Unknown to know that Xuzhou would be quickly captured, Emperor Xianfeng asked Hubei to send troops westward to surround Wei to rescue Zhao to alleviate the Xuzhou crisis, which once gave Wu Chaoyue a big problem and could not be able to hand in the office without sending troops. If the troops were sent, it would likely cause misunderstandings from the Taiping Army, resulting in the current confrontation situation across the lake being broken, completely disrupting Wu Chaoyue's established deployment.

But we cannot help but give Wild Boar Skin Ninth Generation an explanation. Without any choice, Wu Chaoyue could only take out the secret skills of countless Qing officials in the officialdom! While patting his chest and promising to send troops as soon as possible, he was slow to make arrangements and prepare, preparing to use the last method to besiege Taihu County and hand in the Qing court to the Qing court. At the same time, he went to the front line of Jiujiang, asking Jiujiang garrison to strengthen combat preparations and create the illusion of preparing to advance eastward to cover the mainland army to attack Taihu again.

Wu Chaoyue didn't expect that his order would bring another scolding from Zuo Zongtang. Moreover, Zuo Zongtang cursed in front of Yang Wending, Cao Yanzhong, Du Xinga and others in Jiujiang's civil and military affairs, "Pig head! Pure pig head! A feint attack on the water and sneak attack on the land. Changmao had already suffered a loss last time. How could he be fooled this time?"

"Even if Changmao is all a group of pigs, you have to strengthen Taihu's defense in advance this time, right? Taihu City is surrounded by water on all sides. If you can't succeed in the first sneak attack, you will never have a second chance. How come you don't even understand such a simple truth?"

He had long been accustomed to Zuo Zongtang's arrogant personality. Of course, Cao Yanzhong, Du Xinga, Bao Chao and others didn't say anything. He was not surprised. Yang Wending could only continue his usual habits and smiled, saying: "Mr. Ji Gao, don't blame him. Weiting had no choice. The emperor asked him to send troops. His navy had just changed his clothes and could not form combat power. It was really embarrassing to launch a large-scale attack from the water, so he had no choice but to continue to attack on the land."

"If you want to preserve your strength, just say it directly, don't find so many high-sounding excuses!" Zuo Zongtang pointed out bluntly: "Even if the three newly bought cannon ships cannot be put into battle for the time being, if the Hubei Navy really takes a big move, even if it is not sure to win in front of the main force of the Changmao Navy, at least it will have a great advantage!"

"Mr. Ji Gao, I have to shout for Wu Futai's fault." Cao Yanzhong couldn't listen and interrupted, "Mr. Ji Gao, you have never been on a foreign steamboat. I don't know how complicated the structure is and how difficult it is to practice sailors."

"Previously, the Hubei Navy's steam gunships were insufficient, so the sailors could only take turns to board the ship for training in batches. This would finally buy three good ships. The sailor organization must be based on the old and lead the new. It requires sufficient time to train and be familiar with the ships. At this time, all experienced old sailors will be sent to the front line to participate in the war. This will not only delay the time for the new main warships to form a military force, but also may lose countless precious steam gunship sailors. Those people are treasures that Wu Futai piled with silver and coal, and there are not many technical soldiers in the entire Qing Dynasty."

"And," Cao Yanzhong added, "especially our navy has to take an offensive. Changmao has followed our example of building a large number of solid turrets in Shizhong Mountain, Hukou, and the capped turret learned from foreigners, so that the steam gunship can attack Changmao's Hukou defense line head-on, and our losses will definitely not be small."

After being crazy, Zuo Zongtang was reasonable at least. He felt that Cao Yanzhong's defense was reasonable, so he closed his mouth and stopped revealing Wu Chaoyue's shortcomings. However, Du Xing'a on the other side disagreed and said, "Although General Cao's words make sense, I think the defense line of Changmao may not be as difficult as you are worried about. The Changmao's fortress is solid. If the navy can send your mainland army to the other side of Poyang Lake, it is absolutely no problem to take down the Changmao's fortress on land."

"But the question is, how do we cross the lake?" Cao Yanzhong spread his hands and asked, "The main force of Changmao's navy is stationed in Hukou, and there are forts on the shore. How confident is our troop transport ship to successfully cross the lake and land?"

"The biggest reliance of the Longmao Navy is the two steamships. If we can kill these two steamships first, the Hubei Navy will not need to dispatch them all. It only needs to dispatch those three small steamships, which is enough to obtain the right to control the river in Hukou."

Du Xinga said in a deep voice: "At that time, our troop transport ships can easily cross the lake with the cover of the superior navy. As long as we take down the long-haired shore fortress, we want to clean up the long-haired navy's main force, it will be easy!"

"Then how can we kill the two steam gun ships with long hair?" Cao Yanzhong asked again: "The two steam gun ships with long hair are far above any of our Jiujiang Navy's ships with long hair on the battlefield. On the battlefield, the two steam gun ships with long hair do not need to fire. The waves brought by acceleration are enough to directly overturn the sampan. How can it be dried up?"

"We are not opponents on the front battlefield, but it does not mean we have no choice." Du Xing'a said confidently: "Did you forget? When the pseudo-wing king Shi Dakai was in Hukou, he was not as good as the Hunan Navy of Zengbutang, regardless of the number or quality of the ships, but he still defeated the main force of Zengbutang's navy to almost wipe out all the troops?"

"General Du, what do you mean is a sneak attack?"

Cao Yanzhong finally understood Du Xing's plan. Du Xing'er nodded vigorously and said in a deep voice: "We are in the upper reaches and it is convenient to send troops. It is already late autumn and the north wind is getting more and more. The wind direction is beneficial to us. Long-haired steamships cannot stay on the water to prepare for war. We only need to seize the opportunity of the long-haired steamships returning to the port to moor, and take advantage of the wind direction and water flow, and use the sampan and fast ships to bring fire-driven things to the long-haired port. There may not be no hope of burning the long-haired steamships."

Yang Wending, Zuo Zongtang and others were silent, but Cao Yanzhong said: "It's just hope, but it's not sure. If the sneak attack fails, it will be difficult for our raid team to come back."

"There is no absolute battle in the world, as long as there is hope." Du Xing'a admitted that he was not very sure, and then turned to Yang Wending and asked, "Master Yang, I wonder what you mean?"

"This..." Yang Wending hesitated and said, "It's better to be cautious and cautious. It's better to fight less if you are not sure. Moreover, the navy fleet under my command is weak and cannot launch such a sneak attack."

Du Xing'a didn't say anything, Yang Wending quickly changed the subject and told him to act according to Wu Chaoyue's orders, and then announced the end of the meeting. As a result, it was only after everyone left that Zuo Zongtang asked Yang Wending: "Yang Fantai, why didn't you explicitly prohibit Du Xing'a from doing that? What if he acted without authorization?"

"General Du is the general of the Hubei Navy, and I am the governor of Jiangxi, so I have no right to order him." Yang Wending replied hummingly.

"Then why don't you remind him, it's better not to take risks without authorization? Use the lives of soldiers as a joke?" Zuo Zongtang asked again: "Can't you see that? After losing the official position of Hubei Admiral, Du Xing'a has been holding a fire in his heart and always wants to avenge him?"

"Mr. Ji Gao, why don't you remind General Du?" Yang Wending asked back, and smiled and said, "In the army, the weight of your speech is heavier than me, why did you forget to remind me?"

Zuo Zongtang was speechless and said sarcastically after a while: "No wonder he became the governor of Jiangsu in the peaceful years. He really saw through it. Someone took the blame for something, and he got the credit for it. Of course, you would like to wish for such a good thing, Mr. Yang, the better."

"Everyone is a feather for each other," Yang Wending replied with a smile.

Zuo Zongtang said nothing again, and after a while, he said, "I, Zuo Zongtang, accidentally chose the wall, and I was considered to be ruined by you."

It was not yet three days since the incident happened. On the third night, Du Xinga, who had already been snatched away by the kingdom, could not hold back his anger. In order to avenge revenge and to win back face, without being directly controlled by Yang Wending, he took advantage of the favorable wind direction and returned to the port for the night with the Taiping Steam Cannon, Du Xinga organized a naval suicide squad composed of fifty military sampans and 300 soldiers. He suddenly left the port under the night, carrying rocket spray cans and a small amount of bitter grenades to kill Shi Zhongshan, targeting the lifeline of the Taiping Navy's steam cannon.

Unfortunately, the almost successful sneak attack plan was destroyed by the wind direction that had not yet been stabilized. Under the leadership of Duxing Abe general Wu Guo, the Hubei Navy's suicide squad had secretly crossed the bamboo cable defense line set up by the Taiping Army between Shizhongshan and Zhangjiazhou. However, just as it was about to approach the Taiping Army Navy camp, the sudden change of wind direction made the Wuguo fleet lose its speed advantage and could not directly rush into the Taiping Army port and set fire. It was entirely due to manpower to drive the boat and charge, so it was naturally quickly discovered by the Taiping Army's naval patrol fleet.

Then of course everything was over. The Taiping Army patrol fleet immediately sounded the gong and called the police. The night fleet rushed to fight. Even if it was caught off guard, it quickly entangled the Wuguo fleet with its number advantage, and did not give the Hubei Navy Death Squad the opportunity to get close to the steam gunship and set fire to the ship. As more and more ships of the Taiping Army leaving the port to fight, and two steam gunships quickly left the port to prepare for war, the Wuguo fleet had only the choice of rushing to escape.

What's worse is still behind. Wei Jun, the experienced Taiping Navy General, expected that Du Xing'a would have to be able to respond. He immediately ordered the steam gunship to sail upstream at full speed and intercept Du Xing'a's rear army. He only used a sufficient number of sampan fleets to deal with the main suicide squad of Hubei Navy. The main force went west to help the steam gunship. As a result, when the Taiping Army steamship, which had an absolute advantage in speed and tonnage, came to the front, the rear army arranged by Du Xing'a was of course defeated.

In the end, less than a hundred people came back from the 300 suicide squads, including Wu Guo, who were killed in the melee. The rear army led by Liu Liansheng also fled back to the north gate of Jiujiang to obtain protection from the fort. The Taiping Navy made a lot of gains and snatched two of the Qing army's towed ships.

Although Yang Wending and Zuo Zongtang were both quite conscient and did not condemn Du Xing'a's crime of sending troops privately, he also comforted Du Xinga saying that victory and defeat were just common matters in military affairs. However, Du Xinga, who was straightforward, still honestly wrote a letter to apologize to Wu Chaoyue, and begged Wu Chaoyue, who temporarily acted as the admiral of Huguang, to be transferred to the Lu Division as soon as possible. Even if he was willing to be a deputy general and general, Du Xinga was really unconfidant in fighting the waters. To be honest, when Hua Lao Fox forced the Hubei Navy to Du Xinga, he was indeed a random matchmaking game and was a mess of people. If Du Xinga had to take the army and cavalry, Du Xinga would never have been embarrassed to lose two battles in front of the Taiping Army.

A large part of the reason is that he lost in luck. Of course, Wu Chaoyue would not deal with Du Xing'a for this defeat that did not hurt his bones. On the contrary, Du Xing'a's defeat gave Wu Chaoyue an excuse to Emperor Xianfeng. It was not that I didn't fight, but that Changmao was too powerful to defeat. So in addition to replying to the book to comfort Du Xing'a, Wu Chaoyue also seriously considered how to re-appoint Du Xing'a, so that Du Xing'a could not play the role of the director of the land war, and also took the opportunity to recover the power of the Hubei Navy, which was not too poor.

"It is definitely not enough to put Du Xing'a on the northern line. What about putting it on the front line of Jiangxi? It seems that something is wrong. If he refuses to support me when I raise an army, Ma Xiuru will also cause trouble. With the financial support of half of Jiangxi, a strong enemy will immediately emerge under my nose. Hunan..., Anhui..."

While carefully planning how to place Du Xing'a, a banner general who was not a Manchu, suddenly came from outside the door. When Wu Chaoyue ordered the summons, Zhang Dejian quickly came to Wu Chaoyue with a summary of intelligence, and saluted and said: "Reported to Master Futai, there are unconfirmed folk rumors. A thief change broke out suddenly in Zhaotong, Yunnan. The thief leader Li Baantata led the crowd to cut his braids and raise his hair, gathered tens of thousands of people to attack Sichuan, conquering many Sichuan Xuzhou prefectures, including Yunlian and Gaoxian, and defeated the official army sected by Sichuan, and expanded the thief's power to tens of thousands of people. He is currently besieging Yibin."

"Impossible?" Wu Chaoyue asked in surprise: "The thief has become so big, why don't you inform us of any news about Youfeng and Youjunmen?"

"I don't know the reason." Zhang Dejian replied in a deep voice: "But affected by this rumor, the salt prices in Hubei Province, Hanyang and Hankou have soared together. Some illegal businessmen have begun to garrison salt. It is recommended that Futai University pay attention to it to avoid a shortage of salt in Huguang and affecting military supplies and people's livelihood."

Affected by the destruction of the war, Hubei had long been unable to eat Huai and Zhejiang salt. Yibin was not far from Sichuan's major salt wells, which was related to the supply of salt from Huguang and Guang and even Jiangxi. Of course, Wu Chaoyue did not dare to ignore this issue. After quickly taking the summary of the information collected by Zhang Dejian, he saw that most of the information was provided by merchants who came to Hubei to do business from Sichuan, which seemed to be true. Wu Chaoyue was even more surprised when he saw it, and he said intimately: "Strange thing, such a big thing happened in southern Sichuan, and it has directly threatened the largest wallet Zigong Salt Field in Sichuan. Why has Youfeng, who acted as the governor of Sichuan, not given me any news? Could it be..."

After slapping his forehead, Wu Chaoyue suddenly woke up because Wu Chaoyue suddenly remembered an important question. At present, the governor of the Sichuan Province of the Qing Dynasty was the Chengdu General Youfeng temporarily acting. In the case where the governors of each province were actually the local emperors of the province, the life of Youfeng and the military gate would certainly not put on his face. The Qing court asked him to hand over the throne of the Sichuan Emperor. So unless the Yunnan Uprising Army really allowed the Sichuan salt field to be captured and affected the salt supply in Huguang and Yunnan, if there was a military gate, it would be possible to cover it if it could be hidden.

After understanding this truth, Wu Chaoyue was of course immediately targeting the actual lack of the Sichuan Governor, and immediately thought of the candidate for the White Gloves who occupied the Kingdom of Heavenly Mansion for him, and said to himself: "Grandpa Yang, it would be a good thing that you could not be the Emperor of Jiangxi before. In view of Yuru being beautiful and virtuous, I will help you become the Emperor of Sichuan. This time I will never miss it again no matter what."

After making up his mind, Wu Chaoyue immediately ordered Zhang Dejian to select capable spies, disguised as merchants and rushed to Sichuan Salt Farm to collect front-line intelligence, and at the same time strengthened the collection of relevant information on Sichuan Salt Farm. He also asked the master to write official documents and sent them to Chengdu through the post station to contact the acting governor of Sichuan Youfeng, and asked him to question the authenticity of the Hubei folk rumors.

Relying on the fast and convenient Yangtze River shipping, the news that the Yunnan thief army was besieging the important town of Yibin was soon confirmed. It was confirmed that the Sichuan salt merchants who came to Hubei to take refuge directly brought accurate information. They reported many important situations about the Yunnan thief army to Wu Chaoyue, who had a poor history, so that Wu Chaoyue knew that the thief army had three major leaders, namely Li Paota, Lan Dashun and Lan Ershun. It also made Wu Chaoyue know that a fact existed joke. After the prefect of the Xuzhou Province tried to bribe Li Paota with 100,000 taels of silver after being surrounded by Yibin, he actually tried to bribe Li Paota with 100,000 taels of silver to surrender, but was flatly rejected by Li Paota.

"The more incompetent you are, the better. The more you have a military sect, the better you hide it." While laughing secretly, Wu Chaoyue couldn't help but rub his hands with excitement, "The Kingdom of Heavenly Mansion, the salt well money bag, if I can take this opportunity to directly take it down in one breath, my rear will be much more compact." (To be continued.).
Chapter completed!