Three miles outside the Nanyuan camp of the Taiping Army in the capital, Seng Greenqin and Li Hongzhang stood under the handsome banner, watching the Qing army attack the Taiping army's Nanyuan peripheral position like ants, but the Taiping army was heavily entrenched in the outer camp of the camp, and there were barbed wire, mines and other killing weapons arranged, hundreds of Taiping troops on the position occupied favorable terrain, rear-loading rifled fast guns continued to fire, and the Western-style artillery on several trench batteries in the camp continued to bombard, and the Qing army suffered several setbacks and was difficult to continue.

At this moment, the left and right wings of the camp burst out of sky-high flames, and the sky-high flames were ignited in the same direction, and the faces of Monk Greenqin and Li Hongzhang changed, and they didn't speak at each other. After a short time, several sentries rode up to report that the military horses sent to the left and right flanks to outflank them were attacked by the Taiping army's burning rockets, and all the soldiers and horses who rushed into the enemy formation were raped, and the follow-up soldiers and horses were blocked by the sea of fire, making it difficult to advance.

After listening, Li Hongzhang sighed lightly and said to the monk Greenqin: "Lord, it seems that the Queen Mother and her old man expected it very accurately, although the pseudo-king of the West led the main force of long-haired to pursue the foreign soldiers, but the three large camps outside the capital are still impregnable, if we want to break through here, we have to lose tens of thousands of horses." ”

Monk Greenqin waved the whip in his hand hatefully, and said angrily: "The three big battalions, each with long hair, left more than 1,000 soldiers and horses to guard the palace, so despise our officers and soldiers, and bully no one in our army? Even if tens of thousands of horses are lost today, they will also vow to break the camp here. Otherwise, when the long-haired army returns to the division, the three battalions will no longer be able to break through. ”

Li Hongzhang persuaded again: "Lord Wang, destroying the city and destroying the village pays attention to one blow, and now it has been a fierce battle for half a day, and the soldiers have no size to advance, and the morale has been discharged. It would be in vain to attack again. ”

Monk Greenqin is already as angry as a bullfight, where is he willing to listen? Only let the drummers beat the drums and urge the soldiers in front to continue the attack. And let the military law team stand guard in the back, and strictly order the military law team. The soldiers who dare to take a step back, regardless of the size of their official positions, will be cut in front of the battle!

The outflanking of the left and right flanks failed, and the Qing army had to attack head-on, but after a fierce battle for half a day, the soldiers no longer had the heart to fight, and they were exhausted.

The Qing army launched another attack with a soft and soft attack, but this time the Taiping army stopped the Qing army's offensive under the suppression of guns. The Taiping army actually sounded the trumpet of the charge on the position. Monk Greenqin and Li Hongzhang have been guarding the Taiping Army in Huaishang and Lin Fengxiang for many years, and they also know the meaning of the Taiping Army's trumpet. ”

And the next scene made Seng Lingqin and Li Hongzhang even more stunned, the thousands of Qing troops who attacked head-on were driven back by a countercharge of the Taiping army, which was ten times smaller than them, and the Qing army scattered and broke away, and even the military law team was coerced and retreated. The Taiping army's charge pursued and killed not many people, but their own family trampled on each other in order to escape for their lives, and countless casualties were killed.

The defeated soldiers rolled in, which disrupted the formation of Seng Greenqin's Chinese army, and Monk Greenqin personally drew his sword and slashed several defeated soldiers and couldn't stop. In desperation, Seng Lingqin and Li Hongzhang had to lead the soldiers and horses to retreat two miles to stabilize their positions.

The Taiping army that counter-charged did not chase far, and when they saw the Qing army retreating, they withdrew their troops and continued to strengthen the defensive position. Just waiting for the Qing army to attack, and did not leave the strong fortifications.

After retreating two miles. Monk Greenqin finally restrained the defeated soldiers, and killed several thousand generals on the spot, and put the generals to show military discipline. Then he ordered the soldiers to reorganize, and when he saw that the soldiers were also tired, he ordered the army to prepare food on the spot, and prepare to attack again after they were full.

After the meal, when Seng Greenqin was about to order the troops to continue the attack, the eunuch who passed the decree came to the capital, and Monk Greenqin and Li Hongzhang came in to take a look, but the person who came was Li Lianying, the little eunuch. After Li Lianying and the monks Lingqin and Li Hongzhang saw the salute, they smiled and said: "Lord Wang, Lord Li, our family came here on the instructions of the emperor and the queen mother, and the emperor and the queen mother asked how the battle was going?" ”

After Monk Greenqin's face turned purple and red, Li Hongzhang saw it and hurriedly told him about the battle situation, and finally only said: "Please return to the Queen Mother, although there are occasional small setbacks in front of the army, but the officers and men in the army have the unyielding heart of repeated defeats and battles, and if you attack for a day or two, the long-haired camp will be broken." ”

Li Lianying hummed and said, "Monk King, Lord Li, don't worry, our family will definitely report this to you." It's just that the Queen Mother asked again, if Longhair returns to the teacher, what can she do? There is also news from Jizhou and other places in the north, the rebels such as the traitor Mianyu and Ronglu have attacked Jizhou and other northern prefectures and counties in the capital, and they must also be painstakingly washed. ”

Monk Lingqin said: "Please rest assured that the Queen Mother has been fighting for half a day, although the long hair has defeated the officers and soldiers with the advantage of firearms, but they have few people, and the food and ammunition are almost exhausted. After cutting off a large camp in Changmao, the siege of the capital can be relieved for a while, and then a force can be raised to chase and kill Mianyu, Ronglu and other rebels. ”

Li Hongzhang added: "Gonggong Li, please return to the Queen Mother, there are more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in the capital, and the monk and his subordinates will lead 30,000 soldiers and horses out of the city to attack the enemy. ”

Li Lianying nodded and arched her hand slightly: "Then our family will go back to report." Then he left the camp. Monk Greenqin and Li Hongzhang were sent to the gate of the camp, and after seeing Li Lianying leave, Li Hongzhang said worriedly: "The Queen Mother is not unreasonable, if our soldiers and horses are damaged too much, we will not be able to send troops and horses to encircle and suppress Mianyu, Ronglu and other departments, if the rebels of this department run into Shanxi or go far away, it will become a big trouble." ”

Monk Greenqin also sighed worriedly: "The country is troubled, but I didn't expect to cause a disaster Xiao Wall, King Gong and others united many princes and ministers to play the Queen Mother, I have to let me go out of the city first to fight a dozen long-haired camps, if I can win, I can persuade the Queen Mother to form an alliance with foreigners to fight against Longhair." But at this moment, the army is not good, and the 30,000 army besieges a large camp guarded by thousands of people and does not resist, so he knows that the long-haired army is fierce, and he is afraid that King Gong's wishful thinking will be disappointed again. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded and said: "Yes, originally Na Pa Xia Li has begun to loosen his mouth and can discuss the compensation of military expenses, but the Queen Mother is cautious, so she agreed to let us fight a dozen first, and now that the soldiers are dull, the Queen Mother may not give too many opportunities." ”

Monk Greenqin hesitated for a moment and said: "Shaoquan, at first the Queen Mother refused to join forces with the foreign to fight against Changmao, and the king only returned that the Queen Mother hated foreigners as much as I did, but in the past few days, the foreigners have collapsed, and Pashali's attitude has begun to soften, and the amount of military compensation is also being discussed. ”

Li Hongzhang was slightly stunned, and asked in a low voice, "What does the prince mean?" Monk Lingqin frowned and said: "This king suspects that the queen mother deliberately allowed Changmao to attack foreigners, and she was helping Changmao." ”

Li Hongzhang was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "The prince is cautious, don't guess indiscriminately. The Queen Mother's move must be just out of prudence, after all, the Queen Mother is a woman, and she has never experienced such a big battle, so it is understandable to be cautious. Lord Wang, having said that, even if we have more than 100,000 troops, you are sure that you will capture the three camps of Changmao in a short time, and then pursue Changmao in the field, or even defeat Changmao? ”

Monk Lingqin was silent for a moment before he said: "This king is not sure, today and the elite of the long-haired north, I know that the long-haired Lin Fengxiang and our fierce battle did not go all out, the first army under the command of the pseudo-king of the West is known as the most elite of the long-haired army, and today it can be seen that the minister's combat power is not under the foreign soldiers, although our soldiers and horses are numerous, but they are all rabble, especially those Shanxi soldiers and the soldiers of the Eight Banners of the capital, they are all mixed to eat and wait for death, no matter how many people there are, it will be useless. ”

Li Hongzhang hummed and said: "Zhao, Xu is Queen Mother also sees our shortcomings, she is conservative, and she is not secretly helping Changmao." ”

Monk Lingqin said hatefully: "Whether it is long haired or foreigners, they only hate our armor is not good, if not, how can we be bullied?" The three camps of Changmao besieged the capital, which was really a great shame. ”

Li Hongzhang comforted: "A few days ago, the edict of King Qin issued by the Queen Mother has been widely distributed, I believe that it will not be long before soldiers and horses from all over the city will gather in the capital, Changmao has not been able to open up land transportation, and the sea connection will be severed because of the bad relations with foreigners, and the three camps of Changmao will inevitably be broken after ten months, so there is no need to worry too much." ”

Monk Greenqin snorted and said: "Shaoquan, you can't be deceived by a three-year-old child, the long-haired Chen Yucheng has already captured Sichuan, and the land of Shanxi is about to be invaded by him, what troops can be transferred from Henan, Hebei and other directly subordinate places?" Didn't the two soldiers and horses listen to it in the capital? Huaishang elite soldiers, do you dare to move? If it moves, Lin Fengxiang's big insect will not be able to bear it for a long time, and it will definitely attack Huaishang, if Huaishang is lost, the long hair will drive straight in, and sooner or later it will open up the connection with the capital, and then it will be the disaster of national turmoil. ”

Li Hongzhang was also silent for a moment before he said: "I can only hope for the Mongolian ministries and the soldiers and horses outside the Guan." ”

After the two were silent for a moment, Monk Greenqin ordered someone to raise the account, and after the generals of the various departments arrived, Monk Greenqin rearranged his troops and prepared to continue to storm the Nanyuan camp. The generals of the various departments have been suffering from the battle in the morning, and no one wants to be the vanguard of the first battle, and finally the monk Greenqin ordered the generals to draw lots, and finally a general in Shanxi drew lots, so he urged the soldiers and horses to start preparing for the attack with a bitter face.

In the afternoon, the scorching sun of the battle, the stench between the corpse mountains and the sea of blood was unpleasant, the Qing soldiers struggled to go up, and were quickly defeated by the counterattack, and then the reorganized army was intimidated by the officer's whip and sword to attack again, but it was still weak and weak.

The battle to dusk, the troops will take turns to fight, in addition to the consumption of the Taiping army's ammunition, there is no size of the advance, just when the Qing army is sleepy and lacking, the Taiping army of more than 1,000 cavalry from the north to kill, but the cavalry stationed in the north Tongzhou camp to get a Taiping army back to the division support, then abandon the camp to support the Nanyuan camp. When the Qing army was sleepy and lacking horses, and the soldiers had no fighting spirit, they were killed by a new cavalry, and naturally they were defeated like a mountain, and finally Seng Lingqin and Li Hongzhang had to lead less than 20,000 defeated soldiers back to the capital. (To be continued......)