By coincidence, the day when the Wu army in Henan retreated from Bazhou and headed south was exactly the 29th day of January 1862, the last day of Qixiang and Tongzhi, the first year of Qixiang and Tongzhi.

For the Qing court, which had already entered the capital of the capital, the Henan Wu army, which had already entered the capital of 300 miles, chose to retreat voluntarily, which was of course very good news. After receiving this news, Ci'an and Cixi had not dared to sleep with each other for several days and cried directly, which was so excited that they were no different from the time when the Qing army miraculously repelled Shi Dakai's large-scale northern expedition. The Qing court was even more cheerful and grateful to the evil spirits of the wild boar skins in history for the blessing, allowing the Qing court to escape another great disaster. The fallacies and evil sayings of the Qing court being blessed by gods and Buddhas were once again popular in the capital.

However, for the Wu army soldiers who had been to Bazhou for thousands of miles, Zeng Guoquan's retreat decision was undoubtedly a waste of their hard work and hardships in the battle. Not only did the morale of the army suffer a huge blow, but the army also complained, causing countless soldiers to complain behind their backs about Zeng Guoquan's random commands, and quite a few were disappointed and disappointed.

In fact, these Wu army soldiers were really wronged Zeng Guoquan. They were forced to withdraw their troops south. The most painful thing in their hearts was Zeng Guoquan himself. Zeng Guoquan knew very well that doing so would make the hard work of the Wu army soldiers futile, and he also knew that doing so would greatly reduce his prestige. He also knew that after being hit, it would inevitably affect the morale and fighting spirit of the Wu army in Henan.

However, there is no way. As the commander of the entire army, Zeng Guoquan must consider the precious lives of nearly 10,000 soldiers under his command, and must consider the overall plan of the Wu army's Northern Expedition. With the enemy's situation unclear and no certainty in taking over the city of Beijing, and in the face of the cruel reality of food and grass, Zeng Guoquan must adopt cautious tactics and give priority to the survival of the army! Therefore, Zeng Guoquan has no choice but to choose to let his own army's efforts be wasted.

Even so, when leading his army to evacuate Bazhou City, he turned around and looked at the small Bazhou City that was forced to give up in just one day after hard work. Zeng Guoquan's eyes were still shining, and his heart felt like a knife was twisted. He felt mixed with all kinds of feelings, and tears unknowingly slid down his cheeks.

There was still no local Qing army in Zhili who dared to intercept the Wu army in power. Tong Jian, who was sent back to Baoding Prefecture from Zhengding, stayed in Rongcheng with his troops and horses, and did not dare to make any plans to restrain and block the Wu army. But even so, walking on the North China Plain covered with ice and snow, the Wu army still gave people a feeling of depressedness. From Zeng Guoquan to ordinary soldiers, almost everyone was depressed and a depressed atmosphere was everywhere.

The same is true for Zhang Zhidong, who has always been cynical and smiling, walked beside Zeng Guoquan. Zhang Zhidong's expression was dull. He looked north many times and wanted to speak countless times but stopped talking to Zeng Guoquan. However, every time he spoke to his mouth, he forced himself to swallow it back. After all, Zhang Zhidong knew very well that Zeng Guoquan would never adopt another proposal.

There is also something that disgusting about the Wu army soldiers and Zeng Guoquan. When the Wu army came to the north bank of Qinghe to prepare for the southward crossing, Cui Zhaofei, the magistrate of Baoding on the south bank, actually sent an envoy to contact the Wu army and told Zeng Guoquan directly that they had prepared to burn grain. If the Wu army really dared to attack the city, then when the first Wu army soldier entered the city, it would be their time to burn grain!

If it weren't for the good reading of poetry and books, Zeng Guoquan would have been able to kill the envoy from Baoding County, but even so, Zeng Guoquan, who was extremely angry, ordered the soldiers to throw the envoy into the Qinghe River, and sent scouts to understand the city defense situation in Baoding County to see if he was sure to take down the Baoding small city in one fell swoop. He decided that even if he didn't have food, he would cut Cui Zhaofei, who dared to brush his tiger beard, and executed by Lingchi.

Unfortunately, the scout's investigation result was that he was not sure how much time it took to take the Baoding County. Because of the successive threats from the Taiping Army and the Wu Army, all the cities and cities in Zhili were strengthened in the construction of city defense. Baoding County, directly under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture, even renovated the city walls, dug deep into the moat and introduced live water. Even if the Wu army was confident of taking the small city, they didn't know how much time it would take or how many soldiers it sacrificed. So Zeng Guoquan had no choice but to roar: "Cross the river and continue to go south! Wait until later to settle the score with this man named Cui!"

Before the order was conveyed, a personal soldier suddenly rushed to Zeng Guoquan and knelt down on one knee and said, "Report to the Jiushou, there is a commoner who claims to be General Nie Shicheng's secret envoy, bringing a secret letter from King Zhennan to pay homage to you."

"Did you verify your identity?" Zeng Guoquan asked carefully.

"It has been proved that it is indeed General Nie's personal soldier." The personal soldier replied.

Zeng Guoquan nodded, and then he asked his personal soldiers to come to see him. As a result, a young man dressed as an ordinary citizen was brought to Zeng Guoquan. After saluting, Nie Shicheng's messenger first obtained Zeng Guoquan's forgiveness, then took off his coat, tore open his underwear, took out the letter Wu Yue wrote to Zeng Guoquan from the mezzanine layer, and presented it with both hands.

He took the letter casually and confirmed the correct secrets. Zeng Guoquan then crushed the fire lacquer with Wu Yue seal, took out the letter paper and opened it to look carefully. However, after reading Wu Yue's letter, Zeng Guoquan opened his mouth wide. After finally coming to his senses, Zeng Guoquan subconsciously pointed at Nie Shicheng's messenger and roared: "Take down this rebellious party!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zeng Guoquan's personal soldiers rushed over and held Nie Shicheng's messenger on the spot. Nie Shicheng's messenger was stunned and shouted for justice, saying, "Zeng Zhongcheng, why did the young man become a rioter? What about this and that?"

"Do you dare to cheat me?" Zeng Guoquan shouted angrily: "Who sent you here? Is it Guanwen? Or Yi Xin?"

"Zeng Zhongcheng, what are you kidding? How could the young man be sent by the leader of the chaos like Guan Wen or Yi Xin? The young man is Nie Shicheng's personal soldiers, and General Nie sent the young man! The young man has the identity waist card and General Nie's handwritten order as evidence!"

The voice of the messenger Nie Shicheng's messenger was useless. Zeng Guoquan still firmly believed that he was a detailed work of the Qing army, and threatened that he would be punished if he didn't honestly explain. Zhu Hongzhang, Liu Lianjie and other generals next to him were surprised and asked Zeng Guoquan why he believed that the messenger was a detailed work of the Qing army. Zeng Guoquan said with confidence: "Is this still necessary to ask? Do you believe that the King of Zhennan would use letters to ask us to attack the capital directly?"

"The King of Zhennan wants us to go directly to the capital?" Zhu Hongzhang, Liu Lianjie and other elderly Hunan Army were all dumbfounded, and then they all woke up immediately, nodded and said, "It's not wrong. This messenger is definitely dressed in detail by the rioters. He wants to trick us into going to the capital to die!"

Fortunately, just when Zeng Guoquan's personal soldiers beat Nie Shicheng's messenger to confess, Zhang Zhidong arrived in time, and only glanced at the delicate master and shouted: "Liu Yuan? Why are you here?"

"Mr. Zhang, save me quickly. Zeng Zhongcheng and the others misunderstood that I was a rioter and were involved in the details. Please help me get a certificate!"

"Misunderstanding that you are a rioter? What a joke? Jiushuai, do you know that Liu Yuan is not only the deputy captain of General Nie Shicheng's personal army, but also the cousin of General Nie's wife, Liu Qi's nephew, is the most reliable person of our own!"

It was after Zhang Zhidong hurriedly told the background identity of Nie Shicheng's messenger that Zeng Guoquan's personal soldiers quickly stopped. Zeng Guoquan also asked dumbfoundedly: "Is he Nie Shicheng's brother-in-law?"

Zhang Zhidong quickly nodded and confirmed. Zeng Guoquan was even more stunned. Then he quickly ordered his personal soldiers to loosen the bondage of Nie Shicheng's brother-in-law, and apologized repeatedly: "I forgive my fault, little brother. This time, the flood has really washed away the Dragon King Temple. I blame me for misunderstandings, and also for the orders of King Zhennan. I also blame me for being too scary. I misunderstood that you were a detailed work sent by the rioters, and I deceived us to go directly to the capital and die in vain."

"JiuShip, King Zhennan wants us to go directly to the capital?" Zhang Zhidong was shocked when he heard the reason for Zeng Guoquan's misunderstanding.

Zeng Guoquan nodded, and then handed the letter from Wu Yue that he had almost torn to the ground to Zhang Zhidong and everyone to watch. After carefully reading Wu Yue's handwritten letter, Zhang Zhidong was also stunned and suspected that he was in a dream. Then he pinched his thigh and proved that he was not dreaming, Zhang Zhidong immediately cheered, "The King of Zhennan is wise and has a far-sighted vision! Plan in the tent and win thousands of miles away!"

When Zeng Guoquan, Zhu Hongzhang and others looked at Zhang Zhidong in surprise, Zhang Zhidong had no scruples and said loudly: "JiuShip, to be honest, since you decided to retreat yesterday, I have always wanted to persuade you to change your course, Yi Zhang, give up retreating south and go directly north, and attack the capital directly! Because I am very suspicious that the rebels have not been in a hurry to return to the capital this time, it may be an empty city plan!"

"Empty City Scheme?" Zeng Guoquan asked in surprise: "Do you suspect that Beijing is an empty city and there are no defenders?"

"That's right! And even if there are some rioters in the city, there will definitely not be too many!"

Zhang Zhidong nodded vigorously and pointed out: "The main force of the rebellion gathered troops to Zhengding. He not only planned to prevent our Shanxi friendly troops from advancing eastward, but also planned to take advantage of our eagerness to respond to the Shanxi friendly troops' advance eastward, and fought with us on the battlefield of Zhengding, and fought on both sides. The rebellion army in Zhili must have all the elite troops and dared not retain them, and it is impossible to leave too many elite troops to guard the capital!"

"Also, the rebels are likely to be aimed at the minds of Jiushun and Zhennan King not daring to take risks. They know that Zhennan King has always been cautious in using troops, and they also know that Jiushun and you are more cautious in using troops. Therefore, after we used the plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain, we deliberately refused to mobilize an army to help the capital. On the contrary, we also drew troops from the capital to reinforce Tianjin, creating the illusion that the defenders in the capital were sufficient. The empirical and empty make us even more afraid to peek at the capital!"

After the analysis, Zhang Zhidong exclaimed sincerely: "The King of Zhennan is truly a dragon and phoenix among people. Even though he is thousands of miles away, he still sees through the true face of the rebels in the capital at first sight. He decisively sent a letter to order that as long as we follow his order, we will definitely win a great victory!"

"Slow down." Zeng Guoquan quickly interrupted Zhang Zhidong and said, "The King of Zhennan only suggested that we consider the tactic of directly attacking the capital in the letter, but we did not have to do so."

"That's because King Zhennan did not know the changes in the military situation on the front line, so he gave Jiushuo you the right to move independently." Zhang Zhidong explained: "Otherwise, if King Zhennan issued a military order to ask us to march into Beijing, but the rebels took the lead in the army to reinforce during this period, it would really force us to die."

Zeng Guoquan hesitated, and Zhu Hongzhang next to him advised: "Jiu Zheng, it's important to be important, but think twice. I suggest that the entire army will set up a battalion for the time being, and it will not be too late to make a decision after careful discussion."

"We cannot establish a camp!" Zhang Zhidong said firmly: "We are in the hinterland of the enemy, with all the enemies looking around and no help. We must not waste any time hesitation. We can only make a quick decision. Either listen to the tactical suggestions proposed by the King of Zhennan and turn around and go north, or go south decisively and continue to retreat! Otherwise, once the enemy situation has a new change, we will not only miss the god-given opportunity to directly attack the capital, but also may fall into a dangerous situation of no food and no help!"

"You ask Jiushuo to make a decision?" Zhu Hongzhang asked angrily.

There is really not much time left." Zhang Zhidong defended: "Once we stop and set up a camp, the rebels will immediately guess that we have been shaken and want to go back to attack the capital. Not to mention the distance, the rebels Tong Jian's troops dozens of miles west will immediately return to reinforce the capital! Then..."

"No need to say it!"

Zeng Guoquan rudely interrupted Zhang Zhidong, signaled Zhu Hongzhang, Liu Lianjie and other Hunan veterans to shut up their mouths, and then said coldly: "I ordered the entire army to change to the front team, and the back team to the front team, turn north and go straight to the capital!"

"Jiu Shuai, you really want to go and provoke..."

Zeng Guoquan waved his hand again to interrupt Zhu Hongzhang and others' screams, and said viciously: "How can a tiger be born without entering the tiger's den? It has already reached this point. Regardless of whether the capital is an empty city plan for the rebellious army or not, we have to try it anyway!"

"Jiu Shuai, what if it weren't for the empty city plan? Our food and grass can't last for a few days!" Liu Lianjie asked in fear.

"Then we will change our way to the northwest, go to Xuanhua to get food, and break through Zhangjiakou and return to Shanxi!" Zeng Guoquan's voice became even more fierce, and he said with a ferocious expression: "I don't believe it anymore. The rebels can strengthen the walls of Xuanhua and Zhangjiakou and kill all the cattle and sheep outside the border!"

When Liu Lianjie and Zhu Hongzhang and other Hunan Army elders were helplessly shut up, Zhang Zhidong bowed to Zeng Guoquan and said with a smile: "The Nine Supervisors are wise, it turns out that you want to take this risk more than the Xiaguan."

Zeng Guoquan's expression calmed down a little, and he replied: "If I weren't afraid of sorry for King Zhennan, who had missed his carefully planned Northern Expedition, I had decided this way yesterday. Since King Zhennan also agreed to take this risk, I had no worries."

It seemed like a joke made by history. On the original historical level, in 1862 AD, Zeng Guoquan ignored Zeng Guofan's strong opposition, ignored the lack of troops and the inadequate deployment, and led his troops alone to the city of Nanjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, without considering the lack of military strength and the inactivity.

On the historical level of chaos caused by the wings of the demon moth of Wu Yue, in 1862, the troops were insufficient and the deployment was not in place, and the fighter planes were far from mature. Zeng Guoquan, who had already retreated south, suddenly turned around and led more than 10,000 troops to head directly north, with the troops heading directly to the capital, the nest of the Qing court!

This was an unpredictable raid. In order to win, Zeng Guoquan also did his best to encourage the morale of the army. In addition to adopting Zhang Zhidong's suggestion, claiming that he had received accurate information, there were only a few thousand old and weak defenders in the capital, and important generals of the Qing army had secretly requested surrender to prepare to be sold outside the city. He also openly issued an order that announced that after entering Beijing, half of the proceeds were seized and belonged to the soldiers!

"Straighten the capital! Capture Yixin alive! Rescue the king and protect the emperor, and rebuild the Qing Dynasty!" This is the slogan of advancement shouted by Zeng Guoquan's army on the surface, with a high-sounding sound.

"Step into the capital! Grab the national treasury! Grab the internal treasury! Confiscate all the property of the rioters!" This is the real slogan of Zeng Guoquan's army in the internal affairs, shouting out the true voices of countless old Hunan soldiers, and also inspiring countless Wu soldiers to their blood and their eyes were green.

Less than three hundred miles away, Zeng Guoquan's army suddenly returned to the army to fight the capital. It was late that night that day and sent it to the capital, and it was sent to the capital, who was already sleeping soundly. As a result, when he heard the good news, the sleepy Japanese Lie lost his face on the spot, and white foam was sprayed out from his mouth. When he was asleep, the concubine Guarjia, who was next to him, immediately smelled a pungent smell of urine...

The distance was far away. In the early morning of the next day, Wu Yue's old boss Guan Wen, who was having breakfast in Zhengding Prefecture City, also received this good news. The result was natural. Of course, the exquisite breakfast that had just been eaten into his mouth immediately choked in Guan Wen's throat, and almost killed the old fox Guan Wen's life on the spot. While dancing, the maids who were serving the side shouted, "Come on, the master is crazy to smoke the sow! Our master suddenly smokes the sow! Help!"

The most direct reaction was Luo Bingzhang, another old Qing fox, the farthest distance. After receiving the good news that Zeng Guoquan's army really went to fight the capital, the old Luo fox spurted out a mouthful of blood, and fainted even more quickly. After being awakened by Liu Rong and others in a hurry, the old Luo fox burst into tears again, "I have misled the court! I have misled the Qing Dynasty!"

Of course, there were also ruthless characters in the Qing Dynasty who had no change in appearance. When Zeng Guoquan turned around and attacked the capital, our monk prince not only did not feel panic at all, but also laughed wildly, "It's finally my turn to show off! Zeng Guoquan, Zeng Laojiu, you, a traitor, let's come over. See how I took your life this time, how to kill you to annihilate you, and the whole army will be wiped out, and there is no armor left!"
Chapter completed!