Regardless of internal factors, judging from the situation alone, the situation of the Taiping Army is not critical, and it can even be said to be relatively favorable.

First of all, the total strength is still dominated by the Taiping army, Liu Lichuan, Zhou Lichun and Zeng Lichang together, the number of more than 23,000 people, and can continue to recruit refugees outside the city to supplement, far more than the more than 10,000 Qing troops outside the city. Among them, although the soldiers of Liu Lichuan's army are almost inferior in combat effectiveness and equipment, they have the advantage of being mostly young and strong, and as long as they are strictly trained, it will not be a big problem to raise the overall combat effectiveness. At the same time, the Qing army also had the weakness of uneven combat effectiveness of various battalions and armies, so the Taiping Army was not at a disadvantage in comparing the quality of soldiers.

In terms of grain, grass and ammunition, because of the large amount of grain, the grain in the city is enough for the Taiping army to easily support more than half a year, and the weapons and ammunition are not a big problem, and the French Concession is next to the British Concession half a mile away from the north gate of Shanghai. At the same time, the Taiping army could also replenish military supplies such as steel, medicine, and cloth from the concession, which made it more convenient for them to hold on to the city of Shanghai for a long time.

The advantage of the Wu army's bitter acid weapons has been offset by the Shanghai city wall, the Taiping army, which is good at earthwork, has built a sheep and horse wall outside the city wall while making every effort to strengthen the Shanghai city wall, which is used to restrain the Wu army's firing pin gun advantage, and the city wall is to dig deep trenches and build large bunkers, and build strong earth and stone fortifications in the streets and various key points in the city, even if the Qing army and the Wu army can blow up the city gate or the city wall into the city, when it comes to street fighting, it is still the Taiping army that occupies an absolute advantage.

There is no rescue outside, there is no city to defend inside, and the Taiping army does not have to worry much about the reinforcements, Wu Chaoyue's Xie Changsha firmly controls Wuxi, and Zeng Lichang's other deputy Chen Shibao also takes the army to station in Suzhou City in the upper reaches of the Wu Lijiang River, although these two armies are weak and it is difficult to provide strong reinforcements for Zeng Lichang, but with Wuxi and Suzhou in hand, the second wave of reinforcements sent by Yang Xiuqing in the plan Lin Fengxiang has a foothold, and he can adjust the reinforcement tactics at any time according to the battlefield situation, or directly reinforce Shanghai City, Or cooperate with Zeng Lichang to flank the Qing army before and after, and there is great hope for reversing the situation of the entire Shanghai battlefield.

It is precisely because of these favorable circumstances that after withdrawing into the city of Shanghai, Zeng Lichang did not rush to seize control of the city of Shanghai with Liu Lichuan, but chose to try his best to work together with Liu Lichuan, and according to Liu Lichuan's requirements, he was stationed outside the two gates in the southeast of Shanghai, which were the most vulnerable to the enemy, and was responsible for defending the main battlefield of the city, so that Liu Lichuan's army could be stationed in the safest northwest corner and the middle of the city.

The country is easy to change, the nature is difficult to change, Zeng Lichang has already taken the initiative to suffer, but Liu Lichuan still refuses to be completely at ease with the Taiping army, and puts the elite under his command in the middle of the city to station the muzzle of the gun at the back of the Taiping army, and Liu Lichuan's army forcibly took over the street fighting fortifications behind the Taiping army under the pretense of preparing for street fighting, and used the fortifications built by the Taiping army to prevent the Taiping army from suddenly turning its face and making a move. What made Zeng Lichang even more angry was that Liu Lichuanleng, who had an official position higher than him, never took the initiative to hand over the letter written to him by Wu Chaoyue from beginning to end, and he didn't even mention it once.

In the end, he couldn't rest assured, Zeng Lichang simply found out this matter directly, and took the opportunity to meet Liu Lichuan and took the initiative to ask Liu Lichuan about it. Liu Lichuan replied in a big way: "There are two letters, one is written by Xu Naizhao, the governor of the Qing Demon, and the other is written by the Transcendence Demon, both of which persuade me to surrender, and I tore it up on the spot." ”

"Except for surrendering, the Qing Demon Governor and the Transcendence Demon didn't say anything else?" Zeng Lichang asked suspiciously.

"Then there's the persuasion of me to kill you." Liu Lichuan was also honest and said truthfully: "Xu Naizhao, the governor of the Qing Demon, gave me an idea, persuading me to trick you into the city, or poison you in wine, or close the door and beat the dog, kill you and take your head to ask for credit, and also promised me a six-grade official position." ”

Liu Lichuan said easily, but Zeng Lichang's face changed slightly, and he forced a smile after a while and said: "Qing Demon is still the same as before, I don't know people, and if you are a talent like Liu Check, you have to at least give you a fourth-grade official." ”

"Prime Minister Zeng is right." Liu Lichuan laughed and said: "If it is given to me as a fourth-grade official, and let me manage the customs like Uncle Shuang, then I may be able to consider it, and forget about the sixth-grade official, I still can't look down on it." ”

After that, Liu Lichuan, who was used to joking with his gang brothers, laughed happily again, still proud of his not funny joke, but Zeng Lichang had a strong smile on his face, secretly angry in his heart, and said secretly: "So, as long as the Qing Demon can afford the price, you will really exchange my head for glory and wealth?" ”

In addition to Liu Lichuan's disgusting personality, there is also a point that he loves to hold grudges, and he is also a little unhappy with Zhou Lichun, who has turned his face, although Zhou Lichun's army also entered Shanghai City due to the pressure of the Qing army and friendly military feelings, but Liu Lichuan did not think about abandoning his previous suspicions at all, and worked together with Zhou Lichun to fight against the Qing army. However, most of Zhou Lichun's grain and grass baggage was lost in the Zhabei battlefield, and he did not have enough silver to buy grain and grass from the concession on his own, so he was forced to enter the city only two days later, so he could only stretch out his hand to Liu Lichuan and ask Liu Lichuan to help him replenish his grain and grass, but Liu Lichuan refused, under the pretext that Zhou Lichun was not his subordinate, and asked Zhou Lichun to find Zeng Lichang to find a way.

When Zhou Lichun, who had touched his nose, found Zeng Lichang again, in addition to reaching out to ask for food, of course, he angrily reported to Zeng Lichang that Liu Lichuan refused to provide grain and grass. And Zeng Lichang, in order to unite the friendly army, in addition to obediently giving food, also said with great anger: "This Liu Lichuan, why doesn't he think about unity?" Zhou Lvshuai's lack of grain and grass is because he lost the grain and grass because he was defeated by the Qing Demon, Liu Lichuan himself was unwilling to send troops to fight a tough battle, and he did not replenish the grain and grass for the friendly troops who fought a tough battle, desperately taking advantage of it and would rather die than suffer a loss, there is such a good thing in the world? ”

"Prime Minister Zeng, the matter of money and food must be solved as soon as possible." Xu Zongyang warned: "Although our food is barely sufficient, we don't have much silver, and we can't buy weapons and ammunition in large quantities from foreigners, and if we don't find a way to solve this problem as soon as possible, I'm afraid we will also be affected in the future." ”

Zeng Lichang nodded, Zeng Lichang also knew that after Liu Lichuan launched the Xiaodaohui uprising and took Shanghai City, in addition to confiscating hundreds of thousands of taels of tax silver from Shanghai Customs, he also confiscated the family property of all Manchu officials, including Wu Jianzhang, and at the same time forced the wealthy households in the city to donate money to help the army, and the cash in his hand was seven or eight hundred thousand taels, and it was not impossible to break through the million mark. And if the Taiping army can persuade Liu Lichuan to take out this silver to buy guns and cannons from foreigners, the equipment of the Taiping army will immediately be able to go to a big level, and it is not impossible to equip all the field weapons of the Wu army in the future.

When thinking about how to force Liu Lichuan to pay for bleeding, a soldier suddenly came to report outside the door, saying that the Qing army sent an envoy to call the city outside the west gate of Shanghai, and got in touch with Liu Lichuan's army stationed there, and then Liu Lichuan's army lowered the rope and dragged a person onto the city wall of the West Gate.

Hearing that Liu Lichuan had directly contacted the Qing army without asking for an order, Zeng Lichang's face was of course as ugly as he was, and immediately sent someone to pass on Liu Lichuan's arrival. As a result, it was very surprising that there was no news from the messenger sent to contact Liu Lichuan, and Liu Lichuan also took the initiative to send a messenger to invite Zeng Lichang to meet with Liu Lichuan's headquarters in the center of the city. At the same time, Liu Lichuan's messenger also took the initiative to tell Zeng Lichang that the person who was put into the city by the Qing army was an envoy sent by Yang Xiuqing to contact Zeng Lichang, and after being accidentally intercepted and arrested by the Qing army, the Qing army did not know what medicine was taken wrong, and put the Taiping army envoy into Shanghai City, and also brought in the letter written by Yang Xiuqing to Zeng Lichang.

Hearing this news, Zeng Lichang certainly didn't dare to slack off, but for the sake of prudence, Zeng Lichang still arranged a team of absolutely reliable elite soldiers to escort him to Liu Lichuan's headquarters. As a result, when he arrived at the scene, Liu Lichuan didn't put up any Hongmen banquet and hide any swords and axes, but as soon as they met, he yelled at Zeng Lichang: "Prime Minister Zeng, something bad happened!" Dongwang sent a letter from 9,000 years old, saying that Lin Fengxiang and Prime Minister Lin Cheng's reinforcements could not come, and we had to find a way to defend Shanghai, Suzhou and Wuxi by ourselves, and wait for a while before we can send reinforcements to us! ”

With an ugly face, he took the handwritten letter from Yang Xiuqing that had been read by Wu Chaoyue and the generals of the Qing army, and when he saw it carefully, the content was similar to Liu Lichuan's shouting, Zeng Lichang's face was of course even more gloomy, and he was depressed, Zeng Lichang asked the messenger sent by Yang Xiuqing with great confusion: "Aren't you arrested by the Qing demon?" Why did the Qing Demon take the initiative to put you into the city again, and let you bring in the letter from the nine thousand years old of the East King? ”

"Back to Prime Minister Zeng, he deliberately let the little demon come in." The unfortunate messenger replied with a sad face: "Beyond the little demon said, he wants you to know that our heavenly army in Shanghai has no hope, and wants us to open the gates of Shanghai and surrender as soon as possible." By the way, beyond the little demon, I brought in two letters, one for Prime Minister Zeng and one for Liu Jiandian. ”

"What about the letter?"

Zeng Lichang hurriedly asked again, and there was Liu Lichuan's personal soldier who presented the letter written by Wu Chaoyue to Zeng Lichang, Zeng Lichang saw that the fire paint of the letter had been pinched, and it was obviously read by Liu Lichuan first, of course he was very angry in his heart, but because of the unity of the event, he did not attack, and he did not ask Liu Lichuan for the reason - in fact, it would be good if Zeng Lichang asked, because the letter written by Zeng Lichang had been broken by Wu Chaoyue himself in Wu Chaoyue's camp.

Wu Chaoyue's letter to Zeng Lichang turned out to be a surrender, mocking the Taiping army's overstretched strength and overwhelming, arrogantly claiming that the small city of Shanghai could be broken in front of Wu Jun's practice and bravery, and strongly persuaded Zeng Lichang to rein in the precipice, and the prodigal son turned back, abandoned the darkness and surrendered to the Ming with the Taiping army to surrender to the Qing army. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue promised Zeng Lichang a small official position, and even more arrogantly threatened that if Zeng Lichang continued to be obsessed, then after the Qing army entered the city, the Taiping army would all have to be turned into powder!

Greeting Wu Chaoyue's old lady, Zeng Lichang tore Wu Chaoyue's letter to shreds three times and two times, and spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm, Zeng Lichang turned to Liu Lichuan and asked: "Liu Check, what did the letter written to you by the little demon say?" ”

Liu Lichuan blinked his eyes and replied: "It's also a surrender, except that the surrender is all nonsense, and it was torn by me." ”

Hearing Liu Lichuan's answer, the unlucky messenger who brought the letter in moved his lips, as if he wanted to say something, but he forcibly held back. Then Zeng Lichang cursed Wu Chaoyue a few more words, and then took the opportunity to say to Liu Lichuan: "Liu Checkpoint, by the way, I heard that you grabbed a lot of silver from the customs of the Qing Demon when you got into trouble, can you take some out to help make up for this prime minister, and buy more weapons from foreigners to arm our army?" ”

Liu Lichuan's face changed, and he hurriedly said that the silver had been used to reward soldiers and buy arms, and now there was not much left, and it really couldn't help Zeng Lichang. In the end, Zeng Lichang made it clear that his attitude was borrowed, saying that after the Qing army had been defeated and direct contact with Suzhou was restored, he would return the silver in Suzhou to Liu Lichuan, and Liu Lichuan promised to think about it before giving Zeng Lichang a reply.

When he left Liu Lichuan's headquarters in a hurry, Zeng Lichang of course took away the unlucky messenger sent by Yang Xiuqing, but as soon as he returned to the Taiping Army's own camp, the unlucky messenger immediately said to Zeng Lichang: "Prime Minister Zeng, Liu Jian didn't tell you the truth, beyond the letter sent to him by the little demon, in addition to surrendering, he also said some very important things. ”

"How do you know?" Zeng Lichang asked suspiciously.

"Transcending the little demon is to let others write letters on his behalf, as the villain's face dictates the content, so the little one knows the general content." The unfortunate messenger replied faithfully and foolishly.

"What's that?" Zeng Lichang hurriedly asked again.

"Except for the surrender, it's mainly three." The unlucky messenger replied truthfully: "First, the person who wants to write the letter to the little demon clearly tells Liu Jiandian in the letter, saying that he knows that Liu Jiandian has fished a lot of gold, silver and jewelry this time, as long as Liu Jiandian kills Prime Minister Zeng and you open the city and surrender, Liu Jiandian will get all the silver owned by Liu Jiandian, and the little demon will not be recovered." ”

Zeng Lichang's face turned a little blue, and he asked, "What are the other two?" ”

"One is the Daotai Hui Zheng of the Qing Demon, beyond the little demon to Liu Jian Dian to protect the Qing Demon Dao Tai called Hui Zheng, and also said that the Dao Tai is the father-in-law of the Qing Demon Emperor, and his daughter is very favored in front of the Qing Demon Emperor, as long as Liu Jian guards the Dao Tai, someone will speak for Liu Jian in front of the Qing Demon Emperor in the future, it is easy to get rid of the crime, and it is easier to be promoted."

"There is also a requirement to get in direct contact with Liu Jiandian, saying that outside the north gate of Shanghai is the French Concession, and the Beyond Demon will send someone to set up a point there, specifically responsible for contacting Liu Jiandian, Liu Jiandian can go to the French church there at any time to meet with the person who surpasses the little demon as long as he wants, and he also said that he can talk about whatever conditions."

"Son of a bastard!" Zeng Lichang couldn't help but scold, "Such an important situation is even hidden from Prime Minister Ben!" It seems that this Liu Lichuan is unreliable! It's unreliable no matter what! ”

…………

When Zeng Lichang was furious, Wu Chaoyue was drinking and having a banquet with Xu Naizhao, He Chun and others in Xu Naizhao's Chinese army tent to celebrate the good news that the Taiping Army no longer had troops to reinforce Shanghai. And after sincerely wishing Emperor Xianfeng a long life and Hong Yangfa bandits cutting off their children and grandchildren, Xu Naizhao and He Chun naturally sincerely hoped that Wu Chaoyue's discordant plan could succeed smoothly, so that Liu Lichuan and Zeng Lichang, the two bandit leaders, would fight as soon as possible.

At the end, Xu Naizhao asked Wu Chaoyue again: "Weiting, in your opinion, how sure are you that this divisive plan will succeed?" ”

"It's hard to say." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and replied very frankly: "Xiaguan bets that Longhair will definitely be estranged from the family plan, but let Longhair's fire and infighting, Xiaguan is not too sure. There is too little intelligence support, although our army has also installed some details within the long-haired army, but they are all low-level non-commissioned officers, and they have no way to contact the long-haired at the level of Zeng Lichang and Liu Lichuan, and they can't understand their specific movements, and the lower officials can't give them a fatal blow, prompting them to fire and civil strife. ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue sighed and said: "Even if there is a fine work that can directly contact Liu Lichuan, with such a fine work, it will be easy for us to win Shanghai City." ”

"Yes, with your ingenuity, if we can have such a fine work, then this battle will be much easier." Xu Naizhao sighed, and hummed with dissatisfaction: "That is like our Xiang Rong Xiang Dashuai, with an outstanding talent like Mr. Bingyuan who doesn't know how to make good use of it, Mr. Bingyuan has already mixed into the shogunate of Hong Renfa, the brother of the long-haired pseudo-king Hongxiu, and he can't even think of any good way to use Mr. Bingyuan well." ”

"Mr. Bingyuan?" Wu Chaoyue's surprise was not trivial, and he hurriedly asked Xu Naizhao: "Lord Futai, what are you talking about Mr. Bingyuan?" Could it be Zhang Jigeng and Zhang Bingyuan? ”

"Weiting, you know him too?"

Xu Naizhao was surprised and asked, and when he learned that Zhang Jigeng was Wu Chaoyue's comrade-in-arms when he was in Jiangning, Xu Naizhao did not hide it, first drove away the outsiders in the tent, and then told Wu Chaoyue in a low voice: "Comfort Pavilion, after Jiangning City was broken, Mr. Bingyuan did not die in battle, and changed his name to Yeatsfa, and relied on the recommendation of friends to infiltrate the shogunate of Hong Xiuquan's brother Hong Renfa, the puppet Guozong, and secretly got in touch with us, and helped us collect a large number of military secrets about the main force of Long Hair, and secretly provided them to Xiang Rong Xiang Marshal." ”

"Is there such a thing?" Wu Chaoyue, who has a sparse history, opened his mouth, and he never thought that the hardcore traitor Zhang Jigeng could be so hardcore that he could take such a big risk to continue to be an accomplice and lackey for the Manchu court.

Xu Naizhao nodded, and said that this was a secret that only he, Xiang Rong, He Chun and a very few other high-ranking Qing army leaders knew, and then complained: "It's a pity, such a good internal response, but our Xiang Rong Xiang Marshal doesn't know how to make good use of it, and he just asked Mr. Bingyuan to contact his companions, ready to open the city gate to receive our army into the city when we attack the city, and whimsically asked Mr. Bingyuan to try to assassinate Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing!" I don't want to think about it at all, how powerful the long hair in Jiangning City is, how can Mr. Bingyuan and a little fine work open the Jiangning City Gate with all the urn cities? Why don't you want to think about it, how can Mr. Bingyuan, a weak scholar, assassinate Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, the leaders of the long-haired bandits who are protected by a large number of thieves? ”

Wu Chaoyue stammered, and after finally coming back to his senses, Wu Chaoyue desperately praised Zhang Jigeng's loyalty to the lord, and said secretly in his heart: "In this matter, I have to let my Xiuying baby find a way to let Yang Xiuqing know, solve the internal hidden dangers of the Taiping Army, and let Yang Xiuqing know my sincerity to him!" (To be continued.) )