The shipping channel from the mouth of the Dalu River in Jianrui County along the Taiping River has been cut off by the French, and the Mawei Shipping Company also lost a merchant ship in the last rush to seize the time, which was sunk by the French on the Taiping River.

However, for Zhou Ruidong's calmness, Qin Kai is absolutely assured, for such a long time that the river is unblocked, he estimates that if possible, Zhou Ruidong will definitely move the entire horsetail cannonballs and bullets to the Zhiling Fortress!

The other is not good news, the imperial court has issued an order, appointing Xu Yanxu as the political envoy of Guangxi, leading the Gui army into Vietnam to participate in the war, because the king of Vietnam once again submitted his credentials to the suzerain, requesting the Qing Dynasty to send troops to Vietnam, plus the Qingliu party and the government and the opposition, in the face of Qin Kai's successive victories, it feels quite good, so it strongly urges the imperial court to send troops, and the speed of the Qing army's entry into Vietnam has been greatly accelerated!

At present, the Guangdong army and the Gui army have reached the scale of 15,000 people stationed in Bac Ninh, Vietnam, in addition to 8,000 people of the Wu Changqing Department of the Navy, 25,000 people of the Guizhou army and 12,000 people of the Gui army stationed in Lang Son behind, and the total number has reached an astonishing 60,000 people.

Three days ago, Li Zhongtang reported to the imperial court, "The matter of Vietnam, the armament has not been completed, the grain is still in Guangxi, and it has not been delivered to the front line ......", put forward the idea of continuing to negotiate with the French, and at the same time telegraphed Wu Changqing's department, which has been stationed in Bac Ninh Province for a long time, to choose the danger and defend it, and not to go out lightly!

Wu Changqing is a veteran in the army, he naturally knows that although the Qingzi Army is a strong force of the Huai Army, but it has not really fought for more than ten years, there is a lack of veterans, and the recruits lack training.

The soldiers and horses of the 16th Battalion set up a camp outside the city of Bac Ninh, guarding the road from Bac Ninh to Hanoi, and took turns to train new recruits every day, and the firearms in the army, after consulting Lord Zhongtang, have shipped 4,000 British 1871 Martini rear-loading guns to replace the old front-loading Mauser guns originally used.

After receiving Li Zhongtang's generals, Wu Changqing immediately convened the meeting of the lieutenant generals and colonels, among the Huai army, the Qingzi army is also regarded as a strict military discipline, only a moment after the general, the battalion has arrived at the conference hall, the few people standing in front are Wu Changqing's own children and relatives and friends of the generals, but standing next to him is a young man in his early twenties and bright eyes.

Seeing the vigor of his disciples, Wu Changqing's old face was also quite pleased, and he took out the official document and handed it to the young man on the side, "Comfort Court, this is the general from the Zhongtang Lord, you can read it out!" ”

"Yes!" The young man on the side strode to the front of the case, picked up the document and read it aloud, this is a telegram sent from Guangxi, the content is not much, and it can be summed up in two meanings, one is to choose the risk and guard, and the other is not to lose the strength!

After he finished reading, Wu Changqing nodded, looked at the generals below, and then said loudly: "Since Lord Zhongtang urgently ordered us to defend against the danger, it can be seen that the situation in Vietnam is dangerous, what do you have to do, you can put it forward now!" ”

Sweeping his eyes, these generals were silent, which made Wu Changqing shake his head secretly, although the children of his Wu family, although they are also considered to be fierce generals in the army, but there are few people who are good at scheming, his eyes turned and he saw the young man again, he smiled and pointed at the young man, "Yuan Shikai, let's talk about it!" ”

"Yes!" Yuan Shikai replied loudly, but it was also powerful, he came to the front of the wall, hung a map of the north of Vietnam, pointed to the map and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the biggest barrier in the north of Vietnam is the river, the Red River, the Qiu River, and the Taiping River crisscross several big rivers, and the city defense of Hanoi is low, and it has been demolished by the French many times, and there is really no danger to defend!" It is Shanxi City, which is the key point on the Red River, which is garrisoned by the Protector Army of Qin Kai, the political envoy of Fujian, who recruited the local Black Flag Army, according to the judgment of the last battle, quite powerful and can be used as a reinforcement! ”

Speaking of this, there are already military generals speaking below, this is Wu Changqing's nephew Wu Dong, who is now also a general in the army, leading four battalions of soldiers and horses, for this Yuan Weiting was reused by his uncle as soon as he came, and held an important position in the Qingzi Army - the battalion affairs office will be organized, somewhat jealous, this is an important position under the jurisdiction of Wu Changqing in the Qingzi Army.

"Yuan Huiban, you can't help but overestimate the Qin armor's protector army! As far as I know, the Vietnamese Protector Army has only been in force for a few months, so what kind of combat power will it have, and I wondered if the French didn't carelessly capsize in the Red River to let them pick up a big bargain ......".

"Wu Dong, it's all nonsense, this is the Black Flag Army stationed in Shanxi by Zhao'an and the Protector Army stationed in Fu'an, I have sent scouts to see it, not only are they well-armed, but they are all elite and combat-ready soldiers, don't say this casually in the future, this Lord Qin can also be regarded as having some relationship with our Huai Army!" Before Yuan Shikai could answer, Wu Changqing had already drunk his nephew away.

Yuan Shikai arched his hand and continued to point to the map, "I think that if you want to let go of Yuebei this time, the two cities of Hanoi and Shanxi are the places that must be defended, Shanxi can be temporarily let go and handed over to the Protector Army for defense, and at the same time ask them to assist in defending Hanoi if necessary, and Hanoi City, the city defense is dilapidated, and our Bac Ninh is separated by a river, so we must build a pontoon bridge in the narrow part of the Red River to connect, garrison Hebei, and there can be 15,000 Gui Army and Yue Army in Beining City, I thought that when they were ordered to move to Hanoi, build fortifications to defend against the enemy, And our army is stationed north of the Red River, and it is possible to advance and retreat! ”

Although the officers below did not approve of Yuan Huiban, who had recently risen rapidly in the army, they listened to him put the plan together at this time, and they were indeed thoughtful and detailed, and the two points that Lord Li Zhongtang cared for were properly considered, but they also had to admire it in their hearts.

And according to this plan, the Qingzi army can hold the key points north of the Red River, even if the war is unfavorable, it is completely enough to retreat, Yuan Shikai also proposed to levy Hanoi labor on the bank of the Red River, build several forts, only a few heavy artillery, can easily control the Red River, prevent the French from the direction of Haiphong along the river to attack!

After listening to the plan, Wu Changqing also nodded frequently, this is more radical than his original plan, but it is more secure, he originally planned to build fortifications on the line from Bac Ninh to Phuoc An, because Hanoi has been occupied by the French many times, and many city walls have been completely demolished, and there is a French concession in the city, which is really not conducive to defense.

Now Yuan Shikai's plan is obviously to consider these factors, and send troops to Hanoi, Shanxi, and Fuli to garrison, while the Qingzi army is in the center, and it can be attacked and defended.

Wu Changqing frowned, remembering that it was indeed a good idea for Yuan Shikai to set up artillery next to the river, but where to requisition the people for the time being, if he urged the Vietnamese officials to do this, it is estimated that this fort will not be able to become a form every three or four months, and it seems that he can only retreat to the second......

"Comfort Pavilion, this plan is quite thorough, very good, very good, but this defense line by the Red River, I built a retreat of two miles, to prevent it from being reached by the French artillery, and to counterattack the French army crossing the river, although the method of building forts along the river is good, but it is difficult to requisition the people for a while, I am afraid it will not be implemented in time!"

Yuan Shikai naturally understood what Wu Changqing meant, this Huai army raised soldiers with high salaries, but unfortunately it was more than ten years down, and a group of old soldiers were raised, and the work of fortifications on the battlefield could not be done at all without people, but if the fort on the Red River could not be built, the French neat battleships drove straight in, and killed along the Red River, and the new rifles of the Qingzi Army could not resist, not to mention the Gui Army, the Yue Army, and the Guizhou Army that were outdated......

After thinking about it, he immediately said: "My lord, I think this fort must be built, I ask a battalion of soldiers to supervise the construction of the fort, otherwise under the cannon of the French, I am afraid that the dangers outside the city of Shanxi will not be able to defend!" ”

Wu Changqing hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in response, allocated 500 people from the right battalion, and handed over Yuan Shikai to build the fort.

After occupying Haiphong, Guba first closely investigated the whereabouts of the three warships, the Atarante, the Dujuturuin, and the Reconnaissance, and finally confirmed that the First Fleet had disappeared inexplicably...... However, he immediately considered that this was probably related to the Qing warship that had always made him feel a shadow!

The Far East Navy of Cochinchina was stationed in Haiphong City, and he was waiting for news from Tianjin Wei, but what he was waiting for was the bad news that the First Fleet was completely destroyed! Since the eight cruisers in front and behind were sunk, this put a lot of pressure on Guba, and he immediately ordered the French Tokyo fleet to go south, and at the same time proposed to the French Admiralty a plan to continue to increase the number of troops in the Far East.

Because of his fear of the Nanyang Naval Division, he divided the warships into three squads and took turns patrolling the waters around Haiphong, but in the process, he unexpectedly obtained news that after the capture of Haiphong, there were some cargo ships with strange flags flying back and forth on the Taiping River, transporting goods upstream. ,

However, when the warships were sent to search, they never captured these merchant ships, and finally when they attacked the prefectures around Haiphong, they accidentally intercepted a rumored cargo ship, and in the battle, the other side showed a very tenacious will, and from the sporadic items recovered after being sunk, it was confirmed that there should be a Qing army stationed in the upper reaches of the Taiping River.

However, for this point, Gu Ba unexpectedly gave up the clue, after all, the matter on land, now Governor Lu Mei has temporarily assigned Colonel Li Weiye to deal with it, and the most important thing for him at present is to ensure the supply of materials for coastal defense, and if he wants to attack the inland in the north, he will need to consume a large amount of military resources.

After nearly ten days of transporting supplies and soldiers, a group of 1,000 elite French marines under the command of Colonel Li Weiye was assembled, including two companies of black Algerian soldiers, and more than 500 people from five Vietnamese natives were drawn from South Vietnam to assist in the attack.

Lieutenant General Gu Ba is not familiar with Colonel Li Weiye, this is a seemingly enthusiastic French man, as if he has endless energy all day long, it is said that he is a Marine Corps commander who has just been transferred from Tunisia, and has made great achievements in the Tunisian colonial war.

On September 25th, the French minister in Tientsin secretly telegraphed Guphong to Guba, and according to reliable sources, the Qing government in Beijing had confirmed its unwillingness to transfer the power of the Vietnamese suzerainty to France and pay reparations, and Jian Yì Guba immediately took military action as he saw fit to induce the Qing to return to the negotiating table!

Command of the eight steam gunboats and seven neat troop transports attached to the French Navy was immediately transferred to the commander of the Marine Corps, Li Weiye, and the governor of Jiaochinchina, Lu Mei, immediately telegraphed Li Weiye upon receipt of a telegram from Toligu, authorizing him to carry out any military action that would help to expand French control in Cochinchina.

Li Weiye is a popular person in front of Governor Lu Mei, but it has to be said that this French soldier, who only reached the position of colonel at the age of 54, graduated from the Brest Naval Academy founded by the famous French emperor himself, but he was not a top student of the military academy, and after being promoted to warrant officer in 1845, it took a full 26 years to climb 6 ranks with this seniority, and reached the current position of colonel.

But it would be somewhat arbitrary to imagine that the commander of the Marine Corps was a low-IQ officer, on the contrary, this well-educated naval officer, although not brilliant in his military career, achieved a lot of literary achievements.

He has published poetry collections, novels, and screenplays, and has had a certain influence on the literary and artistic circles of Paris. Perhaps it was precisely because of his profound knowledge that the governor of Cochinchina, Lu Mei, spoke very well of him, and Li Weiye was a warm person, and soon gained a reputation for being intelligent, cautious, and steady...... It's just that soon the Governor realized that none of these three evaluations were realistic!

At this time, in the port of Haiphong, the main forces of the French Far East in Cochinchina were gathered here, and after splitting up with Li Weiye, because after the coastal defense riots, the local stored materials were exhausted, so the first priority of the orphan was to continue to increase troops to Haiphong from the direction of Zigong and ensure the adequate supply of military supplies.

Several French merchant ships were requisitioned for this war transport, and the route from Zigong to Haiphong was carried out without interruption, and it became one of the important tasks to provide escort for the merchant ships transporting supplies from Zigong.

In order to ensure that the necessary attack on the Qing Kingdom could be launched at the appropriate time, he also sent a task force headed by the absolute main force of the ironclad battleship Lagarizonia, assisted by the 6,000-ton first-class cruiser Duwell, and the very advanced high-speed cruisers Fairers and Fort Reynolds to reconnoiter along the coastline to the north.

On the second day of the march, it had already come into contact with the Vietnamese troops stationed in Taiping Province, but the result was completely expected by Li Weiye, after the first cannon sounded, the Vietnamese soldiers on the tower of the city quickly collapsed, and the French completed the occupation of the important cities on the Taiping River with the loss of an indigenous soldier who was not careful.

In the South China Sea, the sea of late autumn is full of wind at this time, and the moment the lightning of the clouds illuminates the heavens and the earth, a huge warship cleaves the waves in the storm......