Chapter 147 (1) Li Xiucheng is weak to return to heaven

When Li Xiucheng was running from east to west, the various units of the Huai Army were gradually approaching Suzhou.

In late August 1863, Li Hongzhang personally went to Wujiang and convened various ministries to discuss the attack on the Soviet Union.

Li Hongzhang said: The city of Suzhou is large and strong, with a lot of water on all sides, but the water and land cooperate, and the war is smooth. On the North Road, Li Hezhang and Liu Mingchuan and Luo Guozhong attacked Jiangyin and Wuxi by land and water, attacked the northwest of Suzhou, and broke the alliance between Jiangsu and Chang. On the South Road, Cheng Xueqi opened the word camp and Mr. Gordon's foreign gun team relied on Wujiang to enter the southeast of Suzhou. Huang Yisheng led the Huaiyang Water Division, and Li Chaobin led the Taihu Lake Water Division, speeding through the waterway, coming and going to support. Is there any flaw in this arrangement?

Cheng Xueqidao: Wujiang is connected to Jiaxing in the south, Suzhou in the north, and Taihu Lake in the west. I strangled the second camp south of the Wujiang River to ward off the thieves of Jiaxing; then set up two camps in the northwest of Wujiang to block thieves from Suzhou; He Antai's troops were stationed in the city, and President Wujiang was fighting; I immediately returned to the old camp and attacked Suzhou from Kunshan with Mr. Gordon.

Li Hongzhang said: Wujiang is the key to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the thief will definitely return. I will transfer a part and attack Jiaxing on the side to divide the thief's momentum. The attack on the Soviet Union and the refusal of aid should be started from Wujiang. The city of Jiangyin, choking the rush of the river and the sea, pulling the back of Changzhou and Wuxi, is the throat of the southern thief and the north. Liu Mingchuan, Li Hezhang and others jointly attacked for half a month, but there was no improvement; Quickly pass my order, Huang Yi ascended to the water, and immediately responded by waterway to assist Jiangyin.

The Huai army attacked for half a year, Jiangyin City was crumbling, and Li Kai, the king of Guang, asked for help.

Changzhou is one step away from Jiangyin, and the protector Chen Kunshu also knows that his lips are dead and his teeth are cold, and he personally led an army of 40,000 to come to help; When Chaowang Huang Zilong heard the news, he also went out of Wuxi, met with Chen Kun's book, and attacked the south of Jiangyin; The kings of Suzhou, Liyang, and Danyang, receiving the documents of the king of Guang asking for help, also sent troops to aid Jiangyin.

Liu Mingchuan attacked Jiangyin internally, resisted reinforcements outside, fought fiercely for half a month, and there was a lack of offense and defense.

Li Hongzhang inspected and observed the battle situation, and ordered Li Hezhang to lead the personal barracks, Guo Songlin to lead the Songzi battalion, and Zhang Shushan to lead the Shuzi battalion, and the three parts marched together and galloped through Jiangyin.

Guo Songlin, the registered commander-in-chief, was ordered to lead 4,000 troops to break through Zhutang and Huangtang, and stationed at the turn of Wuxi and Jiangyin.

Guo Songlin to, Liu Mingchuan was relieved, and he was in the cold.

Guo Songlin said: Jiangyin City is strong, the aid thief is strong, and the third brother of the province can have a good strategy to control the enemy?

Liu Ming preached: Jiangyin City is wide and thick, and it is not easy to take it; From the river in the west, to the mountain pass in the east, the thieves rebelled along the river and set up the wooden city for more than ten miles, among which there were more than 100 stone camps, earthen fortresses, and wooden cards, which were also very difficult to attack. Outside Jiangyin City, thieves are 100,000 in aid, eyeing each other.

Guo Songlin said: If you want to take Jiancheng, you must first refuse to help.

Liu Ming preached: I also mean this, Brother Zimei rate the Songzi camp, and go around the thief; I will take command of the whole army and attack head-on.

On September 11, Liu Mingchuan supervised the army to call for battle, Chen Kunshu, Huang Zilong and others led the troops to pour out, when the two armies were engaged, Guo Songlin suddenly led the cavalry to kill from behind, and the Taiping army was caught off guard, chaotic and scattered.

The next day, Li Hezhang, Liu Mingchuan, Guo Songlin and others jointly attacked Jiangyin, and fought fiercely for a day. On the 13th, the battle was fought again, but to no avail. That night, the Huai army took advantage of the darkness to sneak, climbed into the city, and captured more than 20,000 people under Li Kaishun, the king of Guangzhou.

Li Hezhang and Guo Songlin both lamented the wanton killing.

Liu Ming preached: When the thieves attacked Jiangyin, they slaughtered more than 3,000 people in Jiangzhuang, old and young, women and children, all of whom were not spared.

When Li Hongzhang heard this, he was noncommittal, and consulted Liu Mingchuan, Li Hezhang, Guo Songlin, etc.: Jiangyin was restored, and the attack on the Soviet Union began; Wuxi conquers, can only advance from this road. Therefore, Wujiang is the throat of the South Road, and Wuxi is the throat of the North Road. If you want to cover his heart, you must first strangle his throat, and he can gradually approach. I ordered, Liu Mingchuan immediately led the inscription nine battalions into Qingyang Town; This town is between Jiangyin, Wuxi, Changzhou three counties, Liu Department of the fortification, to protect the chieftain after the attack, Furong Mountain Heights, be sure to send troops to guard. Guo Songlin led the six battalions of Songzi to enter the area of Zha Guishan in a timely manner, and the army attacked Wuxi, which began from then on; Zhang Shusheng and Teng Siwubu entered the vicinity of Zhangjing Bridge to guard the back road of Songziying. The three battalions of Huang Zhongyuan and Zhou Shouchang attacked the corner of the bridge to prevent thieves from entering Changshu north. Li Hezhang, together with Huang Yi's water lifter, dispatches back and forth, and ensures the smooth flow of food and grain.

Jiangyin fell, Li Xiucheng's heart burned like fire, and he rushed to the Golden Dragon Palace, facing Chen Hongxiuquan: Jiangyin was lost, and Su Chang's door was wide open; Hangzhou reported that Zuo Zongtang's demon army besieged Fuyang for half a year, the defenders ran out of ammunition and food, and the city walls would not be protected.

Hong Xiuquan sighed and said: Jiangsu and Zhejiang are not guaranteed, the kingdom of heaven is in danger, and the kingdom of heaven is in danger! The loyal compatriots quickly sent the army to rescue, the time limit was 40 days, and after 40 days, the loyal compatriots must return to the division to help Beijing.

On September 23, Xiucheng returned to Suzhou and negotiated with the kings about the war in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Mu Wang Tan Shaoguang said: The demon army broke through Kunshan and approached Loumen; Break through Wujiang and approach Xumen; If the demon army breaks through Wuxi, there will be no way to Suzhou!

Nawang Gao Yongkuan said: His Royal Highness King Qiyuzhong, when the demon army besieged Jiangyin, our army attacked Dangkou, intended to take Changshu, and transferred the demon to divide the troops; Helplessly, the demon army is powerful, and it has been repeatedly defeated.

Xiuchengdao: Zeng Guoquan, Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang are three demons, attacking my Tianjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, which are menacing. After the defeat of Jiangpu, our troops were insufficient; Now we can only gather all the armies and break Li Hongzhang's demon army first. I order, Tan Shaoguang sticks to Suzhou; Li Shixian and Lin Shaozhang will join Huang Zilong, and they should cooperate with each other to completely annihilate the demons besieging Wuxi; Chen Kun's book department attacked Jiangyin and thought it was contained. I led the main force, took the corner of the bridge, went north to Changshu, and cut off the demon back road. All armies are quickly preparing for war and will attack next month!

On October 9, Li Shixian, the king of the chamberlain, and Lin Shaozhang, the king of Zhang, supervised 50,000 troops and entered Wuxi, and the army spread out from the south gate, stretching for more than 30 miles; Huang Zilong, the king of the tide, also led 10,000 people out of the city to help in the war.

The Taiping army is strong, Guo Songlin is fearless, Li Hezhang said: Our army can be divided into three teams, I lead a team, lure the thieves deep, the remaining two teams, ambush left and right, wait for the thieves to advance, Brother Ji Quan immediately ordered all departments, wave the flag and shout, fire the gun. Although there are 60,000 thieves, they are all rabble, and they will collapse when they hear the sound.

Li Hezhang said: Brother Zimei and Brother Fang Zhong have repeatedly fought battles, and they will win every battle, and Hezhang admires them to the fullest.

Guo Songlin said: Brother Ji Quan is polite, killing on the battlefield, our duty

On October 10, Guo Songlin led a team and retreated.

Li Shixian, Lin Shaozhang and others were eager to fight, desperately chased after them, and went straight into the ambush circle, suffering heavy casualties.

Li Shixian and others were defeated, Li Xiucheng sighed, and at the rate of Gao Yongkuan, Lu Deshun, Huang Zhanggui, Huang Longyun, Huang Jinai Wuwang and His Royal Highness Li Rongfa of Zhonger, six troops, combined with 100,000 troops, advanced by land and water, and besieged the corner of the bridge.

The Huai army was less than 2,000, and Huang Zhongyuan and Zhou Shouchang were high and low, and they were difficult to support.

Li Hezhang saw through Xiucheng's intentions, that is, he dispatched 6,000 troops from all over the country to rush to the bridge corner.

That night, Zhou Shouchang led a death squad of 100 people, sneaked to the riverbank, and exploded the ammunition warehouse of the Taiping army.

Xiucheng sighed: God doesn't help me, in vain! Quickly pass on my order, the corner of the bridge will not be broken, and I will not return to the camp.

Xiucheng supervised the troops to attack again, and the bridge corner was in danger.

Zhou Shouchang and Huang Zhongyuan led the defenders and fought to the death. On October 13, the various units of the Huai Army arrived one after another, and Li Hezhang gave an order, Zhang Shusheng, Zhang Shushan, Teng Siwu, Huang Yisheng and other water and land units immediately outflanked them front and back, attacking left and right. The Taiping army was defeated and dispersed. The Huai army took the opportunity to chase to the front line of the Grand Canal and entered Baidu Port, one step away from Suzhou.

Xiucheng was not discouraged, and then transferred 80,000 troops from Suzhou, Wuxi, Liyang, and Yixing, and immediately fought a decisive battle.

On October 20, Li Mingcheng, the king of Yang, led 20,000 reinforcements and galloped to the ground.

Li Mingcheng privately said that Xiu Chengdao: The Qing demon is powerful, the foreign demon is powerful, and there is no victory in a hundred battles, but there is a perfect strategy?

Xiuchengdao: There is no side door, the mountains are not exhausted, the water is not exhausted, but the ears are warn!

Li Mingcheng said: I fought with my brother and Chen Kunshu against Cheng Xueqi, Guo Songlin, and Liu Mingchuan, and they were all defeated in every battle, and the army's morale was greatly declined.

Xiu Chengdao: Cheng, Guo, and Liu Demon are no less fierce than Bao Demon; The wisdom is far beyond the Bao Demon. Cheng and Liu Wei, I can concentrate my forces and cut off Guo Songlin's demon department.

On October 23, Li Mingcheng, the king of Yang, led 30,000 troops to besiege the Songzi camp and was unsuccessful; Li Xiucheng personally led the main force to reinforce, but there was no progress. Xiucheng then ordered the servant king Li Shixian, the protector Chen Kunshu, the tide king Huang Zilong, and the guard king Fang Zonghai to help in the war.