The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 530 Xianfeng, hurry up to Jingshan! (Request for subscription, request for tickets)

Changxindian, Weichu.

Yang Xiuqing's gilded telescope swept across the battlefield, and in the lens, thousands of Beiyang New Army's lancers were tearing open the Taiping Army's right wing defense line.

Due to the continuous bombardment and beggars, as well as the attacks of the Beiyang Army's Third and Fifth Regiments, the bamboo stick array and the deer fence in front of the Taiping Army's right trench had been penetrated, and two of the three serpentine trenches were filled with countless corpses. Now they were attacked by thousands of Beiyang New Army lancers. These lancers were trained in Western cavalry exercises and could form a horizontal formation when charging. Dozens of knights formed a dense formation with their knees touching each other. Dozens of lances were laid flat together, rushing out of the smoke of the battlefield like a wall, and trampled the Taiping Army's serpentine trench into mud. At the same time, the long lances used inertia to stab the rattan shields of the new and old brothers of the Taiping Army, knocking them out one by one!
"Release the caltrops!" General Huang Wenjin waved the flag, and more than a hundred scouts dragged baskets and jumped out of the trench. The poisoned iron spikes glowed blue in the sun. The horse of the French cavalry leader Leclerc, who was in the front, suddenly fell down. The warhorse neighed and threw its master into the poisonous thorn array. The silver breastplate and the caltrops rubbed against each other and made a sharp scream. Along with Leclerc, there were more than a dozen other riders who fell off their horses. The first row of the Beiyang New Army Lancers was in chaos.

The Taiping Army's foreign spearmen in the last snake-shaped trench on the Taiping Army's right wing ordered to seize the opportunity and fire another round of bullets at the chaotic Beiyang Lancers! This team of cavalry was completely defeated. However, these Beiyang elite cavalry fought very tenaciously. They retreated one wave after another, and attacked the same section of the trench. "Spears! Raise spears!" It was too late to load bullets, and there was no time to arrange caltrops. The Taiping Army officers on the front line had to order the soldiers below to raise the bamboo spears that had been placed in the trenches for a long time. Unfortunately, although these bamboo spears were sharp, they could not withstand the Beiyang elite cavalry's concentrated forces to attack the section of the Taiping Army trench in waves. After paying the price of more than a hundred casualties. The last trench line on the left wing of the Taiping Army was finally broken through by the Beiyang Army!
Fortunately, a battalion of cuirassiers under Mathilde's personal command did not participate in this assault because they had more important tasks to do. Otherwise, once those cuirassiers with strong hand-to-hand combat abilities rushed into the Taiping Army's trenches, they would have started a massacre!

"Hollow square formation!" Huang Wenjin knew long ago that his three serpentine trenches could not hold out, so he pulled up a brigade of reserve troops under his control to plug the gap in advance, and set up a hollow square formation behind the front line that was about to be broken through.

Faced with the phalanx of bayonets, even the Beiyang's elite cavalry did not dare to fight. But they had just retreated, and Huang Wenjin had not had time to clean up the broken battle line. On the battlefield where the smoke had just dispersed a little, there appeared one after another infantry columns like a jungle of bayonets - the First Regiment of the Beiyang New Army led by Li Hongzhang himself finally arrived!
Yingtai is not yet upright.

"Hahaha"

Xianfeng's crazy laughter resounded throughout the entire Yingtai Island, and his bright yellow satin boots stepped on the imperial edict issued in the name of Tongzhi to make him the emperor. A group of "yellow jackets" and eunuchs knelt in front of the emperor who had been "restored". They heard the gunshots, killings, and cries coming from outside the palace, and their faces were full of panic - what exactly happened outside the palace? In addition, are the prophecies of "the collapse of the Yellow River and the fall of the Qing Dynasty" and "Xianfeng killed Tongde and the Qing Dynasty was destroyed" becoming a reality?
"Draft an imperial edict! Grant Nala family the gift of white silk!" Zeng Jia Linshu's pen trembled, and the ink formed tadpole-shaped stains on the imperial edict.

At this moment, the sound of gunfire like frying beans suddenly came from the direction of Prince Zhuang's Mansion in the northwest of the Forbidden City - it was hundreds of guards and musketeers led by Yuan Bao blocking Senggelinqin's cavalry and the completely out-of-control Beggar Army under Du Han.

"Your Majesty, Senggelinqin's Mongolian cavalry rebelled, and Du Han's Qihuo army also rebelled."

A guard who was sent out to get information suddenly came on horseback, and just as he fell off his horse, he reported the bad news to Emperor Xianfeng: "Senggelinqin's Mongolian soldiers and Du Han's beggar soldiers are looting the territory of the Plain Yellow Banner."

"No problem!" Xianfeng didn't care. "Linshu, have you drafted the edict?"

"Your Majesty." Zeng Jia Linshu looked at the "Xian Feng" who seemed to have gone crazy, "There are still many Beiyang troops and Hunan troops in the Yangxin Palace, as well as the eldest prince! This is the death edict."

At this time, as long as they are not crazy, it seems that they should calm people down first, right? Everyone on Yingtai thought so. However, "Xian Feng" didn't care at all. He held a knife in his left hand and a pistol in his right hand, and called a group of subordinates who were already speechless with shock, saying: "Follow me to Yangxin Palace to kill that bitch. Let's go!"

It seems that this "crazy guy" is determined to commit domestic violence against "Cixi"!

Yangxin Palace, the beginning of the afternoon.

Naralan had already changed her clothes and shoes, exchanging her gorgeous palace dress and flower-pot shoes for the clothes that a Manchu woman would wear when going out. Several close palace maids and eunuchs also packed some valuables, and the pile of seals of the Qing emperor were also put away and carried by An Dehai. Of course, the most important thing was Zaichun - to "Xianfeng", he was still the eldest prince, but to Naralan, Zaichun was Emperor Tongzhi.

Moreover, Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan both recognized the Tongzhi Emperor. Not only Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan, but even Luo Yaoguo recognized him, but Luo Yaoguo did not recognize the Tongzhi Emperor, but the Tongzhi Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty.
Now the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-Later Jin Treaty and Zaichun are both held tightly by Naralan'er, and no one can give them to them.

"Empress Dowager, please leave quickly. The Emperor is calling!" Feng Guifen broke into the Yangxin Hall with a revolver in her hand.

When Naralan saw Feng Guifen's panic, she knew that something was wrong. She clenched the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom-Later Jin Treaty" in her hand tightly and said bitterly: "I should have killed him a long time ago!" When Xianfeng was first arrested and taken to the Forbidden City, Boyong, Chen Picheng, and Zeng Jiumei were all there. There were plenty of people who could help Naralan! But where are these people now? Anyway, Naralan couldn't find them. The Beiyang Army and the Hunan Army brought by Feng Guifen and Guo Songtao didn't look like they could help her do the dirty work - even if Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan ordered them, these people might not be willing to do it. Who knows if they will be the scapegoats after killing the emperor?

Before she finished her words, she heard a duck voice: "The Emperor has arrived!"

Came so fast!

"Close the door! Close the door!" Naralan shouted immediately. She knew that she couldn't let Xianfeng enter the Yangxin Palace, otherwise this "crazy emperor" might really kill her!
When several eunuchs and palace maids close to Naralan heard this, they immediately reacted and rushed to close the gate of the Yangxin Palace. As soon as they closed the door, "Xianfeng" rushed out of the Yangxin Palace with Zeng Jia. Linshu and dozens of guards and eunuchs.

Seeing the door of the Yangxin Palace closed, "Xianfeng" became a little furious, "Quick, knock it down! We can't let that bitch run away!"

"Yes!" Hearing his order, Zeng Jia Linshu had no choice but to call on a few guards to rush up and bang on the door with their bodies, while Nara Lan'er inside asked the eunuchs and palace maids to hold the door tightly. Even though Zeng Jia Linshu was so strong, he couldn't open the door after several bangs.

Xianfeng was a little anxious. Standing outside the Yangxin Palace, he shouted, "Listen, you lowly slave Nara. I have issued an order to execute you. Why don't you come out and accept the order?"

How could Nara Laner inside be willing to come out? She also shouted in there: "Grand Emperor, what nonsense are you talking about? You are the Grand Emperor, why are you still issuing an imperial decree? Only the Emperor can issue an imperial decree now!"

There were many soldiers from the Hunan Army and the Beiyang Army outside the Yangxin Palace. When they saw the emperor coming with a group of "yellow jackets" and eunuchs, no one dared to stop them - Feng Guifen and Guo Songtao would not let them "do whatever they want"! Of course, they did not help Xianfeng, but just watched from the sidelines.
This scene is so embarrassing! How embarrassing!

Just when Emperor Xianfeng was at a loss as to what to do with Nara clan, who was blocking the gate of the Hall of Mental Cultivation and refusing to come out to die, Sushun's elder brother, Prince Zheng Duanhua, suddenly rushed to the Hall of Mental Cultivation with several palace guards, shouting as he ran: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, it's bad, the foreigners have entered the Forbidden City!"

Foreigners? What's going on here?
The Beiyang Army and the Hunan Army who were watching the show, Zeng Jia. Linshu and the yellow jacket who were decorating the door, and Emperor Xianfeng himself were all stunned.

"Why are there foreigners here?" Xianfeng asked, "Where did they come from?"

As soon as he asked the question, he heard a burst of hurried horse hooves coming from the glazed door of the main entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation! Then he heard Mathilde's fluent Chinese: "Is the Queen Mother here? I am Mathilde, I am here to protect you and help you escape from Beijing!"

Duanhua turned pale and immediately said to Xianfeng: "That is Li Hongzhang's foreign wife. She has hundreds of French soldiers."

Before he could finish his words, he saw Mathilde, dressed in a blue velvet women's military uniform, riding a large foreign horse into the glazed door. Behind her were dozens of Western cavalrymen on large horses. Each of them wore a dazzling breastplate, held a sharp saber, and had a fierce look in their eyes!

They don't know any Emperor Xianfeng. As long as Mathilde gives the order, they will kill people!
Mathilde had never met Emperor Xianfeng, but she knew from his clothes that he was probably the emperor, so she said to him, "Are you the emperor? I am Mathilde, and I am here to escort the Empress Dowager and the Emperor on the orders of Lord Li. Please come with us!"

Is this to hold the emperor hostage and control the princes? Li Hongzhang is indeed ambitious!
Xianfeng knew it was bad when he heard this, he had to run away! If Li Hongzhang wanted to be "Li Mengde", he, the emperor, would have a hard time. Thinking of this, he didn't say anything to Mathilde, and ran to the Ruyi Gate at the back of the Yangxin Palace, shouting as he ran: "Linshu, protect the emperor quickly. Li Hongzhang wants to be Cao Cao!"

Seeing that the emperor had run away, Zeng Jia. Linshu stopped knocking on the door and quickly called a few trusted guards to chase Xianfeng. Mathilde was a little puzzled, but her mission was only to take away Nara Lan'er and Zaichun, not Xianfeng. So Mathilde ignored Emperor Xianfeng and his ministers and let them run all the way. After a while, Zeng Jia. Linshu helped Emperor Xianfeng run out of the Shenwu Gate, the back door of the Forbidden City, and ran all the way to the foot of Jingshan.
(End of this chapter)