"Your Majesty, Hong Renji, is ordered to knock on the East King, Long live the East King, Long live His Royal Highness the East King, Long live the East King. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Kneeling at Yang Xiuqing's feet, Hong Renji spoke more carefully than usual, and saluted more respectfully than usual, because Hong Renji knew very well that Yang Xiuqing's temper had been very big recently, and he often imposed heavy punishments on his subordinates, and Hong Renji was not only Hong Xiuquan's brother, but because he was not an old man in the Taiping Army, he was reused by Yang Xiuqing and was jealous of countless people, so Hong Renji didn't dare to make any mistakes and make any mistakes, otherwise, he would definitely not be able to cry.

Contrary to Hong Renji's expectations, Yang Xiuqing, who had not had a good face for many days, rarely had no anger on his face, and ordered: "Calm down, Qianfang, tell Hong Junshi about the Qing Demon Mangou borrowing the road." ”

"The demon is full of dogs borrowing the way?"

Hong Renji was taken aback, and suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart, and when Yang Xiuqing's henchman Hou Qianfang told Hong Renji about the Manchu court's envoy borrowing the road, Hong Renji's face was even more pale, and he didn't care about the possibility of angering Yang Xiuqing, so he blurted out and asked: "Long live the East King, did you agree?" ”

"Of course I agreed." Yang Xiuqing replied with a relaxed expression: "The Qing Demon Mangou is willing to go and fight with the Transcendence Little Demon, why doesn't this king agree?" Therefore, this king not only agreed to borrow the road, but also promised to borrow a few ports for the Qing Demon Mangou and the Rakshasa fleet to anchor and replenish. ”

"Long live the East King, how can you agree?" Hong Renji was so anxious that he forgot that Yang Xiuqing had been in a very bad temper recently, and screamed miserably: "I can't agree, I can't borrow the road!" Although the Transcendence Demon is hateful, he has always been our ally, and doing so will only completely anger the Transcendence Demon and affect the ...... who join forces to fight against the Qing."

When the screams came here, Hong Renji suddenly remembered that he must not provoke Yang Xiuqing at this time, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed again, and said with a sad face: "Long live the king of the east and forgive the sin, the subordinates were impulsive and speechless." But we must not borrow the way, once we do this, we and the transcendent demon will immediately become enemies again. ”

"Hong Renji, do you think this king is the kind of perfidious and despicable villain?"

Yang Xiuqing's sneer and rhetorical question made Hong Ren Yuleng on the spot, and after sneering, Yang Xiuqing smiled again and said: "To tell you the truth, I called you here today to ask you to go to Hubei to contact the Transcendence Demon, and tell the Transcendence Demon about the king's promise to lend the way to the Qing Demon and the Rakshasa people, so that the Transcendence Demon can be ready to be arranged, and then we will join forces with him to fight and annihilate the fleet of the Qing Demon and the Rakshasa people in one fell swoop." ”

"Long live the East King, it turns out that you deliberately agreed in order to continue to join forces with the Transcendence Little Demon to fight against the Qing Dynasty?" Hong Renji asked in surprise.

"Of course, the Qing Demon Sailor and the Rakshasa Fleet joined forces to attack the Heavenly Fleet, resulting in the annihilation of our Heavenly Navy, if such revenge is not avenged, what face does this king have to meet the people of the world?"

Yang Xiuqing sneered again, but Hong Renji was relieved, and hurriedly kowtowed to Yang Xiuqing, complimenting: "Long live the East King Shengming, beyond the little demon hearing this, he will definitely be very grateful to the East King Long Live, and even more happy and sincere to the East King Long Live Generosity, and long live the East King Long Live forever alliance." ”

"I hope so." Yang Xiuqing's words were punned, and she didn't believe from the bottom of her heart that Wu Chaoyue would really ally with herself. At the end, Yang Xiuqing said casually: "Hurry up and prepare to go, and when you arrive in Hubei, tell the little demon that it is best to choose the battlefield in Tianjia Town, so that it will be convenient for us to send troops to help him." Also, during the fighting, he had to allow our sailors to enter and leave the territory under his control freely. ”

Hong Renji happily agreed, quickly received the letter written by Yang Xiuqing to Wu Chaoyue, and then hurriedly resigned and prepared to send an envoy to Hubei. As a result, it was also at this time that Hou Qianfang next to him asked curiously: "Long live the East King, do you really plan to continue to join forces with the Transcendence Demon to deal with the Qing Demon and the Sailor of the Rakshasa Kingdom?" ”

"Of course, the revenge of the annihilation of our naval division will not be avenged, and this king will not be able to eliminate the hatred in his heart!"

Yang Xiuqing gritted his teeth and replied, then smiled coldly and said: "But this time, this king will no longer stupidly rush to the front to fight the main force, this king has to let the Transcend Little Demon and the Qing Demon Rakshasa people fight a lose-lose situation, and then make a move." ”

"Surpass the little demon and gain the upper hand, and this king will take revenge on the demon rakshasas! If the Qing Demon and the Rakshasa people have the upper hand, the king will continue to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, anyway, the Qing Demon and the Rakshasa people are water masters, and they can't swallow the territory that surpasses the little demon, and when they are disabled and tired on the land, this king may be able to pick up the grass and beat the rabbit, which not only avenges the water master, but also takes the opportunity to annex the territory beyond the little demon! ”

"High! It's really high! The king of the east is smart, deliberately told the news to the transcendence demon in advance, not only sold the favor of the water, but also took the opportunity to let the Qing demon and the transcendence demon fight a lose-lose situation, sit on the mountain to watch the tiger fight, sit and watch the snipe and mussels fight, and the fisherman of heaven profits! Long live the East King, you are so holy! ”

…………

Not to mention, when Hong Renji ran to the capital of Hubei Province to deliver a letter to Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue was really moved by Yang Xiuqing's national righteousness - he has suffered so many losses recently and has not forgotten the major event of joining forces to resist the Qing Dynasty. However, after thinking about it carefully, Wu Chaoyue immediately found that something was wrong, and immediately scolded him......

"Kill your Yang Xiuqing with a thousand cuts! You're a cheat! Deliberately let the chaotic party and the Rakshasa people come in and beat me, let me fight with the chaotic party and foreign devils in front, you hide behind and pick up the cheapest, and then you actually want me to thank you, you have played this abacus beautifully! ”

"Yang Xiuqing's favor is beautiful!" Zhao Liewen also praised: "Not only did it do an empty favor, but also forced us to fight to the death with the rebellious party and the Rakshasa people, watch the fire from the other side and reap the benefits of the fishermen, and take revenge if we have the opportunity, and if we don't have a chance, we don't suffer at all, so we are invincible." ”

"If the Hubei provincial capital is really broken by the Rakshasa State, then we will at least have to move and evacuate, and we can no longer control all places by virtue of the favorable location of Wuchang Tongqu, and it will be much easier for Yang Xiuqing to send troops to grab our territory." Yan Jingming also praised: "The benevolence and hypocrisy of the water have reached this point, and Yang Xiuqing can be regarded as the peak." ”

After scolding Yang Xiuqing for being despicable and shameless, Wu Chaoyue made up his mind to study countermeasures, but the result was still not to mention, Yang Xiuqing suggested that Wu Chaoyue put the defensive battlefield in Tianjia Town, which really made Wu Chaoyue a little tempted. Because fighting this decisive battle with the Qing Russian fleet in Tianjiazhen can not only keep the enemy out of the country and reduce the loss of the hinterland, but also appropriately obtain the help of the Taiping Army's Hukou Water Division. At the same time, as the east gate of Hubei's old nest, the Wu army also built an unusually strong permanent fort in Tianjia Town, which could cover the water battlefield with shore artillery and strengthen the firepower of the Wu army's naval division, so not only Wu Chaoyue, Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming and others also believed that the Wu army should set up the main battlefield of defense in Tianjia Town.

However, just when he was about to make a decision, Wu Chaoyue suddenly thought of a fatal question, and hurriedly said: "Slow, we have to consider such a problem, what if Tianjiazhen can't hold it?" ”

"Weiting, are you worried that you won't be able to defend Tianjia Town?" Zhao Liewen asked.

Wu Chaoyue nodded and replied: "Although the strength of the Russian Far East Fleet is not very strong, they still have the help of the Red Single Fleet of the Rebel Army, and they have captured two iron-hulled ships and a medium gunboat with long hair in Tianjin, and the overall strength has greatly surpassed ours. If Tianjiazhen can't hold it, and our sailors are heavily damaged on the battlefield, then we won't have any way to deal with them anymore. ”

Dewu Chaoyue reminded Zhao Liewen also thought of an important question, and hurriedly said: "The strength of the Russian fleet may be stronger than we imagined, don't forget the information provided to us by the Prussians, the Russian foreign devils to assist the rebellious party's military ships are escorted by steam gunboats, and these gunboats are also likely to be drawn to participate in the war." ”

Wu Chaoyue's face became solemn, nodded slowly, and said: "You can't take it lightly, the rebels and the Russians are not fools, since they dare to take Hubei directly from the Yangtze River waterway, they must have their strength and confidence, and we must have a fierce battle to fight this time." ”

"It is better to resist layer by layer, use our batteries along the river to gradually consume the enemy's strength, and then plot a decisive battle." Zhao Liewen suggested: "Establish the first line of defense at Jiujiang and Xiaochikou, with Tianjiazhen and Banbishan as the second line of defense, and then establish a third line of defense at Xiangyuankou and Guanyao, and the fourth line of defense at Sanjiangkou ......." ”

"There is no fourth line of defense." Wu Chaoyue interrupted Zhao Liewen and said: "Next to the mouth of the source is Daye, if we can't hold the mouth of the source and lose Daye, the Russians don't need to come to Wuchang again, we have already lost." There is no industrial base to produce its own weapons, and the Yangtze River channel is controlled by long hair, so we can only sit back and wait. ”

"That's right, we only have three lines of defense to defend, if we can't hold the third line of defense, the mouth of the source, and let the rebels and the Rakshasas destroy Daye, we will be finished." Yan Jingming, Dai Wenjie and others nodded one after another, all agreeing with Wu Chaoyue's opinion.

"Let's prepare for the battle with all our might." Wu Chaoyue said lightly: "The decisive battlefield will be chosen in Xiangyuankou, and when the time comes, I will personally go to Xiangyuankou to command this decisive battle." ”

While everyone agreed one after another, Zhao Liewen, who almost missed the big event, hurriedly made up for the merits and suggested: "Weiting, it's a pity that the long-haired river-side fort is so abandoned, can you take advantage of Yang Xiuqing's difficulty in controlling foreign generals, and let the long-haired riverside fort also help us?" ”

"It's very difficult, Wu Ruxiao in Jiangyin, Lin Fengxiang in Anqing, and Huang Wenjin in Peng Ze have either never been in contact with us, or they have a deep hatred with us, and it must be difficult for them to risk provoking Yang Xiuqing to start a war with the Russian fleet privately."

Wu Chaoyue shook his head, not daring to expect Lin Fengxiang and Wu Ruxiao, who had a deep blood feud with him, to spare no effort to help him, and then said: "But there is something to do here in Hukou, it is close to us, and it is easier to make some small moves." And Britain and France, we can also do some work, not asking them to send troops directly to help the war, as long as they put some diplomatic pressure on the Russians, we can tie up a lot of the hands and feet of the Russian bear. ”

…………

While the Wu army was making every effort to strengthen its combat preparations, Rong Lu also returned to the capital with the good news of the success of borrowing the road to report the good news to the devil six, and the devil six reported the great joy and immediately led Rong Lu into the palace to report the good news to Ci'an and Cixi. As a result, it was natural that Rong Lu, who was already very liked by Ci'an and Cixi, was of course immediately promoted to another level, and was named the right deputy imperial envoy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate of the fourth grade.

In the end, Ci'an and Cixi, who were anxious to turn the situation around, of course, immediately asked when they would be able to send troops, and Devil Six replied respectfully: "Don't worry, the two imperial sisters-in-law, the younger brother will go to Ignatiev to discuss the date of sending troops, and they will definitely send troops as soon as possible." ”

"Hurry up." Ci'an urged again, and then asked with some concern: "Sixth, although the long-haired bandits promised to borrow the road, but these long-haired people are all shameless and faithful, what if they pretended to agree to borrow the road, deceived us and the Rakshasa people into the Yangtze River, and took the opportunity to join forces with Wu Chaoyue to ambush us?" ”

"Sister-in-law don't worry, on this point, the younger brother also considered it when he discussed with the Rakshasa people to send troops." Devil Six smiled and said: "Ignatiev told his younger brother that they Rakshasa will soon have a fleet of steamships to arrive in the Far East, and after joining forces with their Far East Fleet, the overall strength will far exceed that of the Wu Thief Sailor, even if the Long-haired Sailor helps the Wu Thief Sailor, they are not afraid, they have enough strength to defeat the combination of the Wu Thief and the Long-haired Sailor." ”

"That's good." Ci'an was even more overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Sixth, then you go and discuss with the Rakshasa people again, and see if you can use their steamship fleet to recapture Jiangning and Wuchang, and capture the thief first to capture the king and directly kill Wu Chaoyue and Yang Xiuqing, the two traitors?" ”

"Try your best." Devil Six agreed.

"Sixth, when you send out the troops, ask Wu Quanmei to secretly bring Wei Jun with you." Cixi suddenly opened her mouth and said: "Give Wei Jun a high-ranking official, bring more jewelry, and whenever you have the opportunity, you will use the excuse of thanking you for borrowing the road, and ask Wei Jun to come forward and contact the long-haired generals along the river. ”

Two days later, after a long journey of more than 30,000 kilometers, the Tsarist Russian fleet from the Baltic Sea finally rushed to Dagukou, sending a large amount of arms aid to the Manchu court, and by the way, it also added eight steam paddle steamer gunboats that originally belonged to the Black Sea Fleet to the Tsarist Far East Fleet, helping the Tsarist Far East Fleet to establish an absolute superiority over China's water power.

Receiving this news, the overjoyed Devil Six of course immediately urged the Tsarist Russian fleet to send troops as soon as possible, but in order to reduce the cost of aiding the Manchu Qing court, the Tsarist Russian side also did not extort territory for the first time, and immediately agreed to send troops, Ignatiev and Devil Six finalized the plan to send troops on the spot, and decided to use the Qing Army's naval division Wu Quanmei as the vanguard to open the way, and the Tsarist Far East Fleet as the main force of operations, to jointly attack the Wu Army's Daye Industrial Base, and agreed that if the fighters are mature, the Qing Russian coalition will also try to attack Hubei Provincial City and Jiangning City, Completely destroy the command center of the Wu army and the Taiping army.

"Wu thief! Your time of death has come! No matter how powerful your thief army is, can you beat the foreigners?! This was a unanimous cheer from the entire Manchu court.