What does martial law mean in 49 cities? Rong Lu knows better than anyone that this shows that the Empress Dowager Cixi, who controls the vast majority of the forces in the capital, has taken action in advance, and she has begun to eliminate dissidents in the capital, and there will be no suspense in this suppression, because the Anglo-French alliance that Rong Lu imagined as reinforcements was still stuck in the mud of Tanggu, and they were delayed here for a month and a half, and they were unable to advance to the capital like a bamboo.

Without the assistance of strong allies from outside, the capital would not be chaotic, and the chaotic capital made those Manchu nobles under Ronglu and Ci'an useless, and no one dared to openly rebel at this time, and Ronglu's plan was completely disrupted.

Rong Lu was restless all day, and repeatedly proposed that Grant and Montauban immediately attack Tianjin, while Grant and Montauban insisted on waiting for news from the reconnaissance team. Because Rong Lu lost the intelligence source of the inner line, he was not sure about Peng Yulin and Seng Lingqin's plans, but judging from his years of experience in conquest, Peng Yulin was likely to continue to destroy the road to Tianjin and strengthen Tianjin's city defenses, all they had to do was to delay time. Once the Manchu and Mongolian nobles under Rong Lu and Ci'an in the capital are wiped out, the rebellion of Rong Lu and others will completely lose their reputation for righteousness, which is very unfavorable.

In contrast to Rong Lu's anxiety was the elation of the coalition forces, the chaotic withdrawal of the Qing army and the surrender of several key points, and the coalition forces captured more than 500 artillery pieces of various types and a staggering number of various military supplies.

The British and French troops crossed the White River and without difficulty moved into the batteries on the right bank. They found a wooden hut in the main fort where the commander of the Qing army used as the headquarters and was comfortably furnished. Military maps are hung on the walls. The navies and engineers of both countries began to remove the obstacles blocking the estuary. Obstacles such as chains, bamboo rafts, tree fences, and embankments took the coalition forces two days, and although it was difficult, they were all cleared. On the third day, the shallow-water fleet of the coalition forces sailed into the White River.

The British and French generals jubilantly assessed the new military posture. As a result of the victory in the first battle, the war against China seems to be on a smooth path. Even though the Qing army's huge cavalry was intact and the main force of Seng Lingqin remained, Grant and Montauban believed that Tianjin was within reach.

The town is about 55 kilometers from Dagu and only about 100 kilometers from Beijing. To go to Tianjin, you can take a dry road or a waterway. Both banks of the Baihe River are passable, and at the same time, you can get the cover of the fleet in the river by walking on both sides of the Baihe River, and Xinhe and Dagu are both rear bases. And the White River became a major transportation and supply route. In fact, despite the meandering of the river, the gunboats could reach Tientsin in a day.

The Montauban general sent his first lieutenant, Decien, back to Paris to present the peace of surrender of the fortress to Napoleon III. And General Grant thinks. With the capture of the Dagu Fort and the signing of the instrument of surrender. With the opening of the Baihe waterway, the war against China has ended, or is basically over. Wu Shili also wrote to inform his mother: "The Third China War has ended. ”

Second Lieutenant of the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion, Beauissieux, was deeply disappointed, writing: "The war is over, and all the batteries have fallen into the hands of our troops. We've just made a pretty start, and the expedition has been fought too little. It's not worth 6 months of sea bumps. "And another lieutenant in the same battalion, Paul? Dragrange, on the other hand, happily wrote: "The diplomacy of the Celestial Empire is indeed more capable than that of the army, and it will soon give our officers and men other rewards and results." ”

Count Mitresi emphasized. This was the third time that Europeans had penetrated the White River, after Macartney in 1793 and Amsterd in 1816. "And this time," he noted optimistically. Fortunately, in 1858, the two envoys would finally arrive in Beijing and sign a treaty in the capital of the Celestial Empire. The treaty will strengthen the two allies on this distant land and establish new markets open to the rest of the globe in the long term. ”

Rong Lu sneered at the optimism of the coalition army, he was strengthening the reorganization and control of the army during this time, and the coalition army generously handed over most of the captured 500 artillery pieces to Rong Lu's army, and Rong Lu quickly formed a local strong army of people with the cooperation of local officials arranged by Hengfu, and their size was comparable to the size of the Nanyang coolie.

The blind optimism of the allied forces was finally awakened by the news brought back by the reconnaissance team, and the retreating Qing army wreaked havoc on the road leading to Tianjin on both sides of the Baihe River, and they divided into several small teams, each with more than 100 or hundreds of men, and carried out very severe destruction of all the roads and bridges along the way. The Qing sabotage squad dug dense small pits on the road, which were only the size of fists, and had little effect on people, but could easily injure horses' feet. At the same time, they dug up the embankments of the White River in different parts of the river, allowing the river to continue to create mud.

The reconnaissance ships of the Baihe fleet found that the Qing army had carved a considerable number of grain ships in the upper reaches of the river, which were originally ships carrying grain to the capital, but now they were basically cut off, and these ships were parked near Tianjin, and now they were chiseled by the orders of Seng Lingqin and Peng Yulin to block the course of the Baihe River.

The news brought back by the reconnaissance team was depressing, and the generals of the coalition forces had to revisit the war, in the words of General Grant, who really couldn't understand what these Qing people thought, but their approach created a lot of trouble, and it was a test for our engineers.

The allied sappers began to march and clear the obstacles and restore the traffic amid curses, while much of the water source was frustrated by the large number of dead animal carcasses thrown into it by the Qing army. As a result, the allied forces could only march on both sides of the White River, and could not go too far from the White River.

Montauban began to admire the Mongol commander of the Qing army, and with a few tricks he led the enemy to the route he wanted. Grant didn't like this feeling, and the Qing army didn't need reconnaissance to know where the coalition army was marching, which was very bad. Rong Lu sneered and said, "This is not Monk Lingqin's idea, but Peng Yulin's. ”

The sluggishness of the coalition gave the Qing a lot of time to fortify Tianjin, which seemed to be guarded by two large forts with a large number of heavy artillery, and at this moment Rong Lu believed that Peng Yulin and Seng Lingqin must have added more forts, barracks, and trenches, and Tianjin would become a second fortress.

The clean-up of the river was even more difficult, and the navy sent personnel to dive under the water to tie ropes, and then the Nanyang coolies on the shore and the collected cattle and horses and other animal power pulled together, barely clearing a passage

On the seventh day of the march to Tientsin, the course of the White River was cleared and a waterway was opened, and the British naval commander Grent (who succeeded Rear Admiral after Hober's wound) rushed out with three gunboats along the White River and headed straight for Tientsin without prior notice, much to the great shock and annoyance of the French.

After waiting for the obstacles of the White River to be cleared, Grent took advantage of the high tide to boldly go deep into the river. Undoubtedly, he wanted to avenge two successive naval defeats! Or to express dissatisfaction with the fact that the navy played only a secondary role in the offensive battle of March 21! Pashali and Rowhenry also joined the operation, aboard the steam frigate "Coromandel". It's just reckless! Montauban called it "recklessness."

As a result, the three gunboats were warmly welcomed by the Qing army's batteries and artillery positions along the coast of Tianjin. Originally, Grent thought that the Qing army had lost 500 artillery pieces of various types, and that there would be no threat of artillery in the subsequent attack, but unfortunately he was wrong, he ignored that the vast land of this country was not just a rumor. A total of more than 30 guns of the Qing army participated in the bombardment of three shallow gunboats, while Grent's fleet was forced to withdraw after only advancing a few hundred meters, and all three gunboats were wounded, but fortunately did not sink.

However, this accidental reconnaissance also made the coalition forces realize that the Qing army had not completely lost the capital and confidence to resist, and that it had to advance by land and water to open up the river to Tianjin.

The day after the failure of Grent's adventure, Hengfu sent Rong Lu the latest information, including the latest defense situation in Tianjin. What is staggering is that Seng Gelinqin and Peng Yulin are well defended in Tianjin, the four outer trenches and deep ditches are connected with the moat, and two more forts have been added on the bank of the Baihe River Tianjin, a total of four forts, the Qing army has a total of 30,000 people to guard Tianjin, and there are a large number of Monk Gelinqin elite cavalry cruising around the periphery.

Both Grant and Montauban felt the need for more troops, and in India the British could add 15,000 to 20,000 British troops and Indian servants, while it would take half a year for the French to mobilize troops from North Africa or even from the mainland.

At the same time, the news brought by Hengfu pointed out with some sadness that because the defenders of the first fort of Dagu Fort surrendered without a fight, Seng Lingqin had doubts about his generals, and many key positions did not include his manpower, and it was somewhat impossible to make the generals in key positions surrender.

Rong Lu fell into deep thought after looking at the defense map, and the coalition generals broke out into a fierce quarrel, and no one had a better way, it seemed that they could only attack Tianjin.

The military operations of the coalition forces were fiercely launched on the second day when the large forces reached five kilometers outside Tianjin, with an army attack on land and a fleet covering in the river, and the strong attack on the first day had a good effect, they broke through two trenches of the Qing army in a row, but they were counterattacked by the Qing army at night, and although the coalition forces strengthened their defenses, they still suffered losses.

The next day was a bloody day, the Qing army lost at least 3,000 casualties and more wounded, while the coalition army suffered more than 1,000 casualties.

At this time, Grant and Montauban were horrified to find out the intentions of the Qing people, they were fighting for the attrition of soldiers, although four or five or even more Qing soldiers could be exchanged for the casualties of a coalition soldier, but the Qing country was fighting on its own, and they could call up more troops at any time! The coalition forces must adjust their strategy and tactics!

Returning to the map, the generals of the coalition army all had a question in their hearts, is this the only way to Beijing? At the military meeting that night, Rong Lu stood up and spoke: "There is more than one road to Beijing, you can also land in Jinzhou outside the customs and enter Beijing from Shanhaiguan!" (To be continued......)