Tianjin Wuqing River Xiwu Town is located on the west bank of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, originally called Hexi, at the beginning of the place for mooring and repairing ships, once had the name of 'Hexi Dock'. Later, because the household departments of each dynasty set up branches here, it became a very famous tax banknote customs here, and Hexi Wu was officially named from this, and it has been along until now.

The North Canal was officially incorporated into the main line of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in 1280, and due to its unique location advantages, Hexiwu became the Gyeonggi Fortress and the throat of Caoyun. The town of Hexiwu originated in the Han and Wei dynasties, rose in the early Yuan Dynasty, and flourished in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Throughout its development, it is closely connected to the canal.

Hexiwu is a veritable big town, and the surrounding villages are densely populated, as evidenced by the fact that there are hundreds of villages surrounding it. But since the British and French forces burned the flames here, the peace here has been shattered.

When Seng Lingqin led his troops to evacuate Tianjin, he did not stop until Tongzhou, and in Hexi Wuzhen, the Qing army and the British and French coalition forces did not break out into a major conflict, but when the coalition army passed Guò here, because of the robbery of the Indian soldiers, North African soldiers and Nanyang coolies in the coalition army, the conflict between the common people and the foreign soldiers here was triggered. The conflict was small in scale and was quickly suppressed due to the large disparity in force. At that time, in order to make good use of Hexi Wu Town's transfer of military supplies, the Coalition High Command later issued an order to strictly prohibit soldiers and other mobs from looting, so order in Hexi Wu Town was restored.

Since the confrontation between the coalition forces and the Taiping army and the Qing army in Tongzhou, Hexi has been undertaking the task of transporting the allied army's military supplies through the canal, after the personal and property are guaranteed. The common people here still had to cooperate with the British and French forces, working for them in exchange for a living. Just like the people of Guangzhou, he cursed foreigners in his stomach. On the one hand, they have to carry trade goods for foreigners, and the Chinese people always move forward in this contradictory mentality, until the conflict and integration of the two cultures of the East and the West reach a balance.

The 2nd Marine Battalion of the French Army led by Colonel Wassogne of the French Army and the 1st Battalion of the Essex Corps led by Lieutenant Colonel Compton of the British Army, a total of more than 1,000 Allied soldiers guarded here, which shows that the Allied Forces attach great importance to this place.

During the day, Colonel Vathogne and Lieutenant Colonel Compton received orders from the Allied High Command to strengthen their defenses, and the Taiping Army had declared war on the Allied forces. For the Taiping Army. Colonel Vasogne did not have a good feeling, but Lieutenant Colonel Compton had mixed feelings, he was one of the officers who led the coalition army north with General Grant to conquer the Russians, and he had worked with the Taiping Army for many years, and his feelings were quite deep.

When he learned that the Taiping army had declared war with the Anglo-French army, Lieutenant Colonel Compton exclaimed, "God, why are they going to war with us?" Wasn't their enemy the Manchu government? Our enemy is also the Manchu government, why don't they unite with us against the common enemy, but come against us? ”

Colonel Vasogne scoffed at this: "A nation is not built by handouts and exchanges. It was still iron and blood, and by the time we set foot on this land with arms, neutrality had already been broken. Lieutenant Colonel Compton, do you really think we're here to help the Taiping Army eliminate the Manchu government? ”

Lieutenant Colonel Compton shook his head. Colonel Vasogne was a little funny, no wonder Lieutenant Colonel Compton, who was still only a lieutenant colonel, turned out to be too slow to smell his political sense. Or maybe he's just a pure soldier.

"The Taiping Army rose strongly in the Far East, when she unified China. A powerful state will emerge in the Far East, which is not in the interests of Britain and France in the Far East. We did not send troops against the Manchus to destroy them, but to bend them to our will, and finally we could support an enlightened Manchu government in the north to contain the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so that we could continue to reap huge profits in the Far East. ”

After listening to Colonel Vasone's words, Lieutenant Colonel Compton finally understood, and he said a little gloomily: "It turns out that we have become the biggest obstacle on their way to the establishment of the country. After a pause, Lieutenant Colonel Compton immediately regained his true colors as a soldier: "Colonel, we must immediately carry out military defensive deployment, I know the Taiping Army too well, they will always attack you at a time and place you don't expect." ”

Colonel Vassone didn't know much about the Taiping Army: "War was declared this morning, could it be that they will raid us right away?" ”

Lieutenant Colonel Compton shook his head and said, "I don't know, but my gut tells me that we should start preparing right away." ”

Although Vasogne did not like the British, he accepted the British's proposal, and from the afternoon onwards, the Anglo-French troops in Hexiwu Town strengthened the defenses on all sides, and the soldiers of two companies blocked the passage in and out of the town, and began to lay mines around it to strengthen the fortifications, and at the same time, in the canal, Vasoney requisitioned the two naval patrol steam gunboats that were docked here for the patrol of the river. But until the sun went down, the town of Hexiwu was still very calm.

The coalition forces were busy until after twelve o'clock in the evening, and the officers and men of the various units returned to their barracks to rest, but the night patrols were doubled, and Lieutenant Colonel Compton personally led the patrol until two o'clock in the evening before returning to rest.

At three o'clock there was a thunderous sound from the southeastern part of the city of Tianjin, followed by a burst of fire, and the sentry woke Lieutenant Colonel Compton, who was stunned by the red light of the distant sky when he came out to the outside of the camp.

"God, they're attacking the city of Tianjin!" Colonel Vasogne came to Compton's side and exclaimed, Lieutenant Colonel Compton was very anxious, seeing the flames on the other side of Tianjin City, General Sutton's troops must have suffered great losses, and he immediately said to Colonel Vasogne: "Colonel, please allow me to lead the Essex battalion to reinforce Tianjin City immediately." ”

Colonel Vassone shook his head and said, "The night march is too dangerous, Lieutenant Colonel! Compton was very anxious, there were all British troops stationed there, and he said unceremoniously: "Colonel, there are more than 2,000 British soldiers there, and 80% of the military supplies, I think it is necessary for us to risk reinforcements!" ”

More than 2,000 British troops did not cause much reaction to Colonel Vasogne, but the 80% of the military supplies hoarded in Tianjin still made Vassoone very concerned, and after a moment of hesitation, Vasogne agreed to Compton's plan. Soon Compton gathered more than 480 British officers and men of the British Essex Battalion and left the town of Riverside at 4:15.

Three miles after leaving Hexi, Compton's troops were attacked by a Taiping ambush while passing through a village. In nearby sorghum fields and villages, ambushed Taiping soldiers opened fire on the British in the army, and Lieutenant Colonel Compton immediately ordered the soldiers to take cover and return fire.

Originally, the British army was not very good at night warfare, but because the Qing army always launched night raids, forcing the allied soldiers to start learning night warfare, the British army at this time was at a loss when it encountered a night war.

The British soldiers crouched on the edge of the ridge on the side of the village road, crouched on the low wall outside the village, and fired back at the sorghum fields and the fires that came out of the village, and although it was night, the screams and blood were still flying everywhere.

"Lieutenant Colonel, they're flanking us, we should get out of here!" One of the ensigns shouted loudly.

Compton also saw that the terrain was unfavorable to him, and immediately said: "Second Lieutenant Ferbel, judging from the enemy fire in the village, the enemy number will not be too large, take your company and detour from the left side of the village, we will attract enemy fire here, after you rush in, drive the enemy out of the village, we must pass through this village!" ”

Second Lieutenant Furber immediately led a company of soldiers in a detour to the left, and Compton ordered the soldiers to intensify their return fire and attract fire from the village. A quarter of an hour later, Ensign Furbel's company reached the left flank of the village, and Lieutenant Colonel Compton breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could smile, several loud noises came from Ensign Furbel, and several British soldiers were thrown into the sky in the light of a few violent explosions.

"Damn, they planted mines at the entrance of the left-wing village!" Before Compton's cursing was over, more intense gunfire rang out on the left flank, and Ensign Furbell's company was immediately heavily wounded.

"Damn, it's a trap on the left flank! Lepp Conton, get Ferbel back! Compton shouted for orders, but Repconton's company could not move over, and the Taiping army's firepower was more dense than before, and it seemed that they had received reinforcements.

"Damn, I got shot!" "Lieutenant Colonel, we should retreat! There are too many enemies! "The right flank can't stand it, Second Lieutenant Leppconton has been shot!" The screams rang out one after another, and Lieutenant Colonel Compton had no choice but to order the others to retreat, and he himself led thirty lives to the rear of the gunner's palace.

Soon the bright trumpet of the Taiping Army sounded, countless black shadows of Taiping soldiers appeared in the villages and sorghum fields, the snow-bright bayonets glittered in the moonlight, and the thirty riflemen continued to knock down the enemy who rushed over, but after all, the number was too small, and soon they were overwhelmed by the enemy's bayonets and grenades.

A grenade exploded next to Lieutenant Colonel Compton, and the wave of air knocked him to the ground, and when he turned over, he found that there were already three bright bayonets in his chest, "Put down your arms, surrender or kill!" Broken English and French were spoken once, and Lieutenant Colonel Compton gave up resistance.

Several Taiping soldiers pulled him up, took away his saber and the short gun at his waist, and several soldiers muttered in Chinese: "It's a lieutenant colonel, it's a big officer." "Push him to the back, there is an order from above not to hurt any of the prisoners, they are all bargaining chips for us in the future."

Compton, who has lived in China for a long time, understands Chinese, smiled bitterly and asked in Chinese: "Who is your commander?" Lee so-sung or Chen Alin? ”

"This foreign devil still knows General Li and General Chen?" "Two stunned, many of their officers used to fight side by side with us...... "From the early morning of the second day of the declaration of war, the British and French forces and the Taiping army, which had fought side by side, began a desperate struggle in the north, and in the face of the collective national interests, the friendship and goodwill of the past seemed so fragile and vulnerable...... (To be continued......)