Unwilling to force the Anhui Taiping Army to sacrifice his life to fight, Wu Chaoyue quietly withdrew Liu Kun's first department, which had besieged Taihu County for nearly half a year, under the pretext of preventing the British and French fleets from going deep into the hinterland of the Central Plains, Wu Chaoyue secretly adjusted the combat strategy of the Hubei army in the hinterland of Jiangxi, and confronted the Taiping Army in Dongxiang and Jinxian on the front line from attacking to defending, quietly slowing down the pressure on the western front of the Taiping Army, and at the same time preserving its strength, it also allowed the Taiping Army to develop to the south and north with peace of mind. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The Manchu court did not notice these small actions of Wu Chaoyue, in fact, whether it was the Manchu court, the local governors and generals of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and even the Taiping army itself, all of them had no interest and time to care about such a trivial matter, and everyone's eyes had been focused on the Anglo-French fleet that was rampant north, watching every move of the Anglo-French alliance with different thoughts.

In the 21st century, the British and French armies, which were still among the five rogue troops, were almost invincible in the middle of the 19th century, and after categorically refusing to negotiate in Shanghai, the British army first went north and quickly captured Dalian Bay with a devastating momentum, and then the French army also quickly took Yantai, each established a military base to blockade the Bohai Sea, and cut off the sea transportation of the Manchu court. During this period, although the Chinese soldiers and civilians in Dalian and Yantai also rose up to resist, the disparity in strength was huge, and all resistance was like moths to a fire, and countless sacrifices did not play any role.

At the same time, the Xianfeng Emperor in Beijing was of course anxious to become an ant on a hot pot, and the civil and military officials were divided into two factions, the main battle and the main peace, each insisting on its own word, arguing endlessly, and arguing every day without any result.

The Lords and factions led by Zaiyuan and Mu Yin strongly advocated a negotiated settlement, and suggested that appropriate concessions should be made to the British and French forces, and that the incident should be ended through negotiations to avoid military conflict. Emperor Xianfeng himself was very inclined to this solution, but because the British and French forces insisted on refusing to revise any of the contents of the treaty proposed before and insisted on not making any concessions, Emperor Xianfeng could not accept it at all, and the negotiation of peace came to naught.

The main battle faction led by Seng Lingqin, Shengbao, and Ruilin strongly advocated promoting peace through war, and suggested that the British and French forces should be taught a heavy lesson first, and then force the foreigners to sit down and negotiate. Encouraged by the victory in the last battle of Dagukou, the monk who sat in the well and watched the sky even shouted the slogan of a decisive battle with the Anglo-French coalition army on land, and absolutely believed that the Manchu and Mongolian iron cavalry could easily defeat the Anglo-French army without war horses in the field battle, and among the Manchu court, it was believed that this was not a minority. - Of course, the monk is not completely wrong when he says this, at least the cavalry nemesis machine gun has not yet been invented.

Forced to be helpless, Emperor Xianfeng was no longer willing to fight and did not dare to fight, so he could only hastily appoint Seng Lingqin as the minister of the Qincha, and led a heavy army to fortify the area around Dagukou, ready to meet the attack of the British and French forces at any time. However, whether to fight or make peace, whether to insist on fighting to the end with the British and French forces, or to negotiate while fighting or directly seek peace and make concessions, Emperor Xianfeng could not make up his mind at all.

Probably blessed by the evil spirits of the eighth emperor of wild boar skin, when Emperor Xianfeng was at the extreme, the American minister Hua Ruohan and the Russian minister Ignatiev, who arrived in Bohai Bay, sent diplomatic notes one after another, expressing their willingness to act as a mediator between the Manchu court and the Anglo-French alliance to persuade the Anglo-French alliance to withdraw and return home. Emperor Xianfeng was overjoyed and agreed almost without hesitation to let Warrhohan and Ignatiev act as mediators, but did not pay the slightest attention to the trap that both Ignatiev and Warrhohan had left in their notes—demanding exactly the same privileges as in the new treaties between Britain and France.

To put it simply, no matter what the outcome of the negotiations between the British and French forces and the Manchu court was, the benefits obtained by Britain and France in the new treaty could be enjoyed equally by the United States and Tsarist Russia without spending a penny.

Of course, it cannot be said that the envoys of the United States and Tsarist Russia only want to take advantage of the situation and do not want to contribute, at least the envoy of Tsarist Russia Ignatiev has made a contribution -- during the landing negotiations, Ignatiev found that the Qing army was concentrating heavy troops on the line of Dagu and Tanggu, but took the initiative to abandon Beitang, another important military location, as if taking the wrong medicine, Ignatiev did not hesitate, and immediately secretly reported this important situation to the British and French forces, and suggested that the British and French troops land in Beitang and attack Dagu Pass by land and water. Open the waterway gateway to Beijing.

The reason for Mr. Ignatiev's doing this is also very simple, the worse the Anglo-French forces bullied the Manchu court, the greater the concessions made by the Manchu court at the negotiating table, and the greater the Chinese interests that Tsarist Russia could share, so Mr. Ignatiev naturally hoped to mediate the war as much as possible. -- When encountering such a wise and martial monarch as Emperor Xianfeng, Mr. Ignatiev was really sorry for the Russian Tsar Alexander II if he did not slaughter him severely.

Some Chinese mercenaries were sent ashore to reconnoitre, and found that the information reported by Ignatiev was correct, and the commanders of the Anglo-French forces, Ergin and Gro, did not hesitate at all, and immediately commanded the combined fleet to land in Beitang and establish a land base. The British and French armies of this era were able to fight, but they were not sure that they could easily repel the Qing army's charge and surprise attack when the formation was not strict enough.

From the beginning of the landing to the establishment of a strong position, there was not a single Qing soldier near Beitang, and the main force of the Qing army, numbering more than 40,000 people, had been standing still at the Dagu Pass. In this regard, Ergin and Gro breathed a sigh of relief, but inevitably had some doubts.

"Could it be that the army commander of the Qing State is an idiot? Don't even know how to catch a fighter? ”

…………

"Foreign devils, sure enough, they landed in Beitang!"

What Erjin and Ge Luo probably never dreamed of was that when they suspected that the Qing army's front-line commander Seng Greenqin was an idiot in Beitang, the monk Wang Ye sneered proudly in the main camp of Gegu behind Dagukou, and said even more proudly: "The foreign devil probably couldn't dream of it, Beitang is actually a flaw deliberately exposed by the king, and the king did not send an army to prevent them from getting off the boat, but he was also afraid of beating them away, and he didn't dare to go to the land to die!" ”

"The prince is clever, this plan is wonderful, the foreign devil ship is strong and the cannon is strong, we are not sure to kill the foreign devils, but on land, our Eight Banners Iron Horse guarantees that the foreign devils will die as many as they come!"

In addition to Shengbao, who has an enmity with the monk and the prince in the big tent of the Chinese army, none of the Manchurian generals are not flattering, and they are all confident in winning the land war, and even the governor of Zhili, Hengfu, can't help but pat his ass, "The monk and the king use soldiers, it is really comparable to Zhuge Wolong, a snake out of the hole will lead the foreign devil ashore, forcing the foreign devil to fight on the land, avoiding the enemy's length, attacking the enemy's short, it is really a wonderful strategy!" Brilliant idea! ”

The monk laughed, squinting his eyes and seeing that his former opponent Shengbao seemed to be disdainful, and did not laugh with other Manchurian generals to accompany him, the monk and the prince were a little unhappy in his heart, so he simply asked directly: "Why doesn't Shengdutong speak?" Could it be that Shengdutong thinks that there is something wrong with this king's plan to promote his strengths and avoid his weaknesses? ”

"How dare the last general?" Sheng Bao, who had already gone to Xinjiang to eat cantaloupe once, was polite and said: "The last general also thinks that the prince's plan to lure the snake out of the hole is wonderful, and the reason why the last general didn't speak just now was because he was worried about one thing. ”

"What are you worried about?" The monk asked proudly.

"I'm worried about the military food city." Sheng Bao replied very seriously: "The Military Grain City is the place where our army stores grain, and it is located in the north of the Haihe River. If there is a traitor who betrays the country and leaks this information to foreigners, I am afraid that foreigners will have bad intentions towards the military grain city. ”

Although he didn't like Shengbao very much, the monk still nodded and said: "It makes sense, the Manmeng soldiers are not afraid, they are afraid that some Han barbarians are greedy for life and afraid of death, and they tell the foreigners to betray the country for glory, and let the foreigners rob the grain that Su Zhongtang pulled out of the mouths of the banner people." ”

-- By the way, because the Cao Yun was cut off and the Jingcang was empty, Su Shun ignored the scolding and accusations of all the banner people, and had already cut down the hardcore crops of all the children of the Eight Banners, and used the food and military salaries to supply the front line.

"Don't worry, the prince." Shengbao got up and saluted without hesitation, knelt down on one knee to the monk and prince, clasped his hands into fists and said loudly: "The last general is brave, please lead an army to help defend the army grain city, if the army grain city is lost, beg to be beheaded!" ”

Seeing Shengbao kneeling down and asking for an order, the monk and prince, who had been forced to salute Shengbao more than once, were overjoyed, nodded without any hesitation and said: "Okay, you immediately lead the troops and horses of your headquarters to reinforce the military food city, and you must ensure the safety of the military food city!" ”

"Piercing!"

Katsuho received the order loudly, and after arching his hand again, he immediately got up and went out of the tent to carry out the order. As a result, when he saw the back of Shengbao leaving in a hurry, the monk suddenly woke up and said secretly: "That's not right! This dog slave is not so kind, this king has been fooled! This dog slave must be afraid that the old man will remember his former revenge, so he forced him to serve as a striker to fight hard with foreign devils, so he took the initiative to ask for an order to defend the army grain city, and did not give this king the opportunity to borrow a knife to kill. ”

After all, the monk is the monk and the prince, not the Shengbao and Wu Xiaocomprador who are full of chickens and dogs, even if they find out that they have been fooled, when the words have been spoken, the face-loving monk still did not call Shengbao back to take back his life. But fortunately, there are currently Han generals under the hands of the monk and the prince who can act as cannon fodder, and Shi Rongchun, the commander of Zhili, and Long Ruyuan, the co-leader of Dagu, who established miraculous feats in the last Dagukou battle, have long been placed in the forefront of Dagu and Tanggu respectively by the monk and the prince, with them in front, the monk and the prince do not worry about the main firepower of the foreigners on land and water when the battle is not fodder.

After the landing in Beitang, the Anglo-French forces did not immediately attack the Qing army, and Ruilin, who was transferred to the Ministry of Rites, still led Hengfu to continue to contact the Anglo-French forces and tried to end the incident through negotiations. However, due to the huge disparity in the terms offered by the two sides, the negotiations have never yielded any results. After pulling the skin for a while, the Anglo-French coalition army, which had completely lost patience, also directly issued an ultimatum to the Manchu court, demanding that the Manchu court unconditionally accept all their treaty demands within three days, otherwise they would attack the Qing army!

Worried that foreigners could do what they said, Ruilin and Hengfu could only inform the monk and prince to prepare for the battle, and at the same time use an expedited fast horse to warn Emperor Xianfeng. The monk did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly ordered to actively prepare for the war, and at the same time formulated a strategy of waiting for work, preparing to use Tanggu and Dagu as bait to attract the British and French allied forces to attack with all their might, and after the Anglo-French allied forces were blocked and the old man was tired, the monk and the prince personally led the Manchurian and Mongolian iron cavalry to attack the back of the Anglo-French allied army.

The capital not far away did not send the supreme instructions for a long time, but after the three-day deadline, the British and French troops did not hesitate to advance by sea and land, and together they attacked Tanggu, which was located north of the Haihe River. After the scout reported the news to the monk prince, the monk did not hesitate, and immediately ordered Shi Rongchun and Long Ruyuan to defend Tanggu and Dagu with all their might, and at any cost to hold back the British and French forces and create fighters for the Manchurian and Mongolian iron cavalry.

"Tanggu is here, Long Ruyuan's head is here! Tanggu is lost, Long Ruyuan's head is lost! Similarly, Dagu is here, Shi Rongchun's head is here! Dagu lost, Shi Rongchun's head lost! ”

After viciously giving the death order to the Han cannon fodder led by Shi Rongchun and Long Ruyuan, the monk and the prince immediately began to organize the Manchurian cavalry to prepare for the attack, but at this time, the capital suddenly sent a fast horse to send the highest instructions of the Xianfeng Emperor, and the monk and the prince hurriedly took it and opened it, and his face suddenly changed.

"Monk Wang, what's wrong? What does the master want us to do? ”

Hengfu and Qingqi and other civil and military officials inquired cautiously, and none of them were not worried that Emperor Xianfeng would force him to fight to the death with the foreigners. Fortunately, after a while, the monk gave a different answer with a gloomy face, and said: "The master wants us to lead the soldiers of the Eight Banners and the Manchurian and Mongolian cavalry to withdraw to Tianjin, so that the Zhili Green Battalion will continue to hold the Dagu Pass, only defend without fighting to avoid the enemy's edge, and also avoid the expansion of the conflict with the foreigners, and strive to appease the foreigners again." ”

"Master Shengming!" Hengfu took the lead in cheering, "Fighting hard with foreigners, whether it is victory or defeat, let's not talk about it, first of all, we will cut off the hope of appeasing foreign devils, it is better to avoid the enemy's edge, retreat first to avoid the expansion of the war, and then do things to appease foreigners, and strive for peace!" ”

"Master, Shengming! The Emperor Shengming! ”

The Eight Banners civil and military forces present were all smiling, and they were extremely convinced by Emperor Xianfeng's wise instructions. And after the expression on the monk's face changed for a long time, he finally gritted his teeth and said: "Order the whole army, pull out the camp and retreat!" ”

"Piercing!"

It was only after the Eight Banners who were present that they were neatly fighting thousands of soldiers that the monk turned his attention to the direction of Tanggu and Dagu, which were about to face a lonely battle, and said secretly in his heart: "What the master means, don't blame this king." Fortunately, there are not a few banner men there, all of them are Han barbarian green battalion soldiers. (To be continued.) )