The sky has just brightened, the south and southeast of Wuchang City sounded a dense cannon sound, Shuangfu who was awakened by the sound of artillery jumped up and hurriedly walked to the temporary requisitioned courtyard, looking at the south of the city with a pair of dissatisfied bloodshot eyes, the Taiping army actually began to attack the city early in the morning, it seems that the arrival of reinforcements from Seng Lingqin also caused a lot of pressure on the Taiping army, estimating, holding on for a few more days, the siege of Wuchang can be solved. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

He was originally to take over as the governor of Jiangnan, just passing through Wuchang when Yuezhou was lost, the governor Chang Dachun tried his best to stay, and Feizhang Bai played a song to ask him to raise courage to defend the city, at that time he disdained the Taiping army, greedy to stay, Xianfeng also pushed the boat to change it to the governor of Hubei, to hear that the Taiping army of 100,000 people went to Wuchang, he regretted that even his intestines were green.

Wang Jinxiu, the chief soldier, walked in quickly, and when he saw that he had already gotten up, he hurriedly stepped forward and bowed and saluted: "The military gate, the tunnel dug by the bandits is preliminarily estimated to have arrived at the Wenchang Gate, and the last general implores the soldiers to go down the city to obstruct it." ”

"Coming down from the city, isn't that a meat bun beating a dog?" Shuangfu said in a sullen voice: "Didn't you arrange for the blind man to listen to the sound in the buried water tank at the root of the city wall, is it all decoration?" ”

Wang Jinxiu smiled bitterly and said: "The military gate, the bandits are cunning, the guns rumble during the siege, and the gongs and drums are beaten when they rest, those blind people are not of much use at all." ”

With a slight sigh, Shuangfu said: "Although the reinforcements of the monk king have arrived, you have also seen the battle situation yesterday, and the bandit defense is not flowing, and the reinforcements cannot enter the city at all, and this situation is difficult to change for a while." And the bandits attacking the city are becoming more and more urgent, taking turns to attack, not giving us a chance to breathe at all, how many casualties did we have in a day yesterday? At this time, send troops to the city to die, and in less than two days, we will have no soldiers to defend the city! ”

As he spoke, he waved his hand and said: "The top priority is to prevent bandits from climbing the city, as for the tunnels, don't pay attention to them for the time being, catch a few more blind people, bury a few more big water tanks in the city wall, and listen day and night, the tunnel is close to the root of the city wall, and it will definitely not escape the ears of those blind people." ”

Outside the Wenchang Gate, the Taiping Army earthen camp.

Monk Greenqin's pursuers arrived, the offensive was strong, Yang Xiuqing of Hankou Wanshou Palace was also a little breathless, crossed the bridge early in the morning, rushed to the earthen camp outside the Wenchang Gate, the strong attack was clear, digging tunnels to bury explosives to blow up the city gate and the city wall was dark, one bright and one dark, synchronously, this is the strategy he set to attack Wuchang.

From the first day of the attack on Wuchang City, the earthen camp chose the location and direction and began to dig tunnels day and night, the scale of the Taiping Army's earthen camp is not small, although the establishment is only the division commander level, but there are 5,000 people, the soldiers are all miners - digging coal, digging silver, copper, lead and tin ore miners, mainly responsible for digging trenches, building earth walls, fortresses and playing tunnels, in fact, it is an engineering soldier.

Hearing that the East King arrived, Liu Daiwei, the commander of the Tuying Division, hurriedly greeted him and entered the military tent, Yang Xiuqing asked, "How is it going?" ”

"Go back to His Royal Highness the King of the East." Liu Daiwei said calmly: "The main tunnel is close to Wenchang Gate, and now it is preparing to split and excavate the branch tunnel, considering that the city wall of Wuchang City is as high as thick, the subordinates are ready to excavate two branch roads, and detonate at the same time to ensure that they can be blown up at one time." ”

"We need to speed up the process." Yang Xiuqing said in a deep voice: "The chasing soldiers who shook the head of the monk have arrived in Wuchang, and the Qing Demon also has another reinforcement to go up the river, leaving us not much time, and they take turns to attack every day, and the casualties are not small." ”

"My subordinates understand." Liu Daiwei hurriedly bowed and said.

Yang Xiuqing nodded and said, "What are the requirements?" ”

Liu Daiwei smiled embarrassedly before he said: "Your Highness, the brothers work day and night, digging tunnels in shifts, and their physical strength is very ..... Can you arrange a late-night snack? ”

The logistics troops of the Taiping Army are stationed in Hankou, Hanyang, on the other side, cooking and delivering rice across the river, and it is indeed difficult to have a supper, but Yang Xiuqing said without hesitation: "No problem, this king arranges a brigade to cross the river to cook for you, five meals a day, and guarantee two suppers a night!" ”

"Your Highness." Liu Daiwei was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed down to thank him. Yang Xiuqing waved his hand and said, "Not only you, but the siege land camp is also attacking in turn, and the food must also be guaranteed." ”

"Your Highness is wise." Liu Daiwei flattered a sentence before saying: "The tunnel is close to the root of the city wall, I'm afraid I can't hide it from the Qing demon." ”

Yang Xiuqing stood up and said, "Don't worry, the Qing Demon won't have a chance to attack and destroy the tunnel!" The change of voice fell, and the commander of the first brigade hurriedly came in to report: "Your Highness, the Wing King sent someone to report, and the Qing Demon on the opposite side divided his troops to the north and went in the direction of Zhongxiao Gate. ”

Zhongxiaomen is garrisoned by Wei Changhui, the king of the north, and the Qing demon division can break through Wei Changhui's position? Yang Xiuqing didn't plan to pay attention to it, but after thinking about it, Wei Changhui's artillery was not much, and if he was torn open by the Qing Demon, it would be a failure, and he said in a deep voice: "Order, Li Kaifang's Ministry reinforces the Zhongxiao Gate, and pay close attention to the movements of the Qing Demon, and can't let them enter the city!" ”

Because the Taiping army occupies all the commanding heights and favorable terrain outside the city, and the fortifications have been gradually improved, Seng Greenqin has never been able to break through the Taiping army's defense line by dividing his troops, and the battle situation has therefore fallen into a stalemate.

The battle stalemate lasted for five days, and the Taiping army soil battalion soldiers finally dug the tunnel to Wuchang Wenchang Gate, and there were two other branch roads, a total of three big holes were dug near Wenchang Gate, and the coffin was filled with explosives and put into the detonation, with a huge muffled sound, the tall and thick Wuchang city wall was blown down more than 20 zhang.

Lin Fengxiang rushed desperately into the gap with the boy scouts who did not know life and death and feared death and outlaw to defeat the elite veterans, and the brigade of soldiers and horses followed closely and swarmed in, Huang Yukun, Luo Outline and other troops also entered the city from the four city walls by ladders, and Wuchang fell for ten days!

Entering Wuchang, the Taiping army quickly occupied the whole city and issued an edict: "No officers and soldiers will stay, and the people will not be injured." "Refusing to accept the surrender of the defenders, the governor Chang Dachun hanged himself, according to the inspection of Ruiyuan to kill himself, the academic and political Feng Peiyuan threw himself into the well, and the governor Shuangfu and the political envoy Liang Xingyuan were killed..... There were more than 100 civil and military officials in the city, all of whom were spared, and all of them were sentenced to death after parading through the streets.

Wuchang City broke three days, Yi Zhifencai led 5,000 marines to rush to Wuchang City, camped on the shore of Shahu Lake, heard that Yi Zhizu personally led troops to help, anxious monk Lingqin light cavalry Jian Cong bypassed Wuchang City and hurriedly dared to meet.

Hearing the news that the monk Greenqin was coming, Yi Zhizu hurriedly hurried to the camp gate to greet him, and as soon as he met, the monk Greenqin arched his hand and said: "The national city is finally here, fortunately, it's not too late." ”

"I didn't expect that in just ten days, the Taiping army broke Wuchang." Yi Zhicontent said with a regretful face: "After all, it's a step late." ”

"Time, luck, and life!" Monk Greenqin sighed lightly: "Although the bandits are fierce, the defenders in Wuchang City are too grassy, otherwise why would this be." As he spoke, he turned sideways, revealing Jiang Zhongyuan behind him, and introduced: "This is Jiang Minqiao's ......" ”

Jiang Zhongyuan? For this ancestor of the Hunan Army, Yi Zhishu has been famous for a long time, but he didn't expect to meet in this situation, so he immediately arched his hand and said: "I have heard the name of Brother Minqiao for a long time, and I am fortunate to meet." ”

Yi Zhicontent is a first-class marquis, and now he has been reinstated, reinstated as the Minister of Nanyang, and the Admiral of the Nanyang Navy, while Jiang Zhongyuan is just the title of prefect, the difference between the two statuses is extremely large, but Yi Zhicontent is treated politely, Jiang Zhongyuan was surprised, and hurriedly bowed his hand and said: "The Hou Ye has a voice that shocks the government and the opposition, and his prestige is famous overseas, and he has been admired for a long time. ”

"Let's talk about it after entering the account." Yi Zhixiang stretched out his hand and gave way.

Along the way, Seng Lingqin asked as he walked: "Didn't Zeng Disheng come with Brother Guocheng?" ”

"Coming from the fast horse, he can't keep up with a scholar." Yi Zhizu said with a smile: "The two of them are on the road together with Qi Zhitai, and they estimate that they should arrive in two or three days." ”

After entering the big tent, the monk sat down, and the monk Grinqin couldn't wait to ask, "Where has the fleet arrived now?" ”

"Jiujiang." Yi Zhizhi said: "The fleet is stationed in Jiujiang, there are too many ships of the Taiping Army, and the Yangtze River is not wide, so in order to prevent fire attacks, the fleet does not dare to come to Wuchang." ”

Monk Greenqin nodded slightly, indeed, the Taiping army's ships are estimated to be tens of thousands, if it is a fire attack, it is really impossible to parry, he groaned slightly, he said: "Okay, stationed in Jiujiang, intercept the Taiping army's way down the east of the river, at least you can protect the southeast without worry." ”

"I didn't expect the Taiping Army to be able to collect so many ships in a short period of time to form a large-scale sailor." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "With this water division, the Taiping army is enough to be invincible. ”

"yes." Monk Greenqin sighed lightly: "The scale of the sailor is huge, and the land battle captured Wuchang in ten days, the Taiping army can now be regarded as full-fledged, and it is not easy to exterminate it." After a pause, he said: "Let's not think about it so long-term, it is important to recover Wuchang at the moment, how many troops does Brother Guocheng bring?" ”

"Five thousand marines."

Only five thousand! Monk Greenqin was slightly disappointed, and groaned slightly, before he said: "The Taiping army has fought with us repeatedly, and now we have learned to be obedient, playing trenches to build earth walls, supplemented by artillery, the Mini gun can't play an advantage at all. ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "What about the city wall? ”

"And so it is." Monk Greenqin smiled bitterly and said: "They stood on the battlements with thick wooden planks covered with quilts, and the people hid behind them and fired obliquely, which greatly offset the advantage of the Mini gun. ”

Jiang Zhongyuan interjected at this time: "Can you attack from the north and south, burn the two pontoon bridges on the river, cut off the supply in Wuchang City, besiege it for a long time, and trap the bandits in Wuchang City." ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said: "It's not difficult to burn the pontoon bridge, but don't forget, the Taiping army still has tens of thousands of ships and 15,000 sailors, and the line along the river in the east of the city, how to contain it?" Not to mention camping, even digging and repairing fortifications will inevitably be attacked by the Taiping army inside and outside, and it will not stand at all, and besides, the Taiping army will definitely recruit troops and expand the army in Wuchang. ”

After a while, Monk Greenqin said: "In this way, it can only be a strong attack?" ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "The Taiping Army can capture Wuchang, can't we?" Storm! But wait, wait until I dismantle the guns from the battleship. ”

Hearing this, Monk Lingqin couldn't help but smile, "This king has forgotten that Guocheng is an expert in the use of artillery, thousands of artillery, and I am afraid that I can't take a single Wuchang City?" As he spoke, he asked, "How long will it take for the artillery to arrive in Wuchang?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "It has been shipped, but the artillery is difficult to travel, let alone five or six days." ”

"Then let them be arrogant for another five or six days!" Monk Greenqin said with a smile.

Jiang Zhongyuan said: "A thousand artillery pieces are enough to block the river." ”

"It seems that Brother Minqiao had expected that Benhou would come to Wuchang with artillery." Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said with a smile: "There are thousands of artillery, but there is always no artillery left on the battleship, the Taiping Army is not all wine bags and rice bags, once it is judged that the battleship has no artillery, what will be the result?" ”

Once the Taiping army judged that there was no artillery on the battleships of the naval fleet, the Taiping army would inevitably take this opportunity to float down the river, Jiang Zhongyuan's face was hot, and he hurriedly bowed down and said: "I am really ashamed to be in a hurry for quick success and quick profit, and I am really ashamed to be inconsiderate." ”

Yi Zhizhi looked at Seng Lingqin and said, "The Marine Corps lacks a person who has a comprehensive understanding of the situation in Wuchang, can you borrow Minqiao for a few days." ”

Monk Lingqin smiled when he heard this, "I specially brought Minqiao here today, precisely for this reason." ”

In the dead of night, a small group of people entered the Shahu camp in the dark, and the person at the head was Yin Youcai, who entered the camp, and after ordering his subordinates to rest first, he went straight to the Chinese army tent that was still lit up, and Yi Zhicontent, who was carefully checking the map of Wuchang, said casually: "I'm back, how is the situation?" ”

"Back to the principal, I saw Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing."

"Looks like they're taking it very seriously." Yi Zhishu said and paced over slowly, "Sit." ”

After taking his seat, Yin Youcai said: "Hong Xiuquan made it clear that he did not want to be an enemy of Yuan Qi, but said that Wuchang has an excellent location and is close to the south of the Yangtze River, which is the most suitable for worshipping God to establish a small paradise, and it is easier to attract the attention of the imperial court. ”

Yi Zhizu sneered: "It seems that he doesn't cry when he doesn't see the coffin." After a slight hesitation, he said: "Does the Taiping Army recruit troops in Wuchang City?" ”

"Wuchang City is almost a big military camp now." Yin Youcai said: "The Taiping Army continues to implement the system of separate camps for men and women, men live in the men's hall, women live in the women's hall, the elderly, children, and the disabled are arranged into the Paiwei Hall, and twenty-five people are in one hall, which is supervised by the soldiers, and each person is allocated a ration, a cup of oil, and rice by the holy treasury every day, and family members and husbands are not allowed to meet. ”

"The Taiping Army is planning to coerce the people of the entire Wuchang City." Yi Zhizhi snorted coldly, "My appetite is too big, and I'm not afraid of choking." After a pause, he asked, "Is there a warning, the high-level of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been transferred to Hanyang?" ”

Yin Youcai hurriedly said: "It is very clear, solemnly warn them, I hope that the kings and the capable generals will be transferred to Hankou in Hanyang within three days." ”

Yi Zhixiang nodded and said, "You are also tired, go down and rest first." ”

Yin Youcai, who was waiting, retreated, Yi Zhizhi slowly lit a cigarette, for the Taiping Army, he did this can be regarded as benevolent and righteous, as for whether the other party listens to him or not, then it doesn't matter to him, when the artillery is transported up, Wuchang City will definitely not be able to hold it, even if he wants to evacuate and retreat to the other side, it is not easy, in front of Seng Lingqin, he is not good at releasing water, I hope Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing can get to know each other a little.