Seeing the coalition retreating slowly, Xiao Yungui did not order a pursuit. After the elite infantry of the coalition retreated to a safe position under the cover of the cavalry, they had completed the reorganization of the team. They lined up in two rows of horizontal formations, and then slowly covered the retreat alternately. Faced with the coalition's defensive posture, sending cavalry to pursue was not a wise choice. After the infantry began to cross the canal in the early morning, they fought two consecutive battles and were exhausted. Therefore, Xiao Yungui ordered the soldiers to rest on the spot, clean the battlefield, and rescue the wounded.

Taking advantage of this gap, Xiao Yungui got news from Baliqiao that the Third Regiment of the Second Division led by Zhang Wenxiang had attacked Baliqiao and successfully destroyed the positions on the east bank of Baliqiao. The Allied Forces retreated to the west bank of the positions, further compressing the route for the Allied Forces to retreat to Tianjin. Xiao Yungui was very satisfied with this, which meant that the Allied Forces had to find another road to the north to detour and retreat to Tianjin. So Xiao Yungui ordered the officers and soldiers of the Third Division to rest as soon as possible, and after lunch, they continued to pursue the northeast.

After Grant and Montauban retreated to Tongzhou, the morale of the coalition became depressed because of the defeat. In addition to the cavalry, the infantry also lost more than 1,000 people, which was more than the total losses of all battles since the war with the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, the coalition lost personnel but failed to reverse the passive situation, so many people were disappointed.

After returning to the Tongzhou camp, the commander-in-chief issued an order to retreat as soon as possible, but soon the problem arose again. The Taiping Army could not allow the coalition to retreat comfortably. An army must stay to block the Taiping Army's footsteps. However, according to the combat effectiveness shown by the Taiping Army on the actual battlefield today, the coalition generals present were not sure that they could block the Taiping Army's footsteps.

Judging from the strength of the attack coalition today, the Taiping Army had at least 10,000 troops. The coalition forces under the same number may be tied with them, but if only a small number of troops were left to block the attack, it would be an impossible task. At this moment, a person appeared in front of them...

The day before, the Taiping Army declared war on the British and French coalition forces. The Qing Dynasty envoys retreated to the capital and temporarily cut off diplomatic negotiations. The coalition forces sent Baxiali and Gong Cheng to the capital to take the initiative to negotiate with the Qing Dynasty. Ronglu got specific news through Gong Cheng's line.

The Qing rebels stationed north of Tongzhou, who were not from inside and outside, did not know whether to cry or laugh after receiving the news. That afternoon, Mian Yu, Hengfu and others gathered in the rebel commander's tent to discuss countermeasures.

After hearing the news brought by Ronglu, the old man Hengfu changed his expression suddenly. He said tremblingly: "Old Prince, the foreigners have taken the initiative to post it to negotiate this time. In order to join forces with the Queen Mother of the West to deal with Changmao, they will betray us."

Everyone understands this truth. The banner of Mianyu and their rebels was to clear the monarch and intend to use the foreigners to defeat the Empress Dowager Xi and Prince Gong. However, when the coalition forces were about to come to the city, the Taiping Army suddenly emerged and stood in front of the coalition, making the situation even more complicated. Since the coalition forces failed to fight under the capital, Mianyu and their rebellious party in the capital were also eliminated by the Empress Dowager Xi after martial law. Because the situation in the capital was temporarily stable, many original fence factions turned against each other, and the Empress Dowager Dong was almost under house arrest after the chaos, and there was no news. Therefore, Mianyu and their good situation took a sharp turn. They became poor people who could be abandoned by foreigners at any time. They had tens of thousands of troops, but their morale was low. They did not dare to send troops to attack the capital themselves, and they did not dare to leave the protection of foreigners.

Fortunately, Sir Erjin was very trustworthy. During the negotiations with the Qing Dynasty, he insisted on not agreeing to betray the rebels. But now the Taiping Army and the foreigners turned against each other. The foreigners were eager to solve the dilemma and would definitely reach a peace agreement with the Qing Dynasty at all costs. Mianyu, Ronglu and others were abandoned even more likely. No one in the account was fools, and everyone understood Hengfu's concerns, but Ronglu was alone, but he was savoring the tea with ease, without any worries.

Seeing Ronglu so relaxed, Mian Yu asked in confusion: "Zhonghua, the knife has come to your neck, are you not worried at all?"

Rong Lu smiled and said, "In the current chaotic situation, there are soldiers and food in his hands. Why do you have so panic? Even if the foreigners betray us, can't we avoid him? Besides, can't we just allow the foreigners to negotiate with the west, and we are not allowed to negotiate with the court? Another point is that the Western King Changmao is a cruel and ruthless person. He brought his troops from afar and deliberately destroyed the foreigners to capture the capital, because he was worried that once the foreigners captured the capital, the court would be in harmony in order to appease the foreigners.

When foreigners reach peace agreements, once the two sides reach peace agreements, the court will inevitably join forces with foreigners to deal with them. So when necessary, Changmao will definitely turn against the foreigners, and the Western King is the master of making a decision and then taking action. As long as he goes to war with foreigners, the offensive will be fierce. If he is prepared and attacked without preparation, foreigners will definitely lose first. After the foreigners suffer, they will definitely ask us for help. At that time, the tens of thousands of soldiers in our hands will have a place to use their skills. Why are we still panic?”

After hearing Ronglu's words, Mian Yu and others also relaxed. Ronglu got up and walked to the map and continued, "Please see, foreigners are in Tongzhou, Baliqiao, and we are in Xuxinzhuang, north of Tongzhou Canal. Changmao wants to fight foreigners. It is impossible to come from the north to fight us first and then fight foreigners. This will alarm the enemy. Therefore, the most likely Western King is to attack foreigners from the west, southwest or south. If the foreigners suffer a defeat, or the retreat path to the south and east is blocked, the most likely route for foreigners to retreat to the north is to cross the canal and retreat north to Tianjin. At that time, if foreigners want to pass through us, wouldn't they have to ask us?"

Mian Yu and others suddenly realized it, but Hengfu said hesitantly: "General Rong, foreigners have strong armor. Can Changmao defeat them?"

Rong Lu smiled bitterly and said slowly: "The King of Changmao is in charge of the charge. I heard that the first army, known as the strongest army of Changmao, came. I have fought with the King of Western for many years and I know his ability to use troops. Besides, the King of Longmao is almost the same as the foreigners. Moreover, the King of Western for the King of Western for the time being prepared, the foreigners will definitely suffer defeat."

Ronglu's analysis was very accurate. The next morning, a rumbling sound of cannons came from Bali Bridge. Mian Yu and others hurriedly sent a post to investigate. Half an hour later, the horse was released and the foreigners and Changmao really started the battle at Bali Bridge.

Upon hearing this news, Mian Yu and others smiled and cursed one by one, "It's best for dead foreigners to bite dogs to bite dogs." "Yes, it's best to fight to lose both sides."

Ronglu frowned and called a team of personal guards, and ordered them to dress up as people and go south to find out the movements of the south. Mian Yu and others were puzzled. Ronglu said: "The King of Changmao is unpredictable to use wars. Since he will definitely not fight just a little, I also want to confirm whether there is any war in the south."

Sure enough, in the afternoon, the spy reported that near the Maju Bridge in the southwest of Tongzhou, foreigners and Changmao fought another battle. The foreigners were indeed defeated and retreated. Changmao did not chase him, and both sides seemed to have suffered heavy casualties.

After hearing the news, Mian Yu and others were even more cheerful. Ronglu immediately pulled Mian Yu to the side and whispered: "The foreigners are newly defeated and must be eager to find another way to retreat. At the same time, in order to avoid being entangled by long hair, foreigners will definitely want to find a soldier to stop the long hair."

Mianyou's expression changed slightly: "Zhonghua, you don't want us to take the initiative to resist the long hair for foreigners."

Rong Lu smiled gloomyly and said, "Old Prince, although we have more than 50,000 soldiers and horses in our hands, the soldiers and horses you brought with you are all Qiu Ba who cannot fight. Instead of staying to waste food, it is better to send them out and build foreigners. Isn't it better to retreat to Tianjin with the new army of our brigade, the Chahar soldiers and foreigners?"

Mian Yu was quite moved when he heard this. The troops of Ruijian camp he brought were not as good as the elite troops of the new army that rebelled against Lianglu's army, nor as good as the elite troops of the Chahar soldiers who rebelled in Tianjin. Most of the Qiuba family members were in the capital. Since the flag was raised to rebel, these guys have been in a sluggish morale. It would be fine if the foreigners and rebels successfully counterattacked and captured the capital, but now it has become a dilemma, and these people will be even more distracted. Perhaps, as Ronglu said, it would be more cost-effective to use it as an abandoned son.

But Mian Yu was also a little hesitant. After all, there were nearly 20,000 troops. It was a bit painful to give up all of a sudden. Moreover, in the troubled times, there was no panic in the hands of soldiers. After all, these people were still their own soldiers. If they were not allowed to speak, they would not be hard.

Ronglu was a little moved when he saw Mianyu, but hesitated, and knew what he was worried about. He then continued: "Old Prince, be relieved. The younger generation can hand over some of the soldiers and horses to the old prince's trusted generals. Most of the Chahar soldiers were obeying the orders of the old prince. Why worry about not having any soldiers in his hands? Ruijian Camp would rather give up. Otherwise, if we suddenly turn against each other in the future, we will be passive. Moreover, Ruijian Camp stayed to block the long hair, and we could also make a request to the foreigners to exchange for a batch of foreign guns and cannons, so that our remaining elite soldiers would be like tigers."

After Lin Lin said many benefits, Mian Yu reluctantly agreed, but he only agreed to leave more than 15,000 people to help the foreigners intercept the Taiping Army. The Ruijian Camp selected 5,000 strong men and still stayed under his command to retreat to Tianjin. After receiving Mian Yu's approval, Ronglu brought his guards to Tongzhou to meet the commander of the coalition army.

Grant and Montauban were worried about how to retreat safely. Ronglu came to ask for a meeting. The two looked at each other and thought at the same time: "Yes, we still have tens of thousands of friendly troops stationed in the north of Tongzhou."

So the two hurriedly asked Ronglu to come in. After Ronglu entered the house, he did not talk nonsense and asked straight to the point of asking about the battle situation. Grant and Montauban did not hide anything, and expressed their hope that Ronglu could send troops and General Ranman to the rear to block the Taiping Army.

Ronglu likes the straightforwardness of foreigners very much, and does not have so many twists and turns. He also expressed his hope that the coalition forces can provide a group of arms to arm their army. After the two sides bargained, they quickly reached an agreement. The coalition forces provided 10,000 muskets and twenty artillery pieces, as well as the seized 80 Qing cannons and several gunpowders to Ronglu. Ronglu agreed to send more than 15,000 people to Tongzhou to join General Ran Man to intercept the Taiping Army. (To be continued, please search for astronomy, the novel is better and faster!
Chapter completed!