In fact, Zhou Xiuying did not really persuade Zeng Lichang and Chen Shibao to make up their minds to attack Changzhou, and the Taiping army sent troops to Wuxi, its primary purpose was just to help Xie Changsha get rid of the entanglement of the Qing army in Changzhou, so that Xie Changsha, who had been entangled by the Qing army in Changzhou, could breathe a sigh of relief and get some respite.

It is necessary to do this, and after holding out in Wuxi for more than a whole year, although the second-line Taiping Army under the command of Xie Changsha has made significant progress and increased its strength a lot, it is now already short of ammunition in the army, and it is difficult to cover food and grass, so it is urgent to rest and rest to replenish ammunition and grain and grass weapons. Zeng Lichang eased up a little bit here in Suzhou, and he had to help him no matter what.

Zhou Lichun's army hit Qishu in one breath was completely because the Changzhou Qing army was not angry, and greedily attacked the rear team of Zhou Lichun's army, but he never dreamed that the baggage team behind Zhou Lichun was actually the elite of the Taiping army. Zhou Lichun's army and Huang Shengcai's troops of the Taiping Army who assisted him in the battle did not dare to take advantage of the situation to fight directly under the city of Changzhou in one breath, and only chased Qishu and quickly stopped.

After that, Zhou Xiuying, who did not participate in the Yanghu War, continued to eat inside and outside, although once again suggested that Zeng Lichang and Chen Shibao continue to increase their troops, and take advantage of the situation to take Changzhou City, which is definitely not under Suzhou, but this time it was categorically rejected by Zeng Lichang and Chen Shibao, the reason is, of course, that the Taiping Army in southern Jiangsu is not strong, and if it divides its troops too much, it will not only have little certainty of taking Changzhou, but may also give the Qing army a chance to kick Suzhou. In this regard, Zhou Xiuying was of course secretly anxious, but she was helpless.

Everyone knows the next situation, listened to Wu Chaoyue's suggestion, Jiangsu governor Xu Naizhao led more than 3,000 troops west into Suzhou, set up a camp in the southeast corner of the city, and took a defensive position in the deep ditch and high fortress, and then He Chun, who was once beaten away by the Taiping army, also sneaked out of Kunshan City with the army, and camped in the northeast corner of Suzhou City on the side of Yangcheng Lake, and Xu Naizhao threatened Suzhou City with each other's horns.

In this regard, Zeng Lichang and Chen Shibao did not dare to take risks attacking Changzhou, but also did not dare to take it lightly because Wu Chaoyue did not personally lead the army to come, for fear that the scheming Wu Chaoyue would not come to Suzhou It would be fake, and it would be true that he was holding back his bad preparations to attack Suzhou, and the reconnaissance and prevention of the Qing army would be tighter. Zhou Xiuying was a little disappointed when she knew about this situation, and secretly scolded her lover for not understanding her mind and not giving her a chance to meet Wu Chaoyue again.

The next battle situation was dull and boring, Xu Naizhao and He Chun only defended without fighting, desperately ruining the silver and money of Emperor Xianfeng but did not want to forge ahead, and never launched an attack on Suzhou City from beginning to end. However, the Taiping army took the initiative to launch an attack on the Qing army's camp, but because the Qing army did not get a chance to win because the camp was stubbornly defended, it took the initiative to withdraw after half a day's fierce battle, and then there was no decent battle between the two armies, and they were basically in a state of passive confrontation.

After getting rid of the entanglement of the Changzhou Qing army, the Wuxi Taiping Army frequently attacked, singled out the surrounding landlords and wealthy households, defeated a number of landlord armies one after another, robbed a considerable amount of money, food and weapons, and partially alleviated the crisis of lack of materials in the Wuxi Taiping Army. However, Wuxi's side has long been destroyed, no matter how much Xie Changsha scrapes the ground, it is impossible to rob it, so the situation of the Taiping Army in Wuxi is still very difficult, and it is difficult to provide strong help to the Taiping Army on the battlefield in Changzhou.

Even if it was difficult to get the help of the friendly army in Wuxi, relying on the advantages of weapons and soldier quality, Zhou Lichun and Huang Shengcai still defeated the counterattack of the Qing army in Changzhou several times, and once hit the city of Changzhou, and grabbed a lot of money and food supplies in the town of the city and the surrounding villages, but because of the lack of overall strength, they could not give the relatively weakest Changzhou Qing army on the battlefield in southern Jiangsu to deal a fatal blow, and at the same time, it was obviously not a long-term plan to simply plunder the township to supply grain and grass, so Zhou Lichun and Huang Shengcai took the initiative to send people to contact Zeng Lichang. Please accept it as soon as you see it, and withdraw it to Wuxi or Suzhou as soon as possible? Or continue to hold on and wait for Zeng Lichang's follow-up reinforcements?

After receiving the letter jointly signed by Zhou Lichun and Huang Shengcai, Zeng Lichang and Chen Shibao also hurried together to discuss how to reply. However, Zeng Lichang's deputy Chen Shibao took another level into account and said to Zeng Lichang: "Prime Minister Zeng, of course it is a safe choice to withdraw troops, but we must not forget the lesson when we were in Yangzhou. ”

Chen Shibao's words reminded Zeng Lichang that Zeng Lichang was ordered to guard Yangzhou in the third year of Xianfeng, in the face of the heavy encirclement of the Qing army's Jiangbei camp, Zeng Lichang and his officers and soldiers worked together, hated the same enemy, and did not know how many times to repel the crazy attack of the Qing army, and tried to ensure that Yangzhou was not lost, but because the Qing army cut off Zeng Lichang's supply of grain and grass, the Taiping soldiers who gradually ran out of food could only rely on bark and grass roots to satisfy their hunger, and ate up the rats, cats, dogs and finches in the city. In the end, I couldn't survive it, and I could only be forced to abandon the city and break through.

The situation in the Suzhou battlefield was actually worse and more dangerous than the Yangzhou battlefield, and at least there were reinforcements from Zhenjiang and Nanjing in Yangzhou to count on, and the Qing army in the Jiangbei camp was much weaker than the Qing army in the Jiangnan camp; And now Suzhou is much farther from Zhenjiang and Nanjing than Yangzhou, and the enemies it faces are stronger and more treacherous. Although it was difficult for the Qing army outside the city and the Wu army in Shanghai to break through the fortified city of Suzhou, it was more than enough to cut off the supply of grain and grass for the Taiping army, and once the Taiping army ran out of food, it still did not wait for the reinforcements sent by Yang Xiuqing.

Considering these lessons from the past, as well as the specific situation now, Zeng Lichang was inevitably a little shaken, and asked Chen Shibao hesitantly: "Prime Minister Chen, then what do you mean that we should march into Changzhou?" ”

Chen Shibao nodded first, then shook his head again, and said: "Prime Minister Zeng misunderstood, I don't mean to attack Changzhou on a large scale, I just think that the current situation, it is a pity to give up attacking Changzhou like this, compared with the three Qing demons in Songjiang, the Qing demons in Changzhou are much weaker, even our partial division can have the upper hand in a head-to-head battle, we appropriately send some more main elites to the battlefield in Changzhou, and it may not be hopeless to take Changzhou." ”

Speaking of this, Chen Shibao paused for a moment, and then said: "So I think we might as well send another army to Changzhou, and it is of course best to take Changzhou City in one fell swoop." If you really can't take it, you should immediately return to the division to guard Suzhou Wuxi, and you won't delay anything. Even if there is really any danger on the side of Suzhou, with the marching speed of our soldiers, two days is enough time to return from Changzhou to Suzhou, and this road is still controlled by us, and we are not afraid of the Qing army intercepting and blocking it. ”

Zeng Lichang, who had a cautious personality, hesitated and didn't dare to make a decision lightly, and thought about it for a long time before saying: "Then let's do it, don't be in a hurry to let Zhou Lichun and Huang Shengcai withdraw from the army, let me think about it before making a decision." ”

If Zeng Lichang really made up his mind to abandon the attack on Changzhou immediately, then Wu Chaoyue would definitely have no tears, but Zeng Lichang would have a chance to think about Wu Chaoyue a little - only one day later, Zhou Lichun and Huang Shengcai suddenly sent someone to send an urgent letter, saying that there was a leader of the Changzhou regiment training named Jin Yushan, and sent his henchmen to secretly get in touch with Zhou Lichun and others, send a letter to ask for surrender, and took the initiative to ask for the Taiping army's internal response, promising to start an incident in the city when the Taiping army attacked the city, and opened the city gate to welcome the Taiping army into the city. In addition, Jin Yushan also made a surrender condition, rewarded him with 10,000 taels of silver after breaking the city, and rewarded Teng Yuhan, the beautiful daughter of the famous wealthy Teng family in Changzhou City, to him as a concubine.

In addition to reporting these important circumstances, Zhou Lichun also probably reported to Zeng Lichang about the situation of this Jin Yushan, saying that he was a native of Xin'an, Wuxi, nicknamed Jin Agou (historical figure), after the Taiping army captured Wuxi, this Jin Agou used the pretext of holding a group to train a group of people to claim the king and hegemony in Taihu Lake, and kept saying that the Taiping army was actually specialized in robbing past merchants to make a fortune, and often did smuggling business with the Taiping army in private, and had secret dealings with Zhou Lichun and Xie Changsha. Later, because Jin Agou robbed the grain ship of the Wuxi Taiping Army, which angered the Wuxi Taiping Army, he was beaten violently and even the nest was copied by the Taiping Army.

After reading the letter jointly signed by Zhou Lichun and Huang Shengcai, Zeng Lichang was secretly happy in his heart and did not hesitate, and immediately invited Zhou Xiuying, who was born in the Taiping Army in Wuxi, to let Zhou Xiuying read the letter, and also asked Zhou Xiuying, who was already considered a righteous sister, if she knew about this golden dog. As a result, Zhou Xiuying frowned when she heard it, and said: "Brother Yi, this golden dog is not a good thing, he is lustful and greedy for money, his son and him are also virtuous, every time he meets me, he and his son are ......." ”

Recalling the scene when she met Jin Agou before, Zhou Xiuying couldn't help but make a gesture that wanted to vomit, and said: "Don't mention that old dog, I want to vomit when I mention his little sister." ”

After all, Zhou Xiuying actually felt a little disgusting and wanted to vomit, but Zeng Lichang asked again: "Sister-in-law, in your opinion, this golden dog sent a book to ask for surrender, is it true or false?" ”

"I can't say." Zhou Xiuying shook her head and said: "My little sister doesn't have a lot of contact with him, but it's true that this old dog is greedy for money and lustful, for women and silver, he can even sell his own father and mother!" The last time Taihu Lake robbed grain, Xie Junshuai's people had already clearly told him that he was our grain, and he made an agreement with us not to invade each other, and he would rob it correctly! The fisherman girl of Taihu Lake doesn't know how much she has been ruined by him and his son! ”

As long as Jin Agou can really open the city gate and dedicate the city, Zeng Lichang will certainly not mind how despicable his character is, and in addition to being secretly happy, Zeng Lichang of course immediately calculated the possibility of sending troops to Changzhou. It turned out to be a coincidence, at this time, Huang Zilong, the general of the Taiping Army who was in charge of the sentinel affairs, suddenly came in in a hurry, and presented a new emergency report to Zeng Lichang, saying: "Prime Minister Zeng, the fine work placed in Shanghai has sent an urgent report, and the little demon is going to get married." ”

"Beyond the little demon is going to get married?!"

It was not Zeng Lichang and Chen Shibao who exclaimed, but Zhou Xiuying, who happened to be at the scene, hearing the news, Zhou Xiuying's small mouth suddenly opened to fit two eggs, and her face was full of unbelievable shock. Zeng Lichang saw the strange and hurriedly asked, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong with you?" Beyond the little demon to get married, why are you surprised to be like this? ”

"Ahh Zhou Xiuying unconsciously sighed twice before coming back to her senses, forcibly suppressed the mess in her heart, and said with a forced smile: "The little sister just thinks it's strange, just surpass the ugly appearance of the little demon, that family is so short-sighted, will marry their daughter to him?" ”

"What a fuss. Beyond the little demon is a high-ranking official of the Qing Demon, there are so many sycophants in the Qing Demon court, of course there are those who are willing to marry their daughters to him. ”

Zeng Lichang reprimanded his sister with a smile, and then picked up the urgent report of the detailed work to take a closer look, and when he saw that Wu Chaoyue's wedding date was set for the fifth day of the ninth month, and when he saw that Wu Jun Lianyong did not show signs of sending troops in the near future, Zeng Lichang was of course even more happy in his heart, and hurriedly discussed with Chen Shibao in a low voice the possibility of taking the opportunity to send troops to fight Changzhou. Zhou Xiuying was distraught, for fear that she would continue to show her flaws, so she quickly found an excuse to say goodbye.

also returned to the women's camp, and when he returned to his room, after driving out the female soldiers who were waiting in the room, Zhou Xiuying got into the quilt and covered his head with the quilt to tears, not only hating the lover's injustice, but also regretting his original arrogance and high profile, missing the only opportunity to become a formal husband and wife with his sweetheart......

"Liar! Stinky liar! I obviously said that I wanted to marry me, and I had to marry someone else, bullied others, asked others to do this and that for you, and finally married someone else ....... Chen Shimei, stinky Chen Shimei ....... ”

Zhou Xiuying, who was too sad and didn't eat or drink, never left the room that day, but the next morning, Zhou Xiuying got up and freshened up under the persuasion of the female soldiers, and reluctantly sat down at the table and drank a bowl of gruel, but even if she barely ate, she couldn't swallow it, and it took a lot of effort to barely drink a bowl of gruel. However, when Zhou Xiuying was extremely uncomfortable physically and psychologically, Zeng Lichang suddenly sent someone to ask Zhou Xiuying to meet him, Zhou Xiuying didn't know what to do, and hurriedly put down the porridge bowl and rushed to the Taiping Army command post with the envoy, and met with his brother Zeng Lichang again.

Zeng Lichang's expression today was very strange, seeing that Zhou Xiuying's expression was wrong, although Zeng Lichang first cared about Zhou Xiuying's physical condition, after being prevaricated by Zhou Xiuying, Zeng Lichang asked Zhou Xiuying with a strange expression: "Sister Yi, you are telling me the truth, what did you say in the secret letter you asked me to forward to the East King last time?" ”

It took a lot of effort, and Zhou Xiuying, who was very uncomfortable in her heart, barely remembered that there was such a thing, and Zhou Xiuying didn't answer immediately, and asked very smartly: "Brother Yi, what's wrong?" Dongwang Jiuchitose has an answer from there? ”

"There's an answer." Zeng Lichang nodded, showed a letter he had just received, and said: "There is a letter from the East King Nine Thousand Years Old, asking me to immediately send someone to protect the secret to Tianjing, and I want to meet you directly." ”

Zhou Xiuying was silent, knowing that Yang Xiuqing was really going to meet with her. When Zhou Xiuying saluted Zeng Lichang and said, "Brother Yi, please believe the little sister, the content of that secret letter has absolutely nothing to do with you and the Heavenly Army in Suzhou. But what exactly is the content, Xiaomei can't tell you yet. ”

"Why?"

Zeng Lichang hurriedly asked, Zhou Xiuying shook his head and refused to answer, the result was not bad, Zeng Lichang, who was saved by Zhou Xiuying, also knew that he knew how to repay his kindness, and did not force Zhou Xiuying to answer, shook his head and said: "Okay, since you don't want to answer, then my brother can't force you." Now Dongwang 9,000 years old wants you to go to Tianjing, the road is very dangerous, do you want to go? ”

It was Zhou Xiuying's turn to hesitate, originally after knowing the news that Wu Chaoyue had eaten all the food and wiped out but married her else, Zhou Xiuying had sworn countless times in her heart that she would forget Wu Chaoyue and would never do anything for Wu Chaoyue again. However, now that she finally got the opportunity to meet Yang Xiuqing, Zhou Xiuying was in a state of confusion, not knowing what to do, or when Zeng Lichang asked again, Zhou Xiuying made up her mind, nodded, and replied in a voice she didn't recognize: "Little sister go." ”

"Are you really going?" Zeng Lichang looked serious, and after thinking about it for a while, Zeng Lichang also drove away the outsiders next to him, and then lowered his voice and said: "Righteous sister, you are my righteous sister, I warn you for my brother, think carefully." This line is not only dangerous, but you have to pass through the controlled territory of the Qing Demon, even if you get to Tianjing safely and meet the East King Nine Thousand Years Old, it will ....... ”

Speaking of this, Zeng Lichang paused, and then said in a lower voice: "It will only be more dangerous!" Dongwang Jiuqiansui is not an ordinary lust, with your righteous sister's appearance, when you see him, I am afraid of ......, I am afraid that Dongwang Jiuqiansui will not let you go. So little sister, you have to think about it carefully, you can refuse, and I can also use the excuse of being intercepted by the Qing Demon and unable to carry out the order of the East King Nine Thousand Years Old. ”

Zhou Xiuying knew that Zeng Lichang really regarded himself as his sister, so he said in front of him that he was definitely a big rebel in the Taiping Army, and Zhou Xiuying also wanted to refuse, but when she thought of the importance of Wu Chaoyue's request to convey the news to herself, and thought of Wu Chaoyue's indifference to herself, Zhou Xiuying nodded and said, "Brother Yi, my little sister must go." Xiaomei has an extremely important thing that must be told to Dongwang in person, if he must force me, I will die! ”

Although he has not been in contact with Zhou Xiuying for a long time, Zeng Lichang also understands very well how stubborn and firm his righteous sister is, and knows that he can no longer persuade her to turn back, so he can only sigh and say: "Righteous sister, don't say that, if Dongwang Jiuqiansui really forces you, you will say that you have married someone in our army, and if you want to come to Dongwang Jiuqiansui, he will also know the severity and will not be too coercive to you." ”

Zhou Xiuying nodded, thanked Zeng Lichang for his concern and guidance, but said in her heart: "I am not married, but I am really someone else's person." ”

At this time, Zeng Lichang said again: "Since you have made up your mind, then you should hurry up and prepare, go out of the city with me the day after tomorrow, and when you arrive in Changzhou, I will arrange a route to Tianjing and a fake identity for you." ”

"Arrived in Changzhou?" Zhou Xiuying was stunned and asked in surprise: "Brother Yi, are you going to Changzhou?" ”

"Hmm." Zeng Lichang nodded and said casually: "I have already discussed with Prime Minister Chen Cheng, he will defend the city, and I will bring an army to reinforce your father and General Huang, and strive to take Changzhou down, expand our control area, and also bring us closer to Tianjing." ”

Zhou Xiuying was stunned for a while, and then couldn't help but feel a little itchy at the root of her teeth, and secretly spitted: "Chen Shimei, stinky thief, you have succeeded again!" (To be continued.) )