On July 20, the drizzle continued. The deputy marshal of Nersu, the commander of the Yellow Banner, was killed in battle.

Basai went to the front line to supervise the battle, and encountered the left and right battalions of the Eagle Yang Army working together to attack the defense line of the Jingzhou garrison flag battalion in Xi'an. Originally, he was able to retreat calmly, but what was fatal was that he had just disposed of a few bannermen who pretended to be injured and shrank in the rear. The hanging heads were still dripping with blood, and before the shouts of "whoever dares to retreat again, this is the end" had not dissipated, and the British and Chinese troops broke into the position.

In the official histories of the Qing court's future "History of the Qing Dynasty" and "The Biography of Changsha Heroes", it is said that Ba Sai will not retreat from the battle, wielding a sword and fighting bravely, nine in and ten out. For example, Zhang Yide, a Yanren, killed the thief army, but unexpectedly fell into the thief army's secret arrow and died in battle. And the corpse did not fall, the thief army worshipped, and then the corpse was burned out of thirty catties of arrowheads.

The gossip circulating in Beijing is that Basai wanted to retreat, but was stopped by the bannermen in Jingzhou, Xi'an. After a long time of trouble, the British and Chinese troops had attacked within 100 paces, and their figures were clearly visible. Basai's family and Goshha were so anxious that they slashed with a knife, which provoked the group of bannermen, and Basai actually died at the hands of a leader, and then the leader voted for the Anglo-Chinese army.

But the record on Yinghua's side is only a faint stroke, the four posts of the left battalion of the Eagle Yang Army broke into the enemy formation, annihilated a group of about 100 Qing soldiers, and then found a gorgeously dressed Qing general with dazzling eyes on his official hat in the pile of corpses, and later recognized it as Basai.

On the contrary, the death of Basai relieved the three generals of Nersu, Bahundai and Norbu, and even Kangxi himself was faintly relieved in addition to his sadness. The strict orders such as sitting and pulling out the team to cut down have pressed the general's heart to the brink of collapse, and there are hidden words of rebellion. Now it's okay, a deputy marshal, the Yellow Banner is all in charge, or the clan, all of them have sacrificed their lives for the country, what else do you and other generals and soldiers have to say?

Of course, the senior generals have learned a lesson, and they will never go to the front line again, so they will directly press the commanders of the battalions, and then they will press down layer by layer.

The shouting of killing is getting closer and closer, outside the Iron Furnace Temple, under the Ming Huang canopy, Kangxi looked to the south, although it was just a rain and fog, but he seemed to see tens of millions of people fighting to the death in the narrow trenches, blood and rain mixed together, swords cut armor, cut flesh and skin, and sent creatures into the underworld.

...... the underworld The day when I go to that place by myself should not be far away.

Such emotion made Kangxi shudder, feeling that the sound of the fight was extraordinarily infiltrating, and he was about to throw off his sleeves to return to the account, but Marseille asked to see him.

Marseille said with a disgraced face: "The Manchu and Han Banner people in Jingzhou, Xi'an have suffered all the casualties, and the cavalry infantry of the forbidden brigade has also been engaged, but they still can't stop the thief army." The thieves are all in armor, skilled in battle, and extremely brave! At the same time, the trench is fully equipped, and the trench is like walking on the ground. Even if our forbidden brigade flag battalion and Shaanxi-Gansu green battalion gather brave people, they can barely hold on to the same number of thieves......"

He was rambling a lot, and Kangxi was annoyed that he must be going to say something, and at the same time, he was secretly frightened.

"The thief army almost broke the big tent of Nersu first, the emperor, there is only seven or eight miles away from here, once the battle situation changes, the emperor can't retreat!"

Marseille knelt down in the rain, his head pounding against the mud.

"Ask the emperor to move! The emperor's dragon body is the body of the country, how can you hold on to the thief here!? ”

Sure enough, Marseille shouted. Looking at this grandson of Tuhai, the former Qingtian general, Kangxi shook his head, this Marseille, I'm afraid he is thinking about his own safety in his head.

was about to reprimand this timid guy, when a large number of courtiers rushed to beg Kangxi to move. The thief army has broken the Nersu defense line, and is attacking along the east bank of the Xiangjiang River, only ten miles away from the Iron Furnace Temple, if it is a sunny day, you can see the banner of the thief army.

Looking south from the low Beacon Hill where the Iron Furnace Temple is located, there is a wide saline-alkali land at the bottom of the mountain, and the flag is swaggering in the east, which is the Norbu camp. The only troops under Norbu could fight were the cavalry battalion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the forward battalion of the forbidden brigade, as well as some remnants of the green battalion, with a strength of just over 20,000. Fortunately, the north bank of the Laodao River in the northeast is a high slope, and the thief army is only a diversionary feint there.

On the front is the Bahundai battalion, and in his hands he also holds the Xi'an Jingzhou garrison flag battalion and the forbidden brigade Xiaocai battalion, as well as some of the Zhili green battalions that can fight. This is the main direction of attack of the thief army, and there were originally 40,000 people in Bahuundai, but now there are less than 20,000.

The east facing the river position is the Nersu battalion, leading the infantry of the forbidden brigade Xiao cavalry battalion and the Shaanxi-Ganlu battalion in front, only 15,600 people, so it has become the focus of today's thief army breakthrough, and Yang Duzheng, the deputy commander of the blue flag, is bringing Guyuan to raise the standard of 4,000 to help. The soldiers gathered in a long dragon, rushing towards the thief army from the side of the mountain, mixed with various clothes and colors, looking like a huge reptile from the rain and fog. , Looking further west, the Xiangjiang River is vaguely visible, a large number of boat shadows block the river, and there is a green camp in Xiangyang Town, Hubei Province on the boat to prevent the thieves from attacking from the waterway.

The hazy rain and fog obscured the scene in the distance, and Kangxi was extremely irritable. He never expected that the thief army would be so brave in hand-to-hand combat in the rain. I thought that relying on the trenches and seventy or eighty thousand infantry, it would be enough to resist the thief army for several days, but at that time, there was a steady stream of reinforcements, and it was difficult for the thief army to hold on. But this is only the third day, and the thief army is almost breaking through the defense line.

This damn rain......

Kangxi cursed secretly, just because of this rain, his more than 100 general cannons, 10,000 horse teams in Shaanxi and Gansu, 10,000 horse teams in the Xiao Cavalry Battalion of the Forbidden Brigade, and the Shaanxi-Gansu Dubiao Firearms Battalion, the Beijing-Banner and Waiwai Firearms Battalion and the New Han Army Firearms Battalion, the three firearms battalions with a total strength of 20,000 also had no way to fight.

In three days, his 140,000 army was only 100,000 left, although most of the losses were green battalions, and he was not distressed, but if he continued to fight, he would really fight for his old book. And if the rain doesn't stop, his horse team and firearms battalion will just look like goods, unless these 40,000 reserves are allowed to dismount and lose their guns, and also go to hand-to-hand combat.

At this time, Kangxi was extremely eager for the rain to stop, although the thief army could use guns again, but his own 40,000 people could also attack, especially the horse team, he deliberately placed Luan in the Iron Furnace Temple, just because there was a large wasteland to the south, which was convenient for the horse team to maneuver. Now, the Horse Squad and the Firearms Battalion can only sit and watch from both sides of Beacon Hill.

By the way, Changsha City......

Kangxi had no choice but to hit the abacus on the defenders of Changsha.

"Order Oro Dai to lead the army back to help, directly hit the back of the thief army, Changsha City, don't want it!"

As this edict spread from the countryside to Changsha, Oro Dai and Ye Jiusi let out a long breath and almost collapsed to the ground. The defenders of Changsha had already spread a thick layer of corpses in front of Tianxin Pavilion, and there were no less than two or three thousand dead in the battle, but they failed to attack a single step.

The city gate was moved away, and 30,000 Changsha defenders went out of the north gate, planning to attack the back of the Yingyang army due north, but they were pushed head-on by the Qingpu battalion, which retreated to the rear to rest, and a bayonet jungle was pushed head-on. The Hunan Green Battalion, which went out of the city, was already discouraged, and it was too late to form a team, so it was killed in a big mess. Seeing that the situation was not good, Oro Dai and Ye Jiusi turned back to the city, boarded the ship with their henchmen and guards and more than 1,000 flag soldiers and returned north, leaving the Hunan Green Camp behind.

"Oro Dai, go to the post of Minister of the Guard and General, and serve in the Bahundai battalion!"

"Ye Jiusi, slash!"

Kangxi was so angry when he saw these two bastards who only brought back more than 1,000 soldiers, he fought a bloody battle with the thief army here, losing more than 30,000 people in three days. These two guys lost 30,000 people, and it only took half a day!

Ye Jiusi's head was hung high, like a sacrifice, carrying Kangxi's pious prayers. God, don't it rain, okay!?

It backfired, the rain was heavier, but the result also fulfilled Kangxi's wish, such a heavy rain, there was really no way to fight again.

"Two thousand more people were killed and wounded today, and many of the posts were half empty......"

Fan Jin covered his face and sighed, he worked in the heart of the army, and the officers and soldiers were like students. I said to Li Xian before that I don't care about the dead and wounded, but when I looked at the empty tent during the inspection, he was the most heartbroken.

"From April to now, we have suffered 7,000 casualties in Changsha, and this is really a bloody place."

Li Xian's mood was also very heavy, the rain continued to rage, and the battle situation fell into a stalemate, which was the last thing he wanted to see. Now the troops on hand, after being replenished by the teaching battalion, are only in their early 30,000s, and Kangxi should only have 100,000 in his hands, and everyone seems to be bleeding in equal proportions.

However, the changes in the Changsha battlefield are still close to victory after all. Kangxi had already given up Changsha, and the 30,000 or 40,000 Qing soldiers in Changsha were basically wiped out. In addition to the horse team and the firearms battalion, the Qing army on the defensive line in front of them has also been bold, and it is no longer vulnerable to a battle.

In another four or five days, tens of thousands of Qing soldiers will arrive, and the Yulin army will also be killed, and the battle situation at that time will be more like a meat grinder, if it is still raining, it will be really troublesome.

Li Xi came to the big tent, listened to the sound of pouring rain, and said in his heart, God, don't rain it, okay.

Almost at the same time, in the northwest of Changsha, on the shore of Dongting Lake, Jia Hao and other generals of the Yulin Army stood on the gate tower of Yiyang County, and the rain was swaying and brushing the ponchos, all of which were faint and long.

After Kangxi arrived in Yuezhou, he ordered all the ships to be expropriated, and the Yulin army desperately searched for them, but only found some small sampans. The plan to attack Huaiyin and even Yuezhou by boat failed, so he could only turn southeast and join the Changsha battlefield.

After such a big circle, it failed to affect the Changsha army, and at the same time, for the convenience of the march, all the military dependents of the twelve catty guns stayed in Zunyi, and Changde was unable to fight. The Yulin Army fought thousands of miles, and it turned out to be like a hike, which made all the officers and soldiers depressed. , it was indeed a hike, the Yulin army traveled thousands of miles, from Guangxi to Guizhou, through Sichuan into Hunan, all the way was extremely easy. There is a joint operation of the Industrial and Commercial Department and the Logistics Department, and the pilot has been in front of the supply and smooth the road. After entering Xiangxi, there was a guide from the Miao people recruited before, and a lot of money was spilled out, and the information was smooth, which was a little harder than training in Guangdong off-road.

But they are the Yulin Army, and the battle of Changsha has no effect, so they are naturally extremely anxious. After receiving the order of Li Xian to enter Huaiyin in the east and then smash the rear road of Kangxi's army in the south, they traveled day and night, and finally gathered the whole army in Yiyang. But I didn't expect that Yiyang was also raining heavily, and the march was extremely difficult, and when I arrived in Changsha, maybe the battle would be over.

"Oh my God, don't it rain, okay......"

Of course, Jia Hao did not doubt Li Shi's decision, and the Yulin army achieved at least one task, that is, to contain the Qing army in Jingzhou and Changde, which gathered 30,000 or 40,000 people and held on to the city. If the Yulin Army had not taken this route, this Qing army would have to go straight south to attack the front line of Yongzhou and Hengzhou, and the situation in Hengzhou at that time would not be as light as facing the Qing army in Jiangxi.

But as the strongest army of the Anglo-Chinese army, they did not inflict heavy losses on the Qing army after all, and also put Zunyi, which had just been defeated in the rear, under the threat of the Yinzhen army. This can't help but make people think of the depressed situation when Yulin just came out of Guangxi and was blocked by Wuzhou.

The Yulin Army is now an army of 20,000 people, including the young people of all ethnic groups who participated along the way. Jia Hao felt that Pan Shiyu could expand the Lian Yao battalion into an army alone. Luo Luo, Miao Yao, and Gu Dong, all kinds of people, more than a dozen clans, six or seven thousand people, naturally including Queen Long Zhilan, who has been following from Dading Mansion in Guizhou.

"Tomorrow...... Sky...... ...... will be clear."

I want the Queen, the Queen arrives. Long Zhilan, who already spoke some Chinese, even made a prediction, but Jia Hao and the others didn't think so, you are a queen, not a witch......

"Rain God...... Told me. ”

Long Zhilan waved her arms as if she were dancing.

"Mother Earth...... He also said that he was going to greet ...... Nagarjuna...... Down to ......"

Her pupils are exceptionally clear, as if there is another world in them, and these words are also extremely mysterious.

"Nagarjuna, to create a new world."

Long Zhilan nodded as she spoke, her tone unquestionable.

The next morning, everyone laughed and the rain stopped! It's really stopped!

"Hurry up, you must kick Kangxi's ass!"

Jia Hao's shouts echoed in Yiyang City.

"It's time to go back to your old ways!"

Li Xi has a fierce face, he is scolding God angrily in his heart, you are playing with us. I knew that it was only three days, so why bother to work so hard with the Qing army. But then again, three hundred years later, the weather forecast is not accurate, who can be expected to watch the sky at night?

"Gunpowder wet!?"

Iron Furnace Temple, Kangxi's smile condensed on his face.

The rain stopped, but after a few days of rain, the gunpowder powder of the Qing army was full of moisture, and it could not be used at all, so it had to be sunburned.

Can Li Xi give him time to dry and dream......

Kangxi Tie blushed, and was about to call for an order to cut off all the heads of the promotion and handling offices in charge of military quartermasters, when a middle-aged fourth-grade official stood up and said that the thousands of catties of medicinal powder he kept were all packed in small packets with three-layer oiled paper in advance, and then wrapped in a large bag of oilcloth, and covered with a fire-proof wooden box, which could be used immediately.

"The servant of the internal affairs department, Wailang Ertai, works for his master, and he is conscientious and conscientious, and he does not dare to relax in the slightest."

When asked for his name, the man replied respectfully but without a hint of humor.

"Ortai, or is it a guard? Good! Good! Raise the blue flag to participate in the leader, walk in the south study, and watch the enemy defeat under the thunderous iron hooves with me! ”

The thief army must also be wet with gunpowder, and the heavens are still on his Kangxi side after all.

Kangxi was thinking happily, rumbling like thunder and cannon from the front, and the familiar wall of gunpowder smoke gradually rose again, seemingly blocking the sun, making Kangxi's cheeks no longer bloodless.