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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 653: Adventure Failed

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    After receiving the news, the two naval commanders and General Napier finally breathed a sigh of relief. After Massimogli looked at the map, he said to Rigo Godrenoiri and General Napier in a deep voice: "The main force is  The plan may not be realized. They need to cross the entire northern part of the North China Plain and are very vulnerable to pursuit. I think we should risk venturing inland from Jiyuan River and try it. The river there may be deeper than the canal here in Tanggu.  If we can go deep into the interior through the Ji Canal, we may be able to get more information, and maybe we can reach the main force in advance.¡±

    Rigo de Genouiri was somewhat opposed to this risky plan: "But General Grant and General Montauban ordered us to go to the Shanhaiguan area to meet them. Isn't it too risky for the navy to take the Ji Canal? Do you know that the Ji Canal enters the sea?  The current situation in Haikou is very complicated."

    Massimogli said: "I know that Generals Grant and Montauban must also know that the water flow conditions at the mouth of the Thistle Canal are complicated, so they did not propose to let the navy | No | Wrong | come here to meet the main force, but let us  Go north. But now it seems that we must divide our forces into two groups. One group will go north to Shanhaiguan area as planned, while the other group must risk breaking into Jiyuan River. We need to establish good contact with the main force as soon as possible, and then give them the necessary support during their retreat.  ,this is what we are supposed to do."

    General Napier supported the British opinion for the first time. His reason was simple. The enemy was prepared and would definitely consider various situations. Moreover, the enemy was superior in strength. The navy had to prepare for the worst, so it broke into  It is very necessary for Jiyunhe to find ways to contact the main force.

    at last.  Rigo de Genouiri also agreed to this plan after discussion.  Rigode Genouiri led the French warships and most of the naval vessels to Shanhaiguan to meet the main force as planned.  Massimogli led a squadron to the mouth of the Thistle Canal, and General Napier led a marine force of more than 800 people to advance from the land to ensure that they could successfully capture this place.

    Hangu is located in the lower reaches of the Ji River, from Liuzhuang Village in Hangu to the mouth of the old Ji River, in the shape of a rice spoon.  From the east end of Liuzhuang to Yingchengzhuang is the "Rice Spooner". From the east end of Yingchengzhuang to the mouth of the sea is the upper end of the "Rice Spooner". From the upper end of the "Rice Spooner" to the "bottom belly" is a vast area.  The water is the "big mouth" of Ji Canal.  The Dazui River section has about 15 kilometers of dry roads and 35 kilometers of water roads.  There are nine bends in it, each of which is full of beautiful and mysterious colors.  The first bend is about five miles of land and water from Dongzhuangtou in Yingcheng to Xizhuangtou in Chadian, with beautiful natural scenery on both sides; the second bend is called Iron Cage, between the north and south forts of the Old Ji Canal.  The South Fort is by the Nanhe River near Beitang Qianzhuang, and the North Fort is next to the Hangu Cadre School on the side of Yingcheng.  In this section of the water, steel wire cables and iron rods as thick as arms are wrapped into various forms of rings, like an iron cage.  It was these traps and the complex water pattern environment that successfully shattered the British and French coalition's attempt to follow Jishui northward when they attacked the Jintang area.

    But now the situation was urgent, and Massimogli had to take risks in order to reach the main force as soon as possible.  At least he judged that the only Qing troops still stationed here had lost their fighting spirit. With General Napier and his own squadron advancing by land and water, they should be able to capture this place quickly.  It's just that clearing the cage snare that's blocked underwater can be a little troublesome.  But General Napier can organize a lot of local labor to participate, so the difficulty should be less.

    The next morning, Rigode Genouiri and British Rear Admiral Perot led the main fleet to leave.  At three o'clock in the afternoon, Massimogli led the squadron to attack the mouth of the Thistle Canal.

    Dagukou is very close to the entrance of Jiyuan River. It was around four o'clock in the afternoon.  The squadron arrived at the mouth of Ji Canal, but what awaited them was the Taiping Tianqi flying high on the fort.

    Massimogli and other admirals stared in the telescope for a long time with their mouths open.  Finally, Massimogli ordered an attack, and soon the squadron's gunboats opened fire one after another. However, because the distance was too far, the fleet ships were blocked by iron cages and could not get closer. There were also changes in the water flow, and the ship needed to adjust its position at all times to prevent whirlpools.  and reefs, so the effect of shelling is very poor.

    If the navy wants to step forward to clear those iron cages, it will inevitably fall within the range of the artillery of the fort. The position of the fort arranged by Senggelinqin is very clever, and the artillery on it can hit the iron cage just right, so when Massimog  When Li ordered several ships to approach and prepare to clear the iron cage, the Taiping troops on the fort fired back, and soon the coalition ships retreated in defeat.

    "This place is really not suitable for landing." Massimogli shook his head and sighed. Now he can only hope that there are not many Taiping soldiers stationed at the fort, and General Napier's 800 Marines can capture the fort from land.

    The battle on land started later. The Marines who crossed the Ning River were attacked by artillery and rifle fire from the Taiping Army's fort, and were quickly defeated.They were attacked again by a cavalry force and suffered heavy losses. Finally, relying on the muddy terrain of river channels and tributaries, General Napier led more than 500 people to escape back.

    Massimogli had no choice but to lead the fleet back. After rejoining General Napier at the mouth of Dagu, the two found that the rescue plan to break into the Ji Canal had also come to nothing. In the end, Massimogli's fleet could only continue to garrison.  In Daku, I hope Rigo de Genouili ??will have good luck as he heads north.

    At the same time, Grant, Montauban and others who were far away in Huogezhuang did not know that the navy had carried out another failed adventure to rescue them. They also did not expect that the navy would go north from the Ji River to rescue them.  The issue that the Allied Forces Headquarters is now considering is how to cross the Ji Canal and continue or break out. There are a lot of problems before them, such as the problem of wounded and sick, food problems, ammunition problems, etc.  But after many discussions, the generals of the headquarters found that they had no possibility of breaking through. Unless there was foreign aid to support the breakout, they could only hold on here until they ran out of ammunition and food and then surrender.

    When they were at a loss, Sir Elgin appeared in the headquarters. The Allied Forces Headquarters was located in the ancestral hall of Huogezhuang. Sir Elgin and Sir Grotto came hand in hand. They looked very embarrassed. Their luggage was all taken away by the coolies.  They abducted her, and she didn't even have a change of clothes.

    Sir Elgin adjusted his tuxedo and said to Grant and others: "Generals, are we in trouble?"

    Grant smiled bitterly and said: "This is a very big trouble, Minister. If there are no reinforcements, we may not be able to escape. And where are the reinforcements? London or Paris?"

    Sir Elgin sat on a chair and said: "Generals, maybe we can consider letting Ronglu's Qing rebels come to meet us. What do you think?"

    Montauban was very angry when he heard Ronglu's name. He shouted loudly: "Mr. Minister, there is no need to mention that villain with no credibility. If he hadn't sent some old and weak soldiers to make up the number, Tongzhou City would not have fallen so quickly.  , we won¡¯t be chased so closely by the King of the West, and we won¡¯t retreat hastily in the battle of Baodi!¡±

    Montauban's words resonated with most of the generals. Even Grant, regardless of the friendship between his compatriots, said to Sir Elgin rudely: "Your Excellency, it is enough to be betrayed by the same villain once. Do you still want to go to the third place?"  Second time?"

    The tempering of Sir Elgin's career as a politician made him very thick-skinned. He said nonchalantly: "In that case, maybe we can only wait for good news from Parkes, and the Qing army can send troops to fight against Taiping with us.  Army."

    Grant and Montauban looked at each other. Sir Elgin's words were right. Now that the coalition forces were defeated, there were at least more than 100,000 Qing troops in the capital. If they could join the battlefield, the coalition forces would be able to escape and go to heaven.  The worst outcome is the total annihilation of the entire army.  And if the main force of the coalition forces is destroyed, the political arena in London and France will inevitably undergo tremendous changes.

    "But we are now surrounded, cut off from news about Parkes, and don't know what the situation is over there." Grant said with some disappointment: "And we can't hold on for a few days, and the soldiers only have four days of rations left.  That¡¯s it.¡±

    Sir Elgin put on his slightly dirty tuxedo and said: "We can send envoys to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with the Taiping Army, a temporary ceasefire agreement." Speaking of negotiations, Elgin's smile became a little more confident, especially for the temporary  He bit the words very hard, and Grant, Montauban and others immediately understood what he meant.

    That afternoon, Sir Elgin and Sir Glo went out in person. With only five followers, they walked out of Huogezhuang under a white flag and walked towards the Taiping Army position.  The soldiers on the Taiping Army's position intercepted several of them. After Sir Elgin explained his purpose, the Taiping Army soldiers did not dare to neglect and led Elgin and several others into the large tent where the Western King of the Taiping Army was.

    Arriving at the big tent, Elgin and others were quickly received by the King of the West. When the King of the West and Elgin met, the reactions of both sides were surprisingly consistent. They did not hate each other because of the war. On the contrary  , King Xi and Elgin also shook hands and greeted each other very friendly.

    After the guests and hosts were seated, Elgin spoke without any nonsense and directly spoke of his purpose: "Your Majesty the King of the West, the armed conflict between our British and French coalition forces and the Taiping Army recently broke out due to the capture of the capital. I personally feel very sorry. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has expressed its gratitude to  Britain and France have declared war, but we have not received domestic approval for the declaration of war, so we are only having a localized armed conflict.¡±

    Xiao Yungui was very amused by Elgin's shameful statement, but he also heard some news, that is, Britain and France were beginning to relent, at least people like Elgin were relenting. They no longer had that arrogant imperial arrogance, and  It is hoped that the Taiping Army can exercise restraint.

    But Xiao Yungui shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, Your Excellency, Minister, a declaration of war is unavoidable. Your country's declaration of war is unavoidable.""We don't care if we declare war. I have ordered the troops in Jiangnan to carry out military strikes on all British and French targets in the south, including the concession and your troops stationed in the concession, and even Hong Kong."  But you can rest assured that we are not targeting civilians.  "(To be continued)

    Chapter 653: Adventure Failure:
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