Just as Deng Zixuan led his troops to the city of Hanoi, the commander of the French army in Annam, Guba, received news in Saigon that Haiphong had been captured by an unknown army. Frightened, he ordered all the warships to retreat to Saigon to strengthen the defenses, and at the same time sent clippers to pursue the main fleet in the Far East and make them withdraw to Annam. The situation at sea was unknown, and Guba ordered the 2,000 French troops who had retreated to Vinh to take the lead in reinforcing north along the land, and then he ordered 5,000 French troops to urgently set out from Saigon.

Guba was not too worried about Rivelli's safety in Hanoi, and he thought that holding on to Hanoi should be fine. In a beautiful bungalow in the headquarters of the French army in Saigon, the thin face of the French army commander was a little pale, and he looked at the map and was silent. "Your Excellency Marshal, the coastal defense was easily lost, two warships and dozens of merchant ships were captured, it can be judged that the Great Qing Kingdom sent troops, and they fought without declaring war." A subordinate analyzed.

Liang Jiu said: "This is exactly the result we need, the Great Qing Kingdom has finally made a move, and we have a good reason to launch an attack on the Great Qing Kingdom openly." But I was a little uneasy, even a little confused. There are 400 officers and soldiers in Haiphong, and the Qing army actually captured Haiphong overnight and captured two of our warships. The sailors of the battleship reported that this unit was strangely dressed and different from the Qing troops we were familiar with. ”

"Your Excellency Marshal don't worry, the Qing army used despicable means to launch a surprise attack, the officers and soldiers of the coastal defense were attacked without preparation, and the Qing army is no different from the Black Flag Army, just a group of grass bandits." "Immediately send a report to the mainland, the Sino-French war is about to break out, and ask the cabinet to continue to mobilize troops and transport war materials." Guba said decisively.

On the wharf on the north bank of the Baishang River in Thanh Hoa Town, Wu Guozhen, the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the People's Army, stood on the wharf and looked out to the other side. Soon, several figures appeared on the opposite shore, and the figures got into a small boat moored on the shore. After the boat docked, several scouts dressed as Annamite landed on the pier. "Report to the battalion commander, the French army has been dispatched from Vinh. The troop is about 2,000 and is expected to arrive tomorrow morning. One of the scouts took off his hat and showed his bald head.

Battalion commander Wu Guozhen glanced at the sky, the sun had already set, and said: "You have worked hard, go down and rest!" "Company Commander!" "Here!" An officer in his 20s next to him stepped forward. "Carefully inspect the fortifications, there must be no negligence, and now we will face the attack of the French army!" "Yes! Subordinate Order! "4th Company Commander!" "Here!" A stocky young man stepped forward. "Your company, as a reserve, is on alert in the direction of the sea!" "Yes!"

Wu Guozhen then ordered the artillery team to pull out the captured French artillery and wait for it. He also instructed the commander of the artillery team not to open fire without an order tomorrow. Wu Guozhen's headquarters is composed of four companies, and the strength of the whole battalion is 500 people. Facing the battle on the horizon, I am afraid that many soldiers will lose sleep this night. As the day began to lighten, a layer of mist appeared on the surface of the river, and the opposite bank fell into a state of blur. The soldiers had already entered the trench fortifications, their guns pointed at the opposite bank.

The sun rises and the fog clears, the sky is clear, and it is rare to have a good weather. "Battalion commander, the French army has appeared!" A combat staff officer shouted with a monocular in his hand. Wu Guozhen picked up the binoculars to check, and sure enough, he saw that the cars on the road on the opposite bank were dusty, and a French army unit was coming, and the French military uniforms were too bright, so he could see very clearly. "Pass my orders, you are not allowed to shoot without my permission, who dares to shoot without authorization!" Wu Guozhen said with a tiger face.

The large French forces reached the shore and found that there was not a single ferry. They focused on the shore, and some of the soldiers went to the river and began to wash their faces, ignorant of the group of evil gods on the other side with their fangs sticking out. The width of the river is about 200 meters, and it is now the dry season, and the distance between the water surface is about 160 meters, excluding the bare beaches on both sides. Seeing that the French officers and soldiers had all descended to the river beach, Wu Guozhen decisively ordered to open fire, and suddenly a dense burst of gunfire rang out.

The French officers and men were in a daze when the guns rang out, and as the soldiers were knocked to the ground, they reacted, some began to return fire on the spot, and some quickly ran back to the shore. In the blink of an eye, large numbers of corpses and wounded French soldiers appeared on the river beach. The soldiers in the trenches were trained to shoot as usual. "Haha, I've killed three of them!" A soldier shouted excitedly as he aimed. "I've already knocked out four!" "It doesn't matter if you knock you down, you don't count if you kill you," another soldier said unconvinced.

At first, the French were stunned, and it took a few minutes before they organized an effective counterattack. The French artillery quickly set up positions, and Wu Guozhen ordered the artillery team to prepare. Seeing that the French artillery had been erected, Wu Guozhen gave the order for the shelling. An artillery gun first opened fire for test firing, then the artillery team leader dictated to adjust the firing distance, and then ordered to fire freely. Immediately several cannons began to bombard, and then the machine guns also fired.

As soon as the French artillery was arranged, it was shelled, and the artillery positions were suddenly enveloped in a sea of fire. After an hour of shelling, half of the captured shells were used, and the French artillery positions were blown up in a mess, and at least two-thirds of the artillery was destroyed. At two times, the French artillery began to return fire, and their own soldiers hid in the trenches and began to admire.

The river held back the French soldiers, and after the French retaliated back, the group withdrew beyond the range of the cannons. The next morning, when Gubal received a report from the flying horse, he was immediately shocked, and a strong army appeared in Thanh Hoa, and a defensive line was built along the river. Thinking of Haiphong being captured by a strong army, and Thanh Hoa also has a strong army, how about Hanoi Rivelly? What happened to them?

The appearance of enemy troops in Thanh Hoa shows that the enemy has premeditated to cut off the connection between the north and the south. There is no doubt that this army must be the Qing army, so the Qing army will not use this tactic of closing the door and beating the dog, and the lonely pull dare not think about it. Now the safety of Riverili, the fate of the 5000 French army is in focus. Guba personally led the French army 5,000 years ago to set off immediately, and rescuing Rivery was the top priority.

Ten days later, he arrived in Thanh Hoa with his army, where he encountered a French merchant fleeing south from Hanoi, which had been captured and Commander Riviley and a few men had fled. 1000 French troops guarded Hanoi, which changed hands overnight, so you can imagine how powerful the enemy's combat power was? Lonely and confused, hesitated, and did not dare to go north. He ordered the French to fortify southern Thanh Hoa, and now he was faced with how to prevent the enemy's attack.

In particular, the Frenchman was unable to make an accurate judgment on how the army was portrayed. He personally went to the front line to check, and Zuihou came to the wrong conclusion that the Qing State had sent the strongest Huai army, but he ignored one of the biggest suspicions, that is, he did not ask if the army had braids. Lonely returned to Rong City with some anxiety, in his military career, he had never faced such a situation, knowing that the enemy had appeared, but still knew nothing.

After much consideration, he ordered a civil servant and interpreter to board a merchant ship in Rong City and sail north, and he wanted to know the whole situation so that he could proceed next. Due to the unclear situation, he did not report to the homeland in time. The French army was defeated and beaten, and even Feng Zicai was kept in the dark.

Just when Deng Zixuan struck a blow at the French army, Liu Yongfu led a large group of men and horses to return to Hanoi from Xin, and he ordered the team to set up camp outside the city, and he and the guards and military advisor Tang Jingsong went straight to the west gate. At this time, a platoon commander led his troops to guard the city gate and did not allow them to enter the city. When Liu Yongfu heard this, he dismounted and came to the city gate, and was surprised to see that the soldiers guarding the city gate were wearing strange military uniforms and had no braids.

"I am Admiral Sanxuan of Annan, Liu Yongfu, the leader of the Black Flag Army!" He reported himself to his home. I thought that when I said Liu Yongfu's tuba, I would definitely greet him with a smile on the other side. The platoon commander who knew that he was guarding the city gate just clasped his hands into fists and said, "It's General Liu, I've heard about it for a long time." I'm sorry that you are not allowed to enter the city without receiving an order. Liu Yongfu was surprised and asked, "Who are you?" Where did it come from? "We are the Hainan Island People's Army, and it was Commander-in-Chief Deng who led us to fight the invaders." The platoon commander replied proudly.

"Commander-in-chief, what does this commander-in-chief do?" The platoon commander's eyes widened with disdain, probably thinking that you could ask such an idiotic question, so he stopped answering. Liu Yongfu was bored and had to go back to the barracks. Inside the big tent, Tang Jingsong said: "This people's army is well-trained and has advanced weapons, and it is unusual at first glance. The fact that they were able to capture Hanoi shows that this civilian army has at least tens of thousands of horses. However, there is a fierce people's army on Hainan Island, which has never been heard of, which is incredible. You find out no, they don't have braids on their heads! ”

Liu Yongfu said disapprerovingly: "What does the lack of braids on the head mean, what I care about is where this people's army comes from?" Tang Jingsong knew that Liu Yongfu was not interested in the imperial court and said: "This mysterious Commander-in-Chief Deng is obviously their leader, is it not the lord that Leng Yifei once said!" Liu Yongfu stood up and said, "If this lord comes, it will be my Liu Yongfu's creation." As soon as the words fell, a subordinate ran in in a panic.

"General Liu, it's too late to come down, please bear with me if the deployment is disrespectful to General Liu!" He Meng jumped off his horse and saluted. He Meng learned about the situation when he escorted the French prisoners into Hanoi, so he took a few of his entourage out of the West Gate to meet Liu Yongfu. "What is the standard, why are you dressed like this?" Liu Yongfu asked in surprise. He Meng said with a smile: "I was the deputy brigade commander of the 2nd Brigade of Annan Provisional Formation, and Leng Yifei was the brigade commander. To tell the truth, our lord led the 1st Provisional Brigade of Hainan Island into Annam. ”

He Meng continued: "Our lord's name is Deng Zixuan, and he is the commander-in-chief of our people's army!" Then He Meng recounted all the changes and said: "Right now, Commander-in-Chief Deng is leading the main force to strike a blow at the French army, and soon good news will come." General Liu, please follow me into the city. Liu Yongfu was almost dizzy when he heard this, he pinched his thigh vigorously and asked in surprise: "Brother He, it's unbelievable, you mean that there are now more than 2,000 French prisoners in the city?" "General Liu, empty words are unfounded, seeing is believing! Please! ”