Leng Yifei led a large army into Sichuan, and also faced the problem of harassment by the Qing army. More than a dozen small units of the Qing army were strangled in a row, but the Qing army's harassment was still very tenacious. Ambushes were frequently set up during the day, and small units of the Qing army suffered losses, so they changed to harassment at night. Although the threat was not great, it caused the army to be very tired, so the pace of the march was very slow. This day, I camped until midnight, and there were gunshots outside, and Leng Yifei was awakened and got up irritably.

Several combat staff officers saw Leng Yifei's big tent lit up with a lantern, so they entered the big tent and obeyed the orders. "! Zuo Zongtang has two hits, and getting a few thieves will make me sleepy. "Leng Yifei is not going to fight anywhere." Yes! This is called a sparrow tactic, and it is intended to drag down the opponent. The terrain of Sichuan makes it impossible for our large troops to deploy, and the terrain in the direction of Chongqing is even more complicated, and the chief of staff of Kazakhstan is afraid that it will be even more difficult. It is true that Shu Road is difficult to go to the blue sky. A staff officer said helplessly.

Leng Yifei groaned for a while and said: "Order, the search force is doubled, and the direction of the troops' advance is searched day and night within a radius of two kilometers, I don't believe that the Qing army has grown wings!" "With the increase in search troops, the harassment of the Qing army began to weaken, but the purpose of the Qing army was achieved, and the advance of the army was slowed down. In half a month, the army advanced more than 200 kilometers. On this day, the troops arrived at Jiguan Town, where they were stubbornly resisted by the Qing army for the first time.

Cockscomb is a small mountain town, and it is shaped like a cockscomb in front. The mountains on both sides of the town are steep, and there is only one passage through the town. The Qing army deployed 5,000 men and horses here to form a blocking position. The cannon roared in front, and Leng Yifei sat in the big tent of the Chinese army and gave orders. "Order Lin Xiong, take Jiguan Town for me in one day!" But after a whole day of fighting, there was no breakthrough in Cockscomb Town.

At dusk, Lin Xiong came to the Chinese army camp dejectedly and saw Leng Yifei. "Report to the commander, his subordinates are incompetent, and they didn't take Cockscomb Town." Lin Xiong looked depressed and listless. Leng Yifei said: "What kind of situation do you want?" How about the casualties of the troops! Lin Xiong truthfully reported the situation and said that more than 300 people were killed and wounded in the one-day attack. Leng Yifei gasped when he heard this. Jiguan Town is only a less important defense line on the periphery, and it is so difficult to fight, which shows that Zuo Zongtang is well deployed.

Obviously, Zuo Zongtang's purpose is to let the Northern Expeditionary Army snatch one city after another, if it continues like this, not to mention that it can't be delayed, and it can't afford to lose at all. Lin Xiong said: "The Qing army seems to have changed, their defense is very tenacious, and they have withstood the blows of my artillery fire in turn, damn it." Leng Yifei secretly thought: What the commander-in-chief said is not wrong, Zuo Zongtang is indeed difficult to deal with. The point is that the poor terrain in Sichuan restricts the movement of large forces.

"Weishenme does not send troops to detour!" Leng Yifei asked. Lin Xiong replied: "According to the local guide, it will take 3 days to get back to the back of Jiguan Town. "Okay, I'll give you three days to take Cockscomb Town." Leng Yifei had to face reality. This is just the beginning, and perhaps the battle below will be even tougher. Leng Yifei's head is a little big, it seems that the Qing army has been integrated by Zuo Zongtang and has the heart, not to run away as soon as the cannon goes off. The headquarters did not stipulate a specific time for the capture of Sichuan, so Leng Yifei did not need to be in a hurry.

Defending Jiguan Mountain is the green battalion of the Sichuan army, and after integration, their combat effectiveness can be on par with the Hunan army. But suddenly remembered the sound of gunfire behind him, the green battalion of the Sichuan army would not fight, the officers were stunned, and the soldiers lost the will to resist. Taking advantage of the Qing soldiers bombing the camp, Lin Xiong ordered the artillery to be fired, and the charging troops rushed forward with the sound of artillery, and the battle was already in suspense. The Qing army captured 2,500 officers and soldiers, and nearly 2,000 escaped. After all, they are familiar with the terrain and it is easy to escape.

It was so difficult to capture the small town of Cockscomb that half of the defenders escaped. Leng Yifei was very depressed, and when he entered Cockscomb Town, Leng Yifei ordered the troops to rest for a day. He knew in his heart that there were Shuyong, Xingwen, Threshing, and Changning in front of him. There are many rivers on this line, and the large army cannot be deployed at all, and the poor terrain restricts the encirclement point to send reinforcements. The style of play must be changed, Leng Yifei said decisively: "Come on!" "One of the subordinates came down to the front." Khalid was immediately informed to abandon the capture of Chongqing and move westward into Neijiang. Leng Yifei made a right decision. And this correct decision was only manifested at the critical moment of Zuihou.

It is surrounded by lofty mountains and mountains, and there are turbulent rivers from time to time on the way. The difficulty of the road constrained the speed of the troops' advance, and it took Khalid and his troops to advance more than 100 kilometers in 20 days, and they also faced harassment from the Qing army. The Qing army thought of the complex terrain of the Chongqing area, so it only deployed heavy troops in the mountain city of Chongqing, and there were not many troops in the area south of Chongqing. On this day, Khalid captured a market town, and because his troops were too tired, he decided to rest in this market town for a day.

In the evening of that day, a flying rider entered from the south side of the town. Khalid received Leng Yifei's order to immediately convene a military meeting of officers above the brigade level. Facing the generals, Khalid said majestically: "I have just received an order from the corps headquarters, ordering our troops to abandon the operation of capturing Chongqing, and wave our troops westward to take Neijiang. At this time, a subordinate said: "Chief of Staff, we capture Neijiang, if the commander cannot capture Luzhou, we may become a lone army, what if the Qing army is heavily surrounded by us." ”

Khalid said calmly: "This problem is not to be feared, at present, the Qing army is mainly holding on to various cities, and there is no room to encircle and annihilate us." If we capture Neijiang, we will take it by surprise and stick a knife in the ribs of the Qing army. At that time, the commander captured Luzhou, and the whole situation was opened. The crowd felt that it made sense. Khalid continued: "I order that tomorrow morning, the troops will march west and take the Neijiang River!" ”

More than a month has passed, and the panic caused by the war is not visible in Chengdu. In the Governor's Palace, Zuo Zongtang is looking at a map. His face was grim and silent. At this time, one of his subordinates said cautiously: "My lord, the rebels on the Western Road are making rapid progress and have advanced to Xikang. The rebels on the middle route captured the threshing, and the rebels on the eastern route lost their trace, and according to the speed of the rebels on the eastern route, they should have approached the city of Chongqing. It seems that the harassment tactics of the adults have worked, causing the rebels to slow down. ”

Zuo Zongtang said expressionlessly: "It is expected that the rebels will break through our outer defense line, and our harassment tactics and the layers of interception of the outer defense line will achieve the desired goal. Now we have learned that the rebel army on the Western Route has only more than 10,000 horses, and Xikang I have 30,000 heavy troops to guard, and the rebels do not want to cross it. The rebels on the front line of Luzhou have 40,000 horses, and I have 100,000 horses relying on the Yangtze River defense line to hold on, and form a pentagonal defensive front, if the rebels want to break through Luzhou, they will have to pay a heavy price. The rebels on the East Road also had 10,000 horses, and due to the complex terrain, the rebels on the East Road could not carry artillery, and it was even more difficult to capture the mountain city of Chongqing. Even if the rebels captured Chongqing, there was no fear, and a victorious and exhausted army could no longer attack. ”

Zuo Zongtang deployed 150,000 Hunan troops on the line from Xikang to Luzhou, and 50,000 Hunan troops defended Chengdu. Chongqing was defended by 20,000 Sichuan Army Green Battalions, while the Miscellaneous Green Battalions, which had weak combat effectiveness, defended Meishan, Leshan and other central areas north of Luzhou, with 250,000 defensive troops south of Meishan. Zuo Zongtang is completely aware that the complex terrain of Sichuan is the right time and place, and his own side is waiting for work, and the enemy is difficult to trek. Even if the rebels are strong in attack, they will be constrained by unfavorable factors. The reason why Zuo Zongtang can become a god of war is that he can judge the situation and be flexible.

The Guangzhou Military Government, Deng Zixuan received the situation that the army was blocked from entering Sichuan, and there was no good way for a while. Isn't it a bit rushed? Is it inadequate? Deng Zixuan fell into deep thought. Needless to say, the two are mutually reinforcing, and if you are fully prepared, no enemy will win time to be fully prepared. If Zuo Zongtang was well prepared, the situation might be even worse.

"Commander-in-chief, are you considering increasing troops in Sichuan?" Pei Gejin looked anxious. Deng Zixuan shook his head and said: "I don't want to increase troops, Sichuan's poor terrain is the biggest shortcoming." At present, our 60,000-strong army has entered Sichuan, and the logistical supply has reached the limit, which is the reason why the West Route Corps has temporarily expanded its four integrated divisions. Frankly speaking, we took into account the bad terrain of Sichuan, but we did not expect Zuo Zongtang to form a solid defensive front in such a short period of time. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and it is really unexpected. ”

Pei Ge said solemnly: "The situation is not good, whether to change the combat jihua." I and the operational staff officer carefully studied it, and the offensive should be temporarily suspended in the current state. "There is no turning back from the bow, and if the first large-scale offensive operation of the Northern Expeditionary Army is aborted, it will not only affect morale, but also greatly enhance the enemy's confidence in defense. Leave the power to the front-line commanders, and trust them fully, because interfering is counterproductive. ”

Seeing that Pei Ge was depressed, Deng Zixuan said earnestly: "The ancients said that they would not be affected by the orders of foreign monarchs, this sentence is very reasonable. To give an example, Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty can be called a generation of Ming masters, he conquered Goryeo with a prosperous army, but was trapped in the 'Dongying Xiaoyi', and had to return to the dynasty. Ironically, the mediocre Tang Gaozong Li Zhi actually succeeded in conquering Goryeo, and Li Zhi did not have a personal expedition. A wise monarch, a pro-conquest and defeat, a mediocre lord, delegating power and winning, it is self-evident what mysteries are hidden here. ”

"History is like a prism, it reflects both positive and negative lessons, and makes us smarter. Therefore, we check the overall strategy, and hand over the specific battles to the front-line commanders, so that they can give full play to their talents. Pei Gejin couldn't help but admire deeply: "Commander-in-chief, I understand, immediately give instructions to the commander of the Eastern Route Corps, so that he has full autonomy!" ”

Leng Yifei won the threshing with difficulty, and his mood was slightly better. At this time, a letter from headquarters arrived. Leng Yifei suddenly came to his senses when he saw the measures of the headquarters. The next step to take Changning is to face the Luzhou defense line. At present, the continuous attack of the headquarters has suffered 1,500 casualties, and a total of more than 10,000 Qing troops have been annihilated. Although the losses of the department were a little distressing, after all, they broke through the outer defense line of the Qing army.

A letter from the headquarters affirmed his achievements and gave him full autonomy, and Leng Yifei's confidence was greatly increased. But where did he think that Xikang, Luzhou and even Neijiang, which were the key leaders of the Qing army in the next step, could not be attacked for a long time and fell into a predicament.