In the afterglow of the setting sun, two figures on horseback, carrying a red cross flag, walked unhurriedly towards the side and the east city gate. Lost the scorching sun shining on the two of them, so that Burding. Stanford's blonde hair is particularly shiny!

The Red Cross was founded ten years ago in Switzerland, not far from France. In the Franco-Prussian War, they appeared. Berding. Stanford is also a doctor, so he, as a member of the clergy, did not pick a cross, but chose a red cross flag. He believed that this would definitely make the French put away their rifles.

He is also a French translator. Stanford is of French descent. The chief attendant who accompanied the marquis by his side came to meet the French commander of Bianhe City and convey Liu Xian's meaning.

Holding the Red Cross flag aloft and approaching Bianhe, the French did not lose their minds. Although more than a dozen French soldiers with rifles were aimed at the two of them as if they were facing a great enemy, no one fired at them.

Ding Zhenduo's face was calm as usual, not only was he not nervous, but he even wanted to laugh at the moment. When have you ever seen a foreigner trembling in front of the Chinese people, as if facing a great enemy? Look at what these foreign soldiers look like! Ding Zhenduo felt a heartfelt sense of pride in his heart, and it still rose!

"I want to see your commander!" Ding Zhenduo, who got off the horse, had a straight waist. Berding. Stanford was now translating for the French soldiers.

"What are you here for?" A French lieutenant approached and asked.

"We are here to negotiate with you about the wounded in Dongguan. Our army moved south at a rapid pace, and did not carry too much medicine, and if these wounded were in the hands of our army, their lives would be difficult to guarantee. My army hopes that you will send men to carry the wounded back to the city. ”

"You can rest assured that during this period, our army guarantees with the honor of the Great Qing Kingdom that it will never fire a single shot. Not to detain any of you. ”

Ding Zhenduo's words surprised the French second lieutenant very much. This was completely different from his impression of the Eastern army. If the Vietnamese had caught the wounded on their own side, he believed that the Vietnamese would have been happy to cut off the heads of the French wounded.

The lieutenant was silent for a moment before asking, "Is there anything else?" ”

"Of course!" A bright smile flashed on Ding Zhenduo's face, "I, as the envoy of the commander of the Chinese and Vietnamese armies, now formally request you to ask all military forces in Bian He City to surrender to our army before two o'clock in the morning tomorrow. Before two o'clock tomorrow morning, our side will not launch an offensive for the time being. If you do not contact us after two o'clock, our army will consider you to refuse to surrender. The battle will inevitably begin. I ask you, Mr. Ensign, to convey to your commander the meaning of our troops. ”

The already ugly faces of the French became even more difficult to look at after hearing this. Ding Zhenduo's request is not unusual, and it can even be said that he has a battlefield demeanor. But this is a clear expression of a fact that is unacceptable to the French -- China is strong, France is weak.

A backward and barbaric country that was lightly conquered by itself more than ten years ago, now its army is demanding 'surrender' to itself as a strong man. Although the French were now clearly on the weaker side of the war, the French, both regular soldiers and conscripted civilians and seamen, felt a deep sense of shame.

But since the Chinese sent an official representative, the second lieutenant did not dare to take this responsibility down, and said with a gloomy face: "Please wait a moment." And when he had said that, he ran into the gate. About twenty minutes later, the second lieutenant ran out a little out of breath, first showed a warrant to the lieutenant officer in charge of guarding the city gate, and then came to Ding Zhenduo and said, "Please come in with me." ”

There were French officers to guide them, Ding Zhenduo and Burding. Stanford soon met Colonel Wave Slippery, who looked grim.

Ding Zhenduo had seen those French officers who had been captured by the Qin army, and as soon as he looked at the slippery epaulettes, he knew that this was a colonel of no low status. "Hello Mr. Colonel, I am the secretary of the commander-in-chief of the Chinese and Vietnamese troops." Ding Zhenduo, who keeps pace with the times, don't feel weird about the Western-style nouns that suddenly pop out of his mouth.

In the face of the slippery waves, Ding Zhenduo said very sternly: "Now that your army has lost Yan Zòng, my military family believes that your army no longer has the strength to defend Bianhe City. In order not to cause more casualties, our army hopes that your army will be able to formally surrender before two o'clock tomorrow morning. Our army will give absolute life support to the officers and men of your army, and give the corresponding rank of treatment to the officers. Ding Zhenduo is no stranger to this, for those French soldiers who were captured before, Liu Xian did just that. Although this practice is very different from the traditional Eastern practice.

Bo Slippery's face was so gloomy that he could almost wring out water. The dignity of the French made it impossible for him to tolerate bowing to the Orientals. Although he knew that after the army sent out to Dongguan was wiped out, the remaining troops in the entire Bianhe City were indeed far from enough to defend. But he wouldn't bow his head! This is not only the dignity of the military and the country, but also the arrogance and contempt of the race.

"How many of you are there to attack Bianhe?" Bo Slip asked with anger in his temper.

"You can see it when we attack." The opponent's anger is his own happiness, Ding Zhenduo replied with a smile.

Such a personable attitude made Bo Slip feel even more humiliated, and he gritted his teeth a little and said: "You can defeat us now, but you will definitely not be able to withstand the expeditionary force sent by our France again." In the Forbidden City of your kingdom, the flag of the French tricolor will be raised again! "Like a beast in a trap, the current wave has no Gallic rooster demeanor, only hysterical threats and intimidation.

Hearing this, the smile on Ding Zhenduo's face immediately disappeared cleanly, and he felt that his own power seemed to have an effect. The Chinese do now have the strength to take Bianhe, and the demoralized defenders in the city cannot stop the Chinese attack! But in the face of the anger of France, or even the hostility of the entire Western world, the Chinese may not have the courage to respond.

Just when Bo Hua thought that he had overwhelmed Ding Zhenduo in momentum, Ding Zhenduo spoke, and this time he said word by word in the most solemn tone of his life: "Maybe your France is indeed very strong, and your expeditionary force can set foot in Beijing." However, before that, you must first step over the corpse of my Qin army. If you can't get over, you'll only be the ones who die—"

Bo Slip does not understand Chinese, Berding. Stanford was struck by the firmness in Ding Zhenduo's words. It wasn't until Wave Slip was glaring at him that he woke up from the shock. "Mr. Colonel, I have a single word for you: never underestimate the hearts of a group of patriots." Berding. Stanford finally said to Wave Slippery. And after listening to Berdin. After Stanford's French translation, Wave Slip himself was silent.

No longer waiting for Bo Hua to say anything, Ding Zhenduo said: "Mr. Colonel, I have already conveyed everything to you. Is there anything else you don't understand about my statement? ”

The corners of Bo Li's eyes twitched, and Ding Zhenduo in his eyes was like a bastard who had to make inches, picking at his self-esteem and bottom line all the time. "You're in such a hurry to go back?"

"The meaning has been conveyed, and there is no point in delaying. After that, it's up to you to decide! ”

Bo Li's face was as stiff as turning into marble, and he indifferently signaled that Ding Zhenduo and the two could go.

"Oh, by the way, Colonel, what time is your watch?" Ding Zhenduo remembered Liu Xian's final arrangement, and the time on both sides needed to be determined.

The two of them have a pair of watches, and Ding Zhenduo's watch is at 6:22 p.m. at this time. The table with a wave slip is at 6:17.

"Colonel Wave Slip, our army will time according to my watch. Please note this. Ding Zhenduo gave the final advice. Then he didn't look back with Berdin. Stanford left Bianhe.

Liu Xian did not have any intention of waiting, in terms of the time of siege warfare, night was undoubtedly more suitable for the current Qin army than day. The reason why Ding Zhenduo was allowed to come, except for the problem of the wounded soldiers of the 1200 French army, persuaded to surrender was just to do his best to obey the fate of heaven.

Ding Zhenduo, Berding. Soon after Stanford left, twenty French soldiers with 100 blue belts and a larger number of Vietnamese civilians poured out of the East City Gate and rushed to Dongguan, where they carried away all the wounded and sick on the charred ruins. Whether it's a French soldier or a blue ribbon soldier.

Vietnam belongs to the Ya tropics, which is completely different from the south and north of China, even though it is already the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is almost 8 o'clock in the evening on this side of Vietnam, and there is still a ray of light in the sky. The Qin army and the Vietnamese army, which had been resting since the afternoon, had already had dinner, and the siege troops took advantage of the last remaining moments to begin to sort out their equipment. It didn't take long for it to get dark.

The launch and transport of the rockets were very frequent. Liu Xian had a rule that during field battles and siege battles, each artillery crew could only fire two. After firing, the artillery crew dropped the bracket and immediately ran away to avoid devastating retaliatory fire from enemy artillery.

Therefore, this kind of bracket needs to be prepared more.

The French were given time until two o'clock in the evening, and because according to past experience, the Rockets needed to finish preparing one qiē at that time. The French still did not surrender, and the infantry could begin the battle as soon as they entered the attacking position.

Time passed like this, and no sound could be heard from Liu Xian's headquarters for the time being, but hundreds of vanguard troops had already touched the firing range of the French army's artillery at the head of the city and in the city.

At one o'clock in the morning, a muffled sound suddenly came from afar outside. Then, closer away, a violent explosion was heard. The French opened fire.

"The troops have been discovered?" Liu Xian was a little nervous. However, he soon heard that the position of the French shelling was far from the place of departure of the troops, let alone the position of the follow-up troops. These cannons were just a way for the French to 'scare the snakes'.

This is the precursor of the 'Artillery Night Duty Fire', which is expected to fire shells at the area where the enemy will probably pass through in anticipation of a night attack. If you can hit the enemy, it is naturally the luck of the blind cat to meet the dead mouse, and it is not a big deal if you don't hit the enemy, but it is just some shells. This kind of irregular shelling can very effectively disrupt the enemy's deployment and put great psychological pressure on the enemy. R1152