Xiang Rong and Qi Shan received the order, and they did not dare to slack off, attacking the east and advancing south, relaxing day and night, and in a few days, the two armies would meet in Anqing.

Xiang Rong disdained Qi Shan, and said: Although the soldiers led by Qi Shan, the minister of the Qin Mission, although they are a vital force, they have never been a big enemy, and they dare not take the lead in a sudden order. The minister's soldiers go first, and Qi Shan's military power is followed as a response, and the front team of soldiers is brave enough to make their eyes clear and courageous, and know the tricks of thieves, and then order the only side to block the side, which is a foolproof strategy.

On March 30, 1853, Xiang Rong chased to Jinling, explored the terrain, and said: The reverse should dig more pits outside the city, densely covered with bamboo sticks, and build an earthen city around the Changshou Bridge, and even set up several camps, and the precautions are very strict, so as to block the advance of our soldiers. In addition, there are small rivers, and there is no place to go around. The GIs had to attack from the bridge. It should be held against the wall, and our troops will attack, and it will be difficult to exert it. If you don't avoid the real and attack the false, you can't succeed. Because of the area of Xiaoling and Chunhua Town on Chadong Road, the terrain is spacious, and it is easier to attack, and it can also stifle the land route of thieves and Su Chang. Immediately, the troops circled around the area of Moling Pass, galloped to the east road, camped in Dudi, and attacked with cameras.

On the 31st, Xiang Rong led the army to the area of Shazigang in the east of Jinling City and Xiaolingwei at the southern foot of Zhongshan to build a camp in the south of the Yangtze River. Qi Shan led his troops to the periphery of Yangzhou and built a camp in the north of the Yangtze River.

Jiangning General Su Butong said to Xiang Rong: "Qi Jing'an has been stationed outside Yangzhou City, and the two battalions in the north and south have been completed, can Xiang Shuai have a good strategy to control the enemy?" ”

Xiang Rong said: "The two battalions in Jiangbei and Jiangnan echo each other from afar, waiting for the opportunity to attack Jinling, seize Yangzhou, and take Zhenjiang. This is a distant thought. There are more than 100,000 thieves, and my soldiers are single, and it is difficult to pull them out. The rebel is now in Jiangning, and the only way to attack it must be saved, and to hurry up with the troops, if you can capture Zhongshan within a few days, you can attack the provincial capital. The thief who forgave the shares will inevitably retract, in order to save Zhao from encircling Wei. I will, Li Rui, the chief soldier of Tianjin Town, and Rege, the deputy general, led 2,000 troops to Changzhou, and gathered the troops of Yang Wending in Jiangyin, stifled the thieves to the southeast, and attacked the town. ”

Su Butong sighed and said: "Take Zhongshan first, and win according to the form; Cleanse the outer fortress, and then try to attack the city. This is the only way, but it is also far away! ”

That night, Su Butong Ami summoned Hechun, the governor of Jiangnan, Fuxing, the governor of Guangxi, Ji Shun, the chief soldier of Hezhou Town, and Yin Debu, the chief soldier of Heli Town, and said: "My emperor's secret edict, and watch the trend of glory, do not let the Han people monopolize it." ”

He Chun said: "If our emperor gives us the opportunity to specialize in Jinling, can we have a superior strategy?" Fighting all the way to the military gate, he is brave and strategic, and he is actually a general who commands the army. ”

On April 10, Xiang Rong gave the order to attack, but the Taiping army of Zhongshan did not take the battle, and only fired guns and artillery inside the wall. When the Qing soldiers approached, they were wounded in vain and did not help. Xiang Rong had no choice but to postpone the attack.

On the 13th, Su Butong'a led his troops to feint to attack Zhongshan and Zhonghe Bridge, and He Chun, Qin Dingsan, Deng Shaoliang and others led the main force to attack the camp outside Tongji Gate. Yang Xiuqing mobilized heavy troops to go out of the city to engage in battle, and Hechun was defeated and returned to the camp.

In the middle of the night of the 18th, the fog was filled, and the soldiers of Xiang Rong were divided into four teams, and the banners were silenced, and they attacked the camp of the Seven Bridges Urn; The defenders were unprepared and quickly scattered. Xiang Rong poured troops to attack Zhongshan again. The seven bridges were lost, Zhongshan lost its horns, and the defenders no longer defended, burning the camp and retreating.

The east of the city must be fully assured, rejoicing to glory, and then hitting Yuhuatai. Yang Xiuqing was shocked and sent heavy troops to guard. Xiang Rong hit for five days in a row, but he didn't gram. Set up camp on the spot, and Jun Hao besieged it.

Li Rui, the general soldier of Tianjin Town, advanced to Changzhou, but the city wall was too old and difficult to defend, so he did not attack; Yang Wending, who had dismissed the minister, also did not arrive at sea and could not rashly attack the town.

Xiang Rong angrily dismissed Li Rui, and ordered Deng Shaoliang to attack Zhenjiang, and then sparse again: Jinling thieves have repeatedly lost battles, and their momentum is lonely. It is better to slow down the attack on Jinling, first go to its ships from the water, so that the thieves in Jiangning, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou cannot take care of both the end and the end, and then they can be controlled to death.

Check the form of the three cities, Zhenjiang is the most concise. Gaizhencheng is far away from Guazhou, and Zhencheng is the only way for Shanghai warships to attack. If Zhenjiang is restored first, the thieves of Yangzhou and Jiangning should come to the aid of many obstacles.

The ministers sent Deng Shaoliang's troops to attack the town by Ma Ling and Xinfeng, and the thieves in Zhenjiang are now trapped and cannot disturb Su Chang more. To the south of Jinling City, our soldiers are now camping one after another, and the camera is in suppression, this is the only way to go to Dongba, and there is no danger of rushing there.

In Lishui, Gaochun and other places, Fuchen Xu Naizhao has also urged the county's regiment to train the township to help the momentum. The minister sat and watched the current situation, and as soon as the provincial capital had an opportunity, he should attack according to the situation, try to recover, and dare not be confined to the prejudice of recovering Zhenjiang first.

Deng Shaoliang received the order to attack Zhenjiang, and arrived at the Gantang Bridge with the deputy capital of Jingkou, Luo Gang led the army to attack, the two armies fought, the outline feint, Shaoliang chased to the south of Zhenjiang City, a Taiping army suddenly killed from the back of Pudingshan, copied the back road of the Qing army, Shaoliang could not take care of the head and tail, and lost 300 soldiers.

Literature and art report a small victory. Emperor Xianfeng Yan Xuan: This Ming Department was attacked before and after, and was rushed by thieves, and lost a big battle, why not tell it in detail?

Xiang Rong sent 20 boats and boats to attack the town, and Wu Ruxiao led 300 warships to besiege it. He Chun was defeated and retreated.

Xiang Rong sent Yin Debu, the chief soldier of Heli Town, to lead 1,200 soldiers to rush to help, Deng Shaoliang was angry, moved to Jingyan Mountain, and attacked from a high position, but he could not enter.

On the north bank of the Yangtze River, the battalion north of Qishan lacked artillery and could not be effective.

Jiangbei Deputy Minister Sheng Bao shouted: "I am so anxious, I can't wait to go out every day!" ”

Chen Jinshou, the governor of Zhili, also said: "A drum to attack the city can be restored immediately." ”

Qi Shan said helplessly: "If you wait to attack, you will attack!" ”

On April 19, 1853, Shengbao broke through the camp in the east of the city, stationed in Situ Temple, and then attacked Guanyin Mountain. On the 26th, the guerrilla Feng Jingni, led 500 braves, and rushed into Xu Ningmen. Qi Shan was afraid of the ambush and ordered to withdraw.

On May 7, Shengbao and Chen Jinshou broke through the West Gate and the South Gate Tucheng and captured the 24th Bridge Camp. Sheng and Chen were anxious to attack again, Qi Shan was afraid of ambushing, angrily reprimanding Sheng Bao and Chen Jinshou for attacking too fiercely, too much, and resting for a few days, waiting to attack again.

Shengbao is angry: Whenever the attack is tight, Qi Shan has already withdrawn the team. Although the minions supervise the formation day and night, they are restrained, and it is difficult to achieve it alone. It doesn't seem to want the minions to witness the recovery in Yang. Qi Shanzhi is a person, only to have wealth, inevitably cautious, rarely able to accommodate things, quite not modest, suspicious in case of trouble, but afraid of people on the right. Every time it is played, it is changed and extravagant. However, it is a pity that the bandits in Yangcheng were not able to sweep away quickly, regardless of their actual merits, and did not know that they had made great mistakes in secret.

Qi Shan disagreed, and he was also sparse: a large number of bandits were entrenched in Jiangning, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou, and the three cities were cornered. Chen and Xiang Rong attacked Jiangning and Yangzhou respectively. The armies of the north and south are all on land, and it is difficult to communicate with each other, and their waterway boats are far away in Zhenjiang. Now the thieves defeated in Jiangning and Yangzhou come and go to the river, there is no obstacle, and Pukou, Liuhe, Yizheng and other places, they can all land at will. If the thief goes from Jiangning to Zhenjiang, the distance is still more than 180 miles, and if he goes to Pukou and other places, he crosses the river path, and a water communicates. In addition, once the Zhenjiang continues to dispatch sea boats and ships to intercept the river, they will not be able to go south in reverse, and they will inevitably move towards the north bank. Pukou, Liuhe, and Yizheng defense troops are very single, only horse teams, no infantry teams, and cannot receive complementary benefits. For the sake of today's plan, divide the troops with them to defend from afar, and merge with the troops to meet the suppression. Looking up to the grace of heaven, I quickly added officers and soldiers of the Green Battalion on the North Road, and went to Pukou, Liuhe, and Yizheng at the same time, so that the traitors knew that I was prepared and did not dare to sprout the heart of the north.