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列傳一百九十四
Biographies 194
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江忠源<small>弟忠濟</small><small>族弟忠信</small>羅澤南
Jiang Zhongyuan; his younger brother Zhong Ji; his clansman Zhong Xin; and Luo Zenan
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江忠源,字岷樵,湖南新寧人。 道光十七年舉人。 究心經世之學,伉爽尚義。 公車入京,初謁曾國籓,國籓曰:「吾生平未見如此人,當立名天下,然終以節烈死。」 大挑教職,回籍。 察教匪亂將作,陰以兵法部勒鄉里子弟。 既而黃背峒盜雷再浩果勾結廣西莠民為亂,一戰破其巢,擒再浩戮之。 以功擢知縣,揀發浙江。 秀水災,奉檄往賑,遂權縣事。 賑務畢舉,擒劇盜十數,邑大治。 巡撫吳文鎔待以國士,補麗水,檄治海塘。 文宗即位,曾國籓應詔薦其才,送部引見,尋以父憂去官。
Jiang Zhongyuan, styled Minqiao, came from Xinning in Hunan. He passed the provincial examination in the seventeenth year of Daoguang (1837). He steeped himself in practical statecraft and was known for his forthright, principled character. On his journey to the capital for the metropolitan examination, he first paid a visit to Zeng Guofan, who told him, "In all my days I have never seen anyone like you. You will win fame across the realm—and yet you will die a martyr's death in the end." He was assigned a teaching post in the grand allocation and went home. Seeing that sectarian unrest was about to erupt, he quietly trained the young men of his district in military tactics. Soon afterward the Huangbei Cave bandit Lei Zaihao did join forces with Guangxi ruffians to rebel. Jiang smashed their stronghold in one battle, seized Zaihao, and put him to death. His service earned him promotion to magistrate and assignment to Zhejiang. When Xiushui was stricken by famine, he was sent to administer relief and ended up acting as county magistrate. Once relief was complete, he rounded up more than a dozen major bandits, and the county was brought firmly under control. Governor Wu Wenrong treated him as a premier talent, gave him the Lishui post, and put him in charge of the coastal dikes. After Emperor Wenzong took the throne, Zeng Guofan recommended him by imperial edict. He was presented at court in the capital, then left office to observe mourning for his father.
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咸豐元年,大學士賽尚阿督師剿粵匪,調赴軍前,副都統烏蘭泰深倚重,事必諮而行。 忠源招舊所練鄉兵五百人,使弟忠濬率以往,號「楚勇」。 賊氛方熾,官兵莫攖其鋒。 忠源勇始至,偪賊而壘。 賊輕其少,且新集,急犯之。 堅壁不出,逼近始馳突,斬級數百,一軍皆驚。 累功賜花翎,擢同知直隸州。 賊聚永安,向榮與烏蘭泰不協,忠源調和,勿聽,知必敗,引疾回籍。
In the first year of Xianfeng (1851), Grand Secretary Sai Shang'a took field command against the Guangdong rebels. Jiang was called to the front, where Vice Commander Ulan Tai came to depend on him heavily and consulted him before every move. Zhongyuan raised five hundred of the militiamen he had trained at home and sent his younger brother Zhong Jun to lead them. They were called the "Chu Braves." Rebel power was at its peak, and regular troops would not stand up to them. As soon as Zhongyuan's men arrived, they pressed up against the rebels and threw up entrenchments. The rebels, judging them few and freshly gathered, attacked at once. He kept his walls and held his ground until the enemy came close, then burst out in a charge and took several hundred heads. The entire army was stunned. His repeated victories won him the peacock feather insignia and promotion to sub-prefect of Zhili. When the rebels massed at Yong'an, Xiang Rong and Ulan Tai fell out. Zhongyuan tried to mediate, but no one listened. Convinced disaster was coming, he pleaded illness and went home.
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二年春,賊果突圍出犯桂林。 忠源聞警,增募千人,偕劉長佑兼程赴援,未至,烏蘭泰傷歿於軍,自是獨領一軍,進扼桂林城外鸕鶿洲,三戰皆捷,圍尋解,擢知府。 賊竄全州,將趨湖南,忠源偕諸軍進擊。 賊陷城不守,復出竄,悉載輜重舟中,期水陸並下。 忠源發樹塞河,截賊蓑衣渡,鏖戰兩晝夜,悍酋馮雲山中砲死。 賊棄舟夜遁,盡獲其輜重。 忠源先請扼東岸,未用其策,賊由東竄入湖南,陷道州。 又議賊眾不滿萬,慮日久裹脅眾,分防不如合剿,遠堵不如近攻。 於是諸軍合攻道州,賊堅壁,意在久踞。 購城中內應,約期襲之。 賊走藍山、嘉禾,犯桂陽,陷郴州。 忠源謂後路進剿愈急,前路攻陷愈多,請仍申合剿之議,當事不省,賊益張,徑犯長沙。 忠源偕總兵和春馳援,至則賊已踞城南,窟穴民廛,攻城甚急。 忠源望見天心閣地勢高,賊柵其上,驚曰:「賊據此,長沙危矣!」 率死士爭之,賊敗退。 趣移壘逼賊,共汲一井,擊柝相聞。 忠源弟忠濟自郴州尾賊至,約夾擊,為伏賊所傷。 縋入城商方略,因語眾曰:「官軍四面集,惟河西一路空虛。 賊奪民舟渡江掠食,食盡將他竄。 宜重兵扼迴龍塘。」 巡撫張亮基韙之,而諸將逡巡莫前。 時賽尚阿罷,徐廣縉代之,未至,城內外巡撫三,提督二,總兵十,莫相統攝。 忠源赴湘潭,請於廣縉,不省。 賊卒由迴龍塘竄陷岳州,遂破武昌。 忠源痛謀不見用,不欲東。 張亮基奏留守湖南,剿平巴陵土匪,調赴瀏陽剿徵義堂會匪周國虞,斬馘七百,解散萬人。 瀏陽平,擢道員。
That spring in the second year, the rebels broke out as he had foreseen and struck at Guilin. At the news Zhongyuan recruited another thousand men and rushed to the rescue with Liu Changyou. Before they arrived, Ulan Tai was killed in action. Zhongyuan then took sole command, seized Luzhou outside Guilin, won three straight battles, broke the siege, and was promoted to prefect. The rebels slipped into Quanzhou and were heading for Hunan. Zhongyuan marched with the allied forces to intercept them. They seized the city but would not stay, broke out again, stowed all their supplies aboard boats, and planned a combined land-and-river advance. Zhongyuan felled trees to dam the river and caught the rebels at Saoyi Ford. After two days and nights of bitter fighting, the rebel commander Feng Yunshan was killed by artillery. The rebels abandoned their boats and fled under cover of night, leaving all their supplies behind. Zhongyuan had urged blocking the eastern bank, but his advice was ignored. The rebels broke east into Hunan and captured Daozhou. He argued again that the rebels numbered fewer than ten thousand and that, given time, they would swell their ranks by coercion. Concentrated assault was better than scattered defense, and pressing the attack was better than distant blocking. The allied armies then besieged Daozhou. The rebels dug in, clearly planning a long occupation. He bribed agents inside the walls and arranged a coordinated strike. The rebels retreated toward Lanshan and Jiahe, struck Guiyang, and captured Chenzhou. Zhongyuan warned that the harder they pressed from behind, the more towns would fall ahead, and he renewed his plea for a united offensive. The authorities paid no heed. The rebels grew bolder still and marched straight on Changsha. Zhongyuan rushed to the rescue with Regional Commander Hechun, only to find the rebels already holding the southern quarter, tunneling through civilian neighborhoods, and pressing the assault fiercely. Zhongyuan saw Tianxin Pavilion on its commanding height, with rebel barricades on top, and cried out in alarm, "If they hold that ground, Changsha is lost!" He led a band of volunteers to seize it, and the rebels were driven back. He moved his camp up against the rebel lines so close that both sides drew from the same well and could hear each other's night watches. Zhongyuan's brother Zhong Ji, who had pursued the rebels from Chenzhou, planned a pincer attack but was wounded in a rebel ambush. He was lowered into the city by rope to confer on strategy and told the commanders, "Imperial forces are closing in from every side except the west bank of the river, which lies open. The rebels are seizing civilian boats to cross the river for food. Once their supplies run out, they will break out somewhere else. We should mass troops at Huilong Pond to block them." Governor Zhang Liangji agreed, but the generals hung back and would not move. Sai Shang'a had been removed and Xu Guangjin appointed in his place but had not yet arrived. Three governors, two commanders-in-chief, and ten regional commanders operated inside and outside the city with no one in overall command. Zhongyuan went to Xiangtan to plead his case to Guangjin, but again was not heeded. The rebels eventually broke out through Huilong Pond, seized Yuezhou, and went on to take Wuchang. Bitter that his counsel had gone unheeded, Zhongyuan refused to march east. Zhang Liangji had him kept in Hunan, where he pacified the Baling bandits, then sent him to Liuyang against the Zhengyitang rebel Zhou Guoyu. He killed seven hundred men and dispersed ten thousand followers. After Liuyang was pacified, he was promoted to circuit intendant.
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三年正月,授湖北按察使,張亮基署總督,兵事悉倚之。 剿平通城、崇陽、嘉魚、蒲圻諸匪,擒其渠劉立簡、陳百斗、熊開宇等。 文宗知忠源忠勇可恃,命率所部赴向榮軍,尋命幫辦江南軍務。 瀕行,上疏切論軍事,略曰:「粵寇之亂,用兵數年,糜餉二千萬,人無固志,地罕堅城。 臣出入鋒鏑,於今三年,謹策其大端,惟聖明裁察:一曰嚴軍法。 將不行法,是謂無將; 兵不用法,是為無兵。 全州以失援陷而左次相仍,道州以棄城陷而潰逃踵接; 岳州設防而不能為旦夕之守,九江列艦而不能遏水陸之衝。 豈有他哉? 畏賊之念中之也。 賊嘗致死於我,而我不能致死於賊。 賊之戰也,驅新附於前,以故黨乘其後,卻則擊殺。 故賊退必死而進乃生,我退必生而進則死,不待戰陣,而勝負分焉已。 誠欲反怯為強,莫若易寬為猛。 皇上執法以馭將帥,將帥執法以馭偏裨,偏裨執法以馭兵士。 避寇者誅,不援者誅,未令而退者誅。 法令既嚴,軍聲自壯。 此討賊之大端也。 一曰撤提鎮。 承平既久,宿將凋亡,提鎮大臣,積資可待。 位尊則意為趨避,偏裨不敢與爭; 權重則法難驟加,督撫不能擅決。 人情當齒壯官卑之日,輒思發奮為雄,位高則進取念衰,必不能踔厲以赴時會。 且軍興數載,饋餉滋艱,提鎮所需,較副參懸絕。 裁一提鎮,養精兵二百而有餘。 奚取以有限脂膏,奉此無益之提鎮? 誠擇一深明將略者統制其間,餘則悉歸休致。 副將以下,量擢其才。 此整軍之要道也。 一曰汰冗兵。 選兵膽氣為上,堅樸次之,技藝又次之。 質實耐苦之人,令進則進,令退則退,其身聽命於將而不知它。 浮怯之徒,無事則趨蹌觀美,臨陣則退縮旁徨,論功則鑽刺以圖美官,遇敗則推諉以逃咎戾,宜汰者一也。 徵調頻煩,或羸老備籍,坐耗資糧,或部曲散亡,驚魂甫定。 當此餉糈匱絀,豈容更益虛糜,宜汰者二也。 誠敕各營將領,討部曲而嚴察之,氣充膽壯者備攻剿,樸實堅苦者備屯防。 捨此二端,盡歸釐汰,此致強之急務也。 一曰明賞罰。 勝有賞,敗有罰,亙古不變之常經也。 顧勝有賞而賞非勝,則不如無賞; 敗有罰而罰非敗,則不如無罰。 無賞無罰,人猶冀賞罰之時; 賞非其功,罰非其罪,則懲勸之用乖,怨讟之聲作,而軍事不可為矣。 今戰勝有功,固當賞錄,左右侍從,獎敘尤多; 且未嘗行一失律之誅,按一縱寇之罪。 勝敗本兵家之常,主兵者每言勝而諱敗; 功過本無妨互見,主兵者輒匿過而言功。 治承平天下且不可,況危亂之世哉? 夫軍中賞罰未可一概論。 勝固當賞,或旅進取斬級以冒功,或追擊貪貨財而得小,則當罰; 敗固當罰,或邁勇先驅,後援不繼,或大軍已卻,一將獨前,則當賞。 今大帥據營將之言,營將恃左右之口。 功罪之實,非採訪所可知,好惡之心,因毀譽而多舛。 求是非洽乎人心,難矣。 自非親歷行陣,開誠佈公,何以慰軍士之心而振披靡之習? 此風氣不可不急為振拔者也。 一曰戒浪戰。 用兵之道,能守而後能戰,能-{制}-人而後不制於人,能避賊之長而後可用吾之短。 臣自廣西以來,深觀賊勢,結營則因地築壘,環以深壕; 置陣則正兵敵前,奇兵旁襲; 止則遍購徒黨,伺吾虛實; 行則遙壯聲威,乘吾張皇。 故嘗以為賊止則當扼要以斷其饋濟,嚴兵以截其奔逃; 賊行則當逆擊以遏其鋒,設伏以撓其勢。 乃我之圍賊不嚴守而攻堅,追賊不截歸而尾擊,小有挫失,士氣先頹。 此兵法不可不變計者也。 一曰察地勢。 勢者非圖史所載山川一定之險也。 視賊出入之途,先為之防,察賊分合之機,遙為之制; 則漸車之澮,數仞之岡,苟形勢在所必爭,即事機不容或失。 全州蓑衣渡之戰,寇焰已摧,宜速壁河東斷其右臂; 道州之役,寇鋒已挫,宜分屯七里橋扼其東趨; 長沙將解圍,則宜堅壁迴龍潭、土橋頭,使賊不得西犯。 它若道州蓮花池、蓮濤灣,死地六十里,而縱之使生; 湘陰臨資口、岳州城陵磯皆必爭之區,而縱之使遁。 禍機在咫尺之間,流毒遂在千里之外。 此敗轍之不可不深鑑者也。 一曰嚴約束。 殺賊所以安民,安民乃可殺賊。 粵寇慘虐,不可勝言,然擇肥而噬,窮簷不暇搜求。 或偽結民心,多償市直。 兵則攫取姦污,窮戶且難倖免。 故於賊且有恕詞,於兵能無怨毒。 且長夫估客,遊蕩無常,託偽營裝,恣行淫掠,鄉民畏懼,莫敢誰何。 應敕諸營首嚴防制,備冊時稽。 犯則軍法按行,絕其芽蘗。 此結民心毖後患之要圖也。 一曰寬脅從。 粵寇徒黨,喪亡實多,煨燼之餘,類多附脅。 平昔會徒盜賊,寬典相蒙,監禁軍流,乘時放逸,命為前導,尤所甘心。 凡此法無可逭,自爾獲焉必殺。 至若良民驅迫,骨肉羈縻,此中進退維谷之忱,艱苦顛連之狀,每一念及,輒用隱傷。 宜敕各營刊示射達,臨陣建免死之旗,令其倒戈以赴,曲賜保全。 既可探賊情,復以攜賊黨。 此尤好生盛德,討賊機宜之大權也。 行此八者,破格以攬奇才,便宜以畀賢帥,擇良吏以固根本,嚴綜覈以裕餉源。 如此而盜賊不滅,盛治不興,原斬臣首以謝天下。」 疏入,上嘉納之。
In the first month of the third year he was made Hubei judicial commissioner. Zhang Liangji, acting as governor-general, relied on him for all military matters. He put down banditry in Tongcheng, Chongyang, Jiayu, Puqi, and elsewhere, capturing ringleaders including Liu Lijian, Chen Baidou, and Xiong Kaiyu. Emperor Wenzong, knowing Zhongyuan's loyalty and valor could be trusted, ordered him to join Xiang Rong's army with his troops, then appointed him to assist in Jiangnan military affairs. Before he left, he submitted a blunt memorial on military affairs that began: "The Guangdong rebellion has dragged on for years, devoured twenty million taels in supplies, left the troops without firm resolve, and offered few defensible cities. Your servant has been in the thick of battle for three years now. I venture to set out the main points for Your Majesty's judgment. First: enforce military law rigorously. A general who will not enforce the law is no general at all; and troops who will not obey the law are no army at all. Quanzhou fell for want of reinforcements, and one retreat followed another. Daozhou fell because the city was abandoned, and rout piled upon rout. Yuezhou was fortified yet could not hold for a single day. Jiujiang lined up warships yet could not stop the combined land-and-river advance. Was there any other cause? Fear of the rebels had taken root in men's hearts. The rebels are always willing to die facing us, yet we are not willing to die facing them. In battle the rebels drive their newest recruits to the front, station veterans behind them, and kill any man who falls back. For them, retreat means death and advance means life. For us, retreat means life and advance means death. Before the lines even meet, the outcome is already decided. If we truly mean to turn fear into strength, we must replace leniency with severity. Let Your Majesty enforce the law upon your generals, let generals enforce it upon their officers, and let officers enforce it upon the rank and file. Execute any who shirk the enemy, any who fail to reinforce, any who retreat without orders. Once discipline is strict, the army's morale will stiffen of its own accord. This is the first great principle of suppressing the rebels. Second: remove the senior commanders. After so long a peace, the old generals are gone. Commanders-in-chief and regional commanders now advance by seniority alone, waiting their turn for promotion. High rank breeds evasion, and junior officers dare not challenge them; heavy authority makes swift punishment impossible, and governors cannot act on their own authority. Men in their prime at the bottom of the ladder burn to distinguish themselves. Once they rise high, ambition fades, and they cannot throw themselves into the crisis at hand. After years of war, supplies grow ever scarcer, yet what a commander-in-chief or regional commander costs dwarfs what a deputy or staff colonel requires. Cut one such post and you could maintain two hundred crack troops with money to spare. Why pour our limited resources into these useless senior commands? Choose one man who truly understands strategy to command them, and send the rest into retirement. Promote deputies and lower ranks strictly on merit. This is the essential path to reorganizing the army. Third: weed out useless troops. In choosing troops, put courage first, stolid dependability second, and technical skill last. Steady men who can endure hardship advance when told to advance and retreat when told to retreat. They obey their commander and nothing else. The frivolous and timid strut in peacetime, hang back in battle, scheme for promotion when credit is handed out, and blame others when defeat comes. These are the first class to cut. Constant levies have left some men frail and elderly, kept on the rolls only to consume rations, and others with their units shattered, their nerves barely steady again. With supplies already exhausted, we cannot afford further waste. These are the second class to cut. Order every camp commander to inspect his unit rigorously. Keep the bold and spirited for offensive operations and the steady, hardy men for garrison duty. Everyone outside these two categories should be cut. This is the urgent work of building a strong force. Fourth: make rewards and punishments clear. Reward victory and punish defeat: that has been the unchanging rule since antiquity. But if rewards are given for victory yet go to men who did not win, it would be better to give no rewards at all; and if punishments are imposed for defeat yet fall on men who did not lose, it would be better to impose no punishments at all. With neither rewards nor punishments, men still hope that justice will come in time. But when rewards miss the deserving and punishments miss the guilty, discipline collapses, resentment spreads, and the army cannot be led. Today, when a battle is won, the victors ought to be rewarded—but court attendants receive the lion's share of commendations; and not once has a man been executed for breaking discipline or punished for letting the enemy escape. Victory and defeat are the common lot of armies, yet commanders speak only of victories and hide their defeats; merit and fault ought to stand side by side, yet commanders conceal their faults and trumpet their merits. Such conduct will not do even in peacetime—how much less in an age of crisis? Military rewards and punishments cannot be applied by a single rule. Victory deserves reward, yet if men advance in a mob merely to claim heads and steal credit, or break off pursuit to plunder and win only a trifling gain, they deserve punishment; Defeat deserves punishment, yet if a man charges ahead as vanguard while reinforcements fail to follow, or the army retreats while one officer presses forward alone, he deserves reward. Today the commander-in-chief trusts only what his camp generals tell him, and they in turn trust only their aides. The truth of who deserves credit or blame cannot be learned by hearsay, and personal favor and dislike, shaped by gossip, are often mistaken. To judge right and wrong in a way the troops will accept is nearly impossible. Unless the commander goes to the front himself and deals openly and fairly, how can he steady the troops' hearts and break the habit of panic flight? This corruption of morale must be reversed without delay. Fifth: avoid reckless battles. The art of war demands that one defend before one attacks, control the enemy before being controlled, and avoid the rebels' strengths before exploiting our own advantages. Since Guangxi I have studied the rebels closely. When they camp, they build earthworks suited to the ground and ring them with deep trenches; in battle they put regular troops in front and strike from the flanks with ambush forces; when they halt they recruit agents everywhere to watch our movements; when they march they inflate their reputation from afar and strike when we are in disarray. I have long held that when the rebels stop, we should seize key points to cut their supplies and post strong forces to block their escape; when they march we should meet them head-on to blunt their advance and lay ambushes to break their momentum. Yet we besiege without holding our lines and assault walled cities head-on; we pursue without cutting off retreat and merely chase from behind. At the slightest setback morale collapses. Our tactics must change. Sixth: read the terrain. Strategic advantage is not the fixed terrain marked on maps and histories. Watch where the rebels come and go and block them in advance; observe when they split or unite and control them from a distance; then even a shallow ford or a low hill, if the ground must be fought for, must not be lost for an instant. After the battle at Saoyi Ford in Quanzhou had broken the rebels' momentum, we should have fortified the east bank at once and severed their line of retreat; after Daozhou had blunted their advance, we should have posted troops at Qili Bridge to block their eastward march; as Changsha was about to be relieved, we should have fortified Huilong Pond and Tuqiaotou so the rebels could not break westward. At Daozhou's Lotus Pond and Liantao Bay—a sixty-li killing ground—we let them escape alive; Xiangyin's Linzikou and Yuezhou's Chenglingji were ground we had to hold, yet we let the enemy slip through. Disaster was sown within arm's reach, and its poison spread a thousand li. These defeats must be studied as a stern warning. Seventh: enforce strict discipline. We kill rebels to secure the people, and only by securing the people can we kill rebels. The Guangdong rebels' cruelty beggars description, yet they prey on the wealthy and rarely bother the poorest households. Sometimes they feign goodwill and pay fair prices in the markets. Our troops seize goods and commit outrages from which even the poorest households cannot escape. The people may even make excuses for the rebels, yet how can they feel anything but hatred toward our soldiers? Porters and merchants drift without fixed posts, pose as soldiers, and loot and assault at will. Villagers are terrified and dare not resist. Every camp commander should be ordered to enforce strict control, keep registers, and inspect them regularly. Violators should be punished under military law before the evil spreads. This is essential to winning the people's loyalty and preventing future trouble. Eighth: show leniency to those coerced into service. The rebel ranks have suffered heavy losses; what remains are mostly men pressed into service. Former secret-society men and bandits, shielded by lenient laws, or convicts and exiles released in the crisis and sent as guides, serve the rebels willingly. Such men have no excuse under the law and must be executed once captured. But good people driven under duress, families torn apart—the anguish of men trapped between two fires, the misery of lives overturned again and again—fills me with private grief whenever I think of it. Every camp should post proclamations far and wide, raise a banner on the battlefield promising immunity from death, and invite coerced men to turn their weapons and come over in safety. This will both yield intelligence and peel away the rebel ranks. This is both an act of humane governance and a powerful tactic for defeating the rebels. If these eight measures are adopted—recruit exceptional talent without regard to convention, give able commanders full discretion, appoint good officials to secure the foundations, and audit supplies rigorously to keep the army fed— and yet the rebels are not destroyed and good order does not return, I beg that my head be struck off to answer to the empire." The memorial reached the throne, and the Emperor praised and accepted it.
7
行至九江,聞南昌被圍,方有旨促援鳳陽,疏請先援江西,率兵千三百人,三晝夜馳抵南昌。 巡撫張芾舉王命旗牌授忠源,戰守事悉聽指揮。 忠源火城外廛廬,斬逃者,謂章江門最受敵,自當之,日登城督戰。 賊穴地轟城,崩數十丈。 刃斃先登賊,囊土填缺。 數突門出戰,夜遣死士縋下焚賊營。 詔嘉獎,被珍賚。 尋湖南援師至,分軍扼樟樹鎮,遣羅澤南剿平泰和、萬安、安福土匪。 守南昌九十餘日,至八月,屢砲毀賊壘,沉賊船,乘風縱火,賊乃遁。 詔嘉其功,加二品頂戴。 賊退據九江,分擾湖北興國,迳犯田家鎮。 忠源赴援,部兵二千,途阻不能遽達,先挈親兵數十人抵田家鎮。 甫一日,賊舟乘風大至,道員徐豐玉等死之。 忠源自劾,詔原之,降四級留任,尋擢安徽巡撫。
At Jiujiang he learned that Nanchang was under siege. Though an edict had just ordered him to relieve Fengyang, he memorialized to rescue Jiangxi first, led thirteen hundred men, and reached Nanchang after three days and nights of forced marches. Governor Zhang Fu presented him with the imperial mandate banner and gave him full command of the city's defense. Zhongyuan burned the buildings outside the walls and executed deserters. Saying Zhangjiang Gate faced the heaviest assault, he took that sector himself and went up on the walls every day to direct the fighting. The rebels tunneled under the wall and blew a breach dozens of feet wide. He killed the rebels who had broken through and had the breach filled with sandbags. He led several sorties through the gates and at night lowered volunteers by rope to burn the rebel camps. The court commended him and bestowed precious gifts. Hunan reinforcements soon arrived. He posted troops at Zhangshu Town and sent Luo Zenan to pacify banditry in Taihe, Wan'an, and Anfu. After defending Nanchang for more than ninety days, by the eighth month repeated artillery fire had smashed rebel fortifications and sunk their boats. When he set fires with the wind at his back, the rebels withdrew. The court praised his achievement and granted him the second-rank official insignia. The rebels fell back on Jiujiang, raided Xingguo in Hubei, and marched straight on Tianjiazhen. Zhongyuan hurried to the rescue with two thousand men but was delayed on the road. He pushed ahead with a few dozen personal guards and reached Tianjiazhen first. Within a day rebel boats swept in on a favorable wind. Circuit Intendant Xu Fengyu and others were killed. Zhongyuan submitted a self-accusation. The court pardoned him, demoted him four ranks while keeping him in post, and soon afterward appointed him governor of Anhui.
8
賊已陷黃州、漢陽,圍武昌。 沿江擊賊,敗之,武昌解嚴。 疏請增兵萬人,當淮南一路,而湖北留其兵不盡遣,僅率兵二千冒雨行。 將士疲頓,忠源亦遘疾。 至六安,賊已陷桐城、舒城。 吏民遮留,不可,留千人守六安,舁疾抵廬州。 部署未定,賊已大至。 城中合援兵團勇僅三千人,忠源力疾守陴,迭挫撲城之賊。 地道轟城屢圮,皆奮擊卻之。 詔嘉忠源力保危城,躬馳戰陣,賜號霍隆武巴圖魯。 時陝甘總督舒興阿兵萬餘,畏葸不進。 忠源弟忠濬偕劉長佑來援,駐城外五里墩,阻不得前。 被圍月餘,廬州知府胡元煒陰通賊,賊知城中食乏,軍火將盡,攻益急。 水西門圮,且戰且修築。 賊突自南門緣梯入,忠源掣刀自刎。 左右持之,一僕負之行,忠源奮脫。 轉戰至水閘橋,身受七創,投古塘死之。 布政使劉裕珍,池州知府陳源兗,同知鄒漢勳、鬍子雝,縣丞興福、艾延輝,副將鬆安,參將馬良、戴文淵,同時殉難。 胡元煒竟降賊。 忠濬募人求其屍。 後八日,部卒周昌跡得之,負出,面如生。
The rebels had already taken Huangzhou and Hanyang and were besieging Wuchang. He attacked the rebels along the river, defeated them, and lifted the siege of Wuchang. He memorialized for ten thousand more troops to hold the Huainan front, but Hubei held back most of his force. He marched on with only two thousand men in the rain. His troops were exhausted, and Zhongyuan himself fell ill. By the time he reached Lu'an, the rebels had already captured Tongcheng and Shucheng. Officials and townspeople begged him to stay, but he could not. He left a thousand men at Lu'an and was carried, ill, to Luzhou. Before his dispositions were complete, the rebels were upon him in force. Relief troops and militia inside the city numbered only three thousand. Though gravely ill, Zhongyuan held the walls and repeatedly beat back assaults. Rebel mines repeatedly blew gaps in the walls, and each time he fought them off. The court praised Zhongyuan for holding the endangered city and fighting at the front in person, and granted him the title Huolongwu Batulu. Governor-General Shu Xing'a of Shaanxi-Gansu had more than ten thousand men nearby but hung back in fear and would not advance. Zhongyuan's brother Zhong Jun came with Liu Changyou to relieve the city and camped at Wulidun outside the walls, but could not break through. After more than a month under siege, Luzhou Prefect Hu Yuanwei was secretly in league with the rebels. Learning that food was short and ammunition nearly gone, they redoubled their assault. The West Water Gate collapsed. He fought even as his men rebuilt it. Rebels broke in through the South Gate on scaling ladders. Zhongyuan drew his sword to kill himself. His attendants seized him. A servant tried to carry him away, but Zhongyuan broke free. He fought his way to Shuizha Bridge, took seven wounds, and threw himself into Gutang Pond to die. Provincial Commissioner Liu Yuzhen, Chizhou Prefect Chen Yuanyuan, Sub-Prefects Zou Hanxun and Hu Ziyong, Assistant Magistrates Xing Fu and Ai Yanhui, Vice General Song An, and Staff Generals Ma Liang and Dai Wenyuan perished with him. Hu Yuanwei ultimately surrendered to the rebels. Zhong Jun hired men to search for his body. Eight days later a soldier named Zhou Chang found it and carried it out; his face looked as if he were still alive.
9
事聞,文宗震悼,贈總督,予騎都尉兼雲騎尉世職,入祀昭忠祠,諡忠烈。 同治初,江南平,追念前功,予三等輕車都尉世職,湖南、江西並建專祠,湖北省城與羅澤南合祀三忠祠。 忠源歿逾年,湖南有寇警,弟忠淑奉檄募勇助剿。 母陳出私財助餉,並懸重賞以勵眾。 事定,巡撫駱秉章以聞,特旨予忠源父母三代一品封典。 忠源弟三人,忠濬、忠濟、忠淑,族弟忠義、忠信,皆自忠源初起即從軍中。 忠濬、忠義自有傳。
When word reached the throne, Emperor Wenzong was stricken with grief. Zhongyuan was posthumously made governor-general, granted hereditary ranks as Cavalry Commandant and Cloud Cavalry Commandant, enshrined in the Shrine of Loyalty and Fidelity, and given the posthumous title Zhonglie (Loyal Martyr). Early in Tongzhi, after Jiangnan was pacified, his earlier service was remembered. He was granted the hereditary rank of Third-Rank Light Chariot Commandant. Separate shrines were built in Hunan and Jiangxi, and in the Hubei capital he was enshrined with Luo Zenan in the Shrine of the Three Loyal Ones. More than a year after Zhongyuan's death, bandits threatened Hunan. His brother Zhong Shu was ordered to raise militia and help suppress them. His mother, Lady Chen, contributed her private wealth to the war fund and offered rich rewards to encourage the troops. When order was restored, Governor Luo Bingzhang reported the family's service. A special edict granted Zhongyuan's parents the first-rank patent of nobility for three generations. Zhongyuan had three younger brothers—Zhong Jun, Zhong Ji, and Zhong Shu—and clansmen Zhong Yi and Zhong Xin. All had followed him into the army from the beginning. Zhong Jun and Zhong Yi have biographies of their own.
10
忠濟,從守長沙,城壞,堵缺口,殺登城賊數十,以勇名。 三年,忠源赴湖北,以舊部千人付忠濟留長沙。 忠源勦賊通城,兵單不利,忠濟倍道赴援,戰於桂口,斬賊首陳申子於陣,又破何田俊等,焚其巢; 及援南昌,兩塞城缺,斬賊之先登者。 巡撫張芾疏稱其精敏勇敢,軍中畏服,累功擢候選知府。 江西解嚴後,忠濟回籍侍母。 忠源既歿,有旨仍用忠濟及忠濬率兵勦賊。 忠濬方赴援廬州,從和春攻剿。 忠濟為駱秉章調赴藍山、寧遠剿土匪,連破賊解圍,擢道員。 五年,駐防岳州。 胡林翼攻武昌未下,賊勾結崇陽、通城土匪,忠濟遣兵复通城,遂留駐。 六年春,江西賊由義寧竄至,忠濟進擊,連破賊壘,而悍黨集數萬,為所圍,力戰三日,營陷,死之。 贈按察使銜,予騎都尉世職,諡壯節。
Zhong Ji helped defend Changsha. When the wall was breached he plugged the gap and killed dozens of rebels who had scaled it, earning a reputation for valor. In the third year Zhongyuan went to Hubei and left a thousand of his veterans with Zhong Ji to hold Changsha. When Zhongyuan's campaign at Tongcheng went badly with too few men, Zhong Ji force-marched to the rescue. At Guikou he killed the rebel leader Chen Shenzi in battle, routed He Tianjun and others, and burned their stronghold; and when he relieved Nanchang he twice sealed breaches in the wall and killed the rebels who broke through first. Governor Zhang Fu memorialized that he was sharp, brave, and respected throughout the army. His accumulated merit won him promotion to candidate prefect. After Jiangxi was secured, Zhong Ji went home to care for his mother. After Zhongyuan's death, an edict ordered Zhong Ji and Zhong Jun to continue leading troops against the rebels. Zhong Jun was marching to relieve Luzhou and fought under Hechun. Luo Bingzhang sent Zhong Ji to Lanshan and Ningyuan against local bandits. He won repeated victories, lifted sieges, and was promoted to circuit intendant. In the fifth year he was posted to garrison Yuezhou. While Hu Linyi besieged Wuchang without success, rebels allied with bandits in Chongyang and Tongcheng. Zhong Ji sent troops to retake Tongcheng and remained garrisoned there. In the spring of the sixth year, rebels from Jiangxi fled in from Yining. Zhong Ji attacked and broke several stockades, but fierce bands numbering tens of thousands surrounded him. He fought for three days until his camp was overrun and he was killed. He was posthumously given the rank of surveillance commissioner, granted a hereditary cavalry commandant's post, and honored with the posthumous name Zhuangjie.
11
忠信,少跅弛不羈,年十六,從忠源赴廣西軍。 犯軍令,忠源將斬之,眾為乞免。 及遇賊,驍捷敢戰,常為軍鋒,累加擢千總。 聞忠源被圍廬州,從忠濬赴援。 比至,壁西門外五里墩不得進。 忠信夜率壯士十餘人,潛越賊營,縋入城,告以援至。 留城中,屢完城缺,縋出攻賊壘,殺賊,擢守備,賜花翎。 及城陷,忠源揮之去。 五年,從忠濬复廬州,功多,擢游擊,賜號毅勇巴圖魯。 忠濬假歸,代統其眾。 六年,從和春克三河、巢縣,累擢副將。 從秦定三規桐城,建議出奇兵夾擊,連破賊營十有六,進逼城下,賊大出,迎擊,進至東門外,躍馬越壕擒賊將,砲丸中左腋,殞於陣。 予雲騎尉世職,諡忠節。 忠濟、忠信並附祀忠源專祠。
Zhong Xin was wild and undisciplined in his youth. At sixteen he followed Zhongyuan to the Guangxi front. He broke military discipline, and Zhongyuan was about to have him executed until the men pleaded for his life. In battle he proved fierce and fearless, often leading the vanguard, and rose steadily to the rank of company commander. When he heard that Zhongyuan was besieged at Luzhou, he marched with Zhong Jun to relieve him. When they arrived, rebel forces blocked them at Wulidun, five li outside the western gate, and they could not get through. That night Zhong Xin led a dozen picked men through the rebel lines, slipped into the city by rope, and brought word that relief was coming. He stayed inside the walls, repeatedly repairing breaches, and slipped out by rope to raid rebel stockades. For these feats he was promoted to garrison commandant and awarded the peacock feather. When the city fell, Zhongyuan ordered him to escape. In the fifth year he helped Zhong Jun retake Luzhou. For his distinguished service he was promoted to battalion commander and granted the title Yiyong Baturu. When Zhong Jun went home on leave, he assumed command of his troops. In the sixth year he served under Hechun in the capture of Sanhe and Chaoxian and rose to vice commander. Serving under Qin Dingsan in the campaign against Tongcheng, he proposed a flanking maneuver with surprise troops, stormed sixteen rebel camps, and pushed to the foot of the walls. When the rebels poured out to meet him, he rode to the eastern gate, leaped the moat, and seized a rebel general before a cannonball struck his left side and killed him in the fighting. He was granted a hereditary cloud cavalry commandant's post and honored with the posthumous name Zhongjie. Both Zhong Ji and Zhong Xin were granted secondary enshrinement in Zhongyuan's memorial temple.
12
羅澤南,字仲岳,湖南湘鄉人。 諸生,講學鄉里,從遊甚眾。 咸豐元年,舉孝廉方正。 二年,粵匪犯長沙,澤南在籍倡辦團練。 三年,以勞敘訓導。 曾國籓奉命督鄉兵,檄剿平桂東土匪,擢知縣。 江忠源援江西,乞師於國籓,乃令澤南率以往。 所部多起書生,初臨行陣,戰南昌城下,爭奮搏,死者數人。 國籓聞之,喜曰:「湘軍果可用。」 及圍解,剿安福土匪,以三百人破賊數千,擢同知直隸州。 歸湖南,剿平永興土匪,所部增至千人,屯衡州。 與國籓簡軍實,更營-{制}-,教練歷半載。
Luo Zenan, styled Zhongyue, was from Xiangxiang in Hunan. A licentiate, he taught in his home district and drew a large circle of students. In the first year of Xianfeng he was nominated as a filial and upright candidate. In the second year, when the Guangdong rebels threatened Changsha, Zenan organized local militia while still at home. In the third year his service was rewarded with registration for a post as assistant prefect of education. When Zeng Guofan was ordered to command the district militia, he dispatched Zenan to suppress bandits in Guidong, and Zenan was promoted to magistrate. When Jiang Zhongyuan marched to relieve Jiangxi, he asked Guofan for reinforcements, and Guofan sent Zenan to lead them there. His troops were mostly scholars. In their first taste of battle under the walls of Nanchang, they fought with such eagerness that several were killed. When Guofan heard of it, he rejoiced and said, "The Hunan Army is truly worth deploying." After the siege was lifted, he suppressed bandits in Anfu, routing thousands of rebels with only three hundred men, and was promoted to sub-prefect of Zhili Prefecture. Back in Hunan, he pacified bandits in Yongxing, expanded his force to a thousand men, and encamped at Hengzhou. He and Guofan reviewed troop strength, reorganized the regimental system, and drilled for six months.
13
四年六月,偕塔齊布進攻岳州,以大橋為賊所必爭,堅扼不動,伺便突出擊之,三戰皆捷,殲賊千。 閏七月,破高橋賊壘九,賊退踞城陵磯,偕塔齊布乘勝進擊,連破賊營,賊遂遁走,擢知府,賜花翎。 自是湘軍名始播,以澤南與塔齊布並稱。 轉戰而東,复崇陽,擊走咸寧賊,再敗之金牛,進駐紫坊。 曾國籓會諸將於金口,議攻武昌。 澤南繪圖獻方略,謂由紫坊出武昌有二道,請以塔齊布扼洪山,而自攻花園。 賊萬餘踞花園,築堅壘,一枕大江,一瀕青林湖,一跨長堤,深溝重柵,峙江東岸,與蝦蟆磯對壘。 列巨砲向江內外,分阻水陸兩路。 澤南率隊直趨花園,賊憑木城發砲。 士卒蛇行而進,三伏三起,已逼賊壘,分兵奪賊舟,舟賊退,營賊亦亂,三壘同下。 翌日又破鮎魚套賊營,其竄洪山者,為塔齊布所扼,賊夜棄城走。 武昌、漢陽皆复,距會議僅七日。 捷聞,以道員記名,尋授浙江寧紹台道,國籓請仍留軍。
In the sixth month of the fourth year he joined Taqibu in the assault on Yuezhou. Holding Big Bridge—a choke point the rebels had to fight for—he refused to budge until the moment was right, then struck. Three battles, three victories, and a thousand rebels destroyed. In the intercalary seventh month he stormed nine stockades at Gaoqiao. The rebels fell back to Chenglingji, where he and Taqibu pressed the attack, broke camp after camp, and drove them into full retreat. He was promoted to prefect and awarded the peacock feather. From then on the Hunan Army's reputation spread, and Zenan and Taqibu were spoken of in the same breath. Fighting eastward, he retook Chongyang, drove the Xianning rebels back, defeated them again at Jinniu, and established camp at Zifang. Guofan gathered his generals at Jinkou to plan the assault on Wuchang. Zenan submitted a map and battle plan, noting two routes from Zifang toward Wuchang. He proposed that Taqibu block Hongshan while he assaulted Huayuan. More than ten thousand rebels held Huayuan behind three fortified positions—one on the great river, one on Qinglin Lake, one astride the long dike—deep moats and heavy palisades lining the east bank opposite Xiama Ji. Heavy guns lined the inner and outer riverbanks, blocking both land and water approaches. Zenan led his brigade straight at Huayuan, and the rebels answered with cannon fire from behind their wooden walls. His men crawled forward in low skirmish lines, dropping and rising three times before reaching the stockades. Detachments seized the rebel boats; as the boat crews fled, the garrisons broke, and all three positions fell at once. The next day he stormed Miaoyutao. Rebels who tried to escape toward Hongshan were blocked by Taqibu, and that night they abandoned the city and fled. Wuchang and Hanyang were both retaken—just seven days after the council of war. Word of the victory reached the court, and he was placed on the list for circuit intendant. He was soon appointed to the Ning-Shao-Tai circuit in Zhejiang, but Guofan asked that he stay with the army.
14
賊據興國,分陷大冶。 澤南馳克興國,塔齊布亦克武昌、大冶,乃規取田家鎮。 賊以鐵鎖截水師,而踞半壁山為犄角,夾江而守。 澤南進駐馬嶺坳,距半壁山三里許。 賊數千突來犯,而由田鎮渡江來援者近萬人。 澤南兵僅二千,令堅伏,度賊懈,奮擊,賊大潰,後路為我軍所阻,墜崖死者數千,遂奪半壁山,水師斷橫江鐵鎖,燔賊舟,克田家鎮,賜號普鏗額巴圖魯,加按察使銜。 時議水陸軍分三路進剿,總督楊霈督江北岸軍,澤南偕塔齊布攻其南,曾國籓督水師循江下。 霈不能軍,賊复北趨,乃偕塔齊布改北渡江,复廣濟、黃梅。 賊退踞孔隴驛、小池口,澤南約諸軍會攻。 渡江未半,賊來犯,軍少卻,澤南傷臂,仍指揮衝突,分兵破街口賊壘,賊酋羅大綱引去。 是役也,五千人破賊二萬,賊乃盡撤沿江諸營,並守九江。 塔齊布圍攻之,澤南別剿盔山,遏湖口援賊。 會水師入鄱陽湖,為賊所襲,輜重皆失。 國籓馳入澤南營,而水師阻湖口不得出。
Rebels held Xingguo and had seized Daye in a secondary thrust. Zenan swiftly retook Xingguo while Taqibu secured Daye from the Wuchang front; they then turned their sights on Tianjiazhen. The rebels blocked the river with iron chains and held Banbishan as a flank position, defending both banks. Zenan advanced and encamped at Maling'ao, roughly three li from Banbishan. Several thousand rebels attacked suddenly, and nearly ten thousand more were crossing the river from Tianjiazhen to reinforce them. With only two thousand men, Zenan kept his troops hidden until the rebels relaxed their guard, then struck. They broke and fled, but their retreat was cut off and thousands plunged to their deaths from the cliffs. He took Banbishan; the navy severed the river chains and burned the rebel fleet; Tianjiazhen fell. He was granted the title Pukeng'e Baturu and promoted to surveillance commissioner. A three-pronged land-and-river campaign was then approved. Governor-general Yang Yining commanded the north-bank forces; Zenan and Taqibu struck from the south; Guofan led the fleet downstream. Yang proved unable to hold his command. When the rebels again thrust north, Zenan joined Taqibu in crossing the river to the north bank and retaking Guangji and Huangmei. The rebels fell back and held Konglong Station and Xiaochikou; Zinan coordinated the allied forces for a joint assault. Mid-crossing, the rebels struck and the force briefly gave ground. Zinan, though wounded in the arm, continued to direct the assault, sent detachments to smash the rebel stronghold at Jiekou, and drove off the rebel leader Luo Dagang. In that engagement, five thousand men routed twenty thousand rebels. The rebels thereupon abandoned their riverside camps and massed their defenses at Jiujiang alone. Taqibu laid siege to Jiujiang while Zinan mounted a separate operation against Kuishan to cut off rebel reinforcements from Hukou. Meanwhile the naval force entered Poyang Lake and was ambushed by the rebels, losing all its supplies and baggage. Guofan hurried to Zinan's camp, but the fleet was trapped at Hukou and could not break free.
15
五年,湖北官軍屢敗,武昌复陷。 澤南從國籓入南昌,赴援饒州,戰於陳家山、大松林,大破賊,复弋陽。 又援廣信,破賊於城西烏石山,復之。 連復興安、德興、浮梁,進剿義寧。 敗賊於梁口、鼇嶺,复義寧,加布政使銜。 澤南見江西軍事不得要領,上書國籓,略曰:「九江逼近江寧,兼牽制武昌,故賊以全力爭之。 犯弋陽,援廣信,從信水下彭蠡,抄我師之右; 據義寧,守梅嶺,從修水下彭蠡,抄我師之左。 今兩處平定,九江門戶漸固,惟湖北通城等處群盜如毛。 江西之義寧、武寧,湖南之平江、巴陵,終無安枕之日。 欲制九江之命,宜從武昌而下; 如解武昌之圍,宜從崇、通而入。 為今之計,當以湖口水師、九江陸師截賊船之上下,更選勁旅掃崇、通以進武昌,由武昌以規九江。 東南全局,庶有轉機。」 國籓據以上聞,遂命澤南移師湖北會剿,以塔齊布舊將彭三元、普承堯所部寶勇隸之,凡五千人。
In the fifth year of the reign, the imperial armies in Hubei suffered repeated defeats and Wuchang fell once more. Zinan accompanied Guofan to Nanchang and marched to relieve Raozhou. At Chenjiashan and Dasonglin he inflicted a crushing defeat on the rebels and recovered Yiyang. He then marched to the relief of Guangxin, routed the rebels at Wushi Mountain west of the city, and retook it. He went on to recover Xing'an, Dexing, and Fuliang in succession, then pressed the campaign into Yining. After victories at Liangkou and Aoling he retook Yining and was granted the honorary rank of Bureau Commissioner. Seeing that the Jiangxi campaign lacked a coherent strategy, Zinan wrote to Guofan in summary: "Jiujiang lies near Jiangning and also pins down Wuchang, which is why the rebels are contesting it with their full strength. They strike at Yiyang, reinforce Guangxin, come down the Xin River into Lake Poyang, and threaten our right flank; they hold Yining, garrison Meiling Pass, descend the Xiu River into Lake Poyang, and threaten our left flank. With both routes now secured, Jiujiang's approaches are growing firm—but in Tongcheng and other parts of Hubei, rebel bands swarm like weeds. Yining and Wuning in Jiangxi, Pingjiang and Baling in Hunan—these counties will never know a day of peace so long as those bands remain. To seize the fate of Jiujiang, one must strike south from Wuchang; and to lift the siege of Wuchang, one should advance through Chongyang and Tongcheng. The present plan should be this: use the Hukou fleet and Jiujiang land forces to block rebel shipping up and down the river, then send a picked column to sweep Chongyang and Tongcheng and drive on Wuchang—from Wuchang to take aim at Jiujiang. Only thus may the whole southeastern front find its turning point. Guofan forwarded this memorial to the throne and ordered Zinan to shift his forces to Hubei for a joint campaign. Peng Sanyuan and Pu Chengyao, former subordinates of Taqibu, were placed under his command with their Baoyong regiment—five thousand men in all.
16
九月,至通城。 賊號數萬,皆烏合,一戰而潰。 進奪桂口要隘,克崇陽,駐軍羊樓峒。 悍賊韋俊、石達開合黨二萬餘自蒲圻來犯,截擊走之。 胡林翼來勞師,合攻蒲圻,復其城,乘霧進克咸寧。 自是武昌以南無賊踪。 十一月,師抵紫坊,與林翼議進取次第。 澤南屯洪山,林翼屯城南堤上,水師駐金口。 賊於城外築堅壘十三,與城埒。 初戰,賊二萬出十字街,林翼與交綏,數卻數進。 澤南與李續賓分兩路潛抄賊壘,破十字街營,盡毀城東南諸壘。 八步街口為我軍通江要路,塘角為賊糧運所出,先後攻破之,焚其船廠,環西北賊壘亦盡。 賊又由望山門外葺石壘二,揮軍蹋平之; 又迭於窯灣、塘角逐賊,殲戮數千,賊遂閉城不出。
In the ninth month he reached Tongcheng. The rebels claimed numbers in the tens of thousands, but they were a rabble—one battle and they scattered. He pressed forward, took the strategic pass at Guikou, captured Chongyang, and encamped at Yangloudong. The formidable rebels Wei Jun and Shi Dakai joined forces—more than twenty thousand strong—and marched from Puchi to attack. Zinan intercepted them and drove them back. Hu Linji arrived to review the troops. Together they assaulted Puchi, retook the city, and exploiting a fog advanced to capture Xianning. From that point south of Wuchang, rebel activity ceased entirely. In the eleventh month the army reached Zifang, where Zinan and Linji plotted the sequence of their advance. Zinan camped at Mount Hong, Linji on the southern embankment outside the city walls, and the fleet anchored at Jinkou. Outside the walls the rebels had raised thirteen fortified camps, each as strong as the city itself. In the first engagement twenty thousand rebels poured out through Shizi Street. Linji locked with them in a seesaw fight, falling back and surging forward by turns. Zinan and Li Xubing split into two columns, stole around the rebel positions, smashed the Shizi Street camp, and tore down every fort southeast of the city. Babujiekou was the army's vital corridor to the river; Tangjiao the rebels' grain supply line. Both were taken in turn, the shipyard burned, and the northwestern ring of rebel camps wiped out. The rebels rebuilt two stone fortifications outside Wangshan Gate; he ordered his men forward and leveled them; then fought them again and again at Yaowan and Tangjiao, killing several thousand. The rebels finally shut the gates and refused to come out.
17
石達開自崇陽敗後,竄入江西,勢复張。 曾國籓檄澤南迴援,澤南以武漢為南北樞紐,若湘勇驟撤,胡林翼一軍不能獨立,現在賊糧將盡,功在垂成,舍之非計。 其父年八十,貽書軍中勗以忠義,林翼以聞,六年二月,詔特予澤南祖父母、父母二品封典,以示旌異。 三月,賊開門出撲,澤南親督戰。 援賊大隊繼至,我軍自洪山馳下,奮擊追逐,直抵城下,飛砲中澤南左額,血流被面。 駐馬一時許,歸洪山,猶危坐營外,指畫戰狀。 翌日,卒於軍。 文宗震悼,詔依巡撫例議卹。 賜其父嘉旦頭品頂戴,子兆作、兆升皆舉人,予騎都尉世職。 入祀昭忠祠,本籍、湖北、江西建立專祠,諡忠節。 及江南平,穆宗追念前勞,加一雲騎尉世職。
After his defeat at Chongyang, Shi Dakai fled into Jiangxi and gathered strength once more. Zeng Guofan ordered Zinan back to Jiangxi, but Zinan argued that Wuhan was the hinge of north and south: if the Hunan troops were suddenly pulled away, Hu Linji's force could not hold alone. The rebels' supplies were nearly spent and victory was within reach—to abandon the siege now would be folly. His father, eighty years old, wrote to the camp exhorting him to loyalty and duty; Linji forwarded the letter to the throne. In the second month of the sixth year, an edict specially granted second-rank posthumous honors to Zinan's grandparents and parents in token of distinguished service. In the third month the rebels threw open the gates and rushed out to attack; Zinan personally directed the fighting. Rebel reinforcements arrived in force. Our troops charged down from Mount Hong, struck hard in pursuit, and pressed to the walls—when a cannon shot caught Zinan on the left brow, blood streaming down his face. He reined in for the better part of an hour, then rode back to Mount Hong and, still bleeding, sat upright outside his tent, sketching out the disposition of the battle. The next day he died in camp. Emperor Wenzong was stricken with grief and ordered posthumous honors befitting a provincial governor. His father Jiadan was granted a first-rank official's finial; his sons Zhaozuo and Zhaosheng, both provincial graduates, were given the hereditary rank of Captain of Cavalry. He was enshrined in the Shrine of Loyal and Faithful Officials, with dedicated temples raised in his home province, Hubei, and Jiangxi. His posthumous title was Loyal Integrity. When the Jiangnan region was finally pacified, Emperor Muzong, recalling his earlier service, added a hereditary Cloud-Cavalry Captaincy to the family's honors.
18
澤南所著有《小學韻語》、《西銘講義》、《周易附說》、《人極衍義》、《姚江學辨》、《方輿要覽》諸書。 體用兼備,一宗程、朱,學者稱羅山先生。 嘗論兵略,謂大學首章「知止」數語盡之,《左傳》「再衰」、「三竭」之言,其註腳也。 弟子從軍多成名將,最著者李續賓、李續宜、王珍、劉騰鴻、蔣益澧,皆自有傳。 其早死兵事名未顯者,有鍾近衡,少事澤南,以克己自勵,日記言動,有過立起自責。 澤南語劉蓉曰:「吾門為己之學,鍾生其庶幾乎!」 從平郴、桂土匪,敘從九品。 ,粵匪由江寧上竄犯岳州,偕弟近濂各將五百人從王珍破賊於靖港,追至蒲圻羊樓峒,戰失利,死之。 王珍退保岳州,賊又大至,近濂亦戰歿。 易良幹、謝邦翰,並戰死南昌城下。 邦翰死後,李續賓代領其眾,所稱「湘右營」者是也。 諸人皆湘鄉人,後並附祀澤南專祠。
Zinan's writings included Elementary Learning in Rhyme, Lectures on the Western Inscription, Supplementary Notes on the Book of Changes, Extended Meaning of the Human Ultimate, Discernment of the Yaojiang School, Essentials of Geography, and others. Equal in cultivation and practical application, he devoted himself wholly to the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism. Scholars honored him as Master Luoshan. Discussing military strategy, he said the opening of the Great Learning—those lines on knowing when to stop—contained the whole doctrine, and the Zuo Commentary's warning that spirit flags at the second drum and fails at the third was its practical illustration. Many of his disciples who took the field rose to eminence as commanders; the most celebrated—Li Xubing, Li Xuyi, Wang Zhen, Liu Tenghong, and Jiang Yili—each has a biography of his own. Among Zenan's disciples who died young before their fame spread was Zhong Jinheng. He had studied under Zenan from boyhood, disciplined himself rigorously, kept a diary of his conduct, and rose at once to reproach himself whenever he found fault. Zenan told Liu Rong, "Our school teaches self-cultivation for its own sake—young Zhong may come close to living it!" He helped pacify banditry in Chenzhou and Guilin and was entered on the rolls for the ninth-rank follower post. When the rebels fled down from Nanjing and struck at Yuezhou, he and his brother Jinlian each commanded five hundred men under Wang Zhen and routed the enemy at Jinggang. Pursuing them to Yanglou Cave in Puqi, they were defeated in battle and killed. Wang Zhen fell back to defend Yuezhou, but the rebels returned in strength and Jinlian was killed in battle as well. Yi Lianggan and Xie Banghan also died fighting beneath the walls of Nanchang. After Banghan's death Li Xubin took over his command—the unit known as the "Xiang Right Battalion." All were natives of Xiangxiang and were later enshrined together in Zenan's memorial temple.
19
論曰:湖南募勇出境勦賊,自江忠源始。 曾國籓立湘軍,則羅澤南實左右之。 樸誠勇敢之風,皆二人所提倡也。 忠源受知於文宗,已大用而遽殞。 澤南定力爭上游之策,功未竟而身殲,天下惜之。 忠源言兵事一疏,澤南籌援鄂一書,為大局成敗所關,並列之以存龜鑑。 此大將風規,不第為楚材之弁冕已。
The historian remarks: The practice of Hunan recruiting militia to campaign beyond the province began with Jiang Zhongyuan. When Zeng Guofan built the Xiang Army, Luo Zenan was his indispensable right hand. The ethos of plainspoken loyalty and fearless courage was theirs to establish. Zhongyuan had won Emperor Wenzong's trust and was on the verge of great power when he died suddenly. Zenan held fast to the strategy of seizing the upper hand. His work was unfinished when he fell, and the empire mourned him. Zhongyuan's memorial on military affairs and Zenan's letter on relieving Hubei were both decisive to the larger campaign. They are recorded here together as a lesson for posterity. This is the standard of great commanders—not merely the ornament of Hunan's finest sons.