(I wish you all a happy new year and all the best!) The Xuan army is going to fight from this chapter, and for friends who are not familiar with the terrain, please refer to the "First Shanghai Battle Offensive and Defense Map" in the work)

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Tan Shaoguang's mistake was not only that the battle line was too long and the troops were scattered, but also that the cities he occupied could only communicate by horses, which was quite troublesome to communicate. What's worse is that after encircling Shanghai, there is no plan for the next step.

To the east and north of Shanghai County are concessions. The Taiping army that hit Wusong and Gaoqiao, although it was regarded as a "rendezvous across the river", but it lost its goal, and if it turned back to attack Shanghai along the river, it would be tantamount to facing the British and American concessions, and as a result, they did not dare to act rashly, so they had to stand by on the spot. And Guan Zhuofan emptied Li Hengsong's camp in Nanxiang, and was really attacked by Liu Zhaojun's 2,000 people from Jiading, but after the capture, he faced the French army in the concession and did not dare to go further, making an embarrassing situation of not advancing or retreating.

This mistake should actually be counted on Li Xiucheng's head. The so-called "rat bogey", since there is a vase next to the mouse, if you don't have the courage to break the vase, why dare you start to fight mice? And if this mouse is surrounded by a tiger, then what is the use of just surrounding the mouse if you are not ready to fight the tiger for your life? Naturally, they shrink their hands and feet, and they are subject to others everywhere.

Tan Shaoguang had already realized this trouble, and sent a fast horse to Suzhou to ask Li Xiucheng for instructions. However, it was too late, Guan Zhuofan did not give him another chance, and the battle on the Eastern Front was in the early morning of February 20. It's fired.

Officers and troops gathered in Zhoupu. The main target is Nanhui County. The commander of the Eastern Road of the Taiping Army. Li Rongfa, the second son of the seventeen-year-old King Zhong, led 5,000 men to guard here. However, Guan Zhuofan did not arrange to attack Nanhui first, but sent Zeng Bingzhong's green battalion soldiers and Liu Xunjiao's militia to first feint to attack Chuansha Hall, thirty miles north of Nanhui. The feint troops, supported by six foreign cannons and more than a dozen earthen cannons of the officers and soldiers, fought very vigorously in the dark of night, making the momentum extremely huge.

Li Rongfa received an urgent report and couldn't figure out the situation. He personally led 1,500 people out of the city from the north gate of Nanhui and rushed to the Chuansha Hall for reinforcements, and after he left the city, as soon as the sky was bright, the officers and troops began to attack Nanhui from three sides.

To the west and south of Nanhui, the Taiping army set up camps outside the city, surrounded by earthen ramparts, and also set up artillery emplacements to defend against possible attacks. But this time. The fighting style of the officers and troops is very simple, with two sides in the southwest. All of them were outside the range of the Taiping army's artillery, so they bombarded with ten field guns, and with the power of the bullets, they bombarded for half an hour, and then charged bravely with infantry.

The camp in the west, just as the sharp edge of the foreign guns, under such artillery fire, the Taiping army's earthen fortress was completely destroyed, and the fort was damaged by three of them, and finally was broken by Bai Qiwen, and the three hundred soldiers did not survive, but in the most white knife fight, Bai Qiwen's left rib was also pierced by a spear, was carried on a stretcher, and was urgently transported back to Shanghai for treatment.

The camp in the south was jointly attacked by the Xianzi Battalion and the Kezi Battalion, with Ding Xianda as the main officer. The gunners on this side were weaker, and the artillery was not good at first, so the Taiping army resisted with a wall and held out for a longer time. The first two attacks of the Xuan army were beaten back, and it was not until another round of shelling, before the smoke of gunpowder cleared, Ding Xianda took the lead in the charge, and it was considered to have broken through this barracks. The Taiping army inside was killed in the battle, and the remaining 100 people retreated into Nanhui City.

To the east was Li Hengsong's green battalion's main attack, of which Jiang De's 700 people were the main force. On this side, because of the back to Shanghai, the Taiping army's defense was very weak, and several checkpoints were easily swept away, so it was Li Hengsong who attacked Nanhui City first.

In the afternoon, the periphery of Nanhui was cleared, and the officers and troops of the three routes had already arrived under the city, and they were bombarded with artillery. Because the defense in the west of the city was the strictest, this round of artillery fire was concentrated in the south of the city, with two twelve-pounder British cannons as the mainstay, supplemented by a dozen eight-pounder field guns, and they fought until the evening without sparing ammunition, and then gradually stopped. Seeing that the south gate and the city wall are extremely damaged, it is estimated that another round tomorrow will definitely open several large gaps.

There were also skirmishes in the west and east of the city, only in the north of the city, which was set aside in accordance with the old rule of "besieging the city", to force the Taiping army in the city to retreat north. Daniel Zhang's horse team was already cruising five miles north of the city, firstly to guard against reinforcements, and secondly, to prepare to intercept and kill the Taiping army out of the city.

Who knew that the Taiping army had never fled, and in the evening, three people came out of the city, and they kept saying that they wanted to see the Guan people of the Xuan army to discuss the surrender of the city.

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Guan Zhuofan didn't expect such a thing, and when he received a telegram from Zhou Pu, he was first overjoyed, and then he was a little undecided, not knowing whether they really surrendered or a plan to delay the army. The telegram said that the people who came said that they were not talking about it, so they had sent a team of soldiers, and the long-haired man headed by him crossed the river by boat and wanted to send it to the county office. After hesitating, Guan Zhuofan still asked Tulin to call Jin Yulin, who lived across the street, as his staff officer.

When the person arrived, it was late at night, Guan Zhuofan's yamen was wide open, and the hall in the yamen was brightly lit. Guan Zhuofan was involved in several of the cases, and Jin Yulin sat on the side, turning a surrendered negotiation into a trial format.

Unexpectedly, the people who came really ate this set, went to the hall, knelt down on the spot, and opened their mouths: "Knock to see Lord Guan." ”

"Don't dare, please get up and speak." Guan Zhuofan saw that he was in his thirties, and his face was very simple, if he wasn't wearing a yellow coat, he looked like a proper person, he first had a good impression in his heart, raised his hand, let him get up, and then asked, "What is your name, brother?" ”

The person who came was called Liu Yulin, a general of the Taiping Army. After Li Rongfa sent north to aid Chuansha, the person who presided over the city guard in Nanhui was called Wu Jianying, and his deputy was this Liu Yulin.

"It turned out to be Mr. Liu." Guan Zhuofan's tone was very gentle, not like a trial, "So, are you here on behalf of that Wu Jianying, Mr. Wu?" ”

"Yes," Liu Yulin said respectfully, "Wu Jianying is the villain's brother." The meaning of the villain is what he means. ”

"Hmm. What kind of official position are you over there? ”

"Wu Jianying is Tianfu, and the villain is Tianyu."

"That's also a person with a knighthood, why do you want to surrender?"

"If you go back to Lord Guan, we are not 'old brothers', and we are ostracized everywhere in the long hair. Li Rongfa led the troops without kindness and deceitful people too much, and we don't want to send him to death again. ”

Li Rongfa is the second son of Li Xiucheng, and he is extremely brave in battle, but after all, he is only seventeen years old, and he doesn't know much about the world. Wu Jianying and Liu Yulin are not from Guangxi, and in the Taiping Army, they are not considered descendants, so they are usually more angry with him. Now under the siege of the official army, the guns are so fierce, only one day of fighting, there is a feeling that they can't support it, so the two discussed it and decided not to do anything, just go out of the city and ask for surrender.

"In that case, which brother of yours, why don't you come by yourself?"

This is something that doesn't need to be asked, so it's not easy to answer, Liu Yulin hesitated and didn't speak for a while. However, Jin Yulin saw his appearance and reminded Guan Zhuofan in a low voice: "Yixuan, I'm afraid he's coming to talk about catties." ”

Talking about catties and two, that is, talking about conditions, only when Liu Yulin negotiated the conditions, Wu Jianying was willing to surrender.

Guan Zhuofan "sat down" for two days, his brain was a little wooden, he secretly laughed that he couldn't see this, nodded and said: "Mr. Liu, as long as you are sincere and have nothing to discuss, what are you embarrassed about, just say it." ”

The conditions are surprisingly simple, not seeking promotion, nor leading troops, but only to keep the two alive.

Of course, there is also an additional one: over the past few years, a number of belongings have been gathered, and now they are willing to divide them into three parts, one for them to bring back to their hometowns, one for the dismissal of their soldiers, and the other for the Guansan people.

"How many soldiers are there in the city? Do they all listen to you? Guan Zhuofan asked while thinking.

"Originally, it was 3,500, but today I fought for a day and injured more than 800, and now I have to count 2,500 people." Liu Yulin replied truthfully, "Li Rongfa's cronies have all been taken by him to reinforce Chuansha, and now the city is full of our brothers, please rest assured." ”

Two thousand five hundred soldiers, that's a lot of that. Guan Zhuofan pondered for a long time and made a decision.

"Mr. Liu, I can call the shots for what you say. I don't want this money, it's a gift for you and Lao Wu. You can't do these two things now, such as returning to your hometown and dismissing the soldiers, until the war in Shanghai is over. Moreover, Li Rongfa bullied you like this, you do something for me, and I can give you a chance to be angry. ”

Not only did he not want money, but even "Lao Wu" shouted out, which shows that this Guan Daren has agreed to his request - Liu Yulin was in high spirits, and knelt down and kowtowed: "Xie Lu Xie Guan Daren." What do you want us to do? ”

"Please get up. You go to Lao Wu and tell him that he will dedicate his troops to the city early tomorrow morning and go north with the official army. I supported him with foreign cannons, and asked him to personally knock down Li Rongfa's Chuansha and let out a bad breath - do you dare? ”

"Why don't you dare?" Liu Yulin stood up excitedly and said loudly, "I dare to pack a ticket with an adult now, Chuansha will definitely be able to beat - I want Li Rongfa to see what kind of material he is!" ”

Both parties were very satisfied with this setback, so Guan Zhuofan ordered Liu Yulin to be sent back to Nanhui overnight, while he sat on a chair, rubbing his chin, and was silent in thought.

Jin Yulin saw it and reminded: "Yixuan, should I send a telegram to Wall?" ”

"That's what I think," Guan Zhuofan said in a deep groan, "In case Changmao is at the end of the road, if he makes a trick, this joke will be big." ”

"In my opinion, there is nothing suspicious about this."

"Oh?" Guan Zhuofan looked up at Jin Yulin, "Old Jin, let me listen to your opinions." ”

"You just said that the four gates of Nanhui, the official army is fighting three and letting go of one. If Wu Jianying didn't rebel and left from the north gate, why surrender? ”

Guan Zhuofan was dumbfounded, and after a long time, he slapped his head with his hand and said with a wry smile: "It's about time to go to sleep for a while......" (to be continued......