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Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 440: After the Victory

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    Back in time, after the Battle of Dagukou, when the British and French combined fleets retreated, it was already bright. On the main fort of Dagu, Seng Gelinqin was dressed in military uniform, sitting not far from the huge cannon whose barrel was red.  , holding the Nakuni Suguang Saber in both hands, sitting as steady as a god of war, looking blankly at the British and French ships retreating rapidly on the distant sea in silence.  Since the negotiations between Britain and France and the Qing Dynasty began, Xianfeng had transferred Senggelinqin back to Dagukou to take charge of the policy. Fortunately, the Taiping Army in northern Jiangsu, Anhui and other places had recently retreated a lot, and Senggelinqin was able to come back.  .

    At first, the negotiations went smoothly, but unexpectedly, the envoy was assassinated, followed by an attack by the British and French forces, with the first attack being Dagokou.  Since the beginning of the war, Senggelinqin has been sitting firmly on the main fort without moving. Under the fierce fire of the British and French navies, it greatly stabilized the morale of the military.

    Before dawn, Seng Gelinqin received a battle report from the South Bank fort. The fort guard, Zhili Admiral Shi Rongchun, was killed in the battle. At that time, his vision went dark and he almost fainted.  Shi Rongchun has been with him for many years and has always been loyal to his duties. He never flinched when he went into battle. Since he took over the general army of Dagu, he has been working hard to manage the Dagu Fort. Later, he was promoted to the governor of Zhili. This time Seng Gelinqin deployed to defend Dagu. If  Without the foundation of Shi Rongchun's hard work for many years, he would not have been able to make Dagu's defense line so complete in a short while.  Hearing the news of Shi Rongchun's death, Seng Gelinqin felt a sharp pain in his heart and wished he could sink all the British and French ships on the sea.

    At this time, I saw another warrior, Leshan, rushing over. He bowed his head and said, "Commander! The barbarian ships retreat and let the navy ambushing in the outer sea go to fight!"

    Seng Gelinqin slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a long breath: "Among the navy ships, is there any that can catch up with the Yi ship? Is it possible that the artillery on the ship can hit the Yi ship?"

    Leshan listened silently. The Dagu Navy was a sailing ship with more than a hundred tons.  There was no way to catch up with the British and French steam clippers, and the artillery on the ship was inferior to humans. The attack was purely seeking death.  But seeing Yi Chuan swaggeringly retreating, Le Shanxin was unwilling to give in. He stomped his feet heavily and remained silent. His face was gray and black, with the look of burning smoke. It seemed that he was still guarding the fort.

    Seng Gelinqin sighed softly: "This battle is already considered a complete victory, count the losses. Treat the wounded soldiers and clean up the battlefield!"

    Half an hour later, the losses of the Qing army were calculated. Shi Rongchun, the governor of Zhili, and Long Ruyuan, the deputy general of Dagu Association, were killed in battle.  Shi Ronchun guarded the southern fort, and the barbarian soldiers forced a landing, about to defeat the infantry defense line on the south bank.  He led more than a dozen personal guards to rush down the mountain, gathered the broken troops and charged back up again.  Died in the chaos; Long Ruyuan guarded the northern fort.  He was hit by a British ship's artillery and died on the spot.  In addition, 76 Qing soldiers were killed, 121 were wounded, and 11 artillery pieces were damaged.  The enemy's losses were estimated at more than a thousand people, and seventeen more Yi soldiers were captured.

    Seng Gelinqin murmured: "Seventy-six people died, seventy-six people died, why are you Shi and Long?" Then he slowly closed his eyes.  Of the four powerful generals under the Monk King, only Su Kejin, Leshan, and He Jianao were left.  After hearing this, they all remained silent.

    At this time, a loud sound of gongs and drums sounded under the fort, and everyone looked around.  I saw Hengfu, the governor of Zhili, arriving in an official sedan with blue cloth, accompanied by government servants, gentry officials, and some laborers who sang opera and played gongs and drums.  After the war started, Hengfu, the governor of Zhili, had been waiting for news in the rear. At this moment, he received a report from Pegasus, saying that Haikouzi had a great victory and the barbarian ships had retreated, so he came with his men and troops.

    Leshan spat fiercely: "Old man, when you see the one who beats Baba, you come here to receive the credit."

    Seng Gelinqin said warmly: "It is my bounden duty as a warrior to go into battle and kill the enemy. It is an ordinary duty. Master Hengfu is a civil servant. He did not retreat to Tianjin to wait for news. It is already considered a rare thing and cannot be rude."

    Hengfu got off the sedan chair under the fort and walked up to the fort in person. When he saw Seng Gelinqin and other generals, he knelt down on one knee and said, "All the generals have worked hard!" The people behind him also knelt down and shouted: "All the generals have worked hard!  "Seng Gelinqin quickly helped him up, saying that he didn't dare. Seeing Hengfu's courtesy, the generals' expressions softened slightly.

    Hengfu was lifted up by Seng Gelinqin, and he said with a sad face: "It is a pity that the two generals Shi and Long died for their country. The Jingu gentry is grateful for the loyalty and bravery of the two generals, and has agreed to build a building for the two generals in Dagu.  Shuangzhong Temple, may the heroes and spirits of the two generals gather together and enjoy the incense forever."

    Seng Gelinqin thanked Hengfu again, and was very grateful to Hengfu. The generals were also moved by it, and their views on Hengfu changed greatly.

    After talking about the situation of the battle, Hengfu pulled Seng Gelinqin to a deserted place at the far end of the fort and asked in a low voice: "How does the monk king want to report victory?"

    Seng Gelinqin said curiously: "Naturally, I reported truthfully, successfully setting up an ambush in Dagu and repelling the barbarians."

    Hengfu shook his head and said: "This is inappropriate. Although the envoy was assassinated earlier this time, the Holy One did not declare war on the barbarians. The previous court war and the dispute between the two factions, the Holy Spirit??I haven't made up my mind yet.  The imperial court had been pacifying the barbarians for many years, but although it had the intention to start a war, it had no real intention to do so. King Monk's victory was indeed true, but if the report was reported to have fired artillery and set up an ambush first, this move would definitely offend the Zhuhe faction. Moreover, although the barbarians retreated, they would not be able to do so.  It will come again, no one knows whether it will be victory or defeat.  If he loses, the imperial court will again suppress the barbarians, and then the monk king will not be able to escape the crime of starting a war without permission.  "

    ??Seng Gelinqin said in a deep voice: "My lord, what you said is reasonable, but I didn't consider it carefully."

    Hengfu said: "In my humble opinion, we will join forces to attack, and the names of the armies are Seng Gelinqin and Hengfu. If the Yi people attack, they will be the first to fire, and the Dagu soldiers and horses will fight back and win. The armada makes it clear that the Yi people will not  According to the decree of the imperial court, we are waiting for the assassination incident to be investigated and forcibly attacked Taku. You and I have only been trying to calm the situation for many years. Once the artillery fire is fired, the situation will completely change. We still wait patiently and wait in strict formation to store up the wrath of our army  " Hengfu slowly said what he was thinking about, and now a memorial was released. Seng Gelinqin admired Hengfu's talent and learning very much. After listening to it, he bowed deeply and said, "Just do what you said.  "

    Hengfu put his name and Senggelinqin's name on the memorial with just a few words. Senggelinqin didn't take it seriously. Hengfu was the governor of Zhili, and he still needed his help with many things.  I won¡¯t point it out at the moment.

    After talking about the memorial, Hengfu called his master, immediately laid out the table, dictated the memorial on the fort, drafted the memorial, and showed it to Seng Gelinqin.  The two signed the pledge and ordered people to rush to Chengde for eight hundred miles in red and colorful clothes.  At this time, Xianfeng was still hiding in Chengde to escape the summer heat, so the memorials were all sent to Chengde, and the capital city only needed to send them to the court.

    After the messenger left, Seng Gelinqin and Hengfu slowly came to the front of the fort. Looking at the sea, the remaining barbarian ships were still burning. Two barbarian ships that were seriously injured and unable to walk were drifting at the seaport. The Qing army had already sent  More than ten sampans went to capture him.

    Hengfu asked: "King Monk is victorious in this battle, is there any follow-up?"

    Seng Gelinqin said curiously: "Of course we need to reorganize the troops, horses and equipment. Renovate the forts to prepare for the return of the barbarians."

    Hengfu frowned and said: "Although this battle is a reprieve from Jiangning's humiliation more than ten years ago, it is to demonstrate the prestige of the country and express the popularity of the people. However, the Yi people are greedy by nature. They will not let it go. The Yi boats are strong and cannons are powerful.  , the sea comes and goes like the wind. The equipment is better than mine. After several years of operation in Daku, all the firearms in Beijing were exhausted, and there were monk kings, elite soldiers and good generals in charge, and even more ingenious plans and ambushes, so we could achieve this victory. But what about the cities in Guangdong? In the end, we couldn't  All the cities along the coast of Guangdong are built like Taku. There are no elite soldiers or generals like the Monk King. Besides, the Yi people and Changmao secretly communicate with each other, and they are afraid that internal and external collusion will destroy our country."

    Seng Gelinqin frowned and said, "What should we do? Make peace with him?"

    Hengfu did not answer but asked instead: "If this battle with Monk King were not a cunning plot, would he be able to win?"

    Seng Gelinqin muttered: "A battle to the death!"

    Hengfu nodded and asked: "How to deal with the next time the barbarians come back?"

    Seng Gelinqin replied: "The artillery positions were changed, and the forts were falsely added. The infantry guarded the key points, and the cavalry supported the rear route and attacked the troops who landed."

    Hengfu said: "Is this also a fight to the death?"

    Seng Gelinqin's thick beard twitched: "I have been ordered to defend the land, and I will fight to the death."

    Hengfu said slowly: "Not everyone in the court wants to fight to the death. Dagu controls the gateway to the capital. If there is a slight mistake, it will be irreversible. To put it bluntly, if someone says that it is better for the Yi people to trade, we should pay attention to how to deal with it.  , should not be called a soldier. King Monk set up an ambush and won happily, but once the war started, there was no end. The bandits in the south were not suppressed, and the country was in danger."

    Seng Gelinqin's eyes widened: "The Yi people have been declaring war for a long time. They shelled the city in Guangzhou and killed our soldiers and civilians. Now they are marching north to invade. Why can't we set up an ambush to defeat them? The Yi people are true in their trade, but they are still eager to pursue profits, and their demands become more and more excessive.  , making peace with them is like feeding a wolf with meat, how can the wolf be full for a day? It is true that my monk Gelinqin plotted against the barbarians, set up an ambush, and fired the artillery first. Even if the barbarians come back in the future and attack Dagu, my king  I will not give in even half a step. Even if after thousands of years, future generations will say that I am good at starting wars, I will not regret it. It is the duty of a warrior to protect the land, should I surrender it to others?"

    Hengfu sighed and said: "The monk king is right to think so. He doesn't care about the comments after his death, and his mind is not comparable to mine. Hengfu just made a mistake."

    Seng Gelinqin said slowly: "Your Majesty, I understand what I mean. Since ancient times, heroes have been judged by success or failure. If I lose in the future, I will definitely be punished with words and writings." Then he raised his head and laughed three times and loudly said: "At that time, it was a matter of judgment.  , why should I be afraid? A great man is wrapped in horse leather and has no shame in heaven and earth. It is up to him to criticize corrupt scholars in future generations!" After saying that, he turned around and walked away laughing.

    Hengfu looked at Seng Gelinqin's back, shook his head and smiled: "It's good that he can be left alone. Fortunately, you acted recklessly and severely damaged the Yi people. The Yi people will definitely not give up, otherwise Suzhongtang's plan will not be realized."  .¡±

    ?¡­

    ? ?The commanders-in-chief of Britain and France, who were defeated at sea, gathered for a meeting. After Rigo De Genouiri finished describing the situation of the battle, the British Ambassador Plenipotentiary Elgin frowned and said, "When did the Qing army become so capable of fighting?"  Derenuili sneered: "Your Excellency Ambassador, we are fighting a war now. If the Qing side makes all preparations and we make fatal mistakes, the Qing side may also achieve partial or even major victory. Don't forget  They also defeated Russia today."

    Grant said slowly: "Everyone, we did make the mistake of underestimating the enemy this time. When we did not collect enough intelligence, we took risks and started a war. Failure is inevitable."

    French Minister Grotto said: "Gentlemen, a review is necessary, but our top priority is to discuss the next step."

    Grant, who has been familiar with the situation in China for a long time, said: "I suggest that the entire army return to Shanghai to rest and wait for reinforcements from India, and we need to find Chinese people to collect intelligence for us."

    Erjin frowned and asked: "I agree to return to Shanghai to rest. Is there a suitable person to collect intelligence? What we need is the enemy's extremely confidential intelligence."

    Next to him, the British consul in Shanghai and now serving as Elgin's translator, Wytoma, said: "I have a very good candidate in Shanghai. He hates the Qing government very much. He comes from a family of officials in the Qing Dynasty, and he is proficient in both English and French languages."  , must be the best candidate."

    Parkesli became interested: "Oh, there is such a person, what is his name?"

    Weituma smiled and said: "He is a playboy, his name is Gong Cheng. He likes others to call him Gong Banlun. His father turned out to be an official of the Qing court, named Gong Zizhen." (To be continued)
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