The news of the destruction of the combined fleet soon reached Shanghai, and the foreigners in the concession woke up like a nightmare, refusing to accept this reality for a long time.Britain, France, and the United States in the Shanghai Concession urgently convened a joint meeting to study the conditions that Blair brought back.The commander-in-chief of the British fleet in China, Frank Ho, was repatriated to China last year.Today, British power in China is also held by Army Commander-in-Chief Stifley.Wilson was the temporary commander-in-chief of the British fleet, but he came to China to play in his royal capacity, but he didn't expect to become a prisoner now, which made the British Empire lose face."
Blair, Prince Wilson doesn't know the situation in China, don't you know, why don't you beware of Qiao Zhiqing, our three countries only have ten warships in China, and now they have lost half of them all at once, how do you let me explain to Queen Victoria" Steverley yelled at Blair angrily.Blair hung his head and his face was earthy, and he had not yet emerged from the shadow of yesterday's slaughter.The commander of the French fleet on the side, Broder, hurriedly persuaded, "Commander, don't blame Blair anymore, Qiao Zhiqing has already premeditated, even if we defend the embankment, we will be attacked by him, we should think of a countermeasure as soon as possible." ”"What else do you have to think of, we must not be soft on this kind of villain, and our British Empire must not accept such shameless conditions."
The bearded man at the corner of his mouth was tall and angry, and he was half angry when he thought of Qiao Zhiqing's conditions.He even offered to let Britain exchange three warships of more than 5,000 tons for Wilson, otherwise he would wait for Wilson's body to be collected three days later.Now that Britain has only three warships left in China, one from France and one from the United States, Qiao Zhiqing's conditions are indeed unacceptable to Stifford."
Commander, you know, Qiao Zhiqing has always been unscrupulous in doing things, otherwise he would not have sat on the throne of Zhennan of the Qing Dynasty in a short period of time.He dared to offend our three countries this time, and he must be completely sure.The total number of our navies and infantry in China is no more than 10,000, and they are no match for Qiao Zhiqing at all.We should think of a different way to appease him before the domestic reinforcements arrive. ”Broad is a China expert, and he sees the current situation very clearly, and is far more calm than Stevery."
Then what do you think, do you really want me to give up the three warships," Stifler's eyes widened in disbelief."
General, do you think your three warships are important, or Prince Wilson's life is important, he is Queen Victoria's own nephew, if he dies in China, what will the general explain to Her Majesty the Queen?"
Brod questioned, lit the cigar in his hand, and took a few puffs intently.These words undoubtedly calmed down Stilly's agitated emotions again, and stuck in his throat like a fishthorn.What Brod said was not bad at all, if Wilson had three strengths and two weaknesses, he, the commander of the army in China, would also be sitting at the end."
Then what do you say, you can't be cheap, this kid," Stifer asked with obvious lack of confidence, and also lit a cigar for himself, and took two puffs."
General, if the warship is gone, we can take it back.But if a person sees God, he will never return.We had to move warships from Britain and France, and we had to go south from the English Channel, east along the coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope, and then into the Indian Ocean, bypassing India, and passing through Malacca to reach the South China Sea, and it would take half a year to do so.What Qiao Zhiqing can develop into in the past half a year, we can't predict.Now the only way to do this is to find a proxy in China as soon as possible to support him to help us win this war. ”Brod finally let out all his thoughts in one breath, snuffed out his cigar, and breathed a sigh of relief on his face."
Agent" Stilly frowned, and was silent for a long time before nodding in agreement."
I agree with General Brodge."
Williams, the commander of the United States in China, nodded approvingly, at this time, the United States was still very weak, and the country was experiencing a protracted civil war, so it had long been unable to divide the strength to run the Far East, just following Britain and France to pick up some cheap."
Well, you mean that there is anyone else in China who can support this overall situation and compete with Qiao Zhiqing" Steverley also agreed in his heart, and secretly admired Brod's meticulous analysis."
General, have you forgotten Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhejiang, he now has more than 200,000 troops in his hands, and the drill has already seen initial results, as long as we provide him with enough weapons and funds, he will definitely help us defeat Qiao Zhiqing.The most important thing is that he is very friendly to us and very obedient to the instructions of the imperial court, which is our ideal agent in China.Even if he becomes powerful in the future, we can control him through the Manchu court. ”Brod smugly told the results of his investigation, and he saw the relationship between Chinese officials and the imperial court very precisely."
Broder, I'm really impressed by what you've said today, and it's a good way to do it, I agree."
Stevery and Williams clapped together."
Since His Excellency the General agrees, then we will first agree to Qiao Zhiqing's conditions and use the warship to exchange His Majesty the Prince back first.Then send warships to escort His Majesty back to England and France for help, it should be a long war, and we must make this arrogant boy pay in a year. ”A sneer appeared on Brood's face, and he raised his fist and slammed the table hard."
Okay, that's it."
Stifley nodded in satisfaction, turned his head and instructed Blair, "Blair, the task of rescuing the prince this time is also entrusted to you."
Don't lose the face of our British Empire again, and bring back His Majesty the Prince safely. ”"Yes, don't worry, the general, his subordinates will definitely live up to their mission."
Blair puffed up his chest and saluted, and after leaving the house, he quickly wiped his cold sweat and let out a long sullen breath.After returning to the barracks, he ordered the soldiers to drive the remaining three 6,000-ton warships out of the base and sail towards the dock in Jiangyin.Qiao Zhiqing of Suzhou Prefecture convened the commanders of various armies and held a grand memorial ceremony for the soldiers who died in the Jiang Battle.At the scene of the memorial service, the families of the soldiers were invited over, and there was a lot of crying.Qiao Zhiqing also rewarded each family with 500 taels of silver on the spot, and promised that the families of the military martyrs would all be registered with the government from now on, and the elderly and children in the family would be handed over to the government to raise.The soldiers of the artillery brigade and the sailors all stood solemnly in front of the mourning shed to send off their comrades on the last journey.Although everyone's heart is sad, it is also extremely warm.These soldiers also came from different teams at the beginning, including the Qing army, the Taiping army, and the Huai army, and there has never been an army that can have a commander like Qiao Zhiqing who cares about soldiers.After the memorial service, Qiao Zhiqing also took the opportunity to discuss with the army commanders about stationing in Nanjing.There was silence in the study, and everyone had not yet recovered from the solemnity of the memorial service just now.Although he won a complete victory this time, he sank two warships of the coalition forces and grabbed three.However, the Qing army also paid a lot of costs, especially the artillery brigade, and almost all three regiments were sent out to deploy along the line from Nanjing to Jiangyin.Under the indiscriminate bombardment of the allied warships, thousands of soldiers were lost."
Okay, cheer up Ben Shuai, what do you look like when you're depressed."
Qiao Zhiqing shouted loudly with a heartfelt heart, which startled all the army commanders."
Yes, Marshal."
The commanders quickly straightened their chests and sat upright in their seats."
Today, let's discuss the issue of stationing in Nanjing City, and Ben Shuai told you last year.Once we are stationed in Nanjing, it means a complete break between our Qing army and the Qing court.Now that the time is ripe, it is time to drive these Manchu Tartars who have brought disaster to the country and the people out of the Dragon Court. ”"The handsome and wise, my subordinates have been waiting for this day for a long time."
All the military tents under the seat were full of excitement, after this time the imperial court used the hands of foreigners to exterminate the Hunan army.Even Feng Zicai was full of anger, and he no longer had any hope for the imperial court."
Okay, since everyone has no opinion, then the commander will order the tasks of the various armies.Now the Hunan army has completely fled southward, and the threat of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has been lifted.In this battle of the Yangtze River, according to my understanding of foreign devils, they will definitely join forces with Li Hongzhang, adopt the strategy of using China to control China, and use Li Hongzhang's hands to exterminate us.Therefore, our task in the next stage is to eliminate Li Hongzhang's Huai army with all our might.It only adopts a defensive posture towards the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the north of the Yangtze River, and as long as it seizes the right to control the Yangtze River in a noisy manner, the imperial court will not be able to cross the Yangtze River. ”Qiao Zhiqing asked people to hang up the topographic map, picked up the baton and explained, paused, took a sip of the tea bowl, and moistened his throat.All the generals nodded in agreement, at present, the court can only compete with the Qing army's Huai army, with the support of foreigners, presumably Li Hongzhang will be more powerful."
In the current situation, Ben Shuai decided to take the initiative to attack the Huai army and steadily advance to the south in the east and west.In the east, Zhang Zongyu's new army was stationed in Huzhou, and after gaining a foothold in Huzhou, it quickly attacked southward to annihilate the living forces of the Huai army, and did not care about the gains and losses of one city and one place.Wen Zhong, your sailor must cooperate well and firmly grasp the right to control the lake in his hands, and he must not be careless. ”Qiao Zhiqing pointed to the topographic map and gave orders to Zhang Zongyu and Huang Wenzhong."
Subordinates receive orders."
Zhang Zongyu and Huang Wenzhong stood up with their fists clenched at the same time and shouted."
The situation in the west is more complicated, the foreigners still have tens of thousands of garrisons in Shanghai at this time, plus more than 10,000 Huai troops from Liu Mingchuan, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to take it for a while.Therefore, we did not move Shanghai first, and Chen Bingwen led the former division to enter Baoshan, Jiading, Qingpu, and Songjiang, and formed a joint siege of Shanghai.Gu Yunfei led the right division south and took Jiading directly.Both of you had also participated in Li Xiucheng's attack on Shanghai at the beginning, and you were also familiar with Shanghai, so I asked the two army commanders for this task. ”Qiao Zhiqing smiled and gave military orders to Gu Yunfei and Chen Bingwen, the two old partners."
Subordinates receive orders."
Gu Yunfei and Chen Bingwen clenched their fists and shouted, and they had no opinion on Qiao Zhiqing's arrangement.Especially Gu Yunfei, who has taken the pills that Qiao Zhiqing specially asked the doctor to refine for him in the past few days.The following gradually reacted, and the mood suddenly brightened up a lot from depression.Last night, I tossed with Yan Minxia for a night of rekindling my old love, although the result was not so satisfying, but there was always some hope
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