Wu Chaoyue arrived at Wusongkou in Baoshan on the night of April 15, although the Wusongkou Fort was still under the control of the Qing army, and no enemy situation was found on the water surface of the Huangpu River.

Fame is also good, hearing the news, including Wu Chaoyue's current boss Xu Naizhao, the governor of Jiangsu, personally ran to the dock to greet Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue, who was used to seeing big people, was not polite, casually finished the etiquette of meeting Shangguan, and immediately asked Xu Naizhao: "Xu Futai, how is the situation in Shanghai now?" ”

"There are tens of thousands of long hairs, there are many people, there are many people, our army is outnumbered, and the reinforcements of the governor of Jiangnan and Lord Chunhe have not yet arrived. As a last resort, the officer could only lead the army to temporarily retreat to Wusongkou and wait for follow-up reinforcements. ”

Xu Naizhao's official article like an excerpt almost didn't make Wu Chaoyue vomit blood, and the anxious Wu Chaoyue stomped his feet and interrupted very rudely: "Xu Futai, the lower official didn't ask you about the reason for retreating to Shanghai, the lower official asked about the situation in Shanghai, my grandfather's situation, and the situation of the battalion I stayed in Shanghai!" ”

"Lord Wu, please rest assured, Wu is very safe to participate in politics." Hu Songlin, the chief soldier of the green battalion next to him, took over and said, "He is currently in the foreigner's concession and has always maintained contact with us. The regimental training of the battalion you left behind in Shanghai is now surrounded by Changmao in a camp ten miles southwest of Shanghai, and Changmao has been killed and retreated by your regimental training many times. ”

Hearing that Wu Lao's comprador and the ammunition depot of the army were safe and sound, Wu Chaoyue breathed a long sigh of relief, but Hu Songlin's next words made Wu Chaoyue raise his heart to his throat again, and Hu Songlin said: "But Wu Zhentai, our detailed work also reported that Changmao was attacking your camp very fiercely today, and the gunfire never stopped from morning to afternoon, and the scale of the battle was far beyond usual. ”

When Wu Chaoyue frowned, Huang Dasha, the battalion officer next to him, hurriedly said: "Lord Wu, then let's go and save Brother Deng, and the last general will go and gather the army!" ”

"Wait!" Wu Chaoyue stopped Huang Dasha, and asked Hu Songlin again: "General Tiger, what about yesterday?" How was my battalion yesterday? ”

"Yesterday wasn't much of a deal." Hu Songlin replied truthfully: "Listen to our detailed work, yesterday your battalion and Changmao did not fight much, that is, they fought a few battles in the morning, and basically did not fight much in the afternoon. ”

"That's good." Wu Chaoyue breathed a sigh of relief and instructed Huang Dasha: "It's okay, Brother Deng is cautious and meticulous, and he has enough weapons against the ammunition depot, so it is absolutely impossible that he can't last even a day." Let the brethren rest in peace, and talk about the rest of the matter to-morrow. ”

Huang Dasha agreed, and then hurriedly went to organize Wu Jun to train and camp to rest, and Wu Chaoyue turned to Xu Naizhao and Hu Songlin, asking them to provide the collected Shanghai Army information for their own reference, Xu Naizhao and Hu Songlin both agreed, and immediately led Wu Chaoyue directly to the Chinese army's big tent to check the military summary.

What surprised Wu Chaoyue was that because of the large number of people in Shanghai, it was convenient for the Qing army to carry out detailed activities, and the information collected by Xu Naizhao, Hu Songlin and others on the Shanghai Army was actually quite detailed, which greatly facilitated Wu Chaoyue to formulate a battle plan. However, what made Wu Chaoyue frown again was that the strength of the Taiping Army was stronger than he expected in advance, Zeng Lichang's strength was at least more than 10,000 people, and the backbone was also the elite main force that Zeng Lichang brought out of the city when he took the initiative to abandon Yangzhou, and his combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. In addition, Zeng Lichang still has reinforcements from Suzhou and Wuxi to rely on, and Yang Xiuqing is also very likely to send a second wave of reinforcements to Shanghai, and the follow-up force is quite sufficient.

There are also more than 10,000 people on Liu Lichuan's side, although most of the soldiers and horses under Liu Lichuan's command are gang thugs and displaced refugees, with poor equipment and insufficient combat effectiveness, but the situation of the Qing army clearly shows that Liu Lichuan is currently firmly in control of Shanghai City.

In addition, there are two other military forces in the Shanghai battlefield that must be noted, one is Zhou Lichun's army stationed in Zhabei -- intelligence shows that Zhou Lichun, who is ashamed and brave, has completely copied Wu Junlianyong's linear tactics of fighting with troops, and has a large number of American weapons given to Xiaosan by a certain shameless student in his hand, even if the combat effectiveness is still inferior to Wu Junlianyong, Wu Junlianyong will never be able to clean up Zhou Lichun's army like he did in the first battle of Qingpu last time.

The other military force is the foreigners' concession army, as in history, after the outbreak of the Xiaodaohui uprising, the consuls of the concessions immediately organized a foreign gun team to protect the concession, although the consuls of European and American countries are currently all strictly neutral, and in fact protect Wu Jianzhang and Wu Chaoyue's other family members, but also do a big arms business with the Taiping army, in fact, help the Taiping army and the Xiaodaohui resist the suppression of the Qing army. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue also vaguely remembered that in history, when the Little Knife Society rebelled, the foreigners seemed to have helped the Little Knife Society rebel army to do the Qing army once (the Battle of Mud City), so when it came to the decisive battle with the Taiping Army, Wu Chaoyue must not ignore the threat of the concession army to his own army.

After carefully reading the summary of military information collected by the Qing army, and carefully looking at the map sand table of the Qing army, Wu Chaoyue tapped the table with his fingers to calculate, and didn't say a word for a long time, Wu Chaoyue's dog-headed military advisor Zhao Liewen also looked at the military summary repeatedly and remained silent, but Xu Naizhao, the governor of Jiangsu, couldn't stand this depressing atmosphere, and took the initiative to say: "Wu Zhentai, you are tired from afar, you must be hungry, right?" I didn't know in advance that you arrived tonight, and you didn't prepare any good wine and food, so how about asking the cook to cook a few dishes for you to satisfy your hunger? ”

Wu Chaoyue was still silent, deaf to Xu Naizhao's kind proposal, when Xu Naizhao was feeling embarrassed, Zhao Liewen raised his head and said to Wu Chaoyue: "Comfort Pavilion, although the enemy's strength is numerous, but the combat strength is uneven, the battalion is complicated, the orders are different, and the host and guest are different, the host is weak and the guest is strong, it is the opportunity to use it!" ”

"Same as I thought." Wu Chaoyue smiled on his thin face and said, "I also think that if you want to break the enemy, the best way is to divide the enemy, but I don't know who Huifu you think we should be the target of the separation?" ”

"Liu Lichuan!" Zhao Liewen replied categorically: "Liu Lichuan used to be your subordinate, and he has a deep relationship with your Wu family, as well as the feelings of fellow villagers, so he is the most ideal object of discord. ”

Wu Chaoyue laughed when he heard it, and even pretended to say that Huifu really knew me, but Xu Naizhao, who was born as a jinshi next to him, heard it inexplicably, and hurriedly asked Wu Chaoyue: "Wu Zhentai, what are you talking to Master Zhao, why don't you understand this official?" ”

"Lord Futai, I'll explain this to you later, now I ask you to do Xia Guan a favor." Wu Chaoyue replied with a smile.

Xu Naizhao agreed, and when he asked Wu Chaoyue what he wanted him to help, Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "Please Futai Lord pick up the pen and write a surrender letter to the rebel Liu Lichuan, persuade him to rein in the precipice, the prodigal son turn back, kill the long-haired Dakou Zeng Lichang and lead the army to surrender, you promise never to kill him, and you promise to ask for a knighthood for him, and a wife and son." ”

"Recruit Liu Lichuan to rebel?!" Xu Naizhao was taken aback and said in surprise: "Liu Lichuan's dog thief is an official of the imperial court, but he is a bandit and rebel, a rebellion, a heinous crime, and a crime, how can he still be appeased?" Promise him an official reward? ”

"Xu Futai, who said that you really want to appease Liu Lichuan's traitor?" Wu Chaoyue laughed when he heard this, and said: "Xiaguan asked you to do this, but I asked you to show Liu Lichuan an attitude, and then Xiaguan will find a way to let Zeng Lichang's traitor also know about this matter, in this way, Zeng Lichang will definitely be suspicious of Liu Lichuan, and it will be difficult for each other to work together." They are estranged, and it will be much easier for us to annihilate the longhair and recover it? ”

Speaking of this, Wu Chaoyue smiled slightly and added: "Take 10,000 steps back and say, if Liu Lichuan's traitor really accepts your surrender to Lord Futai, you report Liu Lichuan's situation to the imperial court, and then send him to the capital, how to deal with Liu Lichuan is decided by the imperial court, but you will not get the real credit first?" ”

Xu Naizhao suddenly realized, and hurriedly ordered the master to pick up the pen and make a book, and Wu Chaoyue pointed out again: "Lord Futai, you might as well tell Liu Lichuan directly in the surrender letter, saying that he wants to kill Zeng Lichang is actually very simple, just find an excuse to trick Zeng Lichang into Shanghai City, or poison the banquet or close the door and beat the dog, and it is easy to take Zeng Lichang's head in exchange for endless glory and wealth." ”

Xu Naizhao agreed again, and Wu Chaoyue turned to Zhao Liewen and instructed: "Huifu, two letters, one to Liu Lichuan, what the content is, you know, many big promises are fine." The other is to Zhou Lichun, and also persuade him to lay down his arms and surrender, and then tell him clearly, I know that this determination is difficult to make, but my door is open to him at any time, when he has figured it out, he can lead the army to surrender at any time, I welcome it at any time. ”

"Weiting, you even want to separate Zhou Lichun?" Zhao Liewen asked with a smile.

"Of course, as long as you can stir up the internal chaos of the enemy, anyone can do it." Wu Chaoyue replied with a smile: "Zhou Lichun brought his own dry food to Xie Changsha, and he never accepted the direct command of Jiangning Changmao, Zeng Lichang gave orders to him as soon as he came, and asked him to garrison Zhabei to compete with the main force of our army, making it clear that he wanted him to be cannon fodder, Zhou Lichun is not a fool, and he will definitely have a grudge against Zeng Lichang." There is resentment and estrangement between them, and we have the opportunity to set up a divide. ”

Zhao Liewen agreed with a smile, and Wu Chaoyue added: "By the way, in the letter to Zhou Lichun, I mentioned the affection of our Songjiang fellow villagers, Allah didn't fight Allah, and told him not to use Changmao as a gun to kill hometown people." ”

Zhao Liewen laughed even more, and immediately picked up the pen to make a book, Xu Naizhao, Hu Songlin, Liu Cunhou and Ding Guoen and other Manchu civil and military officers next to him looked at each other, and said in their hearts: "No wonder Wu Zhentai claims to be undefeated, this battle has not yet been fought, so we will first calculate the enemy's several leaders, we are the first soldiers and horses to move the grain and grass, Wu Zhentai This is the soldiers and horses are not moved is a conspiracy to fly all over the sky first." ”

The letter was quickly prepared, and after asking Hu Songlin to arrange a previously captured prisoner of the Taiping Army to serve as a messenger, although he was already exhausted, Wu Chaoyue still said to Zhao Liewen: "Tomorrow we will urge the army to go south, Zhou Lichun will be in Zhabei, and the lone army will confront us, which should also make some articles, Huifu, do you have any good ideas?" ”

"Zhou Lichun is alone, in order to preserve his strength, he will definitely ask Zeng Lichang and Liu Lichuan for help, or ask whether to return to the south of Wu Lijiang." Zhao Liewen yawned and said: "In order to obtain a buffer, it is very likely that Zeng Lichang will refuse to let Zhou Lichun withdraw to the south bank of the Wu Lijiang River, and in order to unite the friendly army, he will send reinforcements to Zhou Lichun." ”

"But Zeng Lichang's army stormed the camp of our army Deng Siyuan today, the casualties will definitely not be small, the army also needs to rest, and we have to consider whether to continue to attack or continue to surround Deng Siyuan's camp, and it is absolutely impossible to reinforce Zhou Lichun on a large scale. So he only had two choices, one was to send a small number of reinforcements for show, and the other was to let Liu Lichuan send reinforcements. ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Liewen, who couldn't open his eyes, yawned again and said: "No matter which army Zeng Lichang chooses to send reinforcements, even if he arrives at the Zhabei battlefield one step ahead of us, he will definitely not be able to build a solid camp fortification in a hurry. Therefore, tomorrow's best choice for us is to focus on enemy reinforcements, and concentrate on pumping the reinforcements sent by Zeng Lichang to Zhou Lichun, so as to make a good start and deter the enemy, and also make Zhou Lichun feel that he was abandoned by Zeng Lichang, which will be more convenient for us to fight with troops in the future. ”

Wu Chaoyue yawned and applauded, and clearly told Xu Naizhao, Hu Songlin and others that he was too tired, thanked Xu Naizhao for his kindness in setting up a banquet for himself, and then took Zhao Liewen back to the camp to rest. Leaving Xu Naizhao, Hu Songlin and the others in the tent to continue to look at each other, they said together: "These two young boys, how do their heads grow?" It's all tired like this, and you can still open your mouth to have bad ideas for lack of morality? ”

In the second half of the night, Zhou Lichun, who received the scout report, had just sent a messenger to Zeng Lichang to report the emergency, and under the escort of the Qing cavalry, Wu Chaoyue's surrender letter was captured by the Taiping army and sent to Zhou Lichun's camp. After reading the letter, although Zhou Lichun, who was furious, immediately tore the letter to shreds, and Xu Yao, who was not with Wu Chaoyue because of the broken appearance, also yelled and shouted that he must take revenge, but Zhou Lichun, who had only about 2,000 people left in his hands, still knew very well in his heart that it was impossible for him, a lone army, to deal with Wu Jun Lian Yong and the main force of the Qing army in Wu Songkou alone, so Zhou Lichun hurriedly picked up the pen and made a book, and asked Zeng Lichang for instructions on whether to retreat to the south of the Wusong River to rebuild the position? At the same time, Zhou Lichun also clearly told Zeng Lichang that if he wanted to continue to set up camp in Zhabei, it was okay, but Zeng Lichang had to send reinforcements to himself as soon as possible?

Zhou Lichun's letter was like a difficult problem, and it was quickly put in front of Zeng Lichang, and the continuous failure of the Wu army's arsenal had greatly depleted the strength and morale of the main force of the Taiping army, and it was difficult for the main force of the Taiping army to send reinforcements to Zhou Lichun while continuing to attack or encircle the Wu army's military industry. If Zhou Lichun is allowed to abandon Zhabei and retreat to the south bank of the Wu River, not only will he give up the huge space for activities north of the Wusong River, but the main force of the Taiping Army will also face direct pressure from the main force of the Wu Army, which will be very unfavorable to preventing the Wu Army from joining forces and seizing the ammunition reserves of the Wu Army.

After thinking about it, Zeng Lichang could only choose to let Liu Lichuan make a move, and ordered Liu Lichuan to send 2,000 troops to help Zhou Lichun. At the same time, in order to make Liu Lichuan obediently obey the order, Zeng Lichang also clearly told Liu Lichuan that Wu Chaoyue had taken the main force of the Wu army to Wusongkou, warning that if the Wu army practiced bravely and the main force of the Wu army obtained ammunition supplies, then it would be impossible for the self-army to hold out outside Shanghai, and could only be stationed in Shanghai to defend the city with Liu Lichuan!

Zeng Lichang's threat still played a role, in order to give Zeng Lichang an explanation, and in order not to give Zeng Lichang an excuse and opportunity to enter Shanghai, Liu Lichuan thought about it a little, and still called Lin Afu, the former deputy of the Double Knife Society, and asked Lin Afu to take two thousand troops to help Zhou Lichun. But Lin Afu refused and said, "Check, you better send someone else, I have old friends with Young Master Sun, and I don't want to fight him." ”

"Old friends? Do you remember him as your old friend, does he remember? Liu Lichuan scolded: "We were born and died for his Wu family, and his Wu family's grandfather and grandson were promoted to become rich, did they manage our life and death or our food and clothing?" You and I finally set up the Dongjiadu group practice, he said that it was disbanded, did he consider our ideas? ”

Lin Afu was silent, and Liu Lichuan urged again: "Don't be wordy, I can trust you to send you this brother." Remember, after arriving in Zhabei, if you can not fight a tough battle, it is best not to fight a tough battle, you have to use your brains to let Zhou Lichun stand in front, and you can give him a strong momentum behind the back. ”

After Wu Chaoyue brought him back to Shanghai from Jiangyin, although he didn't let him enter the Wu Army to train because he didn't like his habits, it was interesting enough to let Wu Jianzhang arrange a fat job for him on the dock in Shanghai, so that he could at least live a relatively prosperous life. But because of Lin Afu's morality, he was forced into the rebel army of the Little Knife Society by Liu Lichuan, who had friends with him for eight years, and stood on the opposite side of Wu Chaoyue, who was barely interesting enough for him. This will still be because of the righteousness of the rivers and lakes, and there are a hundred unhappy in his heart, Lin Afu finally nodded reluctantly, and asked again: "Okay, I'll take a thousand people under my command, Brother Ayuan, you can give me another thousand people." ”

"Who told you to take all your people with you?" Liu Lichuan was anxious when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "Just take a hundred brothers you think are reliable, and I'll send you the rest!" Brother Afu, don't be stupid, I'll arrange it for you, it's right for you to listen to me! ”

So, soon, under Liu Lichuan's personal dispatch, the 2,000 reinforcements sent by Liu Jiajun to Zhou Lichun were soon released! 2,000 reinforcements, of which 100 were equipped with Western muskets, Qing Dynasty bird guns and sharp knives, and the other 1,900 people, all wearing 100 family shirts and colorful clothes, and most of them were hoes, dung forks, wood axes, bamboo guns, wooden sticks and dog beating sticks and other advanced equipment! (To be continued.) )