On the way back to Changxing from Si'andong, you can find that the atmosphere of Yongying in Yuyao County is a little dull, which is a little different from the high morale of the original departure from Changxing

When the first set out from Changxing to rescue Guangde, and a few days ago from Guangde out of the city to help Changxing, the morale of the Yong battalion in Yuyao County can be described as high, whether it is soldiers or officers, they will be full of confidence in victory, and most of them think that they can defeat the enemy army without much effort.

The previous wars gave them too much confidence, the Battle of Changxing and the Battle of Guangde, it can be said that the Yongying of Yuyao County played with arrogance, and those two battles were fought with a casualty ratio of tens to one.

The two battles combined were only a few dozen casualties, but they annihilated nearly 2,000 enemy troops and promoted many officers.

However, in the battle of Si'an this time, although the Yongying of Yuyao County killed more enemy soldiers, and the total number of enemy soldiers killed and captured was nearly 2,500, its own casualties were also very large, and the ratio of casualties between the enemy and us reached five to one, which made Lin Zhe and other officers very dissatisfied.

Moreover, the total number of casualties of more than 400 people can be said to be a traumatic blow for this local regimental training with a total strength of only 1,800 people.

Moreover, because the Yuyao County Yongying is a local regimental training formed by the relationship between fellow villagers and teachers and friends, the relationship between them is very close, the soldiers are fellow villagers with each other, and the officers are classmates, relatives and friends with each other, and it is always unpleasant to see the death and injury of fellow villagers and relatives and friends.

Along the way, Lin Zhe's mood was not too good, and what made him depressed was not only that the baggage regiment was completely defeated, but more importantly, the pro-guard team was almost wiped out, which made him feel quite unhappy.

Although Wang Luyun, the captain of the personal guard, has woken up from a coma, he is still very weak with several wounds, and it remains to be said whether he can survive while he is still lying in the carriage.

The losses suffered in the First Battle of Si'an also made Lin Zhe firm in the idea of forming a large-scale cavalry, but he was limited by the fact that there were not so many horses in northern Zhejiang, let alone so many qualified cavalry, which made Lin Zhe's idea of forming a large-scale cavalry difficult to realize.

How to do it, Lin Zhe doesn't have a very good way!

The cavalry needs to be formed, and at the same time, the Yongying Battalion in Yuyao County also needs to restore its strength and even continue to expand the army!

The losses of the first and second regiments of the infantry were not too large, and there were not many soldiers who needed to be replenished, but the baggage regiment suffered heavy losses, and there were only less than 100 people after finally collecting the defeated troops.

In terms of artillery, the Second Artillery Company is located in the rear to fight, and the current situation is good, but the ammunition consumption is somewhat large, and it continues to replenish. However, because the First Artillery Company was accompanying the First Infantry Corps in combat, and because of the small caliber and short firing range of the artillery it was equipped with, it was deployed in advance during several operations, and the casualties of the artillery were relatively large.

In his heart, it was best for the artillery company to be equipped with twelve-pound field guns, and even if there were no twelve-pound field guns, at least six-pound guns.

However, whether it is the existing equipment of the First Artillery Company or the more than ten enemy artillery pieces captured in the subsequent Battle of Si'an, they are all of various specifications, the heaviest ones are more than 800 catties, some are 500 catties, some are 300 catties, 100 catties or even 80 catties.

In addition, a lot of guns were seized, but Lin Zhe didn't ask for them at all, and sold them directly to Guangde at a cheap price.

For these artillery, Lin Zhe planned not to equip those under 500 catties, because considering the range of the Minnie Bu's gun, those small-caliber guns with too close range had no possibility of exerting combat effectiveness at all, and it was better not to equip them than to waste the artillery establishment.

In the end, three 800-jin, three 500-jin mountain-splitting guns were assembled to equip the First Artillery Company, and the rest of the 300-jin, 100-jin, or even 80-pound mountain-splitting guns Lin Zhe did not throw them away directly, but planned to pull them back to Changxing, and then they could sell them directly to other Qing troops or use them for their own training.

However, after Lin Zhe saw the great power of the twelve-pounder gun, he retained a great interest in heavy artillery, and he planned to buy more large-caliber artillery to equip the troops after he returned.

Baggage regiments, cavalry, infantry, artillery all need to be replenished or even expanded, so where is the money?

Lin Zhe still plans to use the old way, first of all, to seek official support, and fight to the death on the front line, whether it is the central government of the Qing court or the governor of Zhejiang, you have to bear part of the military expenses.

And then it's to loot in the place by yourself, but it's not just a big extortion, after all, it's okay to do this kind of extortion once, but you can't do it every day, so the main source of looting places still relies on setting up checkpoints to collect money.

Previously, the Yongying of Yuyao County set up checkpoints in Changxing and Guangde to collect tolls from past business travelers, and at the same time forcibly apportioned a part of the military expenses to the governments of Changxing and Guangde.

The above allocation, private checkpoints, official apportionment, plus the money obtained by Lin Zhe who extorted money before he arrived in a place, at present, the funds of Yongying in Yuyao County are relatively sufficient, and there are about more than 20,000 taels of silver.

However, if you want to continue to expand the army, the 20,000 taels on hand will not be enough.

Two days later, Lin Zhe led the Yongying camp of Yuyao County to return to Changxing, but he did not stay in Changxing for long, and soon continued to return south to Huzhou in the name of rest.

He understood the previous battles, regardless of whether the Taiping army fought Guangde and Changxing, they wanted to go south to Hangzhou, northern Zhejiang, unless they planned to go straight to Deqing and Hangzhou from Anji County, otherwise they would definitely conquer the capital of Huzhou.

At the same time, Lin Zhe knew that his Yuyao County Yong Battalion had more than 1,000 people, not to mention the limited number, and the training time was too short, he had fully embodied this deficiency in the first battle of Si'an, and the Second Infantry Regiment and the Baggage Regiment were not enough to train for a long time, which led to a series of huge losses in the follow-up.

He needs time!

And Lin Zhe was also worried that the Taiping army would send more troops south, the Taiping army had 6,000 people before, what if they came 10,000 or more people next time?

So Lin Zhe was thinking that regardless of the safety of Changxing, Guangde, Anji and other places, he would concentrate on defending the capital city of Huzhou, and if the Taiping army gathered heavy troops to attack, he would rely on the fortified city to fight defensive operations, which was much more cost-effective than risking going out to fight a field battle with the Taiping army, in case of a sneak attack by the cavalry of the Taiping army, Lin Zhe would not have to cry to death.

Based on strategic considerations, and also considering that he needed more time to train and expand the army, Lin Zhe did not hesitate to turn around and return south, preparing to garrison the area around the capital of Huzhou.

As for whether Guangde, Changxing, and even Anji in the north will fall into the hands of the Taiping army after he leaves, that is not what Lin Zhe is concerned about now.

In order to prevent his retreat from the south from arousing the opposition of the imperial court, he once again distorted the facts in the Si'an war report he sent to Huang Zonghan, the governor of Zhejiang.

In addition to a brief explanation of the two-day battle in Si'an, the battle report said that in this battle, the Yongying battalion of Yuyao County killed 2,000 enemy troops and captured more than 1,000 prisoners, and achieved an unprecedented victory, but the Yongying battalion of Yuyao County also suffered heavy losses, with nearly 1,000 troops reduced, and the combat strength of the Yuyao battalion was almost completely lost, and it was in urgent need of rest and replenishment.

The actual casualties of the Yongying Battalion in Yuyao County were more than 400 people, and excluding those who were lightly wounded, the actual casualties, the actual casualties, and the missing were about 300 people, and most of these 300 people were from the baggage regiment, and a small part were from the personal guards.

Therefore, it is nonsense to say that the combat strength has been lost, the main combat strength of the Yuyao County Yong Battalion is the First Infantry Corps and the Second Infantry Regiment, and the baggage regiment that has been completely disabled is only an auxiliary force.

Although the First Battle of Si'an had a great impact on the Yuyao County Yong Battalion, it definitely did not make the Yuyao County Yong Battalion lose its combat effectiveness.

After sending the battle report to Hangzhou, Lin Zhe did not wait for Huang Zonghan's reply, and immediately led the army to leave Changxing, and then went to Wucheng County, which is also the capital of Huzhou.

Huzhou Mansion and Shaoxing Mansion are the same, both have two first counties, and its government is Huzhou Mansion City just between Wucheng and Gui'an, the north of Fucheng is Wucheng, and the south of Fucheng is Gui'an, and the county governance of these two counties is also in Fucheng.

Therefore, Wucheng County is also the capital city of Huzhou and the county seat of Gui'an.

The marching speed of the Yongying camp in Yuyao County was very fast, and only two days later, Lin Zhe was already in the city of Huzhou, and then he encountered something that had happened many times, and the Qing army in the city did not open the city gate!

When Lin Zhe arrived outside the city with his army in the morning, he sent someone out to deliver a letter, saying that the people in the city were panicking, lest they would leave the camp army, and hoped that Lin Zhe would not be surprised, and a battalion of military funds would be sent out of the city!

This made Lin Zhe, who rode a horse for dozens of kilometers and was unbearably hot by the sun, very angry!

During this march, the local officials refused to let themselves enter the city, this kind of thing is not once or twice, it was like this in Shaoxing City, it was like this in Hangzhou City, when it was all the way north, Yuyao County Yongying never entered the city, Lin Zhe could bear it before, but now?

Thinking that he was fighting desperately with the Taiping army in Changxing, Guangde and Si'an, and then these Qing court officials didn't even let him enter the city gate, which made Lin Zhe completely angry!

Niang Xipi, you think you are Huang Zonghan, you think Huzhou is Hangzhou City, you say that if you don't let Lao Tzu in, you won't let Lao Tzu in!

Looking at the Huzhou Mansion City in the south, Lin Zhe said with a flat face to a green camp in the city who came to report: "My remaining camp soldiers have eaten and slept in the open air, and have fought bloodily for the national dynasty for several months. I don't know why the adults in the city don't let my soldiers enter the city, and I don't care, I just need you to go back and tell the adults in the city to open the city gate within half an hour, otherwise ......"

Speaking of this, Lin Zhe glanced at the city tower in the distance, and then snorted coldly:

"I don't mind punching it in myself!"

When the green camp Qian, who was about thirty years old, heard this, his face immediately changed: "You ......"

But before you came out, the members of Lin Zhe's personal guard next to him just walked up, and there was a posture that you didn't get out now, and you would kill it directly the next moment, so Mr. Qian was stunned and didn't say anything, and then he went out in a gray way.

Lin Zhe didn't look at the Qian Zong who walked away, but turned his head to the herald beside him and said, "Order all departments, prepare for the siege!" ”

This was heard by the Qian Zong who had not gone far, and he was frightened, and he fell to the ground with weak legs and feet! cxh118