Not to mention, our teacher Zeng really looked like a transfer during this time, following the victory of the Xiaogu Mountain Battle, the Hunan army also won another battle outside Pengze City, or a real victory fought when the Taiping army did not release water. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The defeat of the Taiping army was pitted by the geographical terrain, the terrain of Pengze County is cramped, the south is surrounded by mountains, the north is near the river, the mountain is a steep stone mountain, but also a natural artillery position, the artillery can be placed on the mountain can be used to cover the whole city. In order not to give the Hunan army the opportunity to arrange artillery on the mountain, when constructing the Pengze city defense position, Huang Wenjin established a camp on this mountain and divided his troops to garrison it.

Huang Wenjin has only one weakness in this arrangement, that is, there is no water source on this mountain, and drinking water must be drawn from the Yangtze River, which is more than two miles away, or it can be drunk by snowfall from the sky. It was already winter, and under normal circumstances, snowfall alone was enough for the defenders on the mountain, Huang Wenjin was not very worried about this, but what was quite pitiful was that this winter, Pengze's area was cold and cold, and the snowflakes were very pitiful.

Regardless of the cold climate and the stiffness of the land, Leng used a hoe as a weapon and a digging as a battle, and dug out a deep and wide trench in only one night, completely cutting off the water drawing route of the Taiping army on the stone mountain. Huang Wenjin complained bitterly, he could only pray for heavy snow in the sky, and at the same time sent the army to venture out of the city to deliver water to the garrison on the mountain, while the Hunan army seized this opportunity to defend its specialties and desperately dug trenches and fortifications to cut off the Taiping army's way out of the city, making it almost impossible to send a drop of drinking water in the city to the top of the mountain, and also defeated the Taiping army's water delivery team several times, and gradually forced the Taiping army on the stone mountain into a desperate situation.

Forced to have no choice, Huang Wenjin could only send the main force to fight with the Hunan army, in a vain attempt to help the garrison outside the city reopen the road to draw water, replenish the water source and wait for the heavy snow to fall, and also keep the important land outside the city. However, the cruel facts told Huang Wenjin that this was just his wishful thinking, hand-to-hand combat The soldiers of the Hunan army may not be the opponent of the elite soldiers of the Taiping army, but the defensive battle of the stronghold is the specialty of the Hunan army.

Heavy casualties or can not break through the encirclement of the Hunan army, Huang Wenjin had no choice but to retreat into the city, the garrison on the mountain that has been cut off for many days saw that there was no hope of reinforcements, and had to be forced to abandon the camp to break through, but it was stubbornly blocked by the Hunan army around the mountain, many charges were repulsed, the thirsty Taiping soldiers surrendered one after another, and after the guard general Deng Wengang was seriously injured and died, the remnants of the Taiping army on the stone mountain all laid down their weapons and surrendered to the Hunan army, so that the Hunan army won a great victory of annihilating the defenders of Shishan.

On the second day of capturing Shishan, Mr. Zeng sent people to carry the artillery up the mountain for installation and commissioning, while preparing to cover Pengze City with artillery fire, and at the same time arranging for soldiers to dig trenches under the guidance of Daye geotechnical technicians, preparing to continue to use the crypt blasting tactics that have been proven effective in Hukou, and take Pengze City in one go.

In this regard, the high-spirited Hunan army had no opinion, not only did not raise any objections, but on the contrary, they also carried out these orders of Teacher Zeng very hard and resolutely. Only Zuo Zongtang asked Guo Songtao to give Teacher Zeng a sentence, "Don't you think it's too wasteful of gunpowder to do this?" The gunpowder has been consumed too much, and the main force of the long hair is suddenly killed, what do you use to meet the enemy? ”

Zeng Guofan respected Zuo Zongtang's opinions very much, but he didn't listen to them, insisted on fighting according to the original tactics, and at the same time confidently reached out to the disobedient protégé to ask for gunpowder, and at the same time, the Hunan army's gunpowder reserves were still quite large, and they were enough to use.

Next, the Hunan army almost created another miracle to take Pengze City, and the dense artillery fire bombarded Pengze City to the point that chickens and dogs jumped, and it was restless day and night. The tunnel dug with all its might was also rapidly approaching the city of Pengze, but just when the tunnel was about to succeed, the Taiping army, which had learned the lesson of Hukou, suddenly connected the tunnel dug at the same time with the tunnel of the Hunan army, and started an underground battle with the Hunan soldiers, and successfully defeated the underground sappers of the Hunan army.

After receiving the news, Zeng Guobao, who commanded the excavation of the tunnel, hurriedly sent troops into the tunnel, intending to regain control of the tunnel and avoid destruction by the Taiping army, but the experienced Taiping army suddenly resorted to poisonous smoke tactics, pouring the thick smoke of firewood and grass mixed with croton, chili pepper and sulfur into the ground. Then the Taiping soldiers calmly entered the tunnel, smashed the pillars and beams of the Hunan soldiers to strengthen the tunnel, buried gunpowder in the tunnel section under the moat, blew up the tunnel and introduced the river water, and completely destroyed the tunnel that the Hunan army had worked hard to dig.

After receiving this blow, Mr. Zeng, who was a little fluttering for a while, finally calmed down, did not waste any more strength to attack the long with a short one, and decisively gave up the crypt siege tactics that were obviously the Taiping army's better skills, and continued to cover the city with artillery fire, supplemented by strong fortifications to surround the city, and forced Huang Wenjin to take the initiative to go out of the city for a decisive battle.

Strictly speaking, Mr. Zeng's hand is indeed quite effective, and he has a great chance of winning. Unable to endure the artillery fire of the Hunan army, and could not see the shadow of the reinforcements for a long time, the Taiping soldiers in the city really appeared panicked and worried, and many generals also ran to Huang Wenjin to suggest a decisive battle out of the city, to change the current situation of being passively beaten, Huang Wenjin took out the order sent by Yang Xiuqing to stand by and wait for reinforcements to suppress the generals, but after a long time, not to mention that the other Taiping generals were worried, even Huang Wenjin couldn't help but be a little worried, and said secretly: "Dongwang is nine thousand years old, don't cheat me, When will the reinforcements you promised arrive? ”

In the dark, I don't know that the light is within reach, I am stuck in the quagmire, but what I see in my eyes is full of birds and flowers, what the two commanders of the Peng Ze War, Huang Wenjin and Zeng Guofan, do not know is that at this moment, the main reinforcements of the Taiping Army have actually arrived under the city of Anqing, just like a hungry wolf lurking in the night, waiting for the opportunity to find an opportunity to prepare to pounce on the fat lamb of the Hunan army............

The main force of the Taiping Army's naval division was able to reach Anqing without being discovered by the Hunan army, which was completely caused by Yang Xiuqing's superb command art, under the pretext of going to Anqing to transport grain to Nanjing, Yang Xiuqing almost pointed Qin Rigang to divide the main fleet into pieces, and then pretended to be a grain fleet to march westward in batches, and deliberately used the same banner to confuse passing ships, secretly assembled in the area of Xinhekou in the lower reaches of Anqing, with the help of two Jiangxin islands and dense reeds in this area to hide their tracks.

At the same time, Yang Xiuqing secretly ordered Lai Guiying and Shi Zhenji to tightly block the roads around Xinhekou early on, and did not give the Hunan army scouts a chance to get close to reconnoitre, so until the main force of the Taiping Army's naval division was assembled, the Dongliu Hunan army, which was more than 100 miles away, still knew nothing about it, and there was no way to report the enemy situation to Zeng Guofan in time.

Then, when a large number of Taiping Navy Navy warships suddenly appeared on the lower reaches of the Dongliu River, Zeng Guohua, Yang Yuebin, Peng Yulin and others, who commanded the Hunan Army's Navy Division, were of course taken aback, and they couldn't believe the scout's report at all. Coach Zeng Guohua also asked the scout: "Have you seen it clearly?" Is it a long-haired warship or a long-haired grain ship? ”

"Back to the sixth handsome, it is really a long-haired warship." The scout replied truthfully: "After discovering our ship, Longfur also sent clippers to hunt us down, and although we were lucky to escape, neither of our two clippers downstream came back, so we may have been poisoned by Longhair." ”

"How many ships does Longhair have?" Zeng Guohua hurriedly asked.

"It's too late to count." The scout replied truthfully: "The long-haired clippers are chasing too closely, and the little ones don't have time to carefully count and estimate the number of thieves, but they just see that the long-haired boats on the river are densely packed and numerous. ”

Zeng Guohua's face suddenly stretched longer than a donkey, and Yang Yuebin and Peng Yulin hurriedly confirmed that the location where the Taiping Army Sailor appeared was between Huangshiji and Jidian, and then Yang Yuebin immediately said to Zeng Guohua: "Sixth marshal, the long-haired sailor suddenly attacked, the purpose must be to prepare to relieve the siege of Peng Ze, we must immediately warn the marshal." ”

"Also, although the long-haired sailor is from the downstream, but the Yangtze River between the east and Huangshiji happens to be north-south, and now it is winter when the north wind is more, and the wind direction is favorable to the long-haired, so even if the long-haired water comes against the current, with the help of the wind, if you go west at full speed, you can reach the east in more than an hour, and now it is already evening, when the sky is completely dark, we are fighting or defending, and I hope that the six marshals will make a decision as soon as possible, so as not to be caught off guard."

After hesitating for a moment, Zeng Guohua asked Yang Yuebin and Peng Yulin rhetorically: "Do you think we should take the initiative to face the battle, or should we close the camp and defend ourselves?" ”

Yang Yuebin and Peng Yulin glanced at each other, and then replied in unison: "The enemy situation is unknown, stick to it!" ”

"Then keep it." Zeng Guohua was able to listen to the correct opinion, and hurriedly ordered the land and water soldiers to guard the camp and the city with all their might, and was not allowed to go out of the camp to meet the city without an order, and at the same time quickly sent a large number of scouts and clippers to reconnoiter the situation of the incoming enemy, fortunately, the Hunan army was disciplined and well-trained, although it was somewhat hurried, and there was nothing wrong in the hurry and tight deployment, so that Zeng Guohua and Yang Yuebin and others had the confidence to be able to meet the surprise attack of the Taiping army's sailors.

With the help of the north wind, when it was completely dark, the fleet of the Taiping Army's sailors who were marching westward really arrived near Dongliu and temporarily assembled near the mouth of the road. However, what made Zeng Guohua want to cry without tears was that they were already less than five miles apart, because the sky was just completely dark and the Taiping army fleet deliberately lacked lights, the Hunan army sailors had not been able to confirm the number of ships coming to the enemy, let alone whether there would be a fleet after this Taiping army fleet. In addition to scolding the scouts for their incompetence, Zeng Guohua did not have the courage to send troops to meet the battle, so he could only lead the army to guard the camp while praying to the sky, praying that this damn night would pass quickly, so that he could see the situation of the enemy clearly, and also receive his brother's next instructions.

The next move of the Taiping Army fleet surprised Zeng Guohua, Yang Yuebin and others again, but after a little rest, and a reconnaissance of the situation ahead, this unknown number of Taiping Army fleets unexpectedly spread their sails again and continued to sail westward. Zeng Guohua was shocked when he heard the report, and said that the Taiping Army's naval division was preparing to raid the camp of the army, so he hurriedly ordered the whole army to be on guard, and personally climbed to the deck to observe the enemy's movements. And then ......

Then, Zeng Guohua, Yang Yuebin and Peng Yulin and other generals of the Hunan Army were completely dumbfounded, after the forward of the Taiping Army fleet arrived near the Hunan army camp, they did line up and prepare for battle, but they did not attack, and the rear team directly crossed the Hunan army sailor camp located at the mouth of the South Gate Lake from the north of the Yangtze River under the protection of the front team, and continued to kill towards the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with great momentum!

At this moment, Zeng Guohua and Li Xubin and other generals of the Navy Division suddenly reacted, and found that Mr. Zeng's deployment of the Hunan Army Naval Division in the Dongliu area was purely a stupid move, because the river in the Dongliu area is too wide, and the water flow is also very slow, and ships can be allowed to pass almost everywhere, which is not conducive to the defense of the Hunan Army Naval Division, but it is very conducive to the Taiping Army Naval Division bypassing the Hunan Army Naval Division camp and going westward directly!

"What to do? Sortie? Or do you want to stick to it? ”

The snow was fine, but the beads of sweat of soybeans appeared on Zeng Guohua's forehead, a hasty attack in the dark night must be risky, a little carelessness may be drowned by the Taiping army's small boat sea tactics, if you don't attack, let the Taiping army fleet cross the east, the Taiping army captain drove straight in, and soon appeared under Peng Zecheng, sending reinforcements and morale to the surrounded Huang Wenjin, and then the brother was like thunder......

"Six marshals, we have been tricked!"

Peng Yulin's roar pulled Zeng Guohua out of his brother's might, "Changmao has calculated the time to arrive in Dongliu, and it is expected that we will not dare to attack hastily in the dark night, and take the opportunity to march westward." It's okay for this long-haired sailor to go to reinforce Peng Ze, if they don't save Peng Ze and continue to move westward and attack Hukou, then we will be finished! ”

Zeng Guohua shivered, and subconsciously remembered Hukou, which is currently related to the support of the Hunan army's grain route, and the fatal issue that Li Xuyi's department, which was originally stationed in Hukou, has been transferred to Peng Ze. Frightened, Zeng Guohua didn't dare to hesitate at all, and immediately shouted: "Order the whole army, go out of the camp to intercept, don't let Changmao pass!" ”

It was too late to rush out to fight, the Yangtze River waterway between the eastward flow to Pengze was still the north-south direction of the pit, and the main warship of the Taiping Army, Xiaotuan, was notoriously light and flexible, with the help of the howling north wind, when all the warships of the Hunan Army Naval Division came out of the camp and assembled into a team, the rear team of the Taiping Army Naval Division had all crossed the camp of the Hunan Army Naval Division, and the front team that served as a garrison had all turned around, changing the front to the rear and chasing the main force. Seeing this scene, Zeng Guohua had no choice but to shout loudly: "Raise the flag, the whole army will pursue!" Be sure to catch up with this long-haired sailor, and don't give them a chance to sneak up on the mouth of the lake! ”

The Hunan army and the Taiping army's huge dragon boat race appeared again on the water surface of the Yangtze River, in the case of not having an advantage in strength and not knowing the enemy's strength, the Hunan army sailors, who have always been cautious, rarely launched an all-out pursuit, biting the butt of the Taiping army sailors, and just pursued endlessly all the way. However, what Zeng Guohua, Yang Yuebin and others never dreamed of was that under the guidance of Yang Xiuqing's tactical plan that had been brewing for many days, a larger-scale Taiping Army Naval Division had also arrived at the Dongliu River, and it was also directly crossed the Dongliu River and directly killed the butt of the Hunan Army Naval Division.

Halfway through the third watch, when the Hunan Army Naval Division pursued the Taiping Army Naval Division and arrived near Madang Mountain, the scout clippers of the rear team finally reported the incident to Zeng Guohua. Hearing that the Taiping Army fleet also appeared behind the army, Zeng Guohua also collapsed on the deck on the spot, muttering with tears in his eyes, "It's over, it's over, I'm done this time." ”

Zeng Guohua was indeed finished, because of his command error, he failed to decisively send troops to intercept the Taiping convoy that arrived first, and was rushed west in front of him by the Taiping Army's sailors, and from that moment on, Zeng Guohua was already doomed to failure. No matter how he chooses now, Zeng Guohua is destined to be unable to save the defeat and continue to chase forward, if the Taiping Army Naval Division in front turns around, and the Taiping Naval Division that kills behind him is flanked back and forth, the Hunan Army Naval Division is completely annihilated, and if it is not chased, if the Taiping Army in front of it goes to Hukou and successfully takes Hukou, the Hunan Army Naval Division and the Land Division will also be finished. Advancing and retreating is death, and there is no chance of winning whether to chase or not.

"Sixth handsome, we have long-haired sailors in front and behind, what should we do? What to do? Hurry up and give the order to decide! ”

Forced by his subordinates, Zeng Guohua could only choose to kick the ball to his brother, and said with tears in his eyes: "Keep chasing, go to Peng Ze first, and ask my brother to decide what to do!" (To be continued.) )