Although all the Wu Army's Feng Sanbao Corps were cut off from the rear after they were stationed in Yuhuatai, the Wu Army in the rear has been trying to find ways to spy on and understand the situation of the Yuhuatai battle through various means and channels, and a large number of Wu Army spies have also continued to venture into the Nanjing battlefield to collect all kinds of information about the Yuhuatai Battle and report to the rear.

Therefore, even in Jiujiang City, which is thousands of miles away, Wu Chaoyue can still have a general understanding of the battle situation in Yuhuatai, knowing that although Feng Sanbao's corps fought extremely hard and difficult in the front, it can barely hold on, and there is no danger of being annihilated by the Taiping army in a short period of time, so he can gather troops and hoard ammunition, grain and grass with peace of mind, and prepare to launch the third round of the Eastern Crusade.

In order to ensure the victory of the decisive battle of Nanjing and offset the numerical superiority of the Taiping army, Wu Chaoyue, who has always liked to take the route of elite soldiers, rarely used his troops to fight again, in addition to drawing a large number of local troops from the southwest rear to participate in the war, and from the Wu army in Henan and Jiangxi to participate in the war, and specially asked his brother-in-law Nie Shicheng for two battalions of the elite cavalry of the Wu army, which was used to enhance the mobility of the Wu army on land, plus Wu Chaoyue's direct elite corps and three battalions of Daye elite, The strength of Wu's Third Route Expeditionary Army exceeded 30,000, and in fact it was ready to use more than half of its military strength for the decisive battle of Nanjing.

Relying on the spying of the Wu army's spies, Wu Chaoyue has roughly grasped some of the situation of Li Xiucheng's troops of the Taiping Army, and knows that the Taiping Army under Li Xiucheng's command is mainly composed of locals from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the weapons and equipment are even slightly stronger than the second-line Wu army, but the will to fight and individual combat effectiveness are lacking, and it is not very difficult to deal with, as long as the Wu army Cao Yanzhong's corps recovers and joins the Nanjing battlefield, it is enough to ensure that the Wu army can be invincible. And if Wu Chaoyue personally led the Third Route Eastern Expeditionary Army to join the Nanjing battlefield, if the Wu army still couldn't win this decisive battle, Wu Chaoyue could simply commit suicide by jumping into the water to Teacher Zeng.

The battle is not difficult to fight, and the enemy is sure to deal with it, but Wu Chaoyue is still a little worried, because no matter how bad Wu Chaoyue's history is, he knows that his teacher Zeng in history relied on the decisive battle of Nanjing to lay the overall victory in one fell swoop, and he not only killed the Taiping Army in Nanjing, but also easily killed the main force of Li Xiucheng, the number one warlord of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, completely shattered the hope of the Taiping Army to make a comeback, and I don't know how much time in advance to end the war turmoil brought about by the cult of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Whether it is for himself or for the innocent people in Jiangnan, Wu Chaoyue hopes that he can continue to create this miracle in his place as Teacher Zeng, but Wu Chaoyue is very worried that he will not be able to do this. Because Wu Chaoyue knows very well that history has been too messed up by himself, the wild boar skin family has been driven to the northeast by himself to gnaw on the Wula grass, the Western powers no longer hate the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom so much, Yang Xiuqing is still alive, Hong Xiuquan has just returned to power, and the territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is much larger than in history, and at the same time, the rear of the Taiping Army in Jiangnan is no longer Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, the two scourges stirring up the wind and rain, and there are far more retreat options than in history.

Therefore, Wu Chaoyue was very worried that history would completely change, and Hong Xiuquan and Li Xiucheng no longer insisted on holding on to Nanjing, but ran to other places in advance to continue to cause trouble, making it more difficult for them to eliminate the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cult, and also making the innocent people in Jiangnan suffer more wars and chaos, and it was even possible to gain the support of the Western powers, adding more suffering and suffering to the Chinese people who had suffered many disasters.

Therefore, in a meeting to discuss the strategy of the Eastern Crusade, Wu Chaoyue openly expressed his worries to the senior civil and military of the Wu army attending the meeting, and said: "The battle of Jiangning is not difficult to fight, we are sure of victory, even if Yang Yuanqing and Yang Fuqing also bow their heads to Hong Xiuquan and take Huaibei Changmao to the south to participate in the war, they will never be our opponents." No matter how much Changmao increases his troops, we are not afraid, we are only afraid that Longhair will not fight this decisive battle with us, give up Jiangning in advance, and wander to other places to die and struggle, then if we want to completely eliminate them, we don't know how much time and effort will take us. ”

Knowing that Wu Chaoyue likes self-righteous temper, of course, most of the Wu Junwen and Wu present nodded in agreement, praising Wu Chaoyue's wisdom and martial arts, and knowing thousands of miles, only Gui Zhongxing, who has the lowest official position, does not know whether he is alive or dead, and puts forward a different opinion, saying: "Is the king of Zhennan a little worried? Jiangning is the pseudo-capital of Long Hair, which is of great significance to Long Hair, how can Long Hair give up so easily? ”

"According to common sense, it is impossible for Long Hair to give up their pseudo-capital easily, but no one can guarantee that Long Hair will not give up their pseudo-capital." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said: "If I were in Hong Xiuquan's position, I would definitely choose to give up at this time, even if I didn't give up Jiangning, I would only leave an army to stick to Jiangning, and move to southern Jiangsu or Zhejiang with the main force. ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue added another sentence, saying: "If Hong Xiuquan really makes this choice, then the people of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and the southeast coast will have great bad luck, I don't know how many people will suffer innocently, and I don't know how many people will be separated from their wives, be displaced, and die." ”

When the county commander used to be able to copy out only 11 taels and 5 coins of silver, hearing Wu Chaoyue's words, Gui Zhongxing, a famous poor ghost official in the late Qing Dynasty, of course, immediately changed his position and said: "The king of Zhennan loves the people like a son, and he admires him so much. Yes, even if this is not very likely, we will never let the main force of Long Hair give up the pseudo-capital and flow to other places to poison the people, so we can only find a way to let Hong Xiuquan and the main force of Long Hair stay in Jiangning and wait for death, so as to create a chance for us to break Long Hair in a battle. ”

"King Zhennan, can you use force to cut off Changmao's retreat in advance?" Qian Wei, the general of Wu Junzhong, made a suggestion and said: "The north of Jiangning is the Yangtze River, and our sailors have an absolute advantage on the water, so we should be sure to block the river, so that Changmao cannot escape north or go down the river from the water." To the south, as long as we take Moling Pass first, we can prevent the main force of Longhair from escaping south. There is the Maoshan Mountain Range blocking the road in the east, if we can find any way to block the east first, we may be able to completely trap the main force of Changmao on the battlefield in Jiangning. ”

"The encirclement is too big, and we don't have enough troops." Wu Chaoyue still shook his head, and said: "And Changmao is not a fool, if he is determined to abandon the city and leave, he can not only escape before we build an encirclement, but also take advantage of the long length of our battle line to break through from the weak point of our defense." If we want to rely on the military force to completely trap the main force of Longhair, there is absolutely no possibility. ”

Qian Wei also closed his mouth, and Dai Wenjie, the chief of staff of the army, slowly spoke, and said: "King Zhennan, if we can come up with some way to let Changmao see the hope of holding Jiangning, or let Changmao feel confident that he can fight back our attack, then we shouldn't have to worry about Changmao's main force slipping away in advance." ”

"Of course, this is a good way, as long as you can see hope for Longhair, Longhair will definitely not run easily." Wu Chaoyue finally nodded, frowned again, and said, "But what is the way to let Changmao see this hope?" I've been thinking about this for the past few days, but I haven't thought of a good solution. ”

"How about making peace with Longhair?" Dai Wenjie was shocked, and said: "Send an envoy to contact Jiangning Changmao, just say that we want to stop war with them, want to negotiate peace with them, and even beg them to let our Shanghai and General Feng's army go, so that Changmao feels that we are no longer good, there is no stamina, and then we will not run in advance." ”

"A solution is a solution." Wu Chaoyue still frowned a little, and said: "But I don't have a good grasp, there are also clear-eyed people on the long hair side, I'm afraid that we will see that we are trying to capture the old people and want to trick them into staying in Jiangning and waiting for death." ”

"It's okay, we don't need to hide all the long hair, we just need to let Hong Xiuquan believe that we are going to be soft." Dai Wenjie replied confidently, and said: "Has the King of Zhennan forgotten that General Feng and they were in order to lure Changmao to fight when they were in the Great Victory Pass, how ridiculous is the plan of the fake Heavenly Father to go down to earth, and Hong Xiuquan's Dachangmao is still not fooled?" It can be seen from this point that Hong Xiuquan's big long hair sometimes likes to get into the water in his head, as long as our messenger does what he likes, pats his ass more, and shows him more weakness, it is very likely that Hong Xiuquan will be fooled, as long as Hong Xiuquan is fooled, no matter how much other long hair opposes, he will definitely not listen. ”

Knowing from the historical materials of later generations that Hong Xiuquan had a slight mental illness, Wu Chaoyue was of course very moved after listening to Dai Wenjie's suggestion, but Gui Zhongxing jumped out to vote against, saying: "It's best not to take this risk, if our plan to capture and indulge is seen through by Hong Xiuquan, the messenger will definitely lose his life immediately, not to mention, maybe it will have the opposite effect, remind Hong Xiuquan that the big long hair thought of the idea of fleeing quickly, then we are equivalent to indirectly harming the people on the southeast coast." ”

I don't particularly know Hong Xiuquan's character, of course Dai Wenjie didn't dare to rule out the possibility proposed by Gui Zhongxing, so he could only turn his attention to Wu Chaoyue, but Wu Chaoyue never said anything, or after a long time, Wu Chaoyue suddenly said: "Mr. Wenjie's method is feasible and worth a try." ”

"King Zhennan, what if you are recognized by Long Hair and receive the opposite effect?" Gui Zhongxing asked worriedly.

"It's okay, we can use a two-pronged approach, and then use a strategy, so that even if the other longhairs see through our desire to capture, there is no way to persuade Hong Xiuquan to give up Jiangning and go elsewhere." Wu Chaoyue replied.

"King Zhennan, how do you do both?" Gui Zhongxing hurriedly asked.

Wu Chaoyue didn't answer, but turned to Dai Wenjie, the chief of staff of the army, and said: "Mr. Wenjie, you personally pick up the pen and write a letter for me to Li Xiucheng, the puppet loyal king of long hair, the more solemn and formal the tone, the better." ”

"What's the content?" Dai Wenjie asked as he lifted his pen.

"Persuade him to get rid of Hong Xiuquan and work alone, and be self-reliant, and also persuade him to learn from Yang Xiuqing, get along with us amicably, and share the world equally." Wu Chaoyue said casually: "Tell him again, if he is worried about the safety of his family members who are under house arrest in Jiangning City by Hong Xiuquan, he can first persuade Hong Xiuquan to leave Jiangning, take the opportunity to rescue his family, and also take the opportunity to trick Hong Xiuquan to his Jiangsu and Zhejiang territory and kill him with a knife, and then he can immediately become the boss of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom." ”

"Brilliant plan!" Dai Wenjie suddenly realized, applauded and said: "King Zhennan's clever plan, as long as Hong Xiuquan sees this letter, then no matter how Li Xiucheng persuades him to leave Jiangning, he will only suspect that Li Xiucheng is ill-intentioned and will not listen to anything." ”

"And if others persuade him, he will also suspect that this person was bought by Li Xiucheng." Wu Chaoyue said with a smile: "Not only that, with Hong Xiuquan's personality and temper, after seeing this letter, he will definitely try his best to force Li Xiucheng to fight to the end with us, not only to protect himself, but also to weaken Li Xiucheng with our hands, so that it is difficult for Li Xiucheng to take the main force away in advance." ”

Dai Wenjie nodded hurriedly, and asked cautiously: "King Zhennan, how can you let Hong Xiuquan's big long hair see this letter reasonably?" General Feng, the method they used before, I'm afraid they can't use it anymore, right? ”

"Of course they can't use it anymore, they were lucky to be able to separate Hong Xiuquan and Shi Dakai last time, and they found a long-haired captive to send such an important letter, and they couldn't figure it out." Wu Chaoyue snorted disdainfully, and said with a straight face: "This time I want a messenger who is not afraid of death, not only to provoke the burden of risking to ask Changmao for peace and want to capture the old man, but also to risk losing his head to show this letter to Hong Xiuquan, once you accidentally fail to escape from the clutches of the devil, you can still withstand the heavy torture of Changmao to extract a confession, and you will not let go of your mouth when you die, do you have such a person in your hands?" ”

Everyone shut up, but Gui Zhongxing stood up and said: "King Zhennan, let the lower officials go, even if the lower officials give up this life, they will definitely complete the mission that you have given to the king of Zhennan and save the people of the southeast from the dire situation." ”

"Mr. Zhenzhen, you can't go." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said, "First, I am reluctant to let you risk this life, and second, you have rebelled against me, and the long hair side will suspect that you are the death room sent by me, and it is more likely to receive the opposite effect." ”

Gui Zhongxing was stunned, and then hesitated and said: "King Zhennan, that lower official wants to recommend a person to you, and you can also guarantee that he will not betray our rebel army, but this person is a sinner, and he still wears the guilt in his body." ”

"What's this man's name? What sin is worn? Wu Chaoyue asked casually.

"Mo Xiangzhi, a friend of Xia Guan, met when he was suppressing bandits in Guizhou, once served as a county magistrate in Hunan, and was dismissed because he was reported for embezzling money and grain." Gui Zhongxing introduced, and hurriedly said: "But the king of Zhennan, the lower official can take the top to wear a flower feather to guarantee that he was wronged, he was falsely accused because he was too upright and too strict, and then the governor of Hunan Yamen has already quickly investigated his case, and just in time for the king of Zhennan, you raised troops to recruit the rebellious party in the capital, and Hunan was in turmoil, so he has been wearing the guilt and entered the shogunate of the lower officials in order to make a living. ”

"Bring him to me right away." Wu Chaoyue commanded, and said with a smile: "Let our Gui Qingtian personally open his mouth to vouch for his innocence, needless to say, this Mo Xiangzhi is definitely wronged and can be reused." ”