Shi Dakai's urgent letter made Yang Xiuqing lose his temper, because he also launched an attack on the provincial capital controlled by the Qing army, and the Henan Wu army made a detour to attack Kaifeng, the provincial capital of Henan, and easily took and forced down seven or eight surrounding counties; The Taiping army was struggling on this side, it was extremely difficult to fight the two county seats, and it was frustrated one after another on the battlefield of Jinan, and finally Shi Dakai, who firmly supported Yang Xiuqing, simply said that he was not sure to take Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, and it was difficult to complete the task of forcing the main force of the Qing army of Zhili to go south to rescue. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The contrast is so stark, and the difference in the results is so huge, of course Yang Xiuqing felt that his face was feverish and his face was lost, and then he scolded Shi Dakai for being incompetent.

In the end, it was Hong Renji who said a fair word to Shi Dakai, pointing out that the key reason for the poor progress of the Taiping Army's Northern Expedition was not Shi Dakai's incompetence, but that the Manchu Qing court put its strategic focus on Shandong Zhili, Shi Dakai faced the Shandong Qing army with foreign guns and cannons and the Manchu cavalry with absolute mobility advantages, but the Henan Wu army was against the Henan Wu army that was still fighting with guns and arquebuses, and the difference between strength and weakness was huge, and it was not surprising that the Wu army performed better than the Taiping army on the battlefield of the Northern Expedition.

Thinking that Hong Renji's analysis made some sense, Yang Xiuqing's anger was suppressed a little, and he changed his words and asked Hou Yukuan, Fu Xuexian, Liu Shaoting and other cronies: "The Eight Thousand Years Old Wing King was blocked by the Qing Demon in Jinan, what should I do next, do you have an idea?" ”

"Long live the East King, His Majesty thinks that he should urge the Wing King Eight Thousand Years Old to attack with all his strength and take Jinan City at any cost."

Liu Shaoting, who was very trusted by Yang Xiuqing, took the lead in saying: "Only by doing this, can we force the main force of the Qing Demon in Zhili to go south to rescue Jinan, or prevent our Heavenly Kingdom army from continuing to go north, and then when our Heavenly Kingdom's sailors launch the Northern Expedition from the sea, we can grasp it to the maximum." ”

Li Junliang, Marquis of Yitian, Ji Chengzi and Hong Renji all had this view, and felt that Jinan should be taken at any cost to create a better opportunity for sending troops to the sea, but Hou Qianfang, the secretary of the Eastern Palace, raised a key question and said: "What if you still can't take it?" Please don't forget, in the second year of the Kingdom of Heaven, we besieged Changsha, that is, the old Qing demon Luo Bingzhang defended the city, so that we didn't fight for three months, and sacrificed the West King 6,000 years old, and the ability and ability of the Wing King 8,000 years old are far inferior to our East King Long live, Long Live the East King is not sure to break Luo Bingzhang, the old Qing demon who can defend the city, not to mention the Wing King 8,000 years old? ”

Hou Qianfang's admonition received a satisfactory effect, and while being praised by Hou Qianfang, Yang Xiuqing remembered the past when he fought against Luo Bingzhang without anger, and also nodded, and said: "What Hou Shangshu said makes sense, Luo Bingzhang, the city guarded by the old Qing demon, even this king does not dare to guarantee that it will be able to break through, let alone the Wing King?" ”

"Long live the East King is too modest, in fact, he couldn't take Changsha at that time, it was entirely because Long Live the East King You think it would be better to fight Wuchang first, so you let Luo Bingzhang Lao Qing Demon go, otherwise, if you continue to fight at that time, Luo Bingzhang's old Qing Demon's head would have been used as a night pot by the soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom. It's a pity that long live the East King, you can't leave Tianjing lightly now and come to Jinan to command the battle, otherwise our Heavenly Army will definitely have already set foot in Jinan City and capture Luo Bingzhang's old Qing Demon. ”

Meng Deen, who had recently joined Yang Xiuqing's henchman team by patting his sycophants, was as full of words as ever, and then said: "Your Majesty thinks that since the Winged King 8,000 years old is not sure to break through Jinan City, then we may not necessarily attack Jinan now, it is better to let the Wing King 8,000 years old follow the example of Prime Minister Li Cheng and Prime Minister Ji Cheng in the third year of the Heavenly Kingdom, and continue to lead the army to the north. ”

Not to mention, Meng Deen's proposal really made Yang Xiuqing's heart move, and he began to feel that the Northern Expedition tactics he had formulated before were too conservative? However, before Yang Xiuqing could carefully consider this risky strategy, Hong Renji had already preemptively objected: "No! It's too dangerous to do this, let the Wing King 8,000 years old stay away from the rear and go north alone, and if you are not careful, you will immediately repeat the mistake of Prime Minister Li Cheng and Prime Minister Ji Cheng's lone army in depth! ”

"Master Hong, Prime Minister Li Cheng and Prime Minister Ji failed before because they surpassed the little demon and stood on the side of the Qing Demon at that time." Meng Deen smiled and said: "Now the situation is different, the little demon is already on our side, do we still have to be afraid that he will send troops north from the sea to help the Qing demon in the capital?" ”

"Even if they didn't surpass the little demon last time, Prime Minister Li Cheng and Prime Minister Ji Cheng would definitely not succeed!"

Hong Renji said loudly: "When I was on an envoy to Wuchang, I once talked to the Transcendence Demon about that incident, and the Transcendence Demon told me that at that time, our Heavenly Kingdom army had actually reached the end of the strong crossbow, and the Qing Demon was besieged on all sides, and the Qing Demon in the capital was also ready to defend the city, and at the same time, the soldiers of our Heavenly Kingdom were not only exhausted, but also extremely unsuitable for the cold climate in the north, and the follow-up army of our Heavenly Kingdom could not pass through the blockade of the Qing Demon and rushed to Tianjin to reinforce Prime Minister Li Cheng, so even if the Beyond Demon did not send troops at that time, Prime Minister Li Cheng and they will never be able to break through the capital, on the contrary, they will be killed by the Qing demon sooner or later! ”

Speaking of this, Hong Renji paused for a moment, and then said: "Beyond the little demon also told me that he sent troops to Tianjin at that time, in fact, the real purpose was to help Prime Minister Li Cheng and them break through to the south, and he also used countless ingenious means to promote our Heavenly Army to break through, which saved our Prime Minister Li Cheng, Prime Minister Ji Cheng, and many loyal and brave soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom." ”

Everyone present laughed, including Yang Xiuqing, who was currently in the honeymoon period with Wu Chaoyue, couldn't help but laugh at Wu Chaoyue's shamelessness, brazenly boasted, and insisted on putting the credit for Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan's difficult breakthrough success on themselves.

After the ridicule, Meng Deen, who was arguing with Hong Renji, said again: "Master Hong, we don't care what the position of surpassing the little demon was at that time, even if what the transcendence demon said makes sense, but now the dangers he said still exist for the Wing King Eight Thousand Years Old?" ”

"He said that the cold climate is not good for Prime Minister Li and Prime Minister Ji? But now it's spring, and the Wing King 8,000 years old goes directly north to Zhili, do you still need to worry about not adapting to the cold weather in the north? ”

He said that Prime Minister Li Cheng They were the end of the strong crossbow, Li Cheng Prime Minister they sent troops from Pukou at that time, across Anhui, Henan and Shanxi provinces before entering Zhili, and then when they hit Tianjin, they should indeed be exhausted, the end of the strong crossbow. But the eight thousand years old of the Wing King is now sending troops from Jinan, crossing the Yellow River and crossing Dezhou to enter Zhili, and then hitting Tianjin to join our maritime army, isn't it much less difficult than Li Chengxiang and them? ”

"In the end, after meeting with our army sent by sea, do you still need to worry about the Wing King 8,000 years old and he is alone?"

Hong Renji was completely speechless, and Hou Qianfang, Li Junliang and others next to him were also moved by Meng Deen's remarks, and began to carefully consider Meng Deen's adventure proposal, and then soon found that Meng Deen's suggestion was risky, but it could avoid the problem of attacking Jinan Jiancheng, and at the same time, it also solved the problem of sending troops by sea without an army on land, and increased the certainty of capturing the capital. In addition, Shi Dakai bypassed Jinan and went north directly, and there was still a great hope that the Shandong Qing army would send troops to pursue and take the opportunity to kill the Shandong New Army, which was currently the most capable of fighting in the Qing army.

In fact, it was Yang Xiuqing who was most shaken, recalling the success and failure of Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan, and considering the danger of attacking the capital by sea alone, Yang Xiuqing also felt that the tactics he decided to slowly move up by land were too conservative, and began to plan to copy the successful experience of Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan in the Northern Expedition.

It's absolutely unbelievable to say it, for Meng Deen's suggestion, Yang Xiuqing's biggest concern at this moment is not the danger, but Yang Xiuqing's fear that Shi Dakai will be shocked after capturing the capital, and he will fight against himself in terms of momentum, and then lose control and cannot be restrained - this is by no means alarmist, and the current warlordization tendency of the Taiping Army is not ordinarily obvious. So after hesitating again and again, Yang Xiuqing didn't rush to adopt or reject Meng Deen's suggestion, but just said: "This matter is not in a hurry, King Rong Ben will think about it for a few days." ”

Everyone agreed, and then Hou Yukuan asked cautiously: "Long live the East King, the Eight Thousand Years Old Wing King asks you to take the right to kill Prime Minister Zeng and Wei Guozong, I don't know if you can agree?" ”

Yang Xiuqing's eyes suddenly lit up, because Yang Xiuqing suddenly thought that Shi Dakai could use his authority to restrain Wei Jun and Zeng Lichang and other foreign military leaders, and of course his precious brother Yang Yuanqing could also use his authority to restrain Shi Dakai. So Yang Xiuqing didn't think much about it, and shouted: "Give it to him!" Give the Wing King 8,000 years old a gold-handled Eastern King Command Banner, and if the land generals disobey the military order, the Wing King can take out the King's Order Flag and be executed on the spot! ”

In the next two days, the military genius Yang Xiuqing repeatedly deduced the tactics of Shi Da's army to abandon the grain route and go north, and it turned out that this tactic of coexistence of danger and opportunity was actually a gamble with silver yuan, and it was easy to say anything if the bet was won, but once the gamble was lost, the consequences would be unimaginable, and the Taiping army, which suffered heavy losses, would no longer have the strength to launch a large-scale northern expedition, and must be forced to turn to the defensive, and the strength was seriously frustrated, so Yang Xiuqing, who has always been decisive, was also rare and difficult to decide, and he couldn't make up his mind for a long time.

At this time, a letter from Wu Chaoyue was suddenly sent to Yang Xiuqing, on the letter, Wu Chaoyue first introduced the progress of the Northern Expedition of the Wu army, saying that the Wu army had successfully forced the landing of Jiangzhou, Shanxi and conquered Pingyang, and would soon march into Huozhou and fight with the Qing army for the control of the Bird Mouse Valley, and clearly told Yang Xiuqing that he had ordered the strategic reserve to be sent to Shanxi from the Yunnan-Guizhou battlefield, away from the current control of the Taiping army, and Huguang only left the power of self-protection, and did not set up offensive forces.

Then, Wu Chaoyue learned an important piece of information from Yang Xiuqing - Tsarist Russia had formally concluded a military alliance with the Manchu court, the guns and ammunition that Russia had assisted the Manchu court had floated on the sea to China, and the Russian army that was preparing to directly participate in the war was also coming to China from land.

In view of this situation, Wu Chaoyue naturally reminded Yang Xiuqing that the sooner he sent troops, the better, not to give the Manchu court the opportunity to obtain Russian military assistance to strengthen its strength, and to avoid the danger of storms that are prone to occur on the sea in summer. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue also suggested that Yang Xiuqing himself lead the fleet of the Taiping Army to the north by sea, so as not to prevent Yang Yuanqing Weide from being able to convince the people and affect the unity and cohesion of the Taiping Army.

In addition, Wu Chaoyue also kindly attached the intelligence of the Zhili Qing Army collected by the Hubei Intelligence Bureau to help Yang Xiuqing know the deployment and establishment of the Zhili Qing Army. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue also told Yang Xiuqing the information of the commander of the Qing army in Zhili, Seng Greenqin, so that Yang Xiuqing knew the character and temper of the monk and his promotion experience, and also let Yang Xiuqing know that the most beautiful battle of Bali Bridge in the life of the monk and the prince - more than 1,200 people were killed and 12 enemies were killed!

"More than 30,000 troops collapsed with 1,200 killed? Kill twelve? relied on reincarnation to become a prince, and relied on helping the Qing demon to carry out a coup d'état to control the military power? Qing Demon, this monk and prince, is really interesting! ”

After laughing, the doubts in Yang Xiuqing's heart were almost gone, and he finally made up his mind to adopt Meng Deen's suggestion, so that Shi Dakai gave up attacking Jinan and went north directly to Zhili, to clean up the monk and prince who was far easier to deal with than Luo Bingzhang, and joined forces with the Taiping army who went north from the sea to attack the capital and completely eliminate the Manchu court!

However, it is also a pity that Yang Xiuqing categorically rejected another well-intentioned suggestion of Wu Chaoyue, and decided to let his second brother Yang Yuanqing serve as the commander of the navy, and still did not plan to drive the expedition in person. - There are three reasons for this, one is that Yang Xiuqing is not at ease to let others sit in Nanjing for him to coordinate the overall situation; the second is that Yang Xiuqing is a little seasick, afraid that he will not be able to stand the turbulence at sea; The third is that Yang Xiuqing is used to enjoying happiness in Nanjing, and is reluctant to leave the horses, cars, brocade clothes and food, and dozens or hundreds of beautiful wives and concubines......

After finalizing this resolution, Yang Xiuqing made a secret confession to Yang Yuanqing, asking Yang Yuanqing to pay attention to preventing Shi Dakai from separating himself and becoming independent, and after breaking through the capital, he must let the army brought by Yang Yuanqing from Nanjing control the defense of Beijing. And when Yang Yuanqing asked about the question of mutual restraint after the meeting with Shi Da, Yang Xiuqing also replied without hesitation: "Of course you control him, I will give you the power to kill Shi Dakai's entire army, including Shi Dakai himself!" ”

On the eighth day of March in the first year of Qixiang, without any confidence in breaking through Jinan, after receiving Yang Xiuqing's order to change the tactics of the Northern Expedition, Shi Dakai, who liked to fight sports warfare, did not hesitate to do anything, immediately evacuated the Jinan battlefield, crossed the Yellow River in Pingyin, gave up the grain road and led more than 50,000 Taiping troops directly to the north, passing through Liaocheng and Linqing to kill Zhili.

On the same day, more than 16,000 elite Taiping troops led by Yang Yuanqing also sent troops directly from Nanjing, and under the protection of the long-standing Aspen fleet, they drove more than 400 large troop transport ships out of the mouth of the Yangtze River and slaughtered along the coastline to the Bohai Bay.

When the news spread, not only did China shake, but the Western powers also cared about it, saying that this would be a strategic decisive battle that would determine the fate of China, and that if the Taiping army won the Manchu Dynasty, the Manchu army would fall, and if the Manchu Qing army won the Taiping army, the Taiping army would inevitably weaken. After Wu Chaoyue heard the news, he was in a complicated mood......

"Yang Xiuqing, good brother, I'm sorry, I cheated you this time, deliberately instigating you to fight this decisive battle desperately."