The outcome of the battle on the outskirts of Tokyo (Hanoi) caused chaos in the city. Since the occupation of Tokyo, the Vietnamese government troops have been invincible and fled in all directions, and the French army has been in a no-man's land, and the scenery is infinite. Navy Captain Fiasi temporarily served as the commander of the Tokyo garrison, commanding the defense.

Fei Ashi first gathered all the people scattered in other places in the city of Tokyo, forced thousands of Vietnamese to build the city walls, stockpile food and medicine, impose martial law in the city, and at the same time ask Saigon for help.

But fortunately, the Black Flag Army did not take the opportunity to attack Tokyo.

At this point, before the war, Ding Yuntong had considered that it was not difficult to take Tokyo, as long as Feng Zicai and other divisions were pressed over at full speed before the French reinforcements came.

But what's the point? The key is to give a large number of casualties to France's life in order to force France to sit at the negotiating table, and not to cling to the struggle for one city and one place. Occupying Tokyo will be far away from the Sino-Vietnamese border, and the supply will be unfavorable, so it is better to wait for the main force of the French army to come and then meet the attack.

The battle outside Tokyo quickly had a huge impact.

In Beijing, Ding Yuntong carefully watched Shao Youlian's report and lamented the strength of the French army, the other side was not yet a regular army, and the casualties of such a sneak attack and siege with more attacks and fewer were greater than those of the other side, which shows the high quality.

He knew that in fact, in the previous life, the French army's individual stabbing ability was the strongest shijie, and it was France that began to learn after the Japanese Restoration, and this emphasis on white-knuckle combat training greatly affected the later Japanese army. Although France had not yet put forward the "offensive school" like Grandmaison at this time, "the victory or defeat of the war does not depend on artillery but on bayonets"; Ideas such as "attacking the enemy wherever it is discovered, and it doesn't matter what the enemy thinks about" have become common, and this tactic is very similar to that of the Japanese Army in the previous life.

But before the advent of heavy machine gun and barbed wire combinations, this tactic was very effective. So for this result, Ding Yuntong was not surprised.

On the other hand, the French government finally understood that it was an unrealistic fantasy that it could conquer the whole of Vietnam with a small force of Liliang, and that the death of more than 100 French people had greatly stimulated the national sentiment of the French. In parliament, in the newspapers, there is only one voice: those who died honorably should be avenged, and the flag should be compensated for the damage suffered.

On July 29, 1880, the French Parliament almost unanimously approved an additional appropriation of 5.5 million francs for military operations in Vietnam.

After that, the French government gathered ships to transport the expeditionary force and mobilized warships from various regions to go to Vietnam.

On the other hand, they ordered the Cochinchina authorities to mobilize all the liliang that could be mobilized to the battlefield, and at the same time appointed the commander of the Cochinchina garrison, Bohua, as the commander of Tokyo.

Night, August 2, 1880, Beijing. Ding Yuntong kept pacing, and the ministers of the Military Aircraft Department were arguing whether to make up their minds to go to war with France.

Li Hongzhang is an opponent: "In any case, the Black Flag Army is not nominally counted as our army, and it can be turned around diplomatically. But once the war starts, there is no way back. France is a big European country, and it must not start a war lightly, according to Weichen's view, it is better to ask other countries to come out to mediate. ”

"If the legal person gains an inch and occupies Vietnam, it will inevitably spy on Guangxi, and then it will still have to fight, and it is better to reject the enemy from the country now." This is Zuo Zongtang.

"The legal person is arrogant and regards Vietnam as a bag, and now the Black Flag Army is in the first battle, which shows that it is not worthy of its name. As long as our army fights forward, we will be able to win the battle and drive all the French troops out of Vietnam. Zhang Peilun also made a generous statement.

Ding Yuntong told the truth, he looked down on this Zhang Peilun a little in his heart, he was also like this in his previous life, he was impassioned, and advocated fighting with France to the end, but when he was in Mawei Port, he was frightened by the French artillery fire, which shows that he is useless and a scholar. However, Ding Yuntong still transferred him to the Military Aircraft Department to participate in the deliberations, just to use his liking to criticize the ministers of the DPRK and China, to try to make a balance, and when he felt that his power was stable, he would naturally send this person to a distance.

Guo Songtao, the new head of the Organization Department, also said: "France is a strong country, although my country has made progress in recent years, but it is really not enough to make France bow down." However, France had recently lost the Franco-Prussian War, its vitality had not yet recovered, and it was thousands of miles away, and the cost was huge, as long as it was a protracted confrontation, peace could be expected. "The Organization Department was restructured from the original Ministry of Officials, because of the promotion and deposition of specialized management officials, the power and position were very heavy, and he was vaguely the head of the ministries.

After thinking for a moment, Ding Yuntong said: "A treaty has been signed between China and Vietnam, and we have the responsibility to protect our power in Vietnam, otherwise the country's credibility will inevitably be lost." It is necessary to make other countries understand that our attitude of defending our interests is resolute. Of course, Guo Aiqing's words are not unreasonable, it is also unrealistic to drive the French out of Vietnam, I only hope to promote peace through war, only when the French suffer, they will really have the sincerity to sit down and talk, and then it is not too late to ask other countries to mediate. ”

Ding Yuntong's words set the tone for the meeting.

The next day, the official Global Times, with a front-page editorial, vigorously discussed the thousand-year-old relationship between China and Vietnam and France's step-by-step advance in Vietnam, warning France to "pull back from the precipice", but in the editorial, Zuihou still said that "no matter what the odds, I believe that peace will eventually come." ”

But apparently France ignored the warning, and by early August it had assembled nearly two thousand troops in Tokyo and was in the process of transferring large numbers of troops from its home and overseas colonies. At the same time, in view of the fact that the enemy army was mainly Chinese, they began to recruit and hire local Vietnamese and Chinese, and since many of them came from the Yellow Flag Army, which had a grudge against the Black Flag Army, this mercenary army also adopted the name of the Yellow Flag Army.

At the same time, the command structure of the French army in Vietnam was reorganized, with the consul of Bangkok, the capital of Siam, Ho Luo Chun, as the civil affairs commissioner in Tokyo, and Bo Hua as the commander-in-chief of the French Tokyo Expeditionary Force.

The main force includes the "Alma"-class armored cruiser "Adalande", the second-class cruisers "Fort Renoult", "Kaisheng", "Amirin", the notification ship "Basval", the "Alligator"-class gunboats "Wildcat", "Viper", and "Yishibi", the transport ships "Drake" and "Souni", and the armored cruiser "Adalander" as the flagship of the detachment. The entire fleet was coming towards Vietnam from all directions.

At the same time, the armored cruiser "Triumph" and the cruiser of the first rank "Dujushi Luin" also set sail from Europe to reinforce the China-Japan Sea Detachment under the command of Rear Admiral Lisby.

Of course, Ding Yuntong is not surprised that France is so aggressive and aggressive, and it is important that China be prepared. He had discussed with the Southern Front Command many times before, and confirmed with Feng Zicai and others the strategic principle of "not sticking to one city and one place, focusing on the consumption of the enemy's life", and the Mawei side and the navy had also made all preparations, and the rest could only rely on the officers and soldiers on the front line.

On August 11, 1880, Dong Dang Thanh in front of Zhennan Pass has now become the provisional government of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam, where Emperor Duc has established a palace and issued a decree requiring all Vietnamese, regardless of men, women, old and young, east, west, north and south, to rise up against France and defend the country. In addition, the local bureaucrats, gentry and civilians must fully cooperate with the Chinese army.

Emperor Duc was brought here more than a month ago, and is now the most haode rubber stamp in China, which can be used to get the assistance of the Vietnamese government and people.

On August 13, 1880, in Lang Son in northern Vietnam, a military meeting was being held at the front headquarters of the Chinese Army.

Representatives were sent from all units, and it was Feng Zicai who presided over the meeting.

Feng Zicai is over the age of sixteen this year, but he is in good spirits and does not lose his prime. This time, he was deeply trusted by the emperor and appointed as the commander of tens of thousands of troops, feeling a great responsibility, and just established a headquarters in Lang Son, he held a military conference without stopping.

Yuan Shikai, a staff officer accompanying the army, was explaining the military deployment: "At present, our army is entering Vietnam in a big way, but it will take time to fully control the area north of Tokyo. The key is whether the Black Flag Army can hold out for three to four months, block the French army from moving north, and give our army enough time to reach the predetermined area and build strong fortifications.

If the French wanted to advance north, they had two routes to choose from.

To the northwest, through Huai Duc Province, through Shanxi, along the Red River to Baosheng, and then to the Sino-Vietnamese border. To the northeast, over Beining, through Langshan, is Tongdeng, behind is Zhennan Pass.

If the Black Flag Army has a strong defense and our army can be successfully put in position, then according to Jihua, our army will be divided into two fronts, the Black Flag Army and the Vietnamese Hoang Zuo Yan Army will be stationed in Huai Duc Province on the western front, and the Sixth Division will be stationed in Shanxi to respond to its rear.

The 3rd Division was stationed in Bac Ninh on the Eastern Front, and the 1st Division and the Nguyen Thi Thanh Independent Regiment were stationed in Lang Son.

In addition, the 4th Division was stationed in Taiyuan to defend the middle ground between the eastern and western fronts, and was ready to respond to both sides at any time. ”

"Why did our army build a defense in Beiqi, why didn't we move south quickly and occupy Tokyo in one fell swoop before the French army arrived in Vietnam?" The questioner was Wang Debang, commander of the Third Division and the First Brigade.

Feng Zicai nodded, motioned for Yuan Shikai to sit down, and then said: "This battle does not just rely on death power, you need to use your brains. It may not be difficult to take Tokyo as soon as possible.

But the French suffered no casualties and would still make a comeback. Worse still, if the French army were to attack elsewhere and land in other parts of the country, and our railways were not yet fully built and could not be transported, we would be in trouble.

Wouldn't it be better to gradually attract its main force and take advantage of Vietnam's high mountains and dense forests and steep terrain to hit it hard? Therefore, we waited and dug deep trenches, made good fortifications, and waited for the French army to come and make calculations.

I don't hide it from you, such a plan is still the emperor's guidance to the old man, and what he said is true when I think about it carefully.

Now the key is whether the Black Flag Army can withstand it. ”

The generals said yes.

At the same time, the French army and navy are also massing on a large scale in Vietnam, because of the previous battle of the Black Flag Army, the Chinese army did not nominally participate, so China and France have not yet started a war on the surface, but are just tacitly desperately preparing for war.

For the next month, the entire eastern side of Indochina took on a suffocating silence, a calm before a storm.

In the mountains of the north, tens of thousands of Vietnamese civilians were organized and mobilized to frantically build fortifications and fortresses, while the Chinese army was constantly crossing the Sino-Vietnamese border.

A large number of French troops, mobilized from the mainland and the colonies, were setting sail from the ports under French rule.

A big war is inevitable.