As soon as the Qing army moved, Li Xiucheng received the news, and when he knew that the enemy army numbered more than 20,000, of which the British army was the main force, and the weapons and equipment were complete, the composure on his face finally could not be maintained.

"Order all armies to withdraw from Shanghai City immediately!" Li Xiucheng is also a decisive person, understanding that although Shanghai is a strong city, it is also a dead city, once blocked by the enemy in Shanghai, then he can only live and die with Shanghai, the Taiping army is good at attacking but not good at defending, let the city not go is the best choice.

The Taiping army assembled, carrying looted supplies and some wealthy merchants from the south of the Yangtze River and withdrew from Shanghai.

I have to say that the city of Shanghai, which was looted for the second time, was completely chaotic, and when the main force of the British army reached Shanghai, all they saw was the chaotic Shanghai city. There were people who were in turmoil everywhere, and some merchants and foreigners who were not affected became the targets of siege by the ragged rebels, including unemployed Chinese and bankrupt foreigners. The Yamen, the governor of Shanghai set up by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, was attacked by the rebels, and even the two vermilion gates were unloaded and carried away by the rebels.

The British army entered the city and began to suppress the rioters, the resisting Chinese were mercilessly shot, and the bloody suppression quickly settled the turbulent city of Shanghai, with blood everywhere and corpses everywhere.

In just one hour, the number of innocent people killed at the guns of the British army has reached 3,000, which is more than the civilians killed by Hong Tiangui and Li Xiucheng who occupied Shanghai twice.

The blood-colored city of Shanghai, the frightened Chinese people. This is what Li Hongzhang saw when he stepped into Shanghai again.

"Let people go to General Steveri!" Li Hongzhang's face was ugly. The British army was so brutal that they relied on killing to suppress the homeless.

Li Hongzhang's appeal had no effect, not to mention that General Stevili, who was defeated by Hong Tiangui and was holding his stomach angry, did not care about the life or death of the Chinese in Shanghai, and those British **** officials who had just come to Shanghai from India were even more proud.

No results were achieved from the British army, and Li Hongzhang ordered the 10th battalion of the Huai army to spread out the streets and try to suppress the displaced people and reduce the killing of the British army as much as possible.

Shanghai City stabilized, and in a church in the city, some of the foreigners who were detained were released, including Wall, the head of the foreign gun team who had hidden in the church in the church when Hong Tiangui broke the city.

From Wall's mouth, General Stevili and Li Hongzhang learned about the Shanghai City Incident.

"Damn, the army that fought with us must be a part of the Taiping Army, but judging from their actions, they are not subordinate to Li Xiucheng, and judging from the strength of the troops, it is likely to be the Taiping Army Li Shixian's department." Li Hongzhang said with a gloomy expression.

Among the current Taiping Army, the strongest force was Li Xiucheng's troops, but after the Shanghai Offensive and Defensive War, Li Xiucheng suffered heavy losses, and there were less than 40,000 soldiers under his command, and in the surrounding areas of Shanghai, the only strength of the Taiping Army was Li Shixian, the Taiping Army who fought in the southern Jinhua region.

"But we got the battle report before, the long-haired Li Shixian department is confronting Lord Zuo Zongtang, and Lord Zuo's troops have seen Li Shixian's figure." Zhang Shusheng said in a deep voice. The Manchu Qing Dynasty had military exchanges on various battlefields, and it was also for the purpose of communicating with each other and controlling the overall situation of the Taiping Army's operations.

"I'm afraid Li Shixian used the golden silkworm shelling strategy! In the east of Tianjing City, the Taiping Army is also a good soldier. ”

The herald outside the door hurriedly came, carrying the battle report of the Tongzhou prefect.

"What? Your prefect said that the Jiangnan Navy Division went to the Yangtze River and defeated and captured two British merchant ships on the Yangtze River? Are you sure you read that right? Li Hongzhang said in a deep voice. He had a bad feeling in his heart.

"That's right! That's the thirty main warships of the Jiangnan Naval Division! We saw Liu Mingchuan and Lord Liu personally supervising the battle! In addition to 30 warships, there were more than 200 merchant ships, large and small, sailing up the river. The soldier who gave the order looked terrified.

"When did this happen?" Li Hongzhang asked in a deep voice.

"Five days ago, the villain came here from Tongzhou across the river, and he was delayed for two days because he couldn't find Master Li."

"Could it be that the Jiangnan Sailor is also ......" Li Hongzhang didn't dare to imagine, if this was really the case, then the situation would be really bad.

Li Hongzhang informed General Stevili of the news. Stevili was also taken aback, and immediately sent an order to the British fleet to enter the Yangtze River to find the traces of the Jiangnan Naval Division.

Li Hongzhang investigated in Shanghai City, and after a full day of searching, Li Hongzhang's people finally found a soldier who escaped by jumping into the water in the chaos of the Jiangnan Navy, and also gained insight into the situation of the Jiangnan Navy.

"You said that Liu Mingchuan betrayed me and held Master Man hostage?" Li Hongzhang's face was extremely ugly.

"The villain saw it with his own eyes! Liu Mingchuan held a banquet at the dock and deceived all the officers and soldiers of the sailor, and then he let people catch the Manchu people, and even those foreigners did not let go! However, those foreigners did not leave Shanghai, and should still be in Shanghai. ”

"Where are those foreigners?" Li Hongzhang asked in a deep voice.

"The villain doesn't know, the villain jumped into the water and escaped when he saw that the situation was not good! Later, I quietly inquired that the foreigners of the merchant ships were not being treated on board. "This is just a small soldier on the battleship of the Jiangnan Navy Division, who quietly jumped into the water and escaped when he saw that the situation was not good.

Li Hongzhang's expression was gloomy, and he said in a cold voice: "Let people look for it immediately, and we must find those who are imprisoned!" ”

There were many foreigners who helped the Manchus to transport grain, grass and soldiers, of course, they did not help for free, and the Qing government paid a lot of money to hire them. If something happens to them, it will also be a ** annoyance for the Manchus.

He now hates Liu Ming to the bone, this general he trusts the most betrays him and makes such a big deal.

In the end, in the cellar of a trading house, those foreigners who were placed under house arrest by Hong Tiangui were found, these people were not harmed, and from their mouths, Li Hongzhang finally determined that the Jiangnan sailor was deceived by others, and the person who presided over this matter was a teenager, known as the prince. But he thought that there was no one with the right number in the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Li Hongzhang was really a little scared, he found General Steweili and begged him to let the British ** ship pursue the Jiangnan Naval Division. However, Stellvili was unwilling, his goal was to withdraw Li Xiucheng from Shanghai City, because he also received news that Li Xiucheng had taken a large amount of supplies from Shanghai City, which General Stellvili would not give up no matter what, especially since there were many of his personal finances.

One can imagine how angry General Steveri was when he returned to his western-style building in the Shanghai Concession and saw the ruins. There was some of his possessions that he had looted from the Manchu capital.

"Lord Li, the British Empire's losses are huge, and your Qing Dynasty is also responsible!" General Steveri said coldly.

Li Hongzhang's face changed, and he said in a deep voice: "General Steweili, this matter was done by the Taiping Army, what does it have to do with our Qing Dynasty?" ”