With the permission of Yang Xiuqing, when the Qing-Russian combined fleet killed Hubei under the hateful eyes of the Taiping soldiers along the river, Wu Chaoyue also took the Wu army warship Luo Weilin to the front line of Jiujiang in person, and suddenly appeared in front of the soldiers of the Wu army in Jiujiang who were preparing for war without informing the Jiujiang front line in advance. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

There was no news beforehand, Wu Chaoyue's arrival of course surprised the Wu soldiers in Jiujiang, especially Bao Chao, the Jiujiang guard general who had helped Zeng Guofan embarrass Wu Chaoyue many times, was even more surprised and couldn't believe his eyes, or after pinching his thighs twice, Bao Chao quickly knelt down on one knee and saluted Wu Chaoyue, who was standing in front of him with a smile, and said with a fist: "The last general Jiujiang General Bao Chao, I have seen Wu Dashuai!" ”

"Please, General Bao, please." Wu Chaoyue picked up Bao Chao with his own hands, smiled and asked, "What?" Didn't the order for our army to change to a Western military salute be sent to you? Still using kneeling? ”

"Back to Wu Dashuai, it has changed, but I am not used to it for a while, and I forgot it." Bao Chao replied a little shyly.

"Remember to make a habit, the good things of foreigners, we have to learn when we should learn." Wu Chaoyue smiled easily and asked, "How is it?" This time I am ready to fight with the foreign army, is the army nervous? ”

"Back to Marshal Wu, the soldiers under the command of the last general are still a little nervous." Bao Chao replied truthfully: "I have never fought with the foreign army, and I know that our army of the Qing Dynasty was beaten badly by the foreign army in the past, so the brothers are still a little nervous, and they are afraid that they will not be able to defeat the foreigners." ”

"Normal, after all, we learn a lot of things from foreigners, and apprentices beat teachers, and everyone will be a little nervous and scared. If you can admit this frankly, I am more relieved, at least I don't have to worry about your arrogance and underestimation of the enemy, or like that waste of Monk Grinqin, shouting fiercer than anyone else, and fighting more than anyone else. ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled more easily, not surprising Jiujiang Wu Jun's nervous fear of war, and comforted: "But it doesn't matter, you can get used to it after one or two battles." The Qing army in Zhili was beaten badly by the foreigners, but in the eighth year of Xianfeng, they still won the battle at Dagukou? Are we inferior to the army of Zhili? ”

Bao Chao hurriedly nodded and agreed, and hurriedly invited Wu Chaoyue to enter the city to rest, Wu Chaoyue shook his head and refused, asking Bao Chao to lead him to visit and inspect the preparations in Jiujiang, Bao Chao did not dare to slack off, and quickly followed the order, and directly led Wu Chaoyue to the Jinjipo Fort, the main position of the Wu army in Jiujiang.

Strictly speaking, in fact, this area of Jiujiang is not particularly suitable for establishing a blocking position, because the river surface in this area is too wide, it is difficult for artillery fire to cover the entire river surface, and the terrain of Jinjipo is not high enough.

But there was no way, Madangshan, which was the most suitable for establishing a defensive position in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, was currently in the hands of the Taiping army, and the defensive strategy formulated by the Wu army was to resist layer by layer, gradually weakening the enemy's fleet. The Wu army in Jiujiang could only catch ducks on the shelves, and made every effort to build the Jinjipo Fort in order to prepare for war, and built a fort on the Qifangdun Heights across the river from Jinjipo, and jointly blocked the river.

Although the geographical location is not good, the fort of the Wu army in Jiujiang is very solid, in the case of no reinforced concrete forced to build with stone-clad rammed earth structure, the platform is built with glutinous rice slurry bonded bluestone at no expense, and a total of 183 artillery pieces are arranged in the two forts in the north and south, including 26 British rear-loading guns imitated by Daye Iron Works.

However, it is a pity that although the principal of the Wu Army Naval School, Asben, suggested that Wu Chaoyue follow the example of the Western military fortress and add a layer of stone roof to the fort to protect the fort and enhance the defense of the fort, Wu Chaoyue also attached great importance to this suggestion, but the Wu army technicians did not have any similar construction experience, and the construction period was too rushed. Therefore, Wu Chaoyue could only give up this correct suggestion, and the Jinjipo Fort and Qiwudun Fort of the Wu Army in Jiujiang were still open-air forts.

In addition, of course, the Jiujiang Wu army placed three movable barrage iron cables in the Yangtze River, and blocked the channel with rafts equipped with heavy anchors, so as not to give enemy ships a chance to directly cross the Jiujiang River.

After carefully inspecting the combat readiness of the Jiujiang defensive position, Wu Chaoyue was both very satisfied and worried, and was satisfied with the fact that the officers and men of the Wu Army in Jiujiang had fulfilled their duties and built the fortifications were solid and reliable, and could be entrusted with the important task of defending the river. The worry was that the Qing-Russian combined fleet would not fight to the end with the Jiujiang Wu army, and after breaking through the iron cable defense line, it would directly advance westward, and it would not be able to achieve the intended effect of hitting the enemy with a heavy blow from a strong battery.

Therefore, Wu Chaoyue quickly had such an idea in his heart, "I have to find a way to lure the enemy to storm the Jiujiang Fort with all my might, so that we can squeeze out all the oil and water on this side of Jiujiang." ”

On the same day, Liu Mingchuan, the chief soldier of the Wu army in Nanchang, also rushed to Jiujiang with his headquarters to help in the battle, but Liu Mingchuan didn't expect that Wu Chaoyue was also in Jiujiang at the moment, so after meeting and saluting, Liu Mingchuan immediately shouted loudly: "Wu Dashuai, why are you here in person?" The Rebel Sailor and the Rakshasa fleet are coming soon, and we don't have many troops here in Jiujiang, if they know that you are in Jiujiang, you may be in danger! ”

"It's okay, it's still far away, counting the distance, the chaotic party sailor and the Rakshasa people have just arrived in Anqing at most." Wu Chaoyue waved his hand, and asked with concern: "How is Brother Xiao Qijiang's body?" ”

"It's bad." Liu Mingchuan replied truthfully: "The back gangrene is getting more and more serious, and the meat on the back has a taste, so I can only lie on my stomach all the time." At present, military affairs are in the hands of Tian Xingshu and Yang Hengsheng, and all civil affairs are handed over to the political envoys and envoys. ”

"I hurt him, and I never gave him a chance to recuperate." Wu Chaoyue sighed, and felt very sorry that Xiao Qijiang was harmed by illness and let him lose a general who was both civil and military. At the end, Wu Chaoyue encouraged Liu Ming to preach: "This battle is fought well, and the results are used to plug other people's mouths, the kingdom is too greedy and lustful, and when the southern expedition to the south and Guangxi is in the future, I don't worry about letting him be the boss, I can only rest assured if you are the boss." ”

Liu Mingchuan hurriedly thanked him, and Wu Chaoyue patted Bao Chao's shoulder again and said: "Chunting, you have to suffer a lot of grievances this time, the enemy is now, not only do I not give you more troops, but I want to transfer the sailors under your command in advance, and then I have to ask you to hand over the Jiujiang city defense to the third province, so that you will suffer too much loss." But don't worry, this battle is beautiful, and I will definitely not be able to treat you badly! ”

"Don't worry, the last general is not the kind of person who is ignorant." Bao Chao replied respectfully: "The Jiujiang Naval Division is all sail warships, and staying here is for nothing to die, this truth will be understood in the end." Please rest assured, the last general will definitely defend the Jiujiang Fort, make every effort to kill some more chaotic sailors and Rakshasa warships in Jiujiang, and then immediately return to the mouth of the source and lead the Jiujiang Naval Division to assist our main force in the battle. ”

After respectfully speaking, Bao Chao also urged: "Marshal Wu, General Liu is right, you should leave Jiujiang as soon as possible, we don't have many troops here, there is no way to ensure your safety, please return to the main army quickly, and leave it to us here." ”

Liu Mingchuan also urged, and Wu Chaoyue smiled: "What's the hurry? Didn't I just say that the rebel party and the Rakshasa people are far away from us, and they won't be able to reach Jiujiang for a while and a half? Are you in such a hurry to drive me away, do you think I'm in the way and stop you from drinking flower wine? ”

"Dashuai, what kind of temper does Brother Bao and I have, don't you know? Are we the kind of people? Bao Chao smiled bitterly and said: "We are worried that the chaotic party sailors and the Rakshasa fleet know that you are in Jiujiang, so if you don't break through our river defense, we will attack Jiujiang with all our might." ”

Wu Chaoyue laughed, and just wanted to say that he would leave in a day or two, but when the words came to his mouth, his heart moved, and he hurriedly said: "Third brother of the province, what did you just say?" Why don't you break through our river defenses and attack Jiujiang with all your might? ”

"Isn't it?" Liu Mingchuan said suspiciously: "If I am the commander of the rebellious army, and the commander of the Rakshasa fleet, if I know that the commander is in Jiujiang, I will definitely not attack the Yangtze River defense line, but will only give priority to Jiujiang, and strive to capture the thief and capture the king first?" ”

Wu Chaoyue froze, and after quickly coming back to his senses, Wu Chaoyue pondered for a moment before he said: "Brother Liu, Brother Bao, I plan to add some burden to you, you must carry it for me, and you must not be afraid at all." ”

"Please command!" Bao Chao and Liu Mingchuan replied in unison.

"I intend to personally command the Jiujiang Blockade." Wu Chaoyue said in a deep voice: "Use myself as a bait to lure the rebel water division and the Rakshasa army to attack Jiujiang with all their might, and even lure them ashore to fight, and then when you are about to lose your support, I will take a boat back to Tianjia Town and hand over the mess of Jiujiang to you to clean up." ”

"Dashuai, why are you taking such a risk?" Liu Mingchuan hurriedly asked.

"Because our Jiujiang defense line is too weak, especially the Jiangshang defense line." Wu Chaoyue replied: "If the rebel sailors and the Rakshasa fleet deliberately do not attack the Jiujiang fort position in order to reduce losses, and choose to use artillery fire to cover and destroy our barrage iron cable, then once our iron cable defense line is broken through by the enemy, they can easily break through our Jiujiang defense line and directly kill our Hubei hinterland with slight losses." ”

"Therefore, I must stay in Jiujiang, and let the rebel party sailors and Rakshasa people see the opportunity to capture the thief and capture the king first, and attack the Jiujiang Fort with all their might, so that the Jinjipo Fort we have worked so hard to build can play the greatest role and achieve our tactical goal of gradually weakening the enemy."

After saying his vicious intentions, Wu Chaoyue said lightly: "Of course, in this way, the burden on your body will be more than doubled, but I hope you must withstand it, because our enemy this time is too strong, and we have never encountered a strong enemy since we started to rebel." ”

After discussing a few words with Bao Chao in a low voice, Liu Mingchuan arched his hand and said: "Dashuai, we have absolutely no problem carrying it, but we have one condition, if the situation is not right......." ”

"If it's not right, I'll be a deserter right away." Wu Chaoyue interrupted Liu Mingchuan's words, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I am also a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, two of my wife and three concubines are not yet twenty years old, and there is a beautiful lady who has never passed through the door, even if it is for them, I will not be blind and strong, and I will die in vain." ”

Liu Mingchuan had a smile on his face and said: "Then we have nothing to say, please rest assured, wait and see, even if we lose the battle, we will definitely let the Rakshasa people collapse their mouths of teeth!" ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded with satisfaction, and arranged for Bao Chao to spread rumors, saying that he would wait for the Qing-Russian combined fleet to come to Jiujiang before leaving by boat, and also explained that he must let the Hukou Taiping Army also know the situation. Bao Chao was surprised when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Dashuai, aren't you going to lure the enemy in person?" Why do you want to let out the wind again, saying that the enemy will leave as soon as he comes? ”

"The rebel army and the Rakshasa people are not fools, seeing that our main force is not in Jiujiang, and seeing Jiujiang, can you not know that I am fighting the idea of slipping away at any time? Will you go all out to storm the Jiujiang Fort? Wu Chaoyue asked with a smile.

"But the rebels and Rakshasas know that you are ready to evacuate Jiujiang at any time, so they will not attack Jiujiang Fort with all their might?" Bao Chao asked again.

"Can my boat break down all of a sudden? Don't you know that steamers are boiler-driven and are most prone to sudden problems? My ship broke down suddenly, and I dare to leave Jiujiang at the risk of being caught up by the Rakshasa steam gunboat at any moment? ”

Wu Chaoyue's answer almost didn't make Bao Chao faint on the spot, and after looking at Liu Mingchuan for a while, Bao Chao and Liu Mingchuan also said in their hearts together: "No wonder you can ride on our heads when you are younger than us, this belly full of bad water, the lack of virtue that comes when you open your mouth, we really can't compare." ”

So, under Wu Chaoyue's personal arrangement, the rumor was immediately released, and it was soon detected by the Manchu court's detailed work in Jiujiang, and at the same time, the Taiping army at Hukou also quickly received the news. As a result, although Lin Qirong, the defender of the Taiping Army's Hukou, did not dare or have the strength to come over and sneak attack and kill Wu Chaoyue, he still couldn't help but curse, "I hope that your traitor's ship will have a problem on the road and be caught up by the Qing demons and Rakshasas." ”

Three days later, the huge Qing-Russian combined fleet successfully arrived at Hukou, although Lin Qirong was extremely unwilling, but still carried out Yang Xiuqing's order, while letting the Taiping Army's Hukou Water Division move to the east bank of Poyang Lake early, and on the other hand, according to Yang Xiuqing's request, gave up the Balijiang camp for the Qing-Russian combined fleet to station, and provided coal supplies. When the Qing army sent people ashore to give gifts and thanks, and asked about the situation of the Wu army by the way, Lin Qirong said in a fierce tone: "Beyond the little demon is in Jiujiang, if you move quickly, you may be able to block Jiujiang!" ”

In fact, there was no need for Lin Qirong to tell the truth, the Qing army's meticulous work had already reported the news that Wu Chaoyue was in Jiujiang at this moment to Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei, and also reported that Wu Chaoyue was about to leave on a steam gunboat. In this regard, Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei inevitably felt very sorry, and both said: "It's a pity, if the thief Wu stayed in Jiujiang for a day or two longer, maybe he could capture the thief and capture the king first, and directly kill this giant traitor!" ”

At this time, of course, the good news that Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei couldn't believe suddenly came - Wu Chaoyue's steam gunboat Luo Weilin suddenly had a mechanical failure!