Seeing that Yilu and Bomai were opposed, Yilu smiled disapprovingly and said, "Don't you have any interest in these trenches? Don't want to see how well these trenches are defended? If the prediction is good, we may encounter similar trenches in various places along the coast of the Qing Kingdom in the future, and we must fight a dozen to find out the weaknesses of these trenches, and by the way, also see if the resistance of these Dinghai defenders is tenacious. ”

Hearing him say this, Bo Mai hurriedly kept silent, but Yilu insisted: "Even if we want to fight, it can only be a tentative attack, and we can save ammunition for our current strength." ”

Yilu turned around and ordered: "Order, artillery cover, marines land and seize the high ground on both sides." ”

The thunderous sound of "boom, boom, boom" resounded throughout Daotou Harbor, and the British troops who had attacked Dinghai once bombarded the Dongyue Mountain Fort with artillery, and at the same time loaded the marines with troop transports to land.

On the south gate of Dinghai City, Zhu Tingbiao held a telescope and scanned back and forth, the density and fierceness of the British artillery exceeded his expectations, even if it was a few miles away, he also felt that his scalp was a little numb, hundreds of artillery guns fired together, it was really shocking, and it was no wonder that the previous Dinghai defenders fled without a fight, and Dinghai was lost within two pillars of incense.

When he saw the British army start to land in a small boat, his heart was tense for a while, look at this posture, it doesn't seem to be a bluff, does the British army want to recapture Dinghai?

On the artillery position of Xiaofengling, Ge Yunfei, the chief soldier of Dinghai, watched the continuous fire of the British warships, only felt a little dry mouth, he had fought for half a lifetime, when had he seen such a dense and fierce artillery bombardment, no wonder it was said that the British ships were strong and sharp, and the sailors of the Qing Dynasty were not vulnerable to these warships at all, let alone close combat, and there was no chance to get close.

Seeing that the British troop transports were divided into east and west, he knew that the British army was adopting the same fighting style as Yuan Qi's regiment, wanting to seize the commanding heights on both sides and attack with artillery, so he immediately ordered in a deep voice, "Order the two wings to shrink and retreat to the main position of Xiaofeng Ridge, let's meet with Yingyi here." ”

He knows very well that these soldiers under his command have never experienced vicious battles and bloody battles, and can only fight with the wind, and the result of the scattered troops and layers of defense is that the troops are defeated like a mountain and out of control, and the best way is to shrink the troops, so that they have no way to retreat, and there is no way to escape, so as to completely stimulate their blood and fighting spirit.

There were not many British troops who landed in the direction of Xiaofengling, roughly estimated at about 300 people, and after the landing, the British troops were not in a hurry to attack, but assembled on the shore. Soon they understood that the enemy was waiting for artillery, and small boats were carrying it ashore.

Seeing this situation, all the officers and soldiers gasped, how can this battle be fought? Ge Yunfei was also panicked in his heart, but he encouraged his subordinates in a deep voice, "Don't worry, we have trenches that can resist the enemy's artillery." ”

The artillery brought ashore by the British army was all Caron guns, and they lost two battles inexplicably, Yilu was very cautious, and he also knew that solid bullets could not cause many casualties to the Qing soldiers hiding in the trenches, and the only thing he could count on was the flowering shells fired by the Caron guns, if the lethality of the flowering shells was not great, it would not be an ordinary trouble.

Seeing the smooth landing of the marines and artillery, Yilu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then pointed to Dongyue Palace Mountain, and said: "The geographical location of this mountain is very good, you can overlook the entire battlefield, the artillery positions above, the Qing people seem to have given up, send a company up the mountain to search, we had better go up the mountain to see those trenches." ”

Before noon, the British army began to advance slowly, methodically attacking, the Caron cannon range is not far, but the shells fired are flowering shells, and the trajectory is parabola, the heavy pound flowering shells exploding over the trenches are enough to cause greater damage to the Qing soldiers in the trenches, especially for the first time to use the trenches, and they are not very clear about how to protect their own Qing soldiers, it is simply a nightmare.

Ge Yunfei stood on the top of the mountain and saw the situation under the mountain clearly, he was afraid that the lower part would not be able to support the rout, regardless of the obstruction of the generals around him, he walked down the mountain quickly, until the second line of defense, he stopped, and the general Fang Shigui, who was responsible for sticking to the first line of defense, ran to him panting, and said: "Ge Zongrong, if it is not a cowardly battle, this battle is really impossible to fight, the enemy's artillery is too powerful, the ears of the explosion are painful, the hair is dizzy, not to mention, the shrapnel is still splashing everywhere, there is no place to hide." ”

Ge Yunfei scolded: "Disturb the morale of the army, believe it or not, I will correct you on the spot?" Saying that, he glanced at the generals around him, and shouted and scolded: "Brainless thing, how many shells can the enemy hit with such a fighting style?" As soon as the artillery stopped, it was the turn of the infantry to go on the field, hurry back and organize a return fire. ”

After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "Xiao Cailiang, you bring a battalion to replenish it, and I will watch you fight here." ”

In two full hours, the British army launched four attacks, but they never broke through the first trench defense line of Xiaofeng Ridge, the top of Xiyue Palace, Yilu looked at his pocket watch uneasily, and said: "The Dinghai defenders this time are admirable. ”

Yilu was gloomy and silent, he saw it very clearly here, the other party was obviously suffering heavy casualties, but he still firmly held his position, and estimated that he should be on the verge of collapse, and after a while, he spoke: "The battle losses are more than thirty percent, and they have not collapsed yet, is your intelligence spy on the Qing army wrong?" ”

How did Yilu know that the defenders of Dinghai were fighting against the water at all, and there was no way to retreat, he hesitated for a moment before he said: "This defender is indeed different from the general army of the Qing State, let's retreat first, there is no need to fight with them." ”

It's not that there is no need to fight hard, but they can't afford to fight, they can't afford to suffer slightly larger casualties now, although they know this, Yilu is still a little hesitant, this retreat will greatly hit their morale, a little weighing, he sighed lightly, and said: "Order, retreat, return to the battleship." ”

Back on the flagship, Yilu stood on the deck and looked at Dinghai City, stunned, Bo Mai stood at the window of the official hall and looked, turned his head to Yilu, and said: "Dinghai can't fight anymore, look at this appearance, even if we can defeat Dinghai, we can't catch many prisoners." As he spoke, he raised his chin and said, "Go and persuade." ”

Yilu was also worried that Yilu would not be able to swallow this sullen breath, since the fleet went to Tianjin, nothing had gone well, he was really worried that Yilu would be angry with Dinghai, and he hesitated a little before he walked out of the official hall.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Yilu turned his head and glanced at it, and said in a muffled voice: "If we don't fight Dinghai, where should we fight next?" ”

Hearing this, Yilu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as long as he didn't insist on Dinghai, it would be easy to say, after a little thought, he said: "How about Xiamen?" There are many Qing defenders in Xiamen, and the defense is not strict, and there are many Qing naval warships in Xiamen. ”

"Still thinking of exchanging prisoners of war?" The corners of Yilu's mouth curled, and he said with a slight sneer: "We can't let the prisoners of war blind our eyes and forget the purpose of our crusade." After a pause, he continued: "We are here to force the Qing people to accept the conditions we offered, and we can't let the Qing people lead the way."

Of course, the prisoners of war must be exchanged for redemption, but it is more important to force the Qing court to comply, and it is more important to agree to our conditions, there is no point in fighting Xiamen, except that we can get prisoners of war, which will not shock the Qing court, and we have to go to the south of the Qing country - Shanghai is a good place. ”

Jingshi, Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace, Xinuan Pavilion.

Looking at the good news sent by Zhejiang, Daoguang was in a good mood, the Guangdong Navy Division and Yuan Qi Tuanlian recovered Dinghai from the hands of Yingyi, captured eight warships, captured more than 3,000 British troops, and the Zhejiang Green Battalion repelled the attack of the British army and held Dinghai, what could make him happier than this?

Seeing Long Yan Dayue, Mu Zhang'a, the chief minister of military aircraft, bowed slightly and said: "Your Majesty, Zhejiang has won a great victory, and for the governor and admiral of Zhejiang, we should also encourage a little, after all, the British army has not retreated." ”

Daoguang glanced at him and said, "Don't worry." ”

Hearing this, Mu Zhang'a Deng understood that Daoguang had not made a decision on how to reward the Guangdong sailors and Yuanqi group training, and it was not good to reward Zhejiang officials because of his talent, and he knew very well in his heart that what made Daoguang hesitate was the reward for the commander of Yuanqi's group training, the great treasurer of Yuanqi, Yi Zhizhi, and Lin Zexu listed Yi Zhizhi's military exploits in detail in the good news, and pleaded with the imperial court to appoint Yi Zhizu as the minister of Guangzhou group training.

Daoguang is indeed a little difficult on how to reward Yi Zhi, grinding Daoyang and Dinghai two great victories, inspiring people, boosting morale, as the governor of Liangguang Lin Zexu is indispensable, for his recital, refutation is obviously inappropriate, not to mention Yi Zhi's merits are there, the formation of the Yuanqi regiment training, to assist the Guangdong Navy to sharpen the knife Yang to annihilate the Yingyi Yuehai fleet, and personally led the Yuanqi regiment to practice the expedition to recover Dinghai, although on the surface are the credit of the Guangdong sailors, but in fact, what is going on, all the ministers in the court are like mirrors in their hearts, How to reward Yi Zhicontentment, all the Han ministers are waiting with blank eyes.

Other commendations are easy to say, but this minister of regimental training, Daoguang is a little uncertain, he knows very well that although Yi Zhixiang is a businessman, but in the Guangzhou officialdom like a fish in water, and a number of civil and military officials have close contacts, have good personal relations, at present Guangzhou is facing the danger of being attacked by the British army, and a number of officials in Guangzhou are also very dependent on Yuanqi regimental training.

In this case, if Yi Zhixin has the identity of the minister of group training, Yuan Qi is afraid that the group training will be like a tiger, Yuan Qi has strong financial strength, has a large number of channels to buy Western firearms, and can also produce gunpowder shells by himself, to expand, it is just a matter of one sentence, he doesn't want to beat the wolf in front and the tiger in the back.

Mu Zhang'a also knew that Daoguang was in a dilemma, and the dispute between the Manchus and Han Dynasty in the DPRK and China was almost like fire and water, but at this juncture, Lin Zexu, the minister of the Han Dynasty, won two battles in succession, which made the momentum of the Han ministers high, and what was even more difficult was that England was still watching from the sidelines, and the imperial court must also rely on the Guangdong Navy and Yuan Qi to train the group.

However, the Zhejiang Green Battalion repelled the British attack and held Dinghai, which made him somewhat relieved, and he was silent when he saw Daoguang, and he said cautiously: "Judging from the great victory of sharpening the knife and the ocean, recovering Dinghai, and holding Dinghai, the Green Battalion is still able to fight, but it is because Chengping has been slacking off for many years. ”

The meaning of these words, Daoguang understood as soon as he heard it, the green camp is available, there is no need to care about the Yuanqi group training, the problem is that the advantages of the Yuanqi group training are obvious, the Yuanqi group practice does not need the court to pay for silver, the green camp is available, but it costs the court a lot of silver, in addition, there is another point, he did not reveal it, that is, the war with England, the treasury is tight, and he is ready to try to issue treasury bonds, which requires the full support of Yuanqi.

He weighed this matter well, of course he knew that Mu Zhang'a didn't want him to obey Lin Zexu's wishes, and he muttered slightly, he changed the conversation and said, "The Yingyi fleet is evacuated from Dinghai, where will it go?" ”

Mu Zhang'a also thought about this matter carefully, and said: "Yingyi lost more than half of his troops, and this time he hit a wall in Dinghai, and the servants secretly thought that most of them would obediently go to Guangzhou and wait to negotiate with the minister." ”

After a slight groan, Daoguang said, "Where is Qi Shan now?" ”

Didn't Qi Shan ask for peace? Why ask knowingly? Mu Zhang'a reacted as soon as he thought about it, Daoguang was disgusted that Qi Shan was walking too slowly, Lin Zexu rushed to Guangzhou in a month, thinking of this, he hurriedly said: "Back to the emperor, I have already passed Shandong." ”

Daoguang casually said "hmm", and then said: "You send him a letter, there are still 4,000 Yingyi war criminals in the hands of the Guangdong Green Battalion, and you must make good use of them." ”

"The minions obey." Mu Zhang'a hurriedly bowed down and said, but in his heart he secretly scolded Qi Shan for not knowing what to do, although Daoguang didn't say a word about his itinerary, but for such an important matter, he didn't give an edict, but let him tell him in a private message, and his heart was dissatisfied, which can be imagined.

Daoguang was only happy for two days, and then he received an excerpt from the governor of Liangjiang, Iribu, that the Yingyi fleet captured Shanghai, looted it, and then went out to sea without a trace.

Seeing this excerpt, Daoguang was stunned for a long time and did not say a word, the Yingyi fleet was nowhere to be found, where would they attack next? Why didn't Yingyi go to Guangzhou? What do they want to do?

Daoguang was full of questions, none of the ministers of the imperial court could answer him, but the commander of the British fleet, Yilu, told him with practical actions that after the capture and sacking of Shanghai, the British fleet immediately captured and sacked Zhenhai, and then went all the way south, in just one month, successively attacked Ningbo, Wenzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen, and Huizhou.

Guangzhou, Xiguan, Yuanqi General Number, Rongyuan.

"It's all the prisoners of war to blame." Yi Zhishu couldn't help but muttered softly after reading the urgent report that was delivered, lit a cigar, he walked to the window, looked at the big banyan tree in the yard and thought, this war has completely departed from the original trajectory, how should he deal with it?

Judging from the route of the British army, it is obvious that it is coming to Guangzhou, and the new minister Qi Shan estimates that it is time to arrive in Guangzhou in the next few days, fortunately, Lin Zexu has not been transferred, Guan Tianpei is still the commander of the navy, what worries him is that the two great victories, the court's commendation and reward, have not yet come down, what is the attitude of the court? (To be continued.) )