The Zhenjiang counterattack planned and launched by Xiang Rong in history did fail, but because of the emergence of Wu Chaoyue's variable, Lin Fengxiang, a famous general of the Taiping Army who was supposed to join hands with Li Kaifang in the Northern Expedition, appeared on the Zhenjiang battlefield, and the Qing army was defeated faster and worse than in history. And the chief general of the Qing army who suffered the worst defeat was none other than Yang Wending, the governor of Jiangsu, who had just forced Wu Chaoyue to marry his granddaughter.

It stands to reason that Yang Wending's army, which was hiding on Jiangxin Island in Taiping Prefecture, could not suffer any crushing defeat at all -- surrounded by water and with plenty of boats, it could run away at any time. After finding out that the Taiping army sent troops to reinforce the Zhenjiang battlefield, Xiang Rong, the minister of the Qin Mission, repeatedly sent people to force Yang Wending to enter the army, and joined forces with the Qing army led by He Chun to block the reinforcements led by Lin Fengxiang.

As a veteran official, Yang Wending is of course very aware of the consequences if he continues to disobey orders - Xiang Rong and Deng Shaoliang will definitely push all the black pots to him. Forced to be helpless, Yang Wending had no choice but to lead the army westward, pondering a casual battle, it doesn't matter if he can successfully block the Taiping army reinforcements, first perfunctory Xiang Rong's order, at the same time, Yang Wending was also ready to flee early, and his flagship has always been hiding in the middle of the fleet when he marched.

In view of surpassing the 'great fame' of the little demon uncle Liu Lichuan, Lin Fengxiang regarded Yang Wending's army as the number one enemy from the beginning, and only used the partial division to contain Hechun when engaged, and the main force was used to deal with Yang Wending's fleet. He also set a trap to deceive and lure the enemy. As a result, Yang Wending's army really hit the plan, and as soon as he saw the Taiping army defeated and fled, he cheered and launched a pursuit. was gradually introduced by the Taiping army into Lin Fengxiang's well-designed ambush circle.

In the twilight, hundreds of light and nimble small paddle boats suddenly burst out of the reeds. Of course, the Qing army's fleet was in chaos, and Liu Jiajun's original form was finally revealed, neither knew how to use artillery to bombard the Taiping ships, nor did they know how to give full play to their long-range advantages to suppress the Taiping army. Ants gnaw bones like constantly weakening Liu Jiajun and consuming Liu Jiajun's ammunition.

If a reliable general is replaced to command this water battle. In fact, Yang Wending's army would never have been defeated so badly - when he heard that Yang Wending's army was in ambush, he found that the chief soldier of the Qing army's naval division, He Chun, had quickly got rid of the entanglement of the Taiping army's partial division, and brought the main force of the naval division to help Yang Wending. However, Hechun's rare conscience found that he was fed to the dogs, in view of the fierce offensive of the Taiping army, Yang Wending had already turned the bow of the ship and fled downstream, and Liu Jiajun's side was also more and more panicked, and he also turned around and fled for his life under the cowardice. On the Taiping side, regardless of the threat of the Qing army's sailors behind them, they only pursued Yang Wending's army with all their might, and also specifically targeted the Liu family's army.

In the end, Yang Wending escaped under the cover of night and successfully saved his life. However, only more than 1,000 of the more than 2,500 soldiers he brought escaped alive, two of the five ships on which Liu Jiajun rode were sunk, and two were taken away by the Taiping army. Liu Lichuan, the double boss of the Double Knife Society and Liu Jiajun, disappeared in the war, and his life and death are unknown.

Not to mention, although there was a big defeat. Yang Wending and Liu Jiajun unexpectedly created a fighter for the Qing army's naval division, because the Taiping army attacked Yang Wending and Liu Jiajun with all their might. The Qing army's sailors who followed the killing took a lot of advantage and sank and captured more than 40 small boats of the Taiping army in the battle. More than 600 soldiers of the Taiping Army were killed and captured. But with Luo Xuan's dispatch of troops, and Lin Fengxiang also turned around and tried his best to deal with the Qing army's sailors, and Chun did not dare to continue the war, and hurriedly retreated with the record that could barely be explained to the Manchu court. Lin Fengxiang's army successfully entered Zhenjiang City, completely reversing the situation of the Zhenjiang battlefield.

Then, the first thing Yang Wending, who knew that the catastrophe was coming, was, of course, to write a letter to Wu Chaoyue, introducing the battle situation in Zhenjiang to his future grandson-in-law, and also asking Wu Chaoyue to send troops to Zhenjiang as soon as possible to help him, and find a way to keep his official position for him! At the same time, he desperately collected the remnants of the defeated army, and also searched for Liu Lichuan's whereabouts. However, what Yang Wending didn't know was that Liu Lichuan, the boss of the Liu family army who had helped him barely keep his black yarn hat in Jiangyin, although he did not unfortunately die in the chaos, he was even more unfortunate to be captured alive by the Taiping army............

It was also Liu Lichuan's bad luck, originally with his familiarity with the ship, it was not difficult to escape in the water battle, but the most feared person of the Taiping Army was him, and he would rather not chase Yang Wending's flagship to surround his ship with all his might, Liu Lichuan and his Lian Yong on the ship did not know how to save ammunition, and in the panic, there was not much time to use up the bullets and grenades, and when the Taiping soldiers rushed over with red eyes to start a nearboard battle, Liu Lichuan could only quickly jump into the water to escape. However, he was even more unlucky to be targeted by a small pulling boat, and when the Taiping soldiers on the boat pointed him with arquebuses to force him to surrender, Liu Lichuan, who had no backbone at all, also had to quickly raise his hands and shout with a cry: "I surrender!" Don't shoot! I give up! ”

Liu Lichuan is still smart, knowing that the Taiping Army must hate himself to the bone, and when he saw that the war was unfavorable, he had already changed into a soldier's uniform, and after being captured, he also fabricated a pseudonym and false identity, and almost passed the test in confusion. However, Liu Lichuan stupidly forgot to put on ordinary cloth shoes, and still wore spiked military shoes that only high-ranking officers are qualified to wear, and after the experienced Taiping soldiers found out about this, they immediately suspected that Liu Lichuan was likely to be a big fish, so they took him out alone for strict interrogation, and at the same time, the Taiping generals who screened prisoners of war also escorted other captured Qing soldiers to identify Liu Lichuan, and in the end, of course, the truth was revealed. -- The Qing soldiers who hated Liu Jiajun to the bone would never mind betraying Liu Lichuan, and they were very happy to let Liu Lichuan die a little more miserably.

Then, of course, Liu Lichuan was directly escorted to Lin Fengxiang and Luo Xuan and other senior generals of the Taiping Army, and because the Liang Zi between Wu Chaoyue and the Taiping Army was too big and too deep. Lin Fengxiang, Luo Xuan, and the others saw a Liu Lichuan who had changed beyond recognition—even his nose had been crooked.

To Liu Lichuan's surprise, Lin Fengxiang, who had the deepest holiday with Wu Chaoyue, did not shout and kill him as soon as he met. just calmly introduced his name and identity, and then questioned Liu Lichuan's name and identity. Liu Lichuan, who knew that he was going to die, was silent and did not answer, and reluctantly pretended to be tough. As a result, Lin Fengxiang didn't force him, but just lightly instructed the Taiping soldiers: "Take care of this Qing demon and don't allow him to commit suicide." Prepare a torture platform on the south gate of Zhenjiang, and tomorrow I will be in front of the demon outside the city, and personally cut him to death little by little with a knife. ”

The more Lin Fengxiang looked flat, the more frightened Liu Lichuan became, and when the Taiping soldiers came up to escort him away with a smile, the instinct to survive and save his life finally prevailed in Liu Lichuan's heart. Liu Lichuan couldn't help but pounce and knelt down on Lin Fengxiang's knees, and begged with a crying voice: "Prime Minister Lin Cheng spare my life, I am Liu Lichuan, I am Wu Chaoyue's uncle Liu Lichuan, I surrender, I am willing to surrender!" ”

"Do you think I'll still believe you?" Lin Fengxiang sneered and said: "When Jiang Ning, he surpassed the little demon three times to claim surrender, once he almost killed hundreds of old brothers in our heavenly kingdom, and once he deceived Vice Prime Minister Ji. The third time he simply killed the Northern King of our heavenly kingdom 6,000 years old. When you were in Jiangyin, you used a trick against Prime Minister Li Cheng and Prime Minister Ji again, and deceived them again. Do you say it yourself, can I trust you now? Can I believe you? ”

"Prime Minister Lin. Jiangyin was a misunderstanding that time! Liu Lichuan shouted loudly, "That time in Jiangyin, the people who went out of the city really surrendered. It's just that our luck happened to break it, and then there was something later! We didn't mean to surrender! ”

Shouting injustice. Liu Lichuan hurriedly told Lin Fengxiang and the others about the truth of Jiangyin's fraudulent surrender plan, and then kowtowed desperately and said, "Prime Minister Lin." The little one really didn't mean to hurt you, he really didn't mean to hurt you! And I didn't want to participate in the battle in Jiangyin, it was Wu Chaoyue who forced me to go, I was useful to you, I was useful to you! ”

It's useless to cry, Lin Fengxiang and Luo Xuan, who have suffered too much, still refuse to believe Liu Lichuan's explanation - and they can't believe it, and Liu Lichuan has no choice, so he can only say a secret about himself, and shouts: "Also, although I am Wu Chaoyue's uncle, I am not a person from the road, I am a member of the Heaven and Earth Society, and I do things for Wu Chaoyue's grandfather Wu Jianzhang in order to lurk around him and do things against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty!" ”

"Sure enough, it will blow." Lin Fengxiang still didn't believe it, and sneered: "Will Heaven and Earth be returned?" Why don't you say you're from Hongmen? Will there be a tea bowl array? ”

"The head of Liangshan is loyal and righteous, only to take the poplar is heroic, 38 and 21 points can be clear, can be regarded as a capable person in Haihu, stepping on the tile gang to be a hero, and the benevolent and righteous brother is majestic! Prime Minister Lin, I will put up a tea bowl array, and I will put the loyalty array, the anti-Qing array and the Taoyuan array! ”

Liu Lichuan's answer surprised Lin Fengxiang and Luo Xuan, and Lin Fengxiang, who was quite familiar with the situation in Hongmen, couldn't help but ask: "Are you really a person from the Hongmen of Heaven and Earth?" ”

"It's true!" Liu Lichuan hurriedly replied: "I joined the Tiandihui in Hong Kong in the 25th year of Daoguang, and I went directly to Hongmen, and then the foreigners and Manchus in charge of Hong Kong colluded to ban the Hongmen Triad and wanted me, so I ran back to Guangdong." Originally, when you were in Jintian, our Hongmen brothers asked me to go to Guangxi to join you, but I didn't go because the government was strictly blocked! ”

"By the way, the name I used when I was in Hong Kong was Liu Ah Ming, many of our Hongmen brothers know me, and many people have joined your Heavenly Taiping Army, Prime Minister Lin, you can find an old man from Hongmen to ask if I lied to you!"

After listening to Liu Lichuan's cry, Lin Fengxiang and Luo Xuan looked at each other, and after thinking for a long time, Lin Fengxiang waved his hand, signaled the soldiers to let go of Liu Lichuan for the time being, and then commanded in a low voice: "Pass the order, strictly seal the news that we have caught this Liu Lichuan, this person may be really useful." ”

…………

It's time to take a look at the situation on Wu Chaoyue's side, after receiving the news of the fiasco of Liu's army and Yang Wending's letter for help, Wu Chaoyue immediately fell into a dilemma, send troops to help, ammunition and weapons are not complete, and if you go, you will definitely not be able to take Zhenjiang, and it is likely to fall into the quagmire of a war of attrition. If you don't send troops, it is morally unjustifiable, and Yang Wending's position as governor will definitely not be able to be kept, until he speaks and changes to a new governor, and the order to send Wu Jiajun to Zhenjiang to participate in the war came down. Wu Chaoyue will only be more difficult and difficult to do.

Contrary to Wu Chaoyue, who was in a dilemma, Zhao Liewen was very able to make decisions at this moment. said categorically to Wu Chaoyue: "Comfort Ting, you must not send troops!" The situation in the Zhenjiang area is too complicated. There are only two Qincha alone, and if you lead the army to Zhenjiang to participate in the war, you will only be at the mercy of others, and it will be even more difficult, and if you are not careful, you are likely to fall into the quagmire and never be able to get out of the battlefield. ”

"But if I don't send troops and quickly help Yang Wending keep his position as governor, then his official position will definitely not be kept." Wu Chaoyue said in embarrassment: "When the time comes to change a new governor, do you want me to marry the granddaughter of the new governor again?" ”

"Find another way to keep Yang Wending's official position." Zhao Liewen replied: "Yang Wending defeated Zhenjiang this time. The main reason is that the troops are not strong, and the difference between strength and long-haired is too far, and it is understandable that he lost. You can first go to the fold to protect Yang Wending, distinguish and explain for him, try to protect it if you can, and then talk about it if you can't keep it! ”

After thinking about it, Wu Chaoyue found that he really couldn't get involved in Zhenjiang's affairs, Xiang Rong and Qi Shan over there were not good stubbles, and they were controlled by them when they arrived in Zhenjiang. It is extremely difficult to get out of the country, and if you want to become a warlord independently, it will definitely be even more difficult to get out of the mirror. So after thinking about it again, Wu Chaoyue finally gritted his teeth and said, "Okay." That's it, you write an excerpt for me to protect Yang Wending. By the way, help me write another letter to Su Shun, asking him to ask Yang Wending to intercede. Fight to keep him. ”

"Comfort Pavilion, Yang Wending's side. You can also send a letter to the Tao and say that the weapons you bought from the foreigners have not been delivered. So there was no way to send troops to help him fight Zhenjiang, so he could only try to protect him as much as possible. Zhao Liewen suggested again: "In addition, tell him directly, your current strength is only enough to help him defend the Jiangyin Heavy Land at most!" He is a smart man who understands your limits, and now that you have secretly made an alliance with him and are going to marry his granddaughter, he will not ignore your attitude and position. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded, agreed with Zhao Liewen's suggestion, and at the same time made up his mind in his heart, "If Yang Wending must let me go to Zhenjiang, then I will go there and run to Jiangyin with a false shot, it is great to lose my undefeated name, I don't believe that Wild Boar Skin IX is willing to dismiss me directly at this time and disband my army." ”

…………

After receiving Wu Chaoyue's reply that he refused to send troops, Yang Wending was of course full of sadness and scolded his grandson-in-law for being unfilial and disobedient, but the current situation has been completely eroded, and Yang Wending was unsure whether he should completely turn his face with his future grandson-in-law, and forced Wu Chaoyue to lead the army to Zhenjiang to participate in the war.

Yang Wending was quickly relieved, and after receiving reinforcements from Lin Fengxiang, the Zhenjiang Taiping Army naturally launched a counterattack against the Qing army Deng Shaoliang who surrounded Zhenjiang City. Helplessly, the morale of the Taiping army was high, the generals and soldiers attacked the Qing army camp one after another, Deng Shaoliang fought hard for a day that could not be killed by the Taiping army's attack, and at night the final strength was still weak, and the Taiping army successfully killed into his camp, the Qing army completely collapsed, the old and new camps were broken by the Taiping army together, Deng Shaoliang saw that the situation was extreme, and he could only flee to Danyang with the remnants of the defeated general, and the Zhenjiang encirclement that the Qing army had worked hard to support for nearly three months was also completely crushed by the Taiping army.

After receiving the news of Deng Shaoliang's defeat again, the isolated Hechun could only quickly lead the army to flee back to Jiangning to join Xiang Rong, and Yang Wending had no choice, and he also dared to go back to Jiangyin to defend the city. And the most bitter thing is still Qi Shan, the commander of the Jiangbei battalion of the Qing army, because after the Zhenjiang Taiping Army freed up its hands, it was almost destined to go north to reinforce Yangzhou and launch an attack on the Jiangbei battalion!

In fact, Lin Fengxiang and Luo Outline also thought that they would definitely reinforce Yangzhou next, help Yangzhou guard Zeng Lichang clean up Qishan, and kill the Jiangbei battalion of the Qing army, which was far inferior in strength and combat effectiveness to the Jiangnan camp. However, to Lin Fengxiang and Luo Xuan's surprise, when they were ready to send troops to Yangzhou, Yang Xiuqing sent his henchman Zhang Peize to send an order, ordering Lin Fengxiang to lead his men and horses to Jiangyin to attack the small city of Jiangyin in the lower reaches of Zhenjiang. At the same time, in order to increase the chances of victory, Yang Xiuqing also named Wu Ruxiao, who led the Taiping Army's naval division, to also participate in the attack on Jiangyin and obey Lin Fengxiang's command.

"Hit Jiangyin?" Lin Fengxiang couldn't believe his ears, and hurriedly asked Zhang Peize: "Master Zhang, I heard it right, right?" Why go to fight Jiangyin? ”

"Prime Minister Lin, because you caught that Liu Lichuan." Zhang Peize replied truthfully: "After that Liu Lichuan was secretly escorted to Tianjing (which has been changed) by you, the East King Jiu Qiansui personally interrogated him, and asked a lot of important information about the Transcendence Demon from his mouth, so he temporarily changed his mind and let you go to fight Jiangyin." ”

When Lin Fengxiang and others asked Yang Xiuqing why he changed his mind, Zhang Peize said again: "Because Liu Lichuan confessed, although the Transcendence Little Demon has re-pulled up 3,000 people in Shanghai, his army has not yet been trained and mature, and the weapons have not been bought from the foreigners, and only about half of the 3,000 demon soldiers are equipped with foreign guns, and the ammunition is seriously insufficient, so they did not dare to send troops to Zhenjiang to participate in the war." ”

"Also, Liu Lichuan also explained that what the Transcendence Little Demon is most afraid of now is the loss of Jiangyin, because once Jiangyin is taken by our army, his demon nest Shanghai will no longer be in danger to defend, and as long as our army's sailors are willing, they can directly hit Shanghai in a day or two if they go downstream, so that the Transcendence Little Demon will not be able to live in peace day and night. Prime Minister Lin Cheng, now you understand why His Royal Highness the East King changed his mind to fight Jiangyin, right? ”

"Understood." Lin Fengxiang nodded vigorously and said: "However, beyond the time for the little demon to train and prepare for war, if we don't take Jiangyin quickly and win the opportunity to break through the little demon, then once the little demon is trained and all of them are equipped with foreigners' foreign guns, it will only be more difficult for us to break him in the future." ”

"It's good to understand." Zhang Peize told again: "Be careful, Dongwang Jiuqiansui analyzed the confession from Liu Lichuan, we sent troops to Jiangyin, and it is likely that the little demon will go all out to rescue him, how difficult this little demon is I believe that Prime Minister Lin also knows, I won't be verbose." ”

Lin Fengxiang nodded solemnly, subconsciously touched the wound left by Wu Chaoyue on his lower abdomen, and secretly gritted his teeth, "Beyond the little demon, your one-shot revenge, I didn't expect that I would have a chance to avenge it so soon!" ”

"That's right." Zhang Peize added: "According to the nine thousand years old instructions of the East King, I also secretly brought Liu Lichuan, he has been named the sixth right inspection point in front of the palace, and he has also been rewarded with a lot of gold and silver, Prime Minister Lin Cheng, you can secretly bring him to the army, at a critical moment, it may come in handy." ”

"His Royal Highness King Xie Dong." Lin Fengxiang thanked him, and then said with some anxiety: "This person can really play an important role if he uses it well, but I don't know if he can pass the test." ”

"Don't worry, you can rely on it." Zhang Peize smiled and said: "The brothers of the Heaven and Earth Society who have joined our Kingdom of Heaven confirm that he did join the Heaven and Earth Society in Hong Kong eight years ago, and he ran back to Guangdong because he was wanted by foreigners, and His Royal Highness the King of the East also wrote his confession into a confession, and asked him to draw a fingerprint, if he dares to play tricks, we only need to send his confession to the Qing Demon!" Hum! ”

…………

In this way, under the condition that the strategy and tactics were by no means reasonable, the Taiping army of nearly 20,000 marched towards Jiangyin. Receiving this news, Xiang Rong was of course inexplicable, and he didn't understand what water was in the Taiping Army's head, why did he go to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River? Qi Shan, who was ready to be attacked by the Taiping army, clasped his palms together, constantly thanking the Buddha for his blessing and the heavens. After Yang Wending received the news, he immediately picked up a pen and made a book with a pale face, asking his future son-in-law to bring troops to rescue him immediately, and asked the messenger to bring a message to Wu Chaoyue, "If you don't personally send troops to save Jiangyin this time, the old man will retreat to Shanghai Shoujiang Customs!" ”

There is no need for Yang Wending to be so threatening, as soon as he received the news that the Taiping Army was sending troops to the east, Wu Chaoyue had already ordered the whole army to fight with a blue face, and immediately decided to send 2,000 troops to save Jiangyin, and at the same time, Wu Chaoyue didn't understand it in his heart, "Did Yang Xiuqing take the wrong medicine?" Why do you want to fight Jiangyin at this time? Damn, it just happened to be stuck in Lao Tzu's most uncomfortable rhythm! (To be continued.) )