If it weren't for Wu Chaoyue's messenger who took the lead in sending the news of Wu Chaoyue's promise to send reinforcements to Yang Wending, Yang Wending would probably have thrown down Jiangyin City and slipped away, because Yang Wending had pieced together more than 2,500 soldiers on the battlefield in Zhenjiang, and finally fled back to Jiangyin with him, barely more than 1,000 people, and there were only about 800 people in Jiangyin City, including the township warriors who were temporarily recruited, and the total strength of the Taiping Army led by Lin Fengxiang and Wu Ruxiao was as many as 18,000 people, which was ten times that of the Jiangyin defenders, and the combat effectiveness was far superior.

At the same time, the city of Jiangyin, which suffered the disaster of war for the second time, was already in chaos, the gentry and the common people fled one after another, the rich went directly to Shanghai and Suzhou by boat, and the people who had no money dragged their families to the countryside, Yang Wending, Tai Wenying, Mo Zai and other Qing army civil and military forces were strictly forbidden and repeatedly banned, Mo Zai offered a plan to publicize the news that Wu Chaoyue was about to personally raise troops to come to help, but it was also ineffective -- on the contrary, it also played some counterproductive role, and the people of Jiangyin, who had been poisoned by Liu Jiajun's training and bravery, heard that Liu Jiajun's backstage boss was coming personally. Afraid that Wu Chaoyue's army raped and plundered more ruthlessly than Liu Jiajun, there were more people fleeing with their families under cowardice, and even Luying Xiangyong began to flee, forcing Yang Wending to order the city gate to be closed day and night, which barely controlled the situation.

On the second day of the blockade of the city gate, the Taiping army down the river successfully arrived in Jiangyin, and was not hindered by any obstruction during the march, and the newly appointed governor of Liangjiang, Yiliang, also hid in Changzhou City, and could not retreat, and the only order given to Yang Wending was to defend Jiangyin City, waiting for the reinforcements he did not know when he could send, Yang Wending scolded the brazenness of the new boss, but there was no way. At the same time, he was not confident that he would be able to hold out until his grandson-in-law led the army to help in the future.

Fortunately, Yang Wending was worried in Jiangyin City. As everyone knows, Lin Fengxiang and Wu Ruxiao and other Taiping Army generals also made difficulties outside Jiangyin City, and the reason for the difficulties was nothing else. It is also the special terrain of Jiangyin City - surrounded by water on three sides, and the three gates in the northwest and south are narrow terrain, so it is impossible to launch troops to attack the city, and if you attack head-on, you can only start from the east, but if you storm the east gate, it is equivalent to blocking the only retreat of the Qing army in the city, forcing the Qing army to do a battle of trapped beasts, even if you succeed, you will definitely suffer a lot of casualties.

In embarrassment, Lin Fengxiang once planned to adopt the method that Li Kaifang had calculated. The west bank of the Tunbing Canal gave way for the Qing army to flee, and then set up artillery on the Huangshan Fort and bombarded the city, forcing and luring the Qing army to abandon the city and flee for their lives. However, at this time, the people of Jiangyin, who were very supportive of the Taiping army, and the Qing soldiers who escaped from the city, sent a key piece of information - Yang Wending announced in public that Wu Chaoyue had decided to personally lead the army to save Jiangyin!

Fooled too many times, Lin Fengxiang and Wu Ruxiao didn't dare to believe any more information about Wu Chaoyue, but after repeatedly asking many people for verification, Lin Fengxiang and Wu Ruxiao found that the news that Wu Chaoyue was about to come to the aid in person seemed to be true, and at the same time, from a strategic and tactical point of view. Wu Chaoyue would never allow Jiangyin's throat to be lost, resulting in Songjiang and Shanghai, the rear of Wu's army practicing bravery, never having a peaceful day.

It is precisely because of this that Lin Fengxiang and Wu Ruxiao re-discussed the siege strategy, and Wu Ruxiao first said: "Prime Minister Lin." Set up artillery on the Huangshan Fort to bombard Jiangyin City, although it is hoped to force the Qing Demon to abandon the city and break through, but now the Beyond Little Demon has decided to personally raise troops to save the Qing Demon. Then the Qing Demon sees the hope of sticking to it, I am afraid that our army will bombard the city, and it will not only be difficult to force the Qing Demon to abandon the city. On the contrary, it will only give the demons a chance to breathe, so that they only need to watch out for our artillery fire. There is no need to worry about our army attacking the city, and it is more resolute to resist. ”

Lin Fengxiang nodded, agreeing with Wu Ruxiao's analysis - the artillery power of this era is not very large, and the blow to the Qing army in the city is mainly in terms of psychological morale, and the real lethal effect is not great, as long as the Qing army in Jiangyin City can grit its teeth and hold on, the Taiping army's plan to force the Qing army to abandon the city on its own initiative will not be successful. Then Lin Fengxiang asked: "General Wu, then in your opinion, how should we fight this battle?" ”

"Besiege the city and send reinforcements, first break through the little demon, and then break Jiangyin City!" Wu Ruxiao was confident, and immediately replied: "The only hope of the Jiangyin Qing Demon now is to surpass the little demon, if our army can defeat the surpassing little demon, then the Jiangyin Qing Demon will inevitably abandon the city and flee when he hears the news, and if our army wants to take Jiangyin, it will be easy." ”

"It's a good idea, but if you want to break through and surpass the little demon, I'm afraid it's not that easy, right?" Lin Fengxiang asked hesitantly.

"Not necessarily." Wu Ruxiao sneered and said: "The most powerful thing about surpassing the little demon is that the foreign guns are sharp, the army is strictly disciplined, and the soldiers dare to fight, it is difficult for us to break him on land, but when it comes to the water, his demon soldiers may not be the opponent of our army's sailors." ”

"General Wu, do you want to break the enemy in a water battle?" Lin Fengxiang hurriedly asked.

Wu Ruxiao nodded and said: "Our army has the advantage of upstream, the main warship is light and flexible, the most conducive to close combat, and the soldiers are skilled in water, good at maneuvering ships, and winning the decisive battle on the surface is far greater than the land battle." If we can launch a surprise attack at night and suddenly enter the fleet that surpasses the little demon, then our army will definitely have a good chance of victory! ”

Wu Ruxiao's words reminded Lin Fengxiang that when Lin Fengxiang fought with Wu Chaoyue for the first time in Taiping Mansion, the reason for the loss was that there was no sailor, which was pressed by Wu Jun Lian Yong with a long-range musket, and now the disadvantage of the Taiping Army has become an advantage, and intelligence shows that Wu Chaoyue has no exclusive sailor until now, and he must have hired civilian ships by boat to save Jiangyin, and the Taiping Army Sailor launched a surprise attack, and it is indeed easy to break Wu Chaoyue.

Moved by his heart, Lin Fengxiang remembered an important question again, and hurriedly asked: "General Wu, what if you go beyond the little demon and go by land to save Jiangyin?" That little demon is very cunning, once he finds out that our army's naval division is huge, he will inevitably land on the shore downstream, and take the land route to save Jiangyin, how can our army have the opportunity to break the enemy in a water battle? ”

"Of course, you have to lure the enemy with a trick." Wu Ruxiao, who is known as a wise and scheming person, did not wronged the evaluation of him in the history books, and said: "The day before yesterday, when I asked Liu Lichuan about the specific situation of the Transcendence Demon, I once heard Liu Lichuan mention that the Transcendence Demon, there is a big enemy named Zhou Lichun in Songjiang Mansion, and that Zhou Lichun once had an anti-grain riot in Qingpu County, Songjiang Prefecture, and it was once very big. It almost worked, but it was broken by the battle of the Transcendence Demon. But that Zhou Lichun was not captured by the Transcendence Little Demon. It is currently active in the area of Dianshan Lake. ”

As he spoke, Wu Ruxiao also took out a map. first pointed out the location of Dianshan Lake to Lin Fengxiang, and then pointed to the map and said: "Prime Minister Lin Cheng, please see, from Jiangyin to Taihu Lake, and from Taihu Lake to Dianshan Lake, there are waterways to pass, and the Wusong River, which is connected to Taihu Lake, also leads directly to Shanghai, the demon nest that surpasses the little demon." ”

"In this case, why didn't our army openly release the news, just say that Zhou Lichun sent someone to contact our army and lead the way for our army's sailors to attack Suzhou? Then our army secretly ambushed an elite sailor in a hiding place near the shore. I will lead the sailors into the Jiangyin Canal again, pretend to go south to take Wuxi and Suzhou, where the demon forces are empty, and surpass the little demon when I hear the news, I will inevitably urge the fleet to go straight to Jiangyin, and our ambush troops will not be able to win the opportunity to break the enemy in a water battle? ”

After staring at the map for a long time, Lin Fengxiang suddenly slapped his thigh and said with great joy: "Clever plan, just do it!" ”

After that, Lin Fengxiang also added: "If you want to pretend, you can pretend to be an elephant." Simply we will seize the Huangshan Fort according to the original plan, set up the artillery on the fort and bombard the Jiangyin City, pretending to force the Qing Demon to abandon the city, and induce the Surpass Demon to speed up to save Jiangyin. Calm the hearts of demons! ”

After Wu Ruxiao also agreed to Lin Fengxiang's plan, the two immediately acted according to the plan, first letting out the news. He threatened that Liu Lichuan, the leader of the Songjiang Rebels, had sent someone to contact them and prepare to take a water route to Suzhou. At the same time, the army was allowed to set up camp on the west bank of the Jiangyin Canal, and the troops were divided to seize the Huangshan Fort in the north of Jiangyin City. Set up a fort and prepare to bombard the city. In the evening, Lin Fengxiang and Wu Ruxiao selected 1,200 elite soldiers of the Taiping Army who were proficient in water warfare, equipped with the best equipment of the Taiping Army, led by Huang Hejin, who was good at water warfare, and ambushed the reeds in the upper reaches to wait for their orders. Then the next morning, Wu Ruxiao led the sailors of the Taiping Army directly into the Jiangyin Canal and went south to Wuxi, which was not too far away.

The Taiping army deceived the world and crossed the sea, of course, Yang Wending in Jiangyin City was scared half to death, and listened to the detailed report that Diao Min Zhou Lichun led the way to help the Taiping army go to his old nest Suzhou City, and saw the Taiping army's sailors from the Jiangyin Canal to the south on the city wall, Yang Wending immediately believed it, and because the Taiping army had begun to transport artillery to the Huangshan Fort, Yang Wending did not dare to hesitate, and successively sent several messengers down the river to contact Wu Chaoyue, urging Wu Chaoyue to speed up the march to save Jiangyin.

…………

The problem of distance gap, coupled with the fact that it was going upstream, the Wu army fleet was slightly slower, so when Yang Wending sent a messenger to see Wu Chaoyue, the Wu army fleet composed of more than 30 civilian ships had just sailed out of the mouth of the Huangpu River and had not gone far. Not to mention the result, I heard that the Taiping Army sent a sailor to fight Wuxi, Wu Chaoyue was really happy in his heart, and couldn't help but secretly say God help me.

After the secret joy, Wu Chaoyue replied that he would definitely rush to Jiangyin as soon as possible, and quickly calculated the time of the journey, and brought the map to study it carefully, and then Wu Chaoyue called his staff Zhao Liewen, and asked Zhao Liewen with a smile: "Huifu, who are your parents in Changshu?" Are you familiar with him? ”

"Luo Yunjin, I've only met a few times, and I'm not very familiar with it." Zhao Liewen replied truthfully, and said: "But my family is still a big family in Changshu, and my father often deals with him, so he should have an impression of me." ”

"Good, great."

Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed when he heard this, and then he didn't hesitate, and immediately said to Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, then can you write a letter to Luo Yunjin immediately, asking him to meet me at the dock of Fushan Town, just north of Changshu, tomorrow afternoon. ”

Zhao Liewen agreed, but when Zhao Liewen put pen to paper, Wu Chaoyue commanded: "By the way, by the way, I will say to Luo Xianling, just say that our soldiers are trained hard and pay attention to meat, if it is convenient, please ask him to bring me some live animals such as pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks to treat me for soldiers, I don't want him in vain, I will give him silver." ”

Zhao Liewen agreed again, and said with a smile: "I don't think you need to break the bank, the last time Jiangyin was warped, Changshu was already rumored there, and the people were in turmoil. ”

"Let's be clear." Wu Chaoyue replied with a smile: "My brother settles the accounts, and first make the words clear, lest others say that I am a strong guest and a bully and blackmail the place." ”

was included in Zhao Lie's writings. That night, the letter he ghostwrote for Wu Chaoyue was delivered to Changshu City by light speedboat. Changshu County Ling Luo Yunjin was really overjoyed, not only did he not think about taking the opportunity to knock Wu Chaoyue a sum of money. He also contacted the local gentry in Changshu overnight, asking them to donate money and go to Fushan Town together to meet the famous Qing general Wu Chaoyue. The landlords of Changshu have long heard of Wu Chaoyue's famous name, and they are also overjoyed when they hear the news, scrambling to buy pigs and sheep to give to their relatives Wu Jiajun, and the movement is very noisy............

With the help of the monsoon, in the afternoon of the next day, Wu's fleet had successfully entered the Suzhou Fujiang section. Then when they arrived at the mouth of the Dexupu River, Luo Yunjin's messenger also met with Wu Chaoyue, saying that Luo Yunjin had taken the Changshu gentry to set up a banquet at the wharf of Fushan Town upstream. is ready to give Wu Chaoyue and Wu Jun Lian Yong to pick up the wind and wash the dust. Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed when he heard this, but asked Luo Yunjin's messenger an unexpected question, "Is the scene lively?" Are there too many people? ”

"Is it lively?" The messenger sent by Luo Yunjin first took a long time to come back to his senses, and said to Wu Chaoyue: "Please rest assured, Lord Daotai, the scene is very lively, and it is beating gongs and drums, and all the major gentry in Changshu have arrived." Also, our county is worried that it will be dark when you arrive at the docks. I also asked people to prepare a large number of lights on the pier for you to use. ”

"Thank you, thank you."

Wu Chaoyue smiled even more happily, and then pointed to the Xupu Town Pier in front of him on the right. He shouted loudly: "Order the whole army to land at the dock in Xupu Town, and unload all grain, grass, baggage, weapons and ammunition." Take the overland route to Fushan Town Pier and meet Luo Xianling! ”

The scene suddenly fell silent, and even the resourceful Zhao Liewen was dumbfounded. After a while, he asked in surprise: "Weiting, why did you suddenly remember to land at the dock of Xupu Town?" Xupu Wharf is only ten miles away from Fushan Wharf? ”

"It's too dangerous over there at Fukuyama Pier!" Wu Chaoyue replied expressionlessly: "The upstream of Fushan Wharf." The river is too open, the terrain is complex, and there are too many islands in the center of the river, which is the ideal place for the long-haired sailor to arrange ambushes, and I must be on guard! (The real terrain, that is, the area around the current Shuangshan Town and Yangtze River Town, interested friends can refer to the map and satellite maps.) ）

Zhao Liewen and the others opened their mouths again, and then Zhao Liewen asked cautiously: "Weiting, how do you know that there is a long-haired ambush in the upper reaches of Fushan?" ”

"It's not that I know, it's that I doubt it." Wu Chaoyue replied expressionlessly: "In fact, when I received the news that the long-haired sailor went to fight Wuxi, I already had this suspicion, I don't have a sailor, and I can never be the opponent of the long-haired sailor on the river, and the long-haired is not a fool, how can I be willing to miss such a good opportunity?" So I have to beware of Longhair's hand leading me to the bait, and I have to beware of Longhair's possible ambush! ”

"Then why did you ask Luo County to order them to wait for you at Fushan Wharf?"

Zhao Liewen blurted out and asked, Wu Chaoyue smiled and did not answer, after careful calculation, Zhao Liewen did not continue to ask, but just surrendered to Wu Chaoyue again and again, because Zhao Liewen had already understood Wu Chaoyue's vicious intentions - to use smoke bombs to make the possible Taiping army ambush soldiers think that the Wu army fleet should at least drive to Fushan Wharf.

After receiving the news that the Wu army's fleet docked at Xupu Wharf, the hot face was pasted on the cold buttocks, and the Changshu welcome group headed by Luo Yunjin, the county commander, was of course very angry, and they all thought that they were being played by Wu Chaoyue as a monkey, and under the anger, several Changshu gentry also angrily brushed their sleeves and left, and Luo Yunjin, who wanted to shoot Wu Chaoyue's ass, also had a bad face, and said secretly in his heart: "This Wu Chaoyue is really good at putting on a fight!" ”

However, it didn't take much time, Luo Yunjin and the others opened their mouths to see that in the twilight, in the depths of the reeds of Jiangxin Island in the northwest, hundreds of Taiping army boats suddenly rushed out, like arrows off the string, directly to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the angry roar was clearly heard on the Fushan dock, "Beyond the little demon, shameless traitor!" Shameless traitor!! ”

"Long hair? The long-haired boat that came? With so many long-haired boats, when did they come here? ”

…………

It was a pity for the Taiping army, when Huang Hejin led the Taiping army's sailors to kill at Xupu Wharf, it was already too late, and the two thousand Wu army Lian Yong had already left the ship under the leadership of Wu Chaoyue, and continued to march west in line on land. Huang Hejin and other Taiping soldiers roared angrily, but they didn't dare to rush ashore to fight with Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue got cheap and behaved, and personally waved and shouted on the shore, "Long-haired brothers, goodbye Jiangyin, go back and tell Lin Fengxiang, don't expect me to show mercy to his subordinates this time." ”

If it weren't for the soldiers pulling to the death, Huang Hejin Tie would definitely take the army ashore and Wu Chaoyue desperately, but there was no way, the lone army went deep without backup, outnumbered and surrounded by enemies, 1,200 Taiping troops rushed ashore and Wu Jun, whose number had reached 2,000 people, was desperate to touch the stones with eggs, so Huang Hejin had no choice but to roar for a while and quickly retreated upstream with the sailor raid team, and returned to the Taiping army camp to report the situation to Lin Fengxiang in despair.

After listening to Huang Hejin's report, Lin Fengxiang, who had a steady personality, didn't get angry much - he just kicked the case in front of him over, and then after thinking about it for a long time with a straight face, Lin Fengxiang gritted his teeth and said: "Surpass the little demon, you win this time!" But don't forget, if you take the land route from Suzhou to save Jiangyin, even if the distance is not far, how can the physical strength of the soldiers be consumed a lot, and I still have the opportunity to wait for work! (To be continued.) )