Henan has fallen into war, and now Jiangnan is already under fire.

Not long after Shi Dakai sent someone to Lai Wenguang to send away foreign guns and cannons, a brigade commander rushed into Shi Dakai's room and said urgently: "Yiwang, information ahead!" ”

Shi Dakai was stunned for a moment and asked, "Where did you get the information?" ”

The brigade commander replied: "In the direction of Huai'an, our cavalry detectives have found news that the three towns of Shandong and the Lian army have retreated to the rear for two or three hundred miles again, and the position has reached the vicinity of Suqian, and then retreat to the north, but they will retreat to Shandong, I don't know what tricks this Zuo Guigui is playing......"

Shi Dakai's face showed a solemn look, Shandong has withdrawn? All the way from Yangzhou to the vicinity of Suqian, the retreat has exceeded 600 miles, what is this for? Is he going to attack Henan?

Shi Dakai thought of this, and was shocked, if he really got Guo Ye's order to attack Henan, then Henan and northern Anhui would be in trouble, Zhang Zongyu and Lai Wenguang would definitely not be able to withstand Guo Ye's attack from Baoding Town and Shandong Three Towns!

"Yiwang, it seems that the three towns of Shandong are going to attack Henan, from Suqian into Henan, but more than 300 miles away, with the elite of the three towns of Shandong, I am afraid that within a few days, you can pass through the northeast of Anhui and enter Henan, and form a situation of left and right attack with Baoding Town! Lai Wenguang's place is very dangerous now......"

Shi Dakai nodded and asked, "Suimou, in your opinion, what should we do?" ”

Zhang Suimou pondered for a moment and replied: "Yiwang, in my opinion, we should send the northern Anhui battalion to quickly go north to assist Lai Wenguang in withstanding the attack of Guo Ye's troops, Henan is the gateway to the Central Plains and Gyeonggi, we can't just lose it!" ”

Shi Dakai shook his head and replied: "From the south of Henan to the north of Henan, how many miles apart? The northern Anhui battalion went all out to the north, but I am afraid that it is too late now, and if it encounters the attack of the Qing Demon halfway, it will be even more troublesome, and Lai Wenguang's defeat is already doomed......"

"What then?"

Zhang Suimou asked urgently.

Shi Dakai said in a deep voice: "There is no way, if Lai Wenguang and Zhang Zongyu are smart, they should quickly go south, give up northern Henan and central Henan, gather all the troops, and make every effort to defend southern Henan, with the support of the northern camp in Anhui, there is a glimmer of life, and now Lai Wenguang and Zhang Zongyu are still north of Kaifeng, just giving up Anyang, his subordinates can only wait to be broken by Baoding Town one by one, and now Zuo Guigui is going north, and it is a direct threat to their flanks and rear, and there is no chance of victory!" ”

Chen Decai, the commander of the Nanda camp, hesitated for a moment and asked, "Wing King, can we just give up on Zunwang?" ”

Shi Dakai took a deep breath and replied: "The eldest husband has to make a choice, they blocked Guo Ye for us, this is the greatest dedication made for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, now it is time for us to do it, order the Eastern Battalion to continue to advance to the east to threaten the Qing Demon Zhenjiang, attract the main force of the Hunan army, and order the Southern Battalion to advance towards Hangzhou to attract the main force of the Chu army, this battle, we fight with the Huai army, this Li Hongzhang, the strength has grown too fast recently, if you don't deal with him now, it will be even more difficult to deal with in the future." ”

The senior generals in the room were shocked, the Wing King actually gave up Henan and wanted to fight Zeng Guofan and others in Jiangnan!

Shi Dakai smiled faintly and said: "The opportunity cannot be lost, and it will not come again, when the three towns of Shandong and the training army are withdrawn again, we will no longer have such a chance, facing Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang alone, we have a great chance of winning, we must take advantage of this opportunity to win Suzhou and Shanghai!" ”

Shi Da Xingxing is very clear, Suzhou and Shanghai, now China's top two wealthy cities, the crown covers the whole country, if the two cities are taken, then the Taiping army does not have to worry about money and food, and if the Huai army is defeated, then the Hunan army and the Chu army will be divided into two by the Taiping army, become a lone army, when the time comes, the Chinese army to the south can eat the lonely Zuo Zongtang department, to the north can meet with the East Battalion, kill the Zeng State Domain, it is completely offensive and retreating, after stabilizing the rear, That's the time to fight Guo Ye to the death!

Attack Li Hongzhang?

Zhang Suimou on the side hesitated for a moment, and said: "Yiwang, I think, we should eat the Zeng Guofan on the north side first, first, although the Hunan army looks mighty now, in fact, it no longer has the ability to dominate the wind and clouds, most of the famous ministers and generals have withered, second, we have taken the central and northern parts of Jiangsu, we can support Anhui at any time, once Guo Ye's troops eat Henan and attack Anhui, it is difficult to resist just by relying on the Beidaying......

Shi Dakai shook his head and replied: "Suimou, you only know one thing, you don't know the other, we will annihilate the Hunan army of Zeng Guofan, there will be no problem, but we will leave a big trouble in the south, the Hunan army is in the west at dusk, and the Huai army is rising in the east, in contrast, the Huai army is a much greater threat to us, if we concentrate our forces in the north, once Guo Ye really enters Anhui, at that time, we will face Guo Ye and Li Hongzhang's two-sided attack, Li Hongzhang can stab us in the back at any time!" At that time, the Taiping army will be in chaos without a fight, and not only will we not be able to defend Anhui, but we will also be unable to defend Jiangsu and Zhejiang......"

Shi Dakai paused and continued: "Only when Li Hongzhang is solved, and our rear has no real strength that can threaten us, can we concentrate all our strength to deal with Guo Ye's attack, even if he is helped by Zeng Guofan at that time, we have no worries, and we will definitely not be afraid of Guo Ye!" ”

After all, Shi Dakai's vision is superior, he is even entrenched in Suzhou and Shanghai, Li Hongzhang's threat to the Taiping Army, although the strength of this Huai army is only forty or fifty thousand people, however, among them, there are many generals, and they are also equipped with a large number of Western weapons, and the combat power is so strong that it has surpassed any battalion outside the Chinese army camp of the Taiping Army, even if it is the Chinese army battalion, there is no absolute strength to defeat the Huai army!

Li Hongzhang, the leader of the Huai Army, is a heroic figure, with a broad vision, close contacts with the West, and outstanding ability, although he does not have Zeng Guofan's tenacity, but his ability to meet the source is far more than Zeng Guofan, such a person, it is rare to find his shortcomings.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Shi Dakai said lightly: "Okay, let's prepare like this, the Eastern Battalion will move forward to attack Zhenjiang and attract the main force of the Hunan army; The southern battalion went north to attack Hangzhou to attract the main force of the Chu army, this time, I personally led the army to fight, and the Chinese army battalion went straight to Suzhou, Li Hongzhang, let me see your ability! ”

(To be continued.) )