On December 5th, at dusk, Mengqiao Village at the back foot of Lanshan Mountain.

Brigade commander Wang Debang is looking at the map angrily, after a fierce battle during the day, the French army has broken through his defense line from the west side of the Lanshan Mountain, Wang Debang saw that the troops suffered heavy casualties, he really couldn't stand it, and he was worried that the French army would copy his own back road, so he had to retreat down the mountain and rely on the bamboo forest in Mengqiao Village to hide.

The French were apparently also tired, and stopped to recuperate after taking Mount Lan.

Just now, the commander of Beining City sent a telegram, and Wang Debang, who was scolding, was red-faced. Division commander Zhang Shusheng said that he was a "bad seed", "I peed my pants when I saw foreign devils, and thousands of troops couldn't hold out for a day." The collapse at the touch of a button will severely demoralize the whole army. ”

Wang Debang felt deeply aggrieved, he had led his troops for decades, and he had never been so coopy as he was today, and he had insufficient artillery in his hands to effectively suppress the advance of the French army. Moreover, although there are more than 5,700 people, a lot of troops, there are 2,500 Vietnamese soldiers, and their weapons and equipment and combat effectiveness are very poor, and they really can't rely on it.

He used to fight in Xinjiang, and he had a reputation for being brave and good at fighting, and everyone gave him a thumbs up, and even the Russian garrison in Ili was very jealous, and he once sent reporters to interview him.

And directly behind is the Yongqiu Heights, and the left rear is Beining City, and Lanshan really can't just be lost.

He estimated the number of troops, and there were more than 2,300 people, and there were still about 2,000 people in the Vietnamese Phan Dinh Phong Division.

Wang Debang felt that although the Vietnamese soldiers were unreliable, there was a general under Pan Tingfeng who was victorious and seemed to be fighting well, and his battalion retreated in an orderly manner, unlike other Vietnamese troops, which were like a pot of porridge.

So he sent a telegram asking for reinforcements, expressing his determination to use the cover of night to counterattack Lan Shan, because in the sky over Bac Ninh, there were several French detection balloons, and some French men in gentleman's costumes were holding binoculars to observe the battlefield, and if they counterattacked during the day, the French would soon find out

On the one hand, he sent someone to find Pan Tingfeng and asked him to transfer Gao Sheng over, and the rest of the troops were responsible for guarding both sides. According to Emperor Duc's decree, the Vietnamese army was subject to the control of the Chinese generals.

At nightfall, reinforcements arrived, from the Ma Shengzhi battalion from Bac Ninh City, and brought a large amount of ammunition.

Wang Debang secretly calculated in his heart, and felt that the people in his hands could fight.

He picked out more than 1,500 uninjured and strong people from the original troops, plus reinforcements, a total of about 2,000 people, Jihua soldiers divided into two ways, taking advantage of the night, quietly went up the mountain, and killed a horse pistol.

After a period of chaotic preparations, the whole army was divided into three groups, Wang Debang with 1,000 men, plus Gao Shengying, went up from the west side of Lanshan, and Ma Shengzhi led 1,000 people up the mountain from the east side. The rest of the people, plus the Vietnamese soldiers, were entrenched in the village of Meng Qiao.

It was the middle of the night, and the two strange soldiers were filling their stomachs, and each of them took a few sips of liquor to replenish their ammunition. Wang Debang also organized a spear team of more than 100 people in his own army, all of whom held seven or eight feet long red tassel guns, followed behind the large army, and prepared to use them in hand-to-hand combat in sneak attacks. This is not only for the sake of good looks, the red tassel can suck blood, can prevent the blood on the gun head from flowing down the gun shaft to cause slippage, which is conducive to the gun holder's strength, in other words, it is a rag for wiping blood.

With a whistle, the two soldiers quietly dived towards the Olive Mountain under the cover of the bamboo forest.

At this time, a simple tent had been erected on the top of Mount Lan, which became the temporary headquarters of the 1st Brigade of the French Army, and the brigade commander Porier was in great distress.

The French suffered heavy losses during the day's fighting, and when they broke through to the west side of the Olive Mountain, the casualties were particularly heavy, especially around one of the bunkers, where more than forty French corpses were lying there. The 112th Regiment, which was the main attacker, suffered nearly half of the casualties and had to withdraw to the rear area of Xinhe to rest and recuperate.

The other two regiments, one of the 117th Regiment, were on guard in front of the mountain, and the other 135th Regiment was supposed to have reached the top of the mountain, but it was delayed due to an "accident" and could not come until tomorrow morning at the earliest, which made Porrier very unhappy.

Because the peak command is now empty, there are only some directly subordinate troops, and more than 200 Chinese prisoners have to be guarded. Although Pourier did not believe that the fleeing Chinese army had the quality and courage to fight back, the instinct of the commander still made him a little apprehensive.

As for the more than 200 captives, the French government had specially ordered that they should not be tortured or harmed. Because in the previous Battle of Huaide, in order to retaliate for the French army's torture and killing of prisoners, the Chinese army dismantled the French colonel Li Weiye into eight pieces, hung them on the city wall, and posted notices.

This news was sent back home by a French journalist, which caused a great shock. Now the French army has more than a thousand prisoners at sea, and the families of these captives put a lot of pressure on the government. In order to ensure the safety of these prisoners, the French army also had to restrain somewhat.

Speaking of the "accident" of the 135th regiment, it made Porier cry and laugh.

The Algerian Zuaf soldiers, who fought bravely and tenaciously, were a good merit for all to see, but at the same time their sexual orientation was a problem for the French troops.

The Zuaf soldiers were generally lovers of "gays", and they also married wives, but only for the sake of procreation, and the Arab Caucasian boys were their real "lovers".

This time, they traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to fight in southern Asia, and the "lovers" naturally could not carry them with them, and these Zuaf soldiers were lonely and even targeted the French white soldiers in the army.

Just today, the 135th Regiment caused several "infrastructure" incidents in succession, causing internal conflicts and even affecting the movement of troops. The regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Berger, reported even more angrily: "The Algerian infantry is simply a burden to us, they have brought their own vices to corrupt us, and even brought bad French soldiers, and they should be let go as soon as possible." ”

And Porier, as the commander of the campaign, was more concerned about the victory on the battlefield, and the combat effectiveness of these Algerian light infantry was officially needed by the French army now, and it was really irrational to transfer these people.

Pourier was having a headache, and the soldiers came in to report: there was a fierce battle on the front of the Lanshan Mountain, a large number of Chinese secretly attacked the mountain, discovered by the patrolling sentinels, and the 117th Regiment had gone to intercept it.

Porier was very surprised, he did not expect that the Chinese would attack back so quickly, and it seemed that he could not delay any longer. He immediately sent someone to give an order, and the 135th Regiment put down all other things and went to Lanshan first.

As soon as the order was given, a "crackling" sound was heard, and a burst of gunfire was heard in the distance, and Porier, feeling that something was wrong, put on his overcoat and ran out of the tent. At this time, a gendarme ran over and said breathlessly: "Mr. General, a large number of Chinese suddenly appeared in front, it is no longer safe here, you must leave immediately!" ”

"How far is the enemy? How many people? ”

"About seven or eight hundred meters away, there are a lot of people, and there are at least a thousand people in the dark."

Porier wondered how these people had bypassed the cordon, and his brain was spinning rapidly, and he quickly came to a clear judgment: the enemy did not receive a large number of reinforcements from the direction of Bac Ninh, otherwise the command would not be without relevant information. The 117th Regiment in front has already intercepted a batch, and the number of this batch should be more than 1,000 people at most, with the strength of the mountain, it should be able to block it, and wait for the 135th Regiment to come up, it may not be impossible to annihilate the other party.

Quickly deciding on the plan, Pollier ordered Captain Flaviano to go up with all the Vietnamese soldiers to resist and buy time for the rest of the troops to build.

Soon a dense burst of gunfire rang out, and taking advantage of this gap, Pourier gathered all those who could fight, including more than 200 Algerian infantry, plus some signal troops, artillerymen, engineers, and some gendarmes, a total of more than 500 people, and quickly organized a simple line of defense in front of the headquarters.

On the hillside four or five hundred meters away, the troops commanded by Wang Debang quickly crushed more than 300 Yellow Flag troops who came to intercept them, and the commander Flaviano was also shot and killed indiscriminately, and then Wang Debang pounced on the French headquarters.

Wang Debang's journey up the mountain was unexpectedly smooth, the spearhead killed several French sentries in a row, and because of Ma Shengzhi on the other road, he attracted the attention of the French army, so that he successfully drilled halfway up the mountain and captured a French second lieutenant.

After having one ear cut off and seven fingers broken, the second lieutenant finally told the location of the headquarters. Wang Debang was overjoyed, if he could eliminate the enemy's command in one fell swoop, this credit would be great. He immediately commanded the whole army to rush upwards desperately, vowing to smash the lair!

Remembering the fierce gunfire, Wang Debang's army quickly rushed to the French defensive line, and after a few fires in the dark, the two sides quickly stirred together.

Everyone is a single-shot rifle, and at such a close distance, no one has time to reload, so they can only rely on white-knuckle combat.

The Zuaf soldiers, who had given Pourier a headache just now, immediately showed their value, these people stabbed and attacked, beast-like ferocity, at least three Chinese could block one, and suddenly stabilized the French front, and vaguely wanted to counterattack.

But Wang Debang was also prepared, and yelled, "Give me the spear team!" “

So from the back of the team, more than 100 people rushed out, all with seven or eight feet long red tassel guns, and under the cover of the troops on both sides, they rushed towards the Zuaf soldiers.

This pike, good fellows! More than a hundred guns pierced through the forest, no matter how brave the soldiers were, they couldn't fight, and several Zuaf soldiers were immediately pierced by the spears, and they were picked into the air, but they couldn't die for a while, and they kept screaming on the head of the guns. There was also a Zuaf soldier, who was pierced from the crotch by a shot, and the whole person was standing in the air, shaking his legs and trying to pull out the gun in vain with both hands, like a candy man poked by a hawker with a wooden stick during the Chinese New Year.

This terrible scene frightened the rest of the soldiers, many of whom turned around and fled for the first time in their lives, and the French front immediately faltered.

At this time, the Gao Sheng battalion also joined the battle, and the French army saw that the other side still had reinforcements, where did they still hold on, and Pollier was in a hurry: if you don't run again, you will really die here!