On January 16, 1881, a meeting of the Military Aircraft Department was being held in the Yangxin Hall in Beijing.

After receiving Liu Mingchuan's telegram, Ding Yuntong breathed a sigh of relief, which also diluted the pressure he felt after the defeat of Bac Ninh. Although the offensive and defensive battle of Yuemei Mountain, the casualties of the Chinese army in terms of personnel may have been greater, but in terms of strategy, it was undoubtedly a huge victory, and its significance was even no less than the Battle of Mawei. Because this directly thwarted the strategic attempt of the French army to control Taiwan, otherwise once Taiwan falls, with France's maritime liliang, even if China wins a big victory on land, it will be difficult to snatch Taiwan back, which will add great difficulty to future negotiations. From this point of view, the French government's choice is not wrong, and Taiwan is indeed the most haode collateral.

At this time, Ding Yuntong was quite fortunate that when the French army was encircling Mawei, after he was sure that there was no danger on the mainland, he ordered Zhou Shengbo to lead the army to reinforce Taiwan. Otherwise, if Liu Mingchuan's troops at hand were clumsy, he might not be able to withstand the attack of the French army.

Since the French army cannot make progress in Taiwan, the coastal zone of Chinese mainland is safe, while France will only sink deeper and deeper in Taiwan. Because once the French government withdraws its troops from Taiwan, it will be tantamount to admitting that all previous actions have failed, which will greatly damage the reputation of the government, and the Gambida cabinet will bear the risk of collapse.

In this case, Ding Yuntong felt that at least one more division could be transferred from China to Vietnam, as long as a victory could be achieved in Beiqi, the French would be forced into a desperate situation.

At this time, Zuo Zongtang, Minister of Military Aircraft, said: "It is not advantageous for the French army to attack Taiwan, and our navy can copy the back road and attack its sea supply lines, which is the right time!" ”

Ding Yuntong was also quite moved when he heard this, and turned around and asked Peng Yulin, Minister of Military Affairs: "How is the situation in the navy?" ”

Peng Yulin was very cautious: "The Kunlun and Canghai two ships have returned to Mawei Harbor, but the two ships are mostly damaged, including the newly captured French four ships, which will need at least a few months of repair." Moreover, although the French army has withdrawn from the siege of Mawei, there are still French warships monitoring outside the port. ”

Ding Yuntong nodded: "At this time, all capital ships need to be refurbished, and the secondary ships are not strong enough in combat, and it is not a day's work for the personnel to be familiar with the ships." Moreover, as soon as they leave the port, the French will know that Taiwan is a stone's throw away from the mouth of the Min River, and the French fleet will immediately follow them, and they are afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses if they rush to sea. ”

Zuo Zongtang also calmed down at this time: "It's the old minister who is reckless." ＂

Ding Yuntong paused for a moment, and then said: "Now it seems that the French army has no spare strength to attack the Beijing-Tianjin area, and it should be enough to have the Seventh Division at Dagukou and the Guards Brigade in Xishan." The second division of the left precious can be allowed to go to Vietnam as a general reserve for the decisive battle of Zuihou. ”

Thinking of the defeat of Beining, Ding Yuntong was a little depressed, he knew that Beining would give up sooner or later, the purpose was just to consume a large number of the French army, but he didn't expect Zhang Shusheng to lose so badly, the third division would lose more than two-thirds, and the weapons and ammunition were lost, such a fiasco was really unexpected, Zhang Shusheng was also a famous general in the history of his previous life, how could he be so poor, it seems that under the fame, it is actually difficult to deserve, and history is sometimes inaccurate.

However, the combat effectiveness of the French army exceeded the pre-estimate by too much, and it would be nice if there was something that could strengthen the defense and block the ferocious impact of the French army, such as mines or something.

Mine? Thinking of this, Ding Yuntong suddenly remembered a person, Ding Shoucun.

In his previous life, Ding Shoucun was an expert in munitions and equipment, especially in the field of mine research, and he was the author of books such as "The Law on Detailed Coverage of Landmines." He was a domestically produced landmine expert, and his attainments were no worse than those in the West. However, this person has always been unpopular, and the mines he has studied all his life have been regarded as miraculous and ingenious, and he cannot be put on the stage, but he is ridiculed behind his back, saying that he has taken an evil path and has been depressed all his life, and he should have retired to his hometown at this time.

Ding Yuntong was quite remorseful, there were too many things before, why didn't he think of this person? He immediately asked Guo Songtao's organization department to find this Ding Shoucun immediately and take him to Beijing, hoping to catch up with the war.

As he was talking, Foreign Minister Zeng Jize hurriedly came to ask for a meeting, and when he came in, he reported: "The Russian Minister to China, Butze, has formally submitted a document to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hoping to mediate the Sino-French dispute so that the two sides can negotiate in Vladivostok, a port in the Russian Far East. ”

Ding Yuntong smiled, and the French couldn't sit still.

The last time I asked the British Hurd to come, it was just a delaying tactic, and I didn't want to talk about it at all. This time the situation should be very different, more diplomatic blackmail, what cannot be obtained on the battlefield, naturally I want to try it at the negotiating table. Moreover, although France and Russia have not yet formed an alliance at this time, the two sides are approaching, and it is reasonable for Russia to come out to mediate.

However, France still did not suffer a fatal blow, and the negotiations were not destined to be fruitful. However, just as the Taizu of the Red Dynasty said in the previous life, "civil officials only negotiate, and military generals only fight", it is not impossible to open up a new battlefield at the negotiating table.

As a result, Ding Yuntong ordered that Butzer's mediation could be accepted and diplomatic contacts with the French could be conducted. Zeng Jize will be the Chinese ambassador for negotiations, and Zhang Jing, Li Bingheng, and Wu Dacheng will be the deputy envoys for the negotiations to Vladivostok.

He thought to himself that things were getting more and more interesting.

On the other hand, on the battlefield in Vietnam, another big war is about to begin.

The commander of the French army, Lieutenant General Miller, was in great distress at this time, and he hoped to stop the military operations on the Taiwan side and transfer the 4th Brigade back to Vietnam, but the country instead demanded that he continue to divide his troops to Lisby.

This request angered Miller, who believed that it would spread the Liliang even more, resulting in a stalemate on both sides. He even threatened his professional life, claiming that he would rather resign if the government were to force him to carry out the order.

Although Zuihou's cabinet reluctantly withdrew its request, it demanded that Miller continue the attack on Beiqi and strive for a military victory, so as to cooperate with the negotiating ambassador Baohai, who was on his way to Vladivostok, so that the French position at the negotiating table would be more favorable.

In the Battle of Bac Ninh, the French suffered a lot of casualties, and the number of those killed in battle, plus those who could not be healed, reached about 1,500 people, especially the first brigade of Porriers, which lost one-fifth of its strength.

Ignoring Colonel Bishuo's strong opposition, Miller could only transfer an infantry regiment from the 3rd Brigade defending the Tokyo area to supplement the 1st and 2nd Brigades, and his thinking was that the two main offensive forces must first be kept intact.

In terms of offensive targets, Miller chose Shanxi City on the Western Front.

He knew that Lang Son on the Eastern Front was the command center of the Chinese army, but before attacking Lang Son, Miller thought that it was necessary to clear the enemy troops in Shanxi so as to ensure that the flanks of the French army would not be threatened when attacking Lang Son.

Another important reason is that a few days ago, the Chinese and French armies had just made an exchange of prisoners of war, and the French army exchanged the captured Chinese regiment commander Wei Gang for the Chinese captured Major Corona.

According to Corona's description, Lang Son's defenses were extremely large and strong, and they were difficult to overcome. This strengthened Miller's thoughts: he would never attack Lang Son until he received reinforcements from home.

After half a month of preparation, the main force of the French army began to move in the direction of Shanxi City on the western front.

At the same time, Shanxi City is also preparing for the war.

Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army, excluding the troops reinforced by the original Sixth Division, there were very few people left at this time, and the original establishment of the Independent Regiment of the Black Flag Army basically did not exist.

According to the domestic order, the remaining remnants of the Black Flag Army were all merged into the Sixth Division, Liu Yongfu was promoted from the original lieutenant colonel to colonel, and the rest of the generals and colonels were also promoted.

Taking advantage of the French attack on Bac Ninh, the 6th Division carried out a comprehensive renovation of Shanxi and built a large number of fortifications.

Shanxi City is a fortified city in northern Vietnam, only two miles from the Red River, which is itself easy to defend and difficult to attack. The main wall is a five-meter-high, three-hundred-meter-long brick wall, and the walls are filled with sharpened bamboo stakes that protrude outwards more than two meters wide to prevent enemies from ascending the city. The walls are about ten meters wide and have a large number of bunkers. An eighteen-meter-high tower overlooks the city.

Eight meters away from the outside of the city walls, there was a moat, about twenty meters wide and three meters deep, which was filled with muddy water one meter deep. The banks of the river are made of brick and stone and are extremely steep.

In front of the moat is a ditch, which is the outer fortification of Shanxi City, and in front of the moat is a layer of deer village made of unbuilt dried thatched bamboo, which is covered with a layer of green bamboo.

Five miles northeast of Shanxi City, there is the embankment of the Red River, and there is a floating sand village next to the embankment. In order to prevent the attack of the French river fleet, a large number of caryophyllum rafts were set up in front of this embankment.

At the same time, the division commander Cen Yuying made the following arrangements for the troops: Liu Yongfu led a regiment and 2,000 troops from the Vietnamese Hoang Zuo Yan Division, who had just been promoted to Jingbian envoy, to garrison Fusha Village; Defending the embankment, Wang Xiaoqi led a brigade and 2,000 troops from Zhang Guangtan, the deputy envoy of Jingbian in Vietnam, to jointly defend the outermost trench; Dong Fuxiang led two regiments to defend the city wall; Cen Yuying himself led the guard battalion, the heavy artillery battalion, plus an infantry battalion, and the rest of the auxiliary troops, stationed in the city, and set up an artillery observation post on an eighteen-meter-high tower.

Cen Yuying Jihua relied on the fortified Shanxi city to carry out a resolute defensive battle.

At the same time, according to Shao Youlian's suggestion, Cen Yuying released many Vietnamese prisoners on the one hand, and also asked Huang Zuoyan and others to send spies to infiltrate the Vietnamese troops to publicize the orders of the provisional government of the Vietnamese Emperor Duc, so as to break the morale of the Vietnamese indigenous soldiers among the enemy.

The French army on the other side is also ready to attack.

Nigri's 2nd Brigade was to attack the city of Shanxi head-on, Pourier's 1st Brigade was to cooperate from the flanks, and Miller himself commanded the 5th Brigade as a reserve.

By January 19, the French army had crossed the county seat of Danfeng and advanced to five miles south of Shanxi, and the battle was about to break out again.