After discovering that the Taiping army might launch another night sneak attack, Zhou Tenghu immediately sent people to contact the Wu army's various strongholds in the suburbs as soon as possible, asking the Wu army's battalions to take strict precautions and not give the Taiping army any more opportunities to steal chickens and dogs.

was expected by Zhou Tenghu, and in the second half of the night, there was news that the Wu army's stronghold had been attacked by the Taiping army. However, to Zhou Tenghu's surprise, it was actually the Bailianjing stronghold of the Wu army in Pudong that was attacked this time, and judging from the direction of the enemy's road, the Taiping army that launched the sneak attack was likely to still be the Lu Shunde division of the Songjiang Taiping Army.

"Is it Longhair who plans to take Pudong first? Or is it Lu Shunde's long-haired personal affair again? ”

Zhou Tenghu was a little puzzled by the tactical purpose of the Taiping Army, because the current Pudong battlefield was actually a chicken rib for the Wu Army and the Taiping Army, and the Wu Army lost Pudong but it was a pity but there was no need to feel distressed, although the Taiping Army could capture some population and materials after taking Pudong, and could also use long-range artillery fire to directly threaten the Shanghai county and concession, but it was useless to rush through the Wu Army's Huangpu River defense line, and could only drool at the Shanghai Essence on the west bank of the Huangpu River.

I couldn't figure out the tactical purpose of the Taiping army, and it was raining a lot in the middle of the night, which was very unfavorable to the elite march of the Wu army using paper shell bullets, and at the same time, I had to prevent the Taiping army from playing any tricks in the more important Puxi battlefield, so Zhou Tenghu was not in a hurry to take the risk of sending troops to rescue Bailianjing, but just asked the Wu army to strictly guard the Dongjiadu pontoon bridge, and at the same time ordered the Wu army of Bailianjing to wait for help, no matter what, it must be held until dawn.

The Wu army of Bailianjing finally did not disappoint Zhou Tenghu this time, even if the continuous night rain weakened the power of the Wu army's firearms, giving the Taiping army many opportunities for close combat, but with strong fortifications and tenacious fighting spirit, the Wu army of Bailianjing always insisted until the sky was bright, and the rain turned smaller, and then Zhou Tenghu did not hesitate, and immediately sent reinforcements across the river to reinforce the Bailianjing stronghold.

The progress of the next battle was once again out of Zhou Tenghu's expectations, and it was just confirmed that the Taiping army that attacked the Bailianjing stronghold was Lu Shunde's department, and immediately another scout rushed to report that it was Gao Yongkuan, another Taiping army on the Pudong battlefield, also dispatched the main force to kill the Beicai stronghold, another camp of the Wu army in Pudong. Zhou Tenghu was immediately confused when he heard the report, and said in confusion: "How could it be to fight Beicai?" The location of Bailianjing is far more important than that of Beicai, and the fortifications have also been destroyed a lot by Lu Shunde, so it should be to reinforce Bailianjing, right? ”

When the Taiping army broke the Jiangnan camp of the Qing army, Yang Xiuqing's tactical command was absolutely artistic, more than a dozen soldiers and horses were divided into joint attacks, and the complexity of the interspersed attacks made the Qing army dazzled, no one could see Yang Xiuqing's real combat purpose and target, and the old military affairs Xiang Rong also believed from beginning to end that Yang Xiuqing was planning to attack the weaker Jiangbei camp, and stupidly mobilized the main forces of all walks of life to rescue Qi Shan, giving the Taiping army the opportunity to surround Xiang Rong's main force in a high posture, and more than a dozen Taiping troops smashed down one after another like an iron fist. smashed the main force of Xiang Rong's department and the Jiangnan battalion to smithereens! Until Xiang Rong had basically been wiped out, Qi Shan, who had always thought that he was the target of the Taiping Army, did not dare to send reinforcements to Xiang Rong.

Li Xiucheng, who personally experienced the war, got the true biography of Yang Xiuqing, just when Zhou Tenghu was confused by the strange behavior of the Taiping army on the Pudong battlefield, the Taiping army on the Puxi battlefield suddenly made a big move, and the troops were divided into five routes, four of which attacked the Wu army in Puxi Qibao, Caohejing, Luojiagang and Huacao, and the other road crossed the Songjiang River in the north, detouring to the west of King Ji and directly killing in the direction of Nanxiang.

The news was reported to Zhou Tenghu, and Zhou Tenghu was immediately dazzled on the map sand table like Xiang Rong and Qi Shan at the beginning, not understanding the real purpose and tactical goals of the Taiping Army, let alone how to deal with it. However, Jin Anqing, who was not as good as Zhou Tenghu militarily, saw the danger and hurriedly reminded: "Tao Fu, distinguish the priorities, guard the most important place first, and don't give the long-haired tiger the opportunity to leave the mountain and attack the west." ”

It was true that he couldn't see through the purpose and plan of the Taiping Army, so Zhou Tenghu could only adopt Jin Anqing's suggestion and decided to give priority to the three important positions of Qibao, Caohejing and Bailianjing, and sent the mobile army to these three battlefields first; The three strongholds of Luojiagang, Huacao and Beicai were only ordered to be held, and reinforcements were not considered for the time being; And when it came time to consider the final Nanxiang battlefield, Zhou Tenghu hesitated......

"Strange? How could Long Hair make a detour to Nanxiang? If you don't take the places of King Ji, Hua Cao and Zhu Zhai, even if Changmao takes Nanxiang, it won't have much effect? Is it a lure army that is attacking the east and the west? Or are you going to kill me by surprise? ”

After hesitating for a while, considering that Nanxiang had quite a lot of troops on his side, and there were British and French troops on the flanks who could come to the rescue at any time, Zhou Tenghu still decided not to rush to send reinforcements to Nanxiang for the time being, but only ordered the defenders of Nanxiang to stick to the camp and strictly prohibit risking the battle, and at the same time sent people to urgently contact the British and French troops and ask the foreigners to be ready to rescue Nanxiang at a critical moment.

In the afternoon, Zhou Tenghu found that he had misexpected the enemy situation in Nanxiang, because the Nanxiang battlefield sent someone to report, saying that the Taiping army that attacked the Nanxiang stronghold of the Wu army in a roundabout way was not only extremely well equipped, but also used a small number of picric acid weapons in the battle, and it was obvious that it was the main force of the Taiping army!

"Go and contact the British Ho Bo and Stifley, and ask them to send troops to reinforce Nanxiang immediately." Zhou Tenghu decisively ordered, and then instructed Deng Siyuan next to him: "Siyuan, prepare the elite of the two battalions, and be on call at any time!" ”

"Futai rest assured, our elite has been prepared for a long time and can be dispatched at any time." Deng Siyuan replied, and then asked, "Do you want to go out immediately?" ”

"You can't do it now." Zhou Tenghu shook his head and said: "The long-haired elite went around the long road to fight Nanxiang, I can't see what the purpose is for the time being, I have to prevent them from encircling the point to help, and there are back moves, see the situation clearly." ”

Deng Siyuan nodded in agreement, and Zhou Tenghu sent more scouts to closely monitor every move of the main force of the Taiping Army, and the result was not surprising, not long after, the scouts really sent a report that the Taiping Army and the rear army rushed to the Nanxiang battlefield. Zhou Tenghu hurriedly ordered the scouts to continue to monitor closely, and at the same time wondered in his heart, "Is it an elite or an auxiliary?" Nanxiang is on the north bank of Suzhou Creek (Songjiang River), how can Changmao attach so much importance to it? ”

After another half an hour, a herald of the British army came to Zhou Tenghu and said to Zhou Tenghu through an interpreter: "Dear Zhou, our British army has complied with sending two companies of reinforcements to Nanxiang, but the staff of our British army has found through deduction that the real main target of the Taiping army in the Puxi battlefield today is likely to be that under the condition that we must leave enough troops to protect the concession, the reinforcements we can provide to Nanxiang are very limited, and we dare not guarantee that we will be able to help your army hold Nanxiang. It is best for your army to be prepared in advance to take the initiative to abandon Nanxiang or send a large number of troops to reinforce Nanxiang. ”

"Your staff thinks that the main target of Longhair's attack is Nanxiang? Why? Zhou Tenghu asked.

"Because the Taiping army needs to attack the Wusongkou Fort, open the water channel of the Huangpu River, and help their water forces join the Shanghai battlefield."

The British herald's answer made Zhou Tenghu suddenly realize, and also made Zhou Tenghu realize that Li Xiucheng's move was simply a sure win, and it was of course good to be able to take Nanxiang and march into Wusongkou and help the Taiping Army's sailors enter the Huangpu River without damage. But if the Wu army in Shanghai can be forced to send the main force to reinforce Nanxiang or Wusongkou, and be forced to fight a decisive battle with the Taiping army in the field without the support of fortifications, it will only be better for Li Xiucheng!

"It's worthy of being a long-haired celebrity, it's really amazing."

When Zhou Tenghu sighed, the British herald said to Zhou Tenghu through an interpreter: "Dear Zhou, there is one more thing I must tell you, our staff also found through deduction that the real main target of the Taiping Army on the Pudong battlefield is likely to be Beicai, I hope you can pay attention to this." ”

"Long hair is the main attack on Beicai in Pudong? How can it be? That location doesn't matter, huh? Zhou Tenghu asked in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why." The British herald shook his head.

Zhou Tenghu frowned, and was about to deduce the purpose of the Taiping Army's main attack on Beicai by himself, but a personal soldier suddenly came to report outside the door, saying: "Lord Futai, Beicai is lost, and the guard general Tang usurped Tang and died!" ”

Zhou Tenghu stood up violently, his face was pale, and at the same time, he suddenly understood the reason why the Taiping army was mainly attacking Beicai in Pudong - taking Beicai and approaching Shanghai even more, the Taiping army could not only force and tempt the Shanghai Wu army to increase the Pudong battlefield, but also use the advantage of water power to cut off its own contact with the Pudong Wu army, isolate and annihilate the Pudong Wu army!