquan's fate was still uncertain. If he left, Zeng Guofan would certainly not let him off lightly if Zeng Guoquan was killed. Should he march forward? The entire Hunan Army was now reduced to less than 6,000 men, and their food and supplies had been completely lost. How could they possibly stand up to Shi Dakai's Taiping Army? If he wasn't careful, they would be completely wiped out. Shi Dakai was no pushover!

Bao Chao was so sad that he could only stay where he was for the time being. On the one hand, Bao Chao sent people to borrow food from Tongling Prefecture not far away, and on the other hand, he sent scouts to the west to find out the news about Zeng Guoquan. No matter whether he was alive or dead, he had to have some accurate news!

Zeng Guoquan?

Zeng Guoquan is now even more helpless than Bao Chao. This battle was fought too poorly. In just one day, the army of more than 20,000 people was defeated by the Taiping Army. Except for the cavalry which was relatively intact, the rest of the troops suffered heavy casualties!

Zeng Guoquan was filled with hatred. How many years had it been since he had suffered such a defeat? At least six or seven years? The last time he suffered such a defeat was in the sixth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign!

In the sixth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, that disastrous defeat was also inflicted upon him by Shi Dakai. Damn it, this Shi Dakai is his nemesis!

Liu Songshan on the side whispered: "Jiu Shuai, what should we do now?"

Zeng Guoquan said dejectedly, "What should we do? What else can we do? Let's withdraw our troops first, bypass Wusong Mountain, and retreat towards Tongling. Bao Chao is probably not having an easy time now. If we break out of the encirclement, Shi Dakai will definitely turn his main force eastward. Bao Chao only has more than 10,000 men, and he will definitely not be able to withstand the attack of the main force of the Taiping Army..."

Liu Songshan nodded silently.

"Order the army to rest for half a day. After half a day, immediately head north, bypass Wusong Mountain, and rendezvous with Bao Chao's rear army. If we continue to be split in two by the Taiping Army like this, we will definitely be defeated one by one!"

Zeng Guoquan was not stupid, and he was naturally aware of the huge crisis. The two Hunan armies were separated by Wusong Mountain, and they could not take care of both ends. The Taiping Army had superior forces and could attack whichever one they wanted. The Hunan Army had no room for resistance!

Liu Songshan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he whispered, "General Jiu, how about we give up on bypassing Wusong Mountain and command the army to charge directly towards Anqing? We have a strong cavalry and are fast. We can reach Anqing in less than two days. If Anqing is not heavily defended, we can definitely take Anqing in one go!"

Zeng Guoquan's eyes lit up, and he glared at Liu Songshan, shouting, "Nonsense! Putting aside the fact that Shi Dakai was incredibly resourceful and must have deployed a heavy defense in Anqing, even without a heavy force, could we capture Anqing? We have no siege artillery, not many infantry, and relying solely on cavalry, can we take down the towering walls of Anqing? That's wishful thinking!"

Liu Songshan looked embarrassed. Marshal Jiu was right. He was just acting on impulse. If he really went to attack Anqing, not to mention Zeng Guoquan, he was afraid that he would not have the slightest confidence.

Zeng Guoquan continued, "Also, we have now entered Anqing, which is already under the control of the Taiping Army. We are alone deep in this area, without any help. If Shi Dakai targets us again and encircles us with a large force, will we still have a chance of survival?"

Liu Songshan looked embarrassed and didn't dare to speak.

Half a day later, Zeng Guoquan led his remaining troops and began to retreat quickly to the northeast, looking forward to a quick reunion with Bao Chao.

However, their every move could not escape Shi Dakai's calculations!

To the south of Wusong Mountain lay the turbulent Yangtze River. Without sufficient ships, neither Zeng Guoquan nor Bao Chao could cross the Yangtze River to join the other side. Passing through Songshan again? Even if Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao had the courage, they wouldn't dare to pass through Wusong Mountain again. It was too dangerous.

Since both routes are impossible, Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao only have one option, which is to go around Wusong Mountain from the north and join forces with the other side!

However, Shi Dakai had already guessed Zeng Guoquan and Bao Chao's next move, so how could he let them succeed?

At Shi Dakai's command, all the wounded soldiers were left in Wusong Mountain. Ten thousand elite soldiers were selected from the army and they rushed to the north side of Wusong Mountain again with firearms. Less than five or six miles north of Wusong Mountain was a road leading to Hefei and Tongling, a three-way intersection!

Shi Dakai deployed all 10,000 elite troops he had brought with him here, waiting for Bao Chao or Zeng Guoquan to take the bait. Shi Dakai was wise and confident that one of them would definitely move towards the other, and the most likely one was Zeng Guoquan on the west side. First, Bao Chao had too few troops and dared not move rashly; second, Zeng Guoquan was in Anqing, an area completely controlled by the Taiping Army, which was even more dangerous. Not to mention the recent disastrous defeat of the Hunan Army, even if it had not been a disastrous defeat, Zeng Guoquan, leading 20,000 people, would not dare to stay in Anqing for too long. It was too dangerous!

It was completely within Shi Dakai's expectations. Zeng Guoquan was indeed galloping along this road towards Tongling, with three thousand cavalry leading the way, followed by six to seven thousand infantry, rapidly approaching from the southwest towards the northeast!

Shi Dakai held the monocular telescope in his hand and sneered in his heart, Zeng Tietong, I'm afraid you can't escape this time!