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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 627: Change of Deployment

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    "I don't think the Qing Dynasty will reach some kind of private agreement with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!" The person who objected was the British Consul Parkes. He stood up and said loudly: "General Grant, I don't mean to offend, but just now I was bidding farewell to the Manchu Negotiating Minister.  When Prince Gong and his party were with Yi?, they talked for a while about the temporary suspension of negotiations between the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, which seemed to be a speculative mentality on the part of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.¡ê¡Ø"

    Sir Elgin immediately became interested when he heard this. Previously, this group of politicians hoped to use diplomatic means to make both the Manchu and the Taiping Army make concessions in order to maximize the interests of Britain and France. However, the sudden declaration of war by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Manchu Qing's  The suspension of negotiations caused them to lose face, and the coalition officers showed great dissatisfaction with this.  At this time, he suddenly heard Parkel say that the Manchus and the Qing had other hidden reasons for suspending negotiations. Sir Elgin felt that he suddenly had a step to go down. At least all his previous diplomatic efforts were not played by others.

    After receiving Sir Elgin's signal, Parkes cleared his throat and continued: "These days, the Manchu envoys and the Taiping envoys have been asking each other about each other's negotiation limits in Tongzhou City. Before Prince Gong left,  Qian told me that last night he learned that the Taiping Army was about to declare war on the coalition forces. This change was beyond his expectation, so he decided to temporarily suspend negotiations and return to the capital to discuss countermeasures with his court."

    General Grant snorted and said: "These Qing people are more cunning than the Taiping Army, but according to common sense, once a war breaks out between us and the Taiping Army, shouldn't they choose to join us to fight the Taiping Army? Why would they choose  Abort negotiations? Shouldn¡¯t the enemy of my enemy be a friend?¡±

    Parkes patiently explained: "When we were negotiating with the Manchu Qing Dynasty before, they also mentioned this matter many times, but our coalition forces had a very heavy blow to the Manchu Qing army in the Battle of Jintang. The Manchu Qing court  The internal vigilance against our coalition forces is no lower than that of the Taiping Army. At the same time, the looting behavior of some soldiers has caused great harm to the people in the Manchu and Qing areas. Therefore, the people and the Manchu and Qing military still have high hopes for comprehensive cooperation with the coalition forces.  Big resistance.¡±

    Grant spread his hands and said: "Since we and the Qing Dynasty have not reached the level of mutual trust, it is impossible for the joint forces to attack the Taiping Army, so we still have the only way to retreat first."

    Parkes shook his head and said: "Prince Gong assured me before leaving that he still feels that we should cooperate with us to jointly attack the Taiping Army. After he returns, he will try to persuade the court to renegotiate with the coalition forces as soon as possible, and then we can reach an agreement to jointly launch the attack on the Taiping Army."  But His Excellency the Prince also said that in order to reach an agreement, the minimum requirement is that the coalition forces can no longer cooperate with the Qing rebels. This is the basis for reaching an understanding."

    Having said that.  The officers in the tent all looked at Sir Elgin. Sir Elgin had previously refused to give up cooperation with the Mianyu and Ronglu rebels. This was also the biggest obstacle to the coalition's delay in reaching a peace agreement with the Manchus.  But under the current drastic changes in the situation, it is not known whether Sir Elgin will stick to his original intention.

    This internal meeting of the coalition forces did not allow Mian Yu, Ronglu and others to participate. Sir Elgin pondered for a moment and then said to Parkes: "We can agree to the Qing Dynasty's condition, but after all, we have cooperated with this army before.  relationship, and there are tens of thousands of them, it is impossible for the coalition forces to launch military operations against them. They can only drive them away and terminate cooperation with them. After that, whether the Manchu and Qing court will surrender them or annihilate them will only rely on the Manchu and Qing court itself.  ¡±

    Everyone in the coalition forces in the tent breathed a sigh of relief. The rebels Mianyu and Ronglu had done nothing in the previous war.  The help it brought was limited, but now that this burden has been removed, everyone is relieved.  that's all.  The rebels composed of Mian Yu, Ronglu and Heng Fu were ruthlessly abandoned by the British and French, and did not receive any news immediately.

    Lord Grotto cheered up and said: "In that case, we should act immediately and send people to continue to contact the Manchu Qing. It is best to reach an agreement as soon as possible, and then our army can attack the Taiping Army's troops in the capital."

    Parkes volunteered and said, "I am willing to go, but I also need to bring Mr. Gong Cheng with me. We can disguise ourselves and take a detour to the west of Beijing to enter the city."

    After some discussion, Sir Elgin finally agreed to Parkali¡¯s plan. Soon Parkali and Gong Cheng set off in disguise with several Chinese entourage.

    After Parkes left, General Grant continued: "Although it is possible to reach an agreement with the Manchu Qing to attack the Taiping Army, our coalition forces are currently deep in the interior, and the troops are deployed in a straight line, which is not conducive to our defense, and we have  Our troops are weak and we must send some of our troops back to the south."

    This time General Montauban also agreed: "I agree with General Grant. Before we launch a counterattack against the Taiping Army, we should focus on defending Tanggu and Tianjin. This is our retreat and there cannot be anyAn unexpected event occurs.  "

    After hearing this, Sir Elgin and other politicians also expressed their agreement with the generals. After all, military is still their strength.  Therefore, after some discussions, the Allied Forces Headquarters finally decided that 3,000 British troops would be led by Major General Michel of the British Army and General Collinot of the French Army, and 5,000 French troops would return to Tianjin. The 8,000 coalition soldiers would be the same as the original  After the two thousand soldiers of General Sutton who were left behind in Tianjin were reunited, 3,000 soldiers were left to guard Tianjin. 7,000 soldiers returned to Tanggukou, where they left 1,000 soldiers to strengthen the defense of Tanggu. The remaining 6,000 soldiers were led by Curley.  General Nuo and Major General Michel led the troops to board the ship and return to the south.  The coalition navy divided half of its ships and returned to the south with Colino and Michel, while the remaining coalition fleet launched a siege on Dalian Bay, an important northern port of the Taiping Army.

    The strength of the coalition forces remaining in Tongzhou will be reduced to less than 10,000, but both Grant and Montauban are confident that defense will not be a problem. As long as the Manchus agree to attack the Taiping Army from both front and rear, then the existing coalition forces will be enough to deploy.  Counterattack.  Although the Manchu and Qing army's combat effectiveness was not strong, they still left a deep impression on the coalition forces in the previous Battle of Jintang. At least Grant and Montauban believed that the Manchu and Qing troops of more than 100,000 troops would bring disastrous consequences to the Taiping Army.  A minor annoyance.

    In the afternoon, the coalition forces began to gather forces and make preparations for departure. Fortunately, although the Taiping Army declared war, the Taiping Army camp opposite Tongzhou did not send troops to attack the coalition forces. Grant and Montauban were able to calmly mobilize their forces.  , and deployed the defense system inside and outside Tongzhou.  Grant and Montauban believed that as long as supplies were sufficient, the Taiping Army would be unable to capture Tongzhou, which was defended by the Union Army.

    ??And Sir Gro and Elgin are waiting for news about Parkes. They hope that things will turn around. They hope that this time God will be on the side of the coalition forces instead of continuing to bless the man who claims to be the reincarnation of Christ

    Yi? and others took a detour to the west of the capital and went through many twists and turns before they returned to the capital safely. He had been worried that the Taiping Army would send cavalry troops to intercept and kill their envoy. Fortunately, he exceeded everyone's expectations.  He had left with the envoy a long time ago. I believe that even if the Taiping Army received news about Qianjiang in Tongzhou, it would be too late to send someone to intercept and kill him.

    Yi? I don¡¯t know if the news I got last night is accurate, but judging from the abnormal signs of the Taiping Army, they do intend to use force against the coalition forces, because although they have surrounded the capital, they have no intention of attacking the capital.  When Yi? received the news that the Taiping Army was about to declare war on the coalition forces, he realized that the best opportunity for the Manchu and Qing Dynasties had come, but he did not dare to make arbitrary decisions on how to maximize the benefits for the Manchu Qing Dynasty in this change.  After all, full cooperation with foreigners would be strongly opposed by Seng Gelinqin and other Manchu generals. They had developed too much hatred against foreigners in Jintang, and there were also rebels such as Mianyu and Ronglu, so Yi? decided to take the lead.  Returning to the capital would, firstly, create a panic among the coalition forces; secondly, it would also allow the Taipings to return to the capital to discuss the matter with the Queen Mother and the ministers; thirdly, it would also prevent the Taiping envoys in Tongzhou from being able to send back the news in time for the Taiping Army to send troops.  Kill them.

    It was already evening when they returned to the Forbidden City. Due to the detour and avoiding the Taiping Army checkpoints, Yi? and his party wasted a lot of time, but at least it can be seen from the fact that the Taiping Army did not control the direction of the capital too tightly.  It is true that there is no intention to use force against the capital immediately. Several gates on the west side of the capital can still be entered and exited, and there are no Taiping troops on the roads.

    After entering the Forbidden City, Yi? went straight to Yangxin Hall to see the Queen Mother. In Dongnuan Pavilion, he met Xingzhen. After these days, Yi? still felt a little missing in his heart.

    After sitting down across the screen, Yi? took a big gulp of a large pot of tea and then explained the matter. The person behind the screen didn't seem surprised. She just gave a slight hum and then talked to herself.  He said: "This fake King of the West is really bold. He dares to declare war first. I don't know what excuse he is looking for."

    Yi? wiped his sweat and said: "Sister-in-law, it doesn't matter what excuse Changmao finds to start a war with the foreigners. Do you think we will join forces with the foreigners to attack Changmao?"

    After the beauty behind the screen hummed again, she seemed to be thinking about something, muttering something in a low voice, and then she said: "This matter is of great importance. It is better to get Qi Ye, Seng Gelinqin, Li Hongzhang, and Gui immediately.  Liang and Peng Yulin are here, and we should discuss it together. By the way, Mr. Liu hasn't eaten yet, so I asked the imperial kitchen to get some food first, and wait while eating, and wait until everyone has arrived.  Let¡¯s discuss it.¡±

    Yi? After a day's journey, he only ate some dry food on the way. He was really hungry at this time, and he was grateful for her careful care, so he agreed immediately. Li Lianying sent someone to summon the ministers, and Yi  ?We will temporarily eat outside Dongnuan Pavilion.

    Behind the screen, Xingzhen leaned on the soft couch, rubbed her temples, and said to herself with a wry smile: "It seems that I am still jealous of a gentleman's belly with a villain's heart. It turns out that what you planned early in the morning was to make peace with me.Are the foreigners going to war, or do you think the Manchus no longer pose any threat?  Forget it, let's see if I can make a last-ditch effort to help you later.  "(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!
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