Wu Chaoyue copied a European and American army and improved it, while Liu Lichuan completely copied a Wu army training camp. With Wu Jianzhang's financial support, the Liu family army, officially named Dongjiadu regiment in Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, not only had weapons and equipment exactly the same as Wu army training camp, but also hired foreign instructors to teach and train. The number of people also deliberately imitated the Wu army training camp when he first went to war. There were a total of 226 people, two mailers and fourteen personal soldiers, plus Wu Chaoyue's original 20-man sniper team. On the surface, except for the different banners, there was no difference from the Wu army training camp in the Qingpu War.

It's basically the same on the surface, but in the bones...

Brown, a veteran of the United States who helped Wu Chaoyue train the Wu army to train bravely, later at the request of Wu Jianzhang and Liu Lichuan, also helped Liu Lichuan train for a period of time. He had a very objective evaluation of the Liu family army, "They should not go to the battlefield as soldiers. The battlefield is not their stage. Broadway, tavern black markets and prisons are their best belongings."

"They are very smart, almost stupid. They run with weights. I have to check their backpacks one by one, or they will definitely change the heavy stones to thatch. Every off-road marching, I have to monitor the whole journey, otherwise they will only walk ten miles at most for a fifty-mile marching journey. Bayonet fighting training, Wu's soldiers can cause deaths in training, but their training intensity cannot even kill a mouse or fly; let alone live-fire shooting, in order to deceive me, their officers can help soldiers cheat, either falsely report their grades or secretly replace target disks that had long shot bullet holes."

"They are natural actors. When I monitor them, their lineups can be more standard and neat than Wu's soldiers. But as long as I turn my head, they can sit on the ground and rest immediately. When Jian Zhang Wu took Shanghai wealthy businessmen and gentlemen to inspect them, their slogans could be larger than those of friendly troops, their formations could be more neat than those of friendly troops, and their loading and shooting can also maintain a good rate of fire. However, without outsiders, they could immediately become a group of scattered soldiers."

"They are natural profiteers. When crossing the border training, smuggled opium and goods can often be found in their backpacks and baggage trucks; their officers purchase grain and vegetables, and on average, they usually have to embezzle more than six cents per ten cent; the whale meat purchased by Jianzhang Wu for them will also be sold to the market by their officers; their weapons and ammunition consume more than Wu, but in fact most of them do not know where to go; their officers also quietly came to me to discuss and sell back the weapons and ammunition bought by Jianzhang Wu for them, and then report it as training consumption, so that Jianzhang Wu will buy them again."

"They are born criminals! Gambling and alcoholism, fighting and molesting women are commonplace, exploiting dock workers and blackmailing innocent merchants are their specialty. The fighting skills I taught them are basically used by innocent civilians, and the Chinese gang that has a grudge against them will be even more unlucky. I know that the leaders of the Chinese gang who were put into sacks and threw them into the Huangpu River to feed fish are no less than three! I can't imagine what kind of catastrophe that poor city will suffer when they control a city."

"My God! Dear Consul Qi Liyun, I don't know Lichuan Liu, and his soldiers were not trained by me, and I will never admit it! I cannot let the medal of honor I wear be covered with dust! Oh no, they are not dust, they are sludge! I cannot let my medal of honor be stained with sludge feces! I only trained one army in China, that is, the army beyond Wu, I don't know Lichuan Liu and his army, and I have never seen it before!"

No matter how international friends evaluate Liu Lichuan's courage, Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to bite the bullet and send Liu Lichuan's Liu family army to the battlefield. He didn't have time to wait for Yang Wending's reply, so he immediately asked Liu Lichuan to set off. Then, soon, Wu Chaoyue discovered another strange thing, that is, Liu Lichuan's more than 200 spiritual health, and actually chartered fifteen civilian boats to set off. When Wu Chaoyue felt something was wrong, he personally took the boat to inspect, and soon found many imported goods such as opium, sulfur, quinine and spices that were not registered at the customs, as well as more than twenty women dressed up in the cabin...

"Beyond nephew, don't be so excited. I'll do some small business by the way, to subsidize military use and reduce the burden on your grandfather. As for these women, they are refugees who fled upstream and can't even find food in Shanghai. I took them to the army to cook, wash and replenish, and also find a way out for them and accumulate good deeds to do good things."

…………

It’s time to turn your head and look at the situation on the Zhenjiang battlefield. In fact, if Wu Chaoyue could know the performance of the Qing army on the Zhenjiang battlefield, then Wu Chaoyue would definitely not be furious in front of Liu Lichuan. On the contrary, he would also like to thank God for giving himself such a reliable comrade-in-arms.

While Zhenjiang was falling, friends must not imagine how the Qing army defended the important town of Yangzhou. With the acquiescence of Yang Dianbang, the governor of the canal transport, and with the full support of the prefect Zhang Tingrui and the general Wenyi, the salt transport envoy of the Lianghuai, Dan Minglun Dan, actually sent Jiang Shoumin, a famous Yangzhou scholar, to Jiangning to visit Yang Xiuqing, and proposed to pay tribute to 200,000 taels of silver for the Taiping Army to attack Yangzhou. While laughing, Yang Xiuqing agreed to accept the conditions offered by Yangzhou, while secretly ordered Luo Dagang to attack Yang.

In the province, but Minglun and others believed in Yang Xiuqing's promise, opened four doors without being wary. They also sent a team of Lian Yong out of the city to fight Luo Dagang, and used 200,000 taels of silver to buy one to repel the Taiping Army's offensive. Then Luo Dagang took the silver in one hand and waved the division to attack with the other. He defeated Yangzhou Lian Yong without any effort. He took advantage of the opportunity to enter the city and won the important Yangzhou city in one fell swoop. The Taiping Army successfully completed the strategic goal of the Eastern Expedition and opened up the strategic support base of Ningzhenyang triangle.

As the grandparents and grandsons of the Wu family expected, after receiving the news of the fall of Yangzhou, although the Taiping Army had not had time to launch an attack on Jiaoshan, Yang Wending, the governor of Jiangsu stationed in Jiaoshan, immediately fled eastward again and fled directly to Changzhou Prefecture. After the Taiping Army scouts discovered this movement, there were loud calls within the Taiping Army to seize the opportunity to march eastward, especially Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan who arrived in Zhenjiang later, who even threatened to fight directly to Shanghai and find Wu Chaoyue to settle the new and old accounts.

The commander of the Taiping Army's Eastern Expedition, Qin Rigang, was in a difficult situation because Yang Xiuqing gave him the order to create a strategic base in Ningzhenyang, and did not ask him to continue fighting eastward, nor did he say anything to fight to Shanghai, Yang Xiuqing did not hate Wu Chaoyue. But the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are now empty, and fighter jets are very rare. Li Kaifang, Ji Wenyuan and other generals firmly asked for battle, and their attitude was extremely firm, so Qin Rigang had to send the situation to Jiangning in a Clipper to seek Yang Xiuqing's opinion.

Yang Xiuqing was also in a difficult situation because the Taiping Army has not yet established a stable foothold and urgently needs time to digest the newly occupied territory and consolidate its rule to build a strategic base. It is not advisable to continue to lengthen the front line. However, the fighter jets in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are too rare. We have better luck in continuing the eastward expedition. We are definitely not hopeless to capture important grain-producing land such as Changzhou, Suzhou and Songjiang in one fell swoop. So after weighing the trade-offs, Yang Xiuqing issued a very cautious order, allowing Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan to lead their troops to continue the eastward expedition. However, when encountering strong interception by the Qing army, we must report to Yang Xiuqing about the specific situation including terrain, geography and enemy equipment, and Yang Xiuqing decides whether to continue to fight.

After Yang Xiuqing's order was sent to Zhenjiang by the Clippers, Li Kaifang, Ji Wenyuan and other generals were of course overjoyed and immediately set about setting off without saying a word. Almost at the same time, the joint letter between Wu Jianzhang and Wu Chaoyue was also sent to Yang Wending by the Clippers by the Clippers. When he saw the words of the grandson and grandson of the Wu family who took the initiative to express his intention to send reinforcements to him, Yang Wending couldn't believe his eyes at all. He kept asking the messenger of the Wu family: "Wu Chanzheng and Wu really want to send reinforcements to me? Master Wu is in Shanghai, isn't he only handling a battalion regiment training? There is still extra troops there to reinforce me?"

"Please rest assured that our reinforcements have boarded the ship." The messenger of the Wu family replied in accordance with Wu Chaoyue's instructions: "People Futai don't know that my Young Master Sun actually held a half-battalion training in Shanghai. However, in order to be cautious, to prevent the main force from being transferred away and no one to guard the Shanghai money and grain heavy land, Young Master Sun asked the half-battalion to take the banner of the Dongjiadu regiment training in Shanghai County to be used as a tactical reserve team. Therefore, foreign talents have always mistakenly thought that Young Master Sun had only the troops under his command."

"Damn it, I didn't expect that Wu Chaoyue, a little bastard, would have such a trick." Yang Wending cursed in his stomach, and at the same time, he rekindled a glimmer of hope in his heart, and asked again: "What is the combat power of Master Wu's half of the battalion? Is it reliable?"

"Sir, please rest assured, it is absolutely reliable." The messenger of the Wu family patted his chest and said, "Leading these more than 200 Liu Lichuan and Liu Jianguan is the uncle of my Young Master Sun. His weapons in the training equipment are exactly the same as those of my Young Master Sun's direct training equipment. They are also taught by foreign officers. They can use foreign guns and cannons, dare to fight bayonets, and fight ten battles. If my Young Master Sun hadn't suffered too much casualties this time, otherwise he would be reluctant to show this trump card now."

Believing the boastfulness of the Wu family messenger and knowing that the soldiers Wu Chaoyue brought out could indeed fight, Yang Wending quickly made up his mind and said, "Okay, then I will accept the advice of Wu Chanzheng and Master Wu, move to Jiangyin, and hold Changmao to the throat. Go back and tell the official Liu Lian to come to Jiangyin to meet with me quickly. The battle is beautiful. I will submit a memorial and reward for him."

The Wu family messenger agreed happily, and Yang Wending also thought to himself: "I hope I can win a battle with these courage, otherwise if I escape like this, I will not only be able to protect myself, but my head will also be lingering."

In this way, after having already escaped to Xiaohe Town, Yang Wending immediately carried more than a thousand Qing soldiers on the Long March and advanced to Jiangyin by water. During this period, in order to boost morale, Yang Wending also made the good news that Wu Jun was about to arrive in Jiangyin to reinforce, and exaggerated the various achievements Wu Chaoyue had achieved in Qingpu and Jiangning a hundred times. As a result, this move really played a big role from the tip of the mountain to Jiaoshan, from Jiaoshan to Xiaohe Town. During the two transfers, more than 200 deserters appeared, and this time, only more than 100 people ran away. So when he finally entered Jiangyin, the soldiers under Yang Wending had miraculously more than 1,100 people.

Yang Wending moved in quickly, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan chased him faster. Yang Wending had just lived in Jiangyin for less than a day, and nearly 20,000 troops of Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan had already advanced to Jiangyin City with water and land. Yang Wending was so desperate that he did not dare to hesitate. He immediately ordered the four gates to be closed and defended the city with all his might.

Yang Wending, who was as skilled as Lu Jianying, finally made a correct choice this time. His soldiers were bad, and Jiangyin's Green Camp soldiers were even worse. However, the special terrain on Jiangyin made it difficult for the city to be broken by the Taiping Army. The Yangtze River to the north was the Henghe River to the south, and the Jiangyin Canal to the west. It was surrounded by water on three sides and was only attacked in the east. The river defense fortifications were perfect, and artillery was also available. Therefore, no matter how sharp the Taiping Army was, it was unstoppable. After reaching the city of Jiangyin, it could not break the city quickly. It could only temporarily set up a camp in Xi'an along the canal and study the siege tactics.

After habitually surveying the terrain of Jiangyin, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan both frowned because Jiangyin's city defense is not only solid, but also the authentic siege and intimidation tactics that the Taiping Army is good at, and the three-in-one siege are unable to be used to surround the water on three sides. Launch a strong attack on the east side. The Qing army, who had no way to run, would definitely fight to the death. Even if the city is finally broken, the Taiping Army would have to suffer a lot of losses.

No, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan could only focus on the Jiangyin Fort that the Qing army voluntarily gave up, and were preparing to transport the large artillery to the fort to fire the artillery at the city, forcing the Qing army to abandon the city. However, just when the Taiping Army first began to implement this tactical plan, a team of Taiping soldiers took two Qing army green camp soldiers who had just been captured. Li Kaifang asked casually about the confession to understand the situation in Jiangyin City. Unfortunately, these two green camp soldiers were brought by Yang Wending from Zhenjiang and did not know anything about the situation in Jiangyin City. Li Kaifang had no choice but to change his words and asked: "So how many troops are there under the Qing demon Yang Wending? Which troops can fight?"

The two green camp soldiers still knew nothing. Ji Wenyuan next to him was so angry that he heard it and shouted: "What are you doing for? Even how many people in your army don't know?"

"Sir, the young men really don't know." Both green camp soldiers shouted injustice and said, "The soldiers under the command of Futai include Zhenjiang soldiers, local village warriors, Eight Banners soldiers and the green camps in Changzhou and Suzhou. They come from many places. People run away every day these days. How could we two little soldiers know how many people there are under his command?"

This is actually an important information, and it can definitely be considered good news. However, when Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan looked at each other and smiled, a green camp soldier quickly added in order to survive: "By the way, Master Futai also told us a piece of news that it was Wu Chaoyue, a famous general in Songjiang, who had to send reinforcements to Jiangyin, so as long as we retreat to Jiangyin, we could calm down and rest."

"Wu Chaoyue?!" Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan's faces changed color at the same time, and then said in unison: "Speak! Tell us in detail about Wu Chaoyue, the more detailed the better!"

In order to survive, the two green camp soldiers confessed truthfully as required. Unfortunately, what they told them was that Yang Wending had personally added the information that the general who led the troops was Wu Chaoyue's uncle, who was actually more capable than Wu Chaoyue himself. The ones who practiced bravely were all foreign guns and cannons bought from foreigners. They were all good at fighting with one ten, and their guns and magic skills were like gods. They also said that Wu Chaoyue would come to Jiangyin to help with the battle with follow-up reinforcements. So even if Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing personally brought the main force of the Taiping Army, they would not want to take down Jiangyin City!

It happened that just as Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan's faces became more and more gloomy, someone suddenly came to report to the estuary of the canal and said: "Report to Prime Minister Li, Deputy Prime Minister Ji, a fleet of Qing demons came from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, sailing on the south bank, and was turning into the estuary of the canal!"

"Turn into the canal estuary?"

Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan were shocked again because under normal circumstances, after exploring the west bank of the Jiangyin Canal of Taiping Army, the Qing army fleet should land at the dock outside the north gate of Jiangyin, and enter the city through the north gate or the east gate! This Qing army fleet knew that the Taiping Army was stationed on the west bank of the canal, but it dared to turn into the canal from the west gate of Jiangyin to enter the city. There were only two possibilities. First, the Qing army was fearless and was not afraid of fighting with the Taiping Army on the narrow and gentle canal surface of the river! Second, the Qing army was so stupid that it did not send scouts to explore the way, and did not know that the Taiping Army was stationed on the west bank, so it foolishly penetrated into the canal to die!

Of course, considering that the person who led the army here was probably Wu Chaoyue's uncle, Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan immediately subconsciously ruled out the second possibility...

"Brother Yuan, come out and see, come out and see! There is someone on the west bank with red cloth wrapped around his head, as if he had long hair, as if he was the one mentioned by Young Master Wu!"

Almost at the same time, after repeated urging by looking at his hands, Wu Chaoyue's uncle Liu Lichuan finally walked onto the deck with yawning and rubbing the lipstick on his face. He lazily took out the monocular lens and looked west, but it turned around. After dropping the telescope again, Liu Lichuan quickly shouted like a pig, "Long Hair! Long Hair! Really long Hair, why has Chang Hair been to Jiangyin? Why don't I know? You idiots, why don't you send someone to see what's going on here before turning into the canal?"

"Brother Yuan, did you not give me any instructions?" Lin Afu, who had been promoted to sentry officer, replied helplessly: "I advised you to send a boat to see the situation in front. If you don't agree, you said that you can't disperse your troops. You also said that without your order, no one of the Jian Yongshu was allowed to leave the team privately."

"I'm afraid they will run away by the plane."

Liu Lichuan answered unhappily, and quickly raised his monocular lens to continue observing the enemy situation. Then, soon, Liu Lichuan saw that there were a large number of people on the Taiping Army and a unit was coming here. Liu Lichuan subconsciously wanted to order a retreat. However, before he could speak, Lin Afu pointed to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and shouted: "Brother Yuan, look, there are still long-haired ships upstream!"

Liu Lichuan quickly raised his telescope and looked upstream. Seeing that there were indeed some small boats carrying the Taiping Army flag coming upstream. Liu Lichuan, who was familiar with the flow of the ship, also complained immediately. He knew that at this time, he turned around and fled back to the Yangtze River. The civilian ship he hired could only be beaten in front of the light and flexible small boat. With no choice, Liu Lichuan had to grit his teeth and stomped his feet, and shouted: "So quickly and continue to enter Jiangyin City from the west gate! Fast! The faster the better!"

The order was conveyed. After the unloading of the goods at Tongzhou Wharf, the sailors of the Liu family army fleet, who had only six boats left, shook their oars and rushed into the Jiangyin Canal, which was less than twenty meters wide at full speed. Then Liu Lichuan quickly took out the cross given to him by the foreign priest and raised it, drew a cross on his chest and prayed: "My lord, you must bless me, don't let Changmao hit me at this time! Amen!"

Liu Lichuan prayed on the deck, but he didn't know that the famous Taiping Army generals Li Kaifang and Ji Wenyuan were gloomy and were flatly refusing the suggestion of his subordinates to take the opportunity to attack. He didn't know that the Qing army in Jiangyin City was already in a big uproar, and Yang Wending was roaring at the Qing soldiers, "Did you see it? Did you see it? What do you mean a hundred battles elite soldiers? This is called a hundred battles elite! The Jiangyin Canal is wider, and a fierce man can reach the other side. They still dare to rush directly into it, looking at the tens of thousands of hairs on the west bank as if nothing is there! If you have such courage, I will have to abandon Zhenjiang City?"

After roaring, Yang Wending clasped his hands to the heavens again, bowed again and again, and thanked him continuously, "Thank you, thank you, God, I can keep the top-dressed flower feather this time, and finally I can keep the top-dressed flower feather." (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!