"If we continue to attack Zhengding in the north, then we will definitely be able to resist the main force of the chaotic party alone, because Jingcheng is notoriously easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the chaotic army only needs to use a partial division to hold the danger, which is enough to block our Shanxi friendly army for a period of time, and the main force can free up their hands to deal with us alone, so we go north to Zhengding to meet the Shanxi friendly army, in fact, it is to fight a strategic decisive battle with the main force of the chaotic party in the capital alone. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Compared with the main force of the rebellious party, our army has a certain advantage in equipment, but the advantage is not too great. Our meticulous work has long been clear, the rebellious party in the capital has learned a lesson, and has long been equipped with a large number of foreign guns and foreign cannons for the main forces of the official and civil affairs department, including not only the weapons of the Rakshasa country, but also many weapons of England, France and the United States, and even the fast-fire foreign guns equipped by our elite soldiers. ”

"At the same time, the rebel army of the official and civil departments has always been the main force of the rebel party to defend the capital, and has fought with the British and French, and under the command of the official text, he joined forces with the Rakshasa people to defeat the main force of the long-haired Northern Expedition, and the combat experience is not less than our army, and the world that has seen may even be more than ours."

"In addition, we have to face a lot of objective difficulties in the decisive battle between Zhengding and the main force of the chaotic party and Zhili in the north. First of all, the people's heart, compared with the long-haired Northern Expeditionary Army, although the people of Zhili will certainly not hate us as much as they hate Longhair, but after all, Zhili has always been firmly controlled by the chaotic party, bewitched by their rumors, even if the people of Zhili will not help the rebel army deal with us on the battlefield like they do with Longhair, they will definitely not easily stand on our side, and the civilian help we can get is definitely very little. ”

"The second is the supply of grain roads, on the surface, Zhengding is not too far from the Daimyo's Mansion, only more than 400 miles. But we must not forget one thing, our logistics supply base is not in the Daimyo's Mansion, but in Kaifeng! We go north to Zhengding and the main force of the rebellious party to fight a decisive battle, and the possibility of a quick victory and immediate defeat of the enemy is very small, and the biggest possibility is to fall into a confrontation war of attrition, and transport military supplies and supplies from Kaifeng, which is thousands of miles away, how difficult it is, presumably Jiushuai, you and the other generals here should know very well in their hearts. ”

"In my opinion, the main force of the chaotic party Zhili is Zhengding, on the surface, it is a dangerous move that ignores the safety of the capital, but in fact, it is a wonderful move that understands the thoughts of Jiushuai and the king of Zhennan, and we will definitely make every effort to meet the eastward advance of Shanxi's friendly army to Zhili as soon as possible, so we will first arrange the heavy troops on the Zhengding battlefield, wait for us to go north for a decisive battle, and strive to defeat us first, and then turn around to deal with our Shanxi friendly army, and reap the effect of each defeat."

"Therefore, I think that if we insist on carrying out the Jun decree of the king of Zhennan to go north to Zhengding, and take our friendly army in Shanxi to advance eastward by force, we will only fall into the hands of the chaotic party and fall into passivity. At that time, even if we are not defeated by the rebel army, the chances of victory are very small. ”

If he hadn't published a magical prophecy about the war in the Daimyo's Mansion before, then Zhang Zhidong, who didn't even have a few beards, would have published this gushing analysis, which would definitely attract Zeng Guoquan's rebuke and the ridicule of the generals of the Wu army - the hairy boy who had never led troops to fight would dare to show off in front of Lao Tzu, a veteran of the battlefield who didn't know how many times he had crawled out of the pile of dead?

But there is no way, precisely because Zhang Zhidong has proven his talent in military affairs, so arrogant as Zeng Guoquan, arrogant as Zhu Hongzhang and Liu Lianjie and other veterans of the Hunan army, none of them interrupted Zhang Zhidong's inexhaustible talk, and patiently just listened to Zhang Zhidong's opinions. After Zhang Zhidong finally finished speaking, Zeng Guoquan, Zhang Shiri, Ni Gui and other veterans of the battlefield all fell into deep thought, and did not dare to despise Zhang Zhidong's analysis at all.

After repeatedly deducing and weighing in his heart for a long time, Zeng Guoquan finally nodded, approved Zhang Zhidong's analysis, and then frowned and said: "But the king of Zhennan ordered us to give priority to the eastward advance of Shanxi's friendly army, if we don't send troops to Zhengding, we can't do this?" ”

"Will be outside, the monarch's order will not be affected." Zhang Zhidong said calmly: "The order of the King of Zhennan only told us to give priority to the eastward advance of Shanxi's friendly army, and did not tell us to send troops to Zhengding to meet Shanxi's friendly army. ”

After that, Zhang Zhidong added, "And I dare to conclude that with the talent of the king of Zhennan, if he learns about the deployment of the army of the Zhili Rebellion, he will definitely not hesitate to give up and go directly north to Zhengding, and will only decisively adjust his tactics to deal with this change, and obtain the greatest victory at the lowest cost." ”

Zeng Guoquan and his generals discussed in a low voice, and they generally believed that with Wu Chaoyue's treachery and despicability, he would definitely not be stupid enough to forcibly go north for a decisive battle without any certainty, and even if the army adjusted its tactics on the fly, it was very unlikely that Wu Chaoyue would be angered. So after Zeng Guoquan hesitated for a long time, he couldn't help but ask Zhang Zhidong: "If we give up going north directly to Zhengding, how should we fight?" ”

"Three choices." Zhang Zhidong raised three fingers and said: "First, go east into Shandong and attack Jinan, if the rebel army of Zhili sends troops to rescue Jinan, we will besiege the city and send reinforcements to break the rebel army individually." If the rebellious party army in Zhili does not move, we will go all out to take Jinan and Shandong, and then try to make a plan for the future. ”

"The second option is risky." Zhang Zhidong smiled and said with a hippie smile: "It is desperate to go straight to the capital alone, and strive to take the capital before the rebellious army returns to the rescue ...... the army. ”

"Xiaoda, you're talking about big things, don't be cynical all the time." Zeng Guoquan scolded: "The lone army went straight to the capital, taking the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers as a child's play? ”

"The nine marshals forgive their sins, and the lower officials are used to joking."

Zhang Zhidong apologized, and also knew that his joke was too big, and then he said with a straight face: "The third option is to attack the east and the west and adjust the tiger to leave the mountain, and let out the wind to say that we plan to take advantage of the empty opportunity of the capital to go straight to Beijing, and at the same time cooperate in action to lure the rebel army of Zhili to return to the division to rescue the capital, and then make every effort to eliminate the rebel army reinforcements in the field battle." Even if we don't have this opportunity, we can still receive the effect of diverting the tiger from the mountain, and then go back to Zhengdingfu to meet our friendly army in Shanxi, which will be much easier. ”

"It's pretty much the same, in the future, when discussing business, it's best not to keep a hippie smile, and you have to say something well."

Zeng Guoquan snorted, and reprimanded Zhang Zhidong again, and then began to discuss Zhang Zhidong's tactical suggestions with Wu Junzhong, but after careful discussion, Zeng Guoquan and Zhang Shiri and others soon found that now sending troops to Shandong to seize Jinan is not only an opportunity to besiege the city and send reinforcements, but also take the opportunity to kill Luo Laohu, who connived at the Green Battalion and almost killed Zeng Guofan, but the effect is too slow and takes too long. At the same time, if sufficient food and grass supplies cannot be obtained on the spot, logistical problems are also prone to occur.

In this case, Zhang Zhidong's tactic of diverting the tiger from the mountain has of course become the most ideal choice, not only does not have to worry about being too time-consuming, but also makes it easier to readjust the tactics even after the lure of the enemy fails. Therefore, Zeng Guoquan also quickly made up his mind and said: "I used the plan of attacking the east and the west, falsely claiming to take advantage of the false situation to take the capital directly, and force the disruptive party army to return to the capital. ”

After making up his mind, Zeng Guoquan naturally hurriedly wrote a letter to Wu Chaoyue and Nie Shicheng, reporting to them the changes in the situation on the front line, and also introducing the new tactics he was preparing to implement on the spot, asking Wu Chaoyue to understand and forgive. In addition, Zeng Guoquan did not forget to write a letter to Shanxi Wu Jun, also introducing his decision, asking Shanxi Wu Jun to be calm and wait patiently for a while.

Then, naturally, it was the turn of the Wu Army's strategic flickering department to show its skills, and almost overnight, the rumor that Zeng Guoquan's army was ready to take advantage of the situation to take the capital spread all over the streets and alleys of the Daimyo's mansion, and everyone knew about it. At the same time, Zhang Zhidong's suggestion was adopted, and Zeng Guoquan simply said that the self-army was preparing to take the capital directly, and asked the soldiers to be prepared for a long-distance attack, and they were also ready to make a windfall after entering the capital.

The distance is not far, and the road has been basically dredged, Zeng Guoquan's letter to Nie Shicheng was sent to Kaifeng City by a fast horse the next day, and after reading Zeng Guoquan's tactical plan, although Nie Shicheng was a little worried that it would be too much of a waste of time, but considering that Zeng Guoquan's independent resistance to the main force of the Qing army was indeed a little too stressful, Nie Shicheng did not object to stop it, but just asked Zeng Guoquan to pay attention to the time, don't be too time-consuming, and waste the grain and grass that is not enough in the rear of Henan.

Nie Shicheng did not oppose the stop, Zeng Guoquan, who was logistically constrained by Nie Shicheng, was of course relieved, and more assured to implement his newly formulated tactical plan, and on the same day after obtaining Nie Shicheng's permission, he sent Zhang Shiri to lead the front army to set off and enter Shandong along the Ni River, preparing to take the pavilion Tao first and then seize Linqing, Dezhou and other places, avoid the key defensive areas of the Qing army and go north, pretend to take advantage of the situation to take the capital directly, and lure the Qing army of Zhili to return to the division to rescue the capital.

It's a pity that Zeng Guoquan probably never dreamed that the painstaking planning of him and Zhang Zhidong, as well as the hard work of the Wu Army's Strategic Fooling Department, were all buried in the hands of an incompetent messenger - the messenger sent by Zeng Guoquan to contact the Wu army in Shanxi was unfortunately discovered by the Qing army sentry at Dalingkou in Shunde Prefecture, not only was the person taken down, but the secret letter written by Zeng Guoquan to the Wu army in Shanxi was also searched by the Qing soldiers. Then, after the soldiers of the Qing army sent the messengers and letters of the Wu army to the official documents, the plan that the Wu army painstakingly formulated to attack the east and the west was naturally exposed in front of the Qing army.

It also happened that when Zeng Guoquan's secret letter was sent to the official text, the official text happened to have just received the report of Wu Junbing's entry into the pavilion, and he was still a little nervous, worried that Wu Jun would really take the capital directly. As a result, after reading Zeng Guoquan's handwritten letter, the official document immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Traitor, I really am trying to adjust the idea of leaving the mountain." Toss it, whatever you want, the old man just won't be fooled, see if you have the courage to really fight the capital without food and no help! ”

…………

Another coincidental thing is that the day that Zeng Guoquan's letter to Wu Chaoyue was delivered to the Hubei provincial capital happened to be a good day for Wu Chaoyue, the new king of Zhennan, to marry Zeng Guoquan's eldest niece Zeng Jijing.

In order to compensate Zeng Jijing, who married himself as a side room after a famous family, Wu Chaoyue, who was not particular about etiquette and pomp, rarely let go of blood, and married Zeng Jijing into the door with the etiquette of marrying the princess, but this naturally made Zeng Guofan's family, who originally felt a little aggrieved, very relieved, and suddenly felt a little more glorious on his face. And when he walked into the cave room after worshipping heaven and earth, Wu Chaoyue, who was so busy all day that his feet did not touch the ground, were also stunned to find that after he inadvertently stripped Zeng Jijing naked, it had been almost two years, and he had met Zeng Jijing again for the first time.

Fortunately, under the candlelight, when Wu Chaoyue used jade Ruyi to provoke the red hijab on Zeng Jijing's head, he appeared in front of Wu Chaoyue, a slightly thin but still pretty white and tender face, shy and resentful, and touching. Looking back on the past, Wu Chaoyue was full of emotion and couldn't help but sigh, "Senior sister, today I finally fulfilled my original promise." ”

Zeng Jijing glanced at Wu Chaoyue shyly, silent, but her shy demeanor was very motivating, which also made Wu Chaoyue, who had long coveted the beautiful junior sister, couldn't help but stretch out his claws, provoked Zeng Jijing's chin, and said with a lewd smile: "Senior sister, from now on, I have to call you a lady." ”

A sudden light knocking sound from outside the door of the cave interrupted Wu Chaoyue's lewd laughter, and when Wu Chaoyue, who was in a hurry to undress and go to bed, was angry and asked the reason, Wu Dadao played outside the door: "Lord Wang, it is Zeng Jiushuai's military intelligence report, pasted with chicken feathers, 100,000 urgent." ”

Wu Chaoyue glanced at Zeng Jijing with some hesitation, but Zeng Jijing was reasonable and said softly: "Go quickly, I'm fine." ”

forcibly kissed Zeng Jijing's tender face, Wu Chaoyue went out to read Zeng Guoquan's letter, but after carefully reading Zeng Guoquan's statement, Wu Chaoyue suddenly forgot that Zeng Jijing was still waiting for him in the cave room, and immediately went straight to the signing room, and at the same time ordered Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming to come to see him immediately.

In a moment, Zhao Liewen, who had already drunk and had a red face and a thick neck, and Yan Jingming came to Wu Chaoyue, who was still wearing auspicious clothes, and Wu Chaoyue was not polite, and directly handed Zeng Guoquan's letter to them to read. After reading the results in a hurry, Zhao Liewen also immediately said: "Weiting, Zeng Jiushuai is right, at this time, he continues to go north to Zhengding Mansion according to your requirements, the pressure is too great, and the odds of winning are too small." ”

"I didn't say that Uncle Nine did something wrong." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said in a deep voice: "I just think that Uncle Nine seems to have missed a God-given opportunity this time. ”

"Do you think Zeng Jiushuai should take the opportunity to go straight to the capital?" Zhao Liewen asked in surprise.

Seeing Wu Chaoyue nodding and admitting, Yan Jingming was also taken aback, and hurriedly reminded: "Weiting, isn't it too risky to do this?" Zeng Guoquan went north alone and took the capital directly, once the attack was unfavorable, the grain and grass were exhausted, and the soldiers and horses of the chaotic party returned to the capital, wouldn't he be wrapped in dumplings immediately? ”

"There are risks and opportunities, but this time the opportunities are bigger than the risks!" Wu Chaoyue said viciously: "It is dangerous for Uncle Jiu's army to take the capital directly, but don't forget, whether it is the official document or Luo Bingzhang, the main force under their command is infantry, and when they find that the capital is in distress and hurriedly return to help, isn't it just the right opportunity to give us a chance to meet the attack with leisure?" ”

"But what if the rebel army rushes back to the capital first?" Zhao Liewen hurriedly asked.

"We have cavalry!" Wu Chaoyue said in a deep voice: "The advantage of mobility is in our hands, and when we find that the rebel army is coming back, our cavalry can intercept it, we can follow and contain it, and we can give our main infantry force a chance to intercept and annihilate!" ”

"Take 10,000 steps back." Wu Chaoyue added: "Even if the chaotic party really returns to the capital in a big way, we can't stop it, we still have the option of retreating, and our Shanxi army can also take the opportunity to break through the defense line of the chaotic party's Jingcheng and join the army of Uncle Zeng Jiu, and then what are we afraid of?" Are you afraid that the chaotic party will fight a field war with us? ”

Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming were speechless, and after thinking for a while, Zhao Liewen said: "There is another problem with this, that is, the command ability of the coach is extremely high, which happens to be Zeng Jiushuai's weakness. ”

Considering that Zeng Guoquan's ability to change was indeed a little lacking, Wu Chaoyue calmed down a little, but after thinking about it carefully, Wu Chaoyue still made up his mind and said: "You have to give it a try anyway, write a letter to Uncle Zeng Jiu for me, tell him that I think his best choice should be desperate and go straight to the capital, so that he might as well consider this tactic, and also tell him that I don't force him to do this, and if he fails, I won't pursue his mistakes." ”

Zhao Liewen had no choice but to accept the order, and hurriedly sat down next to the bookcase to pick up the pen to make a book, while Yan Jingming looked Wu Chaoyue up and down, and said, "Weiting, did you drink too much wine today?" Desperate and desperate, this is not your usual style of using soldiers, right? ”

"It's not about the wine." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said: "The Zhili Rebellion Party disregarded the safety of the capital and deployed the main force and heavy troops on the Zhengding battlefield, which is obviously aimed at my habit of not liking danger with soldiers. Soldiers are impermanent, water is impermanent, we deliberately do the opposite, we will definitely be able to get miraculous results! ”

Hearing Wu Chaoyue's reasoning, Yan Jingming also closed his mouth, but Yan Jingming definitely never dreamed that Wu Chaoyue's words were actually pure nonsense, and after the ghost nonsense passed perfunctorily, Wu Chaoyue said his true plan in his heart, and said secretly: "Uncle Jiu, I will give you a chance to atone for your sins this time." ”

"In history, you broke through the Nanjing Massacre, killed countless Han compatriots, and owed a monstrous blood debt. This time, if you can break through Beijing and massacre the Eight Banners, you will be counted as atoning for your sins. If you are defeated and die, it will be atonement for your sins! Anyway, the Ding Ruchang I sent to you led the cavalry, and you can run away immediately depending on the situation, and those core backbones under your command are also your accomplices in the massacre in Anqing and Nanjing, I don't feel distressed, I lost your army, and now I can afford to lose. ”

Thinking about this, Wu Chaoyue also said to Zhao Liewen again: "Huifu, add a paragraph, tell Uncle Zeng Jiu that after breaking through the capital, he must clear the relatives of the rebellious party in the city, the children of his protégés, and the accomplices of the party. ”

Zhao Liewen glanced at Wu Chaoyue, knowing the weight of this passage in his heart, but he didn't say anything, just promised to agree. Then, after sending a fast horse to send the letter to the front line, on the way back to the cave room, Wu Chaoyue suddenly remembered something and said secretly: "Am I too much?" is about to go to have a round house with Ji Jing, and she still has to take such a big risk from her ninth uncle? ”

Fortunately, Wu Chaoyue's conscience has always rarely been difficult with himself, and after returning to the cave room, he first casually said a few perfunctory words to Zeng Jijing, who was worried about Zeng Guoquan, Wu Chaoyue quickly smiled and said: "Lady, the Spring Festival is worth a thousand gold, the time is not early, let's drink a glass of wine first." ”

Then, before the shy Zeng Jijing agreed, Wu Chaoyue couldn't wait to take the beautiful junior sister into his arms......