Chapter 63: Battle Clouds Are Flooded (1)

Within one or two days, the shore defense front line arranged by Liu Yongfu's black flag army and Tang Jingsong who went south to resist France and aid Vietnam were defeated under the bombardment of French artillery fire. The news arrived in the capital through memorials and telegrams. The emperor was furious.

The development of this incident was completely beyond everyone's expectations. The cause of the incident was that after Nguyen Phucsheng succeeded as the king of Vietnam. The commander of the French naval army, Guba, took advantage of this opportunity to lead a ship south from the coastal defense to attack Hue, the capital city in central Vietnam. The next day, Buyi's army also launched an attack on the Black Flag Army of Wait's Mansion. Liu Yongfu's troops were flooded due to the river break and retreated to Danyang. So Guba's fleet blocked all the sea ports in Vietnam and broke through the Shun'an Fort. On the tenth day, he forced the Vietnam government to sign a twenty-seven city alliance, and Vietnam claimed to be France's protector. Froman, who was transferred to the Minister of the Tokyo Councilor stationed in Vietnam, posted a notice saying that the entire territory of Vietnam belonged to France and expelled the Black Flag Army from the country.

This was a great change, which made the Chinese government in an extremely unfavorable position in both diplomatic and military aspects. However, the French government still could not understand China's background, so on the one hand, it adopted a diplomatic appeasement method. French Foreign Minister Shamelaku told Weng Zengyuan to declare that it would not harm the entire land of Vietnam. "And willing to preserve China's decent politeness according to the old rules." It means that it can be recognized that China still has nominal sovereignty over Vietnam. In fact, Vietnam is still unwilling to abandon China. Just after signing the Hue Treaty with France, Nguyen Phucsheng also wrote a letter to Governor General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Ruilin, asking for permission to pay tribute from the Haidao.

On the other hand, France was determined to sweep the Black Flag Army and fought fiercely in Danfeng for three days and nights. Although Liu Yongfu barely held his position, he suffered heavy casualties. In a few days, he finally couldn't support it and retreated to Shanxi with Huang Zuoyan, the Grand Secretary of the General General of Vietnam, the Grand Secretary of the Dongge of Vietnam. Liu Yongfu's subordinates had only more than 3,000 troops, and his army was disintegrated and almost disintegrated. Thanks to Tang Jingsong's strong persuasion, the salary paid by China was also released from Yunnan at the right time to stabilize.

The war was at the last moment, and the overall situation was not broken. Weng Zengyuan negotiated in Paris, Yi and Wenxiang in Beijing, but the court had not yet decided on the war, so he made new military deployments, sending Wu Dacheng, the admiral who had a "accurate" foreign guns to help with Guangdong military affairs. At the same time, he planned to let the Beiyang Navy Dingyuan lead the iron-clad ship and the four ships of the lei-class, Guang-class, and other ships of the lei-class, and the five ships of the lei-class, and the Bo-class, and wait for Zhang Shusheng, who is the governor of Guangdong, to dispatch them. In addition, Wang Debang, who is deploying the defense of Humen, can deal with the French army.

However, Zhang Shusheng, who was voluntarily angry, suddenly became timid and sent a telegram back to Beijing, saying that Haikou, Hue, Vietnam was occupied by the French army for a long time, and there were no warships in Guangdong to transport troops. If he crossed the 100,000 mountains from Qinzhou to Vietnam, it would be difficult to travel, so he still planned to detour through Longzhou, Guangxi and leave Zhennan Pass.

At this time, Cen Yuying had already left the customs. The new army of the Eighth Battalion recruited by Wang Debang in Yongzhou, Hunan will arrive in Longzhou. The French team approached Beining in two directions, and the war was about to break out.

Cen Yuying set off from Kunming in early April, carrying a large sedan chair and slowly walked. After walking for half a month, he arrived at the gate. From then on, he went south and entered the Vietnam border, and the road was in trouble. He overcame all the way and arrived at Baosheng. He joined the Yunnan Governor to change his generals. Tang Jiong returned to the province, and Cen Yuying took over the defense.

The headquarter is located in a Guandi Temple, and the place is not big. Cen Yuying summoned his generals in the hall every day and met Vietnamese officials. After careful inquiry, he realized that the situation was not good, so he bowed to him at night, and Chen Ming had difficulty: "Shanxi has been lost, and the affairs of Yue are becoming more and more difficult. The legal person can go from Xinghua, Xuanguang to attack Yunnan in different ways, and Xinghua City is on the riverside, so the situation is particularly difficult to defend Shanxi. Xuanguang has no troops to guard, which is even more terrible, and it must be taken into consideration. From the gate to Xinghua, it has more than 1,600 miles of land, from Kaihua to Xuanguang, and more than 1,200 miles of land, and even if there are barbarians to Baosheng, there are also more than 400 miles of remote paths, with extremely rugged roads and sparsely populated along the way.

There are so many fierce beasts. The soldiers wrapped their belts and carried food, overcoming obstacles, and traveled hard. From the barbarian to Baosheng, although the waterway was accessible, there were only 20 to 30 small boats, which could carry 3400 soldiers. It would take more than ten days to travel back and forth. If you go from Baosheng Waterway to Xinghua, it would take more than 30 days to travel back and forth. If you can't go back and forth, you will be extremely anxious. After repeated planning, you can only advance in water and land. I sent the registered admiral Wu Yong'an to lead the three battalions to Kaihua. The former general Chen Anbang and other three battalions, who had left the pass, combined with six battalions, and rushed from Heyang to Xuanguang, and selected them to garrison. The other generals, Mazhu, Lei Yingshan and other battalions, advanced one after another from the gate, and I led my personal soldiers and squads to drive.

The light boat advanced first, and on December 11th, he arrived at Baosheng and Changxing and the merchants of Tang Jiong, with the same opinions. According to the report of the registered general Ding Huai, the general Zhang Yongqing and others, he had already blocked the blocking outside Xinghua City. The chief officer, Jingsong, led the troops from Shanxi to Xinghua, retreated from Shanxi, and retreated back to Beining on the fourth day of December. The southern general Liu Yongfu stationed in Xinghua, but the cannons were lost, and all the small guns were also lost. The Qing, Xiahe and other counties in the upper reaches of Xinghua, the people of the people were in chaos, and the literary reports were almost blocked. The ministers and others now asked the general Ding Huai and others to prepare for various parties and strictly guard them. They also sent the second camps of the magistrate Li yànzhi and other county to Qinghe, and Xiabo stationed in Anmin

, and distributed it to Hu Yongfu to make a correction, and ordered him to strictly enforce his troops and abide by the discipline. He also conducted a civil servant to eliminate harsh policies and gather the hearts of the people. When the general Ma Zhu and other battalions arrived, the minister Yuying went to Xinghua area to investigate and arrange the arrangements. Once he had a clue, he would come out from Xinghua to urge the admiral Wu Yong'an and others to advance. He also contacted and discussed with Guangxi governor Xu Yanxu, the governor, to work together and respect the great intention of the deputy saint's advice. He protected the victory, Xinghua along the way, the Yunnan Army and the Liu regiment worked together, and needed to obtain convincing members of the two armies to station and reconcile. He planned to transfer his younger brother Yuying, the second-rank rank, to use the second-rank rank to redeem the road of Cen Yubao, and coordinated the care of him."

This is a trick that Cen Yuying attached great importance to Liu Yongfu and planned to make, because Liu Yongfu and the Yunnan Army were not harmonious, which was a taboo in front of the formation. There were many other difficulties: "I heard that the legal persons were fully engaged in this operation and added bandit parties in Vietnam. There were already tens of thousands of people, with many ships and few cannons, and the momentum was quite rampant. The Yunnan Army had no ships and few cannons, so it was even more difficult to transport them. Guangdong and Fujian Navy had a military ferry to attack Vietnam's sea defense to divide the thieves' power; Guangxi and Yunnan increased their troops and increased their salaries, worked together to fight and fight in water and land, and each made its best to recover quickly. Guangdong and Fujian each had their own guards and did not know the military ferry. Can they be allocated? I dare not make a mistake. How should it be handled? It comes from the sage."

The dispatch of warships from Guangdong and Fujian to attack from water was also Xu Yanxu's hope, but in fact it could not be done. The court received Cen Yuying's report and did not mention this request at all. However, 'the army outside the border must be controlled and the power is in one way' is determined to be controlled by the border guards, including Xu Yanxu's troops, and the command is controlled by Cen Yuying.

Of course, Cen Yuying attaches great importance to the Black Flag Army, while Liu Yongfu attaches great importance to Tang Jingsong. Therefore, Cen Yuying invites Tang Jingsong to Baosheng, makes a full winter dress for him, gives him a supplementary salary, holds a daily banquet, and is regarded as the leader. This deliberate win over Tang Jingsong made Tang Jingsong cry and volunteered to persuade Cen Yuying to go to Liu Yongfu, and work together with the Yunnan Army.

Liu Yongfu was so angry that he would grit his teeth when he lifted it up, so Tang Jingsong had to use means to mock the temperament of a man with blood-threatening blood, and to blame him for righteousness, and even verbally aroused. Liu Yongfu, who was almost discouraged, finally became hot again, saying that everything would be tolerated for the time being, and everyone would settle the score after winning one or two battles.

After this diversion, Cen Yuying drove the boat east after a year and stationed at Jiayu Pass 30 miles away from Xinghua. Liu Yongfu was accompanied by Tang Jingsong. Cen Yuying was sinister and determined, very cunning, and knew people and things. He had another difficult-to-measure skill. He saw that Liu Yongfu was a grassroots hero and wanted to conquer him by the method of "Seven Captures of Meng Huo".

Therefore, when Liu Yongfu arrived, he would come first to take advantage of his power, and his personal soldiers were arranged in teams, and his swords and guns were everywhere. But Liu Yongfu didn't care much. Although he was a little timid, he was not afraid of seeing weapons, but he was just like a groom who came to the house and felt that he was too eye-catching.

Of course, Cen Yuying's scene was to highlight his nobleness towards Liu Yongfu. He was greeted with him with an extremely intimate relationship. He kept shouting Liu Yongfu's name: "Yuanting, Yuanting"

Liu Yongfu listened to Tang Jingsong's teachings in advance, called him "the great commander" and gave a great gift. Cen Yuying thanked him at the table and bowed to him.

"I could have arrived one day earlier. The day before yesterday, it suddenly became dark and the earth was dark, and the storm was stormy. It seemed that the ship would sink, so I had to go ashore." Cen Yuying said calmly: "When I arrived, the day before yesterday, it was like this again. It seemed to be supernatural. I asked someone to take a piece of yellow paper and write four big characters in the red script. After burning Xiangkong, Yuanting, what do you know?"

Liu Yongfu replied honestly: "I don't know."

"It's strange. Just now, the clouds are clear and the wind is calm. The boat was only opened, but it took a day's time. Yuanting," Cen Yuying seemed to say seriously: "If you go out next time, if you encounter this situation, you might as well do this and naturally turn the risk into a bargain."

This means that Liu Yongfu will be like him in the future, and when he becomes a first-rank official, he will be protected by the gods. Liu Yongfu naturally understands his compliments, but he is not happy, but sighs deeply.

"Yuanting, why do you sigh?"

"Master" Liu Yongfu replied: "I have no blessings as a Master, I am born with miserable life."

"So too, my parents died since I was a child, and it was my aunt who raised me..." Next, Cen Yuying talked about his life experience again, but he couldn't do anything. How did he die of illness at the age of seven, how did he go to the Senluo Palace, how did he refuse to drink 'Mengpo Soup' when he mentioned Cen Yuying's name, the King of Hell was shocked and scolded the little ghost to mention noble people, and how could he ask the judge to send him back to his sun?

Liu Yongfu listened quietly. Except for the dark complexion of the two people, their faces, had very different expressions, one was very active and the other was quite lonely. Cen Yuying looked at it, took care of the gossip, and talked about the main topic.

"Yuanting, how many people do you have now?"

“More than three thousand two hundred.”

"I can't build many camps." Cen Yuying looked at Tang Jingsong and asked, "What do you think?"

Liu Yongfu called him "Liu Tuan" in the imperial edict, and the border minister called him "Nan General" in his memorial, and now he was officially reorganized into an official army. This is something that Tang Jingsong had already talked with Liu Yongfu.

So Tang Jingsong accompanied Liu Yongfu to the camp at night to help Beining. The next day he arrived at the Tunhe place 30 miles north of Shanxi. Here, Lujiang, Taojiang, Tuojiang, which is commonly known as the Lushui River, Hongshui River and Heishui River, the intersection of the three rivers, so it is also known as the Sanjiangkou, which has always been a key traffic jam for merchants. Now, because the French army has occupied Shanxi, the market is extremely depressed and cannot be replenished. Liu Yongfu immediately ordered to cross the Tuojiang River immediately and go east. The French army that was close to him did not notice it.

When they arrived in Beining, Liu Yongfu refused to enter the city. The 12th Battalion was stationed in Anfeng County, seven miles away from Beining. Tang Jingsong and more than a dozen personal soldiers went to meet Huang Guilan and Zhao Wo.

Huang Guilan and Zhao Wo both called commanders in front of the army, and the two armies were divided, one on the right and the other on the left. Huang Guilan was the admiral, much older than Zhao Wo, a Taoist rank, but the civil servant was relatively valuable, and Zhao Wo was Xu Yanxu's confidant, so Beining Defense was the master of Zhao Wo, an amateur. Zhao Wo also trusted a deputy general Dang Minxuan, who was a famous 'oil rag' in the green camp, and was dirty and slippery. Tang Jingsong was wary of him. When he saw Zhao Wo, he was present, and ignored him lightly.

"I'm in a bad state and have many illnesses and pains. I'm so desperate that I really don't know why?" Zhao Wo said hesitantly while coughing.

Seeing his haggard look and listening to his weak words, Tang Jingsong's heart was half cold at first, but he had to encourage him: "The enemy is facing the enemy, and he must rely on Qingweng's prestige..."

"What is the Weipiao Astronomy Network that cuts Tang Jingsong's words, "The soldiers of the camp are arrogant and unlawful, and the Gui army's salary is less than that of the Yunnan army, so it is really hard to take. Brother, I really want to make a virtuous person."

He heard that Tang Jingsong was deliberately taking over it. He was not speculative, and it seemed that he could not tell any good things. Tang Jingsong was perfunctory for a while, then stood up and said goodbye.

Huang Guilan is not as unbearable as she imagined. He is Li Hongzhang's small fellow townsman, and his strong Hefei dialect sounds very harsh, but this person is knowledgeable and literate, so the words are not difficult to understand. With his long body and beard and his appearance are not bad, Tang Jingsong's impression of him is much better than Zhao Wo.

His name was Huiting, so Tang Jingsong called him "Hui Shuai" and gave a brief greeting and asked for advice on the strategy of fighting and defense.

"Weiwen Mingda, there must be news. Zhao Qingchi has villains around him, and it is difficult to spread the situation." Huang Guilan first accused Dang Minxuan, and then talked about his approach: "I can only do it within my ability to lead the Right Army. The arrangement is roughly fine. Beining City can be defended. When Wang Fangbo's army comes out of the pass, we will discuss progress." Wang Fangbo refers to Wang Debang. His former official position was the Fujian vassal officer, so he called him Fangbo.

"Ship Hui, the French team is getting closer and closer, and the Chu army is afraid that it will not arrive for a while." Tang Jingsong replied: "Forgive me, I think the Beining war and defense should not be relied on. Prepare for more strength and set up camp too scattered, and the response will not work, so we cannot fight."

"My original owner sticks to it."

"It is also very difficult to defend. Although Beining City is strong, the French cannons are different now. If you bomb, you can enter the city, where will the defenders hide?"

When Huang Guilan heard this, she was stunned and raised her beard and asked, "Why do you want to ask for advice? Is the plan coming out?"

"It is best to dig a camp in a key area several miles away from the city, and use guarding the fields as the guarding city."

"What is a camp?"

The "district camp" is the regulation of the Yunnan Army. The ground is dug into a pit, about six feet deep, depending on the terrain. Wooden pillars are installed around the pit, about one foot higher than the ground, and the gaps between the pillars are used as gun holes. The pillars are covered with wood and soil. This is not only low and not allowed to be fired, but also looking from a distance is difficult to detect and can be hidden from the enemy.

"I thought it well." Huang Guilan asked, "Where is the way out?"

"The way out is behind the pit, open a slope and enter the pit. Add a wooden fence at the entrance of the pit and put down the wooden fence. As long as one person is guarding there, no one can get out of the pit, which can avoid the disadvantage of disintegration. "Tang Jingsong said vigorously: "If there are many people, you can open more camps, open grooves underground, and connect each camp, and the ammunition and food are connected. You may also store them in the ground camp. Outside the ground camp, you can also open a trough, which is as high as the people, about five feet wide and only one zhang long. There should be a turning point for each zhang. Why? If it is too wide, the shells will be easily hit, but they will hit, and it is only the damage of this zhang. This is the benefit of turning one zhang."

"Since there are hidden grooves, why use open grooves?"

"The open trough is to facilitate reconnaissance of the enemy situation. It is all in the dark pit. The enemy situation is unclear, which is not a good idea. "Tang Jingsong also said: "Outside the local camp, it is best to use rafts and branches, wrap them with vines, and arrange three layers in a dense manner. This is what was called deer antlers in ancient times. If you bury mines around the local camp, you will be prepared for it. However, you must be twenty feet away from the base camp so that you will not blow yourself up."

The scholar talked about war and was very polite, but Huang Guilan couldn't listen. She thought this approach was too bizarre and too troublesome, so she shook her head. "I am determined to hold the city and defend it." He stubbornly and confidently, "I have four battalions, and the French army can't do anything to me."

Another thing is not a speculative thing. Tang Jingsong made up an idea at this time, first checked around, decided on the defense strategy, and directly suggested to Xu Yanxu, asking him to order the commander Zhao and Huang to follow suit.

Two days later, Tang Jingsong set out from Beining and headed northeast to Liangshan outside Zhennan Pass to meet Guangxi Governor Xu Yanxu.

Xu Yanxu was from Shandong, with his courtesy name Xiaoshan. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Xianfeng. He was a county magistrate in Guangxi and started his career. He and Lu Chuanlin were in-laws of children, while Lu Chuanlin was Zhang Zhidong's brother-in-law. Just like Tang Jiong was Zhang Zhidong's brother-in-law, he was recommended by Qingliu with this origin. Although Xu Yanxu was known as a capable person, it was also an early event. Now that he is old and sick, he is regarded as a general Ma Yuan for Qingliu. He hopes that he will have another bronze watch on Zhennan Pass, which is really hard to say.

"Bei Ning can't be saved anymore," Xu Yanxu sighed sadly, "Oh Zhao Qingchi, Huang Huiting misled me too deeply."

Without a word, I broke into someone. I looked like a little military officer, but said loudly as if no one was around: "How about it, I said Chen Degui is not good, right? Fu Liang has lost his mind."

Tang Jingsong had heard for a long time that Xu Yanxu had a confidant who got a general from the military merit protection case. He usually took the order of his master to send messages to various camps. Everyone called him 'Old Han'. This man was rampant and rude and liked to criticize the generals at will. Xu Yanxu thought he was quite trustworthy. Now looking at his appearance, he thought he was Lao Han.

Sure enough, Xu Yanxu asked in a hurry: "Old Han, tell me slowly, what's going on?" @ws
Chapter completed!