The stubborn defense of the Mengshan army in the Xigu area could not change the overall situation. In late July, with the arrival of allied reinforcements, the strength of the allied forces on the front line in Tianjin exceeded 30,000, with the strongest armies of Russia, Japan and Germany, and the allied forces elected their own command structure, with the German general Wadsey as the commander-in-chief.

The coalition forces began to advance north and began to attack Beicang. The Allied forces were still in the vanguard of the Japanese army, and the main force of the 5th Division was urgently transferred from Hiroshima, and the commander was Major General Yamaguchi Sotomi. The Qing army's strength in the Beicang defense line was no less than that of the Japanese army, but the fighting spirit of the decisive army was not as good as that of the Japanese army. The front-line commander of the Qing army was called Zhou Dingchen, who participated in the First Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese army's fearless charge reminded him of the scene of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the Oriental soldiers seemed to be victorious except for death, and they were never captured or surrendered.

The Qing army's defense at Beicang should be regarded as tenacious, and the terrain is also favorable to the defenders. The Japanese army had no better way than to charge to the death. After breaking through the first line of resistance of the Qing army, the Japanese army was nailed in front of the second line of resistance, and it was difficult to advance an inch. However, there was a big problem in the command of the Qing army, that is, the neglect of defense in depth. When the Japanese army made a detour for several miles, spared the two flanks of the Qing army and attacked from behind the defensive line, the Qing army's defense line collapsed. In less than a day, the Japanese army occupied Beicang and opened the passage to continue northward.

Eighteen kilometers north from Beicang is Yang Village. Yangcun is a bustling commercial town, and the railway from Beijing to Tianjin and the Grand Canal pass through the town, and if the allied forces use the Beijing-Tianjin railway or waterway, Yangcun is a must-pass place.

Because of its importance, it naturally became the main point of the Qing army's defense. The Qing army's fortifications in Yangcun were much stronger than those in Beicang, with the railway station as the axis. A high wall was built across the canal with a façade of ten miles long. In order to clear the shooting boundary, the Qing army cut down all the crops in the two miles in front of the defensive line.

Guarding Yang Village was Song Qingbu, with more than 10,000 troops. Equipped with quite good weapons, it is not much better than the coalition forces. Not only that, but the Qinwang army from all over the country, which had arrived in Gyeonggi one after another, was assembling towards Yangcun: ten battalions of Zhang Chunfa's division in Hubei, ten battalions of Chen Zelin's division in Jiangxi, and six battalions from Xia Xinyou's division in Dengzhou, Shandong—not Yuan Shikai's Wuwei Right Army, but Shandong Green Battalion. It has arrived in Gyeonggi. These troops were rushing to the battlefield under the command of their new commander, Li Bingheng.

Say. The Qing army had backup forces.

Strategically speaking, the retreat of the Qing army from Beicang cannot be said to be a mistake strategically. The side on the strategic defensive, after depleting the enemy's vital forces, took the initiative to retreat. Exchanging space for time is actually the right way to play. It must be through the Qing army to fight on the mainland. Supplies and logistics are much more convenient than those of a multinational coalition that is conducive to a quick war. And. The terrain and fortifications of Yangcun are superior to those of Beicang, which not only lengthens the supply line of the coalition army. Isn't it a good choice to occupy a position that is conducive to defense?

But the battle of Yangcun became a farce. The main attacking force was the 14th Infantry Regiment of the US Army, which had just arrived in Tianjin, with a strength of about 2,000 troops, and the Russian and British troops provided artillery support. When the U.S. army began to attack, the Qing artillery opened fire to suppress the U.S. troops, and the allied artillery counter-suppressed with more fierce firepower, and the Qing army's blocking line inexplicably began to show signs of collapse. Before the battle was raging, and before the infantry of the two armies had suffered real combat casualties, deserters began to appear in the Qing army, from individual phenomena to large groups. When the U.S. forces tried to make a detour from the flank, the Qing army's escape was difficult to stop.

The casualties of the American troops were caused by the artillery fire of their own men - the artillery did not expect the American troops to advance so smoothly, and the shells fell in the ranks of the American troops, causing heavy casualties for the American troops - 65 dead and wounded, as recorded in the historical records.

The strong Yangcun defense line was broken through with only more than 100 casualties for the coalition forces.

Yulu, the governor of Zhili, who had lost Cixi's trust but had not yet been deposed, was swept north by the rout, surrounded by his loyal guards, and the sixty-five-year-old governor was carried on the back of the soldiers, and he could not stand on his weak legs. His staff also ran away, and none of them could be seen. This made it impossible for Yulu to write a military report to the imperial court. Since the start of this war, Yulu's military reports have continued, and good news has been spread frequently, which has fooled the queen mother in the deep palace. Now, I really can't go on. Although Yulu was dizzy from the scorching sun, he knew very well in his heart that he had to die, and if the battle was like this, it was better to cut off his head than to be cut off by the imperial court, and perhaps in exchange for a trace of mercy from the Queen Mother to protect his family.

Yulu didn't even write a suicide note, he hanged himself from a coffin shop on the side of the road.

Yangcun was defeated.

The imperial court had not yet received the report of defeat at the front, and had already notified Li Hongzhang, who was far away in Guangzhou, to go north. What is Li Hongzhang doing here? Peace! The imperial court had realized that the war had been lost. The "pasters" of the Qing Empire must be invited to deal with the aftermath.

Ma Yukun's troops withdrew from Yangcun, and the formation was relatively complete. He had not forgotten to take with him the prisoners that the Shandong army had promised to give to him in Xigu. The war took such a turn for the worse that he regretted not transferring the Shandong Army under his command. Ma Yukun, who was constantly wiping his sweat on his horse, remembered the battle he had seen with his own eyes between the Shandong army and the Anglo-Japanese coalition army, and in his opinion, the coalition army seemed vulnerable. But why has it become like this now? If the Shandong army is in Yangcun, can it block the coalition army? Ma Yukun thought, now the Shandong soldiers are probably already under siege by the coalition forces, right? It's a pity that the strong army. But it doesn't matter if they are finished, these captives in their hands are the best proof that they fought a battle.

Ma Yukun retreated all the way north and arrived at another key point, Hexiwu. When he received an order from Li Bingheng, the minister of the Qincha who arrived in Hexi, to lead his army to Hexi, Ma Yukun refused without hesitation. Leaving Li Bingheng, Ma Yukun fled all the way back to Tongzhou.

The front army of Wuwei and the left army were the absolute main force of the Qing army on the Gyeonggi battlefield, the front army was basically wiped out, the left army collapsed, and the rest of the troops, including the Qinwang army from all over the country that rushed to the battlefield one after another, were mostly local green battalions, and they were even more vulnerable. From Tianjin, it took only six days for the coalition forces to reach Tongzhou, the gateway to the capital.

How far is Tongzhou from Beijing? Only twenty kilometers! Standing on the walls of Beijing, you can even see a huge bonfire lit by the coalition forces under the city of Tongzhou. Various rumors circulated in the capital. contradictory to each other. The most is that Li Bingheng committed suicide in the defeat of the army in Xihe, but it is also said that it is false, Master Li is alive and well at all, and he defeated the foreign soldiers and killed more than 100,000 foreign soldiers.

The Chinese have always had a tradition of reporting good news but not bad news, and the people seemed to be more interested in an edict issued by the imperial court, which was issued by the emperor, which said: Li Bingheng, Ma Yukun, Song Qing and the Western soldiers fought fiercely, killing more than 100,000 allied troops, which is really commendable. Li Bingheng admired the dazzling eyes. Ma Yukun wore a yellow coat. Song Qing rewarded the title of Shangshu. The household department allocated 100,000 taels of treasury silver and handed it over to Li Bingheng to distribute to the officers and soldiers to show his persuasion and lead the troops to recover Tianjin.

Sometimes people's hearts are held together by lies.

The Kyoshi did not actively prepare for the defense of the capital. Now the court is busy. He is the minister who kills the Lord and the Lord.

Since the Boxer Rebellion, he has advocated bitter suppression. and resolutely opposed the attack on the embassy and the war against various countries, Yuan Chang and Xu Jingcheng were killed at the same time. Even Cixi, who held the power of life and death in her subjects, needed to be charged with killing her ministers. The charge was soon found - tampering with the Holy Decree.

Push back a little bit of time. After Li Bingheng, who was loyal to the Manchu court, arrived in the capital, Cixi asked him why the southern governors did not carry out the will to kill the foreigners? Li Bingheng's answer was. I didn't see the edict of expulsion. Cixi became suspicious and sent the Minister of Military Aircraft to investigate resolutely. Gangyi was in the same position as Duanjun Wang, and replied to Cixi that Xu Jingcheng and Yuan Chang had changed the holy decree without authorization, changing "expulsion and killing" to "protection". Cixi was furious and ordered to kill Yuan Chang and Xu Jingcheng.

These are two ministers who have always been sober-minded, firmly believing that the Boxers cannot be used, and attacking the embassy and church is even more contrary to justice. Yuan Chang used to be a hardcore post-party and opposed the Wuxu Reform. Xu Jingcheng even served as the minister of the Qing Empire to France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Austria and other countries, and has a clearer understanding of international affairs than ordinary officials. Out of consideration for safeguarding the fundamental interests of the Qing Dynasty, they continued to write letters regardless of their personal safety, hoping that Cixi could restrain herself from the precipice, but they were unjustly killed.

The execution of Yuan and Xu was actually the beginning. Within a few days, Xu Yongyi, the secretary of the military department, Lishan, the secretary of the household department, and Lian Yuan, the cabinet scholar, were arrested on charges of traitor and traitor. It was also a very fast interrogation procedure, and all three were taken to the vegetable market to be publicly executed.

All three of them were staunch anti-war factions, and their positions were all sympathetic to Emperor Guangxu and opposed to the abolition of the emperor.

Under the pressure of a strong enemy, the top of the empire did not actively discuss and arrange the defense of the Beijing Division, but carried out a brutal internal purge, which shook the cohesion of the top management. It was the Duanjun King and his gang who provoked the incident, and the county king, who had been completely crazy, had realized that Beijing was not in danger under the overall situation of successive defeats on the battlefield. With the loss of Beijing, Cixi's fate is unpredictable, and Emperor Guangxu, who has the firm support of foreigners, may return to power. In that way, not to mention that his son Pu Jun can't inherit Dabao, his life will be difficult to protect. Instead of looking at those antagonists to be proud, it is better to take the opportunity to kill them one by one. This is Zai Yi's psychology at the moment.

The people of Beijing have always regarded the red case at the entrance of the vegetable market as a great pleasure. But in this year of August, the people of the capital are also a little tired, the crowd watching the killing is much smaller than before, and when the executioner cuts off the head of the prisoner, the sound of cheering and heathing is much weaker than before. In particular, the situation of the last person to be killed today, Tobe Shangshu Lishan, is even more special. Tateyama was not put into a carriage and blindfolded and dragged into the execution ground, but was dragged all the way to the entrance of the vegetable market by tying his hands to the tail of a horse with his hands tied to the tail of the horse.

Riding a tall horse, Zai Yi was surrounded by a group of Boxers, triumphantly lifted Tateyama out of the prison of the Criminal Department, tied to the horse and dragged all the way to the entrance of the vegetable market. The crowd couldn't tell who the prisoner was, so they asked each other, "That's Tateyama-sama, Tobe Shoshu." Hey, he's got it today, too? "The people of Jingshi seem to be particularly fond of watching this kind of extremely cruel scene.

There are two special characters in today's audience, they are Wang Mingyuan and Jiang Yun, who happened to come from Xuanwumen and caught up with the opening of the killing field.

Wang Mingyuan, who was dressed in civilian clothes, had been in the capital for three days, and the troops had entered the city in batches, and under the leadership of the people from the intelligence department, they all lived in two houses near Deshengmen that Jiang Yun had leased and purchased in advance. Wang Mingyuan, who had settled down in the troops, followed Jiang Yun or Tian Shubang every day to step on the spot, and went to see the Qingwang Mansion, Zhuangwang Mansion in Xicheng and the famous "Four Heng" ticket numbers near the East Fourth Archway. These are the must-see requirements that Jiang Yun demands. The rest is to look at the city walls and gates, and the outer and inner gates facing the south, south, and west have gone. Wang Mingyuan always thought that the troops would be engaged in the battle to defend the city. Today, he was led by Jiang Yun to Xuanwu Gate, which was the last city gate he had ever inspected, but he didn't expect to see a legendary murder scene.

Rao is that he has been in battle for a long time, and he is used to seeing killing, bloodshed, and death, and he is still shocked by the scene in front of him.

"Kill the head, kill the head, why toss people like this?"

"Who knows? The Manchu Tartars liked to engage in these tricks. Jiang Yun didn't care.

"It's all big officials, how can you say kill it? Moreover, why are the people so happy? ”

"Don't you listen? These are traitors. Those who oppose war with foreigners. ”

"But the capital is like this, where is it ready for war. At the moment of the great enemy, the defense of the city gate is like child's play, and I dare to guarantee that as long as there is one platoon, I can take the Xuanwu Gate. ”

"My brother Wang, we're not here to take the city. will not help the Manchu Tartars defend the city. When Jiang Yun spoke, his two eyes looked around stealthily.

"So, it's time for the commander to come over, right? What the specific task is, you don't say, I really don't know in my heart. You don't let the officers come out to survey the terrain, what will you do if you start a battle next? ”

"My good brother, I don't know Commander Ludao's plan, but I don't believe you. Even you can't believe it, who else can be? Still, everything is in the commander's calculations. What do you think, the commander expected it four months ago, what are you worried about? Jiang Yun smiled proudly, "Let's go, go back and you lead the way." You should remember the way, right? ”

"Pretty much."

In fact, Wang Mingyuan is still blind to the situation in Jingshi. The legendary capital is bigger than he imagined, with wide streets, uneven dwellings and majestic and solemn imperial cities that can not help but be awe-inspiring, all of which shocked this young man from the countryside of southwest Lu. Although he has been continuously educated by Long Qian for two years, he was still shocked when he saw the grandeur of the capital with his own eyes. And the points that Jiang Yun took him to observe also shocked him. That's all those ticket numbers, the palace? Wang Mingyuan was not afraid of attacking the palace, but worried about how to end the game. This side was recruited, and that side was aimed at the palace? (To be continued......)