As expected by Wu Chaoyue and Shengbao, when Shengbao summoned the generals of the Qing army and began to arrange the tactics of besieging Sanque and attacking the city through tunnels, he was indeed strongly opposed by Seng Greenqin, and the strong opposition of Seng Greenqin exceeded Shengbao and Wu Chaoyue's expectations.

"Ridiculous! It's ridiculous! What siege is three, what is an authentic siege, it is simply ridiculous! Ridiculous! The imperial army finally surrounded the long-haired bandits in Tianjin, and if they didn't seize the opportunity to trap Longhair to death in Tianjin, would they deliberately let Changhair go? Running around chasing the hairy ass like before? ”

"What else is there to siege! It's even more ridiculous! What season is it? Winter! The land is frozen hard, digging tunnels is half the effort, when can it be dug under the city of Tianjin? Also, the tactic of digging tunnels to bury gunpowder is the work of the long-haired people, how can my Qing soldiers drill into the ground all day long like long-haired bandits and rats? ”

"No! No way! Such ridiculous tactics must not be used! ”

I have long known that the monk and the prince must be strongly opposed, so during the roar of Monk Greenqin, Shengbao has always laughed and groaned without speaking, and enjoyed Monk Greenqin's wonderful performance like watching a monkey show. Finally, when Monk Greenqin yelled hoarsely, Sheng Bao smiled and asked: "Monk Wangye, since you are so opposed to Ben Shuai's siege tactics, then the prince must have already made up his mind about how to break through Tianjin City." What is the master's plan, please come along, if it is really better and more effective than Ben Shuai's tactics, Ben Shuai will definitely adopt it! ”

"Of course, this king has long been confident!" Monk Greenqin's answer was quite surprising to Shengbao and Wu Chaoyue, and at the same time, the tactics proposed by Monk Greenqin were also quite unexpected, and he said loudly: "Continue to besiege the city on all sides, approach the city wall step by step, block all the roads out of the city with deep ditches and high barriers, and build forts outside the four gates of Tianjin." Concentrate all our artillery, and then transfer the 7,000 jin cannons and 10,000 jin cannons of Dagukou Fort, and bombard the city of Tianjin day and night, prompting Changmao to go out of the city to fight, and gradually annihilate Changmao with the siege fortifications! ”

Monk Greenqin's tactic cannot be said to be wrong, in history, the Hunan army actually used this tactic of anti-guest to kill the Taiping army. But the biggest shortcoming of this hand is known to everyone - it takes too long. So Sheng Bao immediately smiled and asked: "Monk Wangye, then with this tactic of yours, how much time do you think it will take to break through Tianjin?" Trimester? Five months? Half a year? ”

Monk Greenqin was stunned for a moment, and then glanced at Wu Chaoyue, who was smiling silently on the side, and then said to Sheng Bao: "It won't take too long, please don't forget, Shuai Sheng, please don't forget, we have Western artillery in our army, how powerful is Western artillery, haven't you seen Shuai Sheng?" ”

"The prince thinks too highly of the lower officials. Xia Guan was not at all sure that he would be able to blast out the long hair with artillery. Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "Tianjin City is not as good as going out of the city, out of the city is built of wood, and it can be burned down by fire, but Tianjin City is a structure of rammed earth wrapped in city bricks, and it cannot be burned by fire." Moreover, there are only twenty guns in my hand, and there are less than seven hundred shells, even if they all bombard the city of Tianjin, it will only scratch the itch of the long hair. It doesn't help much! ”

"When did this king only talk about your artillery?" Monk Lingqin roared angrily: "This king said, and we must concentrate all the artillery fire of our army. And all the artillery in Dagukou, shelling Tianjin together, didn't you have long ears and didn't hear it? ”

"That's really ridiculous." Wu Chaoyue sneered and said: "Tianjin City is more than 1,500 meters long from east to west, 900 meters wide from north to south, and has a total area of 1.55 square kilometers, which is 1.55 million square meters when converted into square meters. Even if you fire a shot every 50 square meters, you have to shell more than 30,000 times! How much gunpowder is used up in 30,000 shots? How many shells? Coupled with the cost of money, food, and military salaries, can the Qing treasury afford it? ”

Monk Lingqin was speechless, and only after a while did he shout: "This king can't understand your foreign language!" In a word, this king opposes the tactics of encircling three queyi! ”

"Monk Wang. Ben Shuai was ordered to control the front-line armies, how to fight Ben Shuai has the final say, and it is useless for you to oppose it. Sheng Bao sneered and said: "It's so decided, Wu Daotai, you move the camp to the north of Tianjin City, help General Dexing'a strengthen the defense of the northern line, and you must not make Changmao take a step north!" Dahong'a, you lead the army of Dongcheng, move to Xicheng, help Guizhitai strengthen the defense of the western front, and don't give Changmao a chance to flee west! In addition, he ordered Jinghai, Cangzhou, Qingxian, Yanshan and Nanpi counties to make every effort to strengthen the city defenses, and the strong wall Qingye will collect the wild valley into the city. ”

Wu Chaoyue and Da Hong'a and the others hugged their fists and sang a promise, and then Shengbao turned to the iron-faced monk Lingqin, and ordered: "Monk Wangye, the southern line will be entrusted to you, let the villagers under your command repair the city, station in the city, and cover the tunnel." As for the people digging tunnels, you don't have to worry about this, Lord Wang, Ben Shuai has already ordered the surrounding states and counties to ask the magistrates to recruit the people who dig coal and mine to come and serve, and they will arrive in a few days! ”

"This is a chaotic fate, this king will not obey!" Monk Lingqin roared with a dark face.

Sheng Bao sneered and didn't speak, but Zaiyuan on the side stood up and said: "Monk Wangye, Sheng Dashuai is a Qincha, and he is ordered to control the front-line troops, if you resolutely do not obey, it is disobedience, Wang Ye, please don't force Sheng Dashuai to march the law." ”

After pondering for a long time with a gloomy face, Monk Greenqin nodded very reluctantly, gritted his teeth and took Shengbao's order, and then Monk Greenqin asked again: "Why did you transfer the Shanghai regimental training to the northern line?" This king wants to build a city again, and he has to resist Changmao, why should he weaken the power of the main battlefield of Tianjin South Gate? ”

"Don't worry, the prince." Wu Chaoyue took over the conversation and said very easily: "If Changmao dares to go out of the city to fight you, once you can't support it, as long as you say hello, the lower officials will definitely send reinforcements immediately, and they will never let you fight alone!" ”

"Lord Wang, did you hear that?" Sheng Bao also smiled and said: "This marshal transferred Wu Daotai's army to the northern front, of course, in order not to give Changmao the slightest chance to go north, forcing Changmao to flee from the southeast and southeast directions. Also, when there was no Wu Daotai before, didn't you camp alone outside the South Gate, Lord Wang? ”

looked at Sheng Bao with fierce and vicious eyes, and looked at Wu Chaoyue even more viciously, Seng Lingqin snorted heavily, raised his legs and rushed out of the Chinese army tent directly, leaving Wu Chaoyue and Sheng Bao in the Chinese army tent squeezing each other's eyebrows, and they were happy together.

According to the arrangement of Shengbao. The mobilization of the Qing army was rapidly unfolded, and Da Hong'a, who was on duty at the east gate, first moved the camp to the west gate with all the garrisons at the east gate, and helped Gui Liang and Bao Huan and others to strengthen the defense of the western front. Wu Chaoyue, on the other hand, waited for the completion of Dahong'a's new camp before he took Wu Junlian Yong north to the north gate, and joined forces with the Qing army Dexing Abe to strengthen the defense of the northern front -- in this regard, Dexing'a and the Qing soldiers under his command naturally welcomed him with their hands and feet high. The cheers of finally being able to sleep with peace of mind were endless.

In this scene, the monk Lingqin, who disobeyed his will, naturally wrote a book, wrote an excerpt and sent it to the capital to impeach Shengbao for blindly commanding the order, which was suspected of being a private long-haired man, and pointed out the dangers of allowing the Taiping army to continue to flow, and urged Emperor Xianfeng to intervene and force Shengbao to take back his chaotic life. But it's a pity that Shengbao had already expected that Monk Greenqin would make a small report, and he also wrote a note early and sent it to the capital. He reported his tactical plan to Emperor Xianfeng, listed the advantages of doing so, and promised that as long as he forced the Taiping army to leave Tianjin, he would definitely be able to defeat the main force of the Taiping army!

If it is replaced by other contradictions, Emperor Xianfeng will definitely quietly stand on the side of Seng Lingqin and give priority to adopting Seng Greenqin's tactical suggestions. But the problem is that Monk Lingqin's siege tactics on all sides, although not wrong, are too time-consuming. For every day of delay, Emperor Xianfeng had to throw more than 10,000 taels of silver to the battlefield in Tianjin, and the secret fold of Zaiyuan listed the terrible expenses of Seng Lingqin's siege tactics. Emperor Xianfeng, whose treasury had long since bottomed out, of course made the right choice - to approve Shengbao's tactical plan, and at the same time forced Seng Lingqin to follow Shengbao's command!

The master also stood on the side of Shengbao's minion, and of course our monk and prince had no choice but to act honestly according to the order, and ordered the generals Qingqi and Songyu to lead the headquarters and more than 2,000 villagers to enter the abandoned city of the Taiping army, and repair the city for a foothold. At the same time, Shengbao also sent hundreds of shearers out of the city, and began to secretly dig tunnels under the cover of the Monk Lingqin army.

It was also at this time that Shengbao, Seng Lingqin and the generals of the Qing army really knew how much the Taiping army had feared Wu Chaoyue, and saw that Wu Chaoyue had moved to the north of Tianjin, although there was a strong defense of the Haihe River in the north. The Taiping army immediately strengthened the defense of the north city, Ji Wenyuan's banner fluttered on the north gate day and night, the number of defenders on the city tripled, and at the same time desperately increased the female wall and repaired the city wall, completely treating the north gate as the main battlefield. In addition, a bastard who couldn't bear the hardships and slipped out of Tianjin City also reported to the Qing army, saying that the Taiping army had blocked the city gate corridor at the north gate of Tianjin with bricks and stone bags, and what he was afraid of was that Wu Chaoyue would enter the city from the north gate.

In this regard, Monk Greenqin was envious, jealous and hateful, but also inevitably regretted a little - why didn't he seize the opportunity to send Wu Chaoyue to the old monk's chariot in the first place? Shengbao and Zaiyuan and others were smiling, and they were more confident in Wu Chaoyue and Wu Jun Lianyong. After the Wu army snipers put on white concealment suits and lurked in the snowdrifts, it was only a little more than a day that dozens of Taiping soldiers on the north gate of Tianjin were hated by the Wu army snipers' mini guns, and there were no Taiping generals and soldiers who dared to stand and walk.

Although there are not many Taiping soldiers killed by cold guns, but other gains are very large, the first point is to greatly encourage the morale of the Qing army, some of the Qing soldiers who are confident in their marksmanship began to follow the example of the Wu army sniper, touch the city to snipe the Taiping soldiers on the city, and the blind cat encountered the dead mouse how many times, the Qing generals were overjoyed when they heard the news, and encouraged their subordinates to follow suit, and the morale rose very obviously, and also let Shengbao write a few more glorious words on the recital to the Xianfeng Emperor.

The second is to help Wu Chaoyue build a lot of contacts, in order to compete for merit and reduce pressure, including the Qing army generals such as Seng Greenqin's dead party Qingqi and Songyu all cheekily ran to Wu Chaoyue's camp to borrow people and borrow guns, and help them to fight the Taiping soldiers on the opposite city wall, Wu Chaoyue did not put up a fight, basically they were all responsive, and the sniper team that had been expanded to more than 100 people was divided into multiple squads, and attacked separately, not only selling favors to friendly generals, but also taking the opportunity to let the soldiers of the army accumulate actual combat experience, and the generals of all battalions of the Qing army were happy.

At the same time that the cold gun was being beaten, the unlucky monk and the prince also dug the tunnel to the sky angrily, and finally there was a troublesome thing that came to the door - Wu Jun Lianyong's diet began to have problems, although Shengbao's side did not deduct the full amount to Wu Jun Lian Yong's grain and grass, and also selected new wheat and new rice to Wu Chaoyue, but in order to keep his lackeys full of physical strength and high morale, Wu Chaoyue must ensure that his subordinates Lian Yong has at least one meal of meat and vegetables every day.

In the midst of the war, of course, all decent livestock in Tianjin had already entered the stomachs of the eight masters of Qiu and the refugees and hungry people. Even if there are a few leftovers in the surrounding states and counties, they can't withstand the nonsense of more than 2,000 Wu army Lianyong and Qing army generals, so soon, even if Wu Chaoyue sells high silver, he can't buy chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep near the surrounding areas. But it's good, more than 200 miles away, there is also a city of Beijing, China's largest consumer city. Therefore, as soon as Wu Chaoyue found out that there was a shortage of meat, he immediately sent Huang Zhisheng to Beijing with a lot of silver to buy vegetables, pigs and sheep, and relied on the power of money to snatch food from the mouth of the master of the Eight Banners.

did not delay, when he just reported that the tunnel was about to be dug under the city wall of Tianjin, Huang Zhisheng, a sour talent harvested by Wu Chaoyue in Jiangyin, happened to return to Tianjin with the pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks bought in the capital. Wu Chaoyue didn't care much when he heard the report, he didn't even bother to ask the price, so he casually asked Huang Zhisheng to send these living creatures to the back camp, and ordered to add dinner tonight to make up for the soldiers under his command who had not eaten meat for a day. As a result, Huang Zhisheng did not leave immediately after agreeing. Then he arched his hand and said, "Lord Wu, there is another trivial matter, a friend of yours asked me to bring a live sheep (roe deer), and she said that you like to eat wild meat, and I must bring it to you to drink." The small excuse was brought, and the sheep were outside the tent, so please accept it. ”

"Who gave me the sheep?" Wu surpassed a flurry, and subconsciously remembered his only friend Li Hongzhang in the capital. But he immediately denied this answer -- Li Hongzhang had already followed Lu Xianji, a waiter from the Ministry of Works, to Anhui to run a group practice.

"My lord, it's a little girl." Huang Zhisheng replied truthfully: "When the little one took people to buy a large number of pigs and sheep in the market. When I was talking to someone, I accidentally slipped my mouth and said that I went to the capital to buy these livestock on your orders. A little girl came to me and asked me if I was one of your subordinates, and when I said yes, she forced me to stuff a live sheep and let the little one bring it to you. ”

When Wu Chaoyue suddenly realized, Huang Zhisheng smiled again. said: "Lord Wu, you are really a young man, that little girl, she looks very good." After that, Huang Zhisheng couldn't help but add a sentence of conscience in his heart--You are really a waste of Lord Wu.

"Don't talk nonsense. She and I are just friends. Wu Chaoyue scolded, then sighed with a complicated mood, and said: "Send the sheep to the back camp, chop it and put it in the cauldron for the soldiers to share, and let the cook tell our soldiers that a good friend gave me a sheep and I will eat it with them!" ”

Flattered a few words of Wu Chaoyue's sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, Huang Zhisheng obediently went to carry out the order, but Wu Chaoyue dreamed of it in the big tent, "She took the initiative to send me the live sheep that I finally caught, has she heard about me and completely changed her impression of me?" Is there still hope for me and her? Trouble, why did I get married to Yang Wending's granddaughter? Even if her father has a different impression of me, it is impossible to agree to let her be my partial room? ”

When Wu Chaoyue was thinking about it, he didn't expect that at this moment, in the Wu army camp, in the team of people who were carrying livestock to the Wu army's rear camp, there happened to be a peasant girl who was helping the adults, and was looking at Wu Chaoyue's Wu character banner from a distance. On the girl's sweaty little face, there was still a look of expectation, hoping that a miracle would appear, so that the vaguely familiar thin figure would reappear in front of her.

There was also a strong man next to the girl, and the strong man was more looking forward to Wu Chaoyue than the girl, and his mouth kept chattering, "God bless, let me be able to see Lord Wu again, make amends to him in person, apologize, I misunderstood him, I really misunderstood him before." ”

Unfortunately, although Huang Zhisheng hired a man from the capital to live in the right camp of the Wu army to rest overnight and receive dinner, Wu Chaoyue happened to be delayed by official business for a period of time, so when Wu Chaoyue entered the back camp to inspect the food distribution, the girl and the strong man, as well as their companions, had already gone to the right camp, and neither side could see each other......

As fate would have it, with Wu Chaoyue's habit, she had to inspect various camps every night to check the situation, and the girl still had the opportunity to meet Wu Chaoyue. But what is even more unfortunate is that when Wu Chaoyue had just finished dinner and was about to patrol the camp, Shengbao sent someone to send an urgent letter, asking Wu Chaoyue to go to the Beicang camp immediately.

It's bad news, just met with Shengbao, Shengbao split his head and said: "Weiting, it's a bad thing!" Just now I came out of the city to report, Changmao is likely to have discovered our tunnel, prepared in advance, suddenly dug a hole to connect our tunnel, released water into our tunnel, we dug the tunnel more than a dozen did not run out, was drowned alive in the tunnel! In addition, there is also a long hair shouting on the city wall, saying that we are attacking the city with tunnels, and we are playing a big knife in front of Guan Erye! ”

Hearing this, Wu Chaoyue was stunned for a moment, and then quickly showed a helpless wry smile, sighed and said: "We underestimated the long hair, okay, now the monk and the prince can't even smile over there, and there is something to say." (To be continued.) )