At the end of 1858, the puppet king Shi Dakai opened the Northern Expedition, and the twisted armies in Henan, Shandong and other places responded one after another, and the Daqing army rushed to help.

In December, Su Hongniang, commander of the Western Route Army of the Pingyuan Army, led the sixth town of the Pingyuan Army into Hunan, joined the Harwich Division, and then marched to Changsha.

All kinds of Hunan braves gathered in Changsha, known as 100,000 elites, and Zeng Guofan, the governor of Huguang, personally sat in the town, vowing to live and die with Changsha.

The Taiping Army's two towns, patrols, and militia regiments of more than 20,000 troops were stationed in the south of Changsha, and a war was about to break out.

At this time, not only Yanjing, Guangzhou, Zhongzhou governors, and even the eyes of the world are focused on this small Changsha City, this upcoming collision of blood and fire, not only related to the future trend of the war in Huguang, but also can be said to be a microcosm of the war between the North and the South, representing the top military level of the North and South Dynasties of the two groups, the first hot weapons corps collision in the civil war on the land of China, is about to kick off.

Huanghuatun, ten miles south of Changsha, covers the sky with flags, covers the camp, and the sea of red tassels composed of dense soldiers is endless.

The Suzi banner stands in the array of ten thousand armies, fluttering in the wind.

At this time, in the tent of the Chinese military camp, Su Hongniang was discussing with Harwich, and the matchmaker was wearing a fiery red armor with fluttering silk, like a fairy in a painting, heroic and stunning.

There were several female soldiers on the side of the tent door, and one of them was Luo Amei.

"Fujin Niangniang, my subordinates admire." Listening to Su Hongniang's calculations, Harwich nodded again and again, he has always called Su Hongniang Fujin Niangniang, claiming to be a subordinate, extremely humble.

Su Hongniang was about to say more, when the curtain was lifted, a guard stumbled in, gasped, and stammered: "Sir, handsome, prince, prince......"

Su Hongniang frowned slightly, but at this time, she saw a few people entering the camp, and the first one smiled and said, "Matchmaker, Lao Ha, I'm here to help you." "The voice is clear, people are like dragons and phoenixes, but it is not Ye Zhao.

Su Hongniang was stunned, and hurriedly got up and said, "You, why did you arrive so quickly?" ”

Harwich had already knelt down to salute, and then the guards in the battalion knelt on the ground.

Ye Zhao faded away and handed it over to the guards beside him, revealing a splendid dragon robe, elegant and handsome, indescribable.

"I didn't expect it to be so fast." Ye Zhao walked over with a smile and said, "Let's all get up." ”

Ye Zhao sent a telegram a few days earlier to come to Changsha to supervise the battle, but it was faster than he imagined, in fact, it is no wonder that the train from Guangzhou to Shaozhou was opened early, and the railway from Shaozhou to Hengzhou started construction last year, and now the Shaozhou-Chenzhou line has been opened to traffic, so it is from Guangzhou to Changsha, in fact, it will not take a few days.

Speaking of railways, Ye Zhao sometimes pondered, the outline of the railway line is actually traceable, and the railway under construction from Guangdong to Hunan today is not the trunk line of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway in later generations? From the perspective of economy, politics, military and so on, several railway trunk lines, in the past and the future, actually have similar results.

The Pingyuan Army and the Hunan Army fought a decisive battle in Changsha, and the importance of this battle is undeniable, especially for the Pingyuan Army, if this battle is defeated, the three provinces and seven borders will be in danger.

This can almost be said to be the first real test that the Pingyuan Army has encountered since the war with the British and French forces, how could Ye Zhao not come to the front line to supervise the division?

Moreover, Zeng Wenzheng, to collide with Zeng Wenzheng and start an earth-shattering showdown with the most famous Hunan army group in history, Ye Zhao's thoughts fluctuated, and he really couldn't stay in Guangzhou, perhaps, the memory of his previous life is really not so easy to get rid of.

Harwich had already hurriedly called the guards: "Hurry up and give the order, the prince will march in person, quickly, and raise the prince's handsome banner again!" ”

The guards hurried away, and Ye Zhao smiled: "I'm just here to see the excitement, this battle, how should you fight." ”

Harwich said respectfully: "The prince is here, this battle will be won!" ”

Ye Zhao nodded at him with a smile, walked over and sat on the tiger skin chair behind the handsome case.

At this time, the banners of the king of Suzhi County and the general of Pingyuan Jingkou slowly took off, and the news of the prince's personal expedition was conveyed to all battalions, and the Pingyuan army camp immediately cheered and shouted like a tsunami, from near to far, one after another.

"Sister Luo!" In the big tent, Ye Zhao suddenly saw this female soldier, and looked at it carefully, and after a little thought, was it not the female soldier of the Fair Party who was rescued when he rode through Xiangfan?

"Yes!" Luo Amei bowed down and replied loudly. In fact, after following Niangniang to return to the Southern Dynasty, Luo Amei gradually figured out the problems that she couldn't figure out before, and now she understands better that the prince was not on a whim or to spy on intelligence with him, but in fact, he had the intention to save himself.

"The prince saves his life, and the slave will always be remembered in his heart!" Luo Amei has always wanted to say this to Ye Zhao.

Ye Zhao smiled, it felt very good to see the old man, in this troubled era, life is impermanent, how many people I am familiar with have become yellow sand bones after parting? I thought that this little female soldier could only fade away in her memory, and she didn't know what kind of tragic fate she had encountered, but she didn't want to, she was still alive, very vividly.

"Let's talk about the military." Ye Zhao turned to the matchmaker and Harwich.

Harwich saw that the matchmaker nodded lightly to him, so he smiled and said: "Yes, the slave will explain to the prince, the Hunan army is known as the elite 100,000, as far as the slave knows, in fact, it is about 60,000 or 70,000, plus the people, may barely be able to gather 100,000 people, Changsha City, food is afraid that it will not last for a long time, but Fujin Niangniang and the slaves feel that the enemy is outnumbered, and it is not advisable to besiege the city. This time, Zeng Guofan's family is going to be swept away, but thousands of cannons are roaring, I am afraid that if this battle is fought, the people of Changsha City and Changsha City will suffer greatly, but it is the way to lose the teachings of the prince, and it is to Fujin Niangniang and the slaves are trying to find a way, if there is really no good plan, but they can't take care of it. ”

Ye Zhao nodded slightly, picked up the teacup and tasted tea. In fact, the history books of later generations are very secretive about the injuries and casualties caused to civilians by the victorious side of the wars in previous dynasties, as if the victorious side will always be guilty of hanging the people, and the common people will support it very much, let alone accidentally injure and kill civilians and other incidents. In fact, how simple is the cruelty of war? Unarmed civilians, regardless of position, are always the most tragic group of people in the era of war.

…… Changsha City Governor Yamen.

The back Yahua Hall is elegant and chic, but the leaves of the thousand-year-old bamboo are slightly yellow, and they have lost their vigor in the past.

On the main seat, there is an official with a ruby top and a crane supplement, with sharp triangular eyes and a majestic face, which is Zeng Guofan, the governor of Huguang.

"He's really here!" Zeng Guofan sipped the tea, and his eyes gradually became gloomy.

Sitting on the side was Hunan Governor Lu Mingze, sitting upright, silent, he knew that what the master of the Taiwan was talking about was naturally Su Wang Jingxiang.

Jingxiang, who would have thought? It was just a yellow belt in the capital that was waiting to die, who knew that after a few years of hard work, it turned the world upside down, and the firearms soldiers handed over to him by Xianfeng Ye in the past became a huge and terrifying military group, the new deal in Guangzhou, just when the gang was waiting to see his jokes, but it was booming, I heard that most of the things that can be made in the West can be built in Guangzhou today, and even a giant ship with 100 guns can be built, which makes people feel panicked when they hear it, especially if they don't sit on the same boat with him, they are even more uneasy, I don't know what earth-shattering stuff he'll be able to come up with next time. As for the folk customs, now they have become a sideshow, and even the most conservative squires in Guangdong and Jiangxi seem to have gradually changed their surnames and begun to re-examine his influence on Guangzhou.

What is this person in his head?

Today, he personally raised troops to the city of Changsha, even if the people of Taiwan gathered 100,000 Xiangyong, how could he feel so powerless? Maybe those brave generals of the Hunan army are still gearing up, ready to capture Jingxiang alive and kill Jingxiang, but Lu Mingze always feels a chill in the back of his neck, as if there is a feeling that the end is coming, especially in the chaotic battle in Hunan last month, he once ordered to kill several prisoners of war of the Pingyuan Army.

"It's good to come." Zeng Guofan lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Report! My lord, the letter that the pseudo-king Jingxiang shot into the city was handed over to the governor himself! A colonel ran in, knelt down and handed over a letterhead.

The guards next to him took it and respectfully handed it over to Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan glanced at it a few times, and then smiled slightly: "It's really his style to demagogue people again." Stretching out his hand, he handed the letter to Lu Mingze.

Lu Mingze read it carefully, although he didn't know if it was a letter from King Su himself, but the tone was that of King Su himself, persuading Zeng Guofan to surrender to Cheng and avoid the suffering of the people of Changsha.

"He values the Taiwanese very much." Lu Mingze said with a smile.

Zeng Guofan said in a deep voice: "The Tao is not the same, he wrote this letter just for show." ”

Lu Mingze nodded slightly.

Zeng Guofan stood up, paced two steps, and said with a smile: "I often hear that Jingxiang and the Pingyuan Army are famous, and it is also a pleasure to hunt here today, but this Jingxiang, I want to meet him." ”

Lu Mingze was surprised, and his face was incredulous.

Zeng Guofan said: "Only by knowing yourself and knowing your opponent can you win all battles!" This Jingxiang seems to be out of order, but over the years, you can see how Guangzhou is, what about Pingyuanjun, this is called confident, I have heard a lot about him, there are praises, and there are even more depreciations, but I can't think of what he is. ”

Lu Mingze nodded, it turned out that the master of Taiwan also felt this way, to be honest, Jing Xiang is a person who never acts according to common sense, all these years, it seems to be in the fog, it is really difficult to see through his true face.

"I wrote a letter and invited him to come to Changsha City for a meeting. The letter said that if he comes, he will show his sincerity, and I will respect the emperor's elder brother Zailian as the emperor. Zeng Guofan smiled, and a few inscrutable glints flashed in his eyes.

Lu Mingze smiled: "The master of Taiwan is clever. ”

When Ye Zhao saw the letter, he had a feeling that the booby trapping skill of shaving his head was intended to be used on his head.

(To be continued)