Hai Phong City, Vietnam, was originally a small coastal town more than ten years ago, but after the French came, it quickly expanded to become an important port in Vietnam.

However, a few days ago, some Chinese merchants who originally set up cargo stations here received a message from the Tongguò Chinese Business Alliance of Mawei Shipping Company.

The Mawei Shipping Company mobilized a large number of ships to pick up and drop off the personnel and materials of the evacuated merchants at the dock, and at the same time, it was officially renamed the Chinese Mutual Masonic Association, and the news of the impending war was spread to all the Chinese villages near Haiphong City and other Vietnamese ethnic minority villages that had joined the Mutual Masonic Association.

Soon, in addition to those who were old, weak, sick and disabled and unable to move at all, a large number of laborers controlled by the Mutual Freemasonry began to transfer to the Shishanao coal and iron base, and some took the cargo ships of the Mawei Shipping Company to turn to Hejuni, Xian'an, Fangcheng and other places, and most of the shops of the Chinese Merchant Alliance voluntarily moved to Hejuni and Xian'an, where to start the stove again, after all, businessmen can't go to the mountains to eat and drink.

And the news of Qin Kai's fierce battle in the South China Sea had already been sent to the Mutual Freemasons who had already gone into a latent state through the Great Northern Telegraph Office in Haiphong, and then to the Zhiling Fortress through Guò.

In the secret transfer of Haiphong City, there is a person who is more special, this person is Li Yigong, the county commander of Haiphong City, during this time, he naturally has some power and money transactions with the Mawei Shipping Company, which has long set up shops in the city.

After the fall of Hue last time, he pondered the way out, and took the initiative to find a shipping company, but Mawei Shipping did not directly promise him anything, after transferring the news, Qin Kai had an impression of this Li Yigong, and he had a conversation with Haiphong on the last circuit, and he could see that this person was a capable official, so Zhou Ruidong immediately issued a letter of appointment in the name of Qincha, and calmly accepted Li Yigong's refuge.

Of course, at that stage, Li Yigong was just looking for a way out, and soon after the news from Hue became clear, he found out that he had won the jackpot, and now Shangguo Qin is in Vietnam, which can be described as a powerful situation. Soon he was fully invested in the system of protecting **.

Zhou Ruidong asked people to bring him a letter, and sent two teams of Freemasons to Haiphong City to assist him in the final clean-up operation. Soon the city of Haiphong spread that the French wanted to take all the land in Haiphong for themselves and take all the Vietnamese to the Americas and sell them! Men do coolies, women are naturally used for women, although Vietnamese women are a little shorter, but it still works as well as buying prostitutes!

This rumor seemed to have swept the entire Haiphong City overnight, and even the surrounding countryside made people panic, at this time, some people soon began to stand up and support everyone to go to the city to find the Qingtian Lord to seek justice, and let the French make it clear!

Seeing that someone took the lead, soon the Vietnamese youth, old and young from various villages gathered outside Hai Phong City, and in the early morning of September 13, tens of thousands of people gathered outside Hai Phong City at once, of course, this is the role played by the local Mutual Masonic Association! Although he had mentioned this matter to Li Yigong in advance, when Li Yigong stood on the city wall and saw the black crowd outside, he was really shocked.

There are only 23,000 registered households of all ethnic groups in Haiphong County, and at least more than 30 percent of them have gathered outside the city, and he just came to go through the motions today, and according to the plan, he agitated two sentences on the spot, and then waved his hand, calling on these chaotic crowds to go straight to the French consulate and concession near the wharf, and seeing the flow of people pouring in from the city gate under him, Li Yigong smiled sinisterly......

On September 13, it was a completely cup of the day for the French consul in Haiphong, Turk, after receiving the secret news from Saigon, he had been preparing the French militia in the Haiphong concession, preparing to show his skills when the French army attacked Haiphong, although the opportunity may be slim, but for him who has been clamoring to annex northern Vietnam, it is a rare opportunity to play.

But this morning, while he was still enjoying a delicious breakfast and French wine, suddenly a staff member of the consulate who went out to buy things ran back in despair, sweating profusely, but he couldn't say a complete sentence because of excessive fright, and after wasting most of his glass of French wine, he realized that it was said that a large number of Vietnamese rioters were going to storm the concession! ,

It's worth it!! Turk can hardly believe that this kind of thing happened, a group of unarmed Vietnamese natives, also dared to attack the concession, which made him almost laugh off his big teeth, the combat power of the Vietnamese, the French ** team actually has the most right to speak, 8 years ago, the French Navy captain An Ye, with 56 French soldiers, swept the entire North Khi, and even easily occupied Hanoi, an important town in northern Vietnam.

You must know that there were 55,000 Vietnamese soldiers stationed in Hanoi at that time, yes, 55,000 people, and in the face of a French ** team of less than 200 soldiers, sailors and servants, it was defeated in a battle. An Ye swept away the savings that Hanoi had hoarded for decades in a very chic manner, and then continued to lead his army of 100 people to capture Bac Ninh, Phuoc An and other important towns, and it turned out to be an invincible cun.

Of course, Anye's final defeat boiled down to being carried away by victory, and after learning of the attack of the Black Flag Army, he actually equated the Black Flag Army, which had only a few hundred people at the time, with the Vietnamese peasant army, and prepared to go out and sweep with 15 soldiers, which ended ...... Everyone understands, but as a result, his head was held by Liu Yongfu in various cities in northern Vietnam!

However, although eight years have passed since that era, and the Black Flag Army seems to have grown a lot, the Vietnamese army has always maintained its true colors, as for the Vietnamese farmers...... It's hard to imagine what kind of combat power it can have!

Turk took out his favorite Trisport 76 rear-loading rifle from the cabinet behind him, this kind of French army standard equipment is of reliable quality, loading and shooting are very ideal, it is one of the standard equipment of the French army now, and shouted at the clerk: "Tuco, go ring the alarm bell immediately!" ”

As the alarm bell hung high outside the consulate in the concession rang, the usually calm French concession suddenly fell into chaos, at this time Turk admired his foresight, there was only a squad of 30 regular soldiers in this concession, but he was very wise to organize twice as many French militias......

The efficiency of the French was indeed good, and in just 15 minutes, 30 French army soldiers, led by Second Lieutenant Charles, had completed the defense of the fence on the main road opposite the rented area, while 60 militia regiments, led by the Turk consul, occupied two buildings at the sentry post.

The French soldiers heard the noise in the distance getting closer and closer, and finally gathered at the end of the avenue, and then saw countless Vietnamese people swarming towards them, the people in front of them were shouting something in the Vietnamese indigenous language, and the people behind were shouting loudly.

The flow of people rushed over like a flood, and Turk could clearly see that almost all the people in the front row were pushed up by the people in the back, shouting slogans frantically and holding primitive wooden sticks in their hands...... But it looks more like the use of a cane!!

According to the prior agreement, from behind the wooden fence, 10 French soldiers stretched out the muzzles of the black hole, which made the Vietnamese in the front row somewhat frightened, some tried to stop the pace of advance, but under the push of the excited people behind, it was impossible to stop lightly!

"Papapa", "Papapa", "Papapa"

The French did not hesitate to knock the trigger, the smoke flashed, several Vietnamese in the front row fell to the ground, obviously saw someone killed by muskets, some people were stupid, some people screamed in panic, but under the huge thrust behind, the team still squeezed forward without hesitation!

The continuous platoon of guns remembered again, but the gunfire ...... It was impossible to hide the slogans shouted by the Vietnamese people in the back!

The second row, which the French soldiers were waiting for, took the place of the soldiers in the first row, another round of guns, and then crouched down to load, and the third row of guns cracked again!

At this moment, in the houses on the left and right sides of the avenue outside, there was a sudden low sound of explosives exploding, and then there was a sharp whistling sound in the sky......

The wooden fence originally used to block the rioters and the thirty soldiers behind the fence were directly overturned by a few mortar shells that suddenly came out in an instant, and the Turk consul, who was originally very calm, found that the crisis was unavoidable, and countless rioters rushed into the French soldiers who were bombed to the ground in an instant.

Immediately, countless weapons of all kinds, from wooden sticks to hoes and sickles, were waved countless times, and the militia groups standing next to the small buildings on both sides were immediately swept away by the hundreds of times the flow of people after two rounds of random shooting. The whole French Concession was at once completely crushed by the Vietnamese who had fallen into madness, the houses were set on fire, the men were killed by the peasants in the most primitive way, and the women died in the most primitive way...... And the only thing that is effectively protected here is the Danish Great Northern Telegraph Office near the port! ,

When Zhou Ruidong got the news from Haiphong, he was also a little surprised by the powerful destructive power of these Vietnamese, these natives who seemed to be extremely cowardly, actually completely razed the entire French Concession in Haiphong City, and those French, both men and women, all died......

He Xiaojun, who was beside him, also saw this, sighed for a long time, and couldn't help but say, "These French people are really dead......

"Cups? He Xiaojun, I can't see that you still have a bodhisattva heart! Zhou Ruidong smiled and sneered, "You know, the French are the only country that is still engaged in human trafficking in this era, since they came to colonize, they must have the consciousness of being colonized!" ”

He Xiaojun laughed, "Boss Zhou, I'm just sighing, French...... I won't frown as much as I die now! I'm just thinking of the French teachers in our school......"

Zhou Ruidong glanced at this guy, this topic is really difficult to answer, "The instructor said, in the face of national interests, we must put aside our personal feelings, and soon we will have to fight to the death with the French face to face, which can be regarded as making people!" ”

On the third day after the riots in Haiphong City, a large number of warships suddenly appeared outside the port, with red, white and blue French flags fluttering on the high masts, and after a short adjustment of the sequence, a large number of warships rushed into the port under the leadership of a huge ironclad ship "Baya"! But there's no room for fleets here......

Four days after the departure of the First Fleet, Gu Ba still did not receive the news of the conquest of Haiphong City, and naturally he also sensed that something was wrong, and immediately urged all warships and merchant ships carrying the army to prepare to set sail, this time the Cochinchina Far East Fleet can be said to be pouring out, four ironclad ships, 11 cruisers, including a first-class cruiser Duwell, which is the flagship of the French East India Fleet, and is now merged into the Cochinchina Far East Fleet.

But the road was calm, and the only alarm along the way was to encounter a warship of the British Far East Fleet, and after the two sides greeted each other in a friendly manner, they went their separate ways, but the commander of the British fleet was naturally very vigilant, and the news was sent to the British Minister to the Qing Kingdom on the same day, Sir Wittoma.

That evening, the Customs and Excise Department had received a message from Sir Wittoma that France was supposed to be at war, and out of personal friendship, Hurd passed the news to Lord Li Zhongtang, who was still trying to negotiate with the French Minister Talligu!

And when Gu Ba entered Haiphong City, he was indeed shocked, the Vietnamese natives who had always been docile as sheep dared to launch such an unreasonable attack on the French Concession in Haiphong, because the concession was completely cleansed, and there was no guidance from the local French in Haiphong, his next ground offensive plan would face the difficulty of not finding a guide, the most important thing was that he could not find a trustworthy guide.

Of course, when it comes to the atrocities committed by the Vietnamese natives, Lone Ba answered with only one word - "kill!! ”

All the people in Haiphong who the French thought might be involved in the concession case, young and old, young and strong, men and women, were escorted to the beach in rows to be executed, of course, it was not necessary for the noble French to carry out this dirty war atrocity, and the Algerian indigenous black slave infantry in the French army carried out a whole day of looting and massacring the city of Haiphong, and the stolen goods were naturally distributed by the white soldiers.

By the next day, September 17, the entire city of Haiphong was almost devoid of aborigines, and it had completely become a French city!

This massacre also caused some trouble to Zhou Ruidong's intelligence network, he greatly underestimated the barbarism of the French, so he paid a lot of price, the more than ten intelligence officers of the Freemasonry in Haiphong City, under the dogma of the French all executed, only half of them survived because they dug the hiding pit in advance, and lost the basis for continuing their activities in the city!

As a last resort, the Freemasons activated a secret intelligence point outside the city, and only then did they learn some general information about Haiphong City, which made Zhou Ruidong ponder for a long time, and it was obvious that the enemy in front of him was far more fierce than he imagined - the instructor was right, this truth and justice only existed within the range of artillery!

After two months of intensive training on the Black Flag Army, coupled with a large number of firearms, Liu Yongfu can be said to be full of confidence, and he was worried about why the French did not come to compete, so he immediately sent someone to send the news, hoping to participate in the military operation against the French after the third battalion! ,

However, Huang Zuoyan of Hanoi was worried and hurried, worried about the incident that triggered the French concession in Hanoi, so he kept the news secret, and there was no new measure for a possible attack from the direction of Haiphong, but he just sent a letter to Liu Yongfu asking him to provide necessary assistance!

Liu Yongfu, who still has the deputy governor of Vietnam Sanxuan on his head, also agreed to it according to Zhou Ruidong's meaning, after all, this Sino-French war still has to unite all available forces, and a few more cannon fodder is also a good thing!

The Black Flag Army has already strengthened its vigilance in the upper reaches of the Red River, but after receiving the news, two new forts were built on the river bank outside Shanxi City, and the manpower was immediately doubled, and two lookout posts were established nearby, and the first and third posts of the Yang Zhusi Department of the Left Battalion were responsible for the defense, and the artillery on the fort was controlled by several gunners, and the shooting officer was Ma Tao, who was born as a student soldier of the shipyard, and he was also a training instructor of the Left Battalion.

As the Black Flag Army has a deeper understanding of the Mawei Ship Administration, the prestige of these officers from Mawei in the Black Flag Army is getting higher and higher, although in the battle, he is not responsible for commanding, but the sentry officers of the first and third sentry can listen to him, think about it, this should also have the meaning of Yang Zhusi.

Early in the morning, Ma Tao was taking the soldiers of the Black Flag Army of the first and third posts of the left battalion to conduct military shooting exercises, when suddenly a hurried alarm bell came from the fort watchtower, and he immediately ordered the artillery to be in place, while the soldiers of the first and third posts occupied their respective firing positions and waited for orders.

Looking into the distance of the Red River from the lookout post, I found the outlines of several ships from the mountain pass upstream, because the distance was too far, I could only judge from the faint black smoke, it was possible that it was a small steam gunboat of the French! The four 150mm, 30x-diameter rapid-fire guns on the turret were all immediately adjusted to their positions.

In the past, the Black Flag Army also captured the army artillery of the French, and Ma Tao went to see it, it was a 65mm steel cannon, but due to the lack of suitable shells, the Black Flag Army could only use the captured artillery as an exhibit, and the caliber of the artillery used by the French on the river gunboat, he was not very clear, but according to the Black Flag Army, it should be much smaller than the 150mm gun of the battery!

Watching intently at the approaching ships in the distance, after the morning mist cleared, they revealed their true colors, and Ma Tao immediately found that they were four small steel keel and wood-hulled steam gunboats with an estimated tonnage of about 300 tons.