On the afternoon of 21 January, the palanquins of all kinds of civil and military officials were filled outside the Tianchao Gate of the Heavenly Palace, and the square was full of swordsmen and swordsmen who accompanied various officials.

On the Golden Dragon Palace, it was full of princes, prime ministers and civil and military generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and everyone was beaming with joy.

Speaking of which, the strategic layout after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was established as the capital of Nanjing can be described as Qimeng.

It is said that after the Taiping army attacked the city of Nanjing, Xiang Rong led the Manchu army to follow behind, and immediately led his troops to establish a camp in the south of the Yangtze River in Xiaolingwei, Purple Mountain, and threatened the city of Nanjing from the east and southeast.

However, the Taiping Army just ignored it, first sending the Northern Expeditionary Army to go deep alone, and then the Western Expedition ended hastily, completely lacking strategic vision. Even far away can not defend Zhenjiang, near even the Purple Mountain outside Nanjing is in the hands of the Qing army.

After two or two years of operation, Xiang Rong has established a north from the south bank of the Yangtze River Shibu Bridge, along Qixia, Yaohuamen, Xianhemen, Huangmaqun, Xiaolingwei, Gaoqiaomen, Qiqiao Urn, Molingguan, Lishui and other places, south to the Dongba military defense line, eyeing the tiger, advancing to threaten Nanjing, deliberate, retreating to shield Suzhou, Changzhou.

The Qing army's Jiangnan battalion surrounded the city of Nanjing, the grain transportation in Nanjing was trapped, and the waterways were cut off by the Qing army, and the Taiping army in the city increasingly felt the severe pressure from the Qing army.

Fortunately, since the beginning of 1855, the battlefield of the Western Expedition turned defeat into victory, and the wing king Shi Dakai led his troops to recapture Wuhan and parts of Hubei and Jiangxi, and the Hunan army fell into a situation of being beaten passively.

In September 55, Yang Xiuqingxuan, the king of the east, mobilized Qin Rigang, the king of Yan, Chen Yucheng, the prime minister of Dongguanzheng, and Li Xiucheng, the deputy prime minister of the local government, from Anhui to return to Tianjing, and in December, he transferred Shi Dakai's army from the front line of the Western Expedition to the east, preparing to destroy the Qing army's Jiangbei and Jiangnan camps in one fell swoop and improve the situation in Nanjing.

Now that the Yiwang Shi Dakai and the Yan King Qin Rigang have all come to Tianjing City, hundreds of thousands of troops are gathered inside and outside the city, ready to break through the Jiangnan camp at any time and clear the Qing army's siege of Nanjing in one fell swoop.

The Manchu civil and military dignitaries on the Golden Dragon Hall were all rejoicing.

"It's hard to fight!" Hong Xiuquan looked at Shi Dakai and was excited, "Leading the troops to fight for thousands of miles, returning to southern Anhui from the battlefield of the Western Expedition, conquering Ningguo and Wuhu in one fell swoop, and approaching Moling Pass. ”

"Thanks to Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother." Shi Dakai bowed and hugged his fists, "Speaking of which, King Yan led his troops to rescue Zhenjiang, break the camp in the north of the Jiangbei, and kill the Qing demon Gil Hang'a, which is the most labor-intensive." ”

After Qin Rigang, Chen Yucheng, and Li Xiucheng led their troops back to Nanjing, they immediately marched eastward, repelled the Qing army besieging the city under Zhenjiang City, and then crossed the river to aid Guazhou, destroying the Jiangbei camp that the Qing army had operated for three years in one fell swoop. Later, he returned to Jiangnan, defeated the Qing army at Gaozi, and killed the governor of Jiangsu, Gilhang'a.

Qin Rigang hurriedly stood up from his seat, with a sincere look of fear, "It's all the guidance of the Heavenly Father, the command of the Heavenly King and the Eastern King is appropriate, and the officers and men of the whole army use their lives, especially the two old brothers Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng strongly support." ”

Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng also hurriedly stood up.

"Your merits will not be forgotten by the Kingdom of Heaven!"

Yang Xiuqing sat at the bottom of Hong Xiuquan, he squinted his eyes and waved his hand, letting Qin Rigang and them all sit down, "Old Demon Xiang Rong is also panicking now, he pushed the main force to Zhenjiang, and the nest of the Jiangnan camp is empty." In my opinion, it is a good time to break it in one fell swoop. ”

"The King of Heaven, the King of the East!"

Qin Rigang's face was embarrassed, "Our troops have been fighting in Zhenjiang since September, and the soldiers have not had a rest for four or five months. ”

Hong Xiuquan nodded, "This ......"

Before the Heavenly King's words were finished, Yang Xiuqing roared roughly, "No." Heavenly Father is above, who does not work! Wing King, they have fought thousands of miles, aren't they hard? ”

"King of Heaven, King of the East!" Chen Yucheng mustered up his courage and stood up, "Xiang Yingjiu camped strong, and he can't attack quickly." Besides, our guns and cannons are also consumed about the same. ”

"Those who do not obey the order will not be forgiven!" Yang Xiuqing said sharply, "Xiang Demon Head is already a frightened bird, don't you take the opportunity to defeat him, wait for him to catch his breath?" ”

The East King insisted on going his own way, and the Heavenly King couldn't help, Qin Rigang, Chen Yucheng and others had no choice but to puff up their chests, "The subordinates must fight bravely to kill the enemy!" ”

"Guns, cannons, I still have some." Shi Dakai asked with concern, "If the Yan King troops need it, we can provide a little." ”

Shi Dakai felt the powerful power of firearms, and he also knew that the consumption of ammunition was very high. If there were no guns and cannons, firearms would be a pile of scrap metal.

Yang Xiuqing waved his hand, "I have guns and guns here, and I can send them tonight." ”

In order to fight this battle, Yang Xiuqing obtained a lot of weapons and ammunition from Shanghai Huafu Foreign Company through underground channels.

Huafu also said that if the Taiping army occupied Shanghai or Ningbo, the two outlets to the sea, it would no longer be difficult to supply arms.

Qin Rigang, Chen Yucheng, Li Xiucheng and others are determined, with enough guns and cannons, this battle should not be difficult to fight!

Watching Yang Xiuqing settle this problem one by one, Hong Xiuquan had no choice but to nod his head to express encouragement, "Since ancient times, soldiers have been used, and the brave win when they meet on a narrow road." With the blessing of our Heavenly Father, we will be thieves. ”

He turned around, "Clear! After the capture of the camp in the south of the Yangtze River, should we consider the matter of moving the capital, according to the people of the Tao, Kaifeng is the king's spirit. ”

Hong Xiuquan originally did not plan to be in Nanjing, the capital of Henan, but intended to be Kaifeng, Henan. It's just that Yang Xiuqing, the king of the east, insisted on going his own way, and tried his best to override public opinion, please go down to the Heavenly Father, make a final decision, and set the capital in Nanjing.

Every time he heard the sound of artillery outside the city, Hong Xiuquan was heartbroken, and it was a big mistake to set Nanjing as the capital. He thought that if he broke through the camp in the south of the Yangtze River, the Taiping army could coerce the victorious army and go north into Henan, and set the capital Kaifeng.

Yang Xiuqing is very unhappy, why did Hong Tianwang come to this set again!

He sat in his seat without saying a word, and soon his eyes were straight, and his mouth was foaming at the mouth, as if he had goats, and he kept twitching, and made a "ho, ho" sound.

Above the Golden Palace, there was a commotion, "Heavenly Father has descended to earth, Heavenly Father has descended to earth......"

Hong Xiuquan was stunned for a moment, hurriedly got up, and stood respectfully with his hands down.

After a while, Yang Xiuqing, who was convulsive, quieted down, slowly walked onto the instrument, and sat on the throne of King Hong.

The Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, the Northern King Wei Changhui, the Wing King Shi Dakai, and the Yan King Qin Rigang, together with the civil and military officials present, all knelt on the ground and shouted three long live in their mouths.

Yang Xiuqing, who was possessed by Heavenly Father, glared at Hong Tianwang, "Xiuquan, you are at fault, do you know?" ”

Hong Xiuquan fell to the ground, "The kid knows his mistake, ask the Heavenly Father for mercy and forgiveness!" ”

Yang Xiuqing said loudly: "I went down to earth today, not for anything else. Just because Xiuquan wants to move the capital to Henan. ”

Facing Yang Xiuqing, who was possessed by his Heavenly Father, Hong Xiuquan behaved honestly and fearfully, and did not dare to squeak at all.

Yang Xiuqing's voice was hoarse, "Xiuquan, if you want to move the capital to Henan, you want to become a demon!" Do you know if you're wrong? ”

"The kid knows his mistake and doesn't dare anymore! Laboring the Father is burdened. Hong Xiuquan hurriedly admitted his mistake. He knew that it was not child's play to alarm the Heavenly Father.

"Since you know your mistakes, I'll spare you this time." Yang Xiuqing looked at Hong Xiuquan's review and attitude of admitting mistakes, and felt so comfortable in her heart, look at it, see if you dare to be dishonest next time, talk nonsense and be disobedient!

Hong Xiuquan repeatedly made assurances.

"That's good." Heavenly Father smiled and said, "You and the king of the east, the king of the north, and the king of the wings are all my sons. Since you are the king of heaven, in order to magnify my holy religion, the military and political trivial matters must be handed over to the brothers of the king of the east. ”

Okay! As soon as the Heavenly Father was born, the Heavenly King was left with the power of the Church, and the power of civil and military affairs fell to Yang Xiuqing.

Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai exchanged glances with each other, this is fine, the crazy Hong Sect Leader is okay to preach, as soon as he meddles in military and political affairs, it will be a disaster.

After the military meeting, Shi Dakai's 30,000 troops divided into three routes and approached the camp in the south of the Yangtze River; Qin Rigang, the king of Yan, also led his troops to press from Yanziji and Guanyin Gate to the Purple Mountain; Wei Changhui, the king of the north, led the elite soldiers of the Tianjing Taiping Army and went out of the city from the Shence Gate and the Taiping Gate, echoing the Qin Rigang army.

Because when the Taiping Army came to the aid of Zhenjiang in the east and attacked the camp in Jiangbei, Xiang Rong had already drawn troops from the camp in Jiangnan to help. When Shi Dakai returned to Beijing via southern Anhui, Xiang Rong dispatched thousands of Qing troops to prevent and blockade.

At this time, the Qing army in the Jiangnan camp was forced to be distributed in a wide area such as Xiaolingwei, Zhenjiang, Guangde, Lishui, and Ningguo, and the troops were very weak everywhere.

Xiang Rong had long known that the Taiping army had gathered heavy troops and was ready to break the siege of Jiangning in one fell swoop. But the elite on hand has been transferred, and the Jiangnan battalion is empty, with less than 5,000 troops in stock.

Xiang Rong had no choice but to shrink his forces from the outlying strongholds and increase the base camp.

At the same time, 100,000 urgently issued an order to dispatch the Lin Shenhe Department stationed in Anji, Lin'an, and Changhua in western Zhejiang, and galloped to the aid of the Jiangnan camp in the starry night.

On the evening of 23 January, Tanma sent an urgent report of 800 miles, and Lin Shenhe led 5,000 men to Yixing immediately.

"Good! Lin Shenhe is a soldier of a hundred battles, as long as there are five or six thousand, the Jiangnan battalion will be safe and sound. Xiang Rong's thin cheeks finally showed a smile.

Xiang Rong is only sixty years old, and the years of Rong Ma have made him age like an old man of seventy or eighty years old, and his energy has long been gone. In the first two years of the war, Xiang Rong could still go to the front line to command Ruoding, but now he is invaded by old and sick, his steps are difficult, and his horse can no longer be ridden.

Looking at Xiang Rong's old face and tired look, Zhang Guoliang was respectful, "Dashuai is relieved now, you can sleep peacefully tonight." ”

"It's going to take two or three days!" Xiang Rong shook his head, "If Lin Shenhe doesn't come for a day, he won't be able to let go of this heart for a day." ”

"Rest assured! The subordinate firearms battalion of 3,000 sons must be waiting for the day, and they will be slacking off all night. ”

In the face of the powerful offensive of the Taiping army, the people in the camp were panicked and the morale of the army fluctuated. Zhang Guoliang led his personal army to repeatedly suppress it, and only then did he barely maintain order.

Xiang Rong said with relief, "There is a palace minister in the camp, and the commander must sit back and relax!" ”

Zhang Guoliang is Xiang Rong's right-hand man, and the palace minister is Zhang Guoliang's character.

Zhang Guoliang was born in the Heaven and Earth Society, and after surrendering to the Manchu Dynasty, he still used the rules of the rivers and lakes to govern his old department of the Heaven and Earth Society, sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, although the orders were strict, but he won the hearts of the army; In addition, when he was a pirate in Guangdong, he had seen the world, had practical combat experience, and his troops were well-trained and good at using firearms, so Xiang Rong attached great importance to this unit.