The allied forces were well on their way to break the siege of the concession and then take the city of Tianjin, and on July 14, the allied forces had completely occupied Tianjin. The Qing army was defeated and fled in all directions, losing organized resistance inside and outside Tianjin.

After the Allied forces entered Tianjin, looting and massacres were rampant, and the Allied forces treated any Chinese resident who looked threatening or unpleasant as a Boxer, killing them at will, and then attributing the property to themselves. This group of invading troops, who pay lip service to justice and justice, have done countless outrageous deeds.

Since July 14, Tianjin, a new city that has risen from the Westernization Movement and is becoming more and more prosperous, has fallen into a sea of blood.

But on this very day, the British commander received a secret letter from the British minister Dou Nale, who was trapped in Beijing. The letter also entrusted the "reliable" Chinese to send it to Tianjin, and the letter explained in detail the situation in the embassy area, and clearly stated that if the Chinese did not step up the attack, the embassy could hold out for a few more days. If they attack resolutely, they can fall in two or three days at most. Dou Nale demanded that the coalition forces immediately move north to save the situation.

This letter overjoyed the coalition forces, and it was really good that the embassy was still insisting on it after such a long time.

So the British immediately called a meeting of the top leaders of the coalition forces to study the march to Beijing. Contrary to the expectations of the British, the generals of the coalition forces who attended the meeting were not at all interested in an immediate northward advance.

In fact, the reason for the British to rush into the army was not to rescue the embassy, but to Lieutenant General Seymour, whose whereabouts are still unknown. A British vice admiral, if captured by the Chinese in the war, the prestige of the British Empire. Undoubtedly a huge blow. Even if Seymour dies in battle, it will be much better than the current unexplained situation. It is impossible to solve the Seymour problem without hitting Beijing. If General Seymour had really been captured, it is estimated that he would have been escorted to Beijing by now.

However, the most urgent British, are now somewhat overwhelmed. With the current little army, the British army cannot afford to march north alone, and must have help. As for domestic reinforcements, don't even think about it. The outbreak of the Boer War last year left the British Empire in a quagmire, both militarily and financially stretched. Of course, the British commanders did not know what to do. Captain Churchill, who would later make a name for himself in British politics, is still a young man of twenty-five. He became a captive of the Boers, but escaped with wit and composure, and the son of the nobleman, after his prosper, hung in his study the wanted notices issued by the Boers for his capture. Always tell friends and colleagues about what happened to them. Puzzled, he asked: Am I worth dozens of pounds?

The British commanders were well aware. The British army did not end the Boer War, and was simply unable to reinforce the Eastern Theater, and. It's too late.

Therefore, the British army had to liaise with the allies.

After a fierce quarrel and tense mediation, the British won the support of the Japanese. It was decided that Britain and Japan would first form an advance army and march north to deter the Qing court.

Other countries stood still for various reasons, justifying that they were waiting for reinforcements.

It is said that the countries that have been involved in this war against the Qing are the Allied forces, so why bother the British Empire? Actually, it's far from that. When the concession was desperately resisting in order to survive, everyone was still of one mind. But now after the capture of Tianjin, there is really what Cixi hoped, and the coalition parties have a huge disagreement about whether to attack Beijing or not, and when to attack because of their own interests.

The embassy district is under siege, and the British embassy is not the only one. Supposedly, such a problem should not arise, but the reality is that most countries do not agree with the immediate reorganization of troops to the north.

War has broken out, and the safety of embassy personnel is less important than the interests of the state and the military.

The United States did not want to enter the war. In fact, Cixi wrote letters to the heads of state, and only US President McKinley politely replied with three not excessive demands, the core of which was to ensure the safety of diplomats. If the Qing can publicly prove that the diplomatic personnel are safe, then the United States agrees to restore peace with the Qing and resolve the dispute diplomatically.

Compared with other old imperialist countries, the United States, known as the "shepherd boy", is too young. Although the United States is thriving, it has a tendency to surpass the British Empire. The United States advocates an open door and free trade within the boundaries of the world, but it also infringes on the interests of other countries. In the past hundred years, it was an era when the great powers violently seized the colonies, and the land and sea on this planet have been largely redivided, and the countries on the earth have been divided into two categories, one part is the colonizer and the master, and the other part (the vast majority) is the colonized and is the slave. There are very few countries like China that are neither colonized nor colonized, which is the main reason why the great powers are deeply interested in East Asia, a vast empire with a long history. The free trade advocated by the Americans did not fit the minds of the old powers. Moreover, in this war, the Americans were seriously underwhelmed.

Excluding Britain and the United States, France, Russia, Japan, and Germany have a say in this war. The rest, such as Italy, Belgium, and Austria, are actually here to make soy sauce. Their army is too small to sway the situation at all. Moreover, there is basically no amount of back-up. So, there isn't much to say in meetings that look at the next strategic direction.

The Germans were going to fight. The killing of Minister Klinder greatly angered the Kaiser. The country's army, which has mobilized 7,000 troops, has boarded the ship and set off. The Kaiser even instructed his troops not to take any prisoners without any mercy. But now the reinforcements have not arrived, the existing strength of the German army is too weak, the main force followed Seymour was annihilated by the Qing army, and the Germans who ran back described the strength of the Qing army, which made the Germans cautious, and they advocated waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from various countries before marching north. In fact, the Germans were trying to take the position of commander of the coalition forces, and that would have to wait for strong reinforcements to arrive. With the current strength, it is simply to marry people.

France, Russia, and Japan have their own plans, and they have one thing in common, that is, they do not intend to actually occupy Beijing. The occupation of the capital of the Qing State did not mean much to them. China is so big, think about it calmly. No one can afford to occupy this country. What they are concerned about is the expansion of their power in China. The French were in the southwest of China, the Russians in the northwest and northeast, the Japanese mainly on the southeast coast, and of course Manchuria was coveted. It would be much more meaningful to expand the scope of its traditional power in China than to occupy its capital.

The Russians and the Japanese were the most convenient countries to increase their troops in China, and in fact they were already doing it, the Russian Far East troops, the Japanese 5th Division in Hiroshima. Already assembled in secret. Transshipment to China. Russia and Japan have a huge conflict of interest with China. The Japanese have not forgotten the past when the Three Kingdoms intervened in the Restoration of Liao a few years ago, and in that incident, the Russians played a leading role in that incident. The Japanese suffered a big loss.

Right now. Since the Japanese acted as a vanguard. Russians are happy to watch from the wall.

The main reason why the Japanese agreed to the demands of the British was that Britain was now a staunch ally of Japan. The Japanese Navy's technical skills came mainly from the British, and Japan's backup against Russia was mainly the war funding. Also from the UK. Since the allies demanded it, the Japanese would continue to do it without waiting for domestic reinforcements to arrive.

On July 15, the Japanese and British troops, who had just occupied Tianjin and were still looting, gathered together and began to advance north. The total strength was 3,100 men, the main force was the Japanese army, and the British army had less than 900 men.

The main force of the Qing army has retreated to Beijing, and it is estimated that blocking lines will be set up along the way, Beicang, Yangcun, and Langfang, which will be the key points of resistance of the Qing army. Beicang was only a dozen kilometers from Tianjin, and reconnaissance had already shown that the Qing army had laid out a complete defensive line there.

The British and Japanese military commanders believed that it was unrealistic for the Qing army to set up a strong defensive position in Beicang and open the passage with more than 3,000 troops, so it was better to bypass Xigu, so as to flank the axis of Beicang and Yangcun. Another unspeakable reason was that the British wanted to find the Qing army that had defeated Seymour, which, according to fragmented information, seemed to be still in Xigu.

But the British and Japanese armies were blocked at Xigu. This small fortress had brought great humiliation to the coalition forces, and now the vanguard of the coalition forces had hit a wall here.

In attacking Xigu, the Japanese acted as the main force. Three attacks, including one with the British on the flanks, failed. The Qing army in the Xigu stronghold was strong and fierce, and they even used machine guns that were rare for the coalition forces. And the flanks also deployed enough covering troops. The three attacks cost the coalition forces a full 250 casualties (mainly Japanese) and failed to capture the Xigu stronghold.

The British commander, Colonel Rudy, concluded that the Qing army that had ambushed the coalition forces ten days earlier was undoubtedly the one who held the stronghold in Xigu. In the battle under the city of Tianjin, he has seen the combat effectiveness of the Tianjin defenders, absolutely not as tenacious and fierce as this Qing army, these are completely two different grades of the army, the Xigu defenders always wait for the coalition forces to reach the close position dozens of meters before firing, their shooting level is very high, very calm, absolutely not like the Tianjin Qing army fired at a distance of a few hundred meters. Moreover, they have a large number of snipers, who specialize in killing the officers who lead the team.

In the eyes of the British, the Japanese were fierce enough, but they couldn't do it in front of the defenders of Xigu, and the Japanese army, with the so-called spirit of bushido, launched attacks in waves, and was knocked down again and again, and the front of the stronghold was full of corpses of Japanese soldiers. To the astonishment of the Japanese and British allied forces, before the last attack (the Japanese army mobilized three squadrons) was launched, the artillery positions of the allied forces were suddenly hit by the Qing artillery, and the first few shells were not accurate, but soon, the artillery fire of the Qing army covered the artillery positions of the allied army, and the artillery suffered heavy casualties, and what was worse was that the shells of the Qing army detonated the shell pile stacked by the allied forces not far from the artillery position, and in the earth-shattering explosion, six artillery pieces were completely destroyed, and the remaining five guns were also blown by the air waves, and they could not shoot. After the artillery that relied on the support was dumbfounded, the Japanese army's decisive charge without artillery support turned into a massacre, two machine guns swept down the Japanese soldiers who rushed up one by one, and the Qing army seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack to completely defeat the Japanese army, and a large number of casualties occurred within ten minutes, the Japanese army killed a Shaozuo captain, and the lieutenant was killed and wounded six, suffering the heaviest casualties since the beginning of the war.

The Xigu stronghold still stood in front of the Anglo-Japanese forces.

British Major Bruce, who had sneered at Colonel Rudy, was shocked by the fierceness and tenacity of the Qing army, and said to Rudy, "Colonel, please forgive me for my previous offense. If the Qing army is like this army, we will have to mobilize at least 100,000 people to take Beijing! ”

Colonel Rudy didn't bother to discuss this Qing army with the major, so he sent people back to Tianjin overnight to ask for help, at least to send artillery, "Damn." The Qing people hid their artillery and did not have artillery. We can't conquer Xigu! ”

The Japanese army, which had suffered serious setbacks, was aroused. That night, the commander of the Japanese army, Nishimura Osa, despite the opposition of the British army, organized a death squad to attack the stronghold. Unexpectedly, the death squad did not fire a single shot and touched the empty stronghold, and while they were happy, somehow they detonated the explosives, and the Japanese soldiers who entered the stronghold and were searching around were killed 11 people and wounded.

However, he finally took the stronghold.

The Qing army fled.

Colonel Rudy and Nishimura Daisa immediately sent good news to Tianjin.

Their joy did not last long, and the next day, in a village north of Xigu, they were again blocked by the Qing army.

Colonel Rudy looked through his binoculars and immediately understood that he was facing a stronger defense than Xigu. Hanjiata Village is across the main road, and in the telescope, the front of the village is already covered with deer trenches, and it is not easier to storm such a position than to take Xigu.

Fight is definitely going to fight. However, before the offensive could be launched, the allied forces entered the Xigu stronghold and were assembling the troops of Haolu when they encountered a rapid artillery attack by the Qing army, and more than a dozen shells fell in the assembly area of the attacking troops, disintegrating the offensive that had not yet been launched. The shelling caused 40 casualties, most of them British.

Major Bruce, who had always looked down on the Qing army, was also frightened, believing that he had to get artillery support to continue the offensive.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the Anglo-Japanese coalition army left Tianjin, it encountered a hard nail.

This small village is located across the road, and a simple detour will be disturbed by fire, and if the village is not taken, the back road of the coalition forces will be worried. After all, it is on enemy territory, and the evacuation of food, ammunition, and the wounded need to maintain an unobstructed supply route. In particular, a large army of several thousand people must not be considered in the same way as a guerrilla army of several dozen.

The Anglo-Japanese forces negotiated the situation and disagreed on the dilemma they faced. The British were a little frightened, and they suggested that they withdraw to Tianjin first. The Japanese, on the other hand, were inspired by yesterday's defeat and believed that they must not retreat. That would not only be a humiliation in front of other countries, but would also give the opponent a huge amount of confidence and time. The supreme commander of the Japanese army, Nishimura Daisa, decided to change his tactics and put the main direction of attack on the east and west flanks of Hanjia Tower. Nishimura said that based on the experience of fighting the Japanese Empire and fighting the Qing army, once their defense line was breached, it would definitely lead to a complete collapse. Now, the Qing people have strong defenses in front of the village, but their flanks must be weak.

Due to the insistence of the Japanese army, Colonel Rudy agreed to Nishimura Daisa's plan, the British army was responsible for the frontal traction, dispatching two companies, and the Japanese army was responsible for the east and west flanks, dispatching two reinforced squadrons each.

The offensive began at 10.20 a.m. The battle was also observed by the senior generals of the Qing army. The British first launched a frontal attack on Hanjiata under the cover of artillery fire to cover the Japanese army's roundabout action. As soon as the British army came out of Xigu, they cautiously advanced, and later simply adopted the tactics of moving forward step by step, while the defenders of Hanjiata never moved. The battlefield presents an eerie "quiet". Except for the sparse explosion of shells fired by the remaining coalition artillery guns set up behind the Xigu stronghold, there was no gunfire on the battlefield.

The battle was the first to start on the eastern flank, the Japanese detachment of the eastern road detour (two squadrons of less than 400 people) suddenly encountered an ambush by the opponent, the artillery fire first covered the Japanese line, which had not yet fully deployed, and two battalions of Mengshan Army troops concentrated on the eastern flank, striking hard at the Japanese detour detachment, and the Japanese army was crushed in less than a quarter of an hour. The Japanese troops on the western flank encountered a strong resistance from the Mengshan army. Although the fortifications were not as complete as the front, both Japanese charges were repulsed. With the retreat of the Japanese army on the eastern route, this joint offensive ended without a hitch. The British who attacked head-on chose to retreat after learning of the defeat of the Japanese army, and they were hit by artillery fire, killing six and wounding seventeen, and did not even touch the edge of the Hanjia Tower.

The strength of the Japanese army before the departure from Tianjin was 2,200 men. After more than a day of fighting, the casualties were as high as more than 450 people, all of which were combat effectiveness. By the standards of Western armies, it is no longer suitable to continue fighting. (To be continued......)