Chapter 19 Two Tune and Duobao

After leaving Tianjing, Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng dispatched troops and generals to advance westward from the north and south sides of the Yangtze River respectively, and made an appointment to meet in Wuchang one and a half months later.In the north, Chen Yucheng led Lin Shaozhang, Zhou Guoyu, and Kang Lu to gather 20,000 horses, claiming 70,000. They crossed Luzhou from Hezhou, wanted to pass Tongcheng, and then entered Hubei through Taihu Lake.In order to build momentum, Chen Yucheng also agreed that Gong Deshu would lead 30,000 Nien troops to the south.From Zeng Guoquan's point of view, Chen Yucheng's move was obviously aimed at Anqing.He reported this analysis to his eldest brother.

Zeng Guofan decided to dispatch Duolong'a and Bao Chao to lead their troops to intercept Chen Yucheng's troops in Tongcheng County's Jiachehe and Suncheng areas. Duolong'a has been fighting at the border between Hubei and Anhui for the past few years, winning battles from time to time. Zeng Guofan has always treated him well, and after his comeback, he even intends to win over him.When Duolong Afan had a record, Zeng Guofan was the first to report to the court.Last year, Duolong'a was awarded Fuzhou's deputy capital, and he was grateful to Zeng Guofan; the two got along and became more and more harmonious.In order to make Duolonga work harder, this time Duo and Bao cooperated to fight for aid, and Zeng Guofan ordered Duo to be the main and Bao to be the deputy.But Bao Chao didn't understand Zeng Guofan's intentions, he didn't want to be inferior.

"My lord, Duolonga's ability, you always know better than me. How can he be used for war? I am under him, and all my achievements will become his in the future. I will not do it!" "The world is known as Duo and Bao, but in fact, how can you compare with Bao?" Zeng Guofan smiled, "I know this in my heart, so you can rest assured. Admiral Bao's military exploits can't be taken away by multiple officers." As soon as the tall hat was put on, Bao Chao was very happy: "Okay, I will listen to the adults." Bao Chao led 8,000 people across the river to the north, and stationed regularly on the line from Kongcheng to Luochang.According to the consistent fighting style of Xiangyong, twenty barracks were set up.A deep ditch was dug outside the barracks, and the ditch was filled with bamboo sticks and thorns.Keep watch outside the ditch, and set up guns in the ditch.Inside and outside the barracks, the defense was tightly guarded.Ten days passed, but Duolong'a's green battalion had not arrived, nor had Chen Yucheng's reinforcements, so Bao Chao breathed a sigh of relief.

The Tingzi Battalion led by Bao Chao fought unambiguously, and its military discipline was worse than that of the Jizi Battalion.There was no battle for ten days, and the warriors became restless. They drank and gambled in the camp, slept with prostitutes outside the camp, and turned the camp into a mess.Bao Chao was not very sexually sensual, and occasionally his subordinates sent a beautiful woman, and he would not refuse, but at dawn, he took out some money and sent it away, never keeping a woman by his side.Bao Chao's favorite thing is to drink, and when he drinks, he wants tender chicken as a side dish.Eat three meals a day, ten catties of wine, and three chickens, and you won't get drunk or bloated.Under his influence, all the battalion officers and sentries of the Tingzi Camp have a habit of eating chicken.After staying for more than ten days, chickens were plundered for tens of miles around the ground, and chicken feathers were everywhere outside the barracks.An old local school teacher was so angry that he made up four ballads for Bao Chao: "The wind blows the dust and sand, and the fighting spirit is high, and the poor people worship bows and knives with incense. The general has an order like a mountain. If you don't kill the long hair, you will kill the flat hair." Bao Chao listened. don't care.

A few days later, Duo Long'a brought 10,000 green battalions to the trailer river.Chen Yucheng and Gong Deshu's Nian army, known as 150,000, also came from the north and camped more than ten miles away from Xiangyong's garrison.Bao Chao galloped to the Duolong'a camp, and said to Duo, "The bandit soldiers are new, and their heels are unstable. Our army stealing the camp tonight will discourage the bandits' arrogance." Duo Long'a has always been fighting old-fashioned battles, and he doesn't want to be too tired: "The bandits are so powerful, don't move lightly for now, let's talk about it in a few days!"

Bao Chao thought: "If you don't go, I will rob the camp tonight and show you." When Bao Chao returned to Kongcheng, he ordered his horses and horses to stand by in the middle of the night.In the middle of the night, Bao Chao set off with two thousand strong men and more than ten artillery pieces.Deputy General Song Guoyong asked: "Bao Junmen, where are the troops heading?" Bao Chao shouted: "Don't make a sound, just go with my horse!" Song Guoyong didn't dare to ask again, and commanded the troops to follow Bao Chaoma. It was deep winter, and the night was very dark, and two thousand warriors were rushing away.After walking for about fourteen or five miles, I suddenly heard the sound of fighting from all around; as I walked forward, the sound became more and more urgent.The officers and warriors were puzzled.Bao Chao ordered the advance to be stopped.After a while, the sky gradually dawned, and the surrounding objects were vaguely discernible. Everyone looked closely, and all of them turned pale with shock.It turned out that Bao Chao brought them into the enemy camp.Bao Chao sent an order: "Don't panic, the thief is sleeping soundly, unprepared, it is a good time to rob the camp."

After all, he personally ignited a cannon and fired it at the camp in front.There was a loud bang, which startled the sleeping people in a daze, not knowing what had happened.Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen artillery pieces fired at the same time, and the officers and soldiers in the camp were confused and confused.Bao Chao rode on a horse, brandished a machete, and took the lead to charge forward. The two thousand warriors risked their lives to move forward, and the shouts of killing shook the sky and the earth.It turned out that the camp that Bao Chao broke into was being stationed by Gong Deshu's troops from the Nian Army.When Gong Deshu saw the military flags embroidered with the word "Ting" flying everywhere, he knew that he had encountered the strongest army in Xiangyong, and he complained endlessly.Gong Deshu didn't know how many troops Bao Chao had. It was not his plan to go south this time. The Nian army always fights if they win, and leaves if they don't win. I went to my hometown.Bao Chao plundered many horses and armored staffs, blew the trumpet of victory, and withdrew his troops back to camp.

Bao Chao's victory not only failed to be rewarded by the commander-in-chief Duolonga, but instead made him angry from shame.It happened that Chen Yucheng took advantage of the vanity of Tingziying's victory and launched a counterattack. Bao Chao didn't pay attention to this move. He lost the battle, killed more than 200 people, and retreated more than 20 li.Duolong'a seized this opportunity and threatened to slap Bao Chao's military discipline, and asked the court to dismiss Bao Chao for his disobedience.Bao Chao was very angry when he learned that he ordered Song Guoyong to take care of Tingziying, and ran to Dongliu with a fast horse to complain to Zeng Guofan.

The discord between Duo and Bao made Zeng Guofan quite troubled.The aid mainly depends on Bao Chao's Tingzi battalion, and Bao Chao cannot be withdrawn; Duolong'a has fought near Anqing for many years, and the terrain is familiar, so Duolong'a cannot be replaced.Bao Chao is brave, but simple-minded; Duolonga can't fight hard, but he can calculate.The two have to join hands so that they can learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses.A few years ago, when Zeng Guofan dealt with such a matter, he must take tough measures, either forcing Bao Chao to obey Duolong'a's orders, or resolutely transfer him away from Duolong'a.But now Zeng Guofan doesn't want to use such a blunt method.He comforted Bao Chao with gentle words, and let him stay. At the same time, he sent someone to Guachehe to invite Duolong'a.

Duolong'a came, followed by Erzhen, a follower.Although Duolong'a can speak Chinese, he doesn't know Chinese. On weekdays, all official documents and letters are read by Erzhen in Chinese, and Erzhen is also responsible for replying letters. Erzhen always attends various meetings with him. Zeng Guofan received Duolonga politely.After exchanging pleasantries, Duolonga asked: "I wonder what is the important thing for your lord to call Duomou from the trailer river?" Zeng Guofan said with a serious expression: "If there is no major event, the general is busy with military affairs, how can I bother you." After finishing speaking, he ordered Jing Qi: "Bring that anonymous letter and show it to General Duo."

Jing Qi went into the inner room and took out a letter.Zeng Guofan took it and handed it to Duolong'a, who handed it to Erzhen.Erzhen looked at it, his face was very uncomfortable, and he didn't make a sound after watching it.Duolonga was surprised and asked: "What is written in the letter? Listen to both of you and Ben." After a little hesitation, Erzhen said: "My lord, this letter says that the army stationed in the south of Tongcheng County has poor military discipline, harassed the people, and confiscated all the chickens from the people's homes." "Fart!" Duolonga scolded, "This is all Bao Chao's doing, how can I blame it on me!" "General Duo, don't get angry, here is another letter we agreed to." While speaking, Jing Qi took out another letter from the back room. Erzhen saw the happy face behind him, and said to Duolonga: "This letter praises the general's extraordinary wisdom and bravery. He stole the camp in the middle of the night, and with a few gunshots, he blasted away 50,000 Nien troops. It is really not like Zhang Yide in front of Changbanpo With a roar, the river flows backwards." Duolong'a usually asked Erzhen to recite for fun, and compared himself with Zhang Fei, but now seeing that others really compared him to Zhang Fei, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.It's just that Bao Chao did the camp theft, and it had nothing to do with him, so he swallowed the words, his face blushing unnaturally.Zeng Guofan saw all these in his eyes, and said slowly: "I still have a few letters about General Duo's long-haired reinforcements in the Huache River area, so I won't show them to the general one by one. The generals have brilliant achievements, and some say the generals are not very disciplined. These letters have one thing in common, that is, they don’t mention Bao Chao.” "The matter of Bao Chao's search for chickens is also blamed on me. It's really annoying." Duo Long'a didn't notice Zeng Guofan's intentions at all, and babbled to himself.Six years ago, when Duolong'a came to Wuchang from Jiangning under the secret order of Seng Gelinqin, Zeng Guofan was only a registered servant, and Xiangyong was only a practitioner who won for the first time. He put himself in the position of monitor and commander.Today, six years later, Zeng Guofan is now the governor of Liangjiang with real power in his hands. He is ordered to command all military forces in Liangjiang. No matter how arrogant Duo Long'a was, and with Seng Gelinqin as his strong backer, he didn't dare to be arrogant like before, not to mention Zeng Guofan's kindness to him?Therefore, when Zeng Guofan spoke to him solemnly, Duolonga also respectfully listened as a subordinate. "General Duo, everything done by nearly 20,000 soldiers from Huachehe to Luochang City will be blamed on you. Why do people in the world do this? Because you are the commander-in-chief of the soldiers of the imperial court there, and the soldiers' bravery there is right and wrong Everything is inseparable from you. Didn’t I know that it was Bao Chao who stole the camp in the middle of the night? Did I know that delicious chicken is Bao Chao’s hobby, and robbing chickens must be his business, but if I report it to the court, I will do it like the world The letter I wrote is the same, regardless of merit or demerit, it will be credited to you, General Duo Hall. Right now, Changmao is pouring tens of thousands of horses to rescue Anqing, and the battlefield around the Hangche River is the largest battlefield in the world. The emperor's attention, the attention of the world, the safety of the southeast half of the wall depends on the general alone. Many generals can only unite with their subordinates sincerely and defeat Changmao with one heart, so as to live up to the emperor's entrustment and the expectations of the world; Fighting machine, let the long hair take advantage, general, have you ever thought about how you will explain to the emperor at that time?" Zeng Guofan's words made Long'a look terrified, and he said convincingly: "My lord is teaching you." Seeing that he could listen to him, Zeng Guofan liked it, and continued: "Shi Yiduo and Bao are called together. In fact, I know in my heart, how can Bao compare with Duo? In recent years, Bao Chao has gained his name because of the general's protection. Bao Chao is a stupid and fierce martial artist who only knows how to fight hard, doesn't know how to calculate, and doesn't pay attention to military discipline. How can he compare with the general? My son, the ancient Sima Rangju may not be able to surpass the general in using troops. The reason why I transferred Bao Chao from southern Anhui is that he had the opportunity to learn how to lead troops from the general. I have shared this kind of heart with Bao Chao a few days ago. It is clear that Bao Chao is willing to listen to the general's deployment, and he has no second thoughts. Moreover, Bao Chao is brave and rare in the world. As long as the general is deployed properly, he can play a big role. The general is to help the coach. On the contrary, Bao Chao’s loss is also the general’s loss. May the general think carefully.” After hearing these words, Duo Long'a understood in his heart, and said embarrassingly: "Qian Xiang Duo's situation is narrow, which caused a misunderstanding. After returning home, I will admit my mistake to Bao Chunting." Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "Bao Chao has been summoned to give a lecture. Let's have a drink with me today to settle the suspicion! Jing Qi, go and invite Admiral Bao." After a while, Bao Chao came up and saw Duo Longa sitting there, and shouted: "Duo Auditorium, why do you want to play the emperor to impeach me?" Zeng Guofan stopped: "Admiral Bao, don't get me wrong, all the officers are here to pick you up?" Duolong stood up hurriedly, and said following Zeng Guofan's words: "Brother Chunting, don't listen to rumors, how could I impeach you! Yesterday I went to discuss military affairs with you, and when I learned that you had arrived in Dongliu, I rushed to Dongliu. Liu is here to pick you up. Brother Chunting, let's go back to Huachehe together!" Zeng Guofan said: "Don't be busy, don't be busy, eat at my place before leaving. Let me taste the altar of ancient well tribute wine you gave Admiral Bao." Duo Long'a was startled at first, but when he saw Zeng Guofan laughing out loud, he laughed too.Seeing that Duo Long'a refuted the rumors in front of Zeng Guofan, and came to pick him up specially, and gave him a jar of good wine, Zhichangzi Bao Chao's anger subsided, and he also grinned.