From Hongkou and Yangpu to Sanchakou and then to Wusong, on the water and land fronts that stretched for dozens of miles, the Taiping army began a counteroffensive on the entire front. Qing army generals He Chun, Lai Zhenhai, Li Xinming and others were taken prisoner, Chen Guotai killed himself at the moment of the battle to Zuihou, Ye Changchun died in the river, more than 20,000 land and water Qing army reinforcements, more than 8,000 people were killed, more than 9,000 people were captured, and more than 2,000 people were missing, most of them fell into the Huangpu River, and the remaining less than 3,000 Qing troops guarding Baoshan fled back to Chongming Island by water.

On the Taiping side, Lin Qirong, Chen Yucheng, Lu Shunde and other troops were killed and wounded more than 5,000 and more than 4,000, including more than 2,000 casualties among the sailors. The naval division lost more than half of the warships, but fortunately captured a few red single ships and fast crab boats, otherwise it would have been a big loss.

But Xiao Yungui was still very happy, originally he returned to Shanghai to fight a difficult battle, but he didn't expect to solve the Qing army of Hechun in three days, and also solve the most ferocious Red Single fleet of the Guangdong Naval Division, which can be regarded as achieving the purpose of the campaign, although the casualties are somewhat heavy, but this is the price that must be paid.

After solving the reinforcements of the Qing army in Hechun, Xiao Yungui ordered Lin Qirong, Li Tianxi, Chen Zhiming and others to guard the front line of Baoshan, Wusong, and Gaoqiao, and led Lu Shunde, Zhao Shunping's sailors and Chen Yucheng's and Tang Erniu's land divisions to rush to Shanghai, preparing to make a zuihou attack on Shanghai City.

Coming to Zhabei in Shanghai, Zhou Lichun, Zhou Xiuying, Li Xuanji, and a number of Taiping Army and Qingpu Righteous Army generals who stayed here followed Xiao Yungui and introduced the West King into the camp of the Zhabei Taiping Army.

Zhabei is located in the north of the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, and Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty was subordinate to Kunshan County ten years ago, and then to Jiading County and Baoshan County. South of Suzhou Creek Ancient Road, it belonged to Huating County in the 28th year of Yuan Dynasty and later to Shanghai County. Qiujiang River is the boundary river between Shanghai County and Baoshan County, which was filled in when the road was built at the beginning of the Republic of China.

The word Zhabei. It originates from two sluices on the Suzhou Creek. In the 14th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty, a sluice gate was built on the Suzhou Creek near the north of Shanghai, which was later called the old sluice. In the thirteenth year of Yongzheng, another sluice was built in Jinjiawan, three miles away from the west of the old gate, which was called the new gate. During the Jiaqing period, because of the ships on the Wusong River, the trade was prosperous, two markets were formed around the old gate and the new gate, the new gate market was the main shipping place in the lower reaches of Suzhou Creek, there were boats, iron shops and shops on the market, and the market was relatively prosperous. Most of the areas on the north bank of the Wusong River near the market are still fields. After the opening of Shanghai, the north of the new and old gates also began to develop, and the name of Zhabei began to appear.

The northern and southern parts of the Zhazha were under the control of the Taiping army, and the original people had fled because of the fighting between the Qing army and the Taiping army in the old and new markets. Later, Lin Qirong summoned the refugees who had been evicted by foreigners to resettle here, and the shipyards, iron shops, and warehouses began to reopen. Lin Qirong gathered a lot of shipwrights, carpenters, blacksmiths and workers to help transport goods among the refugees. This was used as a material base for the Taiping Army. The bamboo rafts, boats and other boats used in the First Battle of the Huangpu River were all made of boats here. The iron chains used in the Hengjiang River are also made by iron shops here, and the medicinal materials and grains transported to Suzhou are also loaded from here and sailed along the Suzhou Creek to Suzhou.

After Xiao Yungui heard Zhou Lichun talk about the situation in the Zhabei area in the camp, he saw that all the generals who stayed in Shanghai were elated, and Xiao Yungui was also happy in his heart. The rest of Jiaxing, Jiashan, Pinghu, Haining and other small counties and towns are not a single drum? The land of southern Jiangsu is already in the hands of the Taiping army in the West Temple.

"His Royal Highness the King of the West, when will we leave Shanghai? After the Qing army in Shanghai received the news that the reinforcements had been surrounded and annihilated yesterday, they were already frightened birds. It was Zhou Xiuying who spoke, and her voice was more masculine than Hong Yun'er's. But it's also very good, but it's still an urgent child, and she was busy asking about leaving the team before Zhou Lichun finished speaking.

Zhou Lichun glanced at Zhou Xiuying again, and just wanted to scold, Xiao Yungui raised his hand and said with a smile: "This battle will start soon, don't worry, when you leave the team, this king will order you to be the vanguard." Zhou Xiuying cheered happily, causing all the generals in the tent to laugh.

At that moment, Xiao Yungui issued an order, concentrating the soldiers and horses on the periphery of Shanghai and the reinforcements brought by Chen Yucheng, a total of 20,000 Taiping troops to prepare to begin the siege of Shanghai City.

In the early morning of the next day, the Taiping army of more than 20,000 people wrapped in red turbans surrounded the city. The Red Turban Army sat on the ground and enjoyed the pre-war meal.

Nanhui near Shanghai is rich in peaches, and the surrounding villages and towns in Nanhui and other places have been occupied by the Taiping army, and the peaches in the peach forest have been bought by the Taiping army. After the meal, each soldier also got a big peach.

Nanhui peaches are very famous, and the famous Ningbo and Wuxi peaches all come from Shanghai. The Yulu peach from Fenghua, Zhejiang Province was introduced from the Yellow Clay Wall in Shanghai in 1883, and the Baihua peach from Wuxi, Jiangsu Province was introduced from Fenghua in the twenties and thirties of the last century. Moreover, in history, Shanghai peaches have also spread overseas, and the epoch-making peach varieties in the United States, Aibaotai and Honggang, were introduced from Shanghai in 1850; Japan's famous peach varieties such as Gangshan White, Okubo, and Baifeng were also selected and bred after the introduction of Shanghai peaches in 1875, and Nanhui's peaches were even tributed to the capital. Now that the peaches are ripe, the Taiping army has purchased a lot of reward soldiers.

At the forefront of the position, under the barracks, the Taiping Army brand swordsmen also got peaches, and a boy who was only fifteen or sixteen years old hid the peaches in his arms. A Guangxi veteran next to him looked at it strangely and asked: "Brother Zhou, why don't you eat it, this is a tribute, it is rumored that these peaches are all tribute to the dog emperor in the capital, can you eat them now?" ”

The young man opened his mouth and smiled, and said stupidly: "Brother, we have never eaten meat before joining the Heavenly Soldiers in our lives, but we ate pork when we were soldiers in Wuhu." At this time, we have got peaches here, so let's keep them and take them back to my mother. ”

The old soldier slapped him on the back of the head with a smile and said, "You stupid boy, it will rot if you leave it for two days, can you wait until you bring it back to your mother?" Hurry up and eat, you're about to attack the city after you've eaten for a while, but don't pee your pants like you were scared like the last time you hit Jinling City. ”

The young man nodded heavily, took out the peach and bit it hard, sure enough, it was full of sweetness, the water was juicy, and he smirked: "Brother Chen, this peach is really delicious." ”

Brother Chen smiled: "That's." This is a goddamn tribute, when we hit Beijing in the future, there will be more delicious food, you kid have to save a small life, and you can enjoy happiness after destroying the Qing demon. ”

As he was talking, he suddenly heard the thunder behind him, and Brother Chen and the others looked back, only to see a few fast horses galloping straight forward, with a yellow armor and yellow scarf in front of him, and behind him was the apricot yellow banner of the king of the west. The person who came was Xiao Yungui, the king of the West, and he only heard him gallop on his horse while asking in a loud voice: "Brothers, is the peach of the Dog Emperor's tribute delicious?" Every time he asked, the Taiping soldiers passing by stood up. Raise your arms and shout, "Delicious! Delicious! ”

Xiao Yungui hahadaxiao, and shouted again: "Wait until you go to Beijing in the future." There are better tastings there. The soldiers of the Taiping Army also shouted: "Hit Beijing!" Hit Beijing! ”

Xiao Yungui went straight to the forefront of the position. Turned over and dismounted, raised his eyes and saw that the young man was still holding half of the uneaten peach standing there and shouting slogans together, so he walked over, haha smiled and said, "Little brother, is this peach delicious?" "The young man knew that he was the king of the West of the Taiping Army in the West Temple, and the god of war praised by everyone. Seeing Xiao Yungui's face and his face full of skull, he was a little scared, and said tremblingly: "It's delicious." King of the West. ”

Xiao Yungui looked at him as if he was a little afraid, frowned and shouted: "With eggs, don't talk like a girl, swallow and vomit, I don't have a soldier under the West Palace." Why are you scared? ”

That Brother Zhou shook his head, he was stunned and didn't dare to say anything, and the big brother Chen beside him hurriedly said: "Your Royal Highness the King of the West, Zhou Huaiying is not afraid, he has never seen you, so he is a little in awe." ”

Xiao Yungui scolded with a smile: "Fear a bird, come here!" Let's line up and pee on the clear dogs in the city! With that, he beckoned a group of card knife players to stand in a row and pee towards Shanghai City. It is already very close to the Shanghai city wall, and it is already within the range of guns, and it is strange to say that the Qing army in the city is lifeless, and they do not let go of one shot at a time, allowing the Taiping army under the city to be humiliated and abused.

After urinating, Xiao Yungui hahadaxiao said to Zhou Huaiying: "Did you see it?" I have only one bird, and I am not one longer than you, so what am you afraid of what I will do? The swordsmen of all cards roared up.

Xiao Yungui pointed to the Qing army in the city and said: "You see, the Qing demons in the city are like ashes, we humiliate them so much, they don't even have the courage to fire a few shots and shoot a few shots, this Shanghai city can definitely be broken with one blow, and the city will be attacked later, don't be afraid of these Qing demons, if you roar, his legs will be weak, you know?" All the swordsmen shouted together: "Yes! ”

Hearing only the three cannon shots behind him, Xiao Yungui hurriedly turned over and shouted: "All the armies are ready, listen to the order, and prepare for war!" ”

"Prepare for war! Prepare for battle! The former military swordsmen shouted loudly, and the artillery of the rear army began to roar, and the musketeers of the Taiping army rushed to the high ground and began to pour ammunition on the city. For a time, the city of Shanghai was shrouded in smoke, the fire was raging, and there was chaos.

The banner soldiers of the former army commander showed the red flag, which was the order to start the attack, and thousands of swordsmen of the front army held shields, carried long ladders with hooks and cables and other siege equipment to rush to the city wall. The Qing army in the city was weak and weak, but they were quickly suppressed by the firearms of the Taiping army.

Xiao Yungui returned to the rear army formation, Li Xuanji had already heard the absurd thing that King Xi led a group of soldiers to pee on the city in the front formation, and couldn't help but frown with a red face and muttered in a low voice: "Go fooling around again, running so close, if any Qing demon shakes his hand and puts a cannon, wouldn't it be very dangerous?" When Xi Wang Niang was not there, no one dared to care about him. ”

Li Xuanji's muttering was very small, Xiao Yungui didn't hear it, and when he returned to the formation, he smiled and said to the generals: "Sun Tzu's art of war is cloudy, where the city is besieged, the city's complexion is like dead ashes, the city can be slaughtered, this Shanghai city is slaughtered!" ”

Li Xuanji pursed his lips and said: "Nonsense again, this sentence is from Liutao, and the word slaughter in the city can be slaughtered does not mean slaughter, but can be attacked." ”

Li Xuanji's words were a little louder, and the people around him heard it clearly, Xiao Yungui's old face was red, and he dropped his bookbag and adjusted it wrong, so he had to laugh twice to cover it up, but seeing Li Xuanji's white and red little face looking at him with a hint of gloom, Xiao Yungui couldn't help but think, the four-eyed sister is not here, this Xuanji sister is so smart, why don't you wait for a chance to get close to Shanghai after you take Shanghai City?

Just as he was talking about it, several generals around him cheered in unison, "Attack!" "It's already on the top of the city!"

Xiao Yungui hurriedly opened it and looked at it with a clairhandly mirror, only to see that the former military swordsman with a red scarf had already attacked the city, and it seemed that the Qing army in Shanghai City really had no fighting spirit.

Xiao Yungui said to Zhou Lichun and Chen Yucheng: "The rest of the matter is left to you, the front army can enter the city, and the rest of the military horses are stationed outside the city." Wipe out the remnants of the enemy in the city, and those who surrender will not die, Wu Jianzhang, the dog official and the king, doesn't want to see him, so he will kill him with a knife! After resting for half a day, we will send troops to sweep Songjiang, Jinshan, Jiashan and other places early tomorrow morning! The generals were commanded. (To be continued......)