Usurping the Qing Dynasty: My first love was Cixi

Chapter 142: Throwing oneself into the water! Shen Baozhen begs Su Ye on his knees!

This is probably the most brutal battle of the Hunan Army in recent times.

Except for the thousands of people who broke through, part of the remaining Hunan Army was trapped in Nanchang City, and part was trapped outside the city.

At this time, it was almost one against three.

Both sides were so angry that there was no such thing as surrender.

Here it does not refer to the surrender of the Taiping Army to the Hunan Army, but the surrender of the Hunan Army to the Taiping Army.

They were originally here to accept the surrender, but now they were ambushed. They either died in battle or broke through.

And once they started to fight fiercely.

At this time, the individual combat effectiveness of the Hunan Army had surpassed that of the Taiping Army.

There were corpses everywhere inside and outside the entire Nanchang City and on the city walls.

Compared to Jiujiang, this place was even more tragic.

In this way, they fought until the sun set.

They fought almost all day.

At the beginning, they relied on anger and willpower, but later, their physical strength was completely exhausted.

They fought completely by instinct, mechanically.

They didn't even need the enemy to hack and kill them. They waved their swords and guns, and suddenly a mouthful of blood spurted out, and then they lay on the ground unable to move. The enemy came forward and killed them with a single blow.

In the end...

Except for a few who broke through, the rest were almost all destroyed.

The casualties of the Taiping Army were also astonishingly high.

………………………………………………………………

I don't know how long it took.

Shen Baozhen woke up faintly.

"Where is this?"

Li Xubin said: "An abandoned mansion with a special courtyard wall."

As long as it is in the war zone between the Taiping Army and the Qing Army, there are still many abandoned mansions like this.

These mansions are all local tyrants, who specially built high walls, and there are also civilians who specialize in protecting their homes.

These civilians are OK at ordinary times, but they are completely useless when encountering a real large-scale war, so these tyrants all ran away with their property and ran to safe cities.

For example, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou.

Thinking of what happened today, Shen Baozhen couldn't help but burst into tears.

According to the words of the rebels, it was really a fall from heaven to hell.

The failure of the Jiujiang battle and the loss of soldiers and generals were already a great blow. Although Hu Linyi didn't say anything, after all, victory and defeat are common in the military, after all, even Zeng Guofan lost the battle.

But after the defeat, Jiujiang was completely taken by Su Ye, and Hu Linyi was already unhappy.

Therefore, in order to save his position and keep his power, Shen Baozhen had to be ruthless to take Nanchang City.

As a result, he suffered such a fate.

"Kehui, am I wrong?" Shen Baozhen couldn't help asking.

Li Xubin thought for a while and said, "I don't think there is anything wrong."

Shen Baozhen said, "Don't you think I took too much risk, so I suffered such a great defeat?"

Li Xubin said, "That's because Youdan, you have no choice."

Li Xubin's words did not seem to comfort Shen Baozhen, because the other party's calmness made him even more uncomfortable.

After the capture of Wuchang, Li Xubin was named the nominal Hubei Provincial Surveillance Envoy. On the surface, his official position was the same as Shen Baozhen, but without the historical victory of Jiujiang, he seemed to be much more indifferent at this time.

Shen Baozhen said, "Then why didn't Su Ye go to surrender Wei Jun and Yang Fuqing?"

Li Xubin said, "Because he won a game first, he seemed calm."

Shen Baozhen still seemed to be not comforted, and was still heartbroken.

He really couldn't imagine how Zeng Guofan survived the first battle of Jiujiang that day after his defeat and the destruction of the navy?

Moreover, half of Hubei was captured by Shi Dakai after that. Zeng Guofan suffered repeated defeats.

But there is one thing, Zeng Guofan is the real master of military power, and he is the leader of the Hunan Army, irreplaceable. He can afford to fail, not to mention once, twice or three times, and he has the capital to turn over again and again.

But can Shen Baozhen afford to fail?

Moreover, this time when Nanchang changed its flag, he invited Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi on the surface, but they did not come.

The key is that people also saw his mind, and he, Shen Baozhen, did not want others to come, and did not want to be divided by others.

Now that he has completely failed, he has to bear the responsibility alone.

And at this time, a harsh voice sounded again.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

Soon, there was a sound of fighting and horse hooves outside.

The Taiping Army chased up.

Shen Baozhen was furious. Is Yang Fuqing crazy? As for such an endless pursuit?

Even the night is not spared.

Little did he know that Yang Fuqing had no other choice.

In order to prove himself, to make contributions, and to prove that he was worthy of the title of Fu Wang, he had to capture or kill the Qing demon leader Shen Baozhen alive.

Shen Baozhen, Li Xubin, or Su Ye, the heads of any of these three Qing demon leaders, could allow him to show his merit to the Heavenly King.

The sound of fighting was endless.

Now, the number of people on both sides was even greater.

Moreover, the wall of this mansion was still too thin.

At night, it was impossible to aim when firing, and the weapon advantage of the Hunan Army could not be brought into play.

Sure enough, after a while.

Immediately, someone came to report: "The two adults must flee immediately, the rebels are about to break through the wall."

So, Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin had to take their confidants and escape at night.

Just like a gecko whose tail was cut off, another group of Hunan soldiers cut off their tail and were destined to die here.

Just like that, running and escaping all the way.

I don’t know how long I ran away, but another county town appeared in front of me.

It turned out to be not the flag of the Taiping Army, but the local militia.

Shen Baozhen stepped forward and shouted: "I am Shen Baozhen, the envoy of Jiangxi Province. Open the city gate immediately and let us enter the city."

On top of the city, a tough man shouted loudly: "We don't know who Shen Baozhen is. Leave quickly, or we will shoot."

The official next to Shen Baozhen shouted: "Bold, do you have to rebel? This is not the world of the Qing Dynasty, where are your county magistrates?"

The tough man on the top of the city said: "County magistrate? He's dead. He committed suicide."

Many people think that officials in the Qing court were so corrupt and selling their positions and titles was so common, so local officials must be particularly greedy for life and fear of death.

But in fact, because the Qing government took the responsibility of defending the territory very seriously, once the city was lost, it would basically be severely punished. Therefore, whether facing foreigners or the Taiping Army, as long as the main city of their jurisdiction is lost, a considerable number of local officials will choose to commit suicide.

From the county magistrate to the governor, countless people died.

At this time, the leader of the militia on top of the city had already seen the smoke and dust in the distance, and saw the Taiping Army coming to kill them.

Suddenly, he shouted loudly: "We don't know Shen Baozhen, get out of here immediately, otherwise we will shoot."

"Three, two, one!"

This group of people directly raised their guns and aimed at Shen Baozhen and others.

Shen Baozhen understood that the identities of these militia members were unknown. They were either local gangsters or even members of gangs such as the Tiandihui. Their positions were even more unclear. They might be biased towards the Qing court or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In desperation, Shen Baozhen could only retreat.

With two to three thousand remaining troops, they continued to flee.

Sure enough, when Yang Fuqing's army arrived at the bottom of the county, the flag of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was immediately hoisted on top of the city.

The leader of the militia group on the top of the city loudly said: "Your Majesty, Qingyao is heading in that direction."

Yang Fuqing originally planned to ask the county to hand over some food and grass immediately, but the king's shout stuck in his heart.

He glanced at the leader of the vigilante group and tried to remember his face so that he could be promoted in the future.

Don't blame Yang Fuqing for being excited. At this time, the princes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were still very precious, and there were only a few of them in total. It was not like the random sealing of princes later, which caused the gold content of the princes to depreciate sharply.

Yang Fuqing gave up the idea of ​​​​plundering the county and continued to lead more than 10,000 people in a mad pursuit of Shen Baozhen's remnant army.

But Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin continued to run wildly.

Keep running, keep running.

Even at this time, I was a little panicked and couldn't choose the way. The dark clouds were overwhelming, covering the sun, and I even lost my sense of direction, so I could only instinctively run towards the north.

Run, run!

Suddenly there was no road ahead, and a river lay in front of him.

It was the flood season at this time, and the river water surged.

There are pursuers behind, and the river in front blocks the road.

Seeing that we have reached a dead end.

Suddenly, Shen Baozhen felt sad in his heart, but Li Xubin was not in the mood to be sad and said directly: "This kind of big river, no longer than ten miles, must have a bridge, run to the left."

Then, Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin led two to three thousand remaining troops and ran towards the left.

At this point, there were no roads, it was all farmland, and it had rained recently, so it was all muddy.

From yesterday's escape to now, with almost no food or water, everyone seems to have reached their limit.

However, due to the war, most of the farmland in this area has been abandoned.

Yang Fuqing's more than 10,000 people behind him continued their frenzied pursuit.

Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin led the remaining troops and ran along the river.

Almost desperate.

Where is the bridge?

Why is it so far away?

Just keep running, running.

When it almost collapsed, a bridge appeared not far ahead.

Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin were ecstatic, and they seemed to be full of strength, and they tried their best to escape towards the bridge.

But Yang Fuqing's army quickly caught up.

Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin led the remaining army to rush across the stone bridge.

We can no longer be chased like this, otherwise we will be caught up and killed sooner or later.

Li Xubin said: "The fourth battalion commander, take your soldiers and stay at the bridge to stop the enemy and break up the rear!"

The expression of the commander of the fourth camp changed slightly. Of course he knew that if he stayed to break up the family, he would die.

He is the younger brother of Li Xubin and also the disciple of Luo Zenan.

Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!"

Then, he led four to five hundred people to build a position on the stone bridge, blocking Yang Fuqing's army from behind, delaying their speed, and buying time for Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin to escape.

In the open area, even if you want to break off, it is impossible.

This can only be done in the narrow area of ​​this stone bridge.

Moreover, the Hunan Army is also equipped with advanced foreign guns, which has an advantage in this environment.

Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin continued to escape with the remaining troops.

Soon, there was another sound of fighting from behind, and there were bursts of gunshots.

Li Xubin was heartbroken. The only people he could send out to cut off his descendants at this time were all direct descendants.

They were all soldiers he brought out with his own hands. It was obvious that this would lead to death. How could he let it go?

But at this time, he and Shen Baozhen couldn't even look back.

We can only seize this precious opportunity and continue to run away like crazy.

But as I ran, another big river appeared in front of me.

At this time, not to mention Shen Baozhen, even Li Xubin was desperate.

Why are there so many rivers? How far apart are they? Why is there another big river?

The closer we get to the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake, the denser the river network becomes. It would be strange if there are no big rivers.

There was no choice but to continue running along the river.

This is no longer a field, it's all rotten woods and rotten mud.

People who leave simply doubt their life.

I kept running like this, and kept running, but I didn't see the bridge.

Then, the sound of pursuit came again, and Yang Fuqing's army caught up again.

This means that all the Hunan troops in the battalion that had just been cut off were killed.

Li Xubin burst into tears.

His remnant army's physical strength has reached its limit.

Yang Fuqing's pursuers behind him were so dark that they couldn't even see the end.

But there is still no bridge in sight on this big river.

Does God want to kill me, Shen Baozhen, or does God want to kill me, Li Xubin?

From Nanchang to Jiujiang, it is less than 300 miles. Now it has been a full day and night.

There is no trace of Jiujiang City at all.

Just keep running, keep running.

When they were about to be overtaken by Yang Fuqing's army again, a bridge suddenly appeared in front of them.

Not a stone bridge, but a suspension bridge, a suspension bridge.

Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin were overjoyed and accelerated their pace with the remaining troops.

Finally, two to three thousand remnant troops struggled to cross the bridge while swaying.

But this is a suspension bridge after all, and its bearing capacity is limited.

Crossing the bridge is naturally slower.

Therefore, just after the two or three thousand remnant troops passed by less than 2,000 people, Yang Fuqing's army had already caught up.

The remaining Hunan troops who had not yet crossed the bridge felt desperate, drew their swords and shouted: "Cut the rear, cut the rear!"

Therefore, they simply couldn't cross the bridge and stayed at this end of the bridge to fight and buy time for Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin.

While fighting, he shouted: "Destroy the bridge, destroy the bridge!"

Although he couldn't bear it, Li Xubin here still ordered the suspension bridge to be destroyed.

Fortunately, this is not a thick chain bridge, otherwise even if you want to destroy it, there is no way.

A few soldiers dug a big hole at the suspension pier here, and then stuffed the gunpowder into it.

Prepare to blow up the suspension pier.

At the bridge over there, there were too few troops behind them, and they were all killed very quickly.

Yang Fuqing's Taiping Army began to cross the bridge.

"Light the fire, light the fire..."

With an order.

"boom!"

There was a violent explosion.

The entire suspension bridge shook violently and seemed to be stable again.

This suspension-fixed pier was not destroyed by the bomb.

The Taiping troops on the bridge paused for a moment, then continued to surge across the bridge.

But at this moment, the entire suspension bridge made a strange noise, and the suspension cable fell off at the connection point of the fixed pier here.

Suddenly...

The entire suspension bridge fell directly into the river.

Hundreds of Taiping soldiers on the bridge also fell into the river and were swept away by the flood.

The suspension bridge was destroyed. Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, and then continued to escape with the remaining troops.

I don’t know how long I ran.

From dawn to dusk.

We came to a small village. Due to the war, this village was deserted. The people had fled, but the houses were still intact.

Even, they just ran away.

Because they were far away, they saw the remnants of Shen Baozhen's army escaping, so they hurried to the mountain.

In this era, whether it was the Hunan Army or the Taiping Army, as long as they passed by, they would definitely plunder.

But finally there is a resting place.

After running for two days and one night, I could finally take a rest. If I continued running, I would definitely die.

Moreover, the villagers here were running in a hurry, and there was still a little food that they didn't have time to take away.

Therefore, I can still have one meal, even though it is just rice porridge and sweet potato porridge.

But it's better than having nothing to eat.

After two days and one night, Shen Baozhen finally had something in his stomach, and the sweet potatoes seemed so sweet at this time.

But it was precisely because I could rest and eat something.

Therefore, the remnant soldiers of the Hunan Army looked at him with blame.

It's all because of you, Shen Baozhen, that we encountered this catastrophe.

That’s why so many of our brothers died. You want to make a meritorious deed, but you let us brothers die?

Shen Baozhen couldn't stand the burning gaze, so he immediately put down the bowl in his hand and shouted loudly: "The disaster that our brothers have suffered today is all the fault of me, Shen Baozhen. How can I have the face to live in this world?" "

After that, he jumped directly into the pond next to him.

Diving to death.

Li Xubin quickly threw down the bowl, jumped into the pond, and rescued Shen Baozhen.

"Master Shen, you must not do this, you must not do it."

"Keep the green hills here, so you don't have to worry about running out of firewood!"

When it comes to committing suicide by diving, you are still not as good as Marshal Zeng, who wanted to jump into the Yangtze River.

But Shen Baozhen's performance finally suppressed the anger of the remaining soldiers of the Hunan Army.

Next, take a good rest, at least an hour or two.

Although his heart was full of pain, his body was too tired, so after lying down, Shen Baozhen fell into a deep sleep.

I was so tired that I couldn’t even dream.

But...that is at this time.

Less than an hour after falling asleep, he was suddenly awakened again.

"Master Shen, wake up quickly, wake up quickly..."

"Run quickly, run quickly..."

"The rebellious pursuers are here again."

Crazy, he's going crazy.

Shen Baozhen almost collapsed. Don't these rebellious people need to eat?

But the painful thing is that this is not Yang Fuqing's pursuer, but another Taiping Army pursuer.

Moreover, Shen Baozhen and the others fled in a panic, taking many detours and taking many wrongful paths.

Therefore, they were overtaken by this Taiping army.

Therefore, Shen Baozhen, who had just rested, continued to flee with the remaining soldiers of the Hunan Army.

Escape desperately!

This escape was from night to day again.

Today, the physical strength of the remaining soldiers of the Hunan Army has really reached its limit.

Many people were running, blood spurted out, and they fell down immediately.

During this day's escape, the remaining troops of the Hunan Army continued to reduce in number.

Constantly dying on the road.

The newly caught up Taiping Army obviously had much more energy left.

Catching up again and again.

Attacked and killed again and again.

The remaining soldiers of the Hunan Army had to cut off their tails again and again to survive.

Just like that, I escaped from daytime to dusk again.

Shen Baozhen was really desperate, and so were the more than a thousand remnant troops he led.

Die!

If you don't run away, you might as well die if you run away in pain like this.

But how can I bear to die like this?

Shen Baozhen is still young, only thirty-eight years old this year, and he still has a bright future.

But the rebellious pursuers were less than two miles behind.

This time he must die.

Not only will he die, he will even be executed by Ling Chi.

Then the big head was sent to Tianjing for Hong Xiuquan to play with.

Looking at the rebellious pursuers getting closer and closer behind.

Shen Baozhen felt desperate. He pulled out a sharp knife from the Hunan army beside him and was about to commit suicide.

This time I really wanted to commit suicide.

Because he fell into the hands of Fa Ni, his death was even worse.

And at this moment, someone in front suddenly shouted: "Jiujiang City, Jiujiang City..."

Shen Baozhen looked up.

Immediately burst into tears of joy.

As expected, there is Jiujiang City ahead, and Jiujiang City is the one I am familiar with.

It was less than three hundred miles, and after running for several days and nights, I didn’t know how many unnecessary journeys I had made, and now I finally arrived in Jiujiang City.

At this time, the flag of Su Yi's new army was flying at the top of the city.

In Jiujiang City before, this flag looked so hateful.

But at this time, it was so cordial.

It's like a traveler in the desert seeing an oasis.

Immediately, Shen Baozhen threw away the knife and seemed to be filled with new vitality. He led a thousand remaining soldiers of the Hunan Army and ran towards the Jiujiang City Gate.

During this last stretch of the journey, I didn’t feel tired at all because I saw the hope of life.

Moreover, they also threw away the rebellious pursuers for more than a mile.

Arrive under the Jiujiang City Gate.

The city gate was closed tightly, and the new troops on the city wall immediately raised their guns and took aim.

"stop!"

"Don't come close, if you come any closer I'll shoot!"

The officer of Su Yi's new army shouted loudly.

Following this roar, thousands of foreign guns stretched out in unison.

The muzzles of the black holes were all aimed at the remnants of the Hunan Army.

Shen Baozhen and Li Xubin, with a thousand remnant troops, were trembling under the city wall.

It's not just fear, it's also the physical limit, and the uneasiness about the next fate.

They have all fled to Jiujiang City, and they really don’t want to die.

Behind, countless Taiping soldiers were getting closer and closer, waving swords and guns in pursuit.

At this time, Su Yi appeared on top of the city.

The setting sun shone on his face, making his whole body glow.

When Shen Baozhen saw this, he knelt down straight towards Su Yi and said loudly: "Master Su Yi, please have mercy!"

"Master Su Yi, help me!"

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