I don't know if God wants to oppose Li Yongji, but on the night when Li Yongji was stationed in Tiger Hill, light rain began to fall in the sky, and it continued to rain for the next few days, until the Taiping army appeared, and there was no good day.

Frankly speaking, this kind of weather is relatively normal here, because this period coincides with the rainy season in Jiangnan, and normally it lasts for at least a month.

In fact, as early as the beginning of June, this kind of rainy day appeared, but at that time it was intermittent, showers were the majority, so it didn't feel so strict, and in mid-June, probably because of the rising temperature, this rainy day began to continue.

In addition to continuous rainy days, rainy days often have another characteristic, that is, high temperature and high humidity, in other words, as time goes by, the temperature rises, often becoming more and more stuffy, making people slimy, as if moldy.

There is no doubt that this kind of weather is definitely a nightmare for marching in the field, after all, in addition to the high temperature and humidity, due to the bad road conditions of the Qing Dynasty at this time, even the official roads are mostly dirt roads, and the ground is muddy after this rain, so it has been seven days, and the shadow of the Taiping Army has not appeared in the territory of Suzhou.

During this waiting period, the Jingwu army also had a very difficult time, although they all stayed in the barracks, equipped with a large number of tents and raincoats, and dug enough drainage ditches, but after all, they were not as comfortable as in the city. That kind of damp and moldy feeling even on a cloudy day makes everyone in the Jingwu Army very depressed, if it weren't for the excellent discipline and strict military law, maybe they would be able to do something.

In fact, when the Jingwu Army was alone in Tiger Hill and was depressed, the other Qing troops in Suzhou City were not comfortable at this time, and they did not have the discipline of the Jingwu Army, and when they felt depressed, they went out of the city gate to loot everywhere, and used looting methods to vent the depression in their hearts.

It was at this time that Suzhou discovered that compared to the Qing army defending the city, the Jingwu army was simply exemplary.

Thinking about it carefully, except for a burst of madness when the Jingwu Army first came, they have been stationed in Tiger Hill safely and steadily since then, and they have never left the barracks without permission during this period, nor have they harmed any ordinary people.

Although the other party asked for 30,000 people and 500,000 taels of silver, it is said that those people have a good life in Tiger Hill, and they have never been harassed by the elite army.

Although the money is not much, they really get paid.

As for the 500,000 taels of silver, in fact, the Suzhou government did not mean to give money at the beginning, and the Jingwu Army did not urge it, or three days later, the people in Suzhou City found that the local Qing army had begun to make trouble everywhere, and they were afraid that the Jingwu Army would change if it dragged on, so the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce took the initiative to gather the money and send it.

As a result, after the representative of the Suzhou merchant sent the silver, the Jingwu army actually gave a white note, and said that when the bandits were repulsed, they would just let them take the white note and ask the government for money.

Although I didn't expect to ask the government for money at all, I still gave a white note, which is quite good, at least it is a statement in black and white.

What's even more surprising is that after giving Bai Tiao, Li Yongji also personally came forward and gave the merchants 500 kilograms of fine pearls on behalf of them, not to mention that they could sell them for free, and the selling price was also very low, only 50% of the market price, which means that these merchants could make a lot of money as soon as they changed hands.

At the same time, Li Yongji also negotiated a package of deals with these merchants, buying chickens, ducks, fish, meat, vegetables, melons and fruits from Suzhou people, it is said that it is to improve the food of the Jingwu army, and the expenses are deducted from the money from the sale of pearls.

It was the first time they had seen such an army, and when they entered the Jingwu Army barracks, they saw the soldiers of the Jingwu Army meticulously insisting on standing guard in the rain, and personally learned their strict discipline, and they also saw that the soldiers here were equipped with foreign guns and cannons, so they naturally boasted after going back.

In this kind of back-and-forth interaction, as the Suzhou business community learned more and more about the Jingwu Army, the Suzhou people had more and more good feelings towards the Jingwu Army, and attributed the previous unhappiness to Zhang Yuliang and his soldiers.

Everyone thinks that Zhang Yuliang was too bad at the beginning, always thinking about robbing other people's good things, always thinking about arresting people and seizing power, and almost killed other people's lives in the camp run by Mr. Li! Whoever this kind of thing falls on will be angry, Li Yongji did not take advantage of the situation to attack the city and retaliate, it is already rational enough.

Also, although the Jingwu army seems to be fierce and vicious, but if you think about it carefully, the other party fired a cannon at most, blowing up some flowers, flowers, grass, soil, sand and gravel, but it did not really hurt the people of Suzhou City, on the contrary, Zhang Yuliang's troops did not have such good discipline.

I think that when Zhang Yuliang first led the army to Suzhou, due to lack of food and salary, he plundered everywhere, and harmed the people of Suzhou outside the city. However, at that time, the enemy was still in demand, and they were still needed to defend the city, and the governor spoke again, and everyone endured it, and felt that the soldiers were like this, not strange, but now there is a comparison of the elite army, and the advantages and disadvantages are judged.

In addition, when the Jingwu army pressed Suzhou before, Zhang Yuliang was a dignified commander, but he didn't dare to show his head, and only sent a general out to talk, and the reputation of the coward spread far and wide, not to mention the fact that the defenders of Fengmen were scattered in a hurry after Li Yongji's words.

All in all, as time went by, the people of Suzhou had a better and better perception of the Jingwu Army, and even the voices of letting them enter Suzhou City to station and replace the defenders of Suzhou appeared.

It's a pity that these are the voices of the people, the government has not spoken, and the Jingwu army has no intention of entering the city, so everyone has been waiting in the continuous rain.

Finally, on the ninth day, the sky finally cleared, and the Taiping army finally appeared!

It seems that because of the longer delay, this time the Taiping army appeared in a relatively large number, and it seemed that there was a lot of black pressure, not to mention 50,000 or 60,000 horses.

Originally, Li Yongji did plan to take the initiative to meet the attack, but because it had rained for so many days, the ground was full of mud, which was not conducive to mobile combat, making it difficult for the elite army to attack.

Of course, this is not a big problem at all, after all, the other party is also in the muddy field, relatively speaking, the Jingwu army is more dominant, but the most important thing is that Suzhou City doesn't know what is crazy, and actually began to set fire to the back of the Jingwu army at this time, burning the places around Nanhao Street, Shantang and even Tiger Hill outside the gate into a sea of fire.

Seeing the soaring sea of fire behind him, coupled with the people running around and the many Qing soldiers mixed in, in order to prevent accidents and prevent these chaotic people and rebels from giving himself a look behind his back, Li Yongji immediately changed his strategy, ordered to strictly guard the camp gate, and asked people to fight the fire in advance, set fire to open up a fire prevention area, and sent a regiment of troops to line up in front and fire warning shots, blocking the rebels and the rebel army outside the camp gate, preparing to figure out the situation and then move.

After doing so, it really got an effect, not only did the chaotic people and the rebel army no longer collide with the camp of the Jingwu Army, but also because the fire prevention zone was opened up in time, the follow-up fire no longer spread upward, and it could no longer affect the camp of the Jingwu Army.

Despite this, but such a scale of fire, even if it didn't burn, the radiation alone roasted the camp of the Jingwu Army very uncomfortably, and everyone was sweating profusely, which also made the Jingwu Army hold back their anger, and most of them thought that this was the Suzhou defenders deliberately looking for trouble with the Jingwu Army, and wanted to burn down the camp of the Jingwu Army and destroy their Jingwu Army.

In fact, the people of the Jingwu Army are too worried, the Suzhou defenders did this, not to be unfavorable to the Jingwu Army, they don't have the courage at all now, and they don't have that idea, they are really implementing the established strategy of the governor.

In view of the fact that there were too many residents in Suzhou City, Ma Dezhao built and burned down the houses on the side of the city wall, especially the houses at the east gate, in order to facilitate defense.

Xu Youren obeyed this construction and issued three orders, that is, "the first order is to wrap the people, the second is to relocate, and the third is to set fires".

What does it mean, it is to clear the city gate, especially the place where the Taiping army is directly faced in the area around the gate.

Specifically, it is to arrange the fire in this area in advance, and let the local residents pack the packages in advance, and if there is nothing to do, once the Taiping army is found, the local residents will be immediately relocated, and then the houses will be set on fire.

Frankly speaking, as far as tactical defense is concerned, this plan is not wrong at all, although it is a little cruel to the people near the city gate, and they want to burn their houses, but if you arrange it in advance, you can reduce the number of lives and reduce the loss.

After all, if you really fight, the siege battles are often extremely tragic, and the dwellings by the city gate must be the most severely damaged, and it will not be so easy to pack and prepare in advance if you run at that time.

However, although the plan was good, they ignored the people's willingness to evacuate, and even more ignored the discipline of the Qing army.

Even in later generations, the relocation of residents was difficult, especially in the Qing Dynasty.

At this time, when the people do not burn their eyebrows, they often do not take the initiative to abandon the property and evacuate; And the Qing army brought by Zhang Yuliang is not so good-tempered, and they will not persuade them to leave in a civilized manner at all, they will only work hard. Therefore, the originally orderly arson suddenly turned into arson and robbery by the Qing soldiers, and as a result, the people in the Changmen area suffered countless deaths and injuries, and they suffered unspeakably.

At this time, the area around Changmen was already in chaos, if it weren't for the monstrous fire being too strong, the Taiping army was tired from afar, and there was another plan, if they seized the opportunity to attack the city at this time, maybe they could really attack it with one blow.

In this way, the fire burned for three days and three nights, during this period, although the sky has been cloudy, but it has not rained, as a result, the fire is getting bigger and bigger, and finally the houses along the city from Changmen to Xumen are razed to the ground, during this period, the laughter of the Qing soldiers is endless, and the sound of the people's crying is even more shocking to the sky.

In the past three days, the Taiping army has been resting three miles outside the city, watching the fire burning in the area of Changmen, and there is no movement at all.

As for the Jingwu army stationed in Tiger Hill, although they were all full of righteous indignation, under the strict military orders, and the fire was too big, they could only grit their teeth and watch this quietly and quietly, and there was nothing they could do about it.

It is indeed powerless, because most of the dwellings in this period are wooden, if it is a large-scale arson prepared in advance, once a large-scale fire starts, then under this kind of fire, it is impossible to extinguish the fire with manpower, and can only wait for the flames to disperse by themselves.

And because most of the people did not evacuate in advance, the casualties during this period were countless, most of them were trampled to death in the chaos, and a few were really burned to death.

The three-day fire burned down the once prosperous Changmen business district.

Including Shangtang Street from Changmen to Fengqiao Hanshan Temple, Shantang Street from Changmen to Tiger Hill, Nanhao Street from Changmen to Xumen, and even Xizhong Market in the city, etc., all turned into ashes in a blink of an eye!

During the period, more than 10,000 houses inside and outside the city were burned to ashes, and nearly 100,000 Suzhou citizens were homeless. The Fu army ordered the burning of people's houses, and thousands of households outside the city became cold ashes. The athletes were recruited to turn their faces, and the abandoned armor was piled up like hills and mountains. ”

There is no doubt that it was this fire that completely burned the minds of Suzhou people to resist.

Originally, if there was no fire, with the city walls and soldiers and horses of Suzhou, they were fully capable of fighting in the city, but this fire was too powerful, and the consequences were too strict, and even the Qing army itself knew that it was a big disaster, so they took the initiative to stop arson and looting, and only fled to the west gate.

On the third day, when the fire was a little weaker, that night, knowing that his men were in trouble, and knowing that Suzhou would never be able to be held in this situation, Zhang Yuliang decisively led his army to escape from Fengmen.

Overnight, most of the main forces of the Suzhou defenders were gone, and most of the rest were some of the remnants of the defeated generals who had been defeated and retreated before and the local villagers, although the number was still more than 10,000, but the people's minds had changed, and there was no longer the strength to fight.

Because the soldiers and horses defending the city were all Zhang Yuliang's people, and they were arranged in advance, this retreat was very secretive, and the result was that when Xu Youren began to patrol the city the next day, he found that Zhang Yuliang had fled with his troops, which naturally made him shocked and angry.

However, before he finished scolding his mother, another piece of news made him collapse, that is, the Taiping army, which had not moved for many days, found that there was a advantage to take advantage of, and began to attack, and seeing that the Taiping army began to attack Suzhou, Guang Yong in the defenders knew that Suzhou was no longer defendable, and in order to survive, he decisively launched a rebellion, while opening the city gate to meet the Taiping army, he sent people to attack Xu Youren, and wanted to take Xu Youren's head to show merit.

In this way, Jiangsu Governor Xu Youren's family died in the street battle so aggrieved, and they no longer had to pay for their stupidity.

After learning that Suzhou City had been occupied by the rebels and Xu Youren had also been killed, Li Yongji just sighed lightly: "I'm really not afraid of god-like opponents, but I'm afraid of pig-like teammates." ”

"My lord, what shall we do?" Seeing that Li Yongji was still leisurely drinking tea there, the anxious Zhang Wei immediately persuaded, "Now that Suzhou City has fallen, Li Xiucheng's main force has begun to fully press on our side, whether to fight or go, we must make a decision!" ”

"Hmph, Li Xiucheng is smart and knows that there is still an organized army like us, so he didn't rush into the city, but wanted to attack us first." Li Yongji smiled contemptuously, "It's a pity that I chose the wrong target." ”

"Your Excellency." Zhang Wei hesitated, "We are indeed very strong, but we ourselves are not comfortable with that fire." Moreover, the camp gate is surrounded by a group of dependent refugees, which will hold us back, whether it is offensive or defensive, those refugees will cause us a disadvantage. Why don't we retreat first, and then choose the opportunity to fight? ”

"What are you afraid of!" Li Yongji put down the teacup and slowly stood up, "Order the whole army to dispatch, we will take the initiative to go out of the camp to meet the attack!"

It's good that there are enemies all around, and it saves me a lot of worry. As for the refugees...... Turn on the amplifier, let them back away, and die to those who stand in the way! ”

"Isn't this inappropriate?" Zhang Wei said again, "The situation is too chaotic now, those refugees may not be obedient, if they really want to shoot and disperse, the consequences are unpredictable, it is better to retreat first and then fight." ”

"You're wrong!" Li Yongji glanced at Zhang Wei, "Now we are full of depression and complaints, it is the time to yearn for a war, and now retreat, this spirit will be dispersed, and when the time comes, it will be a disaster."

Pass my orders, and the whole army will be dispatched! Target, Li Xiucheng's Chinese army battalion!

Anyone who dares to stand in the way during this period will be killed!

In short, God blocks and kills God, and ghosts block and kills ghosts! We don't need any strategy or planning, we just need to line up and crash into it so straight! ”