Two cannons roared under the night sky, and gunpowder filled the smoke...

Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Army launched the most powerful crossing battle in history, dispatching more than 100,000 troops to secretly transfer thousands of warships from the Yellow River and Huai River, and small frigates purchased from merchants from Britain, France and other countries to participate in the war, with great momentum.

However, it was useless. After the East China Sea Fleet lifted the raid and siege of the British and French fleets, it quickly entered the Erdaojiang Battle and cooperated with the north and south of Chongming Island to launch a fierce attack on the Beiyang army that tried to cross the Yangtze River.

Dongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdongdong...

In the dark night, more than a dozen sail warships of the East China Sea Fleet opened fire violently, but rows of fires flashed, and shells roared in the blink of an eye, bombarding the Beiyang Army battlefield on the river.

Bang! Bang bang! Bang bang bang bang...

Water columns soared into the sky, and the warships hit instantly exploded, and a cloud of fiery red mushrooms rose.

In the face of modern firearms, the traditional Chinese naval warships are simply vulnerable.

The river surface was red, illuminating the sky. This time, the forced crossing of the Yangtze River made the Beiyang Army understand what the gap is.

On the front line of Haimen Hall, Li Hongzhang personally supervised the battle. He had already made his promise and had to defeat Li Weiguo, otherwise it would be his doomsday.

Of course, the premise is that the British and French coalition forces and the imperial army led by Yixin must cooperate and echo.

Unfortunately, Li Hongzhang did not know the news that the British and French fleet had failed to attack the East China Sea fleet. Otherwise, he would have left some help and would not have transferred all the navy warships to fight bloody battles.

This is also the pit dug by British and French commanders Klaus and Guzhuo for Li Hongzhang. Whether it is the court or Li Weiguo, as long as it consumes China's national strength, it will follow the core conspiracy of the British and French powers.

"Where did this warship come from? Didn't it mean that Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet was blocked by the British and French joint fleet and was wiped out at Nanmen Port?"

Old Li was in pain. Although his naval warships were large in number, unfortunately they were too small. The largest warship was only two or three hundred tons, and they were all made of wood. In the past, when fighting with the Taiping Navy, the opponent used solid iron shot put. The destructive power was limited. At most, a single shot would be pierced through a hole in the ship, and there would be no major casualties.

But now they are facing advanced artillery fire from the East China Sea Fleet. The opponent's shells are all flowering bullets with high explosion equivalent. A wooden warship hit by a shot is not just a hole, but it will explode in an instant, with amazing destructive power and even more amazing lethality. People around them are unable to escape.

This is still the lethality of small-caliber shells. When the East China Sea Fleet appeared with ten shallow-water heavy turret ironclad ships, the Beiyang Army's warships were even more affected. The power of the 305mm main gun was enough to severely damage thousands of tons of British and French ironclad ships, let alone hundreds of tons of wooden warships.

That kind of style is enough to make chrysanthemums fly all over the world.

"I have reported that the British and French fleets have withdrawn from Nanmen Port, and both sides have suffered losses. The British and French fleets retreated to the nearshore and are covering the British and French coalition forces to launch a ground offensive. They have captured the coastal defense of Chuanshakou, and a large-scale landing operation is underway. The commander of the British and French fleets asks the prince to step up the offensive and must maintain a strong offensive against Chongming Island to cover the British and French coalition forces to complete all landing operations."

When Li Hongzhang heard the report, he immediately cursed, "These dead foreigners are not doing their best in doing anything, they are so damn it's so damn!"

Qian Dingming, Xu Ting, Liu Hanfang, Wang Kaitai and other members of the staff were accompanying each other, and they did not say anything at this moment. The survivor was caught in a firearm and was scolded.

Especially Qian Dingming, who kept instigating Li Hongzhang to send troops to launch the battle of crossing the river, was now forced to intercept by the East China Sea Fleet and suffered heavy losses. He regretted it for a while.

If Qian Dingming doesn't speak, it doesn't mean that Li Hongzhang doesn't criticize him.

"Qian Dingming, do you think so?"

Qian Dingming smiled bitterly, and had to fight to the end, and replied: "Prince, it is impossible for you and Li Weiguo to reconcile. It must be a life-and-death ending. Since this is the case, you should not care about losses. Taking advantage of the successful landing of the British and French coalition forces in Chuansha, this is the only chance for the prince to turn the tables!"

This is a burning boat. After hearing this, Li Hongzhang's fists were clenched, proving that he had listened.

"But the East China Sea Fleet's strong ships and cannons are too fierce, and our army suffered heavy losses. If we fight like this, even if we cross the Yangtze River, more than half of the casualties will be killed or injured!"

Qian Dingming smiled and said, "Prince, you must drag the Regent into the water at this time!"

Li Hongzhang was stunned and asked back, "What do you mean?"

Qian Dingming smiled sinisterly and said, "The Regent has always wanted to sit in the mountains and watch the tiger fight and reap the benefits of the fisherman, but how can the prince make him happy? At this time, he must send troops. Once the navy army in Chongqing prefecture goes down the river, Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet will inevitably be unable to split, and it can also reduce the pressure on our army to cross the river."

Li Hongzhang nodded and agreed: "That's right, this old ghost Yixin wants to see this king's jokes, how can I do what he wants?"

Li Hongzhang turned to Xu Ting and said, "Send someone to inform Yi Xin quickly and tell him that if he doesn't send troops again, I will withdraw and stop serving him!"

Xu Ting immediately took the order and turned around and left.

Looking at Xu Ting's back, Qian Dingming smiled coldly. He didn't block it this time, and it was obviously because he had ulterior motives.

Shanghai, Empire State Building.

The telegram from the Intelligence Department kept ringing, and soon Li Jing handed it over to Li Weiguo with a secret report.

After seeing it, Li Weiguo frowned immediately.

"No. 4 said that he might have been exposed. The enemy deliberately asked him to give this message to me. He cannot judge whether the content is true or false, and it is still to be evaluated!"

Wu Yong, Chen Jingnan and others received the secret report and frowned.

Wu Yong said: "Yi Xin did not send troops immediately before. There are two purposes. One is to see how strong your Nanyang Army is, and to evaluate whether it can be determined in one battle. The second is to let the British and French coalition forces and Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Army fight with our army, with the intention of driving tigers and swallowing wolfs and watching tigers fight. Li Hongzhang miscalculated his calculations and our army ate 200,000 elite Beiyang Army. In addition, the British and French fleets were defeated before, which led to Yi Xin's belief that the prince was strong and could not win in one battle, so he retreated to the second best and watched the wall again, using Li Hongzhang and the British and French coalition forces to continue to weaken the prince's strength and wait for another chance to appear in the future."

Li Weiguodao: "That's right, the situation has changed now. If Yixin knew that the British and French forces successfully landed in Sichuan and Sha, Li Hongzhang forced his crossing of the Yangtze River and threatened that Yixin would give up the challenge if he didn't send troops, then Yixin would probably not be waiting."

Chen Jingnan stood up and said, "Since that's the case, I'm asking to order you to return to Wuchang immediately and prepare to fight against Yi Xin's army!"

Li Weiguo nodded and said, "You have to go back, but according to the judgment of No. 4, why did Qian Dingming deliberately leak the news?"

Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan were immediately in deep thought, and the other staff members immediately had an opportunity to discuss.

"This should be a conspiracy!"

"But it doesn't feel that it's very useful!"

"Can number 4 be too sensitive?"

"I don't think it's. No. 4 has been lurking for many years. His intuition is not wrong. It must be that we didn't expect it!"

Zhou Fu, who had not spoken, suddenly said: "No matter whether it is a conspiracy or a conspiracy, it is enough to grasp the key point."

Li Weiguo and others immediately looked at Zhou Fu, a counselor who was deceived by Li Weiguo with a strategy. He was unparalleled in wisdom. Unfortunately, just like Xu Shu entered Cao's camp, he kept silent in Li Weiguo's shogunate and did not offer any strategy.

Regarding Zhou Fu, Li Weiguo has always hated love, and he hates that he does not give advice for himself, but he also cherishes his talents and wants to take it for himself.

It has to be said that Li Weiguo already had the mind of a superior and looked at Cao Cao.

"Mr. Zhou Fu, please make it clear!"

For some reason, Zhou Fu sighed and seemed to figure it out, and said, "The prince was wise and powerful, but he was in the game, so he didn't notice it. In fact, no matter it was conspiracy, he had to focus on the focus of the war. The current focus was nothing more than the problem of distraction in the East China Sea Fleet. After being attacked by the British and French fleets, the main warships of the East China Sea Fleet lost more than half. If the fleet was transferred to Wuchang, the Haimen line of the Haimen was not enough to block the Beiyang Navy of Yan. If the fleet was not transferred to Wuchang, the regent's court naval army would suffer the benefits of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the defense line in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River collapsed in an instant. It is true that the prince's army was able to fight well, but the source of the troops in Huguang and the former former Hunan Army of Zeng Guofan was the former former subordinate of the Hunan Army. They did not surrender for a long time. Once any mistake occurred, the entire Hunan Army group would definitely turn against each other, so the prince had to send a fleet to Wuchang."

Li Weiguo frowned and said, "But in this way, if the Yangtze River estuary loses the protection of the navy, Li Hongzhang's army will inevitably cross the river. With the cooperation of the British and French fleets, it will inevitably pose a serious threat to my Jiangnan."

Zhou Fu smiled and said, "Does the prince have no confidence in the Nanyang Army?"

Li Weiguo smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that I have no confidence in the Nanyang Army, but that I don't want to move the war to Jiangnan. Jiangnan is the land that I have worked hard for more than ten years, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. If they are destroyed by the war, I will not be sorry."

Zhou Fu felt relieved when he heard this, and immediately bowed to Li Weiguo and said, "The prince loves the people as much as his son, and is a benevolent king who is not a worldly king. Zhou Fu is not talented, so he is willing to help the prince."

"Congratulations to the prince, Zhou Fu is enough to reconcile the world!" Wu Yong, Chen Jingnan and other aides were immediately overjoyed and congratulated Li Weiguo.

What's going on? I begged to persuade Zhou Fu to come back, but he was so hot that he was cold. Now he only said one thing that worried about the people could make Zhou Fu recognize his master.

Li Weiguo was stunned at first, then was overjoyed. He hurriedly stepped forward and helped Zhou Fu up, laughing loudly, almost making him feel so beautiful that he was so frothed.

Undoubtedly, Zhou Fu is a talented person, much more knowledgeable than Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan, and is unparalleled in wisdom. Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan have told Li Weiguo more than once. Unfortunately, Li Hongzhang failed to protect Zhou Fu and gave Li Weiguo a favor.

After a greeting, Li Weiguo quickly turned back to the topic and asked: "Zhou Fu, tell me quickly, how to solve this situation?"

Zhou Fu bowed and said, "Since the prince is unwilling to destroy people's livelihood, as long as the conspiracy against Li Hongzhang can it be defeated in one fell swoop?"

Calling Li Hongzhang's name directly has already shown Zhou Fu's attitude.

Li Weiguo glanced at Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan. Both of them said that this was Li Hongzhang's open conspiracy, but now Zhou Fu called it a conspiracy, which immediately aroused Li Weiguo's interest.

"What conspiracy, come on!"

Zhou Fu knew very politely and said again: "Report to the prince, I believe that Li Hongzhang deliberately leaked information, so he forced the prince to transfer the East China Sea Fleet into Wuchang. This is a plan to dig the tiger out of the mountain, but he must have expected that the prince could see through his plan to dig the tiger out of the mountain and would inevitably strengthen the defense of the Yangtze River Estuary. Then, next, Li Hongzhang would have to use a conspiracy to attack the east and west tactics. On the surface, he attacked Chongming Island, confirmed the previous plan to dig the tiger out of the mountain, so that the prince would be happy and relax his vigilance, but in fact, he would have to carry out a sneak attack from the front line of Jinling in secret."

Li Weiguo said curiously: "Why is it the front line of Jinling? Instead of Jiujiang or Anqing or other places?"

Zhou Fu smiled and said, "Because Li Hongzhang had sent 200,000 troops through Jinling once before, but the prince designed it to be completely wiped out. But Li Hongzhang was not an idiot, and he would definitely not believe in Wu Zhiqiang at the beginning. He would have left a backup plan in secret. Once Wu Zhiqiang changed, Ding Richang immediately used 200,000 troops to wipe out. Unfortunately, Ding Richang crossed the river that day and was wiped out, without 200,000 troops. This caught Li Hongzhang off guard. The secret trick was not enough to start, so he hid it and waited for the next opportunity."

The conference room suddenly became quiet, and this inference was a bit incredible, but Li Weiguo knew that this was definitely not sensational, because if it were Li Weiguo himself, he would have left a backup plan.

"Wu Yong, are you responsible for Jinling? Is there anything suspicious about it?"

Wu Yong had a bitter face. This really caused him a problem. No one wanted to have problems in the area he was responsible for, but he had clearly begun to doubt it when he heard Li Weiguo's tone.

Wu Yong racked his brains and recalled them as much as possible, but in the end he shook his head, really unable to think of any suspicious things.

Li Weiguo turned to Zhou Fu again.

Zhou Fu then reminded Wu Yong: "Does Lord Wu remember Guo Dingxing, a Taoist in Jiangning?"

Wu Yong nodded and said, "There is nothing suspicious about this person? When Li Hongzhang sent someone to cross the river to contact the dog son secretly, Guo Dingxing was the first to stand up and oppose him. He was very loyal to the prince."

Zhou Fu smiled immediately, shook his head, and said, "Mr. Wu is probably cheated by Guo Dingxing. This person is very scheming. If he keeps silent, it means that he is at least loyal to the prince and wants to be a fence-bearer. But he jumped out to oppose Wu Zhiqiang's surrender to Li Hongzhang, which is definitely a show for you to show. The purpose is to gain your trust, because Guo Dingxing's father is close friends with Li Hongzhang's father, and Guo Dingxing's daughter has long been pointing out to marry Li Hongzhang's son. Few people know this. When Guo Dingxing defected to the prince, he was afraid that he had made an agreement with Li Hongzhang to lurk in the prince's camp, just like the prince sent someone to lurk in Li Hongzhang's camp, and he would not use a secret chess until the critical moment."

Wu Yong was also a smart person and immediately realized: "If something goes wrong, there will be a demon. Although Guo Dingxing is talented, he has always been low-key in his work. When he was the first to stand up to oppose the dog, I was deceived by his appearance. Now when I think about it, I was immediately scared. If our army had not destroyed Ding Richang's army with thunder, I would have probably turned against him. After all, when he saw me, he would have understood that all this was fake and he would have notified Li Hongzhang, but it was not too late."

Li Weiguo suddenly laughed and said, "It's interesting. The last time I had killed Li Hongzhang's 220,000 troops in Jinling, Li Hongzhang was not willing to give up. This time I plan to play in Jinling again. Since that's the case, I'll trap him in Jinling again. I just don't know if Li Hongzhang was cheated by me in the same place twice. Will he be so angry that he suddenly turned off his braids?"

"Ha ha!"
Chapter completed!