Although the surrender of the Weng brothers is related to the stability of Wu's northeast beyond Laochao Hubei, it is not worth mentioning compared to the urgency of the battlefield on the Eastern Front, so let's take a look at the situation on the side of the Wu army and Feng Sanbao's department.

In addition to the Wu Chaoyue pro-military battalion, the southwest Wu army that followed Feng Sanbao's eastern expedition was more than 14,000 people, the strength was not too much, and the weapons and equipment were not small compared with the three elite corps under Wu Chaoyue's command, all equipped with firing pin guns were only four battalions directly under Feng Sanbao, and the number of artillery pieces was more than 300, but most of them were old-fashioned front-loading smoothbore guns, and there were only more than 40 rear-loading rifled guns, and the overall firepower was not small with the Cao Yanzhong Corps of the Wu Army, and the quality of the soldiers was not as good as the Cao Yanzhong Corps, which was dominated by the main combat soldiers of the Wu Army.

It is inferior to Cao Yanzhong's corps in all aspects, but the combat tasks that Feng Sanbao's corps must undertake are not easy, no matter what, they have to take Chizhou Fucheng and Tongling, the two important towns along the river, for the Wu army, and they must also take down or suppress the Taiping army that is inactive, and completely dredge the water transportation line of the Wu army, so that Cao Yanzhong's corps can rest assured and boldly draw the car on the Wuhu battlefield and annihilate the main forces of the Taiping army that returned to Nanjing.

If Feng Sanbao's corps fails to do this, then the Wu army's Cao Yanzhong corps that hangs alone on the Wuhu battlefield may face a supply crisis, and even if it can retreat in its entirety, the Wu army's strategic plan to threaten Nanjing and force the Taiping army to defend the western front will be completely bankrupt, and it will no longer be able to share the pressure on the Wu army in Shanghai, and it may also lead to the complete destruction of the Wu army in Shanghai.

Knowing that his responsibility is heavy, Feng Sanbao, who was originally cautious, acted even more carefully, passing through Dongliu, which had been taken by Wu Jun's sailors, even though he knew that the remnants of Huang Wenjin's Taiping Army who were originally stationed in Pengze had left Jiande and went to Chizhou, Feng Sanbao was still very careful to leave a thousand troops to garrison in Dongliu, fearing that Huang Wenjin would make a comeback and attack the dilapidated Dongliu town again, and threaten the Yangtze River channel again.

When passing through Anqing, although Feng Sanbao did not go ashore because of the urgency of the military situation, he still sent people to land to contact the Wu army who stayed in Anqing, and sent a meeting gift to get all the collected intelligence about the Taiping Army in Chizhou from the Wu army in Anqing, and studied with the military generals under his command to discuss the specific strategy of attacking Chizhou.

Feng Sanbao's former chief of staff Li Hanzhang has been appointed by Wu Chaoyue as the political envoy of Hunan, and did not go with the army, and the current replacement for this position is Li Hongzhang's fourth brother Li Hezhang, but Li Hezhang has always been reluctant to let people think that he can take up a high position because of the support of his two elder brothers, and he is even more afraid that Wu Chaoyue will leave him in the rear and miss the opportunity to become famous. So after Feng Sanbao arrived in Jiujiang, Li Hezhang avoided meeting Wu Chaoyue as much as possible, what he was afraid of was that Wu Chaoyue and Rory's eldest brother Li Hanzhang were not allowed to go to the front line, and he had been very low-key, deliberately refusing to let Wu Chaoyue notice him, or after Feng Sanbao led the army to the east, Li Hezhang jumped out to show his strength, and rushed to show himself everywhere, which would Feng Sanbao want the generals to speak freely about the tactics of attacking Chizhou. Of course, Li Hezhang was the first to unceremoniously stand up and strategize and point out the country.

“…… Chi Governor Mao took advantage of the complex terrain of mountains and rivers in the area of Guichi City, and built twelve camps in Chikou, Wushajia, Xuejiadun, Hejiawan, Qingxi Pagoda and Iron Buddha Temple, etc., on the surface, it seems that they want to hold on to the outer Guo and resist layer by layer, but in fact, I dare to conclude that Chi Governor Mao He Yunlong knows very well that these camps outside the city cannot be held for a long time, and no matter how many troops are stationed in the city, they will be sent to death in vain, and only by defending the city with all their strength can they hope to block the front of our rebellious army! ”

"He Yunlong left so many camps outside the city, the real purpose is not to force us to compete with him for the stronghold outside the city, but for the long-haired Huang Wenjin Department stationed in Qishan!"

With a bamboo pole to the position of Qishan with Huang Wenjin's banner on the sand table, Li Hezhang said confidently and loudly: "He Yunlong wants to squeeze the last drop of oil and water out of Huang Wenjin's department, so he deliberately left a number of camps outside the city to lead us to fight, and then he can take the opportunity to force Huang Wenjin to send troops to save his camp, use Huang Wenjin's remnants of the army to consume our troops, and take advantage of the fishermen!" ”

"If not, if our army only uses partial divisions to contain Huang Wenjin's department and the main force storms Chizhou City, then he He Yunlong will only have two ends, one is that he is gradually weakened by our army and forced to let Huang Wenjin enter the city, giving Huang Wenjin the opportunity to occupy the magpie's nest, and the other is that Chizhou City is broken by our army, and he He Yunlong is not as convenient as Huang Wenjin to escape. Therefore, for He Yunlong, the big hair, it is only in his best interest to let Huang Wenjin and us separate the winners and losers outside the city first, as long as we target He Yunlong's thoughts, we will definitely be able to receive miraculous results! ”

Listening to Li Hezhang's confident analysis, Feng Sanbao, Zhao Dechang, and Wu Zifa and other generals inevitably looked at each other a little, because the information provided by Anqing Wu Jun on the Chizhou Taiping Army did not mention the internal problems of the Taiping Army word by word, let alone the contradiction between He Yunlong and Huang Wenjin, the defenders of the Chizhou Taiping Army, so Feng Sanbao and others naturally did not dare to confidently conclude that there would be such a big gap between the two major armies of the Taiping Army on the battlefield in Chizhou as confidently as Li Hezhang.

Only Ding Baozhen, a famous foodie in the late Qing Dynasty, agreed with Li Hezhang's analysis, nodded and said: "Ji Quan Gao, the long-haired veteran Huang Wenjin has been famous for a long time, and his reputation is far above He Yunlong, a long-haired junior. Especially now that Huang Wenjin is a lost dog, there is no source of food, grass and military salaries, and he is anxious to find a place to stay, as long as He Yunlong has a little brain, he will definitely not easily let Huang Wenjin enter Chizhou City, and will only hope that Huang Wenjin and we will lose both outside the city, so that he can reap all the profits. ”

"That's where our opportunity lies!" Li Hezhang said loudly: "I propose to attack the heart and attack the city at the same time, while sending a letter to recruit He Yunlong and Huang Wenjin, and taking the opportunity to expand the contradictions between them, on the other hand, not to fall for He Yunlong's evil, ignore his traps outside the city, and take advantage of the opportunity that Changmao can't work together, quickly take Chizhou City with a thunderous momentum, and kill Chizhou Governor Mao by surprise." ”

After all, he was a famous minister in later generations, and after only thinking about it for a while, Ding Baozhen understood what Li Hezhang meant, and said: "Ji Quan, you said that you sent a letter to surrender and took the opportunity to divide the world, did you want to directly claim that Huang Wenjin's aid to Chizhou was to occupy the magpie's nest and swallow him He Yunlong's Chizhou territory?" pointed out He Yunlong's intentions in the letter to Huang Wenjin, so that Huang Wenjin knew that He Yunlong wanted to drain the oil and water from his body and force him to completely wipe out the army? ”

"Those who know me, Zhihuang also." Li Hezhang praised it, and said: "I dare to conclude that as long as these two letters are successfully delivered to He Yunlong and Huang Wenjin, the existing contradictions between them will definitely expand again, especially Huang Wenjin, seeing that we are not on He Yunlong's direct attack on the city, he will definitely not work hard to share the pressure for He Yunlong, but will only gloat and watch the tiger fight, and wait for us to force He Yunlong to beg him to enter the city for reinforcements." ”

"Takami." Ding Baozhen praised it again and said, "I was still wondering just now, Ji Quan, why did you propose to attack the city directly, and not consider breaking Huang Wenjin first?" Listening to your words, I understand that only attacking the city first is in our best interests, if we attack Huang Wenjin first, in addition to being in He Yunlong's arms, it is also possible to force Huang Wenjin to bow his head to He Yunlong, and turn the two strands into an iron plate. ”

"So it's best for us to attack the city first." Li Hezhang said with a heartfelt voice: "Let's attack the city first, in addition to the opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity of the long-haired discord, to break through the city before Chizhou opens the door and lets Huang Wenjin enter the city." Even if we can't do this, we can completely disrupt He Yunlong's wishful thinking, and let him beg Huang Wenjin, the guest army, to enter the city. ”

"Brilliant plan! Coup! Ding Baozhen applauded and praised: "Insight into people's hearts, according to the situation, admiration." ”

Ding Baozhen and Li Hezhang praised each other in a harmonious manner, but Feng Sanbao and Zhao Dechang and other generals next to them were dumbfounded, and they couldn't understand whether these two goods were talking about it? In the end, after listening to Li Hezhang and Ding Baozhen carefully explain the details of the specific tactical plan, and after carefully thinking about it for a long time, Feng Sanbao reluctantly nodded, and said with some lack of confidence: "Just fight according to the method you said." ”

…………

In the afternoon of the same day, the Wu army's fleet approached the Chizhou River section, and the naval fleet led by Xu Lai stepped forward to open the way, and frantically bombarded the Taiping army's Chikou fort position with intensive artillery fire. Feng Sanbao also sent small boats to carry elite soldiers to land on the beach, and cooperated with the artillery fire of the naval division to seize the Taiping army's fort.

During the fierce battle, Li Hezhang and Ding Baozhen expected, the main force of the Taiping Army He Yunlong in Chizhou really did not directly send troops to reinforce Chikou, and the Taiping Army Huang Wenjin Department stationed in the south of Chizhou City also obediently went around in a big circle, and ran from the Qishan camp in the south of the city to Chikou Town in the northwest corner of Chizhou to reinforce, but the strength was too great, and the Wu Army Naval Division only divided half of the artillery fire, so that the reinforcements sent by Huang Wenjin did not dare to enter the firing range half a step, and Feng Sanbao decisively increased his troops to the land battlefield, At close range, the grenadiers bombarded the Taiping army's open-air batteries one after another, and the defenders of the fort could not parry, and fled for their lives before sunset, and the reinforcements sent by Huang Wenjin saw that the situation was not good, so they had to quickly flee back to the Qishan position. The Wu army quickly repaired the improvised wharf at Chikou, allowing the main force to land and set up camp and establish an advance base.

The loss of the Chikou Fort did not surprise He Yunlong, who worshiped Tian'an in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, because He Yunlong knew very well what kind of quality he had arranged those cannons in Chikou, and he never expected to rely on the Chikou Fort to block the attack of the Wu army's water division. To He Yunlong's surprise, the Wu army's offensive was so sharp that it only took more than three hours to take the Chikou Fort, and the weakness and incompetence of the friendly Huang Wenjin Division, who was ordered to reinforce the Chikou Fort, did not play any role, and not even a single soldier was able to board the fort to fight.

Surprised, He Yunlong was still a little uneasy and asked the soldiers who had always reported the battle situation: "Do you have to be responsible for what you say, Huang Chengxuan's soldiers were really repelled by the demon soldiers without getting close to the Chikou Fort?" ”

"Back in Zhongtian'an, the villain didn't dare to lie, Huang Chengxuan's soldiers were indeed repelled by the demon soldiers before they could board the fort." The pro-soldiers who were ordered to go to the scene to watch the battle answered truthfully, and said: "But this can't be blamed on Huang Chengxuan's soldiers, the fire of the demon soldiers' steamers and artillery ships is too fierce, and the demon soldiers who landed on the shore have fast-firing demon cannons, and Huang Chengxuan's soldiers have been repulsed after rushing three times, and there are many casualties." ”

"Alright." He Yunlong interrupted his own soldiers impatiently, his face was also a little gloomy, and he snorted secretly: "The bullshit demon soldiers' artillery fire is too fierce, if you really rush to the fort desperately, is there a reason why you can't go up?" It's not that I want to preserve my strength, and I don't want to die more! ”

When it was slightly dark, Huang Wenjin, who was stationed in Qishan, sent an envoy into the city, and the old story was brought up again to persuade He Yunlong to shrink the defensive line, give up the doomed and useless outer camps, concentrate his troops in the city, and contend with the Wu army with the city fortifications. He Yunlong, who knew the purpose of Huang Wenjin's move, sneered in his heart, and said perfunctorily that he needed to think about it, and Fan Ruzeng, who was ordered to persuade him, was a little anxious, and said: "Zhongtianan, there is no time to think about it, you have to take advantage of the opportunity that the demon soldiers have not completely landed to quickly shrink the defense line, otherwise it will be too late." Our army stationed outside the city has little effect, and it can't stop the foreign guns and cannons of the demon soldiers at all, and only by defending the city with all our strength can we hope to stop the demon soldiers. ”

"No hurry, no hurry." He Yunlong didn't listen at all, he just shook his head, and asked with a frown: "General Fan, who are you who led the troops to save the Chikou Fort today?" Why did you fight like this, without a single soldier rushing to the fort to help the battle, you were directly beaten back by the demon soldiers? The battle is so ineffective, what did Huang Chengxuan give him? ”

Fan Ruzeng heard the dissatisfaction in He Yunlong's words, and suddenly felt a little unhappy in his heart, and said: "Back to Zhongtianan, it was our second general Huang Wenying who commanded the troops to save the Chikou Fort today, and he had done his best, but the demon soldiers' amphibious artillery fire was too fierce to rush to the Chikou Fort, so Huang Chengxuan didn't blame the second general." ”

He Yunlong's already somewhat ugly face became even more gloomy, and said: "Since it is the second general, then I have nothing to say, please ask General Fan to tell Huang Chengxuan that the enemy is now, and only by doing our best together can we hope to stop the demon soldiers and defend the city and land of my heavenly kingdom." ”

Knowing that He Yunlong was beating around the bush and accusing the self-army of not doing his best, Fan Ruzeng was even more unhappy in his heart, and seeing that He Yunlong refused to let go of his mouth and let the self-army enter the city and station, Fan Ruzeng was not in the mood to talk to He Yunlong again, so he got up and said goodbye after a few polite words, and at the same time he left, Fan Ruzeng also forgot to convey the information sent by Peng Ze's Taiping army - the information about how the Hukou Taiping army cracked the siege tactics of the Wu army.

However, He Yunlong is not a good thing, after spitting at Fan Ruzeng's back, the first thing He Yunlong considered was still how to force the rest of Huang Wenjin's army to charge into battle, and fight with Wu Jun outside the city to defeat both sides, so that He Yunlong, who was sitting in the city, could sit and reap the benefits. And under such circumstances, when the Wu army forced the Taiping army prisoners to bring the letter of persuasion back to Chizhou City and forwarded it to He Yunlong, although he knew that the Wu army was sowing discord, He Yunlong still strengthened his determination to never allow Huang Wenjin's soldiers to enter Chizhou City!

"The words of the demon soldiers actually make some sense, the reason why Huang Wenjin brought all his troops to reinforce Chizhou, the most critical reason is not how kind he Huang Wenjin is, it is that his Huang Wenjin's old nest Peng Ze has been served by the demon soldiers, there is no source of money and food and military salaries, the area of Jiande is poor and has no food, Huang Wenjin can only sit and wait to die if he stays there, only by taking this opportunity to come to Chizhou to force me to divide the territory to him, or swallow all my territory directly, it is the best policy for him Huang Wenjin." This is He Yunlong's true heart.

Huang Wenjin's reaction was even more fierce than Li Hezhang and Ding Baozhen's guesses, after Fan Ruzeng brought the negotiation with He Yunlong back to the Qishan camp, Huang Wenjin, who had long known what He Yunlong was thinking, was suddenly furious, smashed the table on the spot, and scolded He Yunlong for being uneasy and kind, and wanted to force himself to completely wipe out the army. Huang Wenying, who led the army to reinforce the Chikou Fort today, was even more furious, scolding that he wanted to rush into the city of Chizhou to find He Yunlong to seek justice, but fortunately, Huang Wenjin was quite calm, knowing that the enemy's current internal strife would only cheapen the enemy in vain, and drank Huang Wenying's impulse, but the generals of the Huang army were all indignant and extremely dissatisfied with the friendly troops in Chizhou.

With such a foundation in the past, when the injured and captured Huang Wenjin soldiers in the middle of the night sent the so-called letter of persuasion to Huang Wenjin, the letter naturally received twice the result with half the effort, and it was also seen at a glance that Wu Jun was suspected of sowing discord, but Huang Wenjin very much agreed with Wu Jun's analysis, and if he didn't fight his remaining army or fight hard to get his vitality bad, He Yunlong would definitely not let himself enter Chizhou City. Huang Wenying next to him also said angrily: "Brother, even the demon soldiers can see that He Yunlong wants to force us to fight with the demon soldiers, how can we fight this battle?" Do you really want to fight our last army for He Yunlong's ungrateful miscellaneous? ”

Huang Wenjin didn't speak, and after turning around the tent with his hands behind his back a few times, Huang Wenjin suddenly asked, "How is the situation with the wounded soldier who brought the letter back?" ”

"Ma An is interrogating him to see if he will come back to be a spy for the demon soldiers." Huang Wenying replied truthfully.

"Don't interrogate, treat him immediately and let him rest." Huang Wenjin commanded in a low voice: "You write another anonymous letter in the name of an anonymous person, saying that we are ready to leave Chizhou at any time, and we don't want to fight with the demon soldiers to the end, and tomorrow give the wounded soldier a little severance silver, and ask him to send it back to the demon soldiers." ”

"Brother, what do you want to do?" Huang Wenying was a little dumbfounded, she never expected that her brother, who had always been loyal to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, would make such a decision.

"Don't worry, your brother is not going to do something sorry for the kingdom of heaven, I am here to protect our army." Huang Wenjin said in a deep voice: "I did this to make the demon soldiers feel that we would not fight with them for He Yunlong, and we would be ready to withdraw at any time, and it was even possible to accept their surrender, and then the demon soldiers might choose to fight Chizhou City first." ”

"Brother's plan." Huang Wenying suddenly realized, and hurriedly said: "As long as the demon soldiers attack Chizhou City first, with his He Yunlong's ability, he will definitely not be able to parry, so he can only kowtow and beg us to enter the city to help him defend the city, and then we don't have to worry about anything." ”

Huang Wenjin nodded, sighed again, and said to himself: "If it weren't for the sake of our brothers dying in vain, I wouldn't want to do such a sorry conscience thing anyway." ”