What does martial law mean in the 49th city? Ronglu is clearer than anyone else. This shows that Empress Dowager Cixi, who controls most of the force in the capital, took action in advance. She has begun to eliminate dissidents in the capital. There will be no suspense in this suppression, because Ronglu imagined that the British and French forces were still trapped in the mud of Tanggu. They had been delayed for a month and a half here and failed to advance towards the capital without any force.

Without strong external allies' assistance, the capital will not be in chaos. The capital will not be in chaos. The Manchu and Mongolian nobles under Ronglu and Ci'an have no place to use their skills. No one dares to rebel openly at this time, and Ronglu's plan was completely disrupted.

Ronglu was restless all day long and repeatedly suggested that Grant and Montauban attack Tianjin immediately, while Grant and Montauban insisted on waiting for news from the reconnaissance team. Since Ronglu lost the source of information from the inside, he was not sure about Peng Yulin and Senggelinqin's plans. However, based on his years of experience in the battle, Peng Yulin is likely to continue to destroy the road to Tianjin and strengthen the defense of Tianjin. All they have to do is delay time. Once the Manchu and Mongolian nobles under Ronglu and Ci'an in the capital are all caught in one fell swoop, the rebellion of Ronglu and others will completely lose the title of righteousness, which is very unfavorable.

In contrast to Ronglu's anxiety, the joy of the coalition forces, the Qing army's chaotic evacuation and the surrender of several key points, the coalition forces seized more than 500 artillery types and an astonishing number of military supplies.

The British and French troops crossed the Baihe River and entered the right bank's forts without any difficulty. In the main fort, they found the wooden houses of the Qing army commander as the command center, which were comfortable to furnish. There were military maps hanging on the walls. The navies and engineers of the two countries began to clear out various obstacles blocking the estuary. Obstacles such as iron chains, bamboo platoons, tree fences and dikes took two days for the coalition forces, and although they were difficult, they were all cleared. On the third day, the shallow water fleet of the coalition forces drove into the Baihe River.

The British and French generals happily evaluated the new military situation. As the first battle was won, the battle against China seemed to be on a smooth road. Even if the huge cavalry of the Qing army was intact, Senggelinqin's main force still existed, but Grant and Montauban believed that Tianjin was already within reach.

This important town is about 55 kilometers away from Dagu, and is only about 100 kilometers away from Beijing. When you go to Tianjin, you can take dry roads or waterways. Both banks of the Baihe River are open, and you can get the cover of the fleet in the river when you walk on both sides of the Baihe River. Xinhe and Dagu are both rear bases. The Baihe River has become a major transportation and supply route. In fact, despite the winding river channels, gunboats can reach Tianjin in one day.

General Montauban sent his first adjutant Desian back to Paris to submit a pact to Dagu Fortress to Napoleon III. General Grant believed that with the capture of the Dagu Fortress and the signing of the surrender letter, the Baihe River Waterway was opened, the war against China had ended or basically ended. Wu Shili also wrote a letter to inform his mother: "The Third Chinese War has ended."

But Bovasie, the second light infantry battalion, was deeply disappointed and wrote: "The war is over and all the forts fall into our hands. We just started a beautiful head, and the expeditionary war was fought too little. This is not worth the 6-month bump in the sea." Another lieutenant Paul Draglange, who was in the same battalion, happily wrote: "The diplomacy of the Celestial Empire is indeed more capable than the army, and will soon give our soldiers other rewards and results."

Earl Mitresi stressed that this was the third time that Europeans went deep into the White River after Macartney in 1793 and Amesid in 1816. He pointed out optimistically: "And this time, in the lucky 1858, the two envoys would eventually arrive directly in Beijing and sign a treaty in the capital of the Celestial Empire. The treaty would strengthen the strength of the two major allies on this distant country and establish a new market open to countries around the world for a long time."

Ronglu scoffed at the optimism of the coalition forces. During this period, he strengthened the reorganization and control of the army. The coalition forces generously handed over most of the 500 artillery seized to Ronglu's army. With the cooperation of local officials arranged by Hengfu, Ronglu quickly formed a civilian team composed of local men. Their scale was comparable to that of the Nanyang Coolie Team.

The blind optimism of the coalition forces was finally awakened by the news brought back by the reconnaissance team. The retreating Qing army destroyed the road leading to Tianjin on both sides of the Baihe River. They were divided into several teams, with more than a hundred or hundreds of people, and seriously damaged all the roads and bridges along the way. The Qing army's destruction team dug out dense small pits on the road. This small pit was only the size of a fist and had little effect on people, but it could easily hurt horses. At the same time, they dug up the embankment of the Baihe River in different areas, allowing the river water to continue to create mud.

The reconnaissance ships of the Baihe Fleet discovered that the Qing army had carved a considerable number of grain transport ships in the upstream area. These ships were originally ships to transport grain to the capital. Now the transport has basically been cut off. These ships are all parked near Tianjin. Now they have been ordered by Senggelinqin and Peng Yulin to sank the river channel of the Baihe River.

The news brought back by the reconnaissance team was frustrating. The generals of the coalition forces had to reexamine the war. In the words of General Grant, they really didn't understand the ideas of these Qing people, but their approach caused a lot of trouble, which was a test for our engineers.

So the engineers of the coalition forces began to march and clear obstacles and restore traffic amid curses. At the same time, it was frustrating that many water sources were poured into a large number of dead animals and became unusable. Therefore, the coalition forces' march could only rely on both sides of the Baihe River and could not leave the Baihe River too far.

Montauban began to admire the Mongolian commander of the Qing army. He only used a little trick to lead the enemy to the marching route he hoped. Grant disliked this feeling very much. The Qing army did not need to investigate to know where the coalition was marching. This feeling was very bad. Rong Lu sneered and said, "This was not Senggelinqin's idea, but Peng Yulin's."

The slow action of the coalition forces gave the Qing people a lot of time to strengthen Tianjin's city defense. Before that, Tianjin seemed to be guarded by two large forts, with a batch of large caliber heavy artillery. At this moment, Ronglu believed that Peng Yulin and Senggelinqin must have added more forts, camps and trenches, and Tianjin would become the second fortress.

The cleanup of the river was even more difficult. The Navy sent personnel to sneak into the water to tie ropes, and then the Nanyang coolies on the shore and the cattle and horses collected and other animal forces were pulled together to barely clear a passage.

On the seventh day of the march towards Tianjin, the river channel of the Baihe River was cleared and a water channel was opened. The British Navy Commander Grent (the Rear Admiral succeeded after He Bo was injured) was eager to lead three gunboats to move forward along the Baihe River and head straight to Tianjin without prior notice, which shocked and angered the French.

After waiting for the obstacles to the White River to be cleared, Grent took advantage of the rising tide and boldly went deep into the inland river. Undoubtedly, he wanted to avenge the two consecutive naval defeats! Or expressed dissatisfaction with the navy's only playing a secondary role in the offensive battle on March 21! Bashali and Roheenry also joined the operation and were on the steam frigate of the "Coromandel". It was simply a reckless move! Montauban called it "rough moves."

As a result, the three gunboats were warmly welcomed by the Qing army's artillery positions along the coast of Tianjin. Originally, Grent believed that the Qing army had lost 500 various artillery pieces, and there was no threat from the lieutenant general in the subsequent attack. Unfortunately, he was wrong. He ignored the vast land and wealth of this country, which was not just a rumor. The Qing army had more than 30 artillery pieces involved in the bombardment of three shallow-water gunboats, and Grent's fleet was forced to withdraw after only a few hundred meters. All three gunboats were seriously injured, but fortunately they did not sink.

However, this accidental investigation also made the coalition forces realize that the Qing army did not completely lose the capital and confidence in resistance. To open the river to Tianjin, it would have to go through water and land.

The day after Grent's adventure failed, Hengfu sent Ronglu the latest information, including the latest defense situation in Tianjin. What is amazing is that Senggelinqin and Peng Yulin were closely deployed in Tianjin. Four outer trenches and deep ditches were connected to the moat. Two more forts were added to the banks of Baihe Tianjin, with a total of four forts. A total of 30,000 people from the Qing army guarded Tianjin, and a large number of elite cavalrymen of Senggelinqin were cruising on the outside.

Both Grant and Montauban felt that the need for additional troops was needed, and the British army in India could also add 15,000 to 20,000 British and Indian minions, while it would take half a year for the French army to mobilize troops from North Africa and even the local area.

At the same time, the news brought by Hengfu was somewhat sad to point out that the surrender of the first turret guard of the Dagu Fort made Senggelinqin doubt his generals. Many key positions were not included in his staff, so it was unlikely that the generals in the key positions would surrender.

After looking at the defense map, Ronglu fell into deep thought, while the coalition generals broke out in fierce quarrels. No one had a better way, and it seemed that they could only attack and attack Tianjin.

The military operations of the coalition forces were launched violently the next day after the large army arrived at five kilometers outside Tianjin. There was an army attack on the land and a fleet cover in the river. The first day's strong attack effect was good. They broke through two trenches of the Qing army in succession, but were counterattacked by the Qing army at night. Although the coalition forces strengthened their defense, they still suffered losses.

The next day's advance was not smooth. The Qing army was like taking stimulants, defending and repelling one batch after another. The next day was a bloody day. The Qing army was killed at least 3,000 people, more than 3,000 people were injured, and more were injured, while the coalition forces suffered more than 1,000 casualties.

At this time, Grant and Montauban discovered the intentions of the Qing people in horror. They were fighting for the consumption of soldiers. Although four or five or even more Qing soldiers could only exchange for casualties of a coalition soldiers, the Qing country was fighting locally and they could recruit more troops at any time! The coalition forces must adjust their strategies and tactics!

When his eyes returned to the map, the generals of the coalition forces had a question in their hearts. Is this only the road to Beijing? At the military meeting that night, Ronglu stood up and spoke: "The road to Beijing is not just this one, you can also land in Jinzhou outside the pass and enter Beijing from Shanhaiguan!" (To be continued...)

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Chapter completed!