Longtan Town, a small town with a population of less than 5,000, is the only way for the Taiping Army to march into Susongtai, with the Baohua Mountain Range in the south and the Yangtze River in the north.

The Shanghai army deployed 2,000 elites in Longtan Town, with Baohua Mountain Yumai Lianshan as the main position, building echelon fortifications to defend Longtan Town and block the Taiping Army's eastward expedition.

Just three days ago, Shi Dakai's vanguard general Li Xiucheng led 10,000 elite Taiping troops to Longtan Town and launched a fierce attack on the Shanghai army in Longtan Town.

Peng Xiangzhang, the defender of the Shanghai army, had already prepared and built a large number of fortifications on the periphery of Longtan Town, and the Shanghai army relied on the fortifications to block the attack of the Taiping army with advanced muskets, and at the same time, the Shanghai artillery on the main position of Lianshan provided artillery support, so that Li Xiucheng's troops failed to advance a single step in the fierce attack for three consecutive days.

"Kill!"

Thousands of horses galloped, and the Taiping army once again launched a fierce cavalry charge.

Peng Xiangzhang sneered, fearless, and quickly commanded the Shanghai soldiers to defend.

The soldiers of the Shanghai army loaded their ammunition in an orderly manner, raised their guns, and opened fire, and their movements were neat and uniform, and they did not drag mud and water.

Bang bang bang!

After a volley of shots, numerous projectiles were fired, knocking the enemy off their horses.

Immediately after the soldiers in the front row of the Shanghai army finished shooting, they quickly retreated, and the soldiers of the second platoon of the Shanghai army who were ready in the back quickly filled their positions, raised their guns, and opened fire.

The Shanghai soldiers took turns firing, so that the Taiping cavalry could not get close, and suffered heavy casualties.

At the same time, in the Lianshan direction, the artillery positions of the Shanghai army opened fire.

The cannons roared, the mountains shook, and one shell after another fell with a roar, and exploded violently, and in an instant the cavalry of the Taiping Army turned on their backs.

"Damn it, retreat!"

Seeing the loss of five or six hundred people, Li Xiucheng's heart was dripping blood, he knew that it was difficult for the cavalry to break through the strong defensive position of the Shanghai army, so he could only choose to retreat.

Just when Li Xiucheng was annoyed and angry, Shi Dakai led the main army of the Taiping Army to Longtan Town.

The Taiping Army's Eastern Crusade. Shi Dakai commanded 100,000 elite Taiping troops, including 50,000 infantry, including 5,000 musketeers, 80 artillery pieces of various types, 30,000 naval troops, 500 warships, 280 artillery pieces, 20,000 cavalry, and 80,000 civilians, who were responsible for transporting supplies. It is known as an army of 300,000 to the outside world.

"A small Longtan Town, you didn't take it down for three days? Li Xiucheng, do you know that three days is enough for Dantu's Shanghai army to complete its war preparations! ”

Dantu is the Zhenjiang Prefecture Governor's Office, and it will be two hundred miles after Longtan Town. Shi Dakai originally intended to let Li Xiucheng lead 10,000 cavalry to attack him by surprise, and took advantage of the fact that when the main force of Li Weiguo's army was in Zhejiang, he took down the Dantu with lightning speed, thus opening the door of Su Songtai. Threaten Li Weiguo's nest Shanghai.

I thought that Li Xiucheng was brave and resourceful and could easily complete this task, but it was not quite Li Xiucheng not only did not take down the Dantu, but was blocked in a small Longtan Town, and three days did not pass. It really made Shi Dakai angry.

"His Royal Highness the Wing King is angry, not because the general does not do his best, but because the resistance of the Shanghai army is too stubborn, and they rely on the strength of the fortifications. The sharpness of foreign guns and foreign cannons-"

"Enough! This king doesn't want to listen to your nonsense! ”

Shi Dakai interrupted Li Xiucheng's words, he was very unhappy now and didn't want to listen to Li Xiucheng's explanation.

I only heard Shi Dakai say: "Now this king has transferred 5,000 soldiers and horses from the foreign gun battalion to you." You are limited to take Longtan Town before noon, and this king wants to have lunch in Longtan Town! ”

Li Xiucheng was immediately overjoyed and said: "Thank you, Your Royal Highness the Winged King, please rest assured, there is a foreign gun camp here, you don't have to wait until noon, the last general will be able to take Longtan Town in one hour!" ”

Shi Dakai suddenly scolded with a smile: "Okay, hurry up and get out, this king is hungry, it's best if you can take Longtan Town quickly!" ”

"Whoa!" Li Xiucheng immediately received the order, took Shi Dakai's token, and left with great interest.

Seeing Li Xiucheng leaving, Chen Yucheng, Wei Jun and other generals next to Shi Dakai were indifferent, and they had no intention of asking for war at all.

It's no wonder that they have such an attitude, originally they all followed Shi Dakai to fight against the Hunan army on the Western Front, and they had already defeated Zeng Guofan's Hunan army, and they were about to capture Changsha, but at this time, they were transferred back to Tianjing by Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, and turned to the east, so that Wei Changhui was a general of the defeated army to take over the command of the Western Front and pick up a big bargain, in the eyes of the generals, this is clearly Wei Changhui is grabbing credit, so they are not very willing to go east.

Shi Dakai knew what they were thinking, but he didn't reveal it, and said with a smile: "This is the first time we have fought against the Shanghai army, I heard that the Shanghai army is the most elite and powerful unit in the Dog Imperial Court, don't you want to go and see it?" ”

Chen Yucheng pouted and said, "What's so good-looking?" It's just an appetizer, this time our Taiping Army's 100,000 elite crusade to the east, we must teach Li Weiguo's kid a good lesson, he has nearly tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and now this Longtan Town is only 2,000 people, and it is enough to see the scale of tens of thousands! ”

All the generals have this attitude, thinking that the 2,000 Shanghai army is not worth mentioning, and Li Xiu will be wiped out in minutes, and there is nothing to look at.

Only Shi Dakai shook his head and said: "Don't underestimate this Li Weiguo, he sat on the county order at the age of twelve, and now in the past few years, he has been on the rise, sitting on the governor of a province, and tens of thousands of Shanghai troops under his command, such a person is by no means easy, this time the Eastern Expedition, I am afraid that this Shanghai army is much more difficult to deal with than the Hunan army of Zeng Guofan, you must not be careless." ”

Wei Jun snorted coldly and said, "What can he do even if he Li Weiguo is powerful?" It's just a provincial governor and tens of thousands of people, how can it be compared with His Royal Highness the Winged King, you must know that His Royal Highness the Winged King is only in his early twenties now, and he is already His Royal Highness the Winged King of my Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, with more than 100,000 male soldiers in his hands, how can he be compared to Li Weiguo! ”

"That's it! Li Weiguo is awesome, and he is not as powerful as His Royal Highness the Wing King! ”

The generals suddenly became gossipy, they compared Shi Dakai and Li Weiguo, although it was a bit far-fetched, but Shi Da was very happy, they were also young and promising, Shi Da didn't want to compete with Li Weiguo in his happiness.

"Okay, don't be arrogant or discouraged when you win, you can't be too proud!" Shi Dakai paused and continued: "Let's go, let's go and see the combat effectiveness of the Shanghai army, so that we can know ourselves and the enemy!" ”

"Whoa!"

Everyone immediately received the order, and under the leadership of Shi Dakai, they walked out of the big tent and went to the front line to watch the battle.

The cannon roared, the gunfire burst out, and the entire Longtan Town was in a sea of fire, and the smoke of gunpowder was filled.

Li Xiucheng led a musket team of 5,000 Taiping Army to attack from the front. With the support of artillery fire, they soon rushed to the vicinity of the outer positions of the Shanghai army and engaged the Shanghai army at close range.

Both sides were muskets, and they were only twenty or thirty meters apart, and they were immediately plunged into a fierce gunfight.

Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!

Accompanied by bursts of dense gunfire, both the Shanghai army and the Taiping army, soldiers on both sides were shot and each other suffered casualties.

This was the moment to test the willpower of the armies of both sides, and the Taiping Army Firearms Battalion had been on the battlefield for a long time and fought countless fierce battles with the Qing army. It is the elite of a hundred battles and has extremely strong combat effectiveness.

Similarly, the Shanghai army has been using muskets since the beginning of its establishment, and its daily training has never been slackened, and it has become more scientific; after several years of rigorous training, although it has experienced a small number of actual battles, its combat effectiveness is also very strong.

These two equally formidable armies collided head-on. It was bound to be a bitter battle.

Peng Xiangzhang, the general of the Shanghai army, was extremely surprised, he had commanded many battles before, and no army had ever been able to approach so closely, and he was almost about to face the Shanghai army. He could almost see the pockmarks on the faces of the Taiping soldiers on the other side.

Such a close distance, never before. Of course, it is also because in the past, most of the armies faced by the Shanghai army were cold-weapon, even if they were strong. They could not stand in front of the musket array of the Shanghai army. But now the Shanghai army is no longer facing the cold weapons army, but the firearms battalion of the Taiping army, and the other side also uses muskets. In this way, hand-to-hand combat becomes inevitable.

"All bayonets! Get ready for fighting! ”

Peng Xiangzhang shouted, and immediately pulled out the command knife.

"Phew!" The soldiers of the Shanghai army on the position quickly installed bayonets, shouted loudly, and prepared for the fight.

At this time, the Taiping army had already rushed to the front of the Shanghai army's position, and also no longer loaded and fired, holding bayonets, roaring and rushing through the last few meters of distance, fighting with the Shanghai army in close combat.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

In an instant, the two armies collided, shouting and killing to the sky, and blood splattered three feet.

The bayonet skills of the Taiping army were very weak, and when Li Weiguo helped Su Sanniang transport the first batch of muskets, he asked the British army to help him train for a month, and then although the Taiping army had undergone actual combat improvement, it had always been against the Qing army, and there was little progress.

On the other hand, the bayonet technique of the Shanghai army, which combines science and two hundred years of battlefield experience, is the strongest bayonet technique in the world, and it is also a combination of operations, and the power is incomparable.

The bayonets on both sides were red, and in the blink of an eye, the Taiping army suffered heavy casualties.

Li Xiucheng was careless, thinking that the first wave of Taiping troops would be enough to sweep away the Shanghai army on the outer positions, but the follow-up troops did not follow, resulting in the failure of the first attack and the annihilation of the 1,000 Taiping army.

Wow yes!

Li Xiucheng shouted angrily, and immediately ordered the remaining 4,000 Taiping troops to charge.

On the high ground, Shi Dakai saw all this, and immediately frowned, he didn't expect that the combat effectiveness of the Shanghai army was so strong, if a thousand Taiping troops fought with the previous Qing army, they could easily defeat three times the enemy, even against the Hunan army of the Shangzeng State Domain, they could also use one enemy and two enemies, but against the Shanghai army, the casualty ratio was as high as three to one, and the thousand Taiping army was wiped out, and the Shanghai army suffered only more than three hundred casualties.

Such a strong army, the Shanghai army really lives up to its reputation!

Not only did Shi Dakai think so, but Chen Yucheng, Wei Jun and other Taiping generals who were standing beside Shi Dakai were also shocked, and they saw the strong combat effectiveness of the Shanghai Army for the first time.

At this moment, Shi Dakai found that Li Xiucheng was carried away by anger, and actually ordered the four thousand Taiping troops to rush forward, and immediately scolded: "Idiot, how can you open a 4,000 army in such a narrow battlefield, and rush up like this, isn't it going to be cannon fodder for the enemy's artillery fire?" ”

Chen Yucheng reacted immediately, and hurriedly ordered someone to stop Li Xiucheng.

It's just that it was a little late, and Peng Xiangzhang, the general of the Shanghai army, had already ordered someone to raise the flag and inform the Lianshan Fort to concentrate its firepower.

Knock knock!

As soon as the mountain cannon group rang out, the mountain shook suddenly.

One after another, the shells roared and fell, and exploded violently, which immediately caused the Taiping army to fly with flesh and blood, and suffered heavy casualties.

Li Xiucheng was stunned for a moment, and it took him a long time to react, and he hurriedly ordered a retreat, only to find out that there were more than 1,000 casualties in the next count.

Li Xiucheng suffered such a big loss, which shows that his psychological quality is far from enough, but he is also a fierce general of the Taiping Army who is both wise and brave on weekdays, and he quickly regained his composure, organized the remaining 3,000 Taiping Army, and launched continuous attacks in three waves.

Peng Xiangzhang only had 2,000 troops in his hands, 1,200 people to defend Lianshan, and 800 people to guard Longtan Town. More than 300 people had been killed and wounded in the previous firefight, and the outer defense line was no longer defensible, so they had to give up and retreat to Lianshan.

However, Peng Xiangzhang is a wise general, like Lin Yao, he was a subordinate of the old general Chen Huacheng, with rich combat experience, he ordered people to plant a large amount of explosives before evacuating the peripheral positions, and when Li Xiucheng led the army to capture the peripheral positions, the Lianshan artillery group suddenly fired a volley, detonating the explosives on the position.

"Boom! Boom! ”

In an instant, the entire position exploded one after another, and the flames were monstrous, and the Taiping army, which was rushing to the position and was rejoicing, was suddenly blown up to the ground with flesh and blood, and suffered heavy casualties.

Even Li Xiucheng was cut by the flying gravel and was seriously injured.

On the high ground, Shi Dakai's face was pale, since his debut, he had never suffered such a big loss, five thousand soldiers of the Taiping Army Firearms Battalion, which can be described as the elite of the Taiping Army, and now more than half of them were killed and injured in less than an hour.

This is a huge shame, being slapped in the face by Chi Guoguo!

"Who is the opposing general?"

Chen Yucheng and Wei Jun glanced at each other, and the former replied cautiously: "If the Shanghai army has not changed its guard, it should be Peng Xiangzhang!" ”

"I heard that this Peng Xiangzhang used to be a subordinate general of the Qing court, Chen Huacheng, and he has never been defeated against the British, although Xiucheng suffered a loss, it is rare to be able to repel Peng Xiangzhang!" Wei Jun said weakly, wanting to exonerate Li Xiucheng.

Shi Dakai snorted coldly and scolded: "Defeat is defeat, what excuse do you make?" ”

Then he said: "Peng Xiangzhang, it's a bit interesting, this king is worried that he has no opponent, so let's take this Peng Xiangzhang first!" ”

Li Xiucheng was seriously injured and fell into a coma, escaping Shi Dakai's anger.

Next, Shi Dakai personally commanded the Taiping army to fight and launched a fierce attack on the Lianshan and Shanghai troops.

Shi Dakai is worthy of a generation of famous generals, he commanded the Taiping army to skillfully avoid the Shanghai army's artillery attack, specifically find the blind spot of the Shanghai army's artillery fire, use the night as a cover, give full play to the Taiping army's night attack advantage, and raid the Shanghai army's mountain position.

Although the Shanghai army has sunglasses as a sharp weapon to prevent muzzle flames, and shooting at night will not stab the eyes, if the enemy in the dark does not shoot torches, the field of vision will be limited, and the musket will not be able to play the advantage of long-distance shooting, but the broadsword and spear of cold weapons can exert its power.

In the face of this situation, Peng Xiangzhang did not have a very good restraint method, so he could only let the soldiers of the Shanghai Army strengthen night fire reconnaissance, and once they found movement, they concentrated their firepower to shoot the guns, forcing the Taiping Army to show up, and then fought a bloody battle.

It's just that Peng Xiangzhang's troops are limited, and in the face of Shi Dakai's 100,000 elite Taiping army, he naturally can't resist it.

Fortunately, Peng Xiangzhang's strategic goal has been achieved, and he only needs to delay the Taiping Army for three days, and now Peng Xiangzhang has delayed the Taiping Army for seven days, overfulfilled the task, and then abandoned the Lianshan position and quickly evacuated to the Jiangdong camp in Xiaomaoshan.

Shi Dakai took advantage of the situation to occupy Lianshan and entered Longtan Town.

But at this moment, Shi Dakai received an urgent report from Tianjing.

"Report, His Royal Highness the Wing King, the main force of the Shanghai army captured Xiaolingwei, the troops surrounded Tianjing, and the Heavenly King urgently ordered His Royal Highness the Wing King to lead the army to reinforce!" (To be continued......)