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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 646: After the Defeat

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    Seeing the coalition forces retreating slowly, Xiao Yungui did not order a pursuit. After the elite infantrymen of the coalition forces retreated to a safe position under the cover of the cavalry, they had already completed regrouping. They still lined up in two horizontal rows, and then  Slowly alternate covering and retreating.  ¡Æ Faced with the defensive posture of the coalition forces, it was not a wise choice to send cavalry in pursuit. After the infantry began to cross the canal in the early morning, they fought two battles in succession and were exhausted, so Xiao Yungui ordered the soldiers to rest and clean up on the spot.  Battlefield, rescue the wounded.

    Taking advantage of this gap, Xiao Yungui received news from Bali Bridge that the Third Regiment of the Second Division led by Zhang Wenxiang had attacked Bali Bridge and successfully destroyed the coalition positions on the east bank of Bali Bridge. The coalition forces retreated to the west bank positions and further  Compressed the coalition's retreat route to Tianjin.  Xiao Yungui was very satisfied with this, which meant that the coalition forces had to find another road to the north and retreat to Tianjin.  So Xiao Yungui ordered the officers and soldiers of the Third Division to rest as soon as possible. After lunch, they continued to pursue the enemy to the northeast.

    After Grant and Montauban retreated back to Tongzhou, the morale of the coalition forces became depressed due to the defeat. In addition to the losses of the cavalry, the infantry losses also exceeded 1,000 people, which was more than the total losses in all battles since the war with the Qing Dynasty.  It was much more, and the coalition forces paid human losses but failed to reverse the passive situation, so many people were disappointed.

    After returning to the Tongzhou camp, the Allied Forces Command issued an order to retreat as soon as possible, but the problem soon arose. It was impossible for the Taiping Army to allow the Allied forces to retreat comfortably. There must be an army left to stop the Taiping Army.  .  However, judging from the combat effectiveness displayed by the Taiping Army on the actual battlefield today, none of the coalition generals present were confident that they could stop the Taiping Army.

    Judging from the intensity of today¡¯s attack on the coalition forces, the Taiping Army has at least more than 10,000 troops.  The coalition forces with the same number may be able to fight them to a draw, but if only a small number of troops are left to block the attack.  That's an impossible task.  At this moment, a person appeared in front of them

    On the first day, the Taiping Army declared war on the British and French forces.  The Manchu and Qing envoys returned to the capital and temporarily cut off diplomatic negotiations. The coalition sent Parkes and Gong Cheng to the capital to actively negotiate with the Manchus. Ronglu received specific information about all this through Gong Cheng.

    The inhuman Manchu rebels stationed in the north of Tongzhou didn't know whether to cry or laugh after hearing the news. That afternoon, Mianyu, Hengfu and others gathered in the rebel camp to discuss countermeasures.  .

    After hearing the news brought by Ronglu, Hengfu, an old man's face, suddenly changed. He said in a trembling voice: "Old prince, the foreigners have taken the initiative to negotiate this time. In order to join forces with the Queen Mother of the West to deal with Changmao, but  He will betray us alive."

    Everyone understands this truth. The banner of Mianyu and his rebels is Qingjunzi, and they intend to use foreigners to bring down the Queen Mother of the West and Prince Gong's party. However, they did not expect that when the coalition forces were about to attack the city, the Taiping Army appeared out of nowhere to block them.  The coalition forces were at the front, further complicating the situation.  Since the coalition forces failed to reach the capital, Mianyu and his gang were also suppressed by the Queen Mother of the West after imposing martial law. The situation in the capital was temporarily stable.  Many of the original fence-sitters defected one after another, and the Empress Dowager Dong was almost placed under house arrest after the incident. There was no further news, so the good situation of Mianyu and others took a turn for the worse.  They became pitiful creatures who could be abandoned by foreigners at any time. They had tens of thousands of troops but low morale.  They didn't dare to send troops to attack the capital on their own, let alone leave the protection of foreigners.

    Fortunately, Sir Elgin was very trustworthy.  During the negotiations with the Manchus, he insisted on not agreeing to betray the rebels.  But now the Taiping Army and the foreigners have turned against each other. The foreigners are eager to solve the dilemma and will definitely reach a peace agreement with the Manchu Qing Dynasty at all costs. Mianyu and Ronglu are more likely to be abandoned.  Everyone in the tent was not a fool. Everyone understood Hengfu's worries, but Ronglu was the only one who was sipping tea leisurely and not worried at all.

    Seeing Ronglu being so relaxed, Mianyu asked doubtfully: "Zhonghua, the knife has been brought to your neck, aren't you worried at all?"

    Ronglu smiled slightly and said: "In today's troubled times, we have soldiers and food in our hands. Why are we so panicked? Even if the foreigners betray us, can't we avoid other places? Besides, can't we only allow foreigners and the man in the west to  Are we not allowed to negotiate with the imperial court? Another point is that the King of the West in Changmao is a ruthless person. He brought troops from far away to deliberately sabotage the foreigners' capture of the capital. He was worried that once the foreigners captured the capital, the imperial court would appease the foreigners.  It is bound to reach a peace agreement with the foreigners. Once the two sides reach a peace agreement, the court will definitely join forces with the foreigners to deal with them. Therefore, Changmao will definitely fall out with the foreigners when necessary, and the King of the West is a master who makes decisions before acting. As long as he and the foreigners  When the foreigners start a war, they must attack with a fierce force. If they are prepared to attack but not prepared, the foreigners will be defeated first. After the foreigners are defeated, they will definitely ask for help from us. We will have something in our hands at that time.Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses can be put to use, so why should we panic?  "

    After listening to Ronglu's words, Mian Yu and others also relaxed. Ronglu stood up and walked to the map and continued: "Look, gentlemen, the foreigners are in the area of ??Tongzhou and Bali Bridge, and we are in Xuxin, north of the Tongzhou Canal.  In the Zhuang area, Changmao wants to attack the foreigners. It is impossible to come from the north and attack us first and then the foreigners. This will scare off the enemy. Therefore, the most likely way for the Western King is to attack the foreigners from the west, southwest or south. If the foreigners  After suffering a defeat, or the retreat routes to the south and east are blocked, the most likely retreat route for the foreigners is to cross the canal and detour north to retreat to Tianjin. By that time, the foreigners will not have to ask for permission to pass through us.  For us?"

    Mian Yu and others suddenly realized, but Heng Fu said hesitantly: "General Rong, the foreigners have strong armor, can Changmao defeat them?"

    Ronglu smiled bitterly and said slowly: "The King of the West, Changmao, is personally in charge. I heard that the First Army, which is known as the strongest army of Changmao, is here. I have fought with the King of the West for many years, and I am well aware of his ability to use troops.  Moreover, the long-haired foreign guns and cannons are almost equal to those of foreigners, and the King of the West comes well prepared, so the foreigners will definitely be defeated."

    Ronglu's analysis was very accurate. The next morning, the sound of rumbling artillery was heard from the Bali Bridge. Mianyu and others hurriedly sent out sentries to investigate. Half an hour later, the scouts reported back. The foreigners and Chang  As expected, Mao started the war first at Baliqiao.

    Hearing the news, Mian Yu and others burst into laughter, and each one gnashed his teeth and cursed, "It's better for dead foreign devils and dead long-haired dogs to bite dogs." "Yes, it's best to fight and lose both sides."

    Ronglu frowned, and summoned a group of personal guards, ordering them to disguise themselves as common people and go south to inquire about the movements in the south. Mianyu and others were puzzled, Ronglu said: "The Changmao King of the West uses his troops unpredictable. Since  I will definitely not just fight a little bit, I also want to confirm whether there is any fighting in the south."

    Sure enough, in the afternoon, the spies reported that the foreigners and Changmao had another battle near Maju Bridge in the southwest of Tongzhou. As expected, the foreigners retreated with a defeat, and Changmao did not pursue them. Both sides seemed to have suffered heavy casualties.

    Hearing the second news, Mian Yu and others burst into cheers. Rong Lu immediately pulled Mian Yu aside and whispered: "Foreigners are newly defeated and must be eager to find another way to retreat. At the same time, foreigners want to avoid being entangled in long hair."  , will definitely want to find a force of soldiers and horses to stop Changmao."

    Mian Yu¡¯s expression changed slightly and she said, ¡°Zhong Hua, you don¡¯t want us to take the initiative to protect foreigners from growing hairs, do you?¡±

    Rong Lu laughed sinisterly and said: "Old Prince, although we have more than 50,000 soldiers and horses in our hands now, the soldiers and horses of the Ruijian Camp you brought with you, Old Prince, are all Qiu Ba who cannot fight.  Rather than staying here and wasting food, it would be better to send it out and make friends with the foreigners, while the first section of the New Army and the Chahar soldiers, the main force of our brigade, would withdraw to Tianjin together with the foreigners."

    Mian Yu was quite moved when he heard this. The soldiers and horses of Ruijian Camp he brought were not as good as the elite new army that Ronglu's army rebelled in Junliangcheng, nor were they as elite as the Chahar soldiers who rebelled in Tianjin. Most of the Qiu Ba family members were in the capital.  Since the flag-raising rebellion, these guys have been in low morale. It would be fine if the foreigners and the rebels successfully counterattacked and captured the capital, but now it has become a dilemma, and these people are even more disorganized. Perhaps as Ronglu said, it is not as good as  It would be more cost-effective to use it as a discard.

    But Mian Yu was also hesitant. After all, he still had nearly 20,000 troops. It still felt a bit painful to give up all of a sudden. Moreover, in troubled times, he did not panic even if he had soldiers in his hands. After all, these people were still considered his troops. If they were gone,  These soldiers can speak for themselves without being tough.

    Ronglu saw that Mian Yu was a little moved, but also hesitant, so he knew what he was worried about. He immediately said: "Old Prince, please be at ease. Some of the soldiers and horses in the hands of this junior can be handed over to the old Prince's trusted generals. The Chahar soldiers  Most of them are listening to the orders of the old prince, so why should the prince worry about not having soldiers? Ruijian camp is better to give up. Otherwise, if they suddenly switch sides in the battle in the future, then we will be passive. And Ruijian camp stays to intercept  Changmao, we can also ask the foreigners to exchange them for a batch of foreign guns and cannons, so that our remaining elite soldiers and horses will be even more powerful."

    After Lin Linzongzong said many benefits, Mianyu reluctantly agreed, but he only agreed to leave more than 15,000 people to help the foreigners intercept the Taiping Army, while 5,000 strong men selected from Ruijian Battalion remained under his command to evacuate together.  Go to Tianjin.  After getting Mianyu's approval, Ronglu took his guards to Tongzhou to meet the commander of the coalition forces.

    Grant and Montauban were worrying about how to retreat safely, when Ronglu came to ask for a meeting. The two looked at each other and thought in unison: "Yes, we still have tens of thousands of friendly troops stationed in the north of Tongzhou."

    So the two of them hurriedly let Ronglu in. After Ronglu entered the house, he didn't talk nonsense. He asked straight to the point about the situation of the war. Grant and Montauban did not hide anything, and expressed the hope that Ronglu could send troops and horses to fight against the enemy.General Human went to the rear to block the Taiping Army.

    Ronglu liked the straightforwardness of foreigners very much, without so many twists and turns. He also expressed the hope that the coalition could provide a batch of arms to arm their army.  After some bargaining, the two sides quickly reached an agreement. The coalition provided 10,000 muskets and 20 artillery pieces, as well as 80 captured Qing cannons and some gunpowder to Ronglu. Ronglu agreed to send 15,000 cannons.  The rest of them went to Tongzhou to join forces with General Ran Man to intercept the Taiping Army.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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