In order to defeat Wu Chaoyue, an evil butcher whose hands were stained with the blood of the Taiping soldiers, and to protect the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Nanjing, and to protect the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang rear, Li Xiucheng, who knew the importance of this battle, mobilized almost all the troops he could use, and his troops were divided into three routes to kill back to Nanjing from the southeast, north, south, and three directions.

At the same time, with the return of Li Xiucheng's main force, Wu Ruxiao, Ye Yunlai and Zeng Lichang of the Taiping Army, who had no worries about the future, were also able to withdraw and personally lead the division of a hundred battles under their command to rush back to Nanjing. Yang Fuqing, the younger brother of Yang Xiuqing, who had been indirectly containing the Zhenjiang and Jiangyin Taiping armies for the Wu army in Yangzhou, also chose to give in under the threat of Li Xiucheng's heavy troops, divided the forces in his hands into two, and rushed south all the way to reinforce Nanjing.

The mobile forces of the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom therefore flocked to the Nanjing battlefield together, and on the official road, the various banners of the Taiping Army were dense like a forest, fluttering like a sea, the front team had entered Zhenjiang, and the rear team was still in Taihu Lake; On the canal, the ships transporting grain and grass and military supplies are dense like ants, covering the surface of the river, and there are 10,000 floating boats, sails like clouds, and the momentum is huge, and it is directly chasing the majestic military appearance of the Taiping Army when it swept the Yangtze River and conquered Nanjing.

In this regard, in fact, Hong Xiuquan, who has always been as stable as Mount Tai, is of course dancing and ecstatic, and he just hopes that the main force of the Taiping Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang can all grow wings, and immediately fly outside Nanjing, and kill all the Wu soldiers who are shamelessly entrenched in Dashengguan and Yuhuatai, and leave no one behind! On the contrary, in view of the fact that the momentum of the Taiping army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was too large, and because Feng Sanbao's corps was mostly in the southwest of the Wu army, Li Hezhang and Ding Baozhen and other dog-headed military divisions had to advise Feng Sanbao to block the news, so as not to shake the morale of the army and hit morale.

The blockade is useless, the paper can't contain the fire, and I don't know if there is a problem within the Wu army, or the Taiping army is deliberately spreading the news, Li Xiucheng personally led 600,000 Taiping troops back to the Nanjing battlefield The news spread quickly in the Wu army's Feng Sanbao corps, and as a result, several elite battalions of the Wu army directly under Feng Sanbao were okay and were not affected much, and the Wu army's sailor Xu Laibu, who was already invincible on the water, had no fear - anyway, he could run away at any time.

However, the Yungui Wu army, which was born as a bandit, was completely different, there were many discussions in private, and there were not a few people who were frightened, and there were even more people who made up their minds to flee for their lives as long as the situation was not right, and the morale of the army was greatly affected, and even many middle-level generals quietly found Zhao Dechang, Wu Zifa and Ding Baozhen and others to inquire about the news, asking if the number of incoming enemies was really 600,000, and when would the support of the Wu army arrive? The people's hearts are panicked, and they are afraid before they fight.

This point also directly affected Feng Sanbao's choice of battlefield, originally in front of the overly strong Taiping army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it was undoubtedly the best choice for Feng Sanbao's department of the Wu army to set up camp on the battlefield of Dashengguan - it was convenient to board the ship and retreat, and the grain route could also be directly protected by sailors. However, considering the morale and fighting spirit of the Wu army in the southwest, without anyone reminding him, Feng Sanbao, who has been rolling and crawling on the battlefield for many years, knows that it is actually more dangerous to set up a camp in Dashengguan, and understands that once the war is unfavorable, the defeated soldiers of the Wu army are very likely to rush to the dock uncontrollably to grab the boat and flee for their lives.

Put to death and come back to life! Feng Sanbao, who had read the book for a few days, had heard this sentence as early as when he was a local security officer in Xie Village, and after relying on the nepotism of his beautiful daughter, he refused to let his son-in-law bear the nepotism of Feng Sanbao, who was desperately studying military affairs, he didn't know how many times he had heard this sentence and learned the essence of this sentence, so he didn't need other people to make suggestions, Feng Sanbao himself understood that only by choosing the battlefield in Yuhuatai could he force out all the potential of his army and fight to the end with the Taiping army when there was no way out. However......

"Uncle, you have to think about it." Li Hezhang reminded: "The main force of setting up camp Yuhuatai to face Changmao in Jiangsu and Zhejiang can receive the effect of being put to death and then reborn, but after Yuhuatai is surrounded by Changmao, as long as we have any mistakes, we have no place to retreat." ”

"And we don't have the cover of the artillery fire of the sailors, as well as the supply of food and ammunition." Ding Baozhen also reminded: "Yuhuatai is located inland, although there is a Qinhuai River next to it that can transport grain, grass and military supplies, but the Sanxia River and Xiaguan are still in the hands of Changmao, and our sailor sampan may not be sure to break through the Changmao barrier and send grain and ammunition to Yuhuatai." At that time, once the food aid is cut off, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

"Then what do you mean, you can only give up Yuhuatai and fully retreat to the Great Victory Pass?" Feng Sanbao asked rhetorically, and said worriedly: "It is more convenient to supply grain, grass and ammunition here in Dasheng Pass, but the terrain here is not as good as Yuhuatai, there is no high ground to defend, and the city is pitifully small, and the three directions of east, west and south are all open terrain, and Changmao can easily deploy troops and give full play to their military advantages, and we will only be more difficult to defend when we fight." ”

Li Hezhang and Ding Baozhen all closed their mouths and did not speak, only hating the heavens in their hearts and refusing to be beautiful, and did not give Dashengguan the terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack like Yuhuatai. After thinking about it for a while, Feng Sanbao suddenly asked, "How much grain and grass is there in the army?" Not counting the sailors, how much time can we support with our army's food and grass? ”

"Uncle, do you still want to go to Yuhuatai?" Li Hezhang asked cautiously.

"The lone army went deep into Jiangning City, it was my greed for merit that disrupted the overall strategic plan of King Zhennan." Feng Sanbao replied a little cluelessly, and said: "If you want to atone for your sins, the only way is to make up for it with merit, I don't want to embarrass King Zhennan and my daughter, and I don't want others to laugh at me for being a muddy can't support the wall." ”

Knowing Feng Sanbao's voice, Li Hezhang replied: "If you don't count the water master, our grain and grass can be used for about fifty days." If you make up your mind, uncle, before the Changmao Hewei Yuhuatai, we should be able to urgently transport a batch of food and ammunition supplies from Wuhu. ”

"Then hurry up and do it." Feng Sanbao instructed: "Contact Cao Yanzhong immediately, ask him to distribute as much grain, grass and ammunition as possible to us, and strive to hoard grain for me on Yuhuatai that can last for three months before the main force of Changmao in Jiangsu and Zhejiang arrives in Jiangning." ”

Seeing that Feng Sanbao had made up his mind, Li Hezhang and Ding Baozhen, who were also at the age of being anxious to make meritorious contributions, no longer objected, and Ding Baozhen also comforted Feng Sanbao and said: "The military gate is wise, although it is a dangerous move to set up camp in Yuhuatai, the king of Zhennan must agree with us doing this." Because we only have a nail in Yuhuatai, Changmao will pull out our nail at any cost, we wait for work at leisure, defend instead of attack, can hit Changmao in the defensive war, drag the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Changmao to the old man, and create better fighters for our rear army. ”

"You have to defend Yuhuatai first." Feng Sanbao's smile was a little bitter, and he said: "I remember you told me that in the drama, Niushou Mountain is in Yuhuatai, and the camp left by Yue Fei and Yue Wumu when he fought the Jin soldiers in Niushou Mountain was also repaired into a camp by Long Hair, and my Chinese army camp is standing in Niushou Mountain!" ”

In this way, in the case of the choice of Dashengguan, in order not to embarrass his daughter and son-in-law, and not let everyone laugh at his mud for not being able to support the wall, Feng Sanbao still resolutely chose to be put to death and reborn. After Feng Sanbao sent a clipper to get in touch with his old boss Cao Yanzhong, who was currently resting in Wuhu, although Cao Yanzhong was also very worried about Feng Sanbao's decision, he did not oppose or stop it, but just loaded the grain, grass and ammunition that could be lent to Feng Sanbao as soon as possible, and arranged for Wang Fu to lead the Wu army's sailors to protect the baggage fleet to advance eastward overnight, and race against time to send the grain, grass and military supplies to the front and hand them over to Feng Sanbao, so that Feng Sanbao could hold on to Yuhuatai for a long time.

Of course, transporting grain by water is far faster than marching on land, only a day later, the food and military supplies lent by Cao Yanzhong's corps to Feng Sanbao's army were sent to Dashengguan, Feng Sanbao immediately commanded the army to unload the ship and load the car, bid farewell to Wang Fu and Xu Lai, who was about to return to Wuhu to find food, abandoned the camp and dock of Dashengguan, and personally led the Dashengguan garrison north to Yuhuatai to station. At the time of parting, Wang Fu, Xu Lai and other generals of the Wu Army's naval division repeatedly told Feng Sanbao to take care, but Feng Sanbao cherished a sealed letter to Xu Lai and said, "If I can't come back, please pass it on to my daughter for me." ”

While receiving the letter and agreeing, Xu Lai, who had been fighting side by side with Feng Sanbao for many days, shed tears, but Feng Sanbao turned around and left, never looking back at the sailor fleet of his own army......

…………

Feng Sanbao's army gave up the Great Victory Pass and moved all of them to Yuhuatai, which naturally greatly surprised the Taiping army, so that when the news was sent to Li Xiucheng, who had already led the army across Liyang, Li Xiucheng couldn't believe it was true, and asked the Nanjing messenger in a loud voice: "Are all the demon soldiers really stationed in Yuhuatai?" Didn't leave an army at Dasheng Pass? ”

"Huizhong Wang Chitose, the demon soldiers really didn't leave a single soldier in the Great Victory Pass, they all arrived at Yuhuatai, and the demon soldiers' fleet also withdrew to Wuhu."

Listening to the Nanjing messenger's answer, Li Xiucheng was a little dazed, and only after a while did he suddenly come out with such a sentence: "This battle is difficult to fight, if we want to annihilate and drive away Feng Sanbao's demon soldiers, we will at least pay three times the price, or even more!" ”

"His Royal Highness King Chung doesn't need to be anxious." Think tank Li Shuxiang comforted, and pointed out sharply: "The demon soldiers gave up the big victory pass and only guarded Yuhuatai, although it is a ruthless chess move to be put to death and then born, but Yuhuatai is far away from the river bank, and the supply of demon soldiers is difficult, as long as we surround Yuhuatai on all sides, and set up more water fences and iron cables to block the Qinhuai River, then we don't need to send troops to attack the fortification, as long as the demon soldiers are forced to break through when the food and grass are exhausted, you can be anti-guest-oriented, and wait for work to annihilate the Yuhuatai demon soldiers." ”

"It's a good idea, but will the King of Heaven agree?" Li Xiucheng smiled bitterly and said, "Also, the little demon will watch his father-in-law being surrounded in Yuhuatai and don't ask?" We just surround and don't fight, won't it hurt morale? When the Yuhuatai demon soldiers dragged us to the old man's fatigue and demoralization, the reinforcements that surpassed the little demon suddenly arrived, and the Yuhuatai demon soldiers should take the opportunity to counterattack, how sure can we block the front and rear attacks of the demon soldiers? ”

"As long as we can convince the Heavenly King to agree that we will only surround and not fight, we may not be sure to block the reinforcements of the demon soldiers." Li Shuxiang said in a deep voice: "The demon soldiers are most afraid of fighting tough battles, as long as we seize the time to repair more fortifications, build more camps and cooperate with trenches to protect the perimeter, there is hope to block the reinforcements of the demon soldiers, and trap the Yuhuatai demon soldiers alive." ”

After finishing speaking, Li Shuxiang added another sentence, saying: "And even if we can't stop the reinforcements of the demon soldiers, we can rely on the advantages of the camp fortifications, as well as the demon soldiers' desire to rescue Yuhuatai in a hurry, and severely damage the demon soldiers in the field battle to win the decisive battle." ”

felt that Li Shuxiang was reasonable, Li Xiucheng was naturally very moved, and after a little calculation, Li Xiucheng nodded and said: "Okay, when we arrive in Tianjing, we will first make every effort to make the king of heaven promise to let us only surround and not fight, of course, it is the best, and if it doesn't work, you can make another plan." ”

After more than two days, the main force of the Taiping Army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang led by Li Xiucheng successfully arrived outside Nanjing, temporarily camped in the Tushan area on the outskirts of Nanjing, and did not rush to approach Yuhuatai; The advance team led by Li Mingcheng and Hong Chunyuan temporarily camped in Yinzi Mountain to protect the road traffic safety between Tushan and Nanjing City, and kept in mind Li Xiucheng's order, and also did not rush to approach Yuhuatai to engage the Wu army. On the contrary, Ye Yunlai and Wu Ruxiao, who had been greatly injured in the civil war of the Taiping Army, obeyed Hong Xiuquan's holy decree and directly camped outside the Jubao Gate to confront the Wu army in Yuhuatai.

Because he could not leave the main army at will, Li Xiucheng could only settle the army while letting his henchman Li Shuxiang enter the city to meet Hong Xiuquan on his behalf, understand Hong Xiuquan's attitude towards the Wu army in Yuhuatai, and try to persuade Hong Xiuquan to accept the correct strategy of only encircling and not fighting. But it's a pity that after Li Shuxiang went to the Tianwang Mansion on behalf of Li Xiucheng to meet Hong Xiuquan, what greeted Li Shuxiang was not Hong Xiuquan's comfort and praise for King Qianliqin, the main force of the Taiping Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but Hong Xiuquan's angry roar, "What do you loyal kings do to eat?" Why did you set up camp and rest when you arrived at Tushan? Why don't you go to Yuhuatai to defeat the demon soldiers right away? ”

"Long live the King of Heaven, our army is tired from afar, the soldiers need to rest, and the grain and grass also need to be protected and escorted, so King Chung Chitose decided to temporarily set up camp in Tushan to rest." Knowing Hong Xiuquan's bear temper, Li Shuxiang hurriedly explained, and hurriedly said: "Please rest assured, Long live the Heavenly King, he will soon lead his troops north, move to the city of Tianjing, and fight to the death with the demon soldiers of Yuhuatai." ”

Li Shuxiang's explanation only barely satisfied Hong Xiuquan, and after nodding, Hong Xiuquan shouted again: "Go back and tell Li Xiucheng that he will be limited to seven days to take back Yuhuatai for me!" Of course, it is best if all the demon soldiers on Yuhuatai can be killed, but if they can't be killed, they must all be expelled to two hundred miles away from Tianjing City! ”

"Recapture Yuhuatai in seven days?" Li Shuxiang was dumbfounded on the spot.

"What? Too short or too long? Hong Xiu was fully displeased.

"It's ......." Li Shuxiang was in a dilemma, hesitated for a moment before saying euphemistically: "Long live the king of heaven, the king of loyalty to the king of Chitose He has been in Jiangsu and Zhejiang for a long time, he has not returned to Beijing for many years, he does not know anything about the enemy situation on the battlefield of Tianjing, and he really does not dare to guarantee when he will be able to recapture Yuhuatai, and he hopes that the king of heaven will be gracious, and allow the loyal king to lead the army to arrive at Yuhuatai, and after carefully understanding the situation of the demon soldiers, he will give the king of heaven a reply when he will be able to recover Yuhuatai and annihilate the demon soldiers on the platform." ”

Hong Xiuquan was still extremely dissatisfied with Li Shuxiang's answer, but fortunately, Meng Shiyong, who had been stripped of the title of King Youzan next to him, used the admonition method he learned from his father to plead Hong Xiuquan to give Li Xiucheng more time, Hong Xiuquan reluctantly withdrew the holy decree to recapture Yuhuatai within the time limit, but he still shouted: "Go back and tell Li Xiucheng, it's okay to give him a little more time, but I have to hurry, the sooner the better, we must kill all the demon soldiers outside Tianjing City before the demon soldiers get reinforcements!" ”

In view of the urgency of the military situation, Hong Xiuquan also specially ordered that Li Shuxiang should not be allowed to stay overnight in Nanjing, and after giving Li Xiucheng some gold, silver, jewelry and a few beauties, he forced Li Shuxiang to return to Li Xiucheng's camp with the jewelry beauties. Li Shuxiang had no choice but to hurriedly return to Tushan to apologize to Li Xiucheng, saying that he hadn't even mentioned the tactical strategy of only encircling and not fighting before Hong Xiu was comprehensive.

Fortunately, Li Xiucheng knows Hong Xiuquan far better than Li Shuxiang, so Li Xiucheng did not blame Li Shuxiang for his ineffective work, and said with relief: "It's not your fault, Long live the King of Heaven is in a hurry like this, if you still insist on hard topping in person, not only will there be the danger of falling to the ground, but maybe it may also completely anger the King of Heaven Long Live and let him issue a more harsh and severe holy decree." ”

"Xie Zhong Wang Chitose." Li Shuxiang hurriedly thanked him, and asked cautiously: "Zhongwang Chitose, then what should we do next?" ”

"Let's fight a few battles first." Li Xiucheng said casually: "Long live the heart of King An Tian, and also touch the bottom of the demon soldiers, if you have the opportunity, you can also strive to directly recapture Yuhuatai and pull out the nail that the demon soldiers are tied to outside Tianjing City." ”

Let's talk about fighting a few battles first, Li Xiucheng knows very well what his fluttering words represent, but Li Xiucheng, who has long been accustomed to seeing the sea of corpses and blood, never expected that it is precisely because of his words and this decision that he is about to expose a huge weakness of the Taiping Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and this weakness is the strength of the Southwest Wu Army......