Jingshan, East Gate Tower. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The nine-thousand-year-old Yang Xiuqing of the East King sat on the Taishi chair with a golden sword, squinting slightly at the endless Taiping army camp under the city, which seemed to have no end, with a look of hesitation, the 20,000 Qing troops who were besieged in a narrow bay were already turtles in the urn in his eyes, and they could be trapped alive without spending a single soldier.

Thinking of the tens of thousands of muskets at his fingertips, and the best Western muskets, he couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart, annihilated the 20,000 Qing demons of the monk and demon heads, the Taiping army will have no opponent in Hubei, even if it is the contented Nanyang navy, there is no need to be afraid, when the time comes, the Taiping army will not only occupy Hubei, but also may advance to the richest Jiangnan! If you want to use the Taiping Army as a gunman, there is no door!

Just when he was full of ambition, an attendant came to report, "Your Highness, the Winged King asks to see." ”

"Let him come up." Yang Xiuqing stood up as he spoke, walked to the battlements and looked at Wanzi, where the Qing army was located, Shi Dakai came quickly, and arched his hand behind him: "King Dong, Wuchang has sent reinforcements ......" ”

Reinforcements? Yang Xiuqing turned around and said, "Easy to be content? ”

"Not bad." Shi Dakai said: "Five thousand navy, two thousand Qing demons, a total of seven thousand men and horses, led by Yi Zhizu and Jiang Demon Tou, are rushing towards Jingshan, the marching speed is very fast, and now they have arrived in Xiaxindian, and it is estimated that they will arrive in two days." ”

"Seven thousand people dare to come to the rescue?" Yang Xiuqingjue is a little incredible, compared to the 1450,000 army, what can 7,000 people do? However, he was deeply apprehensive about the navy's artillery, and immediately asked: "Do you carry artillery?" ”

"There were more than five hundred horses and mules with them, and they were supposed to carry artillery." Shi Dakai pondered: "However, they are marching so fast, they should all be small cannons. ”

More than 500 horses and mules, how many artillery pieces can be carried? Yang Xiuqing didn't know the bottom in his heart, and he was embarrassed to ask, and secretly estimated that there must be at least thirty or forty artillery pieces, although it was a small cannon, but it was also a big threat to the Taiping army without artillery.

Seeing that he was silent, Shi Da hesitated for a while before he said: "The Wuchang reinforcements are coming quickly, obviously they have already seen through our intentions, Yi Zhishu is not a reckless person, since he dares to come to the rescue, he must have something to rely on, otherwise, let's attack it, don't let the cooked duck fly." ”

Now it's really a little late to attack, the Qing demon has built a perfect fortification, and the new army musket of the monk demon head is not ordinarily powerful, if it is attacked, the casualties will definitely not be small, Yang Xiuqing was difficult to make up his mind for a while, and he groaned slightly, he said: "Although we have a lot of troops, but the place where the monk and demon head is entrenched is not open, and the troops cannot be spread, the strong attack can only be a refueling tactic, and the casualties are only unbearable." ”

Shi Dakai also knew this, but it was not easy to besiege the 20,000 army of Seng Greenqin, he was really unwilling in his heart, for the Taiping army, the threat of Monk Greenqin's Eight Banners New Army was too great! He didn't complain and said, "What does Yuan Qi mean by this?" Turning your face so quickly? ”

Yang Xiuqing didn't say anything, he knew very well that it wasn't Yuan Qi who turned his face, Yi Zhizhi repeatedly stated that they were not allowed to get involved in Hubei, and this time he came to the rescue because he was afraid that they would occupy Hubei under a big victory, and it was enough to say that Yuan Qi did not send troops to pursue, but to defend Wuchang.

"We have more than 100,000 troops." Shi Dakai continued: "Before we made a plan to besiege the monk and demon head, we planned to encircle the point and send reinforcements to ....... ”

Encirclement for reinforcements? Ambush the Navy? Yang Xiuqing glanced at him, worthy of being called Shi Dangdang, his courage is really not small, to be honest, he would rather attack the Monk Greenqin's department than snipe Yi Zhicontent, the combat power of the navy is far stronger than the Eight Banners Green Battalion, and there are many artillery, slightly groaning, he said: "Xia Xindian, they must be going to Yingcheng, wearing Cao Wu, this road is a horse and a flat river, there is no terrain suitable for ambush." ”

"You can't ambush, you can attack at night." Shi Dakai said: "They traveled nearly 100 miles a day, they were tired and tired, and it was just right for us to attack at night!" ”

Night Raid? Yang Xiuqing turned around and looked into the distance, if he could destroy Yi Zhicontent's troops in one battle, kill or capture Yi Zhizhi alive, then it would be no problem, once Yi Zhizu escaped, the Taiping army would inevitably bear the anger of Yi Zhicontent, Yuan Qi would definitely join forces with the imperial court to encircle and suppress them, and even if the night attack was successful, there would inevitably be many casualties.

With a long sigh, he patted the city wall lightly and said: "The art of war is cloudy, those who are good at fighting, think about defeat before winning, what is the consequence of the failure of the night attack?" ”

Shi Dakai said confidently: "No matter how strong the navy is, it can't stop the sneak attack of our forty or fifty thousand elites!" ”

"Dispatch forty or fifty thousand elites, can the head of the monk and demon not notice?" Yang Xiuqing turned around as she spoke, "If the monk and demon head take the opportunity to break through, we will lose more than we gain, and Yi Zhixin will not fight with us after all." ”

This doesn't work, that doesn't work, Shi Dakai couldn't help but be a little frustrated, and said in a muffled voice: "You can't watch the cooked duck fly again, right?" As he spoke, he tentatively said, "Why don't you give me 30,000 soldiers and horses?" It couldn't be less. ”

Can 30,000 be sure that 7,000 people will be wiped out and satisfied? Yang Xiuqing hesitated, and after a long time, he said: "Eat persimmons and pinch softly, attack it!" In the end, he still made up his mind that the threat of the Eight Banners New Army of Seng Lingqin to the Taiping Army was too great, and he couldn't let them break through the siege, even if he paid heavy casualties, he would annihilate them!

"Yes!" Shi Da said cheerfully.

"Wait." Yang Xiuqing continued: "The Qing demon must resist desperately, and may not be able to completely annihilate them in two days, dig trenches outside the camp, build earthen walls, build fortifications, and try to delay the attack of Yi Zhizhi to gain time." ”

However, in half an hour, the Taiping army launched a strong attack, in an instant, the mountain and the mountain artillery guns rang out, the Taiping army was unwilling to spit out the meat that had eaten into the mouth, and strive to eliminate the besieging Qing army under the arrival of reinforcements, and the Qing army was fighting against the water, the officers and soldiers knew that there was no way out, with perfect fortifications, the fight was extremely tenacious, and the two sides exchanged fire, and the fight was very fierce.

The Taiping army suddenly attacked, and the offensive was extremely violent, which surprised Seng Lingqin, walked out of the big tent of the Chinese army and raised the binoculars to observe carefully, and after a while, He Chun hurried over, and said: "Lord, the bandits attacked from three sides, regardless of priority and priority, and the offensive was extremely violent...... ”

"That's a good thing!" Monk Greenqin said unhurriedly.

"A good thing?" He Chun was stunned, and then reacted and said, "Reinforcements are coming?" But isn't this the right time? It's only been three days since it was besieged, how could it be so fast? ”

Monk Lingqin smiled and said, "Although Yi Guocheng did not lead his troops to participate in the pursuit, he was always concerned about the battle situation, who is he, and the trick of sending bandits can be hidden from him?" After a pause, he continued: "Think about it, if it wasn't for Yi Guocheng to lead his troops to help, how could the bandits attack so strongly?" Just listen to the gunfire to know how fierce the offensive is. ”

I was overjoyed when I was in the spring, and I was pitiful, and I was finally saved! As long as they can hold their positions, they will be able to break through smoothly once reinforcements arrive.

"Pass the order and order all the troops to hold their positions, especially the east and west sides, and not let anything be lost." Monk Lingqin said loudly: "Tell all the departments, the marines have come to the rescue!" ”

Hearing that the navy had come to the rescue, the morale of the Qing army was greatly boosted, and the fighting was extremely tenacious, and the Taiping army's fierce attacks again and again were in vain, with heavy casualties and several divisions being disabled.

The sky is getting dark, but the Taiping army has no intention of withdrawing troops, Shi Dakai relies on the strong troops, and the troops continue to attack in turns, and the Qing army also takes turns to fight, and the gunfire on the mountain and down the mountain continues.

Seeing the Taiping army's repeated assault day and night regardless of casualties, Seng Greenqin couldn't help but be worried, the high ground on both sides was fine, and the casualties in the frontal position were really not small, especially the continuous shelling of more than a dozen artillery pieces of the Taiping army, which caused them a lot of casualties, and the dozen or so artillery pieces were not big, obviously captured by the Taiping army from Jingshan County.

Seeing the wounded soldiers and corpses being carried down, Monk Greenqin couldn't help but curse in his heart, those who are killed by heaven don't know how to blow up the artillery when they escape, according to the Taiping Army's fight like this, in two or three days, his Eight Banners New Army will definitely be disabled, it can be seen that the Taiping Army's way of fighting is to annihilate them regardless of the cost!

"Bang" a firework bloomed in the night sky, splitting into countless tiny red light spots, illuminating the night sky. As soon as he thought about it, he reacted, the fireworks were in the east, it should be far away from them, it was the navy! The Navy is coming!

"Bang-bang." One after another, bright fireworks burst into the night sky one after another, and at this time, all the Qing officers and soldiers reacted, the reinforcements arrived, the reinforcements arrived! There was a burst of cheers as they climbed up and down the mountain, and even the officers and soldiers who were asleep were awakened, and when they understood what was going on, they cheered one by one.

Listening to the thunderous cheers of the Qing army on the other side, Shi Da ordered to stop the attack, he knew very well that the morale was low, and the attack only increased casualties, as for the fireworks, he didn't pay attention to them at all, and the contented navy would take at least two days to arrive, and this firework was nothing more than sending a fast horse to report the news.

Listen to a bright day, Yang Xiuqing personally went into battle to command, the Taiping army launched a fierce attack again, because the front position is not open enough, can not invest a large number of troops, Yang Xiuqing will put a large number of troops on both sides of the high ground, non-stop attacks in turns, see this situation, Seng Lingqin also had to draw a large number of troops to support both sides, so that the battle is more intense than yesterday.

Seeing that the casualties are getting bigger and bigger, Seng Greenqin doesn't know how many beards he has torn off in the big tent of the Chinese army, he knows very well that Wuchang is more than 300 miles to Jingshan, and he has to cross the river, even if he is satisfied, it is estimated that it will take two days to arrive, according to the Taiping army's way of fighting regardless of casualties, not two days, the 20,000 army will be killed and wounded!

"Newspaper, the eastern high ground is lost! The defenders are all killed! ”

As soon as he heard that the high ground was lost, Monk Greenqin couldn't help but gasp, the left flank was lost, which meant that the whole army was destroyed! He immediately shouted, "Batu! ”

"The last general!" Batu hurriedly dodged into the account.

"Lead two battalions and recapture the left flank position!" Monk Greenqin said while walking out of the big tent and raising the binoculars to watch, fortunately, the defenders stationed on the north side saw that the east side was lost, and quickly rushed down, the Taiping army did not occupy the position, with Batu leading two battalions of the Eight Banners New Army to reinforce in time, finally recaptured the position.

Although it is said that the position has been recaptured, Seng Lingqin is not happy, the Taiping army's offensive is so fierce, whether it can hold on today, it is still difficult to say, "Lord Wang!" He Chun strode over and said in a loud voice: "The bandits are completely deadly plays, and the offensive is too fierce......" ”

"No matter how fierce the offensive is, we have to defend this king to the death!" Monk Grinqin shouted: "At least hold out until dark!" ”

"Can reinforcements arrive after dark?" And the spring rejoiced in the way.

"Yes!" Monk Lingqin said without blinking: "Since we were able to set off fireworks nearby yesterday, it means that the main force is not far away, and we will definitely be able to arrive before dark!" ”

What he said was purely to stabilize the morale of the army and boost morale, even he didn't believe it, unless Yi Zhicontent was a prophet, he wouldn't be able to come before dark anyway!

The sky finally got dark, the air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke and the strong smell of blood, a whole day of fierce fighting, the east side of the high ground changed hands, but the Qing army finally firmly held the position, both sides were heavy casualties, the Taiping army also died down, temporary truce.

The Taiping Army camp, the Chinese army's big tent.

Yang Xiuqing slowly paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back with a gloomy face, outside the big tent, a group of generals stood in two rows, no one said a word, today's battle, it can be said that the Taiping Army has been the most tragic offensive and defensive battle since the Jintian uprising, that is, to fight Guilin and Wuchang, it was not so tragic, all the generals were extremely heavy in their hearts, and they also knew that Yang Xiuqing was in a terrible mood, and no one dared to say anything.

Wing King Shi Dakai came quickly, glanced at the generals outside the account, and went straight into the big tent of the Chinese army, seeing him come in, Yang Xiuqing said in a sullen voice: "Where are the reinforcements going?" ”

"Thirty miles away from Caowu Town." Shi Dakai said in a deep voice: "Tomorrow afternoon, I will be able to arrive before dark at the latest." ”

Yang Xiuqing sighed lightly, "It's worthy of being a strong army, it's coming so fast!" ”

"Tomorrow at noon, the Qing Demon should be able to see the reinforcements ......." Shi Dakai said slowly: "Why don't you continue to attack at night?" ”

"How many casualties are there today?" Yang Xiuqing finally couldn't help but ask.

"More than 20,000, and half of them are elite." Shi Dakai said softly: "However, the casualties of the Qing Demon are not low. ”

Although he had been mentally prepared, but hearing that the casualties were so large, Yang Xiuqing couldn't help but sigh, "How's the morale?" ”

After a slight groan, Shi Dakai said truthfully: "The casualties are too great, and the morale is low. After a pause, he said tentatively: "Why don't you summon all the generals to come and cheer them up?" ”

There was no night battle at night, Yang Xiuqing just considered that the casualties were too large and the morale was low, and when he heard this, he slowly paced to the back of the handsome case and sat down, and said, "Beat the drums, raise the account." ”