At the beginning of the ignition signal for help agreed on the tower of the south gate of Wuchang, Tuhai and Yue Le, who were struggling under the fierce artillery fire of the Wu army, and the commanders of the Qing army still couldn't believe anything, thinking that Cai Yurong had sent the wrong signal or misjudged the enemy's situation - nearly 100 artillery pieces of the Wu army were raging and roaring here, and the main force of the Wu army was also waiting in line behind the artillery array, how could there be an emergency at the south gate? Could it be that Cai Yurong has reached the point of no return, and the seven or eight thousand troops plus the strong city defense can't stop the Wu army's partial division from attacking the city?

The sound of explosions and the collapse of the city wall at the south gate city wall, as well as the torches that suddenly lit all over the mountains outside the south gate of Wuchang, finally made Tu Hai, Yue Le and others wake up, and they also exclaimed, "It's a trick!" Wu Gou's main force is in the south, and our side is a feint! ”

"Fuck! Is it the idea of immorality that the dog brute pondered? Take hundreds of artillery pieces and tunnels to make a feint, and he is willing to pay this capital! ”

The main force of the defenders concentrated at the east gate woke up too late, although the reserve led by Belecani rushed to the scene to rescue as quickly as possible, but the two teams of Wu Jun Wu Yingqi and Ma Bao had already killed from the gap in the city wall that was blown down, and some time ago because of the siege was not conducive to the two unlucky people Wu Yingqi and Ma Bao who were scolded by Wu Laohan and Wu Yingqi seized the opportunity, and naturally wanted to vent the evil anger they had suffered before, and took the Wu soldiers to kill people when they saw them, cut them when they encountered the enemy, and kept throwing out one nitrocellulose grenade after another. The explosion made the Qing army defenders cry wolf howls, and also killed the panicked Qing army soldiers who hugged their heads and ran away, and they could not form any powerful resistance at all, let alone plug the gap, so that the follow-up army of the Wu army could not enter the city.

"Brothers, kill Lao Tzu!" Wu Yingqi screamed, "Take Wuchang, spend three days in the inner city, grab money, food, and mother-in-law, kill——! ”

"Brothers, the prince has already ordered to take Wuchang City, and everything in the inner city is ours, kill it——!"

Ma Bao's shouting voice is more than Wu Yingqi, the Wu soldiers behind him are also screaming, the momentum of the charge is higher than a wave, the Qing army Cai Yurong is so much that he can't even breathe, he can only continue to retreat in the direction of the inner city of Wuchang, and the Wu army brigade behind is like a flood, pouring into the city along the gap in the city wall, quickly controlling half a block in the south gate of Wuchang, and launching a strong attack on the remnants of the Qing army defenders above the city wall, establishing a solid forward base for the main force of the Wu army to enter the city.

The Qing army is not a lamb to be slaughtered, and after finally recovering from the panic and chaos of the collapse of the city wall, both Cai Yurong and Chani have seen a glimmer of hope - although the Wu army blew up two small gaps and a big gap in the Wuchang city wall, there are still not many Wu troops that can quickly enter the city, and at the same time, the strength of the Qing army still exists, as long as the Wu army can quickly concentrate its forces to drive the Wu army out of the city again, then Wuchang City still has hope of holding!

After discovering this, Cai Yurong and Chani coincidentally sent people to seek help from the East Gate Lord, and hurriedly organized a team together to launch a counterattack against the Wu army's forward. In this way, the battle in the south gate of Wuchang quickly entered a white-hot state, the soldiers on both sides collided desperately under the light of the weak torches and lanterns, slashing and slashing, swords and guns shouted endlessly, the Wu army desperately pressed forward, the Qing army swore to fight back, every foot and every step had to pay the price of blood to fight, although the Wu army had the upper hand in psychology and weapons, but in front of the red-eyed resistance of the Qing army team was still slow progress, and was never able to further expand the control area.

"Boom! Bang! Bang! In order to disperse the enemy's resistance as soon as possible, Wu Yingqi rarely used his brain, gathered the grenades in the team and threw them in a concentrated manner, in the continuous explosions, half of the Qing soldiers on the street were almost swept away, Wu Jun took the opportunity to rush forward, and Cai Yurong, who commanded behind, Cai Laohan, had red eyes and shouted frantically: "Brothers, the city is in the people, and the city is dead!" Rush to Lao Tzu! The elite of the Qing army led by Cai Lin agreed in unison, shouted and rushed forward again, and became entangled with the Wu army's charging team again.

In the dark night, the streets and houses near the south gate of Wuchang completely became a Shura battlefield, the high morale of the Wu army rushed and beat fiercely, the Qing army team that was familiar with the terrain and had the advantage of numbers resisted desperately, and the Wu army team gradually fought for control of the area inch by inch, and the sound of shouting and killing, screaming and sword collision converged into one, and the sound spread to the four fields, which was enough to make the whole city of Wuchang hear clearly. In order to move forward, the Wu soldiers had to kill two or three enemies before they could take the step, but the Wu army had to pay at least one or two soldiers' precious lives, and the houses and streets that were ignited by the torches were so ablaze that the streets were almost completely red with flesh and blood, and the air was filled with the stench of blood and charred corpses.

After all, the Qing army is fighting on the inside line, and the mobilization of troops is much easier than that of the Wu army, Cai Yurong and Chani desperately blocked the Wu army's charging team, and after gaining an invaluable period of time, Zhou Bangning, the general soldier of Henan, also rushed to the south gate with tens of thousands of Qing troops to join the battlefield, and quickly stabilized the Qing army's position, and at the same time counterattacked, recapturing a lot of battlefields that were robbed by the Wu army. Wu Yingqi saw that the situation was not good, so he had no choice but to ask for help from the rear and asked Wu Lao Hanjian to send reinforcements to support.

After Wu Yingqi's messenger for help hurriedly returned to the Wu Army's banner array to report the news, Wu Laohan first scolded a word of waste, and then raised his head and asked, "Who wants to enter the city to fight in the streets?" Open the way for the main force of this king? ”

"Grandfather, grandson-in-law is willing to go." Fat Lu couldn't wait to be the first to jump out.

Sun son-in-law is so angry, Wu Lao Hanjian is naturally very satisfied, and immediately nodded in agreement, when Lu Fatzi was about to go down to organize the team, he never thought that Hu Guozhu suddenly stood up and stopped: "Yifeng, you can't go in person, if nothing else, Mangou is likely to send someone to ask for negotiations, and it is more beneficial for us for you to stay and participate in the negotiations." ”

"Then I'll let Li Tianzhi and Yu Xuan take the army, this kind of is okay, right?" Fat Lu asked helplessly.

"It's not that my uncle doesn't want you to make meritorious contributions." Hu Guozhu continued to shake his head and said solemnly: "Your army has never fought such street battles, and it will be difficult to break the deadlock if you send them, and they will only waste their troops in vain." ”

After that, Hu Guozhu turned to Wu Lao Han and said: "Father-in-law, the most important thing at the moment is to break the deadlock as soon as possible, so that the main force of our army can enter the city. ”

Wu Laohan was even more satisfied when he heard this, and immediately ordered A Rong, the general of the Yi nationality of the Wu army, to lead 4,000 soldiers to dispatch, and asked the firearms battalion to send 2,000 grenades to Wu Yingqi and others, so that they could kill the enemy in street battles. Although Lu Fatzi's merit snatching was stopped, he was not dissatisfied, but secretly admired Hu Guozhu - at present, the infantry of the Wu army has a firm foothold in Wuchang City, and indeed only by dispatching the Wu army's infantry ace can they be sure to break the deadlock as soon as possible.

"It seems that I will have to learn more in the future in command." Fat Lu muttered in his heart, "Only by reasonably matching troops and using the ace army reasonably can we achieve the greatest victory at the minimum cost." ”

Sure enough, when the Wu army, known as the first trump card of the Wu army's infantry battle, joined the battlefield, the Wu army's side immediately regained its footing, and once again pushed the Qing army's defense line backwards. Those lunatics are here again! Brothers, be careful, Wu Gou's madman is here again! ”

The key is that the Wu army, which is composed of all the brave warriors, is too terrifying, and they don't know what it means to be afraid on the battlefield, let alone what it means to run away and dodge, the only thing they only know is to rush into the most dense place of the enemy, swing the giant sword like crazy and smash it, even the Qing soldiers are also fearless with knives and guns, in order to chop the giant sword in their hands and chop it on the enemy's head.

The soldiers are not afraid of death, but the soldiers of the Qing army are afraid of death, almost when they see these demons wrapped in white cloth, every soldier of the Qing army will immediately have a thought - escape! The farther away from these demons is the better! Otherwise, these white-headed demons will rush in like madmen, wielding their giant swords that can easily smash people's heads, slaughtering and slashing like Shura, even if they are covered in blood, and they will never stop until they kill all the people in front of them! Under the cowardice, the Qing army's street fighting defense line quickly collapsed, and the Wu army occupied two long streets in one go, and the follow-up army was able to march into the city in an endless stream, gradually reversing the strength and weakness of the street fighting.

At this time, the Wu army engineers have taken the opportunity to dig two caves on the Wuchang city wall, fill the explosives to blow up the city wall, after two loud noises, there is a section and a half of the city wall that is more than half a mile long and fell to the ground, the Wu army infantry general Ba Yangyuan Department thundered, hurriedly poured into the city together, killed the dizzy and unprepared Qing army guards, Wu army follow-up troops entered the city in turn, and gradually connected with Wu Yingqi and Ma Baobu who entered the city before, and basically controlled the nearby streets inside the south gate of Wuchang. At this point, the defense line of Wuchang South Gate has been completely lost, and it is a foregone conclusion!

If it was replaced by other cities, in the case of the collapse of the south gate wall one after another, and the frenzied influx of enemy troops into the city, the Qing generals such as Tuhai and Yue Le would have already issued an order to abandon the city and retreat - although the street battles in the city can destroy a large number of enemies, but the casualties of the own army are definitely not small, such casualties and losses are absolutely unbearable for the Qing army that has lost its elite at present!

It stands to reason that it should be retreated and abandoned, but the problem is that this is Wuchang City, which is not only the general hub of the Qing army's Yangtze River defense line, but also the only first important town with an inner city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. And what about the gold and silver treasures they looted from the people of all ethnic groups in China? Stay and let the jackals in Pingxi Wangfu be hungry and killed? Rob? Ride?

What's even worse is that the land to the east and south of Wuchang has been heavily surrounded by the Wu army, and although the waterways to the north and west are still under the control of the Qing army's naval division, the only way to retreat to the north bank of the Yangtze River is to take a boat. The Yunnan-Guizhou army, which has always liked to take advantage of the fire to rob, will watch the Qing army's sailors cross the river, regardless of whether they ask? Is there such a good thing in the world?

The critical situation of the dilemma was placed here, and the Qing army had to make three preparations, one was to resist desperately in street battles, delaying the speed of the Wu army's attack on the inner city; the second is to organize the mites in the inner city to retreat to the wharf overnight, and carry these mites and Qing nobles across the river to escape for their lives in naval warships; Third, that is, he hurriedly sent an envoy to get in touch with the Wu army and asked the Wu army to hold armistice negotiations overnight.

When the fourth watch will be outdated, the Wu army has basically controlled the southern part of the outer city of Wuchang, and the elite of the Wu army who had been waiting all night also entered the city one after another, replacing the previous tired army, advancing towards the direction of the inner city, and fighting bloody street battles with the Qing army that desperately blocked the attack. It was at this time that Kubilong, Zheerken and Fu Dali also took a boat from the Water Gate to Baishazhou under a white flag to start the third armistice negotiations with Hu Guozhu, Lu Fatzi and Fang Xueshi and other Wu army negotiators who had been waiting here for a long time.

Because of the relationship between the distance and the strength of the Wu army, it is impossible not to station troops within three miles of Baishazhou, and Lu Fatzi's smug smile is still so hateful and filthy, but Ji Bi Long, Zhe Erken and others don't care so much about so many details, and even the Wu soldiers deliberately arranged their seats in the south to lose their positions, and Ji Bi Long and the others sat down obediently without complaint. After sitting down, Kubilong just couldn't wait to say: "General Jinwu, the old man came to negotiate with your army with 120,000 sincerity this time, hoping that your army can immediately stop the attack and withdraw from Wuchang City, so that the old man can negotiate with your army with peace of mind." ”

"Ji Zhongtang, do you think it's possible?" Hu Guozhu asked slowly: "If our Pingxi Palace's Mansion does not break through the Wuchang City Wall, can you come here obediently and ask for negotiations?" If we stop the attack and withdraw from Wuchang City, your army will take the opportunity to repair the city wall and reorganize the defensive line, will your old man stay and negotiate in Zhongtang? ”

The three of them were silent, their expressions depressed, and Fat Lu smiled proudly: "Curb Zhongtang, you should thank the lower officials, right?" If it hadn't been reminded by the lower officials, would you still be able to think of such a path as negotiation and peace? ”

Suppilon is indeed very grateful to Fat Lu - I want to strangle Fat Lu to death! But the current situation is critical, and Kubilong doesn't bother to worry about Lu Fatzi, just sits up straight, and says solemnly: "General Jinwu, after careful consideration, the old man decided to make the decision on behalf of heaven, change the compensation standard of your army to 2 million taels of military salary, 500,000 stone of grain and grass, and redeem our prisoners of war with 500,000 taels of silver, unconditionally return the daughter-in-law and second grandson of the prince of Pingxi, and unconditionally hand over the family of the old thief who killed the prince of Pingxi. ”

"However, your army must immediately stop the offensive and withdraw from Wuchang City! As for the specific provinces that the prince of Pingxi is in charge of, you can discuss it slowly. ”

"Yifeng, learn poetry, let's go." Hu Guozhu stood up, yawned and said: "There is still no sincerity in negotiating with the Zhongtang, let's go first, wait until we take the outer city of Wuchang, and then surround the inner city of Wuchang, and then negotiate with the sincere Zhongtang." ”

"General Jin Wu, why is the old man not sincere in negotiation?" Ji Bilong panicked, quickly got up and grabbed Hu Guozhu's sleeve, and asked pleadingly: "If General Jinwu thinks that the old man is still not doing enough, please just point it out, why bother?" ”

"Ji Zhongtang, when things come to this point, you still imagine buying vegetables in the vegetable market, bargaining with our Pingxi Wangfu for a penny, isn't this a sign of negotiation sincerity?" Hu Guozhu asked with a sneer.

"Then you can make an offer!" Kupilon begged: "The old man is asking for a price, General Jinwu, you can pay back the money on the ground, why end the negotiation immediately?" ”

"Okay then, then please listen to Zhongtang." Hu Guozhu said unhurriedly: "Our price is the same as last time, compensate us for the military salary of 30 million taels of silver, 3 million stones of grain and grass for quelling the Aobai Rebellion, and the prisoners of war redeemed with 5 million taels of silver, Pingxi Wangfu is also in charge of Sichuan, Guangxi, Biyuan and Huguang provinces, and all military and political rights are owned by Pingxi Wangfu, and the Eight Banners Fushou Paste is tax-free throughout the country, and the little grandson of Princess Jianning and father-in-law is unconditionally handed over, and the murderer's family who killed our Pingxi Wangfu prince is unconditionally handed over." ”

"In addition, we now have a new condition, that is, all the troops in Wuchang City will lay down their arms, live in our prisoner of war camp with the bannermen in Wuchang Inner City, and wait until your army fulfills the negotiation promise, and then release them. Of course, we will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of the captives. ”

"It can't be!" Kubilong jumped up, and said with a pale face: "If you want to make the army in Wuchang City lay down their arms, it is absolutely impossible, and it is impossible for us to give so much military salaries, money and food, our annual income of the Qing Dynasty is only more than 20 million taels, where to find 35 million taels of silver to give to you?" There is also grain and grass, three million stone of grain, that is a year's worth of grain for our Daqing Caoyun! ”

"Ji Zhongtang, I didn't ask you to take out so much at once." Fat Lu smiled and said, "You can pay in installments, pay eighty percent first, and the remaining twenty percent can be paid next year." ”

"Besides." Lu Fatzi couldn't help gritting his teeth and added, "The price we want is also very kind, at least, we didn't ask you for 40,000 taels of silver or 450,000 taels of silver for military compensation, right?" I didn't ask you to give up all of Siberia, did you? ”

Ji Bilong's face was even paler, he sat down slowly, and after thinking about it for a long time, Ji Bilong trembled and said: "General Jinwu, military salaries, money and food can be discussed, and the provinces that the prince of Pingxi is in charge of can also be discussed, but our army must not lay down their arms, and Huguang cannot let the prince take charge of it. ”

"The old man proposes that the border of Wuchang Mansion be the border, and the southern Biyuan can be managed by the prince of Pingxi, but your army must immediately stop the attack and withdraw from Wuchang Mansion! As long as your army agrees, military salaries, money, food, and so on, can be negotiable! ”

"Absolutely not! We don't want to be in Piyuan and not even dare to close our eyes when we sleep. Hu Guozhu is not like his father-in-law, Wu Laohan, who is strategically blind, and resolutely shook his head and said: "The state capital north of Wuchang, we can give up, but the troops and bannermen surrounded by us in Wuchang Mansion and Wuchang City must surrender, and wait for you to hand over the military salaries and food promised to us, and then release them to cross the river." ”

"This is also our final limit, please stop bargaining!"

"This ......." Kupilon covered his face with his hands, climbed on the table and thought about it for a long time, but finally couldn't make up his mind, but hesitated and said, "Please let Old Man think about it again." ”

"Then please think about it carefully, you can ask us to reopen negotiations at any time, and we will be waiting for it at any time." Hu Guozhu nodded, and then pointed to the direction of Wuchang City in the northeast, where the killing sound was like thunder, and said with a smile: "But the lower officials still have to remind the Containment of Zhongtang, now in Wuchang City, there are soldiers of your army who have died on the battlefield every moment, if the Suppression of Zhongtang has been thinking about it for too long, I am afraid that the casualties of your soldiers will not be a small number." ”

Ji Bilong didn't speak, just closed his eyes and thought nervously, Lu Fatzi smiled and said: "Ji Zhongtang, by the way, let me tell you, if your army wants to escape from the waterway, then don't even think about it, our airship is already loading ammunition and preparing to go, and when it is dawn, our airship flies to the dock and a few cluster bombs are thrown down, then the casualties of your army are not ordinarily small." ”

Kubilong opened his eyes suddenly, glared at the fat man Lu who was a fox and a fake tiger with resentment, and then turned to Hu Guozhu and asked, "General Jinwu, the old man still has a personal question, I hope General Jinwu can answer it truthfully." ”

Hu Guozhu nodded, and then Ji Bilong asked: "May I ask General Jinwu, yesterday evening, who proposed your army's wonderful tactics of attacking the east and attacking the south to attack the city?" The old man was very interested and wanted to know the name of this master. ”

"Far away, close at hand." Hu Guozhu smiled, pointed at Fat Lu casually, and said with a smile: "It's him." ”

"What?" Kupilon and Zheerken and the others all jumped up, staring at Lu Fat Man in a daze, saying that they couldn't imagine that the little fat man in front of him was the culprit of the Wu army's attack on Wuchang City, and the culprit was huge!

"Don't blame me." Lu Fatzi smiled bitterly and said, "Just like a person from the Pingnan Mansion I captured, each is just its own master." ”

"Sure enough, it's a hero out of a teenager." He couldn't sit down, as if he had suddenly aged ten years old, and muttered to himself: "The city-digging tactic pioneered by my Great Qing Dynasty Taizu was actually adapted by you to attack our Qing Dynasty town, and the Great Grandfather knows about it, I don't know what kind of reaction will it have?" ”

(To be continued)