“…… For the sake of peace and the people not to suffer from the flames of war, the small court of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom secretly colluded with the rebels in the capital to hinder our Northern Expedition, and we endured it. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoFor the sake of peace, those who do not close to their relatives will be quick to reassure the enemy, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has long connived at the five banners of the Twisted Army to invade our borders and kill our people, and we have endured it. However, at the critical moment of eliminating the rebellious party in the capital, and at the critical moment of stopping the war criminals led by Yixun from splitting our Chinese territory, we cannot bear the shameless betrayal of the small court of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! "—Wu Jun's official newspaper, Hubei People's Daily, made such a high-sounding claim.

“…… The blood debt must be paid in blood, and it's time to destroy the absurd Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cult! Break into Jiangning, recover Jiangnan, punish Hong Xiuquanming canonically, restore our Chinese tradition, and rescue thousands of Jiangnan compatriots who have been poisoned by cults! ——The "Hankou Commerce Daily", which has long been sponsored by the Propaganda Department of Wu Jun, directly shouted this.

“…… Betraying the alliance agreement and despicably attacking the transport fleet of the Qing Provisional Government was the biggest mistake made by the Taiping Army since its formation, and there was only one consequence, that is, the Taiping Army perished! The Provisional Government Army led by Wu Chaoyue, the Southern King of Zhennan of the Qing Dynasty, could not tolerate such a shameless betrayal, and even more could not tolerate the continued control of the Yangtze River waterway by the Taiping Army, and the elimination of the Taiping Army by force was the most correct choice and the only choice of the Qing Provisional Government. - The British mouthpiece in China, the North China Victory, also said so.

In the overwhelming tide of public opinion, on February 25 of the second year of Qixiang, Wu Chaoyue boarded the Luo Weilin that was left behind in the rear, and led six elite battalions drawn from the direct corps to set off in Hubei Province, and rushed to the Jiujiang front by water to personally preside over the Eastern Expedition.

At the same time, the main force of the Wu army, which was originally intended to be used for the Northern Expedition, has also been successively drawn from Daye to the Jiujiang front, and more than 5,000 people from the eleven battalions of the second corps of the Wu army led by Cao Yanzhong have been dispatched, and the first corps of the Wu army under Huang Yuanlong has also been divided into six battalions, led by Huang Yuanbao to participate in the front line to participate in the battle, plus the auxiliary troops of the Wu army who undertake auxiliary combat tasks, and the land and water army on the Jiujiang front, the Wu army has mobilized a total of more than 32,000 troops to launch the Eastern Crusade.

Don't think that Wu Chaoyue only used an army in his early 30,000s to launch an expedition to the east, in fact, since Wu Chaoyue started the army, the Wu army is the first time to use so many well-equipped front-line elites to launch an expedition, and the Shanxi Wu army and the Henan Wu army, which are making waves on the battlefield of Zhili, are equipped with advanced weapons such as pin guns, grenadiers and breech guns, and are not as many as one of the three elite corps of the Wu army. Even if the currently fragmented Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army is reunited and rises to meet the battle, it is difficult to say the chance of victory in front of the Wu army's eastern expeditionary army!

In addition, the convenience and speed of water transportation, as well as the political system far more perfect than the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, also doomed the Wu army not to have to launch too many troops to participate in the Eastern Crusade, if necessary, the rear of the Wu army can organize tens of thousands of rear troops to rush to the front line to participate in the war, Wu Chaoyue can also recruit new soldiers on the spot at any time to form an army and undertake auxiliary combat tasks. Therefore, Wu Chaoyue dared to launch an eastward crusade with an army of more than 30,000 people, which seemed to be a small family, but in fact, it was a reflection of Wu Chaoyue's sufficient confidence.

In addition, the military situation is like fire, and the critical situation is also doomed Wu Chaoyue to have no time to calmly organize a large army to show off his strength, because since receiving the news of Yang Xiuqing's sudden downfall, Wu Chaoyue has lost contact with the Wu army in Shanghai, even the merchant ships of Britain and France have not arrived in Hubei, it is obvious that the Taiping army has blocked the downstream shipping lane, worried about the safety of Wu Lao comprador and the Wu army in Shanghai, Wu Chaoyue naturally does not want to waste time anymore, and engage in some huge momentum that actually has little effect.

It took only three days for Wu Chaoyue to successfully arrive at the Jiujiang front, join forces with the Jiujiang Wu Army, Cao Yanzhong, Huang Yuanbao and other armies, and officially take over the command of the front. At the same time, the telegraph line between Daye and Jiujiang was also successfully completed and put into use, which means that Wu Chaoyue can still command the national war situation even if he is on the Jiujiang front.

Knowing that Wu Chaoyue didn't like red tape, the generals of the Wu army also made a symbolic salute after meeting Wu Chaoyue, and then immediately presented Wu Chaoyue with the collected and summarized enemy military information, as well as the Taiping Army's Hukou defense map from the scout's detailed exploration, so that Wu Chaoyue could understand the enemy situation and formulate a combat plan.

Lin Qirong was originally known for being good at guarding, and he had been operating in Hukou for many years, and the Taiping Army's Hukou defense was of course very tight and strong, with deep trenches besieging the city, surrounded by forts, and building a large number of strong bunkers under the city, which was extremely difficult to attack. At the same time, in view of the importance of the position of Shizhong Mountain, Lin Qirong also simply built a new city on Shizhong Mountain and Hukou City into horns with each other, from the foot to the top of the stone heavy pass, and dug trenches and planted trees, lush forests, light and dark fortresses are dense, there are many artillery positions, artillery fire can cover the river under the mountain far away, and the road up the mountain can be blocked nearby, both offensive and defensive, and it is also extremely difficult to break.

It is worth mentioning that in view of the strong fortifications of the Shizhong Mountain position, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, Shi Dakai also simply set up his Yiwang camp on Shizhong Mountain, and personally took on the important task of guarding the Shizhong Mountain position, while Lin Qirong was responsible for guarding the Hukou City and defending one place with Shi Dakai.

After carefully understanding the deployment of the Taiping army, Wu Chaoyue only asked two questions, and said, "How many long-haired troops did Shi Dakai bring to help defend Hukou?" Whose idea was it that Shi Dakai was not stationed in Hukou City? ”

"Back to Zhennanwang, there are two groups of long-haired troops coming back and forth, the first batch is about 12,000 people, and the second group is more than 6,000 people." Bao Chao replied: "Shi Dakai did not enter the city to station, I heard that it was his own decision, our fine work heard rumors that Lin Qirong originally wanted to guard Shi Zhongshan for Shi Dakai, but Shi Dakai did not agree, insisted on guarding Shi Zhongshan in person. ”

"It is worthy of Shi Dakai, in order to boost the morale of the army, he would rather take risks himself." Wu Chaoyue first praised it, and then said with a smile: "It's a pity, this big long hair is still uneducated, and I don't think the name Shi Zhongshan is unlucky, and Shi will end up in Shi, doesn't it mean that his surname Shi will end up in this place?" ”

The generals of the Wu army laughed, saying that this was exactly the case, and then asked one after another: "King Zhennan, how can we fight?" ”

"What's going on with Wang Fu?" Wu Chaoyue did not answer the rhetorical question.

"The long-haired Hukou Sailor has been driven into the Pojiang River." Bao Chao replied respectfully: "The king of Zhennan is clever, after our sailors entered Poyang Lake in a big way, the long-haired sailors really did not dare to fight with us, and fled directly to Poyang. ”

"Good job, give Wang Fu an order, tell him to continue to wait for his life in Nankang Mansion, staring at the long-haired water master, and dare to come out to ask for their lives!" Wu Chaoyue casually ordered, and added, "But remember, you must not chase into Pojiang, you have to prevent Shi Dakai's brother of the same clan from coming to Yin." ”

Dai Wenjie, who came with him, agreed, and hurriedly wrote an official document for Wu Chaoyue to issue an order, but it was also after signing and using the seal that Wu Chaoyue turned to his old lackey Cao Yanzhong, and said with a smile: "Yan Zhong, in terms of seniority, this time I took the Northern Expedition by sea, I should have made you the boss anyway, but there was a sudden accident on Changmao's side, and I personally went out to command the Eastern Crusade, so that your position as the commander was in the soup, is it a little disappointed?" ”

Cao Yanzhong, who was not very good at joking, smiled awkwardly and replied: "Back to Zhennan Wang, I can fight under your personal command, and the last general is already satisfied." ”

"Lie, if you didn't aim at the position of the commander of the Northern Expedition, Dasha asked you to discuss a change of defense, would you be able to refuse?"

Wu Chaoyue smiled and exposed Cao Yanzhong's lies, and said: "It's okay, I don't blame you, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier, and a general who doesn't want to be a commander is also a mediocre talent." Okay, I'll give you the opportunity to command the troops alone, bring your headquarters, and I'll give you another 5,000 auxiliaries, and then ask Bao Chao to escort you with the Jiujiang Naval Division, and you will fight Peng Ze for me. ”

"King Zhennan, do you want the last general to fight Peng Ze first?" Cao Yanzhong asked overjoyed.

"Of course." Wu Chaoyue replied with a smile: "It's not easy to deceive Shi Dakai, and if you don't take the opportunity to fight Peng Ze, wouldn't you be too sorry for Shi Dakai's kindness in coming to the front line?" ”

Cao Yanzhong happily received the order, and then said: "King Zhennan, if you don't attack Hukou first, attack Peng Ze first, although it is a surprise plan, but at this time, even if we defeat Peng Ze, it won't have much effect?" It is impossible to cut off the supply of grain and grass on land for Hukou Longhair, and it is difficult to induce Hukou Longhair to send troops to save Peng Ze? ”

"Who's to say it doesn't work?" Wu Chaoyue asked rhetorically and said: "After taking Peng Ze, you can use Peng Ze as an advance base and directly enter Anqing, with our superior sailors to protect the waterway, do you still have to worry about the water grain channel being cut off by long hair?" ”

"King Zhennan, do you still want the last general to be responsible for capturing Anqing?" Cao Yanzhong asked in surprise.

Wu Chaoyue nodded and said: "This Eastern Crusade, the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it will be for us, Shi Dakai wants to fortify Hukou, Pengze and Anqing at three natural hazards, delaying time, I don't want to be fooled by him!" I'll leave it to you to beat Peng Ze and Anqing, I'll personally stare at Shi Dakai here to see if he can calm down, or if I can calm down! ”

After announcing his preliminary strategy for this expedition, in order to give Cao Yanzhong a greater advantage, Wu Chaoyue transferred an artillery battalion from his direct corps to Cao Yanzhong's temporary command, further strengthening the already very powerful artillery force of Cao Yanzhong's corps.

In the end, Wu Chaoyue asked his staff member Zhou Wenxian to write a letter to Huang Wenjin for himself, directly telling Huang Wenjin that he is now in the army, and it is difficult to protect his life without the army.

Then Wu Chaoyue personally handed over the letter to Cao Yanzhong, and advised: "Before the war, find a way to capture a long-haired prisoner and force him to be sent into the city to hand over to Huang Wenjin, and then when attacking the city, we must leave Huang Wenjin a way to escape, this time is the most important time for us, the sooner we take Peng Ze, the more beneficial it will be for us, as for the blood debt that Huang Wenjin owes us, we can slowly settle it later." ”

Remembering Wu Chaoyue's advice, Cao Yanzhong hurriedly went down to organize men and horses to prepare for battle, and at the same time, Bao Chao also went to organize the Jiujiang Naval Division to prepare to protect Cao Yanzhong's corps for the Eastern Expedition, and Wu Chaoyue calmly ordered a banquet to entertain other Wu generals.

Early the next morning, under the protection of the Wu Army's naval division in Jiujiang, more than 10,000 people of the Wu Army's Cao Yanzhong Corps and 1,000 floating boats took the northern channel of Zhangjiazhou, bypassing the southern channel of the Hukou Taiping Army's key defense, and directly marched eastward.

The first shot of the Wu army's eastern expedition was also fired in the Bali River, although the Hukou Taiping Army also built a strong fort in the Bali River to block the northern channel of Zhangjiazhou, but the main force of the Wu Army's naval division in the protection of the baggage fleet returned to Hubei, in order to enter the northern channel, had already cleaned the Taiping Army's Balijiang position with heavy artillery fire, after more than ten days, no matter how the Taiping Army repaired and rebuilt, how far could the Balijiang Fort be rebuilt? So even if it was just the Jiujiang Naval Division of the Wu Army, it was still beating and beating the Taiping Army of Balijiang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Although the officers and men of the Taiping Army under Lin Qirong's department also showed admirable courage and will to fight back, they had no choice but to use primitive solid shells, and the hit rate of hitting the water moving target was extremely low, so they could not suppress the attack of the Wu Army's naval division, on the contrary, they were also pressed by the artillery fire of the Wu Army's naval division, and the casualties were very heavy.

Chen Tianfa, the commander-in-chief of the Taiping Army on duty in Balijiang, always gritted his teeth and insisted, and the result was a miracle, seeing that the defenders on the fort were about to be unable to support it, the Wu Army Sailor did not know what medicine he had taken wrong, and he took the initiative to stop the shelling, but before Chen Tianfa and other Taiping soldiers cheered, the heart-rending alarm had already reached Chen Tianfa's ears, "The demon soldiers who surpassed the little demon have come ashore!" ”

In order to take the Bali River as soon as possible and dredge the northern channel of Zhangjiazhou, the Wu army did launch a landing operation, and a multi-battalion Wu army officers and soldiers took advantage of the fact that the Taiping army of the Bali River was exhausted to parry the artillery fire of the Wu army's naval division, and easily landed successfully in the upper reaches of the Bali River, and directly killed the Taiping army fort by land - this is also the reason why the Wu army's naval division stopped shelling.

"Prepare the musket, stick to the fort, and give the demon soldiers a little color!"

Obeying Chen Tianfa's roaring command, the Taiping soldiers whose faces were blackened by the smoke of gunpowder entered their combat positions one after another, raising their muskets and preparing to meet them. However, what these Taiping soldiers never expected was that although there were not many enemies on the opposite side, they suddenly put out 50 grenadiers outside the range of the muskets, and the first wave of firing fired a full 50 grenadier shells, which smashed into the open air batteries of the Taiping army in a curve and exploded one after another.

"Holy shit! The demon soldiers who surpassed the little demon went crazy? Hit us with so many fast-fire cannons? ”

When Chen Tianfa howled in despair, Bao Chao, the chief general of the Jiujiang Water Division of the Wu Army, also lamented on the flagship, and said: "It is worthy of the descendant army of our King Zhennan, my own son!" ”

Shout! Shout! Shout! While grenadiers and shells continued to fly towards the Taiping Army Battery, Wu Jun divided a commando team to attack the bunker under the Taiping Army Battery, and the firing pin gun fired accurately to cover it, and threw grenades to interfere with the sight of the defenders in the bunker, and when it approached, the grenade shells were thrown directly into the firing port of the Taiping Army Bunker......

"Your mother, in your army that surpasses the little demon, does the palm thunder not need money?" It was the turn of the Taiping soldiers in the bunker with tears in their eyes.

After uprooting the Taiping army's platform bunker, the Wu army landing army did not rush to attack, but first sent a signal, beckoning the Wu army's naval division to cover the Taiping army battery for a period of time with gunfire fire, and weaken the Taiping army's battery guard force as much as possible, and then calmly launched a charge, but before the Wu army soldiers rushed to the battery, the few Taiping soldiers who were left had already fled cleanly, and the guard Chen Tianfa had also fallen in a pool of blood.

Under the response of the Taiping scout boat, the two Taiping soldiers who were lucky enough to escape from the fort were taken across the Yangtze River, and reported to Shi Dakai in detail the specific course of the battle of Balijiang, as well as the amazing firepower of the Wu Army's land division, Shi Dakai's face was pale, and after a long time, he muttered viciously, "It is worthy of surpassing the elite of the little demon!" ”

After muttering, he used the telescope to observe the endless fleet of Wu troops sailing downstream, Shi Dakai was worried one after another, because Shi Dakai was already suspecting that he might have been fooled, and in order to boost the morale of the army, he established the general headquarters of the Western Front on the first line of Hukou, which is likely to fall into the hands of Wu Chaoyue......