The mouth of the Yangtze River, the Great Thorn Ocean.

The sea was filled with thousands of ships, large and small, carrying a steady stream of British and French soldiers ashore.

In the distance, hundreds of Anglo-French warships were on guard.

At this time, more than a dozen British warships flying the rice flag and the French warships flying the tricolor flag galloped out from the mouth of the Yangtze River, and the formation was very chaotic, looking like they were fleeing for their lives.

"What's going on? Isn't that the fleet under Admiral White? ”

"It seems to be under attack, report it to His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief!"

Soon, Ergin and Glo received their respective reports, and the two quickly gathered on deck.

"Didn't see White's flagship, the USS George!"

"Where's White? Go ask, now! Right away! ”

Ergin roared, and the British officers around him lay down their guns and hurried to investigate.

Soon, the results of the investigation came out, and the captains of several British and French warships who had fled back learned what had happened.

"What? Attacked by water radium again? ”

"Haven't we cracked it yet? Destroy their water radium with fishing nets! ”

"No, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, this time is different. Their radium was no longer fixed in the water, but floated down the Yangtze River and hit our battleship head-on. ”

"A large amount of radium floated down from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, covering the entire Yangtze River, and we could not move forward, so we had to withdraw."

"The battleship George accidentally ran aground, as if it was stranded!"

Ergin suddenly became angry and scolded: "Then why don't you bring him back, if he is captured, do you know what the consequences will be?" ”

He naturally refers to Brigadier General White, as a general of the British Royal Navy, if White is captured, then he will be the first British general to be captured since the start of the war, which is undoubtedly a slap in the face for the British Empire. It's a huge shame.

"Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief is angry, and I will send a warship to save General White!"

"No need!" Ergin waved his hand and stopped: "It's too late to go now, White is a guy who is afraid of death, and he must have been captured."

"White's foolish command has cost the death of two advanced French warships, more than a thousand sailors and more than eight hundred marines, and he must be held accountable, even if he has become a prisoner of the enemy."

The capture of a British brigadier general was probably the happiest news Gro had ever heard, and he did not want to fall into the trap all the time. Even the sacrifice of so many French officers and soldiers could not stop him.

Ergin was almost spat blood from Gro's words, and if it weren't for the alliance between Britain and France, he would have kicked Glo and smashed his mouth immediately.

"Now is not the time to be held responsible, the real purpose of the White fleet entering the Yangtze River, I'm afraid Li Weiguo already knows it at this moment!"

"What if you know?"

Ge Luo asked rhetorically, not caring at all, and sneered: "Li Weiguo didn't dare to let his East China Sea Fleet go into battle at all, and only relied on water radium to block our warships. ”

"The problem is that Li Weiguo's tactics have succeeded. What can we do with an unrivaled fleet? Ergin asked rhetorically.

"Why don't you put the wheels on our ships and we go to land? The custody beat Li Weiguo all over the place to find teeth! Glo suddenly laughed with a big smile.

Ergin immediately rolled his eyes and said seriously: "I admit that you have a good sense of humor, but this joke is not funny at all. ”

"Okay. Let's get down to business, what are you going to do? Glo asked, spreading her hands.

Ergin sighed and said, "What else can I do?" By this time. We have to fight a decisive battle, because we can't afford it. ”

Glo said with a bitter face: "After the first battle of Dinghai, the battle loss ratio between the enemy and us was as high as 1 to 10. The morale of our army is low, and Li Weiguo's Shanghai army is said to have a total strength of 200,000 troops, and we only have 150,000 or 60,000 troops, so I am afraid it will be difficult to defeat the other side. ”

Ergin replied: "Although the battle loss ratio in the first battle of Dinghai is as high as 1 to 10, don't forget that I am fighting a tough battle, and it is understandable and acceptable to pay a huge battle loss ratio." If it were to be used in the field, I don't think the Shanghai army would still be so strong. Besides, although the Shanghai army has 200,000 troops, the Shanghai army has a lot to defend, and they have to guard against both the Taiping army and other Qing troops, so Li Weiguo will not be able to mobilize more than 100,000 troops to fight us. We still have 150,000 or 60,000 troops, and I have confidence, so please believe in your French army too, okay? ”

"Okay, I'll admit I've been persuaded by you again." Ge Luo nodded and said, "However, we can't fully trust Li Weiguo, he may not really rebel, so we still propose that after this decisive battle, regardless of victory or defeat, we will go north to capture Beijing." Even if Li Weiguo really rebelled, and we helped him, at least we captured the capital of their country, and it didn't matter how many times we failed. In addition, I heard that the emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty is very rich, there are royal gardens in the western suburbs of Beijing, there are countless treasures in them, we can seize them, there are millions of bannermen in Beijing, they have looted the wealth created by hundreds of millions of Han people, as long as they occupy Beijing, these riches are enough to make up for all our losses, and they can also gag the mouths of those old guys in your two countries, and we in the province were sent to military court by them after returning to China. ”

"That's right! Those old guys only recognize money, and if you give them enough money, they won't embarrass me! Ergin was surprised, then ecstatic, and said excitedly: "Although your military ability is terrible, your political ability is absolutely explosive." ”

"Are you complimenting me?" Gro asked rhetorically.

"Of course, I've been adoring you!" Erjin smiled mischievously.

Shanghai, the headquarters of the Shanghai Army, was also very happy when Li Weiguo learned that the patrol battalion of the Shanghai Army had released Radium on the Yangtze River and severely damaged the fleet of the British and French forces.

What made Li Weiguo even happier was that the battleship George ran aground on the rocks, and the British commander, Brigadier General White, surrendered.

"This is the first time a big girl has been in a sedan chair!" Li Weiguo suddenly said excitedly.

"Congratulations to the Lord, you have captured a British general, and you have killed the sacrificial flag just before the decisive battle, which will definitely greatly boost the morale of our Shanghai army!"

"yes, that's a great idea!"

"I support it too!"

A cadre of staff members expressed their opinions one after another, and almost all agreed with the killing of White to sacrifice the flag and boost the morale of the Shanghai army.

However, only Li Hongzao objected, and he proposed: "Do you know Ye Mingchen, the former governor of Liangguang? ”

Li Weiguo nodded, he still had a trace of admiration for Ye Mingchen. This Ye Mingchen was captured in the Second Opium @ War, and he called himself "Su Wu on the sea". Known as the Governor of the Six Nos, he "does not fight, does not make peace, does not defend, does not die, does not surrender, and does not leave", and has brought the essence of China's 5,000-year-old officialdom to the extreme, to the point where there is no one before or since.

I only heard Li Hongzao say: "Ye Mingchen's official residence is a product, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, countless protégés and former officials, and his status in the government and the opposition is prominent. Now that Ye Mingchen has been captured by the British and French forces, if the adults can use General White and the British to exchange Ye Mingchen for Ye Mingchen, he will definitely get the favor of a considerable number of people in the government and the opposition. This will play a very important role in the future of the adults to lead the civil and military officials. ”

Wu Yong suddenly said loudly: "What a Li Hongzao, he really thinks long-term." We are all thinking about the war in front of us, but he Li Hongzao is already worried about our adults winning the Forbidden City in the future, high, really high, I Wu Yong admires! ”

"It's just worrying about the Lord, Chief of Staff Wu is polite!" Li Hongzao hurriedly replied modestly, and at the same time glanced at Li Weiguo, waiting for him to decide.

Li Weiguo knew it very well in his heart. The rule of the Qing Dynasty has been deeply rooted for a long time, and the common people of the world have long been accustomed to being slaves, and it is not possible to change their minds overnight. It is important to know that the insightful people in the country began to seek the revolutionary road after the Opium War in 1840, but did not succeed until 1911. This illustrates the fact that the Manchu Qing Dynasty, although decaying, emaciated camels were larger than horses, and their influence on the Han people was so profound that it was rare in the world. The most typical example is that the Han landlord armed forces such as Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang obviously had enough strength to overthrow the Manchu rule, but they were still willing to be slaves.

This is the issue of servility, more than two hundred years of servility since the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The poison is very deep.

Although Li Weiguo had already imperceptibly begun to eliminate the servile thinking of the Han people towards the Manchus in the territory under his rule, and had achieved very good results in the past seven or eight years, if Li Weiguo suddenly said that he would rebel and overthrow the Manchus and liberate the Han people, in addition to the Shanghai military clique and the whole group would inevitably support him, some enlightened people and ordinary people in Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang Province would also support him, but the first Han people to jump out against Li Weiguo must be Li Weiguo's father, who was a pure old feudal stubborn and unreasonable.

Even his own father is against it, so you can imagine how many people in the world will oppose him if Li Weiguo rebels. At least the people in the territory of the other eight governors and three generals are unlikely to support Li Weiguo.

For this point, Li Weiguo is more clear, as long as you think about the situation when the Red Army was just founded, you can understand, saying that the Red Army red-haired cannibalistic people will believe it, and that is still the republican era after 1927, and it is only 1860 now, it is conceivable that if Li Weiguo rebels, the court says that Li Weiguo's Shanghai army is the devil, and it is estimated that the common people will believe it.

This is the national situation, a threshold that cannot be bypassed.

Li Weiguo has been thinking about this issue for a long time, and now Li Hongzao suddenly reminded him in a sentence that if he can win the support of some government and opposition forces, I believe that Li Weiguo's current situation will be better. After all, the Sushun faction in the court is now powerful and is Li Weiguo's sworn enemy, although Lan Guifei and Yixin support Li Weiguo, but if Li Weiguo rebels, they will definitely not help, and will even unite with Sushun.

Chen Jingnan saw Li Weiguo's thoughts, and suddenly said: "Killing White can certainly boost the morale of the Shanghai army, but it doesn't hurt if you don't kill him, and the morale of the Shanghai army will not be affected much." But if Ye Mingchen can be replaced, the connections of the governor of Liangguang should not be underestimated, whether it is to support the lord in the court, the border of Liangjiang is close to our territory, and the lord will send troops to Liangguang in the future, and the resistance will definitely be much smaller, and it may not even cost a soldier. ”

Li Weiguo then asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Chen Jingnan then bowed down and said: "I seconded Lord Li Hongzao's words, and agreed to exchange White for Ye Mingchen, please Lord Mingjian!" ”

Li Weiguo nodded slightly, turned to the others, and asked: "I am very democratic, let's express our position, the minority obeys the majority!" ”

Wu Yong and the others glanced at each other, and they all smiled helplessly, saying in their hearts that their lords would not be democratic, and they had clearly agreed to exchange White for Ye Mingchen, but they still had to ask the big guys what they meant.

What does it mean? Oppose?

No, then the Lord will soon put little shoes on them!

"I'll second! Support the exchange of White for Ye Mingchen! ”

"I'll second!"

Everyone is doing the work of the staff, and no one is a fool, so it is natural to support their master in unison at this time.

Li Weiguo was immediately overjoyed and said, "Since you all think so, then do what everyone wants." Li Hongzao, you are in charge of this. ”

"Yes!" Li Hongzao suddenly received the order, and his heart blossomed, which can be regarded as a great contribution in front of Li Weiguo.

Soon, Li Weiguo sent a special envoy to the camp of the Anglo-French alliance in Chuansha, and proposed in person that he would exchange White for Ye Mingchen.

Although Elgin hated White as a prisoner the most, he had to admit that White was very backstaged, and if he knew that Elgin did not agree to exchange prisoners, I am afraid that after the war, the first person to put on Elgin's small shoes must be White.

Erjin had no choice but to agree to Li Weiguo's conditions and promised to exchange Ye Mingchen for White.

Of course, during the negotiations, Glo had always objected to replacing Ye Mingchen for White, but in the end he still disagreed, but Ergin chose to agree.

However, Ye Mingchen has been taken to Calcutta, India, and will not be able to return at all in a few months.

Fortunately, Li Weiguo is not in a hurry, as long as Erjin nods and agrees, it doesn't matter when Ye Mingchen will come back.

The time for the decisive battle soon came, and the main forces of the British and French forces all completed the landing, and the original plan was to land with 150,000 people, but after the defeat in the first battle at the mouth of the Yangtze River, many troop carriers were sunk, losing more than 4,000 people, and the remaining 15,000 people were all incorporated into the reserve.

In this way, the Anglo-French army had a frontal force of 100,000 troops and a reserve of 65,000 men.

Ergin is undoubtedly cheating, but war is like this, it does not pay attention to fairness or fairness, only to see the result.

Li Weiguo could also cheat, but he didn't do that, because the Shanghai army was not only an enemy of the British and French alliances, but also millions of Taiping troops, as well as hundreds of thousands of Li Hongzhang's Huai army and Zeng Guofan's Hunan army who were eyeing Jiangnan in Jiangbei, and Xianfeng was suspicious of Li Weiguo again, so that the Qing army in Fujian and Liangguang also began to be vigilant against Li Weiguo, and these forces may suddenly drive their troops into Jiangnan and Zhejiang at a critical moment to grab Li Weiguo's territory, so Li Weiguo had to be on guard, Tens of thousands of Shanghai troops had to be mobilized to defend themselves.

At the same time, the fourth town of the Shanghai army went north, so that the Shanghai army troops guarding Jiangnan Province and Zhejiang Province were removed, and the Shanghai army troops that could be mobilized in Li Weiguo's hands were only seven towns, but all of them were the most elite A regiments.

On Friday, May 14, 1860, it was cloudy and rainy.

According to the decisive battle agreement between Li Weiguo and Erjin, the Shanghai army deployed the main force of seven towns, about 92,000 people, 756 59-type infantry guns, and a garrison brigade of Chuansha Hall Town, about 7,000 people, mainly artillery, and a total of 420 British-made 6-pounder, 12-pounder, 24-pounder, and 36-pounder guns.

The Anglo-French forces assembled on the front line of the Yunyan River, with a total strength of 165,000 men and a total of 916 guns of 6-, 12-, 24-, and 36-pounder.

This is the largest battle between the Eastern and Western worlds since the Mengyuan era 600 years ago, and it is destined to go down in history as a battle for the living space of the nation. (To be continued......)