After the Qing army entered the customs, the Southern Ming army has been pressed and beaten by the Qing army, and the tragic situation of the defeat can no longer be described as losing land and losing divisions, it is almost a situation of total collapse, if it were not for the Great Western Army led by Sun Kewang to go out of Yunnan and the Ming Dynasty to resist the Qing Dynasty, and successively achieved several great victories in Hunan and Guangxi, I am afraid that the Yongli small court of Anlong Mansion has already been declared extinct. However, since the stalemate of the main force of the Ming and Qing dynasties in Hunan, and the failure of Li Dingguo's two more attacks on Guangdong, the Ming army has obviously lacked succession, and it will no longer be the scenery of the previous two years when it first came out of Yunnan to resist the Qing Dynasty. In Guangdong, where the Qing court and the Han army were under the control of the two feudal kings, Chen Qice, the general of Linghai, was even more painful about the current situation.

Without territory, there is no source of food, and without food and a solid rear support, no army can fight for a long time. As the main force of the Ming army, the original Great Western Army was supported by Yunnan and Guizhou, so Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo could fight and stalemate with the Qing army repeatedly, but Chen Qice, who had no territory, could only lead thousands of his subordinates to entrench themselves on overseas islands and struggle to support.

The area of Shangchuan Island and Xiachuan Island is very small, and there are no inhabitants on the island, only fishermen occasionally rest here on weekdays, where can such a barren land support Chen Qice's thousands of people, so Chen Qice dreamed of being able to gain a foothold on the shore, first, to recover the lost land, and second, to feed his subordinates.

However, after a few years, Chen Qice could only look at Lu Xing and sigh, he did not try to seize the town on the shore as a base, but several times he went ashore to attack was defeated by the local garrison of the Qing army, and he had no choice but to retreat to Shangxiachuan Island and wait for the situation to change. In addition to knowing the strategic importance of Xinhui to the Ming army, he did not take this opportunity to seize several cities of the Qing army and seek a safe place for the sailors.

However, after going ashore, the battle between his subordinates and the Qing army dispelled Chen Qice's idea, although the Qing army was generally defeated, but the Han army's banner soldiers, as the main force, were defeated but not chaotic, and even defeated the pursuing sailors on the way to defeat, which made Chen Qice understand that he could not defeat the Qing army alone and regain the lost territory with his existing strength alone.

On the way into the city, the old general had already calculated. After the spoils were divided, he led his troops along the river to attack some places where the Qing defenders were weak, and then withdrew to Shangchuan and Xiachuan Islands after obtaining grain and grass replenishment from these places. On the Xinhui side, only a small number of men and horses under the general Zheng Chengkui were left to cooperate with the Taiping army, and at the same time they were responsible for controlling the river from the Tan River to the mouth of the sea in the Xinhui section, so that when Li Dingguo's army advanced eastward again, he swung his army into the Tan River three times to cooperate with the army.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Shixiang put forward a suggestion that Chen Qice couldn't believe, he actually wanted to give up Xinhui City!

Because he was too excited, Chen Qice's beard trembled, and Wu Yuan and the others also looked at Zhou Shixiang with wide eyes.

"Xinhui was captured by Brother Zhou and his subordinates in a desperate and bloody battle, and it was held for several months under the siege of the Qing army. With such a strong city, Brother Zhou is really willing to give it to the old man? If you give me the new meeting, where will the Taiping army stay? ”

Chen Qice was puzzled, according to Qi Hao, the Taiping army led by Zhou Shixiang was from Luoding all the way to the Qing army to capture Xinhui City, except for Xinhui City, the Taiping Army had no other territory. Now the Taiping army not only captured Xinhui, but also held Xinhui, and the Qing army was newly defeated. There is no possibility of returning in the short term, so Zhou Shixiang did not take this opportunity to reorganize the troops and raise grain and grass to supplement his strength, but wanted to give up his territory. But what are you going to do?

This question was not only puzzled by Chen Qice, but also by Wu Yuan and other Chen generals, who did not understand Zhou Shixiang's move to cede the city at all. In these years, there is strength only when there is territory. Only with strength can we survive, and without territory, especially if it is a strong city like Xinhui. What does the Taiping Army want to do, and what does Zhou Shixiang want to do?

Qin Zhisheng and the other Taiping Army officers who accompanied him also did not understand Zhou Shixiang's intentions, but they did not ask, because they knew that every decision of Qianhu was for the Taiping Army and for them.

In the face of everyone's confusion, Zhou Shixiang smiled slightly, and he said calmly to Chen Qice: "Why is it reluctant? Xinhui City is the land of my Ming Dynasty, not the private land of my Taiping Army, not the private property of my Zhou Shixiang, the old general is the general Linghai canonized by the imperial court, and the general's subordinates are even more generals, far from being comparable to our Taiping Army, so Xinhui is far more suitable to hand over to the old general than in the hands of my Zhou Shixiang. I believe that with the ability of the old general, Xinhui City will be impregnable, and the Ming army will continue to pounce from Xinhui to Guangzhou in the future, until Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao, the two bastards who have turned their backs on their ancestors, will be driven out of Guangdong! ”

He added, "As for the whereabouts of our Taiping army, I will not hide it from the old general, a few months ago when I led my troops to seize Xinhui, I had already decided to continue to advance south to the Xiangshan area, but unexpectedly, our army had not had time to move before the Qing army besieged the city. After defending the city for several months, our army's vitality was greatly damaged, and now there are less than four or five soldiers, so this meager strength is no longer enough to defend Xinhui, so the younger generation wants to give Xinhui to the old general. After our army left Xinhui, it advanced into the Xiangshan area, and the old general was relieved that our Taiping army would not stand with the Qing court since the head of the camp, so our army would continue to attack the Qing army after arriving in Xiangshan, and the Qing army in Guangzhou could not use Xinhui with all its might, so that the pressure on the old general's side would be less. If you can wait until the army of the king of Xining advances eastward, the recovery of Guangdong Province can be expected. When it came to the army of Li Dingguo, the king of Xining, Zhou Shixiang's voice was obviously much quieter.

Listening to Zhou Shixiang's words, Chen Qice was just very moved, he didn't think about why Zhou Shixiang's voice was lowered in the end, and he persuaded after being moved: "Xiangshan is under the nose of Guangzhou, and it is not easy to get there." ”

Zhou Shixiang said: "Xinhui is not also under the nose of the Qing army, and it is the southwest gate of Guangzhou, and it is not easy for the old general to guard here." ”

The two looked at each other, laughed, and said no more.

"There is one more thing for the younger generation, I hope the old general can help."

"You said, as long as the old man can do it, he will do it for you."

Zhou Shixiang gave up Xinhui City, and what else was there to help, Chen Qice didn't want to help.

Zhou Shixiang said: "There are many old and weak women and children in our army, and the younger generation cannot lead them to Xiangshan by land, so I also asked the old general to transport our soldiers and horses to the other side by the ship of the water division." ”

Hearing this, Chen Qice waved his hand indifferently and said: "This is a trivial matter, don't worry, the old man will transport all of your Taiping Army to the other side." ”

"Thank you, old general!"

Zhou Shixiang bowed deeply, and the matter of how to cross the river was completely relieved, otherwise he really didn't know how to bring the thousands of old and weak women and children in the back camp to Xiangshan. Xinhui is a place to be true, but it is also a Jedi, and the Taiping army will only be firmly crucified by the Qing army if they stay here, and they will not be able to move a single step. It was handed over to Chen Qice, but it was a live move, unlike the Taiping Army, Chen Qice's department was originally a sailor, as long as he controlled Tan Jiang, Chen Qice, who had a sailor in hand and a strong city to rely on, could play a much greater role than him.

Xinhui City Zhou Shixiang was willing to let it out, and the next thing was much simpler. (To be continued.) )