Su Shun said so much, but what moved Xianfeng was only the last sentence, indeed, if this battle is defeated, Yuan Qi will inevitably be greatly injured, and he can join forces with Western countries to uproot Yuan Qi in one fell swoop!

That being the case, what else is there to worry about? Regardless of whether this battle is won or lost, it is not a bad thing for the imperial court, and even he faintly has some Bawang Yuanqi defeated, however, Su Shun is right, the key to the success or failure of this battle is not in the land battle, but in the naval battle, otherwise, he will really think about it, after all, for the Qing Dynasty, the threat of Yuanqi is far greater than that of Western countries.

Now we can only wait for the outbreak of the naval war, as long as the naval battle is victorious, even if Tianjin is lost, the problem is not big, as for whether to go to Rehe for summer vacation, or depending on the situation, Yi Zhixin is not a reckless person, dare to make a desperate bet, must have great certainty.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh secretly, since the creation of the Yuanqi New Army, it has fought in the east and west, fought countless battles of all sizes, and has not tasted defeat, and the Beiyang Naval Division has also split from the Nanyang Navy, and it is completely imitating the training methods of the Nanyang Navy, and the firearms equipped are not much different, why is the gap between the two still so big? The Dagukou Fort was lost in an hour!

Seeing that Xianfeng was silent for a long time, Su Shun took off his official hat and kowtowed lightly: "Your Majesty, the slave secretly thinks that when you test it, does Tianjin need reinforcements?" ”

Xianfeng glanced at him and said, "Don't you worry about the Xiyi coalition army destroying the railway, bypassing Tianjin, and attacking the Jingshi directly?" ”

"Your Majesty, how dare the minions put the Jingshi in danger?" Su Shun hurriedly said: "The Xiyi coalition army and the Yuanqi new army both rely on logistics and supplies, and Tianjin has gathered heavy troops, so Xiyi categorically does not dare to bypass Tianjin to attack the Beijing division." After a pause, he continued: "If this battle can be a great victory, it must be a rare victory, not only can it be a great victory, but it can also greatly improve the relationship with Yuan Qi. ”

If this battle is a great victory, Yuanqi's position will be further consolidated, the power will be further expanded, and the imperial court will have to consider easing the relationship with Yuanqi.

Thinking about it, Xianfeng said slowly: "Since Tianjin is in danger, why bother to test it, just send 10,000 new troops to reinforce it." ”

"The Emperor Shengming!" Su Shun hurriedly kowtowed, and was very happy in his heart, it seemed that Xianfeng had indeed made up his mind and tried his best to ease the relationship with Yuan Qi.

"Intended." Xianfeng said slowly: "Tianjin is the gateway of the Beijing Division, and there is no room for mistakes, and the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 84th Brigades of the New Army will immediately reinforce Tianjin, which belongs to the command of the general of Pingkou, Seng Greenqin." ”

Tianjin, Haiphong Office, Headquarters.

Cao Gensheng walked into the room and said loudly: "The emperor has sent a telegram to the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 84th Brigades of the New Army to immediately reinforce Tianjin ....... ”

Xianfeng actually took the initiative to reinforce the four brigades in Tianjin? Yi Zhi couldn't help but be satisfied, how many troops are left in the Beijing Division? Is this taking the initiative to show favor to Yuanqi? Or are you worried about the fall of Tianjin? Yuan Qi defeated?

The expression on Seng Greenqin's face was a little uncomfortable, and when he saw Yi Zhixin, he coughed lightly and explained: "The 5th and 6th brigades have little experience in warfare, but they are fully equipped, while the 7th and 8th brigades are ...... recruits. ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhixiang immediately reacted, "The Seventh and Eighth Brigades are not equipped with Mini guns? ”

"The Mini guns of the Eight Banners New Army have been very tight." Monk Greenqin said with a smile: "Although the 78 Brigade is a new recruit, it has also been in the army for two years, and the shooting training and live-fire training all follow the standards of the new army, and the equipment firearms can be reused. ”

Where is this reinforcement, this is for him to equip the Eight Banners recruits with weapons and train recruits in actual combat, Yi Zhishu secretly laughed in his heart, however, he didn't take it seriously, the Yuanqi New Army is now changing a large number of outfits, there is no shortage of mini guns, what is rare is the attitude that Xianfeng showed through the reinforcement of Tianjin, at least there is no need to worry about the imperial court colluding with Britain and France to stab him in the back.

Military Food City.

When it was dark, the French army and the western army of the brigade drove into the already empty military food city one after another, and as soon as the French army major general Montauban entered the temporary headquarters, he asked: "How far is it from Tianjin?" ”

Adjutant Davis hurriedly said: "General, there are still fifty miles from Tianjin, and it can be reached in five hours by marching at night." ”

For five hours, Montauban slowly shook his head, the defenders of Beitang Fort were defeated, and they were pursued like ducks all the way, and they had already been defeated, even if they marched rapidly at night, they could not pose any threat to them, but his troops pursued all the way for half a day, and they were also exhausted, even if they chased to Tianjin overnight, it was impossible to have the strength to attack the city.

The Qing army will give up a small city like the military grain city, Tianjin, as a transportation hub and the gateway to the Beijing division, will never give up easily, besides, the pursuit is too urgent, the artillery can't keep up, no artillery attack on Tianjin, it means big casualties!

According to previous intelligence, the Qing army had 200,000 troops in the north, of which the Eight Banners New Army and the Beiyang Naval Division, which were not weak in combat, had 50,000 or 60,000 troops, and now it is not clear how many troops there are in Tianjin.

After a slight groan, Montauban said: "Order, stationed on the spot, early tomorrow morning, march to Tianjin." ”

Tianjin, the old Longtou Railway Station, the outer position.

As soon as the day dawned, Wu Yundong, who was sleeping in his clothes, rolled over and got out of bed and walked out of the room, wiped his face indiscriminately and rushed to the forward position to inspect, he knew very well that the railway station was the key target of the enemy's attack, and it would also be the focus of contention between the two sides, and the battle might start in the morning.

Wu Yundong has hardly experienced decent actual combat in these years, and seriously lacks actual combat experience, but Yi Zhizhi entrusted him with such an important task of garrisoning Lao Longtou, one is that his 201 Brigade built a position on the periphery of Lao Longtou after arriving in Tianjin, and the other is that his troops are the most well-equipped, not only equipped with artillery regiments, but also rifles are all breech-loading guns.

As soon as he arrived at the forward position, the regiment commander Zhu Sheng hurriedly greeted him and saluted: "Military gate——。 ”

Glancing at the criss-crossing trenches, Wu Yundong said, "How is the position construction?" ”

Zhu Sheng said loudly: "Back to the military gate, the position has been constructed. ”

After entering the trench and inspecting it, Wu Yundong said with satisfaction: "The battle may not start until near noon, seize the time to rest." ”

Subsequently, Wu Yundong turned back from the forward position and went to the artillery position to inspect, and this time he brought a lot of artillery, and assigned an artillery regiment to their brigade, under the jurisdiction of four artillery battalions, one artillery battalion with 18 guns, one color of rear-loading rifled artillery, and overall copper-shelled shells.

After wandering around several artillery positions, Wu Yundong returned to the headquarters in a relaxed mood, with the configuration of their 201 brigade, even if they were besieged by 20,000 coalition troops, he was not worried at all.

As soon as he walked into the courtyard of the headquarters, he found that the officers and soldiers in the courtyard were all looking at the sky with their heads held high. He wondered for a while, looked up, and saw a huge balloon rising from the city, he couldn't help but smile, this is a hot air balloon, obviously, the big shopkeeper is planning to use a hot air balloon to observe the entire battlefield.

Hot air balloons are definitely a rarity in the Qing Dynasty, and almost the entire city of Tianjin and outside the city were attracted by this huge balloon, and the news spread, and everyone came out to watch this Western scene. In the Haiphong Office, Monk Lingqin also stared at the hot air balloon rising into the sky with a shocked face, and when he saw that there were soldiers in the hanging frame, he reacted, "Use this to observe the enemy's situation?" ”

"Yes, you can use the flag language to deliver news in time and keep abreast of the enemy's movements." Yi Zhicontent said slowly, in fact, this thing is not very useful in his opinion, and it is more of a gimmick.

Yan Yangtian, who had just left the train station, also saw this hot air balloon, but he didn't stop long, and hurried to the Haiphong Office, and when he entered the headquarters, he was content, and he stepped forward to salute excitedly, "Subordinate Yan Yangtian came to report!" ”

Seeing that he arrived in time, Yi Zhizhi smiled with a smile on his face, "I came in time, how many troops did you bring." ”

"Two regiments." Yan Yangtian said loudly: "There are still six regiments that should be able to arrive before dark today." ”

Yi Zhizhi said, "Let's go to the camp to rest ..... first." ”

"Subordinates waiting to make trains is rest." Yan Yangtian hurriedly said, but he heard that the Dagukou Fort and the Beitang Fort had been lost yesterday afternoon, and he estimated that at noon or afternoon, the Four-Nation Alliance would be able to arrive in Tianjin, where would he be willing to rest.

Yi Zhizhi smiled and said, "Go and arrange the troops and then rush over." ”

Yan Yangtian left, and Monk Lingqin said in surprise: "Yan Yangtian came from Guangzhou? ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizhi said with a heartfelt head: "Worried about the lack of troops, I deliberately transferred four brigades from Guangzhou to cross Nanchang and Jiujiang from Changsha to Jiangning as a train." ”

"It's so easy to transport by rail!" Monk Lingqin said with emotion, if it was placed in the past, this would not be unimaginable, 20,000 troops from Guangzhou to Tianjin, less than two months, absolutely impossible to arrive.

As for the reason why Yi Zhixiang did not hesitate to spend such a large price to transfer troops from Guangzhou, he also knew that he was worried that the Eight Banners New Army would not cooperate, and he secretly rejoiced in his heart, fortunately, the Eight Banners New Army adopted a positive and cooperative attitude, otherwise it was really possible to annoy Yuan Qi.

"We still have too few railways in the Qing Dynasty, and if the railway from Beijing to Guangzhou is opened, it will be a real convenient ......" Before Yi Zhifu finished speaking, he looked up and saw Zaizhao walking in quickly, he didn't say hello, and asked directly, "How about the casualties?" ”

"The casualties are not huge." Zai Zhao hurriedly said: "Tianming counted, the Beiyang Naval Division suffered more than 1,200 casualties, and the green battalion is not easy to count, so it is estimated that there is not much difference." After a pause, he asked with concern, "How is the situation of the Beitang defenders?" ”

"Shi Rongchun hasn't shown up yet." Monk Lingqin said angrily, "However, from the reaction of the gathered rout, the casualties should not be small, but you can rest assured, the casualties of the Beiyang Fuchun Department are not large, only more than six hundred people." ”

Hearing this, there were not many casualties in the Fuchun Division, Zaizhao was completely relieved, and said with a wry smile: "Dagukou and Beitang were lost prematurely, did it affect the big move?" ”

"It doesn't matter, the emperor has sent four brigades of recruits from the Beijing division to reinforce Tianjin." Yi Zhifu hurriedly relieved that he had heard more than 1,200 casualties in the Beiyang Naval Division at the mouth of Dagukou, and he was also secretly speechless, with such a large number of casualties in more than an hour, which showed the fierceness of the battle.

Monk Lingqin said: "What are the results? ”

"Not bad." Zai Zhao was obviously a little excited, "Nine enemy ships were sunk and fifteen were heavily damaged, and the enemy's casualties should be about 2,000." ”

There are big and small battleships, and the number of troops loaded is very different, like the number of troops of the steam gunboat is only seventy-five, and the number of third-class battleships is more than six hundred, there is no comparison at all, of course, Yi Zhizhi will not be more serious, after all, it is not his own troops, and the other party is still his brother-in-law, and immediately said: "The other party's casualties should be more than 2,000, at least about 3,000." ”

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the French army set off from the military grain city slowly arrived in Tianjin, and at a glance at the hot air balloon suspended above Tianjin City, Montauban had a bad premonition in his heart, they may have encountered the worst situation - Yuan Qi sent troops to Tianjin!

Approaching the vicinity of the Laolongtou Railway Station, when he saw a lot of train cars parked on the railway from the telescope, Montauban confirmed his conjecture that Shanghai's Yuanqi New Army had indeed sent troops to reinforce Tianjin, and these empty cars parked on the railway outside the platform were the best proof - this was because there were too many trains from Shanghai to be parked on the railroad tracks outside if they could not be transferred in time!

After hesitating for a while, Montauban ordered with a gloomy face, "Set up camp on the spot and build a position." ”

The British army who arrived in the southern suburbs of Tianjin from the south bank of the North River also noticed that something was wrong, and Grant ordered to camp on the spot, and sent a small detachment to plunder the people everywhere to investigate the situation in Tianjin, and soon learned that there were at least 40,000 or 50,000 troops in Tianjin, and they were mainly Yuanqi's new army.

After confirming that the information was correct, Grant's first reaction was to camp on the spot, build a position, and quickly report back and wait for orders.

Haiphong Office, Headquarters.

Yan Yangtian said tentatively: "Principal, although the enemy army has a large number of troops, it has not gained a stable foothold, do you take the initiative to attack?" ”

"What's the hurry?" Yi Zhizu slowly lit a cigarette, "The other party is not in a hurry, what are we anxious about?" Consumption, energy consumption on two days is better. ”

Monk Greenqin is also eager to fight, now in Tianjin City alone the Eight Banners New Army has more than 30,000 troops, plus more than 20,000 Yuanqi New Army, the total strength is close to 60,000, and the coalition army outside the city is only 40,000 or 50,000, in terms of strength they completely have an advantage, not to mention that they are waiting for work, the other party is based on unheard, once the war starts, they occupy an absolute advantage!

After a slight groan, he said: "The other fleet is tracing the water...... we should at least cripple the French army of the old dragon head first." ”

"It is impossible for the other party to stalemate with us, they only have two choices, one is to take the initiative to attack, and the other is to retreat or transfer." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "It's already meat that has fallen into the bowl, there is no need to worry, it's not cost-effective to burn your mouth." ”