In fact, the Qing army of Daming Prefecture still had a chance, because on the night when Wu Chaoyue ordered it to Kaifeng, the temperature on the North China Plain suddenly dropped sharply, and the first snow after winter also dropped. This not only added a lot of difficulty for the Wu army to cross the river overnight and secretly head north, but also added a lot of difficulties for the Wu army in Henan to march to Daming Prefecture City. As long as the Daming Prefecture is hurrying up and working day and night, it is not impossible to build a 100-meter-high outer land that was planned in advance, and the trenches were excavated and a sheep and horse wall and fence line were built.

In addition, due to the land freezing caused by the sudden drop in temperature, Fu Zhenbang, the general of Daming Mansion, who was worried that the construction progress would be more affected, also found Changqing overnight and asked Changqing to work day and night to dig trenches and build outer lands. He also kindly reminded Changqing: "Zhangfu Zun, it's not that the land will urge you, but that once the land is frozen hard, according to your previous construction speed, it will never be possible to complete it smoothly even by the end of the twelfth lunar month."

However, it is still a pity. Changqing, who firmly believed that the Qing Wuhe talks would be successful, took Fu Zhenbang's kindness warning as a wind in his ears, and just yawned and said, "I know, General Fu, don't worry, I promise that the completion will be completed smoothly before the end of the month. It's late at night, I've been busy all day today, and I'm so sleepy that I won't keep you."

After saying that, Changqing, who was cold and sleepy, picked up the teacup and touched it on his lips, walked away from the scene of serving tea and seeing off guests, and then couldn't wait to go back to the room to find a new concubine to keep warm, leaving Fu Zhenbang to stamp his feet and sigh in the living room, and had to pray secretly, "I hope the Wu thieves should not send troops to attack at this critical moment, otherwise we will have great trouble."

The extremely precious night was wasted. In the early morning of the next day, Fu Zhenbang, who was worried, came to the construction site to check the construction situation under the wind and snow. As a result, Fu Zhenbang's nose was furious. There was no one working on the huge construction site, and only some servants and migrant workers were burning fire in the straw shed next to the pile of materials. Fu Zhenbang rushed up to question the reason, and then he realized that it was because the wind and snow were too heavy and the weather was too cold. The Daming Magistrate, who was responsible for supervising the worker, decided to give the migrant workers a half day off, and planned to wait until the wind and snow stopped before continuing the construction.

After being procrastinated to this level, Fu Zhenbang couldn't help but get angry no matter how good his temper was, and cursed that he wanted to go to the city to settle the accounts with the magistrate. Unexpectedly, the deputy Gong Yaolun, who accompanied him stopped Fu Zhenbang and said, "Brother Fu, forget it. Although you are a second-rank general, you are just a military position and have no power to directly interfere in local government affairs. Going to the city will not have any effect, and you will also give someone a handle. Yixing's bastard will definitely use this opportunity to deliberately mess with you, making your life in Zhili even more sad."

Under Gong Yaolun's reminder, he remembered the feuds of his enemies and Yixing'a, and his embarrassing situation now, the good-looking man Fu Zhenbang could only sigh and gave up his plan to go to the city to cause trouble. Gong Yaolun advised again: "Brother Fu, go back and rest. It's too cold. You can only kill the Wu thieves in the future. Anyway, the court is now in a negotiation with the Wu thieves, and it is unlikely that the Wu thieves in Henan will go north in large numbers."

After silently accepting Gong Yaolun's kindness persuasion, Fu Zhenbang returned to the camp in Daming Town with dejected expression. However, after returning to the camp, Fu Zhenbang did not enter the barracks with charcoal fire to rest. Instead, he took off his shirt on the school grounds and carried a nine-ring knife barely in the wind and snow. He danced a nine-ring knife weighing more than 30 pounds with a shiny sword. The sword was shining with the wind and flowers, and the flowers were gathered together. Everyone present cheered.

"Good knife technique!"

Just after practicing a set of ancestral sword techniques, another strange shout came from the gate of the school ground. Fu Zhenbang ignored it and slowly closed the sword until his body rhythm was adjusted. Fu Zhenbang turned his head to see who the person was, but he saw that Zhang Guoliang led a few personal soldiers to the school ground at some time and were still applauding repeatedly, "Good sword technique, I have heard that General Fu has outstanding martial arts and extraordinary skills. He will meet him today, and he is indeed well-known."

After a bitter smile, Fu Zhenbang first put on his coat, then greeted Zhang Guoliang, and asked Zhang Guoliang directly: "Dianchen, did you come for the matter of the outer construction site?"

Zhang Guoliang made Gong Yaolun shook his head unexpectedly and said, "No, I know you don't have the right to inquire about local affairs. I have also heard about the fact that you and Yixing's bastard will not make you embarrassed."

After understanding Fu Zhenbang, Zhang Guoliang said again: "I came to you to discuss another thing with you. The area of ​​Daming Mansion is too wide, and there is no danger to defend everywhere, and it is also suitable for urgent marching of horse and infantry everywhere. If the Wu thief army in Henan goes north with light equipment and does not attack the cities along the way, we are afraid that even if we can receive the alarm in advance, we may not have much time to prepare for war and respond."

"So I think it's better for us to build some beacon towers on the hilly hills to the south." Zhang Guoliang said: "In this way, once the Wu thieves are found to be heading north, the beacon tower will immediately ignite the wolf smoke and call the police. In this way, no matter how fast the Wu thieves in Henan come, we can still fight for one or two days of response time."

"Good idea." Fu Zhenbang nodded and said with gritted teeth: "I'll go to Changqing now and let him act according to the plan. It won't cost him a few taels of silver to do this, and I think he won't refuse."

When things have come to this point, if the local officials of Daming Prefecture can act as planned as quickly as possible, then Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang will definitely have a chance. But it is still a pity that although Changqing promised to do this, the road map and post station fast horses were ready-made. It would be only one day to build a beacon tower with all his efforts. But as soon as Fu Zhenbang left, Changqing forgot about this matter...

…………

At the same time, the Henan Wu army, which had been preparing for a long time, had already begun a sneak attack. Under the leadership of Zhu Hongzhang and Li Chendian, two thousand elite Henan Wu army had secretly crossed the Yellow River the night before, and rushed to Changyuan City, which had previously voluntarily surrendered to the Wu army, and waited for the night to continue northward. The main force of the Henan Wu army was secretly preparing for the war under the leadership of Zeng Guoquan, and was ready to cross the Hebei North to join the war at any time.

During this period, the Qing army scouts in Kaizhou actually found some clues. At the same time, the Qing army's fine works placed in Changyuan area also reported to the Qing army of Kaizhou that the city was closed during the day. However, the Qing army, which had close economic relations with the Wu army in Henan, had long had close economic relations with Ruilian, did not agree at all. They did not make any defense preparations, nor did they send anyone to warn Daming Mansion. They just hid in the warm housing and enjoyed the wine and beauties, and planned how to smuggle and make money, and wasted a whole day of valuable response time for the Qing army of Daming Mansion.

The winter day was short, and it was almost six o'clock in the afternoon, and it was already dark. As a result, when the Qing army in Kaizhou couldn't wait to return to the camp to sleep, the two thousand Wu troops who had been resting in Changyuan City for a day suddenly left the city and walked north with dense torches on the flat official road. At the same time, Zeng Guoquan also personally led the main force of the Wu army in Henan to set off from Kaifeng, heading straight to the floating bridge in Chenqiao Town, crossing the river, one after the other, and one after another.

At the fourth update, the Qing army scout Kuaima finally sent the news of Wu's army going north to Ruilian, who was in Kaizhou. However, Ruilian could not believe that the Wu army in Henan would suddenly take action, and even cursed the scouts for false alarm. As a result, after the scouts swear that if the false alarm was false alarm, Ruilian said skeptically: "Does the Wu thief really took action suddenly? It's impossible? Isn't it that the court is negotiating with the Wu thief, and that traitor Wu Chaoyue is also taking advantage of Changmao?"

"General Rui, no matter whether Wu thief really takes action or not, this news must be sent to Daming Mansion immediately." The subordinate next to him said quickly: "Also, we must send troops to intercept him immediately and buy time for Daming Mansion."

"Fart!" Ruilian scolded angrily: "We have only a few soldiers here, and we are sending troops to intercept the Wu thief army with foreign guns and cannons. Are you looking for death?"

After scolding, Ruilian made the decision to send a quick horse to Daming Mansion while asking his subordinate troops to strictly guard the camp and Kaizhou city to guard against the Wu army's attack on his own army. At the same time, Ruilian began to transfer property and his wife and family early.

When it was dawn, the Wu army was at the city of Kaizhou, but did not launch an attack on Kaizhou City and the Qing army camp. They chose to bypass the Fu, who continued to go north and support the open terrain. The Wu army soldiers who were lightly in battle could easily march even if they did not follow the official road. During this period, although their subordinates once again suggested that Ruilian send troops to intercept and gain time for the main force of the Qing army in Daming Prefecture, they were rejected again by Ruilian, "Fart! We can beat the Wu thieves? Stand for help!"

After passing Kaizhou, the Wu army might have been intercepted by the Qing army in Qingfeng and Nanle. Zhu Hongzhang and Li Chendian, who were in charge of the front of the Wu army, were also prepared for a breakthrough early. However, because the Wu army came too fast and suddenly, the Qing army in the north of Kaizhou had neither made any preparations in advance, and they were relatively weak, so they did not dare to send troops to intercept them. They also watched the Wu army pass around the city and continue to move north. As a result, when the Wu army approached Nanle, the Qing army of the Southern Yueliang had tied the bullet and sent troops together with more than a thousand Southern orchestras to intercept the front of the Wu army.

The interception of the Southern Yueqing Army did not receive any effect. As soon as the front of the Wu army was eager to go north, it immediately took out the fifty grenade launchers brought by the army. After only two rounds of volleys, it immediately exploded the Southern Yueqing Army into tears and howling and collapsed. When the local regiments in Nanle saw that the regular army collapsed so quickly, they rushed to flee in all directions. In the blink of an eye, they fled all over the mountains and fields. The front of the Wu army did not chase them. They just took advantage of the sky before dark, and rushed forward for twenty miles before stopping. They rested in the Longwang Temple fifteen miles southeast of Daming Mansion, and prepared to stay overnight before continuing north.

…………

The words were divided into two ends. The Henan Wu army launched a surprise attack with infantry as the front troop. No matter how fast the speed was, it was not as fast as the Qing army's fast horses. So in fact, before the Wu army and the Qing army in Nanle joined forces, the alarm from Kaizhou was sent to Daming Prefecture, and the Qing army in Daming Prefecture was shocked.

"Wu thief is really here? How is it possible? How is it possible?" The most exciting reaction was of course the prefect Chang Changqing. He was first full of disbelief, and then suddenly cursed, "Shameless dog thief! He actually came, he really came! We were fooled, we were fooled this time!"

"It's not us who were deceived, it's you who grew up!" Zhang Guoliang said with a dark face: "General Fu and I repeatedly advised you to repair the outer world early and repair the outer world early. You just don't listen. Now, we have to fight this battle!"

"Repair! I'll repair it right away!" Changqing didn't dare to mention any money and food questions, but just shouted: "Come on, come and send an order to the construction site, asking migrant workers to work hard to repair the outer wall immediately, and mobilize the people outside the city to go to the construction site to dig trenches and ramm the city wall! Hurry!"

"Shut up!" Zhang Guoliang roared, "It's just now that the outer wall is repairing, so it's too late? Close your beak and wait for General Fu and I to discuss it!"

After drinking the panicked Changqing, Zhang Guoliang said to Fu Zhenbang: "General Fu, it's too late to repair the outer capital no matter what. However, it's a pity to give up the outer capital that has already taken shape. I mean, we might as well take advantage of the opportunity of Wu Zheyuan's exhaustion and join forces to fight with the Wu Zheyuan's front army to fight to retreat the Wu Zheyuan's front army. If it can be successful, the main force of Wu Zheyuan will definitely not dare to give up the food route and go directly north. We can only take the cities along the way first and go north slowly."

"In this way, we can gain enough time to prepare for the war. Even if we cannot build a solid earth and stone exterior, we can build a fence, a sheep and horse wall and a periphery barrier of the trench."

After a moment of calculation, Fu Zhenbang shook his head and rejected Zhang Guoliang's proposal and said, "We cannot take the risk of fighting. As far as the information I had before, the Henan Wu thieves not only had fast-firing foreign guns, but also fast-firing small cannons and palm thunder. The Wu thieves army came from the south and dared to bypass Kaizhou. The three cities of Qingfeng and Nanle went north alone, and they must have carried these powerful weapons. We are not sure about the head-on decisive battle. We may be defeated by the Wu thieves in the field. The soldiers were too dispersed and we could no longer defend the city."

Thinking Fu Zhenbang's analysis was reasonable, Zhang Guoliang immediately changed his mind and asked, "What should I do?"

"The best way is to retreat to the city to defend the city, relying on the existing camps, and seize the time to strengthen the fortifications, and support the defenders in the city, and only defend without fighting. In this way, the Wu thief front army, who did not carry heavy weapons, would have no choice but to take any help from us. We can get time to summon the surrounding government troops and regiments to reinforce the city, or wait for reinforcements sent by the official platform."

"This..." Zhang Guoliang was a little embarrassed and said, "General Fu, I am a guest army. Although the camp is also protected by fortifications, it is not strong enough..."

"Dianchen, you misunderstood my opinion." Fu Zhenbang shook his head again and said, "I didn't let you station outside the city. If you enter the city, I will guard the camp outside the city."

"Are you outside the city?" Zhang Guoliang was shocked and blurted out: "Then aren't you suffering too much?"

"It's all for the Qing Dynasty. Whoever takes advantage of the situation?" Fu Zhenbang smiled gently and said with a smile: "The Shandong New Army under your command is the last reliance of our Qing court. At this time, you don't give priority to your army entering the city to garrison. Could it be that the army under my command, with bird guns, will you ask me to go to the city to escape first?"

"Brother Weiping!" Zhang Guoliang held Fu Zhenbang's hand and shook it hard.

…………

The reason why Zhu Hongzhang and Li Chendian chose to go to the Dragon King Temple to rest overnight was not a random arrangement on a whim. Zeng Guoquan, who had already figured out the geographical conditions around Daming Mansion, had carefully arranged in advance that the Dragon King Temple was only fifteen or sixteen miles away from Daming Mansion City. The front of the Wu army rushed forward again. No matter who commanded the Qing army of Daming Mansion, he would definitely have the idea of ​​waiting for the night to attack.

Once the Qing army in Daming Prefecture did this, the front of the Wu army would have to grit their teeth and persevere for another night. With the high terrain of the Dragon King Temple and the advantage of being able to defend the siege river, it would definitely damage the enemy in the field and lay a solid foundation for the Wu army's next siege.

Unfortunately, although Zeng Guoquan, who was not good at winning unexpectedly, had also tried his best to arrange the tactics of seducing the enemy, unfortunately encountered Fu Zhenbang, a famous Qing army general who was both wise and brave and stoic. Although after exploring the situation in front of the Wu army camping overnight in the Longwang Temple not far away, many Qing army generals volunteered to lead the army to launch a night attack, but Fu Zhenbang flatly refused. He led his soldiers to seize the time to strengthen the camp fortifications of his own army in the Tofu Camp in the south of the city. At the same time, he organized the people to transfer materials outside the city into the city, and tried hard to prepare for a long-term battle to defend the city. He refused to take the initiative to send troops to fight the exhausted Wu army army troops who were close to him. Zhu Hongzhang and Li Chendian, the generals of the Wu army who took turns to sleep and rest, were exhausted, but in the end he had nothing.

The matter was not over yet. After resting in the Dragon King Temple for a night, Zhu Hongzhang and Li Chendian, who had worked hard all night, refused to give up. They led their troops to the city of Daming Prefecture and launched an attack on Fu Zhenbang's camp. As a result, because they did not bring heavy weapons, the advantage of individual soldiers' well-equipped was completely offset by the Qing army's battalion defense fortifications. Therefore, the Wu army not only failed to capture Fu Zhenbang's camp, but also suffered a lot of casualties in the battle, and they were defeated twice in a row.

Forced by helplessness, Zhu Hongzhang and Li Chendian, who were alone in the army, could only implement Zeng Guoquan's backup plan, and led their troops back to the Dragon King Temple to establish a foothold in the camp, waiting for the main force to come to reinforce. Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang continued to stick to the camp and the city, and while seizing the time to strengthen the fortifications, they patiently waited for reinforcements from all over the country.

After the news of the unfavorable progress of the front army was sent back to Zeng Guoquan, Zeng Guoquan, who was leading the main force to strode north, was of course frowned and worried, and was extremely worried that the main force would not be able to quickly break through the Daming Prefecture City after rushing to the Daming Prefecture City. He was even more worried that the rear army led by Nie Shicheng would not be able to quickly clear the food route and send military rations to the front line of the Daming Prefecture, causing his own army to fall into a difficult situation of food shortage.

As a result, at this time, Zeng Guoquan naturally suddenly remembered the crazy words Zhang Zhidong had made before, and quickly found Zhang Zhidong and told Zhang Zhidong about the unfavorable progress of the front army and the Qing army in Daming Prefecture that they were not fighting. As a result, before Zeng Guoquan asked Zhang Zhidong for advice, Zhang Zhidong had already said in a big way: "Normal, this is the wisest choice. Without an outsider, Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang would not be foolish, they would only guard the camp and the city and not fight, and try to delay time and wait for reinforcements."

"What should we do?" Zeng Guoquan asked quickly.

"Continue to go north." Zhang Zhidong replied in a relaxed tone: "When you arrive outside the Daming Mansion, there will naturally be people who will open the city gate to welcome our army into the city."

"Will someone open the city gate? Who would do this?" Zeng Guoquan asked dumbfoundedly.

"Of course, that person who took you ten pearls." Zhang Zhidong replied with a smile.
Chapter completed!