After Zeng Guoquan expected that Shu Bao deliberately announced the fake battle plan among the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry, some of the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry of the Wu army who had eaten inside and out immediately reported to the Qing army, and the so-called action plan of the Wu army was quickly sent to the city of Xuzhou, which was not far away. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Zeng Guoquan's threat to take the road of Fancheng to attack Yuncheng really made Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen a little suspicious, it stands to reason that the Hunan army carrying heavy artillery took the flat official road leading to Yuncheng in Fancheng to go south, and the difficulty of marching was significantly less than that of marching along the Ru River. However, Zeng Guoquan took this road to enter Yuncheng, but there was a variable, that is, after the Hunan army arrived in Fancheng, it could suddenly take the same flat official road and go straight to Xuzhou, and the Qing army in Xuzhou could be killed by the Hunan army at any time as long as it was a little negligent.

In view of this, Zeng Guoquan's still rough plan to divert the tiger from the mountain failed to succeed, and Tuo Ming'a was not frightened to immediately send troops south to reinforce Yuncheng, and chose to continue to respond to all changes with the same, while carefully guarding the strategic place of Xuzhou, while closely monitoring the every move of the Wu army.

Fortunately, Zeng Guoquan was a very determined person, although he never found any signs of Tuo Ming'a dividing his troops south, but he still unswervingly marched east with Shu Baojun in accordance with the original plan, and arrived at Fancheng Town at the junction of the three counties one after another, preparing to create an illusion and then suddenly go north to Xuzhou.

At this time, Pang Jiaozan, the magistrate of Yuncheng, finally sent a letter of surrender to Zeng Guoquan, not to mention the result, not only the generals of the Hunan army were greatly moved, but even Zeng Guoquan, who was so determined that he could fight the siege for a year or two, couldn't help but be a little shaken - because the messenger sent by Pang Jiaozan to surrender was his own son Pang Chengji, who showed enough sincerity to surrender.

"General Zeng, my father has already arranged everything, as soon as your rebel army arrives in Yuncheng, he will immediately find an opportunity to open the city gate and welcome the rebel army into the city. My father specially sent the late born to meet you, but also to let you know his sincerity and determination to abandon the darkness and turn to the light. ”

Listening to Pang Chengji's eloquent words, Zeng Guoquan hesitated again and again, and then asked Shu Bao and others about Pang Jiaozan's situation, and Shu Bao replied truthfully: "General Jiu, the huge man is a well-known Qing official in Henan, I heard that he is very popular in Yuncheng, we have contacted him through the merchants of Yuncheng before, and tried to persuade him to surrender, but he refused. ”

"My father refused." Pang Chengji took over the conversation and said: "My father refused at that time, because Wu Dashuai did not have many rebel troops deployed in the Yexian area, and the rebel army had already entered Yuncheng City. Now that General Zeng is about to come to the city of Yuncheng, if my father does not abandon the darkness and turn to the light, the people of Yuncheng will definitely be even more devastated, so my father can only quickly make up his mind and ask General Zeng to investigate. ”

After thinking for a while and finding that there were no flaws, Zeng Guoquan also believed in the sincerity of Pang Jiaozan's father and son, nodded and said: "It's hard to think about the people of Yuncheng for the sake of the huge people, so please ask Pang Gongzi to go back immediately and tell the huge people, ask him to get ready, and when our army arrives, he will try to open the city gate to welcome our army into the city." After the matter is completed, I will not only strictly enforce military discipline and ensure that I will not commit any offense against the people of Yuncheng, but also show Wu Dashuai the merits of the huge people, and ask Wu Dashuai to reward and reuse your father and son. ”

"General Zeng, do you want to let Wansheng go back directly?" Pang Chengji asked in surprise.

"Of course." Zeng Guoquan smiled and said: "Pang Gongzi personally came to our army to offer a letter to ask for surrender, which is enough to prove the sincerity of Ling Zun to abandon the secret surrender, if I leave Gongzi and you in the army as a hostage, wouldn't it be too much to spend the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain?" Childe, please rest assured to go back, I will let my subordinates keep it strictly secret, and the matter of Ling Zun's secret request will never leak any rumors. ”

After that, Zeng Guoquan also asked his soldiers to bring some gold, silver and jewelry stolen from Xiangcheng to Pang Chengji, but Pang Chengji, who was very fatherly, politely declined, saying that he helped his father to sacrifice the city for the people of Yuncheng, and he had no selfishness. Zeng Guoquan greatly appreciated this, and did not insist, but repeatedly told Pang Jiaozan father and son to be cautious, even if they ate a little and did not take risks, Pang Chengji thanked him and left.

Or after sending Pang Chengji away, Shu Bao, Jiang Yili and others asked Zeng Guoquan: "General Jiu, did you change your plan and attack Yuncheng first, and then turn around and fight Xuzhou?" ”

"If you don't change it, let's hit Xuzhou first."

Zeng Guoquan's smooth answer surprised everyone, and Jiang Yili hurriedly asked again: "Jiu Shuai, then why did you still promise to let Pang Jiaozan and his son prepare for the surrender of Kaicheng?" Do you suspect that they are deceitful? ”

"Judging from the fact that Pang Jiaozan sent his own son as a hostage, his request to surrender should be true."

Zeng Guoquan's answer was definitely able to make Shen Baozhen and Tuo Ming'a angry to death, and then Zeng Guoquan said: "Because of this, we should fight Xuzhou first, so that if we can force Tuo Ming'a to send the rebellious army of Yuncheng back to help Xuzhou, it will be much safer and easier for Pang Jiaozan and his son to donate the city to us." ”

"Even if Tuo Ming'a didn't send the Yuncheng garrison back to help Xuzhou, after we defeated Xuzhou, the rebellious party and thief army in Yuncheng had no support, even if they didn't take the initiative to abandon the city and leave, they would definitely not dare to defend Yuncheng, and Pang Jiaozan's father and son would also be safer and easier if they wanted to sacrifice the city."

After explaining, Zeng Guoquan added with a smile and said: "As Fu Ting said just now, Pang Jiaozan is a well-known Qing official in Henan, and such a talent is very worthy of our reuse, so we can let him take less risks, and it is best to let him take less risks, and protect such a usable person for Wu Dashuai as much as possible, isn't it better?" ”

…………

As the so-called blind man rides a blind horse, in the case of failing to see through Pang Jiaozan's deception, Zeng Guoquan's momentary goodwill act completely misled the judgment of Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen, first found out that Shu Baojun really went south to the direction of Yuncheng after arriving in Fancheng Town, and Zeng Guoquan's army really built fortifications in Fancheng Town, and received the news secretly sent by Pang Chengji to send people, knowing the process of Pang Chengji and Zeng Guoquan's meeting and negotiation, Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen also immediately decided that Zeng Guoquan had been fooled, and Wu Jun was really going to fight Yuncheng.

Therefore, although he still did not dare to relax his military precautions, Tomina, who was in a hurry to replace with advanced weapons, still did not notify the Qing army's baggage team that was transporting Russian weapons to stop advancing. In the evening of the same day, the Qing army of Zhili, escorting Russian weapons, also arrived in the city of Weishi, and only waited for the next day to continue south, and if it went well, it could rush to the city of Xuzhou before sunset the next day to deliver the arms............

With such a premise, when the sky was about to dawn the next day, when there was a sudden urgent report that the Wuligang camp had been attacked by the Wu army, Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen and other Qing army civil and military forces were of course taken aback, regardless of the dark sky and the dense wind and snow, they rushed to the south gate of Xuzhou City Wall to look in the direction of Wuligang. Then Tuo Ming'a, Shen Baozhen, and the others also turned pale on the spot -- the area around Wuligang, which was tightly choking the official road at the south gate of Xuzhou, was indeed already in flames, with dense gunfire and constant explosions, and the battle was in full swing and could not be opened.

"Damn Wu thief! Sure enough, he was cunning, he said that he was going to fight Yuncheng, and sneaked up to attack Xuzhou again, if it weren't for the conscientious duties of the Qing soldiers outside our city, I was afraid that they would really suffer a big loss! Tuojunmen, Shen Fantai, and the lower officials have already asked clearly, it was the soldiers under the command of General Xie who first discovered the sneak attack of the Wu thieves and called the police in time, and did not give the Wu thieves a chance to secretly climb into the Wuligang camp. The lower officials believed that these loyal and brave Qing soldiers should be rewarded. Also, the generals who are responsible for guarding the Shiliang River must be severely punished ....... ”

"Get out! Get out of the way! ”

Chen Zhaoyong, the governor of Xuzhou, reciprocated his kindness in exchange for Tuo Ming'a's roar and roar, and quickly retreated to the side, Chen Zhaoyong found that not only Tuo Ming'a's face was blue and black, but Shen Baozhen's round face, which was usually always smiling, was also blue and black in the light of the torch, so gloomy that it could directly drip water.

Seeing this scene, Chen Zhaoyong, who didn't know the key reason, was inevitably a little confused, and said secretly: "What's wrong?" Could it be that Tuojunmen and Shen Fantai were afraid that the Wu thief army would come too quickly, so that they would not have the opportunity to flee for their lives first? If this is the case, the official has to prepare early, I heard that Wu Chaoyue is not bad to the Qing officials who surrendered in the past, as long as the official reputation is not too bad, they are basically retained in their original positions, and some have taken the opportunity to be promoted. Although the official's reputation is not too good, it is not too bad. ”

Of course, Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen didn't have the mood and time to pay attention to the thoughts of other civil and military officials in Xuzhou, and after discussing a few words in a low voice, Tuo Ming'a immediately sent reliable personal soldiers to ride fast horses out of the city and go north, and rushed to Weishi County to contact the Qing army's baggage team, telling the Wu army about the sudden northward attack on Xuzhou, and asking the Qing army's baggage team to immediately stop going south, quickly transfer to a neighboring city and station, first ensure the safety of the arms, and then consider how to receive the arms into the city.

Still after sending the emergency messenger out, Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen hated and scolded together: "Zeng Laojiu, who was raised by a son of a bitch, when did he become so cunning, he even played so many tricks when he entered the army, and he was almost hit by your blind cat and a dead mouse, and he was blinded by a big one!" ”

…………

Touching the sentry to kill the Qing army guard tower of the Shiliang River, passed the most difficult pass of smuggling across the Shiliang River, never thought that he accidentally exposed the flaws when he attacked the Qing army's Wuligang camp, and gave the Qing army sentry the opportunity to call the police in time, Zeng Guoquan scolded the striker Zhang Shiri for being incompetent at the same time, he could only change the sneak attack to a strong attack, and it took some hands and feet to take Wuligang, the out-of-town stronghold of the Xuzhou Qing army, after the sky was dark, and failed to seize the opportunity of the unprepared Qing army in Xuzhou to launch an attack.

However, after personally exploring under the city of Xuzhou, Zeng Guoquan and Jiang Yili and others also quickly found that it was actually far more difficult to take Xuzhou City by surprise attack than they imagined, and Luoyang is the same as a thousand-year-old city, and there are thirty-four arrow towers on the city wall of Xuzhou City called Xuchang, the moat is one foot and two feet deep, and the widest point reaches more than twenty zhang, although there is a solid stone bridge on the river to cross the river, the solid fortifications built by the Qing army before can block the bridge deck with firepower, and there is almost no possibility of sneaking over, Wu Jun wanted to use the blasting tactics he had planned to blow up the city gates, but it was more than ten times more difficult than a sneak attack on the small county of Xiangcheng.

Therefore, Zeng Guoquan was not discouraged by the failure of the surprise attack caused by the mistakes of the soldiers, and immediately ordered the main force to build a strong camp around Wulou to garrison the army, and at the same time divided his forces to attack other military strongholds built by the Qing army outside the city, preparing to sweep away the enemy outside the city first, and then consider how to attack the city.

It must be worth mentioning that because Wu Chaoyue gave Zeng Guoquan the task of expelling the Tuoming army, so that the main force of the Qing army, which was actually a small threat to the Wu army, would continue to spoil the military salaries and food of the Manchu court, Zeng Guoquan categorically rejected Shu Bao's request to garrison outside the north gate of Xuzhou, and let Shu Bao's army be stationed in Songzhuang in the southeast corner of Xuzhou, and deliberately gave up the north gate and east gate of Xuzhou to facilitate the escape of the Qing army.

The choice of the camp of the Wu army of course relieved the Qing army in Henan, which had long been frightened - knowing that even if the city was difficult to protect, they could also escape from the north and east gates. Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen were even more worried, and basically confirmed that the Wu army suddenly went north to Xuzhou and only came to the city, not that they heard any rumors and ran to intercept the arms.

What reassured Tominga and Shen Baozhen even more was that the soldiers who went to contact the arms transport team in the afternoon brought news that he had stopped the deadly baggage team next to the county seat of Weichuan, and as a result, the baggage team under the banner of transporting horse material also immediately entered the city and was stationed, and it is very safe at present.

After a long sigh of relief, although the news immediately came that another stronghold outside the city was captured by the Wu army, Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen no longer had any worries, and they both showed a little smile after the sudden attack on Xuzhou, and said: "As long as that baggage team is fine, the camp outside the city, Zeng Laojiu wants to fight whatever he wants, anyway, it is to buy us time to repair." ”

Although Zeng Guoquan also kept in mind Wu Chaoyue's other advice and sent a lot of scouts to investigate the enemy's situation, but after all, the north of Xuzhou was controlled by the Qing army, so it was still at night when he was ready to go to bed, Zeng Guoquan received a report from Wu Jun's detailed investigation, saying that a Qing army's baggage team had entered the city of Weichuan, which was more than 50 miles to the north, and was stationed.

"Did you find out what the rebel baggage team was transporting? How many vehicles are there? Zeng Guoquan asked casually with a yawn.

"Horse feed." The person who came to report the news replied truthfully, saying, "The number is about four hundred and sixty cars. ”

Zeng Guoquan yawned even more when he heard this, and said: "Don't bother, that thing is not of much use to us, go down and rest, and go to the sentry over there in Weichuan tomorrow, and report it immediately if there is any abnormality." ”

He made a promise, but he didn't leave in a hurry, and hesitantly added, "General Zeng, there are still a few situations I want to report to you about this chaotic party's baggage team, but I don't know if it's important." ”

"Something to say." Zeng Guoquan commanded casually.

"Yes." He clenched his fists and said, "General Zeng, about the rebellious baggage team, Xiao Shi and the other two brothers also found a few suspicious points, the first is that the rut marks left by those horse carts on the snow are a little too deep, not like the traces of ordinary horse carts. ”

"The second suspicion is that the mules, horses, and donkeys that pull the carts are all good animals, and the mules and donkeys are all strong animals that sell at a good price in the horse market, and the horses that pull the carts are all tall horses, and there is not a single old horse. The villain has grown so big, and he has never seen such a good team of mules and horses with all the animals. ”

"Do you see clearly?" Zeng Guoquan finally became a little interested, and asked with spirits.

"See clearly." Xi Zuo nodded and said: "The villain was a caravan buddy before joining the rebel army, and he has seen many mule and horse caravans, but whether it is the Lei family Qiao family in Shanxi, the Liu family in Zhili or the Hu family in Anhui, no caravan can use such good livestock. So the little one thought it was strange at the time, how could the rebellious army be willing to use such good cattle to pull so much worthless horse feed? ”

Zeng Guoquan was also suspicious, and hurriedly asked, "Is there anything else suspicious?" ”

"There's one more." He replied carefully: "When the rebellious party baggage team hurriedly entered the city, there was some chaos on the streets outside the city, and when the rebellious party soldiers who escorted the baggage team shouted to sort out the team, the villain heard it with his own ears, and those people spoke almost all of them with the accent of the capital, which seemed to be the rebellious army from the capital. ”

"It's strange, how could the rebellious army in the capital send so many horses to Henan all the way?" Zeng Guoquan finally became suspicious, and after thinking about it for a long time, Zeng Guoquan suddenly had an idea and asked a very critical question, "When did the rebellious party baggage team enter Weichuan City today?" ”

"It's about three o'clock in the morning, or maybe noon." Xiaozuo recalled and said: "The villain has no foreign watch, I don't know the specific time, but it must not be noon, because the sun is out today, and the sun is not in the sky at that time." ”

Zeng Guoquan didn't say a word when he heard it, and immediately asked his soldiers to bring a foreign watch to the fine work, and when the fine work was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him, Zeng Guoquan just waved him down to rest, and he was also thinking about a question in his heart, "What's strange?" I was forced to launch a strong attack on Wulitun at about six o'clock this morning, why didn't it take six hours for the rebellious party baggage team still in the north of Weichuan to receive the news and hurriedly entered the city of Weichuan and camped there? ”

"This shows that the rebellious party in Xuzhou sent a letter to the baggage team with a fast horse, just a few hundred carts of horse material, it is impossible to be in such a hurry? Could it be that there is something strange about this rebellious baggage team? ”

Full of doubts, when the generals were convened in the early morning of the next day, Zeng Guoquan did not rush to arrange the tactics of continuing to sweep the strongholds outside the Qing army, and directly told the generals about the suspicious baggage team. However, what kind of important materials were the Hunan army generals couldn't guess for a while.

"I know something!" Li Chendian, the young fierce general who was most loved by Zeng Guoquan, suddenly roared, "Military salary!" It must be a military salary! ”

"Military salary?!"

Zeng Guoquan was stunned for a moment, and just when he wanted to ask Li Chendian why he came to this conclusion, Jiang Yili, Zhang Shiri, Liu Lianjie and other old people of the Hunan army had all their eyes lit up, and they roared in unison: "It must be military salary!" Otherwise, the rebellious army would never attach so much importance to that baggage team! ”

"Nine marshals, the last general dares to bet on his head, it is definitely military salary!" Li Chendian shouted excitedly: "After we conquered Xiangcheng, the last general had already asked and understood, the rebellious army on the Henan side had only received half of the salary for three months, and Tuo Minga promised them that it would be repaid before the New Year, and he also said that there might be a reward for the New Year!" Therefore, those so-called horse-drawn carts must be the cash of military salaries brought by the rebel army from the capital! ”

Zeng Guoquan opened his mouth and stammered, and suddenly had greed in his heart, and said secretly: "If it is really military salary, then as long as we break through the city of Weichuan that is not far away, those military salaries will not be ......." ”

"Nine handsome! Fuck it! Defeat that little broken city in Weichuan, and we will be rich! The Hunan army bandits rushed to shout like this.