In the backyard of the yamen of the prefect of Changzhou City. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Xiang Rong, the former minister who fled into the city three days ago, was already dying.

As early as after the Jiangnan camp was broken, Xiang Rong was anxious and afraid, and rushed all the way, he was old and frail and sick, when he was in Jintan City, he suddenly heard that Emperor Xianfeng not only removed his Qincha, but also ordered him to make meritorious service for his crimes, rebuild the Jiangnan camp within a month, and recover all the places south of Jiangning.

Xiang Rong knew that this was the emperor's ultimatum to him. But he fell ill again in Jintan City.

At this time, the long-haired thieves took advantage of the victory to pursue and sent the thief leader Yang Fuqing to lead more than 10,000 troops to besiege Danyang. The two sides are at a stalemate and at an impasse.

Soon, a good news came, the long-haired thief soldiers actually fought among themselves, mutiny occurred in Jiangning City, cannibalism, and the backer of the thief leader Yang Fuqing was killed. Xiang Rong was overjoyed and sent people to Yang Fuqing to persuade him to surrender, but all of them were refused.

Later, the thief Yang Fuqing actually took refuge in the Cantonese thieves in the south, which was equivalent to introducing the Cantonese thieves into the Suchang area.

Moreover, Yang Thief was very tightly defended, so he didn't give him a chance. Let Xiang Rong's preparation come to naught with the strategy of Jintan and Danyang.

Immediately afterwards, the Jiangbei camp in the north made a successful sneak attack and captured Zhenjiang City in one fell swoop. This made Xiang Rong very frustrated: the Jiangnan camp on his side was destroyed, and he was uneasy to flee, but the Jiangbei camp was lucky and occupied Zhenjiang City.

At this time, Danyang's messenger came to report, saying that a large number of long-haired thieves had come out of Tianjing City and concentrated in the direction of Danyang.

Xiang Rong was very worried, and hurriedly sent Deng Shaoliang to lead 3,000 troops to Danyang to support, so that there were only 5,000 Qing troops in Jintan City.

Unexpectedly, Yang Fuqing did not attack the well-defended Danyang, but went straight to Jintan. It didn't take long for Xiang Rong to know that it turned out to be the better of the long-haired Wing King, attacking Jintan together, and the total number was more than 20,000 people.

At this moment, Xiang Rong was frightened! He didn't care about being punished by the imperial court, so he directly ordered to abandon Jintan and flee to the capital of Changzhou.

But the evacuation was in a hurry, the carriages and horses were galloping, Xiang Rong's illness became more serious, and finally he couldn't support it, and as soon as he entered Changzhou City, he was dying.

Xiang Rong, who had run out of oil, looked at his confidant Zhang Guoliang and his son Xiang Jixiong, and said laboriously: "Rong was born in the army, and he fought all his life, starting from the suppression of the chaotic party, and all the way from the foreign commission to guerrillas, partial generals, deputy generals, and general soldiers, until the commander and the commander, which can be described as the peak of the Han military generals." I've been fighting with the long-haired thief this year, and I have some experience, so I still have the opportunity to talk to you......"

"Looking at the general trend of the world, the court is weak, and I am afraid that my luck has run out. The long-haired thief is not to be feared, but it is the Cantonese thief in the south who is terrible. ”

Zhang Guoliang had not yet fought with the captive army, but he only heard sporadically that the Cantonese thieves in the south had strong combat power, like foreigners, so he asked: "Endu, even if the Cantonese thieves have some combat power, after all, they are still thieves. Wait for the imperial court to recover and in a few years, I am afraid that it will be able to exterminate the Cantonese thieves. ”

Xiang Rong shook his head with difficulty, and his words became ethereal: "Although the Yue thief was born as a long-haired thief, his actions are completely different, and his ambitions are ambitious, and he is not comparable to a thief. According to the name of the imperial court, it is not an exaggeration to call it a thief soldier, and if it is called a thief according to its strength, it is not an exaggeration to call it a Guangdong country. If it weren't for Xiang Mou, he would have exterminated the long-haired thief since Guangxi, and his enmity with him was too deep, and Xiang Mou would have thought about it...... Guoliang, you are also a thief in the Guangdong Heaven and Earth Society, and you have followed Xiang for many years, and you are the first fierce general under Xiang Xiang, and Xiang Xiang regards you as a son, and there is a sentence that I want to tell you. ”

"Endu, please!"

"My son is weak by nature, and after I die, please take care of me!" Xiang Rong has already explained the aftermath, "Su Chang and the area, if it is a long-haired thief, it can still fight with it, if the Cantonese thieves from Songjiang Mansion come to attack, I am afraid it will be difficult to defend, and you have to plan early." Xiang Mou has fought the last bit of ability, and recommended you as the chief soldier of Susong Town, and at that time, you will be responsible for the war in the entire Suchang and Chang Mansions. Even if you want to surrender to a thief, you must first settle a certain family member. ”

"Endu, Guoliang has received a great favor, and he should swear to die to repay it! This body is not to serve the court, but only to enthrone. As for taking care of the Endu family, please rest assured, Guoliang, is at home! Zhang Guoliang knelt down in front of the bed, bursting into tears.

Xiang Rong smiled with satisfaction, stretched out his hand to pat Zhang Guoliang, but before he could touch it, his hand let go and slipped off.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty, who had fought with the Taiping Army for more than four years, will be glorious and return to heaven.

There was no time to handle the aftermath for Xiang Rong, and the long-haired thieves outside the city began to attack Changzhou City.

However, Zhang Guoliang is not worried. Even if there are many thieves, the city of Changzhou is not high, and what gives him confidence is that there are many squires inside and outside Changzhou City to practice.

Changzhou capital city circumference ten miles, set up six city gates, water gates four, pheasant wall stacks as many as thousands, Changzhou Association green battalion originally set up guerrillas, garrison, a thousand total of one member, the total two, nearly 1,000 soldiers. Coupled with the more than 5,000 Qing troops led by Xiang Rong, there are now more than 6,000 Qing soldiers in the city. Holding on to the city and dealing with the long-haired thieves who do not have large siege artillery outside the city should be able to hold out for a while.

And that's not all.

In the area around the capital city of Changzhou, the land is fertile, densely populated, prosperous, there are many scholars, and there are countless official gentry.

As early as after the long-haired thieves conquered Jiangning City, the official gentry Zhao Zhenzuo was ordered to return to Changzhou City and organize a group training. The Longcheng Academy, which is located in the city of the regimental training headquarters, divides the inside and outside of Changzhou into 14 regimental training sub-bureaus according to the region, and each selects a prestigious gentleman to be responsible.

In addition, in the townships around Changzhou, it recommended capable people to serve as the head of the regiment, raised the group by themselves, and implemented the armor protection system.

The group training was carried out by Zhao Zhenzuo alone, assisted by Zhao Qi and others, and the total number of regimental warriors under him reached 20,000 or 30,000.

Zhang Guoliang hurriedly invited Zhao Zhenzuo to discuss the defense of Changzhou City.

……

Shi Dakai led the main force of the Taiping Army, attacking the capital city of Changzhou from Jintan to the capital gate of Chaojing, and Wujin Anxi, Huainan, and Huaibei were the first to bear the brunt and be the first to be conquered and occupied.

Then, 6,000 soldiers and horses led by Shi Fengkui and Shi Zhenji on the left flank attacked Wumen, Luodingyan, Qishuyan, and Henglin, and surrounded Changzhou from the west;

On the right wing, Yang Fuqing led 5,000 Taiping soldiers, from Benniu and Shenpu, and then directly attacked Jiangyin County;

Tu Zhenxing and Chen Shizhang jointly led 5,000 Taiping soldiers to collect and transport artillery and siege equipment from the rear, and slowly arrived.

Outside the city, Zhao Zhenzuo organized nearly 10,000 regimental training and bravery, and entered the city to guard before the Taiping army besieged the city.

Outside the city, there were also more than 10 regimental exercises led by Zhao Qi, each regiment had one or two thousand people, led by local officials and gentry, and blocked and attacked the Taiping army everywhere.

Especially in the rear wing, dozens of artillery pieces and hundreds of loads of gunpowder were destroyed by several waves of regimental bravery, and even Chen Shizhang was seriously injured.

Shi Dakai was worried, he couldn't imagine that this local Tuan Yong in Changzhou Mansion would be so brave. However, because he surrendered to the Taiping Holy Kingdom, he ordered in accordance with the regulations of the Holy Kingdom that he should not kill the people indiscriminately, so that these regiments could take advantage of it.

Shi Dakai had no choice but to order, and all the regimental braves who took the initiative to attack would be killed. At the same time, Shi Dakai ordered the army to besiege the city of Changzhou, and sent troops everywhere, and all the regiments around Changzhou were driven into the city, so that the Qing army in Changzhou City surged, consumed its food, increased its contradictions, and then waited for the opportunity to attack the city.