On the morning of 22 April, Pu Ding Cha sent a note to the Governor's Office of Liangguang through Macao, formally abrogating the "Macao Contract" that had not actually been recognized and enforced by either side, and putting forward new demands such as compensation for military expenses, 30 million yuan in cigarette prices, and cession of Zhoushan Islands and Hong Kong Island.

On the same day, the British fleet sailed from Modaoyang to the waters of Kowloon. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Early in the morning of the 23rd, the rumbling of artillery sounded on the sea surface of Kowloon, and the British army stormed the Guanyong and Kowloon forts from both sea and land, and only held on for half a day, Wang Jihui, the general of the Kowloon Guanyong Battalion, led the crowd to flee from the fort, and the British occupied Hong Kong.

Humen Village, Admiralty Office. Upon hearing that the British army had captured Guanchong and Kowloon Fort and occupied Hong Kong, Kwan Tianpei hurriedly ordered a full alert, and sent clippers to the Governor's Mansion and Huadi Camp to ask for help in case the British army attacked Humen.

After appointing Bo Mai as the commander of the Guangdong Fleet to blockade the Pearl River Estuary, and appointing Bo Li as the commander of the Hong Kong Army to garrison Hong Kong, he led 50 large and small warships to the north.

On the first day of May, the British army captured Xiamen.

On 18 May, the British captured Dinghai.

On 23 May, the British captured Zhenhai.

On May 26, the British army captured Ningbo, and then divided its troops into several routes and burned and plundered Cixi, Fenghua, Yuyao and other counties.

On 27 May, a British fleet left Dinghai and headed north.

The news spread, the southeast panicked, the whole country was shocked, the government and the opposition were boiling, the British army made a comeback, swept the southeast coast in just one month, like no man's land, the soldiers pointed out, there was no enemy, no one knew where the British army would attack next?

Shanghai Daoya, study.

Yi Zhishu was stunned with a cigar in his mouth, and the size of the British fleet that left Dinghai and went north was three third-class battleships, and twenty other fourth-five-sixth-level battleships, which was almost half of the strength of the fleet led by Pu Ding Cha, what did Pu Ding Cha want to do? Two ways to divide the soldiers? Attack Tianjin?

It's not that this is not impossible, one is that it's still early, and then the British army attacks all the way, and the fight is very easy, Pu Ding Cha is extremely self-confident, and it is possible to divide the troops to attack, or to come to the coastal provinces to blossom everywhere, and the British army also has this strength.

The birth of Yuan Qi's group training has already made this war unrecognizable, and the direction and process of the war may change greatly according to the trajectory of the original reason, and he can't make the stupid thing of carving a boat to ask for a sword.

And what worries him the most is the reaction of the imperial court, how will the imperial court respond to this situation? If the imperial court does not transfer troops to encircle and suppress, I am afraid that the government and the opposition will boil and send troops, will Daoguang transfer Yang Fang's Hunan and Hubei Green Battalion to Yuanqi regimental training?

Just as he was contemplating and thinking, Li Wang tiptoed to the door, glanced at it, and then said softly: "Young Master, Chen Junmen is here." ”

Songjiang Mansion is not far from Shanghai, after the British army attacked Xiamen, Chen Huacheng has become a frequent visitor to the Taoist government, and he will come every three or five times, Yi Zhishu has long been used to it, and immediately ordered: "Please invite him in." With that, he put down his cigar and got up and walked out slowly.

Chen Huacheng, who was dressed in civilian clothes, walked into the courtyard without hurrying, and saw Yi Zhizhi standing on the steps to greet him, he didn't care, and when he arrived, the two of them bowed their hands slightly, even if it was a salute, he didn't greet him, and said straightly: "Yingyi has invaded Ningbo for a few days, next, will you come to Songjiang?" Is it necessary to mobilize troops to defend the key water, land and sea points connecting Zhejiang? Matsue is famous. ”

Yi Zhixiang stretched out his hand to invite and said unhurriedly: "The military gate is the governor of Jiangnan, and the Yingyi invasion of Ningbo Mansion is close at hand, and it is reasonable to dispatch troops to deploy defenses, so as not to arouse suspicion." ”

The focus of Chen Huacheng's inquiry was whether Yingyi would land and plunder in the coastal counties of Songjiang Province. This is his duty, now he admires Yi Zhizhi in his heart, can judge Yingyi's actions so accurately, he asked himself if he has this ability, I am afraid that the Qing Dynasty will not be able to find a second person, seeing that Yi Zhizhi is content to avoid the important and light, he is also lazy to go around in circles, and said straightly: "Will Yingyi come to Songjiang Mansion?" Contentment is also Su Song's military preparation, but don't be careless, Yingyi is in the realm, contentment is indispensable to eat and hang. ”

Several counties of Songjiang Prefecture are on the verge of Hangzhou Bay and Ningbo Mansion across the bay, and the sea route is quite close, Yi Zhizhi is Shanghai Road, not that he has not considered this problem, and he sighed slightly, he said: "Yingyi takes Dinghai as a base and easily controls the entire Hangzhou Bay, Jiaxing Mansion and Songjiang Mansion are all around Hangzhou Bay, all of which are within the scope of Yingyi's harassment and plunder.

However, Yingyi is not a wolf, not mainly to plunder, but has a very clear purpose, besides, Ningbo Mansion is also rich enough to meet the needs of Yingyi, and again, the Yingyi fleet has been divided into the north, Zhoushan Yingyi is scattered, and it is unlikely that they will loot everywhere. ”

Listening to his analysis, Chen Huacheng put his mind at ease, as the governor of Jiangnan, he governed Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, and Zhenjiang, but he was holding back his strength to avenge his two sons in a vicious battle with Yingyi on the Yangtze River, and he didn't want to disperse his troops and transfer them to several coastal counties in Songjiang Prefecture.

Yi Zhizu took a cigar and took a slow puff, and said: "Yingyi occupies Dinghai, captures Ningbo Mansion, and has the tendency to spread, how will the imperial court respond?" ”

"What else can I do?" Chen Huacheng said disapprerovingly: "It's nothing more than a strict order to the Zhejiang Governor or the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang to send troops to recover the lost territory, and it is also possible to appoint a Qincha to ......." After a slight pause, he tentatively said, "What is contentment worried about?" Worried that the imperial court will draw troops from Liangjiang? ”

"I'm not worried." Yi Zhizu shook his head slightly, and said, "Taking this opportunity to transfer Jiangxi troops to Hangzhou, Jiaxing and other places will be conducive to the Battle of Jiangning." ”

Chen Huacheng asked, "What is contentment worried about?" ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "Fujian wants to transfer troops to defend the coast, I'm afraid that there won't be many troops to Zhejiang, it is impossible to recover the lost territory with the Zhejiang Green Battalion alone, and it is more likely to transfer troops from Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei, if this happens, how will Yingyi react?" ”

Hearing this, Chen Huacheng couldn't help but hesitate for a while: "Contentment is worried that Yingyi will work at ease and take Zhejiang as the main battlefield? ”

"To be precise, Hangzhou is the main battlefield." Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "The British army has reached Yuyao and Cixi in Ningbo Prefecture, which is only more than 200 miles away from Hangzhou, with the strength and combat power of the British army, it is not difficult to attack Hangzhou, once the British army puts on a posture of attacking Hangzhou, how will the imperial court react?" ”

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province, is the starting point of the Grand Canal, prosperous and rich is not inferior to Nanjing, once it is captured by the British army, the world will inevitably be in an uproar, the imperial court can not sit idly by and tolerate, it will inevitably defend with all its might, thinking of this, Chen Huacheng's heart sank, if this is really the case, the British army took the opportunity to occupy Ningbo Mansion, to wait for work, occupy the geographical advantage, but the green battalions of the provinces are from afar, what is the situation?

Home-guest castling! Originally, the Green Battalion was not an opponent of the British army, so the disadvantage was more obvious, and for the British army, it was much easier to use Hangzhou as a battlefield than to attack Jiangning.

After a slight sigh, he said: "Contentment won't be too much to worry about, Yingyi has already divided his troops to the north, if he intends to attack Hangzhou, they will not divide his troops, maybe Yingyi doesn't know the situation in Hangzhou." ”

The British army doesn't know Hangzhou, doesn't the Heaven and Earth Society understand Hangzhou either? The British army attacked Zhenhai Ningbo, burned and plundered Cixi, Fenghua, and Yuyao, all of which had a large number of traitors involved, and it was obvious that most of those traitors were members of the Tiandihui, and they were content to smoke their cigars silently and did not say a word, the British army did not fight Hangzhou, what was the reason why the British army was indifferent to Hangzhou, which was close at hand?

After pondering for a long time, he spoke: "This matter cannot be guarded against, and the British army cannot be allowed to use Hangzhou as the main battlefield, in that case, we will not have the slightest chance of winning, and we will also bother Chen Huajunmen to go to Jinling, and analyze it in detail to Lin Butang, Chen Ming is very powerful." ”

Chen Huacheng said with some surprise: "Contentment doesn't go to Jinling?" ”

Yi Zhishu smiled and knocked on the cigarette ash, and said: "I hired a few sand boats at a high price to go to sea to investigate the situation of the British northbound fleet, and we have to stay in Shanghai at any time, our mobility is not as good as the British army, and the sooner we determine the intention of Yingyi, we will have a better chance of winning." ”

"Okay, it's okay to let the old man run errands." Chen Huacheng said with a smile: "However, it is best to write a letter for contentment, the old man is old, and this memory is not good." ”

The so-called old age is just a pretext, Yi Zhicontent doesn't care, he is not afraid of taking risks, he immediately readily agreed, wrote a letter in a free way, and handed it over to Chen Huacheng to send him out of the courtyard, and then turned back to the study, Li Wang came to report: "Pan Gongzi, Yan shopkeeper and Xue shopkeeper, ask to see outside." ”

"Pan Shiming has arrived?" Yi Zhishu asked, and seeing Li Wang nodding, he smiled and said, "Invite him in first." ”

Pan Shiming came to Shanghai Daoya for the first time, and when he looked up in the courtyard and saw Yi Zhizhi waiting on the steps, he couldn't help but smile, quickened his pace, and was still more than a dozen steps away, so he smiled and said: "Yingyi captured Ningbo, the people of Hangzhou were panicked, and most of the gentry and businessmen fled to the wealthy households, and they took refuge in the big shopkeeper here." ”

"Brother Cheng can choose the wrong direction for refuge, Shanghai is now more dangerous than Hangzhou." Yi Zhixiang smiled and bowed his hand, and then said with concern: "Is the journey still smooth?" ”

"With the Cao Gang escort, can it still go well?" Pan Shiming sighed, "This time I can be regarded as seeing what is a war and chaos...... the canal is crowded with all kinds of boats, and the people on both sides of the strait are also supporting the old and the young, and there is no end in sight, hey....... The court was incompetent, and the people suffered. ”

"The British army is still two hundred miles away from Hangzhou, and Hangzhou is in chaos like this?" Yi Zhishu asked while stretching out his hand to be polite, the two entered the room and sat down, Pan Shiming unceremoniously took a cigar from the table and lit it, and let out a long puff of smoke, as if he wanted to spit out the resentment in his stomach, "Yingyi occupied Ningbo, looted ****, did all kinds of evil, and sent troops to capture Cixi Yuyao, only two or three days away from Hangzhou, how can Hangzhou not be chaotic?" Fortunately, those adults did not dare to flee, otherwise, Hangzhou, like Ningbo, would have been an empty city before Yingyi's figure was seen. ”

The situation in Ningbo is easy to know contentment very clearly, Zhenhai fell, Zhejiang Governor Yu Buyun, Ning Shaotai Dao Lu Zeliang, Ningbo Governor Deng Tingcai, Yin County Governor Wang Dingxun and other large and small civil and military officials have abandoned the city and fled, the second battalion of Tizhen was also scattered, the British army was less than 1,000 people, and they easily captured Ningbo without firing a shot.

Hearing this, he chuckled and said: "Hangzhou is a provincial capital, dare to abandon the provincial city and flee, and the civil and military forces of the city will also be unable to escape death." After a pause, he then asked: "I heard that the new governor of Zhejiang, Liu Yunke, is actively preparing for war, Ningbo has fallen, and Hangzhou is in danger, what measures did he take?" ”

After a slight sigh, Pan Shiming said: "Ningbo was lost, Liu Futai led the political envoy Zheng Zuchen to lead the division to strangle the Cao'e River, the general soldier Li Tingyang, the inspection envoy Jiang Wenqing, and the Taoist Lu Zeliang stationed in Shaoxing, and at the same time recruited 20,000 troops to guard the provincial capital, and appeased the sand bandits and ten pockmarks to surrender, and ordered the whole city to be martial law and eliminate the spies. ”

The information of Ningbo makeup, Yi Zhizhi is not nothing, but Pan Shiming does not know so comprehensively, he got up and smiled: "It seems that Brother Zecheng has gained a firm foothold in Hangzhou City......." ”

"The proprietors of "Lin'an Daily" are all gentry and celebrities in Hangzhou, and they have been actively promoting the fight against the Yingyi since its establishment, and these news are nothing at all." Pan Shiming turned around as he spoke, and Yi Zhicontent, who saw it, spread out a map on the desk, and hurriedly got up and walked over.

The map on the table is a simple map of Zhejiang, Yi Zhizu pointed to the location of the Cao'e River with his finger, and said in a deep voice: "The Cao'e River can't be defended, and the Yingyi steamship can take advantage of the high tide to attack the river...... ”

Hearing this, Pan Shiming was taken aback, "Yingyi will attack Hangzhou?" ”

"It's hard to say." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "However, we will not attack Hangzhou in a short time, we will fight early, and we will not delay in Ningbo for such a long time, so that Hangzhou will have enough time to deploy defense." Then the Cheng Brotherhood Hangzhou also asked Liu Futai to tell Liu Futai that if the Yingyi attacked, it was best to retreat to the north bank of the Qiantang River and defend the river. ”

Back to Hangzhou? Pan Shiming was stunned and said: "Hangzhou is now a dangerous city ...... ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said, "There is the Cao Gang, what is Brother Cheng worried about?" Even if Yingyi attacked Hangzhou, the Cao Gang would definitely be able to protect Brother Zecheng's safety. ”

Hearing this, Pan Shiming put his mind at ease, came all the way from Hangzhou, he deeply understood the ability of the Cao Gang along the canal, the protection of the Cao Gang is definitely safer than the officers and soldiers of the Eight Banners Green Battalion, thinking of this, he looked at Yi Zhixiang with a suspicious face, since he didn't let him hide from the war, why did Baba call him to Shanghai?

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, stretched out his hand and said, "Sit down and say." The two sat down, Yi Zhishu poured him a cup of tea, and then said slowly: "For the officers and gentry of Hangzhou, the "Lin'an Daily" can play a positive role in publicity, guiding public opinion, stimulating morale, and stabilizing the people's hearts. (To be continued.) )