In the troops, an order is an order, and there are not so many whys, although many soldiers are unwilling, they still obediently untie the grenade hanging on their waists and hand it over, and then enter the designated position along the trench in an orderly manner.

Lin Mazi beckoned to the platoon commander Gu Changyou to the side, "It's normal to be nervous before the war, but the atmosphere is too depressing and dull, you have to think of ways to relieve their nervousness, you are also a veteran, don't you need me to teach, right?" ”

"Understood. Captain. Gu Changyou hurriedly said.

"Let the squad leaders comfort them, especially the recruits ......." Lin Mazi didn't finish speaking, and when he looked up, he saw the battalion commander Zhang Xiaohong coming over quickly, and hurriedly stepped forward, "Battalion commander——。 ”

Zhang Xiaohong said with concern: "I'll come over to take a look, how about it?" Morale is okay? ”

Lin Mazi hurriedly saluted and said loudly: "Report to the battalion commander, morale is like a rainbow!" ”

Nodding slightly, Zhang Xiaohong said: "This is a rare big battle, and it is also the first battle between us and the Four Nations Alliance, we must play majestic!" ”

"Rest assured, battalion commander!" Lin Mazi hurriedly said aloud: "The subordinates promise not to lose the face of our second battalion!" ”

Soon, Lin Mazi understood why the battalion commander said that it was a rare big battle, and when he saw the dense battleships on the river through the grass, he couldn't help but gasp, I am afraid that there will be a fierce battle today.

On the river, on the deck of the flagship "Proway", Ergin looked at the Humen Fort in front of him and was silent, and the result of the fleet shelling Humen led by the commander of the fleet in the East India and China Region, Xima and Geli, knew very well that although it was only tentative, no auxiliary ship was sunk without touching it, so he had to attach great importance to the Humen Fort, which was known as the "first fortress in the Far East".

However, even if he knew that the Humen Fort was a hard bone, he had to fight hard, and if he did not break through the Humen Fort, the huge fleet would not be able to trace the river, and without the support of the fleet, attacking Guangzhou would be a pure joke.

On the river, the huge fleet has been slowly divided into three parts according to the plan, the center of the river is the main battleship preparing to attack the Humen Fort, and the river banks on both sides are to cover the landing of troop carriers.

Jingyuan Fort, Mai Tingzhang slowly put down the telescope in his hand, and had some doubts in his heart Easy to be contented with judgment, the coalition forces are landing from the abandoned Shajiao Fort and Dajiao Fort respectively, not only with a large number of troops, but also a large number of artillery, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a tentative attack, this is completely trying to capture Humen in one go.

"Military Gate." General Jin Jingrong pointed to the mouth of the Humen waterway, "They are cleaning the mouth of the Jiaomen waterway." ”

"I'm afraid this battle is a bit mysterious." Deputy General Tang Shengzhi said softly: "There are too many warships on the other side, once they go up the Jiaomen waterway and attack by land and water, I am afraid that the new Yuanqi army on the west bank will not be able to hold it, and if the fort on the west bank is not protected...... The rungs can't be held either, where did the Nanyang Navy fleet go? ”

Mai Tingzhang slowly lit a cigar and said slowly: "There are hundreds of fireboats prepared on both sides of the waterway, so there is no need to worry. ”

Shajiao, from Shajiao landed the French and Spanish armies, the commander was the French Army Major General Montauban, because of the artillery suppression and support of the battleship, Montauban did not pay any attention to the landing, and the facts also proved that the Qing army had no intention of blocking their landing.

Although he was not blocked, Montauban remained vigilant enough to order the troops to fan forward after landing, knowing very well that it was impossible for the Qing army to remain undefended on both sides of the strait.

On the hillside position on the east side of Yaniang Shoe Island, the company commander Lin Mazi unconsciously wiped the sweat in his palms on his pants, looking at a team of more than a dozen horsemen searching for the advancing foreign soldiers, he knew that he couldn't hide it, and the other party he saw was getting closer and closer, and it was less than 100 meters, he couldn't hold his breath anymore, and shouted: "Fight!" ”

"Bang bang bang" In the rows of gunfire, more than a dozen patrol cavalry did not even have a chance to react, and were directly beaten and planted off their horses.

Hearing the sound of gunfire from the northwest, Montauban, who was standing on the abandoned fort, quickly raised his binoculars, and at this moment, sporadic gunfire was also heard in the direction of the Bighorn fort on the opposite bank.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Ergin, who was on the flagship "Proway," received a report that the Qing army had built large defensive positions on the east and west banks to assist in defending the Humen Fort, and that the fortifications were perfect and heavily defended, and the strength of the defensive positions on both sides was about 6,700 to 10,000.

For their roundabout outflanking and land and water flanking tactics, the Qing army has long been prepared and heavily guarded, will this battle be fought or not? He immediately hesitated, glanced at Bao Ling, and said in a deep voice: "Are you sure that there is a 50,000-yuan new army in Guangzhou?" ”

"At least fifty thousand, there can be no doubt about it." Bao Ling said in a firm tone that there were many merchants and smugglers in Guangzhou who maintained extremely close ties with Hong Kong, and it was not difficult for him to know the number of troops Yuan Qi had stationed in Guangzhou.

Seeing Ergin's attitude, he seemed to be a little shaken, and Rear Admiral He Bu said: "Your Excellency, the Humen Fort is not impenetrable, we have nearly three hundred warships ....... ”

"I understand." Ergin said: "The loss of thirty or fifty warships is enough to break through the Humen Fort, and then what?" The fleet dared to go up the river to attack Guangzhou? Do you know where the main fleet of the Qing Navy is? ”

Hearing this, He Bu quickly shut up, God knows where the main force of the Qing navy is, if the main force of their fleet dares to go to Guangzhou and be attacked by the Qing land and water to recapture the Humen Fort, then the entire fleet is in danger of being wiped out!

After hesitating, Bao Lingcai said tentatively: "You won't be able to withdraw the troops, right?" ”

"Order Montauban to build a position at Shajiao and assume a posture of a long-term offensive." Ergin said slowly.

Bao Ling didn't say anything, he knew that this might be the best choice, put on such a big battle, hastily withdraw the troops, I am afraid that the army is unstable, after all, they are the four-nation coalition army, and it is not possible to attack strongly, the Qing army has built a complete defensive position, and the strong attack must be heavy casualties, and it should be the most advantageous to build a position and put on a posture of long-term offensive.

After hesitating, He Bu spoke: "The place of Dajiao is too narrow to put more troops, but Shajiao can put more troops ........ ”

"Put more troops? How much? Yuan Qi had at least 50,000 troops in Guangzhou. Ergin glanced at him, "I don't want to fight a battle in Canton with no certainty and heavy casualties, it's not worth it!" ”

Hearing this, He Bu said with a puzzled face: "Then why don't you just withdraw to Hong Kong?" ”

"Two purposes." Ergin said: "First, take this opportunity to integrate the army, the Qing army is very strong, our army cannot fight on its own, it must be integrated." Second, it caused tension in Guangzhou and induced the Qing State to draw more troops from Shanghai to reinforce Guangzhou. ”

On the top of the mountain, seeing through the telescope that the coalition forces had withdrawn from the Big Horn Fort and began to build a position at Shajiao, Yi Zhizu showed a smile on the corner of his mouth, and as expected, he found that they were heavily defended, and even a tentative attack was saved.

Zhao Wenlie said puzzledly: "The enemy is adjusting the direction of the attack?" ”

"It's my own way of getting under the stairs." Yi Zhizhi said and looked at Yan Yangtian, "During this period of confrontation, the confrontation between the two armies will inevitably lead to a small-scale firefight, and we must avoid exposing new equipment, otherwise, I am afraid that they will not even dare to attack Tianjin!" ”

Yan Yangtian hurriedly said: "My subordinates understand. ”

On the way down the mountain, Zhao Wenlie took the time to ask: "Hong Kong's cable telegraph has been cut off, and the coalition forces cannot obtain outside intelligence, will it ruin the plan?" ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhixiang slowed down, "Hong Kong's cable telegram must be cut off, otherwise it will make the other party suspicious, and furthermore, the information that should be obtained, and then the time when the telegram was opened, they should also have obtained it, and in addition, they camped in Sha Kok, and they could also get what they wanted....... It should be said that it is the information we want them to obtain. ”

In one month, the Four-Nation Coalition Army and the Yuanqi New Army seemed to be conducting positional warfare confrontation exercises in the Humen area, and the two sides continued to increase their troops, but they could concentrate on building and expanding their respective positions and fortifications, and from time to time they also fired a few shots and fired a few cannons, tens of thousands of troops faced each other, and the casualties on both sides did not exceed three digits in a month, which was really wonderful.

In fact, Yuan Qi didn't have the heart to attack the coalition army, and the coalition army didn't have the heart to launch a large-scale attack, and both sides had no tacit understanding to kill time, waiting for the northern sea to thaw after the beginning of spring.

However, from the intelligence collected from various sources, it was learned that Yuan Qi was gathering more and more troops in Guangzhou, and Erjin and other coalition generals were overjoyed, for them, this was undoubtedly the best news, and they did everything possible to want Yuan Qi to draw troops from Shanghai to reinforce Guangzhou.

Guangzhou only has a railway to Changsha, tens of thousands of troops from Changsha to Jiangning by water, even if there are enough ships, at least more than a month, and their fleet from Guangzhou to Tianjin, half a month is enough, the more troops Guangzhou gathers, the more beneficial it is for them to attack Tianjin!

As soon as the Spring Festival passed, on the fourth day of the new year, Yi Zhizhi went out of Guangzhou to take the train to Changsha, which was a railway line that was opened last year, even when the Taiping Army occupied Hunan, the construction of this railway was not affected much, after all, Yuanqi and the Taiping Army secretly also had business dealings, and the Taiping Army did not refuse the passage of this railway.

Traveling to Liling County, Changsha Prefecture, Yi Zhizhi got out of the car, the accompanying guards with war horses, he rushed straight to Pingxiang, originally there was still a little confused, I heard that the destination was Pingxiang, he reacted, and said with a smile: "The big shopkeeper is not at ease, I want to come and see in person?" ”

Yi Zhixiang did not deny it, and said with his jaw: "This is not a trivial matter, come and see it in person, and I have a bottom in my heart." ”

From Liling to Nanchang, and then take a boat from Nanchang to go down the Ganjiang River through Poyang Lake into the Yangtze River under Jiangning, this is the best of both worlds that Yi Zhizhi thought of, from Liling to Nanchang, through Pingxiang, Yichun, Xinyu a total of 700 miles, prosperous and convenient to supply along the way, the army is in a hurry, and it can be reached in seven days.

Since this idea came up last year, he sent a telegram to the prefectures and counties along the way to organize the people to urgently widen this post road, requiring a width of 12 meters, because it was Yuan Qi who allocated the silver, and it was easy to meet the order of the king of the southeast, none of the local officials in the prefectures and counties along the way dared to slack off, they all shared their efforts, hoping to be appreciated.

Out of Liling City and stepping on the post road, Zhao Wenlie sighed with emotion, although it was still a dirt road, but it was very smooth, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "Just for a march, this seems to be a bit too wasteful, right?" ”

"What's wasted? This post road will be a highway from now on! Yi Zhizhi said: "Huifu should not only see the English railway, but also the English highway ......." ”

"Highway?" Zhao Wenlie paused and said, "What's the point of this highway?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled, "Of course, it is to promote commerce and trade, and it will be paved with asphalt ...... in the future." ”

"Shop for oil?" Zhao Wenlie was stunned and said, "How much silver does this cost?" It's not like that's how money is spent. ”

"You'll find out later." Yi Zhishu said with a clamp on the horse's belly, flicked a whip, and rushed out in an instant.

Hong Kong, Governor's Palace, Meeting Hall.

Ergin slowly glanced at everyone present, and said: "It's February now, and in another month, to be exact, in about twenty-five days, the waters near Tianjin will thaw, do you have any objections to attacking Tianjin and Beijing in the north?" ”

The French envoy Groan groaned: "But we don't know anything about the situation in Tianjin and Beijing now. ”

"The defenders of Tianjin are mainly the Beiyang Naval Division, with less than 20,000 troops." Ergin said: "The defenders of Beijing are the Eight Banners New Army, with 50,000 troops, but in fact only 30,000 are equipped with Mini guns....... As for Shanghai, there are still 20,000 yuan Qi Xinjun. ”

Grant asked unceremoniously, "Is this information accurate?" ”

"This information was provided by the Russian Orthodox Missionary Mission in Beijing." Bao Ling explained: "It was a telegram sent by the Russian envoy Putiyatin in Shanghai when the telegram was opened some time ago, and I think you should all know very well that taking advantage of Russia's defeat in the Crimean War and its inability to take care of Asia, the Qing not only forcibly occupied the Kamchatka Peninsula, but also sent troops to Central Asia and East Asia...... The Russians were the most happy to see the defeat of the Qing Dynasty. ”

Gro asked directly: "Your country agrees to the plan to attack Tianjin and Beijing?" ”

Ergin said: "Our country allows us to move freely. ”

After hesitating, Montauban said: "Attacking Tianjin and Beijing, we are still facing a new army of 60,000 equipped with mini guns. ”

"We can leave a fleet to contain Shanghai's forces." Erjin said: "Yuan Qi will definitely not go to support Tianjin regardless of the safety of Shanghai, as long as a fleet of thirty or forty warships is left, it will be completely able to contain Yuan Qi's 20,000 troops in Shanghai." In this way, what we need to deal with is the more than 40,000 new troops of the Qing court, of which more than 10,000 are navy. ”

There is no doubt that the situation of this naval detachment left as a containment is the most dangerous, and it may face the encirclement and suppression of the main fleet of the Qing Navy. ”

Erjin said briskly: "The commander of the detachment is General Hebu, and the battleships are selected by him. After a pause, he continued: "There is also good news, the Americans have prepared sufficient supplies for us in Kaohsiung Port, including the coal we urgently need. ”

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