Bai Gui is not a stupid person, he knows very well that although the Chinese Empire treats the civil officials of Toucheng well, this generally refers to middle and lower-level officials, such as those prefects, prefects, etc., and he is the governor of a province, if you want to stay in the same position, it is not ordinary.

After all, the position of governor of Guangdong is very important for any dynasty, if he is only a surrender, he is not sure that he will be able to be retained in his original position, and there is a great possibility that he will be transferred to an idle position, which Bai Gui does not want to see.

However, if he does a good job during this period of time and is valued by Qu Panyun and others, considering the current complicated situation in Guangdong, Nanjing should not transfer other people to Guangdong to take over the post of governor of Guangdong, after all, Guangdong is now in the period of war, and it is still facing the challenge of the British and French forces, and it urgently needs a senior official who is familiar with the civil affairs of Guangdong, and at the same time has enough experience and qualifications to take charge of Guangdong, so as to cooperate with the military to resist the foreigners.

And who is such a person?

Doesn't that mean he's expensive?

Therefore, although there is not much hope, Bai Gui feels that he still has a chance to win the post of governor of Guangdong, as long as he can stay in his post, then he will work hard, and then cooperate with the military to hold Guangzhou, there may not be no hope for further progress in the future, and the future governor of Liangguang, and even the cabinet ministers are not hopeless.

After saying goodbye to Qu Panyun, Bai Gui, who stayed up all night, couldn't hold on, and now the city wall and the ditch outside the city have been preliminarily constructed, although there are still a lot of projects left, but those don't have to rush for a while, while the foreigners outside have not yet arrived. He had to get back to sleep.

Bai Gui went back to sleep, but Qu Panyun took a large number of middle and senior officers to inspect the newly completed trenches and city wall fortifications outside the city. It is different from Bai Gui and others who spread red and looked tired. These people, including Qu Panyun, are all excellent.

Last night, although the Chinese army went out to drive the people to repair the city, but in fact the number of troops dispatched was not much, the main body was the 27th Auxiliary Defense Division and part of the Qing army commanded by the original Bai Gui, who led a large number of Qing troops led by Bai Gui to surrender to Cheng There were several thousand, and some prisoners were later incorporated into it.

Officials from the Military Training Department, the Quanxu Division, and the General Staff Department of the army directly set up the 33rd Auxiliary Defense Division on the spot, and the number of people was relatively large, probably nearly 7,000 people; due to the urgency of time, the officials of the Military Training Department did not ask them to immediately reorganize their establishment, but continued to use the old establishment of the Qing Army's Green Battalion. After all, time is now tight and it takes time to reorganize the Auxiliary Defense Force, so we will use it first, and wait for the follow-up time to slowly reorganize into a standard auxiliary defense force.

The 27th Auxiliary Defense Division and the Tou Cheng Qing Army, which was organized as the 33rd Auxiliary Defense Division, were busy all night, but the soldiers of the 10th Infantry Division and the 8th Auxiliary Defense Division slept beautifully, and by the next day they were all in good spirits.

Qu Panyun and the accompanying officers inspected step by step, from the city wall to the moat outside the city, checking the results of last night, perhaps because the time was in a hurry, the quality of the repair of the city wall was not good. A few broken gaps were not repaired walls at all, but a large amount of sand and gravel were piled up, forming an obstacle to provide the gaps.

The quality of the bomb holes was even more worrisome, and the wooden planks and dirt covered were a little too thin. There is no way to effectively stop the iron balls and other lethal fragments fired by the grenade that exploded in mid-air, and some of them are still leaking sand and gravel, so there is no doubt that if a grenade explodes on the top of these anti-artillery holes. 100% will be overturned.

However, despite this or that problem, it is not easy to achieve this level in just a dozen hours. Faced with the look of shame on the faces of several officers in charge of this matter, Qu Panyun did not scold anything. Instead, he encouraged, "It's good to be able to do this!" ”

While Qu Panyun was inspecting the city walls and the fortifications outside the city, a group of British and French soldiers in bright uniforms in the east of Guangzhou was marching in a long column to the beat of the drums of the military band.

In addition to the infantry, a large number of artillerymen were driving the horses forward, and officers on horseback could be seen walking back and forth from time to time.

There is a big gap between the horses used by them to pull cannons and the horses used by officers and cavalrymen and the horses used by the Chinese army and other armies in China.

The horses of these British and French troops were generally about 1.5 meters tall at the shoulder, and some horses with 12-pounder guns were generally more than 1.5 meters tall at the shoulder.

Some of the horses of these Anglo-French armies came from Europe, some from India, some from Australia, or from the Middle East or even Africa, but although the provenance is somewhat complex, they are basically thoroughbred and Arabian breeds.

A twelve-pounder artillery company also had six guns, but the horses they used were generally only about 120, while the same 12-pounder six-gun artillery company in the Chinese army needed about 150 horses or mules.

This large number is not to praise the large number of horses in the Chinese army, but to say that the quality of the horses of the Chinese army is far inferior to that of the British and French forces.

However, even with the help of good horses, these heavy guns still move slowly, after all, these twelve-pounder guns are more than a ton, and they are not as light as six-pounder cavalry guns or four-pounder infantry guns, and horses can run on flat roads.

The Count of Ergin, likewise on horseback, looked at his army of six thousand, like a king standing at the top of a castle, and his heart was filled with glory.

This time he sent troops to Guangzhou, and the Earl of Ergin had not contacted the British and French envoys in China, because the British and French envoys in China were still arguing in Shanghai and in front of the Song Pass.

However, the capture of Guangzhou by the Chinese army made Count Ergin feel a direct threat, and he was unwilling to lead the fleet to attack Shanghai in the future, and even when he attacked Nanjing along the Yangtze River, his old nest Hong Kong was cut off.

Therefore, he did not hesitate to send troops to Guangzhou immediately, and it didn't matter to him that the war would be completely detonated.

Before coming to China, he had already obtained the war authorization from the British Parliament, and thanks to the backward level of communication in this year, Ergin had quite independent authority, and it was impossible to say that he would return to China if he did anything, and then launch a campaign.

The Count of Ergin, who had been fully authorized, had every right to launch a war at such time as he thought fit, whether against the Chinese Empire, the Manchus, or the Taipings, and would not hesitate to send troops as long as they thwarted British interests in China.

Of course, if he directly attacked Guangzhou before the Shanghai negotiations were over, he would definitely clash with Bao Ling and others, who were in charge of negotiations, but he didn't care, because once he entered a state of war, he would automatically take over all affairs related to China, whether it was war or diplomacy.

And now, Guangzhou in front of him is the starting point of his conquest of China!

The Anglo-French troops did not go very fast along the way, and they walked a mere 20 kilometers for most of the day, and did not reach the city of Guangzhou until late afternoon.

After arriving at the city of Guangzhou, Count Ergin looked at the appearance a little damaged, but at a glance he could see that the well-defended city of Guangzhou did not recklessly launch a direct attack.

As a qualified military commander, in addition to deploying troops during his months in Hong Kong, he also kept a close eye on the situation in China and the major enemies he needed to face.

The Qing army is nothing to Ergin, if it is Tsinghua in the city of Guangzhou, he can take the city of Guangzhou with his eyes closed, but if he is facing the Chinese army, then it is different.

According to the information he obtained, this Chinese army is not a traditional and backward feudal army with cold weapons, but a pure firearms unit that uses guns and artillery, and he has heard that many retired European officers help with training, and according to the information sent back by people from the Shanghai Trade Zone, the weapons and equipment of the Chinese army and the combat mode are quite standard line combat mode.

What's more, he also found that these Chinese troops actually used the same Mini rifles as his own army!

Although Ergin has great confidence in the soldiers under his command, and will far surpass these Chinese troops in combat courage and training, he still maintains a certain degree of caution, after all, even if the Chinese army on the opposite side is not as good as his own army, but it is also a modern army that uses Mini rifles and Western-style tactics, and it is not wrong to be careful, anyway, Guangzhou City is here sooner or later.

Therefore, when Count Ergin led his troops to the outside of Guangzhou, he did not rush to attack the city, but first set up camp to rest, and by the way, pushed up the artillery behind him and prepared it.

Just when the Anglo-French army outside the city was stationed about three kilometers outside the city wall, only half of the city gate tower was left on the city wall, and Qu Panyun and many senior generals were also using single-pass telescopes to observe this invading army from afar.

After most of the day, Qu Panyun was the first to put down the binoculars, and there was a slight wrinkle between his eyebrows: "These foreigners are cautious!" ”

"Their artillery placement is also very standard, there are not many loopholes, but I don't know how their camping is, if there is a chance, I can fight a night attack tonight and kill the sharpness of these barbarians!"

But it didn't take long for Liu Hetao to look depressed: "Their camp is still standard, there are not many loopholes, it's a pity!" ”

It was Liu Hetao, chief of staff of the Third Army, who had suggested this morning that if there was an opportunity tonight, he could appropriately send troops to carry out a night attack, and even if he could not break the enemy's position at that time, he could still kill the spirit of the British and French forces. (To be continued......)