Outside the east gate of Suzhou City, the merchant escort team has built a trench, with a low wall on the west side of the trench.

Due to the number of people, the escort was unable to surround Suzhou City, but the Jiangbei column came from the west.

The situation put Suzhou's sharp army in danger of being surrounded.

Zhong Zilu must make a decision as soon as possible, either defeating the merchant escort in front of him or waiting to be surrounded.

The only one who can rescue them is Jiangnan Camp.

However, Zhong Zilu understood that Xiang Rong would not be able to come to rescue them.

They didn't even dare to attack the nearby Jiangning City.

Speaking of Jiangning City, it is also the Tianjing City of the Taiping Army.

Yang Xiuqing in the East Prince's Mansion in the city is still in a rage that has not yet calmed down.

He never expected that Zeng Lichang would defect to the Chinese.

The impact of this incident within Tianjing was very bad. Many people privately said that it was the Eastern King who asked Zeng Lichang to evacuate Yangzhou and delayed the rescue of Lin Fengxiang, which forced Zeng Lichang to defect to the Chinese.

"Chen Ping, if you continue to arrange people, I will make Zeng Lichang disappear completely." Yang Xiuqing said through gritted teeth.

Yang Xiuqing had a secret espionage organization under his command that directly took orders from him. This organization helped Yang Xiuqing monitor the generals within the Kingdom of Heaven, and also conducted spying and assassination missions.

"His Royal Highness, King Dong, please forgive my subordinates for speaking frankly. Zeng Lichang was hit in the abdomen by a fire cannon, and he already has a short life. Sending people to assassinate him again is nothing more than a waste of time. I feel that the relationship with the escort should be established as soon as possible. After all,

Should we start a war with the Guards, or continue our strategy of developing to the northwest?"

The current development route formulated by the Taiping Army is to occupy the land of Jingzhou during the Three Kingdoms, and then use this land as a basis to develop towards Guanzhong in the northwest and Sichuan and Shu in the southwest.

Developing to the southeast requires the advantage of boats. The Taiping Army is already at a disadvantage and cannot catch up with the escort. Moreover, they will also face the threat of foreigners when they reach the coast.

"Zeng Lichang rebelled. There is no news from the mission to Jiangbei. Whether he has rebelled or not, we need to find out the good news." Yang Xiuqing thought for a while and said.

Looking back now, it was a bit strange that Fu Shanxiang tried hard to go to Jiangbei as an envoy.

"Yes, my subordinates will send people to investigate this matter." Chen Ping cupped his hands and said.

Yang Xiuqing has not yet said how to deal with the relationship with the Guards. He is indeed very conflicted in his heart. If he goes to war with the Guards, he will inevitably be in an awkward situation of fighting on both sides.

At this time, Shi Dakai was leading troops to fight the Hunan Army in Jiangxi, while Qin Rigang was attacking cities and plundering territory in northern Anhui.

After occupying Luzhou, the Taiping Army had a strategic foundation to develop into the Sishui and Huaihe River areas.

"On the escort side, send someone to ask them what they mean and why they took the initiative to destroy the alliance between the two parties." Yang Xiuqing said helplessly.

He was really helpless. The main force of the Taiping Army was in the west. This was his strategy.

The only ones guarding Zhenjiang in the east were Wu Ruxiao, a direct descendant of Yang Xiuqing, to ensure the security of Tianjing City. They were barely able to defend against the Qing army's attack, allowing them to take the initiative unless the defenders of Tianjing City were dispatched.

There are Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps on the edge of Tianjing City, and the defenders in the city must not move.

The situation in the west is now very good. The Taiping Army controls the prefectures of Anhui along the Yangtze River and even controls Huangzhou in the west.

To the north, the Taiping Army has entered Fengyang Prefecture and is marching to Yingzhou Prefecture in the north. At that time, they can advance the front line north to the Yellow River, and then attack Henan to the west. At least they can capture Nanyang, and then march to Jianghan.

plain.

Yang Xiuqing stood in front of the map for a long time, carefully assessing the gains and losses on the battlefield.

Finally gave up the plan of going down the river to fight with the escort.

A battle is about to break out outside the city of Suzhou. This is a line-infantry duel taking place on the ancient Chinese battlefield.

The Suzhou city gate slowly opened, and groups of sharp soldiers came out of the city.

The escort did not take the initiative to attack because the opponent still had artillery cover on top of the city.

The Fengrui Army did not go out in full force, but instead assembled five thousand soldiers and horses to line up outside the city, preparing for a fair showdown with the escort.

"Everyone climbed over the low wall to gather..."

Liu Lichuan's military order spread throughout the battlefield.

This is a duel between line infantry, and the escort cannot lose momentum.

Pan Qiliang carried his sword behind his back and stood in the middle of the formation.

Because of his tall stature, the surrounding warriors could see him.

Pan Qiliang has not yet fully accepted the discipline of the Guards. For example, the captain should stand at the back.

He felt that a general was the soul of the entire team.

You must stand in a conspicuous place.

But he is not stupid either. He wears a jacket-style leather armor under his military uniform. Steel plates are inserted into the slots in the front of the leather armor to protect key parts of his body. This should be regarded as a relatively primitive body armor.

"Advance..." Seeing that the Qing army was about to step out of the protection of the city's artillery, the escort also began to advance.

"Get ready..." The escort stopped first because the rifled guns they were equipped with had already entered the shooting range.

The Fengrui Army quickened their pace because they were not within range yet.

"Shoot..." Pan Qiliang gave the order, and the right wing of the first battalion started shooting almost at the same time as the other battalions.

A burst of smoke rose in the array.

As gunfire rang out, people continued to fall in the Fengrui Army's formation.

However, they did not stop, but continued to accelerate.

But their formation began to become messy.

So much so that the officers of the Fengrui Army began to ask their men to slow down. They were trained by foreign officers and paid great attention to formations.

This benefited them many times in their battles with the Taiping Army.

On the city wall, a Frenchman named Albert, wearing a blue French military uniform, was standing next to Zhong Zilu.

"Mr. Zhong, the other party has completely replaced the rifled guns. This is equipment only available to the French mainland army. I suggest you withdraw your troops immediately and leave here. You are no match for them." Albert suggested to Zhong Zilu.

He is the chief instructor of Fengrui Army. Although Lu Jianfeng died, the French soldier received the salary from Fengrui Army and still performed his duties.

"Is the difference brought by weapons really that big?" Zhong Zilu murmured to himself.

"Second brother, the pirates from Jiangbei have broken through the Jiangyin Fortress." At this time, Ju Shizhen came and told a shocking news.

…

Time goes back to the morning of that day.

Soldiers from the right wing C Battalion of the Fengrui Army who are responsible for guarding the Jiangyin Fortress have just gotten up.

The fog on the river is thick. It is March of the fourth year of Xianfeng, the time of late spring and early summer, when the battle between hot and cold air is most intense.

The river surface in the Jiangyin section is narrow, making it easier for fog to accumulate.

Nothing can be seen on the river.

Chai Youyi, a young soldier of the Fengrui Army, moved his ears as if he heard something, as if a giant beast was sneaking up from the river.

"Antou, did you hear that? Is there a ship approaching?" Chai Youyi said to the commander on duty, An Qingnan.

An Qingnan listened carefully, but couldn't hear anything.

"Chai Youyi, you haven't woken up yet. Do you think it's Zhuge Liang's straw boat borrowing arrows? In such foggy weather, there is no wind at all, and the pirate's big sailing ship can't go upstream at all."

An Qingnan was right. The river surface in the Jiangyin section is narrow, but the current is fast. It is difficult for a sailboat to travel against the current on such a day.

On the river, the four gunboats of the Second Fleet, Fu A, Fu B, Fu B, and Fu Ding, were slowly moving forward in a single column.

There is no wind on the river, but it has no effect on the purely steam-powered mosquito gunboats. Although they are called gunboats, their 500-ton body is considered a rare large ship on the Yangtze River.

On the river, a fishing boat took advantage of the thick fog to paddle towards the north bank of the river. This was actually a stowaway boat. During the day, they hid in the reeds along the river to avoid being hunted by the sharp army.

At night or in foggy weather, this kind of boat will come out and carry the fleeing people to the north of the Yangtze River.

When they arrive at the territory of the Jiangbei Red Flag Army, someone will pay the ship owner copper coins per head.

Jiangnan was originally a prosperous place, but after the Fengrui Army took control here, more than 30 tax items were set up. The people were really miserable. Those who had no money to pay taxes would be sent to opium plantations.

A large number of mulberry fields have been turned into tobacco gardens. During the flowering season, the plantations are like a sea of ​​gorgeous flowers, but everyone knows that what is produced here is harmful.

Under the governance of the Red Flag Army, Jiangbei was in a prosperous state, with land assigned to each household, people making a living, and water conservancy facilities repaired.

Moreover, Jiangbei has been recruiting refugees. As long as the refugees are sent to the border of Jiangbei, one head can be exchanged for one copper dollar or one hundred copper coins.

It's not far to cross the river from Jiangyin. You can earn one silver dollar by sending a boatload of people, which is a considerable profit.

However, the Fengrui Army strictly prohibited fishing boats from entering the river, and the Taihu Navy patrolled the river every day. They did not dare to cross the river to cause trouble for the Red Flag Army, but they could cut off exchanges between the two sides.

"Pull quickly, isn't that a foreign ship?" A sharp-eyed refugee had already seen the steel giant coming from downstream.

Everyone joined the rowing team. If there was nothing, they just put their hands into the water and paddled.

Just as the big ship was about to collide with the small boat, the water from the bow of the big ship was already pushing the small boat to rock.

The refugees on the boat let out desperate screams.

At this moment, the big ship suddenly turned south and headed towards Jiangyin Fortress.

The boss of the boat, Zhao Laoer, looked up at the four large ships passing by the small boat, with bright red flags flying on them.

This is a warship of the Red Flag Army! The hull of the ship has a dark metallic luster, and the huge gun muzzle on the bow is raised high. The whole ship gives people a powerful and domineering feeling.

It looks like my business is going to be ruined.

With such iron-clad ships, it will not be easy for the Red Flag Army to capture the Jiangyin Fortress. By then, the south and the north of the Yangtze River will be integrated into one, and they will all be the territory of the Red Flag Army, so there will be no need for the big guys to sneak across.

Zhao Laoer is a smart man. But he still needs to finish today's business first.

"Zhao Laoer, whose boat is this?" asked a refugee.
Chapter completed!