Sai Shoufu reported Jiang Zhongyuan's achievements, and the emperor's tone towards him was indeed much softened, but he still urged him to go straight to the thief's den as soon as possible and capture the thief's leader. Saishana understood what the emperor meant, first, it was almost winter, and it would be more difficult to attack those camps in winter; The second is that the military expenditure in winter is greater, and the treasury is not rich in terms of clothing and firewood, and Xianfeng feels sorry for the silver, because it will take three months to wait in winter, so he is required to win quickly and get his good news before the New Year.

Although Yao Ying's battle plan was not yet complete, Saishana did not dare to disobey the emperor's wishes, so he hurriedly summoned all the officers above the general army and discussed a big action before the winter to deal a heavy blow to the Yongan Taiping army.

The meeting was held in Sai Shang'a's Bai Luo brocade tent, which was given by Xianfeng to Sai Shoufu for marching and fighting, encouraging him to return victoriously as soon as possible, and it was almost a year since he left Beijing, no wonder Xianfeng was a little breathless. The royal thing is different, this tent is very large, about two lengths and widths on each side, all spread out like a giant umbrella. The roof of the tent is decorated with ornate multicolored jewels, and the edge of the tent is embroidered with delicate gold filigree, which also shows the status of the Mongol nobleman of Cezanne.

In front of the tent, a row of armored guards with flag guns lined up on the left and right, and the soldiers led the generals who came to the meeting into the tent.

Sezanne sat in the middle of the tent, in a large chair covered with mink. He greeted the Qing army generals who came to greet him and said: "Your Excellency has come from afar, you must be hungry, let's eat and wait for military affairs first, and then let's taste our Mongolian barbecue." This Guangxi is no better than our Mongolian steppe, there are few cattle and sheep. So today I specially roasted a few little suckling pigs, so let's try them. "Saishana is an old fritter in officialdom, and things in officialdom are talked about while eating, and things are easier to negotiate.

The soldiers put a pair of shelves in front of the adults, and on the shelves were placed a small suckling pig that had been peeled and cleaned. The tongue of fire licked gently under the suckling pig, only to see that the delicate skin and flesh gradually turned yellow and crispy, and the fat in the meat was even more roasted, and a little oil dripped out, giving out a mouth-watering meat aroma.

The generals who came to the meeting saw their index fingers move, and they felt a little hungry when they smelled the meat, but they still secretly swallowed their saliva and saluted to Cezanne: "Thank you, Lord Shoufu, and please use it first." ”

"You're welcome, let's come along." Saishana knew that if he didn't eat it first, he was afraid that the people below would not dare to use it first.

He picked up a short knife prepared by the soldiers, cut off a delicious strip of meat from the fattest hind buttocks of the little suckling pig, put it in the seasoning plate and gently rolled it, and the salt, garlic, ginger and other condiments in the silver plate were rolled into it, and then gently put it in the mouth and chewed, which felt really delicious.

"How can there be such good meat without wine? Shousuke-sama goes to the bar. Ulantai was unceremonious, and he was the only one who had the guts to dare to ask for wine directly with Sai Shousuke.

Saishan'a was a little embarrassed, originally he didn't want to drink, for fear that everyone would drink too much and make a mistake, but when Ulantai mentioned it, if he didn't serve some wine, he was worried that he would be regarded as stingy by others, so he instructed his subordinates: "Come on, pour a few jars of rice wine for your adults." He said to the generals present: "After today's discussion, I will give you a few more jars of good wine, which you can take back and taste." ”

When Cezanne said this, everyone had no opinion. After a feast, everyone's interest was aroused, and Cezanne saw that the atmosphere was almost over, and finally threw out today's topic: "I invite you to come this time, it is the recent edict of His Majesty the Emperor urging us to take Yong'an in one fell swoop, what good way do you have?" ”

The atmosphere that had been very lively just now suddenly froze, and everyone didn't know how to answer. To tell the truth, so far, none of the armies have bargained for anything on the Taiping Army, let alone attacking Yong'an City, which is something that they dare not think of.

"Shousuke-sama, don't lie in front of real people. It is really a bit difficult to take Yong'an in one fell swoop, even if our army rushes in to surround Yong'an City, the camps around Longhair will easily cut off our food routes, and we will have to withdraw at that time. What's more, Yong'an City, which has been strengthened by Long Hair, has added sentry posts, forts, and watchtowers, and our number is only twice as large as theirs, and it is almost impossible to take it in one fell swoop. "The most arrogant Ulantai in the army felt that it was impossible to take Yong'an directly.

"What do you mean?" Sezanne asked, looking at the general soldiers.

"We are on the same page as Lord Totong." Several general soldiers shook their heads one after another, everyone was in the army and knew the actual situation in the army. They secretly said in their hearts: "The emperor is in the capital, I don't know how powerful the Yongan Taiping Army is, if he could directly break the city, it would have been broken a long time ago, can he wait until now?" ”

"We still cut the outside first and then attack the city, and if the long-haired camps on the periphery are not removed for a day, Yong'an has no possibility of breaking through." Li Rui and Li Zongbing expressed their views. The other commanders also nodded their heads in agreement.

"I understand everyone's feelings, but now that the weather is cold and winter is approaching, the emperor can't wait. Everyone entered the camp in winter, and the cold and freezing taste were not pleasant. We still have to get rid of these bandits as soon as possible, and we can go back to live a comfortable life as soon as possible. Sezanne provoked the conversation, and he was telling the truth.

The generals felt the same way, no one wanted to spend time with the Taiping army in the field in winter, how comfortable it was to go home and sleep with their daughter-in-law, they said in unison: "If Lord Shoufu has any good suggestions, I will definitely obey the order." ”

Seeing that everyone had expressed their determination, Sai Shoufu also felt that it was time to tell Yao Ying's plan, "Let me introduce to you, this is Yao Lao, the emperor's newly sent Guangxi patrol envoy, and also my staff officer." Master Yao, tell us about your plan. ”

Yao Ying stepped forward and said again to the generals the strategy she had previously told Sai Shoufu, "。。。。。。 In short, we must quickly take the crossing of the Guijiang River and turn attack into defense. With the ferry as a stronghold, heavy troops are hoarded here, and then gradually cut off the connection between the bandits' camps, so that they can't coordinate with each other, and the grain and grass can't be transported smoothly, then their outer fortifications will be self-defeating! ”

"Brilliant plan! Bloom in the center of the long hair, that would be deadly. The generals nodded again and again and said yes, this blow directly hit the vital point of the Taiping army. How do we do that? I would like to listen to Staff Officer Yao's detailed explanation. ”

"My thoughts are like this, Li Nengchen's general army on the North Road is divided into three teams to feint and attack the line from Longyantang to Gaodui Village; Li Rui and other three general soldiers on the South Road feinted to attack the line from Luanling to the Changshou River. Ulan Tai Dutong and Liu Changqing's general army each led 2,000 men to lurk into the north and south sides of Yong'an. This time, the key was handed over to Jiang Zhixian, and he led his five hundred men to enter the Guijiang ferry in disguise and take advantage of the chaos, and our inner should be there to pick up. After Jiang Zhongyuan took the ferry and sent a signal, Wu Dutong and Liu Zongbing's men and horses quickly gathered at the ferry, strengthened the defense, and completely incorporated the ferry into their hands. At that time, Sai Shoufu will bring in food and other military supplies from the waterway. As long as you hold on there for about ten days, you won't worry about the long hair and not retreating to Yong'an City from other places. Yao Ying talked eloquently, if everything went according to his plan, the Taiping army would be in danger.

"This is Li Taizhou, his younger brother is on an errand at the Guijiang ferry, and it is precisely because of this that this plan can be implemented in advance, and it is also the key to our victory. So rest assured, if nothing else, this operation will end in our victory. Yao Ying said as she pulled Li Taizhou out.

Seeing that there was an internal response, the other generals suddenly felt that this operation should be more reliable, and their eyebrows showed a happy look. Only Ulantai was very uncomfortable in his heart, and he thought to himself: "Why is Jiang Zhongyuan the key, and I am on standby?" Isn't this asking me to give this Jiang Zhongyuan a hand? I make a wedding dress for a seven-grade magistrate? Laughing to death. ”

"Race First Auxiliary 。。。。。。。" Ulantai just wanted to express his dissatisfaction.

Saizanne knew his mind too well, this Ulantai was arrogant, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he either fought for power or won merit, but this time he couldn't follow it. This operation is too critical, it is related to the entire battle situation of Yong'an, and it is also related to his own future. If Ulatai opens his mouth, there will definitely be a gap inside, and when the time comes, he will fail because of this, and he, the first assistant, will not be able to bear the responsibility for failure.

Saishana didn't wait for Uratai to finish speaking, and immediately interrupted: "Yao Lao's meaning is also my meaning, everyone must be sincere and united in this operation, and must not be selfish, this matter is decided, others don't need to say much!" Sezanne pulled down his face in a rare and said in a deep voice.

Shousuke is Shousuke after all, and Ulantai is not crazy enough not to take Saishana in his eyes, so he can only swallow back what he wants to say.

Under the proposal of the first assistant of the competition, the generals made a blood alliance, and they all said that they would cooperate sincerely this time, and fight to the end with long hair, and everyone's morale in the battle has also reached the peak.

After drinking and eating, the generals returned to the camp, but no one noticed that after the meeting was dismissed, the serious-faced Ulantai pulled Li Taizhou aside and muttered, and he didn't know what to say.

Three days later, in the early morning, the large armies on the north and south sides of the Qing army left the camp one after another, and the largest march on Yong'an began. More than 40,000 Qing troops faced more than 20,000 Taiping troops, and it was up to them to see who would die.