"The clear demon of the dog ri, he dares to play the tunnel siege with Lao Tzu, what is this called? Class ......, class what? ”

"Banmen plays with an axe. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Yes, yes, the class is playing with axes and playing with tunnels, our tuying is their ancestor! Every brother is worthy to be their ancestor! ”

"Gray grandson, come on, your ancestors can't wait, keep digging, dig hard, we have good things to entertain, poisonous smoke, river water, gunpowder, what do you want."

"If you can fill it with water, remember to add a few buckets of manure."

The Yin Damage proposal provoked bursts of laughter from the soldiers of the Taiping Army's Tu Battalion, who were resting and waiting, and also attracted the anger of the Shangguan, "Shut up, be quiet, don't disturb the brothers in the listening urn, they can't hear it." ”

It is useless for the Taiping generals to scold, the sound is more and more miscellaneous during the day, and from time to time there are the sound of cannon fire and gongs and drums of the Qing Demon, and the Taiping soldiers in the urn can vaguely hear the sound of the Qing Demon digging tunnels, but in the dead of night, the Taiping soldiers in the urn can not hear any digging sound.

If you can't hear the sound of excavation, the Taiping army naturally can't confirm the specific location of the Qing army's tunnels, don't know the location of the Qing army's tunnels, and how good the Taiping army soldiers are at digging are of course, of course, there is no way to reverse dig through the Qing army's tunnels, and use various tricks to destroy the tunnels that the Qing army has worked so hard to dig.

At the time of the third watch, there was still no sound of excavation underground, and after the news was reported to Luo Outline and Lin Qirong, Luo Outline and others also had some doubts, and immediately began to suspect that the Qing army deliberately stopped digging at night to avoid being discovered by the self-army in the direction of the tunnel.

"I didn't expect that the Qing demon still had a little brain, and he could think of beware of being discovered by us in the direction of the tunnel, and deliberately did not dig the tunnel at night. But it doesn't matter, even if it's noisy during the day, you can still hear the sound when you listen to it, as long as you know the approximate location. Let the soldiers of the earth camp rest in peace, and continue to take turns to send people on duty, and then let the soldiers of the earth camp go out when they hear the voice. ”

Regarding Qin Rigang's decision, the officers and men of the Taiping Army, who were extremely confident in the soil engineering ability of the soldiers of the army, all agreed, and they were not afraid of the tunnels of the Qing army, which were already close at hand. However, Qin Rigang himself didn't dare to take it too lightly, and admonished: "Remember, listen closely, especially pay attention to the two clear demon tunnels due south and southwest. ”

"The Qing Demon Tunnel on the southeast side also has to be kept an eye on, if you find that the Qing Demon Tunnel in the southeast corner has signs of digging under the city wall, let the Tuying soldiers immediately dispatch and completely destroy it, don't give any Qing Demon Tunnel a chance to dig under the city wall!"

In this way, the night of the 27th day of the lunar month passed in a hurry, and before dawn, the Taiping army rotated new soldiers to go down to the well to listen, and make every effort to find the location of the tunnel that the Qing army was about to dig with all its might. However, the result once again surprised the Taiping army, and they heard no sound of earthwork coming from the ground until the middle of the morning, as if the Qing army had completely abandoned the tunnel that was about to be completed.

In this regard, Luo Xuan and Lin Qirong, who were old in the battlefield, were completely puzzled, and could not guess the truth of the matter, so they could only secretly order the outside of the city to strengthen the surveillance of the Qing army's camp, and strive to collect all kinds of clues in order to analyze the real purpose and intention of the Qing army.

The Taiping army wanted to find the truth that the Qing army stopped digging tunnels, and Zuo Zongtang would of course make every effort to meet the reasonable request of Luo Outline and others, in fact, when Luo Outline and others were troubled by the strange tunnels of the Qing army, Zuo Zongtang had already instructed Yang Wending to gather the generals to hold a military meeting and arrange pre-war preparations.

On the 30th day of the lunar month, prepare enough dry food for two days and sufficient torches for one night, and distribute dinner in the afternoon, and half a catty of meat and vegetables for each soldier, and the necessary pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks will be distributed on the morning of the 30th day of the lunar month. But no alcohol is allowed, and those who violate the order will be immediately beheaded! ”

"The time of the general attack is the night after tomorrow, the night of the thirtieth day of the lunar month! In these three days, the artillery bombardment and all military operations were stopped, the long hair went out of the city and only defended without fighting, the soldiers in the battalion seized the time to rest, and recuperated their physical strength, and at two o'clock on the 30th night of the lunar month, the whole army was ready to go to war, but it was not allowed to assemble in advance to avoid exposure, and the generals of each army went to the big tent of the Chinese army to receive orders, and there must be no mistakes. ”

"The outside is loose and the inside is tight, the barracks are stepping up preparations for war, and rumors are spread outside the barracks, just say that Yang Dashuai is considerate, let you rest assured that you will launch an attack after the New Year, and try to let Chang Mao Xiaozuo know this."

"The same is true for the sailors stationed in Xiaochikou and Shanjiazhou, the tasks of the Xiaochikou sailors are heavier, and you are responsible for the night battle on the water on the thirtieth night of the lunar month, but Bao Chao, you can rest assured, you don't expect you to win the battle when the time comes, as long as you can try to contain the long-haired sailors and share the pressure on the land."

"Wang Fu, if nothing else, your attack time should be the early morning of the first day of the first lunar month, and you can rest for a while. But after you attack, it's up to you whether you can win the battle on the water. Tell your soldiers that don't let Longhair look down on you forever, and always think that you only dare to fight under the protection of the Army's batteries. ”

The so-called military meeting is still Zuo Zongtang's hall, and no one can find a chance to speak, or after Zuo Zongtang finally ended his talking, Xiao Qijiang, who came from Hunan to participate in the war, asked suspiciously: "Mr. Ji Gao, how will we fight then?" ”

"You'll know when the time comes." Zuo Zongtang replied quietly.

"Don't do it then." Xiao Qijiang said unconvinced: "When the time comes, whether it is a frontal attack or a crypt blast, Mr. Ji Gao, you must at least let us know first, and we should prepare in advance." ”

The generals of the Qing army, who had long been full of anger towards Zuo Zongtang, echoed one after another, and all asked Zuo Zongtang to explain the specific tactics in advance, and Zuo Zongtang asked rhetorically: "When Zhuge Liang used troops to fight, who among the generals of Shu Han could know his specific tactics in advance?" If I don't tell you now, I don't need it, and I'm afraid that the news will leak out, so that Longhair is prepared. ”

Hearing this, of course, the faces of the generals of the Qing army were more ugly than one another, and Yang Wending hurriedly stood up to play a round, and said with a smile to the generals: "Everyone, generals, Mr. Ji Gao is comparing you to five tiger generals like Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, and praising you." However, the old man thinks that you also deserve such praise, if you are really put on the battlefield of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei will all be robbed of the limelight by you. ”

When the faces of the generals of the Qing army slowed down slightly, Zuo Zongtang pursed his lips, his face was full of disdain, no matter how he looked at it, he would never agree with Yang Wending's analogy. Then Zuo Zongtang turned to Cao Yanzhong and Liu Mingchuan and said: "General Cao, General Liu, the two of you have the heaviest task, and you will definitely face the two-sided attack of Jiujiang Changmao and Hukou Changmao at that time, and I hope that you two will inspire the soldiers to fight with all their might, strive to fight on two fronts, and win on both fronts." ”

After all, it was the old man of Wu Jun, knowing that soldiers were obedience to orders as their duty, Cao Yanzhong and Liu Mingchuan immediately clasped their fists and sang a promise, Zuo Zongtang nodded appreciatively, and said: "Also, please prepare a hundred elite soldiers who are good at melee combat to form a commando, prepare melee weapons, and serve as the vanguard of the siege, I will be of great use at that time." ”

Seeing Zuo Zongtang treating Cao Yanzhong and Liu Mingchuan so politely, of course the generals of the Qing army were all nests, including Liu Kunyi, who was half of Wu Chaoyue's lineage, all had a bad face, and said secretly: "Look at the appearance, if you can really break through the city, the first credit will definitely be Cao Yanzhong and Liu Mingchuan again, I really look down on our gang." ”

…………

According to Zuo Zongtang's orders, the Qing army spread rumors outside the camp, slandering that Yang Dashuai cared for the soldiers, deplored the soldiers, and decided to temporarily stop all military operations, preparing to wait for the end of the New Year to launch a siege. At the same time, the Qing army also stopped the continuous shelling of Jiujiang City in the past few days, and tried to pretend to suspend military operations to welcome the New Year.

It's a pity that Zuo Zongtang, who compares himself to Zhuge Liang, still lacks battlefield experience, and the illusion he arranged not only failed to deceive Luo Outline and Lin Qirong and others, but after the deliberately spread rumors were sent to Jiujiang City, Luo Outline and others immediately became suspicious, suspecting that the Qing army was just trying to cover up and release smoke to cover up the real evil purpose.

"Fight again after the New Year? When we are three-year-olds? I bet that the time of the Qing Demon's attack is within these three days, maybe it will be the night of the thirtieth day of the lunar month! wanted to trick us into celebrating the New Year, and took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack to break the city. ”

Lin Qirong, the deputy general of the Jiujiang garrison, even came to an extremely precise conclusion, and the main general Luo Xuan also agreed with this, and said: "The soldiers will block, the water will cover the earth, as long as you take precautions, it doesn't matter when the Qing demon attacks the city." The key is how the Qing Demon plans to attack the city this time, is it an underground siege as we expected, or is it a surprise soldier with another trick? ”

When Lin Qirong nodded, someone happened to report from outside the door, saying that among the several listening urns in the southwest corner of Jiujiang City, they heard the sound of the Qing army's tunnel excavation again. ”

"The sound is not loud, and the Qing Demon is not digging fast, so it is difficult to confirm the specific location for the time being." The messenger played: "But please rest assured, as long as the distance is closer, or the Qing Demon excavates overnight, we will definitely be able to find the authentic location of the Qing Demon." ”

Luo Xuan nodded with satisfaction, ordered the listening urn in the southwest corner to step up monitoring, and told the listening urn in the south and southeast corners not to relax and slack off, and beware of the Qing army taking the means of slow digging and light digging to slowly approach the Jiujiang city wall.

Luo Xuan's speculation once again saw through Zuo Zongtang's trick, in fact, for a whole day, the three tunnels leading to Jiujiang City were constantly being excavated, but according to Zuo Zongtang's order, the people in the two tunnels in the south and southeast corners all changed to small shovels and hoes to dig slowly, not to make progress, but not to make a sound, not to give the Taiping army a chance to discover the location of the tunnels in advance.

The tunnel in the southwest corner is different from the other two tunnels, although it also uses small excavation tools, but it is slightly larger than the excavation tools of the other two tunnels, and at the same time, Zuo Zongtang stipulated the excavation progress here, forcing the migrant workers to dig hard at the risk of being discovered, only to stop digging at the night when it is easiest to be discovered by the listening urn.

In the tense atmosphere of preparing for war, more than a day passed, and on the afternoon of the 29th day of the lunar month, the listening urn of the Taiping army finally confirmed the specific location of the tunnel in the southwest corner of the Qing army. After the news was reported to Luo Xuan, Luo Xuanxuan did not rush to order the earth camp to destroy the tunnel, but first confirmed that the location of the Qing army's tunnel was still about ten meters away from the city wall, and then Luo Xuanrong came to Lin Qirong to discuss whether to directly destroy the tunnel, or to use this to set a trap to attack the enemy.

Contrary to age, Lin Qirong is a very stable and cautious person, and suggested: "Prime Minister Luo, I think it should be cautious, immediately dig the tunnel connecting the Qing Demon, pour smoke into the Qing Demon in the tunnel, and then destroy the tunnel." Otherwise, if the Qing Demon preemptively arranges the gunpowder to detonate, it will be troublesome once the city wall collapses. ”

The young Lin Qirong suggested to be cautious, but Luo Xuan, who was over half a hundred years old, wanted to take risks, and after thinking for a while, Luo Xuanxuan said: "It stands to reason that we should be cautious. But Lin Checkpoint, have you considered this problem, we have destroyed the tunnels of the Qing Demon, can we reverse the offensive and defensive situation on the Jiujiang battlefield? ”

Lin Qirong shook his head and admitted that the destruction of the tunnels only allowed the Qing army to empty its military strength, and could not change the status quo of the Qing army's siege of Jiujiang. Luo Xuan said: "The current situation is that we have an advantage on the water, we are at a disadvantage on land, and the foreign spearmen who surpass the little demon are too powerful, even if His Royal Highness King Yan transports troops across the river and lets Shi Zhenji's main force join forces with us, it will be difficult to defeat the demon soldiers who surpass the little demon and lift the siege of Jiujiang." ”

Speaking of this, Luo Xuan paused for a moment, and then said: "But if we can kill the sailor who surpasses the little demon, then the situation will be completely different, our sailor can go straight to the hinterland of Hubei, and we can also use the water advantage to cut off the supply road of grain, grass and ammunition for the Qing demon outside the city, even if we don't send troops to fight back, it won't take much time, and the Qing demon will have to withdraw his troops and get out." ”

"What does Prime Minister Luo mean by deliberately letting the Qing Demon's authenticity succeed? Take Jiujiang City as bait to lure the Qing Demon Sailor to attack, so that our Sailor can win the chance to fight the decisive battle? Lin Qirong asked.

"Yes." Luo Xuan nodded and said: "If the Qing Demon's tunnel is successful, of course our sailors will send troops to rescue, and the Qing Demon's sailors will definitely send troops to intercept our troop transport fleet in order to intercept it, and at that time, if our troop transport ships suddenly become light warships, it will be too late for the Qing Demon Sailors to retreat anyway." ”

Lin Qirong understood what Luo Xuan meant, and knew that Luo Xuan wanted to deliberately let the Qing army's tunnel blow up a section of the city wall to lure the Qing army to attack, and then used fake troop carriers to lure the Qing army's naval division to attack, taking the opportunity of a decisive battle on the water. But Lin Qirong was still a little worried, and reminded again: "Prime Minister Luo, what if the opening of the city wall blown up by the Qing Demon is too big to be blocked?" ”

"We can build an inner city." Luo Gang replied.

Lin Qirong pondered, and after a while, Lin Qirong still vetoed: "Prime Minister Luo, forget it, it's best to be cautious." Don't forget, there are more than 10,000 soldiers and family members of the Heavenly Kingdom in Jiujiang City, and the demon soldiers who surpass the little demon are so powerful, if they really let them take the opportunity to kill into the city, and our sailor is entangled by the Qing Demon Sailor, where can we retreat? ”

Not to mention, Lin Qirong really persuaded Luo Outline, considering the safety of the Taiping Army soldiers and their families in Jiujiang City, as well as the terrifying combat effectiveness of Wu Chaoyue's lineage, Luo Outline finally agreed to take Lin Qirong's cautious proposal, and decided to destroy the Qing army's tunnels first, not giving the Qing army any chance to destroy the city wall.

It must be emphasized that Luo Outline and Lin Qirong's nagging was by no means a waste of saliva in vain, and they gave birth to the idea of using Jiujiang City as a bait to lure the Wu Army's sailors to a decisive battle, and Luo Outline, who had been a water bandit, also took advantage of the situation to come up with a clever plan to lure the enemy in water warfare -- that is, to let the Taiping Army ships be full of earth and stones disguised as troop transport fleets, and dispatch them at the time of the battle, luring the Wu Army's sailors to intercept them, and then the sailors tilted the earth and rocks into the river, turning heavy ships into light ships, ignoring the land and concentrating on water warfare. Break the Wu Army's naval division first, and then turn back to reinforce or meet the Jiujiang Taiping Army.

Feeling that this plan was feasible, and knowing that there were enough ships in the army, and there was no problem in camouflaging one or two troop transport fleets to lure the enemy, Luo Gang arranged for the earth camp to destroy the Qing army's tunnels, and at the same time wrote the plan and proposal into a letter, and sent someone to Hukou to inform Qin Rigang of the implementation of the proposal, Qin Rigang also thought so and decided not to mention it.

Rich experience in the earthwork industry, the Taiping army earthen camp smashed the Qing army tunnels of the action is naturally hand-to-hand, suddenly connected tunnels frightened the Qing army hired to dig the migrant workers, and then use the bellows to pour the smoke mixed with chili peppers into the tunnel, the Qing soldiers and migrant workers are soon completely unable to accommodate themselves in the tunnel, can only quickly escape from the tunnel, the Taiping army soldiers and then bury the gunpowder bag into the tunnel outside the city wall, naturally it is easy to blow up the southwest corner of the Qing army tunnel.

The destruction of this tunnel in the southwest corner not only did not hit the confidence of Zuo Zongtang, the real commander of the Qing army, but on the contrary, it also made Zuo Zongtang smile and said: "As expected, it was still destroyed, but it doesn't matter, what Lao Tzu wants is that you have long hair and feel that it can be as stable as Mount Tai for the New Year." ”

After successfully destroying the first tunnel of the Qing army, although the soldiers of the Taiping Army did not slack off because of this, they did relax a little, feeling that they could have a good year with peace of mind no matter what. However, what the Taiping soldiers did not know was that the Qing army's tactical plan for attacking the city in the Great Chinese New Year's Eve still did not change in the slightest, and it was still in full swing of preparations......

According to Zuo Zongtang's order, all battalions of the Qing army were ready to go to battle, waiting for the order to attack at any time, and all the generals of the Qing army also rushed to the big tent of the Chinese army on time to accept the order.

In front of the generals, Taishang Commander Zuo Zongtang first ordered the sappers who were personally responsible for him to immediately dig the tunnel outside the south gate, and then called Cao Yanzhong out of the train and asked him: "General Cao, I heard that you once followed Wu Futai to King Qinwang of Zhili, do you remember what method Wu Futai used to break through Tianjin City?" ”

"Remember, it was the Tianjin City Gate that was blown open with new gunpowder." Cao Yanzhong replied.

"Just remember."

Zuo Zongtang smiled again and said, "New gunpowder, I have prepared it for you." Immediately take your four battalions to attack, no torches, detour back to the east gate of Jiujiang, by that time Changmao must have found that we are digging the south gate tunnel with all our might, and the attention must have been attracted to the south gate, rest assured and bold let the commando team come forward, the old way, blow up the city gate. As for who will enter the city first and make the first contribution, you can do it yourself. ”

Cao Yanzhong agreed without hesitation, and Zuo Zongtang smiled again: "Remember two points, the first point, there is an urn city at the east gate of Jiujiang, there may be a jack gate in the urn city, and the situation of the inner city gate is not known for the time being, but you also have to prevent the long hair from placing the jack gate, so you are likely to need four blasts to enter the city, I have prepared five gunpowder packs for you, use it carefully." While blasting and attacking the city, be sure to supplement it with a flying ladder to attack the city, and I also sent someone to send you the flying ladder before, so bring it with you. ”

"The second point, it is very likely that the long hair of Hukou will return to transport troops across the river to reinforce Jiujiang, you may be attacked from both sides, you must withstand it, and I will also send reinforcements to help you as soon as possible."

Cao Yanzhong agreed again, Zuo Zongtang waved his hand, Cao Yanzhong understood, and immediately went out with Liu Ming to organize the army to attack, Zuo Zongtang also turned to other Qing army generals, and asked with a sneer: "Are you all disappointed?" Hate me too? Obviously there was a way to break through Jiujiang early in the morning, but they just handed over the opportunity to make meritorious contributions to Cao Yanzhong and them? ”

Wang Guocai, Liu Kunyi, Xiao Qijiang and other Qing army generals were silent, but it was clearly written on their faces that they really hated Zuo Zongtang to the bone, Zuo Zongtang smiled slightly, and said: "You hate wrong, in fact, you should all thank me, because I left you with the opportunity to make a meritorious service, Cao Yanzhong and them, just to help you fight a feint." ”

The generals of the Qing army looked up at Zuo Zongtang in surprise, and when Yang Wending was even more dumbfounded, Zuo Zongtang smiled again: "Do you think I'm crazy and use the best army to make a feint?" In fact, I think I'm too crazy, but I'm also forced, the Hubei New Army is notorious, no matter what battlefield they appear on, Changmao will definitely think that it is the main battlefield, and they must fight hard to defend there, and it is extremely difficult to break it, so Cao Yanzhong They can only fight a feint. ”

When the generals of the Qing army and Yang Wending suddenly realized together, Zuo Zongtang said lightly: "Wang Guocai, Liu Kunyi, Xiao Qijiang, and Hu Linyi, each of your armies organizes a battalion of commandos to wait, and after the fighters appear, they attack in turn. ”

"As for the order of attack, you can guess the boxing yourself, whoever is lucky will take the blame, I will not be this villain who favors one over the other." (To be continued.) )