Zhang Shusheng naturally understands that after this fold went up, he also followed the previous good news, no matter how the defeat of Yuebei was, he calculated that his merits and demerits were offset, not to mention looking at the layout of Qin Kai in North Vietnam, Wu Changqing's defeat was inevitable, but there should be great hope for the preservation of this military strength, and this Qin Kai was a guy who created a miracle.

He patted the table lightly, squinted at Qin Kai, and said with a complicated expression: "Lord Qin, you didn't come to visit the old man this time, right?"

This old fox, he must not be able to hide his own little things from this court boss who has all his hands and eyes, so he will not hide anything, he laughed and said: "Lord Zhang, because of the war in the north of Vietnam, I came to ask my lord I just heard that there is some news in the court that is not good for Zaixia."

Qin Kai talked and laughed, but he said that the matter of impeaching him in the court was indifferent, Zhang Shusheng frowned, this Qin Kai looked at his promotion, he was definitely a capable person, how could he be completely unreliable about this matter in the officialdom, the court impeached Qin Kai, he naturally knew who did it.

Last time, I couldn't put my hand into the Nanyang Naval Division, and the royal relatives and nobles in the court paid attention to this Qin armor, but this Qin armor was low-key, even if it was in the position of the governor of Guangdong, it was also a simple place, and there was really no handle to take, and as a result, most of the excerpts were also tossed about the foreign affairs and new learning in Guangzhou, and these folds were all pressed down when they arrived in the palace

However, there is no Austrian aid for an outgoing feudal official in the court, which is a big problem, originally Zhang Shusheng would definitely not mention Qin Kai, but now that the two sides are tied to the same thief ship, he is not interested in it at all, not to mention that this thief ship still seems to have great potential, he doesn't mind helping out...... One qiē is just because there are interests

After some secret discussion, Zhang Shusheng sent a messenger to fly the Beiyang Naval Division to the south, and Qin Kai entered the team to Beijing with one more entourage, but it was Zhou Fu, the core figure of the Huai Army, which was also the most direct move made by Lao Zhang in order to show his support for Qin Kai after the two discussed, and Qin Kai naturally laughed at it.

Qin Kai didn't think about recruiting Zhou Fu, this is a hardcore in Beiyang, and it is impossible to achieve it with his strength, but this Zhou Wushan is indeed a talent, and Qin Kai does not rule out more contact with him.

In Tianjin Port, it was very unexpected that Qin Kai met Zhou Fu's son Zhou Xuexi, and seeing that Qin Kai seemed to be quite interested in his son, Zhou Fu naturally felt that this was a good opportunity for his son.

In fact, this time he arranged for his son to see him off, and he immediately introduced Zhou Xuexi to Qin Kai, and proudly introduced that last year, 16-year-old Zhou Xuexi had already been admitted to Xiucai......

Qin Kai naturally knows this, because this Zhou Fu, who is Lao Tzu, may not know more about his son's future history than Qin Kai, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, China's most famous industrialist is the "Northern Zhou Nanzhang", the "Northern Zhou" refers to Zhou Xuexi, and the "Southern Zhang" Zhang Jian is now working hard in Qin Kai's school to engage in education.

It's a talent, Qin Kai smashed his mouth, thinking about how to get this into his team, but ...... This is always the blood of Beiyang, before he has absolute power, it is better to have some peace and mind, otherwise it is not good to leak the old bottom, so he asked Zhou Xuexi very red fruit if he was willing to go to the "Nanyang College" to study, if he could, go brainwashing first

It can be seen that Zhou Xuexi is still very interested, but his plan was immediately seen through by the shrewd Zhou Fu, under the pretext that Zhou Xuexi will take the provincial examination next year, Qin Kai smiled slightly, and did not force it, pondered for a while, and asked Lu Shu to bring a copy of "On the Rejuvenation of the Country through Industry" to Zhou, we have more means of brainwashing, how can Lao Zhou be careful

Along the way, Qin Kai was most worried about the war in northern Vietnam, and when he arrived in Beijing City, sure enough, the news was chased to Beijing City, Zhou Ruidong sent an urgent telegram, Hanoi fell, and the French army gathered a large army to prepare for an attack on the ** position stationed in Luerzhuang, east of the Red River, and he had issued a mobilization order for the whole army

To be honest, Qin Kai still feels a little mysterious about whether Zhou Ruidong can command this battle, and he has never understood this student so far, but fortunately, Zhou Ruidong has a good eye along the way, this ability is really good, and the strategy of arranging Qin Kai on the drawings can be said to be well-planned. ,

Now in the north of Vietnam, there is not only Zhou Ruidong's troops, Qin Kai issued a assembly order as early as two months ago, the decisive battle will be carried out sooner or later, since it is a decisive battle, then there is no need to retain any strength, relying on fortifications, plus a strong-willed army, in addition to equipped with artillery, Makqin machine guns, first defeat the French army's sharpness, and then gather and annihilate it.

However, this strategy is very easy to say, to implement, but it is definitely a difficult job to be honest, Qin Kai himself to implement it is a headache, fortunately, there are a group of students, after more than two years of military practice, Zhou Ruidong, Zhang Kui, Xue Chao have made great progress, this headache work naturally let the students who have the courage to take on it

Gu Ba led the army into Hanoi, it was already the largest festival in the Far East, four days before the Spring Festival, when the army came down from Bac Ninh and passed by the pontoon bridge outside Hanoi, the Qing army set up on both sides of the river attracted his attention, and he personally took the officers of the artillery battalion to inspect the Qing army's artillery on the spot.

There are quite a few types of artillery mounted on the battery, from the old bronze guns to the more advanced 100mm Krupp breech guns, and after carefully inspecting the captured guns, artillery officer Roy confirmed that except for a small number of 100mm Krupp breech guns, which were slightly threatening, the other guns could not match the rapid-fire guns on the French gunboats.

At this time, two Aligerian black battalions, a French battalion, and a Vietnamese indigenous battalion that served as the vanguard had crossed Hanoi Province and began to pursue the Qing troops who had withdrawn from the southern gate of Hanoi Province.

Wu Changqing did not immediately give up his position after determining the retreat plan, he knew very well that if the whole line was defeated now, the result would be absolutely disastrous, so he immediately sent a part of the Guangdong army to demolish the pontoon bridge on the Red River, blocking the French from crossing the river quickly, and ordered Yuan Shikai to lead 2,000 troops out of the south gate to build fortifications on the Sanyuan Bridge on the official road in the south of the city.

As a result, the Cantonese army who rushed to the Red River to dismantle the bridge was hit by the French gunboats after hastily cutting the cable, but fortunately, the pontoon bridge was damaged, which also hindered the speed of the French crossing the river, but under the influence of the shelling of the French gunboats on the river, the Cantonese army was directly defeated and retreated, which immediately triggered a chain reaction, and the Gui army and the Cantonese army on the front also quickly collapsed.

Major General Wave Slip of the Seventh Brigade of the French Expeditionary Force immediately discovered the rout of the Qing army in front of him, and began to intercept the rout from both flanks, Wu Changqing naturally would not waste his own soldiers to save these routs at this time, and immediately ordered the army to move in, fortunately, Yuan Shikai had built a simple fortification at Sanyuan Bridge, and relying on the river ditch also made the French helpless.

After all, it was completely impossible for the French gunboats to rush to support in this ditch, but fortunately, the big goal of seizing Hanoi had been completed, and the first work of the wave slip was in hand, and he was not in a hurry to touch this hard nail, and after the confrontation with the Qingzi army at the Sanyuan Bridge, he immediately divided his troops to pursue the Yue army and the Gui army that were scattered everywhere.

The soldiers and horses of the Gui army had already run out of formation at this time, and the surrounding mountains and woods were full of scattered Qing troops, and by the time of the fierce fighting in the afternoon, Hanoi had completely fallen, except for the Cantonese army and Wu Changqing's soldiers and horses who crossed the Sanyuan Bridge, the other Qing troops were almost all scattered or wiped out by the French.

At this time, the lone army had repaired the pontoon bridge, and the forward was rushing to support the waves, preparing to fully pursue the remaining remnants of the Qing army, and as an important step in the encirclement and annihilation, the roundabout force composed of 8 gunboats and more than 10 wooden boats went down the river from the Red River and detoured to Qingwei County behind the Sanyuan Bridge, preparing to block the retreat of the Qing army and lay the victory in northern Vietnam in one fell swoop.

After the fleet set off, Guba settled in Hanoi City, and in the newly established headquarters, a map of North Vietnam had already been hung, and the entire center of North Vietnam, marked by Hanoi, Shanxi, and Bac Ninh, had already marked the numbers of the various French occupation forces on the Red River Plain, and they could attack everywhere at will if they occupied the Red River and were interrupted.

In fact, the entire important cities in northern Vietnam, except for some large cities north of Bac Ninh, those places near the sea in the west have been occupied by the French before, and they have been occupied lightly, and it is very easy to fully control the plains of northern Vietnam by sending a partial division to attack coastal counties such as Haiphong from the sea.

As for the mountainous areas that further north, connecting the northern part of Vietnam and the Qing border, Guba thought that as long as the main force of the Qing army was defeated on the plains, it would be solved by pushing the withering and decaying impact, so he ...... He was bound to win this besieged Qing army, and he must all annihilate or defeat them.

At this time, Major General Purgen of the Fourth Brigade had also arrived in Hanoi, and after besieging Hanoi, the Fourth Brigade finally successfully crossed the Red River and threatened the Yunnan garrisons stationed in Yongan and Fu'an. ,

However, after the loss of Bac Ninh, Fu'an has become an optional target for the French siege, Cen Yuying naturally did not want to be copied from the back road, immediately withdrew the army, and retreated all the way to the front line of Gonghe and Taiyuan City, in this way, the Qing army's eastern and western fronts have actually gone bankrupt, and even the Qing army on the eastern front is facing the fate of being completely annihilated.

However, the commanders on both sides did not pay attention to the village of Lu'er Trang, which is only 30 miles away from Hanoi and in the area where the Songdong River and the Red River meet.

After Wu Changqing crossed the Sanyuan Bridge, he immediately saw the messenger sent by Zhou Ruidong, who came to be a master in his thirties with a three-sheep beard, but at first glance, he was not a person from the Qing Dynasty, it was Hu Jinke, the commander of Zhiling County appointed by Zhou Ruidong, and now he is also a staff member under Zhou Ruidong, and this time he also received an order to negotiate conditions with Wu Changqing.

Wu Changqing was nominally the commander of the Qing army on the Eastern Front, but now when he was in despair, he didn't put on any official show, hurriedly gathered his cronies, and summoned Hu Jinke in the big tent.

After seeing the visitor, Yuan Shikai naturally got Wu Changqing's hint, and asked first: "Your name is Hu Jinke?" ”

"My lord, it is Hu Jinke below, and now he is the secretary of the army of the First Association of Protectors," Hu Jinke had already been instructed to meet the supreme commander of the Eastern Front Theater only in the name of Protector.

"What about you Zhou Shenjun, why don't you come to see the marshal? Is this boat that crosses the Red River to Haiphong ready? Yuan Shikai naturally understands the current situation of the Qingzi army, the heavy weapons have been lost, and the soldiers' bullets are not much left, once the war starts, it will only take half a day, and these seven or eight thousand people can only use broadswords and spears to fight with the French, so now they can only leave first......

Hu Jinke had already inquired about the big man of the Qingzi Army before he came, and saw the young official's business dress, this camp is not a big official, it can be regarded as a grade, at most it is a six- or seven-grade thing, but the person who achieved this position must be Wu Changqing's cronies, and he also guessed his identity, so his first goal is naturally to persuade Yuan Shikai.

He had already calculated the strategy, smiled slightly and said: "Tell the marshal, General Zhou is preparing to counterattack the French army, so the military affairs are busy, and I can't go away at all, in addition, the general asked me to bring a message, now it is a battle, and the ships are all requisitioned, ready to cross the river to meet the attack, so there is no boat to adjust, if it is a ship carrying dozens of people, it is not difficult, no matter how much, it will definitely not be found."

Yuan Shikai is not tall, but when he heard this damn Vietnamese native official speak so unceremoniously, his eyes immediately became fierce, he stood up with a snap, and slapped the table, "Lord Bold Wu is the commander of the Eastern Front Theater, Zhou Ruidong dares not to listen to the generals?" Hurry back and build a pontoon bridge within a day, or military law will be involved."

Hu Jinke originally felt good about himself, but now he was shocked to see Yuan Shikai's murderous appearance, he was just an official with a sesame mung bean, he received the order today, and he also calculated it in his heart, although this matter is dangerous, but after thinking about it, he has a strong strength such as protecting ** as a backing, and he is also desperate.

At this time, the words had already come out, although his heart trembled, but the stubbornness of this scholar came up, and he immediately regained his calmness, hehe laughed dryly, arched his hand and said: "This must be Lord Yuan, a capable member of the Qingzi Army, I have heard General Zhou talk about you, and even Lord Qin, the minister of Nanyang, seems to have a good impression of you, but ...... When I saw it today, it seems that the name of the adult is a little reluctant to even judge the situation."

Yuan Shikai was also stunned after hearing this, he felt that he was naturally very good, but in the battles in northern Vietnam, it was mostly a defeat, and the best result was just to defend it, but he didn't expect his name to be valued by Qin Kai, the minister of Nanyang who is now in the limelight, thinking of this, he immediately realized that this Hu Jinke is not simple, and this is something to say.

Protect **, that is the imperial court's decree, the army managed by the minister Qin Kai to supervise the military affairs, although it is also considered to be the theater of the eastern front of northern Vietnam, but counted, this army is a free force, after all, the names are all soldiers of the indigenous Vietnamese, and they were cannon fodder troops at the beginning......

However, this cannon fodder unit has indeed won a lot of battles, and in this regard, it is much more powerful than the regular army of the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, even if Wu Changqing wants to move this army and horses, he will look at the face of the Buddha without looking at the face of the monk, this Nanyang minister Qin Kai is a delicate role in all aspects of the court, otherwise it is possible to serve as a governor at such a young age. ,

I want to be two years older than this Lord Qin, and now he is just a six-grade operator, and everyone has reached the position of a feudal official, thinking of this, he is also somewhat discouraged, but for Hu Jinke's sarcastic remarks, he naturally felt harsh, his eyes were fierce, and he asked: "According to what you see, how should you judge the situation today?" ”

Hu Jinke saw that although the other party still looked fierce, but this tone had changed greatly, and now he was a little more courageous, he arched his hand and said: "Dashuai, Lord Yuan, if the Qingzi army retreats into the country by sea at this time, don't mention the danger of this sea route, even if it goes to the country, I don't know who should bear the responsibility of this defeated army?" ”

This reason, how could Wu Changqing not understand, he is now a last resort to take this policy, if this army and horses are also lost here, he will die without redemption, originally going back, he was ready to plead guilty, but his own defeat, it is estimated that even Zhang Shusheng, the governor of Zhili, will have a lot to do with it...... But now there's a second way

However, at this time, Hu Jinke raised this question, which made him very surprised, because the current situation is erosive, people with a little common sense can judge the outcome of this war, the more than 40,000 Qing troops stationed in Hanoi have collapsed, can you count on which one as cannon fodder?

Wrong...... Wu Changqing immediately denied his thoughts, this Hu Jinke said in his words, now the situation is like this, if there is a glimmer of life, it is also to fight for himself, but also for Lord Zhang Shusheng, thinking of this, he put down the shelf, and spoke first, "Comfort Ting, you sit down, move a chair for Hu Shuban to Hu Shuban, what do you mean The old man understands, could it be that Zhou Shen will have any plan to return to heaven?" ”

After Hu Jinke had the courage to ask, the vest was already in a cold sweat at this time, this is in the army, and the other party is a first-class admiral, even if he cuts himself on the spot, he has nothing to say, but as soon as he heard that the other party put a seat for himself, this hanging heart was settled......