Let's take a look at the situation on Li Xiucheng's side, after reading Wu Chaoyue's extremely vicious instigation letter with Hong Xiuquan, Li Xiucheng, who is familiar with Hong Xiuquan's suspicious character, knows that there is no way to persuade Hong Xiuquan to leave Nanjing in advance, and he also understands that he will definitely fight a strategic decisive battle with the main force of Wu's army in Nanjing. Although Li Xiucheng knew very well that he was not very sure of winning the decisive battle, Li Xiucheng could not let the army and the Taiping army in Nanjing sit still, so he could only do his best to prepare for this decisive battle related to the future and fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Of course, with more than 300,000 Taiping troops in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they couldn't eliminate the Wu army Feng Sanbao, which had only more than 10,000 people, and Li Xiucheng didn't dare to dream of being able to defeat the Wu army head-on for reinforcements, so for the decisive battle of Nanjing, Li Xiucheng could only decide to stick to it, use the favorable terrain and strong fortifications to block the reinforcements of the Wu army, and retreat on its own after the Wu army could not overcome it for a long time.

After holding a meeting with his generals to discuss and finalize this tactical policy, Li Xiucheng immediately began to lay out the defense plan, and decided to build eleven large camps around Yuhuatai on the basis of the existing camps, and built the fortifications to the strongest with deep ditches and high fortifications, and cooperated with dozens of small fortifications and interception trenches to surround Yuhuatai and completely cut off the connection between the Wu army's Feng Sanbao Department and the outside, forcing the Wu army's rear army to launch a frontal assault and open the road to rescue the Wu army's Feng Sanbao department who could not be supplied with food and ammunition.

In addition, in order to ensure smooth communication with the rear of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the friendly forces in Jiangbei, Li Xiucheng also attached great importance to the protection of the two important military places of Moling Pass and Jiuhuanzhou, and arranged for his younger brother Li Mingcheng to lead the army to garrison Moling Pass early to prevent the Wu army from cutting off the land aorta from the rear of Jiangsu and Zhejiang; He also arranged for Fu Zhenggang, a general, to lead an army of 20,000 troops north to Jiuhuanzhou to help Liang Fengchao, who was originally stationed in Jiuhuanzhou, strengthen his defense. At the same time, ten pontoon bridges were built between Jiuhuzhou and the north bank of the Yangtze River, so that the Taiping troops in Jiangpu and Pukou could go south to reinforce Jiuhuanzhou at any time.

Although Li Xiucheng attaches great importance to the defense of Jiuhuanzhou, the thinker Li Shuxiang is worried about Li Xiucheng's arrangement, and warned Li Xiucheng: "Loyal King Chitose, although Jiuhuanzhou is the north gate of Tianjing, and it is the throat of our communication with the Jiangbei Heavenly Kingdom army, but Jiuhuanzhou is only an island in the middle of the river after all, surrounded by water and the terrain is not high, our garrison camp is easily covered by the fire of the demon soldiers' sailors, and it is very difficult to defend, and it is not only too wasteful to arrange heavy troops there. It is also possible that the demon soldiers will take advantage of the advantage of the sailor to completely trap themselves on the island, and it will be difficult to even retreat. Isn't it too risky and wasteful for us to deploy so many troops in Jiuhuanzhou? ”

"Afraid of what?" Li Xiucheng said confidently: "The waterway in the north of Jiuhuanzhou is narrow and shallow (only a few tens of meters wide), and the steamers of the demon soldiers can't drive into it, so we only need to hold the five pontoon bridges connecting Jiuhuanzhou to the north shore, and then build some more anti-artillery fortifications on Jiuhuanzhou Island, that is, we can attack and retreat and defend, and ensure that we have smooth communication with Jiangbei." ”

"But what if the Demon Soldier Sailor sends a small boat to rush into the northern waterway of Jiuhuan Island and destroy the pontoon bridge?" Li Shuxiang still refused to rest assured, and said: "Also, the terrain of Jiuhuan Continent is not high, and the entire island will be flooded when the Yangtze River rises and floods. ”

When he was in Nanjing before, Li Xiucheng did see the situation of the Yangtze River flooding the entire island of Jiuhuanzhou, so after listening to Li Shuxiang's warning, Li Xiucheng inevitably hesitated and wavered, but after careful calculation, Li Xiucheng shook his head and said: "Impossible, now that the summer is almost over, it is impossible for the Yangtze River to rise again, so there is no need to worry about this kind of natural disaster." The location of Jiuhuanzhou is important, which can not only allow us to communicate with Jiangbei smoothly, but also use batteries to block the Yangtze River waterway, and contain the demon soldiers and sailors for us, so we must be protected by heavy troops. ”

"As for the problem of the demon soldiers' boats, as long as the defense is strengthened." Li Xiucheng said again: "The demon soldier's boat can't hold many people, as long as we guard it tightly, we can let the demon soldier's boat die one by one." And the waterway over there is not wide, as long as you prepare more chain boats, even if one or two pontoon bridges are blown up by the demon soldiers' boats, you can immediately rebuild them, and you don't need to worry. ”

Seeing Li Xiucheng's resolute attitude, Li Shuxiang didn't dare to say anything more, so he could only look up at the scorching sun in the sky, and said secretly: "Heavenly Father bless, don't let the Yangtze River rise during this time, otherwise we will be miserable." ”

In the next few days, the weather in Nanjing not only remained fine, but the water level of the Yangtze River also did not change significantly, and the Taiping army of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Zhejiang, with sufficient manpower, also took advantage of such good weather to quickly build the strong fortifications required by Li Xiucheng, and dug four deep and wide trenches to surround Yuhuatai. What made Li Xiucheng even happier was that his rear in Jiangsu and Zhejiang also sent a large amount of grain, grass and ammunition to the Nanjing battlefield during this period, which was supplemented by the Taiping army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which had huge ammunition consumption in the Yuhuatai War, and also made Li Xiucheng let go of his heart and no longer worry about the ammunition problem in the decisive battle with the support of the Wu army.

On the underground battlefield, the Taiping Army's espionage work was also very good, and the Taiping Army's detailed work lurking in the Wuhu area reported the situation of the Wu Army's Cao Yanzhong Corps almost every day, so that Li Xiucheng could basically grasp the general movements of the Wu Army's Cao Yanzhong Corps, and even the important information that the Cao Yanzhong Corps had begun to prepare to set off for the eastward march was sent to Li Xiucheng by the Taiping Army's detailed work, so that Li Xiucheng had plenty of time to respond.

However, Li Xiucheng was also a little greedy, and after receiving the report that Wu Jun Cao Yanzhong was preparing to leave, he immediately asked the detailed writer who came to report: "Do you know that the Wuhu demon soldiers are preparing to leave on that day?" Which way to get to Tianjing? ”

"King Chung Chitose forgives sins, we can't find out." Xi Saku replied truthfully: "We just heard from the soldiers and sailors of the demon soldiers that they were about to set off for Tianjing, and as for the day of departure and which road to take, the people and sailors of those demon soldiers did not know. ”

"It's a pity." Li Xiucheng felt a little sorry, but he didn't blame the fine work, he just waved his hand to send the fine work down to rest and receive the reward, and then asked Li Shuxiang next to him: "Shuxiang, in your opinion, how will the demon soldiers go east and take that road to Tianjing?" ”

"It is most likely to take the road of Jiangning Town and Dasheng Pass, and by taking this road, the water division and land division of the demon soldiers can go hand in hand and cover each other, which is the most beneficial to the demon soldiers." Li Shuxiang replied, and said: "But it is not excluded that the water division and the land division of the demon soldiers will act separately, the water division will directly go east to fight Jiuhuanzhou, and the land division will take the road of Zhumen to fight Moling Pass, cutting off our connection with Jiangbei and southern Jiangsu." ”

"Do demon soldiers dare to divide their troops?" Li Xiucheng said with some contempt: "Their troops are not many, and we have stationed heavy guards in Jiuhuanzhou and Moling Pass, and they divide their troops to fight these two places at the same time, so they are not afraid that it will be difficult to support them alone?" ”

"I'm afraid not." Li Shuxiang still didn't like what he said, and said: "The army of the demon general Cao Yanzhong, as well as the sailors of the demon soldiers, whether it is foreign guns or foreign artillery, are much more than Feng Sanbao's demon soldiers, and they have never lost a battle since they came all the way from Jiujiang, and their arrogance is very arrogant, and it is by no means impossible to boldly divide the troops." ”

It's not bad for Li Shuxiang, who doesn't like to speak, Li Xiucheng is a person who can listen to his advice, not only did he not mind after listening to his rebuttal and bold speculation, but also nodded after careful consideration, and said: "There is this possibility, but it is a good thing for us for the demon soldiers to take the risk of dividing the army, and it is much easier for us to face the water division and land division of the demon soldiers separately than to deal with the demon soldiers." ”

"Chung Wang Chitose, if you want to see the demon soldiers divide their troops and advance, then we can think of a way to lure the demon soldiers to make this decision." Li Shuxiang said with a smile.

"What's the solution?" Li Xiucheng asked.

"Give Zhumen an order to go there, as long as the demon soldiers are approaching, immediately take the initiative to abandon Zhumen and withdraw to Jiangning Town." Li Shuxiang replied: "Let Gui Tianyi Fu Zhenggang come forward again, and send a dead man to the demon soldiers to surrender fraudulently, just say that he was unfavorable when he attacked Yuhuatai, and was convicted by the loyal king Chitose, and after being sent to Jiuhuanzhou to wear the crime and make meritorious service, he was repeatedly bullied by Liang Fengchao, who was subordinate to Meng Shiyong, and was disheartened and lazy and wanted to surrender, and was willing to give the demon soldiers as an internal response, and help the demon soldiers and sailors to take Jiuhuanzhou." In this way, the possibility of the demon soldiers dividing their troops will definitely be much greater. ”

Li Xiucheng thought about it, and said in a deep voice: "It's okay to send a dead man to surrender, even if you can't succeed, it's just a loss of a messenger, isn't it a pity to take the initiative to give up Zhumen?" It's a town anyway, and the camp is hard to repair, so I just give up ....... ”

Thinking about this, Li Xiucheng stopped by himself, shook his head and said: "So many important cities in the upper reaches of Tianjing have been lost, and I don't need to care about such a small town, as long as I can attract demon soldiers to divide the army, it is worth losing such a small town, so I will do it." ”

Li Shuxiang agreed, and hurriedly went to Wenjiu Huanzhou and Zhumen Town respectively according to Li Xiucheng's request, and let them act according to the plan, and at the end, Li Shuxiang, who was quite superstitious, also muttered habitually, and said: "Heavenly Father bless, it is best to let the demon soldiers divide their troops, so that we can be much easier." ”

More than a day later, the Taiping army first confirmed that the Cao Yanzhong corps of the Wu army took the lead in marching eastward from Wuhu and took the Jinzhuguan Road to Nanjing; Then another day later, Fu Zhenggang also sent a happy letter, saying that his personal soldiers had contacted Wu Junshui with a fraudulent surrender letter, and Wang Fu, the commander of Wu Junshui, personally agreed to accept Fu Zhenggang's request to surrender. Then another day passed, and a greater good news came, the main force of Cao Yanzhong's corps of the Wu army was actually far away from the river bank and turned directly into the road to Zhumen, while the Wu army's naval division was only confirmed by the Taiping army in the evening of the same day to set off from Wuhu and drove towards the Jiangning battlefield alone.

"Heavenly Father forbid, the troops are really divided." Tiansui people are willing to come to this point, Li Xiucheng, who has been worried that the Wu army's water and land forces are too sharp, of course smiled, and directly applauded, and said with a smile: "Okay, the demon soldiers have risked the enemy to this point, and there is hope for Tianjing's decisive battle this time." ”