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Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 658: Wishful Thinking

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    It is very necessary for political negotiations to be interspersed between military operations or during military preparations. In fact, the conflict of interests between Britain and France and the Taiping Rebellion has not reached an irreconcilable point. Necessary negotiations can ease the conflict, and at the same time, it can also make the endless bickering of the British and French parliaments more  Undecided.  ¡­

    In addition to diplomacy and politics, there is the military preparation of the Taiping Army. Before Xiao Yungui raised his troops to go north, he had made detailed arrangements. Members of the General Staff Headquarters and the Western King's Advisory Group conducted repeated deductions and estimated the worst plans.  Now, the British and French landing forces have been completely wiped out, and only the British and French navies have been taken away. This is the best situation.

    According to the deduction at the time, Xiao Yungui will let Li Xiucheng lead half of the Taiping Army in the Jintang area south, while Lin Fengxiang in Huaishang will launch a northward campaign to open up the road northward.  Xiao Yungui and Chen Alin will lead the remaining half of the troops to guard Tianjin and the three large camps outside the capital to continue to besiege the capital. As long as the Taiping Army lingers under the walls of Beijing, they can contain more than half of the Qing army in the north.  Just like the Qing army's siege of the Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps in Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Rebellion in history, the ghost is always hanging there.

    Lin Fengxiang's northern marching corps was composed of the newly formed Sixth Army and Seventh Army. Lin Fengxiang had already launched the Battle of Xuzhou at the same time that Xiao Yungui set off northward. Fortunately, the Yellow River did not change its course as it did in history. The boundary of Shandong was north of Xuzhou.  In addition, there is no large-scale yellow flood zone formed in the area around the canal. Therefore, the strategic plan of the Taiping Army's deduction is to go all the way north along the canal, open up the connection with the northward army, and then expand to both sides, gradually annexing Shandong and Henan provinces.

    And Shi Da, who was stationed in Wuhan, opened his headquarters.  Xiao Yungui also sent an order for Shi Dakai to send troops to the Jingxiang area.  To contain the Qing army from Hubei's Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Jingxiang area can do the best.  If they can't take it, they will pin down the official troops. Chen Yucheng's troops, who are waiting to pacify Sichuan, will divide their troops into two groups, go all the way north to Shaanxi and Gansu, and all the way out of Sichuan along the Yangtze River to meet with Shi Dakai's troops to attack Hubei.

    As for Zeng Guofan's Qing army trapped in Hunan, it is actually in a semi-independent state. The cunning Zeng Guofan will naturally not send troops to attack the Taiping Army. His Hunan is already surrounded by enemies on all sides. His son-in-law Ronglu has raised his flag to rebel against the court, and the Taiping Army is surrounded by enemies.  Hunan's trade was cut off, and Zeng Guofan was short of firearms and ammunition.  He did not dare to launch a major battle easily, and Lin Qirong guarding Jiangxi, Lu Xianba guarding Guangdong and Guangxi, Du Wenxiu guarding Yunnan and Guizhou and others were all eyeing Hunan, so Zeng Guofan naturally did not dare to provoke him.  Therefore, Zeng Guofan's recent campaign in Hunan was to protect the territory and the people, and intended to protect Hunan as a province. After waiting for the general situation of the world to become clear, he held hostage the soldiers and civilians of the province and sold them for a price.  Therefore, the Hunan Army in Hunan does not need to think too much for the time being. Xiao Yungui scoffed at Zeng Guofan's wishful thinking and waited until the country was unified.  How to knead him Zeng Guofan is not an easy task?

    As for the Qing armies in Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi, because they came to Beijing to serve the king, they mobilized a lot of troops. Even if Chen Yucheng only had one army, he could go north with ease. At this point, the general trend of the world gradually became clear.  For places further away, such as Xinjiang, Tibet, Mongolia, and beyond the customs, you need to wait until the Central Plains is established before making plans.

    so.  After Xiao Yungui was ready to accept the prisoners, each of his troops rested for three days, and then split up with Li Xiu.  The north-south campaign was launched, and the main battlefield was in Shandong.  Once the passage to the south is opened.  Soldiers, food and ammunition will be able to come to the capital in an endless stream, and by that time the Manchu rule in the north will be completely ended.

    But what gave Xiao Yungui a headache was the British-French naval expeditionary fleet heading south.  When these people go south, they must first protect their concessions, ports, and Hong Kong. Then they will definitely send fleets to attack any port city such as Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, etc., and they will even break into the Yangtze River and attack  Zhenjiang, even Tianjing.

    However, what made Xiao Yungui a little relieved was that he had sent people to Shanhaiguan to inform the naval warships more than ten days before the declaration of war. Luo Gang would definitely pass the news back to the Jiangnan area as soon as possible.  , the Jiangnan Taiping Army had more time to prepare than the British and French troops there.

    At the same time, since King Xi took power in Tianjing, various localities have established complete local military systems and coastal defense systems, built forts at coastal ports, established coast guards, and local anti-smuggling fleets and anti-smuggling troops. Local troops plus those left behind in Jiangnan  The two field armies should be able to hold the port.  However, shipping and some inland shipping may be attacked by the British and French forces, which will have a certain impact on the commercial trade and freight traffic of the Taiping Rebellion.

    Therefore, Xiao Yungui wanted to meet with the American Minister Wei Lian first, hoping that the United States could mediate and mediate so that some neutral ships could still trade freely, and his bargaining chip was the British and French concessions at the five ports and the British and French concessions.  Two people.  Although Britain and France may not necessarily agree to this negotiation if it breaks down, we can still talk about it. If we don't talk about it, there will be no hope. If we talk about it, there is hope for a change.

    A brigade of British and French soldiersAfter walking through, Xiao Yungui saw officers and generals from the British and French allied forces and a group of diplomats walking over collectively.  Grant, Montauban and other soldiers still looked straight in their uniforms, but their weapons were gone. The swords and sabers of Grant and Montauban were handed over to Li Xiucheng at the surrender ceremony of Huogezhuang. They came empty-handed.  here.  Xiao Yungui did not participate in the surrender ceremony. He did not care about the surrender ceremony in this kind of battle, and he did not need to attend it in person. He hoped to receive peace notes from Britain and France in the future.

    Seeing the King of the West, Grant, Montauban and others had mixed feelings. Although the King of the West was tough, he always maintained a gentlemanly demeanor and was very proficient in Western etiquette. It can be said that he is the ruler closest to the West in the Far East.  .  But his sudden declaration of war this time is indeed too despicable. He is like the twin stars with clear sides of good and evil, which is unpredictable.

    Still with the warm smile and polite greetings, King Xi took the initiative to shake hands with Grant, Montauban, Elgin, Gro and others to express greetings. Grant said bitterly: "His Royal Highness, Congratulations on becoming a temporary  Victor, but I believe what you will face next is crazy revenge from Britain and France."

    ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? But Xiao Yungui knew that what Grant said was not a threat. Britain and France would really retaliate, but he was ready, so he smiled slightly and said: "General Grant, there will be revenge from Britain and France. I believe this, but crazy  Don¡¯t get up, because the interests of the Far East are not enough to drive Britain and France completely crazy. Your strategic focus is still on Europe, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Before Grant could retort, Xiao Yungui continued: "Gentlemen, although you have become prisoners, please rest assured that you have always been old friends of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. You and your soldiers will receive the treatment you deserve, but before the end of the war  , you can only stay in several prisoner of war camps built outside Tianjin until the end of the war."

    Montauban nodded, and he said unwillingly: "His Royal Highness the King of the West, this time we lost to your sneak attack, next time we will have a decisive battle in an upright manner."

    Xiao Yungui smiled and said: "General Montauban, war is inherently deceptive. Sneak attacks are not correct. The military actions we launched were only launched after the note declaring war was sent to you. As for a fair duel, I don't think so.  This opportunity comes, you can only go back until the war is over."

    After speaking, Xiao Yungui looked at Elgin and Gro and said: "As for the two ministers and other consul gentlemen, I plan to let you go back first. The British and French soldiers and civilians in China in the south also need politicians to stabilize their hearts."

    After the landing force of the British-French Allied Expeditionary Force was destroyed, the British and French civilian personnel such as envoys, journalists, missionaries, chaplains, medical staff and interpreters who accompanied the army were basically captured or surrendered. Many of them failed to follow the large army.  He retreated to Huogezhuang, but fell behind in the pursuit of the Taiping Army, and was successively captured by the Taiping Army.  A small group of people followed the large army to Huogezhuang, and then surrendered together with the large army.  There were also some people who got separated or fell behind and were caught by the common people. Among these people, those who were lucky were turned over to the Taiping Army by the common people, while some who were unlucky were beaten to death on the spot.  Therefore, most of the stragglers of the British and French allied forces were willing to surrender to the Taiping Army in the end to avoid being beaten to death by the civilians.

    After listening to Xiao Yungui's words, Elgin and Geluo were surprised and happy, but Xiao Yungui had a wishful thinking. It would not hurt Elgin and other civilian politicians to go back. These people can affect subsequent diplomatic negotiations because they go back.  We are already very aware of the military strength of the Taiping Army, and they have been cooperating with the Taiping Army in the Far East. It is better to practice than to practice. If Britain and France send other people to the Far East, there is no guarantee that there will be no mistakes. It will still be Elgin and Grotto.  , Weituma, these people are easy to contact.

    At the same time, having these politicians go back can also make the naval generals calm down. After all, politicians will also consider problems from the perspective of interests, unlike soldiers who only look at problems from a military perspective.

    "However, before I let you go back, I still need to meet with the American Minister Mr. Levi Lian. Mr. Elgin and Mr. Grot can attend on behalf of Britain and France and continue to perform your diplomatic duties." Xiao Yungui smiled.  's added: "But I will not let go of any military personnel."

    So, after a brief meeting, the surrendered and captured personnel of the British and French allied forces were escorted by the Taiping Army and were divided into several batches and taken to Tianjin.  Soldiers and officers were separated, military personnel were separated from civilian personnel, and journalists, missionaries, and medical staff were put under centralized supervision.  Of course, Xiao Yungui would not raise them in vain. Soldiers and other personnel were gathered together to participate in labor operations. First, they buried the corpses on the battlefield, and then they went to build houses, bridges, and take care of farmland in villages that had been harmed by the coalition forces. In short, they would not work.  No food?.  As for missionaries and journalists, they were centralized to translate some foreign works or help the Taiping Army handle some paperwork, while medical staff were directly involved in medical care.  As a result, the Taiping Army had more logistical support labor available in the Jintang area.

    After arranging these matters, Xiao Yungui took Elgin and others to Tianjin to meet Lie Weilian, while Li Xiucheng sent his army south three days later (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated.  quick!
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