After only a little rest in Changzhou for a day, Shi Dakai's army began to retreat towards Tianjing, fortunately, the distance from Changzhou to Tianjing was not very far, and in just four or five days, the Taiping army marching at full speed had already withdrawn to Tianjing, and threw an empty city in Changzhou to Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang again.

Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, who got the news, naturally knew what was going on, this was Shi Dakai got the battle report from Henan, now Henan is in danger, seriously threatening the stability of Anhui, Shi Dakai will never dare to leave Anhui easily, I am afraid that Tianjing will not take a few days, so he will immediately leave for the north and go to northern Anhui to confront Guo Ye, if he doesn't take the opportunity to take Changzhou back now, when will he wait?

However, these are not things that Shi Dakai can take into account.

Shi Dakai went all the way and returned to Tianjing, and the first thing he did was to summon Dong Haichuan.

"Brother Haichuan, how is the situation now? When will the rest of the third batch of arms of the Americans arrive in Tianjing? Also, I would like to order another batch of arms from the Americans, and I would like to ask you to contact Minister Warrenham for me immediately......"

Dong Haichuan smiled bitterly: "Wing King, do you have to fight with Guo Ye to break the net?" I have already received the news, Guo Ye's army has joined forces with the three towns of Shandong, if the Taiping army faces Baoding Town and the three towns of Shandong alone, there may be some chances of victory, but the two armies are combined in one place, with a strength of no less than 30,000 troops, such strength is no longer something that the Taiping army can compete with, the suggestion I told you last time, don't you consider it? ”

Shi Dakai was silent for a moment, and said excitedly: "Haichuan, maybe my Taiping Army is really not Guo Ye's opponent, but how can I know if I don't try, I know that Guo Ye is powerful, he defeated the Twist Army and the Northern Taiping Army of more than 100,000 people in a month and a half, and the combat power is strong enough to be proud of the sea, however, the reason why he is so powerful is most likely to borrow the power of foreign guns and foreign cannons. The Twist Army and the Northern Taiping Army do not have foreign guns and artillery, but we are different, the elite of the Taiping Army under my command is equipped with a large number of firearms, as long as it is deployed properly, we may not have no chance of winning! ”

Dong Haichuan said silently: "Wing King, it's just that you also have to understand that when two tigers fight, there will be an injury, even if you defeat Guo Ye, what if you are seriously injured, can you still block the combination of the Hunan army, the Huai army and the Chu army?" In the end, isn't it still difficult to realize your wish for universal harmony? ”

Shi Dakai's face changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "Haichuan, what do you mean?" ”

Dong Haichuan smiled bitterly: "What else, naturally persuade you to negotiate with Guo Ye to surrender, it's not that I underestimate the Taiping Army, and the Lu Army after Guo Ye's reorganization is completed, the Taiping Army is too far away, and your gap is no longer something that can be made up by weapons......"

Shi Dakai was stunned for a moment and asked: "Haichuan, you touted Guo Ye so high, it is nothing more than wanting me to surrender, no matter how strong this Guo Ye is, he is just a generation of handsome talents, coupled with the help of foreign guns and foreign artillery, he has only gained a great reputation, and he can still grab there better than me?" He has Shandong behind him, and behind me the vast land and people of Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Anhui provinces, and the whole strength can already be compared to the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang, can't it be compared to Guo Ye? ”

Dong Haichuan said with a smile: "Of course it can't be compared, Yiwang, your strength can even overwhelm the sum of the Hunan army, the Huai army and the Chu army, but it is still difficult to match Guo Ye, don't underestimate Shandong, I have been in Shandong for a whole year, and the power of the whole Shandong has already surpassed Jiangsu and Zhejiang, not because Shandong is richer than Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but because there is a great layout of Guo Ye, an independent arsenal, which can produce hundreds of artillery pieces and 20,000 foreign guns every year, There are even rockets specifically for the navy and cavalry, even if Guo Ye does not have American munitions, Shandong's own firearms are enough, and these firearms are stronger, better than Western firearms, let's just buy them, do you think they can compete with Guo Ye? ”

Shi Dakai's face was full of shock, and he asked, "You say, Shandong's arsenal is now enough to support Guo Ye's large-scale use of troops?" How can it be! When I captured Anqing, I once watched the Anqing Ordnance Institute organized by Zeng Guofan, where the total output of foreign guns a year was only a few hundred, and the artillery was only twenty or thirty, and the performance was far inferior to Western firearms. ”

Dong Haichuan continued: "That's not all, in addition to the arsenal, Guo Ye also has a steady stream of money and food provided to him by Qilu Bank, do you know how much silver Qilu Bank has now?" ”

Shi Dakai shook his head, Dong Haichuan smiled bitterly: "I don't know, what I know is only before I left Shandong, at that time, the silver owned by Qilu Bank was no less than eighty or ninety million taels, and now, I am afraid that it will break through ten thousand taels, it is possible, so much money, not to mention supporting Guo Ye's 30,000 troops, even if Guo Ye's 300,000 troops?" It can still be supported! I know that in just a few months the year before last, Qilu Bank earned back millions of taels of silver in the United States, which is pure profit, not an asset, in addition to Qilu Bank, Yanzhou Coal Mine and Laiyang Iron Works in Shandong, the coal and steel produced every year can bring huge profits, such a strong financial force, even if it is said that it is rich and rivals the country? ”

Shi Dakai has already heard stupidly, there are tens of thousands of taels of silver in the bank, even if this number is a bit vain, why can't there be a fake of seventy or eighty million taels? What about profits? It's even more terrifying! Where did this Guo Ye get so much silver, such a powerful strength, as long as the army is expanded, it will be more than enough to destroy the entire Qing court!

Dong Haichuan looked at Shi Dakai, who was a little sluggish, and sighed: "If you are born of Yu, why is it born?" Yiwang, although you are extremely talented, after all, you are still a talent, but this Guo Ye can no longer be described as a talent, I have always thought that this guy is an immortal, otherwise where did he get such the ability to turn stones into gold? ”

Shi Dakai also fell into deep thought, and after a long time, he said: "Haichuan, I will consider your opinion, but the most important thing now is that you want to contact the Americans for me again to purchase a batch of arms, my list has been listed, I hope to receive this batch of arms in the shortest possible time, this battle is inevitable, even if I lose, I will lose without regrets!" ”

(To be continued.) )