In fact, when the subordinates of the Wu Mansion hurriedly brought the letter back to Shanghai, it was not too late, Liu Lichuan had not had time to do it, and the old comprador Wu Jianzhang was still sitting at home unharmed and enjoying the attendants of the seven-room concubine, and it stands to reason that he could easily nip the Xiaodaohui uprising in the bud and avoid all the disastrous consequences that would occur later.

It's just that this is the case, but Wu Chaoyue, who sent a letter to warn, forgot an important question, that is, his comprador grandfather Wu Jianzhang is not a traverser, and he doesn't know what the knife will do in history. So after reading Wu Chaoyue's letter, Wu Lao Comprador thought that his baby grandson was dissatisfied with Liu Lichuan, and remembered that Liu Lichuan used alcohol to go crazy in the past, not only did not do it immediately, but also scolded with a smile: "Little bastard, the temper of hatred just doesn't change, Liu Ayuan offends you once, you can't forget it for the rest of your life, right?" ”

"Master, Young Master Sun said, please do as he asks." The subordinates of the Wu Mansion faithfully reminded: "Young Master Sun also said that if you don't do it, you will definitely be in danger. ”

"Got it." Wu Jianzhang waved his hand impatiently and ordered: "Go down and rest, beyond what you said, the old man will think about it." ”

The subordinate had no choice but to retreat obediently, but it was not bad, this subordinate was still loyal and obedient, and went to the camp of Wu Jun Lianyong, and relayed Wu Chaoyue's message to Deng Siyuan, the Wu military camp officer who stayed in Shanghai's lair, and Deng Siyuan, who was cautious, also acted according to the order, and immediately strengthened the protection of the Wu Army Arsenal - not only was Wu Chaoyue's newly developed picric acid weapon stored, but Wu Junlianyong's spare guns and ammunition were also stored in the basement there.

Deng Siyuan was obedient, but Wu Jianzhang didn't take the kind reminder of his baby grandson to heart at all, on the contrary, he was complacent because of the vigorous development of the Little Knife Club, Liu Lichuan was also very good at concealment, knew how to please Wu Jianzhang, deliberately let the members of the Little Knife Club vigorously maintain civil order in Shanghai, and also helped the government to arrest the hungry people who stole the shipping grain, in exchange for the praise of Wu Jianzhang and other officials in Shanghai, and in the first few days before the incident, he also obtained a batch of guns and ammunition sponsored by Wu Jianzhang.

Then, what should have happened naturally happened, in the early morning of the first day of the third month, taking advantage of the opportunity of the opening of the city gate, the members of the Little Knife Society who were ambushed in the streets outside the city suddenly entered the city from the small east gate, and some of the villagers stationed in the city also suddenly rebelled, wielding knives and slashing the Qing army defending the city by surprise, and took the small east gate in one fell swoop. Immediately afterwards, Pan Qiliang, the new leader of the Hundred Dragons Society, also responded with a large number of members of the Hundred Dragons Society, organizing and calling on the hungry people outside the city to storm the sea wharf where the grain was stacked, so that the Qing army outside the city did not dare to enter the city to quell the rebellion.

It's really the fate of Wu Lao compradors, always remember the advice of the baby grandson before leaving, and always carry twenty soldiers equipped with revolvers to protect him when he goes out, and see the changes in the city on the way to work, although Wu Lao comprador was caught off guard and was once chased and killed by the rebel army of the Little Knife Society, but he finally got away from the pursuit by relying on the protection of Bingyong. After fleeing home in embarrassment, Wu Jianzhang remembered the repeated admonitions of his precious grandson, and hurriedly fled from the north gate with his family, including Fu Shanxiang, and used a revolver to open the way out of the north gate of Shanghai, and fled directly into the concession to seek protection from foreigners.

Then, in only about three hours, the Xiaodaohui rebels successively took the important yamen such as the Coastal Defense Department and the Township Participation Bureau, and also seized a large number of guns and ammunition from these yamen, completely controlled all the gates of Shanghai, and basically controlled the whole city. In response to the uprising outside the city, with the help of tens of thousands of hungry refugees, they also killed the Qing soldiers who guarded the grain, and took away countless grains.

During this period, Deng Siyuan, the commander of the Wu military camp who received the alarm, also sent two outposts to quell the rebellion, but the Qing army was scattered, and the rebel army of the Little Knife Society took control of the city gate before Wu Jun Lian Yong arrived, closed the city gate and shot Wu Jun Lian Yong with a musket on the city. And when Wu Jun Lian Yong hurriedly went to rescue the Caoyun wharf, although he easily took back the wharf to recapture the grain, he was immediately surrounded by hundreds of thousands of hungry refugees, and it was impossible to transport the grain away.

Then, Liu Lichuan, who had already secretly discovered the location of the Wu Army's ammunition depot, immediately sent troops to attack the Wu Army Arsenal, but fortunately, Deng Siyuan took the lead and took all the remaining Lian Yong into the arsenal, which did not give Liu Lichuan the opportunity to snatch the Wu Army's ammunition, but he was also pinned down by the rebel army in the arsenal, and could no longer rescue the county seat and dock, and at the same time, the Wu Army camp was also occupied by the rebels, and a large amount of baggage left in the camp was all robbed.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Qing army naval division stationed at Wusongkou hurriedly drove into the Huangpu River to quell the rebellion, but the rebel army had already gained a firm foothold in the city, and the Qing army's naval division only relied on the help of Wu Jun's training and courage to save the remaining grain, and at the same time, the desperate hungry refugees and the local people in Shanghai who could not bear the tyranny of the Manchu Qing Dynasty also joined the Xiaodaohui rebel army, and the rebel army increased its momentum. When the news of the success of the Shanghai uprising spread, uprisings also broke out in the surrounding counties of Jiading, Qingpu, Baoshan, Nanhui and Chuansha, and in response to the Shanghai uprising, the whole territory of Songjiang was eroded.

Originally, the Qing army still had a great chance to quickly quell the Xiaodaohui uprising, but after Wu Jianzhang, who regretted it, settled his family in the concession, he also jumped out to preside over the overall situation and command the Qing army to counterattack Shanghai. More than 2,000 Taiping troops under the command of Zhou Lichun took the opportunity to attack Suzhou, containing the Qing army in Suzhou that was ready to send troops to rescue Shanghai, resulting in Wu Jianzhang's insufficient troops to break the city, and several attacks were killed by some of the Xiaodaohui rebels equipped with advanced weapons.

By the way, Wu Lao's comprador originally wanted to borrow troops from foreigners to quell the rebellion, but Liu Lichuan directly played the banner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom this time, showing the true identity of the Taiping military inspection point, and the Western powers wanted to fish in troubled waters to take advantage of the opportunity, and refused to send troops under the pretext that they were required to maintain neutrality at home, and Britain and France also took the opportunity to ask Wu Jianzhang to revise the treaty.

After the news reached the capital, Emperor Xianfeng, who also regretted it, wanted to immediately send Wu Chaoyue to put down the rebellion, but unfortunately, the main force of Wu's army was stationed in Jinan, which was a little far away from the port. Therefore, Emperor Xianfeng adopted the suggestions of Mianyu and Lin Kui and others, and urgently ordered Xu Naizhao, the governor of Jiangsu, who was in the Jiangnan camp to assist in military affairs, to lead the army to rescue Shanghai by the Yangtze River, and at the same time rejected Wu Chaoyue's second request to return to the division.

Although Wu Chaoyue helped the Qing army eliminate the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in advance, he also inadvertently helped the Taiping Army avoid the tragic defeat of the Qing army being wiped out by the Qing army twice. After receiving the news that Liu Lichuan had successfully captured Shanghai's important land of money and grain, Yang Xiuqing also decisively sent Zeng Lichang, the Taiping army that was supposed to go north to reinforce Li Kaifang, from Zhenjiang to the east, and first went to Wuxi by land to meet Xie Changsha, and then continued eastward to reinforce Shanghai. Then Yang Xiuqing learned the lesson of the isolation of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and quickly transferred the Taiping Army in Anhui and Nanjing to organize the second support army, and handed it over to Lin Fengxiang to lead, and also attacked Danyang and Changzhou and other cities along the way by land, making it more difficult for the Qing army to respond to the first siege.

In this way, the already chaotic situation in southern Jiangsu is even more chaotic, although Xu Naizhao rushed to Shanghai with 2,000 Qing troops by water, and also recovered the two county towns of Baoshan and Chuansha that were captured by the rebel army, but the city was broken and lacked skills, and the rebel army still had no way to defend the city of Shanghai. At the same time, after the Qing army of the Jiangnan battalion with poor discipline arrived in the rich land of Shanghai, they unceremoniously robbed more than one of the people, forcing more people to join the rebel army of the Little Knife Society, and even the old comprador Wu was also scolded a lot.

In the end, after receiving the news that the Taiping Army Zeng Lichang broke through the blockade of the Qing army and joined the Wuxi Taiping Army, the wise and martial Emperor Xianfeng made up his mind and ordered Wu Chaoyue to lead the army back to Shanghai to rescue. Finally looking forward to this will, Wu Chaoyue did not dare to make any delay while scolding, and immediately took Wu Junlianyong, who had been replenished on the spot in Jinan, to Penglai to board the ship, but on the way, because of the continuous spring rain, the road was muddy, and the marching speed was affected, which made Wu Chaoyue, who was already anxious, even more anxious The corners of his mouth bubbled, and he didn't even have the intention of flirting with Feng Wanzhen.

After meeting with Xie Changsha in Wuxi, the Taiping army Zeng Lichang, who had been supplied, continued to advance eastward, first meeting with Zhou Lichun in the area of Hushu Pass, and defeated the Qing army in Suzhou that was pinned down by Zhou Lichun in one fell swoop. Then when he continued to drive eastward, a good thing that Zeng Lichang had not dared to imagine in advance happened - the Qing army in Suzhou City did not vigorously strengthen the defense of Suzhou City at all, Zeng Lichang was overjoyed and immediately adjusted his tactical plan and decisively launched an attack on Suzhou City, and as a result, he successfully took Suzhou City in only one day and gained a stable foothold. Then Zeng Lichang left his deputy Chen Shi to guard the city of Suzhou, and asked Zhou Lichun, who was familiar with the terrain, to serve as the vanguard to open the way, along the south bank of the Wuzhen River to Shanghai, along the way to overturn the Qing army of Lou County, which came to block it, and finally arrived at the outskirts of Shanghai on March 29, and joined Zhou Lichun's division together.

The arrival of the Taiping army of course instantly reversed the situation of the balance of power in the Shanghai battlefield, the total number of Qing troops, including Wu Jun Lianyong, was less than 6,000, and the reinforcements of the Taiping army were full of 10,000 people, plus more than 10,000 people of the Xiaodaohui rebel army, which was in absolute upper hand in terms of troops, and at the same time, because the rebel armies from neighboring counties continued to join, the number was still rising rapidly.

Next, when the Taiping army launched an attack on the Qing army camp, the Qing army was of course defeated by one touch, and the governor Xu Naizhao took the lead in fleeing for his life, and fled directly to Wusongkou, Baoshan with the Qing army. Wu Jianzhang, who remembered his grandson's advice, saw that the situation was not good, and immediately ran back to the concession, while the Wu army led by Deng Siyuan was surrounded by the Taiping army in the Wu army arsenal in the southwest of the city.

Zeng Lichang was also very clever and understood the truth that he should not make enemies too much, knowing that Wu Jianzhang was hiding in the concession, and did not forcibly break into the concession to arrest people, but only sent envoys into the concession to negotiate and liaise with the consuls of various countries, indicating that he would never infringe on the concession and allow foreigners to continue to trade, and tried to get the consuls of various countries to hand over Wu Jianzhang through negotiations, and at the same time took out real money to buy firearms and ammunition from foreigners. On the other hand, the foreigners, on the one hand, temporarily refused to hand over Wu Jianzhang under the pretext of neutrality and sold at a price, and on the other hand, they made a lot of money by doing business with the Taiping Army, and temporarily maintained a friendly relationship of mutual nonaggression with the Taiping Army, waiting for the next change in the situation.

While striving to keep the foreigners neutral, the Taiping army did not forget to pack up the Wu army Lianyong hiding in the arsenal, and launched no less than ten attacks on the Wu army arsenal, fortunately, Wu Junlianyong's feet were ammunition depots, the ammunition was very sufficient, and the grenadiers and grenades produced by Wu Chaoyue after leaving were available, relying on the fortifications to repel the Taiping army's attack every time. At the same time, before this, Deng Siyuan, who had a cautious personality, had already hoarded a batch of grain in the Wu Army Arsenal through Wu Jianzhang, and there was a deep well in the low-lying place in the southeast corner of the factory to draw water, so he did not have to be afraid of being surrounded by the Taiping army on all sides for a certain period of time.

If it was replaced by another Qing army stronghold, and encountered such a hard nail as Wu Jun Lian Yong, the Taiping Army, which had flexible tactics, would have abandoned it and not fought it, but there was no way, Liu Lichuan had already made it clear to Zeng Lichang that this was not only not Wu Chaoyue's workshop for making foreign guns and cannons, but also where Wu Jun Lianyong's ammunition depot was located, which was of equal significance to both the Taiping Army and Wu Chaoyue. Therefore, even if he could not be attacked repeatedly, Zeng Lichang was still resolutely unwilling to give up, and quickly came up with a battle plan, while digging deep trenches to build fortifications to completely surround the Wu Army Arsenal, and at the same time quietly digging tunnels to the foot of the Wu Army Arsenal.

In this regard, Xu Zongyang, another deputy of Zeng Lichang, had quite objections and issued a warning to Zeng Lichang: "Prime Minister Zeng, digging tunnels and burying gunpowder under the enemy's walls is a good way to break through the demon fortress, but the combat effectiveness of these demon soldiers who surpass the little demon is not trivial, and the ammunition is very sufficient, even if we blow up their walls, I am afraid it will be difficult to kill and destroy the demon soldiers." Please think again. ”

"Nope! We didn't dig tunnels to blow down the demon soldiers' fortification walls, but to blow up their ammunition depot built underground! Zeng Lichang said in a dark voice: "The main force that surpasses the little demon goes north to attack Prime Minister Li Cheng, and the ammunition consumption must be a lot, and they must return to Shanghai to replenish ammunition in order to continue the war." As long as we blow up his ammunition depot, even if his main force returns, he will definitely not be our opponent! ”

Xu Zongyang suddenly realized, and hurriedly commanded the Taiping army to build fortifications to completely surround the Wu army arsenal, and at the same time sent an earthen camp to explore the site of the veins, and soon found a suitable location for digging tunnels, and then the Taiping army pretended to build forts for fortifications, and immediately began to dig tunnels under the cover of fort construction, and the progress was extremely fast............

If it weren't for the morning rain, the Taiping army's tactical plan might be very hopeful, the rain was not too heavy, it only started when it was close to dawn, and when the sky was about to be full of light, in the falling rain, more than a hundred ragged people suddenly appeared near the Taiping army position surrounding the Wu army arsenal, and were intercepted by the Taiping soldiers and questioned their intentions, and a middle-aged man in his thirties stood out among the people with rudimentary weapons such as hoes and iron knives, and nodded and asked to meet the Taiping army leader with the highest official position here, He also said that there was a major event to report to the officials of the Taiping Army.

The news reported that it was in front of Zhang Shaoqiang, the commander of the Taiping Army nearby, and Zhang Shaoqiang could have ignored it at all, but because the distance was not far, Zhang Shaoqiang led his own soldiers over and said to the middle-aged man: "This will be Zhang Shaoqiang, the commander of the Heavenly Kingdom, what is the matter with you?" ”

"Master Zhang, Master Zhang." The middle-aged man hurriedly knelt down and saluted Zhang Shaoqiang, kowtowed and said: "Allah is a native of Shuangfeng in Taicang Prefecture, I heard that the army of the Kingdom of Heaven defeated Shanghai to save the people of Ala, and I was fed up with the anger of the dog official, so I brought some people from my hometown to join you, please be sure to take it in, you must take it in." Allah can do anything, can do anything, can go to the battlefield to kill dog officers. ”

Probably glanced at the group of people in Taicang Prefecture, and saw that although they were dressed in tatters, both old and young, they were all relatively strong men, Zhang Shaoqiang nodded and said, "Okay, then you can stay, come here, take them to the general system of the king, and record them for rein." ”

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang, thank you, Mr. Zhang." The middle-aged man hurriedly thanked him, and hurriedly got up and beckoned to the back: "Quick, bring up the gift for the Heavenly Official." ”

The middle-aged man brought a few companions agreed, and quickly lifted a sackcloth bag from one of the several accompanying broken cars, and carried it directly to the front of Zhang Shaoqiang, and then the middle-aged man said with a flattering face: "Master Zhang, this is a meeting gift from the Allahs, please be sure to accept it." ”

"What greeting?" Zhang Shaoqiang asked suspiciously.

The middle-aged man smiled and didn't answer, but just asked a few companions to open the wriggling sack, revealing a young woman whose mouth was gagged with rags, and then the middle-aged man smiled and said: "Master Zhang, this is caught by the little ones on the road, the yellow flower girl who has no ****, filial piety to Master Zhang, please be sure to accept it." ”

"Bastard!" Zhang Shaoqiang was furious and scolded: "Who do you think General Ben is?" Our heavenly army is here to save the people, not to harm the people, let her go! I'll put it right away! ”

The middle-aged man was scolded a little confused, timidly looked at Zhang Shaoqiang and didn't dare to speak, or Zhang Shaoqiang opened his mouth again to shout, the middle-aged man hurriedly asked a few companions to carry the woman to Zhang Shaoqiang's front and handed it to Zhang Shaoqiang's personal soldiers, Zhang Shaoqiang's personal soldiers hurriedly took over, Zhang Shaoqiang was about to open his mouth to continue to teach the middle-aged man, but he didn't think that several of his companions suddenly rushed up and held Zhang Shaoqiang down, one of them took out a revolver and pointed it at Zhang Shaoqiang's head, and the other few and the middle-aged man quickly pulled out a revolver and shot, quickly knocked over all the Taiping soldiers around him.

The incident happened so suddenly, the nearby Taiping army didn't have time to react at all, but the companions brought by the middle-aged man moved faster than one another, almost flying out of the broken cars with rifles equipped with bayonets, and quickly raised the knife to protect the middle-aged man and Zhang Shaoqiang, who had been disarmed.

The fierce battle unfolded quickly, and a group of people brought by the middle-aged man pushed Zhang Shaoqiang to the front shield in an extremely despicable manner, and forcibly rushed into the encirclement of the Taiping army, while his companions stabbed with bayonets and shot with a small number of revolvers to expel the Taiping soldiers who rushed from all directions. Rushed directly to the Wu Army Arsenal, which was surrounded by the Taiping army on all sides.

At the same time, Wu Jun Lian Yong, who relied on the fortifications to guard tightly, of course also discovered the abnormal situation here, and when the group rushed closer, Wu Jun Lian Yong immediately raised his gun in warning, and shouted and asked: "Stop, who are you?" Where did it come? ”

The middle-aged man from before stepped out of the crowd again, put his hands behind his back, and said loudly to Wu Jun Lianyong with a smile: "My own person, from Jiangyin, I am the Jiangyin regiment training officer, Zhou Tenghu." (To be continued.) )