Qiandeng was ke, Kunshan was in sight, Ding Shijie and Hua Er rushed to Qiandeng Town to discuss the next move to besiege Jihua in Kunshan.

The defenders of the Taiping Army in Kunshan were "King Bi" Wu Guiwen and "Tianan" Xiong Wanquan. Since Kunshan is the military base of the Taiping Army in Eastern Jiangsu, presumably Tan Shaoguang will add troops to defend it, so a bloody battle is inevitable.

For this reason, Ding Shijie summoned the officers of each regiment and discussed the battle plan in great detail. Zuihou decided that the German regiment would be responsible for the direction of the south gate, and the Kezi regiment would be responsible for the direction of the west gate, and the direction of the main attack would be set at the relatively weak north gate, and Forrestal's foreign gun regiment would be in charge. Wall moved with the foreign gun regiment, and the German and Croatian regiments also dispatched some artillery to concentrate on the north gate, and after clearing the perimeter, they entered the position, so as to blast open the north gate of Kunshan in the shortest possible time.

Daniel Zhang's horse team first waited on the periphery, and once Kunshan started, it bypassed Kunshan City, occupied Lingjiabang west of Kunshan, and cut off the connection between Suzhou and Kunshan - not to block reinforcements, but to block the retreat of the Kunshan Taiping Army, to completely annihilate this Taiping Army, and not give them the opportunity to retract to Suzhou.

This is a big principle set when he was in Shanghai, since he already has more combat power, he will not do a simple defeat, nor will he aim to seize the city and occupy the territory, but will eat the strength of the Taiping army in Jiangsu bite by bite.

After the discussion stopped, the generals of the Xuan army returned to their camps, and the next morning, they set out in all directions and marched towards Kunshan. At this time, the rangers sent by Daniel Zhang came to report, saying that the Taiping Army strongholds in the area of Huangjiajiao and Guo Shitang outside Kunshan looked like banners. But the soldiers had already been emptied.

"This is to defend the city." Ding Shijie, who acted with the Kezi group. Stroking the short mustache on his chin. He said to Ixan, "Longhair is afraid of our firepower, and refuses to make unnecessary losses on the periphery, and wants to fight us in the city. ”

But it's not the same? Relying on a single county town in Kunshan could not withstand the bombardment of nearly 100 foreign artillery. So Ding Shijie ordered the regiments to step up their march while paying more attention to the movements of the long hair.

The strength of the army is strong, and the courage is also heroic. The three-way infantry army carried all kinds of equipment and gun wagons rumbled, brazenly advancing to the city of Kunshan, until it approached within two miles of the city, and then stopped and began to set up artillery formations.

The Taiping army in the city was really calm, and there was no trace of panic. On the city wall, the flags are densely packed, and on one of the apricot-yellow flags, there is a "Wu" word printed on the big one. Wave in the wind. Between the female walls, there are black holes and cannon ports. It is already faintly visible, as if it indicates a fierce battle to come.

"Wu Guiwen and Xiong Wanquan are really something." Ding Shijie outside the West Gate saw such a weather, and couldn't help but admire it, the war was at the head, the law was cautious, and the army could be governed to this point, it seems that this long hair is really not to be underestimated.

"It's too calm," in the silence, Ixan beside him put down the clairvoyant mirror in his hand and muttered, "It's a little quiet." ”

Well? Ding Shijie's heart moved, frowned and said, "Take the clairvoyant mirror and I'll look at it." ”

He took the clairvoyant mirror handed by Ixan, and carefully looked at the city, and saw that except for the flags and the installation of haode gun mounts, the defenders seemed to be very well hidden, and there were only about a dozen or twenty people, looking out at the top of the city.

"This ......" Ding Shijie gasped, and before he could turn his thoughts, he heard a squeaky sound, and the west gate actually opened slowly! Then a group of five or six people came out, and the first one, holding a white flag in his hand, waving it on one side and shouting something on the other, walked straight towards the position of the officers and soldiers.

Ding Shijie and Ixan glanced at each other: Longhair wants to surrender? However, looking at these five or six people, they are either old or middle-aged, and they are also wearing cotton robes, but they don't look like long hair. At that moment, there was a battalion officer of the Kezi Regiment, named Qi Manjiang, who brought a sentry to greet him, asked a conversation, and searched them before bringing them back to the main formation and sending them to Ding Shijie.

"This is Admiral Ding," Qi Manjiang said to the leader with an excited expression, "You can tell our military gate what Fang Cai said." ”

The leader was an old man, who looked like he was more than sixty, his face was furrowed, and he knelt down tremblingly in front of Ding Shijie, his lips moved a few times, and he didn't say a few words, but he suddenly cried.

"It's been three years, it's been three years...... I've finally seen the officers and soldiers......"

What is this? Ding Shijie was a little confused by the second monk, looking at the old man's appearance, seeing himself was like meeting a relative, how could it be the long hair who came to surrender?

"Ding Junmen," a middle-aged man kneeling beside him kowtowed and said, "We are several gentry in Kunshan City, this old Mr. Li Derong, who was still a man in the Daoguang period, has been a teacher in Changshu County, and has suffered a lot in the past three years. He came with us this time to welcome the army into the city. ”

Hearing that it was an old man, Ding Shijie was busy helping Mr. Li, who was in tears, to help him up, but he stared at the middle-aged man and asked, "You said to enter the city, what about the long hair in the city?" ”

"Back to my lord, the long hair was empty last night."

*

*

When Guan Zhuofan arrived in Kunshan, Kunshan was already wide open, and there was an endless stream of carts and people transporting supplies from the direction of Xiangshang Sea in the city. Ding Shijie and several other generals waited outside the city, welcomed him into the city, and sent him to the county government that prepared him to be a camp.

The city of Kunshan is very prosperous, and there is no trace of being ravaged by war or plundered. Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, it seems that Li Xiucheng is really very attentive to his "Southern Jiangsu Province", and he is indeed running it as his own home, and when the Taiping army was wandering, every time he passed through a city, it must be called a donation, which is really a robbery, and he has to coerce a large number of people to go.

Along the way, I saw that almost every door was placed with an incense case. Guan Zhuofan smiled in his heart: This is most likely the product left over from the Taiping Army's set of "God" doctrine that combines Chinese and Western cultures, but the difference is that the yellow cloth and yellow silk that was originally laid on the incense table were removed. Now the common people put out incense cases in front of their homes. Some fell into the hands of Changmao for three years for Kunshan. Only then was it recovered. I am really happy and pray for the blessings of the officers and soldiers. Some are to avoid military disasters and follow the crowd.

Thinking about it this way, I am even more vigilant in my heart - the military discipline of my own army must be strictly restricted, and it is best to do nothing in the autumn. When the reputation is slowly spread, then no matter where you go, there will naturally be people who will greet you with pots and pulp. By then......

Therefore, as soon as he entered the county office, he sat down. Don't ask about the long hair, ask the discipline first: "Shijie, are the soldiers who entered the city restless?" ”

"Don't worry, boss, there are me and Daniel Zhang's personal soldiers patrolling all over the city, as well as Wall's foreign soldiers." Ding Shijie said, "If anyone dares to commit a crime, don't talk about Huayang, immediately tie it up, who dares?" ”

"Well...... it turned out to be a joint picket. Guan Zhuofan relieved his heart, "The people of Kunshan saw foreign soldiers. Probably curious, right? ”

"That's not true, there are a lot of foreigners in the long hair," Ding Shijie said with a smile, "There is a foreigner's church in the east of the city." ”

Guan Zhuofan said in his heart, I have forgotten this ballast, there are indeed many foreigners in the Taiping Army, some are missionaries, some are businessmen, and some are internationalist fighters who really believe in Hong Xiuquan's set and are willing to play for him. However, this thought was only fleeting, and since the market was calm now and there was no offense against the people, it turned to ask about the military situation.

"Wu Guiwen and Xiong Wanquan retreated without firing a shot?"

"Yes, I've figured it out now." Ding Shijie waved his hand, and a personal soldier took out the map and put it on the case, "The long hair of Kunshan began to withdraw on the second day after we broke through Qiandeng Town——"

This attack of the Xuan army and the Huai army was done very well in secrecy. Since the end of the war in Shanghai, the clean-up of the four townships has been supervised very strictly, and even the smallest water and land roads have been guarded by regimental warriors and township soldiers, so the original Taiping army sent out fine works, one after another, have not survived, either captured and killed, or fled back to the territory of southern Jiangsu Province, so Tan Shaoguang can not know the movements of the Xuanhuai army as well as in the past.

When the official army swore an oath in the second year of the junior high school, and took over the battle on the third day of the junior high school, the sudden offensive caught the Taiping army a little off guard. In particular, the Xuan army had already attacked the city of Kunshan in a few days, and swept away the fortress from Dianshan Lake to Kunshan. When Tan Shaoguang received the news, he almost did not hesitate, and immediately ordered Wu Guiwen to retreat from Kunshan to Suzhou.

The reason why I want to retreat is because I can't beat it.

For the current tactics of the Xuan army, the Taiping army is almost helpless - the firepower is inferior, the range is inferior, not to mention that the Xuan army has Daniel Zhang's horse team as a mobile echo, so there is nowhere to start. In particular, the artillery of the Xuan army was too fierce, and it was impossible to defend it with the stone fortresses outside Kunshan and the city walls of Kunshan alone.

Tan Shaoguang and Guan Zhuofan fought twice, both suffered a huge loss, the first time was that Li Rongfa was blocked in Gaoqiao, nearly 10,000 troops were annihilated, the second time was by the Xuan army ploughed the cave, from the south bridge to Qingpu, Zuihou trapped Gao Yongkuan's 5,000 people alive in Qingpu City. The lesson of blood, Yin Jian is not far away, this time, he doesn't want Wu Guiwen to repeat the Qingpu story, otherwise once he is glued by Xuanjun, I am afraid that he will not even be able to walk away - Daniel Zhang's fast gun ride left too deep an impression on him.

In this case, it is better to save your strength and leave it to Suzhou for a decisive battle! The famous city in the southeast, with high walls and thick walls, is not something that the artillery of the Xuan army can blast through. With Suzhou City, coupled with the fortifications and fortresses that have been in operation for many years, especially with the Taihu Lake Sailors of the "King of Navigation" Tang Zhengcai, they can be connected to each other and rely on each other, but we have to see how he Guan Zhuofan starts?

As long as the official army is blocked in Suzhou, the important towns of Wuxi and Changzhou are naturally safe, as for the heavy silver taels in Kunshan, which are too late to be transported away, leave it to him Guan Zhuofan, and wait until King Zhong relieves the siege of Tianjing, returns to the east, and then avenges this revenge.

He was thinking about Guan Zhuofan, but Guan Zhuofan, who was in Kunshan City at the moment, was thinking about Li Hongzhang.

"Let's wait in Kunshan first," Guan Zhuofan said to Liu Xunji, "you send someone to contact Li Futai's Huai army to see how they are fighting in Taicang, and when they can go south to attack Suzhou." ”

*

(There is a shift in the evening, old time.) ）

*(To be continued......)