Master Yuan, start!

But at this moment, they all shouted the slogan "Cross the river, cross the river", completely ignoring the French fleet anchored on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and aimed directly at Jiangning City!

Courbet turned around, held the railing with his hand, took out a telescope from his arms, and observed the Beiyang Navy warships that were firing, while also observing the National Defense Forces who were rowing hard.

In his opinion, this kind of disregard for France should never happen!

It was the foolish politicians in Paris who made misjudgments that pushed France step by step into its current situation.

After the "Battle for the Qing Throne" began, France has always stood on Liu Kunyi's side and never took Yuan Shikai's war threats seriously.

After annexing Taiwan, France's economic system in the Far East became much more complete than in the original time and space. It could not only supply raw materials to the mainland, but it could even generate its own blood and earn a lot of silver by relying on the coastal markets of China.

Therefore, the Parisian politicians, having tasted the sweetness, decided to take a risk and support Liu Kunyi to compete with the British who supported Yuan Shikai.

If successful, France will have greater influence and more benefits in the Yangtze River Basin.

Find! Book group 86

But no one expected that Liu Kun would be defeated so quickly. The French had no idea of ​​this. In order to stabilize the situation, they could only roll up their sleeves and do it themselves.

However, just some time ago, the British Foreign Secretary declared that if France insisted on intervening in the situation in the Yangtze River Basin, the fleet stationed in Singapore and Hong Kong would also choose a day to "visit" Saigon and Keelung.

Prior to this, the British Hong Kong Fleet had been patrolling near the Taiwan Strait, and France's supply lines had long been exposed to the British guns.

If these threats remained only verbal, then the other threat completely hit the lungs of the French Indochina colony.

The British found a man named "Nguyen Phuc Minh Nghia" from somewhere, claiming that he was the second son of "Emperor Ham Nghi" of Annan. He revealed his identity in Singapore and recruited patriots from all over the world who were committed to the restoration of Vietnam.

Emperor Xianyi!

He was the eighth emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam and also a puppet emperor. However, although he was a puppet established by the French, he did not submit to the French.

Emperor Xianyi once sought help from the Qing Dynasty at the official level, while contacting the Black Flag Army among the people in an attempt to resist the French.

Although he was eventually arrested by the French and exiled to Algeria along with his descendants.

However, the "Vietnamese Royalist Movement" launched in Vietnam under his banner triggered dozens of anti-French uprisings.

It also brought Emperor Ham Nghi's reputation among the Vietnamese people to its peak.

It can be said that he was the Vietnamese emperor who resisted the French most fiercely in Vietnamese history. The Viet Cong in later generations gave him extremely high praise. Cities such as Saigon, Haiphong, and Da Nang all have roads named "Ham Nghi".

But now, the French have clearly captured Emperor Xianyi's entire family and taken them to North Africa. Where did Emperor Xianyi's second son appear from?

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When the British people were spreading the news in newspapers, Germany also stood up.

The Germans said that they were also willing to support the descendants of Emperor Ham Nghi and re-discuss the issue of the ownership of the Vietnamese throne.

Yes, the Germans came here following the scent.

They had previously taken advantage of the convenience of the "Zhu Hai Lan Fang" colonial trade route, often deliberately deviating from their route along the way, and after turning to the coast of Vietnam, they distributed guns and ammunition to Vietnamese anti-French organizations.

For the Vietnamese people, anti-French sentiment was a deep-seated tacit understanding. Whether they were the "Westerners" serving in French government offices or the Confucian scholars who persisted in resisting the French, they all hoped that one day Vietnam would be able to break free from French influence.

Now with the banner of Emperor Ham Nghi, riots broke out frequently in the "Central Vietnam" region of Vietnam, where French colonial power had weak rule, and the situation was getting worse.

The French divided Vietnam into three parts: Tonkin, centered on Hanoi, close to China; Cochinchina, centered on Saigon, close to Siam; and the remaining areas were collectively referred to as Central Vietnam.

Now that Central Vietnam is in chaos, North and South Vietnam will have to send troops to support it. However, the Black Flag Army in the mountains of Tonkin has not yet been wiped out, and Cochinchina also has to face pressure from Siam.

If after supporting Central Vietnam, the North and South Vietnam become restless again, then won’t the Vietnamese colony be in turmoil?

The Vietnamese colony is the foundation of France's Far East colonization and cannot tolerate any mistakes.

As the leader of the army, Courbet knew that the French army seemed to have regained its glory, but in fact it had never experienced actual combat, and the politicians in Paris were just bluffing.

In Europe, Germany's pressure became increasingly obvious, and the British no longer sided with France as they did after the Franco-Prussian War.

Fight against Britain and Germany at the same time? Courbet knew that France could not afford the cost.

Moreover, even if the military action is limited to the Far East, the Far East naval power that the British are proud of will crush the French Far East fleet under their feet.

If the tone was not so high, Courbet could have called on some of the Taiwan garrison troops to participate in the "battle for the Qing throne" between Liu Kunyi and Yuan Xiangcheng.

However, in order to win votes, Paris politicians made a lot of claims, claiming that the Foreign Legion was ready and could land in China at any time.

These words immediately aroused Britain's vigilance, resulting in the vanguard troop ship being blocked at sea by the British Far East Fleet, unable to advance or retreat. How could Courbet not be angry?

The Parisian politicians' verbal attacks were so loud that he could only take a few "harmless" ships, fly the battle flag, and watch Yuan Shikai attack Jiangning from afar.

"Shame, such a shame!" Courbet couldn't help but wail.

"How could the French have fallen so low as to watch the war unfold without taking any action?"

On the surface of the Yangtze River in the autumn of 1895, a French general sighed and lamented France's inaction.

When Yuan Xiangcheng learned about this later, he almost laughed out loud.

He couldn't help but sigh that this might be the strong constraint of the historical line.

Because of his sudden appearance, the history after World War I will most likely be completely different. It is hard to say whether Germany and France can still fight at that time, not to mention the "sit-down war" on the Western Front of World War II.

But some destinies seem difficult to escape.

Thanks to Yuan Shikai's instigation, the French once again engaged in a sit-in war 60 years ahead of schedule.

Chapter 275 Hunan and Huaihe are integrated

As soon as the Yangtze River's water defense line was breached, Chen and Yu Lianyuan, who were in charge of the defense in the city, knew that Jiangning City could no longer be defended.

"General Xian, let's go! The National Defense Army has already captured Tianbao City!"

Chen didn't bother to tidy up his loose braids, and hurried into the Governor's Mansion to report the current tense situation to Liu Kunyi.

Tianbao City and Dibao City were two very strong fortresses built on the mountainside to protect Tianjing during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period under the order of Yang Xiuqing.

However, this strong fortress has been destroyed once.

More than 30 years ago, when attacking Tianjing, in order to deal with the artillery bombardment in Tianbao City and Dibao City, they made something called "wooden shield wall". It was woven with wood, bamboo strips and straw, mixed with soil and dried, and then covered with a wet quilt.

A "wooden shield wall" was pushed forward by more than a dozen people. Except for the large-caliber shells hitting the front, ordinary muskets and small-caliber shells were completely unable to penetrate the "wooden shield wall".

Now, the National Defense Army was at the gates of the city, carrying larger-caliber artillery and heavier ammunition, and launched a charge towards Tianbao City using the old Hunan Army's "wooden shield wall" method.

Thousands of National Defense Force soldiers, holding nearly a hundred "wooden shield walls", steadily advanced towards Tianbao City under the cover of artillery fire from warships on the Yangtze River in the rear.

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Although there were large-caliber artillery pieces in Tianbao City, there was insufficient ammunition. After destroying more than a dozen wooden shield walls, the artillery pieces in Tianbao City had to be silenced, and only the small-caliber artillery pieces were still firing.

However, these small-caliber artillery pieces were helpless against the wooden shield wall.

After losing all the land in Jiangbei, the Hunan Army had already lost its fighting spirit. Now, seeing the wooden shield wall that could not be broken or destroyed, they almost lost the desire to resist.

Seeing this, the Wehrmacht took the opportunity to have the artillery, under the cover of the wooden shield wall, pull the mountain cannons to the front of Tianbao City and continuously bombard the fort.

Hundreds of artillery pieces roared and fired shells at the same time, bombarding Tianbao City with overwhelming firepower advantage.

Seeing that they were outmatched, the defenders in the fort had no choice but to surrender, and Tianbao City was captured by the National Defense Forces in half a day.

Now that the Sky Castle City has fallen, it is only a matter of time before the Underground Castle City falls.

Therefore, Chen Cai, who was in charge of defending the city, proposed that Liu Kunyi withdraw, as there was no other way.

However, Liu Kun was no longer the man who settled down in the countryside of Hunan after being dismissed from office. He could not bear the feeling of sinking again.

Before coming out to assist Zeng Guoquan, Liu Kunyi had been unemployed in his hometown of Hunan for ten years.

During the 1881 years from 1891 to 10, he experienced the ups and downs of officialdom and the loss of power.

Therefore, after Zeng Guoquan passed away, in order to consolidate his power, he ordered the Jiangnan New Army to attack northward and westward to consume the forces in the Hunan Army that did not belong to him.

Liu Kunyi didn't want to leave. After all, he thought he was no less capable than Zeng Guofan and wanted to be a hero in the hearts of the people of Hunan. Jiangning City was the foundation he had laid for his fellow Hunanese men, so how could he give it up easily?

Moreover, his physical condition did not allow him to go to Shu.

Liu Kunyi was always ill and was known as "lying down to govern the south of the Yangtze River". He mainly presided over the general direction of military and political affairs.

The infantry was led by Zhu Hongzhang and Li Guangjiu; the navy was led by Chen; the internal affairs were led by Yu Lianyuan; and the foreign affairs were led by Tao Senjia.

However, Zhu Hongzhang and Li Guangjiu died in Xuzhou and Yangzhou respectively. After counting, there is only one commanding general left in Jiangning City, Chen.

"Mr. Chen from Fang, why do you say that?" Liu Kun raised his eyes and did not take Chen's words seriously.

"Jiangning City is the foundation of the Sanxiang people in Jiangnan. If we lose this city, where will the hundreds of thousands of Xiang people in Jiangnan go?"

"General Xian, the old general Zeng Guofan was also defeated by the Taiping rebels, but everyone says he fought again and again, and despite repeated defeats, he finally defeated the Taiping rebels, didn't he?" Chen saw that Liu Kunyi didn't want to retreat, and tried to persuade him:

"General Xian, the National Defense Army is now so powerful. Why not avoid its sharp edge and take our time? In my opinion, the best strategy is to abandon Jiangning and retreat to the area between Hunan and Jiangxi. Relying on the support of the Hunan people, we can still have a chance of survival."

When Liu Kun saw Chen using Zeng Guofan to pressure him, he immediately said angrily, "What's going on, Marshal? What's going on with us now? Don't you know?

Of course I know that the old coach was in desperate situations 4 times, dived 2 times, and wrote 3 suicide notes!

But he was able to make a comeback time and time again, don’t you know why?

The imperial court! Ahem... ahem, it’s the imperial court!”

Liu Kunyi was so angry that he spoke too fast. His body couldn't bear it for a while and he started coughing violently.

He took a few sips of water from the teacup, then said to Chen weakly, "Fangxian, the old commander can only rise again with the support of the imperial court's grain and grass.

But do we have a court? The little emperor in Wuchang gave us a few taels of silver. Don’t you know that?

Jiangning City is our capital, and the customs silver is the silver given by the court. The British have already withheld the customs silver. If I leave again, the capital will be gone. How can I make a comeback?"

As a veteran who had fought against the Fa bandits with Zeng Guofan, Chen naturally knew that what Liu Kunyi said was the truth.

The old general was terrible at fighting. If he had not had the financial and food support of the court at that time, he would not have been able to conquer the two lakes and would have been forced to commit suicide by Shi Dakai.

However, now that the National Defense Army is attacking, do we really have to defend Jiangning to the death? Seeing that Liu Kunyi was stubborn, Chen simply closed his eyes and said nothing more.

Seeing Chen's eyes tightly closed, Yu Lianyuan, who was standing with his hands down, had to step forward and persuade him:

"General Xian, there are nearly 5 national defense troops outside Jiangning City, and tens of thousands more are waiting to be dispatched between the Yangtze River and the Huai River to the north.

Yuan Xiangcheng's three men, Tiger, Ox, and Wolf, were arrayed in the north of the city;

The masts of the Hailong and Haichao hang high above the river;

The British who came from Shanghai were also eyeing the east side of the city.

If you don't leave now, you won't be able to leave later!"

As Liu Kun's deputy, Yu Lianyuan revealed all the information he knew.

When Liu Kun heard this, although he still disagreed with the retreat, his expression changed slightly.