Wuchang City, Reading Horse Field. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The wide parade arena has built countless simple wooden platforms, each wooden platform is surrounded by Wuchang people wrapped in red turbans, long hair, and short coats, and on the stage are men and women of the Taiping Army are preaching loudly, denouncing the national oppression of the Han people by the Manchu Eight Banners and the unscrupulous corruption of officials, telling that the Heavenly Father sent the Heavenly King to save the world, preaching that Hong Xiuquan is the true son of heaven who belongs to the destiny of heaven, and calling on everyone to destroy the demons from the military guard, and those who do not obey are demons, at least the accomplices of demons.

In addition to reasoning, the Taiping army also organized the poor people in the city to 'fight the vanguard' -- to rob large households, but all the high-ranking families in Chengli led people to break in, looted all their clothes, money, utensils, and food, and paraded the streets with great indignation, and then corrected the Fa.

This set of Taiping army is already familiar with the road, in the high-pressure lure, soft and hard, persuasion and bluffing, half mobilization and half threat, the people of Wuchang City basically joined the Taiping Army, and then the private property was abolished, men and women were divided into battalions, and the strength of the Taiping Army soared to 500,000!

Yang Xiuqing hurriedly entered the governor's yamen, saw Hong Xiuquan in the second hall, and reported after the ceremony: "According to the report of the spies, a large artillery team is coming from Jiujiang to Wuchang, and now it has passed Huanggang. ”

A huge artillery corps? Hong Xiuquan said in a deep voice: "How big?" ”

"Preliminary estimates suggest that there are at least five or six hundred pieces of artillery, large and small." Yang Xiuqing said and thought about it for a moment before saying, "It seems that Yuan Qi is not a lie and threaten, the Heavenly King should be transferred to Hankou." ”

Five or six hundred guns! Hong Xiuquan's heart sank, originally relying on the trench earthen wall fortress, the Taiping Army was not afraid of the new musket of the Eight Banners New Army, and it was estimated that the Nanyang Navy was just like that, and the people of Wuchang City were incorporated into the Taiping Army, and the strength of the army increased greatly, he thought that with strong troops and strong sailors, it was enough to hold Wuchang, but he didn't expect that Yi Zhixin actually transferred so many artillery, this Wuchang City, I am afraid that it really can't be defended.

After a slight groan, he said: "Five or six hundred guns, so there should be no artillery on the battleships of the Yuanqi fleet, right?" ”

As soon as he heard this, Yang Xiuqing knew what he had in mind, and he groaned slightly, before he shook his head and said: "That's not necessarily, according to reconnaissance, the forty warships of the Yuanqi fleet are equipped with nearly 1,000 large and small artillery, and besides, many of the guns in the artillery team coming to Wuchang have huge wheels, which should not be the guns on the battleships." ”

There were nearly 1,000 guns on forty warships, Hong Xiuquan was shocked in his heart, and he muttered for a while before he said: "After all, nearly half of the artillery ...... was unloaded." ”

"Your Majesty, if you attack Yuanqi's fleet, it will be tantamount to tearing your face with Yuanqi, and it will be a little uncost-effective for us." Yang Xiuqing said in a deep voice: "Even if we can destroy Yuanqi's fleet, we can't go down the east of the river, Yuanqi is more than this warship, we don't need to be a strong enemy." ”

Hong Xiuquan glanced at him and said, "Do you just give up Wuchang like this?" ”

Yang Xiuqing said slowly: "We have a strong water camp, retreat to Dongting Lake, befriend Yuanqi, we can be invincible, there is no need to occupy Wuchang to confront Yuanqi and the imperial court." ”

After a while, Hong Xiuquan said: "Don't be in a hurry for the time being, since Yi Zhishu has arrived in Wuchang, the king of Nan should come if he wants to come, pay attention to sending someone to respond, and in addition, you draw up a plan to return to Hunan." ”

Feng Yunshan arrived in Wuchang three days later than Yi Zhicontent, as soon as he entered the city, he hurried to the governor's yamen where Hong Xiuquan stayed, and heard that Feng Yunshan was coming, Hong Xiuquan greeted the second door, and as soon as they met, he smiled and said: "Shaoguang finally came back in time." ”

"There is King Lao in his arms." After Feng Yunshan saw the salute, he said, "Why hasn't the Heavenly King crossed the river yet?" The Yuanqi artillery battalion will arrive in the city tomorrow at the latest. ”

Hong Xiuquan said disapprerovitically: "There are two pontoon bridges, thousands of warships, and they can retreat at any time, so why rush for a while." ”

Entering the house and sitting down, Hong Xiuquan asked directly: "Does Yuan Qi have a clear statement to form an alliance with us?" ”

"Nope." Feng Yunshan said: "Yi Zhishu said, let's talk about it after the battle of Wuchang." ”

Talk about it after the Battle of Wuchang? This is to let them see the strength of Yuan Qi first? Hong Xiuquan said coldly: "Yi Zhi's contentment is conceited. ”

"Yuan Qi is indeed not to be underestimated." Feng Yunshan said slowly: "This trip to Shanghai Baoshan, I feel a lot, Yuanqi's strength is so strong, beyond imagination, the king of heaven is afraid that he can't imagine that the prosperity of Shanghai Baoshan is better than that of Guangzhou, and it has only been a few years?" ”

Hong Xiuquan said: "How many troops does Yuan Qi have?" ”

"It's only thirty or forty thousand in the open, but it's hard to say in the dark." Feng Yunshan said: "It is estimated that Yuan Qi must have hidden troops overseas, and the number should not be small, otherwise, Yi Zhizhi would not be so arrogant, and now the civil and military officials in Nanyang are called 'Yi Xuanguan' and Wu Sangui back then." ”

"In this way, Yi Zhi's ambition is not small."

"It's really not small, and it's easy to know enough to make it clear that the southeastern provinces -- Fujian, Zhejiang, and the two rivers, including Hubei, will be protected by Yuanqi." Feng Yunshan said slowly: "This is actually treating the southeastern provinces and the two provinces of Nanyang as Yuanqi's territory, and no one else is allowed to touch it. ”

The southeastern provinces, which are the richest provinces in the world, Hong Xiuquan was a little distracted for a moment, and said after a while: "Is it possible for us to form an alliance with Yuanqi?" ”

"If we don't get involved in the southeastern provinces, there will be no problem in forming an alliance with Yuanqi." Feng Yunshan said in a deep voice: "For Yuan Qi, our existence can not only greatly contain the Qing court, but also provide Yuan Qi with an opportunity to expand his troops, Yuan Qi has no reason not to secretly ally with us and support us." ”

Hong Xiuquan nodded, and then ordered: "Gather the kings of the city to come and discuss." ”

On the morning of the next day, the artillery team arrived in Wuchang, and Yi Zhizhi did not delay at all, and immediately ordered to push the artillery into the artillery position that had been built long ago, and launched an attack on the Taiping army position outside the western city.

The rumbling sound of artillery sounded again outside Wuchang City, which had been quiet for a few days, and the artillery, shells, gunpowder, and gunners of the Nanyang Navy were not comparable to the Taiping Army at all.

The Taiping army tasted the pain of being beaten and unable to pay off, and the earthen fortress was gradually destroyed under the dense and accurate blows of solid bullets, when did the Taiping army hiding behind the fortifications experience such a terrible shelling, and they themselves also lacked the means and awareness of self-protection, and suffered many casualties under such intensive shelling.

Shi Dakai, the winged king who watched the battle on the city wall, saw this scene, he was stunned and speechless, he thought to himself that he was good at using artillery, which could be compared with Yuan Qi's artillery, he was really a little embarrassed, and after a while, he sighed and said: "The Nanyang Navy is invincible in the east, invincible, prestigious, and really ......famous." ”

Luo Xuan said anxiously: "Wing King, hurry up and cross the river, this posture Wuchang City can't hold it at all!" ”

Shi Dakai shook his head, "Don't worry, this is a rare opportunity, we have to take a good look." ”

After the solid bullets basically destroyed the earthen wall fortress, there were three rounds of carpet-like shelling shells, and the lethality of the flowering shells far exceeded that of the solid bullets, and the Taiping troops on the position suffered heavy casualties, and they could no longer bear the less terrible shelling, and they scattered and fled, but the shells seemed to have eyes, and followed.

As the shells stretched back, the Marines quickly charged, the loud trumpets resounded throughout the battlefield, and thousands of Marines spread forward like a tidal wave of muskets with bright bayonets.

Looking at the dense clouds of fire and smoke rising under the city, listening to the dense explosions like firecrackers, and looking at the soldiers charging like a tide, Shi Dakai couldn't help but be dumbfounded, the other party had an obvious weapon advantage, and he actually dared to launch a large-scale charge when the artillery fire stopped, so he didn't worry about being injured by his own artillery?

Seeing that the 20,000 troops outside the city had completely lost their ability to resist and fled in a comprehensive manner, Luo Xuan was really anxious this time, worried that Shi Dakai would not be able to evacuate in time, so he immediately waved his hand and said in a deep voice: "Take the Wing King across the river!" ”

"No!" Shi Dakai hurriedly said: "Withdraw, open the city gate, and withdraw across the river!" After the break, once the opponent's artillery moves forward, it must be evacuated! As he spoke, he turned around and went down the city wall, he knew very well that the Yuanqi artillery was so powerful, Wuchang couldn't hold it at all, and he had to try to preserve his strength!

The defeat was like a mountain, the Taiping army scattered outside the west city broke and fled in all directions, not only shook the heart of the Taiping army in the southeast direction, but also caused a great impact on them, seeing this situation, Seng Lingqin was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered the troops to divide into two roads, all the way to charge and cooperate with the encirclement and suppression of the rout under the city, all the way to grab the pontoon bridge from Hanyang to Baishazhou, in order to strive for a battle to annihilate the Taiping army stranded in Wuchang!

Luo Xuan led the soldiers and horses to escort Shi Dakai out of the city, and quickly rushed to the pontoon bridge from the mouth of the south bank of Hanyang to the mouth of the Wuchang embankment, and Shi Da drove on the pontoon bridge, and he led two battalions of musketeers into the bridgehead position to rely on the fortifications to snipe, trying to keep the pontoon bridge, so as to ensure the smooth withdrawal of the brigade in Wuchang City across the river.

However, his wish was soon frustrated, and the marines of the navy soon completed the transfer of positions, concentrated artillery shelling the bridgehead, and within two quarters of an hour, the defenders of the position suffered more than half of the casualties, and he had to lead his troops to retreat, and the pontoon bridge immediately fell into the hands of the marines.

Hanyang, on the Qingchuan Pavilion of Yugongji on the Yangtze River at the eastern foot of Guishan Mountain, Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, and Feng Yunshan looked at the battle situation on the other side of the river, and they all had gloomy faces and were silent, they had expected that the Nanyang Navy was not bad, but they didn't expect it to be so powerful, where is this war, it is a slaughter at all!

After a while, Yang Xiuqing said in a deep voice: "Fight cleanly!" No wonder it can dominate overseas! ”

Feng Yunshan glanced at the two of them and said, "Our luck is that Yuan Qi did not participate in the battle of Changsha. ”

"That's right." Yang Xiuqing said: "If Yuan Qi participates in the battle of Changsha, we are afraid that we will not have a chance to break through." As he spoke, he looked at Hong Xiuquan and said, "Heavenly King, at present, we are far from being the enemy of Yuanqi, so it's better not to provoke it, let's go back to Hunan." ”

Regret should not be strong, but it is a pity that there are 60,000 recruits, Hong Xiuquan sighed secretly, looked at Feng Yunshan and said, "Strive to let Yuan Qi support us with a batch of artillery." ”

In Wuchang City, the Nanyang Marines in new-style military uniforms shouted "Surrender or kill!" The slogan rushed into the city, and the vast majority of the Taiping troops who stayed in the city and did not have time to escape were new to join, originally the people of Wuchang, who saw the defeat of the Taiping army, where did they dare to resist, and the marines who saw it shouted surrender and did not kill, and one by one they threw down the weapons in their hands, tore off the red turban wrapped around their heads, braided their long hair into braids, and turned back into ordinary people.

Without encountering any resistance, the Marines easily and quickly took control of the city gates, and declared martial law, and the main streets of the city were all lined with loaded guns and ammunition, and a number of patrol teams were dispatched to patrol the whole city, and the situation in the city was quickly stabilized.

Yi Zhizu entered the city from the Hanyang Gate in the northwest, went up to the city wall and looked at the city for a while, before he said: "The order, it is strictly forbidden for the Eight Banners Green Battalion outside the city to enter the city, and a group of adults are allowed to bring a hundred personal guards into the city." In addition, a notice was quickly posted in my name, and all thieves were not prosecuted, and the people in the city were provided with food free of charge by Yuanqi. ”

In addition to the nine gates of Wuchang City, except for Hanyang Gate, Pinghu Gate, and Wenchang Gate, the other six gates were all sealed, and those who could enter the city were only these three city gates, and the marines who saw captured Wuchang, Xiang Rong also hurriedly led the team to enter Wuchang, however, the Pinghu Gate was blocked, and the soldiers of the Marine Corps guarding the city gate read out the order of Yi Zhishu loudly.

As soon as he heard that he was not allowed to enter the city, Xiang Rongdeng was a little dumbfounded, and the officers and soldiers who followed behind blew up the nest, chased all the way from Changsha, and fought to death outside the city for so many days, and now they have recovered Wuchang, but they are not allowed to enter the city, what kind of truth is this? When he arrived, he surrounded him noisily.

"Bang" A dull gunshot startled everyone to stop, and the company commander Bao Youcai blew the smoke from the muzzle of the Colt revolver in his hand, and said loudly: "Yi Junmen has an order, those who forcibly enter the city, kill!" ”

As soon as the words fell, at the city gate, the muzzles of all the officers and soldiers on the city wall were immediately aimed at a group of officers and soldiers of the green battalion, even Xiang Rong did not let go, looking at the muzzle of the black hole in front of him, Xiang Rong was really a little unsure whether the other party dared to shoot, but he really didn't have the courage to try, because Yi Zhixin would not sell the accounts of the imperial court at all, and the Nanyang Navy would only listen to Yi Zhi.

But in front of so many subordinates, he can't admit it, and will he bring troops in the future? Just when he was in a dilemma, Monk Greenqin rushed over with his personal guards, and as soon as he came, he slashed his head and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Hearing Xiang Rong's explanation, he frowned and raised his voice: "What are you doing in such a hurry to enter the city?" It has long been looted by bandits! Go clean up the battlefield, or there won't be a bite of soup left! ”

Hearing this, Xiang Rong hurriedly waved his hand and said, "I didn't hear the prince's order, hurry up and clean up the battlefield." ”

The subordinates who were waiting for them dispersed, followed them into the city, and said to Rongcai: "Lord Wang, will Yi Junmen have different intentions?" ”

"Beware of the calamity that comes out of the mouth!" Monk Lingqin reprimanded unceremoniously with a straight face.