Because of the sharp turn in shape, Zhang Zhidong finally let Feng Zicai enter the battlefield in Vietnam.

Feng Zicai's department is called Cuijun, because Feng Zicai came from the Cuiting. The army under the command of the sub-material is strictly disciplined, and the troops march to fight, and it is strictly forbidden to disturb the people, and violators must be severely punished by military law. Before the army marches, it is often necessary to send a cooking squad to the front location to boil porridge and cook first, and wait for the army to come and fill the hunger in time. Under normal circumstances, Feng Zicai did not allow soldiers to buy and sell along the way to prevent disputes. When camping at night, the Cui army set up their own tents, forbade them to enter private houses, and were not allowed to harass the people along the way. If officers and soldiers want to go out, they must have a warrant issued by the officer, and those who violate the order will be beheaded. Feng Zicai also issued a strict four beheading orders: "Those who block the road* will be beheaded, those who rape women will be beheaded, those who steal cattle and pigs will be beheaded, and those who abduct and sell people will be beheaded." ”

Although in Wang Yi's view, this is what the army should do, but for the Qing army at that time, considering their logistical supply conditions, the elite army was already out of its kind and outstanding. It is really difficult for a group of hungry soldiers with guns not to kill and set fire to fill their stomachs.

Today, Shen Yazhi was asked to attend the opening ceremony of Shengjing No. 1 Middle School, along with Han Xiujing and Jiang Jiaren. Wang Yi was talking with Qian Jia, Kim Yoona and Lim Tae Hee at this time. The four North Korean girls were divided equally between Shen Yazhi and Tong Qianjia as maids. Of course, they also serve Wang Yi's daily life together.

Chu Yuan walked in at this time and said, "My lord, the North Vietnam war report." ”

Feng Zicai led the 10 battalions of the Guangdong Army, and the general soldier Wang Xiaoqi led the Huai Army and the Guangdong Army, a total of 8 battalions, which set off from Qinzhou and Wuzhou respectively and went to Vietnam via Guangxi. Due to the tightness of Langshan, Feng Zicai directly entered Vietnam from Shangsizhou with eight battalions, and cooperated with Wang Debang's troops to guard the East Road; He led two battalions to Longzhou to prepare for food, ammunition and recruit new soldiers. Wang Xiaoqi's troops mutinied halfway, and nearly half of them were scattered, and there were less than 2,000 people when they arrived in Longzhou.

At the end of January 1885, more than 7,000 people of the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the French Army were assembled in the area of the bow of the ship, preparing to turn defense into attack and march to the Guangxi border. At this time, Porier was finally able to turn the passive into the active, and he threatened to advance in two ways: all the way to Gusong, and all the way to Cheli. In fact, the whole army pointed to Gu Song and attacked the center.

Pan Dingxin hoped to stop the French attack, and ordered the Qing army on the road, including the newly attached 5th battalion of Dong Lu's high division, to advance to the high ground near Zhushan to fortify.

On February 4, the French army concentrated artillery fire on the Zhushan Qing army camp, and then launched a fierce attack. The defenders resisted stubbornly, but due to the hasty movement of the defenses, the fortifications were not strong, and there were many casualties, and they were forced to retreat. The next day, the French attacked again, but the defenders were overwhelmed and retreated to Gusong. On 6 February, the French attacked Gusong under the cover of artillery fire, and the Qing army was forced to withdraw to the area of Weipo, 35 miles south of Lang Son.

The Qing army in the middle was defeated, and Langshan was dying.

"The eastern and western armies are far apart, and when they heard that they were dispatched to help, their orders were changed repeatedly in one day."

Pan Dingxin was completely panicked at this time, and changed the order day and night, sometimes ordering Wang Debang, Yang Yuke and other troops to return to Langshan, sometimes ordering him to stay in the same place, sometimes ordering him to attack the rear of the French army at night, and finally ordering him to fly to Langshan, but it was too late and to no avail.

On February 12, the French army captured Weipo, and Pan Dingxin, who was completely frightened, only remembered Li Hongzhang's hint in his heart - if you win, you will not chase, and if you lose, you will retreat. The problem is that Li Hongzhang is talking about Langjia, the bow of the ship, such a front line. Now that they've arrived at Langshan, they still think about this, aren't they kidding!

That night, Pan Dingxin escaped from Langshan and entered the customs, and Su Yuanchun then led his troops to retreat into the customs. On 13 February, the French captured the strategic position of Lang Son without a fight. At this point, the French army had achieved its intended operational objectives on the Eastern Front, and on 17 February, Pourier led the 1st Brigade with about 3,000 men to leave Lang Son in order to rush to the Western Front via Hanoi to relieve the French army besieged in Tuyen Quang.

After Langshan abandoned the guard, Feng Zicai resolutely took up the post of guarding the pass, and personally led a battalion from Longzhou to Zhennanguan, intercepted and routed the scattered soldiers together with Wang Xiaoqi's troops, and urgently dispatched eight battalions of Feng's army to defend the east road back to Zhennanguan. However, Pan Dingxin actually "told him that there was no need for the army to guard the pass, and ordered him to still take care of the east road." At this time, Langshan is gone, what's the use of guarding the East Road, but Pan Dingxin is so mixed.

On February 19, the Yang Yuke Department of the West Road withdrew from Guanyin Bridge and Tunmei Bypass to Wenyuan. Yang Yuke defended the high ground on both sides of Wenyuan with the main force, and led a unit to be stationed in Nanguan. In other words, Pan Dingxin and Su Yuanchun both ran away, and now only Yang Yuke is left outside Zhennan Pass!

Yang Yuke, the word Yunjie, Bai nationality, is a native of Xiying Village, Cangdong Township, Lanping Yingpan District, and his ancestral home is Hunan. His grandfather, Yang Chunxiu, started his career in mining and later returned to farming. When Yang Yuke grew up, he trained in a group and fought against Du Wenxiu, a Hui rebel who was the first to capture Dali, the seat of the governor of Yunnan, and took Dali as the center, and successively captured 53 cities in western Yunnan. He has been defeated and even captured by Du Wenxiu's righteous army many times, and he has saved the day several times. After fighting all the way, we have today's achievements. However, because of its historical position against the rebel army, it ...... Under the positioning of historical materialism in later generations, the status is not too high.

On 23 February, Nigri commanded the French 2nd Brigade to attack Wenyuan, and Yang Yuke personally went to the front line to direct the battle, stopping the enemy's advance. The defenders fought bloody battles and resisted day by day. But at this critical moment, counterfeit and shoddy products have reappeared! Most of the artillery shells fired by the Qing army did not explode and failed to inflict a large number of casualties on the enemy. In the afternoon, when Yang Yuke was commanding, he was unfortunately killed by a cannon and sacrificed his life for the country! The defenders then broke up and retreated into the pass. The French army took advantage of the situation to occupy Zhennanguan, and the front once invaded the vicinity of the shogunate nearly 10 kilometers in our country.

Due to the lack of troops, the difficulty of supply, and the occasional harassment by the local people's armed forces, the French army blew up the city wall of Zhennanguan and its nearby fortifications on February 25, and retreated to Wenyuan and Langshan. According to Pori's instructions before leaving Lang Son, the French army erected a wooden sign on the ruins of Zhennan Pass, which read: "It is safer to respect the treaty than to protect the country with the border gate, and the gateway to Guangxi no longer exists." However, the local military and civilians wrote in the same place: "We will rebuild our gateway with the heads of the French!" Take this as an answer to the aggressor.

When the battle report ended, Wang Yi shook his head, hung up the phone to the Navy Headquarters, and said, "I'm Wang Yi, pick up Shang Yi." ”

When Shang Yi's secretary heard this, he was startled, and immediately said, "Wait a minute." ”

"Captain, I'm Shang Yi!"

"The sister ship Taiping in the Beiyang, and the last cruiser in the South Sea, have the sea trials been completed now?"

"It's just finished, and Liu Buyun is taking people on board the ship for acceptance."

"Don't hand over the battleship for the time being, let Sa Zhenbing take the ship to Taiwan to join Yan Fu's fleet!"

"What does the captain mean?" Shang Yi had a faint premonition.

"Annihilate the French Far East Fleet completely! Then send three thousand marines to capture Hue. ”

"But the French army has more than 18,000 people in Vietnam, and we may not be able to defend against it." Shang Yi was a little worried, after all, the French used to be the world's first army, although now it is gradually declining, but the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse. It's hard to say if it's really fighting.

"They couldn't have gathered so many people at once...... Forget it, there's no need to fight hard! Depending on the situation, this battle will be great if it can be fought, and if it cannot be fought, it will be returned to the sea, and then randomly landed elsewhere along the coast of Vietnam, with the main purpose of destroying the living forces of the French in Vietnam. At the same time, the blockade of French ocean shipping routes, we occupy sea power, are we still afraid of them? ”

Shang Yi felt that this was better, so he said, "Captain, don't worry, I promise to complete the task!" ”

Liu Buyun has been arranged by Li Hongzhang in Lushun, ready to accept the new ship, but at this time Sa Zhenbing called him.

"Brother Zixiang, I'm sorry, the chairman called and said that the ship could not be delivered for the time being."

"Why?" Liu Buyun was a little angry, the last time the Taiping was originally for Beiyang, but it was taken to Taiwan by Wang Yi. "What is it this time for?"

"The fighting in North Vietnam has deteriorated, and the French have entered the territory of Guangxi!"

"What?" Liu Buyun was taken aback, he didn't expect the situation to collapse like this. "Didn't you wipe out the lone fleet just a few months ago?"

"So what? The adults in the capital thought that the French were made of paper, and if they didn't negotiate with a good situation, they had to send troops to North Vietnam, what could the outcome be? ”

Liu Buyun didn't speak, and after a long time, he said: "So, you also want to put this new warship in Taiwan?" ”

"The order hasn't come down yet!" There are some things that Sa Zhenbing won't say much.

"And who's leading the line?"

Sa Zhenbing smiled and said, "Me! ”

Liu Buyun thought about it, Sa Zhenbing was the right person, after all, this new ship was led by Sa Zhenbing in the sea trial. When it comes to familiarity with ships, there should be no one who can beat it.

Although Li Hongzhang had some objections to Wang Yi's approach, he thought that this trip was a trip to Vietnam for the country. Of course, the more important thing is to relieve his subordinate Pan Dingxin, otherwise it will really drag on, and the imperial court will deal with Pan Dingxin, and the Huai army's life will not be easy.

Compared with Pan Dingxin on the Eastern Front, Cen Yuying's war on the Western Front was also not smooth.

Before China and France officially declared war, the Qing court asked Cen Liuying to send troops. However, it was not until early October 1884, when he heard the news that the Great Shang Nanyang Fleet had wiped out the Lone Fleet, that he reluctantly accepted the order. The 10 battalions of the Black Flag Army, about 3,700 people, and the five battalions of Zhang Shirong's division of the Yunnan Army, about 2,500 people, were stationed in the Wenpan and Datan areas.

Huang Shouzhong and Wu Fengdian of the Black Flag Army detoured to Lu'an from the mountain road, and after leaving the museum; Liu Yongfu and Zhang Shirong led their troops down the Red River to reap the effect of the pincer attack. Cen Yuying hoped to seize Guansi and Xuanguang successively, and with the main force of more than 6,000 people of the Yunnan army gathered on the Yunnan border, he would occupy Xiahe, Qingbo and Lintao along the Red River one after another, and after succeeding, he would join forces with the Qing army on the eastern front and attack Bac Ninh and Hanoi. In general, there are no major problems strategically, and the arrangements are also made in accordance with the logistical situation of the own side.

Due to the limited number of troops, the French withdrew the defenders of Guansi on October 11 in order to implement the operational policy of Commander Pourier to defend the west and attack the east, so as to shorten the defensive line, firmly hold on to Hung Hoa, Tuan Hung, and Tuyen Quang, and ensure the security of the area west of Hanoi. In view of the automatic evacuation of the enemy of the pavilion, Cen Yuying concentrated the Black Flag Army and the Zhang Shirong Division of the Dian Army at Xuanguang.

Xuanguang City itself is built with a stone wall, by the mountain and the river, to the heavenly danger, a mountain in the city towers, the hanging cannon can hit the foreign army, the bamboo outside the city is planted five or six times, the soldiers are difficult to break into. To put it bluntly, it's a natural turret! But even so, Xuanguang City is not unbreakable. One of the biggest problems was that the French army was not strong enough, and there were only more than 700 people in the city at most!

By the middle of October, the Qing army on the western front had successively entered the vicinity of Xuanguang, and because the French army had very strict land and water defenses, they camped at Langyu and Zhongmen, which were ten miles away from the city.

Soon, the Gui army on the eastern front had lost Langjia and the bow of the ship, and the Qing court strictly ordered the Dian army to advance quickly to divide the enemy's situation. On October 20, Cen Yuying moved from Baosheng to Wenpan, and transferred 4,000 people from the Registered Admiral Wu Yongan and Zou Fusheng's subordinates who were originally stationed on the Yunnan border and more than 2,000 people from the Registered General Qin Xiugang's Subordinate to enter the Guansi, Xiahe, and Qingbo areas, waiting for an opportunity to attack Xinghua and other places to threaten the enemy's rear route; At the same time, the Xuanguang Qing army was ordered to gradually advance under the city and besiege the enemy on all sides.

In order to ensure Xuanguang and stabilize the defensive posture of the western front of Beiqi, the French army sent reinforcements several times from November 4 to 12, but most of them were repulsed by the Qing army. Beginning on November 12, the Qing army dug camps on both sides of the Qing River in Zuoyu, more than ten miles southeast of Xuanguang, and loaded the previously intercepted boats into the Shisai River, in order to cut off the French army's waterway traffic. On November 18, the French Duanxiong and the commander of the Shanxi region, Domini, personally led more than 1,000 infantry, artillery, and engineers, aboard five gunboats and more than 10 civilian boats, taking advantage of the heavy rain and the rising waters of the Qing River for several days to reinforce Xuanguang. The next day, the French army landed in a boat and attacked Zuoyu in two ways. The Qing army killed and wounded more than 100 French soldiers in the camp on the ground, but because the fortifications had not yet been fully formed, they were attacked by the enemy and were forced to withdraw from their positions. The French troops immediately boarded the ship and sailed to Xuan Guang, strengthening the city's defenses.

Xuanguang was like a big nail, firmly nailed between the Qing army on the east and west lines.

Cen Yuying originally planned to pass by Xuanguang, so she simply stopped fighting. But after the field trip, I found out that this was completely a dead thought. Because of the low logistical supply capacity of the Qing army, it has reached an outrageous level. If there is still such a fortified city as Xuanguang here, with the Qing soldiers fighting like the peasants, once the grain route is cut off, the consequences can be imagined.

Therefore, Cen Yuying later emphasized that Xuanguang must be taken first, and the various armies of Yunnan and Guizhou must unite as one in order to forge ahead, so that the Black Flag Army and a large number of Yunnan troops have been under the fortified city for a long time, and they cannot advance eastward, and sit back and watch the French army concentrate its forces on Langshan.

No matter how you look at it, Cen Yuying's choice is not much wrong. However, this move was still criticized by some people in later generations, and in Wang Yi's view, it was completely just standing and talking without backache. Instead of accusing Cen Yuying, it is more appropriate to scold Zhang Zhidong.