Commander-in-Chief De'an ran back unscathed because he was the last one. Looking at the dozens of defeated soldiers around him, De'an burst into tears. He was supported by the soldiers around him and went to the tent. He knelt down to Xiang Rong and cried.

Said: "My lord, they died unjustly. They were all killed without even touching the cannon. Unfortunately, only a dozen of them escaped. I'm sorry for them! Ugh..."

Xiang Rong saw that his words were incoherent, but he heard clearly that a thousand men and horses had been lost, and said angrily: "Fart, it has not been a quarter of an hour since you went out just now, even if a thousand pigs were tied there and killed by them, it would not matter."

He'll be killed so quickly! Tell me what's going on."

As he spoke, he slammed the Kirin paperweight on the desk against Deqing.

Seeing that Xiang Rong's eyes were red and his face was ferocious, De'an was really frightened. He calmed down a lot and said, "The general led his people to seize the artillery. Unexpectedly, the rebels ambushed thousands of fire commanders in front of the formation. We

We were still two hundred meters away from the cannon, and we were all shot down by the fire commander. Their fire commander was different from the ones we used, but more like the ones used by foreigners. It shot farther and was much more powerful."

Fuxing said in a trembling voice: "Thousands of fire commanders! And it's the kind used by foreigners. Sir, I think we still..." He wanted to retreat, but he didn't know where to retreat.

Xiang Rong was lost in thought for a moment and suddenly said: "Last month, someone reported that foreign warships passed by the river for several days in a row. It turned out that they were transporting firearms to Nanjing City, but why did they do this?"

Changgui suddenly seemed to understand something, and immediately stood up and said: "I heard that God-worshipping is a foreign thing, and the rebellion of Hong Xiuquan and Li Yunzhong was supported by foreigners! The foreigners resented the Qing Dynasty for not agreeing to some of the conditions they proposed, so they supported

The rebels are coming to destroy our Qing Dynasty! These foreigners are nothing."

Feng Zicai was originally a member of the rebellion, but he was defeated and surrendered to the army in Guangxi. He was appreciated by Xiang Rong for his bravery in fighting and repeatedly defeating the rebels. Seeing Xiang Rong and the others discussing foreigners, they disagreed with Chang Gui's words. His official position was small and he could not

As he spoke, he couldn't help but show contempt.

Xiang Rong saw that deputy general Feng Zicai looked strange and asked, "Do you have anything to say?"

Feng Zicai did not shirk, and came around and said: "Commander Qi, the general has been living in the Guangdong and Guangxi areas since he was a child. He has dealt with foreigners and bought a foreign gun from them for self-defense. According to the general's summary: the foreigners all

They are people who forget their loyalty and have no sense of shame. They must have been lured by the profit when they helped the rebels. Also, we have never seen them use foreign guns on a large scale in previous battles with the rebels, so I think they are the same.

I recently hooked up with a foreigner."

When Fuxing heard what Feng Zicai said was reasonable, his hesitation disappeared and he said with satisfaction: "What the general said is reasonable. The foreigners have not yet sided with the rebels. We should report to the court as soon as possible and ask the court to deal with the foreigners, otherwise

Jiangnan Camp…….”

Xiang Rongqi said: "You said you bought guns from foreigners, are the foreigners willing to sell them?"

Feng Zicai didn't expect that Xiang Rong valued foreigners so much, so he couldn't help but replied in detail: "The gun I sold to Mo Jiang was a foreign soldier. He sold the foreign gun to me just because he was drunk and had no money to pay the bill. Mo Jiang was waiting in a wine shop.

After a day, no foreigner came to redeem it, so he took the gun away and later gave it to..." The foreign gun was dedicated to the rebel leader. Feng Zicai did not want to expose his own ugliness, so he did not go on to say more.

Xiang Rong did not pursue further and continued to ask: "If you were asked to contact foreigners, would you still be able to buy guns?"

Feng Zicai felt embarrassed and excused himself: "Guangdong is hundreds of miles away from here, and it will take a month to go back and forth. I'm afraid I won't be able to use the guns I bought in the end."

Changgui was not happy to see that he dared to refute him. Now that he heard that the Jiangnan camp could not last for a month, he was even more angry. He immediately reprimanded him: "How dare you say that the rebels will win and our army will win?"

Defeat!"

Feng Zicai hurriedly knelt down and said: "The general doesn't dare, but the general feels that the attacks outside are sharp and the war is changing rapidly. By the time the general buys foreign guns, the war is already over, and the opportunity to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds has been missed."

Xiang Rong looked at Chang Gui reproachfully, who wanted to say more, and comforted Feng Zicai, who was frightened: "Nangan, get up, Guangdong is too far, but Shanghai is close at hand, and there are no fewer people in Shanghai than in Guangzhou. You should bring your money and rush there immediately.

Go to Shanghai, find local officials to cooperate with you, buy more foreign guns and cannons, and I will count on your success."

Feng Zicai said: "The general will obey your orders."

Changgui rolled his eyes and felt that this job did not require fighting on the battlefield, but it could also achieve meritorious service. This was a big advantage. He immediately smiled and said: "My lord, I am afraid that the southern official is young and the foreigners will ignore him. Why don't we let the lower officials join us?"

Go, it won't be a mistake."

Xiang Rong couldn't see through his thoughts, and didn't want him to get in the way in the camp, so he agreed. When he saw Fuxing, he also wanted to speak, saying, "Just the two of you will be fine."

Fuxing closed his mouth without interest and complained that he had no one in the court. Changgui was only the son-in-law of Prince Zheng, so Xiangrong did not dare to offend him.

Xiang Rong finally gave instructions: "You have to go back quickly. I'm afraid the camp won't be able to support it for a few days. Don't be afraid of spending money. It would be best if you can hire foreigners to help in the battle."

When Li Xiucheng arrived at Xianhe Gate, he saw that the Qing troops in the camp were not able to get out. He put on a defensive posture and set up camp a thousand meters opposite the Qing camp. He also sent a thousand people to Qilin Gate a few miles away to form a pincer attack.

momentum.

When Shi Dakai arrived at the Huangma Group, he immediately set up camp for defense and sent people to contact the troops at Linggu Temple.

The guard of the Qing Ma Qun is Commander-in-Chief Pan An. Although his name is the same as Pan An, a famous man in ancient times, his appearance is different from him. His face is fleshy and he is short in stature.

Pan An heard that the Yellow Horse Group five miles away was occupied by the enemy, and hurriedly sent someone to contact the defenders at Xianhe Gate. However, he got the news that Xianhe Gate was being attacked.

I made a mistake. I secretly complained to General Xiang Rong that his troops were spread out too widely. He had to leave troops to defend everywhere. Now that he was being beaten everywhere, reinforcements were needed everywhere. After thinking about it for a moment, he wrote a battle report and gave it to Xiang Rong: Xianhemen, Qingmaqun were attacked.

The rebels are under siege and are in danger. Please ask for support.

Two hours later, I received a reply from Xiang Rong: The main force of the rebels is besieging Xiaoling Guard. The rebels at Xianhe Gate are just a feint. You attack immediately, defeat the rebels, and Zhang Guoliang will join me quickly.

Seeing that Xiaolingwei's camp was besieged, Pan An did not dare to neglect, leaving two thousand men to defend the green horse group, and personally led 6,000 soldiers and horses to attack the yellow horse group, hoping to open up contact with Zhang Guoliang.

Li Chun, who was lying in ambush in Linggu Temple, saw that the green horses were empty, and ordered his men to attack the green horses with torches. When the Qing soldiers saw that the camp was on fire, an unknown number of people came in and scrambled for their lives.

Pan An, who had just arrived at the Yellow Horse Group, received news that the Green Horse Group had been captured. He no longer thought about attacking the Yellow Horse Group and went directly around to Xianhemen.

Seeing that Pan An's army was advancing and retreating well, Shi Dakai did not dare to attack rashly. He contacted Li Xiucheng and asked him to continue to camp and besiege Xianhemen. Li Chunfa camped at Xiaoshuiguan to cut off the southward retreat of the Xianhemen defenders.

Shi Dakai led 5,000 people to join Li Yunzhong at Xiaolingwei.

Zeng Shuiyuan looked at the bunker city at the foot of Purple Mountain with a headache. Several consecutive attacks were repelled.
Chapter completed!