In the past two days, the coalition forces have received bad news, the French army has made slow progress in the land offensive, although they have erupted a very tenacious will to fight, but the Qing army in front of them always crushed batch after batch, and the French army's food crisis has not been alleviated, if the British army did not provide a batch of military rations in time, I believe that the French would have collapsed without a fight.

Then there was the defeat of the British army on the sea route, which was greater than the last battle of Dagukou, although the casualties of more than 1,000 people were not enough to break the bones of the huge coalition army, but the morale of the coalition army was a huge blow. The Dagukou fortress was also called the Sevastopol of the East by the allied soldiers, and the hard fighting was still to come.

Next came the strange sea march of the Taiping Army, and the reconnaissance fleet of the Allied Forces left in Weihaiwei, Shandong Province, sent a message that a large number of Taiping ships were heading for Dalian Bay under the cover of huge warships and warships. The commander-in-chief of the Allied forces, General Montauban, was deeply disturbed by the news, because news came from Shanghai that the Taiping army had used almost all of their naval forces in this operation, and that there was also an army force of nearly 50,000 men, which was said to be used against the poor sea power of the Russians in the Far East, which was undoubtedly elephant and mosquito fighting.

Although the Taiping Army has repeatedly claimed that the military operation is a normal movement after the declaration of war on Russia, when the coalition forces besieged Jintang in the Bohai Sea, there was a powerful military force watching behind Dalian Bay, which was a very bad feeling.

Just when the coalition forces were in a gloomy cloud, a mysterious figure came to the barracks of the coalition army in Beitang. The mysterious figure was received by Colonel Dupan, a French intelligence officer, and Wu Shili, a British intelligence officer, who arrived in Beitang under the escort of a group of Qing cavalry. They waved white flags to the forward posts of the coalition forces.

More than 20 Qing cavalrymen were subordinate to the Qing army that was originally stationed in Beitang, and after arriving at the Beitang camp of the coalition army, they were politely monitored. They did not carry any weapons, and they even divided the bacon and Chinese spirits they brought with them to the French soldiers who guarded them, and they soon became friends with the French.

Du Pan met with Wu Shili, who was dressed in a cloak and in the office of the French Intelligence Department (a large room next to the Beitang ancestral hall), where he took off his black cloak and revealed an unruly and handsome face.

Years later, Colonel Dupan recalled Rong Lu and said. This young man had the noble temperament of an aristocratic man, but also had a gloom that was too much to look at, and this man reminded Colonel Duppon of the famous aristocratic rebel leader in French history, the Duke of Vendôme.

This mysterious figure is none other than Rong Lu. After a brief handshake with the two foreigners, he briefly introduced his identity in fluent English. Wu Shili was not surprised, but Colonel Dupin was extremely surprised, because Rong Lu's status was a once high-ranking nobleman in France. And he is now acting as rebellious as the Duke of Vendôme.

Rong Lu quickly showed the two foreigners an edict from the Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty. Rong Lu was appointed Minister of Plenipotentiary Negotiators, responsible for negotiating with the foreigners, including military operations in the event of war.

Colonel Du Pan now suddenly realized, it turned out that the British had not shown the hole cards like this, he also thought that the British cooperated with the ordinary Qing local officials, but he did not expect that this time he was replaced by the highest real power figure within the Qing government, Colonel Du Pan complained in his stomach, but was more happy.

Wu Shili frowned slightly. In addition to the troubles encountered by the current coalition forces, Rong Lu is also good. Whether it is the Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty, they have given so little practical help to the coalition forces so far, Wu Shili is somewhat disappointed, and he seems to have forgotten that he can now stand on the land of Beitang instead of floating on the sea, in fact, thanks to the young traitor in front of him.

Rong Lu didn't talk nonsense, he expressed his disappointment with the progress of the coalition forces straight to the point, and at the same time brought the latest Qing army defense map to the two intelligence officers, which not only marked the artillery positions and troop deployment of the Qing army, but also the logistics routes and grain storage locations of the Qing army.

"Two of you, please see, Seng Greenqin has hoarded a large amount of military food and military supplies in the Military Grain City, Gegu and Tianjin, our army has occupied the Military Grain City, and the periphery is surrounded and monitored by Monk Greenqin with nearly 20,000 foot cavalry, the coalition army actually needs to do is to break through the quagmire area north of Beitang, and reach the Army Grain City and our troops should join forces to defeat the Qing army Monk Greenqin, you can get sufficient supplies and military supplies, and at the same time, you can bypass the flank positions leading to Dagu and raid the Dagukou fortress from behind, Completely open up the waterway from the Baihe River to Tianjin......"

Rong Lu once again demonstrated the value of him and the rebellious nobles of the Qing Dynasty that he represented, and both Colonel Du Pan and Lieutenant Colonel Wu Shili believed that this was the only feasible way and opportunity for the coalition forces to break through the fortress of Dagukou, and soon the two reached a consensus and put Rong Lu's strategy into writing, and each reported it to his commander.

After Rong Lu rested in the barracks for half a day, he was jointly received by Sir Elgin of England, Lord Gro of France, General Grant, General Montauban and others. After repeating his plan once, Rong Lu said: "The Manchu and Mongolian nobles in Beijing need the help of the powerful forces of the coalition army, as long as we can rescue the little emperor and the empress dowager again, the Qing state will reach a more friendly and intimate cooperative relationship with Britain and France." ”

Sir Elgin and Lord Gro had a brief exchange of opinions, and the distinction between the politicians and the military strategists was revealed at this moment, while Grant and Montauban were more interested in the marching and offensive strategy proposed by Rong Lu, and what the army and the country could gain from the war in the future was a question for the politicians to consider, and all the generals had to do was to make the enemy's force disappear, and in the end there was no room for bargaining.

The meeting soon reached a consensus, Grant and Montauban did not pay much attention to the political conditions proposed by Sir Elgin and Lord Gro, and Montauban believed that Rong Lu and the Empress Dowager group he represented would accept the terms of the coalition in full, whether it was trade or indemnity, whether it was the right of way, whether it was mining rights, whether it was opening up the whole territory of the Qing Dynasty, and whether it was renting Weihaiwei as a military port......

But Montauban also noticed Rong Lu's expression, and he took the twenty-one notes from Sir Elgin with a blank expression. It is as easy as receiving an ordinary instrument, as if the benefits ceded from it have nothing to do with it. Years after the fact, General Montauban wrote in his memoirs. Later, I realized that the Manchu and Mongolian nobles of the Qing State did not care how much profit they ceded, as long as they could continue to rule the Han Chinese......

At this moment, the note of Hengfu, the governor of Zhili, was sent to the Beitang camp of the coalition army, and after Sir Ergin and Gro looked at it separately, they looked at Rong Lu with inquiring eyes.

Rong Lu smiled, took the note and looked at it a few times, and said slowly: "This is the signal that Governor Hengfu agreed with me. Being able to send this note jointly with Seng Lingqin shows that he has won Seng Greenqin's trust, and the rest of the matter will be very easy......"

In this regard, Rong Lu asked Ergin and the Groto people to tell Hengfu. claimed that after the Chinese government rejected the ultimatum of the British and French allies, the affairs had already been handed over to the military generals of the coalition forces, and this was also a signal of the agreement between Rong Lu and Hengfu, indicating that Rong Lu had negotiated with the foreigners.

March 9. Lieutenant Colonel Wu Shili led a group of cavalry. Went to explore the hidden path not far north of the embankment shown on the Ronglu intelligence map, and found that there were traces of wheels there. After two kilometers of potholes, the path suddenly showed a flat stretch and a vast grass. Obviously, this avenue can pass through cavalry and artillery, and there is no Qing army blocking position here, on the contrary, it should belong to the junction of a Qing army position, except for the occasional Qing cavalry to patrol, there are no other Qing troops stationed. It is believed that the Qing army's strength is also a little stretched, and it is not able to really completely besiege Beitang. That's great news. Along the way, many ponds were found to be drinkable.

General Grant was eager to leave Beitang City as much as possible, and he informed Montauban of his intention to immediately attack the city of military grain. Montauban asked for a postponement, for the simple reason that the French army did not have enough food to hold on to them to reach the city, and they wanted more British military rations to support, but Grant resolutely refused.

Collino later recalled: "The negotiations between the two commanders were no longer cordial, and the rhetoric was very intense. In the end, General Meng had no choice but to give in arrogantly and replied: "Well, the British army provides military rations, and the French army is in front." So, the two commanders decided that the French army would go ahead, and the French army would be the first to advance. For several days, the sun has been in the sky, and the weather has rarely improved, and all roads are easy to pass.

On March 12, 15 days after the British and French troops landed in Beitang, they finally bid farewell to this "remote corner" and the stinking sky. I wish it never came again! "No one is skeptical about this success. But we must take the Dagu fortress and keep the White River unimpeded, and before that we can join up with the Qing allied forces in the military grain city. Our army occupies Tientsin so that we can obtain more food and supplies, so that we will have the ability to continue the offensive, and eventually our army will march into the capital of this ancient country. ”

With the second division of the LinkedIn Army and the cavalry as the second echelon, he embarked on the path to the military grain city identified on the 9th from the right side. Michel led his troops along the main embankment, while more than 1,000 French troops under the command of Ranman were at the front, and General Collino stayed in Beitang for the time being. Approaching Xinhezhuang, the coalition army met a group of Qing infantry here, and they were still hurriedly building pheasant walls and trenches, apparently the coalition army's previous reconnaissance of this place attracted the attention of the Qing army, and this force was only sent to garrison here.

The Qing army was ill-prepared and rushed to the battle, the allied artillery opened the way, the infantry captured, and the battle was easily resolved in half an hour, and the Chinese infantry of 3,000 men was defeated miserably, killing hundreds of people, and the rest fled without a trace.

On the right flank of the coalition forces, on the second front, the Napier column was attacked by 4,000 Qing cavalry. Armstrong's heavy artillery was thrown into battle, and the Sikh cavalry repelled the Qing cavalry. The cavalry of the Qing army retreated to the fortified town of Tanggu on the north bank of the river, and suffered heavy casualties. In the British army, only 2 officers were wounded and 3 Sikhs were killed.

General Napier marveled at the bravery of the Qing army, who were armed only with bows, arrows and spears, and under the fire of the modern lethal Armstrong, but they were so calm and unyielding. Wu Shili also admitted, "I have never seen such a brave soldier. ”

Tanggu was a heavily defended town with a large cavalry battalion of the Qing army, which, according to intelligence, was the headquarters of Seng Lingqin. Unwilling to give up, Montauban took advantage of the momentum and advanced to Tanggu, a few kilometers to the south. Grant tried to dissuade as much as he could. He explained that the British were exhausted, especially the infantry troops who had been forced to stop on the river embankment, surrounded by water, and faced enemy artillery fire that their own artillery and infantry could not deploy. It is still necessary to go north to the military grain city according to the plan and seize the supplies there first.

Montauban was stubborn and ordered the French army to march alone and pose an attack on the town of Tanggu. However, he then recalled the troops, perhaps out of caution! This attempt, Captain Bezia, interestingly compared it to "fire reconnaissance". Grant succinctly commented: "General Mong finally admitted that his approach was useless, so he pulled the troops back. Wu Shili also stressed the "mistakes" of the French commander's command. At that time, Colonel Dupan was also not afraid to criticize the commander-in-chief of his army, and he felt that the British were restrained and "acted rationally". To General Meng, everyone wouldn't say that!

But it was General Montauban's fire reconnaissance that made the Qing army commander Seng Greenqin misjudge, and got the reconnaissance of Tanma, and a large number of French troops gathered to prepare for an attack, so he thought that the coalition army was still going to storm Tanggu Town, so he ordered the troops to stay still, and the various departments strictly guarded Tanggu Town, intending to rely on fortifications to deal with the coalition army, but he made a mistake again this time...... (To be continued......)