Chapter 155: Zeng Guoquan Jinling Massacre (2)

Zeng Guoquan received the book and sighed: Brother Di's intentions, I am afraid of our army's casualties!

Zhu Hongzhang, the chief soldier, said: Qiyu Jiushuai, since the beginning of spring, we have bombarded, laddered the city, attacked with fire, poisoned, and released water, and did everything we could. Beginning in March, outside Chaoyang, Jinchuan, and Shence Gate, more than a dozen places were excavated, and the city was bombed with medicine, and they rushed in; There are many thieves and thieves, and the guns are on fire. Medicine, like a downpour, came in a torrent, and our army suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat.

Zeng Guoquan said: Go to the spring to conquer Zhongshan Tianbao City, and the siege of the city is closed; The thieves in the city are short of food, and they plant wheat to relieve their hunger, but it is not yet ripe! Quickly pass on my order, all the water and land departments, day and night, patrol day and night, and refuse to help thieves transport grain into the city, the city thieves have no food, and within three days, they will be captured.

Zhu Hongzhang said: Qi Yu Jiu Shuai, there will be a strategy in the end, which can detect the truth of the thief.

Zeng Guoquan said: Huan Wen speaks quickly.

Zhu Hongzhang said: Xiaoling guards the stone base, thieves especially value, every time they come out, they must attack here; Why not ambush in advance, enter the urn with thieves, and work together to suppress them.

Zeng Guoquan said: Please ask Huanwen to quickly supervise all departments and set up an ambush to kill thieves.

Zhu Hongzhang received the order, that is, in the name of his 30th birthday, put up lanterns, put on a feast, and celebrated in a big way.

When Li Xiucheng, the loyal king, heard this, he sent 20,000 troops, poured out the three gates of Taiping, Chaoyang, and Hongwu, and attacked the stone base of Xiaoling at night. As soon as he touched the edge, he was ambushed, and the fierce battle lasted in the middle of the night, with more than 10,000 casualties, and he retreated in embarrassment.

Zeng Guoquan immediately issued an order, all armies and departments, day and night, swore to besiege to the death, the city was not broken for a day, and the soldiers did not stop for a day.

When Zeng Guofan heard this, he consulted Zeng Guoquan again: All cities are gained, only Jinling remains, the city is strong and big, and there are many thieves, which is not comparable to other places. If he is ordered to attack Jinling, the younger brother does not have to worry too much, but he asks to finish the battle. Alone is good, and it will be wonderful. You don't have to make your own work, you don't have to make your own name, you always want to protect your body, and you don't have liver disease. If you are good at maintenance, you can be both loyal and filial and friendly.

In addition, on the 19th, he received a letter from his brother on the 16th, and learned that Shanghai had sent 136,000 taels of silver, plus 30,000 taels of silver and 20,000 strings of copper coins, for a total of 180,000 silver. Chunting was divided into 50,000, Datong sent another 20,000 Chunting, Jiangwai Liangtai sent 20,000 Chunting, and Chi Xuan sent 4,000 stone meters, and the Ting army could set off to aid Jiang.

The younger brother received more than 130,000 yuan of Shanghai silver, and today he sent 60,000 yuan from the Jiangwai Grain Station, plus each Kari gold, and he could barely survive the Dragon Boat Festival. This section is not broken, and it is really fortunate.

The court is convinced that it is important, and if it is given to Fu Ming, it must be tolerant; When applied to Feng Zicai, it is not clear. Fu Ming wanted to send 6,000 people to help suppress Jinling, and I also sent a letter to us, and I have ordered him to guard Liuhe, and also to protect the river to prevent Chen Decai from rebelling in Hubei.

The younger brother's affairs are left behind, and there is no need to regret or complain. I am afraid of God's destiny and do my best. The gram of Jinling, the great honor of this dynasty, and the great name of the ages, are all based on the will of heaven, is it all about manpower? Heaven is in the daimyo, miserliness is a pity, a thousand twists and turns, it is difficult to shake the chaos and then give it. The so-called Lao clan does not dare to be the first in the world, that is, he does not dare to be the first name. When my brother first entered Jinling, I repeatedly said that it was dangerous, and I also knew that the name could not be forced.

In the past two years, Li Shaoquan has repeatedly performed miraculous feats and purged the whole Soviet Union, although my brother's reputation has decreased, he has not been ruined, which is the blessing of the family. Although he has been working for a long time, there is no derogatory remark in the court, and the overall situation has not changed, which is the luck of my brother. You can only fear God's fate, and don't complain about God. Therefore, the health is here, but the illness is here, so the profit is also here. Thousands of instructions, no coercion and illness.

Hello by the way.

Li Xiucheng guarded Jinling alone, with no way to advance or retreat, and privately said that Hong Renji said: April 20 soldiers went out of the city wall and attacked the Xiaoling Wei stone fortress, or for the last battle. There is no food in the army, and I am afraid that I will not be able to raise my arms.

Hong Renji said: Beijing is short of grain, and Beijing is in need, and in November last year, he was ordered to urge the troops to relieve the siege, and he experienced Danyang, Changzhou, and Chaozhou. Heavenly soldiers from all walks of life are afraid of lack of food, and many of them should not die.

Xiuchengdao: I let the city not go a strategy, the king suspects that I have other plans, and tries his best to prevent me. The political affairs in Beijing are all handled by the heavenly brother Hong Renda, and all the important places at the city gate are inspected and controlled by the heavenly brother Hong Renfa. I am brave and faithful to the Lord, why do I believe that I am a traitor to the courtiers! It was to hide in the capital with discouragement, and to accompany him to death because of his anger.

Hong Renji said: I will immediately tell the king of heaven that my brother is brave and loyal.

Xiuchengdao: The general trend has gone, there is no need to say this, I can only focus on defending the city, and if it is important somewhere, I will be ordered to defend it.

Hong Renji said: Brother Zhong doesn't have to be discouraged, we will immediately meet the king, and then ask for the city not to go.

On May 16, 1864, Li Xiucheng and Hong Renji went straight to the Golden Dragon Palace, and Hong Renji said: Qiyu Heavenly King, the Beijing affairs are changing day by day, the soldiers of the demons outside the city are becoming more and more pressing, and the city is extremely panicked, guarding the camp and guarding the city, and no one is reliable; The only way to survive is to let the city go.

Hong Xiuquan said: Brother Chen Decai, led hundreds of thousands, spread hundreds of miles, from the loss of Yang and burst into Hanzhong, entered Henan in February, entered Hubei in April, Lianke Huang'an, Macheng, Qishui, all the way, conquered, invincible, arrived in Tianjing in the near future, no need to let the city!

Xiuchengdao: Long live the king of heaven, long live the king, there is no food in the city, and there are many men and women who have died.

Hong Xiuquandao: I knew that there must be today, three years ago, that is, a wide range of herbs, now it has been made into sweet dew, and the city eats sweet dew, which can maintain health.

At that time, Hong Xiuquan had been ill for more than a month. The kingdom of heaven is becoming more and more shattered, and Xiuquan can't bear to look at it directly.

On May 30th, Xiuquan issued another edict: The public is at ease, I will go to heaven immediately, receive heavenly soldiers from my heavenly father and brother, and protect Tianjing. The next day, Xiuquan passed away suddenly.

Li Xiucheng, Hong Renji, Hong Renfa and others were afraid of the turmoil of the army, that is, they wrapped Xiuquan's body in brocade and satin, hid it in the palace, and did not mourn secretly.

Hong Xiuquan died, the Empress Dowager Cixi was afraid that the Taiping army would break through and escape, not happy but worried, within ten days, even issued six edicts, ordered Li Hongzhang, quickly went to Jinling, assisted Zeng Guofan, and quickly conquered the city.

Li Hongzhang received the order and consulted Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guoquan: He repeatedly sent instructions to send contemptuous troops to help suppress Jinling, and he despised my father's two years of hard work, and he did not dare to peep into the couch near the forbidden belly.

Hongzhang consulted, and then issued an order, Liu Ming traditionally led Wang Yongsheng's 10th battalion, Liu Shiqi's 8th battalion, Zhou Shengbo's Shengzi battalion, Binaire's artillery team and Cheng Xueqi's artillery team, a total of more than 14,000 people, that is, to prepare for the attack on Jinling.

Zeng Guoquan heard this, and said angrily: Others are the best, and they have worked hard for two years to deal with others?

Zhu Hongzhang, Xiao Fusi, Li Chendian and others were also angry, and they all shouted: We have worked hard and fought to the death for two years, how can we allow others to get involved!

Zhu Hongzhang said: Qiyu Jiushuai, I have a two-sided strategy, the upper can deal with the two palaces, and the lower can break through Jinling.

Zeng Guoquan said: Speak!

Zhu Hongzhang said: One quickly went to the two palaces, and asked Li Shaoquan to come to help; One tried his best to attack the city to the death. Li Shaoquan traveled from Shanghai to Jinling, and he had to go over the month; Within a month, our army will surely conquer Jinling.