After removing the threat from Hanoi, Bo Slip decided that the forces were not enough to launch a full-scale attack, so he stopped attacking the Black Flag Army and turned to consolidating the existing front, while the Black Flag Army also gave up its plan to attack Hanoi again and retreated to Shanxi.

There is no consensus within the French Government on how to deal with the situation in Beiqi, but there is a consensus on one point, that is, no war with the Qianguo country should be allowed under any circumstances.

As far as France was concerned, the army of the Great Qian Empire, the defeated general of the war in 9060, even the bandits of their own country were particularly difficult to suppress, and they were so vulnerable at that time. Although it has experienced the Westernization Movement and its strength has been greatly enhanced, it will never reach the level of the first-class army in Europe. However, the maritime power of the Daqian Empire, which had been built from a blank sheet of paper on the east wind of the Westernization Movement, had to wary the French.

The four naval divisions along the coast of Qianguo -- the brand-new Beiyang Naval Division, which was established in accordance with the modern naval establishment, the Nanyang Naval Division and the Guangdong Naval Division, which evolved from the Green Camp Naval Division, and the Fujian Naval Division, which was established with the help of the French and composed of warships that had not been transferred, were all quite large. In particular, the Harbour Master and Naval Division performed very prominently in the Moss Bay Incident in 9073, and the two battles of Langqiao Naval Battle and the Battle of the East China Sea completely annihilated the Japanese Navy, which effectively deterred Japan from trying to get into Moss Bay. The navy of the Qianguo country, which had learned from the West, frequently made long voyages to visit, train, and rescue civilian ships, and they made full appearances, and they gained enough reputation in the international community, which made the French have to guard against this. In the event that a formation of warships of the Qianguo Nation appeared along the coast of Vietnam for demonstration, the sea transportation lines on which France relied for reinforcements to Vietnam would undoubtedly be greatly affected. Therefore, the Paris side specially listed the "navy" in the "three-headed politics" in view of the big cadres navy, which was in the limelight. It was decided to form a Far Eastern Fleet in addition to the fleet stationed in Vietnam. Strengthening the defense of the sea. In response to unforeseen needs.

It is no wonder that the French are quite jealous of the navy of the Qianguo country; because the two countries have a high degree of cooperation in the navy and shipbuilding, all the warships built by the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau are French-style warships, and the French military already knows their performance well. The strength of the "Kaiji" class armored cruisers and the "Chaoyong" class armored cruisers of the Qianguo Navy, which is the capital ship of the Qianguo Navy, is comparable in strength to the French Navy's "Dujutuin" class armored cruisers and "Baya" class armored cruisers.

To change that. French Prime Minister Jouferry ordered Rear Admiral Lisby to assemble a fleet capable of competing with the navy of the Qianguo. Soon, the "Alma"-class armored cruiser "Adalande", the second-class cruisers "Fort Renoult", "Kaisheng", "Amirin", the notification ship "Baswal", the "Crocodile"-class gunboats "Wildcat", "Viper", and "Yishibi", the transport ships "Drark" and "Souni", and at the same time, the armored cruiser "Baya", the flagship of the original experimental detachment, was also transferred to the Tokyo detachment and became the flagship of the detachment.

The most dazzling of these warships are the two armored cruisers, in the ideal of the "new school", the cruiser plays the role of the offensive main force such as breaking the engagement at sea, so the emphasis is on appropriate and dense firepower, strong endurance and self-sustaining ability, and moderate protection ability, "Baya" and "Adalande" belong to this kind of balanced warships.

In addition to the formation of the Far Eastern Fleet. The Qianguo-Japan Sea Detachment, which had been stationed in the waters of the Far East, was also reinforced: the armored cruiser "Triumph" and the cruiser of the first class "Dujuturuin" set sail from Europe and joined the fleet under Rear Admiral Lisby in order to strengthen the deterrent force along the coast of Qianguo. Late May to early June 9083. The ships of the Tokyo detachment were grouped from their home ports to Vietnam, and on 8 June, the Minister of the Navy and the Colonies informed Ho Lo and Bo Slip, who had arrived in Tokyo one step earlier, that Rear Admiral Lisby was the commander of the Navy in the "Triumvirate" and was of equal rank to the two of them. The Far East Fleet is responsible for monitoring the waters from the Gulf of Tonkin to Hainan Island in Qianguo, ensuring that the French forces do not have to worry about any threat from the sea (Qianguo warships) when taking action against northern Vietnam, and that "he (Lisby) must be prepared so that if the situation in Vietnam deteriorates, he can repel the attack of the Qianguo people and tightly seal the Gulf of Tonkin."

The movement of French troops caused unease among the French Emperor Napoleon IV.

The Second French Empire went through a process of evolution from autocratic rule to liberal, parliamentary politics. In the early years of the empire, Napoleon III exercised personal dictatorship and worked to consolidate the bourgeois order. The government imposed martial law in some provinces, closed republican clubs, disbanded workers' organizations, banned radical presses, and used the Catholic Church to tighten control over schools. In the 70s, due to the growing discontent of the people, it was difficult to maintain the authoritarian system. As a result, the empire began to implement political reforms and gradually evolved towards liberal policies in order to alleviate internal contradictions, such as the right of parliamentarians to petition, the publication of the records of parliamentary debates in the official "Gazette", the approval of additional appropriations by the emperor with the consent of the Legislative Council, and the repeal of the Le Cha Bai Lie Law, which prohibited workers' strikes and associations. In the early 80s, the formation of a liberal cabinet began. The Senate was weakened and became an ordinary upper house, the powers of parliament were expanded, the powers of the Imperial Prime Minister were strengthened, and even the Second French Empire was called the "Empire of Freedom".

As an emperor of the "Free Empire", Napoleon IV did not have the power of his father, Napoleon III, but he still had the power to correct the government's actions when they went off track.

For a series of actions taken by the French government in response to the situation in Vietnam, Napoleon IV believed that it was possible to slide the empire into the orbit of war, and he summoned the imperial prime minister Jouferi several times to ask for details and expressed his concerns, to which Jouferry told Napoleon IV that he did not want to go to war with such a "traditional friendly country" as Qianguo, but the Vietnamese government refused to fulfill the "Franco-Vietnamese Treaty of Peace and Alliance" signed in 9074, and still maintained suzerain-vassal relations with Qianguo. In addition, the threat of the Black Flag Army to the French in Vietnam led him to take a series of military preparatory actions, but these actions were all directed against the Black Flag Army bandits and the Vietnamese army, not against the Qianguo. The strengthening of the naval forces in Vietnam was only intended to demonstrate to the dry countries the determination of France to defend its interests in Vietnam. Although Joffelli made such an explanation. But Napoleon IV was not satisfied. He pointed out to Jofferi. France has tremendous commercial interests in the Qianguo, and if a war breaks out with the Qianguo because of the Vietnam issue, all cooperation between the two countries will inevitably be interrupted, and France's interests will be seriously damaged; therefore, as the emperor of the empire, he "absolutely will not allow such a thing to happen." France is correct in defending its interests in Vietnam, but it cannot be at the expense of a full-scale war with the Qianguo.

For the bottom line drawn by the emperor. Jouferi did not object, but he pointed out to the emperor that the Vietnamese government's failure to honor the treaty, its refusal to recognize itself as a French protectorate, and its maintenance of suzerain-vassal relations with the Qianguo were "a great obstacle to the friendship between the French Empire and the Daqian Empire," and that a thorough solution must be reached, otherwise it would still greatly affect the stability of the friendship between France and the Qian. Napoleon IV agreed with Jouferi and asked Jouferi to think carefully and come up with a practical solution. He also said that he would go to the parliament to listen to the parliamentarians' discussion of the "best solution" to this issue, and summoned Hong Yun, the minister of the Qianguo State to France. Listen to Hong Yun's views on Vietnam and the attitude of the Qianguo government.

But just as Jouferi was racking his brains about this "best solution", Vietnam's "troika" had already begun to act.

In view of the fact that the Black Flag Army and the Vietnamese army encircling Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh and other places have been attacked, the once dire situation of the French strongholds in Beiqi has been greatly alleviated. In the battle of Nam Dinh on July 19, 9083, the French killed more than 1,000 Vietnamese officers and soldiers at the cost of 1 soldier and 2 Vietnamese mercenaries, and even all the Vietnamese fortifications outside the city of Nam Dinh were demolished. Inspired by the "Great Victory in Nanding", Bo Hua decided to rely on the strength of the Tokyo Expeditionary Force to launch an attack on the Black Flag Army, which was still entrenched in Wai Duc Province north of Hanoi, in an effort to annihilate it in one fell swoop and achieve his own immortal prestige.

The main force on the land side is divided into three columns: the right, the left, and the center, the commander of the right column is Colonel Bishuo, the deputy commander of the Tokyo Expeditionary Force, the commander of the left column is Lieutenant Colonel Lei Weilong, and the middle column is commanded by Major Corona, chief of staff of the Tokyo Expeditionary Force, with a total strength of more than 2,000 people. Slip himself led the gendarmes, the reserve and Captain Flaviano's mercenary army, the Blue Flag Army, to follow the left column. In terms of waterways, the "Tokyo Detachment" under the command of Molepoyo sent the gunboats "Ju Dove", "Short Gun", "Lightning", "Hurricane", and "Leopard", as well as the motorboat "Haiphong" to cooperate in the operation. According to the operational plan drawn up by Wave Slip, the troops were divided into four routes, coordinated by land and water, with the intention of using the left and middle columns to attack the area around Huaide Mansion from the land and be responsible for capturing Huaide Province, while the right column, with the support of gunboat fire from the "Tokyo Detachment," moved up the Red River by land and water to attack the stronghold of the Black Flag Army's Sizhumiao on the bank of the Red River. The time of the operation was set for the early hours of August 15, 9083.

The reason why it was set at this time, Wave Slippery considered to use the night to achieve a surprise attack effect, but he never expected that when the operation began, the French army would fall into the passivity caused by a series of unexpected events.

The first thing that made Wave Slip unexpected was that at 2 a.m. the operation was about to begin. As if intent on giving him a dismount, a heavy rain that was not in the battle plan came unexpectedly, and the dark clouds obscured the moon, so that the weak visibility that could have been achieved with the help of the moonlight instantly dropped to zero, not to mention that the army could not move an inch, and even the gunboats of the "Tokyo Detachment" on the Red River did not dare to act rashly because they could not see the channel, so as not to run aground. The rain did not decrease until about 4 o'clock, and it was already dawn, and the sky was already a little white, and the visibility was above zero again, and it was finally possible to move. The gunboats of the "Tokyo Detachment" raised their fires one after another and raised anchors. Amid the whistle, the "Military Music" took the lead, followed by the rest of the ships. At the same time, the three columns of the army on the shore also set off separately and embarked on a journey, heading for Huaide Province.

For the waves, the trouble had just begun, and not long after the departure of the Tokyo detachment, the boiler of the gunboat "Leopard" of the Tokyo detachment went on strike due to mechanical problems and was forced to stop repairs. The rest of the detachment continued to move forward, arriving at the Temple of Four Pillars at 6 a.m., and immediately began to bombard the Black Flag Army stationed at the Temple with naval gunfire. At the same time, the right column of the Tokyo Expeditionary Force, which was operating with the Tokyo detachment, launched an attack on the Four Pillars Temple under the orders of Colonel Bishuo, and was stopped by the stubborn resistance of the Black Flag Army after capturing the first two Black Flag Army fortifications in one go. As soon as the land attack was blocked, the battle on the river immediately fell into a stalemate.

Since the Tokyo detachment is healed, the scars have forgotten the pain. Still not long remember to carry the Haggais machine gun onto the warship. On a narrow river channel. The Tokyo detachment, lacking room for manoeuvre, was exposed to the dense artillery fire of the Black Flag Army batteries at the Temple of Four Pillars. Soon. "Hurricane" was the first to "win", was hit by two shells, the coal tank was penetrated, and the hull was slightly flooded; Then the "Lightning" was also hit by a shot in the bow, which pierced the shield of the guns in the bow gun position, and the stirred up fragments wounded two gunners. Due to the fact that these gunboats were originally used for super-strength, they were originally in poor condition, and the guns were slow to fire and outdated. There was no way to suppress the batteries of the Black Flag Army, especially firing at the well-fortified batteries at a distance equal to the fight of bayonets, which was tantamount to putting oneself in a desperate situation.

Originally, the army was supposed to attack the batteries and attract the fire of the batteries, and the gunboats provided fire support; But now it was completely reversed, and the army cowered in front of the dense fire of the batteries, leaving the gunboats alone in the bathtub-like waters and batteries, and the slick pre-battle preparations were as casual as you can imagine, and very different from the previous performance.

In this way, the firecrackers were "crackling" until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and several batteries of the Black Flag Army of the Four Pillars Temple were finally dumbfounded by the gunboats of the Tokyo detachment, and the right column advanced again. Cleared the remnants of the Black Flag Army around the Temple of the Four Pillars. But at this time, the French were exhausted, and actually camped and rested. The Black Flag Army of the Temple took the opportunity to escape overnight, and in the early morning of August 16, the sleepy-eyed French army occupied the Temple of the Four Pillars, which had long been empty.

Compared to the stumbling of the Tokyo detachment and the right column, the actions of the other two columns were unusually smooth in the initial period. After arriving at Huaide Mansion, the middle column unexpectedly found that the Huaide Mansion in front of them was actually an empty city, and the Black Flag Army had already withdrawn; And Bo Hua, who personally supervised the advance of the left column, received a report that the middle column of Huaide Mansion had been occupied after passing through the old battlefield where An Ye and Li Weiye had died. Such a smooth operation greatly inflated Bo Slip's vanity, and he thought that the Black Flag Army, which had been strengthened by the cadres, was no more than that. "Triumphant, thinking that at least Shanxi could be easily reached", General Bohua decided to take advantage of the victory and pursued along the Huaide-Shanxi road, aiming directly at Shanxi, an important town in Beiqi. However, what Ling Bohua never expected was that this time it was a set laid down by Liu Renyi for him.

It turned out that Liu Renyi decided to sacrifice the killer trick of "ambush" again after receiving the tip of the French army's attack, and was determined to let Bo slip in the footsteps of An Ye and Li Weiye. Therefore, he ordered the Black Flag Army to take the initiative to withdraw from the fortifications of Huaide Province, and the main force was ambushed in a village called Wangcun, which was the only way to Shanxi. In this village, the Black Flag Army constructed fortifications consisting of a bastion, a breastwork, and a plum blossom pit, and camouflaged it.

I don't know what it is, I swaggered along the Shanxi Highway, and after arriving at Wangcun, after reconnaissance, I still found the fortifications built by the Black Flag Army. But at this time, Bo Slip, who had long been arrogant, did not believe that the Black Flag Army still had the courage to fight his ambush here, thinking that they had already fled all the way to Shanxi, so he ordered the troops to continue advancing. At 11 o'clock in the morning of August 15, the three companies of the vanguard French army had just approached the fortifications from the front, when suddenly an air cannon exploded in the sky, and after the cannon sound, the firing port on the fortifications that seemed to be empty just now suddenly erupted with tongues of fire. At this time, shouts of killing rang out, and a large number of soldiers of the Black Flag Army rushed out of the fortifications and launched an attack on the French army. At the critical juncture, the Habecais machine guns carried by the French army once again exerted their powerful power, and where the high-speed fire passed, the soldiers of the Black Flag Army fell in pieces, and the offensive of the Black Flag Army was effectively contained. While organizing the retreat of his troops, he sent heralds to inform the central column that had occupied Huaide Province, asking them to come to support and attack the Black Flag Army on both sides. But when the herald took a breath and brought back the answer of Major Corona, the commander of the central column, Bo Slip was completely dumbfounded.

The chief of staff, who usually only looks at the horse, actually thinks that when they set off, their task is to seize the Huaide Mansion, and now that the Huaide Mansion has been obtained without a fight, his mission has been completed, and if they are asked to carry out additional combat operations, unless the Wave Slip informs him of the detailed battle plan, he will not be able to help and cannot take further action.

General Slip was very angry and helpless at this nerdy chief of staff with a tendon brain, watching the Black Flag Army in front of him still rush forward in the face of the fire of the machine guns of Habekais, and Slip lost the courage to continue fighting. (To be continued.) )

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