Shi Dakai thinks that Lai Yuxin's suggestion is appropriate, but he doesn't want to adopt it, just like Shi Zhenji said, if Zeng Demon is afraid of death and withdraws to Changsha, this will greatly increase the difficulty of attacking Changsha, and directly attacking Baling County can not only eliminate the vitality of the Qing army, but also hit the morale of Changsha.

"Shi Zhenji listened to the order and ordered you to lead 5,000 people to attack Xiangyin County by boat, cut off the back road of Zeng Demon Head, and contact Prime Minister Zeng Tianyang as soon as possible, and the two armies converge." Shi Dakai still cares about his brother very much.

"Compliance"

"Fu Zhongxin listened to the order, I expected that the demon head would return to Baling County to hold on, and ordered you to lead 8,000 people to attack Baling County as the vanguard, and I will lead the army to arrive later."

Fu Zhongxin bowed down to obey the order, and went out to gather his troops and horses to set off.

Guo Songtao of Baling County was suddenly flustered, and he had no hope that Zeng Guofan could win, and muttered to himself: The leading general of the Hunan army lost the battle for the first time, and he and Zhongyue were defeated under Nanchang City, and half of the troops were lost; Wang Ju was even more miserable, the first time he was defeated in the hands of Zeng Tianyang, the second time he didn't even touch the enemy's face, he was killed by artillery, more than 1,000 people escaped, and he was safely evacuated to Baling County for less than 2,000. This Zeng Disheng is not exempt from vulgarity, surrounded by long hair in Baling County, life and death are unpredictable!

Wang Zhu also had a sad face on the side, only he saw the power of the long hair, there were more than 30 cannons alone, half of them were Western cannons, and they were killed by stone chips, and they had the heart to persuade Zeng Guofan to withdraw to Changsha, but he was afraid of being misunderstood and ridiculed, so he could only pray that Zeng Guofan could block the long hair in Baling County, so that Changsha would have more time to prepare.

"Dashuai...... Oh no, the city is broken...... Let's go quickly......" Zeng Guobao ran in panting, and pulled Zeng Guofan to go out.

Everyone was stunned, and they didn't understand what Zeng Guobao was crazy about, so they talked nonsense.

Guo Songtao stopped Zeng Guobao and said angrily: "There are tens of thousands of defenders in the city, and there are still 8,000 people stationed in Huangpoling outside the city. ”

Zeng Guobao was angry and scolded: "The captain who guards the city opened the city gate privately and let the long hair enter the city, damn, if I know who did it, I must kill his entire clan!" ”

Capture the head of the demon alive...... Capture the head of the demon alive...... Kill...... Don't run away from the demon head......

Listening to the shouting and killing sound from afar, everyone looked at each other, and then they believed that Zeng Guobao was telling the truth, and turned their heads to look at Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan walked out of the county office, the shouting and killing gradually became clear, watching the panicked Hunan army fleeing everywhere, Zeng Guofan was speechless, before that, he often ridiculed the green battalion soldiers for fleeing in the wind, vulnerable, I didn't expect that the Hunan army, which he had spent so long personally training into an army, was also vulnerable, and subconsciously walked towards the battlefield.

Liu Rong saw that Zeng Guofan's expression was abnormal, and ordered Zeng Guobao to collect the defeated army, and ordered Chen Shijie to send someone to contact the Hunan army outside the city, ready to evacuate at any time, and he took Guo Songtao and Wang Ju to slowly follow Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan looked at the retreating Hunan army, looked sad, knelt down facing the north, kowtowed a few times, picked up the blade on the ground, and touched his neck.

Guo Songtao and Liu Rong hugged Zeng Guofan and shouted, "The handsome must not ...... Absolutely not", Wang Zhu took the opportunity to snatch Zeng Guofan's blade and threw it on the ground.

Zeng Guofan struggled and said: "You let go of me, I am ashamed of the emperor, ashamed of the father of Sanxiang, I have no shame to live in the world anymore and be embarrassed......" As if to release all the grievances during this time, Zeng Guofan's face was distorted.

Liu Rong and Guo Songtao pulled Zeng Guofan back, and persuaded him: "It's just a temporary defeat, we can still make a comeback, the Hunan army is the hope of Hunan, and the marshal is the hope of the Hunan army, if you die, we have to follow it, so as not to be scolded by the villagers." ”

Zeng Guofan didn't listen to it, but shouted: "The Hunan army has not made an inch, but it has suffered a big defeat, and it is ashamed to ...... the emperor."

Looking at Zeng Guofan, Wang Zhu felt related and comforted: "The handsome still don't know the way? Zhiting won a great victory in Changsha and killed Changmao Zeng Tianyang, which was yesterday! ”

Seeing that Zeng Guofan did not react, Wang Zhu repeated loudly into his ear: The handsome man still doesn't know what to do? Zhiting won a great victory in Changsha and killed Changmao Zeng Tianyang, which was yesterday!

Zeng Guofan seemed to grasp a life-saving straw, pulled Wang Zhu and asked: "This is true, Zhiting really killed Zeng Yi?" Why didn't he report it to me? ”

Wang Zhu explained: "When I heard the news, I had already left Changsha, and as for Zhiting, I should continue to pursue the rest of Changmao......"

The Hunan army has made a great contribution! Heaven will not kill me! Don't die for the time being, Zeng Guofan calmed down and returned to his previous appearance, as if nothing had happened just now, "This Baling County can't be defended, let's hurry up and rush to Changsha by boat!" ”

The defeat of Baling County spread all over Changsha with the arrival of Zeng Guofan, and those who hated Zeng Guofan in the officialdom were all gloating, especially Xu Youren, the political envoy of Hunan, and others, who were quite annoyed by Zeng Guofan's interference in the official government on weekdays, and had long wanted to get rid of him, but now seeing that the Hunan army was defeated so badly, he ran to Luo Bingzhang to complain.

"My lord, Zeng Disheng is arrogant and incompetent, tens of thousands of troops are defeated with one blow, and your prestige is greatly lost, it is better for us to write a recital to impeach Zeng Disheng, and then disband the Hunan army."

Luo Bingzhang also didn't like Zeng Guofan, but he couldn't leave Zeng Guofan at this time, and persuaded him: "Now that the situation is collapsing, long hair is rampant, although Zeng Disheng is a bastard, but he is now the pillar of Changsha, and we will talk about other things when Long hair retreats, you don't want to be fowled by long hair, right?" ”

"Yes, yes...... The adults are right, they are humble and stupid, thanks to the reminders of the adults, otherwise it will be a big mistake and regret for life. ”

The first thing Zeng Guofan did when he arrived in Changsha was to send someone to find Taqib, and soon let him find it in Baishui Town, so that he could rush to Changsha to meet.

Zeng Guofan held Taqib's hands with tears in his eyes, and said in his mouth: "Thanks to the great victory of Zhiting, otherwise the Hunan army will be in danger!" ”

Taqib smiled innocently, pulled an official behind him over, and introduced: "Dashuai, I brought you a talent!" This person's name is Hu Linyi, the current prefect of Guizhou, and he was recruited by Wu Wenrong and Wu to help, but unfortunately Runzhi just arrived in Changsha, Hunan, and he ...... Wu Lao"

Hu Linyi bowed down and hugged his fist at Zeng Guofan and said: "Humble Hu Linyi, a native of Yiyang, Hunan, has seen an adult!" ”

Zeng Guofan kindly picked up Hu Linyi and praised: "I have also heard of Runzhi's name in Hunan, and the mobs in Guizhou have repeatedly caused trouble, but Runzhi has calmed down, which shows that you have real talent and learning." ”

Hu Linyi was moved: "Since I learned that Lord Wu was martyred, I am at a loss for what to do, and I am willing to serve under my lordship from now on, hoping to eliminate the anti-thieves as soon as possible, and return the Qing Dynasty to a bright future." ”

The generals above the rank of the Hunan army battalion officer were all summoned together by Zeng Guofan, including Wang Ju, who also released their previous suspicions with him.

"I summoned you here today to discuss the current situation of the Hunan army, and to put it bluntly, how to win the battle! Everything else is empty. "Zeng Guofan got straight to the point, he needed a victory so badly that he personally commanded the victories he won to establish his prestige.

Hu Linyi is a cliché, and he really wants to show it: "Civil officials don't love money, and military attaches don't hesitate to die!" Now that the Qing Dynasty officials are corrupt, the Green Camp Army is even more rotten, and if you want to defeat Changmao, you must change your course and find another way. ”

Zeng Guofan had already realized this, and he still nodded very face-saving and did not comment.

…………

Now I know that the collection of Lu Dao is so important, looking at the rise of more than a dozen a day, and sometimes not rising but falling, it is really a blow!