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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 626: Pretext for Declaration of War

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    In a simple and spacious camp, Lieutenant Colonel Wu Shili met his fellow sufferer, Colonel Dupan, the French military officer. However, he seemed to have suffered a little, his forehead was black and blue, and the French military uniform was dirty.  Xixi.  ¡Ü

    "God, you are here too?" Colonel Du Pan was a little surprised, with the same surprised expression as Wu Shili, and then both of them understood. Both reconnaissance teams became prisoners of the Taiping Army.  In the carefully designed trap, only the French and the Taiping Army fought. Five French soldiers were killed, six were injured, and the rest were forced to put down their weapons.

    After hearing what happened to the French, Wu Shili expressed sympathy and indignation, believing that the Taiping Army was an act of war.  Colonel Dupin believed that the Taiping Army might have been preparing for war long ago. He came to the conclusion from the Taiping Army's mobilization he saw in the military camp that the negotiations in Tongzhou were just the smoke of the Taiping Army!

    Lieutenant Colonel Wu Shili also agreed with Colonel Dupin's statement and condemned the Taiping Army's despicable and shameless behavior. However, Colonel Dupin believed that they should find a way to leave here now and report what they knew to Grant and Montauban as soon as possible.  General, otherwise the Taiping raid would have been a catastrophe for the unprepared coalition forces.

    When the two were discussing how to get out of trouble, the curtain of the camp opened, and the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom strode in wearing military uniform, followed by several advisers and entourage.

    King Xi glanced at the two of them, nodded politely, and gestured for them to sit down and talk. He sat on the main seat. Wu Shili immediately opened his mouth to protest loudly against the Taiping Army's attack on the British and French allied forces' reconnaissance team.  It means that the Taiping Army is an act of war!

    The King of the West touched his beard, smiled and said: "Two officers, three days ago, on the second day after you were captured, we made the most solemn proposal to the plenipotentiary ministers of Britain and France through our negotiators in Tongzhou.  Protest. During the negotiation process, the British and French troops ignored the positions of both parties during the negotiation and sent small groups of troops to sneak into and sneak attack the front line of our military camp, causing an exchange of fire between the two sides. This is your fault first."

    Colonel Dupan was speechless. It is true that the two reconnaissance teams crossed the front line of the Taiping Army when they sneaked in for reconnaissance. For any army, having troops crossing their positions with weapons would be considered a threat.  This kind of threat, in the eyes of the French army, can indeed open fire first.  But Wu Shili argued: "Your Majesty the King of the West, your army has made military maneuvers that are unfavorable to the coalition forces, so we conducted this reconnaissance operation. It is you who are wrong!"

    Facing Wu Shili's pale rebuttal, King Xi seemed too lazy to say anything. He lowered his face and said, "Since you think it is an act of war, then it is an act of war. But first, it was your British and French troops who attacked our positions that triggered the  If there is a war, today I will order the termination of negotiations and issue a note declaring war!"

    Wu Shili's face turned a little pale.  Du Pan's face was ashen. The Taiping Army was not only well prepared, but even dug a hole for them to jump into as the scapegoat for starting the war. However, Wu Shili still persisted and asked, "Your Excellency, King Xi. Please be more careful."  Think about it, the relationship between Britain and France and the Taiping Rebellion has always been very good, why did it come to this point?"

    The King of the West laughed dumbly.  Finally, he said meaningfully: "From the day your British and French expeditionary forces arrived in the Far East, war was actually unavoidable. Since from the beginning you planned to abandon your neutral position and intervene in our country's civil war with force. Then you will  You should understand that sooner or later we will go to war."

    Wu Shili sat back in a daze, while Colonel Du Pan was much calmer. He continued: "Your Majesty the King of the West, have you considered the consequences of going to war with the two most powerful countries in the world?"

    King Xi's smile faded, and his face gradually became calm and solemn. Finally, he slowly stood up and said: "When the Queen of England challenged the Spanish Armada, and when Emperor Napoleon of France challenged the whole of Europe, would they consider the consequences?  The consequences I am considering are only how to make the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom more powerful!"

    Many years later, Colonel Dupin wrote in "Memoirs of the Far Eastern War": "That day when the British Lieutenant Colonel Wu Shili and I learned of the Taiping Army's clear war intentions, we were extremely shocked. Faced with the man who claimed to be the reincarnation of Christ,  In front of him, his will and self-confidence were so firm. His answer represented the determination of a country to rise. Just like the actions taken by Britain and France to challenge their hegemony many years ago in order to seek great power status, his answer was full of the spirit of adventure and gambling.  , I felt pressure and fear at that moment"

    Wu Shili seemed to know that it was useless to say anything else, and finally asked: "Your Majesty the King of the West, since we are about to start a war, what do you plan to do with us?"

    The smile of King Xi returned to his face again, and his smile was still so warm: "As important witnesses who provoked the war, the two of them naturally stayed"We here, I guarantee that you can enjoy high-level prisoner treatment until the end of the war"

    At the same time, more than ten miles away in Tongzhou City, Sir Elgin received the declaration of war handed over by Qian Jiang, the special envoy of the Taiping Army negotiators, with a face of shock and astonishment. His hands were trembling with anger. At this moment, he really felt  The humiliation of being fooled and played with!

    The military did not notify Elgin in advance of the coalition's reconnaissance operation three days ago. After no one from the reconnaissance team came back the next day, Grant and Montauban found Elgin and reported the matter. Grant and Montauban planned to  Send an army to investigate and be sure to find the reconnaissance team sent out.

    While Sir Elgin was discussing with them, Qian Jiang came to visit and brought a protest note, which contained a strongly worded protest against the despicable act of the coalition forces in sending a small force to sneak attack the Taiping Army's forward position last night.

    Elgin was shocked, and Grant and Montauban did not expect that a reconnaissance operation would turn into a firefight. This firefight was different from the previous conflict caused by misunderstanding between the two sides during the retreat of the Qing army. The Taiping Army believed that the coalition forces were proceeding with hostility.  targeted military operations, but in fact Grant and Montauban's original intention was just to detect the movements of the Taiping Army.

    But things turned out to be like this, which was beyond the expectations of the British and French ministers. However, Elgin and Grotto still took a tougher stance, explaining that this operation was a normal reconnaissance operation by the coalition forces, and that the Taiping Army deliberately attacked the coalition forces.  Qian Jiang naturally refused to admit this, so the two sides started a lawsuit again.  The British and French insisted that the Taiping Army release people and compensate for the losses caused by casualties, while the Taiping Army demanded that Britain and France apologize and compensate the Taiping Army for their losses.

    The two sides argued endlessly for three days, and finally each issued an ultimatum to the other side. Sir Elgin was optimistic that the Taiping Army would not dare to start a war at this time. Once the war started, Britain and France would join forces with the Qing Dynasty to attack the Taiping Army in front and behind, so the capital  This nearby Taiping army is bound to be in dire straits.

    But early this morning, things took a 180-degree turn. Prince Gong of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, who had been negotiating with Britain and France the day before, suddenly sent someone to terminate the negotiations. The Manchu Qing Dynasty said that they would temporarily suspend the negotiations because the conditions of Britain and France were too harsh.  Negotiations will be restarted after the Manchu and Qing court reaches consensus.

    " Then Qian Jiang arrived with a note declaring war. Everything seemed to be as if it had been negotiated between the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Army. Only at this moment did Sir Elgin realize that Britain and France had been tricked by the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Army.

    After submitting the note declaring war, Qian Jiang did not say much, but gave a kind reminder: "Your Excellency, Minister, in view that our two sides are in a state of war from today on, the British and French embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions in the Jiangnan area suggest that  You should evacuate as soon as possible. The concessions at the five treaty ports will also become the target of our army's attack. Please be prepared. As for some cooperative development projects and factories signed by the two parties before, we will temporarily terminate the cooperation in accordance with international practice. Jiangnan's  Civilians and businessmen in Britain and France, please organize an evacuation as soon as possible." After saying that, Qian Jiang nodded slightly, turned around, and strode away under the angry eyes of Elgin and Gro.

    Soon after Qian Jiang left, Elgin and others recovered from their anger. The other party had decided to go to war, and they had too many things to deal with.  However, the efficiency of the British and French headquarters was not bad. Soon the senior officials and officers of the coalition were summoned. They needed to discuss a response plan as soon as possible. Otherwise, if they were caught off guard, the losses suffered by Britain and France would be huge.  of.

    In the Tongzhou County Government Office, senior officials and officers of the British and French forces were equally shocked and angry after learning the news. All kinds of curses and curses filled the room. In the end, Sir Elgin had to remind everyone loudly that there is no trace of useless curses now.  function, we should discuss how to deal with it.

    Now that diplomacy cannot solve the problem, military action can only be considered. The officers of the coalition began to express their opinions. Montauban felt that today should launch a tentative attack on the Tongzhou camp facing the Taiping Army. He suggested that the French artillery unit should first attack the Tongzhou camp.  Shelling was conducted on some military targets at the Taiping Army camp.

    But Grant was much more sober. After the French officers finished expressing their opinions, Grant slowly stood up and said: "Gentlemen, we should consider retreat rather than attack. This can be seen from the temporary suspension of negotiations proposed by the Manchus this morning.  , they have reached some kind of agreement privately with the Taiping Army, targeting our coalition forces. We don¡¯t know the enemy¡¯s plans and deployment now, but from what I know about the Taiping Army, they must have more terrifying traps waiting.  We are facing us, so we should retreat to Tianjin immediately and let some soldiers take the warships back to the south to defend the concession, otherwise what awaits us will be a disaster!" (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, novels are better  Update faster!
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