Knowing that Wu Chaoyue was not easy to deal with, Li Xiucheng did not dare to play too many tricks on the Sanchai River too early, but just took the opportunity of cleaning up the battlefield to strengthen the fortifications on the Sanchaohe battlefield as much as possible, and did not rush to lay mines and add additional batteries, so as not to arouse the alarm of the Wu army.

And at the bottom of the back, the most capable and best-equipped elite of the Taiping Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were stationed on the battlefield of Sanchai River in rotation early, and the flowering bombardments that the Taiping Army bought from foreigners at a high price were also secretly deployed to the Sanchai River camp that could not be covered by the artillery fire of the Wu Army's naval division.

During this period, Li Xiucheng did not dare to forget to guard against the Wu army Cao Yanzhong's corps that had already captured Moling Pass, and what made Li Xiucheng relieved was that after the Wu army Cao Yanzhong's troops took Moling Pass, in addition to building fortifications to completely cut off Li Xiucheng's contact with the rear of Jiangsu and Zhejiang University, the separated division was to move to the Fangshan area, and there was no sign of advancing Jiangning Town, Dashengguan and Wu Chaoyue's division, it is very likely that they planned to continue to act separately from Wu Chaoyue's directly subordinate corps, and the Taiping army could also continue to resist one by one by virtue of its superiority in strength. For the time being, there is no need to worry about a single battlefield being attacked by the combined forces of several large corps of the Wu army - if that happens, Li Xiucheng has no confidence that he will be able to block the attack of the Wu army.

One day after provoking Wu Chaoyue with a letter, news came from the north bank, saying that the main force of Wu Chaoyue's direct corps had begun to assemble on the Jiangpu wharf, and there were signs that he was about to board a boat to cross the river.

As Li Xiucheng expected, only more than an hour had passed, and an urgent report came from the front line of coastal defense, saying that a troop transport fleet of the Wu Army had left the Jiangpu Wharf and was heading for the south bank of the downstream under the protection of the fleet of the Wu Army's naval division, Wang Fu, the commander of the Wu Army's naval division. Li Xiucheng, who was well-prepared, was overjoyed when he heard the news, and said: "Good come!" This time, this king wants to see how much you have to pay to surpass the little demon in order to climb the south bank of the Yangtze River! ”

After waiting patiently for nearly an hour, there was a faint sound of artillery on the side of the Sanchai River where the Taiping army was heavily gathered, Li Xiucheng nodded with satisfaction, and couldn't wait to report to him the battle situation of the Sanchai River at any time. However, to Li Xiucheng's great surprise, a moment later, the herald who rushed in knelt down to him and said: "Yuzhong Wang Chitose, the demon soldier sailor shelled our army's Xiaguan fort, and the demon soldier's troop transport fleet has also arrived at Xiaguan, and it seems that it is going to land in Xiaguan." ”

"Shimonoseki?" Li Xiucheng was stunned, first subconsciously glanced at the direction of Xiaguan not far from the Sanyang River, and then said in confusion: "How is Xiaguan?" There are no shoals there, which is not suitable for launching a beach-grabbing landing battle? Could it be that the demon soldiers want to seize the dock and land directly from the dock? ”

"Impossible." Li Shuxiang next to him categorically denied this possibility, and said: "Xiaguan is the first important place of coastal defense in our Tianjing, and the shore defense fortifications are stronger than those of the Sanchai River, and with our Yan Wang Qin's deputy commander personally in charge, it will only be more difficult for the demon soldiers to land there than in the Sanchai River." Moreover, Shimonoseki is already located in the east of Tianjing City, and even if the demon soldiers have a firm foothold there, it is not convenient to communicate with their rear and other demon soldiers. ”

"Is it to divert the tiger from the mountain?" Li Xiucheng vaguely guessed Wu Chaoyue's purpose, and said: "The little demon who surpassed us wants to trick us into putting mobile forces into the battlefield of Xiaguan in advance, and then take advantage of the situation to enter and take the Sanchai River to the south bank?" ”

"Nine out of nine should be." Li Shuxiang confidently analyzed: "There is a Qinhuai River between Xiaguan and Sanchai River, and it is inconvenient for the army to transfer, if we can deceive our mobile forces across the Qinhuai River, it will be much easier for the demon soldiers to fight our Sanchai River camp again." Moreover, the demon soldiers still have the advantage on the water, and they are still very sure that they will use small boats to cut off the connection between the two sides of our Qinhuai River battlefield. ”

Li Xiucheng was silent, and only said after a while: "Give Xiao Dengyuan on the battlefield of the Sanchao River an order, and ask him to lead the men and horses of his headquarters to cross the Qinhuai River and reinforce the battlefield of Xiaguan." ”

Xiao Dengyuan, who was named by Li Xiucheng, was one of the weakest teams of the Taiping Army on the battlefield of the Sanchao River, and transferred this dispensable army to Xiaguan for reinforcements, what Li Xiucheng's purpose was Of course Li Shuxiang understood, so Li Shuxiang did not hesitate, and immediately sent someone to convey the order for Li Xiucheng. It turned out to be a coincidence, as soon as the herald was sent out to the commander's tent, the sentinel in charge of commanding the scouts immediately strode in, knelt down to Li Xiucheng and said: "Yuzhong Wang Chitose, the river came to report, and another demon troop transport fleet left Jiangpu Wharf to go south, and the demon soldier sailor fleet stationed in Jiangxinzhou also made a big move, it seems that it is preparing to escort the second troop transport fleet of the demon soldiers. ”

"Why did you send out a second convoy so quickly?" Li Xiucheng found that the situation was not good, and hurriedly asked, "What is the banner of the second demon fleet?" ”

"Returning to King Chitose, our small boat doesn't dare to get too close to the demon fleet, and we can't see the flag of the demon troop transport fleet clearly, so we can only be sure that it is not the handsome flag that surpasses the little demon." The sentry officer said truthfully.

"Continue to sentry, keep an eye on the second troop convoy of demon soldiers for this king, and report their movements at all times." Li Xiucheng commanded casually, but he was very worried in his heart, and said secretly: "What tricks is the little demon playing?" How can two convoys of troop carriers be sent in such a short time? In which flotilla is his main combat force? ”

After another period of time, the movement of the second troop transport fleet of the Wu army was finally determined, and what made Li Xiucheng even more puzzled was that the second troop transport fleet of the Wu army was actually under the protection of Xu Laibu, the naval division of the Wu army, and launched an attack on the Dashengguan position, which was far away from the battlefield of the Sanxia River. In this way, of course, Li Xiucheng couldn't see through Wu Chaoyue's purpose and plan, and said suspiciously: "How is it a big victory?" Where exactly are the demon soldiers planning to land? ”

"Is it better to turn the tiger away from the mountain?" Li Shuxiang was also completely confused, and said: "Do the demon soldiers think that it is not enough to feint to capture the lower pass, but also to feint to win the pass, so that we are embarrassed, and we don't know which battlefield we should put our mobile forces on?" ”

"You can't move, you must first see the purpose of the demon soldiers." Li Xiucheng said very calmly: "Fortunately, there is a city protection in Dasheng Pass, and Chen Bingwen, who guards Dasheng Pass, has more than 20,000 troops in his hands, and he can be regarded as having the strength to fight in front of the demon soldiers. ”

After the order was issued, Li Xiucheng, who could only count on taking advantage of the landing battle, became more and more worried in his heart, and was worried about the dangerous consequences of once he misjudged the landing location of the Wu army, and the result became more and more panicked. ”

Li Xiucheng and Li Shuxiang froze together, but after a while, Li Xiucheng said with a gloomy face: "Fooled, the real goal of the demon soldiers is Dashengguan, our elites are all in Sanxiahe, and it is too late to reinforce the battlefield of Dashengguan." ”

"It should be too late." Li Shuxiang hurriedly said: "Cao Yanzhong's demon soldiers want to want to attack Chen Bingwen at Dasheng Pass, and receive their demon soldiers on the water to land, they have to pass Banqiao Pass first, we have fortifications to defend in Banqiao, no matter what, we can block the demon soldiers for a period of time, and give us reinforcements to Dasheng Pass to gain time for marching." Otherwise, once the demon soldiers rush through the Banqiao Attack Victory Pass, we will not only definitely not be able to keep the Battle Victory Pass, but we will also have heavy casualties. ”

"But what if the demon fleet in Shimonoseki turns around and fights the Sanchao River? Our mobile elite turned around and went back to save the Sanchai River? Li Xiucheng retorted.

Li Shuxiang didn't dare to say anything more, and only regretted that Li Xiucheng's sailors suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Shanghai, so that now they can only watch Wu's sailors crisscross the river, and they can fight there if they want to. However, Li Xiucheng is a fickle master, and he has to covet the advantage of half-crossing and attacking, so he quickly changed his mind and said: "Dispatch half of the Sanchai River garrison, and rush to Dashengguan for reinforcements, so that the demon soldiers will land We have no hope, only when the demon soldiers land, we are a little sure." ”

After Li Xiucheng's order was issued again, the originally strict and orderly Taiping army's defense along the river also changed greatly, and the most capable mobile troops hurriedly marched westward to the Dasheng Pass. But Li Xiucheng had no choice, because there were only a few mobile elites in his hands that were well equipped with strong combat effectiveness, and sending other troops to reinforce Dashengguan was not only doomed to be useless, but also more disrupted the deployment and revealed more flaws.

Diametrically opposed to the Taiping army that was in turmoil before the battle, the Wu army was calm and orderly, Cao Yanzhong's army resolutely attacked Banqiao, Wang Fu took half of the main force of the water division to bombard Xiaguan, Xu Lai took the other half of the Wu army's main force of the water division to bombard Dasheng Pass, the two troop transport fleets hid on the water to recuperate, patiently waiting for the Taiping army to readjust the deployment, the scout clippers of the Wu army continued to come and go on the river, and always reported the changes in the enemy's military situation to Wu Chaoyue, who did not know what was hiding in that fleet, although he never really attacked, But it has already won early.

It was only after confirming that the Taiping army had drawn troops from the Sanchai River and hurried to Dasheng Pass to enter the position, that the Wu army had a new change, and Wang Fu led the army to protect the Wu army's troop transport fleet to turn around and sail back, calmly crossing the Sanchai River and sailing back upstream, although the Taiping army scouts reported the news to Li Xiucheng at the first time, Li Xiucheng did not dare to make any moves, and could only wait for the Wu army to really attack.

At the same time, after several hours of hard fighting, Cao Yanzhong's army had basically swept away the outer fortifications of the Taiping army's Banqiao camp and began to launch a fierce attack on the Taiping army's main camp in Banqiao. After the news reached Li Xiucheng's face, Li Xiucheng also basically confirmed that the main goal of the Wu army was Dasheng Pass, and in order to deal with the situation of being attacked by the Wu army by land and water, he had to order the elite who had just been transferred from the Sanxia River to enter the position of the southern line of Dasheng Pass, and prepare to meet the Wu army's Cao Yanzhong's troops.

At the end, Li Xiucheng told the herald again: "Tell Chen Bingwen, who is guarding Dasheng Pass, and Hong Chunyuan, who is going to reinforce, that the battle of Dasheng Pass is not only about whether we can prevent the demon soldiers from going ashore, but also about whether we can block the comprehensive counterattack of the demon soldiers in the future!" It's a good fight, and I'll personally ask the king to live them and crown them kings! If you lose face to me and let the demon soldiers easily win the big victory, Li Mingcheng will be their end! ”

There are still some war horses in the Taiping army of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and when Li Xiucheng's order was sent to the battlefield of Dashengguan by fast horses, it happened that the first troop transport fleet of the Wu army had crossed Jiangxinzhou, so Chen Bingwen, who guarded Dashengguan, and Hong Chunyuan, who led troops to reinforce him, also confirmed that they were about to face an unprecedented battle, although they were afraid, they still encouraged each other: "No matter how powerful the demon soldiers are, they have to go ashore to fight, as long as we hold the beachhead and don't give the demon soldiers a chance to go ashore quickly, this battle will have to be fought!" ”

When cheering each other on, another scout rushed to Chen Bingwen and Hong Chunyuan, and said: "Two Tianyi, after the first troop transport fleet of the demon soldiers crossed Jiangxinzhou, they turned around on the river and sailed downstream, turning to the entrance of the south channel of Jiangxinzhou. ”

"The demon soldier's troop convoy turned around again? Also turned to the entrance of the south channel of Jiangxinzhou? Hong Chunyuan, who had just come to Dasheng Pass, couldn't believe his ears, and said in surprise: "The demon soldiers are crazy, dare to drive the troop transport fleet into a narrow place on the water?!" ”

"Could it be that the demon soldiers are going to fight the first pass and land at the head pass?" Chen Bingwen, who was familiar with the nearby terrain, vaguely guessed Wu Jun's intentions, but he couldn't believe it, and said suspiciously: "The demon soldiers are so sure?" We have both batteries and defenders at Touguan, although there are not many artillery, but the water is so narrow that their gunboats can't pull away, and there is no way to suppress our defenders on the shore and cover the landing of their troop carriers? ”

Chen Bingwen and Hong Chunyuan were at a loss in the defensive position of Dashengguan, and they did not understand why the Wu army chose to land at the Touguan position, which was difficult for the naval division to cover, and at the same time on the Touguan battlefield, the Taiping army guarding the Touguan Fort was screaming in despair, because on Jiangxinzhou Island, half a mile away to the north, it was like magic, and no less than fifty Wu artillery pieces had suddenly been conjured, and all of them were rear-loading rifled guns using picric acid shells. It was like a scythe of death on the neck of the Taiping army in Touguan, and the countless gunners of the Wu army quickly loaded their ammunition with a cruel smile on their faces, and the expressions of looking at the enemy on the other side were no different from looking at the dead.

"Fire!" The flag waved, the cannon rumbled, and the bitter acid cannonballs whistled out of their disembowels, rotating and flying accurately towards the Taiping Army's Touguan Fort, overwhelmingly bombarding the Taiping Army's battery position, erupting one after another earth-shattering roaring loud noise, and the red flames and blue-yellow poisonous smoke also enveloped the Taiping Army Forts in an instant, and then the entire Taiping Army's Touguan Position......

The news that the Wu army suddenly opened artillery bombardment of the Taiping Army's position at the head pass from Jiangxinzhou was quickly sent to Li Xiucheng by an expedited horse, and Li Xiucheng suddenly sat on the handsome chair and almost overturned, his face was first as pale as paper, and then his face was like ashes, because Li Xiucheng knew very well that he was not only destined to be unable to stop the Wu army from calmly landing on the south bank of the Yangtze River, but also that even the more than 20,000 Taiping troops led by Chen Bingwen and the mobile elite led by Hong Chunyuan were already likely to be cut and surrounded by the Wu army at Dasheng Pass.