The Qing army's movements were very fast, and less than an hour after the plan was agreed, Xu Naizhao's handwritten letter had been shot into the city with a bow and arrow, and it was soon sent to Chen Shibao, the current commander of the Taiping Army in Suzhou.

After reading Xu Naizhao's letter, Chen Shibao of course felt inexplicable, in order to grasp the situation and trends of the Qing army, the Taiping army arrested a few Qing soldiers during this time, the number was very small, and at the same time, because of the greed for life and fear of death of the Qing soldiers, those prisoners also asked what to answer, in order to survive voluntarily cut off their braids to join the Taiping army, and they didn't kill a single one, let alone beat and abuse. Now Xu Naizhao has sent a letter to condemn the inhumane behavior of the Taiping army in abusing and killing prisoners, Chen Shibao, who has never done these things at all, is naturally confused, and does not understand where the rumors of the self-army's abuse of prisoners came from?

Originally, Chen Shibao could have ignored Xu Naizhao's letter, but considering that if the Qing army really used any cruel means to retaliate against the prisoners of the army, it would inevitably be a little too sorry for the loyal and brave soldiers who took the risk to go out of the city to spy on the outposts, so Chen Shibao still told his subordinates the content of Xu Naizhao's letter and consulted the two capable deputies Zhou Haikun and Yang Wanyong.

"Prime Minister Chen, don't pay attention to that Qing demon, the Qing demon really dares to poison our captured brothers, and we will return it as well." Yang Wanyong replied grinningly.

"Prime Minister, the last general thinks that he might as well give an answer to the Qing Demon." Zhou Haikun, who had read the private school for a few days, had the opposite opinion and said: "Let the Qing Demon know how we treat the ordinary demon soldiers we have caught, which can not only make our unfortunate captured soldiers suffer less crimes, but also hit the morale of the Qing Demon's army, and let the Qing Demon soldiers know that as long as they surrender to us, they can live, so that they will not resist desperately to the end when they fight us, which will be of great benefit to our future wars." ”

Chen Shibao, who loves nurses a lot, also thought about it, so he nodded a little tempted, but Yang Wanyong over there still objected, and said: "Prime Minister, it's better to ignore it, don't you know who the dog officials over there are?" How could it be so kind that he offered to treat the captives well and exchange them? ”

"Brother Yang, you're wrong about that." Zhou Haikun shook his head and said: "Although Xu Naizhao, a dog official, forgot his ancestors and acted as a lackey for the Manchu barbarians, his official reputation is still quite good, and the first thing he did after becoming the governor of Jiangsu was to engage in donations instead of endowments, advocating less taxes from the poor people, and forcing those landlords to donate more silver, money and grain, so he saved a lot of poor people, and he is a rare dog official with a little conscience." It is not surprising that he made such a request to us. ”

After listening to Zhou Haikun's explanation, Chen Shibao, who was also born in poverty, did not hesitate any longer, and immediately nodded and said: "General Zhou is reasonable, so let's do it, since Xu Gouguan has a rare conscience to find that he wants to exchange prisoners, let's just exchange with him, and it is also a good thing to rescue the captured brothers." ”

Seeing that Chen Shibao had decided, Yang Wanyong also closed his mouth, but after thinking about it, Yang Wanyong had an idea again, and hurriedly said to Chen Shibao: "Prime Minister Chen, the last general suddenly thought of a good idea, since that Xu Gouguan wants to meet and negotiate with you, and you have agreed, then when we meet and negotiate tomorrow, we will first ambush some brothers with good marksmanship, and ambush them with the long-shot foreign guns brought by Prime Minister Zeng from Shanghai, and then you deliberately ask to negotiate directly with Xu Gouguan, and let Xu Gouguan go to the near city. Our brothers suddenly stood up and shot together, maybe they could kill the governor of the Qing Demon directly at once? ”

Chen Shibao was greatly moved when he heard this, but he still hesitated a little and said, "Isn't it okay to do this?" Not to mention that Xu Gouguan's official reputation is good, is it too despicable to suddenly sneak attack during negotiations? ”

"It doesn't matter if he's despicable or not!" Yang Wanyong waved his hand and said contemptuously: "We talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality to the Qing Demon, and the Qing Demon will take the initiative to withdraw from the army and no longer fight Suzhou?" If we can kill that Xu Gouguan directly, at least the Qing demon in the south will be in chaos immediately, and when Prime Minister Zeng has finished fighting Changzhou and withdraws, we should cooperate inside and outside, and it will be easy to break the Qing demon outside the city! ”

Chen Shibao was even more tempted, and after a little calculation, Chen Shibao said: "Okay, let's prepare the ambush first, as for whether to launch an ambush and sneak attack on Xu Gouguan, I will decide then!" ”

In this way, under the secret ghost, the Taiping army was also quietly ready to snipe Xu Naizhao, and then in the early morning of the next day, Chen Shibao really received a report that there was a battalion of Qing troops protecting a high-ranking Qing army official who came to Suzhou City and asked to negotiate with Chen Shibao in person.

Leading a team of personal soldiers to hurriedly go up to the Fengmen located in the southeast corner of Suzhou City, Chen Shibao saw at first glance that Yang Wanyong had already arranged the ambush in place, and more than 20 Taiping soldiers with good marksmanship were holding Mini guns that had been loaded with ammunition in their hands, hiding behind the female wall of the arrow stack, and everyone had a Minny gun with the same ammunition next to them. Chen Shibao first smiled, and then whispered that Yang Wanyong had no order not to shoot, and then walked to the arrow stack and looked out, and saw the Qing army team outside the city at a glance.

Xu Naizhao is really in this Qing army team, but he put on a military uniform and disguised himself as a soldier, and the fake Xu Naizhao riding on a tall horse is disguised by a master who is not afraid of death, if this fake Xu Naizhao can come back alive, he will be able to receive a full three years of money and food, if he unfortunately dies in place of Xu Naizhao, then his family can receive him ten years of money and food, and if you are lucky, you may be able to get a reward from the Manchu court. So although the master in the governor's uniform was so nervous that his legs were trembling, he could still grit his teeth and hold on.

Raised the monocular and took a closer look at the situation outside the city, and saw that the wilderness under the city that was razed to the ground by the Taiping army was empty, and there was not even half a figure, Xu Naizhao was inevitably very strange, and hurriedly asked Wu Chaoyue, who was also disguised as a personal soldier: "Wu Zhentai, didn't you say that you have ambushed six sharpshooters?" Why can't you see any of them? ”

"Lord Futai, since it is an ambush, of course, it must not be seen by Long Hair." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said, "Don't worry, Xiaguan's snipers have already been ambushed in place, and then as long as your master lures Chen Shibao out, you can watch a good show." ”

The letter nodded suspiciously, Xu Naizhao sent someone forward and asked Chen Shibao to go out of the city and talk to the fake Xu Naizhao, but unfortunately Chen Shibao still had this vigilance, not only did not show up immediately, but also asked Xu Naizhao to go to the city to negotiate in person.

Then it was natural for Xu Naizhao to be in the limelight, in full view, under the protection of a team of pro-soldiers, pretending that Xu Naizhao first rode to a distance of half a mile from the city wall and dismounted, and then walked to the stone bridge across the river with the protection of the shield of the pro-soldiers, and it turned out that it was also at this time that hypothetical Xu Naizhao and those pro-soldiers were surprised to find that behind the ruins of those low and low houses on the side of the road, the snipers of the Wu Army who were really crawling with Mini guns in their hands were all dressed in cloth felt similar to the color of the land, and even the Mini guns were wrapped in camouflage cloth. It's not that you can't find it if you get close.

Secretly admired the good camouflage of the snipers of the Wu army, and the fake Xu Naizhao and others trembled and walked to the side of the moat, shouting loudly in front of the stone bridge, asking Chen Shibao to come out and answer, during which the Qing soldiers also used rattan shields to protect the fake Xu Naizhao, and the acting skills of the loyal protector were also very good.

It was also at this time that Chen Shibao, whose heart was beating faster, really made up his mind, and ordered Yang Wanyong in a low voice: "I will go out to lure the dog officer to show up, and as soon as I have the opportunity, shoot me immediately!" ”

Yang Wanyong happily agreed, and Chen Shibao also walked to the side of the city wall, revealing half of his chest and head behind the arrow battlement, and said loudly: "Xu Futai, please come out and answer, rest assured, during the negotiation, the prime minister will not shoot you!" ”

After that, Chen Shibao also added another sentence in his heart, and said secretly: "Yes, Prime Minister Ben will not shoot you, but Prime Minister Ben didn't say that my subordinates will not ......shoot at you." ”

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ”

Before Chen Shibao finished muttering proudly, six gunshots had already sounded in the wilderness under the city, and then before everyone could react, the arrows and stone chips around him were flying, Chen Shibao already felt that his face and chest seemed to have been knocked several times by a heavy hammer, and the whole person lay down directly on his back, and then ............

"Dog Qing Demon! Shameless! ”

In the angry roar, the Taiping soldiers in the city also pulled the trigger one after another, and hit the angry bullets at the fake Xu Naizhao and others under the city, and the fake Xu Naizhao and others ran backwards with their legs, during which several people were shot and wounded one after another, including the fake Xu Naizhao's buttocks and back, but fortunately, the real Xu Naizhao's personal soldiers were still righteous, and they fled away with him, and finally didn't let him send his life to the city of Suzhou - and also saved a lot of money and food for Wu Chaoyue and the real Xu Naizhao.

If Xu Naizhao and others were fleeing for their lives, six Wu army snipers and six Qing army assistants who had seen Chen Shibao also threw away their camouflage and fled, but when Wu Dada, who led the team, rushed to Wu Chaoyue with rolling and crawling, Wu Chaoyue not only did not praise Wu Dadao and other lackeys for their excellent marksmanship, but also asked with a slashed face: "Have you seen it clearly?" Did you hit it? ”

"The little one didn't hold a telescope, but he just aimed and shot as much as he could, and it was not clear whether he hit or not." Wu Dadao answered truthfully, and asked Wu Chaoyue suspiciously: "Young Master Sun, you are holding the telescope, did you hit it, didn't you see it?" ”

"It's too far away to see clearly." Wu Chaoyue's distressed answer - the distance is more than 500 meters, and the accuracy of the monocular in this era is not very high, so when the sniper of Wu Jun shot and attacked just now, Wu Chaoyue only saw Chen Shibao disappear from behind the arrow stack immediately, but he couldn't see whether Chen Shibao was shot or not.

On the other side, Zhen Xu Naizhao and Qin Ruhu also couldn't wait to ask the six Qing army assistants if they saw Chen Shibao being shot, but the six snipers answered differently, some said that they seemed to see Chen Shibao being shot, some said that they saw the bullet hit the arrow stack next to Chen Shibao, and some said that they saw Chen Shibao seem to have fallen on his back, and he should have been shot, but no one dared to guarantee that he could clearly see Chen Shibao being hit by a bullet. As a result, Xu Naizhao was so angry that he stomped his feet and scolded, "Waste! It's all a bunch of rubbish! At such a close distance, they were all holding clairvoyant mirrors, and none of them could see clearly whether they had hit or not! ”

"Lord Futai, let's go back to the camp first." Wu Chaoyue, who was greedy for life and afraid of death, proposed: "If Changmao goes crazy and goes out of the city, we can't bear it." ”

Wu Chaoyue reminded him that the real Xu Naizhao hurriedly ordered the troops to retreat and return to the camp, but when he saw the fake Xu Naizhao moaning that he had to rely on his own soldiers to carry him before he could act, Wu Chaoyue had an idea again, and hurriedly shouted: "Quick, cry!" All of them made me cry out loud! Pretending that Xu Futai has been beaten to death by long hair! ”

"Wu Zhentai, can you curse the official a few words?" Xu Naizhao said dissatisfiedly.

"Lord Futai, Xiaguan is here to help you recover the state city as soon as possible." Wu Chaoyue explained with a hippie smile: "If Chang Mao thinks that your old man is unfortunately martyred, then no matter whether we hit Chen Shibao or not, Long Mao will definitely have some movements, Long Mao will move, we will not only have the opportunity to capture the prisoner and ask for a confession, but also have the opportunity to turn over Long Mao in the field?" ”

felt that Wu Chaoyue's words were a little reasonable, although he felt a little unlucky, Xu Naizhao, who was unfortunately a vicious subordinate of Wu Chaoyue, still gritted his teeth and agreed to let the accompanying soldiers cry loudly, creating the illusion that he had been shot and martyred.

Wu Chaoyue expected, the angry Taiping army really sent an army out of the city to chase and kill, fortunately, the Qing army retreated in advance, and in the past few years practiced a good ability to escape, all of them are fast, and the back of the buttocks can bring up the rolling yellow sand, and successfully rushed back to the southern self-army camp before being chased by the Taiping army, and the remaining camp Hu Songlin also arranged the Qing soldiers to shoot and fire next to the fence early, and the Taiping army did not dare to approach the ping pong, and successfully received Wu Chaoyue and Xu Naizhao into the camp. The Taiping army over there did not dare to storm the well-fortified Qing army camp, and hurriedly collected the troops and returned to the camp after scolding them from afar, and at the same time took away their comrades who were unfortunately shot and wounded, and did not give the Qing army a chance to capture the prisoners and ask for confessions.

Next, Wu Chaoyue's first thing was to order the two Wu army Lianyong battalions stationed in Baihe Port to come over for reinforcements immediately, and the second thing was, of course, to force Xu Naizhao to hang his filial piety at the camp gate, so that the Qing soldiers cried loudly, and continued to create the illusion that he had been martyred, Xu Naizhao was very depressed, but after thinking about it, in order to be promoted and make a fortune, Xu Naizhao still gritted his teeth and ordered to act according to the plan. As a result, whether this hand did not make the Taiping army know the plan, but Hechun, who was camping in the north, was frightened and hurriedly led a cavalry to understand the situation.

He Chun is also quite talented, seeing Xu Naizhao sitting in the tent safe and sound, and seeing the notoriously scheming Wu Chaoyue coming up with a smile and saluting, He Chun suddenly guessed what was going on, and at the same time, he also breathed a long sigh of relief, and complained to Wu Chaoyue and Xu Naizhao: "Xu Futai, Wu Zhentai, you use tricks to deceive the enemy, tell me first?" Do you know, when I heard that you are filial piety here, I was almost scared to death. ”

"Blame him!" Xu Naizhao angrily pointed at Wu Chaoyue and said: "This official didn't know what evil he had done in his previous life, but he actually met such a subordinate as a subordinate according to the inspector, and forced me to come forward to deceive the enemy, and asked me to pretend to be dead and deceive Long Mao, if this official really does not die well in the future, it will be his harm!" ”

He Chun, who had nothing to do with himself, laughed heartlessly, and after knowing the whole thing from Xu Naizhao and Wu Chaoyue's mouths, He Chun was suddenly very excited, and hurriedly asked, "Did you hit?" Our sharpshooter, did you confirm that you hit the long-haired pseudo-prime minister? ”

Wu Chaoyue and Xu Naizhao both shook their heads with a wry smile, and then introduced to He Chun the situation that they could not confirm whether they succeeded in sniping Chen Shibao. As long as the long hair is not mourned and the news is blocked, we still have no way to take Suzhou City? ”

"That's why Xia Guan insisted on imploring Lord Futai to deceive the enemy to death, so that Long Hair can't figure out our reality." Wu Chaoyue replied: "The Master Li who pretended to be Xu Futai was shot in the city, and Changmao should be able to see it very clearly if he was condescending, and the lower officials deliberately created the illusion that Xu Futai had been martyred, so no matter whether our cold gun hit Chen Shibao or not, Changmao is either for revenge, or to seize the fighter, it is very likely that he will take the opportunity to send troops to sneak attack." As long as Changmao sends out the army, we have hope to catch the prisoner, and as soon as the prisoner is caught and asks for a confession, we can know whether we have hit Chen Shibao or not. ”

He Chun nodded, and said thoughtfully: "If Longhair wants to launch a sneak attack, the best time is tonight. In this way, you are ready to ambush tonight, and I have arranged for an army to be ready to go out at any time, and when I receive the news of Longhair's sneak attack on you, I will immediately send troops to attack Longhair's back and help you break the enemy. ”

Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly thanked He Chun for taking the initiative to help, and in turn reminded He Chun to do a good job in the defense of the camp while sending troops, and not to give the Taiping army a chance to attack the north and south, and He Chun also nodded and thanked Wu Chaoyue for his kindness. And Xu Naizhao, who was already preparing for his funeral, continued to make a fire and complained: "Don't work hard in vain, if Changmao sees through your intentions and deliberately does not send troops tonight, then the official will pretend to be dead in vain!" ”

According to Xu Naizhao's crow's mouth, that night, although the Qing army had prepared for the battle early, and Hechun had also arranged an elite army, ready to send reinforcements to Xu Naizhao at any time, but the whole night passed, the Taiping army was not afraid of half a person going out of the city, and at the same time, the Taiping army in the city did not have the slightest sign of shaking or mourning. The Qing soldiers who fed the mosquitoes for a night complained, and Xu Naizhao also complained that Wu Chaoyue had a bad idea, and then ignored Wu Chaoyue's obstruction, and immediately let people tear off the inauspicious white cloth on the camp gate and no longer pretend to be dead.

At noon the next day, the two battalions stationed in Baihe Port, Wu Jun Lian Yong, under the leadership of Huang Dasha, successfully rushed to the city of Suzhou and joined Xu Naizhao's army first. However, after passing the dangerous moment of not having a reliable elite safely, Wu Chaoyue not only did not feel a little relaxed, but on the contrary, he frowned even tighter, "Did you hit it?" Chen Shibao's long hair, was he beaten to death? (To be continued.) )