On the water, our sailors will definitely not be able to defeat the fleets of the Qing Demons and Rakshasas, but if we fight a close battle on the shore, we may not be able to win this battle! -- This was the pre-war idea of Lin Qirong, the chief general of the Hukou Taiping Army. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Facts have proved that Lin Qirong's guess is not wrong at all, the suddenly killed Taiping army small detachment is like a swimming fish, flexible and rapid rush into the Qing Russian coalition fleet, while setting fire to the Qing army's sailor red single boat, while striving for the opportunity to fight with the Tsarist Russian warship in close quarters, one after another with hooks and ropes continuously thrown onto the Tsarist Russian warship, hooked the side of the ship to climb up, and grabbed the ship.

The same is true of the Taiping soldiers who were killed from the land, taking advantage of the cover of night and the eagerness of the Qing and Russian soldiers on land to return to the ship, the Taiping soldiers rushed to kill, while competing with the enemy for the gangplank on the ship, and on the other hand, they boarded the ship with hooks and ropes, and more Taiping soldiers fired rockets at the enemy ships a little farther away, threw oil bottles, set fire to the ships to create chaos for the Qing and Russian coalition forces, and helped the small boat pulling team to kill the enemy and grab the ship.

The excessive exhaustion seriously weakened the combat effectiveness and reaction speed of the Qing and Russian coalition forces, and many Qing Russian soldiers who were sleeping in the cabin had not even had time to go up to the deck to participate in the battle, and their boats had already caught fire, or Taiping soldiers had already appeared. In the case of hastily encountering the enemy, many Qing Russian soldiers were already chopped to death by the cold weapons of the Taiping soldiers before they even had time to fire a bullet.

The fleet of the Qing and Russian coalition forces, which was all at anchor and berthed, also gave the Taiping army a small pulling fleet room to play. If it was fighting in a state of motion on the water, then the Qing army's red single boat did not need to fire at all, and it could directly knock over the Taiping army's small pulling boat, which was too light and too small, just by colliding. The large warships of the Russian army can directly overturn the small boats of the Taiping army just by relying on the fluctuations of the current brought by them during sailing.

However, in the berthed state, the oversized Qing army's red single boat became a lamb to be slaughtered, and the Russian warship with a larger volume was even more anvil, and the light and flexible Taiping army's small pulling boat was interspersed with flying in the gaps under their ships, throwing ropes or setting fire to the ship when they had the opportunity, and running away if they didn't have the opportunity. In addition, it was a bad vision situation in the middle of the night, although the Qing Russian soldiers on the ship shot desperately, they still could not stop the flexible attack of the Taiping army's small boats, and they broke anchor and left the port.

Lin Qirong's hand of letting female soldiers dress up as ordinary women to deliver meals on the boat is definitely a stroke of genius, and it also plays the most critical role. But these Russian soldiers with obsessive and obscene faces never dreamed that in the blink of an eye, these charming and coquettish female soldiers of the Taiping Army would suddenly stab their chests and abdomen and backs, killing them by surprise. Many of the tall Tsarist soldiers howled and fell in pools of blood, and many of the Tsarist soldiers who were too tired and fell asleep on the deck did not even know what was going on, so they were stabbed to death in their sleep by the female soldiers of the Taiping Army.

The female soldiers of the Taiping Army not only killed people, but also destroyed the power facilities of the Russian warships, cut the cable and burned the sails, and smashed the tail rudder to impact the steam engine room.

The wharf area at the mouth of the lake was already in chaos, with shouts and killings on land and water, gunfire and cannon fire endlessly, rocket flames shuttling like weaving, and burning boats of all sizes, blazing the river, reflecting the river in red. However, it was a pity for the Qing-Russian coalition forces that they were at a disadvantage, and their ships could not quickly leave the port and offshore, and they could only be beaten and unable to fight back when they stopped at the shore dock.

Relying on unremitting efforts, some relatively light and flexible Qing army red single boats finally escaped to the open water and avoided the Taiping army's near-board attack, but these Qing army red single boats with strong firepower were dumbfounded to find that they dared to open artillery to bombard the enemy on the shore, because once the cannon was fired, it was possible to hit the self-army ships that had not escaped from the dock at any time.

These Qing army red single boats that fled to the open water actually had a chance to fight, and it didn't take much time for the main force of the Taiping Army Naval Division, which had falsely claimed to be going to intercept the Wu Army's water division, also returned to the Hukou battlefield, and these Qing army red single boats could completely come forward to meet the battle. It's a pity that these Qing army red single boats don't have this courage, because although the strength of the sailors of the Hukou Taiping Army is not strong, they have two small steam gunboats with a displacement of more than 600 tons, which have an absolute advantage in both tonnage and speed, and they can't take advantage of any advantage in fighting. Therefore, these Qing army red single boats could only fire at the main force of the Taiping Army's naval division from a distance, and did not dare to rush to the front to intercept it head-on.

The Taiping Navy had only two steam gunboats and a few towboats that chose to fight on the periphery, constantly firing at enemy ships trying to escape from the dock - the Taiping army was not afraid of accidental injury. The sampan fleet, which was as mobile and flexible as the small puller, rushed to the dock without hesitation, attacked the steam gunboats of the Tsarist Russian army with all their might, rushed to board the ship, and helped the sailors and women to fight for control of the enemy ship, which also completely sounded the death knell of the Russian steam gunboats.

In the fierce battle on the ship, the muskets of the Russian soldiers once had a certain advantage, but their rifles in their hands could only fire one bullet, and then they had to rely on bayonets. As a result, it naturally gave the Taiping soldiers who were good at close combat the opportunity to strike long and short, and the Russian soldiers were cut down and chopped down one after another, and the deck positions continued to fall, and they were forced to retreat into the cabin to defend it, and the Taiping soldiers were naturally not in a hurry to attack the cabin, but just held the deck to control the sail rudder, but the enemy had the opportunity to escape from the port.

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At the same time, Wu Chaoyue, who was in Jiujiang City, also received an urgent report from the scouts and learned about the Taiping Army's sneak attack on the Qing-Russian combined fleet. Surprised by Lin Qirong's wisdom and bravery, Wu Chaoyue once planned to send troops to help the Taiping Army, but after thinking about it, Wu Chaoyue gave up this idea, shook his head and said to himself: "No, Lin Qirong's long-haired leader will definitely misunderstand, suspecting that I want to beat the rabbit with grass and kill him, maybe he will divide his troops to prevent me, and mistakenly let him do Lao Maozi's big things." It's better not to send troops and let him do it. ”

After saying that, Wu Chaoyue couldn't help but sigh again, "It's a pity, why can't such a wise and loyal general be used by me?" ”

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Wu Chaoyue's decision not to send troops did help the Taiping army, Lin Qirong, who had always paid attention to the reaction of the Wu army, did not have to worry about the Wu army's sneak attack, but was more bold to use all his forces on the dock battlefield, and confidently and boldly commanded the army to attack with all his might, set fire to the ship and rob the ship, and once went to the front line to boost morale, calling on the soldiers on land and water to fight bravely, seize the ship and narrow the growing gap in strength in front of the Wu army's sailors.

In the end, two of the steam cannon ships of the Russian fleet, including the flagship, escaped the pursuit of the Taiping army, and four sail battleships that were not taken care of were lucky to escape, and the remaining steam ships and sail warships were all captured by the Taiping army, and the bulky and unarmed transport ships were either captured or burned, and all the troops were destroyed, and none of them were able to escape from the Hukou wharf. The losses of the Qing army's sailors were slightly smaller, but six red boats were still set on fire by the Taipings, and one was seriously wounded.

After the defeat, the Qing-Russian coalition army was forced to flee into the open water in the depths of Poyang Lake in order to get rid of the close-port battle, and then it was still at dawn the next day, when the Taiping army's boats could no longer easily approach the Qing-Russian combined fleet, Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei, who were a little frightened, went up to the Russian flagship to visit the acting commander of the Russian army, Menchekov, who was seriously injured by the assassination.

The knife that Lin Qinan slashed at Menchekov's neck unfortunately did not cut the carotid artery, but cut Menchekov's trachea, so Menchekov couldn't speak, so he could only make gestures to let the adjutant understand what he meant, and asked the adjutant to say to Wen Xiang through an interpreter: "Wen Zhongtang, Mr. General Menchekov believes that we have no hope of escaping the Yangtze River, and now our best choice is to surrender." ”

"Surrender? Why surrender? Wen Xiang exclaimed: "We still have two steamers and four sail battleships, and we can beat the long hair at the mouth of the lake?" Why surrender? ”

"We don't have much ammunition left, and we don't have enough coal." The adjutant replied directly: "Our transport ships have all been captured by the Taiping army, and without ammunition and coal supplies, we have no hope of breaking through the layers of blockade of the Taiping army in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and we are doomed to be completely annihilated." Moreover, Wu Chaoyue's rebel fleet may still send troops to pursue, and we will not be their opponents at that time. ”

Wen Xiang was speechless, and Wu Quanmei was also depressed - because Wu Quanmei knew very well that the Qing army's naval divisions, which had suffered heavy losses in successive battles, were also unable to break through the layers of blockade of the Taiping army and escape from the Yangtze River back to the sea.

"Also, we hope to surrender to Wu Chaoyue's rebels." Menchekov's adjutant added: "Wu Chaoyue's rebels are much more civilized than the Taiping army, and after we surrender, we can be protected by public international law and treated humanely, but the Taiping army is different, they are both despicable and barbaric, and it is very likely that they will kill our soldiers at will." ”

Wen Xiang's face was embarrassed, and he first asked Wu Quanmei in a low voice if he could escape from the Yangtze River with confidence, and after getting a negative answer, Wen Xiang hesitated for a long time, and actually said: "General Menchekov, if you really want to surrender, I think you must not surrender to Wu Chaoyue, the traitor, but only to the Taiping army?" ”

"Why?" Adjutant asked Menchekov.

"Because Wu surpasses that traitor, in fact, he is more savage and rude." Wen Xiang described: "When he rebelled, he attacked Jingzhou City in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the banner people in Jingzhou City had already opened the city and surrendered, but he still barbarously ordered the slaughter of the city, not only killing all the soldiers, but also killing all the bannermen, women and children in the city. So if you go beyond Wu and the traitor, you may be more likely to be slaughtered by Wu Chao. ”

"Is there such a thing?" The adjutant asked in surprise.

"Absolutely." Wen Xiang nodded hurriedly, and then said: "If you don't believe it, you can ask Tong Yi and Wu Quanmei, as well as any soldier in our army, did Wu Chaoyue slaughter the banner soldiers and people in Jingzhou?" ”

In order to pour dirty water on Wu Chaoyue, the Manchu court of course imposed the charge of Jingzhou Massacre on Wu Chaoyue's head in the propaganda, and the interpreter who was brainwashed by the Manchu court's propaganda and Wu Quanmei naturally testified immediately, as a result, Menchekov and his adjutant were inevitably a little hesitant, worried that Wu Chaoyue was not as civilized as propagated by Britain, France, the United States and other countries, and raised a butcher's knife against them who surrendered voluntarily.

Seeing that the lie worked, Wen Xiang hurriedly said: "Also, I think that in fact, it is the best choice for us to surrender to the Taiping Army, although the Taiping Army shamelessly attacked us, but looking at their tactics, it is obvious that they are coming at our ship, not to destroy our army, as long as we propose to exchange the war ship for freedom, let the Taiping Army promise to let us go back, the Taiping Army will definitely agree." ”

Surrendering Wu Chaoyue would definitely not be able to save the warship, so Menchekov, who was already dying, hesitated for a long time, but for the sake of the lives of his subordinate soldiers, he still gestured and agreed to surrender to the Taiping army. Wen Xiang was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly agreed to send someone to negotiate with the Taiping army first, preparing to negotiate with the Taiping army first and then hand over the fleet to surrender.

It was also when it was time to leave the flagship of the Russian army that Wu Quanmei asked Wen Xiang: "Wen Zhongtang, why do you insist on surrendering to Changmao?" It is true that Wu Chaoyue slaughtered the city once in Jingzhou, but he also did it once, and the prisoners of war captured later were either absorbed or released, in comparison, or Changmao was more ruthless to us? ”

"You know what?" Wen Xiang reprimanded, and commanded irrefutably: "You are responsible for appeasing the generals and preparing them to surrender to Changmao, and I will arrange for the messenger to contact Changmao." ”

After that, Wen Xiang went straight back to his ship, although Wu Quanmei was suspicious, he still carried out Wen Xiang's order, and after returning to the flagship, he gathered all the generals under his command and informed everyone of the current situation, as well as the decision that Wen Xiang and the Tsarist Russian army planned to surrender to the Taiping Army to save their lives.

As a result, the generals of the Qing army were also puzzled when they heard this, and they all said: "Why do you want to surrender to Changmao? Although Wu Chaoyue rebelled, he raised troops to fight the side banner of the Qing monarch, and still recognized him as a courtier of the Qing Dynasty, and I heard that the treatment of prisoners was not bad, since he wanted to surrender, why didn't he surrender to Wu Chaoyue? ”

"Wu Chaoyue has only slaughtered the city once in Jingzhou, how many cities has Changmao slaughtered? And how many prisoners of war were killed? Do you want us to join their worship of God? ”

Faced with the questions of the generals, Wu Quanmei was very helpless, so he could only spread his hands and said: "I also asked Wen Zhongtang this question, but Wen Zhongtang still scolded me for what I know?" Refusal to be careful about the reasons. ”

"I know why." Among the generals of the Qing army, Wang Pengnian's voice suddenly sounded again, and he said coldly: "The reason is that Wu surpassed the text of raising troops, and because of that text, Wen Zhongtang would rather surrender to Changmao than surrender to Wu Chaoyue." ”

"Because of that soldier's letter? What do you mean? Wu Quanmei hurriedly asked.

"In that article, in addition to accusing the empress dowager of the two palaces of sabotaging the harem of the Qing Dynasty ancestral system, Wu Chaoyue also listed the seven chaotic ministers and thieves, one of which is Wen Xiangwen Zhongtang."

Wang Pengnian said lightly: "How important is it to raise troops? Since Wen Zhongtang is among them, even if he takes the initiative to surrender, Wu Chaoyue must kill him, otherwise, wouldn't his army raising document become a dead letter? Therefore, for Wen Zhongtang, surrendering to Wu Chaoyue must be a dead end, and only by surrendering to Changmao can he save his life. ”

Wu Quanmei and the generals of the Qing army suddenly realized, and they immediately scolded, "Old thing, for the sake of his own life, he would rather let us risk surrendering to Changmao than let us surrender to the more reliable Wu Chaoyue." ”

"I don't want to surrender to Longhair anyway." Wang Pengnian said again: "I'd rather die with Changmao, than I want to use Changmao as a cow and make a horse and let them slaughter." ”

"I'd rather surrender to Wu Chaoyue than to surrender to Long Hair!" There are also Qing army generals who said: "In this battle, Wu Chaoyue obviously showed mercy to our subordinates several times, and only by surrendering him can we have more hope of survival." ”

Coach Wu Quanmei was silent, but remembered one thing, he and Wu Chaoyue are not only fellow countrymen, but also have the same surname.