Probably his first time in the Royal Navy, Edward. Hobart. Vice Admiral Seymour was in a predicament from which he could not extricate himself, and every day he had only one feeling: frustration, extreme frustration. www.biquge.info He always couldn't help but think of his failure in Langfang and the shame it brought him. There is no doubt that the whole Western world is laughing at him: the French, the Germans, the Russians, the Americans...... And, of course, the British, his compatriots.

"The rescue operation turned into a farce, and it is possible that the Vice Admiral's expeditionary force crawled to Beijing to rescue besieged diplomats and civilians." At first, during the period when the expeditionary force was trapped in Langfang and completely lost contact with Tianjin, the Times reported that every few days, the report became "Maybe we need to send another force to the rescue of General Seymour", and finally, when he led the troops back to Tianjin, the newspaper immediately published the news: "Thank God our heroic soldiers have finally rescued themselves and their commanders from the trap of the Chinese." ”

What a familiar tune, brave and fearless soldiers, loyal officers, and stupid and incompetent generals, perhaps this propaganda tone has not changed for centuries and will remain so in the future - ridiculous news outlets. But as the object of ridicule, the stupid and incompetent general, Seymour couldn't laugh at all.

Although he did admit that there was some connection between the failed rescue operation and his miscommand.

He should not have fully trusted the Consul General of Tianjin, William. Richard. Mr. Consul-General, whose intelligence was of Kars—but again his only source of information—had been so nervous and excited by the danger of the British inhabitants under his direct jurisdiction that he could not provide correct information; Nor should he leave supply arrangements and lines of communication to unrelated people; In the end, Seymour admitted with great resignation that this was probably the worst mistake he had ever made, and when faced with stubborn resistance, he chose to stay on the train rather than immediately blaze a new trail like an officer in the Army.

It was this last mistake that led to the complete failure of the rescue operation. When the expeditionary force arrived in Langfang, it could have entered Beijing in two days if it had abandoned the train in time to advance on foot, but Seymour's decision left everyone trapped on the train, exchanging fire with the constantly surrounding boxers and Qing troops, while slowly repairing the railroad - but the rails and sleepers that had been installed were then completely destroyed, so that the troops could only stay there until they ran out of supplies.

At that time, the vice admiral had to order the troops to turn around and return. Moreover, because the railroad in the rear was also completely destroyed, he could only reluctantly abandon the precious train and heavy artillery, walk thirty miles with the hungry and tired soldiers, and flee back to the Tianjin concession in disarray, and then accept accusations and ridicule from all sides.

Failure was his mistake.

Seymour was very frustrated, and the whole person was completely trapped, even when Qin Lang came to visit, he still didn't recover at all, and even his defense speech had the smell of self-abandonment because of the tone problem.

"I must admit that as a naval officer, I am completely unfit to command ground combat." "If the Boxers had used modern weapons, my mistake would have undoubtedly resulted in the total annihilation of the troops," said the vice admiral. ”

"It is a corollary that naval officers are unfit to command ground battles, and army officers are incapable of directing naval battles." Qin Lang comforted, paused, and asked tentatively, "General Seymour, can you tell me the specific battle situation?" I heard that the Qing army also participated in the attack, is that so? ”

"Yes." Seymour nodded.

His reaction was a bit out of Qin Lang's expectations: according to Weber's description, the vice admiral should have loudly accused the Umbrella Company of training the Qing army too well and possessing the advanced weapons sold by the Great Viper Company - and now that the culprit was in front of him, Seymour should have shouted out angrily.

And yet, now, he seemed so calm, so absent-minded. Qin Lang was originally ready to deal with a stormy accusation, but he didn't expect it to be unnecessary.

He shook his head secretly, and then asked, "So, which Qing army participated in the attack on the expeditionary force?" I'm sorry, General, but I'd like to get some meaningful and accurate information so that I can ...... as my army advances toward Peking."

It was one of the two purposes for which he visited Seymour - the other was to see the vice admiral's jokes. Since Washington asked him to free the Americans trapped in the embassy district, he was to lead his troops toward Beijing -- before the arrival of other countries' troops. Qin Lang needed accurate and reliable intelligence to help formulate a strategy, which would allow him to bring his troops to their destination at the lowest cost, or even at no cost.

However, to his surprise, the vice admiral, who had been unusually calm a second ago, immediately lost control of his emotions after hearing the words "advance to Beijing."

"No, we must not move towards Beijing! Unless we already have twenty thousand soldiers and one hundred and fifty artillery pieces, we must not advance towards Beijing! He shouted, his voice and expression agitated. However, Seymour's statement shows that he has not lost his mind. "General Qin, if you only lead one regiment to Beijing, you will encounter the same defeat as me, so I suggest that you stay in Tianjin for the time being and wait for the arrival of troops from other countries."

Qin Lang frowned slightly. Troops of other countries? The last thing he wanted was an eight-nation coalition, and his mercenaries were among them. Of course, this was not because he was disgusted with the Eight-Nation Alliance, but because he had no way to control the armies of the other seven countries - the French and the British might still give him a little face, the Italians and Austrians were not a threat at all, but the Germans, the Japanese, and the Russians......

What is certain is that the Japanese will never act according to his face, on the contrary, they will deliberately oppose him, acting in the opposite direction of his opinion; The Russians had no need to follow his advice, and the mercenaries were not strong enough to threaten the giant bears from the north; As for the Germans, since the mentally unhealthy Kaiser Wilhelm II asked them to punish the "barbaric Chinese", they would have strictly followed this order.

And it was Wadsey who succeeded Seymour as commander of the coalition, and it was undoubtedly obvious that he would be on that side.

Qin Lang didn't want to see a coalition army that he couldn't control and command, so, according to his established plan, the coup d'état and the Boxer Rebellion had to be resolved before the coalition army was officially formed. Of course, now he only has a regimental combat team and three thousand mercenaries, and he can't complete this task, but Qin Lang won't be so arrogant that he only needs this strength - the other 11,000 mercenaries have already left Guangzhou Bay and can arrive in a few days, and he has enough strength to bypass other countries and act alone.

And he has the power to bypass other countries. For a clear and irrefutable reason, Washington did not ask him to join a coalition; As for the American consul general in Tianjin, it is a pity that this poor guy does not have the authority to order an army that is directly under the command of the White House.

He could act alone and did not need to follow Seymour's requests, demands, or orders.

However, Qin Lang did not disclose his attitude, nor did he intend to stick to his plan. Seymour's performance alerted him: perhaps the vice admiral was now a complete defeatist, but it was more likely that he was conceiving something else, and that mercenaries were an important part of that operation, or a target.

This speculation is not impossible. Considering that the rapid expansion of American power in China has aroused London's alarm and prompted it to unite with Japan, it is highly likely that Seymour will receive an order to limit the movement of American troops and prevent it from preemptively entering Beijing.

And Seymour could do it, easily: he was a vice admiral in the Royal Navy and a coalition commander recognized by other countries, and an American general with a lower rank could obviously only do what he had suggested, unless he intended to openly offend the authority and dignity of the vice admiral.

But such an offense would inevitably lead to a diplomatic dispute between London and Washington, and would also make the United States, which had been isolated in Europe by the Spanish-American War, even more isolated, so that the American general would not do so if he was wise enough.

And Qin Lang happens to be a very rational person.

"General Seymour, thank you very much for your concern," he said sincerely, making people feel that he was indeed sincerely grateful for Seymour's concern, "but I think that as long as I am well prepared, I have a chance to break through any obstruction and enter Beijing." And you know, diplomats and civilians in the embassy district are eagerly waiting for rescue, and if it drags on too long, I'm afraid we'll lose them forever. ”

"I understand, General Qin." Seymour's face darkened, but he still insisted on his advice, "But you don't seem to understand how terrible your fellow human beings are. As thousands of armed civilians with rudimentary weapons charge at your troops fearlessly in the face of heavy gunfire, you'll find that your soldiers are insignificant. In order to avoid greater losses, I ask that you must stay in Tianjin and not act alone. ”

"And," after a moment's hesitation, he continued, "I think that the coalition forces should first occupy Tientsin, eliminate the troubles, and then attack Peking." (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )