Chapter 67 Ershuilu was frustrated, Shi Dakai defeated Zeng Guofan

In the Yiwang Mansion of the Taiping Army rebuilt from the former Yamen of the Jiujiang prefect, Shi Dakai convened Wei Jun, Shi Xiangzhen, Lin Qirong, Bai Huihuai, Luo Dagang, Zhou Guoyu and others to discuss ways to gather and wipe out Zeng Guofan Xiangyong. Wei Jun and Luo Dagang reported the fall of Wuchang and Tianzhen to King Yi, emphasizing the ferocity of the Xiangyong navy.Lin Qirong said: "I think the two generals raised Zeng Yao's head too high. Victory and defeat are commonplace in military strategists. You don't have to let the enemy's prestige grow because of the setbacks in Wuchang and Tianzhen. I know the details of Xiangyong. After all, after all, It's nothing more than a scholar and a farmer. In Nanchang the year before last, I had already killed them. If Jiang Zhongyuan hadn't come out of the city to rescue Luo Zenan, he would have become a ghost under my sword. Don't worry, everyone, we have already done a good job in Jiujiang and Hukou. Keep a solid defense, and now His Royal Highness King Yi is here to command, we have 50,000 horses here, Zeng Yaotou can't fly Jiangxi even with wings."

Lin Qirong was in his thirties, a native of Guangxi, an old brother of the Jintian Uprising, known throughout the army for his bravery and skill in combat.From Jintian to Tianjing, Lin Qirong would charge forward in every battle, and be promoted after every battle.Yang Xiuqing attached great importance to him, and deliberately won him over and became a confidant.For this Western Expedition, the Heavenly King ordered Lai Hanying, Hu Yihuang, and Shi Xiangzhen.Yang Xiuqing believed that Lai Hanying belonged to the king of heaven, Hu Yihuang belonged to the king of the north, and Shi Xiangzhen belonged to the king of Yi. Among the four living kings, he was the only one who was not included. Later, he sent Lin Qirong and Bai Huihuai to the west. Conscript.When more than ten prefectures and counties in Jiangxi, such as Jiujiang and Hukou, were under the control of the Western Expeditionary Army, Yang Xiuqing transferred Lai Hanying away on the pretext that he could not attack Nanchang for a long time.As a result, Jiangxi became Yang Xiuqing's territory.Lin Qirong is a straight man, although he is very grateful for Dong Wang's promotion and reuse, he also respects Lai Hanying, and he especially admires Yi Wang.Lin Qirong fully supported King Yi's presiding over the military affairs of the Western Expedition and his visit to Jiujiang City in person this time.

"You and Xiangyong are reunited, and this is the first time I've seen them." Shi Dakai also liked Lin Qirong's loyalty very much. In the past, Xiangyong was only in the establishment period of Hengzhou a year and a half ago. Today, Xiangyong has fought dozens of battles, and has recently captured Wuchang, Hanyang, Huangzhou, Qizhou, and Tianzhen, with arrogance. , and the actual combat ability has also been greatly enhanced. The current Luo Zenan probably won't easily fall into your ambush." "There is no need to ambush now. Whoever dares to attack the city tomorrow, I will let him die under my guns." It has been nearly two years since Lin Qirong captured Jiujiang.Under his governance, this thousand-year-old city on the banks of the Yangtze River has recovered its businesses, the city is peaceful, and more than ten thousand officers and soldiers guarding the city are also well-trained.When Zhang Fu was the governor, he sent troops several times to try to take Jiujiang back, but every time he was met with a bloody head.Now tens of thousands of horses have been added, and Prince Yi is here to command. Jiujiang and Hukou are really solid, not to mention the scholars like Zeng Guofan and Luo Zenan.

Zhou Guoyu said: "Jiujiang and Hukou have been in operation for more than a year, and Wuchang and Tianzhen are naturally incomparable. However, the old thief Zeng Guofan's navy relied on foreign artillery, and the Lu division also greatly increased their swords and horses, and the whole army won new victories. It should not be underestimated either. Judging from the several times I have dealt with the old thief, if I don’t use a clever strategy, it may be difficult to win for a while.” Shi Dakai said: "General Zhou is right. I haven't had a direct confrontation with Zeng Yaotou, and I am not familiar with the situation. At present, all military affairs are still under the arrangement of General Lin. Zeng Yao is eager to invade Tianjing, and it is estimated that within a day or two. Come to fight. General Lin, you will be in command of this first battle, and I will beat the drums for you from the top of the city."

More than ten miles upstream of Jiujiang River, there is a town named Zhulindian. It is said that it is the former residence of Tao Yuanming, a poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.Yesterday, under the order of Yang Pei, Hu Linyi led two thousand green battalions to come to support, and brought the emperor's imperial decree to reward the capture of Tianzhen and such things as the yellow jacket with fox legs, the white jade Sixi fingers, the white jade Barutu feather tube, the jade knife, and the fire sickle. Waiting for the rewards, Zeng Guofan and Xiangyong land and water generals once again bathed in the mighty grace of the emperor.Almost at the same time as the Taiping Army meeting, under Zeng Guofan's lenient drag, the Xiangyong military meeting was also held in a tense atmosphere.Zeng Guofan pointed to the map hanging on the cabin wall, and said to Ta, Luo, Hu, Peng, Yang, Li and others beside him: "Jiujiang is adjacent to the Dajiang River in the north, Laoguan Pond and Baishui Port in the northeast, and Gantang Lake in the southwest. There is Longkai River in the west and mountains in the southeast. Lin Qirong has been entrenched in Jiujiang for a long time. According to investigations, Laoguantang, Baishui Port, Gantang Lake, Longkai River and other places are guarded by long-haired navy outside, with forts built inside, and there are Fortress, it seems that Jiujiang City is very well-defended. Now there is Shi Dakai, a hero among thieves. It is said that this man is capable of writing and martial arts, and he can win people's hearts.

Luo Zenan came here to avenge his past vengeance, and secondly, to thank the emperor for his reward. As soon as Zeng Guofan finished speaking, he stood up and said, "Apart from the national enmity between Zenan and the bandit chief Lin Qirong, there is also an unresolvable personal grievance in this life. Attack tomorrow." Jiujiang, it is time for revenge, Zenan will be the first. Shi Dakai is known as the hero among thieves. According to Zenan, Shi Dakai is only in his twenties. He was born among fools and grew up in a despicable place. Knowledge? What are your skills? It’s just the bottom sediment that was blown up by the wind for a while. I am Xiangyong with 20,000 land and water troops. The majestic spring breeze will definitely capture Jiujiang with a single drum, and capture Shi Ni and Lin Ni alive. We have a large army, and tomorrow we can decide on a strategy of encircling all sides, and we must not let Chang Mao escape alone."

This remark made Zeng Guofan awe-inspiring, and everyone agreed with him.So Zeng Guofan ordered Taqibu and Bao Chao to attack the west gate, Luo Zenan and Li Xubin to attack the east gate, Peng Yulin and Deng Yisheng led the navy to land from Taohuadu and attack Jiuhuamen, Yang Zaifu and Li Mengqun blocked the river to block the reinforcements from the downstream Hukou. The enemy army blocked the north gate.The four forces work together to win a complete victory and take down Jiujiang City in one fell swoop. As usual, Xiangyong didn't light up until after breakfast every day.Half an hour early today, after breakfast, when Luo Zenan led the troops to the foot of the east gate of Jiujiang City, the genius gradually brightened, just like the one outside the Yonghe Gate in Nanchang that year, the gate was closed, and there was no soldier or flag on the city wall .When Luo Zenan was looking around, he suddenly heard the sound of a cannon in the city. In an instant, countless dog-tooth pennants were erected on the wall of the east gate, the gate was opened, and Lin Qirong personally led a group of troops to fight out.On the city tower, Shi Dakai was wearing a Nine Dragons yellow silk robe and a single dragon and two phoenix battle helmet, and personally supervised the drummer beating the drum.

Lin Qirong straddled his horse and ran out of the suspension bridge, rushing straight towards Luo Zenan. When he saw the defeated general of the year, he couldn't help laughing, and laughed loudly: "Ruru, I let you run away that year, leaving an old life behind, you should also Wake up, instead of being at home to teach Meng Tong how to live, but come here to die, why bother?" Luo Zenan was so angry that he gritted his teeth and cursed: "I'll tear you into pieces, a traitor who has no father, no king, rebellion, and extermination of the nine clans. Who will do it to me!"

Before the words were finished, Li Xubin slapped his horse and danced his sword to greet him, Lin Qirong raised his gun to catch it, and the two of them fought.After fighting for several rounds, Li Xuyi felt his hands were weak, but Lin Qirong fought more and more courageously under the encouragement of the drums from the tower.With a loud roar, he raised his two-point steel spear and stabbed straight at Li Xuyi's throat.Seeing that Li Xubin was about to die, the battalion officer Tong Tianyun behind him raised his mace to block it, and another general Lin Yuanen came to help him.The three horses surrounded Lin Qirong, just like the battle between the Three Kingdoms and Lu Bu.After dozens of rounds of the battle, Lin Qirong betrayed a pass, Gu Kong rushed out of the encirclement, and ran straight to the suspension bridge.Shi Dakai hurriedly ordered to fire the cannon on the tower.Tong Tianyun thought that Lin Qirong had lost the battle, so he chased after him with his horse, and was hit by a cannonball, which hit his forehead.With a scream, Tong Tianyun fell from his horse and died instantly.At this time, dozens of cannons on the city were fired at the same time. On the mountains on both sides, cannons flew like raindrops, and the Xiangyong team fell one by one.Luo Zenan had no choice but to order the troops to retreat.

Just as Dongmen was defeated, Ximen Taqibu and Bao Chao also encountered strong resistance.Zhou Guoyu commanded thousands of Taiping Army soldiers who came from Tianzhen, full of anger, relying on the extraordinary strength of the Jiujiang West Gate and the powerful firepower arranged by Lin Qirong, everyone's courage was multiplied, their fighting spirit was strong, and revenge was surging in their veins The torrent of hatred, the flames of burning shame burst out from his eyes, killing Xiangyong, throwing his helmet and armor, and fleeing for his life with the banner, Taqibu and Bao Chao could not stop it.

At noon, Luo Zenan and Taqibu returned to the Zhulin shop with the defeated troops from the east and west gates.Soon, Peng Yulin and Yang Zaifu also returned without success.Zeng Guofan was anxious. Peng Yulin suggested to bypass Jiujiang City and capture Hukou and Meijiazhou in the middle of the river opposite Hukou.Zeng Guofan adopted this suggestion.The land and water roads took a short break in Zhulindian, and then divided their troops to attack Hukou and Meijiazhou. Shi Dakai saw Lin Qirong's defeat of Xiangyong with his own eyes, and he was very satisfied with the defense of Jiujiang City. He was not at ease about the defense of Hukou, which was fifty miles downstream.In the middle of the night, Shi Dakai left Jiujiang by boat and entered Hukou County at dawn.Hukou is also an important wharf on the south bank of the Yangtze River.It is connected to the Yangtze River on the outside and Poyang Lake on the inside. It is the import and export of Poyang Lake for five hundred miles.On the opposite side of the river is Meijiazhou, which is a large sandbar about forty miles long and four or five miles wide.The river in the north of Meijiazhou is narrow, and large ships cannot pass through it, and the main channel is in the south.Shi Dakai saw that the area between Hukou and Meijiazhou was an excellent battlefield for gathering and annihilating the Xiangyong navy.As soon as he arrived at Hukou, he immediately ordered Luo Dagang to take 10,000 people across the river and station in Meijiazhou, build fortifications and artillery on the island, and block the river.Shi Dakai inspected the military deployment at Hukou again, transferred 3,000 troops from the city, handed them over to Bai Huihuai, and stationed them on Helm Mountain, five miles west of the city.As soon as the arrangements were made, Tanma reported that Xiangyong was led by Peng Yulin and Yang Zaifu on the water, and Hu Linyi and Luo Zenan on the land, and they were heading towards the mouth of the lake. Hu Linyi and Luo Zenan were eager to win, and rushed to the foot of Hukou County with 6,000 Xiangyongs and 2,000 Hubei Green Battalions, and urged the soldiers to attack the city with artillery, wishing to swallow Hukou in one go.At this time, Shi Dakai led 3,000 troops to rush out from the west gate, and his subordinate Shi Fengkun rushed out from the south gate, encircling Hu Linyi and Luo Zenan in the middle.Xiangyong is divided into two teams to fight.Siege artillery is completely useless.Xiangyong came to attack from a long distance, and the Taiping army waited for work with ease. Moreover, Shi Dakai was extremely brave. After less than half an hour of fighting, Xiangyong began to retreat.At this time, Bai Huihuai led his troops to rush down from Mount Helmet, cutting off Xiangyong's retreat to the west, and Xiangyong was in chaos.Hu and Luo had no choice but to command their soldiers to hold on bravely. On the river, Peng Yulin's navy also rushed into the firepower network carefully arranged by Luo Dagang.The head of the island was intercepted by hundreds of warships, and the tail of the island was blocked by hundreds of cannons. Peng Yulin's navy was attacked one after another.Ever since Hengzhou was ordered to form a naval division, Peng Yulin has hardly been defeated. Xiangtan, Yuezhou, Wuchang, Huangzhou, and Tianzhen have been invincible all the way, laying the foundation for Xiangyong's successive victories. Unexpectedly, he is now in Meijiazhou was besieged.He sent an order to gather the warships together, avoid the two firepower points, attack the middle section with all their strength, and land forcibly, in an attempt to fight the Taiping army on the continent.At this time, Hu Linyi and Luo Zenan also retreated to the riverside and asked Peng Yulin to pick them up on the boat.After Peng Yulin picked up Hu and Luo Kuiyong on board, he changed his plan to attack the middle section of Meijiazhou and concentrated his efforts to break through upstream.After a bitter struggle, he finally broke out of the encirclement. The two land and water failures made Zeng Guofan very angry.He never believed that a fledgling and long-haired bandit leader could stop the Wang Shi who was advancing in victory.