Even if he didn't personally lead the army to fight, and he had financial management expert Yan Jingming to help take care of money and food, in fact, Wu Chaoyue has been busy, busy with civil affairs, busy with military, busy preparing for rebellion and actively preparing for war, and also busy with all kinds of ushers and send-offs. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

No, before the affairs of Hunan were sorted out, Du Xing'a, the governor of Hubei, ran to Wu Chaoyue's governor's yamen to ask for a meeting, and Wu Chaoyue, who already knew that Du Xing'a was actually fighting the Hu'er clan, did not dare to slack off, so he hurriedly greeted Du Xing'a in person, and welcomed Du Xing'a into the door with great fanfare.

Du Xing'a was ordered to lead the Xiangyang Naval Division eastward to reinforce the Jiangxi battlefield through the provincial capital, and came to visit Wu Chaoyue for two purposes, one is to have a good relationship with Wu Chaoyue, passing by the gate of Wu's house and not coming in to sit sorry for friends, and the second is to ask Wu Chaoyue for advice, and humbly ask Wu Chaoyue for Wu Chaoyue's strategic and tactical suggestions for the Xiangyang Naval Division's eastward aid to the Jiangxi battlefield.

"Brother Du, my only advice to you on this expedition to Jiangxi is to fight cautiously and not be greedy for merit."

is not disgusted or hostile to Du Xing'a, although he is somewhat secretive, Wu Chaoyue still gave Du Xing'a some correct advice, and said: "Why be cautious? Brother Du, don't think your brother is being polite, you may not be sure to defeat the main force of the long-haired sailor, even if you have the help of your brother's loyalty and benevolence, you don't dare to say that you have a chance of winning. ”

"Because the two large battalions in Jiangnan and Jiangbei were defeated together, the officers and troops in southern Jiangsu were left with only the Shanghai defenders and Wu Quanmei's red single fleet, and Changmao basically had no opponents in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, so the main force of Changmao's sailors has almost been arranged to Hukou, Pengze to Anqing. Therefore, any carelessness you make is actually a great risk, and there is no other way but to deal with it carefully. ”

"Compared with the long-haired sailors, we have the quality advantage and firepower advantage of the ships, but the long-haired sailors have the quantitative advantage of the ships, their main warship is light and flexible, and the cost is low, it can be said that we can't beat it no matter how we fight, we sink one of their small pullboats upstream, and they can make two or three in the downstream, so big brother Du, you must not take it lightly because you sink and burn hundreds or thousands of long-haired boats, it's useless, as long as the sailors can go back, Immediately you can drive more small pullboats and you continue to fight. Therefore, when fighting the long-haired sailors, your focus should not be on the ship of the long-haired sailors, but on the people. ”

After gushing, he introduced the combat characteristics of the Taiping Army Naval Division to Du Xing'a, and asked Du Xing'a to beware of the Taiping Army's naval division's ship-sea tactics, as well as rocket and fuel spray can burning ship tactics, and reminded Du Xing'a that the current wind direction is unfavorable to the Xiangyang Naval Division, Wu Chaoyue finally warned: "Brother Du, there is another thing you must be careful, brother, I sent out to make a detailed report, Changmao has bought some new gunpowder weapons from foreigners, and the arson effect of that thing is particularly good, and the water cannot be extinguished. Floating on the water can continue to burn, it is the nemesis of your sailor's big ship, and you must be careful when you encounter this kind of weapon. ”

Du Xing'a nodded, first solemnly thanked Wu Chaoyue for his guidance and reminder, and then frowned and said: "Listening to Brother Wu say so much, foolish brother, I am a little weak-hearted, it seems that this battle is much more difficult to fight than I imagined, I can only be careful and careful." ”

"Don't worry too much, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, if the situation is really wrong, as long as you give priority to saving people." Wu Chaoyue comforted: "It is difficult for sailors to practice boats, and I have brothers and I are in the rear, big brother, you lose a boat in front, and I will add two to you!" ”

Duxing laughed, and quickly thanked Wu Chaoyue for his kindness, and then asked: "Brother Wu, it's been more than half a year since you bought those two steamships, why are you reluctant to send them to the front to participate in the war?" If you can send these two steamers to help me, I will be much more confident this time. ”

"Big brother forgive me, I can send those two steamers to you in the future, but I must not send them now." Wu Chaoyue said very frankly: "The imperial court does not allow me to hire foreigners and sailors, and I don't worry about letting foreigners drive steamers to fight, so I can only use those two steamers to train soldiers, and repeatedly train sailors and gunners, so that they can completely learn how to operate and use steamships, and buy more and bigger steamers in the future and then send them out, so I must not send out those two small steamers now, and they can only be used for military training." ”

"It's still Brother Wu's long-term vision, it's still what you said, it's difficult for sailors to practice and build boats, if there is no boat, we can build and buy again, and if there is no one who can open a steamer, no matter how many boats there are, it is useless. That's okay, I won't borrow the steamer, Brother Wu, you can keep it for military training with peace of mind. ”

Duxing Ah is a cheerful person, and he directly agreed with Wu Chaoyue's attitude towards the two precious steam gunboats, and no longer asked to borrow them, but just raised his wine glass and chatted with Wu Chaoyue. As a result, it was only at this time that Wu Chaoyue seized the opportunity and asked Du Xing'a suspiciously: "Brother Du, why did you personally lead the army to Jiangxi this time?" You don't seem to have fought a water war before, and Henan to the north of Xiangyang is not too peaceful, so you can't do without your personal guard, how can Huazhitai let you personally lead the army out of the province? ”

Du Xing'a didn't answer immediately, he turned his wine glass and calculated for a moment, then looked left and right, Wu Chao's personal soldiers led by Wu Dadao understood, and they all left the room, and Du Xing'a said in a low voice: "Brother Wu, the flower system is also for the sake of prudence, so I let Brother Yu and I go out in person." On the Jiangxi battlefield, there are already more than 5,000 Hubei officers and soldiers, plus 3,000 Eyong stationed in Tianjia Town, and the ten battalion water divisions I newly brought, the Hubei officers and troops on the Jiujiang battlefield will soon exceed 13,000 people. ”

Wu Chaoyue was silent, only then did he know that Hua Shana no longer understood military affairs and let himself fool around, but he still looked at military power very closely, saying that he would not give himself the opportunity to indirectly control too much of the Huguang army.

"But Brother Wu, don't worry." Du Xing'a comforted: "I know that the Wuchang General Soldier Kingdom is your person, and I will take care of him for you." Also, in case of trouble, I will definitely discuss with Boss Yang, try to respect his opinion, and will not embarrass you. ”

Thanks to Du Xing'a for taking care of his henchmen, Wu Chaoyue casually asked about the situation in Xiangyang, and Du Xing'a introduced that he was in accordance with Huashana's requirements, leaving his right-hand man Deputy Dutong Shubao to sit in Xiangyang and take care of Xiangyang's soldiers and horses, and Nanyang Mansion in Henan, north of Xiangyang, is relatively peaceful, and there are no signs of danger for the time being, so he dares to rest assured that he is going eastward. Wu Chaoyue nodded in favor, but he was depressed in his heart, and said secretly: "Hua Lao Fox, ruthless enough, while letting Du Xing'a take charge of the military power of the eastern front, while continuing to use Du Xing'a's people to control the military power of the northern front, I won't drill any loopholes." In terms of playing with power, you are actually more difficult to deal with than official documents. ”

Playing with power, Wu Chaoyue is indeed some opponents who are not Hua Shana, and then he is obedient and caring for Wu Chaoyue, Hua Shana still does not bind Wu Chaoyue's hands and feet all the time, and always regards the military power very tightly, resulting in Wu Chaoyue's current direct control of the army, in fact, only his own Fubiao, Liu Kunyi's Zhuangzi battalion, Wang Guocai's troops and horses, and some E Yong, have no quality advantage, but they are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of quantity.

It's useless to be depressed, the governor is in charge of the army and the people, this is the rule of the Manchu court, unless Wu Chaoyue is sure that he can overturn Huashana and replace it, otherwise he can only accept this reality and wait patiently for the opportunity to appear.

Wu Chaoyue has always thought that the War of the Two Crows will be his opportunity, but unfortunately, because of the lack of troops, the British army has not done anything after attacking the city of Guangzhou twice, when will the War of the Two Crows break out in full force, and will it be like history, the Emperor Xianfeng will be driven to Rehe to kill rabbits, and the governors of the provinces will be fully relaxed, these Wu Chaoyue does not know, let alone dare to guarantee.

Wu Chaoyue, who was tied hand and foot, sighed for a long time, and Hua Shana, who was good at power, was secretly proud, but at this time, what Wu Chaoyue and Hua Shana did not expect was that a huge variable that caused the earthquake in Hubei suddenly appeared, which completely disrupted Hua Shana's wishful thinking and gave Wu Chaoyue the opportunity to profit from the chaos. And the origin of this huge variable actually came from Wu Chaoyue's sworn enemy, the monk Greenqin............

…………

The monk didn't know that he was about to give Wu Chaoyue a big gift with both hands, the monk only knew that Wu Chaoyue was hateful and even more hateful, and he also knew that his compatriot Hua Shana was sorry for him - they were all Mongolian nobles, Hua Shana dared to refuse his kindness, and dared to refuse to provide himself with the foreigner weapons that his sworn enemy Wu Chaoyue had! For this kind of Mongolian traitor who turns his elbow outward, the monk and the prince are sorry for the Mongols if they don't clean up, and they are even more sorry for themselves!

Du Xing'a, who had both courage and strategy, was transferred to Jiangxi to participate in the war, giving the monk the opportunity for revenge that the monk dreamed of, although Shu Muru Shubao, who succeeded Du Xing'a in Xiangyang, was also a general, and was considered a more competitive among the generally corrupt and degenerate banner generals, and he dared to fight relatively well. But the monk is very aware of Shu Bao's character flaws - too honest and honest, lacking tact, and not good at using his brain when he encounters problems.

Grasping the weakness of Shu Bao, the monk Wang Ye, who was intent on revenge, tried his best to drive Wang Guansan and other troops of the Twist Army who were operating in Runing to the south, and at the same time sent a letter to Shu Bao, asking Shu Bao to increase his troops in De'an, and fooled that he had surrounded Wang Guansan, Zhang Long and other Twist Army Liukou on three sides, as long as the Hubei Qing Army blocked the south again, it would be easy to annihilate these Liukou. As a result, the loyal and honest Shu Bao was really deceived, and in order to help the monk and the prince put down the rebellion, he sent all the mobile forces in his hands to De'an, and tightly deployed at the eastern end of the Tongbai Mountain Range, which was far away from Xiangyang, resulting in the more important Xiangyang Mansion defense line being even more empty.

Then, the strength is not enough to maintain the huge encirclement of the monk Wang Ye really made a mistake, the twist army Wang Guansan seized the opportunity to break through from the weak point of the Qing army's encirclement, and successfully broke through the westward into Nanyang Mansion and suddenly appeared in the north of Xiangyang, and then Zhang Long, Chen Daxi and other small forces of the twist army also followed Wang Guansan into Nanyang, and the strongest Wang Guansan took advantage of the weak strength of the Xiangyang Qing army to contain the Xiangyang Qing army with a feint, and the main force broke through the Zhenbei River defense line that Duxinga had painstakingly maintained for many years in one fell swoop. Entered the open hinterland of Hubei, quickly sacked more than a dozen wealthy markets south of Zaoyang, obtained a large amount of supplies, and then crossed the Dahong Mountain and entered Anlu Mansion, where the Qing army in Hubei was even more empty.

After the incident, the panicked Shu Bao hurriedly withdrew mobile forces from De'an Mansion to encircle it, but because the distance was too far, he failed to block Wang Guansan and other twisted troops in time to the north of Dahong Mountain, and the monk and the prince also took the opportunity to ask to lead the army into Hubei to fight, but fortunately, Shu Bao was not fooled again this time, but while personally leading the army to pursue, he sent someone to Huashana to report to Huashana.

Receiving this news, Hua Shana was shocked, of course, she hurriedly found Wu Chaoyue to discuss, and when she heard that the hinterland of Hubei was in an emergency, Wu Chaoyue was also frightened, and hurriedly asked: "How can this be?" The layout of the military gate in Xiangyang is very tight, how can so many twisted bandits be killed in the hinterland of Hubei? ”

Hua Shana, who was not good at military affairs, couldn't answer, so he could only hand Shu Bao's official document to Wu Chaoyue to watch, and then called the messenger sent by Shu Bao to Wu Chaoyue to inquire, and then after roughly understanding what had happened, Wu Chaoyue immediately burst into flames and roared angrily: "Trap! This is a trap set by Monk Greenqin! Our people are too honest, they fell for the monk Greenqin's plan to divert the tiger from the mountain, and the son of a bitch took the opportunity to put the twist into Hubei, and drove the wolf into the house to deliberately pit us! ”

"This matter was deliberately done by the monk and the prince?" Huashana asked in surprise.

"Of course he did it on purpose!" Wu Chaoyue replied angrily: "The terrain around Runing is open, no matter how many troops he has, it is impossible to fully encircle the bandits and bandits, as long as Shu Bao blocks the south, he will definitely be able to completely annihilate the bandits, it is completely nonsense, daydreaming!" ”

"He deceived Shu Bao to increase his troops in De'an purely to divert the tiger from the mountain, the purpose is to dilute our already small number of troops in Xiangyang, lengthen our battle line, and give the twist bandits a chance to take advantage of the situation, and then deliberately let go of the Yang Road to let the twist bandits flee west, Shu Bao was deceived to the east of the Tongbai Mountain Range, and the mobile force that Shu Bao was deceived to the east of the Tongbai Mountain Range will not have time to return to make up for the leak!"

After listening to Wu Chaoyue's analysis, and thinking of the past when he offended the monk and the prince, the muscles on Hua Shana's face couldn't help but twitch a little, and he rarely scolded a dirty word, "Dog mongrel!" The old man is worried about rescuing the neighboring provinces in Huguang, you stab the knife in the back to drive the wolf into the house, and the rivers and mountains of the Qing Dynasty will die in the hands of you despicable villains sooner or later! ”

After scolding, Hua Shana then remembered to ask Wu Chaoyue for advice, and Wu Chaoyue carefully calculated, but was soon surprised to find that the monk Wang Ye deliberately helped the Twist Army to flow into the hinterland of Hubei to do evil, although it would indeed bring a lot of losses to himself, but inadvertently, he helped himself countless times and gave himself a God-given opportunity to strengthen his grasp of Hubei! (To be continued.) )