He thanked the Taiping Army envoy with fifty taels of silver, and after personally sending the Taiping Army envoy off the flagship of the Qing Army's naval division with a smile on his face, the smile suddenly disappeared on Wen Xiang's face, and then Wen Xiang also warned Wu Quanmei: "Bishan, we can't take it lightly, we must be prepared to prevent the long-haired naval division from suddenly attacking us." Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Zhongtang, do you suspect that Long Hair is hiding a knife in his smile?" Wu Quanmei asked.

Wen Xiang nodded and said: "I remember this long-haired messenger, he didn't be so affectionate to the old man last time, this time we were defeated, he nodded to the old man, this is a bit weird, we guard against the long hair is to deceive us and take it lightly, and then suddenly attack us, killing us by surprise." ”

Wu Quanmei received the order and said: "Zhongtang rest assured, the end will tell the soldiers to be loose on the outside and tight on the inside, and be careful." ”

After that, Wu Quanmei immediately ordered the Qing army's naval division to let the Qing army's naval division and the Russian army's transport fleet advance in a double-column formation, the Qing army's naval division was responsible for facing the Taiping army's warships, the Russian army's transport fleet was driven down, the warships' artillery was all charged and loaded, the gun windows were all opened, and the gunners were on strict alert, ready to fire back at any time, and cautiously sailed to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, entering the southern channel of Zhangjiazhou from the south side of the Taiping army's naval division.

Facts have proved that Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei were purely blindly worried, and during the period of rubbing shoulders with the fleet of the Taiping Army Naval Division, the Taiping Army Naval Division did not even fire a single bullet from the gun, and directly let the scarred Qing Army Naval Division pass through their defense area, and did not take any action against the Russian transport fleet carrying military supplies.

Still after completely breaking away from the range of the Taiping Army's naval division, Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei, who had been holding their hearts in their throats, breathed a long sigh of relief, and then they were also amazed together, and then Wen Xiang was very surprised and said: "I didn't expect that the long hair in Hukou would be so trustworthy, and he would let us go, and the old man almost thought that they were hiding knives in laughter." ”

"If they want to hide a knife in their laughter, they have to have this solidity too." Wu Quanmei smiled and said: "Except for the two small steamers in their hands, which are more difficult, the rest are all fragile and dilapidated boats. ”

At this time, the last four intact steamships of the Tsarist army also rushed to the entrance of the southern channel of Zhangjiazhou, and the Taiping Navy also gave way to let them go. However, as soon as the Russian steamship escaped into the southern channel of Zhangjiazhou, the naval division of the Taiping Army immediately lined up at the entrance of the southern channel of Zhangjiazhou, stopped the pursuers of the Wu army's naval division behind, and fired a warning at the river early to prevent the Wu army's naval division from continuing to advance.

The Qing army scout clipper quickly reported back to the flagship the situation of the Taiping Army's naval division firing a cannon warning to the Wu army's naval division, Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei and others were of course even more overjoyed, and they were all extremely glad that the heavens blessed them, and at the critical moment, the self-army ran into Lin Qirong, the general of the Taiping Army, who hated Wu Chaoyue deeply. As a result, at this time, another small boat of the Taiping Army with a white flag came up and boarded the flagship of the Qing army to meet Wen Xiang.

"Lord Zhongtang, our Zhentian Marquis Lin sent the little one to discuss something with you." The envoy of the Taiping army said politely: "Your army and the Transcendent Little Demon fought in the upper reaches and unfortunately lost, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and there may be some surplus warships in the fleet of your army and the Rakshasas, or warships that are inconvenient to bring back after being injured, if your army is willing, we Zhentianhou can buy them with silver." ”

Wen Xiang and Wu Quanmei exchanged glances, and vaguely guessed some of the reasons why Lin Qirong was so friendly to the self-army, and then Wen Xiang pretended to be curious and asked, "You want to buy a boat from us?" ”

"That's right." The Taiping envoy nodded, and said, "As long as it is a warship that can still be repaired, if you are willing to sell it, Lord Zhongtang, we will buy it all." Also, I heard that there are some foreign cannons on the Rakshasa people ship that can open flower cannonballs, and if the Rakshasas are willing to sell them, we will buy them all. ”

After that, the envoy of the Taiping Army hurriedly added a sentence and said: "Lord Zhongtang, rest assured, we bought the ship to compete with the sailors who surpassed the little demon, and in return, our Zhentian Marquis Lin will not only do his best to provide you with all kinds of necessary supplies, but also lend the dock to you to dock and repair the warship, in addition, Zhentianhou will also come forward to persuade us to go to various forts in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, so that they can unconditionally let you go." ”

After discussing a few words in a low voice, considering that there were still Taiping army batteries and sailors blocking the road downstream, and at the same time, there were indeed many seriously injured red single boats in the Qing army's fleet, which could no longer withstand long-distance turbulence, Wen Xiang agreed to Lin Qirong's request, and promised to try his best to persuade the Tsarist fleet to also sell some ships and weapons to the Taiping army at Hukou.

Not to mention, in order to smoothly withdraw from the Yangtze River channel, Menchekov, the acting commander of the Russian army, did not hesitate to agree to the request of the Taiping Army, and also promised to sell the two seriously damaged sail battleships and an equally seriously injured steam warship to the Taiping Army at a low price, together with the supporting weapons on board.

Wen Xiang, who negotiated on behalf of the Taiping Army, was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Menchekov, but Menchekov wiped the sweat and smoke on his face and asked, "Wen, can the Taiping Army here in Hukou be reliable?" If they can be relied on, and Wu Chaoyue's rebels do not dare to violate the covenant and chase into their defense area, I want my fleet to dock at Hukou Pier to rest, my soldiers are too tired, and my warship also needs to be repaired. ”

"This ......." Wen Xiang still didn't dare to play this guarantee, so he could only hesitate and said: "Mr. Menchekov, this point can only be said when you get to the mouth of the lake, and I will try my best to fight for you." ”

Of course, Menchekov also knew that the Taiping army might not be reliable, nodded in agreement, and said: "If the Taiping army agrees, you must also ask them to withdraw the troops on the dock, and our army will take over the defense of the dock, otherwise we would rather not rest than risk entering the port and anchoring." ”

…………

At the same time, Wu Chaoyue, who had personally led the army to Jiujiang, was also in a dilemma, the envoy reported that Lin Qirong categorically refused to join forces, and Wang Fu reported that the Taiping army sailors fired a warning and took out the covenant to refuse the Wu army's armed ships to enter their defense area.

"Otherwise, just take the opportunity to fight! Anyway, it was Yang Xiuqing who was unrighteous first, and deliberately borrowed the road to fight me for the Manchu army and the Russian fleet, and it was justified to take the opportunity to turn his face and start a war. As far as the current situation is concerned, even if the Taiping Army Naval Division at Hukou joins forces with the Manchu Water Division and the Russian Fleet, Lao Tzu's Naval Division also has a one-to-three grasp. ”

Wu Chaoyue was once a little inclined to start fighting, breaking through the blockade of the Taiping Army's naval division by force and continuing to pursue and kill, but reason stopped Wu Chaoyue's impulse - the Wu army is not ready to resume a full-scale war with the Taiping army, and the Wu army's outlet to the sea is also controlled by the Taiping army. At that time, even if Wu Chaoyue could dredge the waterway by force, he must first use a large amount of manpower and material resources on the Yangtze River battlefield, and could no longer use the main forces on the Northern Expedition battlefield, which dealt a fatal blow to the dying Manchu court.

"Give Wang Fu an order to give up the pursuit and withdraw to Jiujiang to rest."

After hesitating again and again, for the sake of the overall situation, Wu Chaoyue gritted his teeth and gave up the pursuit plan. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue inevitably gritted his teeth even more at Lin Qirong, the commander of the Taiping Army in Hukou, and couldn't help muttering, "Bai admired you before." ”

The reason why Wu Chaoyue muttered this sentence was that Wu Chaoyue accidentally read a description of the famous generals of the Taiping Army before the crossing, which said that Lin Qirong had held Jiujiang for several years, and still refused to surrender without food and support, and after Jiujiang City was broken by the Hunan army commanded by Hu Linyi, the Hunan soldiers also brutally cut open Lin Qirong's stomach, and traced the reason why he could still beat the Hunan army several times in the city defense battle after several months of food shortage......

In Lin Qirong's belly, the generals and soldiers of the Hunan army only saw broken grass and cotton wool, and Wu Chaoyue was full of respect for Lin Qirong.

…………

"Do you want us to evacuate the docks and lend them to you to rest? Of course, there is no problem, come and order the defenders of the Hukou pier to withdraw to the camp to rest, and lend the pier to the Qing demons and Rakshasas. ”

Lin Qirong is indeed not worthy of Wu Chaoyue's admiration, after confirming that Wu Chaoyue has withdrawn and stopped the pursuit, when the Qing army envoy Cao Jiugong cautiously came to Lin Qirong, and more carefully asked Lin Qirong to relieve the defense of the dock and lend the dock to the Qing Russian coalition army to rest, Lin Qirong agreed without even blinking an eyelid, immediately withdrew the dock defenders, and let the Qing Russian soldiers land to take over the defense of the Hukou wharf.

Lin Qirong's selfless cooperation of course made the already exhausted Qing Russian soldiers very happy, after the army went ashore to control the wharf, many extremely tired Qing Russian soldiers just dropped anchor next to the Hukou wharf, and immediately collapsed on the deck and fell asleep. And what made the soldiers of the Qing Russian coalition army even happier was still behind, Lin Qirong actually sent a large number of women to carry hot meals to the dock to feed the Qing Russian soldiers who could only rely on river water and dry food for more than a day.

"Master Jun, you have worked hard, Zhen Tianhou asked us to bring you food, eat quickly, it's still hot."

The woman's unique gentle voice did not make the Qing army generals and Russian officers give up their guard, and basically put forward a request to let the woman who delivered the food eat first, but the woman sent by Lin Qirong smiled and ate the food, and then the Qing Russian soldiers, who were already tired and hungry to the extreme, rushed up to grab the food, and many people fell asleep directly while eating.

With the permission of the Russian officers, these women also delivered food directly to the deck of the Russian ship, and along with these women who delivered food, as well as Lin Qirong's third brother Lin Qinan, as Lin Qirong's plenipotentiary representative, discussed with Wen Xiang, Wu Quanmei, Menchekov and others about purchasing weapons on the ship.

Probably didn't know that the Qing army scout ship had reported on its own that Wu Jun had given up the pursuit, and after meeting with Wen Xiang and others, Lin Qinan also said: "Wen Zhongtang, Wu Junmen, our sailor reported that the little demon has retreated back to Jiujiang, you can rest assured, our sailor will be in Zhangjiazhou tonight, so that you can rest in peace." ”

"Thank you General Lin, General Lin rest assured, the great kindness of the general's brother, the old man keeps it in mind, if he has the opportunity in the future, he will definitely repay him with a spring."

Wen Xiang hurriedly thanked him, but Lin Qinan smiled and said: "Thank you is not necessary, it's just a gesture, just ask Wen Zhongtang for you to set the price of ships and weapons low." ”

"Of course that's no problem, by the way, General Lin, the old man has another good news to tell ......"

"There's a fleet to the south!"

The screams from outside the cabin frightened Wen Xiang's face pale, and the Qing Russian soldiers in the cabin immediately raised their weapons and aimed at Lin Qinan, but Lin Qinan said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, it's our small pulling fleet, surpassing the little demon treacherous, my brother is afraid that he will send troops from the north channel of Zhangjiazhou to attack, so he specially transferred our small pulling team in Poyang Lake to guard the Bali River, although it doesn't play a big role, but at least it can send a signal and warning in advance." ”

Jiang Xin glanced at Lin Qinan suspiciously, Menchekov and Wu Quanmei both asked Wen Xiang to temporarily stop the negotiation and go to the deck to observe the situation, but fortunately, the small detachment of the Taiping Army from the south did not have any intention of approaching the Hukou wharf, and went directly north to the direction of the Bali River in the distance.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Wu Quanmei and Menchekov returned to the cabin to negotiate with Lin Qinan, and said on the spot that they would give a steam warship that could still be repaired to the Taiping Army with the equipment on board, as a thank you to the Taiping Army, Lin Qinan thanked him a thousand times, and then started negotiations with the Qing-Russian coalition forces to purchase weapons from other ships.

Lang has a concubine intentions, the Hukou Taiping Army covets the ships and weapons of the Qing Russian coalition army, and the Qing Russian coalition army hopes that the Hukou Taiping Army will help the self-army to block the pursuing soldiers, under the dry firewood, the negotiation between Lin Qinan and Wen Xiang and others is of course very smooth, and soon a large amount of arms deal was reached. Then at Menchekov's direct request, Wen Xiang said to Lin Qinan: "General Lin, there is still something to ask your brother Zhentianhou to help, and the downstream of your army battery ......." ”

"Boom!"

The sudden sound of cannon shook everyone for a moment, saying that it was too late and that it was fast, as if it was a trick, Lin Qinan, who was searched by the Qing soldiers, suddenly only bent down and touched the shoe, and suddenly conjured a snowy dagger in his hand, jumped forward and cut Menchekov's neck accurately with a single knife, and blood suddenly splashed.

Lin Qinan still wanted to turn around and assassinate Wen Xiang again, but he didn't expect that Wu Quanmei next to him suddenly jumped up, kicked him over in the cabin with two volleys, and saved Wen Xiang's life - unlike Wu Chaoyue, who was powerless, Wu Quanmei was the number one martial arts master in the late Qing Dynasty.

Bang bang bang, bang bang, the gunshots were loud, Lin Qinan and the two personal soldiers he brought soon all fell in a pool of blood, Wen Xiang was so frightened that he urinated on the crotch of his pants on the spot, but Wu Quanmei roared angrily: "Send a signal quickly, close the anchor and leave the port, we are fooled!" ”

It was indeed fooled, and at the same time as the cannon sounded, the small pulling fleet of the Taiping Army, which had previously falsely claimed to go to the Bali River to prevent the sneak attack of the Wu army's naval division, had all turned around and killed the Qing-Russian combined fleet anchored at the mouth of the lake with oars and sails!

What made Wu Quanmei, Wen Xiang and others even more dumbfounded was still behind, just when they rushed out of the cabin, the four steam gunboats and several sail battleships of the Russian army actually appeared at the same time with fire, gunfire and shouts of killing. Wen Xiang blurted out, "How is it possible? When did Longhair touch our main warship? ”

"Ahh I've been tricked! ”

Wu Quanmei suddenly woke up, and suddenly roared wildly, "Bigfoot barbarian! I forgot that there are female soldiers in the long-haired army, and they are all big-footed brutes! All of them can go to the battlefield, and they are also the best at hand-to-hand combat! Those women who deliver food must all be big-footed brutes! ”

Unfortunately, Wu Quanmei said that after hearing the sound of cannons, the female soldiers of the Taiping Army who pretended to be ordinary women to deliver food to the ship either took out their personal collection of short weapons, or took out the swords hidden in the burden of carrying rice, and the tiger pounced on the Russian soldiers and sailors who were already exhausted to the extreme, and slashed and stabbed the enemy who was eating or sleeping, and immediately killed the Russian soldiers by surprise, and while engaging the enemy, they attacked the sails and rudders of the Russian warships and destroyed the maneuverability of the enemy ships.

At the same time, in the Taiping Army camp outside Hukou City, of course, the soldiers of the Taiping Army also poured out under the personal leadership of Lin Qirong. There was also the main force of the Taiping Army's naval division that was guarding against the Wu army in Zhangjiazhou, and under the leadership of Hu Dingwen, they turned around and returned to Hukou to help the small boat team and the land division ambush the main force of the Qing and Russian coalition naval divisions.

"Beyond the little demon, Lao Tzu doesn't want your help, he can kill the Qing Demon Rakshasa people, and when Lao Tzu grabs the steamer of the Rakshasa people, he will slowly settle accounts with you!" Lin Qirong gritted his teeth and said this.