After the confluence of the two Taiping fleets in Shanghai and Ningbo, they rested for a day and replenished fresh water, fresh vegetables, melons and fruits, and grain, and then the troops led by Tongbao monks, Lu Shunde, and Zhao Shunping marched to Xiamen. Accompanying the ship was the British Vice-Consul in Shanghai, Wei Tuma, who was entrusted by Wen Han to mediate between the Qing and Taiping armies so that Xiamen could peacefully escape the war.

The huge fleet walked at sea for several days, and encountered several times with the Fujian Qing army sailors on the way, but the Qing army sailors saw that the Taiping army fleet was strong, and they did not dare to engage in battle, so they avoided one after another. Monk Tongbao originally wanted to send a clipper to catch up and annihilate, but Lu Shunde suggested that it was important to hurry, so the monk gave up.

On this day, when he arrived at the sea of Fuzhou, he saw the patrol fleet of the Qing army's sailors peeping in front again, and the monk Tongbao was very angry, so he wanted to drive away these nasty flies, so he ordered the ships of the Taiping army to anchor in the sea off the Minjiang River, and led dozens of warships to drive them away. When the Qing navy sailor patrol ships saw the Taiping military ships coming, they immediately shrank into the Minjiang River channel. The monk Tongbao chased after the fleet until the port of Mawei in Fuzhou, where the Qing army and sailors were heavily guarded, and the batteries on the shore were also on standby. Wei Tuoma proposed that he go ashore to negotiate with the Qing generals, and as soon as the monk Tongbao discussed with Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping, he let Wei Tuoma take a British merchant ship flying the British flag to Mawei Port.

Half a day later, he returned to the ship and told the generals of the Taiping army about the negotiations. Wei Tuoma met Wang Yide, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang of the Qing court, on the Mawei Port Fort, and briefly explained that the Taiping army went to Xiamen to pick up the subordinates there and return Xiamen to the Qing army. But the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang was very arrogant, saying that the imperial court never negotiated with the rebels, and the rebels in Xiamen could either surrender or die.

After saying that, Wittoma shrugged and said, "Generals, I think you should fight. What we British think we can't talk about verbally, we can only let the muzzle speak, otherwise our fleet is huge, and there are Qing army sailors on the side of Xiamen, and it will be very uncomfortable for them to join forces with the sailors of Fuzhou to flank us. ”

Monk Tongbao rolled up his sleeves and said, "How is it?" Even foreigners say that it's better to fight, let's just let it go, the demon will not be afraid if he doesn't fight! Hey, this foreign benefactor, did you also send a boat to fight the demons with us? ”

After listening to the translation, Wei Tuma shook his head again and again, "No, no. We are only responsible for transporting people and cargo for you, not in the war between you, and you are also responsible for protecting our ships according to the charter agreement. ”

Monk Tongbao puffed up: "It's really fucking not enough friends." Then he turned his head to Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping and said, "Let's send more red boats to come forward and sink a few more of the Qing Demon's warships." We just don't go ashore. ”

In the First Battle of Shanghai, the Taiping army sank most of the Red Dan and Crab Boats. However, in the chaos, many red single boats and fast crab boats ran aground. At the same time, the Taiping army also captured many red single boats and fast crab boats in the broadside battle. After the war, these ships were slightly repaired, and the Taiping army repaired some salvaged sunken ships, and the Taiping army had a total of 15 red single boats and more than 40 fast crab boats.

The Red Fleet was equipped with more Western artillery, ranging from fifteen to twenty guns per ship. In terms of firepower alone, it is more ferocious than the lucky boats, fast crab boats and sand boats of the Qing army's sailors. At that moment, Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping agreed to the strategy of the Tongbao monk and sent a red single boat and a fast crab boat to attack, and they were also angered by the fly-like stalking of the Qing army's sailors along the way.

The Qing army originally thought that the Taiping army fleet was going south to attack Fuzhou or a port, but Wang Yide received a report from the sailors that a large number of long-haired sailors were heading south. He was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time. Southern Jiangsu was lost, the Qing court was furious, Emperor Xianfeng had come several times to apply for punishment, Wang Yide was demoted to three levels because of the unfavorable rescue of Suzhou and Hangzhou, Emperor Xianfeng limited him to recover Xiamen in the shortest possible time, and then waved his army north to counterattack Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Wang Yide also had a very headache for the rebellion in Xiamen, although Li Tingyu led 30,000 land and water troops to seal Xiamen impenetrable, but since the fall of Xiamen to today, it has been more than 70 days, the Qing army and the rebels have fought more than 40 battles, although the Qing army won more and lost less, but Xiamen's rebellion is to defend to the death, the periphery of Xiamen has changed hands several times, and both sides have killed red eyes.

Wang Yide was already exhausted when he was in Fuzhou to transfer troops and grain, and the money, food, ammunition, and equipment supplied to the front army were a large sum of silver every day, and Wang Yide had tried all the channels that could be raised. Just when Wang Yide was anxious, Li Tingyu from Xiamen came with good news, according to the confession of the recently captured prisoner, the food in Xiamen had run out, and the people in the city were panicking. Wang Yide breathed a sigh of relief, he had already seen the dawn of breaking the city and recovering Xiamen.

It's a pity that the bad news came next, Ningbo fell, Wang Yide sent a sailor to patrol the northern seas, he was worried that the pirates in Ningbo would take the opportunity to go south to make trouble, and there was really a fleet going south recently, but he didn't think it was the banner of the long-haired thief.

Wang Yide was also a cadre, and after receiving the report, he immediately strengthened the defense of Fuzhou, and sent troops to issue an alarm, ordering the coastal state capitals to be on strict alert to prevent Changmao from landing. Fuzhou is a key place, and Wang Yide himself is in Fuzhou, so he transferred most of the fleet of the Fujian Navy Division to Fuzhou to guard. Wang Yide heard that there were nearly 1,000 ships of the size of the long-haired sailor, but he didn't dare to take the initiative to find the ballast, anyway, just guard his old nest in Fuzhou.

But I didn't expect the Taiping army's large fleet to come straight to the south, Wang Yide was very nervous, if the Taiping army came to fight Fuzhou, and if Fuzhou was lost if one couldn't get it, then he didn't want to escape, he would be martyred with Fuzhou City, because even if he could escape, Xianfeng would not let him go. Therefore, Wang Yide was like a great enemy, and ordered all the sailors and land divisions to be on guard and prepare to defend Fuzhou.

After Wang Yide set up the Jiashi for the fierce battle, the fleet of the Taiping army did not attack, but foreign merchant ships came to negotiate. Wang Yide must have been relieved when the Taiping army went to Xiamen to save people, since the Taiping army had no intention of attacking Fuzhou, he also picked up his official frame and Wei Tuma around the mountains and rivers for a long time, anyway, he must not offend the foreigners, but in a word, he will not agree to the Taiping army to go south to pick up people, nor negotiate with the rebels.

To tell the truth, Wang Yide was very angry, when had he ever seen such an arrogant rebellion, and he actually colluded with the foreign Yi to bargain with the imperial court, you must know that even if the imperial court is forgiving the rebellion, it is also necessary to have a graceful decree to recruit peace, and there is no such high-sounding bargaining with the official army.

Who knows that the long hair is bold. Soon after the foreigners returned, more than a dozen red single boats and more than 20 fast crab boats in the long-haired fleet flew out of the formation and viciously pounced on the Qing army sailors in Mawei Port on the Minjiang River.

The Fujian Navy Division of the Qing Army stationed here only had dozens of ships, most of which were transferred to Xiamen by Li Tingyu, and the rest were small boats, where was the opponent of the imposing Taiping Army Sailors?

The two sides began an artillery battle, the Qing army ships were small, the artillery was small, and they were running around in the harbor, after all, the monk Tongbao was a pirate at sea for many years, and the foreigners also fought many naval battles. Very familiar with the essence of naval warfare, he let the red single boats line up, seize the upper hand T-shaped position, and block all the poor boats of the Qing army's sailors in the harbor. After a burst of artillery fire, almost all the ships of the Qing army's naval division were sunk in the harbor. The Taiping army then shelled the batteries on the shore.

The seven forts of the Qing army were also well arranged, and the artillery battle lasted for half an hour. Monk Tongbao can't take advantage of it. If he continued to fight, he would definitely have losses, and the goal of defeating the Qing army's hated boats had been achieved, and he immediately ordered the whole army to withdraw from the mouth of the Min River.

Wei Tuoma watched the whole battle of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Navy, and said to Rear Admiral Hurley, who accompanied him: "Major, what do you think of these Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Navy? ”

Hurley smiled slightly, raised his proud head and said, "They're just a bunch of pirates. Their ships and artillery were superior to the Qing army, and they were outnumbered by the Qing army, and of course they were able to win. If we were the British Navy, we would only need one warship to send them all to sea. ”

Wittoma smiled and said, "Really? Major, you're proud, and that's a good thing. But never underestimate the attitude of the opponent to learn, you can imagine that the rebels of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were only fighting in the interior last year, and in a short period of time, they have already extended their hands to the ocean. Their spirit of learning and daring to try things have far outstripped the Manchu government, and they will be a potential adversary. ”

Hurley shook his head and said, "Mr. Vice Consul, our current opponent is only the Russians. ”

Wei Tuma did not talk to him again, but stood on the side of the ship and looked at the officers and soldiers of the Taiping Army who were cheering and shouting, and said to himself: "Could it be that the short emperor of France is right? China is a sleeping lion that will be invincible once he wakes up? ”

After the victory, the Taiping army's fleet that broke through into the Min River returned to the open sea, and after a short group, it continued on its way. Wang Yide of Fuzhou fled back to Fuzhou City after the Taiping Army began to bombard the fort, and he did not come to the fort to watch until his subordinates came to report for the third time that the Changmao fleet was gone.

Sure enough, the long-haired fleet had gone clean, leaving only the wreckage of the Qing army's broken warships and countless corpses of sailors on the river, and Wang Yide was speechless in a daze.

One of Wang Yide's staff members stepped forward and said: "General Xian, it seems that the long-haired thief is a traitor who really just wants to take back Xiamen. The rich lands of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces are all on the coast, if the long-haired thieves break the Xiamen sailors, they can escape the sea, and we have nothing to control, but it is very unfavorable. Now, as long as Lord Zongxian still has soldiers and sailors in his hands, the imperial court will not be too embarrassed. Let the long-haired thieves take the thieves in Xiamen, we can recover Xiamen without a single soldier, and we can protect the sailors, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds? ”

Wang Yide stroked the goat's beard under his chin and muttered: "That's what I said, but I'm afraid that the court will know about it in the future, and it is inevitable that no one will participate in the old man's collusion with the traitor." ”

The staff member smiled and said, "This matter is easy to hear, isn't there a foreigner involved in it?" The adults did their best to stabilize the situation in Fujian, and they did not offend the people and cause disasters, but also recovered Xiamen and expelled hundreds of long-haired thieves from the fleet of sailors, how can others say anything? Besides, it was Li Tingyu and Li Junmen who besieged Xiamen. ”

Wang Yide asked hesitantly: "Then will Li Tingyu agree to do this?" ”

The staff member smiled and said: "Lord Zongxian, rest assured, Li Junmen's family is trapped in Xiamen City, he wants to recover Xiamen as soon as possible more than anyone else, the villain is willing to go to Xiamen, as long as the rebellion can keep Li Junmen's family safe, I believe that Li Junmen will definitely agree to change hands with Changmao in Xiamen." ”

Wang Yide snorted, pondered for a moment and said: "It's okay, you go to Xiamen immediately with the old man's official document, the old man will only tell Li Tingyu about the war here, and the words next to him will not be implemented, so it depends on your mouth to say it." ”

The staff member bowed down and smiled: "Don't worry, Lord Chief, the villain will definitely succeed." (To be continued......)