Major General Negri was near the east gate of Shanxi City at this time, the huge explosion just now, the huge shock wave directly lifted him away, and when he got up in disgrace, he found that the troops in front of him were withdrawn in confusion, some people were embarrassed, some people even crawled with rolls, and some people who rushed to the front but were lucky not to die, they were even ragged, their clothes and pants turned into strips of cloth, hung down and thrown around, and their bodies were covered in blood.

It turned out that the forward troops of the French army, after rushing into the East Gate City, suddenly encountered a huge explosion, which was a large amount of explosives planted by the Chinese in advance inside the city gate, and when the French troops poured in, they immediately ignited and detonated.

The explosion was extremely powerful, and the remnants of the city wall and the earthen houses beside the city wall were all lifted into the air, and all the people in the area at the center of the explosion were left with no bones, and the surviving people were all at the edge of the explosion area, injured by the shock wave and flying debris, and the specific number of casualties was difficult to count for a while.

At this time, in the city, the sound of shouts, gongs and drums shook the sky, and Negri saw that the attack had been frustrated and the smoke and dust were very chaotic, so he had to order the troops to temporarily retreat and withdraw to two miles outside the city of Shanxi.

After counting, 117 French officers and soldiers were killed or missing on the spot, including two officers leading the team, Captain Le Telier and Captain Duunier. Nearly 100 others were injured, including more than a dozen with broken hands and feet.

At this time, the sky had begun to darken, and Nigri was afraid that the Chinese would counterattack, so he ordered the whole army to defend on the spot, preparing to reorganize Liliang and attack again tomorrow.

This whole night, the French army was on full alert, and the city of Shanxi was also beating gongs and drums, guns and cannons were ringing in unison, and some Chinese troops constantly went out of the city to harass everywhere, attacking and killing small groups of French troops patrolling far away from the city, and they made a lot of noise all night, until dawn did they quiet down.

Negri was napping on the marching bed, having been tossed all night last night, and he had only squinted in the early hours of the morning, when he was awakened by the sound of the soldier's report.

Nigri asked, "What's the situation?" ”

"Report to the sir, the Chinese army has withdrawn!"

"Withdrawn? Hmph, the Chinese just shouted there all night, and now that the sky is also dawning, what are he waiting for if he does not withdraw to the city? ”

"No, I mean the Chinese army has withdrawn from the city of Shanxi. By this time the city was empty. ”

"What?!" , the Negri teeth are about to fall.

After some reconnaissance, the French army finally determined one thing, that is, the Chinese army had in fact abandoned the city of Shanxi and retreated to the north after the explosion yesterday.

At this time, the French commanders were standing on the blast zone of the east gate yesterday, and the whole area was a huge earth pit, full of death and silence, a large pile of stumps and broken arms and charred corpses that were difficult to distinguish the ears and eyes, and the rifles had turned into fritters and twists, and the whole place was as if it had been smelted in a melting pot, turning into a piece of charcoal, and the feet creaked on it, which showed the horror of the explosion.

"No wonder the Chinese attacked our patrols everywhere last night to drive away our eyes and ears to facilitate their own retreat. Moreover, when retreating in the middle of the night, the hot air balloons of our army could not be effectively monitored. ”

It was Borrier who spoke.

Nigri also agreed: "It is exactly so, presumably yesterday the Chinese were ready to retreat, so they have been bluffing, pretending to counterattack, in order to confuse us." ”

Mi Le nodded: "The Chinese are paying more and more attention to the use of strategy, which is a manifestation of self-confidence, which is not good news." ”

Although the French army achieved their original goal of capturing the city of Shanxi, this result did not satisfy Miller. Because the main force of the Chinese defenders did not suffer much damage, the French army also paid nearly a thousand casualties before and after.

With such a little bit of consumption, Mi Le did not think that he could kill to the Sino-Vietnamese border, and as an extremely experienced commander, Mi Le vaguely had a feeling in his heart that the Chinese seemed to be consciously using the defensive terrain to block their own troops layer by layer and consume their own strength.

Could it be that the Chinese Jihua is fighting a decisive battle somewhere after exhausting their strength to the maximum.

This conjecture made Mi Le himself secretly surprised, would the Chinese really have such far-reaching strategies and arrangements?

At this time, he was even more determined in his original idea, if there was no new appropriation and new reinforcements in the country, he would not attack Lang Son.

At the same time, Chinese troops had withdrawn to Xinghua. It was under Wang Xiaoqi's advice that the Sixth Division dug a big pit in the northeast and buried all the explosives in the city's ammunition depot.

Two days later, news of the French occupation of Shanxi was widely published in the newspapers of Paris, and the French government tried to counteract the pressure on Gambida's cabinet.

However, Prime Minister Gambida knew bitterly that it would be unfavorable for the French army to attack Taiwan, and Miller, commander of the French army stationed in Vietnam, had also made it clear that he would never continue to attack north unless he received reinforcements from at least one division.

Ganbida was helpless about this, and there was nothing to think about. Because the French Army is actually in short supply of excellent generals, after the establishment of the French Third Republic, a large number of former high-ranking officers, because of their aristocratic backgrounds, died, closed, and discharged, and it was the time when the commanders in the army were in short supply. And Miller is one of the few lieutenant generals who are recognized as old, prestigious, and capable, and he is indeed a siege in Vietnam, winning repeatedly, and it is really not at ease to change people.

However, sending another division will certainly make the current logistical pressure even worse. And it will inevitably require another huge budget, which is really overwhelming for the current French financial burden.

Gambida hated his predecessor, Rufery, for provoking such a war without fully grasping it, and now that this mess has been thrown into his own hands, how can he end it decently?

Vladivostok, named Vladivostok by Russia, was originally Chinese territory, and 20 years ago, Russia forcibly occupied the city through the Sino-Russian Treaty of Beijing, making it the largest Russian military base and port in the Far East.

The French negotiating delegation, which is in Vladivostok, has made several informal contacts with the Chinese delegation, but no progress has been made.

At this time, Baohai received a telegram from Prime Minister Ganbida from China, asking for as much as possible to achieve a result, and the bottom line was that China would withdraw its troops from Vietnam. As long as China recognizes the Treaty of Saigon between France and Vietnam, and everything else is negotiable, France can immediately withdraw its troops from Taiwan without demanding any war reparations. Even France could promise North Ki as a military buffer zone, and the French army would guarantee not to enter this area.

Ganbida thought that this should be an extremely generous and lenient condition, and that Chinese had never signed such a treaty in the past few decades, the Chinese imperial court should be able to give an account to the country after obtaining such a result.

On January 31, 1881, the first official meeting between China and France took place in the only hotel in Vladivostok, the Astoria Hotel, which was built in imitation of the famous Astoria Hotel in St. Petersburg.

As soon as the talks began, the deputy head of the French delegation and former first counsellor of the Chinese embassy in China, Badenau, began to make a big deal of nonsense and wantonly intimidate the Chinese delegates: "Gentlemen from China, I am glad that we can sit together today and work together to end this unfortunate war at an early date. But I know that this will not be easy, and I hope that the Chinese gentlemen will look at the current situation with an honest and objective attitude, which will help the negotiations go smoothly. ”

Badeno raised his voice slightly and continued: "The fact now is that the Holy French Republic has achieved an undoubted military superiority, and on the battlefield of Vietnam, our army has achieved a series of victories, successively capturing several important cities that were previously illegally occupied by the Chinese army, and the mighty French army is advancing to the Sino-Vietnamese border. At sea, the French Far East Fleet has already encircled and blockaded Taiwan, as well as acquired the northern port of Keelung, and the occupation of the entire island of Taiwan will only be a matter of time. ”

Badenor took another sip of water: "I hope that the gentlemen of China can recognize these facts clearly and keep an open mind in the negotiations." Our demands are not high, they are nothing more than the following: First, the remnants of Chinese forces in northern Vietnam must be withdrawn immediately. Second, China must unconditionally recognize the Treaty of Saigon between France and Vietnam. Third, it is necessary to immediately release the French officers and soldiers who were illegally detained by the Chinese side, such as Gu Ba, and provide financial compensation for the mental losses of these personnel. Fourth, China needs to pay a reparation, because it is related to the dignity of the French Republic, and of course, out of the friendship between China and France, the specific amount can be negotiated. If the Chinese gentlemen are objective enough, then they will naturally understand that the above conditions are good enough. ”

Zeng Jize, the chief representative of the Chinese side sitting opposite, couldn't help but laugh dumbly in his heart after listening to Badeno's tirade, and he really felt angry and ridiculous. In the telegram sent to him, the emperor had clearly explained the bottom line of the negotiations, that is, China was confident of winning the victory of Zuihou, and the French labor expedition would cost a huge amount of money and would not last long. On the Vietnam issue, China will not budge an inch, and France must recognize China's suzerainty and the legal status of the Sino-Vietnamese Charter.

In terms of reparations, there is not a single copper plate. The shameless French actually said that Guba and others were prisoners of war who were illegally detained, and they were ashamed to ask for moral compensation, and their cheekiness was simply incredible. With the cultivation of a well-educated person like Zeng Jize, he has always emphasized "don't look at incivility, don't listen to incivility", and at this time, he couldn't help but feel angry, and his face changed color.

The deputy negotiation envoys Wu Dacheng and Li Bingheng next to them were already a little uncontrollable.

However, Zeng Jize also heard the other party's lust and inwardness, and he was arrogant in front, but when Zuihou talked about the reparations, he was probably afraid of irritating the Chinese side, and the explanation was for the dignity of France, and he also claimed that the amount was negotiable. It can be seen that the emperor's judgment is completely correct, "France is racking its brains to find a step down, and it can't sleep at night." ”