The rout of Shi Dakai's main force also surprised Wu Chaoyue, who had always believed that even if the Taiping Army, whose overall quality was gradually declining, could not defeat Jinan and take Shandong, at least it was not a big problem to stabilize the situation in southern Lunan and continue to put pressure on the Manchu court. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info But Wu Chaoyue never expected that Shi Dakai would be killed by Luo Bingzhang so much, and even the main force of the descendant could be directly defeated by Luo Bingzhang.

After carefully studying the specific battle process, Wu Chaoyue found that Shi Dakai did not lose unjustly, his mentality was too eager, his grasp of the enemy's situation was insufficient, and he was too light on the enemy and did not decisively transfer the troops of the two wings back to the main battlefield, delusionally thinking that he could only rely on the strength of one army to resist the main force of the entire Shandong Qing army, forgetting the right way of relying on more soldiers to win, and finally coupled with the failure to grasp the important information that the Shandong New Army had been equipped with Tsarist weapons, he lost unjustly, and it can even be said that he deserved it! -- If we don't prove ourselves with anger and first pull back the main forces on the left and right flanks and then fight this decisive battle with the Qing army in Shandong, the Taiping army, which is outnumbered, will still have a chance to win no matter what.

While secretly scolding Shi Dakai for being stupid, Wu Chaoyue was inevitably a little lucky, and directly said to Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming's two cronies: "Fortunately, the emperor's head was in the water, and Luo Bingzhang was driven to Shandong in advance to separate me from me, otherwise, my army this time will definitely not be so smooth, maybe now my main force is still fighting with Luo Bingzhang, the old fox, in Hunan." ”

"That's why you are blessed with the heavens, and the gods bless you." Zhao Liewen smiled and said: "If Luo Lao Futai is still in Hunan, let's not say that we will control the regular army in Hunan in advance, even if Chu Yong's regimental training is absolutely impossible for us, with him, Liu Changyou and Jiang Zhongji will not go with you." ”

"But he still disrupted my entire strategic plan." Wu Chaoyue's expression was a little worried, and he said: "Originally, I was expecting Shi Dakai to stabilize Lunan and force the rebellious party in the capital to put the main force in Shandong to prevent Shi Dakai, so that I could take the opportunity to digest Yungui and consolidate the rear." But I didn't expect Shi Dakai to not even be able to stabilize it, and now I'm afraid that we will be in big trouble. ”

"Weiting, are you a little worried?" Zhao Liewen and Wu Chaoyue did not reach an agreement, and said: "Shi Dakai is just a fiasco of the main force, broken muscles and bones, there is still some vitality left, and Li Kaifang, Ji Wenyuan and Twist Army help, there is still the strength of a battle, the capital chaos party must also put the main force in Shandong, within a while and a half, the capital chaos party is not to say that it provokes us, I'm afraid we have to ask God and Buddha to beg us not to attack them, right?" ”

"If I were a rebel party in the capital, I would definitely not be in a hurry to recover Lunan at this time, forcing the Lunan Taiping Army and me to fight hard." Wu Chaoyue said: "I will only try to maintain the current confrontation situation, while training the new army to accumulate strength, while freeing up my hands to weaken my side, and then sit and wait for the long-haired civil strife, and at the same time do everything possible to make us and the long-haired face to start a war, so as to stabilize the chaos and reap the benefits." ”

"The chaotic party in the capital is not afraid of Changmao going north again?" Yan Jingming next to him interjected and asked: "Shi Dakai and Yang Xiuqing are not fools, they have suffered such a big loss this time, and they have found that the chaotic party in the capital is desperately expanding and arming the new army in Shandong, can they not strike first and go north again, and not give the chaotic party in the capital a chance to breathe?" ”

"Longhair no longer has the strength to launch the Northern Expedition!" Wu Chaoyue's tone was very arbitrary, and he said: "Unless Yang Xiuqing personally leads the troops to the north, even if Changmao forcibly launches the Northern Expedition, it will never pose a mortal threat to the Shandong official army, let alone the chaotic party in the capital!" ”

After throwing out his conclusion, Wu Chaoyue listed his arguments and said, "Do you know the specific situation of the Taiping Army now? Since Yang Xiuqing completely overthrew Hong Xiuquan, his control over foreign armies has been greatly weakened, and it is only because of the strong support of Shi Dakai, the strongest of the foreign generals, and the loyalty of the Taiping generals to the remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, that he can barely control the situation and keep the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from splitting. ”

"Now that Shi Dakai has been hit hard, there is no way to help Yang Xiuqing suppress the foreign generals, Yang Xiuqing himself and his direct army must sit in Nanjing, defend their capital, and can't spare their hands to teach those disobedient foreign generals a lesson, so they can only command and mobilize these soldiers and horses through hostage threats and interest exchanges."

"You say, how much combat effectiveness can such an army have, and how willing can it be to fight to the death with the army of the rebellious party in the capital? How could these armies obey Yang Xiuqing's request and unconditionally obey a commander appointed by Yang Xiuqing? Aren't they afraid of running out of money and losing their position of power? ”

"Comfort Ting's analysis makes sense, Long Hair is now not only facing the problem of rapid decline in combat effectiveness, but also facing the fatal problem of the warlords' respective divisions."

Zhao Liewen took over the conversation and said: "Changmao's original military system is actually good, with the army as a unit, the army commander is only responsible for peacetime training and marching camp, and the supervising army is responsible for scheduling and commanding, and a general is temporarily appointed to command the army during the battle, and the military power will be returned after the war. Such a system can avoid the emergence of warlords, so that the army will always obey only the orders of Hong and Yang. ”

"But not now, in fact, long before the two thieves of Hong Yang turned their faces, because the battle line was too long, the battlefield was too large, and the connection between land and water roads was often cut off by the official army, and then there were too frequent wars, the generals of the Taiping Army who commanded the troops basically no longer returned to the army, and directly turned the army in their hands into their own private soldiers, and recruited themselves to be self-sufficient, and there were already signs of warlord secession. It's just that they were still relatively united at the time, and this situation was not obvious enough. ”

Later, it didn't work, after Yang Xiuqing set up Hong Xiuquan, in order to win the support of foreign generals, he had to make all kinds of concessions to foreign generals, especially openly allowing Shi Dakai to listen to him and not listen to him, although he temporarily stabilized the situation and did not cause a split. But it also planted a bigger bane, causing the long-haired generals to like to do their own things more and more, and less and less to take Yang Xiuqing's orders into account, the situation of warlord secession has been basically formed, this time Shi Dakai, who is the strongest in the foreign army and the most supportive of Yang Xiuqing, was killed by Luo Bingzhang and was greatly injured, and there is no way to help Yang Xiuqing effectively suppress the generals, Yang Xiuqing is lonely and difficult to speak, and the warlords of Changmao are of course more difficult to restrain them. ”

Although he does not have the long-term political vision of Zhao Liewen, and it is not like Wu Chaoyue is a traverser who knows that the Taiping Army will be torn apart sooner or later, but after listening to the successive analysis of Wu Chaoyue and Zhao Liewen, Yan Jingming still quickly came to his senses, nodded and said: "Yes, now except for Yang Xiuqing personally leading his descendants to the north, no matter which general he sends to lead the Northern Expedition, it will never pose a mortal threat to the chaotic party in the capital." With just one Luo Bingzhang, it is enough to deal with any long-haired warlord. ”

"It's a pity that Yang Xiuqing is also a dou who can't be helped." Wu Chaoyue sighed: "I am used to enjoying happiness in Nanjing City, and at this time, if he wants to personally lead the troops into battle, I am afraid it will be more difficult than killing him." ”

Yan Jingming and Zhao Liewen also sighed, because the Hubei Secret Service had already reported many times, saying that Yang Xiuqing would not wear brocade clothes or jade food now, and the number of princesses was about to catch up with Hong Xiuquan's eighty-eight. After sighing, Zhao Liewen asked again: "Weiting, since you are worried that the chaotic party in the capital will stabilize the situation in Shandong and will attack us if you free up your hand, then what do you think the chaotic party in the capital will use to deal with us?" Will it be against us? ”

"It is absolutely impossible to use troops directly against us." Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said: "The money and food in the hands of the chaotic party in the capital can only be used for training the new army, purchasing weapons from foreigners, and accumulating army strength, and they will not dare to spend it indiscriminately." Moreover, the rebellious party in the capital should also know very well in their hearts that sending an army to crusade against me at this time is actually giving me a head, and there is nothing to gain except to die in vain. ”

"So I dare to conclude that the chaos in the capital can only use some small tricks such as sowing discord at most." Wu Chaoyue said without blushing: "Provoke a war between us and Changmao at any cost, if we can be tempted to start a war with Changmao, it is equivalent to winning ten battles like this in Shandong for the chaotic party in the capital." ”

Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming nodded in approval, but Wu Chaoyue said very depressedly: "It's a pity that most of our money and food have been thrown into the bottomless pit of Yungui, otherwise, at this time, we will launch a large-scale northward march, but we can fight with the long-haired ** Beijing Chaos Party, neither give the Beijing Chaos Party a chance to breathe, but disrupt their wishful thinking of sowing discord while recuperating; You can also help Yang Xiuqing and Shi Dakai breathe a sigh of relief, so that they can see the hope of taking the plane north again. ”

Yan Jingming and Zhao Liewen both laughed when they heard it, Yan Jingming also smiled and said: "Weiting, don't dream, Yungui's thief army is not difficult to fight, but the mountains there are dense forests, the roads are rugged, and the supply is difficult. ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled helplessly, and said: "It's a pity that Yungui is too poor, otherwise I really want to follow the example of Long Mao to feed the war, and let the southbound army raise their own food on the spot, even if it costs a high price to purchase it locally, I am willing to spend three times the price of food!" Damn, transporting grain from the Dongting Lake Plain to the front line in Guizhou, an average of one stone of grain will cost almost five stone on the road, what is this called?! ”

"It's easy when we wait to fight north." Yan Jingming, a financial expert, comforted: "Although Henan is poor, it was also burned a little badly by the Twist Army, but it is better than fighting Yungui, at least you can supply some food on the spot." After laying down Henan and continuing north to Shanxi, that place produces more grain, and basically has not been destroyed by the war, and all the money and grain are self-sufficient on the spot, and ......, huh?! ”

Speaking of this, Yan Jingming suddenly stopped on his own, and after blinking for a moment with two strange eyes, one high and one low, he suddenly rushed to the sand table of the national map next to Wu Chaoyue Shuaitang to check, Wu Chaoyue and Zhao Liewen knew that Yan Jingming must have thought of something important, so they also came over and waited for Yan Jingming to draw a conclusion.

Sure enough, after looking at the map sand table and thinking for a while, Yan Jingming quickly said to Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, if you want to achieve the effect of joining forces with Changmao to ** the capital chaos party, don't give the capital chaos party a chance to rest calmly, and help Changmao breathe a sigh of relief, so that Yang Xiuqing and Shi Dakai can see the hope of going north again." Then there is no need to go north in a big way, just send a partial division all the way and take a place! ”

"There?" Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked.

"Luoyang!"

Yan Jingming pointed to the location of Luoyang on the map with a bamboo pole, and drew a line from Nanyang, the northernmost point of the Wu army's current control, and said: "Send troops from Nanyang, first take the four cities of Nanzhao, Lushan, Baofeng and Ruzhou, and then go straight to Nanyang to seize this city's foothold!" Open up our territory in Henan! ”

Looking at the route map suggested by Yan Jingming, Wu Chaoyue asked, "Why do you want to march like this?" Laying Luoyang, how can we receive the effects I said? ”

"It's very simple, coerce Shanxi and weaken Henan." Yan Jingming pointed out: "Since the founding of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Shandong has been unable to be self-sufficient in grain because of climate change and population increase. ”

"Now the only stable and reliable source of money and food for the chaotic party in the capital is Shanxi, our army has taken Luoyang to coerce Shanxi, and the chaotic party in the capital can only make every effort to strengthen the defense of Huaiqing Mansion even if they take the pants as a whole, and do not give our army a chance to attack Shanxi. In this way, we do not need to march into Shanxi on a large scale, as long as we confront the Huaiqing defenders across the river, we can consume countless money, food, and taxes used by the rebels in the capital to raise troops and prepare for war, weaken their financial base, and drag them back from expanding their armaments and warfare. ”

Wu Chaoyue nodded, and added viciously in his heart, "You can also deliberately make way, indulge the cavalry of the Twist Army into Shanxi, and help me smash the last money jar of the wild boar skin family!" ”

"Also, I said that this route is also very beneficial to us." Yan Jingming added: "The Twist Army is mainly active in the open eastern part of Henan, although the state capitals of Lushan, Baofeng and Ruzhou have also been harassed several times, but they have not been destroyed much, and the money and grain in the official treasury and the people's warehouses are relatively sufficient, and there is a great confidence that they can raise grain on the spot, reduce the logistical burden, and at the same time knock out several important sources of money and food for the rebellious party in Henan, and reap the effect of eliminating the growth of the party." ”

After listening to Yan Jingming's analysis, Wu Chaoyue first instructed his soldiers to obtain a summary of information about Henan, and then carefully analyzed the possibility of success in this operation. As a result, Wu Chaoyue soon found that there was a certain certainty and hope for achieving this goal, first of all, the Wu army's northern front troops were sufficient, so that after Nie Shicheng led the first army north, he did not have to worry about the emptiness of the northern front, but he was absolutely relieved - how kind and honest his brother-in-law Nie Shicheng was, Wu Chaoyue knew better than anyone else. In addition, the Qing army in Henan was mainly concentrated in the east to protect the provincial capital Kaifeng, to prevent the twist army and send troops to Zhili, and the western front was relatively small.

"Deliberately threatened to open the seal, capture Yinglanpo Lingchi alive and execute him, deceive the Henan Qing army to defend the line from Xuzhou to Yuzhou with all his might, and then suddenly attack Luoyang, Ruzhou, and kill the Qing demon in Shandong by surprise!" Wu Chaoyue even habitually had the idea of attacking the east and west in his heart.

After carefully studying the enemy situation in Henan and carefully calculating the financial and logistical supply capacity of the army, Wu Chaoyue finally made up his mind to adopt Yan Jingming's clever tactical suggestion. However, while formulating the strategy of going north, Wu Chaoyue refused to waste this opportunity, and instructed Zhao Liewen: "Huifu, help me write a letter to Yang Xiuqing, tell him our analysis of the next strategy of the rebellious party in the capital, and also clearly point out the danger of separatism he is facing now, and tell him to take precautions and think of a good way to deal with it as soon as possible." ”

"In addition, tell him that in order to help him reorganize the party in the capital and help him relieve the pressure, I will launch a large-scale military attack on Henan in the near future. It was suggested that he personally lead the army to the north to attack Shandong, eliminate the hidden danger of Luo Bingzhang in advance, and also tell him the huge threat to him in the future of the Shandong New Army, so that he could have a bottom in his heart, and it was best to nip the danger in the bud. ”

Zhao Liewen laughed when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Weiting, you really dare to open this mouth, Yang Xiuqing read your letter, will he scold you for being a dog with a mouse and meddling in your affairs?" Dare to dictate to him and call the shots? ”

"I was just reminding him to consider this plan and make him realize that this was the only way he could hope for the success of the Northern Expedition." Wu Chaoyue shrugged his shoulders, thought about it for a while, and immediately added: "By the way, I sent a thousand grenade bombs to Yang Xiuqing with the letter, his current situation is gradually becoming difficult, I have to help him strengthen some strength and support me more." ”

Zhao Liewen promised and immediately put pen to paper, Wu Chaoyue snorted in his heart, and said secretly: "Big niece, spread your legs quickly, your uncle Chaoyue is coming." I have heard your Guo Songtao say, you seem to be barely dignified, more than ten or eight times stronger than those crooked melon and cracked jujube flag girls, and you are as old as me, if you really have ...... chance. ”

Thinking about this dirty thought, Wu Chaoyue really had a series of dirty pictures in his mind. At the same time, in the city of Beijing, Guizi Liu also secretly reported to Wu Chaoyue's eldest nieces Cixi and Ci'an the plan he had conceived to seize Shanghai - to borrow troops and ships from Tsarist Russia, and carry an army south to join forces with the Tsarist Russian army to attack Shanghai and recapture the county seat of Shanghai.

"Sixth, will the Russians help us get out of the fire?" Ci'an asked with some concern.

"Brother Chen thinks he should be sure." Devil Six replied: "As long as we promise to lease the port of Shanghai to the Russians as a military port, and then promise to let the Russians get a concession in Shanghai, after the city is broken, all the money, grain, and military expenses of the Wu thieves will be owned by the Russians, and the Russians should not be unmoved." ”

After that, Devil Six added: "This is also the only way for us to take Shanghai, otherwise, the imperial sister-in-law will kill your brother, and your brother will not be able to think of any other tricks." ”

Ci'an and Cixi first discussed a few words, and then Cixi nodded and said, "Well, since this is the only way, let's go and fight for it, and see what the attitude of the Russians is." ”

Devil Six respectfully agreed, and Cixi added another sentence, saying: "By the way, you can add one more to allow Russian merchant ships and warships to freely pass through the Yangtze River route." I remember that the Russians also made this request when the emperor was in the first place, but it was refused, and the Russians were very unhappy. ”

Devil Liu's eyes lit up, and he praised: "The emperor's sister-in-law is clever, if it succeeds, if we don't do it, Changmao and Wu Thief themselves will have to fight with the Rakshasa soldiers." ”