Although Britain and France, the two major powers in the world today, have clearly declared that they want to protect Shanghai and prohibit the Qing and Russian coalition forces from using force in Shanghai, the Wu army in Shanghai still did not dare to take it lightly, and was ready to face the war early, did not dare to pin all their hopes on the verbal promises of Britain and France, and was also determined to fight to the death with the Qing and Russian coalition forces. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

However, the Shanghai Wu Army, led by Zhou Tenghu, Deng Siyuan, and Jin Anqing, soon found that they were very wrong, and also found that the Shanghai Wu Army could indeed only pin all its hopes on the verbal promises of the British and French powers.

Because the strength of the Qing-Russian combined fleet was too strong, the main force of the Qing army's naval division under Wu Quanmei alone had more than 150 large and small red single ships and more than 2,000 artillery pieces.

Not to mention the Tsarist fleet, there were 21 large and small steam gunboats, two of which were new iron-hulled warships snatched from the Taiping Army's naval divisions, and their strength was enough to sweep the Yangtze River, regardless of whether the Wu Army's naval divisions and the Taiping Army's naval divisions joined forces.

In addition, the Tsarist fleet also had 12 sail battleships, 6 barges, and 8 supply ships, with a total strength of about 5,200 people, and many of them were veterans of Tsarist Russia who participated in the Crimean War.

What's worse, with the help of the French, the Wu army in Shanghai also grasped an important piece of information in advance, that is, Tsarist Russia learned the lessons of the Crimean War and successfully imitated the flowering shells used by the British and French armies, and it is not known where to get the secret of picric acid explosives, so there are not only an unknown number of flowering shells in the Tsarist fleet, but also very likely to have picric shells!

In the midst of waiting in fear, the Qing-Russian combined fleet, which was strong enough to crush the Wu army in Shanghai, finally arrived at Wusongkou, and the leaders of the Wu army, such as Zhou Tenghu and Jin Anqing, all raised their hearts to their throats, fearing that the Qing-Russian alliance would not heed the warnings of Britain and France and insisted on attacking the Wu army in Shanghai -- then the Wu army in Shanghai really had no choice but to abandon the factories, wharves and barracks outside the city and completely retreat to the county seat.

Fortunately, the verbal warnings of Britain and France really had an effect, and the Russian fleet, which had just been drawn to the ground by the British and French forces in the Crimean War, did not dare to take the initiative to provoke, and honestly stationed at Wusongkou, did not sail the fleet into the Huangpu River, but only sent unarmed barges to the concession wharf in Shanghai to replenish coal and food. The same was true of the Manchu Division, whose warships did not enter the Huangpu River, and only sent cargo ships to the concession wharf to buy supplies.

During this period, of course, Britain and France also issued a warning to the Wu army in Shanghai, asking the Wu army in Shanghai to exercise restraint and not to take the initiative to provoke the combined fleet of Qing and Russia, otherwise the combined army of Qing and Russia would be allowed to attack the Wu army in Shanghai.

Things have come to this point, if Zhou Tenghu and Deng Siyuan and other leaders of the Wu army dare to take the initiative to provoke the Qing Russian coalition army, it will undoubtedly be their heads in water, so Zhou Tenghu can only agree with his mouth, and at the same time use Jin Anqing's plan to send envoys to contact the Qing and Russian combined fleet.

Jin Anqing, who was very courageous, volunteered to serve as the envoy of the Wu army in person, and rushed to Wusongkou with the permission of Wu's old comprador to forge a letter of peace from Wu Chaoyue, and asked the French consul Aishang, who was friendly with the old Wu family, to help introduce him, and met Novosilsky, the commander of the Tsarist fleet, and presented a letter of peace written in French.

The reason why the forged Wu Chaoyue's letter was written in French was because the Western upper class of the era felt that French was more elegant, and it was common to communicate in French, which was deliberately done in order to show respect for Novosilsky. However, Novosilsky's arrogance and rudeness exceeded Wu Jun's previous expectations, and even in front of the French consul, Novosilsky tore up Wu Jun's letter and scolded in Russian: "Damn yellow-skinned monkey, can't you find a Slavic translation?" Write to me, the rear admiral of the Russian Empire, in dirty French? ”

Novosilsky's luck was a bit bad, although the Russian interpreter present did not translate his swear words, but the French embassy in Shanghai happened to know a little Russian and understood the word dirty French. Therefore, Aishang also immediately sank his face and said: "General Novosilsky, if you do not retract the insult to my motherland's mother tongue and apologize to me, I have the right to suspect that you are deliberately provoking the dignity of the Second French Empire, and report it to our minister, asking my government to submit a protest to your country." ”

"Mr. Aishang, you misunderstood, I didn't mean to insult your Chinese language, I just said the wrong thing in the middle of scolding the yellow-skinned monkey of the Qing Kingdom, I apologize to you and ask for your forgiveness."

Novosilsky, who did not dare to make a diplomatic dispute and affect his future, hurriedly apologized to Aishang in a low voice, and then quickly changed the topic, and scolded Jin Anqing: "Say, what do you want to do with this yellow-skinned monkey?" ”

The interpreter sent by the Manchu court deliberately translated Novosilsky's swear words truthfully, and Jin Anqing reacted-for-tat, saying: "Tell the Rakshasa Lao Maozi that if he must swear words, I will accompany him to the end." ”

The Manchu Qing interpreter happily translated truthfully, and Novosilsky immediately widened his eyes, and clenched his fists, and Aishang saw that it was not good, and hurriedly said: "Mr. Novosilsky, it was you who insulted Mr. Jin first, please pay attention to your demeanor, don't let the medal on your chest be disgraced." ”

Not daring to offend any foreigner, the Manchu Qing interpreter honestly translated Aishang's words, but Novosilsky was a little more restrained and shouted: "Say, what are you doing here?" ”

"On behalf of me, the King of Qin of the Qing Dynasty rebelled against Generalissimo Wu and asked for peace with your army."

Jin Anqing also changed his amiable tone and said: "Dear General Novosilsky, your two countries have been friendly for generations, unfortunately there was an illegal coup d'état in the capital of our country, the rebels and thieves shamelessly occupied our Qing court, and Marshal Wu raised troops to rebel and restore the orthodoxy of the Qing Dynasty, and the Western countries supported one after another, but your country was deceived by the chaotic party in the capital and was hostile to the rebel army of our Qing Dynasty. ”

"For the sake of the good-neighborly and friendly relations between your two countries, Marshal Wu hopes that your country will stop interfering in China's civil war, stop all support for the illegal coup group in Beijing, stop the war with the Hubei rebel army that inherited the orthodoxy of the Qing Dynasty, and negotiate peace."

Jin Anqing's high-sounding words are, of course, how shameless and shameless he is, how shameless and shameless he is, but Novosilsky's answer is even more shameless and shameless, and he said in a big way: "Wu Chaoyue wants to negotiate peace? Of course, as long as he can accept the armistice conditions offered by our emperor, and recognize and inherit all the treaties signed between the Qing court and our emperor, we can consider stopping the attack, and even help you kill all the rebels in the capital. ”

Hearing this, the Russian interpreter sent by the Manchu court to Novosilsky was gray, and he hesitated to translate, but at this time, the anxious voice of the Manchu court's envoy sent to the army was sent by the gate, "Mr. Novosilsky, I heard that the Wu thief sent an envoy to meet you, where is the Wu thief envoy?" Wu thieves are treacherous, you must not be fooled, you must not be fooled! ”

When the Manchu interpreter hurried to translate Wen Xiang's words for Novosilsky, Jin Anqing also recognized Wen Xiang, whom he had met in the concession when Wen Xiang passed through Shanghai on his way to Hong Kong on a business trip. At the moment, Jin Anqing was not polite, and immediately smiled at Wen Xiang: "Lord Wen, it's been a long time, and you still refuse to take the initiative to surrender and reduce your guilt until now, are you really afraid that when our Wu Dashuai breaks through the capital, he will destroy you?" ”

"Jin Anqing, you are a reckless person who has committed rebellion, the party is attached to Wu and surpasses the traitor, you will not die well sooner or later!" Wen Xiang gritted his teeth and said, "Look, after our Qing army breaks through Wuchang and captures Wu Chaoyue, you will have a good look!" ”

"Ouch, you rebel as if the army is invincible." Jin Anqing said with a smile: "Without the support of the Russians, let alone Hubei, I am afraid that this Wusongkou will not dare to come, right?" ”

After that, Jin Anqing smiled again and said: "Also, don't think that with the support of the Russians, you can really run rampant in the Yangtze River." I'm not afraid to tell you the truth, after you chaotic parties sent Rong Lu to Jiangning to find Changmao to borrow a way, Changmao immediately sent someone to tell us Wu Dashuai, and asked us to join forces with them to deal with you. ”

Not to mention, considering Yang Xiuqing's consistent and firm anti-Manchu and anti-Qing position, Wen Xiang really believed Jin Anqing's words, so Wen Xiang didn't question the truth or falsehood, but just sneered and said: "So what? Even if you join forces with the long-haired bandits, what will you do to us? Do you thieves dare to engage the Russian fleet head-on? ”

Jin Anqing's brazenness far exceeded Wen Xiang's imagination, and when he heard Wen Xiang's answer, Jin Anqing immediately said to Novosilsky: "General Novosilsky, let the interpreter translate Mr. Wen Xiang's words just now, I promise you will have a surprise." ”

Novosilsky could not understand Chinese, but after seeing Jin Anqing speaking to himself, Novosilsky still asked the Manchu Qing to translate, and when the interpreter hurried to ask Wen Xiang's decision, Novosilsky also roared and persecuted, and the interpreter was helpless, and only then did he translate the words of Jin Anqing and Wen Xiang. As a result, Novosilsky was also unimpressed when he heard this, and sneered: "What if you join forces with the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Won us? ”

The interpreter hurriedly translated, but Jin Anqing smiled even more happily and said: "General Novosilsky, maybe you can defeat us on the water battlefield, but don't forget the batteries along the river, the batteries along the river of the Taiping Army, and the Taiping Army batteries that promised to lend you the road If you suddenly open fire on your fleet, how many soldiers will you die?" How many blows are you going to take? ”

After the interpreter translated the words to Novosilsky, Novosilsky, who had participated in the defense of the Sevastopol fortress, was somewhat cautious, and after thinking about it, Novosilsky also asked Wen Xiang through the translator: "Can you guarantee that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's batteries along the river will not suddenly open fire on my fleet?" I have to make sure that I don't want my fleet to be attacked by the yellow-skinned monkeys of the Taipings. ”

"General Novosilsky, please rest assured of this." Wen Xiang hurriedly replied: "In our sailor fleet, there is a senior general of the Taiping Army who has just surrendered, he will help us grasp the attitude and position of the Taiping Army battery in advance, and even help us plot against the Taiping Army's battery, we will definitely not be attacked." ”

When the Manchu translator translated Wen Xiang's words to Novosilsky, Jin Anqing quietly lowered his head, and the corners of his mouth were full of smiles, because Jin Anqing knew very well that he had not run in vain......

Because the translator was from the Manchu court, the result of Jin Anqing's negotiations with Novosilsky was of course fruitless, but it didn't matter, Wu Jun in Shanghai never had the luxury of persuading Tsarist Russia to withdraw his troops in a few words, and at the same time, negotiating with Tsarist Russia was also a matter for Wu Chaoyue to worry about. What Jin Anqing could worry about was to quickly suggest that Zhou Tenghu write a letter to inform Yang Xiuqing and the Taiping Army's Yanjiang Fort, so that they would know that Wei Jun, the number one traitor of the Taiping Army, was currently hiding in the Qing Army's naval division, and it was very likely that he would come forward to recruit the Taiping Army generals and troops for the Manchu Qing court.

…………

Almost at the same time in Shanghai, Wu Lao, who was currently hiding in the concession to recuperate, suddenly sent his own soldiers into the city, found Zhou Tenghu to contact, and asked Zhou Tenghu to immediately send someone to secretly collect the crotons in the city's pharmacies, grind them into powder and send them to the concession to hand them over. Zhou Tenghu listened to Daqi, and hurriedly asked the personal soldiers of the old comprador Wu: "Why did Old Master Wu suddenly think of asking for Croton?" What did he do with croton flour? ”

"The Rakshasas bought a lot of vegetables, wine, meat, and flour in the concession and prepared to load them on ships at night." Wu Lao's comprador soldier replied with a smile: "Those workers on the concession wharf are all controlled by our master's apprentices, and our master wants his disciples and grandchildren to find an opportunity to put croton flour into the flour bags of the Rakshasa people, so that they can have a good time." ”

"How is that possible?" Zhou Tenghu asked suspiciously: "If you talk about vegetables and fresh meat, forget it, how far is it from Dagukou to Shanghai, and the military rations of the Rakshasa people can be eaten?" Isn't this a trap for the Rakshasas and the rebels? ”

"Back to my lord, we have inquired about the reason." Wu Lao's comprador pro-soldier explained: "The enemy's fleet encountered a storm when it went south, and although the fleet was not damaged much, the Rakshasa grain ship entered the water and soaked many bags of flour. ”

"The Rakshasa people love to eat bread and are worried that the flour is not enough, and there are many southerners in the rebellious party, and the grain ships are loaded with rice, and the Rakshasa people are not used to eating it, so the Rakshasa people force the rebellious army to pay for them to buy fresh flour in Shanghai."

Zhou Tenghu laughed when he heard this, so he hurriedly sent people to act according to the requirements of Wu Lao's compradors, and the result was very natural, after the Qing-Russian combined fleet left Shanghai, there were many symptoms of vomiting and leaking in the Russian fleet. However, the commander of the Tsarist fleet, Novosilsky, did not suspect that he had been manipulated in his diet, and he also followed the habit of encountering cholera in the Crimean War, isolated the soldiers who suffered from cholera, threw all their belongings down the Yangtze River, and was forced to destroy a lot of military supplies, and at the same time, the morale of the Tsarist army was also greatly affected - after all, during the attack and defense of the Sevastopol fortress, the Russian army, like the British and French armies, was severely pitted by the cholera plague.

After receiving Zhou Tenghu's whistleblowing letter, Wu Ruxiao, the general of the Taiping Army guarding Jiangyin, immediately entered a state of combat readiness at the first time, determined to force the Qing army to hand over the traitor Wei Jun first, and then implement Yang Xiuqing's order to make way for the way.