Back at the Zhenhai Hou Mansion, Yi Zhishu had only passed the second gate, and saw Bao Shichen coming up to meet him, knowing that something must have happened, he immediately slowed down and said tentatively: "But the situation in Hunan has changed?" ”

At present, he is most concerned about the war situation in Hunan, whether the Taiping army can gain a foothold in Hunan, whether it can attract the attention of the imperial court, for Yuan Qi is very important, after the Taiping army broke through from Changsha, it was bitten by the 10,000 new army of the Eight Banners led by Seng Lingqin, and it was pursued day and night, with heavy casualties, and he was really sweating for the Taiping army in his heart. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Bao Shichen nodded, and when Yi Zhizhi retreated, he lowered his voice and said: "The Taiping army was defeated all the way to Yiyang, and under the heavy sniper attack under the ambush of Cangshuipu, after a hard battle, they took advantage of the heavy rain night to risk attacking the camp, severely damaged the forward camp of the Eight Banners New Army of Seng Lingqin, and captured a batch of guns and ammunition ....... ”

That's a big turnaround! Attacking the camp on a rainy night, breaking through on a rainy night, the Taiping Army is really good at seizing opportunities! Yi Zhixin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, this is a good thing, in this way, Monk Greenqin did not dare to pursue too tightly, and the Taiping army could finally get a chance to breathe.

Bao Shichen continued: "In the first battle of Cangshuipu, although the New Army of the Eight Banners was defeated, it was a battle, and Xiao Chaogui, the king of the West of the Taiping Army, died .....in battle. ”

Xiao Chaogui died in battle? Yi Zhi couldn't help but be stunned, Xiao Chaogui didn't die in Changsha but died in Cangshuipu, it seems that he couldn't change Xiao Chaogui's fate after all, he hurriedly asked: "What about Feng Yunshan, the king of the south?" ”

"I didn't mention it, I think I have entered Yiyang with the main force."

It's good that Feng Yunshan didn't die, Yi Zhishu put his mind at ease and said, "What is the movement of the Taiping Army in Yiyang?" Are you planning to transfer to Xiangxi? Or is it a teacher? ”

"Neither." Bao Shichen said in a deep voice: "Wing King Shi Dakai has led his army to Yuanjiang County, and the Taiping army in Yiyang is collecting ships, they should be planning to capture Yuanjiang, and then divide the troops into two routes, Shunyuan Water and Zishui Dongting Lake!" ”

Lower Dongting? What are the Taipings going to do? Still thinking about fighting Jiang Ning? Yi Zhishu frowned, and slowly returned to the study, he still couldn't figure out the intentions of the Taiping Army, and after sitting down, Bao Shichen said slowly: "Once the Taiping Army goes down Dongting Lake, the possibility of going down the river is very large, and the big shopkeeper must deploy ..... early." ”

Yi Zhizu nodded slowly, the Taiping Army originally went down the river to capture Wuchang, and then defeated Jiangning, and set Jiangning as Tianjing, but now it has come full circle, and it has returned to its original trajectory. If this is the case, then it is no wonder that Yuan Qi, even if he is infamy, he cannot allow the Taiping army to go to the south of the Yangtze River.

The eastern suburbs of Yiyang, the camp of the Qing army.

All kinds of signs show that the Taiping army is very likely to go down the river to Dongting Lake, leading the Eight Banners New Army to follow the pursuit to Yiyang City under the monk Lingqin is also a little panicked, he would rather the Taiping Army transfer to Changde, Xiangxi, than see the Taiping Army enter Dongting Lake, a Eight Banners New Army is not good at water warfare, and does not dare to expect the Jingzhou Navy Division to exterminate the Taiping Army.

Moreover, when the Taiping army entered Dongting Lake, it threatened Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and the downstream Anhui, Jiangsu, and even Zhejiang, the richest provinces of the Qing Dynasty, anytime and anywhere.

"Your Excellency." Jiang Zhongyuan, who led two thousand Chu Yong to assist in the pursuit, said slowly: "The bandits captured the Yuanjiang River, and they can still enter Changde by land and water. ”

"Even if you make a noise, you don't dare to take this risk." Zeng Guofan groaned: "Once the bandits enter Dongting Lake, the consequences are unimaginable. As he spoke, he looked at Monk Lingqin and said, "Please also ask the prince to make arrangements as soon as possible and intercept them along the river to prevent bandits from entering Dongting Lake!" ”

"Lord Wang!" Jiang Zhongyuan said in a deep voice: "Once intercepted along the river, the troops will inevitably be dispersed, and the great opportunity to pursue and annihilate the bandits will be missed!" After a pause, he continued: "In addition, once the troops are divided, they will also give the bandits a chance to break through, I hope you will think twice!" ”

Monk Greenqin slowly glanced at the two of them, and had to say that what they said made sense, but at the moment, it was impossible to judge the true intentions of the bandits, and once the judgment was wrong, they would lose the opportunity and lose the opportunity to exterminate the bandits.

Seeing that he was silent, Jiang Zhongyuan said slowly: "My lord, the bandits are like lost dogs at the moment, and they can't live in fear, and turning into the mountains of Xiangxi is the only chance for the bandits to survive!" ”

Zeng Guofan was quite unimpressed, but he had always been cautious, and besides, he couldn't judge whether the bandits would enter Dongting Lake.

After hesitating for a long time, Monk Greenqin spoke: "Order, quickly inform Xu Guangjin, the governor of Huguang, of the situation of the bandits, and ask him to strengthen the defense of Dongting Lake and the cities along the Yangtze River, so as not to be taken advantage of by the Taiping army!" In addition, launch an attack at noon to regain Yiyang in a battle! ”

It is clear that the musket of the Eight Banners New Army has a long range and a high hit rate, the Taiping Army has made full preparations in Yiyang, and a large number of thick wooden boards, quilts, stones, and oil cans have been prepared on the city wall.

Early the next morning, Xiang Rong and Hechun arrived one after another, and Seng Lingqin was planning to capture Yiyang in one go, but he heard the report that the Taiping army in the city had retreated in two ways, and retreated to the Yuan River overnight by land, and went down the river by boat at dawn all the way.

Monk Lingqin was shocked and angry, and hurriedly led his troops to pursue, but he rushed to the Yuanjiang River, but he heard that most of the Taiping army had gone down the Yuanshui, and the other part had crossed the Yuanshui.

The mighty fleet composed of large and small ships went down the water and the boat went very fast, on the deck of a large ship in the middle, Yang Xiuqing looked at the scenery on both sides of the strait with a frown, Xiao Chaogui, the king of the West, died in battle, and his prestige was not small, and it was precisely for this reason that Hong Xiuquan proposed to go down to Dongting Lake by water and jump out of the pursuit of the Eight Banners New Army, so he did not object.

Feng Yunshan paced over slowly, stood side by side with him, enjoyed the scenery on both sides of the strait for a while, and saw that Yang Xiuqing was silent, so he smiled and said: "The East King is sullen, but because he changed the established retreat route?" ”

"It's easy to go down to Dongting Lake, but if you want to go up the water in the future, I'm afraid it's not so easy." Yang Xiuqing said in a sullen voice: "Go down to Dongting, is it the meaning of the King of the South?" ”

"The meaning of the Heavenly King." Feng Yunshan said slowly: "The Qing Demon is in hot pursuit, the musket is very powerful, our casualties are too great, if we don't change to the waterway in time, I'm afraid that if we don't wait for us to get to Xiangxi, this team will disperse." ”

"Hum ——。" Yang Xiuqing snorted coldly and said, "Once you enter the mountainous area, the Qing Demon dares to chase him so closely, and he will definitely have no return!" ”

Feng Yunshan glanced at him and said with a smile: "Compared with moving into Xiangxi, it is more beneficial for us to enter Dongting Lake, the Qing demons led by the head of the monk and demon are all northerners, and they are not good at water warfare, no matter how powerful their muskets are, water warfare is useless, besides, most of our old brothers in Guangxi are good at water ......." ”

"Did King Nan forget Yuan Qi?" Yang Xiuqing said in a deep voice: "Yuanqi's naval fleet can crisscross the South Seas, what is just a Dongting Lake?" What will happen once Yuan Qi dispatches a naval fleet into Dongting Lake? ”

Feng Yunshan smiled when he heard this, "Have you ever thought about it, let's fight to the death with the imperial court, the most beneficial thing is the Nanyang Tiandi Association and Yuan Qi, and besides, the relationship between Yuan Qi and the imperial court is now on the verge of rupture, how can Yuan Qi work hard for the imperial court to encircle and suppress us?" As long as we don't take the initiative to be the enemy of Yuanqi, Yuanqi will definitely not come to encircle and suppress us! ”

After a slight sigh, Yang Xiuqing said: "Yuan Qi and the imperial court have not completely turned their faces after all, it is best to take precautions, it is best to arrange someone to meet Yuan Qi's big treasurer ......." ”

"What the King of the East has seen is very true." Feng Yunshan bowed his head and said, "We should indeed take the initiative to show favor to Yuan Qi." ”

The Taiping army suddenly turned south, and went down the river into Dongting Lake, most of the provincial governors and commanders who stayed in Changsha were secretly relieved, the Taiping army entered Dongting Lake, and it was a matter of the sailors to exterminate it, but Xu Guangjin, the governor of Huguang, was secretly scolding his mother, seeing the Taiping army running west, who would have thought that he would suddenly turn around and enter Dongting Lake, and now it is okay, this trouble is impossible to get rid of!

Monk Greenqin hurried back to Changsha, and immediately summoned a group of civil and military officials to the Qincha Xingyuan to discuss, but in half a day he set a strategy, one is to strengthen the defense along the Yangtze River to prevent the Taiping army from continuing down the river, and the other is to deploy heavy troops in the upper reaches of Dongting Lake to prevent the Taiping army from killing back the horse gun. The second is to deploy troops to station in the cities along Dongting Lake to prevent the Taiping army from breaking through again. In the end, he implored the imperial court to issue an order to transfer the Nanyang naval fleet up the river and enter Dongting Lake to encircle and suppress.

The plan is naturally impeccable, but all the civil and military officials here, including Seng Lingqin himself, have no bottom in their hearts, and everything else is easy to say, except whether the Nanyang Navy will be ordered to enter Dongting Lake to encircle and suppress it, no one knows the bottom of this matter.

Everyone knows that counting on the Jingzhou Navy Division and the Jiangnan Navy Division and those broken ships to exterminate the Taiping Army in Dongting Lake is simply a fool's dream, and the only one who can easily exterminate the Taiping Army in Dongting Lake is the Nanyang Navy Division, however, the relationship between Yuan Qi and the imperial court, everyone is also well aware, Yi Zhicontent, under the guise of the registration system, even pushed the military plane into Beijing on duty, will he obey the order? It's just too unlikely!

When it came to the stubble of the Nanyang Navy, it was a little cold, and Xu Guangjin couldn't help but speak: "Yi Guocheng is now in Shanghai, and the Taiping army has entered Hunan, and he is also extremely concerned about this, worried that the Taiping army will go down the river and the war will affect the ..... of the two rivers." As he spoke, he glanced at Seng Lingqin and hesitated a little before he said, "Can Lord Qincha go up and regain the city?" ”

Monk Lingqin glanced at him and said nothing, this matter is not ordinarily difficult, will Xianfeng agree to use Yi Zhicontent? He didn't know the bottom of this matter, whether Yi Zhixiang would be ordered to serve, he was also bottomless, and slowly glanced at everyone, before he said: "The period of Yi Guocheng's defense has not expired, but someone is willing to go to Shanghai to lobby?" ”

Hearing this, Luo Bingzhang, the dismissed governor of Hunan, felt that this was a rare opportunity, and hurriedly said: "The lower officials are willing to go." ”

Luo Bingzhang is a native of Huaxian County, Guangdong, and Yi Zhicontent can be regarded as a fellow countryman, and he also has contacts in Beijing, Monk Greenqin is clear, seeing that he took the initiative to ask Ying, he couldn't help but nod slightly, but after thinking about it, he thought that Luo Bingzhang had now been dismissed, and this identity was a little out of the table, and he groaned slightly, he looked at Zeng Guofan and said, "Disheng hasn't been to Shanghai yet..... ”

Seeing that he pointed to himself, Zeng Guofan was not easy to shirk, and immediately arched his hand and said: "Shanghai Baoshan, Xia Guan has admired it for a long time, and I am willing to go with Lord Luo." ”

Shanghai, Zhenhai Hou Mansion.

In the study, Yi Zhizhi and Bao Shichen stood in front of the wall hanging with a large simple map, and saw Yi Zhi's eyes staring at Yuezhou City, Bao Shichen said disapprovingly: "The big shopkeeper is worried that the Taiping Army will attack Yuezhou?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said quietly: "Yuezhou hugs Dongting, near the Yangtze River, known as the throat of Hunan, the gateway to northern Hunan, it can be said that it is a place where soldiers must fight, and the Taiping army will inevitably capture Yuezhou first when they enter Dongting." ”

Bao Shichen glanced at him and said, "Hasn't Chang Dachun, the governor of Hubei, sent heavy troops to garrison Yuezhou?" and also used a boulder to sink the ship to block the channel of Saturn Harbor, this hard bone, the Taiping army is afraid that it may not be moved. ”

"It's hard to say——。" Yi Zhizu shook his head slightly, and said: "When the Taiping army enters Dongting, it must choose a foothold, Yuezhou is undoubtedly the best choice, even if the defense is strict, the Taiping army will inevitably fight a dozen ........" ”

Before the words fell, Ren An strode in, and reported after seeing the ceremony: "The great treasurer, the Taiping army has captured Yuezhou ....... ”

"What?" Bao Shichen said in disbelief: "How can it be so fast? ”

"The defenders of Yuezhou, Hubei Governor Bole Gongwu fled without a fight, and the Taiping army occupied Yuezhou without blood." Ren An said that the situation was roughly said, the Taiping army found that the channel of Saturn Port was blocked by sunken ships, and immediately arrested people, and it only took one day to clean up the sunken ships in the Saturn Port channel, and then the main fleet approached Yuezhou directly, Bole Gongwu saw that he could not resist, abandoned the city and fled, and the five thousand defenders scattered in a hurry.

Bao Shichen said worriedly: "Since Yuezhou has been lost, will the next target of the Taiping Army be Wuchang?" ”

This is really hard to say, approaching according to the original trajectory, after the Taiping army occupied Yuezhou, it was to attack Wuchang, and now that there is more variable Yuanqi, will the Taiping army continue to attack Wuchang? After pondering for a long time, Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "Order, Chen Hongming will enter Wuchang as planned!" ”

"The big shopkeeper." Bao Shichen hurriedly said: "Do you wait and see, even if the Taiping army will go down the river, it will not come so quickly...... In the current situation, the imperial court may borrow the Nanyang naval ....... ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said, "What does Mr. mean, is it to wait for the price and sell?" ”

Bao Shichen nodded slightly: "We can't be thankless, the current situation can't make the court suspect that Yuan Qi has different intentions......." ”