Wusongkou is located in the west bank of the confluence of the Huangpu River and the Yangtze River, the geographical position is excellent, the east controls the Huangpu River, the north chokes the Yangtze River, it is not only the gateway of Shanghai, but also the first military barrier of the Yangtze River estuary, it has always been highly valued, the forts are built on both sides of the river, the Wusong Fort is located on the west bank, called the West Fort, the east bank is the East Fort, the east and west banks are separated by about 300 meters, the forts on both sides of the bank face each other, they are horns of each other, they can flank and intercept the enemy on the river. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Chen Huacheng, Yi Zhicontent, Baoshan Zhixian Zhou Gongshou and his entourage first inspected the East Fort, and then went to the West Fort, walked all the way to Baoshan County along the fort, from Wusongkou to Baoshan County East Gate Six or Seven Miles Road, there are forts along the way, and rested in a fort halfway, Chen Huacheng glanced at Yi Zhicontent, who had been silent, and said with a smile: "Old man, this Wu Song is not Cao Ying, why is contentment not saying a word?" ”

Xu Shu entered Cao Ying-without saying a word, Yi Zhishu gently patted the cannon, which was obviously a newly cast artillery, and said with a smile: "Wu Song is not Cao Ying, and he is not Xu Shu below, I really don't know how to speak." ”

The tone of the words didn't seem to be very good, and the newly appointed Baoshan magistrate Zhou Gongshou glanced at the two of them with some concern, wanting to go away but reluctant, after all, Wusong Fort was directly related to the safety of Baoshan.

"These are all newly minted guns, right?" Yi Zhizu rubbed the cannon twice before saying: "The east and west forts, a total of no less than one hundred and fifty guns." As he spoke, he took out two cigars, handed one to Chang En, and said, "As a magistrate in Baoshan, you have to learn to smoke cigars." As he spoke, he raised his chin slightly.

Is this to drive him away? Zhou Gongshou hesitated, what could he not hear? However, he is a Shangguan, and he has to stuff it in his stomach if he has an opinion, "It's convenient for the next official." He arched his hand as he spoke, turning and slipping aside.

Chen Huacheng glanced at him with some suspicion and said, "What's not to see?" ”

"But in more than half a year, Chen Junmen will be able to renovate the Wusong Fort, and it should take a lot of effort, right?" Yi Zhisuff said with a smile: "It can be seen that these trenches and earthen walls and earthen forts where soldiers are hiding and hiding artillery are all newly built. After a pause, he sighed lightly and said, "It's a pity that Chen Junmen's efforts have been wasted. ”

After a slight groan, Chen Huacheng said in a muffled voice: "Contentment is planning to give up Wusong Fort? ”

"Don't give up, you have to let them play at a real level." Yi Zhizhi said: "Only in this way can the Yingyi fleet attack Jiangning with peace of mind." However, we will have to recapture this fort later. ”

"Where's the artillery?" Chen Huacheng said: "Yingyi will destroy artillery, and last time he destroyed all the artillery of this battery, so he couldn't cast so many artillery pieces in a short period of time." ”

"Chen Junmen doesn't need to worry." Yi Zhizhi said: "Artillery can be transported from Guangdong and Fujian. ”

"Contentment wants to make this the main battlefield?"

"This is the last pass, if Jiangning Zhenjiang can't stop it, this is the last chance."

"In that case, there is no need to repair the fortifications here."

"Repair, must repair." Easy to be content without thinking.

Chen Huacheng glanced at him puzzled, and said: "Since the fort is going to change hands, why do you have to dig and repair the fortifications, if Yingyi leaves troops to garrison the fort, isn't it asking for trouble?" ”

"Dig half a person deep first." Yi Zhizhi said: "Humen Fort and Macao have dug and repaired trenches, I am in Shanghai, Wusong Fort does not dig and repair trenches, how can it not make Yingyi suspicious?" ”

Chen Huacheng was shocked, "Yingyi has the ability to collect our intelligence?" ”

It is easy to be content to say about the affairs of the Heaven and Earth Society, and after a slight groan, he said: "Yingyi has always attached importance to intelligence gathering, and the crows are all over the coast. The filmmakers are their eyes and ears. ”

Guangzhou, Modaoyang, the sea where the British fleet and merchant fleet are anchored.

As the sun set, Yilu stood on the deck and looked at the end of the sea and sky, watching the sunset slowly fall into the sea, before he turned around and ordered, "Bring a fishing rod." During this time, his days were very leisurely, and at dusk, whenever the weather permitted, he would fish in the bow of the boat.

After signing the "Treaty of Macao" with Qi Shan, he can be said to have successfully completed the mission of leading the fleet to the Far East, including the task assigned by Foreign Minister Palmerston.

The adjutant had already become acquainted with this new habit of his, and after giving the fishing rod, he immediately ordered the soldiers to bring a small square table and a canvas deck chair, and of course, wine, his favorite golden rum, and all the officers and men on board knew that dusk was the most unsuitable time for fishing, because at this time, it was the most lively time of the day, and countless small boats would come to the sea where their fleet was anchored at this time to trade, and bring them fresh food and fruit while also taking away crows. Slice.

Hanging the bait, skillfully throwing the fishing line into the sea, Yilu poured a glass of wine, lying on the recliner leisurely, sipping wine, enjoying a busy scene in front of him. The film trade is already in a semi-open state, and he really has no reason to break the current harmonious situation.

A brisk footstep came from behind, and before he could turn around, he listened to Yilu and smiled: "Your Excellency is really leisurely? ”

Yilu sat up, stretched out his hand and motioned for him to pour himself wine, and then said, "Good news?" ”

"News from Tianjin." Yilu said and handed over a few letters, and said: "The missionaries in the capital of the Qing Kingdom and nearby said that the Qing Kingdom is transferring troops from the area of the Great Wall to defend Tianjin, and they have also seen that a lot of artillery is being shipped to Tianjin. ”

"Poor Emperor Qing His Majesty must have been frightened by the news of our troop increase." Yilu shook his wine glass with a smile, took a sip, and then said, "Is it possible for Pudingcha to attack Tianjin?" Or the capital of the Qing Kingdom? ”

"Knowing that Tianjin is heavily defended, why don't you attack Tianjin?" Yilu said without thinking: "I heard that the Tianjin Dagukou Fort not only added a large number of artillery, but also dug and repaired the same trench as Dinghai Macao, in short, I don't approve of attacking Tianjin, that canal is too small for warships to navigate, and it can't go straight to the capital of the Qing Kingdom, and I don't want to fight with the large-scale cavalry of the Qing State." ”

"If you don't hit Tianjin, where will you fight?"

"There aren't many targets to choose from." Yilu groaned: "Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Jinling, Tianjin. Except for Tianjin, the other four places were the provincial capitals of the Qing state, and any occupation of one place could force the Qing emperor to make concessions. ”

"No, you're wrong." Yilu smiled and ordered casually, "Please come over Mr. Huang." ”

Mr. Huang in Yilu's mouth is none other than Huang Dianyuan, he lives on Yilu's flagship, is chatting with Ma Ruhan, who is proficient in Chinese, heard that Yilu has an invitation, the two immediately rushed over, Yilu has been idle these days and often asks him about all aspects of the Qingguo, the two get along very well, and are also very familiar, seeing him coming, he stood up and said the topic of Fang Cai and Yilu, and said: "What does Mr. Huang think?" ”

Listening to the translation, Huang Dianyuan said with a smile: "Mr. Yilu does not understand the situation of our Qing Dynasty, and capturing the provincial capital city will not force the imperial court to make concessions, but will also make your country fall into an endless battle for the city, because the imperial court will continue to send troops to recover the city." This is the case in Guangzhou and Fuzhou.

If you want to force the Qing court to make concessions, Hangzhou, Jinling, Tianjin, these three places can be considered, Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province, is the starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and is also one of the richest places in the entire Qing Dynasty, however, although the Qiantang River in Hangzhou is open to the sea, it is not conducive to navigation.

Jinling is the capital of the former dynasty, is the first good place of the two rivers, prosperous and rich than Hangzhou, in the political, economic and military status is far more than Hangzhou, occupy Jinling, not only can cut off the shipping of the Yangtze River, but also cut off the shipping of the Grand Canal, the daily supply of the Qing Dynasty Jingshi is dependent on the Grand Canal, once the Grand Canal is cut off, it is equivalent to cutting off the supply of the Beijing Division.

Compared with Hangzhou, Jinling also has a big advantage, that is, the battleship can directly reach the city wall of Jinling City along the Yangtze River. As for Tianjin, there is no need to say more, it is the gateway of the Beijing Division, and if you occupy Tianjin, you can send troops to the Beijing Division, which will inevitably shock the whole country. ”

After listening to Ma Ruhan's fluent translation, Yilu shrugged his shoulders, "It seems that we are collecting information about Jinling so that Sir Pu Ding Cha can make a decision." ”

For the situation of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Yingli has done a detailed investigation, and Yilu is quite clear about this, and said with emotion: "The Yangtze River can be called a golden waterway, which is really admirable, and the Huangpu River is the same. Speaking of this, he thought of Yi Zhicontent, and immediately added: "Yi Zhizhi is now in charge of Jianghai Customs in Shanghai, and he cannot be negligent in Shanghai's intelligence." ”

Huang Dianyuan didn't know English, and when he heard Yi Zhi's name be mentioned, he was surprised, he didn't know how to talk about Yi Zhi's contentment, but it was inconvenient to ask more, he didn't want these British people to know his relationship with Yi Zhicontent.

Yilu looked at him and said, "Mr. Huang, we need information about Jinling, and your association may provide it?" ”

Listening to the translation, Huang Dianyuan said with a slight sigh: "Yes, from next month, we will continue to provide your Excellency with information about Jinling." ”

Yilu said happily: "Oh, that's great, thank you very much." ”

After waiting for Huang Dianyuan and the two to leave, Yi Lu said: "Jinling may not be easy to fight, don't forget, the governor of Jinling is your old opponent - Lin Zexu." ”

"I'm only responsible for gathering intelligence." Yilu poured himself a glass of wine as he spoke, took a shallow sip, and then said, "Where to attack, you have to wait for Sir Pu Ding Cha to decide." ”

Yilu smiled, he knew that his cousin was dissatisfied with the amount of compensation for the price of cigarettes, and he advocated continuing to expand the war, and he also knew that Pu Dingcha would not be willing to do nothing when he led reinforcements, and Bomai and other generals were also eager to use a big victory to wash away the shame of being defeated by Yuanqi Tuanlian, perhaps only he was unwilling to continue to expand the war.

Slowly took a sip of wine, he didn't have the heart to waste his tongue with Yilu, now he only hoped that Pu Dingcha could come early, so that he could leave for China as soon as possible.

On the morning of April 18, a large black spot appeared on the surface of the Modao Ocean, and the lookout post, which had had learned the painful experience of being attacked by the Qing Navy warship, decisively issued a warning signal, and after receiving the report, Yi Lu quickly rushed to the bow deck, he did not believe that the Qing Navy warship had the courage to come and attack their fleet with more than 30 warships, and his first reaction was that Pu Ding had arrived.

It is indeed the new Minister Plenipotentiary Henry. He was accompanied by Rear Admiral Baga of the British East India Navy and Rear Admiral Guo Fu, the commander of the British Army Corps in India.

On the bow deck of the third-class battleship "Kang Huali", in his early fifties, slightly bald, with a beautiful mustache, Pu Ding Cha Zhi looked proudly at the black spots on the sea in front of him, and finally arrived outside Guangzhou, he was in India for more than 30 years, and he was no stranger to the Qing Kingdom in the Far East, but it was the first time he came to the Qing Kingdom.

He really couldn't understand that the fleet led by Yilu would be defeated by the Qing sailors, and 4,000 soldiers were captured, which was simply a shame for the British Empire, this time, he led 40 large and small warships, 12 steamships, more than 40 transport merchant ships, and a total of 18,000 troops on land and sea, just to save the reputation of the empire in the Far East.

After the two fleets converged, Yilu immediately led a group of generals to board the "Kang Huali", Pu Ding Cha met everyone in the spacious official hall, and after greeting and introducing the ceremony, everyone sat down, and Pu Ding Cha said: "Can you introduce the current situation of the Far East Fleet?" ”

"The main battleships of the fleet have not been damaged, and now there are still three third-class battleships, and thirty other types of warships ......." Yi Lu said slowly: "The damage to the troops is not large, we have redeemed all the captured officers and soldiers, and the number of officers and soldiers killed in the battle is five hundred and twenty. Other than that....... ”

After a slight hesitation, he continued: "We have signed the Treaty of Macao with the Minister of the Qing Dynasty, that is, the plenipotentiary representative of the Qing State, and obtained compensation of 3 million yuan for the price of cigarettes, and opened Xiamen, Shanghai, and Ningbo as treaty ports, as well as a series of privileged ....... in the treaty ports. As he spoke, he presented a copy of the Treaty of Macau with both hands.

Pu Dingcha quickly flipped through it, put it down casually, and said: "Your Majesty the Honorable Queen and Foreign Minister Palmerston have new instructions, Zhoushan must be reoccupied, the treaty cannot be signed in Guangzhou, and it must be officially approved by the Qing Emperor, and the Qing representatives are also forbidden to sign the treaty in a arrogant tone."

The compensation for the price of cigarettes and military expenses shall not be less than 20 million silver dollars, and the role of Hong Kong must be specially studied, and there must be a territory in the Far East belonging to Great Britain. ”

Yilu glanced at him and said, "In other words, this "Macao Treaty" is completely nullified? ”

Pu Ding Cha said coldly: "Her Majesty the Queen, Foreign Minister Palmerston, and the parliamentarians of Great Britain need a new treaty that satisfies them. ”

"I sincerely hope that Your Excellency will be able to sign a better treaty with the Qing Emperor than this." Yilu said and stood up and bowed slightly, "Good luck to all gentlemen." With that, he turned around and walked out. (To be continued.) )