It is not an easy task to start a troop, and a military operation of more than 50,000 is even more important. Lei Hu received a telegram from the Central Military Commission on the morning of July 17, and he could only send one army to Xuzhou that day. Fortunately, the characteristic of the Manchu army is that it only knows how to defend the city, so the military plan of the Guangfu army does not need to be so complicated.

Zuo Zongtang was surrounded, and the Huaihe Defense Line Headquarters was actually quite nervous. The last time the Taiping Army was released, it was a strategic consideration, and now that the Twist Army has become bigger, the Guangfu Army cannot but consider the possibility of fighting the Twist Army in the next step. The Qing army only knew how to defend the city, and the Twist Army was not so easy to deal with, and the Guangfu Army had to consider defeating the Twist Army scurrying everywhere in the field.

There was no telegraph in the Heze area, and the Guangfu Army could only use its own carrier pigeon troops. Suddenly, a newcomer who has not been here for a few years releases dozens of pigeons, and this abnormal situation is afraid that it will not be able to escape the suspicion of others. Therefore, this kind of stronghold is used once and the personnel have to be evacuated. The intelligence officers of the Liberation Army are very precious.

On July 20, the intelligence officers who ran back met the troops of the Guangfu Army marching into Xuzhou, and the latest news reached Lei Hu on July 21. The Twist Army gathered in Heze in a big way, and on July 18, it had already captured Heze. Heze is located in the southwest of Shandong Province, bordering Jiangsu, Henan and Anhui provinces. It seems that the next step of the Twist Army is to make a big deal with Heze as the center.

Just yesterday, Lei Hu had already received the news that Zuo Zongtang's department did not choose Heze as the destination after breaking through the encirclement, but turned east and went straight to Jining. After getting the news, everyone thought that Zuo Zongtang was very smart, if he didn't think about it, he went straight to Heze from Zhuangzhai. Even if you break through the siege once, you will only put yourself in a greater danger.

"Comrade Hei Chenggang, the party sent you to Jining to see Zuo Zongtang, this trip is dangerous, the party committee wants to remind you again, are you willing to go?" At the party committee meeting, Xu Kaiwen, secretary of the party committee, asked solemnly.

"Since it is an order of the party committee, I naturally obey the order of the party committee." Hei Chenggang replied very firmly.

Xu Kaiwen said: "Then let's emphasize again, whether Zuo Zongtang surrendered or not, that is his problem." If you see that something is not right, you don't argue too much with him. If only you could come back safely. ”

"If I can save more people, I'm willing to take that risk." Hei Chenggang replied seriously.

The purpose of this trip, the political nature, the party committee made it clear to Hei Chenggang without reservation, and Zuo Zongtang's clumsy appearance in the face of the Twist Army also made the Guangfu Army's evaluation of him lower and lower. If it weren't for Weizer's order, I'm afraid the matter would have stopped. Listening to Hei Chenggang's statement, everyone became even more uneasy in their hearts. No one wants to lose such a good comrade meaninglessly, and in everyone's opinion, Hei Chenggang's value is far better than Zuo Zongtang.

In order to be in a hurry, the troops directly sent a steam ship from Xuzhou to Weishan Lake. After all, Zuo Zongtang fled to Jining, and everyone is uncertain how long he can stay in Jining. Zuo Zongtang's Chu army's lair was set up in Xuzhou, Xuzhou was captured, if this person ran away with the troops again, it would really take some effort to find him again. If Zuo Zongtang ran to Beijing, it would be completely beyond the current liaison ability of the Liberation Army.

Changing ships near the northern shore of Weishan Lake, Hei Chenggang arrived in Jining on July 24 with several Chu officers who had been captured in Xuzhou.

Zuo Zongtang never expected that his subordinates in Xuzhou would suddenly arrive in Jining, but looking at the frightened looks of his subordinates, Zuo Zongtang understood that Xuzhou had been lost. With a hoarse voice, Zuo Zongtang asked, "The Liberation Army went north?" ”

"Marshal, it's useless to be lowly, Xuzhou will be lost in one day." The officer replied with tears in his voice.

Zuo Zongtang's face was like ashes, and he asked dejectedly, "In addition to you, how many people have escaped?" ”

The officer said fearfully, "It's all ...... They were all captured by the Liberation Army. The Guangfu army said that they had agreed to meet with the marshal, so they sent us to bring their people here. ”

"They're also taking great pains!" Zuo Zongtang sneered. This sneer was actually Zuo Zongtang's self-deprecation, but it meant something else in the ears of his subordinates. Several officers immediately knelt down, "Marshal, it's useless to humble your position, you can't hold Xuzhou ......"

Zuo Zongtang was discouraged at this time, he waved his hand, "You guys get up and bring that person in." ”

After waiting for his subordinates to leave, Zuo Zongtang closed his eyes in pain. A few days ago, when Zuo Zongtang broke through with all his might, he found that the real combat effectiveness of the Twist Army was completely different from what he had imagined. This army left Zuo Zongtang with a feeling of "ghost".

When breaking through head-on, the combat effectiveness of the Twist Army was just average, and Zuo Zongtang's defense line was quickly broken through. Zuo Zongtang obviously chose the right direction, and the number of twisted troops on the western defense line was not much. But on the road to flee, the cavalry of the Twist Army followed Zuo Zongtang closely. It's just a distance of more than 200 miles, and Zuo Zongtang, who is cautious, walked for five days to finish. The whistling cavalry of the Twist Army suddenly rushed out in those places where they didn't look remarkable, and when they could take advantage, the Twist Army rushed over and slashed around, and where they couldn't take advantage, they put a gun far away.

Chu Jun's training is already quite good, but there is nothing he can do about such harassment. If small defensive forces were sent on both flanks, the cavalry would gather and suddenly inflict heavy casualties on the small force. That is to say, Zuo Zongtang has a resolute personality, and he insists on controlling the troops and preventing them from acting rashly. Finally arrived in Jining step by step.

When he arrived in Jining, he learned that Heze had been lost. The generals of the Chu army, who were originally dissatisfied with the retreat to the east, realized that they had really escaped with their lives. If according to everyone's intentions, the troops retreated to Heze with all their might, it would be nothing more than jumping from one encirclement to another.

Zuo Zongtang wanted to rest for a few days and collect boats to return to Xuzhou through Guò Weishan Lake. Now that the Guangfu Army has occupied Xuzhou, the Chu army has become a completely lone army at this time.

What's next? Zuo Zongtang couldn't think of it at all at this time. Just when he was immersed in the love of defeat and couldn't extricate himself, the general who fled from Xuzhou brought in a person. The man was not tall, and at first glance he looked like a southerner. After meeting Zuo Zongtang, he introduced himself: "Hello Mr. Zuo, my name is Hei Chenggang, and I am a political commissar of the Huaihe Military Region of the Liberation Army. ”

"What are you doing here?" Zuo Zongtang asked tiredly. In fact, he had thought about humiliating the representatives of the Liberation Army, and at this time, this kind of thought had already flown out of the clouds. Xuzhou was lost, and the nest of the Chu army was wiped out. Not to mention killing Hei Chenggang, it really humiliated Hei Chenggang, and the result was also a fierce retaliation from the Guangfu Army.

"I was ordered to come here to ask Mr. Zuo how he sees the world." Hei Chenggang asked.

"How do I see the world?" Although he was in a low mood, Zuo Zongtang was still amused by these words, and he sneered: "Aren't you here to persuade you to surrender?" ”

Hei Chenggang smiled and said, "It is Mr. Zuo's decision to descend or not." Mr. Zuo is not the kind of person who will be at the mercy of others. We asked Mr. Zuo how he saw the world, just to see if we could ask Mr. Zuo to do something that would be good for the world. ”

got Hei Chenggang's respect, Zuo Zongtang didn't want to be angry, he said: "It's just a matter of becoming a king and losing a coward, what is there to do that is not good for the world?" ”

Hei Chenggang said: "Mr. Zuo, when we gave us a lecture, we talked about a question of chance and necessity. As mentioned by His Majesty, ordinary people tend to think that chance determines the success or failure of things. For example, when he was late, he thought that he would not be late if he had left any time he had delayed. There are many reasons for such things. But really capable people know that they will be late, so they don't go to be late. I wonder if you can accept this statement? ”R1058