Chapter 171: Li Hongzhang Suppressed (2)

The Huai army leaned on the river to defend it, and Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, was very annoyed and urgently told Li Hongzhang: The proposal for the transportation of the Jiaolai River was created by the Yuan people, and it was opened in a few years. The Ming Dynasty tried many times, but finally did not navigate. Why? The water is very shallow! The northern edge of the Jiaolai River, near the sea, shallow sand dunes, can not build walls; If the thief breaks through here, crosses the Wei River, and enters Wei County in the west, then Lord Li's river defense strategy will be empty in an instant!

Li Hongzhang received a letter from Ding Baozhen and urgently urged Pan Ding's new department to move south to fortify; The lack of the Weihe River in the Pan Department was taken over by the Lu Army Wang Xin'an Department.

Lai Wenguang and Ren Zhudu led the East Twist Army across the canal, drove eastward, crossed Qilu, in late June, crossed the Jiaolai River, divided several troops, besieged Zhaoyuan, Qixia, Huangxian, Penglai, Lai Wenguang led an army by himself, and arrived at the suburbs of Yantai.

Taoist Pan Fei, deputy general Deng Qiyuan, Zhixian Wu Enrong and other governors led Jinyong, Fuyong, Lian Yong and more than 100 British and French troops, each holding foreign guns, relying on the forts of mountain passes and stone polders, to fight to the death.

Soon, Ding Baozhen led an army of 10,000 to cross the Jiaolai River and join the war group.

The eastern twist army city was not breached, and the enemy was reinforced, and the front and rear arrived, and the strength was not enough; Lai Wenguang saw that the situation was not good, so he summoned the kings and discussed where to go.

Li Yuntai, King of Wei, said: This corner is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and it is very difficult to maneuver; To the west of the Jiaolai River, the Huai demons are dense; We are not allowed to stay here for long.

King Lu Ren Zhu said: What's so difficult about this! The army marched westward, chose the shallow water, fought the horses, and left the Qing demon behind.

Lai Wenguang Road: Exploration, the southern section of the Jiaolai River, north of Mawankou, near the sea, the sand is difficult to remove, the tide comes, the sand is the same, the tide recedes, and the water can be crossed; Laiyang and Jimo are also fertile places. The army marched south, raised food and resources, and crossed the river to attack westward.

Ren Zhu Road: The land of Penglai in Dengzhou, a thousand flags at sunrise, ten thousand lights at sunset, an excellent place, it's a pity. The estuary of the north of the Jiaolai River should also be crossable.

Lai Wenguang said: Ding Baozhen and Pan Fei are very fierce, we are equal to this hard consumption, and they have been holding each other for a long time, and the Huai Demon has crossed eastward, and it is uncontrollable. The army is impermanent, and the army is heading south, so as to take the tired demon, choose the opportunity to encircle and annihilate, and cross the river to the west.

Li Yuntai Road: West of the Jiaolai River, the Qing Demon Gathering; After swimming, where will I go?

Lai Wenguang said: Quickly went south, Shelu entered the Soviet Union, attacked the north in the south, chose the opportunity to force the canal, went all the way to the west, and entered Shaanxi to join the king of Liang.

On August 1, 1867, Lai Wenguang and Ren Zhu led their troops south to Laiyang and Jimo, and forcibly crossed the Jiaolai River; Quickly went north, crossed the Jiaolai River on the beach outside Tanah Lot Temple, marched all the way west, and then crossed the Wei River, breaking through the defense line of the Jiaolai River in one fell swoop.

The 40,000-strong army held the west of the Jiaolai River, and operated in every possible way, and it turned out to be a cake. Li Hongzhang was angry and angrily impeached Ding Baozhen for ignoring the river defense, entering alone and acting recklessly; The king of the Lu army was at ease, and the embankment wall was not completed, causing the thieves to overflow, and it was not enough to set an example.

Ding Baozhen was also angry and impeached Li Hongzhang for guarding the river defense and not wanting to forge ahead; Changing guards at the brink of battle delayed military aircraft.

Wang Xin'an, the chief soldier, hurriedly said: Lord Ding is angry, the bandits first flee the defense, and then the Wei defense, all of which are the fault of the humble duty, and Lord Ding must not delay the military aircraft because of the head of our district.

Ding Baozhen said: Thousands of miles of canals, there is no way to prevent it, it is not the fault of one person; The place where the army is now guarding was originally the new flood land of Panding; Changing defenses in the face of war is difficult to do in a hurry. I am not a Zeng brother, blindly biased and prevaricated, and let Li Hongzhang do anything wrong. Ludong anointed land, how can you let the thieves ravage, I am on the emperor, the queen mother, Jiaolai 300 miles is still difficult to block, more than 1,000 miles of transport is not sure, please withdraw the defense, drive the province outside.

Ding Baozhen wanted to withdraw the defense, Li Hongzhang was angry, and then sparse: Withdraw the defense to show weakness, abandon the danger to fund the enemy, and even confuse the army's heart, all of which are taboo for soldiers, and once the twist is restored to the west, the poison in several provinces is endless. If there is no way to control the thief, it seems that it is better to defend and defend, to fight and fight, and to do his best to wait for the opportunity.

Hongzhang was relieved, and urgently ordered Liu Bingzhang's troops to swim across the canal from Taierzhuang and join the Zhejiang army to defend the Qingjiang River.

Li and Ding slandered each other, Cixi was displeased, and Prince Gong said: In the first battle of Yinlonghe, who was mistaken, can the Military Aircraft Department find out?

Prince Gong said: Empress Dowager, check the correspondence between the two armies of Ting and Ming, it turned out that Liu Mingchuan was eager to seize the merit and take the lead in attacking.

Empress Dowager Ci'an said: In the battle of Yin Longhe, Li Hongzhang did not ask about right and wrong, and covered up and connived; This is another blind defense of the river, arsonist and misguided.

Empress Dowager Cixi said: If the defense is withdrawn, the twist will overflow to the west, and if it meets with the Shaanxi and Gansu rebels, it will become a big disaster. Li Hongzhang's policy of river defense cannot be changed. However, Li Hongzhang is jealous, asks for personal blame, and reverses right and wrong; No punishment is not enough to justify the ministers. Ding Baozhen did not obey the military order and acted recklessly; It is also hateful; Ding Baozhen immediately resigned, and Li Hongzhang handed over to the ministry for discussion, and both of them were temporarily retained to suppress bandits to see the after-effects.

Yi Xun said: The Empress Dowager, Zuo Zongtang's department entered Shaanxi, and Qincheng Xi'an is temporarily unharmed; However, Zhang twisted bandits and bandits fled north to the Fuping area, and then spread again.

Empress Dowager Cixi said: The land of Fuping, bordering the Wei River in the south, Luoshui and the Yellow River in the east, Jingshui in the west, and mountains in the north. Quickly instructed Zuo Zongtang to immediately dispatch good generals and heavy troops, and be sure to wrap this thief in a narrow corner of Fuping and look for an opportunity to encircle and annihilate.

Zeng Guofan heard that Li and Ding were disobedient, and sent a letter to persuade him: Brothers are against the wall, and the overall situation is harmful; Make amends and think about changes as soon as possible.

Li Hongzhang also knew that the suppression was a big matter, that is, the army of Laifang was transferred to defense; He also ordered Liu Mingchuan, Pan Dingxin, Li Zhaoqing and other five-way tour divisions to gather 50,000 troops and chase after them; Fu again asked Liu Changyou, the governor of Zhili, and Chonghou, the minister of trade and commerce of Sankou, to assist in the defense of the Yellow River, and Zhang Zhiwan, the governor of Caoyun, to defend the Liutang River in northern Jiangsu.

Li Hongzhang's order and sparseness were all completed, and he wrote a letter in a hurry, self-examining; 600 miles expedited, sent to Ding Baozhen.

Ding Baozhen received Hongzhang's proclamation and borrowed the slope to get off the donkey, so as to hold the Jiaolai River defense with the army of 10 battalions, and the army of the 20th battalion to chase and suppress the rebels. From now on, all things that are suppressed by bandits will be based on Lord Li.

The East Twist Army swam across the Wei River, and Lai Wenguang marched westward to feint on attack and defense. Lai Wenguang led the army, hurricane south, through Weixian, Anqiu, Zhucheng, Juxian, Rizhao, into Jiangsu, in Pizhou, Suqian, Shuyang and other places to cross the canal to the west, first for Yao Guangwu, Cheng Wenbing's army stubbornly refused, and was intercepted by Liu Mingchuan, Pan Dingxin's pursuing division; Lai Wenguang had no choice but to return to Shandong, pass through Linyi, enter Yanzhou, cross the canal in the west, and cross the Yellow River in the north, but also unsuccessfully. It was early autumn, it was raining, the river was surging, there was a shortage of food, and the army's morale was in turmoil.

Zunwang Lai Wenguang was weak and confused.

King Lu Ren Zhu said: Qi Yu Zun Palace, this corner is embarrassed, be sure to find another place!

Lai Wenguang Road: The west and north are rivers, and the Huai demon is located in the south; Following the old road, he went east to exhaust the enemy, returned to the horse with a shot, chose the opportunity to encircle and annihilate Liu Mingchuan's demon army, and then broke through the defense; West into Shaanxi and Gansu, rendezvous with King Liang, and then try to achieve a great cause.

Lai Wenguang said, several blood letters, and sent them to Shaanxi.

When Lai Wenguang asked for help, Zhang Zongyu, the king of Liang, Zhang Yujue, the king of Youwo, and Qiu Yuancai, the king of Huai, were hovering in a corner of Fuping, Shaanxi.

Zhang Yujue said: His Royal Highness King Qi Liang, went to Shaanxi, fought in Huazhou for the first time, and set up an ambush to trap him; The second battle of the Baqiao, the sound of the east and the west, showing the north and the south, invincible. Fuping is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and there must be a place to strangle demons.

Zhang Zongyu said: The way of using soldiers, show it with softness and welcome it with rigidity, show it with weakness and multiply it by strength; However, it is only three things, and it is clear after three things. Liu Songshan, Guo Baochang, and Huang Ding are free to disperse, moving day and night, and the troops are cold, and it is very difficult to stop; Left Demon Zongtang returned with 10,000 soldiers and came violently. If we are not careful, we will never recover.

Zhang Yujue said: We have exhausted the enemy and repeatedly destroyed the demons, so why not repeat this way and strangle the demon offensive.

Zhang Zongyu said: Mountains and rivers are blocked, and it is very difficult to walk. To the north of Fuping, barren mountains and mountains, deserted and uninhabited, unable to raise food resources; The autumn flood is coming, the water is soaring, and the westward crossing is also embarrassed; Liu Dian's demon department is stationed in Lintong, Gao Liansheng's demon department is stationed in Xianyang, and Weishui is choked, and it is difficult to cross to the south; Liu Songshan and Guo Baochang moved to Pucheng, intercepted Luoshui, choked the Yellow River, and it was not easy to go east.

Zhang Yujue said: Jingshui meanders for thousands of miles, and there are many gentle places on the riverbed, and there must be a crossing.

Qiu Yuancai said: Liu Xiaozhong is loyal to the west bank of the Tunjing Water of the Demon Department, and is waiting for us to enter the urn.

Zhang Zongyu said: For today's plan, the only way is to go west; Liu Demon has only 3,000 soldiers, what can I do? Passing on my military order, the army crossed Jingshui to the west, turned and ran south, and chose the opportunity to go to Hubei and Henan again, rendezvous with the king, and then seek a great cause.