The landing operation of the coalition army ended with the complete defeat of the army. In several fierce battles after the landing, plus the previous attacks on the artillery, the coalition army had more than 30,000 casualties and more than 30,000 were captured, including a large number of senior British and French generals such as Baron Sidon. The only one who missed the net was a group of senior naval generals.￥f,. The Taiping Army suffered more than 39,000 casualties, especially the troops guarding the artillery, which were almost entirely organized casualties. After Shajiao, Dajiao, Jingyuan, Weiyuan and other troops exchanged prisoners after the war, they exchanged more than 100 injured and captured defenders from the coalition, and twenty-six people survived the Humen Fort.

The total casualties of this battle exceeded the total of the Taiping Army's remnants of the Qing army in the country last year, and it was truly a huge casualties. But as Xiao Yungui said before the war, through this battle, at least more than ten years of peace can be guaranteed, and the great powers such as Britain and France can completely recognize the power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Later generations of Taizu were right. Britain, France and other powerful peoples have always been paper tigers. When you are weak and can be bullied, they are tigers, but when you become strong, they are just a group of paper tigers.

The coalition army failed. Seeing that the navy was hopeless in rescue, Admiral Dundas led the fleet out of the Pearl River Estuary that day. The navy was also very afraid of the local elusive local village troops. They would take small boats to place mines at night. During the days when the coalition navy entered the Pearl River Estuary, suspicious boats would come and go near the Pearl River Estuary at night. Then the next day, the coalition navy would find more than ten more mines on the channel, and the coalition navy had to send ships to clean the channel again. Clearing mines is a very dangerous job. During these days, because of the clearing of mines, the coalition navy suffered more than a hundred sailors and some small boats, which made the coalition navy very disgusted. Therefore, when the army suffered a complete defeat, Dundas immediately withdrew from the Pearl River Estuary without any nostalgia and returned to Hong Kong's main island.

After the coalition navy returned to Hong Kong Island, Sir Corrington, the new minister who was pleaded with the navy, could hardly believe the news of the defeat brought back by the navy. The more than 60,000 army soldiers were all composed of elite British and French troops. They were eaten in less than half a month. They asked how many 60,000 troops Britain and France could have for food?

At the meeting held that day, Sir Erjin said sadly: "Gentlemen, we should consider the post-war issues. People in the country should realize that we are no longer facing the Qing government of the past. We are fighting a country with a population of 400 million. Even if they only mobilize one percent of the troops, there are four million troops available. And please note that these four million troops are not the indigenous soldiers of the Qing Dynasty holding swords, guns, bows and arrows, but troops equipped with similar weapons as the weapons we use!"

Sir Corlington felt very unhappy, but he had to admit that what Sir Erkin said was the fact. Moreover, with the number of people who were captured in the last expeditionary army, there may be at least about 30,000 British and French prisoners of war in the hands of the Taiping Army (Sir Corlington is not clear about the specific defeat of the coalition army, but speculates that a total of 30,000 people were captured.), including more than a dozen marshals and generals. It can be said that this devastating defeat in the Far East War threw his face into the Pacific Ocean.

But Sir Corrington said unconvincedly: "We can also mobilize nationwide, and France can do it. We only need to mobilize two million troops to the Far East..." Speaking of this, Sir Corrington also felt that what he said was too whimsical. The British mainland, including the colonial mobilized troops, may mobilize one million troops, and the same is true for France. But to launch an expedition of such a scale, how many materials are needed? How many ships are needed? How much military expenditure is needed? These astronomical logistical preparations will not be approved by Congress in any way. If the Bamazun cabinet dares to propose such a stupid war motion, then even the queen will not be able to save him this time.

French Admiral Hamlin looked at Sir Corlington with contempt and said, "Sorry, Lord Sir, I hope you can be more aware that we France will not mobilize the whole country for the interests of the so-called Far East. Our interests are in Europe, and we are still Prussians around us, and the Russians may also hope to be able to be the shame of Crimea's defeat. We will never mobilize the whole country and then come to China to fight a four million army. No. It is absolutely impossible. This does not require our parliament to decide. I can tell you now."

The French people's thoughts are very clear. In fact, to put it bluntly, France's interests in the Far East are not as good as those of Britain, and have even been surpassed by the United States. Now the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the United States are fighting fiercely. The trade volume between the two sides has far exceeded that of France. The reason why they can form a second expedition is that in addition to Napoleon II's attempt to divert domestic conflicts, some French people fantasize that the second expedition can make the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom surrender, and taking risks may make up for the losses of the failure of the last expedition. But this time it was a complete war in the army.

If you lose, I believe that after the news is transmitted back to the country, there is no need to say that you will organize an expedition again. The French army may have to return to China to prepare to suppress the upcoming revolution in China. You must know that the French bourgeoisie is waiting for this day, but Napoleon II was lucky before and had never failed in foreign wars. His rule over France in later history continued until the failure of the war against Prussia. This time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom played the role of Prussia, which may have led to the French bourgeois revolution in advance.

Sir Erkin also said: "His Excellency Sir Corlington, I have no intention of offending, but I believe that neither house of Congress will agree to the national mobilization to fight the Far East. The Far East is too far from us. Once our army is trapped in the Far East, the interests of colonies and Europe in other places will not be guaranteed."

Sir Corlington knew that he had committed a crime. After coughing, he looked at Dundas and asked, "Admiral, is it possible for us to surrender the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom through the naval blockade or other means?"

Admiral Dundas shook his head and said, "This is difficult. The coastline of the enemy's territory is long. We need to divide many fleets and ships to block every enemy's port and channel. Moreover, this blockade is very slow. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not an island country like Japan. It is a land power. In the Qing Dynasty, they did not even need to trade with the outside world to be self-sufficient. Moreover, they still have tens of thousands of our soldiers and important figures in their hands. Do they want to make those soldiers and generals unable to return home?"

Sir Erkin added: "And other countries will protest very strongly, and our own trade will be greatly damaged. Will we return to the Qing Dynasty after two wars, and China's huge market will continue to be closed down?"

Sir Corlington waved his hand powerlessly and said, "What should we do?" Sir Erkin said meaningfully: "Actually, everyone should have known it when they heard the news of the defeat. We can only end the war as soon as possible through negotiations. Of course, the country needs to know what happened in the Far East. I can only hope that Your Excellency Bamazun's cabinet can still hold on this time..."

Sir Erkin's idea was of course wishful thinking. A month later, the news of the defeat of the Far East was spread to Egypt. The British colonial authorities in Egypt immediately sent the news back to the country through telegrams. This time, large-scale anti-war marches broke out in Britain and France. The people of the two countries asked the authorities of the two countries to end the war as soon as possible. The soldiers' families demanded that the whereabouts of their relatives be known immediately, but unfortunately, no one in the army broke out. The government did not know who died in battle and who was captured.

On the day the news came back to London, Bamaitzun held an emergency meeting, but at this meeting, the cabinet members rarely blamed each other. War is a continuation of politics, and on the other hand, the failure of the war also means political failure. At first, some of the cabinet members accused Prime Minister Bamaitzun of his China policy as a mistake from the beginning, and then several Bamaitzun's hardcore supporters and they quarreled with the accusers. The cabinet itself had already quarreled in the internal meetings, and it was conceivable what the two houses of Parliament would be like.

The second expedition was already a huge adventure, and the cabinet members all knew this. Expedition China was different from the British war against the Boers in South Africa. Although the British army suffered a major blow in the Boers in the Boers in the Boers in the Boers in the Boers in the beginning, Britain still gritted its teeth and finally won the victory. Because the Boers occupied gold mines and diamonds, and the number and area of ​​the Boers were quite limited, and South Africa was not as far away from the British mainland, although the British army failed at the beginning of the Boers in the Boers, they turned the situation around through the subsequent war.

The war in the Far East was somewhat similar to the American Revolutionary War in person. One was the United States across the Atlantic Ocean, and the other was that the United States had a relatively large land and population at that time. In addition, with the French secretly supporting it, Britain was finally defeated and the United States was independent.

War is always a continuation of politics, and politics comes from class interests. Britain's interests in the Far East are not about occupying those lands. All they need is a stable trade channel. When the cost of war is far higher than the interests, giving up war is a good choice.

After hearing the news, the Queen of England locked himself in her bedroom and didn't come out for a whole day. Napoleon II was even more straightforward. He was so angry that he almost jumped off the balcony of the second floor of the palace. The cabinets of the two countries and the parliament also quarreled. The Bamaitzun cabinet did not survive. On the third day when the news came back to London, all the members of the cabinet resigned. France was in trouble. The emerging bourgeois aristocrats began to connect with each other and planned how to carry out a major change.

No matter how quarrels, how much scolding, how much anger, after calming down, everyone from Britain and France, from the emperor, queen, to the peddlers and pawns, was thinking about how to deal with the aftermath. Should they really admit defeat to the yellow people in the Far East? (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!