Xiao Yungui's worries did not last long, in the middle of the night, the rear military report came again, the Qing army had been repulsed, and an infantry regiment stationed in Hexi Wu Town sent two battalions of troops to help, and rushed to the Tongzhou camp in the afternoon, and then the cavalry troops that originally held the Tongzhou camp were able to free up their hands to go to support.

To tell the truth, the officers at all levels of the staff department were sweating, and the news came that tens of thousands of Qing troops attacked the Nanyuan camp, and the more than 1,000 infantry left behind in the Nanyuan camp could withstand it? Although Xiao Yungui was calm on the surface, his heart was also up and down, and it wasn't until late at night that everyone put their hearts back in their stomachs.

After reading the battle report, Xiao Yungui smiled dumbly, he was really a little worried, the spirit of the Qing army at the moment has been completely defeated by the British and French coalition forces, Li Hongzhang and Seng Lingqin's elite soldiers who dare to fight are killed and wounded, and the remaining Qing army In addition to the army in Shanxi and the green camp in the capital, it is the so-called Eight Banners of the capital, these corpses of Qiu Ba can not be strong in the hands of any famous general, not to mention that the Taiping Army has transformed into a modern elite army, although facing more than ten times the enemy, but as long as there is sufficient ammunition and strong fortifications, Defending should still not be a problem.

Reminiscent of the Boxer Rebellion in later history, tens of thousands of elite troops of the Qing army, armed with advanced weapons, besieged the embassy area of the capital, and about 3,000 people were besieged in the embassy area, of which 2,000 were Chinese seeking protection, 400 were foreign men, 147 were women, and 76 were children. The embassy was protected by 409 foreign sailors and marines, armed with three machine guns and four small artillery pieces, and with sufficient wells and food in the embassy. It is in this case. The siege, which began in June of that year, lasted until September, when the Eight-Nation Coalition troops approached the city, and the Qing army did not capture the foreign embassy district in the capital. Although the Qing army may have various offensive concerns. But they were numerous, and their weapons were unknown how many times more advanced than they are now. However, it still failed to break through the embassy area of the foreigners, which shows that the Qing army's ability to attack fortifications has never been strong.

The Taiping army of the Nanyuan camp under the command of Xiao Yungui built complete fortifications, the weapons were more advanced, and the morale of the Qing army was low. Figure this section. Xiao Yungui secretly laughed at himself for being too worried.

Then I thought about it, what if the Qing army poured out of the nest regardless of a single qiē and launched a crowd tactic? Xiao Yungui immediately extinguished this thought, can the Qing army play crowd tactics? Obviously, I heard that the Shanxi soldiers in the capital have been in arrears for several months, and after arriving in the capital, the rich families in the capital donated and paid three months' salaries. The Eight Banners of the capital only ensured the state of half of the salary, and the Qing army had always fought without asking anything else, first asking where the food was. If there is food, they can go to war, and if there is no food, the soldiers will not move. Therefore, the Qing court can mobilize troops to defend the city, but cannot mobilize a large-scale army to attack out of the city, who will die for you if there is no money?!

This situation was common in the Qing army. Even Zeng Guofan's Hunan army was the same, and in history, the Hunan army Zeng Guofan was amazed, and the Taiping army did not need to be mobilized with food and salary. The Hunan army must prepare money and food to encourage the soldiers, otherwise they will not be able to move a single soldier. Why?

In fact, Xiao Yungui wanted to miss one point, that is, the Empress Dowager of the Qing Court. Because she reluctantly agreed to attack the Taiping army camp, it was precisely because of her that the Qing army did not attack the Taiping army camp more firmly, so Li Hongzhang and Seng Lingqin just hastily withdrew the troops.

After solving the crisis of the Qing army stabbing in the back, in the early morning of the next day, Xiao Yungui summoned the two envoys again, Erjin and Ge Luo. Xiao Yungui unabashedly informed the two of them about the battle situation in the Nanyuan camp, tens of thousands of Qing troops were beaten back, and the British and French troops should probably be soberly aware of the current situation.

After listening to the introduction of the battle situation of the Taiping army officer, Erjin and Ge Luo looked at each other, they actually did not think that the Manchu army could go to Hexi or Tianjin to relieve the siege for the coalition army, at least they should be able to mobilize more Taiping troops to return to help, reduce the pressure of the coalition army to be encircled, as long as the Taiping army is mobilized, the encirclement is weak, and the coalition army may be able to break out of the encirclement. But I didn't expect the Qing army to be so incompetent, and basically didn't let the main force of the Taiping army move, and it wasn't even a threat.

Ergin and Gro didn't speak, they lowered their heads and pondered, and finally Ergin broke the silence: "Your Excellency the King of the West, the two sides have been fighting for a few days, can they truce for a while, both sides calmly consider it." ”

Xiao Yungui smiled dumbly and said, "Sir Ergin, you have to wait for your army to lay down its weapons. In the end, Xiao Yungui solemnly told them: "You only have one day to consider whether to surrender unconditionally, otherwise we will start the offensive in a day's time, and continue to attack until all the allied forces in Huogezhuang are wiped out." ”

Elgin and Gro were dejected, unconditional surrender had always been their ultimatum to the colonial resisters who had been enslaved by them, and once upon a time the British and French troops would have been subjected to such insults? Their faces were pale, and until now they felt as if they were in a dream.

After a long silence, Sir Elgin said bitterly, "Please let us go back and consult with the generals of the coalition forces before giving an answer." Xiao Yungui readily agreed, and sent a team of Taiping cavalry to escort them back.

Returning to the Huogezhuang coalition area, Erjin and Ge Luo held a meeting in despair, at which Erjin told the news of the failure of the Manchu Qing to attack the Taiping army camp out of the city, and also said the ultimatum of the Taiping army to let the coalition forces surrender unconditionally, most of the officers and generals chose to be silent, and a few generals shouted that they would rather die in battle than surrender in humiliation.

Grant and Montauban are undoubtedly painful, and as decision-makers in the High Command, the two must negotiate a decision that may cost more people their lives, and may allow more people to survive, but they will lose their dignity as soldiers.

Where do we go from here? No one could give them an answer, and in the end the two men ordered the officers and generals to leave, leaving only Ergin and Gro to discuss. The four of them sat in the inner hall of this Chinese-style ancestral hall, the atmosphere in the room was very depressing, and Ergin was silent for a moment before finally asking a question: "Two generals, do we still have any hope of breaking through?" ”

Grant shook his head and said, "There is no hope, except for those who are lucky enough to escape, most people will be killed or captured." Ergin kept his mouth shut, his luck had been bad for the past few days.

Sir Gro said in frustration, "Is there only one way for us to surrender?" ”

Finally, Montauban opened his eyes and said bitterly: "Gentlemen, surrender, instead of being captured by the enemy in a few days, it is better to surrender with dignity now, but surrender cannot be unconditional, the Taiping Army must guarantee the honor of our soldiers, must guarantee everyone's life, and send each of us home safely after the war." ”

Erjin nodded and said, "We can negotiate this, but when will this war set off by the Taiping army end?" ”

Montauban smiled bitterly: "If the news of our defeat comes back to China, I don't know how the country will react." In addition, the security of several treaty ports and concession areas in the south of the Yangtze River, as well as the security of Hong Kong, how will the country guarantee it? Or if we can't wait for the domestic army to mobilize troops to organize another expedition, the treaty ports, the concession area, and Hong Kong will all fall. ”

Grant said slowly: "Relying on the navy, the port, the concession area and Hong Kong may be able to defend, it depends on Massimogli and Rigo. The command of the two generals of Degenuiri was taken. We still have the right to control the sea, and we may be able to force the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to return to the negotiating table, and it is best if the navy can break through the Yangtze River and threaten Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom! ”

Grant was right, the coalition's naval power was beyond the threat of the Taipings' weak navy, and if the coalition navy went south to protect several ports and concessions, and successfully defended Hong Kong, and then sent forces to break into the Yangtze River to threaten the Taiping capital, the tide of the war could change. The Yangtze River waterway from the mouth of the Yangtze River to Tianjing is capable of navigating large ships of thousands of tons, and many medium and large ships in the coalition navy can be navigable, which can create sufficient pressure.

Sir Elgin straightened his coat and hat and finally stood up and said, "Well, gentlemen, Sir Gro and I will go to His Excellency the King of the West again to discuss surrender, and as for the navy, they can only rely on themselves, and I hope that General Napier will be able to withdraw to the sea in time, and Rear Admiral Michel, who has broken through to the Quiet Sea, and good luck to him." ”

So, at noon that day, the British and French Plenipotentiary Ministers Ergin and Gro returned to the barracks of the Taiping Army, and they went to discuss the surrender of the Allied Army. After half a day of discussions, the two sides finally decided that all the troops of the coalition forces in Huogezhuang would surrender two days later, and the Taiping army would guarantee the safety of every surrendered soldier of the coalition army, and also promised to release them to return to China after the war......

Two days later, the 5,781 soldiers and generals of the Anglo-French army in Huogezhuang surrendered as agreed. Xiao Yungui himself stayed in Huogezhuang to preside over the surrender, and at the same time ordered Li Xiucheng to lead a force to quickly move south, surround and annihilate the division of Major General Michel, who was still wandering in Jinghai, and at the same time ordered the Tianjin troops to begin the siege of Dagukou Fortress.

Major General Michel was attacked by a small group of Taiping troops in Tianjin, and the progress was very slow, and then they were surrounded by the Taiping army in Jinghai, and soon the news of the surrender of the main forces of Grant and Montauban came, and Major General Michel also wisely chose to surrender.

General Napier, who received the news, quickly retreated, leaving less than 2,000 coalition soldiers aboard naval vessels and barely escaped. At this point, the more than 25,000 troops of the Anglo-French expeditionary force were almost completely wiped out, more than 8,000 were killed, more than 9,000 were wounded and captured, more than 5,000 surrendered, and only General Napier and his men fled. At this point, the Battle of Beijing and Tianjin ended, and the Taiping Army completed its strategic purpose, and at the cost of a complete war with Britain and France...... (To be continued......)