At this time, General Lin of the Gui Army, who had already crossed the river, stood on a high slope, with a large group of soldiers behind him, and he obviously saw the black smoke and sound of the lower reaches of the Red River, thinking of the news that the Vietnamese had told him that the French had been stationed 50 kilometers away yesterday afternoon, and now there were gunboats at this time, which ...... It's almost completely certain that it's the French who called!

"TMD, why did the French come so quickly," Lin Fu shouted loudly, "Lin San, you take people to the pontoon bridge to supervise, abandon all sundries, cross the river quickly, and those who violate the order will be decided!" ”

A group of Qing soldiers went straight to the pontoon bridge with fast guns on their backs, and at this time, there was already chaos on the pontoon bridge, and the soldiers on the other side of the river rushed to the pontoon bridge one after another, and when they found that they could not cross the bridge at all, they could no longer retreat from the pontoon bridge, and saw the black smoke at the end of the river in the distance getting thicker and thicker...... Finally, the inevitable harassment happened!

When Yuan Shikai rushed to the pontoon bridge with a reinforced battalion of soldiers, he was suddenly stunned by the scene in front of him! The people on the pontoon bridge are pushing each other, and people are constantly falling into the rushing Red River from both sides! Cries for help came and went...... Is this shifting? The whole thing is a rout!

He climbed onto the fort, the black smoke in the distance was already clearly visible, and from the telescope, he could clearly see that at least five or more gunboats had appeared on the river downstream, and the French flag fluttering on the mast was indeed red, white and blue!

"Herald! The battery is ready for battle immediately! The French came into range and attacked at once! Yuan Shikai naturally understood that if the French approached the pontoon bridge at this time, then the more than 10,000 Gui troops and Yue troops who were still on the pontoon bridge and the other side of the river would be reimbursed!!

The fort immediately began to get busy, this temporary fort was just a thick gun circle on the dirt slope, and three 100mm Armstrong field guns were erected, which was finally obtained from Guangxi, Yuan Shikai counted on this to suppress the firepower of the French small steamer! ――

Early this morning, just before dawn, Li Weiye, commander of the expeditionary force, had already boarded the "Doulak" gunboat, and Hanoi, the core city of northern Vietnam, was within easy reach; although the news sent from the Hanoi concession yesterday surprised him a little, it did not affect his confidence in the slightest, and it was said that a large number of Qing troops were stationed outside Hanoi, numbering at least 10,000 or more.

However, at the same time, the French intelligence officer of the Hanoi Concession who brought the news still evaluated the combat strength of the Vietnamese soldiers in Hanoi City with the words "very bad", and there were more than 80 artillery pieces in Hanoi City, but after the investigation of the French intelligence officers, they were all old bronze cannons and cast iron cannons, and the most important thing was that the Vietnamese soldiers were negligent in practicing and could not play the role of artillery at all.

So he decided to make a quick decision and use artillery to shake the defense of the city of Hanoi, but when his fleet saw the pontoon bridge built over the Red River in the distance, he was still taken aback, and he was very surprised by such a large number of troops in the Red River, but he soon found out that those troops were not crossing the river to meet the battle, but retreating!

"Full speed ahead, shelling the pontoon!" Li Weiye has been in the army for decades, so he naturally understands that this is a godsend!

The gunboats staggered their positions in turn, spitting smoke and moving forward quickly, Li Weiye stood on the bridge, and the situation on the pontoon bridge in the distance was already very clear in the large-magnification binoculars equipped on the gunboats, which were dressed completely different from the indigenous soldiers of Vietnam...... He couldn't help but almost laugh, this is the army of the Qing State, known as the largest country in the Far East, in a state of panic and disorder, and there is no army at all! That's a credit to the door!

4000 m ......

3500 m ......

3000 m ......

2700 m ......

The maximum firing range of the bow 100mm gun had already been reached at this time, "fire the gun!!" Fire!! Li Weiye gave the order loudly!

With the thick smoke and loud noise spewed out by the bow guns of the "Doulak", the seven French gunboats fired their guns one after another, and the shells flew over the sky with a snorting sound......

But...... The sound of the explosion was like droplets of water spilled into a boiling oil pot, triggering a violent reaction, and the already crowded Qing army on the pontoon bridge completely collapsed in an instant, these soldiers completely threw away their weapons and ammunition, and there was a burden they thought was cumbersome, pushing each other, and the soldiers on the river bank who had not yet squeezed onto the bridge wanted to go on ......the bridge like crazy.

As a result, Li Weiye was stunned to see countless people falling from the pontoon bridge in the distance like dumplings, and most of them sank to the bottom after a few flutters on the water......

"Full speed fire!" Within a few minutes, the French were approaching a few hundred meters closer, and the artillery had fired at least six rounds in a row, but due to the distance and the inconvenience of aiming on the ship, only a handful of shells actually hit, but the result was ...... Li Weiye roughly estimated that at least hundreds of people drowned in the river!

Boom Boom Boom ...... Yuan Shikai saw this scene on the pontoon bridge, he was helpless, although these are the same Qing army, but compared with the Qingzi army, completely lost the organization of the army, he looked at the French gunboats that were firing guns in the distance, at this time the artillery on the improvised battery was still covered with black cloth, and several cannonballs were looking at the signs set up on the riverbank......

He turned his head and shouted loudly to the soldiers behind him, "Get all the Green cannons below!" ”

"Lord Yuan, the French ship has reached the maximum firing distance!" Shellfish come and report!

"Wait!"

The French gunboats approached quickly, and the sound of the cannon was heard again, "My lord, the French are pushing within 2,000 meters!" ”

Yuan Shikai stood up, pulled out his waist knife, and shouted loudly, "Brothers, aim for me!" See those brothers who died on the bridge, they were all done by French rabbits! ”

The three 100mm field guns on the fort let out an angry roar, and the shells crossed the sky, smashing a splash on the water not far from the French battleship.

"Counterattack the battery!" He immediately gave the order, the Dourak gunboat was the first to sail out of the queue and fired a counterattack towards the improvised battery, and the other gunboats immediately discovered the situation here, and turned their bows and turned to the position of the battery, while the machine guns on the side of the gunboat began to replace the heavy artillery and continued to strafe the Qing troops on the pontoon bridge......

With a bang, the cannon on the roof of a French gunboat was shot, and thick black smoke and fire rose up, and Yuan Shikai's iron face showed a satisfied expression, and he shouted loudly, "Fight well, each of the cannonballs who participated in the battle today will be rewarded with two taels of silver to show their appreciation!" ”

Hearing the reward, the soldiers on the fort fired their guns even more diligently, but the French gunboats had quickly reached a distance of 1,500 meters, turned sideways, and the Green guns and rapid-fire guns swept over......

The snorting sound of the high-speed fire from the Haggekis machine guns immediately knocked a large cloud of dust into the walls of the earthen enclosure, and several of the cannons were hit by bullets that came in through the gap, and they were covered in blood, and immediately fell to the ground!

The caliber and rate of fire of the opponent's artillery were much faster than the field artillery of the Qing army, so Yuan Shikai was very helpless that his artillery had only fired three rounds, and the opponent had already fired eight or nine rounds of shells, and the entire small fort was immediately shrouded in a gray dust, and from time to time there were shells smashed on the bunkers built!

The pro-soldiers around him had already hugged him, and Liu Yongqing, the captain of the pro-soldiers, shouted loudly: "My lord, my lord, it's too dangerous here, let's go down!" ”

Yuan Shikai waved his hand away from Liu Yongqing's hand and shouted loudly, "Little brother, go down, if the fort is lost, the whole army will be defeated!" ”

Liu Yongqing is Yuan Shikai's cousin, and joined the army with him, and now Yuan Shikai is only a club, so he temporarily rushed to his personal captain, he saw that at this time the French artillery was fierce for a while, and the first few rounds of this accuracy was still very bad, but now that it is close, the fort of this earth fence can not withstand the opponent's artillery fire at all.

The thick earth wall on one side has been blown down, and one of the three artillery pieces has been dumbfounded, he knows that this thing must not be done, and he glanced at the two personal soldiers around him, rushed up and picked up Yuan Shikai and ran down from the fort, and when a group of people ran out of dozens of meters, when they looked back, the entire fort was already full of flames, and there was a sound of explosion from time to time, thinking that the stacked shells were hit and detonated...... Everyone couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, if they retreated a little late, they would be reimbursed!

Yuan Shikai sighed secretly in his heart, his refusal to retreat on the fort was just a gesture, this war erosion was no longer something that his battalion could resist, and immediately asked people to gather troops and horses, ready to retreat to the defense line of the Qingzi army......

And on the pontoon bridge, a one-sided rout is being staged frantically......

The battle lasted from noon to evening, the Gui army and the Yue army originally stationed in Hanoi City were completely dispersed, and when they ran to the defense line of the Qingzi Army in Hedong to assemble, the team of 15,000 people, only less than 4,000 defeated soldiers, and nearly 6 percent lost their weapons, and the rest either died in the Red River, or after the rout, they fled without a trace, and a small part retreated into Hanoi City, ready to hold on to wait for help.

That night, in the city of Hanoi, the gray-faced Vietnamese horse Hoang Zuo Yan sat in the admiral's yamen without saying a word, and his first dozen civil officials and seven or eight Vietnamese military generals also looked like wooden chickens.

The two Qing armies collapsed without a fight, and they also witnessed the scene on the pontoon bridge in the afternoon, the French Habec's machine guns harvested the lives of the soldiers on the river like straw, and the mountains of corpses piled up on the pontoon bridge made the soldiers in Hanoi tremble when they thought about it.

A feeling of complete loss of hope permeated the city of Hanoi, and also permeated the lobby of the Admiral's Palace, which was dull for a long time, and finally the prefect of Hanoi, Li Rong, opened his mouth and said: "Admiral Huang, if the French attack tomorrow, this Hanoi city will definitely not be able to hold it, I can't count on the Qing army on this side, the pontoon bridges have been completely destroyed by the French, how can they cross the river?" ”

Someone spoke, which immediately caused a burst of discussion, "Yes, what's going on with this Qing army?" This is how it fails in one day! ”

"You need to plan ahead, it's better to retreat to Bac Ninh in the west, or Ningde ......"

“……”

Huang Zuoyan had already run out of ideas at this time, seeing that the incompetent people below were also panicked, and wanted to point out that it was no fun for them, after thinking about it, he made up his mind that this Hanoi would not be able to hold it tomorrow, so he took advantage of the night to quickly roll up the cover and leave......

When Huang Zuoyan was sorting out his baggage, at the foot of a mountain 30 miles away from Hanoi, an army was marching quietly, and there were not many people in the dark, but the majesty of this army was surprising, this was the official road from Hanoi to Shanxi, and there were already sporadic people fleeing on the side of the road......

However, when the sentinel with torches appeared, these Vietnamese people were relieved, obviously not French, the leading soldiers held torches, followed by soldiers with red flags, although the march was fast, but it did not look messy at all, which made the fleeing people see a little hope.

Holding the torch was the sentry commander Hong Shan, who had been trained as the first post of the fifth battalion of the National Protector Army, who was originally the leader of the Yang Zhusi Department of the Black Flag Army, and after two months of intensive training, he had been appointed as the head of the national defense army and the general rank of the seventh rank general.

A few days ago, the news about the French has gone viral, yesterday morning, stationed in Fu'an, the first battalion of the National Protector Army, Chen Dong, brought an urgent military order, leaving the right battalion Wu Fengdian Department to defend Shanxi, Liu Yongfu personally took 1,500 reorganized Black Flag Army, under the banner of the 5th Battalion of the National Protector Army, left Shanxi, and hurried straight to Hanoi overnight.

Hong Shan hurried all the way on the main road, and at this time he didn't know the situation in Hanoi, and the refugees he met had escaped a day earlier, only knowing that the French were coming, which made him very anxious, and he had to do his best to find out the news and pass it on to Lord Liu in the back......

He continued to speed up with his men and horses, and at this time, when they passed by the ancestral hall of a village, someone suddenly shouted from the side, and a person stumbled out, still shouting, "Is it the Protector Army?" ”

This surprised Hong Shan, how could this person recognize himself as the Protector Army in the middle of the night, and when he brought people in, he didn't know it, the other party looked at the clothes of the surrounding soldiers, his eyes stopped on the rifle on Hong Shan's back, and a smile appeared on his face, "Eh, you have to meet, meet, you are the 5th Battalion Black Flag Army!" ”

"yes, who are you, and how do you know that we are the Black Flag Army?" Hong Shan was stunned for a moment and immediately asked, now the banner of the Black Flag Army has been changed, and it has been changed to a red flag with seven stars on it, so it is almost the same as calling it the Red Flag Army......

The man smiled, stretched out his hand to take off his shoes, and took out a piece of paper from the soles of his shoes, "I am Wang Hai, a subordinate of Lord Ouyang Qing of the first battalion, and I heard the news in Hanoi Mansion, this is a note written by Lord Ouyang, and it must be sent to Lord Liu immediately!" ”,

He paused, "Oh, by the way, when I left Hanoi in the afternoon, the French had already arrived, and the Gui army and the Cantonese army who assisted in the defense were retreating, and it is estimated that the situation is very bad!" Lord Ouyang said that he had set up a message point in the Land Temple 10 miles west of the city, and he would answer the team there when he arrived! ”

Hong Shan naturally understood the importance of this news, and happily sent a team of people to escort Wang Hai to the back to see Liu Yongfu, and continued to march forward, now only about 20 miles away from Hanoi City, he looked at the sky, and then looked at these slightly tired soldiers behind him, and quietly passed down the order, "Hurry up and march to the Land Temple 10 miles north of the city, and then rest on the spot!" The team's script sounded noticeably faster!

While the 5th Battalion was on the road day and night, Li Weiye did not rest when he won a great victory during the day and entered the city of Hanoi, and today's victory came too suddenly and violently, and he initially estimated that the number of enemy annihilation on the pontoon bridge alone was at least a few thousand or more, which was a huge victory that he, a colonel, had never imagined.

He immediately realized that the news had to be transmitted to the country as soon as possible, and that the French war situation in Vietnam was completely under control, so in the evening, one of the gunboats "Taror" received an order to immediately sail downstream, while he summoned officers in the newly opened barracks on the shore to prepare for the next move!

The general opinion of the officers was to attack the east or north gate of Hanoi near the river, and first make full use of the power of artillery to carry out a comprehensive attack on the Vietnamese and Qing troops, and the spies in the French concession mixed in the city have found out that the east gate of Hanoi had been destroyed by gunpowder during the last occupation by the French, and now many places are being repaired, which will be very conducive to tomorrow's attack.

As for the steps of the attack, the French officers naturally arranged it long ago, and after sufficient artillery bombardment, the Algerian black infantry and the Vietnamese indigenous infantry took the lead in the attack, which had long been the only rule for the French army to attack, but on the question of who led the city, several French officers argued......

At this time, there was a sound of rushing running outside, and the advantage and loudly came in to report, "Report to the commander, the scout arranged at the outpost has returned, saying that he has found important news!"

A soldier was called in, and as soon as he came in, he said loudly: "Report to the colonel, I found a large number of people coming and going at the north gate, because it was too dark to observe the specific situation, but I am basically sure that the Vietnamese army is retreating!" ”

"What!" Li Weiye stood up in surprise, walked back and forth twice, and looked at the soldier, "Is this situation accurate?" ”

"Colonel, I vouch in the name of God, this is my judgment after careful confirmation!"

"Good!" Li Weiye shook his head slightly, pondered for a moment, and immediately ordered: "Major Brooke of the 1st Battalion, Major Lu Man of the 2nd Battalion, you immediately lead the headquarters to raid the North Gate, if you can capture the city gate, immediately hold on to the place, and wait for us to station, I will lead the team to feint at the East Gate, Captain Torke, you command the artillery on the gunboat to shell Hanoi immediately after the battle at the North Gate begins, and provide support!" Let's go! ”