From Wushan to Wuchang more than 500 miles, the most difficult to walk is the section from Wushan to Yichang, and there is no need to take the winding mountain road when you arrive in Yichang. As soon as Han Xiufeng and others arrived in Yichang, they changed boats and went down the river and landed from Baihu, about 60 miles west of Wuchang City.

If you want to be fast, although you can't travel 100 miles a day, you can still do it by driving 70 or 80 miles a day, but Han Xiufeng walked for ten days for these 500 miles!

First, you have to bring your own grain and grass for a month, and the water flow of the Sichuan River is so fast, and there are even many reefs and dangerous shoals, and the boat is easy to have an accident if it sails too fast; Second, the 700 regiments transferred in Wushan had never been in battle, so they could only be organized into two battalions with Shilong, Wenjing, Dizang, and Jade Emperor, with Chen Zhankui and Chen Tianru serving as the battalion officers of the left and right two battalions, and other civil and military supervisors serving as the sentinels of the left and right two battalions respectively.

Then a group of chiefs and captains were drawn from Shilong and other regimental schools, and the old regimental warriors of Shilong and other regiments were asked to bring the new regimental warriors drawn from Wushan, and one person led two to three people, so that it would take time for everyone to become familiar with the new establishment. The firearms regiment of the Baojia Bureau is still a firearms regiment, and it must not be broken up, and it cannot be expanded without guns.

Seeing that Ge Zhiyuan, the alternate governor of Hubei County, who was accompanied by the order of the Yichang prefect, did not know what was going on the shore, Han Xiufeng immediately ordered Chen Zhankui to lead the left battalion and the firearms regiment to go ashore first, and hurriedly sent scouts to investigate nearby while building a defense. The more than 400 regiments of the right battalion and the shipwrights and sailors all stayed on the ship, and they were not in a hurry to unload the food.

Unexpectedly, after waiting on the shore for nearly half an hour, only one of the dozen or so scouts sent out came back, and they came back with six officers and soldiers.

Looking at their disheveled and gray faces, Han Xiufeng thought it was a rout, but he didn't expect Chen Zhankui to bring the leader to him, and the leader said excitedly: "Lord Han, the late life is finally waiting for you, the late life thought that you would go straight to Hanyang, but I didn't expect you to go ashore here!" ”

Listening to the accent, it should be someone from Suzhou or Zhenjiang, Han Xiufeng didn't dare to be careless, stared at him and asked, "Sir, your surname, which adult is on an errand?" ”

"I almost forgot to report it, my surname Jin was exempted from your surname in my late life, my name was Guochen, and I served under Hu Linyi and Lord Hu in my late life."

Jin Guochen really wanted to take out a waist card or take out an official document to prove his identity, but although he was an alternate magistrate, he was actually just a friend, how could he have any official seals or official certificates, and when he was ordered to come from the Hongshan camp three days ago, the war over there was tight, and Lord Hu didn't care about what official documents to write.

He was wondering whether to call his subordinates to help prove it, when Han Xiufeng asked, "Does Brother Jin recognize Qian Junchen?" ”

"I know, Wansheng not only recognizes Qian Junchen, but also knows that he is the same township as you, and in the first month of this year, Lord Hu ordered him to go back to Ba County to purchase salt and grain."

Knowing Qian Junchen, and knowing that Qian Junchen had returned to Ba County on an errand, Han Xiufeng confirmed that he must not be a long-haired spy, and immediately turned around and signaled Chen Tianru to order the right battalion Tuanyong and the shipwrights and sailors to hurry up and unload the grain, and then asked in a low voice: "Brother Jin, how is the battle situation over there?" Has Lujiagang been captured by Changmao, and has Hongshan been lost? ”

The war under Wuchang City is tense, Jin Guochen has long made up his mind to live and die in the Hongshan camp, if it weren't for Lord Hu's straight face and ordering him to respond, he would not leave Hongshan if he said anything.

He thought that he would not be able to meet the group training in eastern Sichuan led by Han Xiufeng, and even if he could receive it, it would be a group of unusable rabble. Unexpectedly, Han Xiufeng not only brought not only a rabble, but also neat military appearance and high morale, and the brave hands behind him were holding new-style foreign guns with few long hairs.

He didn't expect that Han Xiufeng not only knew that Jiang Yili was rushing to Lujiagang to intercept Changmao on the waterway thirty miles east of the city, but also knew that Hongshan Daying, and said excitedly: "Lord Han, Lujiagang has not been lost, it is still in the hands of Jiang Yili and Master Jiang!" The Hongshan camp is not lost, Lord Hu is sticking to it with Li Xubin, Master Li, Zhao Kezhang, and Master Zhao! ”

Han Xiufeng asked: "Then will I go to Lujiagang or Hongshan for the group training in eastern Sichuan?" ”

If you want to say tight, both sides are tight.

Jin Guochen knew very well that both sides needed reinforcements, and even more needed the news of the arrival of reinforcements to cheer up the brothers who were holding on, but thinking that these Tuanyong in eastern Sichuan in front of him were "guest soldiers", it was inappropriate to give orders in the name of Lord Hu, so he could only ask cautiously: "Lord Han, can the troops be divided into two routes, all the way to Lujiagang, all the way to Hongshan?" ”

On the way here, Han Xiufeng made up his mind that he couldn't be a turtle with a shrunken head, let alone be timid, so he immediately raised his head and said, "Pan Changsheng, Chen Zhankui!" ”

"The lower official is here!" Pan Er and Chen Zhankui hurriedly said.

"This official ordered you to bring three days of dry food and lead the left battalion to help Lujiagang." Han Xiufeng thought for a while, and said coldly: "After arriving in Lujiagang, everything will be ordered by Jiang Yili and Master Jiang, if anyone dares to disobey, he will be killed!" Whoever is greedy for life and afraid of death, cowering in battle, beheaded! ”

"The subordinate obeys!"

"Chen Tianru listens to orders!"

"The lower official is here."

"Hurry up and unload the grain and grass, unload it and leave a sentry brother to guard here, and the rest of the people will bring three days of dry food to the aid of Hongshan!"

"Yes!"

Jin Guochen didn't expect Han Xiufeng to be so happy, and hurriedly asked two of his subordinates to lead the way for Chen Zhankui and the others who were preparing dry food. Han Xiufeng and Liu Shanyang glanced at each other, walked up to Ge Zhiyuan, the alternate magistrate, and said, "Brother Ge, the troops are tight, and the shipwrights and sailors can't go, so they have to be here to help guard the grain and grass." ”

"Don't worry, my lord, the lower officials will go and tell them."

"Make it clear to them that helping to guard the grain and grass will delay their efforts, but the wages will be counted again. And from now on, you are the grain officer of my Eastern Sichuan regiment training, if the grain and grass go wrong, even if the official doesn't care about you, Lord Hu will ask for your head! ”

"People are in the food, and the lower officials understand."

"That's going to bother Brother Ge."

……

Everyone had food bags, and three days' worth of dry food was quickly packed.

There has been a fierce battle for more than a month ahead, and Han Xiufeng is sure that not only the official army is almost unable to bear it, but the rabble brought by Shi Dakai from Jiangxi is as fast as the long hair in Wuchang City, which has been besieged for nearly a year, and now it is morale. If the 1,000 regiments under his command really go into battle, they may not be able to turn things around, but as long as they can rush to the front of the battle, they can boost the morale of the officers and soldiers.

So when Chen Tianru, Zhang Biao and others had just formed the team, Han Xiufeng said sharply: "Brothers, the time has come to make contributions!" Beat all the flags and beat the drums for the officials! Whether it is a bad breed or a good man depends on today, in short, we must not let the officials and soldiers who stick to the city of Wuchang look down on us, let alone those thieves who commit rebellion! ”

"Yes!"

"Drum up!"

With the rapid beat of the drums, the regiment bravely drove to Wuchang with a weapon in a majestic manner.

Chen Zhankui had already led the left camp with Pan Changsheng, Chen Tianru didn't know where Lujiagang was, but he only knew that he was robbed by Chen Zhankui again, so angry that he asked his cousin who had already raised the flag very high to raise it higher, and even asked his cousin to play the regimental flag that had been put away again. Seeing that he played the banner of the Wenjing Regiment, he was not very convinced by his several sentinels, and they also waved their respective regimental flags.

Flags were unfurled in the wind, drums, footsteps, and passwords shook the sky, and the scouts sent out before heard the movement one after another, and rushed back one after another.

Obviously, there are only more than 400 people, but it gives people the feeling that there are thousands of troops.

Jin Guochen's blood was boiling, feeling that the past three days had not been in vain, and trotted with Han Xiufeng, who was riding on the horse, and said: "Lord Han, there were originally many people nearby, but there have always been wars in the past few years, and the long hair in the city often comes out to grab food, so the people in the Baihu, Miaoling and Gedian areas have almost run away, otherwise the scouts you sent out would not be unable to find anyone to inquire about the news." ”

"And how did you meet the scouts I sent out?"

"Lord Yu, I waited for three days, and I was a little anxious, so I came along the north of the river, and I didn't expect to meet the scouts you sent while walking."

"I see, Brother Jin, let's talk about the battle situation."

"Obey the order," Jin Guochen thought for a while, and said with a bitter face: "Lord Han, this battle situation is a long story, or I will talk about it in the next few days if I am not late." Nine days ago, Changmao outside the city was dispatched at the same time, and Wei Jun, the thief general guarding the city, sent more than 10,000 thieves to attack our camps in Shuangfeng Mountain, Xiaogui Mountain, Saihu Embankment and other places at the same time.

Shi Dakai sent more than 20,000 thieves to storm the battalions of our Lujiagang, and sent more than 20 warships to the left base of our Luxiang from the boring bridge. Our sailors were ordered to strike and repel the thief ships; Relying on the deep ditch and high fortress, the land division fired guns and cannons, engaged for half a day, repelled them, and beheaded more than 600 thieves. ”

"And then?"

"There was no big battle for a few days, but I didn't dare to relax. Sure enough, three days ago, the long hair inside and outside the city was pressed by the whole army again. Shi Dakai outside the city not only ordered tens of thousands of thieves to attack, but also outflanked the flank of Lujiagang in several ways. Jiang Yili and Jiang Ye found out in time, and immediately led more than 1,000 brothers to meet the battle in several ways, and the 400 cavalry team led by Shu Baoshu, the commander of the escort army who was ordered to help the battle, arrived just in time and repelled it in one fell swoop. ”

Jin Guochen paused, and then said: "A thief sent by Shi Dakai attacked my Hongshan camp at the same time as the thief soldiers in the city, and there are seven or eight roads by land and water. Master Li Xubin and Master Zhang Ronggui Zhang, Master Zhang Kezhang and Master Zhao personally led their troops bravely, and fought separately from Hongshan and Luxiang, fighting for most of the day, and also repelled the incoming Changmao one by one. Master Yang Zaifu Yang not only personally led the sailors to burn the thief base in Qingshan Port and destroy the pontoon bridge built by the thieves, but also seriously injured the thief Gu Longxian, and he didn't know if the surname Gu was dead at this time. ”

"What about these two days?"

"The morning before yesterday, more than 4,000 thieves sent by Shi Dakai attacked all the way to Luxiang, less than a mile away from my left camp, and even sent troops to build six large and small camps and place artillery while attacking. Yesterday he ordered Zhang Ronggui and Master Zhang to lead the troops to counterattack, and Master Shu Baoshu led the horse team to assist, defeated the thieves in one go, and destroyed the six camps that had not yet been completed. ”

Han Xiufeng thought about it and asked, "Brother Jin, you give me a real answer, how many soldiers are still in battle under Master Hu's command?" ”

"What if...... If you count the brothers on the side of Lujiagang, it should be estimated that there should be five or six thousand," Jin Guochen raised his head and peeked at it, thought about it and said: "If you count the Eight Banners Green Battalion on the side of the Lord of Taiwan and the nearby regimental training Qingzhuang, there are more than 20,000 officers and soldiers around Wuchang. ”

Han Xiufeng thought that there were more than two or three to say, but the real ones who could fight were probably the four or five thousand under Hu Linyi, but now it didn't make any sense to say this, so he immediately changed his words: "How did Lord Hu know that I would lead the Eastern Sichuan Regiment to train to help?" ”

"Lord Han, Lord Hu and Lord Zhitai asked the emperor to send reinforcements two months ago, and Lord Zhitai has already received an official letter from the emperor ordering you to lead the eastern Sichuan regiment to train to help. And Yichang Mansion had already sent someone to report to Lord Hu three days ago, saying that you were on the way to Wuchang with a thousand regiments, otherwise Lord Hu would not have ordered his later life to come to respond. ”

……

Asking as he walked, Han Xiufeng quickly figured out the situation in Wuchang.

The Hongshan camp was not lost, and the water and land for thirty miles east of Wuchang City were not lost to Lujiagang, but they could only be regarded as barely holding on. Fortunately, Shi Dakai mainly brought the "Citi Army" with their own ghosts, and there were only about 2,000 brave and warlike old thieves in Guangxi, and there were not many firearms such as cannons, bird guns, carrying guns, and foreign guns, otherwise how could the officers and soldiers hold on to today.

In short, the current situation is favorable to the officers and soldiers, because the officers and soldiers are not only waiting for work at leisure, but can barely meet the food and salary. And Shi Dakai not only went deep alone, but even the grain and grass were transported by waterway, but he did not have a strong sailor, and the grain route could be cut off by the Hunan army sailor at any time.

Thinking of this, Han Xiufeng couldn't help but sigh that it was better to come early than to come at a good time!

I don't think there will be a big battle next, and even if there is, there won't be a bad battle like the other day. After all, morale is "again and again, and then decline, three and exhaustion", the long hair could not attack several times in a row, and there were heavy casualties, and it was even more difficult to attack again.