At the mouth of the old river, the rumbling cannon fire gradually stopped, and the river surface was shrouded in thick smoke.

Everywhere was the wreckage of the bombed-out warship, which burned and smoked billowing black smoke mixed with incomplete corpses and flowed down the river. The water of the Yangtze River, which was originally crystal clear, has become turbid at this time, stained red with blood, and stretches for hundreds of miles.

The powerful Taiping Army Naval Division, with more than 600 warships and more than 30,000 elite sailors, was so vulnerable in front of the East China Sea Fleet of the Shanghai Army that all the troops killed were annihilated.

Under the protection of the deputy general and some surviving soldiers, Shi Dakai swam to the shore and survived.

It's just that the Taiping troops who are still struggling in the river are not so lucky, from the huge warships of the East China Sea Fleet of the Shanghai Army, one after another put down small boats, and groups of Shanghai marines are loaded with guns and ammunition, rowing to the location of the Taiping troops in Luoshui.

At first, Shi Dakai thought that the Shanghai army was preparing to capture the prisoners, but soon he became angry, because he saw the Shanghai soldiers raise their muskets and shoot the Taiping soldiers in Luoshui one by one.

The screams of help and screams came one after another, but the Shanghai soldiers did not have any sympathy and killed all the enemies in their eyes.

The soldiers of the Shanghai Army paid attention to the three major disciplines and eight points of attention on weekdays, among which there were military regulations stipulating that prisoners should not be slaughtered, and the soldiers of the Shanghai Army also strictly enforced them in peacetime, and this kind of large-scale massacre of the Taiping Army in Luoshui would not have occurred.

But the problem is that just now a carrier pigeon flew to the battleship Dingyuan, a letter from the Shanghai Army Command. The news that Shi Dakai sent cavalry to secretly attack the retreating troops of the Shanghai army and almost killed Li Weiguo was reported.

learned that Li Weiguo almost had an accident, and more than 2,000 brothers of the Shanghai army were unfortunately killed. The officers and men of the entire East China Sea Fleet were immediately furious, and everyone was furious, and the original intention of capturing the prisoners soon turned into a retaliatory action of blood for blood and tooth for tooth.

Although he did not directly order the killing of the prisoners, the words revealed everywhere the intention of inciting the officers and men to take revenge, which eventually led to the officers and men rushing to get off the ship. Launched a massacre against the Luoshui Taiping Army.

In this regard, Lin Jiyun, commander of the fleet, neither expressed support nor opposition, which was tantamount to acquiescence. He asked Li Weijun, "Aren't you afraid that your lord will punish you?" ”

Li Weijun snorted and said, "I didn't order the prisoners to be killed, I just stated to the officers and soldiers the fact that the adults were attacked and more than 2,000 brothers were killed. As for killing prisoners. It's all the personal behavior of the officers and soldiers below, and it's understandable that the law doesn't hold the people accountable! ”

Lin Jiyun suddenly smiled bitterly, with such a partner, he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse.

However, Lin Jiyun is also very happy in his heart, Li Weiguo has the grace and promotion of Lin Jiyun, and heard the news that Li Weiguo almost had an accident. Lin Jiyun was also furious, but he was the commander of the fleet. There are some things that can't be done, some orders can't be given, and he wants to take revenge on the Taiping Army more than anyone else, so he can only hold it in his heart. Now that he didn't dare to do something, someone did it for him, and it could be regarded as helping him out of a bad breath.

After this incident, the officers and men of the entire East China Sea Fleet did not mention it again, as if everyone had reached a tacit understanding, and finally when Lin Jiyun and Li Weijun wrote the battle report of the old Jiangkou to Li Weiguo together, it only read: "The naval division of the thief Shoushi Dakai was completely annihilated, sinking more than 600 enemy ships and killing more than 30,000 enemies. In addition, Shi Dakai fell into the water and disappeared, and his whereabouts are unknown", etc., never mentioning the deliberate killing of prisoners, and later the China S.H.I.E.L.D. secret service reported the matter to Li Weiguo, because the law does not hold the public accountable, and Li Weiguo did not pursue the matter, so it was over.

Three days later, Shi Dakai gathered the remnants of the defeated army and got 36,000 people, of which 30,000 were soldiers pretended to be soldiers, and only more than 6,000 people remained in the elite of the real Taiping army.

Shi Dakai was worried that Wei Jun's 10,000 elites would be eaten by the Shanghai army again, so he urgently ordered Wei Jun to lead the army to withdraw.

Two days later, Wei Jun led more than 9,000 Taiping troops to join Shi Dakai.

Another 1,000 people were missing, because after the East China Sea Fleet of the Shanghai Army returned to Dantu, it sent more than 5,000 marines to attack Wei Jun's headquarters with the Dantu Shanghai Army.

At the time of the expedition, there were 100,000 elite Taiping troops, but by this time, there were only more than 15,000 people left, and with Li Xiucheng's more than 10,000 cavalry, there were less than 30,000 left.

After a big battle, more than 70,000 people were lost, and since the Taiping rebellion, there had never been such a big loss, which can be described as a fiasco.

Shi Dakai was already angry, fell seriously ill, but fell into the water again, and when he sank into the Yangtze River and committed suicide, his lungs were filled with sludge and blood and water mixed with Yangtze River sewage, and he got pneumonia, which aggravated his condition.

"Apoof-" After listening to Wei Jun's report, Shi Dakai was so angry that he vomited blood three liters and fell unconscious.

On the other side, in the Jiangnan camp, Li Weiguo rested for a few days, collecting intelligence on the Taiping army, counting his own casualties, and holding a post-war summary work meeting.

Su Sanniang, Zhang Xiaoliu, Lin Yao, Chen Jingnan, Wu Yong, Lin Jiyun, Li Weijun, and other major naval and army generals and staff members spoke one after another, summing up the advantages and disadvantages of the Shanghai Army in the battle of the Taiping Army's Eastern Crusade, and that the advantages should be carried forward, and the shortcomings should be corrected in a timely manner, and the lessons and lessons should be summed up.

This kind of war summing up meeting was set up by Li Weiguo, and for the generals of the Shanghai Army, it was an eye-opener for them, and at the same time, they also learned a lot of knowledge, and they could know their own advantages and shortcomings from the mouths of others, and they could correct them in a timely manner and constantly improve their abilities.

After every major war, every meeting was summed up, not only Li Weiguo himself benefited a lot, but also the generals at all levels, and even the strategists of the staff group, they were all improved, which is also the reason why the Shanghai army can continue to grow and develop in just a few years.

You must know that at the beginning of the establishment of the Shanghai Army, it was a group of young people who fought only with courage and blood, and now they are all growing. Learn from the strengths of others, make up for your own shortcomings, and constantly improve your own abilities.

It wasn't just senior military officers who held such post-war summary meetings. Through this military system, the Shanghai army can constantly discover its own strengths and weaknesses, overcome its shortcomings, and give full play to its advantages, so that the combat effectiveness of the Shanghai army has increased exponentially after every major war. This is an advantage that no country or any army in the world can match, and it is destined to become a world-class and powerful military force.

A few days later, the results of the post-war statistics were reported to Li Weiguo.

The Battle of Jiangnan (the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom called the Battle of the Taiping Army's Eastern Crusade). The Shanghai Army has invested 35,000 troops, 240 artillery pieces, more than 200 warships and 15,000 sailors of the East China Sea Fleet. Five thousand marines. 68,000 people, 1,800 tons of various war materials, and 5.5 million yuan (Jiangnan Province fully realized RMB settlement), 6,322 people were killed, including 2,150 people, 2,130 people were wounded, including 112 people, and 1,813 people were missing. It's all for the people.

For the Shanghai army, although it wiped out more than 70,000 elite Taiping troops. However, more than 4,000 of its own officers and soldiers were killed, and according to the standards of the Shanghai army (one Shanghai army tops ten elites of the Taiping army), it can be said that they paid a heavy price.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Li Weiguo held a meeting with his subordinates.

"Inform Li Hongzao to build a martyr's shrine of the Shanghai army next to the Confucius Temple, and enshrine the tablets of all the soldiers who have died in the Shanghai army over the years, this matter must be completed before I return to Shanghai!"

"Your Excellency is wise! On behalf of the fallen soldiers and their families, I would like to thank you. Zhang Xiaoliu, Lin Yao and other officers were very happy and grateful when they heard that Li Weiguo was going to build a martyr's shrine for the fallen soldiers, and they thanked Li Weiguo one after another.

Li Weiguo said: "This is what I should do, I hope that all the soldiers will still be able to unite as one in the future, sincerely unite, and continue to assist me Li Weiguo!" ”

Everyone got up one after another, saluted Li Weiguo, and replied in unison: "I am willing to serve my life!" ”

At this time, the intelligence officer came in with news.

"Report!"

"News came from Tianjing, Shi Dakai has returned to Tianjing, but he is seriously ill in bed, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing have gone to visit, after the Taiping army withdrew to Dongyang, Tuqiao, Taowu and other places of the army, stationed heavy troops in Yuhuatai, Xiaolingwei, build fortifications. According to another report, Chen Yucheng did not die, and returned to Tianjing with serious injuries. ”

Hearing that Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng were not dead, including Li Weiguo, everyone sighed.

Wu Yong said: "After this battle, the Taiping army was greatly injured, and they successively withdrew to the garrisons of Dongyang, Tuqiao and Taowu, etc., obviously the troops were insufficient, so they could only shrink the defense line, defend Yuhuatai and Xiaolingwei, defend Tianjing, and prevent our army from attacking." ”

Zhang Xiaoliu suddenly said excitedly: "Looking at it this way, within three or five years, it is unlikely that the Taiping Army will launch the Eastern Expedition and the Southern Expedition again, they are on the defensive, and it is the best time for our army to attack and take revenge!" ”

The generals were eager to try, apparently wanting to seek revenge on the Taiping army.

However, Li Weiguo shook his head, waved his hand to interrupt the illusions of the generals, and said: "In three or five years, the Taiping army will not be able to attack us, and we will not take the initiative to attack them. ”

was poured a basin of cold water by Li Weiguo, and the generals were not very reconciled, but they did not dare to oppose Li Weiguo's decision.

Wu Yong smiled and explained to everyone: "After this battle, the imperial court will not be suspicious of adults, so it is a good time to develop strength." ”

Li Weiguo nodded and said, "That's not all! This time, I will report to the imperial court, and say that although our army defeated the Taiping army's eastern expedition and annihilated 100,000 enemies, it also suffered heavy losses, and the imperial court knew that our army had 40,000 or 50,000 people, so it reported the loss of 40,000 people, so that the emperor was happy and happy. ”

Wu Yong immediately agreed: "It's really clever for adults to do this, but you can add some more ingredients." For example, let out the words, it is said that the establishment of our Shanghai army is still short, originally the adults are going to train for a period of time and then pull the battlefield to the decisive battle with the Taiping army, because Su Shun and others malicious slander caused the emperor to doubt the loyalty of our lords, forcing the adults to immediately put the main force of the Shanghai army into battle, because the Shanghai army has not really been trained, the result is that after the war suffered heavy casualties, not a few years can not recover. In this way, the civil and military officials and the common people will think that everything is caused by the emperor's suspicion, and the emperor may feel guilty and will promote the lord to another official and a half position. ”

As soon as they heard that Li Weiguo was likely to be promoted because of this, the generals suddenly became excited, because once Li Weiguo was promoted, his subordinates would naturally rise and be promoted.

"What Wu Yong said is extremely true!" After Li Weiguo heard this, he was very useful and inspired, and immediately smiled: "Since this is the case, it is up to you to prepare this matter." ”

After the meeting, Li Weiguo left Chen Jingnan alone.

"Mr. Chen, why don't you say a word, do you have anything on your mind?"

Chen Jingnan suddenly knelt down and said: "Lord, your subordinates are guilty, please punish the Lord!" ”

So Chen Jingnan conveyed the conversation between him and Zhang Xiaoliu to Li Weiguo as it was, and Li Weiguo immediately smiled after hearing it: "If it's because of this matter, then you don't have to be so nervous, in fact, I didn't take it to heart at all!" ”

"Lord, but I—"

Chen Jingnan was about to explain, but was directly interrupted by Li Weiguo.

"If I were you, I would have that kind of thought, so I will neither punish you nor take revenge on you in the future, but I will reuse you, because you have a heart that is extremely cold at all times, and you are a true strategist."

Chen Jingnan was taken aback and asked rhetorically, "Does the Lord know what a real advisor is?" ”

Li Weiguo said with a smile: "Those who strategize are just seeking themselves, others, soldiers, the country, and the world!" ”

Chen Jingnan was silent for a while, and then asked with a sharp gaze: "Then does the Lord know what is the end of the real strategists since ancient times?" ”

Li Weiguo sighed, he didn't want to answer this question, but he had to answer, so he said: "A smart strategist will retire, I believe you are a smart person, if that day really comes, I believe that with your ability, you will definitely get out smoothly before that incident happens!" ”

Talking to smart people, you never need to talk too much, Li Weiguo believes that he has expressed it clearly, as for whether he can keep Chen Jingnan, Li Weiguo is not very sure in his heart.

Chen Jingnan looked at Li Weiguo in surprise, and after hearing these life-and-death words, not only was he not afraid, but he became very excited, and knelt down again and said: "The Lord is really the hero of the world, Chen Jingnan is not talented, I am willing to assist the Lord to seek the world, and die without regrets." ”

Li Weiguo hurriedly stepped forward to help Chen Jingnan up, and said happily: "With Mr. Chen's help, I can save decades of struggle!" (To be continued......)