With two sentry posts and thirty personal soldiers risking out of the city to meet the Taiping army, Wu Chaoyue was mentally prepared for a vicious battle early on, but when the bayonet was really red, Wu Chaoyue found that he still underestimated the strong combat effectiveness of some Taiping soldiers, as well as the courage and fighting spirit of forgetting death.

In the face of the three-dimensional attack on the upper and lower parts of the city of the Shence Gate defenders, the soldiers of the Taiping Army who encountered the high-firing rate firing needle gun for the first time were of course suffering heavy casualties, and less than 400 of the 500 people were able to rush to the front of the Wu army's Lianyong bayonet formation to engage in hand-to-hand combat, and at the same time, they also had to face the sneak attack of the revolver of Wu Chaoyue's personal army. But even so, the Taiping soldiers still almost broke the bayonet formation of Wu Jun Lianyong, with rich combat experience, slashing and axe, Wu Jun Lianyong was killed and wounded, and although Wu Jun Lianyong received strict training, his physical fitness was also very good, but he suffered from lack of experience, and was obviously not adaptable enough in the hand-to-hand combat battlefield that was faster than ruthless, and was killed by the Taiping Army at a loss, and faced collapse several times, if it weren't for Wu Chaoyue's personal soldiers were all equipped with revolvers suitable for close combat, and they continued to shoot to fill the gaps and plug the leaks. Wu Jun's bayonet formation will definitely not be able to support it for a long time.

At the critical moment, the knife of the Taiping Army almost cut Wu Chaoyue's thin face, but the soldiers were quick and pushed Wu Chaoyue to dodge the knife in time, otherwise Wu Chaoyue would definitely be full of evil. But after pushing Wu Chaoyue away, the brave soldier was cut by the Taiping soldier with a backhand knife and his neck was ruptured, and Wu Chaoyue became Wu Chaoyue's substitute ghost.

But then again, although the inexperienced Wu Jun Lian Yong fought very hard, he also beat the Taiping soldiers on the opposite side secretly frightened, and he didn't understand when such a strong force appeared on the Qing army's side, and the weapons and equipment were so outrageous that they dared to fight with the Taiping army in a bloody white-knuckle battle, and they were able to fight hard without defeat, and they also caused a lot of casualties to the Taiping soldiers. Since the Taiping army left Guangxi, it has never encountered such a tenacious and fierce enemy.

With the continuation of white-knuckle warfare, after gradually adapting to this kind of high-intensity and high-speed hand-to-hand combat, Wu Jun's training advantages and equipment advantages were gradually reflected, and the soldiers began to be able to block and stab according to the proficiency of ordinary training, and Wu Chaoyue's personal soldiers, who were equipped with revolvers, were also able to shoot and sneak attack to help their companions eliminate the enemy. So while fighting, Wu Jun Lian Yong not only gradually brought the battle back to the balance of power, but also slowly began to gain the upper hand.

Finding that the situation was wrong, when the casualties were already quite heavy, Shi Shaoheng had to issue a retreat order, and took his soldiers to fight and retreat, and gradually retreated back to the seriously silted moat, and then turned around and fled quickly to the opposite bank. Here, Wu Chaoyue also learned the lessons of the battle in Qingpu, and no longer recklessly ordered to charge and pursue, ordered the soldiers to reload and shoot while forming a team, relying on the advantage of weapons to expand the results, and successfully killed a lot of Taiping soldiers who failed to escape into the bunker in time, and then observed the battlefield situation to decide whether to pursue, and when he saw another Taiping army in the distance with torches to answer, Wu Chaoyue, who had not many troops in his hands, did not dare to fight any further, and quickly asked Lian Yong to clean up the battlefield and withdraw to the city with wounded soldiers and dead soldiers.

According to statistics after the war, Wu Jun Lian Yong lost 29 casualties, 5 were seriously wounded, and more than 60 were slightly wounded, and more than 30 firing pin guns and two revolvers were also lost or damaged. However, the losses of the Taiping army were obviously greater, and only on the battlefield under the city, Wu Jun Lian Yong cut off more than 80 heads of the Taiping army's fallen soldiers, and many enemy heads who died in the moat and on the opposite bank did not have time to harvest. So as soon as they met after retreating to the city, Wu Chaoyue was immediately hugged by Geng Huan, the guard of the Shence Gate, and said excitedly: "Brother Wu, amazing, amazing!" With you, I can rest assured, and with you at the Shence Gate, I can finally sleep with my eyes closed. ”

Struggling out of Geng Huan's bear hug, Wu Chaoyue shook his head with a wry smile, and said weakly: "Brother Geng has won the award, and Long Hair is really worthy of his reputation, and if there is such a situation in the future, I may not have the courage to go out of the city with Lian Yong and fight with Long Hair with bayonets." ”

Exhausted, Wu Chaoyue suddenly found that his left arm did not know when there was a bloody wound, although the wound was not deep, it was no longer bleeding, Wu Chaoyue still howled like killing a pig, "I'm injured!" Wu Competition, Wu Competition, come and give me medicine, come and bandage my wounds, I'm injured! Hurt! ”

After Wu Dada, who stayed in the city to shoot coldly, came to bandage Wu Chaoyue's wounds, the sky was already twilight, and Geng Huan couldn't wait to send someone to Lu Jianying and Xianghou to win. And when it was dawn, Qi Suzao, the most conscientious Manchu official in Jiangning City, first rushed to the Shence Gate in a sedan chair, and walked up to the Shence Gate with the support of his entourage, and then saw the corpses of the Taiping Army under the city, Qi Suzao, who vomited blood and fell into a coma more than a day ago, immediately swept away the sick look on his face, and he hugged Wu Chaoyue with the same handful, and he was so excited that he choked up, "Young hero, young hero, there is Wu in charge of you, the young hero, who is sitting in Jiangning City, and the official is worry-free!" ”

When Wu Chaoyue smiled bitterly and was modest, a fast horse rushed to the Shence Gate, and immediately the messenger rushed directly to the Shence Gate Tower, and shouted to Qi Suzao before he could salute: "Qi Fantai, the big thing is not good, the main force of the long-haired sailor has arrived at Dasheng Pass!" Lu Zhitai tells you to hurry up and go to Jubaomen! ”

Hearing this news, Qi Suzao's face turned pale, and he hurriedly went down to the city and went straight to Jubaomen, Wu Chaoyue was also a little worried, and said secretly: "The main force of the Taiping Army has arrived, should Lu Jianying, that old immortal, transfer me to the main battlefield of Jubaomen to face the battle?" Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, you must not withdraw the troops from the Shence Gate, otherwise I will have no excuse to excuse myself. ”

…………

Wu Chaoyue was purely worried in vain, after Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing rushed to the Jiangning battlefield with the main force of the Taiping Army, at ten o'clock in the afternoon, Li Kaifang, the vanguard of the Taiping Army, went to visit, and just after basically introducing the previous situation, he immediately asked to lead the army to move to Shence Gate, and he was personally responsible for commanding the attack on Shen Ce Gate.

"Prime Minister Lin was injured by the Qing Demon Cold Gun of the Shence Gate? Vice Prime Minister Ji was also defeated by the Qing Demon of Shence Gate? Yang Xiuqing, the de facto military commander of the Taiping Army, did not rush to agree to Li Kaifang's request, but said very strangely: "The Qing demon in Jiangning City is so capable of fighting?" ”

"King Yudong, it's not the Qing Demon of Jiangning, it's the Qing Demon from Shanghai." Li Kaifang gritted his teeth and said: "The brothers of the Heaven and Earth Society helped us find out the news, the one who injured Prime Minister Lin was a Shanghai Qing Demon named Wu Chaoyue, I heard that he was only seventeen or eighteen years old, and he also brought a battalion of Qing Demons from Shanghai, all equipped with foreign guns and foreign knives, and it was these Shanghai Qing Demons who defeated Vice Prime Minister Ji's army last night!" ”

"Wu Chaoyue? It's a name I've heard before. Yang Xiuqing thought for a while, and after recalling it carefully, Yang Xiuqing slapped his thigh and said: "I remember, when we were in Hunan, we once seized some Qing Demon's court mansion newspapers, which mentioned this Qing Demon, and also said that he defeated more than 4,000 Songjiang rebels with more than 200 people. At the time, I thought that the Qing Demon was bragging, but now it seems that there is such a thing. ”

Li Kaifang gritted his teeth and nodded, and once again asked Ling to lead the army to move outside the Shence Gate, and Hong Xiuquan next to him also said: "King Dong, since this transcendent little demon is so hateful, then let Prime Minister Li Cheng take the vanguard to the Shence Gate, get rid of this little demon, and avenge our brothers in the heavenly kingdom." ”

"No!" Shi Dakai on the other side immediately objected, and said: "Since ancient times, all those who use soldiers are all forced to attack the false, so is there a reason to avoid the false and attack the real?" The siege war is already difficult to fight, and the little demon surnamed Wu is so capable of fighting well, how can we still take the Shence Gate as the main direction of attack and increase the difficulty? ”

"The Winged King has a point." Yang Xiuqing, a truly self-taught military strategist, nodded and said, "Since the Wu Demon stationed in the Shence Gate can fight, why do we have to go to fight him?" ”

Li Kaifang opened his mouth unconvinced, saying that Lin Fengxiang and Ji Wenyuan had suffered too little to the enemy before, and because they didn't know enough about Wu Jun's training, they insisted on leading the army to move outside the Shence Gate. Yang Xiuqing interrupted Li Kaifang with a smile and said: "Prime Minister Li, you don't need to be in a hurry, this king is just against using Shence Gate as the main battlefield for attacking the city, and he does not object to you moving to the north of Jiangning City, if you want to go to the north of the city to set up camp, go there, the city wall battlefield from Shence Gate to Yifeng Gate, this king will hand it over to you." ”

Li Kaifang was overjoyed, and hurriedly hugged his fists and promised, while Shi Dakai asked suspiciously: "King Dong, you were against avoiding fiction just now, how could you agree to let Prime Minister Li Cheng move to the north of Jiangning City?" ”

"Of course, it's to contain the Qing Demon's defending forces." Yang Xiuqing replied with a smile: "The main force of our army has arrived in Jiangning, and the troops are sufficient, dozens of times that of the enemy. ”

Shi Dakai suddenly realized, and hurriedly praised the wisdom of the East King, and Yang Xiuqing instructed Li Kaifang again: "Prime Minister Li, after you move to the north of Jiangning City, you can use the excuse of avenging Prime Minister Lin and Deputy Prime Minister Ji to arrange the illusion of attacking the Shence Gate, but you must not really attack the Shence Gate, so that the Qing demons in the city do not dare to mobilize and surpass the little demons to help in other city gates." If you want to avenge Prime Minister Lin and Deputy Prime Minister Ji, of course, you can't rush for a while, after we break through Jiangning City, you lead the army into the city, and want to exterminate the whole army of the little demon, wouldn't it be easier? ”

Hearing Yang Xiuqing's words, although Li Kaifang felt a little relieved, he didn't dare to disobey Yang Xiuqing's order, so he could only accept the order honestly. Yang Xiuqing continued to dispatch troops, let Shi Dakai lead the men and horses of the headquarters to replace Li Kaifang to attack Jubaomen, and ordered Huang Gaiyun to lead the army to be stationed at the west gate of Han to be responsible for the western front, and Zhu Xikun to lead the army to be stationed at Chaoyangmen to be responsible for the eastern front, to contain the defenders in the city left and right, and to order the armies to build forts at the commanding heights outside the city, so as to use iron rods to bombard the city with the artillery of Wu Sangui's army left by Li Guodong more than 200 years ago.

-- Don't laugh, there is such a thing, even after more than 200 years of hard work, the technical content and quality of these artillery pieces still surpass those of the Qing army in this era.

…………

At the same time that Yang Xiuqing dispatched troops to arrange the siege of the city, Wu Chaoyue finally received his first reward for his military exploits in Jiangning -- two hundred and fifty taels of silver, and at the same time, Hui Zheng, who came to present the reward on behalf of Lu Jianying, also quietly told Wu Chaoyue that Lu Jianying had written the great victory of Shence Gate and sent it to the capital, and also exaggerated Wu Chaoyue's early 200 gains to thousands of people -- but of course, the main hero of this great victory of Shence Gate was still Governor Lu Da who came to Shence Gate to command and supervise the battle.

Shaking his head helplessly, Wu Chaoyue could only reward Wu Jun with a lot of silver on the spot, and took out more than 600 taels of silver out of his own pocket to compensate the families of the fallen soldiers and compensate the seriously wounded. Seeing this scene, even Hui Zheng couldn't help but feel sorry for Wu Chaoyue, and said: "Brother Xian, don't worry, I will definitely find a way to let the emperor know the true situation of the Shence Gate, and ask the emperor to make up all the rewards that should be given to you!" ”

When he thanked Hui Zheng with a wry smile, someone in the city suddenly came to report, saying that it was Zhang Jigeng, a gentleman from the Preparatory and Defense Bureau, who asked to meet Wu Chaoyue. Then soon, a tall and thin scribe in his thirties was led to Wu Chaoyue, and Wu Chaoyue was not polite, and asked directly: "You are Zhang Jigeng?" Have you come to give me money, and how many? ”

"Payroll?" Zhang Jigeng was stunned at first, and then immediately came to his senses, and hurriedly said to Wu Chaoyue: "Director Wu has misunderstood, he is not here to send the salary, and although he is the gentleman of the Preparation and Defense Bureau, he has no right to inquire about the distribution of the salary. ”

"And what are you doing here?" Wu Chaoyue asked angrily -- Wu Chaoyue did not have the slightest good impression of the preparation and defense bureau of Jiang Ning Lianyong, the general manager, not only did he not give Wu Junlian Yong a silver tael of military salaries and food expenses so far, but also did not do anything serious at all, did not even dredge the moat, and even made a joke about being in charge of security in the city, but the lantern flag of the station was stolen.

"I'm here to watch and learn." Zhang Jigeng's answer made Wu Chaoyue even more angry, "I heard that Wu is in charge of governing the army in a good way, and the regimental training he runs is not only strict in military discipline, but also brave and good at fighting, with fewer enemies and more still able to defeat the long-haired soldiers in the white-knuckle battle, and the weapons and equipment are even better, and they can easily shoot bandits two hundred away." I admired it in the next, so I specially came to meet Director Wu, and asked my lord for permission to observe your majestic military appearance, firearms operation, and learn one or two, and I hope that Lord Wan will allow you. ”

"Not that effort!" Wu Chaoyue didn't pay attention to Hui Zheng at all, he just waved his hand and refused with a full stomach of anger, "Mr. Zhang, I'm very busy, I don't have time to take you to observe, and the soldiers under my command are also tired and busy, so I don't have time to practice firearms for you." ”

Zhang Jigeng obviously didn't expect Wu Chaoyue to refuse so simply, he couldn't help but pinch in front of Wu Chaoyue's answer, and Hui Zheng next to him couldn't stand it, so he hurriedly pulled Wu Chaoyue to make a look, and then turned to Zhang Jigeng and said: "Mr. Bingyuan, don't blame, Brother Weiting is young and vigorous, and he doesn't know how important he is, and he offends you a lot, I hope you Haihan." ”

apologized to Zhang Jigeng for Wu Chaoyue, and Hui Zheng hurriedly said to Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, you probably haven't heard of Mr. Bingyuan's name, let me tell you, this Mr. Bingyuan is not an ordinary person, not only is he an all-round talent in civil and military affairs, he is resourceful, but he is also a well-known erudite Confucian in the world, and he can speak in front of Qi Fantai, Lu Zhitai and General Xianghou, you can't be so rude to him!" ”

"So what?" Wu Chaoyue, who had no desire in his official position, muttered in his heart, but for the sake of the face of Hui Zheng, who was barely a little friendly, Wu Chaoyue still reluctantly arched his hand to Zhang Jigeng, and said: "The kid is ignorant, Mr. Bingyuan forgives me, but I really don't have time to give you a military drill, Lian Yong under my command didn't sleep all night last night, and he has to be on duty at night when he goes to rest, and those who will stick to their posts are also strong, I hope you understand." ”

"I see, I am demanding, I hope that Lord Wu will forgive his sins." Zhang Jigeng apologized to Wu Chaoyue very graciously, and said: "Director Wu, then let me visit your firearms, right?" I heard that Director Wu hit the puppet prime minister Lin Fengxiang with a shot, and he also admired Director Wu's spear very much, but I don't know what kind of foreign gun you are using, my lord, which can be so accurate. ”

I didn't expect Zhang Jigeng to be so entangled, Wu Chaoyue was inevitably even more angry, but he couldn't stand Hui Zheng pleading beside him, Wu Chaoyue still took out a mini gun and handed it to Zhang Jigeng to enjoy, and then did not explain the high-precision principle of rifled guns, walked to the arrow stack and pretended to observe the enemy's situation, and deliberately left Zhang Jigeng aside. Hui Zheng couldn't stand it anymore, so he hurriedly followed Wu Chaoyue's side, and said in a low voice: "Weiting, don't be like this, Zhang Jigeng is not an ordinary person, don't look at him as having no official position, but his power in Jiangning City is actually greater than mine, Lu Zhitai and Qi Fantai trust him very much, if you offend him too much, it will not be good for you." ”

"And who the hell is he?" Wu Chaoyue asked angrily.

He is a well-known outstanding talent in the world, and Zuo Zongtang is known as the two famous curtains in Hunan. The Battle of Changsha, he ....... ”

"What? Tso?! ”

Hui Zheng introduced in a low voice, but was interrupted by Wu Chaoyue after only saying a word, and then Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked Hui Zheng: "Brother, do you know Zuo Zongtang?" ”

Hui Zheng shook his head and said that he didn't know, saying that he had just heard of Zuo Zongtang's famous name, and Zhang Jigeng took over the conversation, and said to Wu Chaoyue: "Director Wu, I know Zuo Jigao, during the Changsha War, he assisted Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan, and I acted as a staff member for Pan Duo and Pan Fantai, the political envoy of Hunan, and worked hand in hand to meet the bandits. ”

As soon as Zhang Jigeng's words were finished, Wu Chaoyue immediately changed his cordial look, hurriedly saluted Zhang Jigeng to apologize, and hurriedly explained to Zhang Jigeng the rifling principle of the Mini gun, and then naturally quickly inquired about Zuo Zongtang's current specific situation, and then learned that during the Changsha War, Zhang Jigeng and Zuo Zongtang each ventured to break through the blockade of the Taiping Army, entered the city with ropes, and gave advice to Manchu officials such as Zhang Liangji and Pan Duo, and formulated various tactics for defending the city, and finally not only withstood the three-month attack of the Taiping army, but successfully held Changsha City. Xiao Chaogui, the king of the West, who also killed the Taiping army in the battle of defending the city, fought the most beautiful battle of the Qing army in Hunan.

But it's a pity that after the end of the Changsha War, Hunan native Zuo Zongtang was still in Hunan, but Jiangning native Zhang Jigeng ran back to Nanjing to continue to get along with the Taiping Army, so Wu Chaoyue, who wanted to meet the national hero Zuo Zongtang, could only be Bai Huanxi. In addition to regrets, Wu Chaoyue could only quietly comfort himself: "It doesn't matter if you can't see it, anyway, with my current status, it is impossible to accept Zuo Zongtang as a junior brother." Damn, it would be nice if my official was bigger, Zuo Zongtang doesn't have any official position now, and it's easy for the official to take him as a younger brother! ”

Unconsciously, even Wu Chaoyue himself didn't realize that he had begun to be dissatisfied with his current job grade, and gradually had the idea of wanting to establish a team.