"Will you still need them in the future?" Guan Tianpei frowned, and said with a smile: "These Citi warships know that they can rob while the fire is fired, we can't afford it, 200,000 oceans, and those conditions, in exchange for them to run, is there anything cheaper than this in the world?" ”

This is really pointing at the monk scolding the bald donkey, Yi Zhishu had to argue with reason: "Without their cooperation, this war would not be so easy, this time they picked up a big bargain, and it will not be so cheap in the future." ”

"Contentment is a word." Guan Tianpei turned to look at him and said, "Is it possible to continue to ask them to help defend Guangzhou?" I'm afraid they don't have the courage to openly tear their faces with Yingyi. ”

Yi Zhixiang smiled and said, "They really don't dare to defend Guangzhou, it is tantamount to Citigroup openly declaring war on England." ”

Hearing this, Guan Tianpei glanced at the Citi battleships that had been replaced with the Sea Soul Flag, and was a little unpredictable and content, and sighed slightly, before he said: "Since they are not assisting in Guangzhou, what else do you ask them to do?" ”

"Naturally, it is to recover Dinghai." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "This battle defeated the British Yuehai Fleet, if you don't take this rare opportunity to quickly send troops to Dinghai, once the news reaches Dinghai, the British Dinghai defenders will definitely take strict precautions, and the main fleet will return quickly, then there is no possibility of recovering Dinghai." ”

Send troops to recover Dinghai? Guan Tianpei was a little surprised and a little incredulous, and couldn't help but say: "Contentment, you still plan to continue to send troops to Dinghai?" ”

Yi Zhizu nodded, and said: "There is no turning back from the bow, since you have fought, just have a good fight, this battle is just a small victory, and more than half of the British army is stationed in Dinghai." If Dinghai can be taken in one fell swoop, it is enough to deter the British army, enough to make the British army throw a mouse, enough to change the passive to the active, not only do not have to worry about the British army's big rebuttal, but even coerce the British army in turn. ”

Listen to this. Guan Tianpei was silent, he didn't want to wade into the muddy waters of the sea, sharpen his sword and win a big victory, this is a real victory, there are captured British warships and captured British troops, which not only strengthens the prestige of the sailor but also strengthens the prestige of the country, and the court will inevitably reward the sailor.

If you send troops to settle the sea, you will lose your troops and lose your generals, not only will the credit for this be lost. may be punished by the imperial court in turn, besides, the recovery of Dinghai is not the business of the Guangdong sailors, and with this great victory, Lin Zexu can also make a difference to the imperial court.

Of course, when it comes to the roots, he really saw the strength of the British army this time, and he didn't have any confidence in his heart. The defenders stationed in Dinghai had a port to rely on and a city to defend. The number is also as high as 4,000 people, where is it so easy to recover?

After a long time, he said in a deep voice: "I remember that Contentment once said that if the Dinghai garrison exceeds 3,000, you can't send troops, why did you change your mind?" ”

"I got information." Yi Zhisuff said with a smile: "The British garrison stationed in Dinghai. Because of the lack of adaptation to the water and soil, the outbreak of epidemics, this is a rare opportunity, God has given the blessing, but it suffers. ”

Outbreak of disease? Guan Tianpei was overjoyed. Of course, he knew that the outbreak of an epidemic in the barracks was a very terrifying thing, which would greatly weaken the combat effectiveness of the troops, and he hurriedly asked: "This matter may be confirmed?" ”

"It's true, and it's been confirmed repeatedly."

Hearing this, Guan Tianpei couldn't help but be greatly moved, if he really wanted to send troops to recover Dinghai, it was not only a great victory but also a recovery of the lost land, and the court would inevitably reward him, but at a glance at a glimpse of a messy sea, he couldn't help but be greatly depressed, in this battle, the elite of the sailors suffered heavy casualties, even if the opportunity was good, he had no soldiers to send.

After a slight groan, he said tentatively: "Listening to the tone of contentment, there is a detailed plan?" ”

"This battle was completely won, and there was no leakage of news, so it was possible to send troops to recover Dinghai." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The soldiers are very fast, with these captured British warships and Citi warships as the vanguard, the two fleets of the Western warships of the Navy Division and the Thirteen Elements Yuanqi are transporting the troops behind, and the Western-armed merchant ships of One Color, plus the warships of the British Guangdong Fleet, the defenders of Dinghai will definitely not be vigilant." ”

It works! Guan Tianpei couldn't help but be moved at the beginning of listening, Yingyi has always been arrogant, he didn't take the Qing sailors in his eyes, and he never dreamed that the Guangdong Fleet would be wiped out, and he didn't even sneak out of the speedboat to report the news, once these warships successfully entered the port, they would definitely be able to catch the British army off guard!

It is easy to block the news, although the battle of Sharpening the Knife Ocean is not small, but after all, it is far away from the coast, and the coastal people only know that a war has broken out, and no one knows who will lose or win, so they just need to control the sailors participating in the war.

Nodding slowly, he said: "This matter must be reported to the Lord of the Ministry, the matter of surrender here, don't pay attention to it if you are content, go back to Humen first, and report to the Lord of the Ministry." ”

"Lord Ministry, I'll go to report it, but it's still a lot of trouble for the military gate to perform here." Yi Zhizhi said without hurry: "This battle is not small, I am afraid that Macao will be alarmed, in order to block the news and confuse the public, our performance, let the sailor fleet flee in front, Yingyi and Citi warships and Western sailing fleet chase behind, from the sight of Macao, and then, all ships are anchored in Kowloon, and no one is allowed to leave the ship to go ashore."

It will take me at least a day to mobilize materials and troops, and if there is no objection from the ministers, the materials and troops will arrive in Kowloon before dusk tomorrow, and the fleet will be ready to start early the day after tomorrow. ”

Can you mobilize the materials and troops for the expedition in more than a day? Guan Tianpei couldn't help but secretly admire, this is an expedition of five or six thousand people, and he can leave if he says he can go, so he doesn't know how much stronger it is than the green battalion.

Back on the "Jixing", Yi Zhizu explained that the precautions for surrendering were mainly in terms of safety, and then specially told him to treat the prisoners preferentially, and then changed to a flying clipper ship and rushed back to Humen.

Humen Village, Admiralty of the Navy, Lin Zexu was not busy with official business as usual, but leisurely playing chess with his staff Liang Tingfang, however, Liang Tingfang soon found that the other party was a stinky chess basket, and he was absent-minded, of course he knew that the other party's mind was not on chess, but concerned about the results of the sailor, and he had no intention of official business, so he asked him to play chess, and he had to do his best at the moment, neither to let the other party notice, but also not to let the other party lose, which is much more difficult than winning chess.

At the end of the first game, Liang Tingfang packed up his screwdriver. Taking the opportunity to get up and make tea, he looked at the pocket watch, and saw that the pointer had already pointed to twelve, and he was also a little worried in his heart, Modaoyang was not far from Humen, and it was said that there should be a battle report at this time. Isn't it easy to play? Just when he was secretly puzzled in his heart, a personal guard ran to the door quickly, bowed down and said, "Lord Yubutang, the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi is here." ”

Hearing this, Lin Zexu's heart sank, according to normal rules, if it is a big victory, it must be reported first, and reported later. There was no warship to report the victory, and Yi Zhicontent, who went out with the sailors, came alone, was he defeated? He forcibly suppressed the panic in his heart, and said in a steady tone, "Let him in." ”

Yi Zhifu walked into the house quickly, and Lin Zexu, who saw him, sat on the chessboard, couldn't help but smile, and hurriedly bowed down to salute, and laughed when he saw him. Lin Zexu's heart finally fell back into his stomach, and he said reservedly: "How did contentment come back alone?" ”

"They still have important things to deal with when they close the military gate. Rush back in the next first. Yi Zhishu glanced at Liang Tingwei as he spoke, and nodded with a smile.

"Zhang Ran is not an outsider, and he is content and familiar." Lin Zexu stroked his long beard and said, "Don't sell Guanzi, it's okay to say it directly." ”

For Liang Tingfang, Yi Zhishu really understands it, and he is not worried that he will leak the news. When he said: "The naval division was victorious, the Yingyi Yuehai Fleet was completely annihilated, Pian Fan never escaped, captured more than ten British warships, and captured more than 1,000 British soldiers. ”

Sharpen the knife and fight. Lin Zexu can be said to be desperate, mobilized all the warships that can be mobilized, since the sailor went to sea, his heart has been tight, at this time hearing such a result, the whole person suddenly relaxed, Liang Tingfang said with interest: "Such a big victory, the Guangdong sailor has never had it, congratulations to the minister." ”

Lin Zexu wanted to emulate Xie An back then, but he couldn't do it after all, so he immediately smiled and said: "Okay!" The evil breath that has been stuck in my chest for the past year has finally come out today! ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhizhi couldn't help but laugh secretly, since the ban on smoking in Guangzhou, the law of righteousness has been capricious, repeatedly threatened with force, and blocked Haikou at every turn, Lin Zexu's evil breath in his heart is also very uncomfortable, and today he completely annihilated the Yingyi Yuehai Fleet in one fell swoop, and he is indeed angry.

After calming down, Lin Zexu asked, "What are the casualties?" ”

"In this battle, the sailor fought very tenaciously, and Yingyi was unwilling to be captured, dying and struggling." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The casualties are very large, before the next departure, the casualties have not been counted, and it is roughly estimated that the number of seriously damaged warships should be in thirty or forty, and the casualties should be about a thousand." ”

Lin Zexu didn't expect the loss to be so big, he didn't say anything for a long time, seeing this situation, Yi Zhizhi said: "The lord of the ministry loves soldiers like sons, but with all due respect, the combat strength of the sailor division and the British army is not at the same level at all, compared to this result, the casualties of the sailor division are nothing, this is a real victory!" ”

Hearing this, Lin Zexu's face softened slightly, and he asked slowly: "Contentment hurried back, I think there is something important?" ”

Yi Zhixiang didn't go around in circles, and said straightforwardly: "This time I sharpened my sword and won a great victory, and completely annihilated the Yingyi Yuehai fleet, and I thought that this was a rare opportunity to send troops to recover Dinghai." As he spoke, he detailed his plan.

Without waiting for Lin Zexu to speak, Liang Tingfang said categorically: "It's not appropriate." ”

Yi Zhixiang really didn't expect Liang Tingfang to object, so he hesitated before saying, "Mr. Liang thinks this plan is not feasible?" ”

"Not really." Liang Tingfang said unhurriedly: "As far as this plan itself is concerned, there is no flaw, Yingyi is arrogant, I would not have thought that the Guangdong Fleet would be wiped out, and I did not expect that the Guangdong Navy Division would go on an expedition to Dinghai across provinces, but I have considered it contentment, even if I can take it by surprise, attack it unprepared, and lay down the head port of Dinghai Dao, but Yingyi still has Dinghai County to defend."

Fang Cai was content and said that Yingyi's combat power is far better than that of the green battalion, not to mention that Yingyi is defending the city? Take 10,000 steps back and say, contentment regardless of casualties, and take Dinghai, but in the face of the counterattack of the main fleet of Yingyi, contentment still has the ability to hold Dinghai?

Furthermore, the Yingyi fleet moved quickly, if it did not settle the sea, and attacked Guangzhou, how could Guangzhou be able to resist the attack of the main Yingyi fleet? Sharpening the knife and winning the ocean, this is a real merit, and it is not the responsibility of the two Guangxi to recover Dinghai, so why bother to add to it? ”

This sounds very reasonable, but in fact it is far from the wishful thinking of Yi Zhi, he dares to send troops to recover Dinghai, naturally he is sure to fight down, Dinghai, he also did not think to stick to Dinghai, Zhejiang officials and green battalion officers and soldiers will naturally rush to take over Dinghai to share the credit, the army expedition, but to go to Dinghai to go around, ten days and a half months can be victorious back to Guangzhou, the main fleet of the British army in Tianjin, even if you receive the news, it is too late to rush back.

However, Yi Zhi was content to argue with him, he knew very well that the last sentence of the other party was the point, for Lin Zexu, after the victory of sharpening the sword, it didn't matter whether he recovered Dinghai or not, there was no need to take risks, after all, no one knew that Yuan Qituanlian's advantage in muskets was enough to compete with the British army.

Seeing that Yi Zhizhi was not arguing, Lin Zexu was a little surprised, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Contentment has always been thoughtful, what Zhang Ran said, I don't expect contentment to be considered, can you tell me in detail what you think?" ”

Yi Zhizu said in a sullen voice: "Mr. Liang is right, even if Dinghai can be recovered, if it is attacked by Yingyi, it will not be able to hold it after all, and I have never thought about defending Dinghai to the death. ”

Liang Tingfang couldn't help but say: "Since you know that you still can't hold it after the recovery, why do you want to send troops to recover Dinghai?" ”

Is this really confused or fake? Yi Zhixiang smiled, but did not refute, but looked at Lin Zexu, and when he made a decision, Lin Zexu said with a smile: "Contentment wants to lay down Dinghai and then return it to Zhejiang Luying?" ”

Yi Zhizu nodded and said: "Once Dinghai is laid, the officers and soldiers of the green battalion of officials of all sizes in Zhejiang will inevitably flock here, and we are afraid that we will not be able to return it even if we don't want to." ”

Lin Zexu nodded slightly, stroked his long beard, and said in a relaxed tone: "Contentment businessman Jia is true, I don't think I will do a loss-making business, attacking Dinghai, the cost is expensive, and the casualties will not be small. ”

"It's a big business, not a small account." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The British raised troops to invade, the plot is not the Qing Dynasty's rivers and mountains, but the Qing Dynasty's foreign trade and the Qing Dynasty's huge market, if the imperial court is defeated and the alliance under the city is signed, the biggest victim is not the imperial court, but the merchants of the Qing Dynasty, among which Yuan Qi and the Thirteen Acts are the most." Sending troops to Dinghai, if you count small accounts, of course, it is a loss-making business, but if you count large accounts, it is a profit and not a loss. (To be continued.) )