To survive or to perish? At this moment, this is a very painful choice for the Anglo-French forces that have landed in the hinterland of Gyeonggi.

For Lin Haijiang, this is undoubtedly a very difficult battle, and the reason why it is difficult to fight is because in the process of fighting, he has to take more care about the casualties of the British and French forces as the enemy.

Although this seems incomprehensible and inconceivable at first glance, Lin Haijiang thought more about it, and it can be said that several battles in the Second Opium War in history revolved around the new demands constantly put forward by Britain and France, and it can be said that Britain and France only used their forces in the Far East and Indochina, and it was not a war of national strength at all.

But from the time he first captured 5,000 British troops in Canton, everything seemed to have changed, and the British had already suffered a loss and the British were clamoring to expand the war, elevating the war against the Qing Empire from the level of punishment to a state-to-state war.

However, the British philistines saved Lin Haijiang, because the British Parliament approved a most economical and reasonable plan to increase the number of troops, rather than unlimited expansion to win the war, and the British, who owned India in the Far East, were increasingly dissatisfied with the income of the colonies, and they needed to find colonial targets in a new colonial model of economic aggression.

Therefore, after the end of the Crimean War, Britain naturally launched a war against the Qing Empire, the purpose of which was to urgently need the Qing Empire to pay for the huge military expenses it consumed in the Crimean War.

For Queen Victoria, a strongman who used war to maintain her economy, it would undoubtedly take a lot of courage to send her home fleet to the Far East to fight.

After all, the core interests of the British Empire are in Europe, and the Far East, India, and North Africa are nothing more than the pastures of the British Empire, giving up the main interests for the sake of secondary interests? In the face of Tsarist Russia, which had been on the verge of rebellion in Europe, France, which was bent on leading Europe and restoring the glory of the Napoleonic era, and Prussia, which was worried, Britain could not draw much military power.

In order to secure her reign, Victoria desperately needed a victory that would bring her great benefits, and her supporters needed to see the generosity of the Empress's promises, which could not be persuaded by words alone.

Therefore, Lin Haijiang could not do things perfectly, he could only try his best to capture the enemy army, not to kill the enemy army, because Lin Haijiang knew very well that he could not force Britain and France to be forced to launch a full-scale war.

But now the situation is somewhat out of Lin Haijiang's control, for example, the British and French troops who landed have arrived in Yanjing City, and they did not negotiate surrender as he imagined, and a large number of captured British and French naval officers and soldiers were surrounded by Lin Haijiang near Tianjin, and Lin Haijiang was waiting for his marines of the Nanyang Naval Division.

Zhang Zheng's subordinate who was sent before had entered Yanjing City to assist in defense according to intelligence, and Zhang Zheng had blocked the four sluice gates and twenty-six drainage ditches of Yanjing City according to his arrangement, because the Anglo-French alliance in Lin Haijiang's memory entered Yanjing City from the drainage ditch under the leadership of the people.

For those religious people who were willing to be traitors and traitors to the Han Dynasty, Lin Haijiang's instructions were to kill one and kill two and kill a pair, and execute them on the spot.

And in the camp of the British and French forces, the generals were still arguing at this moment, Gro, Elgin, and Shabali each insisted on their own words, and the only one who seemed to be a little flushed James. William was the only one who was not condemned, because almost all those who were qualified to condemn him became prisoners of war of the Qing people on the night of suffering. William's heart was blocked.

But James. William was still very content, he was able to have the opportunity to disembark and leave the ship in a very timely manner, and the stubborn old French man Princeton. Admiral Arthur and his loyal sidekick, Major General Mitchell, had been taken prisoner by the other side, and he was glad that the old fellow had been captured, otherwise it would have been his mere rebuke and he would have gone mad.

Ge Luo and Xia Bali asked to negotiate with the Qing State, while Erjin insisted on attacking Yanjing City, occupying the capital of the Qing State, and then turned around to negotiate with the Qing State, although several people had their own opinions, but they all had one thing in common, that is, they were determined to take Lin Haijiang as the opponent of the negotiation, in other words, even if they laid down their weapons, they would never choose Lin Haijiang, the demon who eats people and does not spit out bones.

Especially Ergin, who was beaten for several days and forced to almost bankrupt his family to pay the ransom, was even more palpitating!

However, at this moment, Lin Haijiang was entangled in another matter in Tianjin, due to the occupation of the British and French forces, the original public security system had completely collapsed.

This reminded Lin Haijiang of the history after the British and French troops looted the Old Summer Palace, a large number of Chinese people followed and looted many times, and the degree of destruction was not inferior to that of the British and French forces.

The formation of a force for rapid recovery and maintenance of public order has become an urgent delay.

Gendarme? Lin Haijiang has long wanted to set up this military branch of the military police that is responsible for correcting military discipline, but he has never had a name.

The protagonists in the novels of later generations can change the military system without permission through the past, and increase the types of troops, units, and departments as needed at will, but unfortunately Lin Haijiang did not dare to act recklessly.

In the old port, Lin Haijiang had already added a military gendarmerie specialty to the naval cadets, but it could not be openly set up and implemented on the side of the Nanyang Naval Division, because the so-called military police function in the Qing army was generally the main general's personal barracks, so if Lin Haijiang wanted to set up a military police, he could only start from the establishment of his pro-military battalion.

You must know that the number of military attachés in the Qing Dynasty who let go out to fight is strictly regulated, and the personal soldiers of Nian Qianyao, the general of the expedition to the west during the Yongzheng period, were as many as 5,000 people at most, but this requires the emperor's imperial decree to reward, Lin Haijiang is not comparable to Nian Qianyao, and Xianfeng is not Yongzheng who is dedicated to the rule of officials.

If Lin Haijiang really made an extra 5,000 gendarmes, Lin Haijiang believed that it would not be long before Xianfeng would give Ye Mingchen an order to dismiss his officials, and by the way, he copied his own home, although these officials of the Qing Dynasty and the emperor, although they lack the overall strategic awareness of the overall situation, it does not mean that their IQ is low.

Lin Haijiang's several waves were almost all brute force, as the so-called force broke through a hundred coincidences, and Lin Haijiang was cheapened by mistake.

After the 15,000-strong marines of the Jiugang and Nanyang naval divisions arrived in Tianjin, the British and French forces, which had been communicating with Seng Greenqin, suddenly retreated to Tongzhou and called Tongzhou a demilitarized zone? Negotiate with the Qing side in a big way?

Although Xianfeng had not yet returned to Beijing, Su Shun, who was the prime minister of national affairs, returned to Yanjing City and negotiated with Britain and France together with Seng Lingqin.

Lin Haijiang felt very helpless about this farcical negotiation, because he knew very well that the gang of robbers such as Gro, Ergin, and Shabali had come to rob, and now they had become civilized people because of the master's rebellion, and their authorizations were all from Britain and France, which meant that they had no right to negotiate any terms with the Qing State before they received domestic instructions.

As a wishful thinking to end the end of Xianfeng as soon as possible, now that the fight is over, it is very glamorous to win, and it is a shame of a snow road light year, how to return to the negotiation table to show the demeanor of a great empire, and send foreigner gifts out of the country has become an urgent need for Xianfeng, Sushun, Jingshou and other monarchs and ministers.

It must be strong and well-founded, without losing decency, and be well listed with all countries! Russian Minister Ignatiev and American Minister Warrenham became the hottest figures during this period, and the entire court turned a blind eye to the plight of the Anglo-French alliance and attributed the credit for the armistice to the mediation of Russia and the United States?

As the biggest hero here, Lin Haijiang was promoted to the first class, but Zhang Zheng's marines were also sent out of Beijing as soon as possible, nominally to strengthen the defense of Tianjin, in fact, many people have expressed unease about the rapidly expanding power of the Nanyang Naval Division, if there is no British and French alliance to invade Gyeonggi, I am afraid that no one can say how many families the Nanyang Naval Division has.

Su Shun's lukewarm attitude towards Lin Haijiang also made Lin Haijiang aware of it, and Lin Haijiang decided not to enter Beijing this time, so as not to let people give him a Hongmen banquet or a glass of wine to release his military power.

Lin Haijiang has realized that the family members and authorities of the Qing Dynasty cannot tolerate the existence of such powerful courtiers as themselves, and their own merits have become threats in the blink of an eye, and they would rather not be domestic slaves than outsiders, which is a major characteristic way of thinking of the Qing Dynasty authorities.

Xianfeng is worthy of history's evaluation of him, there are no emperors, not even Huairou on the surface, a group of courtiers competing for fame and fortune are competing with each other, how long can the Qing Dynasty survive? Since the negotiations were none of his own business, Lin Haijiang towed all the battleships back to Mawei and Guangzhou after looting the original fort artillery of Tianjin Wei and the weapons and materials stored in Tianjin Wei by the British and French forces.

And on the Hong Kong side, the haggard Bao Ling sat alone in his office, and the empty Victoria Bay made him feel miserable and sad, such a huge coalition fleet was defeated? It was blocked in the Dagu Pass, and the defeat at the Dagu Pass was explained as a light enemy, so how should the defeat of the second local squadron be explained?

Looking at a vial of poison and a pistol in front of him, Bao Ling asked himself that his courage was not enough to make a choice, so it was natural to choose to live, and after making a detailed report to China, Bao Ling knew that his political career might have come to an end.

In Lin Haijiang's view, is this the end of the Second Opium War? I'm afraid no one knows.

The trajectory of history has long changed, and even if he is familiar with history through time, he cannot judge the direction of the overall situation.

First of all, Guangzhou defeated the British army and captured its 5,000 officers and soldiers, which can be said to be a great victory unprecedented in the Qing Dynasty. Immediately, the sudden reinforcement of the French army did not disrupt his position, but allowed him to move with ease, with a force to hold the French army in Pengcheng, with a large part of the force to deter the British army in Hong Kong, to achieve the purpose of dividing each of them.

After all, in the past few years, he has vigorously developed the old port, in order to deal with the British and French alliance, as long as he does not face the battle of Britain and France, Lin Haijiang still has the confidence to win the battle.

After the attrition of the Crimean War, the British army is still a tired division after a long battle, and most of the French army is a pampered uncle in Indochina, and a small number of French troops who participated in the Crimean War have no role at all.

Lin Haijiang was on guard and self-disciplined in the rear, but he never expected that he was fighting with the British in Guangzhou in front, and someone in the back would give him a salary.

Because the opium business of some people in Beijing was cut off, the financial route was gone, but their power was still there, and several people jointly sent a message to Xianfeng, saying that the war in Guangdong was chaotic, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was about to move, and the Qing soldiers in the north lacked ammunition expenditure. Seeing that the war situation in Guangdong was good, Xianfeng thought about it and still felt that Yang Maozi was nothing more than seeking money, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wanted his land throne in the Qing Dynasty, so he immediately made a holy decree and asked Bai Gui to immediately escort the silver two carts from the domain treasury into Beijing, so as not to be robbed by Yang Maozi.

At this point, Lin Haijiang has lost even a little confidence in the emperor sitting high in the hall, such a person who has no overall view and will only listen to the words of officials, not to mention this opium war, as long as Lin Haijiang still wears this flower feather on his head in the future, he must always worry about whether there will be cold arrows from which direction he will shoot from behind.

However, this matter was also used by Lin Haijiang and became a typical case of the imperial court betraying the bloody soldiers in front of him.

Xianfeng was instigated by Jingtai to flee to Chengde, which was something that had happened in history, and Lin Haijiang was not surprised. Monk Greenqin suffered a crushing defeat at the Bali Bridge, and thanks to his marines who defeated the attack of the French Second Infantry Brigade, the "Old Summer Palace", the most magnificent royal garden in the world, survived.

In Lin Haijiang's opinion, this is a miraculous success, but in the eyes of others, this is a very normal result, and it is not worth rejoicing at all! Because what didn't happen didn't exist, no one knew that the private target of the British and French robbers was the most beautiful royal garden in the world, and no one knew that after the robbers ransacked the Old Summer Palace, they burned down this royal garden, which can be called a wonder of the world.

In the West, when the news of the disastrous defeat of the Anglo-French forces in the East reached the two countries, not only the upper echelons of the two countries were terrified, but the people who learned the news from various channels were in an uproar.

The British Empire, what kind of country is this, a vast empire that has been rampant on the seas for a hundred years and has almost never encountered an adversary. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century, it has developed rapidly. And the Qing Dynasty, the eastern country at this time, was a mysterious and powerful empire in the eyes of Western countries, and it can be said that it was the most powerful country in the world. According to incomplete statistics from later generations, China's GDP accounted for 32% of the world's total in 1750, while Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Italy in Europe combined only 17%, which was only half of China's.

It's just that the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were complacent, never understood the world, and did not even know anything about the common sense that the earth is round, which was confirmed in the 15th century, let alone the distant western continent. The Chinese cling to the Confucian classics and despise science and technology. The imperial examination is also a Confucian scripture that has no use for development, and even a few inventors who delve into technology can be regarded as grotesque and demonic.

Because of this difference, China was soon overtaken by the West. After the middle of the 18th century, Britain began the industrial revolution, in 1769 Watt invented the steam engine, changed the use of energy, greatly increased productivity, and led to the later industrial revolution, while China is gradually declining.

By the mid-18th century, China's GDP was still 29% of the world's, but the GDP of the five Western European countries also reached 29%. The mysterious Oriental Qing Dynasty was defeated in the First Opium War in 1840, defeating such a country that was once the most powerful country in the world, and the British people's self-confidence swelled to the extreme, and the British upper echelons increasingly wanted to gain greater benefits from it.

In the just-concluded Crimean War, Britain and France won a crushing victory, and the benefits they gained were not worth mentioning at all, because of this incident, domestic opposition to the war has risen one after another. The worst was the French, with a total of five or six hundred thousand casualties, and the French army accounted for the majority.

Both countries were in dire need of huge wealth to supplement the losses of the war, and the interests of the colonies of the two countries had been exploited to the extreme, and they could not squeeze much oil and water, so the closed Qing State came into their sight again.

The sweetness of the first Opium War was too much, the British army of 20,000 people against nearly 100,000 soldiers of the Qing army, they only paid more than 500 casualties, but the Qing army suffered more than 20,000 casualties, and then signed a series of treaties were compensated by 21 million silver dollars, and the related benefits obtained from these treaties cannot be calculated in money. The difference between the greater strength of Britain and the decline of the Qing state could not be more significant.

Soon after, the first joint attack of Britain and France on the city of Guangzhou ended in failure, but at the negotiating table, Britain and France declared their victory with a paper "Treaty of Tongzhou", and the people of the two countries, who did not know the inside story, raised their already high heads almost upright, and were proud to be unable to do so, once again thinking that the Qing State was an extremely backward country, occupying vast and fertile land, but only a few warships and more than 20,000 people defeated this behemoth.

It was such a feudal state, reduced to a semi-colony, that it had defeated Britain and France, the two most powerful countries in the world, and that it had defeated the most powerful fleet of the empire at sea, and only seven of the twenty-six warships had fled back to the country in disarray.

Those who heard the news at the beginning regarded it as a popular joke, because no one believed that the huge combined fleet of Britain and France would be defeated by that backward and ignorant whipping country in the East, and if it was the army that was defeated, it was still a little sideline, but with more and more intelligence and information, as well as the accounts of survivors who survived the war, the whole of India fell into panic, and there were even rumors that the flagellant soldiers had landed in some parts of India? They rode ponies and brandished scimitars?

(To be continued)