After dawn, the Qing army began to charge, and the Taiping army, behind the sound of artillery, quickly regrouped and retreated towards the way from which it came.The rear division of the Qing Army was stationed on two tens of meters high at the intersection, and a regiment was trapped in one place, forming a gun formation in three lines, and sealing the Taiping Army inside.The Taiping army was like crazy, and more than 10,000 people gathered in the high ground on both sides, and they rushed desperately upwards regardless of the dense gun arrays on the high ground.Due to the heavy losses of the Taiping army's foreign spear team when they were bombarded to seize the high ground, most of the soldiers who broke through at this time were holding broadswords and spears, only to see that the Taiping army in the front row had just rushed to the halfway, and the archers in the back row put their bows and arrows indiscriminately regardless of whether they reached the shooting distance or not.More than 1,000 archers released arrows at the same time, and the rain of arrows covered the sky and flew towards the Qing army, but the distance was too far, and it was shot from the back, so the bow and arrow fell down on the way, and the Qing army did not shoot, but many Taiping soldiers were killed by arrows."
Put" "Put" ""After the Taiping Army rushed into the firing distance, the generals of the rear division of the Qingzi Army decisively ordered to shoot, "Bang, bang." ”Dense gunfire rang out from all sides, and the Taiping soldiers who rushed to the front with big knives were shot one after another, and fell to the ground unwillingly, and the Taiping soldiers behind roared and gritted their teeth and stepped on the corpse to continue to impact, looking at it from a distance on the high and low, like a group of dense ants, gathering on the slope.Qiao Zhiqing raised the telescope in his hand on the high ground opposite and sighed, feeling sorry for these low-level soldiers, they are just some desperate homeless people, and being a soldier is just a mouthful of food, a certain great man is really right, if anyone solves the problem of land, it will solve the problem of China, it seems that it is time to prepare for a big change, so that the cultivators have their fields, the dwellers have their houses, if the people of the world can live and work in peace and contentment, who still has the heart to think about rebellion."
Young master, this Taiping army is really strong, more than half of the casualties have not surrendered."
Ma Xun put down the binoculars beside Qiao Zhiqing and praised his opponent."
That's natural, Li Xiucheng won't send some mediocre people to come over and attack Suzhou, but he doesn't know enough about us, and the two armies are fighting, not only the grain and grass go first, but also rely on accurate intelligence."
Qiao Zhiqing said that he thought of Yan Yuting in his mind, and he didn't know what strange requests this girl would make if she had made a great contribution."
King Chao, don't rush, if you don't surrender, your brothers will all die."
A brigade commander of the Taiping Army retreated from the high ground covered in blood, and with a group of generals, he begged to kneel down to the Chao King, who was commanding the battle.That Chao King is Li Xiucheng's general Huang Zilong, who is loyal and brave, and has the courage to be a husband and a man, and it was he who scolded Qiao Zhiqing's ancestor when he was shelled."
What are you talking about" Huang Zilong stood up with the big knife in his hand, his right arm was shot and bandaged with a white cloth, and he was still bleeding outward.Seeing that Huang Zilong's face had changed, the brigade commander changed his tone, and still shouted out at the risk of death, "Military marshal, look at it, these four sides are all our brothers, and they are all about to die." ”"Rat generation, how can I be my brigade commander Huang Zilong, those who confuse the king's heart will be killed" Huang Zilong stared at the big eyes like copper bells, scolded, raised the big knife in his hand and slashed at the unlucky brigade commander, the knife flashed, and the head fell to the ground."
Let's go, keep rushing."
The generals kneeling behind the brigade commander were all shocked into a cold sweat, looked at each other, quickly stood up, raised the waist knife in their hands, and rushed up to the high ground again.The rear division is a newly established unit of the Qing Army, because the soldiers and braves have a short training time, although they can use foreign guns proficiently, but many of them have not really been on the battlefield and encountered such a tragic scene.The crazy impact of the Taiping army made the pressure on the soldiers of the rear division more and more, and some soldiers couldn't help but tremble and vomit when they looked at the corpses all over the ground under the hillside, the air was full of the smell of blood, and the hillside was stained red with blood.Qiao Zhiqing just wanted to take the opportunity to hone the bloody nature of the rear division, whether they could hold it or not, this battle must be fought by them, the most important thing is that Li Xiucheng and the Qingzi Army have fought several times without a long memory, and they will always fight desperately with a big sword and spear and the foreign guns of the Qingzi Army, this is not an engagement, it is a one-sided naked slaughter.The encirclement of the Qing army is shrinking smaller and smaller, and the Taiping army has dropped to more than 8,000 people after taking turns to fight, Huang Zilong finally ordered a retreat, and gathered the more than 8,000 people in a quadripartite formation, and a thousand foreign spearmen and archers protected the brothers holding knives and sticks inside, in fact, the bullets of the foreign spearmen had long been exhausted, but everyone's eyes showed an incomparable look of perseverance.If the Taiping army did not stop the attack, no one could say that the troops of the rear division would make way of the gap and let the Taiping army break through, but the Taiping army suddenly withdrew, just when both sides were exhausted."
Huang Zilong, surrender, stop making senseless resistance."
Qiao Zhiqing stood up fifty meters away and yelled at Huang Zilong, and several guards hurriedly raised their guns to protect him in front of and behind.The Qing army left only 5,000 people to hold the city of Suzhou, and the rest of the middle division and rear division also had two artillery battalions, pro-soldier battalions, more than 20,000 people were all put into battle, and the Taiping army was surrounded in the central open space from all sides."
Qiao Zhiqing, in a battle with you today, Lao Tzu is convinced of the defeat, defeated in your hands, Lao Tzu is not ashamed, Lao Tzu can surrender, but you must promise Lao Tzu a condition."
After Huang Zilong finished speaking, he laughed miserably at Qiao Zhiqing, his face was already a little pale due to excessive bleeding."
Old horseman, who are you, hurry up and let your soldiers lay down their weapons, otherwise your grandfather Ma will be killed."
Ma Xun listened to Huang Zilong's mouthful, and before Qiao Zhiqing could speak, he scolded Huang Zilong."
Marshal, we're not afraid of death, let's fight with these demons."
A brigade commander behind Huang Zilong shouted tears and yelled.Huang Zilong raised his hand and snorted, and shouted at Qiao Zhiqing again, "Qiao Zhiqing, are you scared, do you agree or not" Qiao Zhiqing smiled and replied loudly, "Old General Huang, please speak, as long as your subordinates no longer resist, the juniors will definitely meet your conditions." ”Huang Zilong laughed miserably, clenched his fists and said respectfully, "Qiao Zhiqing, Lao Tzu sees that you are still a man, Lao Tzu just wants to tell you that my soldiers have been with Lao Tzu for more than ten years, after Lao Tzu surrenders, you must not hurt their lives again, if you don't keep your promise, Lao Tzu will be a ghost and will not let you go." ”"General Huang Lao rest assured, the younger generation swore that he would never kill innocents indiscriminately, if this oath is violated, people and gods will be angry, and the sky will thunder."
Qiao Zhiqing raised his right hand and swore a poisonous oath in front of Huang Zilong."
Good, good, good, happy."
Huang Zilong shouted three good words, picked up the big knife and touched it to his neck, and the blood splashed on the ground like a fountain."
Old General Huang" Qiao Zhiqing shouted in surprise, but Huang Zilong had already closed his eyes and fell to the ground.The remaining 8,000 people of the "military commander" Taiping Army all put down their weapons, knelt down, and wailed at Huang Zilong's corpse."
Ma Xun, send someone to bury General Huang, and bring all the more than 8,000 soldiers back to Suzhou for reorganization."
Qiao Zhiqing commanded Ma Xun with some frustration, sighed, turned around and left with the guards.A brigade commander beside Huang Zilong looked at Qiao Zhiqing's back, his eyes were full of anger.Li Xiucheng soon received the news of Huang Zilong's demise, and was speechless for a long time in surprise with the military report in his hand, he couldn't help but close his eyes, and muttered to himself, "Heaven is unfair, even if it is generated, He Shengqing" "King Zhong, Qiao Zhiqing's strength is really incredible, his subordinates suggested that we should withdraw to Changzhou, and when we have accumulated strength, it is not too late to seize Suzhou." ”Chen Kunshu carefully suggested on the side, he became less and less confident in this war, and the Qingzi army only took three hours to annihilate Huang Zilong's 20,000 elites, which was a defeat that had never happened since the battle with the Hunan army.If he retreats to Changzhou, with Nanjing as the backing, Qiao Zhiqing may not dare to make a big move."
You go down first, let this king think about it."
Li Xiucheng's face was full of exhaustion, and he waved his hand to let Chen Kunshu retreat, and he was stunned by the topographic map alone, he couldn't understand why his sneak attack on Qiao Zhiqing would get the news so quickly, and he actually swallowed more than 20,000 elites in one go."
King Zhong, drink some porridge, you haven't eaten for a day."
At this time, a little maid entered the camp, she was a girl taken in by Li Xiucheng when he was in Nanjing, young, smart and lovely, Li Xiucheng always has a sick infatuation with this delicate Jiangnan woman, and wherever he goes, he always has to take a few Jiangnan women to serve and live, just like he is obsessed with Suzhou, and he will feel no comfortable in Suzhou wherever he goes."
Put it down, you go out first, this king should be quiet for a while."
Li Xiucheng glanced at the little maid calmly, looking at her delicate and delicate appearance, he couldn't help but feel a little pounded, and then shook his head and blamed himself for his strong self-blame.After Huang Zilong's army entered Suzhou City, Qiao Zhiqing asked them to boil a large pot of broth, and each person distributed two or three bowls of rice for the Taiping army to eat.At first, the Taiping Army thought that Qiao Zhiqing sent a severed head meal, but no one dared to eat it, but in the end, a brigade commander took the lead, and everyone followed suit.Because it is too common for the Qing soldiers to kill prisoners, not to mention far away, Li Hongzhang's killing of the Eight Kings in Qingpu City spread all over the Taiping army, so the Taiping army surrendered very few troops during the battle, not because they didn't want to surrender, but because they were afraid of the same killing after surrendering, so they all resisted bravely and died to the last person."
Young master, a brigade commander in the army wants to see you alone, saying that he has important information to tell you, whether you see it or not" Qiao Zhiqing was reading the official document in the study, and Ma Xun suddenly broke in and said to Qiao Zhiqing."
Yes, then you can bring him over, I just want to know about the situation of this Taiping army."
Qiao Zhiqing didn't raise his head, the desk was full of Northern Shaanxi military newspapers sent back by Wang Shijie, Qiao Zhiqing had to look at them one by one."
Command."
Ma Xun didn't bother him anymore, and after retreating, he led the brigade commander of the Taiping Army into the study, closed the door and retreated.The brigade commander of the Taiping Army clasped his hands and looked at Qiao Zhiqing's eyes with a trace of murderous aura
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