The news of the capture of the capital, the fall of the Qing court, the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the house arrest of the Guangxu Emperor in the Forbidden City spread like a plague under Li Hongzhang's deliberate rendering. When officials heard this, they were like frightened birds, and they couldn't stop worrying. In particular, the Qing troops stationed in various places immediately dispersed, and many Qing army units were disbanded. What kind of war is there when the court is gone? The Great Fresh Army has just become a number.

Garrisoned in Hengshui was the 35th Division of the Qing Army, and the commander of the division was shocked to hear about the changes in the capital, and immediately discussed with his subordinates: "Brothers, Li Hongzhang defected to the Northern Expeditionary Army and captured the capital. At present, the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor are both detained by Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang was so bold and reckless, which means that the Northern Expeditionary Army launched a large-scale attack, otherwise he would not have the courage. The court is gone, where do I go? ”

The military advisor said: "My lord, Li Hongzhang's defection to the Northern Expeditionary Army is by no means a whim, I am afraid it was premeditated. Li Hongzhang has seen through the red dust, what are we still hesitating about, as the saying goes, those who know the times are Junjie, and the court is finished. "My lord, now is the right time to surrender to Cheng, you will lead everyone to a future!" A brigade commander said in a loud voice. "My lord, the brothers have nothing to say, and surrender is the only way out." "My lord, I heard that the Northern Expeditionary Army does not care about the past suspicions, as long as Tou Cheng accepts them together, we have no objections!" Subordinates clamored one after another.

The division commander said: "Since everyone has decided to defect to the Northern Expeditionary Army, we will raise the banner. But I said ugly that we are ahead, and we have to fight the foreigners next in order to express our determination to surrender. If anyone is a turtle with a shrunken head, greedy for life and afraid of death, don't blame me for turning my face and not recognizing people. "My lord, please rest assured that we will not regret it!" Everyone spoke in unison. On the same day, the division commander ordered the detention of the Hengshui prefect and Manchu officials, and issued a proclamation announcing the surrender to the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Early the next morning, a subordinate ran into the division headquarters with a rolling belt: "Report to your lord, the scouts on the west side reported that they found a large number of coalition troops and were marching towards Hengshui." The division commander was shocked when he heard this: "The news of this foreigner is too fast, and he immediately ordered the troops to evacuate Hengshui." "Wait!" The military advisor continued: "My lord, even if the foreigners know the news of our surrender, it is impossible for the foreigners to come so quickly. I judged that the coalition forces on the west side were from Shijiazhuang. ”

"Do you mean that the Northern Expeditionary Army went out of Taihang to attack Shijiazhuang, and the coalition army fled from Shijiazhuang?" "Most likely, my lordship, we might as well intercept and find out the truth. If it is really a rout, we will wait for a great achievement, and when we see the Northern Expeditionary Army in the future, the value of the adults will be doubled. "The military took the opportunity to advise. The division commander hesitated for a long time, and Zuihou decided to him.

Suddenly there was a gunshot ahead, and the mentally exhausted Fair and Janrowski couldn't help but be shocked. "Weishenme shot ahead, stumped the Northern Expeditionary Army appeared in Hengshui?" Fell couldn't help but lose his voice. "Your Excellency General, the Northern Expeditionary Army will never appear in Hengshui, order the forward troops to find out the situation immediately." Soon the news came back, and Fair was annoyed and embarrassed when he heard this, and said: "The Great Fresh Army actually wants to bully us, it is simply bold, and it is bold to order the forward troops to immediately launch an attack to take Hengshui." ”

However, the attack was quickly repulsed, because the coalition forces had abandoned all the artillery when they broke through, and it was difficult to work without artillery, even if the coalition forces were strong. Repelled two frantic attacks by the coalition forces, but was not shelled, and the morale of the defending Qing army was suddenly boosted. When the Qing army was fighting, they were most afraid of artillery, and there were no shells exploding, and the defense was actually very solid. “haha！ Sure enough, it was the defeated soldiers who came down from Shijiazhuang, and they discarded all the artillery, and told the brothers to beat me hard, and the time for me to establish meritorious deeds came. The division commander's confidence was greatly increased, and he kept shouting loudly.

Fair and Janrowsky seem to have been humiliated, and it is not ashamed to flee in embarrassment by the Northern Expeditionary Army, but it is a great shame to be beaten so embarrassed by the Great Fresh Army. Commander Fell ordered a series of attacks. The battle lasted until the evening, and the Qing army that surrendered to Cheng was difficult to resist, after all, they had not gone through a brutal battle and had a weak will to fight. Seeing that the coalition forces were launching a fierce attack at any cost, the division commander was timid in his heart, so he had to order his headquarters to withdraw from Hengshui City.

The allied forces captured Hengshui at the cost of more than 2,000 casualties, and the officers and men were extremely tired due to the continuous fighting. Fortunately, the Northern Expeditionary Army did not follow the pursuit, and Fair decided to rest in Hengshui, and at the same time sent scouts to pay close attention to the movements in the west. "Your Excellency General, the Northern Expeditionary Army did not follow the pursuit, and we will take a breather in Hengshui for the time being. In addition, someone was sent to Xuzhou to contact. Xuzhou is heavily guarded by our troops, and if the situation is critical, we can quickly withdraw to Xuzhou. ”

Fell agreed: "The officers and soldiers are too tired, and there are many wounded soldiers, so we will stand by in Hengshui, and we will make a decision when the people who have inquired about the news from Xuzhou come back." The unclear situation on the battlefield led to the indecision of Fell and Janrowski, which led to their annihilation. went to Xuzhou to contact and then returned, and the time was delayed. When the returnee reported that the heavy troops of the Xuzhou coalition army had withdrawn to Shandong, the Northern Expeditionary Army broke through the defense line of Tongbai Mountain and the Yangtze River defense line, and the troops were under the city of Xuzhou.

The two of them seemed to wake up suddenly when they heard this, and they didn't expect the battle to be so bad. Fell decided to immediately take Daozhou and retreat to the Shandong Peninsula. However, Fell, Younglovsky did not expect to encounter the Northern Expeditionary Army about 20 kilometers west of Texas. After the right wing column of the Central Route Corps occupied Xuzhou without bloodshed, the forward troops quickly moved north, and unexpectedly encountered this defeated coalition army. Assuming that Fair is not delayed in Hengshui, and assuming that Fair correctly judged the situation earlier, this can only be an assumption.

The blocking operation lasted for two whole days, and the French and Russian troops launched attacks in turn, without taking a single step beyond the position of the Northern Expeditionary Army. When I really competed with the Northern Expeditionary Army, I knew how strong the Northern Expeditionary Army was. Two days later, the headquarters of Fells and Janrovsky were surrounded by six divisions, and nearly 40,000 officers and soldiers became turtles in the urn. In a small mountain village, Fer and Janrowski are facing each other in a daze, their troops have been divided and surrounded, and there is no suspense in the battle.

At this time, the faces of the two commanders were like ashes, but no one wanted to give the order to surrender. Seeing that the two were at a stalemate with each other, the chief of staff said angrily: "If the two generals continue to fight, they will treat life as child's play, we have no choice, surrender!" The two of them looked at each other and nodded, but neither gave an order. Chief of Staff Zuihou gave the order to surrender, and the two had no objections, and they breathed a sigh of relief from each other.

To say that the Japanese were indeed conscientious and dedicated, the 50,000 Japanese troops who withdrew from Baoding to Jinan received an order from the headquarters of the coalition forces in Tianjin to cover the retreat of the coalition forces on the front line in Jinan. Wu Gongchuan led two divisions to take on the task of covering while retreating, and their interception limited the pursuit of the Northern Expeditionary Army, effectively covering the rapid retreat of the British and French Russian troops. Very unexpectedly, in this great fleeing team, there was only one division of Russian troops, and that was the Russian army retreating from Hefei.

On the way to the sea, the coalition forces discarded a large number of light and heavy goods, and things abound along the way. In short, escaping was the first choice, and all the ports in Shandong were filled with all kinds of ships to transport the officers and soldiers of the coalition. The coalition headquarters dispatched a huge fleet to cover it, which can be described as a spectacular escape. The situation in the Central Plains has developed to the present, and the only purpose of the coalition headquarters is how many troops can be withdrawn.

At the beginning of May, Bai Sheng led his troops to advance to the city of Jinan, which was already an empty city at this time, and the Japanese troops who were currently serving as cover all retreated to Weihai to board the ship, and the Japanese troops retreated directly to Korea. After Bai Sheng occupied Jinan, he was ready to continue to use troops to the east, and at this time he received an order from the headquarters. Deng Zixuan ordered Bai Sheng to command the East Route Corps to attack Tianjin in the north, and after occupying Tianjin, he marched into the northeast with his army at Shanhaiguan, and never allowed the coalition forces to gain a firm foothold in the northeast.

Although McMahon is still the supreme commander of the coalition forces, he has lost the command of the coalition forces. The coalition army was defeated like a mountain, and it was not something that McMahon could afford. At present, the British Command had no knowledge of the situation in China, so it was impossible to give an order to remove the commander of McMahon's coalition forces. Whether it is complaining or accusing, the key is that there are still more than 300,000 coalition troops in Henan, and their lives and deaths are hanging by a thread. Everyone knew in their hearts that if the coalition forces in Henan wanted to get out of danger, it would be more difficult than climbing to the sky.

At present, the Russian army has 50,000 horses in Tongguan and three infantry divisions in Zhengzhou, plus a Khazarko cavalry division, totaling 45,000 men. The British army had 5 divisions plus artillery units totaling 70,000 troops on the front line of Funiu Mountain, and the French army Tongbai Mountain defense line plus Luoyang troops totaling 7 divisions with nearly 90,000 troops. Nearly 30,000 Japanese divisions have been wiped out. With so many coalition troops surrounded, the marshals of various countries were extremely sad when they saw their troops being wrapped in dumplings.

The atmosphere of the coalition army was very depressed, and after a long time, McMahon said in a low voice: "Everyone, I have an unshirkable responsibility for the overall rout of the coalition army, and I will submit my resignation to the British Empire High Command. We had to admit defeat, and it was a complete failure. The tactics of the Northern Expeditionary Army were too clever, and they took advantage of Li Hongzhang's ability to disintegrate the armament of the Daqing Army in one fell swoop, and at the same time caused the news of our coalition army to be blocked, the command failed, and the situation of fighting separately was formed, which was the main reason for our collapse. ”

McMahon continued: "Because of my arrogance and negligence, I did not anticipate the great attack of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and I deeply remorse myself. Gentlemen, in the current state, the coalition forces in Henan are no longer able to escape, may God bless them! But we will not throw in the towel, we will definitely be able to set foot on this land again, please believe my prophecy. Now that I am the commander of the coalition forces, please allow me to give an order to Zuihou. ”

Seeing that everyone pricked up their ears, McMahon continued: "At present, the officers and soldiers have no fighting spirit, and the Northern Expeditionary Army is like a broken bamboo, and we can't resist it at all. Therefore, I propose to retreat to the Korean Peninsula and make use of the mountainous areas in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula to build strong fortifications. The Japanese government has promised to requisition 200,000 troops into the Korean Peninsula, and the retreating Japanese troops have taken the lead in transporting them to Korea. In the future, when we counterattack the mainland, the DPRK is the best springboard. ”

"So Tianjin is going to give up! Tianjin has huge German interests, and I am against giving up Tianjin! "German Field Marshal General von Lauss blushed and disagreed." I also don't agree to give up the Northeast, we in the United States have huge interests in the Northeast! The U.S. consul was also against it. McMahon said to General von Laus: "Your Excellency, I understand your feelings very well, but I can't mobilize a single soldier for you. ”

General von Laus said: "Your Excellency, I understand your situation, I am determined to lead the German warriors to hold the city of Tianjin, I have no obligation to leave so many factories to the Northern Expeditionary Army, I ask the coalition to send a fleet to support." "I can do that, but I admire your courage." "I defend the Northeast in the name of America! Protest against such an irresponsible decision of yours! "The U.S. consul is gone. McMahon shrugged his shoulders and said, "Mr. Consul, I will give you a suggestion, ask the President of the United States to quickly send troops into the Northeast, and if the President of the United States agrees, I will consider your suggestion." In addition, if you can convince the other marshals of the coalition forces to agree, I will also consider your suggestion. ”

After McMahon finished speaking, he spread his hands and walked out, and the French and Russian marshals followed suit. The American consul looked at the generals of the other small countries, and everyone avoided his gaze. Obviously, everyone thinks that the defense of the Northeast in the current state is pure nonsense. Due to the large-scale investment of the Americans in the Northeast in recent years, they have given up like this, which is simply a heart-wrenching meat. Such heavy losses laid the groundwork for the United States to enter the war on a large scale in the future.

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