Even Wu Chaoyue didn't expect that there were some people in the Wu army who did not approve of joining forces with the Taiping Army to launch the Northern Expedition, and even opposed to going north in advance of the Taiping Army - the reason, of course, was that he was worried that Yang Xiuqing would not believe his words, and deceived the Wu army and the Qing army to fight in full swing first, but he was slow to take advantage of the profits, and even took advantage of the opportunity of the Wu army's center of gravity to the north, and suddenly sent troops to attack the rear of the Wu army. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

It can't be said that these civil and military officials of the Wu army are unfounded, such similar examples abound in history, the most typical is that during the Three Kingdoms, Guan Erye fought with the Wei army in Fancheng upside down, the sun and the moon were gone, but Wu State treacherously attacked Guan Erye from behind and asked Guan Erye for his life.

And to make matters worse, the relationship between the Wu army and the Taiping army was undoubtedly much worse than that between Shu and Wu. At the same time, the Taiping army fleet assembled on the dock of Nanjing went upriver to attack Wuhan City, the old nest of the Wu army, which was several times easier than going north by sea to attack the capital.

Fortunately, Wu Chaoyue's character and conduct are no matter how bad they are, but he is never ambiguous in terms of right and wrong, not only did he not waver because of the dissuasion of his subordinates, but he also said directly at the military meeting: "Yes, there is a blood feud between us and Changmao, and they may take advantage of the opportunity of our big northward march to sneak attack our rear!" But have you considered another question? What will be the consequences if we refuse to join forces with the long-haired bandits? ”

"If we reject Yang Xiuqing's joint proposal, the first consequence is that Yang Xiuqing will give up the Northern Expedition plan, because he also has to be afraid that we will take the opportunity to sneak attack his rear, and he will also have to leave the main elite to guard against us. In this way, Yang Xiuqing and I are only concerned about guarding against each other, who would consider launching a large-scale Northern Expedition to deal a fatal blow to the chaotic party in the capital? ”

"Then the second consequence is that the chaotic party in the capital has a chance to breathe! You all know that Shi Dakai, a famous long-haired general, suffered a big defeat in Shandong, and the reason for the defeat was not only the serious decline in the quality of the soldiers of the long-haired army, but also the use of Russian weapons by the rebellious army in Shandong. In order to extort bamboo from the chaotic party in the capital, the Russian foreigners can help the chaotic party deal with Changmao, and of course they can also help the chaotic party deal with us! If we don't hurry up the Northern Expedition, when all the rebel armies are equipped with Russian weapons and have received military training from Russian foreigners, how much more difficult will it be for us to go north when the time comes? ”

"Also, if we don't join forces with Longhair and choose to be vigilant with Longhair, then there is no need for the chaotic party in the capital to sow discord, just because we have accumulated those blood feuds with Longhair before, there may be armed friction at any time, leading to a full-scale war between us and Longhair, what will be the consequences at that time, do you know in your hearts?"

"We joined forces with Changmao to go on the Northern Expedition and sent troops earlier than Changmao, not only for the great event of King Qin's rebellion, not only to let the rebellious army have no chance to breathe and recuperate, but also to feed Changmao and Yang Xiuqing a reassurance! Let them know our credibility, and the sincerity of our joint crusade against the rebellious party in the capital with them, so that they can rest assured that they will go north and fight to the death with the rebellious party army in Shandong Zhili! ”

Wu Chaoyue's persistence and stubbornness blocked the dissenting voices of his subordinates, and Wu Chaoyue's plan to divide the troops into two ways to the north was also forcibly finalized by Wu Chaoyue on the spot, but even so, someone still asked: "Dashuai, what if Changmao doesn't pay attention to morality and suddenly sends troops to attack our rear?" ”

"The soldiers will block, the water will cover the earth, and it will be hit." Wu Chaoyue replied lightly: "The big deal is that the war is on two fronts, Yang Xiuqing's control over the long-haired generals who are now commanding troops in other places is already weak, if he betrays his word and sneaks up on us, those long-haired generals who are almost about to become warlords will definitely be more reluctant to die for him, and it will be easier for us to fight." ”

Strategically stubborn to stubborn, tactically Wu Chaoyue is still very cautious, in order to prevent in case he still did not dare to use his direct corps and Huang Dasha's Daye Corps to go north, he chose to send Feng Sanbao's deputy Wu Jun Wu Old Man Huang Chongjing to lead the Hunan Wu Army north to Shanxi, to help Liu Kunyi go north to capture the entire territory of Shanxi, and the two armies of Li Xubin and Jiang Zhongji, who were too tired on the Yunnan-Guizhou battlefield, served as strategic reserves.

On the eastern front, in view of the fact that Zeng Guoquan's army had previously captured a large number of Russian arms, Wu Chaoyue did not send too many additional troops to Zeng Guoquan, but only transferred 2,000 people from the local army in Hubei to the north to help Zeng Guoquan strengthen reliable troops, and gave Zeng Guoquan an official position as acting governor of Henan, handed over the personnel appointment power of Henan to Zeng Guoquan, and asked Zeng Guoquan to appoint officials and recruit soldiers to expand the army in Henan, and asked Zeng Guoquan to break through the Yellow River defense line of the Qing army and enter Zhili to help the Taiping army share the pressure of the Northern Expedition.

On the other hand, Yang Xiuqing was also rapidly deploying troops to prepare for the Northern Expedition, and Shi Dakai was still the commander of the land division on land, but in view of the fact that Shi Dakai's main force had been hit hard before, Yang Xiuqing had to transfer Wei Jun, Zeng Lichang and Li Shixian from other battlefields to the north of Lunan to help Shi Dakai march north by land. At the same time, in order to deal with the Lizhi rifle of the Qing army in Shandong, Yang Xiuqing also gave a part of the shotpin gun, mini gun and flintlock gun bought at a high price to Shi Dakai to help Shi Dakai strengthen his strength.

In terms of sea routes, Yang Xiuqing could not personally lead the army north, nor was he worried about handing over the precious fleet to outsiders, so he gritted his teeth and handed over the responsibility of the commander to his second brother Yang Yuanqing, supplemented by Zhu Xikun, Yang Fuqing, Fan Liande, Lin Shaozhang, Zeng Yuxiu and Qiu Fuen and other veterans of the Taiping Army, and the main force of the battle was Yang Xiuqing's own elite lineage, which was not only loyal and reliable, but also mostly equipped with advanced weapons bought at high prices from foreigners.

Hong Renji had quite objections to Yang Xiuqing's arrangement on the sea route, and was very worried that Yang Yuanqing, who did not have much experience in commanding operations, would find it difficult to take up this heavy burden, and he also commanded Fan Liande, Zeng Yuxiu, Qiu Fuen, and other veterans of the Taiping Army, who had already been famous as early as the establishment of Yong'an, and suggested that Yang Xiuqing either personally lead the army to the north, or let Zhu Xikun, who became famous earlier and had a higher status when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was founded, be the commander.

It's a pity that Yang Xiuqing ignored Hong Renji's decision - it wasn't that Yang Xiuqing felt that Hong Renji was talking nonsense, but that Yang Xiuqing couldn't accept this suggestion. Therefore, Yang Xiuqing could only listen to the advice of the Spring Palace and Prime Minister Meng Deen, and handed over his saber and golden dragon knife to Yang Yuanqing, so that Yang Yuanqing could represent the reward and punishment at any time, so as to control the generals.

The result was not what Hong Renji expected, when Yang Xiuqing officially announced this decision, not to mention that the old people of the Taiping Army, such as Zhu Xikun and Fan Liande, who were highly qualified and qualified, had noses that were not noses and eyes, and even Yang Xiuqing's own brother Yang Fuqing frowned, neither optimistic about Yang Yuanqing's ability to command troops, nor willing to obey Yang Yuanqing's command, and Zhu Xikun and others were slightly colorful, but they were afraid of Yang Xiuqing's obscenity and did not dare to open their mouths to object.

"It's not good, the fleet I bought from the foreigners won't be wasted like this, right?" Hong Renji had such an ominous premonition in his heart.

It was not bad for Hong Renji, Yang Xiuqing did not recklessly send troops directly, but patiently waited for Wu Chaoyue to fulfill his promise to send troops to the Northern Expedition first. At the same time, after Wu Chaoyue took the initiative to send someone to send Wu Jun's plan to send troops, Yang Xiuqing was also a little dissatisfied with the scale of Wu Chaoyue's troops, and said: "Beyond the little demon, it is really treacherous, the east and west roads together only sent 12,000 troops, just such a small number of troops, how many Qing demons can be contained for this king?" ”

Hearing Yang Xiuqing's dissatisfaction and snorted coldly, the three brothers Yang Yuanqing, Yang Runqing and Yang Zhuanqing of course echoed and scolded Wu Chaoyue for being perfunctory and disrespectful. When Hong Renji was about to open his mouth to defend Wu Chaoyue, Meng Deen, who had never thought that he had become more and more trusted by Yang Xiuqing recently, spoke up first, and said respectfully: "Long live the East King, forgive your subordinates for reminding you, surpassing the little demon has always been expensive and inexpensive, and almost never invested more than 10,000 troops on a battlefield. Although he only sent 12,000 troops now, he had already deployed tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Henan and Shanxi, and the scale of his use of troops on the northern front was already unprecedented, so his subordinates dared to think that it was still very sincere to surpass the little demon this time. ”

Glancing at Meng Deen in surprise, Hong Renji gave him a helping voice: "Long live the king of the east, his subordinates also think that it is very sincere to surpass the little demon, the composition of his army is different from our heavenly army, the ratio of our army's soldiers to auxiliaries is six to one, but the ratio of his soldiers to auxiliaries is only three to one, he used more than 20,000 troops to fight on the northern front, which is actually equivalent to our 50,000 troops." ”

Seeing that the two cronies said so, Yang Xiuqing nodded and said: "Okay, since surpassing the little demon is still a little credible, then we can't be a traitor, give Shi Da an order to open the way, tell him to launch an attack as soon as possible, and join forces with the transcendent demon to contain the main force of the Qing demon, and create an opportunity for us to go north by sea." ”

…………

Wu Chaoyue and Yang Xiuqing were not confused in the major matter of joining hands to resist the Qing Dynasty, which of course pitted the poor Manchu court, and even before the Wu army and the Taiping army joined forces to launch an attack, just the news of the large-scale assembly of the Taiping army in southern Shandong and the large increase of troops by the Wu army in Huguang on the northern front had already made the Manchu court frightened and panicked all day.

Although the Manchu court did not kowtow and beg Russia to send troops, the Russian minister Ignatiev still took the initiative to make a large concession, no longer asking the Manchu court to cede a large territory such as Northeast China and Outer Mongolia, but only asking the Manchu court to cede a piece of northwest land before promising to continue military assistance, and also promised to dispatch the Russian Far East Fleet to help the Manchu court when the Taiping army went north by sea. He was ready to help the dying Manchu court survive this breath first, and then take the opportunity of sending troops to suppress the Taiping army and the Wu army to continue extortion.

Even so, the coup group in Beijing still did not dare to be careless, because even if Russia promised to help, in the case that the Trans-Siberian Railway had not yet been built, the Russian army and military aid thousands of miles away could not be quickly sent to the capital to give them a life, and the Manchu court had to rely on itself to survive the joint onslaught of the Wu army and the Taiping army, and then there was hope, otherwise, the Manchu court would be completely finished.

There are three armies that the Manchu court can barely rely on, one is the forbidden army in Beijing, the second is the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry and auxiliary infantry under the command of the monk Wangye, and the third is the Shandong Qing army led by Luo Bingzhang and Shengbao. Among them, the forbidden army in Beijing and the Qing army in Shandong could not move, and the only one that could be regarded as a strategic mobile team by the Manchu court was the monk army, so on the issue of how to use the army of the monk and the prince, the Manchu court quarreled all over the world, and the monk and the prince were enough to be in the limelight.

Some people think that the army of the monk and the prince should be left in Zhili, give priority to the protection of Zhili, and desperately resist the joint attack of the Wu army and the Taiping army; Some people also believe that the monks and princes should be invited to Shanxi to protect the last reliable source of money and grain for the Manchu Qing Dynasty; There are also people who think that the monk should be used as a firefighter, where the emergency should be rescued first, and then turn around to save other battlefields; Each has its own reason, and the quarrel has been turned upside down to no avail. And the monk and the prince are all over the place, and he has long regarded himself as the savior of the Qing Dynasty, and he is arrogant.

Ci'an, Cixi, and Devil Six are not good at military affairs, and of course they are at a loss in the face of various opinions, and they are at a loss at all. As a result, at the critical moment, Wu Chaoyue's old boss Guan Wen, who had returned to the rank of official, came up with a good idea - suggesting that Ci'an and Cixi ask Luo Bingzhang, the only remaining strategist of the Manchu court, for help and ask him what he thinks.

After adopting the official text's suggestion to Luo Bingzhang, Luo Bingzhang's reply was quickly sent back to the capital by the fast horse, and he also found the only correct strategic choice for Ci'an and Cixi and others at present - to prevent the Taiping army with all their might! Avoid the edge of Wu's army, exchange space for time, use the north-south depth of Shanxi to drag Wu Chaoyue, and wait for Russian aid to arrive.

"That's what Luo Lunmen thinks." The devil who first saw Luo Bingzhang's twist and turn explained: "Wu Chaoyue's rebel thieves are too sharp, and the Qing army is fighting with them, even if they win, they will inevitably be greatly injured, not only will it be difficult to prevent the follow-up reinforcements of Wu thieves, but even the long-haired army will be difficult to resist." ”

"Fortunately, the direction of Wu Chaoyue's troops is beneficial to us, if the Wu thief army moves north from the Kaifeng area, then we don't need to go all out to prevent it, just the Yellow River diversion formed by the Yellow River is enough to drag down the Wu thief's grain and grass supply. And if the Wu thief marches into Shanxi on a large scale, even if the officials and troops in Shanxi cannot resist it, just the north-south depth of Shanxi and the natural danger of the Bird Mouse Valley are enough to drag the Wu thief for a long time, so that the Qing court can wait for the military assistance of the Rakshasa Kingdom. ”

"Luo Qimen also believes that from the perspective of road geography, although the long-haired bandits pose the greatest threat to us, the long-haired bandits are neither as elite as the Wu thief army, nor as treacherous as Wu Chaoyue's rebel thieves.

"The long-haired bandits are the biggest threat to us is their fleet of steamships, but we don't need to fight with Longhair at sea, even if the long-haired steamers take down the Dagu mouth, they can only sail to the city of Tianjin at most, and then Longhair will be forced to land and fight, and our opportunity will come."

"Therefore, Luo Bingzhang suggested that the Wu thieves should adopt the delaying tactics of exchanging space for time, and the Shandong official army should make every effort to prevent the long-haired land division, and the army of the monk and the prince did not need to be mobilized, and still stationed in Zhili, and when the long-haired bandits went north from the sea, they avoided their front at sea and frustrated their sharpness on land, and then when the Rakshasa Far East Fleet went south to help the war, they would attack by sea and land, and completely annihilate the long-haired ones who went north by sea! In this way, after Gyeonggi is worry-free, the army of the monk and the prince can first save Shandong, help the Shandong official army to repel the land Changmao, and then concentrate all their efforts to deal with the invasion of the Wu thieves. ”

After listening to the explanation of Devil Six and repeatedly watching Luo Bingzhang's recital, Ci'an and Cixi, who don't understand military affairs, discussed in a low voice for a long time, and then had to sigh together and said: "Okay, a dead horse should be a live horse doctor, just follow Luo Aiqing's strategy." ”