After Tan Shaoguang led the 10,000 Taiping army south, he joined forces with Chen Bingwen and Gao Yongkuan in Qingpu City, with a total strength of more than 50,000 people.The pressure on Shanghai suddenly increased sharply, and the two towns of Sijing and Qibao were lost in one day.Li Xiucheng also took Songjiang City, and the armies of the north and south pressed towards Shanghai together, and there were more than 20 companies and camps 20 miles away from Shanghai, and the regiments surrounded Shanghai, and taking Shanghai was just around the corner.The foreign devils were defeated by Tan Shaoguang's troops during the counterattack on Qingpu, and the loss of troops amounted to more than 1,000 people, and after this battle, they were frightened by the Taiping army, and hurriedly declared neutrality after retreating to Shanghai, and decided not to interfere in all military operations around Shanghai for thirty miles.Even Zeng Guofan went to the court and rebuked the foreigners with disdain: "The fear of the long hair of the Yi people is also with me, and the true feelings are revealed." ”Li Hongzhang's Huai army came in handy at this time, and stubbornly blocked the Taiping army's attack in the direction of Hongqiao, Caohe Town, Fahua Town, and Xujiahui.It's not that the Huai army is heroic and how advanced the weapons and equipment are, but that Li Hongzhang personally supervised the battle on the front line, and those who retreated were immediately killed.The Huai army had no way to retreat, so it could only resist desperately on the front line, which slowed down the pace of the Taiping army's offensive.The Huai army in Shanghai was not in Li Xiucheng's eyes at all, and the only thing that worried Li Xiucheng was the dispatch order of Hong Tianwang from Nanjing, and he urgently ordered Li Xiucheng to return to Nanjing, because at this time, the Hunan army led by Zeng Guoquan had already attacked the vicinity of Yuhuatai in Nanjing, and Hong Tianwang could hear the cannon of the Hunan army in the toilet.At this time, a battle report came, which made Li Xiucheng's face as white as dirt and spit blood in his mouth.News has just come from Suzhou that a large number of Huai cavalry armed with Qingzi flags were found outside the city, and they had exchanged fire with the soldiers defending the city yesterday and blew up a section of the city wall at the north gate of Suzhou, asking Li Xiucheng to immediately return to the rescue."
King Mu, what's going on, how could the Huai army be found outside Suzhou City" Liu Xiucheng summoned the generals back from the front line overnight and threw the report to Tan Shaoguang under the seat.Tan Shaoguang picked up the report and was also puzzled, Suzhou is the rear of Nanjing City, the entire Sufu Province is controlled by the Taiping Army, and no trace of the Qing army has ever been found around, who has such a big courage to dare to invade Suzhou City."
King Mu, do you see if it will be Qiao Zhiqing's ghost" Gu Yunfei reminded in Tan Shaoguang's ear."
Qiao Zhiqing don't squeak first, and we'll talk about it in detail later."
Tan Shaoguang frowned and ordered carefully."
What are you two muttering," Li Xiucheng looked at Tan Shaoguang's stumbling appearance, and his face was a little unhappy."
Tell the king of loyalty, my subordinates think that Suzhou City is well defended, the city is strong, not who wants to take it, this small group of Qing demons I am afraid just want to cause our panic, to surround Wei to save Zhao, now the only way is to capture Shanghai as soon as possible, pacify the forces of the Huai army, consolidate the rear of Sufu Province, and then return to the army to sweep away the wandering Qing demons."
Tan Shaoguang pondered and said his suggestion."
It's too late, the king of heaven has urgently summoned me to return to Nanjing, such a big thing happened in Suzhou, this king has no time to care about Shanghai anymore, near the king of Japan will return to Nanjing, you wait here to strictly defend it, wait for this king to solve the siege of Nanjing, and then return to the division to capture Shanghai."
Liu Xiucheng waved his hand impatiently and motioned for the generals to retreat."
Subordinates receive orders."
The generals looked at each other and bowed out of the room.Tan Shaoguang and Gu Yunfei returned to the camp, and as soon as they entered the door, Tan Shaoguang complained loudly, "What's wrong with King Zhong, he is getting less and less courageous, Shanghai is now besieged by regiments, and the city is broken sooner or later, why should we give up again, where are the troops to return to Nanjing" Gu Yunfei closed the door and persuaded in a low voice, "King Zhong's life is not easy, King Hong is used to being pampered in Nanjing City, and he has long lost his ambitions, and he just wants to take his own one-acre and three-point land."
Nanjing is now in danger, according to the subordinates, the city is broken sooner or later, King Zhong is now retreating, he will definitely withdraw all the elite troops, Li Hongzhang will definitely take advantage of the situation to counterattack, we have to prepare in advance. ”"Do you want this king to take refuge in the Qing Demon" Tan Shaoguang's tone suddenly became cold."
Where did King Mu say, I, Gu Yunfei, am also an iron-clad man, how can I have such a reluctant thought, the subordinates mean that we can give up Sufu Province, withdraw to Luzhou to make peace with the British king, and march west to Sichuan and Shaanxi, where the power of the Qing demons is weak, wait for us to reopen a new base area, recruit troops and buy horses, raise troops to fight thieves again, and restore the great cause of my Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.""
Do you mean Chen Yucheng, since the battle of Anqing, he has been suppressed by the Hunan army and can't raise his head, and now he is also in danger, let's go to make peace with him, isn't it asking for his own death, and the loyal king treats me well, I have today all rely on the support of the loyal king, how can I betray him."
Tan Shaoguang's expression was slightly angry, he and Chen Yu belonged to different camps, and they had always been at odds with each other."
However, the King of England can fight well, and he is really a strong general of my heavenly kingdom, if King Mu unites with him, he will definitely strengthen his wings, expand his territory, and restore the prestige of my Taiping army."
Gu Yunfei continued to persuade."
Okay, you go down, since King Zhong has decided to return to Nanjing, we will not stay in Shanghai for a long time, return to Suzhou as soon as possible, don't let this Qiao Zhiqing take advantage of the loophole, don't forget, he still has more than 2,000 soldiers and horses in Jiading City, and Jiading is only a day's journey from Suzhou."
Tan Shaoguang still sternly rejected Gu Yunfei's suggestion and told him to go down to prepare for the withdrawal of troops.Gu Yunfei sighed and wanted to say something more, but seeing Tan Shaoguang's embarrassed face, he gritted his teeth and retreated.Tan Shaoguang didn't expect that when he was still hesitating, Qiao Zhiqing had already abandoned Jiading City, and the whole army broke through and rushed towards Suzhou City.Wang Shijie spent a day using the mobility of the cavalry to break through the strongholds outside the city of Suzhou, and when he attacked the city wall of Suzhou, more than 100 bags of explosives were placed.After hearing the earth-shattering explosion, the soldiers defending the city thought that the Qing army was coming, so they abandoned the city and fled without firing a single shot.With only more than 500 cavalry, Wang Shijie easily took the city of Suzhou, captured more than 1,000 defenders, closed the city gates, repaired the city walls, and strictly prevented the counterattack of the Taiping army.After learning about the situation, the Taiping army that escaped from the city quickly gathered together, after all, there were more than 10,000 people, far more than Wang Shijie's cavalry, and everyone was heartbroken, and surrounded the city of Suzhou, ready to take the city.After receiving Wang Shijie's report, Qiao Zhiqing quickly reorganized and sent troops, and in less than a day, he rushed to the outside of Suzhou on foot.The situation is indeed not optimistic, Wang Shijie's troops are too small, the eight gates of Suzhou City, each of which is only more than 50 people deployed, thanks to the explosives bag that Qiao Zhiqing equipped Wang Shijie, the earth-shattering explosion scared off the Taiping army that approached the city wall several times.At the south gate where the battle was most intense, Wang Shijie dispatched 100 people to defend, and under the repeated attacks of the Taiping army, about 30 people had been killed.The Taiping Army has been disrupted and has no tactics, only relying on the tactics of crowds, taking the south gate several times, and repeatedly fighting with Wang Shijie.Wang Shijie led the gun formation to fire continuously, and the barrel of the gun was cracked several times because of the continuous firing.In the end, after the Taiping army lost more than 1,000 people, they temporarily rested outside the city.Qiao Zhiqing immediately ordered an attack, and before the Taiping army outside the city could recover from his senses, he was divided and surrounded by a gun array of more than 2,000 people.After a round of intensive shooting, he completely lost his fighting spirit and fled in all directions, Wang Shijie took the opportunity to open the city gate, sent cavalry to intersperse the siege left and right, and captured more than 8,000 prisoners of war.Qiao Zhiqing took all the prisoners of war into the city, cleared the walls, arranged for men and horses to immediately set up defenses on the city wall, and sent heralds to Shanghai at night to report the latest results to Li Hongzhang.After Li Xiucheng's careful management, Suzhou City has been built quite prosperous, and the merchants in the city have not been affected by the war, and their business is still prosperous, and the entire Sufu Province has always been a source of food and salary for the Taiping Army.Qiao Zhiqing led his troops into the Zhongwang Mansion, and hurriedly held a battle recall to discuss the next countermeasure.Zhongwangfu belongs to the typical Jiangnan architectural style, with blue bricks and gray tiles, carved beams and painted buildings, small bridges and flowing water, which makes people feel relaxed and happy in one place.The generals sat down in the former battle conference room of King Chung, all of them beaming with joy and high spirits."
Don't be too happy, our raid on Suzhou City this time is really a fluke, after Li Xiucheng knows the news, he will immediately send troops back to help, what we have to consider is how to hold this city and wait for the support of the Huai army."
Qiao Zhiqing poured cold water on everyone with a serious face."
What is Li Xiucheng afraid of, how many people they come, let's kill as many as he wants, our foreign guns and cannons can't beat them."
Zhang Xianman replied nonchalantly, after Wang Shijie led his troops to attack Suzhou, Zhang Xian became the acting sentinel of the East Outpost."
Nonsense, you underestimate Li Xiucheng too much, do you know that there are more than 10,000 people in the Taiping army besieging Shanghai who are equipped with foreign guns and cannons, and the number is far ahead of us" Qiao Zhiqing reprimanded Zhang Xian with a dark face.Zhang Xian blushed, stuck out his tongue and stopped breathing."
I don't think things are so bad, although the long-haired thieves are numerous, they have to divide their troops to garrison the city, and the soldiers and horses that can be called up to no more than 10,000 people are at most, so the top priority is to recruit soldiers and strengthen the city before Li Xiucheng returns to the army.The people in Suzhou are rich, and the grain and grass are enough to hold on for half a year, and we are not without a chance of winning. ”Wang Shijie said his plan calmly, he has been in the city for two days, and he knows the situation in Suzhou City better."
Do you still have any questions" Qiao Zhiqing looked at Wang Shijie with satisfaction, and liked this thoughtful little fellow more and more.After many days of intense fighting, Ma Xun has come out of the dullness, and has returned to his previous cynical expression, and reported to Qiao Zhiqing with a worried face, "Our ammunition consumption in the past few days is too serious, there are only about fifty rounds left per person, and there is not a single shell left for the ten field guns, and the artillery team is just an ornament." ”"Ammunition, ammunition" Qiao Zhiqing pressed his eyebrows and said a few words silently
.
: