Usurping the Qing Dynasty: My first love was Cixi

Chapter 246 Great victory! Good news enters the palace!

Prince Li Shixian fell into a strong self-doubt.

He knew that Su Ye's army was strong, but could it be this strong?

This... How long has it been since the siege started?

The city has been broken? !

I, Li Shixian, can be regarded as one of the most famous generals in the world, and I can be regarded as victorious in all battles.

The army under my command can not be regarded as outdated.

Li Shixian is certainly not weak, and even his army is not weak, and the weapons and equipment can be regarded as very good.

It's just that, to some extent, he still has the old thinking.

New weapons, old army, old thinking.

In the minds of many people, defending a city means defending the city wall.

But with the development of new weapons and the development of new war thinking, the use of city walls has become less and less.

Constructing a large defensive position is the most important thing.

In the new war, breaking through the city wall is just the beginning, and the subsequent street fighting is the most important.

Li Shixian stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the layers of defense positions on Su Ye's side.

Su Ye had a total of 17,000 people, a total of 5,000 cavalry, and still did not move.

The real siege was only a little over 10,000 infantry.

"King Shi, the Qing monsters have entered the city." The general next to him shouted loudly.

Li Shixian instinctively said: "Don't shout Qing monsters."

The general next to him said: "Su Ye's army has entered the city."

Li Shixian took out his pocket watch, this... has it been an hour?

Less than an hour after the beginning, a big city like Jiaxing was breached?

Am I, Li Shixian, so incompetent?

Am I, Li Shixian, going to be ruined like this?

No, no, no!

Li Shixian instinctively said: "Pass the order, the army retreats into the alleys, relies on houses, builds defensive positions, and fights to the death in the city."

Then, the unstoppable offensive of Su Ye's new army was stopped.

The first real street fighting began.

Su Ye's siege army took the opportunity of breaking the city gate and rushed into the city frantically.

After entering the city, they did not slowly expand the results of the battle, but immediately found a good area to build a position.

Then, they continued to suppress the enemy with artillery fire and strong firepower, completely occupying the city gate area, allowing the army to enter the city continuously.

After a brief panic, Li Shixian also quickly found the best stronghold in the city to build a position.

Then...

A more tragic battle took place.

This scene is a bit like the defense of the Old Summer Palace.

It's just that the roles of both sides were reversed, Su Ye became the attacker and Li Shixian became the defender.

The firepower of both sides was very fierce.

Both sides bought artillery from foreigners, and Su Ye's artillery may be more advanced and more accurate.

But the Taiping Army is not the same as it was a few years ago.

Su Ye's more than 10,000 troops fought just like in the textbook of the Army Academy.

Push forward little by little.

Li Shixian's army was twice as large as Su Ye's, but they were generally at a disadvantage.

Because they had never encountered the fighting style of Su Ye's army.

However, the Taiping Army had a huge advantage, that is, they were not afraid of death.

The fierce battle lasted until dark.

Su Ye's position advanced several hundred meters.

In less than an hour, the city was broken.

But in the next few hours, it advanced several hundred meters.

At night, Li Shixian almost didn't eat, he just wrote and drew on the map, and then summoned senior generals to discuss the battle.

"I have never seen such a fighting style before."

"If this continues, will the city wall be useless in the future?"

"I feel that Su Ye's army is also fighting this way for the first time, and they are also cautious."

That's right.

Su Ye's army was also engaging in real street fighting for the first time, so they followed the textbook completely and did not dare to advance rashly.

The next day!

The fierce battle in the city broke out again.

It was still extremely tragic.

The rhythm of Su Ye's army's attack today was more intense.

However, after thinking about it last night, Li Shixian went back to the textbook given by Su Ye and immediately adjusted the defensive position.

Therefore, the battle became more difficult to fight.

Both armies are making progress.

However, Su Ye's army is making faster progress.

Although Li Shixian is very good on the Taiping side, his army's comprehension is much slower.

Therefore, Su Ye's army can still achieve a very good casualty ratio.

However, Li Shixian's Taiping Army is too tenacious.

Therefore, it is difficult to capture the position.

Especially since the buildings in the city are so dense, it is conducive to defense but not conducive to attack.

Under the extremely tenacious situation of the defenders, Su Ye's army, as the attacking party, suffered more and more casualties.

The next day, Su Ye's army advanced 900 meters.

When night fell, the two sides tacitly ceased fighting.

Standing on the high ground, the more than 1,000-meter position that had been advanced in the past two days was almost reduced to ruins.

The densely packed houses, whether they were a hundred years old or several hundred years old, were blown into ruins.

Countless broken walls and ruins.

This is not a modern war, but it is so terrifying.

The positions of the two armies are less than 300 meters apart.

Su Ye suddenly appeared in the middle of the two army positions, staring at a ruin in a daze.

The top scholar.

This is a memorial archway.

It was built during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, but now it has been bombed.

Su Ye said: "Take away the stone of this champion archway and protect it, and try to repair it later."

"Yes!"

The Taiping Army on the opposite side saw Su Ye and was immediately surprised and said: "Su Ye, the leader of the Qing Dynasty, shot him."

Although it is more than 300 meters away, it is difficult to hit.

But, give it a try.

As long as Su Ye is shot, this battle will be won.

As a result, a general next to him slapped him on the head.

"If you dare to shoot Su Ye, the King of Shi will shoot you first!"

At this time, the King of Shi Li Shixian was eating while studying the army textbooks given to him by Su Ye.

This battle was interesting. The armies on both sides were learning, practicing, and fighting at the same time.

Su Ye was also eating here.

"Marshal, this battle is too difficult to fight." Wang Tianyang said: "If we continue to fight like this, we will consume too much ammunition and suffer heavy casualties. This cramped environment is not conducive to attacking."

"Isn't it? The previous battle was easier to fight. Once the city gate was breached, the battle was over."

Su Ye also caught Li Shixian off guard at the beginning and almost collapsed, setting a record of breaking the city in one hour.

But then, Li Shixian immediately retreated into the city very tenaciously and started street fighting.

Moreover, he learned while fighting.

"If there are always big battles like this in the future, I can't imagine how much ammunition will be consumed and how many cities will be destroyed."

"If we continue to fight like this, the big city of Jiaxing will be completely reduced to ruins."

Su Ye asked: "How long will it take for Shi Dakai's troops and Chen Yucheng's troops to arrive at the Jiaxing battlefield? How long will it take for Huang Wenjin's troops in Huzhou?"

The intelligence officer reported: "Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng's troops sent 20,000 people from Hangzhou to the north to attack us, and they will probably arrive the day after tomorrow. Huang Wenjin's 7,000 troops will arrive tomorrow."

In other words, if the battle is not resolved before the day after tomorrow, Li Shixian is not completely defeated, and Jiaxing City is not occupied, Su Ye's army will face attacks from three sides.

"How many casualties have we suffered?" Su Ye asked.

"Five hundred killed, six hundred seriously injured, and nearly a thousand slightly injured."

Such heavy casualties in just two days of fighting, street fighting is really terrifying.

Su Ye's army is not large, if the subsequent battles are like this, it will be really difficult to fight.

………………

In Li Shixian's tent.

"More than 7,000 casualties."

Hearing this number, Li Shixian's face twitched slightly. The casualties of the defenders were several times that of the attackers. Su Ye's army was too strong.

There is a classic saying that if the casualties of an army exceed 30%, it will collapse.

However, this is not applicable to the Taiping Army. The battles between the Hunan Army and the Taiping Army are often so tragic that they are unimaginable, and the casualty rate is shockingly high.

Suddenly, a personal soldier came in and said, "Prince Shi, Su Ye invites you to talk."

"Oh, okay." Li Shixian walked out instinctively.

"Prince Shi, you can't go." The general next to him said, "What if they attack you?"

Li Shixian said, "I'm not Shi Dakai, how can it be possible?"

Then, he really came directly.

On a pavilion, Su Ye had prepared wine and food.

Li Shixian stepped forward, picked up the wine and drank.

"Will you cause great damage when you capture Suzhou?" Su Ye asked.

Li Shixian said: "It's not big, so it's easier to break through."

Su Ye said: "Although Jiaxing is not as good as Suzhou, it is also a prosperous city with a history of more than a thousand years."

Li Shixian said: "Now it has become a ruin."

Su Ye said: "Have you read the military books I gave you?"

Li Shixian said: "I have read them. I fought, read and learned at the same time."

Su Ye said: "I feel it. I can feel your progress in just a few days of fighting."

Li Shixian said: "Prime Minister Su, are all the battles fought like this on the foreign side now?"

Su Ye said: "Most of them are still field battles, but such urban battles will become more and more common."

Li Shixian said: "The amount of ammunition, destructive power, and casualties will become more and more shocking."

The First World War decades later was so tragic that it was far beyond anyone's imagination.

In a sense, it was even more tragic than World War II.

In comparison, the battle between Su Ye and Li Shixian was completely child's play.

Li Shixian said: "Prime Minister Su, probably tomorrow, Huang Wenjin's troops from Huzhou will attack from the west, and the day after tomorrow, Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng's 20,000 people will also attack from there. At that time, your army will face three-sided attacks."

Su Ye said: "No problem."

Then, the two chatted.

"In fact, this time the king wanted my brother to go south, and didn't want the King of Wings to lead the army." Li Shixian said: "But my brother didn't want to, and he still led the army to resist the Hunan Army in the north."

Historically, the main general who attacked southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang was Li Xiucheng.

"You value Li Xiucheng more than me." Li Shixian said: "Although I have exactly the same book you gave him. But you sent someone to give it to him first, and then to me."

"Really?" Su Ye said: "Then I apologize to you."

Li Shixian said: "Why didn't you send it to Chen Yucheng?"

Su Ye said: "I sent it three times, and he burned my book every time."

Then, the two drank and ate.

After eating, Li Shixian went back.

……………………

The next day!

The two sides fought fiercely again.

Still extremely fierce.

Whether it is the attacker or the defender, the will to fight is extremely firm.

Every position has paid a huge price.

The entire city has fallen into ruins piece by piece.

At this time, on the plain west of the city.

Wang Shiqing led 5,000 cavalry and waited quietly.

Huang Wenjin's troops in Huzhou are getting closer and closer.

But when there are still 30 miles away, the 7,000 people of Huang Wenjin's troops stopped.

Obviously, they are waiting for Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng's 20,000 people.

At this time, Wang Shiqing faces two choices.

Is to take the initiative to attack immediately and eliminate the 7,000 people of Huang Wenjin's troops first.

Or continue to wait.

If you wait, you will face 27,000 Taiping troops.

However, there will be reinforcements on your side.

Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi's troops will even arrive at the battlefield earlier.

Wang Shiqing sent someone to ask Su Ye's order.

Su Ye replied, you decide for yourself.

Hand over some battlefield decision-making power to Wang Shiqing.

Wang Shiqing fell into hesitation, and then decided to continue waiting!

………………

On the third day, the fierce battle ended.

Half of the entire Jiaxing city was reduced to ruins.

Su Ye's side suffered heavy casualties.

Li Shixian's side suffered more than half of the casualties.

The next morning!

Fifteen thousand people led by Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi rushed to the battlefield.

And the twenty thousand people led by Shi Zhenji (Shi Dakai's cousin) also rushed to the Jiaxing battlefield from the Hangzhou battlefield.

Su Ye's army officially faced a three-sided attack.

However, early this morning.

There was a ceasefire in Jiaxing City.

Su Ye did not order an attack, and Li Shixian did not order to open fire.

Su Ye stood on the city wall and looked at the battlefield to the west.

Li Shixian also went up the city wall and watched the battle quietly.

It was just dawn.

More than 10,000 people from Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi's troops had just arrived at the battlefield after a long journey, and they needed to rest for a while.

The only good thing is that they came by boat, and after landing at the canal wharf, they entered the battlefield, which means they walked less than ten miles.

However, the 20,000 people led by Shi Zhenji came from Hangzhou, and they had traveled nearly 200 miles, which could be considered a tired army.

At this time in the city.

Su Ye's 9,000 troops faced Li Shixian's 10,000 troops.

Outside the city, Wang Shiqing, Yuan Jiasan, and Ma Xinyi had a total of 18,000 people, fighting against Huang Wenjin and Shi Zhenji's 27,000 Taiping troops.

Now, Wang Shiqing faced another choice.

Should he wait until both armies have rested before starting the war?

Or rush out immediately?

If both sides rested, the armies of Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi would be able to fully join the battle tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

If he rushed out now, as the main force of the battle, his 5,000 cavalry would be directly facing the 27,000 Taiping troops.

However, the other Taiping army had not had time to build a position, and the land here was flat and most suitable for cavalry combat.

If they were waiting, the opponent's 20,000 exhausted troops would have rested and built up their positions.

But if they rushed out now, the difference in strength between the two sides would be too great.

So, Wang Shiqing came to ask Su Ye again.

Su Ye replied again, you can do it yourself.

Wang Shiqing turned his head and looked at Su Ye on the city wall, feeling unprecedented pressure.

He had commanded the battle alone before, but that was when Su Ye was not there, and he had to make the decision.

Now, Su Ye was not far away, but he handed the entire battlefield to him.

Looking at the 5,000 cavalry.

This is all the cavalry strength of the Marshal, and even the cavalry seed of the entire country in the future.

It would be too aggressive and risky to directly charge the 27,000 enemy troops.

But now that the enemy has not yet established a firm foothold, it is the most suitable time for the cavalry to charge.

Moreover, this young cavalry needs this strong momentum, right?

More than half of this cavalry are recruits who have been trained for about half a year.

They have experienced extremely difficult and even cruel training, and are now full of desire for war, like young tigers about to go out of the mountains.

If they can win the first battle brilliantly, it will be extremely important for their future.

So, Wang Shiqing came to Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi.

"Governor Yuan, Lord Ma, I have decided to charge with all my strength and start the battle now."

Yuan Jiasan was stunned and said, "It's true that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger."

Then, he said, "Although our more than 10,000 people have not yet established a firm foothold, we are willing to follow Wang Junmen to fight."

……………………

Wang Shiqing took a deep breath.

Five thousand cavalrymen were arranged neatly, and they looked black and boundless when spread out.

He looked at Su Ye on the top of the city again, suddenly drew out his sword, and shouted loudly: "Marshal, look at us!"

"Attack!"

With an order, five thousand cavalrymen began to attack.

Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi ordered: "Attack!"

Their 15,000 people also pressed forward layer by layer.

Shi Zhenji and Huang Wenjin, who were a few miles away, were stunned. This... is the battle going to start now?

The defensive position has not been built yet.

Huang Wenjin's 7,000 men who arrived yesterday only set up a relatively simple defensive position.

"Form a battle array!"

"Form a battle array!"

With the order, the 27,000 Taiping troops began to form a battle array.

Li Shixian was on the top of the city, looking at everything with a telescope, and instinctively said in the direction of Su Ye: "It's not written like this in the textbook."

However, the two were too far apart to hear each other talking.

The textbooks are indeed not written like this, but sometimes they are different from the textbooks.

Wang Shiqing's cavalry was getting faster and faster.

Soon, they left Ma Xinyi and Yuan Jiasan's 15,000 men behind.

The distance to the Taiping Army's battle formation of 27,000 people was getting closer and closer.

"Fuck, this Qing monster is not going to die."

"A few thousand cavalry, charging our nearly 30,000 people in a war?"

"Are the Qing monster's cavalry so worthless?"

Valuable, of course it is valuable.

This is the cavalry seed of Su Ye, and even the cavalry seed of this country in the future.

"Ready!"

With an order, more than half of the soldiers in the 2,700-man Taiping Army battle formation raised their rifles and aimed at the dark Su Ye cavalry.

This formation is still very terrifying.

Facing countless dark muzzles.

"Ready!"

Wang Shiqing roared, and the 5,000 cavalry under his command raised their carbines.

The so-called carbine is a short rifle specially made for cavalry, suitable for firing on horseback.

Accelerate, accelerate, accelerate...

Five thousand cavalry, faster and faster.

Finally, the speed reached the extreme.

Like a tide, they rushed madly towards the battle formation of the Taiping Army.

Seeing this scene, Li Shixian on the city wall couldn't help but get excited.

Such a tall horse, such a mighty modern military uniform.

Such cavalry is really a dream army.

When there were still two hundred meters away.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

With an order, the Taiping Army of Shi Zhenji and Huang Wenjin opened fire in unison.

Tens of thousands of muskets fired at the same time.

A real rain of bullets.

And the five thousand cavalry led by Wang Shiqing continued to charge madly in the face of the rain of bullets.

This is probably the romance of cavalry.

"Fire!" With an order.

Wang Shiqing's five thousand cavalry also opened fire fiercely.

Suddenly...

These five thousand cavalrymen hit the metal rainstorm hard.

One by one, the cavalrymen were hit directly.

One by one, the horses screamed and fell to the ground.

The cavalrymen on horseback were thrown out.

In addition to the violent vibration of the entire ground, there were countless screams of war horses.

How many casualties were there in this wave?

I don't know.

However, the casualties of Huang Wenjin and Shi Zhenji's troops were not small. Their neat battle formation was directly vacant.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

The Taiping Army knew the three-stage shooting.

Wang Shiqing's cavalrymen continued to fall.

Continued casualties.

But there was no stagnation.

Charge, charge, charge!

The blood rushed to the top.

Even the cavalrymen who were shot did not feel pain, and some of them did not even know they were shot.

The whole body felt that the blood was boiling.

We are the imperial cavalry.

We are the most honorable and powerful army in the whole country.

This country has invested millions of taels of silver in us.

The general is watching us on the top of the city.

Kill, kill, kill!

The world fell into silence.

Just like that!

Wang Shiqing led thousands of cavalrymen and rushed into the battle of the 27,000 Taiping Army like a tide.

The two army formations collided with each other madly.

Li Shixian and Su Ye on the top of the city were so excited.

And Li Shixian was horrified to find that he was not a brother unit.

He was terrified.

The terrible collision.

Bang, bang, bang!

Countless Taiping Army were directly knocked out.

All the cavalrymen had inserted their muskets into the holsters.

What they held in their hands was a sword.

It was the most advanced sword forged by Jiujiang Iron and Steel Plant.

Under the huge momentum, the Taiping Army could almost be cut in half.

Just like that...

Thousands of cavalrymen crushed past madly.

The battle formation of the 27,000 Taiping Army was directly smashed to pieces.

Ma Xinyi and Yuan Jiasan in the rear saw this scene and looked at each other immediately.

My God!

If there was such an army, why would we be so frustrated and defeated so many times in these years?

In the Battle of Baliqiao, Senggelinqin's cavalry was also so brave.

But apart from bravery, there was nothing else.

They were physically weak and had poor combat effectiveness, so they could only charge forward like this.

And after Su Ye's cavalry broke through the enemy's war.

They were also confused for a while.

They almost forgot the content of their usual training.

They just charged and fought instinctively.

They even thought that we were back to the battle of the cold weapon era?

After killing through the entire battle formation, they rushed out more than a hundred meters away.

Wang Shiqing immediately ordered to regroup and re-form the formation.

At this time, they felt that they were not old-style cavalry, but new-style cavalry.

The advancement and smoothness of the entire command system, and the instincts of countless trainings in normal times, allowed them to charge and fight after a chaotic battle.

They can rearrange their troops at the fastest speed.

They can even rearrange their troops while running.

Although the officers around them may not be the same officers as before.

But it doesn't matter. Just look at their ranks, not their faces.

After the troops are rearranged, they charge again.

Once again, the second round of shooting was completed on horseback.

This time, the Taiping Army did not have such an organized attack as the last time, and it was completely scattered.

Next!

Wang Shiqing led this cavalry and repeated it several times.

Formation, charge, crush.

Crush over, crush over!

The two armies showed completely different levels of organization.

After a few times!

The Taiping Army of Shi Zhenji and Huang Wenjin began to flee.

At this time, the casualties of the Taiping Army were actually far less than 30%.

In the street fighting in the city, the Taiping Army suffered more than half of its casualties, but it still did not collapse, and fought desperately to the end.

In the field battle outside the city, the casualties were less than 20%, and nearly 20,000 to 30,000 Taiping Army began to flee.

The momentum of the nearly 30,000 Taiping Army was completely taken away and suppressed.

Even when they saw Su Ye's cavalry, they instinctively felt inferior in their hearts.

The equipment was too high, and the war horses were too tall and elite.

The military uniforms were too majestic.

The most important thing is the momentum after the charge, the organization is too amazing.

So, they collapsed.

The whole field was full of desperately disintegrating Taiping troops, fleeing desperately towards the south of Hangzhou.

This, this is a win? Five thousand cavalry directly defeated nearly 30,000 Taiping troops?

So easy?

At this time, there was no need to chase and kill.

But what a precious opportunity this is?

Wang Shiqing certainly would not miss such an opportunity and led the cavalry to chase and kill frantically.

At this time, the carbine in the hands of each cavalryman played an amazing power.

Before the rout, the casualties of these 27,000 Taiping troops were only more than 10%.

After the rout, casualties increased exponentially.

Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi looked at each other and said slowly: "If we don't come, Su Xiang can win."

They thought, did their 15,000 people come for nothing?

From beginning to end, they only fired a few shots.

Wang Shiqing's cavalry fought from beginning to end.

At this time, this group of young cavalrymen fell into a kind of ecstasy and pride.

You don't know until you fight, we are so strong?

Before the five thousand charged the twenty-seven thousand, they were brave and uneasy.

After the charge, they felt endless glory.

At this time, adrenaline was still soaring wildly, and they chased the fleeing enemies tirelessly.

Su Ye's main cavalry won the first battle so brilliantly that it exceeded Su Ye's imagination.

……………………………………

Li Shixian came to Su Ye again.

"Su Xiang, I'm leaving with the army."

Su Ye said: "Is Shixian going south or north?"

Li Shixian said: "Go north to Suzhou and join forces with Lin Qirong, the king of Qin."

This statement fully revealed his position.

If he led his army south, he would have to join forces with Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng, and would have to participate in a decisive battle with Su Ye.

He didn't want to.

He had to fight the battle of Jiaxing.

He had to prove many things to himself and to Su Ye.

Now he seemed to have got the result he wanted.

"Prime Minister Su, Jiaxing is such a great city, and I'm very sorry that it was destroyed like this." Li Shixian said, "Suzhou will never be like this."

"If Li Hongzhang led his army to attack Suzhou, Lin Qirong and I would never let them break the city, and we would stop them outside the city at all costs."

"Okay." Su Ye said.

Then he stepped forward and patted the other's arm with both hands.

Two hours later.

Li Shixian led 10,000 remnants of the army, took all the corpses and all the wounded, and took a boat north along the canal to Suzhou.

And Su Ye's army did not pursue them.

Even, he asked Yuan Jiasan to lend some boats to Li Shixian.

Of the 27,000 people led by Shi Zhenji and Huang Wenjin, only 15,000 escaped back to Hangzhou.

After Tan Shaoguang, who was guarding Huzhou, learned of the defeat in the Jiaxing battlefield, he also faced two choices.

One was to go north to Suzhou and join Lin Qirong.

The other was to go south and join Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng.

Mu Wang Tan Shaoguang was also a famous young general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

He also had another identity, he was once a student of Fu Shanxiang, although he was only two years younger than Fu Shanxiang.

Facing such a female teacher, how could he not admire her?

Where did Fu Shanxiang go? No one knew at first, but later everyone knew that she went to Jiujiang.

It seemed that she became Su Ye's woman.

Many young people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were valued by Su Ye, so he would give them books to help them broaden their horizons.

Many of the books were written by Su Ye.

And Tan Shaoguang was one of them, although he ranked behind Li Xiucheng, Li Shixian and others.

There were dozens of people on Su Ye's list.

Some of them were like enemies to Su Ye, and burned all the books sent by Su Ye.

Tan Shaoguang did not burn them, but read and studied them seriously.

But his emotions towards Su Ye were too complicated, and his loyalty to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had reached an incredible level.

In almost all battles, he led the troops to fight on the front line.

And when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was facing a desperate situation, he did not waver at all, and was eventually killed by a traitor.

He knew that many young generals in the Heavenly Kingdom had received indirect teachings from Su Ye, and even formed a teacher-student relationship in a sense.

What would it mean if he led the army north to Suzhou? He knew very well.

In fact, it was to help Su Ye resist the Hunan Army and never let the credit for recovering Suzhou, Changzhou and other places fall on Li Hongzhang and others.

Tan Shaoguang looked in the direction of Jiaxing, then in the direction of Suzhou, and finally in the direction of Hangzhou.

Although he could not see anything.

"Fight one last time, it would be best if I died on the battlefield."

"I, Tan Shaoguang, will be consistent with the Heavenly Kingdom!"

"Fu Shanxiang, thank you for not writing a letter to surrender me."

Then, Tan Shaoguang gave an order and led 3,000 people to evacuate Huzhou and go south to join Chen Yucheng and Shi Dakai.

Two days later!

Ma Xinyi's 5,000 troops entered Huzhou.

So far!

The first phase of Su Ye's southward rebellion ended.

Although he started the war very late, 17,000 troops directly inserted into the core of the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou battlefield and were sandwiched in the middle by three Taiping armies.

Moreover, in the end, there was indeed a situation of being attacked from three sides.

But it took only six days from the start of the war to the end.

Defeat Li Shixian's troops, Huang Wenjin's troops, and Shi Zhenji's troops.

Seventeen thousand people, fighting against fifty-five thousand people, a great victory.

Officially recovered Jiaxing and Huzhou.

So far, although the strength of the two sides is still quite different.

However, Su Ye's army has surrounded Shi Dakai's troops and Chen Yucheng's troops in the Hangjiahu Plain.

In the battle of Jiaxing, Su Ye suffered nearly four thousand casualties, and completely reduced more than two thousand people.

At present, Su Ye's side, plus Wang Youling, Yuan Jiasan, Ma Xinyi, etc., has a total strength of about 73,000.

And Shi Dakai's troops and Chen Yucheng's troops together have about 140,000 left.

Hangzhou City was not broken, and the roads to the south and east were blocked.

Huzhou and Jiaxing were captured by Su Ye, so the road to the north was also blocked.

Now Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng face two choices, stay where they are and wait for Su Ye to fight, and fight to the death.

Or the army retreats westward and joins up with the main force in Anqing.

……………………………………

"Greetings to Prime Minister Su!"

"Greetings to Prime Minister Su!"

Yuan Jiasan and Ma Xinyi stepped forward and saluted Su Yi.

"I dare not, I dare not." Su Yi stepped forward and helped Yuan Jiasan up.

"Thank you, my Lords, for coming south to support me." Su Yi said, "It was a difficult choice for you two Lords to make at that time."

Yuan Jiasan smiled and said, "I thought we were going south to help in times of trouble and save the war situation. Who knew we were just here to watch and made Prime Minister Su laugh."

Ma Xinyi said, "The ferocity of Prime Minister Su's army makes me ashamed."

"In just six days, we defeated three times the enemy and recovered two large cities. It is really amazing."

Su Yi smiled embarrassedly, unwilling to be modest, but also unwilling to brag.

"Seng Wang and Shengbao are also fighting smoothly in Shandong, and there are continuous reports of victory." Su Ye smiled and said, "It's nothing for me to recover Huzhou and Jiaxing. It will be a complete success only if we completely destroy Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng's troops."

Ma Xinyi said, "Prime Minister Su, what if Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng's troops retreat westward and all the way to Anqing?"

Anqing also has another main force of the Taiping Army.

And this city has been managed by the Taiping Army for several years.

Once the two sides join forces, there will be more than 200,000 troops defending the city.

The most important thing is that the main force of the Hunan Army also gathered near Anqing.

Su Ye said, "I will never let Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng leave the Hangjiahu Plain. This time, I must completely annihilate this main force of the rebellion."

"I must destroy Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng."

Many high-level officials in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom have complicated feelings for Su Ye, and they are both enemies and friends.

As long as the situation develops to a certain extent, many elites inside will stand on Su Ye's side.

Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng were the two people who were most hostile to Su Ye among the top leaders, and it was completely irreversible.

Especially Chen Yucheng, Su Ye valued him so much.

In the sequence of gifting books, he was almost ranked first.

As a result, he burned all the books given by Su Ye, and his hostility towards Su Ye was simply indescribably strong.

This time, he went south to attack Suzhou and Zhejiang.

Li Xiucheng was unwilling to come, but Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng were eager to go south.

Although Li Shixian also participated in the battle to attack Zhejiang, after the battle of Jiaxing, he got the desired result and convinced himself to return to Lin Qirong's team, indirectly guarding southern Jiangsu for Su Ye.

Li Qi came in and said, "Marshal, do you want to report the victory to the capital?"

Su Ye did not want to report the victory. He wanted to completely eliminate Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng's army of more than 100,000 before reporting the victory.

However, if he did not report the victory, the pressure on Yehenara would be very great.

Moreover, she was pregnant.

"Forget it, report it, report it!"

…………………………………………

During this period, Yehenara was under extreme pressure.

She didn't care much about the war, but she summoned Tian Yugong or Chongen to the palace to ask about Su Ye's war situation in the south.

In fact, he should have asked Gui'er or Zhu Sanniang about the war situation in the south, because the two heads of the intelligence department knew it earlier.

But Yehenara was a little embarrassed to face Gui'er.

Gui'er used to be her trusted eunuch, but later, in order to avoid suspicion, she was driven away by Gui'er and replaced by An Dehai.

After Su Ye entered the center, she was embarrassed to call Gui'er to her side again.

After Su Ye and the monk king led the army to the south to quell the rebellion.

From the monk king's side, there was a constant report of victory.

It can be said that there was a report of victory every day.

Six hundred miles of urgent, I was tired of hearing it.

At first, Yehe Nara thought it was an old tradition of the Eight Banners, reporting false victory.

Later, after analysis by him and Tian Yugong Chongen, they found that it was not a false victory.

The monk king and Shengbao did fight well.

Tian Yugong said that battle reports can be faked, but the battle line cannot be faked.

The battle line between the monk king and Shengbao has been pushing forward.

After Su Ye led his army south, he stayed in the dangerous place of Jiaxing for 20 days without any action.

And facing the situation of being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops, it seemed precarious.

The key is that the rumors in the court are getting more and more frightening.

Yehe Nara couldn't sleep at night after hearing them.

In contrast, the monk king's side kept reporting victory, while Su Ye had no progress and was in danger.

The attitude of the Eight Banners princes in the court became more and more domineering and more and more ostentatious, making Yehe Nara almost not want to go to court.

"Six hundred miles of urgent work, Shandong victory!"

"The monk king has recovered the entire territory of Wuding Prefecture!"

"Six hundred miles of urgent work, the monk king has recovered Yantai and the entire territory of Dengzhou Prefecture!"

This heavyweight victory news instantly set off the entire court.

Yantai belongs to Dengzhou Prefecture, but in recent years, the weight of this city has been very heavy, otherwise the foreigners would not have listed it as one of the trading ports.

After Dengzhou Prefecture was recovered, there would only be one Jinan Prefecture left.

Once Jinan was recovered, it meant that Senggelinqin's battle to suppress the Nian Rebellion in the south this time was a great victory.

As soon as this victory news came, firecrackers rang in the capital.

Countless bannermen celebrated.

Congratulatory memorials rained into the palace and were delivered to the two empress dowagers.

"Take it away, take it away...I don't want to see it, I don't want to see it!" Yehenara couldn't help but push away all the memorials in front of her.

Then, she covered her belly which was not yet bulging, and said to herself: "Little thing, if your father doesn't live up to his expectations, we will be finished."

She even couldn't help but look for Zhu Sanniang to discuss escaping to Jiujiang.

"Sanniang, Jiujiang is safe, right? The British have so many properties there, they will definitely send troops to protect Jiujiang."

…………………………………………

As for Empress Dowager Cixi,

Sushun, Duanhua, Zaiyuan, Zailing and others couldn't help celebrating.

"I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect that the monk king fought so well."

"Su Ye is still trapped in Jiaxing, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops, and is in danger."

"Mother Queen Mother, it's time to prepare for a rainy day."

Empress Dowager Ci'an said: "What do you want to do?"

Duanhua said: "We can't just let the massacre of the bannermen go. The Holy Mother Queen Dowager is responsible for this."

"The monk king led the newly trained army to fight so well, and they are all bannermen, proving that our bannermen are still very strong in combat, so restoring the name of the Eight Banners can be put on the agenda."

Empress Dowager Ci'an said faintly: "This shows that Su Ye trained the new army well."

Duanhua said coldly: "Empress Dowager, there must be a winner. There is no room for ambiguity in this decisive battle."

Empress Dowager Ci'an sighed in her heart, of course she knew this.

Duanhua said: "As long as the monk king recovers Jinan Prefecture, this decisive battle will be completely won. At that time, he will be summoned to lead the army back to the army to plan major events."

"Mother, Empress Dowager, even if you can't bear it, this matter must have a result."

"And as long as he loses this battle, Su Ye will never return to Beijing again. He will return directly to Jiujiang."

"By that time, please prepare the decree."

Empress Dowager Ci'an did not ask what the decree was.

It must be to dismiss Su Ye from the central government, dismiss Tian Yugong, Chong'en, Zuo Zongtang and others.

Dismiss Wenxiang.

As for Empress Dowager Cixi, she lost the qualification to rule behind the curtain.

Imprisoned in the cold palace.

After a long while, Empress Dowager Ci'an said: "You, don't hurt her life."

And at this time, there were bursts of shouting outside.

"Six hundred miles in a hurry, six hundred miles in a hurry!"

"Great victory in Jiaxing, great victory in Huzhou!"

After the messenger entered the palace, Zenglu and An Dehai were the first to know, and they were immediately ecstatic.

The great eunuch Zenglu ran towards Empress Dowager Ci'an's Zhongcui Palace, and An Dehai ran towards Changchun Palace.

As soon as An Dehai rushed into Changchun Palace, he immediately kowtowed and said, "Master, great joy, great joy."

"Su Xiang won a great victory in the south. In just a few days, he recovered Jiaxing and Huzhou."

When Yehenara heard the good news, she staggered.

All the pressure before disappeared in an instant.

Zhu Sanniang hurriedly helped her sit down, patted her back gently and said, "My queen, this is good, you don't have to worry."

"I have told you many times that Su Xiang will not fight an unprepared battle."

This is actually presumptuous. How can you, a palace maid, know this?

But Yehenara didn't care about these things at this time. She just felt overjoyed and kept thinking in her heart: You damn man, are you going to scare people to death? I'm pregnant, what if I scare something bad?

And here in Zhongcui Palace.

Zenglu brought the messenger in.

"Reporting to the Queen Mother, Prime Minister Su led 17,000 troops and defeated the 57,000-man coalition of the three rebel forces. In just six days, he recovered Jiaxing and Huzhou."

"This is the report from Prime Minister Su."

"This is the joint report from the Governor of the Canal and the Anhui Provincial Government."

The messenger handed over the report.

After reading it, Empress Dowager Ci'an handed it to Sushun, Duanhua and others.

Several princes and ministers looked at the report, their hands were shaking and their bodies were cold.

Seng Gelinqin and Shengbao had been leading the battle for nearly a month, but Su Yi instantly caught up with them in just six days.

King Monk regained Wuding Prefecture and Dengzhou Prefecture, and Su Yi regained Jiaxing and Huzhou at once.

And they could imagine that Su Yi's victory was actually even more rare and glorious.

Duanhua said: "Okay, we understand. Zenglu, please take the people out."

After Zenglu left with the messenger.

Duan Hua said: "Don't panic, don't panic."

"Seng Gelinqin and Shengbao have already marched towards Jinan Prefecture, and the opponents they face are even weaker. Su Yi still has to face Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng's 150,000 troops."

"Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng are both famous generals in the world. It will be difficult for Su Yi to win this battle."

"On the contrary, the battle between King Monk and Shengbao in Jinan Mansion was very easy to fight!"

"Time is still on our side."

"Send a messenger to Shandong immediately and tell Seng Gelinqin and Shengbao to hurry, must hurry!"

"Let them capture Jinan Prefecture in the shortest possible time, and then lead the army back to Beijing."

"We must recapture Jinan before Su Yi defeats Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng."

Zai Ling next to him said: "Prince Zheng, Su Yi may not be able to defeat Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng."

Duan Hua said: "Yes, these two are both famous generals in the world, and I heard that foreigners gave them many foreign guns and cannons."

More than an hour later!

The messenger from the capital rushed towards Shandong.

Urged Seng Gelinqin and Shengbao to speed up the progress of the war.

Fast, must be faster than Su Yi.

…………………………

On Su Yi's side, after experiencing the Jiaxing Battle, he took a short rest and replenished ammunition from Shanghai and Jiujiang.

Even crazier.

Hong Renli brought two thousand new troops from Jiujiang.

This means that Jiujiang is almost undefended.

"There are still a thousand new troops left to defend Jiujiang. Wei Jun has led eight thousand green battalion troops and has entered Jiujiang." Hong Renli said: "The battle situation on your side is more important. I don't think anyone is crazy enough to attack Jiujiang at this time. ?”

"Li Xiucheng can't, and others can't."

Su Yi asked Yuan Jiasan to lead 5,000 people to stay in Jiaxing.

There are also five thousand people left behind in Huzhou.

They selected 5,000 elite men from their 15,000-strong army and followed Su Yi to attack Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng.

Two days later!

Su Yi led 22,000 men and formally moved south from Jiaxing to attack the main force of the Taiping Army led by Shi Dakai and Chen Yucheng.

…………………………………………

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