"Steamships are just labor-saving!" Lei Hu looked at the troops who had quickly landed in an orderly manner at the landing site near Jiujiang, and couldn't help but praise.

There was no enemy along the way, and the real hard work of the whole fleet was not only the machine qì, but also the pilot who operated the machine qì. Tens of thousands of troops easily arrived in Jiujiang from Wuchang with just a few hundred laborers, and Lei Hu, who participated in the battle down the river nine years ago, was really very emotional.

Attacking Hunan and Hubei, the Guangfu Army used the soldiers to the extreme. Only when the Liberation Army allowed it, the Qing troops along the way had the opportunity to consider whether to go out of the city to die, or be annihilated in the city. Relying on water transportation, thousands of troops easily conquered the cities along the river, and troops who had marched by land were stationed in these cities.

Friendly forces control cities in the rear, and naval forces control the Yangtze River waterway. Lei Hu no longer has any worries, just command the troops to attack all the way. Of course, Lei Hu knew that his opponent Zeng Guofan had also adopted the same method when attacking the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and this step-by-step strategy had been a very common means of warfare since ancient times. It's just that Lei Hu has a means of transportation far beyond that of his ancestors, and he can give full play to this means of warfare.

Lu Haiyang, chief of staff of the Yangtze River detachment, who was next to Lei Hu, sighed: "The tonnage of this ship is too small, if it is a warship of hundreds of tons, it will be equipped with six-inch guns." Stopping in the middle of the river can slam Jiujiang City. ”

Hearing this regretful words, Lei Hu comforted Lu Haiyang, "When we liberate the Yangtze River Basin, we will be able to transfer ships directly from Guangdong at that time." ”

"What's the use of transferring ships over at that time, the battle is over." Lu Haiyang said regretfully.

Lei Hu smiled: "It's still early to finish the battle!" There is still a fight north of the Huai River, even if the Manchus are wiped out, we and the French and the British will have to fight sooner or later. The earth is so big, where can it be so easy to finish the war? ”

Lu Haiyang was amused by Lei Hu's warmongers' remarks, and he smiled: "You can go to the earth, and I will stay in China." ”

High-ranking commanders can make high-level jokes, but the commanders in charge of siege have a completely different attitude. "Fighting Baoqing has become a street battle, this time attacking Jiujiang City, we have to hurry! Immediately after breaking through the city walls, we will advance to the depths, and after encountering the enemy, we must shoot guns, and if the enemy fights with us hand-to-hand, then the troops must immediately carry out bayonet battles. ”

At the military summing up meeting, all units should exchange experiences and draw more lessons from the battles of other fraternal units. Jiujiang is an important city, and capturing Jiujiang will not be an easy battle. Before the battle, the troops again emphasized the main points of the tactics.

At this time, the cannon roared, and the cannonballs swept through the city. The scouts who observed the balloon waved the flag, and the besieging troops immediately began to attack.

Lei Hu and Lu Haiyang's attention was on the attacking troops, and Lei Hu no longer said anything about the imagination of conquering the world, he couldn't help but say: "The number of shells is insufficient, after fighting Jiujiang, at most Anqing will be fought again, and you will have to wait for the rear to transport the shells." ”

Transporting artillery shells from Guangdong to the Jiujiang front completely relied on waterways, and even if the waterways carried a lot of goods and the speed was fast, it would be quite a heavy pressure to transport tens of thousands of shells to the front line. Before the attack on the two lakes, the troops spent several months hoarding huge quantities of supplies. In the battle to conquer Hubei and Hunan, the artillerymen contributed greatly, and the steamship fleet was undoubtedly the cornerstone of the war.

"It's better to take the Lingqu than to take the sea." Lu Haiyang also lamented that strategically he supported fighting from east to west. The Ling Canal connects the water systems of the Xiangjiang River and the Pearl River, allowing the water transportation line to be navigable. Similarly, the Lingqu is also the biggest bottleneck on the entire transportation line, and now the navigation capacity of the Lingqu is saturated, and if it is played from east to west, there is no such restriction on the shipping and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

But regardless of the opinions of the two, the battle went very smoothly. The Hunan army was powerless to resist in the face of the powerful artillery of the Guangfu army, and after the attacking troops of the Guangfu army occupied the city wall, they killed the city head with lightning speed, and divided and surrounded the Hunan army in a short time, and did not give them the opportunity to organize street battles. The Guangfu Army, which had an overwhelming superiority in numbers, weapons, training, and physique, easily crushed all the resistance of the Hunan army.

On January 9, more than 10,000 Qing troops in Jiujiang were completely annihilated, and the bad news that a large number of materials hoarded in Jiujiang had all fallen into the hands of the Guangfu army reached Wuhu, and Zeng Guofan was completely dumbfounded. This was not when the Taiping army went down the river nine years ago, when the Qing army was not prepared at all and was taken by surprise. At present, the strongholds of various cities along the coast are guarded by the Hunan army, and each stronghold should theoretically be able to hold back the Guangfu army for a period of time. But this time, the Liberation Army's march was even sharper than the one nine years ago.

The Hunan army was arguing endlessly over the next strategic plan, some advocated sending troops to recapture Jiujiang, some advocated holding on to Anqing, some advocated simply withdrawing to Luzhou, and some even advocated that the whole army participate in the siege of Yangzhou or even withdraw to Zhejiang. No matter where they ended up, one thing was the same: the Hunan generals believed that they should concentrate their forces on the onslaught of the Liberation Army at this time. Of course, the Hunan army is also doubting one thing, how many people there are in the Guangfu army. Why is this sharp offensive momentum not at all a little sluggish because of the lack of troops?

The generals of the Hunan army, who fought from thousands of troops, quarreled endlessly, and finally set their eyes on Zeng Guofan. The big guy who pulled up the Hunan army to establish the strategy and tactics of the Hunan army didn't say a word at this time, but just looked at the table thoughtfully. Obviously thinking about things.

Zeng Guofan didn't notice the change in the generals for a while, and the reason why he looked away was actually unrelated to important military and political affairs. Looking at the generals of the Hunan army who had a white belt tied to his head and continued to give filial piety to Emperor Guangxu, Zeng Guofan felt very uncomfortable in his heart. As for the choice of strategy, Zeng Guofan was more supportive of the plan for the whole army to participate in the siege of Yangzhou. If the Hunan army counterattacks Jiujiang at this time, or sticks to Anqing, it will be a decisive battle with the Guangfu army. Historically, too many people have faced the enemy's morale and successive victories when the war was not going well, and many chose to fight to the death. As far as Zeng Guofan has seen, there are not too many good results in playing this kind of one-shot deal.

Yes, Zeng Guofan can compare himself to the overlord of Western Chu, but in terms of what happened, the Hunan army is more like the Qin army than the Chu army.

As the big tent gradually quieted down, Zeng Guofan finally discovered this, he raised his head, and spoke in front of the generals who were waiting for Zeng Guofan to speak, "The first seven have passed, let's take off the filial piety." ”

In the camp of King Zhang, outside Tianjing City, Lin Fengxiang received the envoys sent by the Guangfu Army. It's been seven years, and the Liberation Army finally sent an official envoy to see Hong Xiuquan. Although it is not known how many men and horses the Guangfu Army used, the Hunan Army that was threatening Tianjing City was severely damaged, which was indeed good news for the Taiping Army.

Of course, Lin Fengxiang was not unconditionally optimistic, and Lin Fengxiang had also read the list of the Liberation Army, in which the Liberation Army defined the worship of God as a "cult" that needed to be severely cracked down. This position cannot be considered a friendly attitude no matter how you look at it.

The envoy, a young man of thirty years old, said, "King Zhang, to tell you the truth, our governor asked Hong Xiuquan to lay down his arms and surrender quickly. If he doesn't surrender, we'll destroy him. ”

"What?" Lin Fengxiang asked in surprise. In fact, the surprise in his heart was far less than what appeared on the surface. When people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom mentioned Wei Ze, they still called him the King of Qi, but that was just a habit. No one really regarded Wei Ze as a member of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The envoy said calmly: "The governor also specially ordered me to inform King Zhang this time that our army must take the south of the Huai River in the near future. If the brothers of the Taiping army resist, we can only fight with the brothers of the kingdom of heaven. If the Kingdom of Heaven does not resist and surrenders, we will also treat our brothers well. If the brothers of Heaven do not want to fight and do not want to surrender, then go north. Go to Shaanxi, Sichuan, Henan, Hebei, we won't stop us. Of course, our army will also liberate Sichuan and Shaanxi in the future. But that was years later. And the liberation of the south of the Yellow River, our army is a task that will be completed this year no matter what. ”

After hearing this, Lin Fengxiang felt a strong sense of humiliation, and if the representative of the Guangfu Army put on a condescending expression, the feeling of humiliation might not be as strong as it is now. It is clear that the representatives of the Liberation Army are genuinely showing goodwill. But for a soldier, it is a shame in itself to be judged by an opponent who is not a qualified opponent.

Finally holding back his anger, Lin Fengxiang finally said in a steady tone that did not lose his dignity: "Has Wei Ze decided to do this?" ”

The messenger replied, "Yes." Governor Wei Du had already given orders to the whole army, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Fujian. The troops on all fronts already regarded the Qing army as an enemy as well as the Taiping army. However, in the order of attack, our army gave priority to the Qing army. If the Taiping army really chooses to leave, we will not pursue it. ”

After confirming that the envoy was not joking, Lin Fengxiang sent the envoy away first. I went to visit Zhang Yingchen. For more than a month, the Hunan army did not continue to attack, but withdrew. Liu Xiucheng had already returned to Zhejiang with his troops to continue his plan to conquer Zhejiang. Yang Fuqing was also preparing for a counterattack on Ning Guofu. Among the combat-effective troops on the side of Tianjing City, the most powerful is Zhang Yingchen's Imperial Forest Army. And the one who has the deepest deal with Wei Ze is none other than Zhang Yingchen.

After listening to Lin Fengxiang's introduction, Zhang Yingchen's face did not change, he pondered for a while before he spoke: "I knew that there would be today, and now King Qi has finally done it." ”R1058