It was decided that we had to hurry up, especially in the case that the Qing army monk Greenqin was also starting to strengthen the camp defense, the sooner the Taiping army started, the better, so after discussion, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan decided to send troops to counterattack the city that was snatched away by the Qing army that night, obstruct the Qing army's reinforcement of fortifications, and also take the opportunity to test the true details of the Qing army.

Considering the despicable character of the old opponent Wu Chaoyue, the Taiping army did not dare to dispatch too many troops at one time, but only sent 500 veterans before the Northern Expedition to cooperate with a thousand new troops out of the city, and at the same time explained to Xie Jinsheng, who led the army out of the city, so that Xie Jinsheng must not use all the elite troops to attack the fortifications, and must leave a reliable reserve lurking in a hidden place, specially used to deal with the reinforcements that the Qing army may send. At the same time, in order to receive the soldiers back to the city when necessary, Li Kaifang also asked the Taiping soldiers to prepare a large number of ropes on the city wall, which could be used to help Xie Jinsheng and others go to the city without risking opening the city gate if necessary.

Just over halfway through the first watch, Xie Jinsheng led the army to attack, dividing the elite soldiers into two, one part was ambushed in the east hideout, and the other half was led by Xie Jinsheng to rush out of the city, shooting and shooting arrows to kill Tianjin Xiangyong who was digging a trench. The soldiers of the Taiping army took the opportunity to set fire to the antlers outside the city to resist the horses, and the Qing army general Qingqi who guarded the city hurriedly asked for help from Seng Lingqin, while commanding the soldiers to shoot back, but it was difficult to see the enemy's position in the night, and the accuracy of the arquebus was even worse, so it was naturally impossible to quickly repel the attack of the Taiping army.

I heard that I was attacked out of the city. Monk Lingqin did not dare to risk sending a large number of troops in the dark night, but only sent more than a thousand reinforcements to Qingqi. At the same time, he ordered Qingqi to defend and leave the city, and must not abandon the city easily - abandon the city in the dark and flee for his life. Naturally, if you push me and trample on each other, you will only die worse. However, after the reinforcements sent by the monk and the prince arrived at the battlefield, although the pressure of going out of the city was greatly relieved for a certain period of time, when the Taiping army ambushed the soldiers suddenly and attacked the reinforcements, the battlefield situation was easily reversed by the Taiping army, and the Qing army was soon at a disadvantage again.

At the same time, the Taiping army violently beat the war drums on the west and north gates of Tianjin, making the soldiers shout loudly. Create the illusion of preparing to attack to intimidate the Qing army. During this period, the Taiping army took the opportunity to send a fine worker to change into the Qing army's clothes and go out of the city, touched the periphery of the Qing army's battalions to reconnoiter the movements of the Qing army, and also took the opportunity to test the true reality of the Qing army.

The Taiping army really frightened many Qing army generals, and the Qing army camps outside the west gate and the north gate immediately strengthened their vigilance, and sent fast horses to report to Shengbao, asking for instructions on how to deal with it. Fortunately, Shengbao and Wu Chaoyue had agreed in advance that it was up to Wu Chaoyue to decide when Wu Jun Lian Yong would attack, so Shengbao did not rush to send someone to contact Wu Chaoyue, but just ordered all units of the Qing army to hold the camp. Without an order, he could not attack, and let the Taiping army storm the southern front without moving.

In this way, it is natural that the monk and the prince who are isolated and helpless have to defend both the main camp and the city. You also have to pay attention to protecting the army that is fighting fiercely in the field, and the friendly army can't count on it, so you have to grit your teeth and persevere. Listen to the constant shouts and gunfire coming from outside the camp. The monk and the prince had nothing to do except scold Shengbao for not saving him when he saw death. Worry, worry, restlessness. The hair on the braid was several gray.

Fortunately, the main purpose of the Taiping army's attack this night was to try, and they were not prepared to really take the city at any cost. In the end, the Taiping army still chased the butt of the defeated soldiers of the Qing army to the gate of the monk and the prince's camp, and it was really impossible to attack before the third watch was about to be collected.

In the first battle of the night, the Taiping army did not gain a lot, killing only more than 200 Qing soldiers, and they also suffered small losses. But this is enough, through the actual combat test, the Taiping army has confirmed that the monk and the prince who is proud of his martial arts are just a paper tiger, afraid of night battles and even more afraid of close combat, as long as the main force is dispatched, it is not hopeless to break through the camp of the monk and the monk and the prince. At the same time, through careful reconnaissance, the existence of Wu Junlianyong was indeed not found in and around the camps of the Qing army, and the so-called Wu army camp was even more chaotic on its own in the night battle, so there was no need to be afraid at all.

In addition, the Taiping army also has an important harvest, that is, Xie Jinsheng's department captured five Qing prisoners on the battlefield, and after the Taiping army captured these five prisoners into the city, they were immediately separated for separate interrogation, and the confessions confessed by several prisoners were similar, they did hear the rumor that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reinforcements had entered Shandong, although the generals at all levels of the Qing army flatly denied it, claiming that the rumors were just rumors, but this afternoon, Seng Lingqin suddenly ordered to strengthen the camp defense, It's just that the specific reason has not been announced.

When the prisoners were asked about Wu Junlianyong's secret transfer, the five prisoners, of course, shook their heads and said they didn't know, and they all asked suspiciously, saying that the Shanghai regimental training was stationed outside the north gate of Tianjin, when was it transferred?

Even the Qing army itself didn't know that Wu Jun Lian Yong had been secretly transferred, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan naturally believed that their judgment was correct, the reinforcements sent to them by Yang Xiuqing must have entered Shandong, and Wu Chaoyue had already taken Wu Jun Lian Yong to Shandong to participate in the war! In view of this situation, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan naturally decided to launch another large-scale counterattack, seize the fighter planes to storm the Qing army's camp, weaken the Qing army's defense of the city, and indirectly help and respond to the self-army reinforcements on the way north.

The first choice of the Taiping army's large-scale counterattack is, of course, our isolated poor monk prince - but this is a bit blamed on the monk prince himself, who told him not to listen to the command before he finally started to strengthen the camp defense, the Taiping army persimmons do not pick soft pinch, do you still have to pick bitter hard persimmons to gnaw?

But fortunately, although the main force of the Taiping army can be dispatched to attack at any time, for the sake of prudence, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan still decided to set the counterattack time in the afternoon of the next day, first send part of the main force out of the city to continue to test the reality of the Qing army, and then make a large-scale sortie at dusk, really attack the southern front, and bully the main force of the monk and prince who is afraid of night battles and even more afraid of close combat. So this comes way. The monk also relied on the temporary mercy of the enemy to temporarily get a little respite. Also won a little time to realign and repair the fortifications.

It's a pity that our monk didn't seize this precious time to deploy with all his might. After the sky was slightly bright, the first thing the monk did was to hit his horse and go straight to the Beicang camp, ran to Shengbao and yelled, asking why Shengbao didn't send him reinforcements last night? Sheng Bao replied: "Lord Wang, didn't you send scouts to reconnoiter the movements of other city gates in Tianjin?" After you and Changmao exchanged hands last night, Changmao has been beating gongs and drums at the north gate and west gate of Tianjin, shouting and shouting to kill, and the enemy situation is unknown in the dark night, if the commander rushes to send troops. What should I do if I fall into the trap of long hair? ”

Zaiyuan also came forward to testify, proving that the Taiping army had indeed created the illusion of an attack at the other city gates of Tianjin last night, and that Shengbao did not send reinforcements for the sake of the overall situation. Then Zaiyuan asked very suspiciously: "Monk Wangye, our army scouts report, there were only more than 1,000 people who went out of the city last night, and at most 2,000 people, your southern front company officers and soldiers led the townspeople, almost 11,000 soldiers and horses, why did you still suffer a defeat and let Changmao kill so many of us?" ”

Monk Lingqin's old face was a little red. After a while, he replied: "Those who went out of the city last night were all long-haired elites, and this king must guard the city and camp, and he does not dare to send too many troops in the night." That's why I ...... and suffered a small loss. ”

Weakly defended himself, and Monk Greenqin hurriedly said: "Lord Zai." As you can see, the minions are isolated on the southern front. There is too much pressure, and I hope that you and the victory commander will strengthen the minions as soon as possible. Otherwise, the southern front will be dangerous. ”

Originally, he deliberately used the monk prince as a bait to lure the main force of the Taiping army out of the city, but Zaiyuan and Shengbao naturally joined forces to perfunctory monk Greenqin, patting his chest, he would definitely send more troops to the monk and prince as soon as possible to strengthen the troops, so that the monk and the prince who were still in the dark were sent away. As soon as the monk left on his front foot, Shengbao immediately asked Zaiyuan: "Lord, is there any news from the comfort pavilion?" ”

"Comfort Pavilion just sent someone." While delivering a letter to Katsuho, Zaiyuan said in a low voice: "Comfort Pavilion said that last night Changmao sent a small number of troops to attack, and it was clear that he was testing our hypocrisy, so he always stood still. And Weiting also thinks that with the treacherous and cunning of Long Hair, it is likely that he will send troops to test again, just like a fish swallowing bait, no matter how you have to touch it, try a few times, and then swallow the hook, so Wei Ting suggests that unless it is confirmed that Long Hair has really dispatched the main force, we must not act rashly and lead to the waste of previous efforts! ”

"There's no better way to be smarter than the Comfort Pavilion." Sheng Bao smiled and said: "Longhair likes to be tempted again and again, so let them be tempted, in short, Ben Shuai doesn't see rabbits and eagles, see what Longhair can do to us!" ”

After that, Shengbao also added proudly in his heart, "Anyway, it is Monk Lingqin who is the bait, and it is best if the long hair swallows the bait and the hook together!" ”

…………

Shengbao still underestimated some of our monks, and the monks had no way to get rid of the fate of being used as bait by Shengbao, but this does not mean that the monks had no way to reduce their pressure. On the way back to the camp, our monk first went to the battlefield out of the city where he lay down last night's fierce battle to understand the situation, and when he saw the many horse rejection antlers that were burned by the Taiping army, the monk's face was extremely ugly at first, and then after a little calculation, the monk called Qingqi, the guard of the city, to the front, and commanded in his ear:

"Under the pretext of sticking out of the city, the east, west and north gates out of the city were completely blocked, leaving only the south gate to pass, and preparing firewood, grass and oil in advance. If Changmao comes to storm the city again, you try to hold on as much as possible, and if you can't hold it, take the soldiers of the Eight Banners under your command to retreat from the south city, and I will send an army to meet you. When I went out of the city, I set fire to the road at the south gate, forcing the villagers and Changmao who went out of the city to work hard to relieve our pressure. ”

Qingqi did not hesitate to clasp his fists and sing, but the monk and the prince were even more gloomy, looking at Tianjin Xiangyong, who was busy repairing the fortifications, and said secretly in his heart: "There is no way, Shengbao must not be able to count on it, for the sake of the Eight Banners Warriors, I can only sacrifice you." When you get to the Netherworld, don't blame the king, if you want to blame, blame the slave who will definitely not send me reinforcements in time. ”

The morning passed quickly, and noon was about to pass, and the dark clouds in the sky gradually thickened, and the wind gradually intensified, just as the Qing soldiers bravely stamped their feet and rubbed their hands to discuss whether there would be heavy snow falling. Tianjin city suddenly war drums, the east, west, south three gates opened at the same time, three Taiping troops lined up to kill out of the city, of which the east and west gates are two thousand troops, the south gate of the main battlefield here. However, the Taiping army dispatched 5,000 troops at once, and quickly lined up outside the city gate. Backed by a moat and lined up with water back.

At the same time, the camps of the Qing army also called the police one after another. Bao Huan and Gui Liang, who were stationed outside the west gate of Tianjin, also quickly found Wu Chaoyue, who had been hiding in their camp for many days, and Wu Chaoyue, who disguised himself as a green battalion soldier, had already seen the scale of the Taiping army's troops on the guard tower in the camp, and immediately said to Bao Huan and Gui Liang: "Bao Titai, Gui Zhitai, please rest assured, Changmao is still testing the feint, and their main attack direction can never be you here, as long as you stick to the camp fortifications, you don't need to worry about any accidents." ”

was expected by Wu Chao. After the Taiping army left the city from the west gate, although they also divided half of their forces to launch several attacks on Baohuan's camp, they were all thunderous and rainy, and each time they only broke through one or two trenches and pretended to be invincible and took the initiative to retreat, and the intention of containment was very obvious. The Taiping army that exited the city from the east gate was closely monitoring the Qing army on the north bank of the Haihe River, and did not even launch a symbolic attack.

The battle outside the south gate was not very fierce, and while the Taiping army continued to attack the north of the city on a small scale, they also tried to attack the east and west sides of the city, looking for the weakness of the Qing army's defense line out of the city. And Monk Grinqin learned the lesson of last night. The reinforcements sent only assembled in the relative safety of the south of the city to protect the Qing army's Qingqi department's way back to camp, allowing the Taiping army to run rampant on the east, west and north sides of the city, and no longer risk onslaught. The war is in a state of see-saw.

The Taiping army was indeed very experienced in warfare, and after launching several tentative attacks, it was confirmed that the weakness of the Qing army's defense out of the city was still in the north where the fortifications had not yet been fully repaired. Immediately strengthened the forces and stormed the front of the city, and continued to burn the wooden fortifications out of the city with spray shells. He also seized the time to fill the trench north of the Qing army out of the city with earth and stones, and also prepared a large number of trench and bridge vehicles before the battle. The intention to get out of the city in one bite is very obvious. As a result, the fighting gradually began to become fierce.

During this period, the monk and the prince were very calm and did not send people to ask for help from Shengbao - it was a waste of time to send them, and it was rare to be wise, seeing that the Taiping army actually did not really exert its strength, and let his soldiers and horses prepare for night battles early, as well as strengthen the defense of the main camp, and prepare for a real fierce battle. And Shengbao was also very shameless in ordering the battalions of the Qing army to hold the camp and not come out, patiently just waiting for the Taiping army to send more main forces or take the initiative to retreat.

Time passed quickly amid shouts of killing and gunfire, and the time was about to pass out, and the sky that had been overcast for a long time fell one after another, and finally it fell heavy snow, which is common in northern winters, and because the climate was much colder this year, the snowflakes were dense and large, so large that it was difficult to see the situation in the distance with a telescope, and the environment became very favorable to the attacker - the defender's position was fixed, but the attacker could rely on the environment to cover maneuver.

Seeing this scene, Li Kaifang, who understood this reason, first thanked the heavenly father for the blessing of divine power and asked God to come to help him, and then without hesitation, he immediately ordered Ji Wenyuan to lead the main force out of the city, and at the same time ordered the Taiping army outside the south gate to exert force and storm the Qing army out of the city.

The real decisive battle began, after receiving Li Kaifang's order, the Taiping soldiers who were attacking the city were like crazy, they sprayed the fire oil bombs into the front of the city like no money and no life, and attacked forward with smoke and fire, and the Taiping army reserves behind were also roaring and pushing the trench bridge car forward to charge, smashing the Qing army out of the city with the momentum of Mount Tai.

At the same time, under the personal leadership of Ji Wenyuan, the 20,000 Taiping army divided the soldiers into two routes, all the way out of the south gate, all the way out of the city from the east gate, and rushed to the open outside the south gate to assemble with the main force, and the intention of storming the southern line of the Qing army was clearly revealed.

Receiving the scout flight report, the monk was of course shocked, and had to immediately send someone to Shengbao for help, and at the same time sent someone to inform Qingqi that he should quickly take the Eight Banners soldiers to give up leaving the city, and throw more than 2,000 Han people to die in the city.

At the same time, the scouts of the Qing army finally sent the news of the main force of the Taiping army back to the Baohuan camp, and sent it to Wu Chaoyue, Baohuan, Guiliang and others who were waiting for him, and confirmed that the Taiping army dispatched the main force.

At the critical moment, Wu Chaoyue was still calm and abnormal, and while ordering the long-awaited self-army to gather and prepare for battle, he instructed Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, you immediately go to see the commander in person and ask him something, does he want Tianjin City?" Or do you want to be the main force of longhair who has already left the city? ”

"Comfort Ting, what do you mean by that?" Zhao Liewen, Bao Huan and others were all taken aback.

"Tell Sheng Dashuai that if he wants the main force of Longhair who has already left the city, I will immediately send troops to reinforce the southern front, and it will be absolutely no problem to fight a big victory!"

Wu Chaoyue was extremely resolute, and said loudly: "If he wants Tianjin City, I will attack Tianjin West Gate now, I am absolutely sure that I can enter the city from Tianjin West Gate!" But I can only take care of one head, whether I want the city or the main force with long hair, please make a choice! ”

Zhao Liewen suddenly realized, hurriedly agreed, and then immediately took a few of Bao Huan's personal soldiers Pegasus to rush to the Beicang camp, leaving Gui Liang and Bao Huan in the same place, and they were also very troubled, "Is it important to recapture Tianjin City first?" Or is it important to break the main force of the long hair first? ”

"Don't hesitate, two adults." Wu Chaoyue urged Bao Huan and Gui Liang: "Please gather your attacking army immediately, and prepare for street battles in the city, after I lead the army into the city, I also want you to help fight street battles!" ”

"Lord Wu, Victory Dashuai hasn't decided whether he wants the city or the main force with long hair?" Gui Liang hurriedly asked.

Wu Chaoyue smiled and said with a smile: "Please rest assured, the lower officials dare to bet that the victory will definitely choose Tianjin City, without the grain and grass in the city, the long hair is a rootless ping, no matter how much it flows, it is not enough to be afraid, but if we really let the long hair entrench in Tianjin City for a long time, it will be difficult for us to do, and it will be difficult for him to explain in front of the emperor." ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue immediately ordered the self-army artillery battalion, which was good at playing with gunpowder, to prepare picric acid explosives packets, ready to be used to blow up the west gate of Tianjin, which had been confirmed to have not been completely blocked by the city gate.

Of course, if the self-confident Wu Chaoyue can have a God's perspective and know that a certain Xiao Lili that he has coveted for a long time is out of the city at this moment under the onslaught of the Taiping Army, and is about to be abandoned by our monk and prince, then our little comprador Wu will definitely not ask Shengbao the question of whether he wants Tianjin City or the main force of the Taiping Army, but will immediately take Wu Jun Lian Yong to save that little Li! - To Wu Chaoyue, that little Luoli is 10,000 times more important than the treasury of Emperor Xianfeng. (To be continued.) )