After several days of fierce shelling, the entire city of Aihui fell into a sea of fire, the flames were scorching, and the smoke covered the sky.

Zasulich's forces were constantly depleted, and on the 14th he lost the southern city defenses. But Zasulic did not retreat, and he received a death order to hold Aihui and wait for reinforcements.

Due to the powerful artillery fire of the Beiyang Army, Zasulich lacked the corresponding artillery to resist, and the battle losses were extremely high. So Zasulic led the remnants of more than 1,000 men to defend the walls of the northern and eastern cities and several nearby high grounds, and built a large number of fortifications to resist. Beicheng and Dongcheng are the closest to the Heilongjiang River, where the river surface is in the shape of a ">", and the Russian Amur River Defense Fleet can effectively provide fire support.

Tsarist Russia has been trying to the northeast for a long time, and Heilongjiang from the Mohe River below the river can pass warships and ships, especially in April ~ August every year for the Heilongjiang water abundant period, can pass most of the shallow draft of 3,000 tons of ships below, so Russia in 1859 set up the river shallow water heavy gunboats and gunboats, gunboats composed of the Amur fleet, the fleet has two 1300 tons of shallow water heavy gunboat Novgorod (Novgorod) and Vice Admiral ** ( vice-admiralpopov), six Perron-class 640-ton gunboats, as well as five 230-ton gunboats. Most of these gunboats were built in the sixties and seventies, and their hulls were somewhat old, but it was fitting that Russia would send them to the Far East to deal with the Qing Empire.

As a favorable support for ground firepower, the firepower and protection of shallow water heavy gunboats is a very great threat to the army. Zasulich and the remnants of his East Manchurian detachment dragged the Amur fleet to barely survive.

Although the artillery regiment of the Beiyang Army surpassed the number of shipborne guns of the Amur fleet in terms of the number of artillery, it did not have an advantage in caliber, with shallow water heavy gunships with a minimum of 152 mm guns, gunboats with 102 mm guns, and gunboats with 47 rapid-fire guns and 37 machine guns. And the most important thing is that because the gunboat is a mobile firepower carrier, and the rifle gun is a fixed launch, the latter will definitely suffer a loss when it moves and fights.

Since the naval artillery fire was mainly direct fire, the Beiyang Army launched a general attack on Zasulich's headquarters on July 15 by the Second Brigade of the First Town of the Beiyang Army, under the cover of the Aihui city wall and houses.

In terms of firepower in street battles, the Beiyang Army still has a large number of Makqin heavy machine guns, and the Russian army's Makqin heavy machine guns were basically destroyed by artillery fire in the city defense battle, so in the face of the heavy machine gun fire of the Beiyang Army, the Russian army almost did not dare to raise its head.

Under the cover of heavy machine guns and some 80 infantry guns, the Beiyang Army launched an attack alley by alley, and soon forced Zasulich to retreat to the Jedi, and just when Zasulich was about to despair, the 11th Infantry Regiment of Imperial Russia and East and West Beria arrived in Aihun under the leadership of Lieutenant General Stessel.

The 11th Regiment of East and West Beria belonged to the elite troops of Imperial Russia, and because he did not know the strength of the other side, Wang Shizhen decided to suspend the attack after consulting with the generals, and the 2nd Brigade maintained the occupation of most of the area south of the city and built fortifications. Wait to find out the strength of the Russian army before making offensive deployments.

After Lieutenant General Stessel joined up with the East Manchurian detachment led by Lieutenant General Zasulich, he was not in a hurry to attack the Beiyang Army, but built fortifications on the spot and continuously transported a large number of light and heavy equipment and supplies.

The 11th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment with 4,000 men, 40 light and heavy artillery, including 8 120-caliber heavy guns and 12 heavy machine guns.

Upon his arrival at Aihui, Lieutenant General Stessel immediately took over the defensive positions of Zasulich's subordinates, and Zasulich's Dongman detachment was reduced to a reserve and placed under the command of Stessel.

In order to gain time, Stexel asked the Russian minister Cuman to force the Qing government to suspend the attack as much as possible, so as to buy time for the construction of fortifications.

The Qing government learned from the negotiation experience of the Sino-French war, and also tried to sell some mining and railway rights in exchange for the Russian strike. Cuman then took the opportunity to throw out the sincerity of the peace talks and was willing to negotiate, but asked the Qing army to stop attacking Aihuicheng.

On July 18, the two sides reached an armistice agreement again, and the two sides agreed to maintain the status quo and resolve the issue through negotiations. However, due to the weakness of the Qing political axe, Russia proposed that both armies withdraw from Aihui City, and demanded that Aihui become a neutral military buffer zone.

In this regard, the Qing Zheng Axe Prime Minister Yamen, who was not disgusted by eating a hundred beans, actually agreed. As a result, the Beiyang Army had to withdraw from Aihui City under the notice of Prime Minister Yamen's explicit order and retreat to the position at the beginning of the Aihui offensive and defensive battle. But the Russians were not so obedient, and after consolidating their existing positions, they still sent troops to reoccupy the city of Aihui.

Prime Minister Yamen protested on this basis, but the Russian side said that the Russian army entered Aihui City only to collect and bury the remains of the fallen soldiers, and they would be withdrawn soon once it was completed. In this regard, Prime Minister Yamen even believed it.

Qing Russia resumed negotiations, compared with the previous negotiation atmosphere, after the Battle of Songhua River and the Aihui Offensive and Defensive Battle, the arrogance of the Russian army was defeated, and the Russian minister Cuman was not as arrogant as before.

At this time, Tsarist Russia did not have much bargaining chip, but the Qing political axe side held nearly 20,000 prisoners of Tsarist Russia, and this bargaining chip forced the Russian political axe to make negotiating concessions.

It was no longer possible to cede Heilongjiang Province, and the Tsarist government retreated to the next best thing, demanding that the six counties around Aihui be ceded and that the Russian prisoners of war be returned at the same time, that military expenses and economic losses be compensated by 50 million taels of silver, that a military buffer zone be set up in Heilongjiang and Songhua River, and that the Russian Trans-Siberian Railway be allowed to build branch lines in the three northeastern provinces and send troops to protect them.

It is really unacceptable for the lion to open his mouth so widely, and he is so justified in losing the battle, not only the government is staggering, but even the powers of various countries are also shocked.

"Obviously, the Russians have lost face and will definitely have to get back on the ground, and the negotiations are still just an excuse to stall for time. Any attempt to hope that Russia would stop the war would be futile, and only the Russians would be able to put an end to the border conflict. ”

The Beiyang Daily, founded by Wang Chenhao's right-hand man Ruan Zhongshu, exposed Russia's conspiracy with a front-page headline, and at the same time pointed the finger at the weakness and incompetence of the prime minister's yamen, revealing Russia's hypocritical face.

Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and other people of insight initiated the fourth bus letter, asking the imperial court not to follow the old path of the Sino-French war, and it is understandable to seek peace by victory, but it is not allowed to give up national interests, otherwise it is no different from defeat.

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New York, Manhattan Island, outside the gate of 13 Hamils Avenue, a dozen police officers have set up a red cordon (yellow under international law after 1920).

The owner of this room is named Nikola Tesla, and as a geek, a genius and genius in the scientific world, Tesla is now experiencing the second low point in his life.

The first was when he parted ways with Edison, and a serious disagreement over direct current and alternating current led Edison to impose a strong crackdown on Tesla. Edison used his influence in the scientific community and the company's huge financial resources to force the scientific community to disregard Tesla's status as a scientist, calling him a pseudoscientist and a monster. And the sponsors, forced by the influence of Edison, had to turn it away.

After several bumpy years, Tesla finally broke through Edison's blockade and received funding from the Morgan consortium to get an order for a 1,500 kilowatt alternator unit at the Niagara Hydropower Station and hire him as the power station designer. As a result, Tesla came out of the trough.

However, a few years later, just as Tesla was getting a large amount of money from the Morgan consortium to prepare for a big fight, an accidental fire destroyed his lab. On the night of July 16, 1896, a fire broke out in Tesla's laboratory at 13 Hamils Avenue, destroying $340,000 of test equipment.

This puts Tesla at a second low point in his life, as he will face debt collection and rebuke from the Morgan consortium's funders.

Tesla, who was sitting in front of the ruins, hung his head and looked quite sad. A few assistants next to him only sighed helplessly, and there was news that the fire was not an accident, but a sabotage hired by Edison. Because of Tesla's success in alternating current, Edison's direct current business faced serious challenges.

However, Edison did want to take revenge on Tesla, but he sent someone to set fire to Tesla's laboratory in May 1897, and the current fire was a year ahead of schedule, and someone else hired someone else under the banner of Edison.

All right! Wang Chenhao admitted that he had done another bad thing!

In order to get the talent of Tesla, Wang Chenhao had to play some tricks. Since Tesla was funded by the Morgan consortium at this time, it was difficult for Wang Chenhao to pull him to work at Beiyang Technology. So he ordered someone to pretend to be an Edison worker, hired Mexican homeless people on the streets of New York, and secretly infiltrated Tesla's laboratory to wreak havoc. The purpose is to expose Tesla to debt collection and accountability from the funders of the Morgan consortium, forcing him to defect to Wang Chenhao when he is desperate and use it for his use.

Everything was carried out very secretly, no one could find out that Wang Chenhao did it, and all the spearheads pointed to Edison. Tesla hated Edison, but the main question now was how to explain it to the funders of the Morgan consortium.

"Your letter, sir!"

Just when Tesla had a headache, an invitation letter from the New York Consulate General of the Qing Empire was delivered to him.

Tesla opened it and saw that the content was an invitation letter inviting him to work at Beiyang Science and Technology in China, on which Wang Chenhao simply told him that he would provide him with the world's most advanced laboratories and test equipment, and fund all his scientific research projects. For specific matters, he was invited to the Consulate General for an interview.

Tesla was puzzled, but his assistants were elated. Deputy Bailey told Tesla: "Sir, this person is a member of the Qing Empire, and he is very rich, he invested 20 million US dollars to build the world's largest test base - Beiyang Science and Technology, congratulations sir, if you can work there, I believe it is the dream of every scientist." ”

Undoubtedly, this deputy Bailey has been bought by Wang Chenhao.

Tesla is desperate at the moment, and if it doesn't want to be forced by debt collectors to sell blood to pay off its debts, it can only slip away.

So, Tesla went to the consulate to meet Wang Chenhao. There is no doubt that Wang Chenhao agreed to his conditions without thinking about it, helping him repay his debts, giving him the most advanced laboratories and experimental equipment, giving him sufficient scientific research funds, and so on.

Of course, Wang Chenhao is not without conditions. His condition is that the patent for Tesla's invention will belong to Wang Chenhao, and Tesla cannot transfer the relevant technology to others without permission. Moreover, Tesla will be employed by Beiyang Technology for life.

Tesla didn't realize at this time how profitable his scientific and technological achievements would be, and there were people willing to hire him for life and provide sufficient scientific research funds, where to find such good things? Therefore, Tesla happily agreed to all of Wang Chenhao's conditions.

The two signed an employment contract on the same day, and Tesla became one of the chief experts of Beiyang Technology, won the title of second-class academician, with an annual salary of 100,000 US dollars, and Wang Chenhao became Tesla's lifelong boss.

The next day, Wang Chenhao sent someone to follow Tesla to meet his funders, and paid off all the debts for Tesla on the spot. And hired all the technicians around Tesla, and his deputy Bailey advised meritorious, and won the treatment of the fourth academician of Beiyang Science and Technology, with an annual salary of 30,000 US dollars. As for the first class academician, there is no one to hold it for the time being. Wang Chenhao divides the personnel working in Beiyang Science and Technology into fifth-class academicians and third-class staff members, and uses rank and reputation to stimulate all staff members and let them work diligently.

After Tesla and his team joined Beiyang Technology, Tesla's existing patents will be applied for by Beiyang Technology in countries around the world, including 33 patents such as AC motors, AC high-voltage transmission systems, household AC, reversible high-frequency magnetic fields, radio transmission and interference, radio remote control, electromagnetic oscillators, and bladeless turbines. The most valuable thing in the next ten years will be the alternating current patent, and the most military value in the future is the transmission, jamming and remote control technology in the radio field, as for the dead light weapons, electromagnetic pulses and primitive computers invented by Tesla in the future, that is a later story.