On the banks of the Ganjiang River, the sunset sprinkled the gold-like afterglow on the surface of the river, reflecting a beautiful scenery of "the sunset and the lonely birds fly together, and the autumn water grows together in the sky", and the senior cadres of the First Army are in a very good mood.

As long as there are no major circumstances, the senior cadres of the whole army will organize such a small-scale dinner every evening, and the people who participate in such dinners are often the backbone officers of the two infantry divisions of the First Army, and figures like Yang Fuqing can only occasionally participate in such dinners under the leadership of two teachers.

There are more than a dozen dishes on the table, including braised pork, roast rabbit, ginger stewed whole duck and other meat dishes, as well as green vegetables such as white land, small cabbage, and tofu soup.

There is no limit to the amount of alcohol, but no one dares to drink too much, for fear of making a fatal mistake at such a critical moment, and such a dinner is not just about eating and exchanging feelings.

The major decisions of tens of thousands of people in the entire First Army are often decided at such a dinner table, and the two sides will also exchange information, and now Qu Jie is very interested, he said: "Today, the Qing Demon did not come out to rescue Li Xubin, it seems that the death date of Li Xubin's 6,000 people has been decided." ”

Huo Qiu's interest over there was even higher, and he excitedly talked about today's results: "Today, more than 200 people have been captured by prisoners alone, plus the casualties, no less than 100 people, and the eighth base of Li Xubin's battalion has also been captured by our army. ”

In other words, Li Xubin's forces lost at least nearly a third. And the eight camps occupied also lost three of them, and in this case, the second division would definitely be able to solve all of Li Xubin's troops in the next two days.

It's just that Li Xubin is indeed the elite of the Hunan army. It has been four full days now, and with all the second division plus Yang Fuqing's all-out attack, it is only a third of the annihilation, and there is obviously a big battle to be fought tomorrow, and Zhu Dun on the side of the first division reported a new situation: "Zeng Demon Tou naturally will not sit still, we have captured a few prisoners today, and they all confessed a piece of information." That is the place where the head of the demon has not sent troops to rescue Li Xubin, the old demon head, it is completely prepared to strike a blow tomorrow, and the thirty or forty battalions of the Hunan army will go out to fight tomorrow, in order to rescue the head of the demon Li out, but how can it be so easy! ”

"That's right!" Qu Jie slapped a heavy punch on the table: "With our first division here, these demons will never be allowed to take a step forward, tomorrow the second division will only attack Li Xubin, and the task of sending reinforcements will be handed over to our first division, if the attack is frustrated." Our 1st Division is also on standby! ”

Juton agrees. He took a sip of wine, and then said: "According to the captive Qing Demon Talk, the reason why the Zeng Demon Boss dared to go out this time. It was completely with the help of the Russian Yi people, who received 1,000 or more foreign guns and cannons from the foreigners on the Yangtze River, but Zeng Demon got new guns. I just want to hit the stone with an egg, break my first division, and tell Zeng Demon Head that this is self-defeating! ”

This is the pride of the First Division, although it sounds a little harsh to Huo Qiu and Yun Tianzong's ears, but there are such powerful allies. Huo Qiu was also much relieved, and he said: "Although Li Xubin is struggling. But within three days, it will be completely annihilated, and tomorrow the Qing Demon will advance by land and water......"

"It must be land and water!" Juton replied to him: "But so what, it is a sure failure." ”

For such an answer, Huo Qiu was relieved, he untied the cloak he was carrying, and said: "Tomorrow I will personally go up to supervise the battle, no matter where the Qing demon comes from, I just fight where I go." ”

Everyone's interest was good, but just as they were talking happily, Lu Ziyun, who was staying at the headquarters over there, ran over panting again and again: "Something big, something big!" Seeing that Lu Ziyun's forehead was full of beads, everyone knew that there must be a big problem, and it was impossible for a character like Lu Ziyun to be so nervous, so Huo Qiu asked: "Li Xubin has attacked?" ”

"It's not worth talking about!" Lu Ziyun handed the envelope in his hand to Qu Jie: "The order of the inspection, let the first division return to Jiangsu and Zhejiang?" ”

"Huh?" The chopsticks in Huo Qiu's hand fell to the ground, and the news came too suddenly.

You must know that the first division entered Jiangxi with 13,000 troops, although there was a battle to annihilate Zhou Fengshan after entering Jiangxi, but it was not subjected to a big battle, the whole division was fully loaded, whether Huo Qiu admitted it or not, the first division was the first-class main force of the entire first army, and if the first division did not participate in the Nanchang Campaign, it was equivalent to not having to fight.

As a matter of fact, if the First Division leaves Jiangxi and returns to the division, the entire Jiangxi battle situation will undergo a fundamental change just like Shi Dakai's return to Tianjing, and although it will not be on the defensive, it will definitely form a situation of confrontation, and in that case, it is very doubtful whether the Taiping armies in Linjiang and Jiujiang will maintain their original deference and loyalty.

And Qu Jie was also shocked by this news and stood up directly, snatched the letter handed over by Lu Ziyun, he took out the order and looked at it twice before he was a little relieved: "Thousands of French soldiers and Russian soldiers suddenly landed in Shanghai, His Royal Highness King Yan thought that there was a change in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so he ordered my first division to prepare to return to the east, and the specific return period is up to me, but no later than a week after receiving the order, otherwise it will be severely punished." ”

As soon as he heard that the first division could continue to fight under Nanchang City for a week, Huo Qiu could be said to be relieved, even if he could not break through Nanchang City, he could annihilate Li Xubin's department, and annihilating Li Xubin's department would be equivalent to cutting off Zeng Guofan's hand, so that the situation in Jiangxi would not change greatly.

However, Yun Tianzong, the veteran officer of the Second Division, disagreed with Qu Jie's opinion, and he stood up: "Old Army Commander, in the opinion of the lower officer, it is better for the First Division to return to the southeast of the division as soon as possible, although the attack and defense of Nanchang are urgent, but it can be independently supported by our Second Division." ”

"Why?" Qu Jie immediately asked: "Explain the reason." ”

He is a more rigid person, Liu Chang gave him a week of free time, so he must return to Jiangsu and Zhejiang within a week, so he expressed his confusion about Yun Tianzong's suggestion.

"Tomorrow is when the Qing Demon pours out of the nest and rescues the Qing Demon of Li Xubin's Department, I have to hear that the Qing Demon has a lot of new foreign guns and foreign cannons, presumably if it goes to war, the soldiers of the first division will be damaged, and it will inevitably affect the combat effectiveness of the first division after returning to the east."

Yun Tianzong continued: "The foundation of our Hong Army lies in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, especially with Hangjiasu as the source of wealth, guns in hand, immediately car cannons, generals' salaries, clothing, food, housing and transportation are all from the southeast, foreign soldiers are known as brave, although our army has many soldiers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it lacks strong troops, so the situation in the southeast is like fire and water, and it is imminent, the first division should return to the division sooner rather than later, and it is better to return to the army as soon as possible!" ”

Qu Jie said "um" and agreed with Yun Tianzong's suggestion, and Huo Qiu also felt that Yun Tianzong's opinion was somewhat reasonable, but he still suggested: "Now solve the six thousand demons under Li Xubin's department, but it is only a day or two of hard work, if the first division withdraws first tomorrow, then our second division and the various departments attacking Jiangxi will also have to withdraw, can the first division stay for two or three more days, anyway, His Royal Highness King Yan has authorized Commander Qu." ”

Lin Mengchu, the commander of the first division beside Qu Jie, had a different opinion: "When to return to the east, His Royal Highness King Yan has given full authority to the army commander, and when to retreat, it should be up to the army commander to judge for himself." ”

And Lu Ziyun on the side of the second division immediately said: "The problem is, judging from the current situation, even if the first division begins to withdraw tomorrow, the enemy and us will be staggered, and it is inevitable that losses ......will occur if the enemy army comes"..., Huo Qiu gritted his teeth and said ruthlessly: "No matter what decision the first division makes, and no matter how many Qing demons come, our second division will attack towards the place where the Qing demons are the most, but it is about to fall into the night, army commander, you should make a decision first!" ”

He was a little regretful that this order came too suddenly, if he could have known the arrival of this order in advance, he would have paid hundreds more casualties, and he would have to solve Li Xubin's troops in one fell swoop.

However, Qu Jie became hesitant because of everyone's dispute, he didn't know what decision to make, and the cadres of the second and first divisions were obviously arguing at this point, and everyone was waiting for Qu Jie's final decision.

In fact, Qu Jie's next opening will change the entire Jiangxi war situation, but Qu Jie is just a person who lacks decisiveness, he can only help the cadres of the First Division, but the cadres of the First Division also have different views on when to return to the division.

Therefore, he had to give up relying on his own cadres again, but glanced at the order given by Liu Chang, and finally it was Liu Chang's order that made him determined: "I must return to Zhejiang within a week of receiving the order, and tomorrow the Qing Demon will counterattack, the first division will not be easy to leave, so I ......"

"It was decided to stay under Nanchang City for three days, and after three days, we will start retreating!"

"Three days! Only three days. ”

This did not violate Liu Chang's order, in fact, Liu Chang's order gave Qu Jie determination and courage.

Huo Qiu happily slapped the table and applauded: "No problem, as long as the first division stays for three days, we can eat all the 6,000 people of Li Xubin's department...... No, he's only 4,000 men left! ”

The entire battalion has begun to mobilize because of Qu Jie's decision, and the first division has not participated in the general battle in which the entire infantry division has participated since entering Jiangxi, even if it annihilated Zhou Fengshan, it was only the mobilization of half of the division's strength.

Tomorrow's battle will be different, even if it will cost a considerable price, it will be necessary to deal a decisive blow to Zeng Guofan's troops who rescued Li Xubin, and assist the 2nd Division to eliminate Li Xubin as soon as possible.

You must know that Li Xubin's Qing army is equivalent to the Hunan army's firefighting team on the Hubei and Jiangxi battlefields, and the elimination of Li Xubin is equivalent to the second division occupying the overall initiative in the next Jiangxi battlefield, and even has the opportunity to continue to besiege Nanchang.

But after the morning fog cleared the next day, the huge formation of the Hunan army still surprised the old cadres of the 1st Division.