10 miles north of Hanoi, is a slope backed by a low mountain, at the bottom of the slope halfway up, is a rather dilapidated mountain temple, from the mountain temple down, the distance is the official road from Hanoi to Shanxi, so Ouyang Qing, an intelligence officer in charge of the first battalion of Zhou Ruidong stationed in Hanoi, chose this place as the intelligence point of this operation.

He looked carefully at the battle during the day, and the defeat of the Qing army made him also confused, originally for the Gui army stationed in Chengcheng, the Guangdong army he went to investigate, this training and equipment naturally can not be compared with the elite battalion of the horsetail, of which about 4 percent of the soldiers are equipped with more advanced rifles, such as the Austrian Manlixia rear loading gun, the United States Lin Mington rear loading gun and so on.

In terms of other weapons, the Gui army was superior, they were even equipped with Nordenfeld and Gatling machine guns, in addition to a number of small guns of various calibers, but the current results, in addition to being described as "incredible", completely made him incomprehensible, from the beginning, the Gui army took the initiative to withdraw to the east bank of the Red River, which was an incredible move.

However, it is obviously completely unnecessary to discuss these situations now, and when he saw the French gunboats shelling the pontoon bridge during the day, he already understood that the Yue army and the Gui army had collapsed, so he immediately notified the Song family shops in the city that they must be transferred immediately.

At the same time, some of the officials of Hanoi Province, who were walking with Prime Minister Song, left Hanoi at noon in vehicles secretly escorted by soldiers, and assembled in the direction of Shanxi to the north, while they rested in the woods behind the mountain temple and waited for the next day to continue on the road.

Ouyang Qing took out an iron-shelled alarm clock from his baggage, this is a rare commodity, it was given to him by Zhou Ruidong, the commander of the first battalion, under the faint torch, the clock pointed to 11 o'clock in the middle of the night, he stood up and looked at the avenue extending from the north, and muttered in his heart, why haven't these five battalions arrived yet!

Suddenly, there was a faint "bang-bang" gunfire behind him, which made Ouyang Qing take aback, and turned his head to look in the direction where the sound came from, which should be Hanoi Mansion...... In the middle of the night, could it be that the French also launched a night attack? However, this should not be a tactic that the French are good at, and the rifles and artillery can only be said to be less effective in the dark......

But the direction of this gunfire was Hanoi Province, and a minute later, the sound of roaring artillery came from the direction of Hanoi Province again, and now Ouyang Qing no longer had any doubts, the French unexpectedly launched a night attack! That's a terrible situation!

Hearing the movement, several figures flickered in the darkness, and a soldier with a spear on his back walked up, looked at the flashing light in the sky in the distance, it was the fire after the flowering cannonball hit the high-rise building, he turned his head and asked: "Brother Ouyang, the French are doing it, Tie Niu and I will go to investigate first!" ”

Ouyang Qing looked at the person, this is Li Nong of the intelligence team, he was born in the Mawei Security Corps, he is a good man, he pondered for a moment, "Li Nong, you and Tie Niu go and take a look, pay attention to safety, don't get close to the battlefield, come back immediately if there is news, I estimate that the men and horses of the fifth battalion will arrive soon, they need the latest situation!" ”

"Got it!" Li Nong nodded, recruited another man, and hurriedly walked down the hillside.

And the sound of artillery and gunfire in the direction of Hanoi naturally surprised the Hongshan squad, the vanguard of the 5th Battalion, who was marching rapidly, and he immediately gave the order, "Follow closely and run forward!" ”

Immediately, the sound of footsteps sounded quickly, and the team quickened their march, and after half an hour, Hong Shan finally saw a red lantern hanging halfway up the mountain in the distance, which was a pre-agreed code, representing that the message station was waiting for them.

At this time, the gunshots in Hanoi City in the distance were still ringing out one after another, and it seemed that the battle was still very fierce, and he had to understand the actual situation immediately, so that Lord Liu could adjust his countermeasures in time.

After arriving at the mountain temple, Ouyang Qing immediately welcomed Hong Shan in, and briefly said the situation of the fierce battle outside Hanoi in the afternoon, for this incredible thing to happen, Hong Shan was also dumbfounded, and now the situation is very clear, after the French cut off the pontoon bridge on the Red River, Hanoi is already a lonely city.

According to the information available now, the French have 7 gunboats, which is definitely a huge threat, this is a mobile battery, and according to the size of the ships, the French are estimated to deploy more than 1,000 troops in this attack, which is not a small number! ,

After a brief discussion between the two, Hong Son immediately sent 50 soldiers to fortify near the avenue, and the other half of the soldiers rested nearby, what is needed now is the latest news, not blindly advancing to Hanoi, otherwise it will be too bad to scare the snakes.

The two of them stood outside the mountain temple, listening to the occasional sound of artillery in the distant sky, it seemed that the French attack had paid off, and the artillery assistance had stopped for a while, which could only indicate that the French army had entered Hanoi Province! The two looked at each other, and they both smiled wryly......

This plan can be described as very detailed, but who would have expected that the more than 20,000 troops of Hanoi Province would be defeated so quickly, this is ugly, that is, where to put 20,000 sheep, let these 1,000 French people catch it, then it will take a few days to catch it!

Fortunately, after a while, there was a continuous platoon of gunfire in the direction of Hanoi, this platoon of guns is the patent of the French, the Qing army and the Vietnamese army will not play this, in the platoon of guns, there are sporadic gunshots, which gives the two a little confidence, which shows that there are still troops in the city resisting after all...... Both of them secretly cheered for these cannon fodder in their hearts and resisted it!!

The clock turned to 12:20, and the sound of running was heard in the distance on the avenue, and Liu Yongfu's army finally arrived, and at this time, several waves of sentinels sent out from the direction of Hanoi, including Li Nong and Tie Niu, who were finally dispatched, brought the latest news.

A large number of officers and soldiers of the fifth battalion sat down on the spot at the foot of the mountain, took out water bags and dry food and chewed them, and everyone knew about the gunfire in the distance, and they were about to fight with the French.

Among them, the sentry officer level was replaced with a new AK02 rifle, which can load 5 rounds and has an accurate range, which makes these officers smile and close their mouths, but what makes them even more stunned is the new Type 80 submachine gun in the hands of the battalion officers, which is a hand-held machine gun, who holds it is invincible!

So in today's battle, the soldiers are all eager to win, French devils, we used to use gunpowder guns to give you a pot of stew, now this weapon, this training, is not easy to get!

After dinner, the rapid march that lasted until now, the physical consumption of the soldiers of the fifth battalion was not light, and at this time, the instructors of the National Protector Army assigned to each battalion began to do the general mobilization before the war, these are all veterans drawn from Zhou Ruidong's first battalion, although they are not as experienced in a hundred battles as the soldiers of the Black Flag Army, but they are familiar with drills and proficient in weapons.

"It's time to start the war, pay attention to the bullet belt on your body, put each bullet in place in advance, remove the bolt and reload the bullet......"

"Shoot with bayonets, pay attention to protect each other, protect your comrades, and at the same time protect yourself! If you are fighting with a bayonet at close quarters, remember to shoot the bullet first, or drop it! ”

Hearing the instructor nagging about these common senses, several soldiers chuckled, and some of them said with a smile: "Instructor, you usually don't nag about these things, I can almost recite them......

"Wang San, you talk a lot, wait until this battle is over and see what you look like!" The instructor's face was blank, and several soldiers also smiled, and continued to listen carefully.

On the hillside, Liu Yongfu is taking a few officers to listen to Ouyang Qing's subordinates report the situation, the latest news is that the French have occupied the north gate, and a large number of French troops are gathering at the city gate, but it seems that the fierce battle in the city is very fierce, and I don't know which army is fighting with the French, and listening to the gunfire in the city, the east gate, the south gate, and the north gate are all there, but the west gate is not very moving!

Ouyang Qing suddenly said: "The Vietnamese general of the West Gate, there are three people who are close to us, and when they get there, if there are people, I can be sure to open the city gate!" ”

Liu Yongfu sighed and looked at Ouyang Qing, these young people are really capable, it seems that Lord Qin has been paying attention to this Hanoi, it has not been a day and a half, these detailed works have been planned in Hanoi for so long, and even the Vietnamese have been wooed!

He nodded, and immediately decided: "Brother Ouyang, then you have to work, I will let Mr. Wu Qian of the right camp set off with you!" This time, heavy firearms could not be carried, and it was a fierce battle! ”

Ouyang Qing nodded, took out a drawing, asked people to hold up the torches, and passed them one by one on several locations on the map, "Lord Liu, this is the situation of the houses near the West City Gate, if there is a street battle, I will build yì to occupy these terrains, and then conduct a decoy battle, this is the map we drew after many inspections in the city!"

At this moment, Liu Yongfu also had to admire this young man, this consideration can be described as very thorough, he thought about it and asked a few questions, Ouyang Qingdu answered them one by one, at this time, a battle plan had been formed in his mind!

Fifteen minutes later, the 5th Battalion, which had just rested for half an hour, received the latest order and immediately marched in the direction of Hanoi, making sure to rush to the west of Hanoi within three hours, while the soldiers and horses of the right battalion of Ouyang Qing and Wu Fengdian, who were the vanguard, had already set off early and rushed directly to Hanoi City, which was in the midst of fierce fighting.

At the north gate of Hanoi, a large number of French troops have occupied the north gate, and have taken control of the place near the city gate, a house that may threaten the safety of the city gate has been set on fire, and soon the neighborhood is illuminated by flickering firelight, some improvised fortifications have been built, and well-equipped French soldiers squatted behind bunkers looking at the city in the dark!

When the French troops in the vanguard raided the north gate, as the scouts said, a large number of Vietnamese soldiers and officials were fleeing overnight, and when they saw the French who suddenly arrived, they immediately scattered and fled as if they had exploded, and many Vietnamese were paralyzed on the ground and directly taken prisoners, but many of these prisoners who affected the French advance were directly shot and killed......

The soldiers at the gate of the city also dispersed at this time, and the French rushed into the north gate almost without a single soldier, which made Li Weiye, who arrived later, very happy, and he immediately arranged for Major Brooke of the first battalion to be stationed at the city gate, and Major Luhmann of the second battalion to command the black Algerian battalion and the Vietnamese indigenous battalion to start advancing into the city along the avenue of the north gate of Hanoi.

However, in the darkness of the night, the advanced muskets and cannons relied on by the French, even with the excellent military qualities of the French army, could no longer exert their original power, and what was even more surprising was that after the fall of the North Gate, the city of Hanoi did not collapse immediately as Li Weiye expected, and the guerrillas began to gather instead, and the Vietnamese natives in the city also for the purpose of self-preservation, followed by the soldiers who dared to resist the French began to attack everywhere in the dark night.

The bullets fired everywhere caused unnecessary casualties among the French soldiers in the brigade, and the Algerian black battalion and the Vietnamese indigenous battalion soon suffered a lot of casualties, which made Li Weiye temporarily change his mind and no longer pursue a forced night advance, and he sent soldiers in small groups to begin to pursue the resistance within the field of vision in the surrounding area.

The rest of the army built fortifications at the North City Gate with peace of mind, and at the same time unloaded the field guns and Haqikes machine guns from the gunboats and carried them to the North City Gate! This will be the last night of Hanoi's recovery, and Li Weiye is hiding in the city gate, looking at the dark city with high interest.

He secretly calculated his plan in his heart, tomorrow morning, as soon as the field of vision was visible, those unorganized resisters would be surrounded and killed, and the flag of the French Republic would be raised here!

After the change of tactics, the French army's superiority in individual soldiers was brought into play, and soon fierce exchanges of fire broke out everywhere in the city, but those enemies who dared to resist were far inferior to the French army in terms of weapons, individual soldiers, and small teams, and were quickly routed or surrounded and annihilated.

News kept coming, and most of the resistance was the Qing army who had not escaped the river during the day and prepared to hold on to the city of Hanoi, and a very small number of Vietnamese troops and local natives, but this qiē obviously could not stop Li Weiye from occupying the city......

This night is destined to be a sleepless night, Li Weiye is like this, and so is Qin Kai!

The speed of the outbreak of the war in Vietnam was completely beyond his expectations, and when the news came from the Danish telegraph office, he still couldn't understand the madness of the French, but now there were more than 20,000 troops stationed in the direction of Hanoi, as well as the Bac Ninh Thanh army at hand, and the French army was only more than 2,000, and this war did not break out so quickly in his opinion.

However, the fact is that the French did act, and they pounced on Hanoi without hesitation!