After resting in Jiujiang for a night, after learning that the defeated fleet of the Qing and Russian coalition had fled into the inner lake of Poyang Lake, Wu Chaoyue did not rush to order troops to chase and kill, and chose to continue to investigate the specific situation of the enemy while continuing to rest and repair the fleet of steam gunboats that had been somewhat damaged in the pursuit battle. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Wu Chaoyue's decision of course made Wang Fu, Xu Lai, Bao Chao and other generals of the Wu Army Navy very puzzled, and they all asked: "Dashuai, why don't you chase and kill?" The Rebel Party Sailor and the Rakshasa Fleet have been greatly injured, and last night they were overshadowed by the long hair of the lake, how big is the loss, although our scout details have not yet been discovered, but it will definitely not be too small, we will send troops to chase and kill at this time, just to wipe out the remnants of the Rebel Party and the Rakshasas? ”

"There's no need for that." Wu Chaoyue replied very directly, and said with a smile: "The rebel party and the Rakshasa people have been greatly injured, and daring to land and attack the various cities along the coast of Poyang Lake is tantamount to looking for death, and there is no food, grass and ammunition to replenish, there is no dock to repair the warship, they will never stay in Poyang Lake and wait for death, and it is their only choice to break through and escape from the Yangtze River as soon as possible." ”

"So we don't have to waste our energy chasing and killing, just sit here and wait. When the rebels and Rakshasa people escape from Poyang Lake, they will definitely have to fight with the long hair at the mouth of the lake again, and if the breakthrough fails, they still have to flee back to Poyang Lake, and if they succeed in breaking through, they will definitely have to be weakened by the long hair of the lake mouth, and it is of course best for the long hair to agree with us to cross the border to chase and kill at that time. ”

"It doesn't matter if you don't agree, Peng Ze's Huang Wenjin, Anqing's Lin Fengxiang, and Jiangyin's Wu Ruxiao, these long-haired leaders who belong to Maokengshi will never miss this good opportunity to beat the water dogs, and we don't need to take action, we can still wipe out the remnants of the chaotic party and the Rakshasa people."

After listening to Wu Chaoyue's analysis, Wang Fu, Xu Lai and others suddenly realized, and hurriedly patted Wu Chaoyue, who liked to listen to flattery, and praised Wu Chaoyue's strategizing and winning a thousand miles. Only Bao Chao, who is not very good at flattery, was very sorry and said: "Although we can't get out of the chaos and the Rakshasa people are dead, but it's a pity that those steamers and sail battleships of the Rakshasa people, it would be good if we could grab two more of them, Brother Shuishi of Jiujiang, but these good ships have not been slandered for more than a day or two." ”

"It's a pity that there is no way, it's not so easy to grab it." Wu Chaoyue shrugged his shoulders and said, "Unless the Rakshasas can't resist and take the initiative to raise the white flag to surrender, or have the opportunity to fight a close battle to capture the ship, we can only sink those ships." ”

Bao Chao nodded helplessly, knowing that it was not easy to seize the ship, but he still regretted the loss of the precious warship, but at this time, the Wu army scout sent the preliminary detection of the losses of the Qing-Russian combined fleet in the night battle at Hukou, Wu Chaoyue didn't care much at first, but after taking the report and taking a cursory look at it, Wu Chaoyue's face changed a little, and he asked the scout in surprise: "Is the investigation clear?" Can you confirm that the Rakshasa convoy has been wiped out? ”

"Back to the big handsome, you can confirm it." The scout replied, "The Rakshasa transports were either burned or captured, and none of them escaped from the docks at the mouth of the lake. Now the long-haired people on the dock at the mouth of the lake are happy, and they are carrying the ammunition and weapons of the Rakshasa people to the shore, and there are singing voices everywhere. ”

Wu Chaoyue's eyes began to roll, and then he first waved his hand to let the scout go down to continue his investigation, and then turned to Dai Wenjie, who accompanied him, and ordered: "Mr. Wenjie, write a letter to Wu Quanmei for me, stating to him the benefits, pointing out that he is not only unable to protect himself now, but also has no hope of escaping from the Yangtze River, and persuades him to lead the rebel party sailors to surrender, and I promise to treat him and the sailors under his command preferentially." ”

Dai Wenjie agreed, and asked with some doubts: "Dashuai, why did you suddenly decide to persuade Wu Quanmei to surrender?" Wu Quanmei's loyalty to the rebellious party in the capital is not just ordinary, when we raised the army, he was alone in Wu Songkou, surrounded by us and Changmao, and he did not waver at all. ”

"One time, another time. At that time, he had the option of escaping back to the north by sea, but now. ”

Wu Chaoyue sneered and said: "The transport fleet is gone, even if the Rakshasa people and the rebellious sailors still have some ammunition and food stocks on the ship, they will definitely not be able to support it for long, there is absolutely no hope of breaking through the layers of interception of the downstream long hair, and continuing to break through is destined to only wipe out the whole army, only surrender and save their lives is their best choice." At this time, sending a letter to persuade you to surrender must have a lot of hope for success. ”

Dai Wenjie suddenly realized that he hurriedly picked up the pen and made a book. Wu Chaoyue also called in a Russian translator who had been hired in advance to write a letter to the current commander of the Tsarist fleet, also persuading the Tsarist fleet to surrender and promising to treat the Russian prisoners well under international law. At the end, Wu Chaoyue instructed Wang Fu and the others: "Wang Fu, change the plan, go and arrange for the sailor to prepare for sailing, and when I negotiate with Changmao, I will immediately enter Poyang Lake and force the rebel sailor and the Rakshasa to surrender." ”

…………

The reason why Wu Chaoyue wanted to negotiate with the Taiping Army was because he had made too big concessions when negotiating the division of the defense area, and in order to appease the Taiping Army who had been beaten all over the ground many times, Wu Chaoyue agreed to the conditions put forward by the Taiping Army, promising not to allow the Wu Army's steam gunboats to enter the north-south channel of Zhangjiazhou without the permission of the Taiping Army, and only the sail warships could freely enter and leave Poyang Lake under the supervision of the Taiping Army.

At that time, Wu Chaoyue's purpose of concession was of course to show his sincerity in turning enemies into friends with the Taiping Army, and to prove that he had no intention of sneaking up on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but Wu Chaoyue never expected that today's situation would occur, so he couldn't, Wu Chaoyue could only ask for the consent of the Taiping Army first.

Fortunately, when the envoy of the Wu army rushed to Hukou by boat to negotiate with the Taiping army, although Lin Qirong, who had a tough personality, was extremely reluctant to let the Wu army's steam fleet enter Poyang Lake, fortunately, Hu Dingwen, who commanded the Taiping army's naval division, pointed out to Lin Qirong in time that the Qing-Russian coalition army still had the strength to fight, and if it broke through the siege with all its might or counterattacked the Taiping army's naval division to take revenge, the Taiping army's Hukou naval division, which had not yet had time to digest the fruits of victory, would definitely suffer heavy losses. Therefore, Hu Dingwen strongly suggested that Lin Qirong agree to Wu Chaoyue's request and let Wu's sailors enter Poyang Lake to pursue and kill the remnants of the enemy, so that the Taiping sailors not only did not have to worry about their own safety, but also hoped to pick up some cheaper ones and capture a few more enemy ships that were left alone after defeat.

After listening to Hu Dingwen's statement, Lin Qirong also changed his words, nodded and agreed to let the Wu Junshui Division enter Poyang Lake to fight. The envoy of the Wu army was overjoyed, and hurriedly returned to Jiujiang by boat to report to Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue was also very happy when he heard it, and hurriedly boarded the Zeng Guofan and personally led the main force of the Wu army's naval division to Poyang Lake.

Because of Lin Qirong's permission, Wu Jun's sailors of course entered the Zhangjiazhou South Channel very smoothly, and also smoothly turned into the mouth of Poyang Lake, and gradually entered the inner lake of Poyang Lake. However, just when all the Wu army sailors turned into Poyang Lake, a fast boat rushed to the mouth of the lake, and the messenger on the boat held high the white flag and kept shaking, loudly asking to meet Wu Chaoyue.

Feeling strange, Wu Chaoyue of course immediately summoned the Taiping army envoy, but as soon as the Taiping army envoy met, he said to Wu Chaoyue: "Wu Dashuai, our Zhentianhou please withdraw your troops immediately and leave Poyang Lake." ”

"Why?" Wu Chaoyue asked suspiciously: "You Zhentianhou just promised to let us enter Poyang Lake, why are you driving us out now?" ”

"Because the remnants of the Qing Demon and the Rakshasa Water Division have surrendered to us." The envoy of the Taiping Army said triumphantly: "We only need to send troops to take over the fleet of the Rakshasa and the Qing Demons, there is no need to bother Wu Dashuai and your sailors to do it." ”

"The Rebel Sailors and the Rakshasas have surrendered to you? How can it be? Wu Chaoyue suspected that he had misheard.

"The envoy of the Qing Demon is now on the Hukou Wharf, if the marshal doesn't believe it, he can send someone to see it immediately." The Taiping envoy said triumphantly.

Wu Chaoyue looked the Taiping Army envoy up and down in surprise, and saw that his smug expression did not seem to be fake, Wu Chaoyue was inevitably even more puzzled in his heart, and said secretly: "How is it possible?" It is reasonable to say that the sailors of the Manchu court should surrender to me, who is still under the banner of the Manchu Dynasty? Also, the Russians should also give priority to surrendering to me? ”

Feeling that things were strange, Wu Chaoyue of course refused to leave Poyang Lake immediately, and after thinking about it for a while, Wu Chaoyue said to the Taiping army envoy: "Go back and tell Zhen Tianhou that Ben Shuai will withdraw his troops and leave Poyang Lake, but when to withdraw is up to me, and he has no right to ask Ben Shuai to leave ...... immediately." ”

"Marshal Wu, the Qing Demons and the Rakshasas have surrendered to us." The Taiping envoy hurriedly argued.

"What's the hurry? Listen to Ben Shuai finish speaking. Wu Chaoyue also interrupted the Taiping army envoy and said: "Don't worry, Ben Shuai is not rushing to accept the surrender of the fleet of the rebel party and the Rakshasas, Ben Shuai is just worried that their sudden surrender may be deceitful, and he wants to help you deter them." You can accept their surrender first, if they really surrender to you, the commander will not interfere, if they surrender by fraud, we can also annihilate them on the spot. ”

After listening to Wu Chaoyue's promise, the Taiping Army envoy was a little relieved and hurried back to report to Lin Qirong, while Wu Chaoyue continued to lead the army forward, searching for the remnants of the Qing and Russian coalition forces whose location is not yet known.

After another moment, only the two steam gunboats of the Hukou Taiping Army hurriedly left the port, and with a long whistle, they went south with maximum horsepower, quickly passing the Wu army fleet that was moving at a constant speed, and headed south with billowing black smoke. Seeing this scene, Wu Chaoyue was of course even more confused, and said suspiciously: "So urgent? Could it be that the rebels and the Rakshasas have really surrendered to Longhair? ”

"Young Master Sun, it's definitely a fraud!" Wu Dada, who was next to him, hurriedly said: "The chaotic party sailor and the long-haired master have been fighting fiercely for many years, and they have hatred for each other, and it is impossible for them to really fall. It must have been the rebel sailors who tricked Changmao into taking over their fleet, and then took the opportunity to make a surprise attack to avenge last night's blow. ”

"It's not very likely." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said: "The chaotic party sailor and the Rakshasa fleet are now at the end of the road, even if the sneak attack is successful, there is no hope of a reversal, sooner or later it will be a dead end, and the deception is destined to die even worse." Therefore, unless the Rebel Sailor and the Rakshasa Fleet are planning to die together with the Changmao Lake Mouth Sailor, it is absolutely impossible to surrender by fraud. ”

Wu Dadao was disappointed when he heard this, and Wang Fu next to him was also very disappointed, and said: "In this way, this time we ran for nothing." ”

"Run for nothing, run for nothing, last night the long hair also worked hard, this is the reward they deserve." Wu Chaoyue is very good at coaxing himself to be happy, and said: "Don't say it, in fact, it is the first time I have entered Poyang Lake, and it is not bad to visit the scenery." ”

After speaking, Wu Chaoyue suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly said: "By the way, my teacher Zeng Guofan died in the Gray Mountain on the east bank of Poyang Lake, and I have never been to the scene to pay tribute to him, the opportunity is rare, since we have no chance to force the rebel party and the Rakshasa people to surrender, let's go to the Gray Mountain for a trip, let me pay tribute to the teacher." ”

Wang Fu agreed, and hurriedly commanded the fleet to go straight to Gray Mountain, and at the same time sent someone to contact the Taiping Army clippers who were following and monitoring the Wu army's fleet, saying that Wu Chaoyue boarded the eastern shore of Poyang Lake controlled by the Taiping Army only to pay tribute to the teacher, and had no other intentions.

Holding the mentality of playing in the mountains and rivers all the way to the southeast, the gray mountain that has left the remains of the war soon appeared in front of Wu Chaoyue, thinking of all kinds of grievances and grievances with Zeng Guofan, Wu Chaoyue of course sighed, and couldn't help but leave a few crocodile tears, nostalgic for Zeng Guofan, who was actually killed by himself. At the end, Wu Chaoyue still looked at the gray mountain where Zeng Guofan was killed and muttered: "Teacher, your spirit in the sky, you must bless me to eradicate the ...... of the chaotic party in the capital as soon as possible." ”

"Boom! Bang! ”

Wu Chaoyue's silent prayer was interrupted by a sudden dull cannon sound in the distance, and when Wu Chaoyue turned back in surprise to search for the sound of artillery to help, he soon found that the sound of artillery came from the depths of the water surface of Poyang Lake in the southwest, and the sound of artillery was still continuous, and it seemed that a fierce battle was raging. Then, Wu Chaoyue was inevitably even more surprised and said, "Is it really a fraud?" My scum family, Wu Quanmei, who aided in abuse, can actually have the determination to die with Long Hair? ”

"Dashuai, what now?" Wang Fu hurriedly asked.

Wu Chaoyue thought about it for a while, and said with a smile: "Send a few sampans to see the situation, ask Longhair if he wants to help, take the opportunity to delay the time, let Longhair suffer more losses, and let them know what the end is when they rush to accept surrender." ”

Wang Fu smiled treacherously and immediately sent a sampan boat to the scene to contact the Taiping army, while Wu Chaoyue landed in a small boat according to the original plan, climbed the gray mountain under the protection of his own soldiers, and paid tribute with tears in the place where Zeng Guofan was killed, creating a hypocritical image of his respectful teacher and good son-in-law.

After the sacrifice of Zeng Guofan, when he returned to the flagship with tears in his eyes, it happened that the sampan sent by Wang Fu also returned to the main army, and he reported to Wu Chaoyue with his eyebrows: "Dashuai, the chaotic party sailor and the Rakshasa people really surrendered by fraud, and suddenly opened a cannon to attack the two steam cannon ships of Changmao, and directly seriously injured one, and the long-haired general Hu Dingwen, who led the team, has retreated, and asked us to help eliminate the remnants of the chaotic party and the Rakshasa people's fleet, and avenge them." ”

"Well deserved! Retribution! Wu Chaoyue was very gloating, and then ordered: "Order the whole army, open to the place where the cannon sounds, and annihilate the fleet of the rebel party and the Rakshasa people!" ”

Wang Fu received the order and immediately commanded the trumpeter to play the banner, and Dai Wenjie next to him asked: "Dashuai, do you want to send someone to send the letter of persuasion we prepared in advance?" ”

"There's no need for that." Wu Chaoyue yawned and said: "Wu Quanmei has already made up his mind to die, and he will definitely dare to yin us if he dares to have long hair, and sending a letter to persuade him to surrender will only give him a chance to yin us, so he can only fight directly and force them to lay down their arms and surrender." ”

So, in this way, the main force of the Wu Army's naval division was directly killed in the direction where the cannon sound came from, and when he found the remnants of the Qing Russian coalition army, which was already scarred, Wu Chaoyue also ordered loudly: "Order the whole army, prepare for battle, give me a hard blow, and send the chaotic party sailors and the Rakshasa fleet into the water to feed the fish!" ”

"Report to the commander, the enemy fleet has all raised the white flag!"

The sound of the report from the lookout interrupted Wang Fu's salute, Wu Chaoyue also frowned slightly, and then sneered and said, "You want to come and deceive this again?" Don't be fooled! ”

"Report to the commander, there are several small boats waving white flags to welcome our fleet!"

The lookout hand reported again, but Wu Chaoyue was still not fooled, and said with a sneer: "Continue to be vigilant, tie them up and let them get on the boat, dare to move, and kill them!" ”

Wang Fu received the order, and the result was very fast, several Qing army generals with their hands tied behind their backs and a Russian officer with their hands tied were escorted to Wu Chaoyue, and at the same time they were carried in front of Wu Chaoyue, and there was a long sack that kept twisting, Wu Chaoyue saw the strangeness, and hurriedly pointed to the sack and asked, "What is this?" ”

"Back to Dashuai, they said that there was Wen Xiang, the leader of the chaotic party, inside." The soldier of the Wu army in charge of the escort explained.

"Wen Xiang? How can it be?! ”

Wu Chaoyue was dumbfounded, and hurriedly ordered the sack to be opened, but after the rope was untied, a Manchu official with a rope tied in his mouth really came out, and Dai Wenjie next to him looked carefully, and immediately said to Wu Chaoyue: "Dashuai, it's really Wenxiang, I saw him when I was in the Huazhitai Shogunate." ”

Wu Chaoyue was even more dumbfounded, so he could only turn to the few Qing army generals who were tied with their hands behind their backs and asked, "...... are you?" ”

"The guilty generals Wu Quanmei, Ye Changchun, Li Delin, Wang Pengnian, knock on the generalissimo of the rebel army of the Great Qing Qin King, Wu Dashuai!"

Several Qing army generals knelt down on their knees while introducing themselves, and then said in unison: "The criminal generals can't distinguish between black and white, don't know right from wrong, are bullied by the chaotic party in the capital, help the chaotic party to abuse, and lead the army to infringe on the military prestige of Wu Dashuai. ”

When Wu Chaoyue was dumbfounded, the Russian officer was also screaming, and the interpreter next to him also hurriedly translated: "Marshal Wu, this Rakshasa man said that he is Colonel Gregory of the Russian Navy, and he is the current temporary commander of the Russian fleet, leading the Russian fleet to surrender to you, and asking you to treat him and his soldiers humanely in accordance with international law." ”

Wu Chaoyue was completely dumbfounded and muttered, "Am I dreaming?" What's wrong? ”

…………

There is another thing that must be explained, at the same time on the dock of Hukou, just learned that the Qing army's sailors had surrendered by fraud, causing a steam gunboat of the self-army to be seriously injured and sinking on the way back to Hukou, the angry Taiping Army general Lin Qirong in addition to personally sending Wenxiang to Hukou to ask Cao Jiugong to cut Cao Jiugong into pieces, and roared angrily:

"Send someone to contact the Transcendent Demon! Let's just say that no matter how he fights, no matter how many boats he grabs, as long as he hands over Wenxiang Lao Qing Demon to me, anything can be discussed! I just want that old Qing demon Wenxiang! Even if it's a corpse! Lao Tzu wants to chop this old demon into meat sauce little by little! Feed the dog! Feed the pigs! ”