Zeng Guofan reorganized the army for two months, raised 20,000 troops, and saw that the situation was in danger, so the troops were divided into four routes, and the land and water were parallel, and they marched to Wuchang.

By land, Taqibu and Luo Zenan led 6,000 brave men to go out of the new wall and enter Yuezhou. Hu Linyi and Zhou Fengshan led 4,000 braves, went north to Longyang and Changde, and washed west of Yuezhou. Tongzhi Lin Yuanen, Taoist Jiang Zhongshu led 3,000 brave out of Pingjiang, went down to the city, and shielded the east of Yueyang.

Taqib and Luo Zenan jointly attacked Minzhou. Zeng Tianyang was defeated and retreated to Yuezhou. Zeng Tian reviewed the situation, left a few soldiers to defend the city, led the main force, moved to Dongting Lake, and wanted to make a surface article.

Tazib wants to take advantage of the victory and attack. Luo Zenan said: "Dongting Lake is wide, I am alone, and the thief and sailor intercept it, which is dangerous." When the sailor clears the surface of Dongting Lake, it is not too late to attack. ”

By waterway, Chu Ruhang led an army of 2,000 and went out of the Xiangjiang River into Dongting Lake. On that day, Chu Ruhang and Xia Luan made an unannounced visit. But seeing that the thief ships are dotted all over the lake, Chu Ruhang sighed: "My ship is only a hundred, although it is strong, but it is only a small one in the thousands of ships." ”

Xia Luan said: "Lead the snake out of the hole, surround and annihilate it." ”

Chu Ruhang said: "Around Junshan Island and in Leigong Lake, you can hide boats. We lured the enemy into it and bombarded it. ”

Chu Ruhang was tempted, and Zeng Tian couldn't raise it; two temptations, once still not entered; Three temptations, Zeng Tian was annoyed: only a hundred boats, more than a thousand wolf boats, so he ordered an attack.

Chu Ruhang was overjoyed, feinted, led the Zeng ship into the ambush circle, blocked the front and intercepted the back, and the cannon bombarded.

The Taiping military ships were transformed from civilian boats and merchant ships, and the small cannons of the ships were blunt, and the enemy could not be defeated by Chu Zhiyi's cannons. More than 1,000 soldiers were broken, and after this defeat, the Taiping army was in turmoil, and Zeng Tianyang had no choice but to abandon Yuezhou, retreat to Chenglingji, and quickly ask for help from Wei Jun and Shi Zhenlun.

Chu Ruhang led the army to chase to the city mausoleum, all the ships marched together, guns and cannons, killed the prime minister Wang Desheng, Zeng Tianyang could not support, and then retreated to Hunan again.

Lei Gonghu won a big victory, and all the sentry officers in the battalion were all worthy of Zeng Guofan: Bao Sentinel rushed to the thief team alone, striving to take the lead, bravely and sharply, and the one who was the one was easy.

Zeng Guofan summoned Bao Chao and praised: "You are really good at fighting, you don't say anything, and everyone has done it on your behalf." Under the command of General Chu, he will make another meritorious service. I will invite the Holy Lord, and I will reward you for your deeds. ”

Zeng Tianyang was defeated in successive battles, and he was worried about himself, Wei Jun and Lin Shaozhang led 5,000 soldiers to help.

Zeng Tianyang was overjoyed and said: "The country is the best, my heart is at peace." Thousands of sails go hand in hand, swearing to destroy the water demon. ”

Zeng and Wei Qianchuan sailed straight to Linji, hoping to end the battle.

Chu Ruhang had already been prepared, and said to know Xia Luan: "The enemy uses the tactics of wolves, I will advance and retreat in an orderly manner, the attack and defense are tangible, the enemy is close and away, the enemy is far away, and the enemy is bombarded from afar. ”

The two armies engaged in a battle for half a day, each with casualties, and there was a stalemate. Yang Zaifu, the commander of the sailor battalion, found a gap, took the lead in a boat, set fire to the back, and the Taiping warships were burned more than 100 times, with countless casualties, and Li Zhen, the thirteenth inspection point of the left of the palace, was killed.

Zeng Tianyang and Wei Jun retreated to Lingji again.

Zeng Chu Ruhang did not chase either, reorganized the army, and waited for the main force of the Hunan army.

The Taiping army was defeated in successive battles, and Wei Jun said: "Chenglingji, the four rivers are connected inside, and the rivers and seas are connected outside, which is a dangerous place." I have thousands of warships and more than 10,000 soldiers, and I don't believe that I can't take this handful of Hunan demons. The ship's small cannon is blunt, and the enemy is no match for Zeng Demon. Small rowing to lure the enemy, the brigade anchored at the old shore, to wait for work, anti-guest. ”

Zeng Tianyang said: "The fierce battle in the rivers and lakes is already inappropriate. Since then, twenty miles down, there is a Hong Kong name Vortex Lake, one side of the river, three sides of the land, my squad to fight, the brigade ambush, lure the demon in, kill it. ”

On August 8, 1854, Chen Huilong, the chief soldier of Dengzhou Town, led the Guangdong Navy Division to the city.

Zeng Guofan said: "The downstream water is urgent, go down the river, it is easy to advance and retreat, if you encounter the south wind, you don't have to start a war, and along the river and the port, there are many ambushes, and you should not chase after the victory." ”

Chen Huilong said: "I have been practicing water warfare for 30 years, don't worry. ”

On August 9, Chen Huilong led his troops into the waters of Chenglingji, and the Taiping army put up a little resistance and retreated on its own, and Huilong chased to Xuanhu Port. The south wind suddenly rose, Chen Huilong suddenly remembered Zeng Guofan's words, and retreated sharply. A cannon rang out, and the Taiping military ships surrounded on all sides.

Chen Huilong tried his best to fight back, but the wind and water were high, and the boat entered the shoal, unable to retreat. The Taiping army swarmed up and killed Chen Huilong. Chu Ruhang and Xia Luan desperately rescued and were also killed.

In this battle, the first battalion of the Hunan army lost all its ships and artillery, the three masters were beheaded, and hundreds of people under the guerrilla Sha Zhenbang and Qianzong He Ruoli were killed.

Zeng Guofan was rewarded, sad and weeping, lamenting that the hard camp was not as good as the loss of half a day.

Zeng Tianyang landed in Chenglingji and set up camp by himself. A group of men and horses rolled in, and the leader was the Hunan Governor Taqibu.

In the first battle of Xiangtan, Zeng Tianyang's three nephews were all killed. When Tianyang saw it, anger rose from his heart, fire came from his liver and gallbladder, he raised his spear and jumped on his horse, rode out alone, and shouted: "Tower demon, take your life!" Before he could finish speaking, the spear was out and stabbed straight at Tazib.

Hunan pawn Huang Mingkui has quick eyes and hands, and stabbed Zeng Tianyang's mount with a spear, the head of the gun went into the horse's bone, the horse was in pain, and the sky was raised on the ground, Taqib caught up, and the blade was killed; and slaughtered the heavens to raise the head, and hung the camp gate; His eyes were blazing, and he still looked at it every day. Taqibu was afraid, and he was fasting and hiding.

The sky was dead, the heavy rain poured, and for two days, the water and land could not fight, Wei Jun seized the city and Lingji, set up camp, built the earth city, and resisted stubbornly.

On August 14, Taqib's troops divided into four routes and besieged Tucheng. Luo Zenan ambushed him and responded at any time.

Wei Jun focused on all the way, ambushed 4,000 soldiers, killed 100 people including Qianzong Zhu Dianyuan and Liu Shiyi, and Luo Zenan came to the rescue and saved the remnants.

Luo Zenan said that Taqi said: "The sky is rainy and muddy, take a break for a while, and the whole army will attack again." ”

On the 18th, Guozong Shi Zhenlun led 20,000 reinforcements to arrive, Wei Jun was overjoyed, and said: "Shi Guozong is here, we will chase Yuezhou first, and then invade Changsha, which is still expected." ”

Shi Zhenlun said: "Our department is wrapped in dry food, and I intend to fight for a few days to kill all the Hunan demons; I immediately camped on Gaoqiao, surrounded and annihilated the Luo Zenan Demon Department, the tower demon came to attack, and the national sect blocked it. As soon as the Luo demon is destroyed, the tower demon will be afraid, and he will immediately retreat to Yuezhou, and we will be besieged again. ”

On August 19, Wei and Shi attacked together and occupied Jiutangling.

Taqibu was afraid, and said Luo Zenan: "The thief is against the trend, so we will retreat to Yuezhou and hold on to the city." ”

Li Xubin said: "By all means, the army enters the city, and the thieves surround it, and they will follow the same path." ”

Luo Zenan said: "Yuezhou is surrounded by water on all sides, but the bridge leads to the provincial wall all the way, and thieves will fight." The thieves will cross the Jiutang Ridge and go down to attack the bridge; The bridge is narrow and narrow, and it is impossible to swing troops. I have a thousand soldiers, waiting for the thief to come; If you put it in the nine, help me at any time. ”

Wei Jun and Shi Zhenlun led 6,000 elite soldiers to attack in turn. Tazib was frightened, thinking that Rozenan would be defeated.

Luo Zenan's soldiers were divided into two routes, one to attack and one to defend, with knives and spears at close range, and guns and artillery bombardment from afar. Wei and Shi attacked three times, but they couldn't advance, so they had to retreat.

Luo Zenan chased to Jiutangling, and saw more than 10,000 Wei troops, lined up one after another, dense and dense, and located in the slope ridge. Luo Zenan ordered Li Xubin to be stationed in Jiutang Lingnan to prevent Wei Jun from outflanking; Since he led the Chinese army, he rushed to the camp. Wei Jun was afraid and retreated to Gaoqiao.

On August 21, 1854, Taqib gathered 5,000 troops and attacked Gaoqiao. The two armies fought fiercely for half a day, and the victory or defeat was not decided. The next day, the whole army fought again. The Hunan army was outnumbered and gradually weakened. Seeing this, Li Xubin personally led more than a dozen pro-soldiers, waved the flag and rode the horse, galloping and slashing. Tazibzan: The Nine White Flags are really invincible!

When the south wind rose suddenly, the heavy rain poured, and the effect of Wei's military goods was lost. Ta, Luo, and Li took advantage of the situation to slam and break through the thirteen Taiping military camps with one drum.

When Zeng Guofan saw that Wei Jun was pouring troops by land, he immediately ordered Li Mengqun and Yang Zaifu to attack Chenglingji and copy Empress Wei.

Wei Jun was attacked on all sides, and he had no intention of fighting again, leading his troops to retreat.

Taqibu hit 200 miles directly, broke Chongyang, attacked Puqi, and collected Xianning. In January, the soldiers arrived in Zifang Town, less than 100 miles away from Wuchang.

Taqibu first beheaded Zeng Tianyang, and then defeated Wei Jun and Shi Zhenlun, the Hunan army was greatly inspired, and the soldiers stood on the warship, did not wear armor, did not avoid guns and bullets, and went straight down the river to Jinkou.

Wei Jun and Shi Zhenlun were defeated in successive battles, Yang Xiuqing was unhappy, and ordered Shi Fengkui and Huang Zaixing to protect Wuchang; Qin Rigang guarded Tianjia Town; Wei Jun, Shi Zhenlun, and Lin Shaozhang returned to Beijing to report on their work

On October 2, Zeng Guofan traveled to Jinkou and recruited generals to attack Wuchang.

Zeng Guofan said: "I don't have much effort to occupy Jinkou, Yanglousi, Chongyang, and Xianning; Wuchang. On the North Road, the acting governor Yang Pei and Jing Jiang Guanwen suppressed Hankou and Hanyang. On the south road, I choked the river with a water division, broke the connection of the three towns, and then attacked Wuchang with a land division. Peng Yulin's three hundred Xiangyong have taken root in the city, and they must be connected, and the inside and outside should be combined. ”

Taqi said: "Shi Fengkui rebelled against the bandits, attacked Chrysostom twice, and lost both battles; But Erl. I went out of Hongshan, attacked the city of ladders, and went down in one fell swoop. ”

Luo Zenan said: "The soldiers are out of Hongshan, facing the fortified city, and they can't attack on the back, and the thieves in the garden will attack, which is not a good strategy." There are two roads from Zifang to Wuchang, one is Hongshan Avenue, one is along the river to the garden, and the two thieves are heavily armed; The garden is surrounded by the river, which is especially important for thieves. Today, only to attack the garden, the garden thief base is broken, take advantage of the situation to level the catfish set thief base, the elite of the thief is exhausted, Wuchang is self-defeating. General Tower, can you attack the garden? ”

Taqi said: "How can you compete with Brother Luo? ”

Zeng Guofan said: "Li Mengqun led the water division to attack the salt pass, and the camera broke the water camp of the thief army; After Yang Zaifu's ministry was broken. Taqibu chokes the Hong Mountain and advances along the Youfang Ridge; Wait for the southern part of Luo Ze and Zhizhou Li Guangrong to capture the garden, and then attack the city. ”