In the fierce battle until more than half of the fifth watch, while still controlling most of the area of Tianjin's eastern city, in order to preserve the vital force, Li Kaifang still resolutely issued an order to abandon the city and retreat, and led more than 10,000 Taiping troops out of the city from the southeast gate of Tianjin, and went south to join Ji Wenyuan. When leaving the city, the Taiping army also took a large amount of ammunition, donkeys, mules and some grain and grass baggage, but because the transfer was too hasty, there were still many Taiping soldiers stranded in the city, and the grain and grass that could not be taken away were countless.

No one can stop the Taiping Army's southward escape, including the only remaining battalion reserve in Wu Chaoyue's hands, in the face of the tide of Taiping soldiers, in order to avoid unnecessary losses, Wu Chaoyue can only quickly order Wu Jun Lian Yong to arrange a hollow hedgehog array to resist the enemy, fortunately, the Taiping Army also knows the strength of the Wu Army's hedgehog array, and very sensibly chose to bypass the south, and then when the main force of the Qing Army shouted and chased after him, Wu Chaoyue pretended to command Lian Yong to launch a pursuit, Grabbed Li Kaifang's ass and chased it all the way to the vicinity of Monk Greenqin's camp.

Next, a very absurd scene happened, the Taiping soldiers actually fought with Wu Chaoyue with the remnants of the monk's camp, and also used the artillery left by the monk to bombard the Wu army, Wu Jun Lianyong launched an attack several times, but failed to make a breakthrough because of too few troops, and the Qing army's attack was also repelled by Ji Wenyuan, who had seized the favorable terrain in advance, and all failed to seize the fighter to expand the results.

As a last resort, Wu Chaoyue could only find Shengbao in a hurry, saying that the self-army was too tired, and the breech-loading guns and mortars were still in the Baohuan camp and had not had time to be transported out, and asked Shengbao to allow the self-army to withdraw to the camp to rest and rest, treat the wounded soldiers and bandage their wounds, and then bring heavy artillery to the Taiping army to settle accounts. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue also suggested that Shengbao rotate the fresh force to monitor the Taiping army, launch harassing attacks from time to time, not give the equally tired Taiping army a chance to rest, and wait for the main force of each battalion to reorganize the army before cleaning up the Taiping army.

Shengbao immediately nodded and agreed to Wu Chaoyue's request, in order to let Wu Jun Lian Yong in Tianjin City immediately take a break to rest, Sheng Bao also ordered his pro-trust Ming A to lead the army into the city to replace Wu Jun Lian Yong to search and kill the remnants of the enemy, and ordered Dexing A, who had the least pressure in the battle last night, to lead the army of Beicheng to come here to monitor the Taiping army, and rotate the main force of the Qing army that had fought fiercely all night back to the camp to rest and recuperate.

After Shengbao's order was executed, the battlefield outside the city also temporarily restored tranquility, and some were just the Taiping army and the Qing army desperately mobilizing the army, adjusting the combat strength and rotating the tired army, Wu Chaoyue also hurriedly took the injured Feng Wanzhen Xiao Luoli back to the camp to rest, and at the same time ordered the Wu army in the city to withdraw from the city and still return to Baohuan's camp to rest.

Because of the lack of experience and fighting at night, Wu Jun Lian Yong, who fought in the street for the first time, suffered a lot of losses, and the number of Lian Yong who were killed and seriously injured in the city reached more than 200 people, plus the losses on the battlefield outside the city, the total number of killed and seriously injured Wu Jun Lian Yong reached more than 300 people, and there were countless minor injuries, and the number of casualties made Wu Chaoyue feel distressed. But Wu Chaoyue didn't have time to think about so much, in addition to urging the soldiers to hurry up for treatment and rest, and then asked Bao Huan's rear army to help prepare a large amount of dry food for the march, and finally settled Feng Wanzhen's father and daughter before he lay down to rest.

Wu Chaoyue, who was also very tired, slept until the evening before getting up under the urging of the pro-soldiers, and the reason why the pro-soldiers woke up Wu Chaoyue was also very simple, the Qing army found that the Taiping army was also seizing the time to prepare dry food and load the baggage trucks, and there seemed to be signs of withdrawing overnight, so Shengbao asked Wu Chaoyue to go to the Chinese army's big tent immediately. Wu Chaoyue didn't dare to slack off when he heard the news, he didn't even care about eating, grabbed two flatbreads and hurried to the camp in Beicang to meet Shengbao.

Gnawing on the bread into Shengbao's Chinese army tent, it was unfortunate that it was just in time for the monk Greenqin and Shengbao to quarrel, and the monk who didn't know that he had been hiding there for half the night last night also regained his usual majesty, and just yelled in front of Shengbao, angrily accusing Shengbao of not saving him last night, and not telling him the whole plan in advance, which led to him fighting alone without knowing it, and finally lost the camp and the weight of grain and grass. Shengbao angrily accused Seng Lingqin of shirking responsibility, losing the camp and humiliating the country, threatening to impeach each other, and quarreling fiercely.

During the quarrel, Monk Greenqin also pointed the finger at Wu Chaoyue, who had never looked pleasing to the eye, and asked Wu Chaoyue: "Wu Chaoyue, you are obviously hiding in Baohuan's camp, why didn't you tell this king about this matter in advance?" What is the purpose and reason for you to deliberately conceal your whereabouts from this king? ”

"Come on, monk and prince, dare you tell you?" Wu Chaoyue was not afraid of quarreling with Monk Greenqin, and immediately asked: "When the government issued a military order, someone told Changmao that he wanted to kill me, and I offered a plan to break the city through tunnels, but Changmao noticed it in advance, and in turn designed to kill so many people. This time, the lower official concealed his whereabouts from you, and Long Hair was deceived and gave our army a chance to break through the city, why was it able to succeed in one fell swoop? What is the reason for this, the lower official still wants to ask you! ”

"Wu Chaoyue, you ......, you dare to slander this king and bandits?" Monk Greenqin's expression became angry again.

"Monk Wangye, if you think that the lower officials are slandering you, you can just fold the bullet and impeach!" Wu Chaoyue retorted unceremoniously: "Xiaguan doesn't have time to fight with you now, Xiaguan only knows now that it's important to hurry up and kill Long Hair!" Lord, you have time to work, just go and write a bullet to impeach the lower officials, the lower officials should be in a hurry to kill the long hair and the bandits for the emperor and the court! I don't have time to nag with you! ”

"You ......." Monk Greenqin's whole body trembled, and he pointed at Wu Chaoyue and couldn't even say anything, "Wu ......, Wu Chaoyue, you dare to ...... this king, so, so disrespectful!" ”

"Monk Greenqin, shut up for this king!" Zaiyuan's side couldn't bear it anymore, and roared: "If you continue to mess around and delay the military plane, this king will exercise the accusation of supervising the army, take back your military power, and arrest you and take you to the capital for questioning!" ”

The title and bloodline can't fight Zaiyuan, Monk Greenqin can only close his mouth with a blue face, and Shengbao glanced at him proudly, and then turned to Wu Chaoyue and said: "Weiting, judging from various signs, Longhair is likely to run, what should I do?" ”

"Dashuai, the lower officials think that the long hair must not be allowed to run west!" Wu Chaoyue pointed out: "The west is the hinterland of Zhili, once the long hair is allowed to flow westward, and the slightest carelessness allows the long hair to occupy one or two cities, it will immediately repeat the mistake of the stalemate in Tianjin, and the Gyeonggi heavy land will also have no peace day and night." Therefore, Xia Guan suggested that the main force of our army should put heavy troops on the western front, make every effort to block the road of Changmao's westward channel, and force Changmao to go south. ”

Shengbao nodded, agreeing with Wu Chaoyue's suggestion, and then frowned and said: "It is indeed a good idea to force Changmao to move south away from Gyeonggi, but the officials and troops in Shandong are also empty, if Changmao is allowed to take the opportunity to gain a foothold in Shandong, it will be a big trouble." ”

"I like it." Wu Chaoyue first muttered in his heart, and then said: "Dashuai, drive Changmao southward, although it is possible to cause Changmao to take the opportunity to gain a foothold in Shandong, but this is better than letting Changmao flow in Zhili, and the foreign artillery shells in the hands of the lower officials are barely sufficient, as long as you don't let the long hair occupy any strong city, the general barracks and fortifications are sure to break through, our army only needs to gradually weaken the long hair to a certain extent, and it is by no means impossible to gather and annihilate it." ”

"That's all there is to it." Katsuho nodded again, and then asked, "Comfort Pavilion, how about you being the vanguard of the pursuit of long hair?" ”

"The next official is willing to go!" Wu Chaoyue did not hesitate to clench his fists and promise, and then said: "But Dashuai, the Lian Yong under the command of Xia Guan are all infantry, and they have to carry a large number of heavy artillery and artillery, so they can't guarantee the speed of pursuit. If the commander wants the lower officer to gradually eat the long hair in the pursuit battle, he must send a cavalry to help the lower officer. ”

Sheng Bao didn't even blink an eyelid, and immediately ordered his henchman Deleke Selen to lead a thousand cavalry to act with Wu Chaoyue, and repeatedly asked Deleke Selen to listen to Wu Chaoyue's command, knowing that following Wu Chaoyue to fight would definitely have a chance to make meritorious contributions. Then Shengbao quickly dispatched troops and ordered Baohuan and Daminga to go south along the west bank of the canal, make every effort to block the westward road of the Taiping army, and arrange for his henchman Tuo Minga to lead an army to support Wu Chaoyue, and finally the main force led by Shengbao himself.

It was also after the generals in the army sang their promises that the monk Greenqin, who had not been assigned a task, panicked, and asked Shengbao cheekily: "Dashuai, what about the king?" What are the tasks of the soldiers and horses under the command of this king? ”

"Monk and prince, your soldiers and horses will go south with the main force of Ben Shuai, and you will be at your disposal at any time."

Sheng Bao replied quietly, but Seng Lingqin immediately panicked when he heard it, knowing that following Sheng Bao to act together, it must be to fight him to beat people and let Sheng Bao pick it up, and at the end there is a black pot that must be his back. Unwillingly, Seng Greenqin hurriedly excused the majority of the cavalry under his command and asked to act alone, but of course Shengbao categorically refused, Wu Chaoyue said kindly: "Dashuai, the words of the monk and the prince are also reasonable, there are a large number of cavalry under his command, and it is a pity to put it in the rear, otherwise, you might as well ask the monk to set off to the south first, grab in front of Changmao, intercept Changmao's southward road if you have the opportunity, and help the city in the south to defend the city if you don't have a chance, and don't give Changmao the opportunity to defend the city." ”

After listening to Wu Chaoyue's kind suggestion, Monk Greenqin's face turned white, and Shengbao was very satisfied, and immediately said to Monk Greenqin: "Monk Wangye, the idea of the comfort pavilion is good, you see, are you willing to act with the main force of Ben Shuai?" Or are you willing to go south first to block Changmao's escape route to the south, as Weiting suggested? ”

Even if it was a day ago, our monk and prince would never pick up this thankless burden, but now there is no way, Tianjin City is Wu Chaoyue and Shengbao jointly attacked, Shengbao and Wu Chaoyue won the battle, but Seng Lingqin is throwing away his armor, and also gave the camp and grain and grass to the Taiping Army, if you don't want to find a way to make some merit quickly, Emperor Xianfeng will not cut off the monk and the prince of the county is simply unreasonable. Therefore, despite being very dissatisfied in his heart, Seng Lingqin still took over this task head-on, and finally saved the opportunity to atone for his sins.

At the same time that the promise that the mouth was wrong and he would definitely follow the order, of course, the monk and the prince glared at Wu Chaoyue viciously, Wu Chaoyue smiled right, and said secretly in his heart: "Dare to use Lao Tzu's Wanzhen little baby as cannon fodder, and suffer hardships and sins that led to the success of the Taiping Army's breakthrough, who will Lao Tzu push you to?!" ”

The intelligence agency of the Qing army, which has always been rotten to the extreme, finally got it right this time, it was the second watch of the night, and the Taiping army, which had lost a reliable foothold, really launched a transfer to the south overnight, the cavalry opened the way in front, and the main force carried heavy grain and grass in the center, Ji Wenyuan personally led the elite infantry to the rear of the palace, ready to temporarily avoid the edge of the Qing army, and find another foothold to wait for reinforcements.

The scouts of the Qing army were still as bad as usual, even under close surveillance, and it was not until the first moment of the third watch that the scouts of the Qing army sent the news to Shengbao. Shengbao urgently ordered Wu Chaoyue and Deleke Selen to send troops to pursue, Wu Chaoyue expected that the Taiping army would have the strength to pawn the palace, and even if the night pursuit caught up, it would not be able to get much oil and water, and it would definitely be a waste of the soldiers' physical strength, so Wu Chaoyue asked Deleke Selen to lead the cavalry to set off first, and after catching up with the Taiping army, he could not fight, just wait in the open area to delay the retreat of the Taiping army, and the army would continue to rest and wait for the dawn to launch a pursuit.

Not to mention, Deleke Selen really remembered Shengbao's repeated instructions, and obediently carried out Wu Chaoyue's order to make him a blue-collar coolie, but after successfully biting the tail of the Taiping Army, given that the Taiping Army's marching speed was quite fast, Deleke Selen was inevitably a little worried, "Wu Chaoyue's infantry, can you catch up?" ”

When it was light, he arranged for the artillery battalion to carry heavy weapons to march in the rear, and when Wu Chaoyue personally led the remaining four battalions of Wu Jun Lianyong to launch a pursuit, Wu Jun Lianyong, who had been marching with heavy loads for a long time, immediately showed his ability to march far beyond the Qing army, and it took a morning to catch up with the Taiping army led by Ji Wenyuan in the south of Lubeikou.

Then, the typical hammer anvil tactics of the Western army in this era appeared, Wu Jun Lian Yong was responsible for the frontal attack, using advanced weapons to defeat the enemy, and Deleke Selen immediately led the cavalry to slash and kill the chaotic Taiping army, and the harvest was quite large. When Ji Wenyuan tried to gather the soldiers and reorganize the army, the cavalry of the Qing army immediately retreated, and the Wu army Lian Yong, who was able to fight a tough battle, stepped forward to fight desperately with the Taiping army. Such repetition, orderly rotation, the Taiping army was dizzy, unable to parry at all, and forced Li Kaifang to divide a cavalry to help Ji Wenyuan, and it took a lot of effort to stabilize the already precarious rear army.

Originally, the Taiping army once planned to take Jinghai to gain a foothold, but Shengbao had to adopt Wu Chaoyue's suggestion before, and had already made Jinghai ready to defend the city in advance, and did not give the Taiping army a chance to break the city in one fell swoop. As a last resort, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan could only continue to go south along the canal, and reluctantly continued to stay away from the city of Beijing, which they actually had no strength to take.

Originally, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan also planned to drag down the pampered Wu Chaoyue by continuous rapid marching, but they soon found out that this was completely wishful thinking, Wu Chaoyue was pampered and habitually cultivated, but it was not very tiring to march on horseback, Wu Chaoyue could still support it, and Wu Chaoyue's strictly trained Wu army Lianyong made the Taiping army and the Qing army stunned, and after a rapid march of hundreds of miles, there were less than twenty wounded soldiers left behind, and they were forced to stop and join the artillery battalion that came later. Therefore, no matter how the Taiping army rushed day and night, they just couldn't shake off Wu Chaoyue, who stuck to their tails like kraft candy, and couldn't find the slightest opportunity to capture the cities along the way.

On the contrary, the phenomenon of the Taiping soldiers falling behind and fleeing is unbelievable, and those soldiers who joined the Taiping Army in the later period are either physically exhausted, unable to keep up with the marching speed of the main force, or their morale collapses, and they feel that it is not interesting to mix with Li Kaifang again, or it is difficult to leave their homeland, which leads to the new attached soldiers falling behind and fleeing in groups, and there are thousands of fugitives every day, and they are constantly forced to give up their heavy grain and grass. As a result, this naturally gave Wu Chaoyue and Deleke Selen the opportunity to grab the captives violently, and even the monk Lingqin took the opportunity to pick a lot of cheap, captured many captives and cut off many heads, and there were a few good-looking words on the memora written to Emperor Xianfeng.

In this way, after more than six days of rapid marching, when Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan led their troops to Lianzhen in the south of Dongguang County, the more than 38,000 Taiping troops who set out from Tianjin had less than 20,000 people left, and all of them were exhausted and seriously wounded. Fortunately, there is still a rammed earth city wall in the small town of Lianzhen, which can barely accommodate it, and at the same time, the town is quite rich, and there is a small amount of grain and livestock, so Li Kaifang also camped in Lianzhen to rest for a night, and waited until Ji Wenyuan led the army to arrive later, and then hurried together to discuss the next plan of action.

In history, the Taiping Army once relied on Lianzhen Town to hold on for ten months and two days, but considering the horror of the artillery of the rival Wu Chaoyue, Li Kaifang did not dare to bet all his bets on Lianzhen Town as in history, and said to Ji Wenyuan directly: "Brother Ji, although the grain and grass situation here in Lianzhen is good, the city is too small, and the demon cannon that surpasses the little demon is too powerful. ”

Ji Wenyuan nodded and said: "Yes, if we want to hold on and wait for help, we must not count on Lianzhen Town, we can only find a strong city that can restrain and surpass the little demon cannon, and then we can hope to wait for the reinforcements sent by the East King." ”

"Brother Ji, I mean ......." Li Kaifang's expression was a little hesitant, and said: "Because we are chasing too closely beyond the little demon, we have never had a chance to free up our hands to seize the city, and if we don't change our tactics, I'm afraid we will never have such a chance." ”

Although Li Kaifang did not directly say his true intentions, but after getting along with Li Kaifang for so long, just seeing Li Kaifang's hesitant look, Ji Wenyuan already understood that this matter must not be simple. After careful consideration, Ji Wenyuan, who was also brave and scheming, guessed what Li Kaifang meant, and took the initiative to say: "Prime Minister Li, do you want me to stay in Lianzhen to hold on, temporarily contain the main force of the Qing Demon and surpass the Little Demon, and buy time for you to seize a reliable foothold in the south?" And then I'll lead the army to break through and join you? ”

Li Kaifang nodded solemnly and said, "Brother Ji, if it weren't for the situation, I would ......." ”

"Prime Minister Li, needless to say, I understand." Ji Wenyuan interrupted Li Kaifang's words and said quickly: "That's it!" I led an army to stay in the town, contain and surpass the little demon, you lead the troops first, go to find a strong city that can stand on it, send me a letter after the fight, I will break through and meet you! ”

Li Kaifang stared at Ji Wenyuan for a long time, and then said, "I will only take two thousand elite soldiers first, and all the remaining brothers will be handed over to you." Remember, be sure to live to join me. ”

PS: Don't think that Li Kaifang took too few soldiers and horses, the Qing Dynasty archives clearly record that Li Kaifang only brought 630 people to kill the Qing army's encirclement of Lianzhen, and quickly took Gaotang County, more than 300 miles away, and then Shengbao gathered tens of thousands of Qing troops to fight for more than nine months without defeating Gaotang, and at the end he was also paid for wearing a flower feather and was sent to Xinjiang.

By the way, after Shengbao got out of here, our monk and prince finally got his wish and became the commander-in-chief of the front, under the condition that the Taiping army took the initiative to abandon Gaotang and go south, he continued to besiege Li Kaifang's remaining 500 people with tens of thousands of Qing troops, and recruited people to flood Fengguantun with manpower, and the flood soaked the waists of the Taiping soldiers to maggots, and it only took 85 days to successfully annihilate all Li Kaifang's men! It can be seen from this that the famous monk of the Qing Dynasty is indeed more than a little bit stronger than the defeated Bao! (To be continued.) )