Chrysostom - the gateway to Wuchang, Chrysostom has always been a place where soldiers must fight, but Hubei governor Chang Dachun and Admiral Shuangfu heard that the Taiping Army's 100,000 troops marched straight to Wuchang by land and water, and under extreme panic, they actually ordered all the soldiers outside the city and stationed in Jinkou to withdraw to Wuchang City, so as to hold on and wait for help. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The advance of the Taiping army arrived at Jinkou, and Zhou Hexiang, the county governor, had no choice but to lead 400 regiments to practice desperate resistance, only one day, Jinkou fell, and the county, the county Cheng, the history of the classics, the thousand generals and the 400 regiments were all killed.

The main force of the Taiping army arrived at Jinkou, Yang Xiuqing ordered to repair on the spot, thousands of large and small ships were densely moored on the banks of the Jinkou River, and there was no end on both sides at a glance, and the masts were like forests, which was really not half an exaggeration.

As soon as the boat docked, Yang Xiuqing took a small boat to the boat of the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, he knew very well that Feng Yunshan, the king of the South, asked Luo Xuan to inform him first instead of Hong Xiuquan first, the purpose was to persuade him to persuade Hong Xiuquan, after all, when he was in Yiyang, Hong Xiuquan proposed 'to go straight forward, follow the river to the east, slightly castle building, focus on Wuchang, and take it as the foundation. 'strategic approach.

Hong Xiuquan is not very old, but thirty-seven or eighteen, medium stature, dignified appearance, gentle speech and demeanor, without losing the true character of a scholar, hearing that Yang Xiuqing asked to see, he waved his hand and retreated from a few Wang Niang maids in the cabin, and then ordered: "Please East Wang——。 After Yang Xiuqing came in to salute, he spoke: "Wuchang is close at hand, why is the military advisor stranded in Jinkou?" ”

"Nanwang has news." Yang Xiuqing said and presented Feng Yunshan's letter.

Hong Xiuquan glanced at him with some suspicion, opened the letter, and saw that it was indeed Feng Yunshan's handwriting, so he looked at the content carefully, and after a while, he said: "What does the military advisor think?" ”

"The new army of the monk and demon head is modeled after the training of the Nanyang Navy, and the musket including ammunition is provided by Yuan Qi, we should not provoke Yuan Qi at present, let alone Yuan Qi and the Qing court to join forces to besiege it." Yang Xiuqing said in a calm tone: "At present, Yuan Qi intends to use us as a gunman, so that we can attract the attention of the Qing court and consume the strength of the Qing court.

Yi Zhishu said to support us with a batch of muskets, this should not be fake, after all, the stronger our strength, the more we can fight the strength of the Qing court, if Yuan Qi can provide us with 1,000 to 2,000 new muskets, we are not afraid of the head of the monk and demon, recapture Changsha, occupy Hunan, it is not impossible. ”

Hong Xiuquan is also unwilling to be an enemy of Yuan Qi, otherwise he will not let Feng Yunshan go to Shanghai, although after the large-scale expansion of the army in Yuezhou, his confidence has doubled, but he knows very well that it is impossible to parry the siege of Yuan Qi and the imperial court, and he groaned slightly, he said: "Yuan Qi's foundation is in Guangdong and Jiangsu and Zhejiang, why do you want to protect Hubei?" For the sake of Hubei, he will not hesitate to go to war with us? ”

"On the side of the couch, how can you allow others to sleep soundly!" Yang Xiuqing said: "This is Yi Zhi's answer. ”

"Too much deception!" Hong Xiuquan was furious.

"It's really a bit deceptive." Yang Xiuqing nodded and said, "However, at the moment, our strength is not as good as others, and if we want to get Yuan Qi's support, we can only compromise and seek perfection." ”

Hong Xiuquan said in surprise: "Wuchang is not fighting? ”

"Hit!" Yang Xiuqing said simply: "The army has come to Wuchang, like an arrow on the string, in addition, there are tens of thousands of chasing soldiers of the monk and demon head behind us, we have no way to retreat, we can only move forward to attack Wuchang." However, in the battle of Wuchang, we must fight quickly, and Yuanqi's fleet is rushing towards Wuchang.

Although the head of the monk and demon has a large number of troops, there is no sailor, if the fleet of Yuanqi arrives in Wuchang and is attacked by land and water, our situation is a little bad. We must capture Wuchang before the arrival of Yuanqi's reinforcements, after the capture, it depends on the situation, if Yuanqi's fleet is really powerful, we will withdraw, it is not impossible, if it is in vain, we don't need to pay attention to it, and we can even go east. ”

Hong Xiuquan nodded, he had already arrived at the city of Wuchang, and there was absolutely no reason not to fight, and besides, he also wanted to test whether the famous Nanyang Navy was worthy of its name, after all, the Yangtze River was not as good as the sea, and there were thousands of ships in the water camp, so it would not be frightened by just forty warships!

"Report ——。" One said loudly outside the hatch: "Your Majesty, the fire is raging in the direction of Wuchang. ”

Wuchang fire? Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing hurriedly walked out of the cabin, and sure enough, the smoke billowed into the sky in the direction of Wuchang, and after only one glance, Yang Xiuqing said: "It must be that when we saw our army approaching, we set fire to the houses outside the city......." ”

Hong Xiuquan is worried, the first battle of Wuchang is only afraid that it will be much more difficult to fight than he imagined, Jinkou is actually unguarded, obviously shrinking the troops, according to the city and defending, the other party is planning to stick to the help, and now he is taking the initiative to burn the houses outside the city, is he planning to strengthen the wall and clear the wilderness?

Governor Chang Dachun, political envoy Liang Xingyuan, according to the inspection envoy Ruiyuan, Xuezheng Feng Peiyuan and other Wuchang officials stood on the tower and watched the fire spread, looking at the panicked people headless flies like flies, Liang Xingyuan, the political envoy Liang Xingyuan finally couldn't bear it, sighed lightly, "Before the war started, the people suffered first...... ”

"Ci is not in charge of the troops, when extraordinary means are used, notices have been posted to let them evacuate a long time ago, they will not leave, what can we do? The Taiping army has already arrived at Jinkou, can it be delayed any longer? Governor Chang Dachun said in a deep voice: "The bandits are good at attacking the city in the caves, these houses are not burned, the bandits will use these houses as a cover to dig tunnels, and they will demolish these houses and use wood to make siege equipment ....., besides, even if we don't burn it now, it will be destroyed in the war!" ”

Liang Xingyuan didn't refute, after all, this matter is related to the life and death of the officials in the city, if they can't hold out until the reinforcements arrive, the officials in the city are afraid that none of them will be spared, and the casualties of the people in the city will not be small, glancing at the large number of displaced people gathered outside the city gate, he said slowly: "If the house burns, it will burn, and these people should always let them enter the city to avoid trouble." ”

Chang Dachun glanced at him and said coldly: "Lord Liang is really a bodhisattva, so many people have poured into the city, how many days can the food in the city last?" When will reinforcements arrive? Will you be able to break the siege in time after arriving? After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "Open the cannons, open the cannons to disperse the people outside the city, and in addition, let people carefully inspect to see if the various city gate holes are completely blocked with stones?" ”

In the afternoon of the next day, thousands of large and small ships of the Taiping army fleet came to cover the river and cover the waves, and the layers of sail shadows could not be seen at a glance, seeing that the Taiping army was so loud, the civil and military forces in Wuchang City were all panicked, and the bandits killed the officials, but they were not merciless, and they had not heard much about the rumors that the bandits broke the city and slaughtered the officials and soldiers and gentry in the city, and everyone was secretly beating the drum in their hearts, and the bandits were fighting such a big battle, could Wuchang City hold it?

Arriving at the Wuchang River, the Taiping army did not pause, and immediately launched an attack, Huang Yukun, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, Luo Outline and other generals led their troops to occupy Hanyang and Hankou in accordance with the pre-war deployment, which was not to underestimate the enemy, but to detect that Hanyang was only defended by more than 1,000 officers and soldiers, and Hankou, an unusually prosperous commercial and trade town, did not have a single soldier.

The first time to capture Hanyang Hankou, not only to plunder all kinds of materials, but also for the need to camp, the Taiping army of 100,000 people, can not camp under the city of Wuchang, after all, there are tens of thousands of Qing soldiers behind the head of the monk and demon are rushing to rescue Wuchang.

However, in half a day, Huang Yukun led the Taiping army to land in Guishan, defeated the defenders, and then attacked the city, Dong Zhenduo, the prefect of Hanyang, and dozens of civil and military officials of all sizes were killed, and more than 1,000 defenders resisted stubbornly in the city, and were wiped out, and the Taiping army easily conquered Hanyang, and then occupied Hankou.

Yang Xiuqing landed and stationed in Hankou Wanshou Palace, and issued the first order: "Immediately control the large and small ships along the Hanyang River and the Hankou River, and kill those who are not used!" Subsequently, he sent someone to summon the watermaker Tang Zhengcai to meet him.

Tang Zhengcai is only in his early thirties, dignified appearance, burly, he is not only well-informed but also very shrewd, hearing that the East King summoned, he hurriedly put down the matter at hand and hurried to the Wanshou Palace, after entering the door to greet the salute, he said respectfully: "What does His Royal Highness the East King command?" ”

Yang Xiuqing didn't talk nonsense with him, and said straightforwardly: "The army is stationed in Hankou, Hanyang, attacking Wuchang, and the troops are dispatched and transported, which is very inconvenient. ”

After a slight groan, Tang Zhengcai said in a deep voice: "Yes!" ”

Yang Xiuqing was overjoyed to hear it, the military situation was urgent, there were tigers in front and wolves in the back, and the Qing soldiers in Wuchang City were shrinking turtles, he was really a little anxious, and even said: "Can it be built in one night?" ”

The Taiping army didn't have much but many ships, Tang Zhengcai immediately gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!" But..... The Yangtze River is stormy and turbulent, and the simple pontoon bridge is built by boat, which is afraid that it will not be able to withstand the wind and waves. ”

Yang Xiuqing said in a deep voice: "Build a simple one first, and then build a solid one, but it must be fast!" Within five days, it must be done! ”

"The last general obeys!"

Tang Zhengcai was also very good, and in one day he used boats to build two simple pontoon bridges on the river, one from Hanyang Parrot Island to Wuchang Baishazhou, and the other from Hanyang South Bank Mouth to Wuchang Embankment, so that Hanyang and Wuchang are connected by water and land.

The water camp built a bridge, and the land camp was not idle, digging trenches, building earthen walls, and building fortifications in the area of Changhongqiao in the south of the city, so as to block the pursuers of Seng Lingqin, so as not to form a two-sided encirclement of the Taiping army by the pursuers and the defenders.

At the same time, the land army led by Shi Dakai also rushed to the city of Wuchang in time, occupied the southeast of the city, Baoyu Mountain, Hongshan, Xiaogui Mountain, Bauhinia Mountain, and surrounded Wenchang, Wangshan, Baoan, Zhonghe, Binyang, Zhongxiao, Wusheng and other city gates.

Immediately afterwards, the Taiping army set up a camp along the river outside Wuchang City, and then launched a tentative attack on Wuchang City, Luo Xuan led 5,000 people to use cloud ladders to attack the city, was defeated, and the next day took advantage of the fog and rain, and the heavy rain at night continued to attack, all of which were in vain, but the casualties were not small.

At this time, Monk Greenqin led 30,000 elite soldiers to Wuchang City, based on a stable foothold, Monk Greenqin commanded the Eight Banners New Army and Xiang Rong Envoy to pounce on the Taiping Army in Changhongqiao, Hongshan, Nanhu and other positions, although the Eight Banners New Army occupied the advantage of muskets, but the Taiping Army also learned to be smart.

The Taiping army dug trenches in the position, built a one-man high earthen wall behind the trench, and a large number of fortresses, and the barracks and batteries built by the Qing soldiers in Wuchang were all used by the Taiping army, which greatly weakened the power of the muskets of the new army of the Eight Banners.

Moreover, Shi Dakai made good use of artillery, and placed large and small artillery at the angle of high and low cross-fire elsewhere to form a cross-three-dimensional artillery bombardment.

In the dead of night, the officers and soldiers who were tired for a day all fell asleep, but Monk Greenqin couldn't sleep, Yuezhou fell, he was pulled out of the top to wear the flower feather, the flower feather is a sign of the prestige and rank, not ordinary officials can wear it, its role is to show the rank, reward military merits, and be punished to pull out the flower feather is an extraordinary heavy punishment, more serious than the demotion, he really can't imagine, if Wuchang falls, what will wait for him!

The Taiping army built earthen walls, supplemented by artillery, completely suppressed the superiority of the Mini gun, how should this battle be fought? Digging trenches and extending them forward with trenches to shorten the distance and reduce the threat of the opponent's artillery, this is feasible, but he is afraid that the time will be too late, and the Taiping army will continue to attack the city, and he is really worried that the defenders of Wuchang will not be able to hold on.

Just as he was contemplating, the guards came in and reported: "Lord Wang, ask for a meeting with the military gate and Lord Jiang outside." ”

At this time, if you ask for a meeting, is it possible that there is any good advice? Monk Lingqin hurriedly said, "Please let them in." After Xiang Rong and Jiang Zhongyuan came in to greet him, he smiled and said, "Today's repeated attacks have been frustrated, do you two have a good plan?" ”

"Lord Wang." Jiang Zhongyuan bowed slightly and said: "The bandits are well defended, hiding in trenches and earthen walls, there are artillery in the distance, and muskets in the distance, even if they attack strongly, it is difficult to work in a short time, the most hateful thing is that the defenders of Wuchang only know how to hold on to the city, and all the strongholds outside the city are occupied by the bandits, and the defenders in the city have nothing to rely on, and the reinforcements outside the city have no danger to ......." ”

His words were said to be in the heart of Seng Lingqin, if it weren't for the Taiping army occupying the favorable terrain, they couldn't help but be so passive.

"The Nanyang Navy fleet has gone up the river, and it will arrive in Wuchang in a few days, and the lower officials are foolish, can they divide their forces to find the weak points of the bandits, tear the holes, and enter the city to hold on."

Monk Greenqin nodded, and said: "The bandits have been attacking Wuchang in turn for several days, and this king is really worried that the defenders in Wuchang City will not be able to support it, so this method can be tried." ”

"Lord Wang." Xiang Rong said: "We must not only protect Wuchang but also annihilate the bandits, now that the bandit division is strong and the war is unfavorable, it is possible to abandon Wuchang and cross the river west. ”

Monk Greenqin shook his head disapprovingly, and said: "The idea is very good, but the bandits are good at escaping, and when they see that the situation is not good, they will inevitably escape." ”