The sun rose a pole high, and there was no sign of an offensive in the French positions. This kind of torture is really uncomfortable, not to mention the soldiers, even Leng Yifei himself is anxious. "Brigadier Commander! What kind of tricks are the French playing, why haven't they moved at all, damn what day is it, Mo French people want to take a day off? Khalid put down his binoculars and muttered.

Leng Yifei held the telescope to observe that there was no squeak, and saw that the French barracks were very quiet, and secretly thought: It is difficult for the French to know about the change of guard, which is absolutely impossible. Is this a precursor to a large-scale offensive, or is it deliberately paralyzed? "Send in a reconnaissance unit to find out if there are any signs of a roundabout outflanking by the French." "Yes!" Khalid immediately instructed his subordinates to carry it out. "It stands to reason that the French army in front of us has no reason to divide its troops, but now the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and anything will happen, so we have to plan for the worst!" Leng Yifei explained.

"The operational staff also believed that the current strength of the French army could not complete the outflanking. I remembered that the lord once said that water is impermanent, soldiers are impermanent, and the use of soldiers is treacherous, and the brigade commander's worries are reasonable. Khalid agreed. Waiting to see what happens for the time being, and observing the movements of the French army at any time, I will first go back to the headquarters and study the countermeasures. Leng Yifei knew in his heart that it was easy to retreat, and his mission was to drag the French army and lure the enemy deeper, and if he could hold the French army in Hanoi for a day, he would delay it for a day and gain time for Deng Zixuan.

At this time, in the camp of the Qing army in Zhennan Guan, Feng Zicai was listening to the report of his subordinates: "My lord, it is reported that Liu Yongfu has transferred the right army in Taiyuan, and it is estimated that the battle situation in Hanoi is dangerous. At present, the French army has occupied Haiphong, and it is very likely that the French army will outflank Hanoi from the east. Feng Zicai stroked his gray beard and was silent, especially Xiao Di's cheeks twitched a little. My lord, the situation is very critical, shall we send reinforcements? A subordinate general spoke.

Feng Zicai didn't want to send troops, but the imperial court ordered that before the French army attacked his side, he should not send troops to him without authorization. At present, although the Black Flag Army is armed by the Han Chinese, it is under the command of King Annam, and it is said that 1,000 to 10,000 is a matter of the two countries. "Order the defenders of Liangshan, pay close attention to the movements of the French army, and do not act without an order." Feng Zicai closed his eyes a little depressed after speaking, and the general saw that the old general was like this, so he had to retreat cautiously.

Just five days after the French army launched an attack on Hedong, 20 warships of the French Far East Fleet suddenly appeared on the sea surface of Haiphong Port. The crowd on the pier and the merchant ships anchored at the berth, and before they could see what was going on, the French warships began shelling. The shells first fell on the pier and exploded in the crowd. Smoke covered the docks, and people began to flee in all directions.

Then French shells began to fly into the city, and 3,000 Annam troops were stationed in Haiphong. They abandoned the city and fled almost immediately, without any resistance at all. On that day, the French warships took control of the entire sea area and captured all the ships moored at the pier. Ten days later, the French army, attacking along the coastline, reached Haiphong and captured the port city.

In Beijiang, He Meng, deputy commander of the 2nd Brigade of the Annam Provisional Formation, was standing on the city wall and looking at the avenue to the east. "Deputy Brigade Commander, the French army has occupied Haiphong for 5 days, and the defeated personnel and refugees of the Annam Army are estimated to have fled. Damn it! It's too aggrieved to nest here. Lu Changlin, the commander of the 6th regiment, muttered, Lu Changlin is also a cadet of the first phase of the Shanghai Military Academy.

"Bac Giang is the gateway to the north side of Hanoi, there can be no mistakes here, according to the battle Jihua, after Hanoi misses, we are here to block the French army." He Meng said calmly. "Report! Recon Team 1 is back! I saw a man in a strong suit step forward and said: "Report to the deputy brigade commander, my reconnaissance team found a large number of French troops in Haiyang, with a strength of about 1,500 people. A combat staff officer immediately unfolded the map.

"The French are trying to outflank Hanoi in the east, and this line is defended by the Annam Army," Lu Changlin exclaimed. "The French were not targeting the Annam Army, but the Black Flag Army. The French had a great appetite and wanted to eat the Black Flag Army in its entirety. Immediately ordered the troops to assemble and go to Hai Duong to stop the French army, and they could not let their plot succeed. "Accompanied by the sound of military trumpets, the troops urgently assembled.

As soon as the troops were assembled, several fast horses galloped in. "It's the 4th Reconnaissance Team!" An operational staff officer read the report clearly. I saw a few war horses stop in front of He Meng. "Report to the deputy brigade commander, we met someone from Hainan Island in Xialong!" As soon as the leader of the reconnaissance team finished speaking, a man stepped forward and said: "Report to the deputy brigade commander, there is a traffic officer below, this is a letter from the lord to you!" He Meng unfolded the letter and quickly read it, hesitated for a moment, and said: "The lord led the 1st Brigade to set off from Hainan Island in a few days, and the letter ordered us to go to Xialong to change clothes, and then raise troops to the south to capture Haiphong. ”

"So a lot of equipment has arrived!" Lu Changlin was overjoyed when he heard this. "Only 1,000 rifles were delivered, and your regiment was equipped first. It seems that the lord is determined to eat all the French troops in the north, and now I order the blockade to Haiyang to be canceled, and all of them will advance to Xiangxia Longwan. After He Meng finished speaking, he suddenly became proud. Deputy Brigade Commander, what should we do in Hanoi? "Inform the 1st Reconnaissance Team to immediately go to Hanoi and report to the brigade commander, and bring this letter with it to the brigade commander." He Meng waved his hand and ordered the troops to set off.

In Hanoi, Leng Yifei led his troops to be on high alert for a day, but the French army still did not move. As dusk came, Khalid, who had slept well, walked into the city defense headquarters in good spirits. "Brigade commander, the French seem to be tired from the battle, and there are no moths. I suggest sending a commando team to him at night. "How do you know they're tired without fighting the French? The Black Flag Army suffered heavy losses, you see, the French army in front of us is definitely not a straw bag,. Maybe the other side wants us to sneak attack. ”

Leng Yifei continued: "The lord repeatedly said when he was in the military academy that France was the first military power in Europe, and Napoleon swept through Europe that year, which showed that the French army had been on the battlefield for a long time and had strong combat effectiveness. In particular, the French army was a well-disciplined army with a culture of quality and quality. "Yes, the lord once said that an army without culture is a stupid army. In the case of our soldiers, it is indeed stupid to be uneducated, and this is evident in terms of training. Khalid was moved. Leng Yifei pondered for a while and said: "Westerners don't have the habit of fighting at night, let the brothers have a good rest tonight, and tomorrow we will depend on the situation," that night in the palace of the small court of the Nguyen family, King Annam spent more than 20 days of thrilling days, but fortunately, the French army finally stopped attacking today, which shows that the Black Flag Army withstood the attack of the French. If the French army does not move tomorrow, Emperor Bixia decides to personally comfort the Black Flag Army. At this time, he did not know that the Black Flag Army had withdrawn, and the city defenses in the south and southwest had changed hands.

King Annan was in a good mood today, and he actually fought with his favorite concubine for a few rounds. After being satisfied, he went to bed, and as soon as he fell asleep, the chief of the palace guard came in to report that General Huang, the generalissimo of the soldiers and horses of Annam, asked to see him. King Annan's sleepy-eyed Maha got up, and when he saw the short General Huang's face turned pale, he said, "Aiqing, what happened in the middle of the night?" "Bixia, I have received conclusive news that Haiphong has been occupied by the French army, and a French army has rushed towards Hanoi and has now occupied Hai Duong."

When the king of Annan heard this, he was immediately numb, and it took a long time to come back to his senses and say: "Immediately recruit the commander of Sanxuan, and Liu Yongfu, the commander of the city defense, to come and see the driver." "Bixia, no! After more than 20 days of fierce battles, Bixia thought about whether the Black Flag Army still had extra troops to defend? Moreover, Liu Fucheng is a Han Chinese, and it is difficult to say how long his loyalty can last. Liu Yongfu is a bandit himself, and Bixia can't pin her hopes on him. "King Annan was bewildered.

General Huang's eyes rolled and said, "Bixia, once the French army comes from the east, Hanoi will not be able to hold it at all." The courtiers suggested that we take advantage of this evening to retreat to Liangshan and enter the defensive positions of the Qing army. It's really not okay, let's enter the subject country to hide, I think the Qing court will give you face. King Annan was surprised and said, "Don't tell Liu Yongfu what you mean, we will retreat quietly." "Bixia, I don't care so much, with the Black Flag Army here to stop us, we will be safe and sound." Bixia, can not hesitate, when the interruption continues, there will be endless troubles. Bixia and the concubine retreated first, and the courtiers broke off behind. King Annam had no idea, so he had to do so.

About 2 hours later, the palace guards opened the way in front, and King Annam led his concubines and ministers who chatted with him to retreat quietly out of the north gate. Then General Huang led the brigade to leave. At this time, Leng Yifei and his subordinates were sleeping soundly, and the sentries were only on strict guard against the French position, and they were unaware of the close movement. At about 4 o'clock in the morning, the reconnaissance team sent by He Meng arrived at the north gate of Hanoi, and at this time, six hours had passed since the retreat of King Annam.

In the dark, the reconnaissance detachment quietly approached the North City Gate. Looking at the wide open gates, the scouts were confused. "Captain, what does it mean that the city gates are wide open, could it be that the brigade commander has already retreated!" One of the scouts was taken aback. "The city was quiet, and there seemed to be no sign of a breach. The horses were left outside, leaving two men behind, and the others followed me into the city. "At the same time, a French vanguard appeared 3 kilometers from the north gate." Report Colonel, there are still three kilometers from the walls of Hanoi! In the dark, a French officer reported. The French officer who commanded the vanguard was a colonel.

"Immediately send someone to get in touch with the commander, the situation is unknown, and order the troops to stop advancing and defend on the spot." The major missed an opportunity to make a good exploit, and Leng Yifei escaped. Leng Yifei scolded angrily after hearing the report of the reconnaissance team leader: "King Annan, this monkey, actually sneaked away. The troops were ordered to retreat quickly, and after about half an hour, the troops exited the west gate, and then made a detour towards the north light.

The men sent to contact after dawn did not return, and the sentries found that the gates of Hanoi were open. The colonel led his troops to approach with a flank, and then sent his troops into the city to reconnoitre. The colonel received a report that Hanoi was already an empty city. The sun rose a pole high, and the commander Riviley led a large group of men and horses into the city through the south gate, and the two groups of men and horses met in the city. Seeing this scene, Commander Riveri's face turned blue with anger. I wanted to scold the colonel, but then I thought that what the colonel did was not wrong, but the enemy was too cunning and ran away silently.

Without thinking, Rivery decided to take Hanoi City by himself, and ordered Colonel Sabel to pursue north, and be sure to take Beiguang and Liangshan. He ordered his 2,000 men and horses to attack and advance to Taiyuan, and then occupy Taiyuan. Commander Rivery remained in Hanoi with a thousand men, and he ordered the French merchant fleet in Haiphong to drive along the Red River towards Hanoi. Leng Yifei did not expect that the passive situation would instead serve the strategic purpose of luring the enemy into depth.

Just as Rivery was occupying Hanoi, the commander of the French expeditionary force, Gu Ba, ordered 60 warships of the Far East Fleet to go to the British and French concessions in Shanghai, with the purpose of putting pressure on the Qing court and forcing the Qing court to submit on the road and at sea. The supreme commander of the Far East Fleet was Ben An, and under his command, the fleet was driven from the port of Saigon and slaughtered the Xiangshang Sea. The Sino-French war has completely deviated from the original historical trajectory, what will happen next? Let's wait and see.