Brother left with nostalgia and sadness
The "Ten Thousand Miles Back to the Dynasty" incident that broke out during the period when the troops were stationed in Qingyuan dealt a fatal blow to Shi Dakai, in addition to the heavy losses of the elite of the Taiping Army, what was more serious was the emotional damage caused by this incident.
Shi Dakai didn't expect that he would end up betraying his relatives and leaving, why did those brothers who once supported him infinitely choose to leave me, am I wrong? If I'm wrong, what's wrong with me? Can anyone tell me why?
In May 1860, the depressed Shi Dakai withdrew from Qingyuan with all the remaining tens of thousands of soldiers and continued south to Pennsylvania, where he traveled to Shanglin, Wuyuan, Pennsylvania and other places for more than a month.
As the territory continued to shrink, Shi Dakai's situation became more difficult, the attack on Nanning was unsuccessful, and the number of people who broke away from the brigade to fend for themselves was still increasing day by day, plus those who were recruited by the Qing army to rebel and were killed by the Qing army and the regimental training, by the spring of 1861, Shi Dakai only had 10,000 people left.
In order to survive, Shi Dakai had to vigorously co-opt the local rebel army near Pennsylvania, including Shanglin Li Jingui, Pennsylvania Xie Bikui, Xuanhua Li Qingdi and other small local troops, relying on the help of these little brothers, so that they could barely support until June 1861.
But these local troops are holding the banner of the Heaven and Earth Society, and Shi Dakai is only a temporary cooperative relationship, with Li Jingui's illness and death, Xie Bikui and Li Qingdi's defection to the enemy, Shi Dakai finally can't even stay in Pennsylvania.
On July 16, 1861, the Qing army from all walks of life gathered in Pennsylvania, and when Shi Dakai learned that Li Qingdi was actually preparing to lure him to the Qing army, he sneaked to his hometown in Guixian overnight.
Shi Dakai, who returned to Guixian, had mixed feelings, leaving his hometown of Guixian to go to Jintian to join the army, eleven years have passed, Shi Dakai never thought that one day he would be able to return to his hometown. But the scene of the passionate and blazing great cause created by the great cause eleven years ago inexorably eroded his sad inner world.
I think that the six brothers used to be so harmonious, for a beautiful dream, they sincerely united, fought bloodily, overcame countless unimaginable difficulties, created an amazing grand foundation, and established an unprecedented huge kingdom of heaven on earth in just two years, but now all this no longer exists.
What makes Shi Dakai feel relieved is that the villagers in Guixian County are still so enthusiastic, just like the more than 4,000 villagers and elders who rushed to Jintian with him back then.
Although some of them have died on the battlefield, some are still fighting the enemy in a foreign land, and some have returned to their hometowns with him, the villagers still show him all their understanding and love, because he was once a hero in their hearts and the pride of their hearts.
Even now, Shi Dakai is still a hero in their minds!
Although the hero is at the end of the road, he still does not lose the demeanor of the hero.
Looking at the familiar grass, trees, and stones, Dakai felt a long-lost cordiality and warmth, all of which made him feel an indescribable ease.
Compared with the heroism of galloping on the battlefield and the golden iron horse, walking through the countryside and full of verdant eyes brings people a kind of comfort beyond the hustle and bustle, which can't help but remind Shi Dakai of the beautiful days when he was farming and studying in his hometown.
But will there be any more days like this?
There are some things that once you give up, you don't come back. Nostalgia is a new round of longing for the future.
My brother's journey in his hometown is just nostalgic.
There is also sadness, because of nostalgia, so sad; Because of sadness, I miss it even more.
In the snap of his fingers, things are wrong and wrong, Shi Dakai has infinite emotion, and there are also many puzzles, where is the kingdom of heaven that he once fought for desperately?
The soldiers are less than 10,000, the road ahead is long, Shi Dakai, who has worked hard for his ideals for so many years, is full of confusion and disappointment in his heart, this strange man who once commanded thousands of troops and horses to terrify the enemy, no longer has the pride of the year, he now just wants to have a place to live, and spend this life quietly with his wife and children.
But he found that this little wish was not easy to achieve, and it was even a pipe dream. The Qing army's wanted warrants for the reward to arrest him are posted everywhere, and the degree of coverage is enough to make today's small wall advertisements ashamed, the world is big, where is my home?
The idea of seclusion seems to be something that can only be thought about. In order to survive, for his wife and children, and for his brothers, Shi Dakai once again fought hard and worked hard.
As the saying goes, there is no endless road, and just when Shi Dakai was discouraged because of the loss of capital, an unexpected event aroused his almost depressed ambition.
This has to start from the old revolutionary base of Bauhinia Mountain in Guiping, after Hong Xiuquan pulled the team out of Guangxi, it has not stopped here, and the big waves he stirred up are still in the aftermath, among which the uprising led by Chen Kai is one of the aftermaths.
Chen Kai's family business is also regarded as a "big family" in the local area, and he named his regime "Dacheng Guo", the capital of Xunzhou, known as "Xiujing", and called himself "King Pingxun" (this is more real and more reliable).
The gun shoots the first bird, and the objects that the court chooses to use force are often those who have a relatively large cowhide. Chen Kai's imperial demeanor is more eye-catching, and Liu Changyou, the governor of Guangxi, formulated a policy of eradicating the small forces in Guangxi first, and then dealing with Shi Dakai.
On August 2, 1861, under the siege of the Qing army, Xunzhou Mansion was breached, and Chen Kai was captured and killed. Although Dacheng was destroyed, there were still 30,000 or 40,000 troops scattered in the Guiping area, and these employees who had no boss came to seek refuge in the famous Wing King Shi Dakai to fight the world again with him.
For Shi Dakai, this is not just a charcoal in the snow, it is simply a soul resurrection pill that fell from the sky. He thought to himself that there was no such thing as smooth sailing in this world, and it was such an adventure as bloodshed and sacrifice to throw his head? Didn't Jintian kill 20,000 people all the way to Jinling back then? Now that there are tens of thousands of soldiers at hand, they are regaining their strength, who said that they can't make a comeback!
Xiongguan Mandao is really like iron, and now it is stepping forward from the beginning!
The banner is pointing directly at Sichuan!
After the Xunzhou Mansion in the northeast of Guixian County was controlled by the Qing army, Shi Dakai also lost his only barrier, and he decided to leave his hometown again to make a new world.
In October 1861, Shi Dakai led his troops to quickly retreat to Pennsylvania, and then drove north, raised his troops back to Hunan, and once again embarked on an expedition to Sichuan.
The difficulty of Shu Road is difficult to go to the blue sky
Li Bai has a poem: "The difficulty of Shu Road is difficult to go to the blue sky." Shi Dakai, who has just suffered a major blow from returning to the DPRK and is full of nostalgia for his hometown, has an unknown future for his trip to Sichuan.
In February 1862, Shi Dakai lasted nearly four months, starting from Guixian County, Guangxi, passing through Binzhou, Luocheng, Rongxian, Huaiyuan into western Hunan (Xiangxi), through Jingzhou, Huitong, Qianyang, Zhijiang, Luxi, Qianzhou, Yongsui, Baojing, Laifeng, Lichuan, and into western Sichuan.
Three full years have passed since February 1859 when the blueprint for entering Sichuan was drawn in Nan'an, Jiangxi, and the Qing government's plan to suppress Shi Dakai in Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou finally went bankrupt, and Shi Dakai finally stepped into the Sichuan of his dreams.
Shi Dakai is calm, he knows that the prospects are not optimistic for the time being, although after recruiting troops and horses along the way, the army has been expanded to more than 100,000 people again, but more people do not mean that they are strong, and more people do not mean that they are powerful, and sometimes too many people are also a burden, so many people have to eat and drink, and all along the way are mountainous and poor areas (see the place name), basically a no-man's land where birds don't, and there is not much food at all, and how to solve the problem of eating has become a top priority. Long-distance cross-country travel plus malnutrition, one can imagine the combat effectiveness of the troops, which will be demonstrated in the subsequent battles.
The reason why Shi Dakai did not take the main roads and wealthy areas, and took those rugged and difficult mountain roads and paths, was not because he liked to travel, nor did he want to use this to exercise the leg strength of the troops, but because he had a last resort - the Qing soldiers surrounded and intercepted.
But the bigger trouble is not the human factor, but the "Creator". To illustrate this problem, you have to use your knowledge of geography. Everyone knows the origin of the name Sichuan, Sichuan is a big river, and the four big rivers are Sichuan. From left to right, the Yalong, Minjiang, Tuojiang and Jialing rivers cross Sichuan Province. In addition, there is a larger river in front of Shi Dakai, which is also the largest river in China, the Yangtze River, and the upper reaches are also called Jinsha River. There are countless tributaries above these rivers, although these rivers are not wide, but due to the large drop, they are also quite fierce, such as the Dadu River. Since ancient times, there are big rivers and high mountains, Sichuan is surrounded by high mountains and mountains, the east is the Three Gorges peaks, the south is the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the west is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the north is the Bashan Qinling Mountains.
In fact, Shi Dakai is still not able to enter the real "Sichuan". Geographically speaking, Shi Dakai entered Sichuan; But from a political point of view, he only approached Sichuan. The central Sichuan Basin, known as the land of abundance, is the "Sichuan" where Wang Tu hegemony was established.
Shi Dakai has only entered the southern border of Sichuan, and his "entering Sichuan" plan has just entered the prelude, and if he wants to enter the hinterland of Sichuan, that is, the Sichuan Basin, he will have to go through a difficult long journey over the mountains and rivers. Only by entering the core area of Sichuan can we use natural dangers to block the Qing army and achieve armed secession according to the country of abundance.
Li Bai has poetry clouds, the difficulty of Shu Road, and it is difficult to go to the blue sky. If Shi Dakai wants to enter the Central Sichuan Plain, he also needs to do a series of "hurdle" exercises.
Specifically, Shi Dakai will cross three "railings", that is, three big rivers. Whether Shi Dakai can complete the "hurdle" action to cross these three rivers and smoothly enter the real "Sichuan" is the key to his successful completion of the strategic goal of this expedition and becoming a real "Sichuan King".
The first river in front of Shi Dakai was called Wujiang.
Entering western Sichuan, the fastest route is, of course, to cross the Yangtze River directly into central Sichuan, but Shi Dakai did not have a water division, and the ferry along the river was controlled by the Qing army, and the civilian boats along the coast had also been confiscated by the Qing army, so he had to go west along the south bank of the Yangtze River to find an opportunity to cross the river.
In fact, it is not easy to go west, and the first obstacle is Wujiang.
Although the Wujiang River is not as powerful as the Yangtze River, the river is narrow and rapid, and it is impossible to pass without a boat.
On March 7, 1862, Shi Da set out to land on the east bank of the Wujiang River, and friends who had watched the film "Forcibly Crossing the Wujiang River" knew that the Wujiang River was not easy to cross, and Shi Da couldn't drive it, so he had to go south along the river to find an opportunity to cross the river. It was not until April 1 that Shi Dakai crossed the Wujiang River in Zhujiazui upstream, and finally passed the first natural risk.
The next thing Shi Dakai has to face is the second river: the Jinsha River.
Shi Dakai then walked north along the Wujiang River, hoping to lay down Peizhou on the south bank of the Yangtze River and cross the Yangtze River from here. However, due to the fact that the Wujiang River has been so circumvented, the precious time has been delayed, and the situation has changed.
If Peizhou had been defeated half a month earlier, it might be possible, but now it is unlikely. In addition to Yao Baoming, the governor of the city, who was defending the city desperately, there was also a Qing general who was not too high in rank but had strong ability and also rushed over from the direction of Chongqing to help - deputy general Tang Yougeng. This person seems to be Shi Dakai's opponent and nemesis by nature, and he will create more trouble for Shi Dakai in the future.
The city of Peizhou could not be captured for a long time, and in order to avoid being surrounded by the Qing army, Shi Dakai had to go west again to find a suitable opportunity to realize the plan of crossing the river.
There were really not many opportunities, Shi Dakai went around a big circle on the south bank of the Yangtze River, first withdrew from Peizhou and went west to Nanchuan, Qijiang, Xuyong, and Qingfu, and then turned back to Xuyong from Qingfu to the east and returned to Qijiang. After going around such a big circle, I can't attack the city, and I can't cross the river, which is really depressing.
In August 1862, after four months of going back and forth on the south bank of the Yangtze River, the heads of the soldiers became bigger, and Shi Dakai decided to hold a military meeting of the former enemy in Qijiang to collectively study the question of how to cross the Yangtze River.
The meeting decided to divide the troops into three detours to Guizhou and Yunnan, avoid the main force of the Qing army, and cross the river from the Jinsha River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, where the river water is shallow, the Qing army is small, and it is easy to cross the river.
In October 1862, Shi Dakai led the main force from Sichuan into Guizhou, entered Sichuan through Tongzi, Zunyi, Dading, Bijie, and Zhenxiong, and then occupied Yunlian and Gaoxian, and entered the Hengjiang Town, Shuiguohe, Shuanglongchang, and Yuhuanglou in Yibin, preparing to cross the Jinsha River with Li Fuyou's troops, who had arrived at Adjutant Village in the north first.
Here, Shi Dakai will encounter a cattle fellow of Hong Xiuquan and an old opponent of the Taiping Army - Luo Bingzhang.
Qiqi-hsien
Luo Bingzhang is also a native of Huaxian, and Xiao Chaogui, the first fierce general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, died at his hands (see Part 1 for details). As early as 1860, he entered Sichuan as commander-in-chief of the extermination expeditionary force, and the following year he was promoted to governor of Sichuan.
Luo Bingzhang, the "general commander of Sichuan," decided to seize the opportunity and take advantage of the relatively good terrain to gather and annihilate Shida in the Hengjiang area. He mobilized all kinds of Qing troops to gather in the Gaoxian and Qingfu areas, and at the same time brought all the civilian boats along the Yangtze River to the shore to prevent Shida from crossing the river.
In January 1863, Shi Dakai in the Hengjiang area was besieged by Luo Bingzhang's troops, and the Qing army adopted a frontal attack and a detour strategy of outflanking the road, and at the same time used the rebel Tai traitor to set fire to the internal response, resulting in heavy losses for Shi Dakai's department, and had to withdraw from the Qingfu area and find another opportunity to cross the river.
Luo Bingzhang grasped Shi Dakai's eagerness to cross the river, and on the one hand made every effort to prevent Shi Dakai from crossing the river into Sichuan, and on the other hand, mobilized the Qing army to seek opportunities to gather and annihilate Shi Dakai's expeditionary force.
Shi Dakai, who had been wandering around the south bank of the Yangtze River for almost a year, was very impatient, and he realized that if he wanted to get rid of Luo Bingzhang, he had to be careful, otherwise this kraft candy would always entangle him, and he would be dragged to death in this poor area.
In order to cover the smooth crossing of the river by the main force, Shi Dakai divided the expeditionary force into three: Lai Yuxin led 20,000 or 30,000 men to the west to detour west to Yunnan and cross the river into Sichuan, and Li Fuyou led 30,000 men to the east to enter Guizhou, and he led the main force west along the Jinsha River to wait for an opportunity to cross the river.
Shi Dakai's purpose is very clear, it is nothing more than to make Luo Bingzhang unable to find the north, and he can't tell which way is the main force of the long-range army, and then take advantage of the opportunity of the Qing army to cross the Jinsha River.
If he met Sai Shang'a or Lu Jianying, Shi Dakai's trick might work, but Luo Bingzhang was very good, he could see Shi Dakai's intentions at a glance, and he recognized that the middle one was the real big fish, which was his henchman, so he concentrated all his strength to deal with the middle route army, and handed over the other two non-main forces to others to take care of.
This time Shi Dakaike will lose more than he gains, and the strategy of dividing the troops into three ways not only did not play a role in confusing Luo Bingzhang and dispersing the enemy, but instead dispersed his own forces and made himself fall into the quagmire of the taboo of soldiers.
Shi Dakai did not know that Luo Bingzhang had seen through his intentions, so on April 15, 1863, he rushed across the Jinsha River from Zhaotong Miliangba in Yunnan Province and went north from Ningyuan (Xichang).
At this time, Shi Dakai has two roads to take: a big road and a small road.
The main road is the Yue Song road taken by the new department of Lai Yu to reach the big tree fort; The path is from Mianning through the narrow mountain road to the purple ground.
This is a choice related to the future and fate of the expeditionary force: take the small road, or take the big road? But no matter which path he chooses to take, he will face the third test - the Dadu River.
From a hydrological point of view, the river is not even a tributary of the Yangtze River, but a tributary of the Min River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, but the river is as well-known as any other river in Chinese history. Because there have been two thrilling historical dramas staged here, one is the contest between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, and the other is the upcoming contest between Shi Dakai and Luo Bingzhang.
Which road to choose is sometimes very crucial, especially when fighting, when the main general encounters a fork in the road, he will have to scout and think before making a decision, because which road to take is sometimes related to the life and death of the whole army. Just like the plot often written in the romance of the novel, when the detective learned that the main road was not only intercepted by the Qing army, but also a strange force was also assisting the Qing army to intercept it, Shi Dakai also chose Mianning Xiaolu like those protagonists (such as Pang Tong in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms").
On May 14, 1863, Shi Dakai led this long-distance army that had been fighting with him for six years, and arrived at Zidadi on the south bank of the Dadu River, preparing to cross the river from here into Sichuan, which haunted his dreams.
The first dominoes
Friends who know something about modern history, or who have watched the TV series "Long March", most of them know that there is a place name called Zidadi. Shi Dakai was wiped out in Zidadi, and he himself was captured by the Qing army here, but the details are often different from historical records.
The tragedy of the Dadu River caused people's infinite emotion and sighs, but Shi Dakai obviously didn't expect such an ending back then, otherwise he wouldn't have been a moth to the fire and sent to the door to find death.
After a lapse of 72 years, although the Red Army in the Long March knew that Shi Dakai had staged a tragedy in Zidadi, they still resolutely went to the Dadu River, which shows that Zidadi still has hope to break out of the encirclement.
In fact, when the Red Army arrived at the Dadu River, the Zida Land had been flooded and ceased to exist, while the Anshun Field was a flat land rebuilt about a mile upstream of the Zida Land.
Friends may ask such a question, why did Shi Dakai fail to cross the Dadu River like the Red Army later?
Shi Da's defeat at the Dadu River has many reasons, and there have always been different opinions, and it is not a problem to write a book if you list them in detail. Here are a few key factors, that is, the domino effect mentioned earlier, here are a few decisive links and factors, as well as some little-known details, including some extremely accidental factors (but all of which have a decisive impact on the ending), in order to know what brought the Yiwang to the end of his life during the twenty-eight days on the banks of the Dadu River.
If the cause of the fall of Shi Dakai's expeditionary force is regarded as a set of dominoes, then the first is the battle of Baoqing, the second is the great split of Qingyuan, and the third is the setback on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Three more dominoes will be encountered in the purple stone Dakai, and these six cards will have a powerful synergy formed by the accumulation of a chain effect, which will eventually lead to a great tragedy that makes people sigh.
The first of the three dominoes in Purple is due to an extremely mundane factor - time.
The time is actually very short, only three days.
Three days, not long, but not short. And war has always been quite cruel, as the so-called soldiers are fast, sometimes for a war, let alone three days, even three hours can completely change the situation of the war.
When Shi Dakai arrived at Zidadi, he had a chance to successfully grab the crossing.
In the early morning of May 14, 1863, Shi Dakai, who was brought into Zidadi by a local aboriginal (an ethnic minority who still lived in relatively ancient times) guides, inspected the terrain, and Rao was a battle-hardened commander like him.
Shi Dakai has fought for so many years, but he has never seen such a dangerous military terrain. Zidadi is a small open land on the south bank of the Dadu River, where the river flowing south from Luding encounters a mountain obstruction, suddenly turns around and makes a sharp 90-degree turn, roaring eastward with a huge drop. Zidadi is just downstream of this sharp turn, there is a small river called Songlin River in the west of it, there is a mountain called Ma'anshan in the east, and there is a Chaluo River on the east side of Ma'anshan, because it flows into the Dadu River from the old Yaxuan, so it is also called the Laoya River by the local people. The Dadu River, the Songlin River, and the Chaluo River are one horizontal and two vertical, just forming a "π" (pi) character. The purple ground is at the junction of the vertical on the left side of the word "π" and the horizontal one above.
I have to admire the magic of nature and get rid of a natural pocket! And Shi Dakai entered this bag-like terrain from the opening of the "π".
This natural bag mouth is a path that Shi Dakai entered Zidadi, which is said to be a small road, but it is actually a sheep intestine path in the valley, with lofty mountains on both sides, and there is no other road to go. And the passage out of this pocket is on the two verticals of the "π", that is, the chain bridge on the Songlin River and the Charo River, and only by crossing the chain bridge can you get out of this "π" word.
Although Shi Dakai heard the guide and the local people say that this place was dangerous, it was only then that he really understood a military-specific term, the place of death.
Shi Da opened the secret road guide misunderstood me, but since he had come, he had to put it to death and survive, and he chose to take the small road in order to avoid the real and the virtual, to avoid the exchange of fire and entanglement with the Qing army, fortunately, there is no trace of the Qing army on the other side of the river for the time being (pay attention to this word), and it is a good time to cross the river.
After a personal field investigation, Shi Dakai found that although the other side of Zida was full of cliffs, fortunately, there was a small flat open land one or two miles downstream, drifting down with the power of the flowing water, which was just right to lead the cable to the opposite bank to build a pontoon bridge.
However, as soon as the cable was thrown into the river, it disappeared, and the speed of the Dadu River was so fast that the pontoon bridge technology that the Taiping army was good at was completely useless, and it seemed that they could only row boats to grab the crossing.
But the ferry boat is not enough at all, Shi Dakai ordered to immediately drive the raft to cross the river with all his might, because the river is too fast, it takes an hour to go back and forth, and after a busy day, finally crossed thousands of people, at this time the sky has gradually darkened, Shi Dakai ordered the boatmen to rush to the ferry overnight, be sure to cross the river tonight.
At this critical moment, his subordinates came to report that there was an important matter to report to him, that history often changes because of many details, and that it was this report that changed everything that followed.
Someone reported that there was great news to tell the Wing King. It's been a long time since there has been exciting good news, Shi Dakai asked in surprise while being happy: Where does the joy come from?
Wang Niang gave birth to a fat boy for you!
Shi Da happily thought that this was a good sign, his mother would not give birth sooner or later, but he was born at this time, which means that I have a successor to Shi Dakai!
In addition, at this time, the boatmen also told him that the light was dark at night, and he could not see the other side clearly, and if he continued to ferry, the ship would be destroyed and people would die. Shi Dakai ordered the thousands of brothers who crossed over to get back quickly, but don't let them be stewed by the Qing army over there.
Shi Dakai knew very well the truth of attacking half-crossing, in case the Qing army rushed to the other side at this time, it would be troublesome, he didn't want these thousands of brothers to make senseless sacrifices, and wanted to wait until the next day to cross the river all at once.
The next morning, when I got up, Shi Dakai was dumbfounded, the water of the Dadu River suddenly rose several feet, like a wild horse galloping and roaring in the canyon, although the river surface of three hundred meters wide was not significantly widened, but the water flow was several times faster, and the ferry was washed away without a trace as soon as it was released into the river, and Rao was an experienced old ferryman who was helpless.
It's really "farewell to the river for a night, when you look at each other". Shi Dakai was very annoyed, and secretly blamed himself for not having a detailed understanding of the geography and climate of this area in advance, and did not expect that the melting snow upstream caused a flash flood, which accidentally disrupted his plan to cross the river. It seems that as a military strategist, it is still necessary to learn geography well.
Shi Dakai estimated that the Qing army would not be able to catch up for a while, thinking that there was a shortage of food in the army at the moment, so he would stop here first to raise enough food, and then the river should also recede, and at that time it was just a rush to kill the river, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, he also specially ordered the three armies: "Lonely today is as dangerous as flat, and re-make Zhang Shengxiang, see this water and green mountains, I am willing to play with Zhuqing and get drunk, reward the three armies, recuperate here for three days, and then cross the river!" (Du Lu and "Records of the Trapped and Martyred Death of the Winged King Shi Da Kai on the Kaihu River", referring to the Dadu River)
In order to relieve the long-term tension of the soldiers and restore the combat effectiveness of the troops who had traveled long distances, Shi Dakai ordered the soldiers to take turns to go up the mountain to collect grain.
The three days of the whole army celebrating will pass in the blink of an eye, but enjoying happiness often comes at a price, and the Taiping army will be greeted with endless pain and remorse.
On May 17, 1863, several deafening cannon shots stopped Shi Dakai's celebration. The cannon came from the other side, and Shi Da opened a secret way that it was not good: the Qing demon had arrived on the other side!
It was indeed the Qing army on the other side, and the troops of the deputy general Tang Yougeng, who was ordered by Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Sichuan, to come to the Dadu River to prevent Shi Da from crossing the river.
Tang Yougeng was in charge of the 200-mile-long defense line from Anqingba to Wangongxun on the north bank of the Dadu River, and there were a total of thirteen ferries on this defense line, all of which were guarded by him, and Zidadi Ferry was one of them.
Shi Dakai decisively ordered the troops to immediately rush to the crossing, and he encouraged the soldiers to say that they must kill the river while the Qing Demon is not firmly established!
At this time, the water of the Dadu River has gradually returned to normal, and dozens of rafts are lined up, each with seventy or eighty people, rushing straight to the opposite bank.
Tang Yougeng stood on the opposite bank, and ordered the artillery to line up and aim at the raft and open fire, and then staged a tragedy without much suspense, the fragile raft completely became a live target for the Qing artillery to practice shooting, and was basically blown up and sunk to the bottom of the river.
In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, and because it was getting late, Shi Dakai ordered to stop crossing the river, and rushed to build a raft overnight, preparing to force the crossing again.
On May 21, 1863, after careful preparations, Shi Dakai again ordered his troops to forcibly cross the river. This time there were more rafts launched, and there were as many as four or five thousand soldiers rushing to cross the river, and it seemed that the Wing King wanted to plant a wide range of crops and harvest a small harvest, thinking that there would always be a few rafts that could take advantage of the chaos to cross the river.
Tang Yougeng was still the same, ordering the artillery to line up one by one, aiming and hitting one by one, this time it was even more tragic than four days ago, four or five thousand death squads did not survive, and all the rafts were reimbursed.
Shi Dakai didn't expect that three days would bring him such a big trouble, and there was no hope of crossing the river desperately, so he decided to find another way out.
However, Shi Dakai miscalculated again, because another domino was already crumbling towards him.
Toast is a terrible snake
Another domino encountered by Shi Dakai on the banks of the Dadu River has a strange name - Toast. It was this card that made Shi Dakai's situation even more difficult.
Shi Dakai is no stranger to toast, he has already dealt with the local toast once long before entering Zidadi.
Entering Zida from Mianning Road, he paid for the road. It was the toast in this area who took the money from Shi Dakai to buy the road.
First of all, let's explain what is called toast: to put it simply, toast is the head snake, the soil overlord, and the soil "commander" in minority areas. The Tusi system was the ancient policy of autonomy of ethnic minorities, and Tusi was the local governor of ethnic minorities at that time. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the central government has implemented the Tusi system, canonizing the leaders of ethnic minorities in the northwest and southwest ethnic minority areas as Tusi. These people not only hold local power, but also can be hereditary, in fact, they are the local overlords. During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the central government sent officials to replace Tusi to strengthen the central government's control over ethnic minority areas, which led to some wars. Until the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Tusi system in the southwest still survived tenaciously.
The ancestors of China once summed up a lot of easy-to-understand folk aphorisms, some of which are really full of incomparable wisdom, such as the phrase "a strong dragon does not suppress the head of the earth", which is not too much to describe the strength of toast. Shi Dakai didn't want to provoke them, because the magistrate also had to give a little face to a local overlord like Tusi, and in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he also had to take money to eliminate disasters when he entered Zidadi, so as to avoid extraneous branches in ethnic minority areas.
After all, Tusi is a local snake, they are familiar with the terrain, they are fierce and aggressive, and they are a guerrilla force when they fight, which is very difficult and quite a headache, and it is certainly wise for Shi Dakai to have a good relationship with them.
As the saying goes, "success is also Xiao He, defeat is also Xiao He", you can apply this sentence here, Shi Dakai can be said to be able to enter Zidadi because of the toast, and he can't get out because of the toast.
On May 22, 1863, the day after the failure of the large-scale forced crossing of the Dadu River, Shi Dakai decided to abandon the river crossing and turned west to go north along the Dadu River to Luding Bridge, preparing to cross the river from the chain bridge there into the central Sichuan area (it looks familiar, this is the road taken by the main force of the Zhumao Red Army during the Long March).
Although the road is not easy to walk, there is always a way to go, but Shi Dakai failed to walk through this road, because there is still a river in front of him - the Songlin River.
The Songlin River flows into the Dadu River from south to north, which is a vertical on the left side of the word "π", which is just blocking the way to the west. The width of this river is no more than twenty or thirty meters, which is really nothing compared to the Dadu River, but this river, like the Dadu River, is also a rather powerful small river, the water is deep and rapid, and it is not easy to cross the river.
Fortunately, there is no endless road, and Shi Dakai has already reconnoitred and learned that there is a chain bridge on this small river.
But when Shi Da drove to the side of the bridge, the chain bridge was gone!
Of course, it is impossible to disappear, someone must have done it. The troublemaker is the local Tusi - Tuqianhu Wang Yingyuan.
Seven villages in the Zidadi area are inhabited by Han Chinese, and the rest are ethnic minorities, but all are under the jurisdiction of Tusi. There are two local forces with relatively strong local forces, and Wang Yingyuan is one of them.
This Wang Yingyuan is the same Tusi who received Shi Dakai's money to buy the road, and the area around the Songlin River is under his control, which is considered his sphere of influence.
Because he had already paid for the road, Shi Dakai did not capture and control the chain bridge in advance, he didn't expect that Wang Yingyuan had already taken refuge in Luo Bingzhang at this time. Under Luo Bingzhang's coercion and temptation, he vowed to do his best to cooperate with the government to make Zidadi the burial place of Shi Dakai.
Shi Dakai ordered the troops to attack Wang Yingyuan, thinking to himself how capable a little toast could be?!
If it had been placed before May 18, this idea would have been completely correct, but now the situation is different, Luo Bingzhang has sent the chief soldier Xie Guotai and others to help in the defense, and the strength on the other side of the Songlin River has soared to nearly 10,000 people.
Wang Yingyuan secretly placed guns on the opposite bank, the Taiping army could not approach the river bank at all, and saw thousands of brothers die tragically under the guns of the Yi native soldiers, Shi Dakai had to order the Taiping army to go upstream to find an opportunity to cross the river, but Wang Yingyuan's ghost did not disperse and haunted the Taiping army, and he followed wherever he went.
The Songlin River seemed to be unpassable, and Shi Dakai didn't expect that he would overturn in the gutter and plant it in the hands of a small toast.
It's really a dragon stranding beach and shrimp play! Shi Dakai's unexpected things are still to come, and it is the turn of the second toast in the Zidadi area to appear.
The second shrimp is Tusiling Cheng'en, which is also a terrifying snake.
This person has also been bought by Luo Bingzhang. The reason why Shi Dakai chose to take the Ningmian Road to Zidadi was because this person led the troops to block the Yueshan Road. Wang Yingyuan's sphere of influence is to the west of Zidadi, and to the east of Zidadi is the territory of Tusiling Cheng'en of the Xifan tribe.
These toasts had no concept of right and wrong, and Shi Dakai's political and ideological work and communication work were not in place (the Red Army was very successful in this), and they did not know that they were killing poor people like them with all their might.
In the absence of moral convictions, the principle that these toasters believe in is very simple, with only four words - mercenary.
Luo Bingzhang not only gave them a large amount of silver (more than Shi Dakai), but also promised that there would be another political prize after the deed was completed - Shi Dakai's spoils would be collected by them. This kind of good thing of fame and fortune is indeed a rare good opportunity for the toasts who are nested in the poor mountainous areas. They decided to go all out to do a good job in this business and make a good windfall.
On May 24, 1863, Ling Chengen began to implement his plan to make a fortune on Shi Dakai's back road, he first captured the Ximagu stronghold on the east bank of the Chaluo River, and then led the Xifantu people to cross to the east of the river to capture the Taiping army's Xinchang stronghold, cutting off Shi Dakai's only retreat.
Encirclement on all sides is a military taboo. Shi Dakai's top priority is not whether he can enter Sichuan, but whether he can fight his way out of the siege of Zidadi.
According to common sense, this should not be too much of a problem, especially for Shi Dakai, the main work of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Guangxi is to break through, he is the main planner and organizer, and the professional skills of breaking through in the middle of the night are his forte.
But these don't work now, the space of Zidadi is too small, and the force can't be used at all, just like a martial arts master who dances a knife is locked in a narrow cage, and he has a peerless martial arts but can't play it.
Fortunately, Ma'anshan between Zidadi and Xinchang is still under Shi Dakai's hands, and Ling Chengen can't threaten his Zidadi base camp for the time being.
On May 29, 1863, Shi Dakai once again launched a large-scale assault on the Songlin River on the west road, hoping to open a passage of life from here.
Wang Yingyuan is really capable of fighting, and thousands of brothers from the Taiping Army died under his hands. Shi Dakai decided to give up the assault and launched a sneak attack at night that night, but the result was still a failure.
Shi Dakai's sneak attack was unsuccessful, but someone else's sneak attack on him succeeded. Taking advantage of Shi Dakai's sneak attack on Wang Yingyuan, Tusiling Chengen of the East Road led his troops to attack and capture Ma'anshan.
Ma'anshan was Shi Dakai's last remaining stronghold in Zidadi, and the loss of this place not only exposed the western road of Zidadi to the enemy, but also brought about a more serious consequence.
Shi Dakai has been besieged in Zidadi for fifteen full days, and the rations of tens of thousands of people have long been almost eaten, and the loss of Ma'anshan means that the last small grain route has also been cut off.
As the saying goes, the mountain eats the mountain, the ecological environment was still well protected at that time, there is always some wild meat on the mountain, planing some wild vegetables, picking some wild fruits, how much can you deal with a few meals, now Ma'anshan is lost, it can really be regarded as the mountain is exhausted.
People are iron, rice is steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry. Shi Dakai felt that he was in unprecedented danger, and he had to rethink his next course of action, which would be related to the way out of tens of thousands of brothers, and to put it bluntly, it would determine whether they could get out of Zida Land alive.
It's time for the fish to die and the net break! If you don't want to find a way to break out of the encirclement, you don't need the Qing army to fight, you will have to starve to death, and the Qing army can collect the corpse at that time.
On June 3, 1863, Shi Dakai decided to take a two-pronged approach, rushing all the way to the Dadu River in the north and storming the Songlin River in the west.
But this was still in vain, and apart from a few thousand brothers who were cannon fodder, there was still no improvement in the war.
Shi Dakai couldn't imagine that he was a hero, and he was so nested in Zidadi, he felt that he was really ashamed of these good brothers who died.
With less and less space for activities and more and more problems with food supply, Shi Dakai decided to change his strategy to see if there was still a chance to turn around.