"Which direction?" Zhu Jinlei said without thinking: "Of course it's Jiangbei!" Without Jiangbei, we are not enough to build a country! ”

"That's right!" Although there are often some contradictions between Nan Bohang and Zhu Jinlei in ordinary times, he supports Nan Bohang on this issue: "If you don't take Jiangbei, it is indeed not enough to build a country. Guarding the river must guard the Huai! ”

Liu Chang vaguely remembered that there were indeed one or two countries in history that really divided the river and ruled by the river, but it was only a helpless move under the pressure of the northern regime, and the regimes that divided the southeast in history were all competing with the north for the two Huai. 1――

And there are too many advantages to taking Jiangbei, so that you can take Jiangsu and Anhui two complete provinces, plus Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces and Fujian, which is being attacked, Hongjun has five complete provinces in hand, which is enough to divide the southeast.

The lessons of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in history told him not to despise the upstream: "We must focus on the upstream, don't forget Hunan, since ancient times, the southeast of the country, must keep Hubei!" ”

"Now there is a second army launching an offensive against Hunan!" On the side, Zhejiang's left-behind guard Tina put forward his own suggestion: "What's more, even if the Second Army launches a key offensive, I'm afraid it will be powerless!" ”

He was very familiar with the situation of the Second Army in Jiangxi: "The Second Army is known as an army, but the actual strength is only a reinforced division, and now in order to quell the rebellion in Shiyunqing, Fujian, a Huang Wenjin regiment has been mobilized, and an infantry brigade has been used in the battle in Anhui, plus the troops that must be stationed in the whole province of Jiangxi. As well as the mobile combat forces retained in Nanchang, how many troops can be used to fight in Hunan? I can't even play the key offensive if I want to! ”

Liu Chang resolutely accepted the advice of the washer, and he replied, "I have missed this point. Our main offensive, at least the main offensive, should be on the two lakes! ”

"What about Jiangbei?" Zhu Jinlei has a good memory: "Not only Feng Sixian is preparing to establish a bridgehead in Jiangbei, but also the Marine Corps is preparing to land in Yangzhou!" ”

"Then let the 11th Marine Regiment do a good job!" Liu Chang replied: "Guan Jian is now what mobile units can be reinforced? At least one infantry brigade too! ”

"It can be mobilized from Suzhou Mansion and Jiaxing Mansion!" Nanbo put forward its own opinion: "Although we have not yet reached a final agreement with the French and the British. But at least the war will not be fought again in a short period of time, and if we can get bigger on the battlefield, it will also be a great boost to the whole negotiation! ”

"That's good!" Liu Chang also felt that the troops retained in Jiaxing and Suzhou Prefecture were a little more, and although the main force of the Second Division, an infantry brigade and a cavalry brigade of the First Division had been transferred to fight near Tianjing and Wuhu, and now it was possible to appropriately increase the number of troops.

Nan Bohang asked again: "How do you reply to Feng Sixian's request to set up a bridgehead in Jiangbei?" ”

"Agree to send a reinforcement battalion?" Liu Chang hesitated for a moment and decided to increase the strength slightly: "Add another half infantry battalion!" ”

"The direction of the two lakes will then be the direction of our main campaign...... The Marine Corps, the glorious, great, and sacred history of warfare will open a scene again! ”

Under the black smoke and roar of the steam engine. Fu Wendao shouted loudly: "This will be the first real landing operation in the history of our army, the officers and men of the Marine Corps, prepare to attack with me!" ”

The city in front of them is the famous Yangzhou, which has fallen into the hands of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in history, and the military of the Heavenly Kingdom once occupied an advantage near Yangzhou, and the new Jiangbei camp of the Qing army can be said to be helpless against the Taiping army.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom soon made a fatal decision, and an elite of 20,000 men set out from Yangzhou to order the Northern Expedition. The remaining Taiping army was soon in an extremely embarrassing situation under the siege of the Qing army. …,

But the old troops of the Taiping army are indeed the strong soldiers of this era, they have always stood firm in the siege of the Qing army's Jiangbei camp, and finally forced to give up Yangzhou after a year due to the change of the situation, this retreat can be said to be one of the most perfect retreats in the history of the Taiping War, the Taiping army not only itself was unscathed. It even managed to take away a large number of civilians who volunteered to travel with them.

It's just that after that, the Taiping army had no second foothold in Jiangbei except for the Guazhou stronghold on the river, and even after the second Jiangbei battalion conquered Yangzhou again in history, there were still not enough troops to defend the city.

The Jiangbei camp and the two nearby Huai salt merchants provided a steady stream of financial resources for the Qing army to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and later Zeng Guofan wanted to take the opportunity of forming the Huaiyang Water Division to take Huaiyang's salt tax into his own hands, which was immediately attacked by the Manchu center.

And now Fu Wendao also clearly knows the significance of the salt produced in this city and nearby to the whole of China, and he said politely to the captain of the sailor on the side: "When the time comes, please ask Captain Ye to fire a few more cannons, brother, I don't feel enough!" ”

On the opposite side is a female captain who looks a little handsome, but there is a precedent for Ye Niangzi in the Hongjun Naval Division, and no one wants to gossip about her, not to mention that she originally took over Ye Niangzi's position.

This Captain Ye Ningbing is also the supreme commander of the entire fleet, and she said to Fu Wendao: "You are polite, except for continuing to support the shells of the Marine brothers, I will not leave a single shot!" ”

As he spoke, the rifled guns mounted on the decks of the four steam warships bombarded the land, and the sailors had always been better equipped with artillery than the army, and in the roar, Fu Wendao had a feeling that the ground was shaking.

It was the vibration caused by the artillery, and Ye Ningbing ordered loudly: "Shoot as fast as possible and suppress all the firepower points that may block the advance of our army!" ”

And in the field of vision, I saw groups of Qing soldiers Tuyong throwing down their banners and retreating back in a hurry, and some earthen batteries began to shoot in retaliation against this naval division of the Hong Army.

Now not only did all the guns of the four steam warships of the Hongjun army fire, but even some sailing ships began to shoot at close range, and the whole river was covered with white mist, and the land was shattered by successive artillery fires.

The Qing army in the Jiangbei camp was not as vigorous as the Jiangnan camp, not to mention that there were only a few green battalion soldiers guarding this section of the riverbank, except for Tuyong, who was temporarily recruited, and was killed and wounded one or two dozen people in the shelling just now, and was immediately blown up to the point of crying wolf.

"Thank you, Captain Ye!" Fu Wendao expressed his sincere gratitude: "I will definitely ask for credit for you in front of His Highness!" ”

Ye Ningbing raised his head and said very unceremoniously: "No need, I have my own channels in front of His Royal Highness King Yan!" ”

Fu Wendao then remembered that although this little girl was young, in a sense, she was the spokesperson of Ye Niangzi among the Rainbow Army Sailors, representing Ye Niangzi to firmly grasp the small group that the Ye family had a relationship with Ye Niangzi.

Therefore, this Ye fleet can directly blow the pillow wind beside Liu Chang, and he doesn't have to fight for it by himself at all, he still said: "Don't worry, I must fight for you in His Royal Highness King Yan!" Landing! ”

The officers and men of the marines on the steamer began to land in small boats towards the river bank, and the enemy troops on the opposite side disappeared without a trace, without any sign of arrival, not even a single bullet was seen.

Therefore, the vanguard platoon soon rushed to the river bank, but the landing of the next large force became troublesome, for the Marine Corps, in this sense, the landing in front of the enemy was the first time, even if the enemy troops in front of them did not resist, but after an hour, only four Marine companies and half an artillery company and some ammunition and combat materials were still on board, and the main force of the entire Marine Regiment was still floating on the ship. …,

"You have to speed up!" Ye Ningbing said directly to Fu Wendao: "Before dark, at least the main force must be sent up, my ship does not have much coal!" ”

This is the disadvantage of the steam ship, even if it breaks down now, the steam engine still can't be shut down in case of emergency, Fu Wendao nodded: "I'll speed up!" ”

When the heavy firearms and baggage began to be unloaded, the efficiency was even slower, and although he controlled the landing field, Fu Wendao's anxious mood became more and more uneasy.

At present, there are less than 800 fighters ashore, and many infantry platoons have lost contact with their original infantry companies and infantry squads because they have gone to the wrong landing site, and the structure appears to be very chaotic.

The entire landing ground turned into a large bazaar, and watching the soldiers slowly push the artillery and wheelbarrow upwards, Fu Wendao was in a hurry.

There is the entire Jiangnan battalion of the Qing army near Yangzhou, according to the situation obtained by the Hong army, the total strength of the Jiangbei battalion has reached as many as 17,000, in addition, there are the troops of the monk king and Zhang Guoliang, this part of the army is not easy to count, and the strength of the army will exceed the Jiangbei battalion, and the combat effectiveness is also far superior.

Just when Fu Wendao was very anxious, there was a sudden sound of gunfire in the distance, Ye Ningbing cheered up, she picked up a short sword, and shouted loudly: "Prepare artillery support, prepare artillery support!" ”

It's just that the gunfire is quite a long distance away from the river bank, and it is covered by the willow trees in spring, Ye Ningbing's excitement can only be useless, and taking advantage of this time, another infantry company finally came ashore.

In addition, according to the report of Han Zhong, the deputy commander of the land command, he now has three complete infantry companies in his hands, and at the same time sent officer scouts to Yangzhou, and more troops are needed to go ashore.

Fu Wendao had to hurry the progress of unloading, at least to send heavy firearms and infantry up, the sound of guns on the shore became more and more dense, although it was far away from the river bank, it should be the scouts who received the fire, Fu Wendao's tone became heavier and heavier.

It's just that when he saw the people on a kayak, Fu Wendao was taken aback, and he asked his deputy, "What are you doing?" The battle on the shore needs you to command! ”

He didn't dare to imagine what would happen to the nearly 1,000 soldiers on the landing if they lost Han Zhong, the supreme commander, and now there were tens of thousands of Qing troops who would press over from near Jiangfang at any time.

It's just that Han Zhong's words almost made him fall off the side of the ship: "We have recovered Yangzhou, we have recovered Yangzhou!" ”

"What?" (To be continued) RQ