"The current situation is still that the enemy is strong and we are weak, and it is true that our two lines of defense in Jiujiang and Tianjiazhen have weakened the enemy, but they have only injured the enemy's muscles and bones, and have not greatly damaged the enemy's vitality, especially the fleet that has not hurt the Russians much. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Now the Russians still have nineteen steamboats, of which eight have a tonnage of more than 1,000 tons, and we have only six steamboats, and only three of them have a tonnage of more than 1,000 tons. In addition, the Russians had twelve sail battleships, and we had only two. The disparity in strength is huge, and in a head-to-head battle, we have no hope of victory. ”

"Even the main force of the Chaotic Party's Sailor Division, we can't be underestimated, the Rebel Party's Naval Division now has one hundred and two Red Single Boats left, of which there are at least eighty or more that can still be used on the battlefield to fight, and the strength is enough to sweep our sampan fleet, and it can also directly threaten the main force of our Sailor Division."

"This battle is not easy to fight, it must be a tough battle, but we can't take a step back, next to the source of the mouth is Daye, if we retreat, even if we can hold the provincial capital, we can't keep our Daye industrial base. Without Daye, and the channel to the sea is controlled by Changmao, we will lose. ”

"So, brethren, you must remember that this battle is a strategic decisive battle for the survival of our rebel army! Lose, we're finished! We can only win! We can only win this decisive battle at any cost! This time, we didn't have any choice but to fight to the end! ”

In his speech to the soldiers of the Wu army, Wu Chaoyue calmly admitted the cruel fact that the water strength of his army was still far inferior to that of the enemy, but in order to boost the morale of the army, Wu Chaoyue took the initiative to leak an important situation, saying: "However, brothers, you can rest assured, since I dare to take you to fight this decisive battle, I have my certainty!" ”

"We still have a secret weapon that has never been used, and this weapon can be destroyed at once when it comes out, not to mention the wooden-hulled steam gunboats, even the two iron-hulled gunboats that the Russians snatched from Longhair! Just wait and see how the Rakshasa devils are scared into peeing their crotches by our secret weapon! ”

Hearing Wu Chaoyue's words, of course, the soldiers of the Wu army exchanged heads and ears, curiously discussing what the secret weapon of the army was, and even Bao Chao and Liu Liankun, who had just rushed from Jiujiang to participate in the war, were full of surprise, only then did they know that Wu Chaoyue still had a back hand. However, Wang Fu, Huang Yuanlong, Qian Wei and other important generals of the Wu army who accompanied them were worried, and they reminded Wu Chaoyue in a low voice: "Commander, are you careful, what if the news leaks and is known by the enemy?" ”

Wu Chaoyue ignored the kind reminders of Wang Fu and others, and just continued to give a speech, or at the end of the speech, after returning to the Chinese army camp in Outer Continent, when Wang Fu mentioned this matter again, Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "It's okay, I did it on purpose, deliberately to let the enemy hear the rumors." ”

"Why deliberately let the enemy hear the wind?" Wang Fu asked suspiciously: "Isn't it better to let the enemy completely know that we still have a backhand?" ”

"A few days ago, I asked Daye Iron Works to secretly cast a 10,000-pound cannon." Wu Chaoyue replied casually: "Prepare to arrange it at the mouth of the river to scare the enemy, so that the enemy thinks that it is our secret weapon and attract the enemy's attention." In this way, we can suddenly use the real secret weapon to kill the enemy by a greater surprise. ”

Wang Fu and the others suddenly realized, and hurriedly complimented Wu Chaoyue's wisdom and martial arts, but Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said: "It's just a small trick, and I don't dare to guarantee whether the enemy will be on me." Okay, it's rare to get together so much, let's have dinner together, talk while eating, and if you have any good tactical suggestions, just talk freely, and let's discuss them together. ”

By the way, I would like to introduce the deployment of the Wu army's defense line at the mouth of the Yangtze River, which is completely opposite to Tianjiazhen, the defense deployment of the Wu army on the front line of the mouth of the source is heavy in the south and light in the north, and only 50 artillery pieces, one battalion of artillery and two battalions of infantry are deployed on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and they are also ready to abandon the position on the north bank to defend the south bank at any time; On the south bank, heavy troops gathered, Huang Yuanlong's first corps was responsible for guarding the Yuankou on the south bank of the Jinhe River, and Wu Chaoyue personally led the direct corps to guard the foreign positions on the north bank of the Jinhe River; The main force of the Naval Division was stationed at the Xinzhou camp in the north of the outer continent, and the sandbar of Jiangxin Island in the north was used to protect the naval battalion and avoid direct engagement with the enemy's powerful fleet.

In addition, after learning the lessons of his time in Jiujiang, Wu Chaoyue withdrew the troops originally stationed on Jiangxin Island on Shazhou, and only built six iron cables between the northernmost point of Shazhou and the south bank of the Yangtze River to block the waterway, and built forts to garrison the army, so as not to give the enemy the opportunity to bypass Jiangxin Island and directly take the camp of the water division.

The iron cables blocking the river channel were arranged by Wu Chaoyue between the southernmost part of the sandbar and Zhangxia Bay, and only three iron cables were arranged. In this regard, all the generals of the Wu army raised questions, fearing that the Qing-Russian combined fleet would continue to use the tactics of Jiujiang and Tianjiazhen, only break through and not land, and continue to take the Hubei provincial capital directly. Wu Chaoyue replied: "Daye is a hundred times more important than the provincial capital, if the provincial city is lost, we can take it back, but if Daye is lost, even if we can take it back, it will be useless." ”

While eating and chatting, in view of the combat habit of the Qing and Russian coalition forces, the Qing army's sailors rushed to the front as cannon fodder, and the Tsarist fleet hid behind the other shore to watch the fire, Bao Chao put forward a quite good suggestion, that is, to suddenly dispatch the sampan fleet during the battle, take advantage of the Qing army's red single fleet when it was pinned down by shore artillery, raid the Tsarist fleet, rush to the upstream of the Tsarist Russian fleet and cast floating mines to control the enemy, and volunteered to personally lead the army to take on this task.

"You can think about it." Wu Chaoyue replied: "But it also depends on whether the fighter is mature, if this tactic is used during the day, our chances of success are very small, and there is hope only at night." ”

"Then the last general will prepare the assault team first, and if the fighter plane appears, how about the last general immediately start?" Bao Chao hurriedly asked.

"You don't need to go in person, just pick a general who has the courage to go." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said: "The Jiujiang Naval Division is inseparable from your command, and at the critical moment, I will also count on your fleet to take on the heavy responsibility of transporting troops." ”

"Dashuai, let the last general go!"

"Report! Commander, the enemy fleet has been found downstream of the Yuankou! ”

The scout's flying newspaper interrupted the volunteering of Bao Chao's subordinate Liu Liankun, and also surprised Wu Chaoyue's snacks, and said, "It's here so soon?" The rebel sailors and the Russian fleet fought so badly in Tianjia Town, why don't they repair the warship? How many boats came? ”

"Back to Dashuai, there are twelve boats, all of which are red single boats of the rebel army."

The scout's answer made Wu Yueyue Wan'er smile and said: "It turns out that they are here to die in vain, this gang of rebellious party troops is really pitiful, in order to find out the truth of our defense line for the Rakshasa devils, they have to come even if they know that they are sent to death." ”

The generals of the Wu army also burst into laughter, saying that this was the end of being a slave to foreigners. Wang Fu also couldn't wait to say: "Marshal, there is no need to fire from shore artillery, let the last general send a steam cannon ship to fight, and ensure that you can clean up this chaotic fleet and use them to open meat sacrifice flags." ”

Wu Chaoyue, who didn't want to expose the truth of the defense line too early, wanted to agree casually, but after the words came to his lips, Wu Chaoyue changed his mind again, and instead asked his own soldiers to bring paper and pens, personally picked up the pen and wrote a paragraph, and sent someone to send it to the enemy by speedboat. Then Wu Chaoyue called Wang Fu in front of him again and explained how to fight this battle - let the enemy fire the first shot, and then resolutely return fire!

"Marshal, what if the rebellious fleet really doesn't fire all the time?" Wang Fu asked.

"Probably not, otherwise it will be difficult for them to explain when they go back." Wu Chaoyue shook his head, and said casually: "If the chaotic fleet really doesn't fire, then let's not fight, we can't be untrustworthy." ”

…………

At this moment, contrary to Wu Chaoyue, who was smiling calmly, on the fleet of the Qing Army's naval division, which was cautiously approaching the mouth of the Yuanyuan, Wang Pengnian, the general of the Qing Army's naval division, who led this fleet, had a very gloomy and terrifying face, and the deputy general Cai Yinglong opened his mouth to ask questions several times, but Wang Pengnian was silent and refused to answer any questions.

"Brother Wang, I've already arrived at Qipan Village." Cai Yinglong spoke again, and reminded very carefully: "A short distance further on, we are about to enter the range of Wu Thief's battery. ”

Wang Pengnian still didn't speak, just raised his binoculars and looked ahead, and then said with a gloomy face: "Raise the flag, prepare to open fire, and continue to move forward." ”

"Brother Wang, are you crazy?!" Cai Yinglong was taken aback.

"Drive on the South Shore Passageway." Wang Pengnian added with an indifferent expression.

"Brother Wang, are you really crazy?" Cai Yinglong exclaimed and asked, "How many boats do we have?" You're going to keep going, you're going to be ready to fire, you're going to have to stay on the South Shore Channel? Send our fleet to the door to be a live target for the Wu thief? ”

"It's an order!" Wang Pengnian raised his voice a little, and added weakly, "It's the order of Qin Chawen Zhongtang, and it is also the order of Wu Dashuai." ”

"Are they going to send us to death on purpose?" Cai Yinglong was even more taken aback, and said: "Our main force is still resting in Zhoujiawu, and we are asked to attack the defense line of Wu Thief Xiangyuankou, and you want our lives?" ”

"It's not that you want our lives, it's that you want to test the truth of the Wu thief's defense line at the source of the mouth." Wang Pengnian replied weakly: "Our meticulous work is useless, and there are not many enemy situations in the Xiangyuankou, so we are asked to attack the Xiangyuankou, force the Wu thief to open artillery, and find out the number of Wu thief's battery positions and artillery." ”

"And what about our brothers?" Cai Yinglong asked angrily.

Wang Pengnian didn't answer anymore, just stared ahead with a gloomy face, and his heart throbbed one after another. As a result, at this time, a Wu army scout clipper suddenly appeared in front, waving a white flag directly to meet Wang Pengnian's fleet, and when the Qing army scout clipper who opened the road in front of him caught up, the Wu army scout clipper shook the white flag desperately, and negotiated with the Qing army scout clipper on the side of the side. Then soon, the Qing army scout ship turned around and rushed back, presented a letter to Wang Pengnian, and said: "Chief Soldier, the letter sent by the Wu thief clipper ship says that it is a personal letter from Wu Chaoyue and the thief, and it will be handed over to the commander of our fleet. ”

"Wu Chaoyue's handwritten letter from the traitor?"

Wang Pengnian took the letter with some surprise, and when he opened it, he saw a short paragraph written on the paper in ugly handwriting - why bother to die in vain? When we were in Tianjia Town, if we hadn't shown mercy to your men, your casualties would have only been that little? If you just want to give the Rakshasas an errand, you can turn around in front of our defense line and go back safely, but if you dare to open fire, don't blame me for being ruthless.

After reading Wu Chaoyue's handwritten letter, Wang Pengnian's expression was extremely complicated, and Cai Yinglong next to him showed joy and said in a low voice: "Brother Wang, this is a way, as long as we don't open fire, and Wu Thief is also true to his word, then we can not only make a difference, but also not let the brothers die in vain." ”

Wang Pengnian didn't have any answer, just looked coldly at the gradually approaching defensive position of the Wu army, and his mood was full of contradictions, he was unwilling to do perfunctory things to collaborate with the enemy, and he didn't want to let his soldiers die in vain, so he had no choice.

At this time, there was a whistle sound from the front, and a Wu army steam gunboat sailed out of the south channel of the sandbank and rushed to the open place in the center of the river, and the Qing army officers and soldiers hurriedly prepared to meet the battle, but the Wu army steam gunboat did not directly meet Wang Pengnian's fleet, and chose to turn into the channel on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and did not seem to plan to fight with the Qing army's fleet.

Watching the majestic Wu army steam gunboat in fear, before he knew it, Wang Pengnian's fleet had already entered the range of the Wu army's battery, but the Wu army's battery, which was covered with camouflage, did not move, and he didn't pay attention to the Qing army fleet that was close at hand. At the same time, the Wu army's steam gunboat also remained silent, and only slowly moved eastward along the north shore channel.

Seeing this scene, Wang Pengnian of course also understood what Wu Chaoyue meant, and knew that if he didn't fire first, then Wu Chaoyue would probably fulfill his promise and let himself leave in a circle at the mouth of the source. But if he dares to open fire, then he will immediately attract the overwhelming artillery fire of the Wu army's battery, and the Wu army's steam gunboat will also join the battle and mend the knife on his own heavily damaged fleet.

"Hit? Or not to fight? Wang Pengnian couldn't make up his mind at all.

In front of everyone's eyes, the weak Qing army Wang Pengnian's fleet gradually penetrated into the depths of the firepower network of the Wu army's defense line at the source of the mouth, the Wu army's steam gunboat Huashana was watching and delaying on the sidelines, and the dark guns on the Wu army's batteries on both sides of the strait had already been aimed at the enemy. However, the shore artillery and warships of the Wu army remained silent, not firing a single shot, but firing a single shot.

Most of the officers and men of the Qing army, who knew what danger they were in, were already colorless, their legs trembled, and their whole bodies trembled. Wang Pengnian fought on the deck of the Qing army's flagship, and wanted to order the opening of the cannon several times to force the Wu army to fire back, but he really couldn't bear to let his soldiers die in vain, and used the Tsarist Russian invaders he hated so much as cannon fodder. However, when he thought of the fire reconnaissance mission assigned to him by Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei, Wang Pengnian, who was very loyal to the Manchu court, gritted his teeth several times and wanted to order the artillery to be fired......

Cai Yinglong, who had been accompanying him, didn't speak, just cautiously peeked at Wang Pengnian's face, but what disappointed Cai Yinglong was that after hesitating for a long time with a complicated expression, Wang Pengnian still opened his mouth and said with a painful expression: "Hit the flag, fire the cannon." ”

"Brother Wang, do you really want to fight?" Cai Yinglong trembled and said, "Can't you think about it for the brothers? ”

Wang Pengnian's expression became even more painful, and after hesitating for a long time, Wang Pengnian still changed his words and said: "Hurry up and draw a map, mark the location of the Wu thief fort, turn around on the sandbank, and go back by the north shore channel." ”

Cai Yinglong happily agreed, and hurriedly urged the Kanyu on the ship to hurry up and draw and mark, while Wang Pengnian lowered his head and said to himself: "It's great to be dismissed from your post and asked, anyway, my top has been removed, and I am in prison alone, how can it be better than letting hundreds of brothers die in vain." ”

Under the command of Wang Pengnian and Cai Yinglong, the Qing army fleet turned around at the sandbank and turned to the north shore channel, while drawing and marking the coastal geography while sailing downstream, the Wu army's steam gunboat Huashana took the initiative to turn to the south bank channel, let the channel let the Qing army sailor fleet leave, and confronted each other for more than an hour, but they were always safe, until Wang Pengnian's fleet left the battlefield of Xiangyuankou without firing a single shot, firing a shot.

After the situation was reported to Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue, who originally just wanted to salute first and then show his hypocrite, was also a little surprised, and said, "Who is the general of the rebellious party who leads the team?" This kid is very responsible, for the sake of his subordinates, dare to take on such a big responsibility? Find a way to find out who this person is, and maybe you can win it over. ”