It was already the early morning of the next day, but Zhang Guoliang's death did not come, the reason was that the wind and clouds suddenly changed in the middle of the night yesterday, under the dark clouds, the torrential rain came without warning, although the heat of the past few days fell, but the city of Suzhou was muddy inside and outside.

In this era, there were no asphalt roads, and the better official roads were paved with stone slabs and gravel, and there were many rivers and lakes near Suzhou City.

Heavy rain fell overnight, and the next morning the water was three feet deep, and the inside and outside of Suzhou were as muddy as swamps, and only the slightly higher places did not suffer from rain erosion.

After getting up early in the morning, Zhang Guoliang was ecstatic, and said to Xu Naizhao: "Lord Futai, look, look, even God has helped us." ”

Xu Naizhao was old with tears in his eyes, facing the north and crying silently: "God bless, the emperor is blessed with all the heavens, let Suzhou rain in the sky, and the long-haired thieves will not be able to attack the city in the near future." ”

The Qing army in Suzhou City cheered like an amnesty, and the rain was still falling in the early morning, and the Qing army was jumping in the rain bare-chested, as if the battle had been won.

The torrential rain in the middle of the night woke Xiao Yungui up, and he walked out of the wing room of the Huqiu Courtyard, looking at the storm and couldn't speak for a long time. After a while, Hong Yun'er, Zuo Zongtang, Ji Wenyuan, Chen Yucheng and others also arrived one after another, and they were all woken up by the storm. Everyone knew in their hearts that under such a torrential rain, soaked with firearms, how would tomorrow's offensive be launched? Everyone came to the outside of the Xiwang's residence, and let the heavy rain drench their bodies, and everyone including Xiao Yungui stood in the courtyard and couldn't speak for a long time.

A lightning bolt flashed, thunder rumbled endlessly, and in the heavy rain, Chen Yucheng angrily raised his hand to the sky and said loudly: "God, what kind of rain are you raining at this time?" Are you deliberately not letting us destroy the Qing Demon?! ”

The crowd was silent. Originally, today's reinforcements arrived, and the city wall of Suzhou could be broken tomorrow, but I didn't expect that there would be a torrential rain on this juncture, and some people who were superstitious would think, is it really God who blesses the kingdom of heaven?

The thunder woke up Xiao Yungui, and he called Hong Yun'er to ask in a low voice, "This rain is coming quickly, could it be that a typhoon has landed?" ”

Hong Yun'er nodded and sighed: "It's really like the rain brought by the typhoon landing in Hangzhou Bay, but unfortunately there is no weather forecast for this year, but judging from the rain." Most of the time you can't go wrong. ”

Xiao Yungui clenched his fists and sighed lightly: "It's a pity, if it doesn't rain, we will definitely be able to break through Suzhou as soon as the morning dawns!" ”

Hong Yun'er bit her red lip and said, "Why don't you wait and see, will the rain stop after dawn?" ”

Xiao Yungui looked at Zuo Zongtang, Zuo Zongtang wiped the rain on his face and said, "The rain is too big." Don't think about attacking Suzhou yet, for now, we should move all the soldiers and horses in the low-lying areas to the higher places as soon as possible. There are many rivers and lakes near Suzhou. If the lakes and rivers overflow, our army will be defeated without a fight. ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and shouted in the heavy rain: "The generals will listen to the order!" His voice was so majestic that it overshadowed the sound of the storm, and all the generals gathered around him.

"Now return to the camps, gather all the men and horses in the low-lying areas, and move to the nearby high ground. All battalions should grab firearms, red medicine, food and other materials as soon as possible, and as much as they can grab! My West Temple is in accordance with the will of the Heavenly Father to crusade against Hunu, and this rain is just a test given to us by the Heavenly Father! I believe that the hearts of the people are united and Mount Tai moves! As long as we work together in the West Temple. We will be able to pass this test that God has given us! What is a clear demon? What is a rainstorm? No matter how hard it is, we will definitely be able to get through it! Xiao Yungui shouted loudly in the heavy rain, he didn't think too much about it at this moment, he just wanted to call on everyone to actively get out of the predicament, he didn't believe in anything God blessed at all, maybe his good luck came to an end, but he couldn't sit still, maybe gritted his teeth and pushed through, he could see the rainbow!

After hearing this, the generals of the Taiping Army in the West Hall swept away the shock just now, many of them firmly believed in the Heavenly Father Emperor God, and believed that the Heavenly Father would help them, but when they encountered setbacks, especially this sudden change in the sky, they would inevitably be cranky, but fortunately, Xiao Yungui stopped drinking, so that everyone understood that these were the tests of the Heavenly Father, and everyone was in good spirits.

At that moment, Zuo Zongtang stood up and opened his mouth to assign tasks, he was still familiar with the layout of each battalion, he could understand the location of each battalion one by one by just by memory, and Zuo Zongtang also knew the topography near Suzhou, and casually redefined the location of the camps, which was already the most reasonable layout.

After receiving the order, the generals saluted the king of the west and the mother of the king, and turned around and rushed to the camps in the heavy rain.

Seeing that the generals were leaving, Xiao Yungui let out a sigh of relief and said to Hong Yun'er and Zuo Zongtang: "Let's also go to check everywhere separately, I'm afraid I'll be restless if I take shelter from the rain in the house." ”

Hong Yun'er smiled and said: "In fact, everything has a haode side and a bad side, this rainstorm may bring us good things, for example, our king of the west is more strong and resolute." Hong Yun'er's meaning is very clear, in the past, this rich young master would only hide in the house and enjoy happiness when he encountered this kind of drudgery, maybe he has experienced a lot, he is also slowly changing, he began to know what it means to have a sense of responsibility and share weal and woe.

Xiao Yungui glanced at her, snorted and said, "This king has always been strong and resolute. Then he frowned and said, "Wait, Xuanjiao, you said that this rainstorm has a haode side and a bad side?" ”

Hong Yun'er nodded inexplicably, and Zuo Zongtang suddenly said: "This heavy rain has come suddenly, although it is difficult for us to use troops, but it is the same for the Qing army, maybe the two generals Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang in Hangzhou can also breathe a sigh of relief." ”

Xiao Yungui clapped his hands and said happily: "Yes, this rainstorm is a tropical storm transformed into a typhoon after landfall, and if it lands from Hangzhou Bay, it will also affect Hangzhou, and under the heavy rain for several days, the Qing army's offensive will definitely be blocked!" ”

Zuo Zongtang did not understand what is a typhoon and a tropical storm, in ancient times called typhoons mostly gale or hurricanes, historical records record that on July 14, the 12th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, the night of the hurricane was steep, heavy rain, the tide overflowed, Tianhe was flooded, the people were drifted, and more than 20,000 people drowned in Shanghai and Nanhui counties alone. The word typhoon originates from the saying in Fujian, which means the wind from Taiwan, Zuo Zongtang is a Hunan person naturally did not understand, seeing that Zuo Zongtang was a little puzzled, Hong Yuner explained again.

At this time, there is no satellite cloud image, in fact, this typhoon did not land from Hangzhou Bay, but in Wenzhou, Fujian, and then turned into a tropical storm, sweeping Wenzhou, Lishui, Jinhua, Shaoxing, Hangzhou, Huzhou and other places. Despite this, it still has a very big impact on the Suzhou area, and if it were a typhoon that landed in Hangzhou Bay, perhaps Xiao Yungui would not be able to stand and talk in the courtyard.

Speaking of the possibility that the Qing army in Hangzhou might be affected by the heavy rain and temporarily withdraw its troops, the three of them also breathed a sigh of relief, but the reinforcements of the Taiping Army Li Xiucheng to Hangzhou will also be affected, so nature is fair to both sides, without any favoritism.

Then the three of them rushed to various camps to check the water potential, sure enough, the heavy rain in a short period of time caused serious waterlogging to the low-lying areas, the Taiping soldiers desperately carried these various materials in the wind and rain, and the horses were also gathered up to drive to the high places, and even the torches were extinguished in the strong wind and rain, and everyone could only rely on the weak fire light of the cowhide lantern to rescue the materials in the dark and rainy night.

Until after dawn, the rain was a little lighter but did not stop, and many people were exhausted, but they found that the generals such as King Xi and Queen Niang were always by everyone's side, and they were not complaining or tired, and they were still working hard.

Xiao Yungui's robe had already been soaked in mud, and he and more than a dozen soldiers of the artillery team struggled to pull the rope and pull a jack cannon out of the mud.

Such scenes can be seen everywhere, and at this time, Xiao Yungui fully felt the collective liliang. There are no grandiose words, only a roaring trumpet, no sensational statements, only the Guangxi mile song sung by everyone when they are working, and no one is cheating and playing tricks, only walking side by side in the wind and rain. Xiao Yungui began to understand that he was a member of this collective, a member of flesh and blood!

Fortunately, the rain has decreased, and the water level has not increased again, but has begun to decline gradually, and the soldiers of each battalion continue to search for and carry the available things, Xiao Yungui ordered Chen Yucheng to lead a team of soldiers and horses to patrol the surroundings to prevent the Qing army from sneaking attack. In fact, the waterlogging in the city was not much better, and the lowest part of the city was chest-deep, and the Qing army did not dare to go out of the city to engage in battle.

Later, Xiao Yungui sent a scout horse to Hangzhou and Shanghai to inquire about the news, and he wanted to know the current situation in the two places as soon as possible.

The heavy rain gradually stopped in the evening, and the water receded quickly, but the outside of Suzhou City became a muddy field, Xiao Yungui was afraid that there would be another big plague after the flood, so he urgently ordered all battalions to boil the water before drinking.

The soldiers and horses of each battalion were tired all night, except for a small number of men and horses to guard against the sneak attack of the Qing army, the rest of the troops were resting in the camp, and they had no strength to go out to attack the city again, Xiao Yungui had to order the troops to recuperate, stabilize the new camp, and wait for the weather to improve.

The sky was gloomy for a few days, and it rained from time to time, the mud still continued, the west hall lost a lot of gunpowder and cannonballs, and the flowering shells were mixed with mud and sand when they opened, they could not be used at all, Xiao Yungui even wanted to go back to Shanghai again to purchase more arms to help the war. But as Hong Yun'er said, sometimes there is a haode side to bad things, and then the plague that broke out in Suzhou City made Xiao Yungui dispel the idea of going to Shanghai.

On this day, Hangzhou, Shanghai and other places returned to the horses, Hangzhou was also flooded, the Qing army and the Taiping army were waiting in the mud, Li Xiucheng was blocked in Huzhou and could not reach Hangzhou. There was no rain on the Shanghai side, and the water battle that broke out at Wusongkou ended in a great victory for the Taiping army, and Lin Qirong was luring the enemy deep into the next battle.

Xiao Yungui breathed a sigh of relief, and at this time, Zuo Zongtang outside the house walked in quickly and said: "There are refugees dressed as Qing army in the city who have been captured by us, and the Qing army spies say that there is a plague in the city!" (To be continued......)