Relying on Wu Jianzhang's financial support, Liu Jiajun, whose full name is Dongjiadu Regiment in Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, is not only exactly the same weapons and equipment as Wu Jun Lianyong, but also hires foreign instructors to teach and train, and even the number of people deliberately imitates Wu Jun Lianyong when he first went to war, a total of 226 people, two sentinels and 14 personal soldiers, plus Wu Chaoyue's original 20-person sniper team, on the surface except for the different banners, There is no difference from Wu Jun's practice of courage during the Qingpu War.

On the surface, it's basically the same, but in the bones......

Brown, an American veteran who once helped Wu Chaoyue train Wu Jun to practice bravery, and later, at the request of Wu Jianzhang and Liu Lichuan, Liu Jiajun, who also helped Liu Lichuan train for a period of time, had a fairly objective evaluation of Liu Jiajun, "They should not go to the battlefield as soldiers, the battlefield is not their stage, Broadway, taverns, black markets and prisons are their best belonging." ”

"They are very smart, almost stupid, and run with heavy loads, and I must check their knapsacks one by one, or they will surely exchange the heavy stones for thatch; I had to monitor every cross-country march, otherwise they would only go ten miles at most for a fifty-mile march; Bayonet combat training, Wu's soldiers can cause the death of their comrades in training, but their training intensity can't kill even a mouse or fly; Not to mention live ammunition, in order to deceive me, their officers were able to help the soldiers cheat, either by falsely reporting their results or by secretly replacing target disks that had bullet holes long ago. ”

"They're natural actors, and there's time for me to watch. Their marches could have been more standard and neat than Wu's's soldiers' marches, but I just had to turn my head. They were all sitting on the floor and resting in no time. When Jian Chang Wu inspected them with the wealthy merchant gentry of Shanghai, their slogans could be louder than those of friendly troops. Formations can be neater than friendly formations, and reload shots can maintain a decent rate of fire, but without outsiders present, they can quickly turn into a group of stragglers. ”

"They are profiteers by nature, and when they train across the border, they often find smuggled opium and goods in their backpacks and baggage carts; Their officers usually have to embezzle more than six cents per ten cents to purchase grain and vegetables; The whale meat that Ken Chang Wu purchased for them would also be sold to the market by their officers; They consume more weapons and ammunition than Wu, but in fact, most of them are unknown; Their officers also quietly approached me to conflate. They want to sell me back the weapons and ammunition that Kenchang Wu bought for them, and then report them as training expenses and ask Kenjang Wu to buy them from me again. ”

"They are born criminals! Gambling, drinking, fighting, and molesting women are their daily routine, exploiting dock workers and blackmailing innocent businessmen are their forte, and the fighting skills I taught them are basically used on innocent civilians, and the Chinese gangs that have a grudge against them are even more unlucky, and I know that the Chinese gang leaders who were put into sacks and thrown into the Huangpu River to feed the fish are no less than three! I can't imagine a time when they take control of a city. What kind of destruction will happen to that poor city. ”

"My God! Dear Consul Mr. Qi Liyun, I don't know Lichuan Liu, and I am not responsible for training his soldiers, I will never admit it! I can't let the badge of honor I wear dust! Oh no. They're not dust, they're sludge! I can't let my medal of honor be tarnished by sludge and feces! I have only trained one army in China, and that is the army of Transcendence Wu. I don't know Lichuan Liu and his army, I've never seen it! ”

No matter what international friends say about Liu Lichuan's practice bravery. With no other choice, Wu Chaoyue could only bite the bullet and send Liu Lichuan's Liu Jiajun to the battlefield. didn't have time to wait for Yang Wending's reply, so he immediately asked Liu Lichuan to prepare for departure. Then soon, Wu Chaoyue discovered a strange thing, that is, Liu Lichuan's more than 200 Lian Yong, actually chartered fifteen civilian boats to prepare to set off, and when Wu Chaoyue, who felt that something was wrong, personally went on the ship to inspect, he soon found many imported goods such as opium, sulfur, quinine and spices that had not been registered with the customs, as well as more than 20 women dressed in fancy clothes............

"Beyond the virtuous nephew, don't be so excited. I started a small business by the way, also to subsidize the military and reduce the burden on your grandfather. As for these women, they are all refugees who have fled upstream, and they can't even find food in Shanghai, so I brought them to the army to cook, wash, wash and make up for them, and also to find a way for them to live and accumulate virtue and do good deeds. ”

…………

In fact, if Wu Chaoyue can know the performance of the Qing army on this side of the Zhenjiang battlefield, then Wu Chaoyue will definitely not be angry in front of Liu Lichuan, on the contrary, he will thank God for mercy and give him such a reliable comrade-in-arms as Liu Lichuan.

At the same time as the fall of Zhenjiang, friends certainly could not imagine how the Qing army defended the important town of Yangzhou, with the acquiescence of Yang Dianbang, the governor of Caoyun, and the full support of the prefect Zhang Tingrui and the general Wenyi, the two Huai salt transport envoys Dan Minglun but the uncle, actually sent Yangzhou celebrity Jiang Shoumin as an envoy to Jiangning to visit Yang Xiuqing, and proposed to pay a tribute of 200,000 taels of silver in exchange for the Taiping army not to attack Yangzhou. While Yang Xiuqing laughed, while agreeing to accept the conditions offered by Yangzhou, he secretly ordered Luo Outline to sneak attack Yangzhou, but Minglun and others believed in Yang Xiuqing's promise, opened the four doors and did not take precautions, and sent a team of Lian Yong out of the city to fight with Luo Outline according to the agreement, and used 200,000 taels of silver to buy a credit for repelling the attack of the Taiping army. Then Luo Xuan is to take the silver in one hand, wave the army in the other hand to attack, effortlessly beat Yangzhou Lianyong to pieces, and then take advantage of the situation into the city, in one fell swoop to take the important town of Yangzhou, the Taiping Army also successfully completed the strategic goal of the Eastern Expedition, and opened up the Ningzhenyang triangle strategic support base.

As expected by the ancestors of the Wu family, after receiving the news of the fall of Yangzhou, although the Taiping army had not had time to launch an attack on Jiaoshan, Yang Wending, the governor of Jiangsu stationed in Jiaoshan, immediately fled east and fled directly to Changzhou Mansion in one go. After the scouts of the Taiping army detected this movement, there was a huge call for the Taiping army to take advantage of the situation to go east, especially the generals Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan, who rushed to Zhenjiang in the later period. even red-eyed and threatened to go directly to Shanghai to find Wu Chaoyue to settle new accounts and old accounts.

The Taiping Army's Eastern Crusade made it difficult for Qin Rigang. Because Yang Xiuqing gave him the order to create the Ningzhenyang strategic base, he was not required to continue to fight eastward. Not to mention that he wanted to hit Shanghai -- Yang Xiuqing didn't hate Wu Chaoyue. But now the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are empty, fighters are very rare, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan and other generals resolutely ask for battle, and their attitude is extremely resolute, so Qin Rigang had no choice but to send the situation to Jiangning by fast boat to seek Yang Xiuqing's opinion.

Yang Xiuqing is also very difficult, because the current Taiping army has not yet gained a stable foothold, and urgently needs time to digest the new territory and stabilize its rule to build a strategic base. It is not advisable to continue to lengthen the front, but the fighters in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are too rare, and it is a little better luck to continue the eastward crusade, and it is by no means hopeless to take Changzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang and other important grain-producing areas in one fell swoop. Therefore, after weighing it repeatedly, Yang Xiuqing issued a rather cautious order, allowing Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan to lead their headquarters to continue the eastward crusade, but when encountering a strong interception by the Qing army, it was necessary to report to Yang Xiuqing the specific situation including the terrain and geography and the enemy's equipment, and Yang Xiuqing decided whether to continue fighting.

Yang Xiuqing's order was sent to Zhenjiang by clipper. Of course, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan and other generals were overjoyed, and without saying a word, they immediately began to prepare for departure. And almost at the same time, the joint letter of Wu Jianzhang and Wu Chaoyue was also sent to Yang Wending by clipper through the waterway. And when he saw the text that the ancestor of the Wu family took the initiative to send reinforcements to him. Yang Wending couldn't believe his eyes at all, and just asked the Wu family messenger: "Wu Shenzheng and Wu are really going to send me reinforcements?" Director Wu is in Shanghai, isn't he only handling the regimental training of one battalion? There are still extra troops there to reinforce me? ”

"Please rest assured. Our reinforcements have boarded the ship and set off. The messenger of the Wu family replied according to Wu Chaoyue's instructions: "Lord Futai doesn't know that my young master Sun actually held a half-battalion regimental training in Shanghai. However, for the sake of prudence, the main force was transferred away and no one guarded the important land of money and grain in Shanghai. Young Master Sun let that half of the battalion play the banner of Dongjiadu regimental training in Shanghai County and use it as a tactical reserve, so outsiders have always mistakenly thought that Young Master Sun only has the strength of the battalion directly under his command. ”

"Damn, I didn't expect Wu Chaoyue to be so cunning that he would keep such a hand." Yang Wending scolded secretly in his stomach, and at the same time, a glimmer of hope was rekindled in his heart, and he asked: "Then what is the combat power of Director Wu's training and bravery of this half of the battalion?" Is it reliable? ”

"Your Excellency, please rest assured, it is absolutely reliable." The messenger of the Wu family patted his chest and said: "Liu Lichuan Liu Lianguan, who led more than two hundred Lian Yong, is the uncle of my Young Master Sun, and the weapons he is equipped with are all exactly the same as the equipment of my Young Master Sun's direct line of Lian Yong, and it is also taught by foreign officers, who can make foreign guns and cannons, dare to fight bayonets, and fight one by one." If my young master Sun hadn't suffered too many casualties in the breakout battle this time, he would have been reluctant to show this hole card now. ”

Believing the boast of the Wu family's messenger, and knowing that the soldiers brought out by Wu Chaoyue could indeed fight, Yang Wending quickly made up his mind and said: "Okay, then the official will accept the suggestion of Wu Shenzheng and Wu's chief minister, move to Jiangyin, and choke Changmao Dongjin's throat." You go back and tell that Liu Lianguan, and tell him to come to Jiangyin to meet with the official as soon as possible, the battle is beautiful, and the official will ask for merit and reward for him. ”

The messenger of the Wu family happily agreed, and Yang Wending also calculated in his heart: "I hope I can rely on these exercises to win a battle, otherwise, if I continue to escape like this, the old man will not only be difficult to protect, but also have to hang his head." ”

In this way, when he had already fled to Xiaohe Town, Yang Wending immediately took more than 1,000 Qing soldiers to start a 100-mile long march, and advanced to Jiangyin by water. During this period, in order to boost morale, Yang Wending also made public the good news that Wu Jun Lianyong was about to rush to Jiangyin for reinforcements, and exaggerated Wu Chaoyue's various achievements in Qingpu and Jiangning 100 times, and as a result, this hand really played a big role - from Shanzuitou to Jiaoshan, from Jiaoshan to Xiaohe Town, more than 200 deserters appeared during the two transfers, and this time only more than 100 people ran, so when the final victory was transferred to Jiangyin, Yang Wending's soldiers and braves miraculously still had more than 1,100 people.

Yang Wending turned fast, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan chased faster, Yang Wending had just lived in Jiangyin for less than a day, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan's nearly 20,000 troops had already advanced to Jiangyin City by land and water, Yang Wending did not dare to hesitate when his soul was scattered, and immediately ordered the four gates to be closed. Defend the city with all your might.

Yang Wending, who is as clever as Lu Jianying militarily, finally made a correct choice this time, and the soldiers under his command are rotten. Jiangyin's green battalion soldiers are also worse, but the special terrain on Jiangyin's side is destined to be difficult for the Taiping army to break through. The north is the Yangtze River, the south is the Henghe, the west is the Jiangyin Canal, surrounded by water on three sides, only the east is subject to the enemy, and the river defense is well fortified, and there are artillery available. Therefore, no matter how unstoppable the Taiping army is, after killing under Jiangyin City, there is no way to quickly break the city, so it can only temporarily camp in Xi'an, south of the canal. Study siege tactics.

After habitually surveying the terrain of Jiangyin on the spot, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan both frowned a little, because Jiangyin's city defense was not only strong, but also could not even be used in the intimidation tactics of tunnel siege and siege that the Taiping army was good at -- surrounded by water on three sides, launching a strong attack in the east, the Qing army with no way to run would definitely resist desperately, and even if the city was finally broken, the Taiping army would have to suffer a lot of losses.

No, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan could only focus on the Jiangyin Fort that was voluntarily abandoned by the Qing army. Prepare to transport large artillery to the fort and fire at the city, forcing the Qing army to abandon the city and leave. However, just when the Taiping army began to implement this tactical plan, a team of Taiping soldiers brought in two newly captured Qing army green battalion soldiers, and Li Kaifang casually asked for a confession. Knowing the situation in Jiangyin City, it's a pity that these two green battalion soldiers were brought by Yang Wending from Zhenjiang, and they didn't know anything about the situation in Jiangyin City. Li Kaifang was helpless, so he had to change his words and ask: "Then how many troops are there under the command of Yang Wending's Qing Demon?" What armies can they fight? ”

The two Green Battalion soldiers still didn't know anything. Ji Wenyuan, who was next to him, heard it and shouted, "What are you doing to eat?" Don't even know how many people are in your army? ”

"Your Excellency. The little ones really don't know. The two green battalion soldiers both shouted grievances and said: "The soldiers and horses under the command of Lord Futai include Zhenjiang soldiers, local village warriors, as well as the Eight Banners soldiers and the green battalions of Changzhou and Suzhou, from many places, and there are people running every day these days, how can we two small soldiers know how many people are under his command?" ”

This is actually an important piece of information, and it can definitely be regarded as good news, but when Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan looked at each other and smiled, a green battalion soldier hurriedly added in order to survive: "By the way, Lord Futai also told us a piece of news, saying that it was the famous general Wu Chaoyue in Songjiang, and he also wanted to send reinforcements to Jiangyin, so as long as we withdrew to Jiangyin, we could settle down and rest." ”

"Wu Chaoyue?!" Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan's faces changed color at the same time, and then they said in unison: "Say!" Tell us in detail about Wu Chaoyue, the more detailed the better! ”

In order to survive, the two green battalion soldiers confessed truthfully as required, but unfortunately what they confessed was already the information that Yang Wending had personally added, saying that the general who led the troops was Wu Chaoyue's uncle, in fact, he could fight better than Wu Chaoyue himself, and the equipment for practicing courage was all foreign guns and foreign cannons bought from foreigners. Don't want to take Jiangyin City!

Coincidentally, just as Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan's faces were getting more and more gloomy, someone suddenly came to report from Pegasus at the mouth of the canal, saying: "Prime Minister Li Cheng, Deputy Prime Minister Yuji, there is a Qing Demon fleet coming from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, driving on the south bank, and is turning into the mouth of the canal!" ”

"Turn into the mouth of the canal?"

Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan were shocked again - because under normal circumstances, after exploring the west bank of the Jiangyin Canal of the Taiping Army garrison, the Qing army fleet should land at the dock outside the north gate of Jiangyin, and enter the city through the north gate or the east gate! And this Qing army fleet knew that the Taiping army was stationed on the west bank of the canal, and even dared to turn into the canal and enter the city from the west gate of Jiangyin, then there were only two possibilities, one is that this Qing army had no fear, and was not afraid to fight the Taiping army on the canal with a narrow river surface and a gentle flow! The second is that this Qing army was so stupid that it didn't send scouts to explore the road at all, and it didn't know that the Taiping army was stationed on the west bank, so it was stupid to get into the canal and die!

Of course, considering that it was likely that the one who led the army here was Wu Chaoyue's uncle, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan also immediately subconsciously ruled out the second possibility............

"Brother Yuan, come out and see, come out and see! There are people on the west bank with a red cloth wrapped around their heads, which seems to be long hair, as if they are the long hair that Young Master Wu said! ”

Almost at the same time, under the repeated urging of the lookout, Wu Chaoyue's uncle Liu Lichuan finally yawned and wiped the lipstick and rouge on his face and walked onto the deck, and lazily took out the monocular and looked to the west - but it was reversed. After turning the telescope back on, Liu Lichuan quickly shouted like a pig, "Long hair!" Hairy! It's really long hair, why has long hair already arrived in Jiangyin? How did I not know? You idiots, why didn't you send someone to see what was going on here before you turned into the canal? ”

"Brother Yuan, did you not tell you?" Lin Afu, who had been promoted to sentry officer, replied helplessly: "I advised you to send a boat to see the situation in front, but you didn't agree, saying that you couldn't disperse the troops, and that without your order, no one was allowed to leave the team without permission." ”

"I'm afraid they'll take the chance."

Liu Lichuan replied angrily, and quickly raised the monoculars to continue to observe the enemy's situation, and then soon, Liu Lichuan saw that the Taiping army was very numerous, and an army was coming here, Liu Lichuan subconsciously wanted to order a retreat, but before the words came out, Lin Afu next to him pointed to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and exclaimed: "Brother Yuan, look, there are still long-haired boats upstream!" ”

Liu Lichuan hurriedly raised his binoculars and looked upstream, and saw that there were indeed some small boats with the banner of the Taiping Army coming upstream, and Liu Lichuan, who was familiar with the current of the boats, also immediately complained bitterly, knowing that at this time he turned around and fled back to the Yangtze River, and the civilian boats he hired were only beaten in front of the light and flexible small boats. With no other choice, Liu Lichuan had no choice but to grit his teeth and stomp his feet, and shouted: "Speed up and continue to enter Jiangyin City from the West Gate!" Fast! The sooner the better! ”

The order was conveyed that after unloading at the Tongzhou wharf, there were only six boats left, and the sailors of the Liu Jiajun fleet struggled to shake the oars and rushed into the Jiangyin Canal less than twenty meters wide at full speed, and then Liu Lichuan quickly took out the cross given to him by Father Yang and raised it, drew a cross on his chest and prayed: "Merciful Lord, you must bless me, don't let the long hair beat me at this time!" Amen! ”

Liu Lichuan prayed on the deck, but he didn't know that the famous generals of the Taiping Army, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan, were looking gloomy and were categorically rejecting the suggestion of their subordinates to take the opportunity to assault. I didn't know that the Qing army in Jiangyin City was already in an uproar, and Yang Wending was roaring at the Qing soldiers, "Did you see it?" See? What is a hundred battle soldiers? This is called the elite of a hundred battles! The Jiangyin Canal is only a little wider, and a fierce man can pierce the other bank, and they still dare to rush directly into it, treating the tens of thousands of long hairs on the west bank as nothing! If you have such courage and courage, this official still needs to abandon Zhenjiang City?! ”

After roaring, Yang Wending clasped his hands together to the heavens, bowed again and again, and thanked him continuously, "Thank God, thank God, the old man can keep the top flower feather this time, and he can finally keep the top flower feather." (To be continued.) )