The Jiangnan battalion is much more difficult to fight than the Jiangbei battalion, and the commander here is He Chun, although the record is not as outstanding as the predecessor Xiang Rong, it can be regarded as decent. Although his talent is not high, he is very diligent in his work, the camp is set up tightly, the long trench is dug long and deep, plus the high wall is strong, more than 50 camps are connected together, there are more than 40,000 defenders stationed, and the imperial court is fully supported, backed by a steady stream of military salaries and grain and grass from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

The Taiping army was already weak in attacking fortifications, and in the face of such an iron wall, there was really nowhere to go.

Therefore, Yang Xiaoshan designed a set of strategic plans for "encircling Wei and saving Zhao" and handed it over to Li Xiucheng to implement. It is to attract the people of the Jiangnan battalion and then encircle and annihilate them.

Xuancheng in Anhui is a breakthrough that Yang Xiaoshan thought of. Although it is in Anhui, it belongs to the defense area of the Jiangnan battalion, and the Hunan army is not far from here, but it cannot come yet.

Li Xiucheng asked 500 soldiers to dress up as civilians and enter Xuancheng through the north gate.

At this time, Xuancheng's city defense was very lax, and the guards at the north gate were either an excuse for Yang Xiaoshan to interrogate, or an excuse to invite guests to dinner, or an excuse to be seconded, in short, they were transferred away for an hour.

The Taiping army should have taken advantage of this time to infiltrate Xuancheng within five hundred years.

Seeing that his goal was achieved, Yang Xiaoshan went to Guangde to inspect under the pretext of running away.

Li Xiucheng responded to the cooperation of the inside and the outside, and easily captured Xuancheng.

Xuancheng fell, this is the defense area of the Jiangnan camp, and Hechun sent Zhang Guoliang to lead 10,000 people to come to the rescue.

Li Xiucheng did not stay in Xuancheng, which was still a little close to the Jiangnan camp, and had not yet moved the enemy away. So according to Yang Xiaoshan's plan, he and Yang Xiaoshan copied Xuancheng's tactics and easily occupied Guangde again.

Guangde is very close to Zhejiang.

Yang Xiaoshan fled to Hangzhou with a group of Guangde officials under the pretext of taking refuge.

Hangzhou is actually the "Zhao" in Yang Xiaoshan's "Siege Wei to Save Zhao", which is far enough away from the camp in the south of the Yangtze River. Attracting rescuers here can be regarded as really transferring away from the mountain.

Of course, in order to cover people's eyes, he asked Li Shixian to lead 10,000 troops to attack Huzhou with great fanfare. His 10,000 soldiers dressed up as Qing soldiers, took small roads, bypassed Xiaofeng, the county seat along the way, and went straight to Hangzhou.

The Qing court got the news and felt that the Taiping army was likely to attack the east and west, and the real purpose was Hangzhou, the provincial capital, Xianfeng also panicked, and felt that Zhejiang might not be safe, so he hurriedly ordered Hechun to send someone to rescue.

Hangzhou's defender Ruichang saw so many Taiping troops under the city, his head was about to explode, and there were only 2,000 people in Hangzhou to defend the city wall within a radius of 36 miles, and the troops were simply not enough.

And Yang Xiaoshan in the city was also anxious, he didn't expect this "script" to be played too smoothly, so Li Xiucheng came to Hangzhou a little early.

It's a little embarrassing at this time, in the face of such a weak Hangzhou, if you don't fight, it's a bit fake, for fear of being seen through by the enemy. If you fight too early, you won't come to the rescue if you hit Hechun's reinforcements. Hangzhou is not the defense area of the Jiangnan battalion, and others have to see the mood of the commander.

Yang Xiaoshan hurriedly found Hangzhou General Ruichang.

"Now that 10,000 soldiers are coming to the city, does the general have a good strategy to defend against the enemy?" Yang Xiaoshan first tested this Ruichang to see if he had confidence.

This Ruichang is a hereditary official position, he has lived in the city of Hangzhou for several generations, Hangzhou has been a peaceful place for a long time, there are no bandits, and he, the general of Hangzhou, has no military experience at all.

"Don't hide the imperial history, there are only 2,000 defenders in Hangzhou, and I'm afraid the outer city can't hold it. General Ben intends to abandon the outer city and defend the city. I also ask the Imperial Master to understand the difficulties of the last general, and say a few kind words in front of the emperor. Ruichang said, Khan has come down, abandoning the car to protect the handsome is the only way he can think of, and it is also the most feasible way in his opinion.

"The general's difficulties, this imperial history can understand. Yang's authority is only in the five provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Suzhou, and the imperial history of Zhejiang will not say much, and the general can take in us who have fled, and Yang is already very grateful. Yang Xiaoshan first narrowed the relationship with Ruichang.

When Ruichang heard it, he felt that this imperial history was approachable, after all, he took the initiative to give up the outer city, if people made a small report on the emperor's side, he would also be at a loss, and if he didn't do it, he would have to roll up and leave.

"Where, where, when the national disaster is at the head, we have to help each other as officials in the same dynasty." Ruichang understood in his heart, everyone is now in the same boat, and I am afraid that everyone will die if Hangzhou falls, of course, he doesn't know that Yang Xiaoshan is a member of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

"Has the general ever invited the adults of the Jiangnan battalion to come to reinforcements? I heard that the people of the Jiangnan camp have a very good way to deal with Long Hair, they are so close to Long Hair that they have not been eliminated, and their combat power must be better than Long Hair. Yang Xiaoshan hinted that Ruichang hurriedly asked Hechun to bring someone over.

Ruichang's face was bitter, "Lord Yushi, do you know that this Hangzhou is not the defense area of his Jiangnan camp. I can only invite him to come, but the last general's face is not so big, and I am afraid that people will not heed our pleas for help. Most of our defenders in Zhejiang have gone to Huzhou to support, who would have thought that Changmao would suddenly come to our Hangzhou. ”

"Although our Hangzhou is not the defense area of his Jiangnan battalion, a lot of their salaries and grain and grass are from us, the general emphasizes this point, presumably Na Hechun does not want his soldiers to lack food and pay in the future." Yang Xiaoshan came up with an idea for Ruichang.

Ruichang slapped his thigh and said, "Yes, it's still reasonable for Lord Yushi." We support them with hundreds of thousands of military salaries and food every year, and now we rush to this when we are in trouble, and they have to come to help. Raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a while! ”

"As for the outer city, if the general can trust Yang, I am willing to lead the troops to resist the general for a while." Yang Xiaoshan said the key point of coming to Ruichang this time.

"Oh? What's the plan? We only have 2,000 soldiers in Hangzhou City, so I'm afraid we can't give many soldiers to adults. Ruichang struggled a little in his heart, if he gave too many soldiers to Yang Xiaoshan, he was afraid that there would not be many people to defend the city.

"It's okay, I can understand the general's difficulties, I only need so many soldiers!" Yang Xiaoshan stretched out a finger.

"A thousand?" Ruichang wondered. A thousand is not less, and half of his troops have been divided.

Yang Xiaoshan smiled and said nothing, shook his hand and said, "One hundred." ”

"A hundred?" Ruichang exclaimed, a hundred soldiers can't guard one gate.

"A hundred old, weak, sick and disabled will do." Yang Xiaoshan continued to add.

"Mistress Goshi, you're not joking with me, are you?" Ruichang couldn't believe it.

"You look at me, like I'm joking?" Yang Xiaoshan looked at Ruichang with determined eyes and asked rhetorically.

"Well, as your lord says." Ruichang looked at Yang Xiaoshan's serious look, he was a little skeptical, although he learned that this Lord Yushi was born in Wu Zhuangyuan, the son-in-law of the monk king, and he must be much stronger than himself militarily, but a hundred old, weak, sick and disabled to resist the long-haired 10,000 elites, isn't it too godly?