Originally, the Taiping army had just suffered a new defeat, and it was when morale was low, and at this time, when I heard the news that Hong Renda (actually Chen Kunshu) had led his troops out without permission, the blow to the Taiping army was even greater.

But the matter has come to this, no matter how much regret it is, there is no way to even when Shi Da drove away, Hong Renda is the second brother of the king Hong Xiuquan, so he can't manage it, he can't really tear his face and lead the troops to pursue it, so that no matter whether the two parties win or lose, it will be a loss for heaven.

Having lost Hong Renda's 50,000 men, the use of troops was stretched, and Chen Yucheng resolutely did not agree to fight with the Jingwu Army again and did not want to send troops again, which made it difficult for Hong Renji to cook without rice, and could no longer continue to maintain the so-called Second Eastern Crusade.

In desperation, Hong Renji agreed with Chen Yucheng's opinion and re-sent a peace envoy, hoping to negotiate a truce with the Jingwu Army and restore the previous state.

However, the Taiping army was thinking about negotiating peace at this time, but the elite army did not do it, and it was easy to start a war, but it was not easy to end it, especially when one side had a clear advantage and the other side was at a disadvantage.

"That's interesting." Listening to the conditions of the peace truce that the Taiping Army hoped for, Li Yongji smiled and said to Su Su, "What should they fight?" Do children play at home? Hit if you want, stop when you want? Continue to hold hands after the fight, good friend? ”

"I guess it's just an attempt by them." Su Su said, "They don't want to fight anymore, it's to see what our attitude is, if we don't actually want to fight, they just want to negotiate peace with us, if we continue to fight, of course they can only continue." ”

"That's right." Li Yongji smiled, "However, now that the advantage is mine, naturally I can't negotiate peace with them." Hmph, I wanted them to live a little longer. Now it seems that the matter of the Taiping Army will be resolved in advance. ”

Speaking of this, Li Yongji asked Su Sudao: "Is the Second Division still in Zhenjiang?" ”

"Yes." Su Su picked up a small notebook and looked at it, "The Second Division has already laid Zhenjiang the afternoon before yesterday, and now all the officers and soldiers of the Second Division are resting in Zhenjiang, waiting for the next order." ”

"Hmph, order Zhang Wei, you can end the rest, and the whole division will go straight to Nanjing and garrison troops in the area of Purple Mountain. Directly threaten the city of Nanjing! ”

"Understood." Su Su nodded, "However, if only one division has passed, will the strength be a little thin?" ”

"It's not that they are directly attacking the city, what are they afraid of." Li Yongji said, "He has a first-class division, but it is more than enough to make threats and blockades outside Nanjing." Presumably, after the previous war, they should have understood a truth. That is, to fight us in the field, no matter how many of them there are, they have no other way but to rely on the city walls. ”

Speaking of which. Li Yongji smiled: "This is the gap in absolute strength, when the gap in strength is too big, ordinary strategies will lose their effect." Sue Zhang Wei and let him let go and fight. Don't be afraid, once you have the opportunity, you can directly hit Nanjing. ”

"Yes." Su Su nodded. "Or in the name of the General Staff?"

"Of course." Li Yongji said, "Although I can call him directly, some things still have to be established as soon as possible." Now there are still few soldiers and horses, and when we have more and more troops in the future, do we still have to give orders one by one? I set up the General Staff Headquarters, but I don't want to use it as an ornament, but I must take responsibility, and it is also the right thing for you to adapt to it now. ”

"Understood." Su Su nodded slightly, then reached out and stroked the hair on his forehead, "By the way, do you want to transfer the third division over?" The front line between northern Jiangsu and Shandong has been stabilized, maybe we can transfer the third division to Nanjing first, work together to take Nanjing, and then take care of the rest. ”

"Nope." Li Yongji waved his hand, "Shandong and northern Jiangsu seem to be stable, but in fact, they are only temporary, the local twist is still an unstable factor, there are still many Qing army routs nearby, and the proximity to Henan and Hebei is also a problem, so the third division will continue to stay in Xuzhou." ”

"Just sit in the town, don't you let them do something else?" Su Su said, "According to the intelligence, the bandits in Shandong have begun to threaten our supply routes, do you want them to clear it?" ”

"Bandits?" Li Yongji frowned, "What is needed to suppress bandits is experience, especially to be very familiar with the local area, although the third division can fight, but it is better at frontal combat, it is not appropriate to leave this kind of thing to them, right?" ”

"Then you can also use the Third Division as a support." Su Su said softly, "The bandits are inhumane, and it can't go on like this, after all, these places are our territory, and the people above are also your people, young master, no matter what these people say, I can't bear not to say it, and it will also lose your face." ”

"Hehe, that's what I said." Glancing at Su Su, Li Yongji nodded, "In this way, you wait and continue to give Wang Sanwu an order in the name of the General Staff, let him form a bandit suppression group based on the local garrison force, and take the battalion as a unit, and send it out in turn to carry out the clean-up operation, so as to eliminate the local bandits and keep the traffic on the north-south road smooth." ”

"It's just that the place is wrong, don't you send the main force?" Su Su frowned, "In that case......"

"In that case, that's enough." Li Yongji looked at Su Su again, "Su Su, the role of the main force is to deter and fight head-on, and the suppression of bandits is not suitable for them, and it is most appropriate to hand it over to the garrison troops who are more familiar with the place." ”

"Yes." Su Su nodded, and quickly recorded Li Yongji's opinion in a small notebook.

"Do you have something on your mind?" Li Yongji looked at Su Su again, "Why do you have the wrong eyes when you say bandits, and even affect your judgment, do you remember the past?" ”

"Yes." Su Su bit her lip, "Although my family lost power in the officialdom at the beginning, life was still passable, but after my father was killed by bandits on the road, the family began to lose, even our sisters...... In short, bandits are a catastrophe for the people, and they must be taken seriously! ”

"I see." Hearing Su Su talk about the family for the first time, Li Yongji gently hugged Su Su, took her in his arms and stroked her gently, "Don't worry, I don't like bandits either, when the time comes, I will comprehensively suppress bandits and give the people a safe life." ”

Although he did not receive a direct order from Li Yongji. Instead, he received an order from the General Staff, but Zhang Wei still didn't dare to slack off, thinking that this was Li Yongji beating himself, so he used his troops to be extra careful.

Zhang Feng and Zhang Yun have been removed from their posts and locked up in confinement by Zhang Wei, and reported to the Military Justice Department of the division headquarters for further trial.

In other words, Zhang Feng and Zhang Yun are no longer in the army, but were personally captured by Zhang Wei and sent to the confinement room, and their original position as regiment commander was replaced by their deputy.

Dismissal and confinement. Reported to the Military Judge Advocate General's Department, this is already a very severe punishment, Zhang Wei wants to use this posture to show Li Yongji that he will not show favoritism, only in this way can he think that he can save Zhang Feng and Zhang Yun's lives.

In this way, with a wave of anger and worry, Zhang Wei gathered all the men and horses of the second division and left Zhenjiang. Directly killed Nanjing, successively broke several strongholds of the Taiping army, and advanced until the area of Xiaolingwei before re-stationing.

After the garrison of Xiaolingwei, he began to build a camp in the local area. He also built a fort on the nearby Purple Mountain, and transferred a field artillery regiment equipped with a modified version of the Napoleonic cannon from the Changzhou garrison in the rear, preparing to wait for the artillery regiment to come and fire on the city of Nanjing.

Before the artillery regiment was transferred, Zhang Wei had to take the regiment as a unit every day. They were sent out in turn to harass Chaoyangmen (now Zhongshanmen) in Nanjing.

The method of harassment was simple, which was to spread out the soldiers and shoot at the head of the city from a distance. Use your range advantage to shoot the defenders around the walls.

This method of harassment was quite effective, because the range of the Taipings' weapons was too low to shoot at the Sharps rifles, so they were often beaten and did not dare to take the lead.

The range of the artillery is enough, but the artillery is very troublesome to fire, and the elite army has a telescope, which can see every move on the city.

As soon as someone prepares to launch artillery at the head of Chaoyang Gate to return fire, immediately more than a company of fire will be fired at you, and even mortars will follow. After going back and forth like this, the artillery on Chaoyangmen has been completely destroyed.

If it weren't for the limited amount of ammunition for mortars, and the effect of mortar shells hitting the city wall was not very good, Zhang Wei really wanted to continue to use mortars to destroy the entire Chaoyang Gate!

Although I no longer play with artillery, I can't directly bombard the city wall with mortars, but I swagger and shoot under the city gate, and the other party does not dare to show my head, which is also quite an achievement.

Zhang Weicai is not afraid that the other party will suddenly open the city gate to fight, unless the other party is brainless, otherwise, in the face of an infantry regiment that has already launched an attack formation and is equipped with a large number of hot weapons, unless the other party has the courage to suffer more than 10,000 casualties, don't think about running to them.

Even if they are willing to pay tens of thousands of casualties to run to the front, the chances of this regiment winning are also very high, and Zhang Wei will definitely send troops to support in time, anyway, they all have bicycles, the distance is not far, and there are a large number of artillery, if they really dare to go out of the city, it is really unbelievable.

With the passage of time, even if the Taiping Army's transmission method is still relatively primitive and the speed of transmitting information is relatively slow, it has been seven or eight days, and almost everyone who should know is known.

The news that Hong Renda led his troops out, Chen Yucheng's troops retreated from Tianjing, and the Jingwu army marched into Tianjing, had spread everywhere in the realm of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the impact was getting bigger and bigger.

For example, Cheng Xueqi, who was still playing soy sauce in Ningguo Mansion, immediately wanted to retreat after hearing the news, but unfortunately Zhou Xing, the head of the special service regiment who came in a hurry from Guangde County, was not happy, and a field charge wiped out Cheng Xueqi's 30,000 soldiers and horses.

The so-called special service regiment is actually the original Second Regiment of the First Division of Class A. When Li Yongji came to Guangde County to build a power plant and other industrial facilities, he asked this army to garrison here.

Later, Li Yongji left, but this regiment did not leave, but became a separate special service regiment, which was specially garrisoned in Guangde County, an important industrial base, and the regiment that was vacated by the first division was re-supplemented by new soldiers, so the equipment and combat effectiveness of the special service regiment were first-class.

When Cheng Xueqi attacked Ningguofu before, that is, Xuancheng, no matter whether the garrison of Ningguofu dealt with it easily or dangerously, this regiment in Guangde County did not leave half a step, without the slightest intention of rescue.

It was only now that the situation became clear, and after being requested and allowed, the regiment left a battalion to guard Guangde County, and only two battalions of soldiers and horses were used, and Cheng Xueqi's 30,000 men were wiped out in one charge.

Of course, the reason why it is so powerful is also related to the fact that this unit is equipped with a large number of 56 assault rifles, after all, they are all burst weapons. Compared with Zhang Wei's second division, which is still dominated by Sharps rifles, the firepower is not a little bit stronger.

Two elite battalions that were generally equipped with repeating weapons and bicycles went to fight 30,000 secondary units with cold weapons, and the result of total annihilation was really not a little suspenseful. In fact, most of Cheng Xueqi's subordinates surrendered, and less than 500 people were actually killed or wounded.

Compared with Cheng Xueqi, Li Shixian's luck this time is still good, because he has already fought with the Jingwu Army once, and he also knows that he is just a restraining force this time, so he has always been very careful and never fought head-on with the troops of the Jingwu Army. Even in the face of the militia units of the elite army, they will not fight.

This time, after hearing the news that Chen Yucheng had withdrawn from Tianjing and that the elite army had followed him to Tianjing City, he immediately fled backwards again and ran back to Ningbo.

Originally, Shaoxing's elite army troops followed the pursuit, but when the 3,000 soldiers and horses mainly from Shaoxing's guard Shaoyang chased to Ningbo, the foreigners in Ningbo suddenly came forward, and they actually kept Li Shixian, and used Ningbo as a concession as an excuse. Let the elite army not enter the boundary of Ningbo.

Although this matter was very annoying, Shao Yang also knew that the Jingwu Army had not turned against the foreigners now, and suspected that the foreigners had colluded with the Taiping Army, so he had to station troops near Ningbo. Spy on the Taiping army in Ningbo.

At the same time, Shao Yang also began to quickly report to his immediate superiors about the foreigners' shelter of Li Shixian, the general of the Taiping Army, and wrote down his speculation about the collusion between the foreigners and the Taiping Army.

In fact. Shaoxing Guard, the Shaoxing garrison of the Jingwu Army, was completely overwhelmed, and the fact that Li Shixian was sheltered by foreigners in Ningbo was purely an isolated matter. It is not that the foreigners in Ningbo colluded with the Taiping Army, but that the foreigners in Ningbo colluded with Li Shixian.

The foreigner who sheltered Li Shixian was actually the captain of a French warship stationed in Ningbo, this guy had a good status, and the reason why he provided shelter to Li Shixian was because when Britain and France supported the Taiping Army to fight the Qing Dynasty, Li Shixian had a good relationship with him.

How can a good relationship be? Quite simply, the captain named Pierre was responsible for giving Li Shixian munitions, opium and other supplies, and Li Shixian provided silver and gold and Chinese piglets, that is, Chinese laborers, to Pierre, and the two sides had been trading "piglets" for opium.

Pierre exchanged cheap arms and opium for Chinese "piglets", or Chinese laborers, and shipped them directly to Da Nang to work as laborers for the French invading forces there.

At this time, France and Vietnam are at war, and Da Nang and Saigon have just been defeated, but just a few months ago, the French troops stationed here were brought to China, intending to unite with the British to fight the Qing Dynasty.

Fortunately, the Vietnamese at this time were all weak chickens, and there were obviously more than 20,000 people in front of Saigon, but in the face of less than 3,000 French, they just didn't dare to take the initiative to attack.

As soon as the French saw that this was not going to work, they began to search everywhere for helpers.

The initial rescuers were mostly French garrisons in the Chinese concession, and it was at this time that Li Shixian colluded with Pierre and began to send people from the Taiping Army to the French as laborers, called the export of foreign workers, and as for the salary, it was directly given to Li Shixian.

Later, Li Shixian simply sent his soldiers and horses to obey the command of the French and played the trick of mercenaries, but these mercenaries were all cannon fodder and had to obey the command of the French.

It was precisely because of this relationship, or to be precise, that Li Shixian had already sent a large number of troops and horses to Saigon, with a total of more than 5,000 men, that in order to stabilize this sufficient and necessary armed force, the French began to provide shelter for Li Shixian.

Of course, the French also said that they only provided shelter for Li Shixian, not had anything to do with the Taiping Army, and Li Shixian, at the moment when the French began to provide him with shelter, had already decided to abandon the Taiping Army and completely throw himself into the arms of the French.

In other words, Li Shixian, who was disappointed with the situation in the Kingdom of Heaven, had already listened to Pierre's advice and decided to take his men to Vietnam, leave this place of right and wrong, and fight side by side with the French to suppress those damned Vietnamese.

Hong Renda, no, Chen Kunshu led 50,000 troops out of Luzhou, Chen Yucheng retreated into Nanjing with less than 50,000, Cheng Xueqi 30,000 horses were all captured, Li Shixian led 10,000 troops out of Vietnam, and Li Xiucheng, his 30,000 horses all watched coldly in Anqing and Jiujiang, and continued to communicate with the Jingwu army......

At this time, in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, except for Chen Yucheng, who was still guarding Tianjing and guarding the great cause of the Heavenly Kingdom, the other main forces had already had different thoughts and had their own plans.

In particular, when the exact news of Li Yongji's attack on Beijing also came, this situation of military morale fluctuating in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom became even more severe. In addition to Tianjing, many other places bordering the Jingwu Army, such as Wuhu and other places, have begun to surrender to the Jingwu Army in size, at this time, as long as they are not fools, not a brain, they all know that the Taiping Army will not last long. (To be continued......)