"Newspaper! General Qiyu, twenty miles ahead, is Wuhu County, Taiping Prefecture! Sun Zhaoyuan, the magistrate of Wuhu County, heard that my army had arrived, and he had closed the city to defend it! The vanguard General Han Daren asked for an order, is it to bypass the city, or to attack the city? ”

"Siege! After the city was broken, Sun Zhaoyuan's whole family was executed! The officials in the city, all beheaded! ”

Lu Fatzi coldly issued another order to destroy the door, and after the herald flew away, Lu Fatzi looked back at the main force of the galloping fat army behind him, gritted his teeth, and ordered: "Order, all armies, speed up and advance, enter Wuhu City and rest!" Then pass the order to Wang Xu, he has no chance to rest, when the main force of our army arrives in Wuhu City, he will be replaced as the vanguard to attack the Taiping Mansion City! ”

When the order was conveyed, the Wu army, which was basically exhausted, accelerated again, marched along, whipped up, and marched all the way east along the official road in the south of the Yangtze River, ignoring the farmland, fruit groves, villages and markets that passed along the way. The people of Jiangnan on both sides of the road looked at this white-hat soldier without braids in horror, some of them secretly fled for their lives, some of them talked about it, and those who dared to stop this army from advancing eastward, but there were none. 【】

Of course, some people shouted that they were tired, some people fell behind, and some people became deserters, and Lu Fatzi slaughtered the deserters mercilessly, whipped the soldiers who fell behind, and told the soldiers of the Wu army that we have no way to retreat, more than 100,000 Mangou troops are chasing and intercepting us, we have a common enmity with Mangou, we have killed so many Mangou in the southwest and in northern Jiangxi, even if we surrender, Mangou will not let us go! The only way to survive is to go east, to Nanjing City, and to enter Nanjing City, not only can you live, but also have countless glory and wealth to enjoy.

Strict military discipline and good military quality helped Lu Fatzi a lot, this Yungui soldiers accounted for the majority of the Wu army team, from the beginning of joining the Wu army, received the most stringent military training of Wu Lao Han Jian, and accepted the most stringent military discipline constraints, after Lu Fatzi took over this team, the requirements for military discipline were not only not relaxed, but more strict, the rewards and punishments were also heavy, and the rewards and punishments were also clear, and it was also by relying on the long-term military orders such as mountain habits, this Wu army team created a miracle, From Chizhou on 12 April to 17 April, in five days, the troops came to the city of Wuhu, 600 miles away, but there was not a single situation where the formation was left behind!

When it was completely dark, the main force of the Wu army finally arrived in Wuhu City, and the vanguard of the Wu army led by Han Daren had already rushed into the county seat of Wuhu -- the Wuhu garrison, which was composed of only a few dozen government officials and more than 300 local township soldiers, naturally could not stop the footsteps of the Wu army. Sun Zhaoyuan, the unlucky magistrate who dared to close the city and resist, the heads of the whole family have also been hung on the city gate tower, warning those shameless men who still want to continue to be dogs full of dogs! The mite Qing officials, government officials, and township soldiers in the city have all been slaughtered by the Wu army, and the corpses are piled up under the city, and the blood is flowing like a river.

"The main force enters the city, collects grain, grass, mules and horses, rests for the night, and sets off tomorrow!" Fat Lu yelled and ordered, "Remember, only the grain and grass in the official warehouse are allowed, and the grain of ordinary people is not allowed to be touched!" The mules, horses, donkeys, pigs and sheep borrowed from the people were paid for in military currency! Tell the people that let them take military coins to Nanjing City in a few days to exchange for cash! ”

In view of the urgent need for mules, horses, donkeys to carry grain and grass and let the wounded soldiers ride, and at the same time, there is also an urgent need for pigs, sheep, fish and cattle to supplement the nutrition of the soldiers, Lu Fatzi, who did not have much cash in his hand, asked Wang Shaobo to carve a seal with a radish, and found a piece of white paper to seal and fill in the number, and then stamped with Lu Fatzi's private seal It will become real money and silver that can be used in the market - if the people and merchants dare not accept it, it will be a capital crime that destroys the financial market of the Great Zhou army! As for when it will be exchanged for cash, the soldiers of the Fat Man Army of the Division of Benevolence and Righteousness also said very clearly, but it can be exchanged when the Wu army conquers Nanjing!

The soldiers of the Wu army immediately lay down on the streets and alleys of Wuhu City, and they fell asleep before they even had time to eat a mouthful, while the team on duty at night patrolled and rushed to make food and dry food, so that the soldiers could continue to go on the road when they were full in the early morning of the next day. Wang Xu's team didn't even have a chance to rest at all, so they directly lit torches and slaughtered Taiping City more than 40 miles away overnight, attacking this Taiping Mansion City, which didn't even know how many defenders there were, and opened the way for the main army.

Fortunately, like the previous cities, the Taiping Mansion City is still an empty city without regular army guards, and the prefect of the Taiping Mansion, Huang Guizi Hanzhu, although he is a native of Liaodong, has been praised by the Qing Dynasty for his good governance, but he is a banner man who loves his own life very much. Therefore, when the vanguard of the Wu army descended from heaven to the city, Huang Zhifu not only did not close the city and hold on, but opened the city gate at the first time, took his wife and children and fled to Nanjing, Wang Xu's team rushed into the city without any resistance, and controlled the choke point city on the eastward road of the main force of the Wu army.

At noon on April 18, the main force of the Wu army led by Lu Fatzi personally arrived at the city of Taipingfu, and Wang Xu led the generals to demote the officials out of the city to greet them. Is there any news of them? ”

"Back to the general, our sailor has not yet arrived." Wang Xu shook his head and said: "In addition, according to the Mangou officials, they have never seen our sailors pass by the Taipingfu River, but on April 13, a huge fleet of Mangou boats passed by the Taipingfu River, but they did not dock or enter the city, and went directly upstream!" ”

"There's a convoy of dogs passing through Taiping Mansion and heading straight upstream?" Fat Lu's fat face turned white, and he hurriedly asked: "How many warships and how many troops are there in that dog-filled fleet, and is it the army from there?" ”

"The general asks you something, answer!" Wang Xu pulled out a mite Qing official who had just cut his braids from behind him, and introduced: "General, this is the Tongzhi of the Taiping Mansion, called Ji Xuan, last night he took the officials to guard the treasury to prevent the rebellious people from looting, and the treasury was handed over until we entered the city. ”

"Well done, you have made a great contribution to my Great Zhou army, I declare, from now on, you will be the prefect of Taiping Mansion." Fat Lu patted Ji Xuan's shoulder, who was already trembling with fright, with satisfaction, and asked impatiently: "Tell me quickly, how many warships and how many troops came from where the dog-full fleet passed through Taiping Mansion on April 13?" ”

"Back to the general, humble ...... I don't know. Ji Xuan said with a sad face: "That Qing ......, that full of dog fleets under the banner of Jiangning's general Echu and the military gate, directly passed through the Taiping Mansion, from where they came there, how many troops, lowly officials and lowly positions, I don't dare to ask." I only know that they have a lot of ships, and I am afraid that there are four or five hundred. ”

"Where did the full dog come out of so many warships?" Fat Lu was really taken aback.

"Oops." Gao Dejie also gritted his teeth and said: "If nothing else, General Li Guodong must have encountered this dog-filled fleet, so he has not arrived at Taiping Mansion until now." Otherwise, with the speed of the waterway, Li Guodong would have arrived at Taiping Mansion at least a day earlier than us. ”

"That's the only explanation." Han Daren nodded, and asked Lu Fatzi worriedly: "General, the plan to join forces with the Navy Division has been delayed, and most of our ammunition and weapons are on the Navy Division's fleet, what should we do next?" ”

In front of everyone's eyes, Lu Fatzi turned around in place a few times with his hands behind his back, gritted his teeth, and roared: "Wang Xu, you lead 5,000 troops to stay in Taiping Mansion, continue to wait for Li Guodong's sailor fleet, and all the wounded soldiers in our army are left to you to take care of, and the rest of the team, continue to the east, and before it falls tomorrow, you must arrive at the city of Nanjing!" ”

"Brother Lu, our ammunition and siege artillery are still on the ships of the naval division, there are no siege weapons, in case ......." Gao Dejie reminded worriedly.

"There's no time!" Lu Fatzi waved his hand decisively and shouted: "Our army is rushing thousands of miles to attack Nanjing City, every minute and every second of time is extremely precious, we can't wait any longer, no matter what the situation of the naval army is, we must immediately advance to Nanjing City!" Otherwise, once the Mangou army comes to its senses and sends reinforcements to Nanjing City, it will be difficult to break through Nanjing! ”

Gao Dejie and Han Daren and other generals nodded together, and said: "The general is reasonable, the only hope now is the friend who has a lifelong friendship with the general." ”

"Friendship?" Lu Fatzi smiled bitterly in his heart, and said in his heart that if Lao Tzu and Xie Dong, who had only met once and passed a few letters, had also had a fateful relationship, then Lao Tzu and Kang Mazi could be regarded as childhood sweethearts, and the two had no guesses. But when things got to this point, Fat Lu had no other choice, just shouted: "Brother Dajie, the next pioneer task will be handed over to you!" Taiping Mansion is one hundred and fifty miles away from Nanjing City, and it is now two o'clock in the afternoon, and before this hour tomorrow, your cavalry team must give me troops under the city of Nanjing! ”

"Order!" Gao Dejie clenched his fists, agreed loudly, and hurriedly led the cavalry of his headquarters to go. Lu Fatzi rode his war horse again, first arched his hand to Wang Xu to say goodbye, and then pulled out his waist knife, straight to the northeast direction of Nanjing, and shouted: "The wounded soldiers stay, the whole army advances, and before the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the soldiers will come to the city of Nanjing!" Da Zhou! ”

"Da Zhou-!" In the thunderous shout, the remaining 30,000 soldiers of the Wu army took steps again, lined up in a neat line, and galloped towards Nanjing again along the wide official road.

"Brother Xie, please! Li Ya, Liu Zhen, Liu Xu, Shen Xin, please also please. ”

Of course, Lu Fatzi understood what he was doing, but for his own territory and to completely get rid of the control of Wu Laohan's annihilation, and for the great cause of rejuvenating the Han Dynasty and expelling the Tartars, Lu Fatzi had no other choice. But fortunately, Lu Fatzi also considered the possibility of Xie Dong's refusal to act as an internal response, so in addition to Xie Dong, Lu Fatzi still has a back, although this follow-up is not absolutely safe, but there is also some hope and thought............

Tiangong refused to be beautiful, left the city of Taiping and walked less than five miles to the northeast, and after a morning of gloomy sky, a light rain fell in the sky, and the rain gradually increased, and the ground gradually became muddy and slippery, adding many difficulties to the march of the main infantry knights of the Wu army. It was also in this wind and rain that Lu Fatzi was full of pride, and couldn't help but lead his neck to sing, "A big road leads to my family, my family lives at the foot of Yoliang Mountain, and the soil under the mountain is fertile and the land is five acres, and what ...... plant five acres of fertile land?" ”

"Who will remember what I look like, who will remember the injuries I have suffered, whose ** whose battlefield makes us all turn away from the good ......?"

"When will I be able to return to my hometown? When can I see her red makeup? I cut off my gaze with a long sword? Hack constant homesickness! ”

Under the leadership of Lu Fatzi, 30,000 soldiers of the Wu Army sang this catchy song, and at the same time it was full of heroic fighting spirit and songs praising life, and quickly replaced the previous military song of the Wu Army, becoming the most widely circulated military song in the ranks of the Fat Army.

……………………

Diametrically opposed to the officers and men of the Fat People's Army who still maintained their high morale in the wind and rain, that night, when the news that the Fat People's Army had captured Taiping City and was still advancing at full speed towards Nanjing, finally came back to Nanjing City, the large and small mite Qing officials and the soldiers and civilians in Nanjing City suddenly fell into a chaos, the people in the suburbs outside the city desperately poured into the city to flee, and the Han and Manchurian people in the city flocked to the city to flee for their lives.

Because the main force of the defenders had been sent to Anqing before, there were only 8,000 defenders left in the city of Nanjing, and it was inevitable that the troops would be very stretched to defend the 70-mile Nanjing city wall (35.267 kilometers). As a last resort, A Xixu, the governor of Liangjiang sitting in Nanjing, could only send people to ask for help from the surrounding Qing army, while listening to the suggestions of Mu Tianyan and Xie Dong, and ordered the people in the city to enter and not leave, so as to organize the people to go to the city to help the war after the war and make up for the weakness of the lack of troops.

The idea is a good idea, but it is a pity that after Axixu's list was published and implemented in place, the city of Nanjing, which has not experienced war for nearly 30 years, is even more chaotic, and the people who are eager to flee out of the city for their lives are constantly in conflict with the defenders, and the ruffians and hooligans take advantage of the fire to rob, kill people, set fire, rob and annihilate all kinds of evil, and the officers and servants of the large and small yamen in Nanjing City are dispatched together, but they cannot maintain the order of the market.

It was also at this time that taking advantage of Mu Tianyan's absence, Xie Dong, the prefect of Jiangning, took the opportunity to suggest to A Xixu: "Your Excellency, why don't you let General Halehaqi, General Erchu's deputy, lead the army to maintain order?" Stabilize the situation in the city first, and then the lowly officials can organize the people to go to the city to help in the war. ”

"It's a good idea, but General Khalhaqi is repairing the city walls and consolidating the city defenses ......." Axi Xu hesitated.

"It's easy to do." Xie Dong said lightly: "The Governor has forgotten the new army recruited by his humble position? Although the nearly 5,000 recruits recruited from lowly posts are untrained, unable to go into battle, and have no experience in maintaining order, there is no problem in doing some hard work, such as repairing city walls and carrying materials for defending the city. The Governor only needs to send a section of the defenders on the city wall into the city to maintain order, and let the new army go up to the city to consolidate the city defenses, so that there will be no delay. ”

"Good idea, then you go and organize the new army to go to the city." Ah Xixu was overjoyed and said, "Your new army will all be arranged to the area around the Stone City Gate, and the army there will be replaced by the city to maintain order in the city. Qingliang Gate, Shicheng Gate to Sanshan Gate this section of the city wall, this official will be handed over to you, the city wall that should be repaired must be repaired, the fortifications that should be strengthened are reinforced, and when the Wu army and thieves are completely annihilated, the official will definitely give you credit. Xie Dong was overjoyed, hurriedly agreed, and hurriedly went out to the barracks in the city to organize the new army to change the guard at Shichengmen.

With the regular army with strong combat effectiveness and strict military discipline entering the city to maintain order, the order in the city of Nanjing has indeed been greatly improved, at least those people who want to flee for their lives in the city say that they dare not join forces with the defenders, and the hooligans and ruffians who take advantage of the fire to rob have also begun to restrain somewhat. At the same time, after the new army organized by Xie Dong took over the section of the stone city gate wall, he also began to repair the city wall, repair the city defense, and carry and hoard a large number of materials to defend the city.

The night passed quickly, and on the morning of the next day, Ah Xixu led the governor Mu Tianyan, the envoy Chen Bingzhi, and the chief general of the defenders, Halhaqi, and other civil and military officials to climb the city wall and inspect the city defense on all sides, first inspecting the Jubaomen section due south, and then all the way to the west, and gradually came to the Shichengmen area where the new army was responsible. It was also at this time that Axixu, Halehaqi and others suddenly found that this new army took the initiative to go down to the city to dredge the moat without an order, and dug several rivers blocked by soil and rocks in a row, so that the water of the Qinhuai River could fill the moat, which greatly strengthened the ability to defend this section of the city wall.

"Well done, who said to dredge the moat?" Axixu asked overjoyed.

"Back to the Governor, it was suggested by the villain." Under the push of the recruits, a recruit wearing the uniform of the Qing army sentry stood up, knelt down on one knee and replied with a fist: "The villain has little experience in the battlefield, found that the river was blocked, and was worried that Wu Gou would go to the city from now on, so he proposed to the prefect to dredge the river. ”

"Little experience in the battlefield?" The deputy commander of the capital, Halhaqi, stepped forward and grabbed the right hand of the sentry chief, and found that his right hand was full of calluses, obviously sharpened by holding a knife for many years. Halhaqi couldn't help but be even more overjoyed, and hurriedly asked, "What's your name?" Served as a soldier there? ”

"General Hui, the villain's surname is Li Mingya, and he is a fellow villager of Xie Zhifu, a native of Changsha." Li Ya replied respectfully: "The villain was originally in the army under the command of Cai Yurong, the governor of Huguang, and served as a sentry officer, after Wu Gou broke through Wuchang, the villain failed to cross the river with the army, and was unwilling to surrender to Wu Gou, so he changed into civilian clothes and escaped from Wuchang, and has been living among the people. Later, the villain heard that his fellow villager Xie was an official in Jiangning, so he went to work on a civilian ship, and came to Jiangning with a civilian merchant ship to join Xie. ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, General Ha, this Li Ya and I are a distant relative." Xie Dong also explained: "When he came to Jiangning to join me, he happened to catch up with Lord A's order to recruit a new army, and I saw that he had battlefield experience, so I arranged him to serve as a sentry commander in the new army, so that he could serve the imperial court again." ”

"Good, good." Halhaqi was even more happy, and turned to Axixu and suggested: "Lord Governor, what we lack most now is experienced veterans, this Li Ya is good, according to the opinion of the last general, it is too aggrieved to let him be the sentry chief, we should let veterans like him bring more recruits, so that our new army can be improved quickly." ”

"Yes." Ah Xixu nodded with satisfaction, and said: "In this way, Li Ya, this governor will reward you with a thousand generals, lead a thousand recruits, and assist General Hallhaqi in defending the city." ”

"The last general, Lord Xie, cultivates!" Li Ya hurriedly kowtowed and thanked him, "The last general General Xie Ha cultivated." ”

A Xixu and Halehaqi and the others smiled and let Li Ya get up, praised and encouraged Li Ya a few words, and then led the officials to the Qingliangmen in the north to continue the inspection, but before leaving, Mu Tianyan, the governor of Jiangning, suddenly turned around, looked at Xie Dong and Li Ya with a smile, did not speak, and continued to follow A Xixu and the others. Seeing the strange smile on Mu Tianyan's face, Xie Dong almost broke out in a cold sweat, and as soon as A Xixu and the others walked away, Li Ya whispered: "Are you crazy? What else do you want to be in the limelight at this time? Let others pay attention to you? ”

"It's not me." Li Ya replied in a low voice: "It was someone else who pushed me out, and I was also scared out of a cold sweat, I just wanted to behave casually so as not to be driven off the city wall, but I didn't expect them to pay attention." ”

"I hope Lord Mu won't be suspicious." Xie Dong muttered in a low voice, "I'm not afraid of anyone else now, I'm afraid of Master Mu, he knows my details." ”

Fortunately, Mu Tianyan didn't seem to have any doubts about Xie Dong's reuse of Li Ya, and he didn't mention a word about it on the way to accompany A Xixu and others to inspect the city defense. And when Xie Dong waited in fear until noon, the Wu army led by Gao Dejie finally arrived in Nanjing, and killed all the way along the official road to the Jubaomen (Zhonghua Gate) in the south of Nanjing. However, Gao Dejie was not in a hurry to attack the city, but only let the Wu cavalry rest for a while, and then led the team to patrol the city defense along the city, looking for a breakthrough point that could attack the city.

At this time, Xie Dong once again boarded the stone city gate in charge of the new army, and after meeting Li Ya again, Xie Dong said in a low voice: "Your messenger, have you sent out?" ”

"It was sent out a long time ago." Li Ya replied in a low voice: "Not surprisingly, he should also get in touch with General Gao now, just wait for our main force to arrive, and then we can do it." ”

"That's good, be careful." Xie Dong said in a low voice: "Ah Xixu has not arranged an envoy to defend the city for me so far, it is estimated that he wants me to be in charge of logistics in the city, and your main force will arrive in a while, if I am arranged to the city, the rest will depend on you." ”

"Your Excellency, please rest assured." Li Ya replied in a low voice: "Our people are ready, just wait for the main force to arrive, and we can start immediately." ”

Xie Dong nodded, and when he was about to leave, a herald suddenly came in a hurry and said to Xie Dong: "Lord Xie, Lord Governor, please go to the Jubaomen City Tower immediately, and Lord Governor will hold a meeting to defend the city." ”

"Okay, I'll go right away." Xie Dong nodded in agreement.

"Lord Xie, the Governor has given a special explanation again, and I want your fellow villager, the new Qianzong Li Ya, to go with you." The herald added.

"...... me?" Li Ya glanced at each other, but they both saw the frightened look in each other's eyes, and then a thought rose in the hearts of the two of them, "Could it be that this thing is going to fail?" ”

(To be continued)