"Failing to restrain the Chinese government's interference in Jiaozhichina is a dereliction of duty on the part of the Legation in China!"

In May of the twelfth year of Tongzhi, the French governor of Saigon, Mali. Jules. Du Bailei received an urgent letter from the French Minister to China, Luo Shuya. He failed to suppress the Chinese government, which, with the support of the British, officially announced an increase in troops in Vietnam.

The message was transmitted from Beijing to Hong Kong, and then by clipper from Hong Kong to Da Nang.

Du Bailei must go north! The appearance of the French army under the city of Hue filled his heart with disappointment. Du Bailei has lost trust in the French Army. He didn't believe it -- after the Qin army marched south, Francis. Garnier was able to defeat it along with the Vietnamese army.

Although Du Bailei has less than a complete French marine battalion with the marines in his hands, he still has more than a dozen warships in his hands, deducting four logistics transport ships [including troop carriers], ironclad ships, iron-ribbed ships, and river gunboats, which can only be regarded as second-class cruisers, frigates, gunboats and other little guys in Europe, a total of eleven ships, but in the Far East it is a powerful force.

Two days later, more than a dozen French ships appeared outside the port of Hongji. Two of the river gunboats, under the cover of night, suddenly appeared outside Hai Phong, an important town in North Ki, Vietnam, in the early morning of the next day. Shelled Haiphong, and along the Red River straight into Hanoi, shelled Hanoi and outside the city recruit camps, and then Shi Shiran left.

Liu Xian was well aware of the strength of the French navy in Vietnam. The two ironclad ships, the Dilxi with more than 2,200 tons and the Amirin with more than 2,600 tons, are far better than the Yangwei [Discovery] and Zhenwei [Enterprising] ironclad ships that Liu Xian purchased from the British, although these two ironclad ships can only be called third-class cruisers in Europe, and they are the little brothers of authentic ironclad ships. With the "Basval" carpenter cruiser, the "Volda" wooden-hulled cruiser, the "Fort Renault" wooden-hulled cruiser, and five battleships as the main force, of which the "Basval" ironwaki-hulled cruiser has a tonnage of more than 3,000 tons, which is the largest number of French naval warships in Vietnam, and is also the flagship of Du Bailei.

There were two more gunboats of four or five hundred tons, the Raid, and four large axe-class river gunboats, the Masu, the Turkish Scimitar, the Carbine, and the Javelin. As for the rest of the transport ships, although they are all armed warships, it is obvious that they are far from qualified as naval combat ships.

The tonnage of Du Bailei's eleven battleships exceeded 15,000 tons, and Liu Xian's two ironclad ships and two gunboats, with a total tonnage of only 4,000 tons, were not comparable at all.

Du Bailei's fleet stopped off the coast of Hongji Port, which seemed to be only containing Liu Xianam's army, but in fact directly threatened the safety of the coastal areas of Guangzhou, especially the port of Qinzhou.

However, Liu Xian did not order anyone to inform the four ships docked at Qinzhou Port to leave their posts. For the ports on Hainan Island, the port of Qinzhou is more reliable. After all, Liu Xian set up three forts in the port of Qinzhou, while the port of Hainan Island was completely nude.

"My lord, Fayi sent someone over!"

In Hongji City, Liu Xian was inspecting the construction of the position outside the city. Suddenly, I heard a report from someone, and Du Bailei sent someone over. "Nope!" Shaking his head, Liu Xian directly refused. "Let him tell Du Bailei that I have prepared a place for him in Hongji City. In the future, I will have time to meet him. "Liu Xian is looking forward to the war before it's too late, why do you want to meet the French messenger lobbyist?

Although the Haiphong-Hanoi shelling allowed Liu Xian to increase his vigilance against the virtual map from two hours a day and 15 minutes every three hours to four hours a day and 10 minutes every hour. But he was still full of confidence in his team, in himself, in defeating the French army.

The person sent by Du Bailei disappeared directly, and if he said it, it was best to make Du Bailei angry and immediately send troops to attack Hongji City. After going south to Vietnam for so long, the 'big knife' in Liu Xian's hand was already hungry and thirsty.

Hearing the words of the Vietnamese translator beside him, An Ye's face immediately became stiff. The arrogant Gallic rooster regarded Liu Xianam's words as provocative and contemptuous, which made the self-esteem of the Caucasian Europeans of Anye unacceptable. "Give me a translation, tell sù that arrogant and stupid Chinese general, that the provocation against the French warriors is the biggest mistake he has made in his life."

"It won't be long before the warriors of France will be leveling the city with cannonballs and bayonets. When the time comes, I will teach him how powerful France is! ”

After An Ye finished speaking, he left without looking back. The remaining Vietnamese translator looked at the fierce Fan Debiao in front of him, how dare he truthfully translate An Ye's words, isn't that looking for death! smiled dryly at Fan Debiao, and quickly turned around and ran away with An Ye.

rejected the French visitor, Liu Xian opened the virtual map, and it was always open without wasting energy. After seeing a small red dot and returning to the French naval fleet, it didn't take long for the French naval fleet in the open sea to move, and soon turned around and sailed north.

There were only a few small fishing boats left in the port of Hongji, which had been bombarded to pieces by the gunboats of the French fleet as early as the day the port arrived. So now the French fleet is leaving the open sea and heading north, and Hongji Port is not able to find it.

Liu Xian's face was calm, and he was not depressed because of the French fleet's northward movement. There are three batteries in Qinzhou Port, and with the four ironclad gunboats moving everywhere in the port, although the strength of the French fleet is strong, it is not possible to break Qinzhou Port with a lip service. If you really fight to the end, it will be a lose-lose situation.

If Du Bailei was a smart person, he would not really touch Qinzhou Port. Liu Xian did not avoid foreigners when he built the forts, and the cannons equipped with the three forts were purchased from the British and German foreign firms. He didn't believe that the French would not know about the armament of Qinzhou Port!

……

The tricolor is flying!

The sea broke through the bow of the ship, and the ship sailed by, leaving a trail of snow-white water on the surface of the sea.

Du Bailei stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the blue sea in the north, but what she was thinking about was the navigation chart.

"That's enough, it's almost there. Tell the ships, turn around, and we go east. And then the fleet went south, to Haiphong! ”

Du Bailei is indeed not an idiot. He knew that Qinzhou Port was well armed, so he didn't want to use his precious ships to fight the cold forts. The French fleet went north, just to shake Liu Xian and mobilize his attention. Du Bai Lei's goal has always been Vietnam!

The French army and navy had nothing to do with the Qing army in Vietnam, but if they led warships to attack the coast of Liangguang, it would be France to declare war on China. This is not a French calculation.

Du Bailei's real goal is Haiphong, it is Hanoi!

Taking advantage of Liu Xian's 'suspicious ghosts', he wants to raid Haiphong and raid Hanoi! Take down the heart of Beiqi. R1152