Determined to take Ji Wenyuan's head for credit, Wu Chaoyue was no longer polite, and immediately began to study the tactics of attacking Lianzhen, but after carefully exploring the terrain and interrogating the surrendered prisoners, Wu Chaoyue soon discovered that the small city of Lianzhen was actually far from being as easy to break as he imagined.

According to the prisoners, long before the Qing army built the siege fortifications, the Taiping army had already dug a large number of underground fortifications in the city of Lianzhen to garrison soldiers, although the Wu army's artillery fire destroyed most of the houses in the city, the Taiping army's underground fortifications did not suffer much loss. After the artillery battle, the Taiping army planted a large number of mines under the city wall, and at the same time built many light and dark bunkers in the city for street fighting. In addition, having learned the lesson of Tianjin's West Gate, the Taiping army simply built two bunkers on both sides of each gate to block the road with firepower when it was unable to block the passage of the city gate!

Having mastered these circumstances, Wu Chaoyue and Zhao Liewen believed through analysis that even if Wu Jun Lian Yong was dispatched to be the vanguard, the certainty of a frontal assault to take Lian Zhen was not very large, and the street battle after entering the city would definitely make Wu Jun Lian Yong pay a heavy price, so Wu Chaoyue quickly dispelled the idea of a frontal assault and decided to repeat the old trick, trying to lure the Taiping army away from the fortifications to protect and clean up the Taiping army in the field.

If it is changed to usual, it is of course not so easy to deceive Ji Wenyuan, who has been deceived many times, but now it is a coincidence, Li Kaifang is sending people to contact Ji Wenyuan several times, asking Ji Wenyuan to break through to Gaotang to join him, and if you want Ji Wenyuan to come out, you only need to deliberately put Li Kaifang's envoy into Lianzhen, and the only thing that makes Wu Chaoyue worry is actually how to completely annihilate the Taiping Army in the field. But this problem is not very big, the distance from Lianzhen to Gaotang is more than 300 miles, and there is room for Wu Chaoyue to play, so Wu Chaoyue quickly discussed with Zhao Liewen a tactical plan of combining infantry and cavalry and setting up ambushes layer by layer, and was confident that even if he could not annihilate the Taiping Army, at least he could kill most of the enemy, and beat the remaining enemies into a group of stragglers.

Next, something happened that surprised Wu Chaoyue, when Wu Chaoyue found Shengbao to offer a plan, even Zaiyuan, who didn't understand military affairs, had already applauded, but Shengbao, who had always been obedient to Wu Chaoyue's words, was unusual, and said hesitantly: "Weiting, isn't it too risky to do this?" deliberately let Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan get in touch with the two bandit leaders, if Ji Wenyuan really broke through with the long-haired bandits, what if he met Li Kaifang in Gaotang? ”

"Don't worry, Dashuai." Wu Chaoyue patted his chest and said: "Long Hair breaks through to the south, first of all, you have to go through the defense area of the lower official, the lower official can guarantee that even if the lower official can't destroy the long hair in the interception battle, at least it can make the long hair pay a heavy price." When the time comes, as long as you send the cavalry to the south first, slow down the marching speed of Long Hair, and then send the main force to cover up and kill, and the lower officials dare to make a military order, they will definitely be able to intersperse the detour back to the front of Long Hair to fortify again, block Long Hair and kill him again! In this way, it will not be eliminated twice, and the annihilation of the town Changmao will be nine out of ten! ”

"Dashuai, the idea of the comfort pavilion is good." Zaiyuan echoed: "It is much better to lure out the long hair and give full play to the advantages of the strong generals of the Weiting Pavilion, and set up ambushes to break the enemy in the field at all levels, than to let the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty go to attack the fortifications head-on." ”

Sheng Bao hesitated, although he also felt that Wu Chaoyue's suggestion was feasible, but when he thought that almost all the credit for doing so was Wu Chaoyue, Sheng Bao began to waver again. After thinking about it for a long time, Sheng Bao said: "Weiting, your method is good, but it's too risky, we finally forced Changmao to divide the troops into two places, forming a favorable situation for each to break through, the most should be steady and steady, step by step, to completely annihilate Longhair, your tactical plan is still too risky." ”

After that, Shengbao ignored Zaiyuan's repeated persuasion, and said: "That's it, Weiting, you let me think about it, and then give you an answer." ”

Although he didn't understand what Shengbao else had to consider, in order to maintain a friendly relationship with Shengbao, Wu Chaoyue still chose to respect Shengbao's opinion and did not insist that Shengbao immediately adopt his tactical plan. However, what Wu Chaoyue didn't expect was that in the afternoon of the same day, Shengbao suddenly ordered the Qing army to build a fort outside Lianzhen City, preparing to bombard Lianzhen Town in a condescending manner. The underground fortifications of the Taiping Army can't even break my picric cannonballs, so can his solid cannonballs be of any use? ”

In order to prevent Shengbao from being confused, Wu Chaoyue had to visit Shengbao again, and strongly persuaded Shengbao not to waste time and gunpowder in vain, but unfortunately Shengbao resolutely refused to listen, and insisted that this was done to exert psychological pressure on the Taiping army, forcing the Taiping army in the city to surrender in large numbers, and refused to listen to Wu Chaoyue's contrary advice when he said anything. Wu Chaoyue didn't turn a corner for a while, and his decision to win the game was inexplicable and incomprehensible.

In the end, it was Zhao Liewen who cracked the maze for Wu Chaoyue, and after returning to the camp and telling Zhao Liewen about the situation, Zhao Liewen only thought about it a little, and immediately said to Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, if I guess correctly, there is a good chance that Sheng Dashuai is jealous of you, and I feel that you have made too many merits and stole too much of his limelight, so I want to suppress you a little." ”

Wu Chaoyue suddenly realized, but he still felt a little incredible, and said: "My relationship with Shengbao has always been good, and he has his share in the credit every time, so he doesn't think so, right?" ”

"Hehe, Weiting, you're still being honest." Zhao Liewen smiled and said: "Sheng Dashuai has a good relationship with you, but he also thinks about himself, he was just an assistant in the Jiangnan camp to do military affairs before, and the reason why he became the commander-in-chief of the Central Plains official army of the minister of the Qin Mission is entirely because Xiang Rong made a mistake in analyzing Changmao's intention to go north, and felt that Changmao went north just to take the grain-producing area in northern Anhui, so he sent Shengbao to lead the army to pursue and block. ”

"That once Xiang Changmao actually drove straight into the Central Plains, when Shengbao chased into the Central Plains, the emperor in order to prevent the Central Plains officials and troops from being leaderless, so he temporarily decided to let Shengbao serve as the commander-in-chief of the front, commanding the front-line armies, and was lucky to become the commander of the whole army. Therefore, Seng Lingqin has always been unconvinced by Shengbao, and wants to replace him in everything. ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Liewen smiled again and said: "Sheng Dashuai had a good relationship with you before, and a big reason was also because of the aggressiveness of the monk and the prince, he had to huddle with you to keep warm. Now that the title of county king of Seng Lingqin is gone, and people are far away in Gaotang, they dare not be arrogant and have no way to be arrogant. Without this strong opponent, can Sheng Dashuai not think about himself, hurry up and make more credit, offset his previous mistakes, and also get more promotions and make a fortune by the way? ”

Wu Chaoyue listened silently, until Zhao Liewen finished speaking, Wu Chaoyue showed a little smile on his face, and said with a smile: "It's okay, since Sheng Dashuai likes to grab credit so much, then let him grab it, as long as you don't let me go to the fortification, he can grab it as much as he likes." ”

Feeling that the victory was in hand, Shengbao didn't plan to let Wu Chaoyue pick up the cheapest, and after repairing the fort in a hurry, Shengbao couldn't wait to mobilize a large number of artillery to bombard Lianzhen City. Not to mention, this hand really forced many newborns of the Taiping Army who were not strong enough to flee out of the city and surrender, and Shengbao was naturally more arrogant, and he became more and more convinced that Lianzhen Xiaocheng could be broken at his fingertips, and immediately arranged siege tactics, and arranged his henchman Tomin A to serve as the vanguard to launch the siege.

Originally, Wu Chaoyue thought that the cruel truth would soon be able to swell Shengbao's little face, but Wu Chaoyue miscalculated this time, and the treacherous Ji Wenyuan saw that it was just an ordinary Qing army who came to attack the city, so he immediately adjusted his tactics, deliberately did not defend the city wall, deliberately let the Qing army kill the city wall, and introduced the Qing army into the city to fight street battles. As a result, with a large number of excavated and built underground fortifications, the Taiping army killed and injured more Qing soldiers - the Qing soldiers had nowhere to run in the city, and the speed of stepping on the ladder and crossing the wall to replenish troops in the city was too slow, and they were beaten by the Taiping army muskets in the dark fort to cry wolf, and they had to quickly retreat to the city wall, and the Taiping army outflanked and killed along the two wings of the city wall, and easily regained the city wall position that was deliberately given up before.

Ji Wenyuan also received an unexpected effect from this, that is, after seeing that the soldiers of the self-army killed Lian Zhen in the city with only one charge, Shengbao was excited and thought that the strength of the self-army alone was enough to break the city, and in order to monopolize the great achievement, he was even more reluctant to send the Wu army to practice and participate in the battle. As a result, although the Qing army was driven out of the city twice, Shengbao still felt that the city was in sight, and he didn't need Wu Chaoyue's help at all.

Shengbao was full of confidence, and Zaiyuan, who dreamed of returning to Beijing as soon as possible to enter the military plane, was anxious, and repeatedly suggested that Shengbao send Wu Chaoyue to lead the army to participate in the war, but Shengbao didn't listen at all in order to monopolize the credit, and was forced to be anxious by Zaiyuan, Shengbao also quibbled: "Lord, the slave did this in order to ensure the total annihilation of Changmao, and left the elite soldiers of Weiting, and when we drove Changmao out of the city, it was just a chance to give Weiting a chance to break the enemy in a battle." Otherwise, apart from the comfort pavilion, who in our army is sure to stop the desperate breakthrough of Long Hair? ”

Feeling that what Shengbao said made sense, Zaiyuan closed his mouth, but after a day of siege, Zaiyuan found that the situation was wrong, and the Qing army had failed to take the city three times, on the contrary, the casualties of the soldiers also broke through the 1,000-person mark. felt that there must be a problem in this, Zaiyuan ran to Wu Chaoyue to inquire about the reason, and Wu Chaoyue was not polite, and said directly to Zaiyuan: "Lord, Changmao is deliberately luring the enemy, even the rammed earth city wall in the town is less than a zhang high, only four or five feet thick, there are no arrow buttresses and no female walls, and they don't play much role in defensive warfare at all. ”

Zaiyuan nodded as if he didn't understand, and then asked, "Weiting, in your opinion, how should our army break the enemy?" ”

"Lord Wang, if you want to break the enemy as soon as possible and reduce the casualties of our soldiers, the only way is what I said before." Wu Chaoyue replied: "Deliberately let Gaotang Changmao and Lian Zhen Changmao get in touch, lure Lian Zhen Changmao to break through to the south, and then break the enemy in the field." Otherwise, even if Xia Guan led the army to attack the city, he would not be sure to take Lianzhen in a battle. ”

Zaiyuan nodded, and then Zaiyuan did not hesitate, and after returning to the camp, he ran to Shengbao to repeat Wu Chaoyue's original words, and suggested that Shengbao give up the frontal attack that he was not sure of, and adopt the tactics proposed by Wu Chaoyue to lure the enemy. As a result, Zaiyuan didn't say that, but after hearing that Wu Chaoyue blamed his tactical plan for nothing, Sheng Bao, who originally wanted to maintain a friendly relationship with Wu Chaoyue as much as possible, suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and said secretly: "Why should Ben Shuai listen to you?" According to your tactical plan, even if it succeeds, won't the credit be all yours? Ben Shuai's hard work in commanding the troops, isn't it all about making wedding dresses for you? ”

After casually finding an excuse to prevaricate Zaiyuan, the more Shengbao calculated, the more unpleasant it became, knowing that it would be fine if he could quickly take Lianzhen, but if it was delayed for a few days, the superintendent Zaiyuan would definitely use the secret fold to report to Emperor Xianfeng, and then Emperor Xianfeng was likely to be dissatisfied with himself again, and he was likely to directly force himself to adopt Wu Chaoyue's tactical plan. So Sheng Bao couldn't help but start thinking in his heart, "How can I let Lord Zai stand on my side, and don't go to Shangmi to spoil my good deeds?" ”

Very coincidentally, the next morning, when Shengbao was thinking about how to break the city and grab the merit, another minister suddenly came to Lianzhen with the holy decree of Emperor Xianfeng. As a result, Na Qincha was very embarrassed and told Shengbao, saying: "Shengshuai, you misunderstood, Xiaguan came to Jiangsu Daotai Wu Chaoyue to pass on the decree." ”

"What's the content?" Katsuho hurriedly asked.

"Lord Hui made a statement to the emperor, saying that the soldiers under the command of Lord Wu are all southerners, far away from their hometown, they are not accustomed to the water and soil, and they are not used to eating and drinking, so please ask the emperor to give special treatment to Lord Wu, and encourage Lord Wu and his soldiers to serve the country loyally and destroy the enemy as soon as possible." The messenger said truthfully: "So the emperor asked the lower officials to send a batch of wine and meat to Lord Wu as a reward, the wine is all rice wine from the south, and he also specially sent a few Jianghuai cooks to cook for Lord Wu, so that Lord Wu can also eat hometown dishes here, to show the emperor's love and compassion for them." ”

Hearing this, Shengbao's heart was of course overflowing with sour water, and he didn't pay attention at all to the fact that the person who came up with this bad idea was the monk and the prince who was ordered to be the general Mianyu, but he just smiled and asked his own soldiers to put away the incense case, and sent someone to lead the way to Wu Chaoyue's camp to pass the edict, and then angrily ordered to launch a siege.

The result of this day's siege was worse than the siege of the previous day, and the jealous Katsubo sent a large number of troops to ensure that the city was defeated in the first battle, and also launched an attack on the three gates of the southeast and north of Lianzhen at the same time. Ji Wenyuan improvised and immediately adjusted his tactics, deliberately holding on to the city wall to attract a large number of Qing troops to gather at the foot of the city wall, and then immediately ignited the mine fuse, and the mines planted by the Taiping army exploded at the same time, and the casualties of the Qing army were naturally so heavy that they could not be more heavy. The Taiping army took the opportunity to send troops to counterattack, and after Shengbao was forced to withdraw his troops, Zaiyuan naturally ran in front of Shengbao immediately, and asked Shengbao to immediately adjust his tactics and adopt Wu Chaoyue's tactics.

Still find an excuse to temporarily send Zaiyuan, Shengbao is both angry and a little worried, but another official document was suddenly sent to Shengbao - the monk Lingqin, who had been demoted to the first rank, reported that the Gaotang city was too strong, the long hair was fierce and the city could not be stopped, and his troops were too small to break the city, and asked Shengbao to send him a support army to strengthen the troops.

Smirking smugly, Monk Greenqin also fell into bad luck, Shengbao suddenly had an idea, and said secretly in his heart: "Why aren't you afraid that the Comfort Pavilion will send reinforcements to Monk Greenqin?" He and Seng Lingqin have always been incompatible, and when they arrive in Gaotang, they must be holding each other back and pulling each other's hind legs, and when the time comes, Weiting can't beat Gaotang, and Ben Shuai is here to break through Lianzhen, what will the emperor and the court think of me and him? ”

Although he had this idea, fortunately, Shengbao was still able to stay calm, knowing that Wu Chaoyue was reliable in a tough battle, but he was just tempted but did not make up his mind. However, it's a pity that our monk and prince are too strong to play tricks than the ability to fight, and soon, a Shengbao soldier who had received Tong Jian's generous gift ran to Shengbao's front again, saying that it was a rumor in the army, Wu Chaoyue laughed after seeing the failure of the Qing army's siege, and said that it was still not good without him.

Completely unbearable, Shengbao did not hesitate any longer, and immediately called Wu Chaoyue to the front, and ordered Wu Chaoyue to lead Wu Jun Lian Yong to the south to help Seng Lingqin attack Gaotang, Wu Chaoyue was shocked when he heard it, and hurriedly said: "Dashuai, the lower official heard it right, right?" Let the lower officials go to reinforce Gaotang, what should I do here in Lianzhen? ”

"Comfort Ting, you heard it right." Sheng Bao smiled and said: "Don't worry about going to Gaotang, you don't have to worry about Lianzhen here, Ben Shuai personally leads the main force here, and the long hair can't fly out even if he puts on his wings, you just need to find a way to take Gaotang for me as soon as possible, Monk Greenqin can't count on it at all." ”

After that, Sheng Bao also said very considerately: "By the way, after arriving in Gaotang, Ben Shuai allows you and Monk Greenqin to do their own thing, you don't have to listen to his command, just discuss and act in case of trouble." In this way, even if he wants to give you small shoes, he will not have this opportunity. ”

knew that Shengbao wanted to deliberately turn himself away and monopolize the credit of Lianzhen's victory, and he also knew that Shengbao let himself and Seng Greenqin do their own things, but in fact, he wanted himself and Monk Greenqin to restrain each other, and they ended up with nothing in the end. But Wu Chaoyue didn't break it, just honestly hugged his fists and took the order, and said: "The lower official obeys the order, the lower official will go and prepare to set off, and he will open to Gao Tang tomorrow." ”

After smiling and sending Wu Chaoyue away, Shengbao was of course smiling extremely happily in the big tent of the Chinese army, but Shengbao definitely never dreamed that Wu Chaoyue was actually smiling happier than him on the way back to the camp, "Yes, Ji Wenyuan has a hope that the breakthrough will succeed this time, and Li Kaifang has to find a way to let him break through as soon as possible." ”

What Shengbao definitely didn't expect was that after receiving the news that he had sent Wu Chaoyue to lead the army south to reinforce the Gaotang battlefield, his nemesis Monk Greenqin was stunned at first, and then actually laughed out loud, "Shengbao dog minion, Ben Beizi knows that you are a dou who can't be helped!" But Ben Beizi really didn't expect that you, a dog minion, would be so stupid that you would destroy the Great Wall and cut off your right arm by yourself, and you will die to this point, even God can't save you! ”

After laughing wildly, the Gushan Beizi monk Greenqin, who was released from the line of fire, considered his own situation, and also had such thoughts, "Should I take the initiative to send someone to contact Wu Chaoyue with that little barbarian, and see if we can join forces with him to win Gaotang City before Shengbao's dog minion, and restore the title of county king of Benbeizi?" ”

Tempted to be tempted, our monk Beizi still needs some cheekiness, and once said the words of immortality in front of Wu Chaoyue, and finally dispelled this idea after thinking about it again and again, and decided to wait for Wu Chaoyue to express his attitude first, if Wu Chaoyue is willing to abandon his previous suspicions and work together with Seng Beizi in order to be rewarded for meritorious service, of course our Seng Beizi can consider it. But if Wu Chaoyue still doesn't know what to do, Monk Beizi can only act according to the original plan, and further divide the relationship between Wu Chaoyue and Shengbao, so that they turn against each other and lose both! (To be continued.) )