Very unfortunately, on the same day that he received the good news that Zeng Lichang personally led the army west to aid the Changzhou battlefield, Wu Chaoyue's cheap parents Wu Xiaoping and his wife also sent a letter, saying that they would arrive in Shanghai by boat in the near future to attend their son's wedding, and Wu Chaoyue's cheap grandmother Wu Lao's comprador main room was also coming, and said that they missed Wu Chaoyue, who had not seen each other for more than five years, and hoped to meet Wu Chaoyue as soon as possible.

In this regard, whether it is affectionate or reasonable, Wu Chaoyue should stay in Shanghai and wait for the arrival of his grandmother and parents, and kowtow to them as soon as possible, but the fighter plane in the Suzhou battlefield is too rare, even if Wu Chaoyue can not care about the silver bribed to Yiliang and Xu Naizhao in order to create this fighter, in order to keep the comprador grandfather's evening festival and the fat difference of customs supervision, Wu Chaoyue must not miss this opportunity.

Therefore, even if even the old comprador Wu asked his precious grandson to meet his old yellow-faced wife and unfilial son on the dock, Wu Chaoyue still hurriedly arranged the plan to enter the army, and set off in disguise as an ordinary person that night, and went to the Suzhou battlefield first with only one sentry, rewarding the ship's family for hiring more sailors to travel day and night, and it only took one day or two nights to rush to Suzhou, and met with Xu Naizhao, the governor of Jiangsu, who was stationed outside Suzhou.

Seeing Wu Chaoyue's sudden appearance in front of him, Xu Naizhao was of course taken aback, and asked in surprise: "Wu Zhentai, why did you suddenly come?" Aren't you going to get married in a month? Why did you come here all of a sudden? ”

"State affairs are important, and fighter planes are rare, so the next official came." Wu Chaoyue wiped the sweat on his thin face and replied confidently, and then he couldn't wait to sit down and couldn't wait to ask, "Xu Futai, how is it?" What happened to the long-haired division? ”

"Our army scouts have already found out that the bandit leader Zeng Lichang only went to Changzhou with about 3,000 long hairs." Xu Naizhao replied: "Changmao from Wuxi also sent troops to Changzhou to participate in the war, but the number of troops has not yet been proven. However, there are still seven or eight thousand long-haired people in Suzhou City, and they have obviously strengthened their defense after Zeng went backwards, and they are obviously still preventing us from taking the opportunity to attack the city. ”

"After the long-haired troops were divided, did Xu Futai divide your troops to chase?" Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked again.

"Nope." Xu Naizhao shook his head and said: "Our troops are not very many, and the pursuit of Changmao reinforcements has to go deep into the hinterland of Changmao's controlled territory, and it is difficult to supply grain, grass and ammunition, so after discussing with the military gate, I didn't chase it." ”

"It's a pity!" Wu Chaoyue shouted regret and said: "It would be good if you chased after it, seeing that you divided your troops, Changmao might take the initiative to go out of the city and fight with us." ”

Xu Naizhao rolled his eyes, and said in his heart that you Wu Zhentai is beautiful, for the sake of your grandfather's official position, I wish I and He Chunquan would work hard for your old Wu family? But fortunately, Wu Chaoyue is still a little self-aware, knowing that Xu Naizhao and He Chun will never continue to be cannon fodder for themselves, so after regretting, Wu Chaoyue did not continue to entangle on this issue, but quickly led a team of people to disguise themselves as Qing soldiers and hurried to Suzhou City to understand the situation at the scene.

The results of on-site exploration made Wu Chaoyue frown, Suzhou City, which has a history of more than 2,000 years, has been rebuilt and built many times, the average height of the city wall has reached about two zhang and eight feet, the dredged moat is wide and deep, the city wall is protected on all sides, and each dry gate is built with an urn city, and there is a jack gate that can block the city gate at any time. At the same time, the castle towns outside the city that were damaged by the war have also been completely razed to the ground by the Taiping army, revealing large and small rivers as dense as spider webs, which is not conducive to the deployment of troops and the movement of heavy artillery, and also makes it impossible for the besieging side to gain a safe foothold and concealment under the city, which is very unfavorable to the attackers in all aspects.

Fortunately, Suzhou City also has three weaknesses, the first is that the moat is too wide, the defenders are destined to not be able to use the drawbridge, in order to facilitate transportation, it is necessary to retain the strong stone bridge on the moat, and the Wu army and the Qing army can reach the city of Suzhou through the stone bridge. Of course, the Taiping army would definitely block the stone bridge with firepower, and the Wu army and the Qing army would definitely have to pay a lot of price if they wanted to cross the bridge.

The second weakness of Suzhou City is that the number of artillery is obviously small, even if it is directly threatened by Xu Naizhao's department of the Qing army, there are only 12 artillery pieces on the two gates, and it is conceivable how many artillery pieces can be used on other relatively safe city gates.

The third weakness is also the biggest weakness, the total length of the city wall of Suzhou City has reached more than forty-two miles, and the number of Taiping troops in the city is so great that there are only about 8,000 people, even if all of them are sent to the city wall, it is impossible to arrange a soldier on duty at each battlement, giving the Wu army and the Qing army a certain opportunity to take advantage of the situation. However, if the Wu army and the Qing army could not quickly and massively enter the city, they would still not be able to grasp this weakness and break the city in one fell swoop.

The city defense situation in Suzhou is probably at the bottom, Wu Chaoyue returned to the Qing army camp to discuss the strategy of breaking the city with Xu Naizhao, but just met, seeing Wu Chaoyue's solemn look, Xu Naizhao guessed the end, and asked Wu Chaoyue with a smile: "Wu Zhentai, how is it?" Did you find that Suzhou City is not easy to fight? ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded, calmly admitting that Suzhou City was much more difficult to fight than he expected, and said: "Unless Changmao makes a major mistake in the defense of the city, it is by no means a matter of ten days and half a month to take Suzhou City, and it is possible to fight for a year and a half." ”

Laughed out loud in goodwill, Xu Naizhao, who got along with Wu Chaoyue quite happily, then said: "Wu Zhentai, don't blame me for not speaking well, you'd better prepare for the worst if Wu participates in politics and is dismissed, the three-month period given to you by the emperor is only one month and eight days, and in thirty-eight days, how sure can we be that we can take Suzhou City?" ”

After that, Xu Naizhao comforted Wu Chaoyue again: "However, you deliberately did not move your troops in Shanghai before, and it was not a vain tactic, at least Changmao has already been counted and given us the opportunity to besiege the city and send reinforcements." He Junmen has already suggested to me before, let me immediately transfer you to the battle, block the way out of the city to the city, first use your field advantage to kill the long-haired soldiers outside the city, and then go back and calmly clean up the long-haired in the city. I don't know what you think about this? ”

Hechun's proposal is indeed very good, block Zeng Lichang's way back to the city, and not give the Taiping army a chance to return to Suzhou City, with the current situation and strength of Wu Jun Lianyong, it is completely possible to do it, after cleaning up the Taiping army outside, and then want to go back to clean up the Taiping army Chen Shibao Department in the city, it will naturally be much easier and more comfortable.

Of course, the most deplorable thing about this is that it takes a long time, and if you don't surround the Taiping army in Suzhou City for more than half a year, you don't want to let the Taiping army run out of food.

It is precisely because of this that Wu Chaoyue did not accept Hechun's steady suggestion, and quickly proposed to Xu Naizhao the plan he conceived to break the city - the Qing army was responsible for the main attack, attracting a large number of Taiping army defenders, and after the Taiping army showed its flaws, Wu Jun Lian Yong launched a surprise attack to break the city.

However, it is a pity that after listening to Wu Chaoyue's plan, Xu Naizhao shook his head and said: "Wu Zhentai, it's not that the official is afraid of losses, but the virtues of those soldiers under the command of the official You also know what kind of virtue they have. ”

"And on the side of the military gate, he will never agree." Xu Naizhao also pointed out: "The more than 3,000 people under his command are all his direct descendants, and they are his ability to speak in front of Xiang Rong. ”

Neither directly transferred the power to command Xu Naizhao and He Chun, and the official position was still smaller than them, Wu Chaoyue of course honestly stopped speaking, and did not dare and could not force Xu Naizhao and He Chun to implement their battle plans. Over there, Xu Naizhao asked people to prepare banquet drinks and dishes, and called his generals to accompany him to wash the dust for Wu Chaoyue.

Hu Songlin and Qin Ruhu under Xu Naizhao's command are Wu Chaoyue's old acquaintances, seeing Wu Chaoyue suddenly appear in Xu Naizhao's account, of course, they were also surprised, and hurriedly greeted Wu Chaoyue and reminisced about the old days, Wu Chaoyue asked them to keep the news of their arrival secret for the time being, and they must not let the Taiping Army spy on this situation. As a result, Hu Songlin, Qin Ruhu and others also nodded, among which Hu Songlin also said with a smile: "Understand, Lord Wu, you came to Suzhou secretly, it must be for the purpose of breaking the city, can we spoil your business?" ”

After that, Hu Songlin hurriedly asked curiously: "Wu Zhentai, have you practiced your regiment?" What methods are you going to use to attack the city? Is it like the last time in Shanghai, trying to find a way to let Longhair fight on its own? ”

"My Lian Yong will arrive in about two days." Wu Chaoyue replied casually, and said helplessly: "As for how to break the city, to be honest, I haven't thought about it yet, and I can be regarded as helpless." ”

"Won't it?" Qin Ruhu couldn't believe it, and said: "Who doesn't know that you, Lord Wu, are famous for using soldiers like a god, and there are endless tricks, when Jiangning protected Lu Zhitai to break through, a strategy killed the long-haired pseudo-North King, can you take Suzhou City?" ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled even more bitterly when he heard this, and said: "When the donkey is also poor, my donkey is really ...... this time, wait!" ”

With a wry smile, Wu Chaoyue's heart suddenly moved, and he hurriedly waved his hand to stop everyone from talking, and said to Qin Ruhu: "General Qin, what did you just say?" I'm protecting the land platform in Jiangning to break out? ”

Qin Ruhu nodded inexplicably, saying that he did mention this matter, and Wu Chaoyue was also suddenly moved in his heart, and said secretly: "Can you copy this strategy?" It's been more than a year, and then my snipers haven't had a chance to catch big fish again, and the Taiping Army should heal the scars and forget the pain, right? ”

Thinking about this, Wu Chaoyue's thin face began to show a smile, a pair of mung bean-sized triangular eyes, and he also began to carefully look at Xu Naizhao in the middle of the high-seated tent, and Xu Naizhao is also very talented, seeing that Wu Chaoyue's smile was wrong, he was confused at first, and then quickly came back to his senses, and asked Wu Chaoyue in surprise: "Wu Zhentai, do you want this official to come forward to deceive the long-haired pseudo-prime minister Chen Shibao like Lu Zhitai, who has been martyred, and give you a chance to shoot cold?" ”

"Lord Futai, you are really wise, smart and cute!"

Wu Chaoyue's sycophants were disgusting, and the smile on his face was even more disgusting, and he said with a flattering face: "Lord Futai, think about it, if you trick the long-haired pseudo-prime minister Chen Shibao out and let him stand next to the arrow stack, won't the sharpshooters under the command of Xia Guan have a chance to kill him with one shot?" We killed him with one shot, and the long-haired dragons in Suzhou City are leaderless, and if we want to take Suzhou City and restore your governor's station, won't it be easy? ”

"What a good idea!" Hu Songlin, Qin Ruhu and other Qing army generals applauded, and they all said: "It will definitely work, as Lord Futai, you will come forward to talk to Chen Shibao in person, not to mention that you will deceive Chen Changmao on the city wall, or it is possible to trick him out of the city gate and talk through the moat." ”

"Now that Changmao doesn't know that Lord Wu has come, he will definitely not be wary of our cold gun, and he will definitely be fooled!"

"Great! I have long heard that the sharpshooter and pistol under the command of Lord Wu are like gods, and within one hundred and fifty steps, we have no chance to fight that if we say it, we have no chance before, but this time we finally have the opportunity to witness it with our own eyes! ”

Wu Chaoyue, who was in a hurry to repay the comprador grandfather, couldn't wait to get in front of Xu Naizhao, wanting to secretly promise benefits for Xu Naizhao to come out of this face, but Xu Naizhao, who had already changed his face a lot, slapped the table first and shouted: "Shut up!" The official personally came forward to trick the long-haired pseudo-prime minister into appearing? You guys have a good point! Why don't you think about the danger that this official will face? Wu Zhentai's long-shot foreign gun, isn't there one on the long hair side now? ”

Everyone shut up, and Wu Chaoyue also remembered that when the Taiping Army, which was good at learning, once controlled Shanghai, it did buy many Mini guns from foreigners, and because Mini guns were easier to obtain than firing pin guns, the number of Mini guns equipped was quite a lot. Under such circumstances, it is indeed very dangerous to let a governor like Xu Naizhao come forward to lure the enemy.

At this time, Qin Ruhu, who had previously reminded Wu Chaoyue to come up with a cold gun decapitation tactic, spoke again, and said cautiously: "Lord Futai, if you don't want to take the risk yourself, then you will have an idea, anyway, no one over there has seen you, find someone who is not afraid of death to wear your official uniform and wear a coral top to come forward, isn't it?" ”

"Good idea." Hu Songlin shouted again and said, "In this way, even if the long hair has the idea of releasing a cold gun, it will not threaten your safety, Lord Futai." ”

"Lord Futai, if you don't like others to wear your official uniforms, then the lower official will give you ten sets of new official uniforms, and twenty sets will be fine!" Wu Chaoyue hurriedly said.

Encountering such a group of unscrupulous subordinates, Xu Naizhao was completely speechless, and said helplessly: "Okay, this official can let people pretend to be me, but what excuse do you plan to use to deceive the long-haired pseudo-prime minister?" Without a reasonable and sufficient reason, can the long-haired pseudo-prime minister not suspect that this is our plan to lure the enemy? ”

Xu Naizhao's question finally stopped Wu Chaoyue and the others, Wu Chaoyue racked his brains, and couldn't think of any reasonable excuse to lure Chen Shibao to show up - it can't be like Lu Jianying's time, let Xu Naizhao also come out to surrender to the Taiping Army, right?

Fortunately, more people are more powerful, and under the brains together, although the generals of the Qing army came up with some whimsical and ridiculous excuses, Hu Songlin, who has always been stupid, suddenly overplayed and said: "Is this okay?" We've caught some of the longhairs of the out-of-town sentinels these days, and some of our brothers have been caught over there. ”

"Lord Futai, if you think it's okay, you can write a letter and shoot it into the city of Suzhou, just say that we heard a rumor that Longhair abused and killed our prisoners, and we, the generals, are angry, and we will burn all the captured Longhair soldiers alive. You, Lord Futai, are scholars, and you can't bear to do this, and you don't believe that Longhair is doing this, so you want to make an appointment to talk to the long-haired pseudo-prime minister, so that the long-haired pseudo-prime minister can prove that he did not torture and kill our brothers, and by the way, discuss how to exchange prisoners. ”

"Great idea!" Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said to Xu Naizhao: "Lord Futai, this method should be feasible. Lord Futai, when you were a student in Henan, the Yellow River broke and even the governor of the river ran away, but you risked your life to organize the people to repair the river embankment and save thousands of lives; In Jiangsu, you initiated donations to reduce the burden of the poor people, and you are a well-known good official among the people, and Changmao must have heard of your name. You use such an excuse to invite the long-haired pseudo-prime minister to meet and talk, Chen Shibao's long-haired prime minister is likely to be tricked! As long as he hits the mark, we have hope! ”

After pondering for a long time, he felt that this plan did not have to risk his life, and he could take back Suzhou City, which should have been dominated by himself, and if he didn't, he could also make his already good reputation better, Xu Naizhao nodded reluctantly and said: "I can write the letter, but the official still has to remind you of one thing, what if Changmao also sends a fake Chen Shibao to come forward?" It is impossible for the sharpshooters under Wu Zhentai to have seen him, how can they kill him with a cold gun? ”

Wu Chaoyue frowned when he heard this, knowing that although this possibility was very small, it could never be ruled out. However, what made Wu Chaoyue smile was that Hu Songlin and Qin Ruhu actually said in unison: "Lord Futai, don't worry, it's okay, there are people under our command who have seen the long-haired pseudo-prime minister Chen Shibao, ask them to bring a clairvoyant mirror to help Wu Zhentai's sharpshooters, and they will definitely not admit their mistake!" ”

"Have you ever seen a long-haired pseudo-prime minister?" Xu Naizhao asked in surprise.

"Lord Futai doesn't know that Chen Shibao, the bandit leader, is very diligent in military affairs, and he has to climb the Snake Gate and Fengmen every day to inspect the defense, and he is also wearing his pseudo-official robe, so many of our brothers have seen him." Hu Songlin and Qin Ruhu both explained in this way.

Unable to find any excuse to refuse, the treacherous hypocrite Xu Naizhao had no choice but to pick up the brush and make a book in person under the pretext of treating the prisoners well to each other and exchanging prisoners, and asked Chen Shibao to meet at Fengmen at two o'clock in the morning of the next day to discuss the prisoners in person.

In the end, after signing his name, Xu Naizhao threw the letter to Hu Songlin angrily, and said even more angrily: "Take it!" When I ran into you subordinates, this official really fell into bad luck for eight lifetimes! This time, maybe the name of this official will be ruined in your hands! (To be continued.) )