Guan Xuqing returned to the Palace of Nourishing Hearts, and hated the diehards in the court. In particular, I have a lot of opinions about Prince Lu's repeated opposition to himself, but the big war is imminent, and we can't violate the fundamental interests of those princes and ministers at this time, otherwise chaos will definitely arise. He walked like a tightrope on the edge of reform, trying to pick something that is not so conspicuous, or what has been proven effective by foreigners, and what everyone agrees on, so as to strengthen the capital of the Qing Dynasty in this war, such as running banks, engaging in Western studies, expanding various machine bureaus, and purchasing warships. But that's it, the opposition on the Jinluan Hall is enough to tear the roof over. Guan Xuqing also had to make compromises on many things, such as letting the new army go to braids. It was really inconvenient to have a braid in the artillery fire, but it was blown up because of the strong opposition of the Manchurian aristocracy. When this war is over, we must spit out the old and embrace the new. Replace all these diehards. According to the inside, Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei should be named on this year's gold list.

As soon as Zuo Zongtang arrived in Fujian, Wu Guang, the commander of the local garrison army, came to pay homage.

"The last general, Wu Guang, see the general." Wu Guang knelt down.

"Don't talk nonsense, quickly dispatch people to defend the island immediately. In the event of a war with the French, the foreigners will inevitably storm Taiwan. Zuo Zongtang ordered.

"Oh, this will be arranged in the end." Wu Guang commanded.

On the other side, Lu Yiwei was transferred from Dalian to Yunnan and Guizhou. The Jiangsu and Shandong garrisons each dispatched two men and horses to the north to defend Dalian, Shengjing and other places.

The Great War was about to break out, and the smell of gunpowder was thick everywhere.

In the Fuzhou Governor's Palace, soldiers in military uniforms are on both sides of the stone steps, and the gray walls are hidden under a green shade.

Zuo Zongtang, the generals of the Fujian Navy Division Liu Jintang, Shen Baozhen, Zhang Peilun, and the army commander Wu Guang sat down in the living room. Zuo Zongtang stood up, pushed open the window and said, "Everyone, please look." The French ** ship has already assembled in the Taiwan Strait. ”

Outside the window, I saw more than a dozen warships flying the French flag gathering together on the vaguely discernible sea.

"Zuo Shuai don't have to worry, my Qing warship is enough to deal with the French. As long as they dare to invade, let them have no return. Shen Baozhen said.

"Don't underestimate the enemy, the French ** ships are assembled in the Taiwan Strait, and it seems that they want to invade our Qing Dynasty. It is necessary to quickly strengthen Fujian's defense and repair and strengthen the forts on the north and south banks of the Minjiang River estuary. Zuo Zongtang turned around and continued: "Wu Junmen, how many army forces are there on Taiwan Island? ”

"Back to Zuo Shuai, there are five battalions of our troops on the island of Taiwan." Wu Guang got up and said.

"Where is Sun Kaihua?" Zuo Zongtang shouted.

"The end will be." A young man walked in from outside.

"This person is my former subordinate of the Hunan army, and he fought bravely. is a tiger general, Wu Junmen gave him two more battalions of men and horses, and immediately went to Taiwan. Zuo Zongtang said.

"Yes."

"Kaihua, General Ben warns you that the island is in the people. You have to fight to the last soldier, and if you retreat from the battle, you will be killed! Zuo Zongtang said.

"Wow!"

Paris is known as the romantic city, and the congress is in full swing at this time. There were fierce quarrels about the recent situation in the Far Eastern Army, and the results still could not be changed. Due to the sudden entry of the Qing into the war, France urgently added 15,000 troops. Go to Vietnam to fight!

In their opinion, it was enough to deal with the Qing ** army, which consisted of more than 10,000 people composed of the great Gauls! Everyone is still immersed in the fact that twenty years ago, thousands of people in France entered the capital of the Qing Dynasty. Plundered countless treasures, and this time they wanted more.

In April 1883, the French had occupied most of Vietnam's land, and only two provinces in northern Vietnam did not fall under French control.

One was Beining, where the Qing army was stationed, and the other was Shanxi, which was occupied by Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army.

Liu Yongfu's original name was Liu Jianye, the word Yuanting. He was born in 1837 in Qinzhou, Guangdong Province (now part of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region). At the age of eight, he went into exile with his father to Shangsi County in southern Guangxi. He began working as a boatman in Zuo Giang at the age of 13, and once wandered to Mong Cai, Vietnam, where he suffered hardship.

In 1857, he joined the peasant rebel army led by the Guangxi Tiandihui. Later, the Black Flag Army led by Liu Yongfu was a branch of the Heaven and Earth Society, with the seven-star black flag as the military flag, so it was called the Black Flag Army, and its basic members were poor peasants. In the 60s of the 19th century, it moved to the border area of Yunnan and Vietnam, and gradually expanded to more than 2,000 people. In 1873, the French army invaded Hanoi, and Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army was invited by the Vietnamese government to resist the French;

Before the Qing army officially entered Vietnam, the Black Flag Army had been attacking and harassing the French army in Vietnam. It also achieved a certain record towards the French when attacking Hanoi. The Black Flag Army met the French ** team at the paper bridge west of Hanoi. Due to the great disparity in weapons between the two sides, Liu Yongfu adopted ambush warfare and fought hand-to-hand with 3,000 troops against more than 1,800 French troops, and won a great victory at the paper bridge. But after all, the weapons and equipment were too poor, and a few thousand troops were stationed in Shanxi. It's really not reassuring.

However, the Black Flag Army was regarded as a rebel army by the imperial court, and the Qing army did not dare to send troops to Shanxi to assist in the defense in order to avoid war with the Black Flag Army. So there was a glaring hole in the defense. The French ** team also saw this, and the ** squadron was not coordinated, and there was no unified command. It is easy to use various methods to break through, and the first is the black chess army with backward weapons and poor soldiers.

As the supreme commander of the Qing army in Vietnam, Liu Mingchuan certainly saw this, and he divided the ten bidders into three echelons. The troops stationed in Bac Ninh had five standard men and horses, and one standard was planted outside Bac Ninh to attack and spy on the French army. In addition, two bids were arranged in the mountains behind Bac Ninh City. Two bidders were stationed 20 kilometers behind the rear of Shanxi Province, ready to take over Shanxi at any time. The finished product of the army is self-armed, because it has just entered Vietnam. It is not very clear about the arrangement of the French army, so it is better to wait for work. Wait for the French to attack, and then look for an opportunity to counterattack.

On the other hand, the French regular army in Vietnam had reached 30,000 after the arrival of 15,000 troops in the country. There were also 40,000 provisional armies formed by Vietnamese and Algerians. There are also 5,000 international mercenaries formed by hooligans and thugs from various European countries. The total strength reached a terrifying seventy-five thousand.

The two sides were tense and full of gunpowder. The Great War is imminent!