scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 254
"This old thing, you don't use such a good method, but you want to stay away from the near ones and seek the far ones. Isn't that embarrassing for Brother Lu?"

Looking carefully at the map sand table and troop deployment signs in Jingzhou area, scratching the millimeter-scale new hair on his bald head, Fatty Lu's fat face was full of dumbfounding. It was obviously an easy and simple thing, but because it had to pay a certain amount To sacrifice is to turn this simple thing into a complicated thing, and an easy thing into a difficult thing. Isn’t this asking for trouble?
"Fortunately, Brother Lu, I had the foresight. Fortunately, Brother Lu, I pushed Wu Yingqi's [-] to take the place of the dead ghost in Yi Cheng's incident!" Secretly rejoicing in my heart, Fatty Lu muttered again in a daze, "It's no wonder that in history, the old traitor Wu failed to bring down Kang Mazi. The gap, this is the gap. The old traitor Wu didn't deserve to lose."

Sneaking a few furtive words, Fatty Lu tried his best to put his grievances behind him, and settled down to plan other tactics to destroy the city. However, like old traitor Wu, Fatty Lu was also very troubled by the current strength comparison between the enemy and us on the Jingzhou battlefield. On the north bank of the Yangtze River on the Jingzhou battlefield, the total strength of the Wu army's navy and army, including Yang Laijia's surrendered troops, was less than 5. However, the Qing army holding the city in Jingzhou city exceeded [-]—although [-] of them It was the new army that Mi Qing had just formed, and its combat effectiveness was insufficient. However, with a strong city to rely on, this weakness was not obvious. It was still difficult for the Wu army to wipe out the [-] rookies.

In addition, on the south bank of the Yangtze River, although the Songzi army of the Wu army still has about [-] troops, the Yiling navy of the Qing army led by the hard-core traitor Xu Zhidu and his wife, like a mangy dog, has always been entrenched in Yidu upstream of the ferry. On the surface of the Zhijiang River, it always threatened the safety of the Songzi Wu army crossing the river. In a disguised form, it restrained nearly one-third of the Wu army's strength for the Jingzhou Qing army, and the Wu army's navy was at a disadvantage because of the current, wind direction, and battlefield. For this reason, he was always helpless with this mangy dog, which made Songzi Wu's army unable to cross the Yangtze River and entered the Jingzhou battlefield, wasting a precious force in vain.

"My lord, return to the account!" During the calculation, the guards shouted from outside the large tent of the Chinese army, and then, the old traitor Wu who personally led the army to patrol the camp led Wang Shirong, Fang Xueshi, Lu Xia and other cronies strode into the account. Fatty Lu hurried forward to pay respects, while old traitor Wu waved his hand and said, "Forget it, it's so cold, why don't you go back to bed and rest?"

"Go back to grandfather, son-in-law will go back in a while, and want to study the enemy's situation again." Fatty Lu replied respectfully.

"Then how is the research going?" The old man Wu took off his cloak, threw it into Lu Xia's arms, sat on the charcoal brazier, and asked casually while warming up, "Have you figured out any good strategy to break the city?" ?”

"Back to grandfather, not yet." Fatty Lu replied helplessly: "There is not enough troops. The enemy is outnumbered. Our army wants to attack the enemy but is defending. It is difficult for our army's advantages in combat power and weapons to be used , my son-in-law is incompetent, and I really can't think of a better way to attack the city for a while."

"Take your time, don't rush, we still have some time." The old traitor Wu waved his hand generously and said: "The old man has already said that since ancient times, siege warfare is the most difficult to fight. You, like the old man, have to Be prepared for a long struggle."

"My lord, we can't afford to procrastinate." Wang Shirong said cautiously: "It has been a month since our army broke through the Yangtze River. If we don't seize the time to expand our victories, we will miss all the opportunities when Mangou recovers."

"Don't I know this question?" The old man Wu said helplessly: "The problem is that if the nail in Jingzhou is not pulled out now, our Huguang army and the Sichuan army will not be able to unite together, and the hinterland of Pianyuan behind the money and grain will always be there. It's useless for me to worry about being threatened by Man Gou."

"Then, my lord, the student Mr. Maoya's proposal today...?" Wang Shirong asked a little bit unwillingly.

"This old man has already said that there is no need to discuss this matter again!" The old traitor Wu categorically vetoed it, and said firmly: "This old man's rebellion against the Qing and Ming Dynasty is to save the people from the sea of ​​suffering, not to trap the people in the sea of ​​suffering."

Wang Shirong closed his mouth helplessly, and Fatty Lu smiled wryly, so he quickly changed the subject and asked, "Grandfather, can we send an army from Sichuan to go down the river and raid Yiling City, the old nest of Xu Zhidu, to force them to go down the river?" Xu Zhi is retreating, and the second is to send reinforcements to the Jingzhou battlefield—since the Jingzhou battle has almost become a battle, then we simply increase the scale of the battle, and strive to wipe out some more vital forces in Jingzhou, for our sake. The army's next comprehensive counter-offensive lays the foundation for victory?"

"The old man has also considered this plan." The old traitor Wu replied: "It's just that our Sichuan army has concentrated in the Yangping Pass and Chaotian Pass, and is ready to launch the Northern Expedition at any time to capture Hanzhong and advance into Shaanxi and Gansu. The deployment of troops from Sichuan not only required the troops to travel thousands of miles, but also the preparations for the Battle of Hanzhong were wasted.”

Fatty Lu patted his head in embarrassment, and felt even more headache-now Wu Jun was fighting on multiple battlefields at the same time, and the strength everywhere was stretched. It was indeed difficult to deploy troops from other battlefields to reinforce Jingzhou.Old traitor Wu sighed and said, "I regret not listening to Fang Xianyan's words. If I had sent Yifeng to attack Jingzhou at that time, it would have been fine. With your talent and ability, Jingzhou City must have been in my pocket long ago. .Then it’s as useful as it is now, a siege battle that is sure to be sure is turned into a war of attrition by the idiot of the Prime Minister?"

"Grandfather has won the award. Even if it was the grandson-in-law who came to fight Jingzhou at that time, given the situation in the Jingzhou battlefield, the grandson-in-law may not be sure to win Jingzhou." Fatty Lu said humbly, but also forced himself to say: "Grandfather, the matter has come to an end, and I regret it." Useless, according to my son-in-law, since our army wants to pull out the big nail in Jingzhou, it must first pull out the small nail in Mangou Xu Zhidu. Otherwise, it will be difficult for our Songzi army to cross the river and join the war , our army's water supply roads will also be seriously threatened. Therefore, my son-in-law believes that the main force of our army should not be in a hurry to attack the city. Jingzhou is full of dog wings, let Jingzhou full of dog fear, and then try to break the city."

"You have insight, this old man also intends to do so." Old Han Wu nodded in satisfaction, and then asked Fatty Lu: "Then, at the first peak, this old man entrusts you with the command of the Songzi Army and Lin Xingzhu Marine Division, and you will be responsible for annihilating Xu Zhidu, who is full of dogs." How about the sailor?"

"Grandpa's order, grandson-in-law dare not obey?" Fatty Lu clasped his fists quickly, and said with a look of embarrassment: "It's just..., just...."

"I'm just afraid that your old father-in-law will be disobedient, right?" The old man Wu saw Fatty Lu's worry at a glance, and said with a smile: "It's okay, I will write a warrant in my own handwriting and take it across the river for you to hand it over to your father-in-law. He is the adoptive son of this old man, how dare you disobey my words!" Fatty Lu smiled wryly, and had to quickly cup his hands in thanks.

………………

Ever since, when it was obvious that the important town of Jingzhou could be captured easily, but because of the hypocrisy and hypocrisy of the old traitor Wu, Fatty Lu had no choice but to ask for trouble and took the old traitor Wu's handwritten order to cross the river to the Hudu camp on the south bank of the Yangtze River. To take over the command of the Songzi Wu Army and Lin Xingzhu Navy.The result was as expected by Fatty Lu. After seeing the warrant issued by old traitor Wu, Lin Xingzhu, who was surrounded by Wu Jun and surrendered on the Anshun battlefield, obediently accepted the order. Wu Guogui's deputy Zhang Guozhu, Dong Shixing, Ma Longxing, Xiong Tianzhang and Lu Dajie knew that Fatty Lu It was Old Wu who was a traitor, he didn't dare to offend, and obediently obeyed his orders, but Wu Guogui kept a straight face and refused to speak.

"Father-in-law, forgive me. It's not that my son-in-law is overstepping. It's really my grandfather who sent me. My son-in-law dare not refuse." Fatty Lu had no choice but to apologize to Wu Guogui in public, and said in a low voice: "Grandfather sent my son-in-law across the river. It is better to let the son-in-law command the commander and command the battle, rather it is to let the son-in-law serve as the father-in-law's staff, and assist the father-in-law to eradicate Xu Zhidu, a mangy dog. Besides, it is a taboo for military strategists to change commanders just before the battle, so this time the son-in-law I came here just to make suggestions for my father-in-law, dispatching troops and issuing commanders, etc., and I have to worry about my father-in-law taking orders on my behalf."

Fatty Lu talked to this point, and at the same time brought the old traitor Wu's handwritten warrant. No matter how dissatisfied Wu Guogui was and how much he couldn't hold back his face, he couldn't say anything more. He just nodded reluctantly and said: "That's good." Come on, tell me, how should we fight this battle?"

"Not busy, my son-in-law has to figure out some things first." Fatty Lu shook his head, walked to the map sand table in Songzi camp, waved to Lin Xingzhu to let him come over, and ordered: "General Lin, please take your full Tell me about the location of the Dog Navy’s activities, as well as the situation of their ships, the more detailed the better.”

"Of order." Lin Xingzhu agreed, pointing to the sand table, and introduced: "After careful investigation by our army, it was confirmed that there are more than 22 navy troops in Xu Zhidu, including sand boats, bird boats, and bluff boats. There are 120 boats and more than [-] small boats. They are mainly used for water activities in the area from Yidu to Zhijiang, and camped against the north bank. In normal times, Xu Zhidu dogs and thieves send scouts and clippers to monitor the activities of our Songzi army. Discovering that something was wrong with our army, Mangou's fleet immediately went down the river, and in more than an hour they could reach the ferry and attack our army's fleet crossing the river."

"Then why did our sailors take the initiative to attack last time, why did they suffer defeat?" Fatty Lu asked: "Our army has 28 large warships of various types, more than 160 small boats, and more than [-] sailors. On top of the full dog navy, why did they take the initiative to attack and still lose so much? Lost nine warships in one breath?"

"The last general is incompetent. The key is that the wind direction and the current are too unfavorable to our army." Lin Xingzhu replied helplessly: "The Mangou Navy is located in the upper reaches of the northwest. Now that the weather is entering winter and the northwest wind is strong, our army has taken the initiative to attack against the current. Against the wind, the speed of the ship can't go up, and the Mangou Navy is fast and flexible, so it suffered a big loss."

Speaking of this, Lin Xingzhu paused again, and said even more helplessly: "One more thing, Xu Zhidu's dog is too cunning. The Yidu to Zhijiang area where he is active is densely covered with hidden reefs, many shallows, and waterways. It's extremely complicated, and our army's understanding of the terrain of the channel is far inferior to that of the Mangou Navy, so it's a natural disadvantage to take the initiative to attack."

"So, if our navy wants to defeat the Mangou navy, we must first solve two problems?" Fatty Lu asked: "One is to lure Mangou to leave the complicated waterways they are familiar with? The other is to let them Lose the advantage of smooth sailing?"

"That's right." Lin Xingzhu nodded quickly, and then emphasized: "If Master Lu has a way to solve these two problems, then the general dares to use his head to guarantee that the previous revenge will not be avenged in the water battle, and the general will apologize in advance!"

Fatty Lu stopped talking, but just stared at the sand table on the map and calculated nervously. Wu Guogui and other generals of the Wu army next to him also didn't speak. What is so great about Fatty, who is so fast that everyone can solve the two big troubles of wind direction and water flow?

"General Lin, I have another question." After a long while, Fatty Lu suddenly asked again: "You said just now that once the Mangou Navy discovers something unusual about our army, the Mangou Navy will immediately go south to attack our army and cross the river. Fleet, then from Hudu to Zhijiang more than 60 li waterway, how can the Mangou navy quickly deliver the news?"

"Light up smoke and set off fireworks." Lin Xingzhu quickly replied: "Xu Zhidu's thieves set up a few scout ships every five miles. Once they notice any changes in our army, their scout ships will immediately light up smoke during the day and set off fireworks at night. It doesn't take long." The news will reach their naval fleet in a matter of seconds."

"Understood." Fatty Lu nodded, looked at the sky again and saw that it was morning, then smiled and said: "General Lin, then immediately send me five scout boats up the current, prepare more firewood on board, and go to the scout boats full of dogs." Go to the location of the event and light me a beacon!"

"We light the wolf smoke ourselves? What are we doing?" Wu Jun's generals were in an uproar.

"What are you doing?" Fatty Lu smiled and said, "Of course I said hello. Brother, I was wrongly loved by the prince. I was ordered to come here to command the navy to entertain Xu Zhidu's son. Naturally, I have to get to know this opponent first."

"Hello?" Lin Xingzhu was even more dumbfounded.

"Don't ask too much, you'll understand when the time comes, go now." Fatty Lu said with a smile: "By the way, let the navy and artillery team prepare for the battle. The army is not prepared to face the battle, maybe it will jump over the wall in a hurry to launch a strong attack on our navy."

Lin Xingzhu was even more baffled, but he went down honestly and made arrangements.When Fatty Lu turned his head to look at the generals of the Wu army, he saw that most of the generals were confused, but the father-in-law Wu Guogui was thoughtful. Seeing Fatty Lu's eyes turned to him, Wu Guogui nodded first to express his understanding, and then snorted coldly. : "Mangou will only be fooled once or twice at most, what should I do in the future?"

"If the Mangou sailors have the guts to sit back and watch our army cross the river, then they won't be fooled." Fatty Lu replied with a smile: "Mangou has a good plan, and my son-in-law naturally has a ladder to climb the wall. The entire army of the dog-filled navy in the upper reaches is wiped out!"

………………

After a while, the scout boat of the Wu army lit up the beacon smoke at the position where the scout boat of the Qing army was moving upstream, which made the nearby Qing army scouts puzzled. It is also to light the wolf smoke, to call the alarm to the companions further upstream, and then the alarm signal of a mobile beacon tower is transmitted to the water surface of the Zhijiang River every five miles. Hurry up and set sail with the whole army, and take advantage of the howling north wind and the downstream river water to kill downstream like the wind and lightning.

In less than an hour and a half, the Qing army fleet led by Xu Zhidu and his wife rushed to the Hudukou River, which Wu Jun must pass through when crossing the river. There is a sign of the boat crossing the river. The Wu army fleet, which had suffered a lot under the hands of their husband and wife before, lined up in a diamond shape near the south bank covered by artillery fire, waiting in full battle.Xu Zhi, who had a meager capital, did not dare to attack rashly. He just called the police scouts to the flagship, slapped his face several times, and shouted: "Are you stupid or crazy? Wu Dog didn't cross the river, why are you setting off smoke?"

"Junmen, you are wronged." The scouts of the Qing army shouted for injustice, and explained with a mournful face: "We did not release the wolf smoke, it was released by the Wugou scout boat. They went upstream to our patrol area, on the river we are responsible for patrolling The wolf smoke was released, so the brothers upstream misunderstood."

"Really?" Xu Zhi was taken aback.

"Biaoxia dares to swear with his head, the wolf smoke was really set by Wu Gou." The scout captain screamed and replied.

"Master, we have met a master this time." Xu Shi, the 'virtuous assistant' of Xu Zhidu, stood up and said seriously: "Wu Gou has already seen through our signal transmission method, so he deliberately did the same to lure us The scout ships upstream sent out false signals, making our fleet toss back and forth, in vain, exhausting our army, and forcing our army to leave the favorable terrain."

"Then what should we do?" Xu Zhidu asked in embarrassment.

"My family thinks, change the signal method." Xu suggested: "Send people to the highlands on the north bank to discover the real enemy situation. The river surface and the highlands on land send out signals at the same time, and the scout ships upstream send out signals to alarm, so that the enemy can be avoided. The signal was faked."

"Okay, just act according to Madam's clever plan." Xu Zhi was overjoyed, kicked the scout captain hurriedly, and shouted: "Did you hear that? Immediately send someone to the highland on the north bank, and found that Wu dog had moved. Jiang Shanghe Light the smoke on the shore at the same time!"

The unlucky scout captain agreed, and hurried down to make arrangements, while Xu Zhidu spat heavily at the Wu Jun fleet, which was protected by artillery to the south, and cursed, "Shameless Wu dog, if you have the guts, come to Jiangxin to fight to the death. What kind of man is behind the artillery?"

Curse to curse, Xu Zhi, who was charged with the important task of resolutely blocking Songzi Wu's army from crossing the river, never had the courage to use this meager capital to fight recklessly with the Wu army's navy, so he had no choice but to lead the army back, facing the bitter north wind and fighting Under the impact of the water flow, it was difficult to return to the voyage entirely by the force of the paddle, and at the same time, he ordered the mobile beacon towers upstream to pay attention to false reports, and must not let Wu Jun's false reports succeed again.

Going down with the wind and the water is naturally fast and easy, but going up against the wind and the current is extremely difficult. It took more than four hours, and it was not until the sky was completely dark that Xu Zhidu's fleet finally returned. On the safe Yizhi water surface, before the exhausted Qing army sailors had a meal and rest, several balls of fireworks suddenly rose in the downstream direction, flew into the sky and exploded, showing that there was another change in the enemy's situation at Hudukou.Xu Zhidu and his wife were at a loss. They didn't know whether it was true or false. They could only bite the bullet and urge the whole army to re-raise their sails and rush to the downstream to prevent Wu Jun from crossing the river.

Fortunately, Xu Zhidu and his wife were quite popular in the Yiling navy. When an order was issued, the exhausted Qing navy followed the order, turned around again, and rushed downstream under the cover of night.More than an hour later, when the fleet of Xu Zhidu and his wife arrived at Hudu again, what made the traitor couple angry was that there was still no movement in the Wu army camp on the south bank, only the Wu army naval artillery waiting in full battle. The generals and soldiers of Wu Jun who were laughing and laughing.

"Fuck your mother's eighteen generations of ancestors!" Xu Zhi was completely mad after running twice in one day for nothing. He arrested the captain of the scout who reported two false alarms in a row, and he was hysterical while punching and kicking. He shouted loudly, "Tell me, what's going on? If you can't say anything about Chou Yinmao, I will kill you right now!"

"Junmen, Wugou was indeed crossing the river just now!" The unlucky scout captain wailed loudly: "More than an hour ago, a Wugou army boarded a civilian ship, crossed the Yangtze River here, and landed on the north bank. I went, I just called the police just now, but I didn’t expect that after the Wu dog army successfully crossed the river, there was no more movement. If you don’t believe it, you can help other brothers, if there is a half sentence Lies, the bidder is willing to die!"

"Master, don't embarrass him anymore, he is not telling lies." Mrs. Xu pulled Xu Zhidu, and said helplessly: "My family has already asked other scouts just now. About 2000 people, but only crossed once, and then rested."

"Damn it, dog Wu dog!" Xu Zhidu yelled, "How shameless are you guys?"

"Obviously, Wu Gou just wants to torment us." Xu said helplessly: "They just want to force us to run back and forth, wasting time and soldiers' energy, and then force us to give up the favorable waterway from Zhijiang to Yidu. , and stationed in the vicinity of Hudukou, which Wugou is already familiar with."

"No, we can't be stationed here." Xu Zhi shuddered, and quickly shook his head, "The north and south banks of Hudu Pass have been controlled by Wu dogs, and our infantry and cavalry dare not go out of the city to respond. If we station here, Wu The dog sailor launched a surprise attack, and we are going to fight alone."

"There are two ways." Mrs. Xu said very assertively: "One is to divide the troops. You and the slaves divide the fleet into two, and take turns to stay behind to monitor Wu Dog's movements. The second is to move our camp to Canggang. , in this case, as long as Wu Gou starts to cross the river, we can immediately send troops to stop it."

"Never divide your troops." Xu Zhidu quickly shook his head again, and said, "Madam, although you are proficient in Taoqian and good at riding and shooting, you still don't know much about water warfare. The most taboo thing in water warfare is to divide troops. Once you divide your troops, It is really difficult to rescue each other, and it is far easier to be defeated by the enemy one by one than on land."

"Then we can only retreat to Canggang." Xu's tone became more helpless, "Otherwise, if we retreat to the absolutely safe water of Zhijiang, the soldiers' physical strength will no longer be able to support them."

"That's the only way to go." Xu Zhidu sent an order with his head downcast: "As a banner, retreat [-] miles, and rest in Canggang."

The fleet of Xu Zhidu and his wife, who had been tossed to death by Fatty Lu, finally retreated again, but Fatty Lu did not look satisfied at all. He just carefully observed the lights of Xu Zhidu's fleet with a telescope for a long time, and confirmed that Xu Zhidu and his wife were indeed not After the fraudulent retreat, Fatty Lu quickly ordered to Wu Guogui: "Please trouble father-in-law to issue two more orders. The first one is for our troop fleet. After an hour, another two thousand troops will be transported across the river; the second Tell Lin Xingzhu to prepare him well, and when the Mandog Fleet turns back for the third time, he will attack immediately and try his best to seize the favorable position upstream, and let him think about what to do next."

"Understood." Wu Guogui agreed feebly, and then asked, "What about you? What should you do?"

"My son-in-law is tired and wants to rest." Fatty Lu yawned, "Father-in-law, if you are tired, you can also rest. If Lin Xingzhu can't win the battle after tossing the dog to this point, then he has no face to live." in this world."

Note: The traitorous wife of Xu Zhidu, Xu, is not a fiction, but a historical figure. The historical materials of the Qing Dynasty boasted that she was "a fine man, good at riding and shooting, and often went to war with her husband". Xu Zhidu was pinned down by the Wu army in the Changde area. When Xu discovered that the Wu army showed signs of attacking Jingzhou, he restrained the army for his traitor husband, rectified military discipline, and donated all the jewelry to reward the soldiers, so that Xu Zhidu was able to lead the army immediately after returning to Yiling. Reinforce Jingzhou.Later, the Xu family and Xu Zhidu fought against the Wu army side by side, and were killed by the Wu army in Yiling. Kang Mazi specially ordered him to give you a shirt, and he was granted the title of Yunqiwei, which was inherited by his son Xu Yongnian.

(End of this chapter)