Anxiously waiting until nearly ten o'clock in the morning of the next day, the Hunan army He Shaocai, who was originally stationed in Dongliu, hurriedly withdrew to the Pengze battlefield, but it was back, and He Shaocai's army, which had marched hundreds of miles in a hurry, was still tired and foaming at the mouth, sweating profusely, and countless soldiers were left behind. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"The marshal forgives the sin, and the last general fails to withdraw Peng Ze before dawn according to the order, and the crime deserves death. But the last general has done his best, but the sky is too dark and the road is too ....... ”

"Don't talk about it, just come back! Take your centaurs and walk in the middle, and go! Fast! ”

He Shaocai's quibble was interrupted by Zeng Guofan, who had a gloomy face, and then Zeng Guofan only urged He Shaocai to quickly lead the army back to the team, but He Shaocai insisted on saying: "Marshal, please listen to the general's words, there is another important situation, after the general received the retreat order yesterday and set off, our army scouts found that a large number of bandit land divisions were approaching Ji Dian, and the number of Changmao's troops was too late to be discovered, and he only knew that the commander of the army was the famous bandit general Shi Zhenji. ”

"Master Lu is really here." Zeng Guofan's already ugly face became even more gloomy, and then Teacher Zeng didn't care about thinking about it so much, and waved his hand again and said, "Come back to the team." Summons the front team, set off immediately! ”

After receiving the order of Teacher Zeng, Hu Linyi, who served as the vanguard of the opening of the road, immediately led the troops to set off, and then after He Shaocai's army returned, the main force of the Chinese army also immediately retreated to the west, and Zeng Guoquan, who served as the task of the palace, led the army to line up to guard the intersection, ready to walk at the end.

However, even at this time, our poor teacher Zeng has not yet made up his mind, should he listen to Zuo Zongtang's idea, withdraw to the Hukou area and defend the wall, and wait for reinforcements from Huguang and Jiangxi? Or according to his previous plan, he didn't go to Hukou, where the Taiping army would definitely be heavily garrisoned? The only correct choice that Mr. Zeng could make now was to let the Hunan army retreat westward first, listen to the enemy's situation as they went, and then consider whether to go to Hukou or to distant Duchang when they arrived at Taipingguan.

As expected, the Hunan army had just begun to set off, and Huang Wenjin, the Taiping army who had been cowering in Pengze City, really set out, quickly filling the tunnels that the Hunan soldiers had worked hard to dig before, razing the wall to open the pursuit road, although he did not immediately launch an attack on the rear of the Hunan army, but he was also ready for battle early.

When Zeng Guoquan was extremely helpless to give the order to retreat, when the Hunan soldiers moved their steps and the formation changed, the Taiping soldiers really pounced like a group of insidious hungry wolves, and immediately shot at the Hunan soldiers as soon as they touched the firing range, and the Hunan soldiers were forced to return fire, although they were killed and wounded, they were forced to stop to meet the battle, which seriously slowed down the retreat of the whole army.

In this regard, Zeng Guofan was of course more and more anxious and at a loss, but Yang Wending came to Zeng Guofan with Zuo Zongtang's latest instructions and said: "Shuai, Ji Gao thinks that this is the best, don't be in a hurry, give the long hair a chance to profit from the chaos." Anyway, we only retreated to Hukou, which is a hundred miles away, and we didn't need to be in a hurry, and retreated slowly and steadily, so that we could go to the Hukou area with grain, grass and artillery to set up a strong camp and wait for reinforcements to arrive. ”

Teacher Zeng did not speak with a gloomy face, although he felt that Zuo Zongtang's suggestion was reasonable, but he still couldn't make up his mind whether to accept Zuo Zongtang's suggestion in its entirety, withdraw to the Hukou area to establish a strong camp, and let the Taiping army be surrounded by heavy troops and ignore it, concentrating on just waiting for reinforcements?

Fortunately, the strength of Peng Ze's Taiping army was insufficient, and Huang Wenjin, who was determined to take revenge, was not in a hurry to invest in the main army to charge, and after a fierce gun battle, Zeng Guoquan finally repelled the Taiping army and hurried west with the rear army. The Taiping army followed behind unhurriedly, holding back the pressure on the Hunan army from afar, dragging the Hunan army so that the Hunan army could not get up quickly, buying time for the arrival of the main force in the rear, and waiting for the right opportunity to attack.

Bypassing the northeast end of Pengze Lake and turning into the southwest with relatively open terrain, the Taiping army changed its pursuit strategy, and the main force continued to follow the Hunan army at the same time, and separately divided an army to move forward, and the blade pointed directly at the Hunan army He Shaocai who had just withdrawn from the east, and the exhausted He Shaocai army was unable to meet the battle, and Mr. Zeng had to quickly divide the army to meet the attack, but although the Taiping army was repelled as he wished, the retreat speed was still greatly affected, and it took two hours to barely get out of twenty miles. Zeng Guofan was in a great hurry, and had to order the Hunan army to speed up, and the enemy was not allowed to stop and engage without being within the range of the musket.

Teacher Zeng's order was once again opposed by Zuo Zongtang through Yang Wending, who decided that retreating to Hukou was the only way to survive, insisted on adopting the turtle climbing tactics that Teacher Zeng liked before, and set up camp to rest after marching thirty or forty miles every day, and there was enough time to worry. Teacher Zeng, who had always pursued to act safely before, was unusually this time, afraid of being caught up by the main force of the Taiping Army's land division, insisted on speeding up the march, and ignored Zuo Zongtang's proposal at all. Zuo Zongtang was furious, and naturally he had to lose his temper.

In the end, after receiving the news that Hu Linyi's army had successfully arrived at Taiping Pass and saved the throat of the retreat, Mr. Zeng relieved himself a little, and let Zeng Guoquan fight hard to repel the main chasing force of the Taiping army, and on the other hand, let the sergeant build a strong camp to rest and spend the night.

That night, Peng Ze's Taiping army launched three night attacks on the Hunan army's camp, but the Hunan army did not give the Taiping army any chance thanks to the strong camp. Huang Wenjin also learned a lesson after learning the strength of the Hunan army's solid defense, and did not waste troops and ammunition to launch harassment attacks, and calmly followed the Hunan army until the Taiping Pass, where the road was narrow, and Huang Wenjin invested the main force to launch a real attack.

The road was narrow, and the Hunan army could only keep the formation and slowly pass through the Taiping Pass in order to dare not give up the heavy grain, grass and artillery in the future.

In the face of the Taiping soldiers who kept shouting and killing, Zeng Guoquan first suppressed the momentum of the Taiping Army's charge with three shots, and then personally put on the battle in front of the Taiping Army's crazy charge of sacrificing his life, and personally led the Hunan soldiers to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Taiping Army. However, even so, Zeng's army still paid a rather heavy price, with more than thirty percent of the casualties of the Quanzi battalion, and Zeng Guoquan himself was wounded in the battle.

The most dangerous Taiping Pass has finally passed, but the test of our teacher's decision-making and adaptability has also come - is it to listen to Zuo Zongtang's continued westward, go to Hukou to find favorable terrain to build a strong camp, and wait for reinforcements from Huguang and Jiangxi? Or do you retreat to Duchang through Liujia City, get a safer foothold and sufficient food and grass supplies, and wait for reinforcements to rescue more securely?

It's a pity that at the critical moment that determines the future of life and death, the weakness of our teacher Zeng's slow wisdom has been infinitely magnified, and he can't make up his mind whether to go south or west? At the same time, the Li Xubin brothers, who had been sent to Hukou before, also sent someone to send news, saying that the Taiping army had begun to deploy defenses in the Hukou area, although the land force was relatively weak, but with the superior naval division, the route between Hukou and Jiujiang was tightly blocked.

In view of this, our poor teacher Zeng also came up with this judgment - not to mention when the Hubei Navy Division will be able to reach Jiujiang, even if the Hubei Navy Division arrives in Jiujiang, with the relatively weak strength of the Hubei Navy Division, it will definitely be difficult to break through the blockade of the Hunan Army Navy Division and rush to the east bank of Poyang Lake to meet the self-army across the lake.

In addition, whether Wu Chaoyue would go all out to rescue the Hunan army at any cost also made poor Teacher Zeng suspicious - the disobedient protégé's preference for preserving strength was no less than our Teacher Zeng.

"Go to Duchang! Summoning the whole army, go south to Duchang! ”

Hearing Teacher Zeng's order, Zuo Zongtang was so angry that he broke the horsewhip in his hand, roared and roared, scolding Teacher Zeng for being as stupid as a pig, and even scolding the sky for having no eyes, and would hand over so many loyal, brave and talented Hunan army generals to a stupid pig to lead and command! The sound was like thunder, and even Zeng Guofan, who was more than 100 meters away, could hear it clearly, but our teacher Zeng pretended not to hear it, and with a gloomy face, he just urged the Hunan army to go south.

Facts have proved that Mr. Zeng's decision this time is indeed too wrong to be wrong, just received the news that the Hunan army is going south, Qin Rigang immediately sent Wei Jun to lead a naval division to the south, and took Duchang like a lightning speed, as a result, although the Jiangxi Qing army guarding Duchang was worthy of Mr. Zeng, and did not immediately abandon the city and flee, but only dared to close the city to protect itself. However, the sailors and marines of the Taiping Army unceremoniously landed in battle, storming Duchang and the battle was very fierce.

At the same time, the land division of the Taiping Army who came by land had also crossed the Taiping Pass, and quickly narrowed the distance with the main force of the Hunan army, and the main force of the Hunan army was unable to get up because of Huang Wenjin's containment and harassment.

At the critical moment, Zuo Zongtang, who did not want to see nearly 10,000 Hunan soldiers sent to death in vain, stepped forward again, and asked Zeng Guofan through Yang Wending to immediately stop his southward footsteps, set up a camp in the nearby Chengshan Liujia, which was quite ideal, and waited for reinforcements to rescue. But Teacher Zeng still insisted on not listening, insisted on continuing to go south, and stubbornly pulled the Hunan army across the city and mountain Liujia to continue south, Zuo Zongtang jumped like thunder, but there was nothing to do.

In this way, nearly 10,000 Hunan troops were finally pulled into the place of death by our teacher Zeng step by step, and after going south to the vicinity of the current Chengshan Town, the Hunan army camped and rested, but the next day just after dawn, the officers and soldiers of the Hunan army saw with pale faces that the main force of the Taiping Army land division wrapped in red cloth on their heads had been pouring all over the mountains, instantly reversing the situation of land strength between the Hunan army and the Taiping army. At the same time, the Taiping Army's Huang Wenjin Department had also bypassed the Hunan army's camp in a roundabout way and ran to the south to intercept the Hunan army's approach.

It was cold, but sweat appeared on Teacher Zeng's forehead, but Zuo Zongtang suddenly rushed in front of Teacher Zeng like a crazy lion and roared: "Send troops to fight!" Long hair is tired from afar, and at this time we will take advantage of the troops, and we will hope to kill them and buy time to adjust our tactics! ”

Teacher Zeng still hesitated, but Hu Linyi on the side couldn't stand it, and rushed back to his camp without saying a word, and organized the Yizi battalion to send troops to meet the battle, but the situation was really expected by Zuo Zongtang, even if it was more with fewer hits, but relying on the advantage of physical strength, the Yizi battalion really miraculously repelled the exhausted Taiping army reinforcements, forcing the Taiping army reinforcements to retreat and recuperate. At the same time, Li Xubin also killed Huang Wenjin, who tried to take the opportunity to supply the Hunan army's camp, and helped the Hunan army survive the crisis.

"To the west! Go to Poyang Lake to find a place with water and mountains to set up camp, and wait for reinforcements from Huguang Jiangxi! ”

Zuo Zongtang's red eyes again put forward the correct suggestion was finally approved by Zeng Guofan, and it was too late to dismantle the formed fence and guard tower brought by Peng Ze's hard work, and the soldiers of the Hunan army directly abandoned the camp, strode all the way to the west, and hurried to the shore of Poyang Lake to find a suitable camping site.

Zuo Zongtang, who likes to compare himself to Zhuge Kongming, is still not as bright as Zhuge Old Demon, at least in terms of geography as Zhuge Old Demon - I don't know that the west shore of Poyang Lake in this area happens to be not conducive to a suitable mountain area for long-term perseverance. The Hunan army was forced to walk along the lake to find the ideal camp, during which the Taiping army took the opportunity to launch several charges, killing and wounding many Hunan soldiers, and also stealing some Hunan army food and artillery.

Finally, after walking an extra five or six miles, the Hunan army finally found two more decent camping sites, one is the current gray mountain, and the other is the current lake and mountain, among which the terrain of the lake and mountain is the most ideal, the mountain is high and easy to defend and difficult to attack, and artillery can be erected to cover the lake, making it difficult for the Taiping army to cooperate with the land division to attack the Hunan army camp, Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Guofan also coincidentally chose to set up camp in the lake and mountain.

However, it is a pity that Shi Zhenji and Huang Wenjin, who are old in the battlefield, also saw this, and Huang Wenjin's troops charged at the same time as the Hunan army at any cost, and in order to climb to the top of the mountain first, they slashed each other with knives and axes, and fought with their lives. As a result, it is very regrettable that the Guangxi wolves that go to the sky and the earth are not only more suitable for mountain combat, but also have a significantly stronger hand-to-hand combat ability than the Hunan army, and they still climbed the lake and mountains ahead of the Hunan army, seizing the favorable terrain and not giving the Hunan army a chance to go up the mountain.

The Hunan army had no choice but to hurriedly climb the gray mountain, which was only protected by the lake in the west, and raced against time to set up a camp while fighting fiercely with the Taiping army, and paid a considerable price to hold the gray mountain and establish a camp that could be guarded.

When the night was dark, the soldiers of the Hunan army were still racing against time to dig trenches and build walls, cut down trees to build fences, although the Taiping army was too tired to launch a night attack, but also dug trenches at the bottom of the mountain overnight to surround the gray mountain, and the dense bonfires were like a vast ocean, completely surrounding the isolated island of the gray mountain. Seeing this scene on the mountain, our teacher Zeng was in tears, and he cried bitterly with regret, "I hurt the children of Sanxiang, I hurt the children of Sanxiang!" ”

When everyone couldn't persuade them, the sudden appearance of boat lights on the lake almost scared Mr. Zeng's soul, but what everyone didn't expect was that the boat that came turned out to be the remnants of the Hunan Army's naval division led by Yang Yuebin - but unfortunately, there was only a small red single boat and a few sampans, which could not carry a few people across the lake.

"Shuai, how did you get here? We always thought that you would retreat to the mouth of the lake and wait for reinforcements, or did we venture out to find you when we heard that you were heading south. What are you doing here? The route over there at the mouth of the lake has been blocked by the long-haired sailors, and the reinforcements from the sailors from Huguang can't come directly to save you? ”

Yang Yuebin's complaint made poor Teacher Zeng even more ashamed, and he also categorically rejected Yang Yuebin's request to carry him back to Jiujiang first, and was determined to stay in Gray Mountain to live and die with the officers and men of the Hunan Army - at this point, our Teacher Zeng is indeed qualified to be a teacher for our little comprador Wu.

The arrival of Yang Yuebin gave Mr. Zeng the opportunity to contact the outside world, and also gave some greedy rats a chance to escape, among the few ferry tickets, Yang Wending Yang Boss naturally grabbed one unceremoniously, and Zuo Zongtang also unceremoniously snatched one, but Zuo Zongtang clearly told Zeng Guofan, saying: "It's useless for me to stay here, only when I go to Jiujiang to strategize and give advice to Wang Guocai and Liu Kun, can I play a greater role." ”

"Now that the first team of the long-haired sailors is blocking the mouth of the lake, and the first team is attacking Duchang, you still have a chance to get rescue supplies, if you want, write a letter to Wen Jun now, ask him for help, and ask him to send the Jiangxi fleet stationed in Ruihong, send you food and ammunition, and also help you try to transport away some wounded soldiers. As for whether you listen or not, that's your business! ”

Teacher Zeng unceremoniously wrote a letter to Wen Jun for help, or wrote it with his own blood, and in the end, Teacher Zeng wrote a blood letter to Wu Chaoyue with blood, and directly wrote only one sentence in the vernacular - Weiting, I beg you for the teacher!

"Master Yang, you can tell Weiting about the specific situation, please tell him, I, who is a teacher, am really sorry for him! However, I still have to be cheeky and beg him again to save the children of Sanxiang here in Gray Mountain! I'm not afraid of death, but I can't let these Sanxiang soldiers under my command die in vain! ”

After saying this, Zeng Guofan knelt down on Yang Wending's knees, paused, tears burst into tears, and the generals of the Hunan army next to him also cried loudly, all kneeling down to Yang Wending, kowtowing and pleading. Because they all know very well in their hearts that Wen Jun will definitely not be able to count on it, and now the only one who can rescue the soldiers of the Hunan army from the sea of suffering is Wu Chaoyue.

Wen Junwen Futai did not live up to the expectations of Zeng Guofan and the Hunan army soldiers, and after Yang Yuebin luckily carried Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang and others across the lake, although Yang Yuebin sent a clipper early to send Zeng Guofan's blood letter for help to Nanchang Fucheng next to the Ganjiang River by waterway. But after reading the bloody book of Teacher Zeng's tears, our Wenfutai picked his nose, popped out a lump of snot in a chic manner, and said expressionlessly: "The long-haired water bandits are powerful, and the dispatch of Jiangxi sailors is in vain to send them to death, and this Futai can't take the lives of Jiangxi soldiers as child's play." ”

"Wen Futai, we beg you!" The messenger of the Hunan army knelt down, kowtowed again and again, and cried loudly: "Now the long-haired sailor has no time to go to Gray Mountain to block the route for the time being, and your sailor has the opportunity to send us reinforcements!" ”

"Tell him to find Wu Chaoyue, didn't Wu Chaoyue want to deprive the official of the green battalion military rights? Since he doesn't look down on his own official so much, then his teacher will let him save himself! (To be continued.) )