Zeng Guoquan has changed, and suddenly it seems that he has changed to another person, at least Jiang Yili, Zhu Hongzhang, Ni Gui, Zhang Shiri and Liu Lianjie and other old people of the Hunan army think so. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

In particular, it was most obvious when the Xinxiang army marched, taking the water route to Xiangyang, and then taking the land route north to Nanyang, which is not very peaceful at present, according to the habit that Zeng Guoquan had learned from Zeng Guofan before, the Xinxiang army should slow down the march, and build a strong camp with ditches, trenches, antlers to resist horses, and a wall to ensure that everything is prevented, and the battalion should advance northward step by step.

However, Zeng Guoquan completely changed, the march was no longer thirty miles a day to climb slowly, following the example of Wu Jun while using a ranger sentry to spy on the surrounding movements, while striding forward, at least fifty miles a day, and even more than sixty miles on open terrain, which was unusual, and at the same time greatly accelerated the speed of the march.

When it was time to set up camp and rest, Zeng Guoquan learned a lot from his future niece and son-in-law, no longer forcing the soldiers of the Xinxiang Army to build a strong camp within an hour, and learning from the soldiers of the Wu Army to build a fence to resist horses and build a few guard towers - of course, Zeng Guoquan also learned from Wu Chaoyue to arrange light and dark sentry posts and arrange the army to take turns to be on duty at night.

Out of curiosity and worry, Zhu Hongzhang and other generals who have followed Zeng Guoquan for many years also asked Zeng Guoquan the reason, and carefully reminded Zeng Guoquan whether it was too lax to take precautions, Zeng Guoquan replied: "It's okay, the rebel army rarely harasses Nanyang, even if the number of people who come is not large, it is enough for us to do this." Don't always hold on to the old rules, you have to learn the comfort pavilion, let the soldiers relax and breathe in a relatively safe place, and it's never too late to be careful when they get to a dangerous area, always tense up, and they will be psychologically exhausted before they meet the enemy. ”

Zeng Guoquan fulfilled his promise, just crossed Yuzhou, into the Qing cavalry activities of the area, Zeng Guoquan immediately let the Hunan army strengthen the camp defense, although the camp is still not as perverted as before with Zeng Guofan, but also dug an additional trench, using the excavated earthwork to build a sheep and horse wall that is conducive to the defenders to shoot and shoot, but the march is still fifty miles a day, and the speed of advance is still far beyond the past.

Relying on the numerical superiority of the cavalry, the Henan Qing army was indeed very rampant on the supply line of the Wu army in Henan, and in the early morning of the second day after crossing Yuzhou and heading north, the new Hunan army was harassed by a Qing cavalry -- under the cover of snowflakes, more than 100 Qing cavalry suddenly launched a charge against the rear of the Hunan army that was leaving the camp, and fired one after another in ping pong, killing and wounding more than a dozen Hunan soldiers, and then rushed away before the Hunan army launched a large-scale counteroffensive, successfully killing the Hunan army by surprise while still suffering no casualties.

After the war, Ni Guizhan, who was in charge of commanding the rear team, trembled and went to Zeng Guoquan to plead guilty, and was also mentally prepared to be scolded and even slapped by Zeng Guoquan. However, although Zeng Guoquan, who was unfavorable, was also full of anger, he resisted the urge to reward Ni Gui's slap, and in the end, Zeng Guoquan also comforted Ni Gui in turn and said: "It's okay, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, no wonder you are in this battle, the snow is too big, there is no way to find out the enemy situation in time, just pay attention to it in the future." ”

It was indeed the heavy snow that helped the Qing army, and at noon, when the new Hunan army crossed the Li River in the north, the Qing cavalry ran to harass again, because the snowflakes had gradually been retracted, and they could no longer hide with the help of snowflakes, and the Qing cavalry who tried to harass the rear of the Hunan army failed to take any advantage, and before they rushed to the range where they could shoot the Hunan army with arquebuses, they were first beaten by the Hunan soldiers with their guns and several horsemen turned over on their backs, and then when the Qing cavalry gritted their teeth and rushed into the arquebus range to shoot, they were subjected to intensive fire from the Hunan army's arquebuses. was beaten and fled, and in the end there were two more people killed than the Hunan army.

In the evening of the same day, Zeng Guoquan's army barely arrived in Ye County smoothly, and was with Luo Shifeng, the general of the Wu army guarding Ye County. As a result, it was also at this time that Zeng Guoquan learned from Luo Shifeng that the Shu Bao Department of the Wu Army, with the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry as the backbone, was currently stationed in Luogang Town, northeast of Ye County, and was looking for an opportunity to clean up the main cavalry force of the Qing Army's Tuoming Abu and combat the arrogance of the Qing army's cavalry that frequently harassed the supply lines of the Wu army.

"Since Shu Bao is looking for the main cavalry of the chaotic party to fight a decisive battle, why can the cavalry of the chaotic army still run south of Yexian and harass my army?" Zeng Guoquan asked a little strangely.

"That's the rebel cavalry of Yancheng." Luo Shifeng replied helplessly: "Tomina relied on his cavalry to divide the cavalry of the chaotic party into two teams, one team stationed in Xiangcheng and the other team stationed in Yancheng. Then one of the cavalry was to contain our cavalry, and the other took the opportunity to harass our grain routes. ”

He had already memorized the map sand table in the area of Ye County in his heart, Zeng Guoquan was inevitably even more strange when he heard it, and asked again: "That Shubaotun troops are located in Luogang Town between the two cities, no matter whether the rebellious cavalry is sent from Xiangcheng or Yancheng, he can send troops to intercept it in time?" ”

"The rebel army has also learned to be treacherous, and every time a hundred horsemen attack separately as a team, they will run away when they encounter our interception, and they will not fight us head-on." Luo Shifeng said helplessly: "The number of our cavalry is not as good as the cavalry of the chaotic party, even if we divide the troops in the same way, we will take care of one thing and lose the other, press the gourd to float the scoop, and we can't stop all the cavalry of the chaotic party." ”

Introducing this, Luo Shifeng said: "General Shu Bao's army has a lot of spies, and several large-scale operations were known in advance by the rebel army, and they hid in the city early to defend the city, so several large-scale attacks of our cavalry have not been able to receive any effect, and there has been no chance to severely damage the rebel party and thief army. ”

Zeng Guoquan laughed when he heard this, and said with a smile: "It's okay, such a hard time is over, the rebellious army is bullying us because of the lack of troops in the Yexian area, and we dare to do this because we can't launch a siege, and when I defeat Xiangcheng and Yancheng, see if they dare to be so rampant." ”

"General Shu Bao and I also think so, as long as we take Xiangcheng and Yancheng, where the cavalry of the thief army is stationed, we can no longer worry about the tactics of the cavalry of the chaotic party taking turns to attack." Luo Shifeng nodded, and said: "But General Zeng, I have to remind you that neither Xiangcheng nor Yancheng is easy to fight, and the rebel army is very tightly guarded. ”

"It's okay, just think about it." Zeng Guoquan replied confidently, and said: "General Luo, you don't have to be busy with the banquet, first hand over to me the summary of the enemy information you have collected, and I will immediately grasp the enemy's situation." ”

Luo Shifeng agreed, and immediately sent someone to Zeng Guoquan to get the collected Qing army intelligence summary, as a result, Zeng Guoquan found through research that Tomin obviously paid more attention to Xiangcheng in terms of defense deployment, and the garrison of Xiangcheng was not only more than three times that of Yancheng, but also most of the grain, grass and military supplies were hoarded in Xiangcheng. Yancheng has not transported grain into the city since the autumn harvest, and it is obvious that it was used by Tuo Ming'a as an abandoned son who can be given up at any time, and the difficulty of choosing Yancheng for the first battle of the Hunan army is obviously the least.

If it is replaced by the former Zeng Guoquan, it will definitely be to fight Yancheng first, first take Yancheng to show his majesty, and then turn around and attack Xiangcheng. However, the current Zeng Guoquan is different, after several years of closed-door reflection, coupled with Wu Chaoyue's repeated advice when leaving, Zeng Guoquan already knows how to use his brain when choosing tactics, and he also knows how to figure out the enemy's mind. So after thinking about it for a long time, Zeng Guoquan also made a decision that surprised the generals of the Hunan army - to fight Xiangcheng first!

Not only were the old men of the Hunan army who were familiar with Zeng Guoquan's character surprised, but when Zeng Guoquan led the army to Luogang to join Shu Bao, when he learned of Zeng Guoquan's choice for the first battle, Shu Bao was also confused, and asked suspiciously: "General Zeng, it's obviously more certain for us to fight Yancheng first?" Why did you choose to hit Xiangcheng first? There are many rebel party defenders there, and there is enough food and grass, even if we can defeat them, the casualties will definitely not be small? ”

Zeng Guoquan beckoned to call the trusted Shu Bao and Mulaki in front of him, and whispered to them about his plan, but Shu Bao and Mulaki were overjoyed when they heard it, and hurriedly agreed, and then without Zeng Guoquan's advice, Shu Bao and Mulaki had already decided to keep it strictly secret and never let the Manchurian cavalry under their command know Zeng Guoquan's tactical plan.

At the same time, all kinds of information about Zeng Guoquan's army have also been sent to Tuo Ming'a sitting in Xuzhou by the Qing army scouts, and after learning that Zeng Guoquan's army was not equipped with the Wu army's elite firing pin guns, although Tuo Ming'a breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't dare to take it too lightly, and immediately decided to let the Qing cavalry in Xiangyan Ercheng attack cautiously, preparing to find out Zeng Guoquan's tactics and army strength first, and then decide how to resist the enemy.

In this case, after receiving the news that Zeng Guoquan's army and Shu Baojun joined hands to attack Xiangcheng, Tuo Ming'a was of course a little confused, and he couldn't figure out why Zeng Guoquan chose to give up the easy, so he could only decide to respond to all changes with the same and continue to wait for Zeng Guoquan's next move.

Zeng Guoquan's next action stunned Tuo Ming'a's eyeballs, and at the same time, it also opened the eyes of Tuoming Abe's general Huicheng who was in charge of Xiangcheng - Zeng Guoquan actually used his famous iron bucket tactics, and immediately began to dig siege trenches as soon as he arrived in Xiangcheng, mobilized the army to recruit people to dig around Xiangcheng, and it only took one day to dig a siege trench that connected to Rushui at both ends, and then made every effort to widen and deepen.

"Zeng Guoquan is crazy? He thought that this place was still in Jiujiang, and there could be an endless stream of grain transportation from the Yangtze River waterway? So that he can surround Xiangcheng for a long time and survive until our Xiangcheng is exhausted? ”

After receiving the news at noon the next day, Tuo Ming'a was so surprised that he couldn't believe that it was true, and he also laughed madly at Zeng Guoquan's pedantic, inflexible, and wasted Wu Chaoyue's precious grain and grass in vain, which was destined to drag down the weak logistics of the Wu army in Henan. However, Shen Baozhen, the political envoy of Henan Province, who is also currently sitting in Xuzhou, was deeply skeptical about this, and said suspiciously: "Isn't that right? I've seen Zeng Guoquan, this person is a little short-tempered, but he's not stupid? It is impossible for him not to understand the difficulty of transporting grain by land? It's impossible to use such a stupid trick? ”

"Youdan, do you suspect there is fraud in it?" Tomina hurriedly asked.

"Yes." Shen Baozhen nodded and muttered: "I suspect that this is Zeng Guoquan's rebel thief's voice attacking the west, ostensibly feint to attack Xiangcheng, but in fact there are other goals. ”

After thinking about it for a while, Tuo Ming'a also felt that something was wrong - no matter how stupid Zeng Guoquan was, it was impossible not to consider the difficulty of transporting grain by land. So Tomina also immediately got up and walked to the map sand table, studying the target that Zeng Guoquan might really aim at.

Thanks to the blessing of the open terrain, Zeng Guoquan has many targets in the east and west, Jiaxian and Xuzhou in the north, Yancheng and Linying in the east, and if Zeng Guoquan is bolder, it is not impossible to sneak attack Yucheng. However, considering Zeng Guoquan's combat purpose, one of Xuzhou and Yancheng was undoubtedly Zeng Guoquan's best choice.

At this time, Shen Baozhen had already pointed to Yancheng on the map, and said in a deep voice: "It is most likely Yancheng, although our garrison there is not much, but there is a cavalry and horse team stationed in the Wu thief's grain route, Zeng Guoquan and Shu Bao, if the two traitors can completely annihilate our Yancheng cavalry, it is enough for them to be worth such a toss." ”

After calculating the distance of the road, and finding that it was entirely possible for the Wu army to suddenly march to the city of Yancheng overnight, Tuo Minga also nodded quickly, and immediately sent someone to the Wuqing garrison to give an order, telling him that the real target of the Wu army was likely to be him, and telling him to prepare for a sneak attack by the Wu army.

"If my expectations are correct, Zeng Guoquan's traitor should do this." Shen Baozhen said again: "First send the infantry to secretly march east at night, and then wait for the infantry to travel a certain distance, and then Shu Bao, the traitor, will take his cavalry to the east to reinforce to avoid leaking secrets in advance." In the meantime, we seem to have an article to do. ”

"Taking advantage of the fact that the Wu thief has not been able to completely trap Xiangcheng now, hurry up and give Hui Cheng an order, telling him to go out of the city and attack the thief camp as soon as he discovers the enemy's troop movement!" Tuo Minga said viciously: "It is impossible for the thief army to sneak attack Yancheng, there must be a rear army to guard the camp, Hui Cheng took advantage of the situation to counterattack, there is every hope of breaking through the thief army camp and giving the thief army camp a heavy one!" ”

"Our garrison in Xuzhou can also make a little move." Shen Baozhen smiled and said: "The distance between Xuzhou and Xiangcheng is closer than the distance between Xiangcheng and Yancheng, as long as we receive the news of Yancheng's attack and immediately send troops to Xiangcheng, even if the Wu thief army immediately returns to the division to save Xiangcheng, it will definitely be too late." ”

Tuo Ming'a laughed loudly, and immediately said that if such a good fighter really appeared, he would personally lead the cavalry of his headquarters to surprise the rear army of the Wu army in Xiangcheng. And Shen Baozhen didn't dare to take it too lightly, and suggested that Tuo Ming'a still say hello to the three cities of Jiaxian, Linying and Yuzhou, and tell them to prepare to prevent the sneak attack of the Wu army.

When the discussion was in full swing, someone suddenly came to report outside the door, saying that it was the general Hui Cheng who asked to see him, and Tuo Ming'a, who was chatting vigorously with Shen Baozhen, was very annoyed when he heard it, and shouted: "Tell him to get Lao Tzu in!" If you don't guard Xiangcheng well, what are you doing in Xuzhou? Wait a minute......! ”

Still roared here, Tuo Ming'a and Shen Baozhen came back to their senses together, jumped up together and exclaimed in unison and asked, "Hui Cheng?!" Wasn't he surrounded by Wu thieves in Xiangcheng? How can you come to Xuzhou?! ”

"Trusting the military gate, Xiangcheng has been broken by Wu thieves." The herald said with a sad face: "The Wu thief suddenly blew up the east gate of Xiangcheng with gunpowder last night, and General Hui Cheng decided that the Wu thief was going to besiege the city for a long time and would not immediately launch ......an attack on the city. ”

Bang, Tuo Ming'a fell to the ground, and with a bang, Shen Baozhen, who was actually very related to Wu Chaoyue, sat on the chair and groaned in pain: "It turned out that it wasn't the sound of the east and the west, it turned out that it was not the sound of the east and the west, it was a fake idiot, deliberately pretending that he didn't want to fight Xiangcheng, but in fact he really hit Xiangcheng ......." Zeng Laojiu, this kid, has learned badly. ”