Hubei, Wuchang, Qingshan Town. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Qingshan Town is not far from Wuchang City but not close, regardless of the waterway and land have forty or fifty miles, it is an important commercial town along the river since the pre-Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty is more prosperous, it has become the business center where businessmen gather, the riverside wharf has been docked in rows all the year round with the wooden boats that drop their sails and expose their masts.

Since a few years ago, after the Yangtze River sailors set up a large camp at the foot of Jitou Mountain and Tianxinzhou on the other side, Qingshan Town has become more prosperous and lively, and merchants from Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang have come one after another, and large and small wooden boats and small steamers on the river have been shuttling all day long.

Early in the morning of this day, Chen Hongming, the commander of the Yangtze River Naval Division, shaved his beard cleanly and wore a straight tweed military uniform, and led his officers to the downstream naval division wharf, and ordered all the steam gunboats moored at the wharf to move to the opposite shore to vacate the wharf, and ordered the wharf to be under martial law and build a long shed.

Less than nine o'clock, three small steamers suddenly drove down from the upstream, as soon as the ship opened the shore, I saw a group of brilliant members of Lingding disembarking one after another, headed by Jingnan Pingkou General Hui Prince Mianyu, followed by the king of Monk Greenqin County, the military department Shangshu Guiliang, Huguang Governor Qishan, Hubei Governor Jiang Zhongyuan.... All the senior members above the fourth grade in Wuchang City almost rushed to the city without pulling all of them.

Seeing that even Prince Hui Mianyu and the county prince Monk Greenqin personally rushed to Qingshan Town to greet him, Chen Hongming was very proud in his heart, but he did not dare to lose the rules, and hurriedly led his officers to greet him.

Mianyu didn't take the general's shelf and asked gently, "How long will it take for the fleet to arrive?" ”

"Back to the general, it should be half an hour before you arrive." Chen Hongming stretched out his hand and said politely: "Please go to the shed to rest." ”

Although it was only nine o'clock, the sun was already a little scorching, Mianyu nodded, walked to the long shed, there was wind by the river, it was quite comfortable to sit in the long shed, took off his summer hat, and said in a comfortable mood: "Or the sailor will choose a place, this Qingshan Town is much more comfortable than Wuchang City." ”

Hearing this, Qi Shan smiled, "Lord Wang, this Wuchang is known as the 'furnace', and it is the hottest in summer. ”

Monk Lingqin opened his mouth and said: "Wuchang is extremely hot, Yi Guocheng may not be willing to enter the city, this banquet is better set up in Qingshan Town." ”

Mianyu was worried that Yi Zhishu would not enter Wuchang City, so he personally rushed to Qingshan Town to greet him, and when he heard this, he immediately smiled and said: "The monk king's proposal is very good." ”

"Don't bother your lords." Chen Hongming spoke: "The last general has set up a banquet in the camp. ”

The soldiers who were waiting for the herbal tea were served, and Jiang Zhongyuan spoke: "This time to calm the chaos, recruit forty or fifty thousand twist troops, I heard that half of the cavalry ....... ”

Mianyu glanced at him and said, "Yes, there are indeed more than 10,000 cavalry, but Yi Guocheng has already sent all the surrendered troops to the northwest. ”

This matter has not been made public since Mianyu received the telegram, and when he heard him say it, everyone was stunned, and Monk Lingqin was puzzled: "Why is this? ”

Mianyu said slowly: "The surrendered troops have not been strictly trained, and they are not enough to stand alone, and Yi Guocheng is worried that he will fall short. ”

Everyone here was a top person, and they immediately understood that this was not at ease with the surrendered Twist Army, and they were worried that the situation of defection would ruin the plan to encircle and suppress the Taiping Army, Qi Shan did frown and said: "The Northwest will not send troops this year, right?" ”

Mianyu smiled: "Guocheng is here, you ask him in person." ”

At a quarter past ten, the fleet of the Yangtze River Navy Division slowly arrived at Qingshan Town, and the dock on Yi Zhi's content saw Mianyu leading a group of adults to greet him, and he couldn't help but smile and said: "How dare General Lao greet him from afar." ”

Mianyu said with a hearty smile: "The national city swept away the four provinces of Anhui, Suzhou, Henan, and Lu in one fell swoop, how can this king not be far away." ”

"It's not worth mentioning." Yi Zhixiang while humble and greeted everyone, a group of adults are basically acquaintances, after a greeting, everyone hugged to the camp, after the banquet, a group of three or four officials have said goodbye and left, Mianyu and other adults are staying.

Seeing this situation, Yi Zhizhi had to invite everyone to go to the big tent of the Chinese army, and after the ceremony was seated, Mianyu smiled and said: "The turmoil has basically been calmed down, what is the next plan for the national city?" ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at everyone and said with a smile: "If you have any ideas, don't hide them, brainstorm ideas." ”

Seeing that he was anti-guest-oriented, Mianyu was not annoyed, and said along the way: "What I said is, brainstorming, everyone might as well open up." ”

"The Taiping Army is not comparable to the Twist Army, and the encirclement and suppression of the Taiping Army must be cautious and prudent, once the Taiping Army breaks through, there will be endless troubles." Monk Greenqin was the first to speak: "Brother Guocheng's method of encircling and suppressing the twisted army is good, first encircle and then suppress, boldly interspersed with dividing and encircling ....... ”

"The Taiping army has more than 600,000 troops, 200,000 elites, and its sphere of influence is nearly two provinces." Jiang Zhongyuan said unceremoniously: "Boldly interspersed, divided and encircled, will only give the Taiping army an opportunity to take advantage of, Yang Xiuqing and Shi Dakai are cunning in their use of troops, but they are not comparable to those banner masters of the Twist Army." ”

Monk Greenqin glanced at him and said, "Didn't the navy send troops to Guilin to separate Guangxi and Hunan?" ”

"It's too early to say that it is divided and encircled, Shi Dakai has already led 200,000 troops to Guangxi." Jiang Zhongyuan said with a turn of the spear, "Brother Guocheng has no plans to increase troops in Guangxi?" ”

Yi Zhizhi spread his hands and chuckled: "The main force of the navy is now in Jiangbei, how can there be troops to reinforce Guangxi?" ”

Seeing his relaxed tone, everyone present was a little surprised, the Nanyang Navy has two brigades of about 15,000 people in Guangxi, and Shi Dakai led 200,000 troops to reinforce, this guy doesn't seem to be worried at all, what is the reason?

Monk Greenqin couldn't help but say: "Shi Dakai is brave and good at fighting, resourceful, and has a very high prestige in the Taiping army. ”

"It doesn't matter." Yi Zhizhi said: "Changsha to Guilin is more than 1,000 miles, and Shi Dakai's 200,000 army will take half a month, so there is no need to worry." ”

Hearing him say this, no one knew what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd, and they didn't say anything one by one, and finally Mianyu couldn't help but say: "Don't hang our appetite in Guocheng, talk about what you think in your heart." ”

lit a cigarette, Yi Zhizhi said: "Will Hong Xiuquan, who you feel, give up Changsha?" ”

What does that mean? Everyone couldn't help but look at each other, and after a while, Jiang Zhongyuan said: "Brother Guocheng thinks Hong Xiuquan will defend Changsha?" ”

"It's possible." Gui Liang said softly: "Changsha is the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom after all, under normal circumstances, Hong Xiuquan will not give up the capital easily. ”

Monk Greenqin said in disbelief: "Brother Guocheng plans to directly attack Changsha? ”

Yi Zhizu chuckled and said, "The last thing the navy is afraid of is positional warfare!" After a pause, he said slowly: "The main force of the navy is approaching Changsha from Wuchang, how will the Taiping army react?" ”

"If you are unwilling to give up Changsha, you will inevitably send heavy troops to intercept it." Monk Greenqin pondered and said: "Then we take the opportunity to recover the surrounding prefectures and counties, and finally encircle Changsha?" Speaking of this, he smiled and said: "The Nanyang Navy is now famous, and the Taiping Army is a little wiser, and it will not hit a stone with an egg, if it gives up Changsha, what should it do?" ”

Yi Zhixiang's biggest concern is that the Taiping army will abandon Changsha and fight everywhere, which will undoubtedly be a disaster, Gui Liang took over and said: "If the Taiping army gives up Changsha, the direction of escape is Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangzhou." ”

"Sichuan is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is heavily guarded, and it is difficult to enter Sichuan, and it is difficult to get out of Sichuan, but there is no need to worry too much." Jiang Zhongyuan said slowly: "There is a possibility of the two Guangzhou, after all, the Taiping army has a good foundation in Guangxi, but the most worrying thing is Yungui, once the Taiping army enters Yungui from Xiangxi, the mountains are heavy, the road is difficult, and the difficulty of encirclement and suppression is not ordinary." ”

Yi Zhishu asked in a deep voice, "Can't stop the Taiping Army from entering Yungui?" ”

"Difficult! The Yunnan-Guizhou Green Battalion is vulnerable. ”

"I think it's extremely unlikely that the Taiping army will enter Yungui, unless it's cornered." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Yungui is mostly an ethnic minority, there is no foundation for the survival and development of the Taiping army, if the Taiping army escapes, you can guide the Taiping army back to Guangxi, and then chase and drive the Taiping army to Annam, Siam, and Burma." ”

"Woe to the West?" Monk Greenqin listened to a joy.

Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "It's not just as simple as causing trouble. ”

"Drive the tiger and devour the wolf!"

"Borrow a knife to kill!"

Jiang Zhongyuan and Qi Shan spoke almost at the same time, and everyone's eyes looked at Yi Zhicontent, using the Taiping Army to annex Southeast Asian countries, this guy who lost thought of it, this guy really wanted to expand abroad!

Mianyu said with a happy face: "How sure is the national city?" ”

"It's just a rough idea." Yi Zhishu smiled: "Let's discuss the ...... carefully." As he spoke, he commanded, "Hang up the map." ”

Tianjing, Dongwangfu.

Tianjing in June is also extremely hot, the scorching sun is at the top at noon, the large Tianjing City seems to be a steamer, stuffy and hot, sitting in the house without moving is a fine sweat, in the backyard, Yang Xiuqing is wearing a short gauze coat lying on a bamboo bed in the ventilation aisle stunned.

What he was most worried about finally happened, Yuan Qi and the imperial court finally joined forces, but in four or five months, Yi Zhizhi pacified the Twist Army in the four provinces of Anhui, Suzhou, Henan and Lu, which made him both shocked and panicked, he really didn't expect that the Twist Army, which was huge and known as 100,000 people, surrendered in less than a few months.

What shocked him even more was that Yuan Qi actually came out with more than 100,000 troops at once, and now with the surrendered Twist Army, the strength has exceeded 200,000, not including the troops in the far northwest, God knows how many troops Yuan Qi still has in the two provinces of Nanyang?

Obviously, taking the opportunity of encircling and suppressing the Twisted Army, Yuan Qi has now grown rapidly, and it can be said that Yuan Qi is now the main opponent of the Taiping Army.

However, what puzzled him was that Yuan Qi actually mobilized 80,000 troops into the northwest without hesitation, it seems that the previous information was correct, Yuan Qi was indeed preparing to start a war with the Russians in the northwest, but even so, he still had a feeling of being overwhelmed.

In the past few years, it has fought with the Eight Banners Green Battalion, and it has maintained an invincible and undefeated situation, and suddenly added more than 100,000 combat power, especially the Yuanqi New Army, which is above the Eight Banners New Army, how can this battle be fought?

Not only that, Yuan Qi joined forces with the imperial court, which also meant that the Taiping army would never get guns and ammunition from Yuan Qi and sulfur saltpeter and other supplies from Yuan Qi from now on, which was the most fatal! The Mini gun needs Yuanqi's special bullets, and Yuanqi's gunpowder performance is much stronger than their own gunpowder, once Yuanqi is cut off, the powerful Mini gun is no different from ordinary smoothbore guns!

What should be done about this situation now? Are the mountains and rivers exhausted? It's only been a few years since the situation fell to such a point! He was a little unwilling in his heart, but he was full of helplessness.

"Your Highness." An attendant hurried over, knelt down in front of him, and said, "Your Highness, King Nan is back!" ”

Feng Yunshan is back? Yang Xiuqing turned over with a bone, Feng Yunshan didn't fall into the hands of Yi Zhishu in Shanghai, how could he come back safe and sound? He hurriedly asked, "Where are the people?" ”

"I went to the Heavenly King's Mansion."

Yang Xiuqing originally planned to send someone to guard outside the Heavenly King's Mansion, but after thinking about it, he still held back, since Feng Yunshan had returned to Tianjing, he was definitely going to visit him, so why be in such a hurry.

Feng Yunshan came faster than Yang Xiuqing expected, less than an hour, Yang Xiuqing heard that the king of the south came to visit, he hurriedly changed his clothes and walked out quickly, as soon as they met, he smiled and said: "The whereabouts of the king of the south in Shanghai are unknown, there is no news, but the king is in a hurry, how about it, Yi Zhixin didn't embarrass you, right?" ”

"Thank you Dongwang for your concern." Feng Yunshan said with a smile: "It's just that I was under house arrest for a period of time. ”

"I saw early in the morning that kid wasn't a good guy." Yang Xiuqing said and took his hand affectionately and said, "Let's go, go into the house and say." ”

Entering the house, Yang Xiuqing said directly: "That kid let Nanwang come back, didn't he have a good heart?" ”

Feng Yunshan smiled and said, "What is the current situation of Dongwang Jue?" ”

"Not good, very bad." Yang Xiuqing said unabashedly, and there was no need to hide it with Feng Yunshan, "Yuan Qi's troops in Huaibei Shandong are gathering in Hubei, and next month, a big war may break out." ”

"What is the plan of the East King?"

Yang Xiuqing glanced at him and said, "What did Yi Zhishu say?" ”

Seeing that he didn't ask what the Heavenly King was planning, but asked Yi Zhishu what he said, Feng Yunshan couldn't help but sigh secretly, "The East King has no confidence in the war?" ”

"King Nan is asking knowingly." Yang Xiuqing smiled bitterly and said: "We have been fighting with the Eight Banners Green Battalion for a few years, which is an undefeated situation, and suddenly increased the new army of Yuanqi with more than 100,000 combat power, and the result is still needless to say?" ”

After a slight groan, Feng Yunshan said, "The Heavenly King is reluctant to ..... Tianjing." ”

"Defend Tianjing, we are a dead end!" Yang Xiuqing said in a deep voice: "Yuan Qi joins forces with the imperial court, we have no hope of winning!" After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "Yi Zhishu wants us to surrender?" ”

"It's not." Feng Yunshan shook his head slowly, "He asked us to move to Nanyang. ”

"Migrating to the South Seas?" Yang Xiuqing didn't think about it and directly denied: "Don't go, I'm really going to Nanyang, and I won't even have scum left if I haven't been eaten by him!" ”