Early morning, July 9, 1881.

Ding Yuntong sat on the Jinluan Palace, with only a few eunuchs and palace maids next to him.

Now there is no court, he just likes to sit here, enjoying the sun shining down, and the hall is a brilliant golden yellow. He caressed his throne in a very pleasant mood.

Ding Yuntong felt that he seemed to like sitting and giving orders more and more recently, and enjoyed the pleasure of this power more and more. As I get older, my inner desires are also expanding.

For a time, he also wanted to make the construction of a republic his goal, and the conversation with the US Secretary of State a few years ago was not hypocritical. But unconsciously, he hated this idea more and more. He can't do without this kind of self-respecting life, he is obsessed with power, and feels that the absence of power will be more painful than death.

Although his body has not yet matured, Ding Yuntong found that he was becoming more and more interested in the palace maids around him. Just yesterday, he deliberately pinched a palace maid named Yuying, wringing her ass up and swollen, listening to the other party's painful humming, and not daring to make a loud noise, Ding Yuntong's heart was full of happiness. Afterwards, I can't help but ask myself, "What's wrong with you?" ＂

He hadn't seen the Empress Dowager Ci'an for a while. Somehow, a little bit of the kind of nagging that began to annoy Ci'an, he always persuaded himself to take into account the interests of the Manchu nobles. Although he said yes, he was very unhappy in his heart: I really don't need you to teach me how to do it myself. I want to establish my own interest group in the future, and I really can't rely on the Manchu aristocracy, otherwise how can I integrate the nation. Wait, one day they will be cleaned up, I hope you Ci'an is an exception.

Thinking of Zuihou's words, Ding Yuntong himself was also startled, and couldn't help but ask himself again: "What's wrong with you?" ＂

He felt as if there was a wild beast in his heart, roaring. Someday, the beast will rush out.

On the same day, at Zhennan Pass, the golden crow was rising in the east, the sun was shining, and the French offensive began.

The hundreds of cannons that were reassembled let out an earth-shattering roar, and the heavens and the earth trembled. The heavy artillery battalion commanded by Ma Shengzhi on the Chinese side also opened fire desperately, constantly bombarding the direction of the thick wall.

The entire city wall of Zhennanguan was shrouded in yellow dust and black smoke. The grass and branches were blown to and by the waves of the explosion, swaying and swaying. The morning dew was so frightened that they rolled into the dirt and hid.

A deafening sound of cannons, like thunder, shook the entire sky. Thousands of French infantrymen were prostrate on the ground, all of them clenching their rifles, their eyes wide open, staring intently ahead, waiting for the order to charge.

At the forefront of the queue were hundreds of sappers, also with their eyes wide open, holding blasting canisters in their hands, ready to attack at any time to clear mines.

Major General Belin, the commander of the French front, held a telescope in his hand and looked at Zhennan Pass in the distance.

The terrain of the whole town Nanguan is like a huge Taishi chair, the Fengwei Mountain on the left and the small green hill on the right, the wall stands thousands of miles, the cliff stands, like the armrests on both sides of the chair. Zhennanguan is located in the middle of the back of the chair, and from the thick-walled position, you need to pass through a clearing about two kilometers long. The Great Green Mountain, which is closely connected to the small green hill, winds and undulates until it reaches the rear of the thick-walled position where the French army is located.

Beran saw that the fire suppression should be enough, and ordered the sappers to go out to clear the mines.

Immediately, at the front of the French camp, hundreds of people stood up, carrying dozens of blasting canisters, and rushed to the open field. Soon, bursts of explosions came, due to the fierce fire of the French army, it was difficult to effectively cover the minefield on the city wall, and the mines were detonated layer by layer, but the French army also continued to have sappers falling.

Especially for the thunder jumping, as long as the sappers approach with blasting canisters, before they can pull the fuse, the city will detonate first, standing more than ten meters away, there is no guarantee of safety at all. When it explodes, iron balls burst out in all directions, often piercing the sapper's body. When the wounded were carried down, the big teacup-like holes on their bodies shocked the soldiers next to them. Even more unfortunate are those who are hit in the head, and the entire skull will be shattered like a watermelon that has been hit hard, and the red and white will flow into a puddle.

By noon, the French had finally advanced their line to 300 meters below the city, and the minefields had been largely cleared, but the French sappers were almost completely dead and wounded.

At this time, the artillery of the French army had blown up the Zhennan Guancheng Tower to a thousand holes, but as the smoke gradually dissipated, the towering city tower still stands! Beran couldn't help but be dumbfounded, how could this wall be so strong?

The city wall of Zhennanguan is 9 meters high, 6 meters thick, the outer side is all made of thick stone strips and then stirred sand ash with sticky glutinous rice juice, it is high and thick and solid, and the small-caliber cannonballs can only blow up a white mark, and even the pit will not be left. The potholes on the walls are all left by heavy artillery, and its solidity can be seen.

In the south of China, there are two extremely strong gateway fortified cities, one is Tengchong, Yunnan, which is known as the "first city on the extreme edge", all made of volcanic rock, and the other is this town of Nanguan.

Obviously, the French artillery could not open the Zhennan Pass in a short period of time, and its solidity was beyond imagination, far from being comparable to the previous Vietnamese city walls, and the French army now has the largest caliber, which is only 120mm, and its power is still not enough in the face of extremely strong fortifications.

After Frey received the report from the front, he immediately thought about countermeasures. Although he was arrogant and arrogant, he was a lieutenant general in the French Army after all, and he was not incompetent. Several decisions were made at once: Zhennan Pass was so strong that it would have to be destroyed unless larger caliber siege guns were brought in from the country, but time did not allow it. Since the artillery can't break through, then you can only dig tunnels and blast them with tunnels. At the same time, the troops were divided to attack Xiling, and if Xiling could be captured, they would be able to outflank the rear of Zhennanguan; Even if it can't be attacked, it can contain the opponent and make the enemy have no time to pay attention to the tunnel operation.

The French quickly changed their tactics, and all artillery stopped attacking, and since it could not be broken, it did not fight. There was a sudden silence on the battlefield.

At the same time, the 147th Brigade under the command of Major General Mosiyon turned to the direction of the West Ridge, while the French engineering battalion began to dig tunnels. In order to prevent detection by the Chinese, the starting point of the tunnel was placed in the woods three kilometers away from Zhennanguan.

In Zhennanguan, seeing that the city wall had withstood the test, the commanders of the Chinese army were relieved, as long as they blocked the French artillery fire, the defense would be half successful.

Feng Zicai sneered: "As long as you take Daqingshan, and see how the French are in a dilemma." ＂

Yuan Shikai said: "General, although Zhennan Pass is strong, there is always an opportunity to take advantage of it after a long attack. Only by seizing Daqingshan and threatening the enemy's rear road can we protect the town of Nanguan. If they can capture Daqingshan this time, the French army will inevitably fight back, and there will be a hard battle at that time. ＂

Feng Zicai nodded, stroked his gray beard, and said: "What I said is very true, I am trusted by the emperor and entrusted with a heavy task. At that time, it is natural to go to supervise the battle in person and break the enemy first. ＂

As he was talking, his subordinates reported: "The French army attacked my Xiling Fengwei Mountain." ＂

Feng Zicai shook his beard and asked Yuan Shikai urgently: "Staff Officer Yuan, look"

Yuan Shikai thought for a moment and said, "Okay, this is just a temptation of the French army." ＂

"How so? ＂

"When I look at the tactics of the French army, I have always used heavy artillery to open the way, light artillery to cover, and advance layer by layer. Today, the French artillery is all in front of the south pass of our town, and if we want to transfer positions and rearrange them, it will be at least until tomorrow. The French are now attacking the West Ridge, and no artillery is following them, apparently only a tentative move. Or, just harassment, to distract our troops? ＂

"Distract our army? According to you, could it be that the French army has another conspiracy? ＂

"Don't worry, general, as long as Daqingshan is captured tonight, the French army will be attacked at the back, even if there are all kinds of schemes, it will be just a painting, don't worry too much. ＂

"Staff Officer Yuan! ＂

"Don't dare. ＂

The two couldn't help but look at each other and smile.

As Yuan Shikai expected, the French army attacking Xiling was only slightly hindered and retreated. The guards Wang Debang and Gao Sheng did not send anyone to ask for help.

It was getting dark, and on the small green mountain, the troops preparing for the surprise attack had been assembled, and they had been resting in the woods all day, recuperating, and there was a faint sound of artillery in the direction of Zhennanguan in the distance, but everyone was as if they had not heard it, and they were asleep.

When it was dark, the troops were woken up, and Feng Zicai also sent people to send a message to several commanders: If you don't succeed, you will become benevolent, and if you can't take Daqingshan, you won't have to go back to Zhennanguan.

The first watch cooks, and the second watch sets off for the whole army!

The first group was Zhang Gaoping's independent regiment, which was also the most elite army in Zhennanguan, and Feng Zicai had high hopes for it. The troops came to a shrub on the east side of Xiaoqing Mountain, in which there was a natural cave, only more than one meter high and two meters wide, which could accommodate two people in a short side. After a quarter of an hour of passage, you can come out of the mountainside on the north side of Daqing Mountain.

Ever since the Vietnamese reported the cave, it has been heavily guarded. Although he had been repeatedly interrogated before and confirmed that it was correct, Zhang Gaoping still sent more than a dozen people over first. Half an hour later, one of them came back and reported: everything is fine!

Zhang Gaoping waved his big hand and took the lead in drilling into the cave, and the whole army immediately followed in.

Darkness, endless darkness, the darkness in the distance meanders, as if it leads to some unknown shijie, like there is never an end, it will give people the illusion that it is burrowing into the belly of a strange python, which makes people despair.

Zhang Gaoping felt as if he was walking underground, and the air became unusually hot and heavy, making people breathless, and he felt that he could tear open an invisible curtain by reaching out and grabbing it.

He carried a kerosene lamp, the dim light flickering indistinctly. The troops had a light every dozen or so people, and there was only a stray footstep in the whole cave, no one spoke, no one even coughed, and all were nervous, terrified and excited about the upcoming battle.

Finally, Zhang Gaoping came to the end of the cave, there was a bush in front of him, he didn't hesitate at all, and jumped out with one arrow step!