"Lin Chengting ran away?" When Lin Zhe, who was in Nanjing, got the news from the front line, he couldn't help laughing, this Lin Chengting ran fast enough, and he was decisive enough.

There are not a few people who run away in the attack of the Chinese army, and it is not unusual, Lin Zhe will not be surprised if he runs too much, anyway, this time he ran and the next time he caught or killed him directly, he will not always maintain good luck, and he will be able to run away every time.

But this Lin Chengting ran away from the Chinese army again and again, and it was said that it was no more than three times, but Lin Chengting successfully escaped from the Chinese army four or five times.

And what makes Lin Zhe depressed is that Shi Langyi and other military generals on the front line are not such stupid people, how could they let Lin Chengting put on a table, this first day I thought that people were going to defend Jiujiang, but Lin Chengting ran away that night, and used a large number of old troops to break through the city to attract the attention of the Chinese army, but he himself fled from the east along the shore of Panyang Lake with the main force of nearly 10,000 new troops.

Subsequently, although Shi Langyi sensed that something was wrong and sent people to pursue, only a few thousand Lin Chengting's broken troops were left, and Lin Chengting still fled back to Nanchang with the remaining more than 3,000 main forces.

This result made Shi Langyi and others on the front line depressed, and they were embarrassed to write the Jiujiang Victory Report, but Lin Zhe didn't care about it.

On the contrary, he is more interested in Lin Chengting, if it is possible, he really wants to recruit this Lin Chengting under his command, although this person is not very good at fighting, but he still has the ability to train the army, and he is very good at learning.

It's a pity that this person clearly has an ambitious heart. It's unlikely that he will be able to succumb, and even if he surrenders, he may still surrender. As soon as he had the opportunity, he probably raised the flag and rebelled.

immediately replied to Shi Langyi on the front line, first of all, he naturally praised the front-line troops for their heroic battle to take Jiujiang. After some condolences, he said that he hoped that the front-line troops would take Nanchang and other places in Jiangxi as soon as possible to lay the foundation for the follow-up westward expedition.

As for Lin Chengting, if you can catch it, you can kill it!

Anyway, Lin Zhe didn't expect Lin Chengting to surrender!

No matter what Lin Chengting did, but the Chinese army finally took Jiujiang, and the casualties of the troops when attacking Jiujiang were also controlled within an acceptable range, and the casualties reported by the troops at present were only more than 400 killed and nearly 1,000 wounded, which was nothing for an army of tens of thousands of people. It can be said that the front-line troops have made a good start for the Western Expedition.

After taking Jiujiang, the front-line troops took a short rest, and after two months of construction on the navy's side, they also cleared out the sand and gravel of the shipwreck blocked at the entrance of Panyang Lake, and after clearing the channel, the warships of the Chinese army could finally enter Panyang Lake.

The fact that the navy was able to enter the Panyang Lake area meant that the supplies of the Chinese army could be transported by river all the way to Nanchang and even further south.

Logistics and transportation have always been a major obstacle to restricting the large-scale operations of the Chinese army, and when the transportation of supplies is unimpeded, then the Chinese army's southward movement into the hinterland of Jiangxi will be smoother.

After a short rest, the Chinese troops in the Jiujiang area split into two routes. On the Fourth Army side, the Fourth Division and the Fifth Division continued south to Nanchang, while the troops of the Fifth Army, including the 13th Division, moved westward along both sides of the Yangtze River, aiming at Wuchang, Hubei.

Lin Chengting, who fled back to Nanchang, did not plan to defend Nanchang, but gathered the remnants of troops in Nanchang and other areas. Soon he continued the road of escape and threw Nanchang directly to the Chinese army.

On the way to escape, the generals under Lin Chengting asked him: Where are we going?

Lin Chengting thought about it. Then he said: "Let's go to Hunan to see the situation first!" ”

"To Hunan? That's Zeng Guofan's territory! One of his subordinates said suspiciously.

"If you don't go to Hunan, can you go there? It's hard to go south to Guangdong! Lin Chengting said: "Besides, I can't look at that place in Hunan, let's go to Hunan first." When the time comes, go south to Guangxi or simply go to Yunnan! ”

Hearing Lin Chengting say this, the others didn't talk much. Obviously, everyone knows the reality of the situation, today's Zhenhu army is like a lost dog, although there are nearly 10,000 people under his command, but just by virtue of this, people will definitely not be able to hold Nanchang, and don't expect to hold Ganzhou and other places in southern Jiangxi.

And if you escape, the north will definitely not work, the Shilangyi is in the north, and if you go east, it will be the poor place in Fujian, and it will be completely surrounded by the Chinese army at that time, and there is probably no other way than to jump into the sea.

Going south to Guangdong, although Guangdong is a piece of fat is very tempting, but there are also many Chinese troops in Guangdong, Lin Chengting is not confident that he can defeat tens of thousands of Chinese troops and then take Guangdong.

The only way left is to go to Hunan.

Although it is said that Hunan is Zeng Guofan's territory, and Lin Chengting and Zeng Guofan have reached a series of agreements saying that they will not attack each other, but who cares so much at the moment of life and death, and it is difficult to stay and wait for death if you don't go to Hunan.

As for whether Zeng Guofan will turn his face at that time, Lin Chengting doesn't care, anyway, now the Chinese army is not only going south to Nanchang, they are also marching in the direction of Wuchang, Hubei, when Zeng Guofan is too busy to take care of himself, there will be energy to care whether Lin Chengting has broken into Hunan.

Maybe Zeng Guofan will have to beg Lin Chengting to help defend at that time!

However, in Lin Chengting's heart, Hunan is not a place to stay for a long time, why? It's too close to the Chinese army.

Therefore, he only planned to pass through Hunan, and the ultimate goal was to go to Yunnan and Guangxi, and when the terrain in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi was extremely complicated, it would greatly weaken the firepower advantage of the Chinese army, and then he Lin Chengting would be able to recover and regain his foothold.

As for what to do when the Chinese army is heavily encircled and suppressed in the future, I'm sorry, Lin Chengting didn't think so far for the time being.

Now he cares about how to escape, and then find a new piece of territory to stabilize his position, and talk about it later!

Now Lin Chengting's mentality is that he can hold on for a while longer, maybe something will happen, such as a thunderbolt that opened God's eyes and chopped Lin Zhe to death, and then the Chinese army was torn apart. Or maybe something else happened.

Who can say what will happen in the future!

Lin Chengting fled Jiangxi and entered the southern region of Hunan. The Chinese army is not too concerned about this kind of thing, and for the Chinese army, controlling Jiangxi is the first priority. And Lin Chengting's words can be caught, and it doesn't matter if he can't catch it.

As for Zeng Guofan, after hearing that Lin Chengting led the remnants of the army to retreat into Hunan, he was not angry or anything, but invited Lin Chengting to lead the army north to Hubei and fight against the westward advance of the Chinese army with him.

Instead of one less than one less force, more and more troops fled Lin Chengting. By the time Zeng Guofan scolded Lin Chengting while preparing for the westward advance of the Chinese army, Lin Chengting's army had recovered to more than 20,000 people, and then directly entered Guangxi.

Of course, these are all follow-up things, let's not talk about Lin Chengting, but also Zeng Guofan.

Now he still has the energy to take care of Lin Chengting's miasma of his rear, and now the Chinese army with more than 20,000 or 30,000 people opposite him has become his confidant.

In addition to external enemies, the Hunan army and officials in Huguang and other places are also in chaos, why?

Because Xianfeng died, the only crown prince Jae-chun was captured. Most of the Manchu royal family was captured, and even the news of Prince Gong's voluntary surrender has spread throughout the entire Huguang Yungui land.

And when the Chinese army sent Prince Gong to write in his own hand, demanding that the Qing troops in Huguang, Yungui and other places surrender and accept the arrangements of the Chinese army, it caused an uproar!

Beiping has been broken. The emperor committed suicide, the crown prince was captured, the prince, and a large number of nobles. All this indicates that the Manchu dynasty has ceased to exist.

The court and the emperor they were loyal to were gone, and who were they fighting for?

And so. First of all, it is in many prefectures and counties on the north bank of the Yangtze River in Hubei, especially Huangzhou, Hanyang and other prefectures. There was a phenomenon of local officials voluntarily surrendering to the Chinese Empire on a large scale, expressing their willingness to submit to the Chinese Empire.

In other places, such as Wuchang Prefecture in southern Hubei, although this has not yet happened due to the strong control of Zeng Guofan, no one knows what will become if it continues.

What's more, not only local officials, but also the Hunan army has also been shaken!

Although the Hunan army was said to have fought against both the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Chinese Empire, although it was only a regimental training, it was still an army loyal to the Manchu court.

Now that the court to which they had been loyal no longer exists, what is the point of them continuing to fight?

What's more, anyone who knows a little bit about the general trend of the world knows that now the Chinese Empire has become the general trend of the world, controlling all the eastern provinces, occupying the vast majority of China's population and wealth, and it is only a matter of time before Kyushu is completely unified.

In such a situation, does it make sense for them to continue to resist?

Who will they be loyal to in the future? Fighting for what? More critically, what else is the point of their fight?

As a result, there were many different remarks from the usual in Huguang and even Yunnan-Guizhou provinces, and some people even openly discussed some policies of the Chinese Empire, in addition to clothing and clothing, more people talked about the people's livelihood and industry and commerce of the empire.

"You haven't been to Shanghai and don't know, tsk, it's only been a few years and Shanghai has changed a lot, it used to be just a small fishing village, but now you go to see it, you definitely can't recognize it, the high-rise buildings there are dozens of battles high, the steamers in the Huangpu River are emitting black smoke, I heard that there is gold everywhere!"

A man who has been to Shanghai, about 30 years old, with a short beard, said: "If it weren't for the distance, I would like to go to Shanghai to buy a business, I heard them say that the hottest thing now is the cotton cloth business, and the money invested in the factory will not take three years to return to the capital, and the profit will have to double in five years!" ”

"Brother Han, I'm afraid it's too much, is it really that profitable? Even if they make money, the government over there will not interfere, and they can watch the money be made by those merchants? A middle-aged man in brocade next to him looked curious.

Although the government does not interfere in your business and does not collect your dry shares, but people collect taxes, you know how much tax a raw silk factory pays every year? At least 100,000! The gentry surnamed Han continued: "And I heard others say that people's tax yamen is different, not only collecting money from the factory, but also opening a shop to sell goods, no matter what you do to make a living, you have to pay taxes!" ”

"If the tax rate is so harsh, how can you make money?" Others don't believe it.

"Why can't we make money, it's like we give shares to those adults, and we don't make money if we give them dry shares? So what kind of business do we have, how do we feed the family! The gentleman surnamed Han said

There is some truth to that! But don't talk about the raw silk, we're afraid we don't have the capital to do that, but how to do this cotton? I also do the cloth business, but if it is like buying a factory in three years, I am afraid it is impossible, and now the cloth business that people do is put away from the bottom and then sold, and I don't do much! Another interjected: "Could it be that their cotton cloth business also uses machines?" ”

The gentry surnamed Han said: "Yes, I have also seen it with my own eyes, their factory, big, when you enter this loom, you can't see the tail at a glance, and it is all driven by machines without manpower, and the yarn spun is thin and long, much stronger than the yarn in your handicraft workshop, and the price of these high-grade yarns is cheaper, much cheaper than the medium yarn on our side!" ”

"In this way, if we also build a machine spinning mill ourselves, I don't know if we will make a profit!" Others showed a hint of anticipation.

However, the businessman surnamed Han said: "It's difficult to do it yourself, those spinning factories are all hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to pick up, we don't have that capital, but if you directly import yarn from Shanghai, and then transport it back to weave it yourself, it is estimated that there is a head, I have calculated, the cloth made only with factory yarn is not only of high quality, but also much cheaper than homespun cloth, and it must be very profitable to make it when the time comes, how, are you interested in building a weaving factory with me?" ”

"I think it can!"

"You can give it a try!"

Just when these ordinary businessmen began to openly talk about many matters of the Chinese Empire, there was also an ongoing debate within the Hunan army! (To be continued.) )