Master Yuan, start!

As for the Vietnamese soldiers in Lang Son City, they could be slaughtered and killed, since no one would see it with their own eyes.

And they knew that even if they went to the battlefield to confront the Chinese commanders face to face, it would be meaningless.

After all, this happened during the war.

It is normal to have casualties during war.

How to prove that the Chinese killed the surrendered soldiers?

Aren’t the French staying in the prisoner-of-war camps just fine? Aren’t the Vietnamese Tokyo Skirmishers, who surrendered with the French, also staying in the prisoner-of-war camps?

All I can say is that for the sake of profit, the British don’t care about the lives of these people at all.

Their goal was to expand the territory of the British Empire and gain greater benefits.

Just as Sir Claude MacArthur was thinking about how to send a telegram to Europe to emphasize his contribution to the changes in the situation in East Asia.

Chinese newspapers, however, can no longer take care of so many things.

Even though they knew that the main force of the French infantry was still there, the news of the success in the early battles still made them open the champagne halfway.

The next morning, the East Asia Times in Incheon, the Shenbao in Shanghai, and the Lingnan Xinbao in Guangzhou all published news of the victory of the National Revolutionary Army.

Great victory in Annan!

Win with dignity!

Chapter 437 Chain Reaction

In 1898, spring had arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, but it was still a bit cold for some countries.

Europe was still relatively calm, but the footsteps of war were quietly approaching the other continents.

In America, in early 1898, a riot broke out in Havana, Cuba. In order to provide protection to Americans in Cuba, the US government sent the Maine to Havana.

Wu Qi. Six = 3 Dead Child Extraction Group: Unexpectedly, after arriving at Havana Harbor, the Maine exploded and sank, resulting in the deaths of a total of 266 military and civilians.

Public opinion across the United States generally believed that it was Spain that was responsible, and the voices against Spain were growing.

Just as the American people were mourning the sinking of the "Maine", the US government took the opportunity to blame Spain, claiming that the "Maine" was indeed destroyed by a Spanish mine and issued an ultimatum to the Spanish government.

A war involving Spain's colony of Cuba is about to break out.

In Africa, Sir Alfred Milner, Prime Minister of the British Cape Colony, and the Transvaal Republic, a Boer state in South Africa, held rounds of meetings over the issue of diaspora.

However, after more than half a year of consultations, the situation in South Africa has not only not cooled down, but has become more and more serious.

Feeling that they were being treated discriminatorily, British expatriates in the Transvaal Republic wrote a letter of grievance to Queen Victoria, spanning Africa and the Atlantic Ocean, asking Her Majesty to protect the interests of her British subjects.

At the end of February 1898, just as the National Revolutionary Army was marching towards Hunan and Jiangxi, Sir Alfred, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, and Kruger, President of Transvaal, held their final negotiations.

Hisashi 667.12

The result was a breakup.

After receiving the news, the British Prime Minister said in his speech to Parliament: "Her Majesty and the Government believe that the reply of the Boer Republic of South Africa is extremely negative.

The government reserves the right to reconsider whether to maintain the current situation and take appropriate measures as a last resort.”

The British Prime Minister's speech in Parliament was seen as a precursor to the British Empire's decision to resolve the South African issue by force.

After the news spread, the Dutch and Belgian Boers, mainly descendants of the Low Countries, formed many civil groups, mobilized their influence, published articles in Europe, and solicited funds, intending to donate medical equipment to the Transvaal.

There were even some European youths with a strong sense of justice who volunteered to travel across the ocean to Transvaal to fight alongside the Boers.

All of a sudden, Europe was filled with public opinion condemning Britain.

So, in fact, in the first few months of 1898, Europe's attention was not on East Asia, but on South Africa or Cuba.

: It was not until the news of France declaring war on China over its Indochina colony spread that news from East Asia regained some space in newspapers.

Even so, except for France, citizens of European countries are still more concerned about the subsequent development of the Boer Republic incident.

However, in recent days, the French authorities have been hoping that the European people can forget the news about France, because the news of the French army's defeat in Indochina is continuing to ferment.

The victory of the Chinese in Vietnam gradually shifted the focus of Europeans from the "Anglo-Boer conflict" to the "Sino-French war"

0France, how does it plan to regain its pride?

The topic of "Si" has now become one of the most popular topics among the European people.

They were all wondering whether the French Third Republic, established in the ruins, was an empire with only a facade and no purpose, just like the French Second Empire under the rule of Napoleon III?

Otherwise, why would they suffer defeats at the hands of the Chinese so often?

The first time, the company could say that it was a personal problem of the naval commander Courbet who was stubborn and forced the landing operation; the second time, it could argue that the French army was only rescuing its Russian allies and did not actually participate in the war.

What about the third time? How do you explain it?

From the snowy St. Petersburg to the dry and hot Rome, European politicians began to reflect on the French defeat.

Tsar Nicholas II was hesitating whether to disclose the news of the Russo-French alliance. Although the two countries signed a treaty, it still exists in a secret situation until now.

Nicholas II still hoped that the French could contain Britain in the Far East and sanction China, but judging from the French's current performance, he somewhat regretted signing the contract.

Why are Napoleon’s descendants getting worse with each generation?

If they couldn’t defeat the anti-French alliance and the Prussian soldiers, how come they couldn’t even defeat the Chinese?

Nicholas looked at the news of France's disastrous defeat in the newspaper and felt a little disappointed.

But the king of the Mediterranean Kingdom of Italy had different ideas.

After seeing the French suffer repeated defeats in the colonies, his colonial desire, which had been somewhat dormant due to the failure of the Ethiopian War, became restless again.

Italy was founded very late. It was not until 1860 when the British and French forces burned down the Old Summer Palace that Italy completed its unification. Therefore, this young Mediterranean country lacked colonies.

Therefore, in 1896, Italy launched a war against Ethiopia, hoping to occupy this roof of Africa.

However, there are also differences between countries.

Italy ultimately suffered a disastrous defeat with 1.5 troops dispatched, 1.1 killed or wounded, and 4000 captured.

After this, the Italians learned from their mistakes and decided to find a colony on the nearby coast of North Africa to avoid the decline in the army's combat effectiveness caused by the long expedition.

For example, the Tripoli region in northern Libya.

Since the French colonized Tunisia, they have always wanted to annex it, but Italy did not dare to compete with it due to France's national strength.

However, after hearing about France's defeat in the Far East, the Italians suddenly felt that they were up to it again.

European countries of this era all seemed to be civilized countries, and they all behaved gentlemanly towards each other.

But the sad thing is that all of this is based on strength.

Countries can be friendly to each other only when there are no interests involved.

Real diplomacy is often a bloody game of interests.

The French army's successive defeats in the Far East caused even second-rate European countries like Italy to have strange thoughts.

This is also why the French made a big fuss about the Vietnamese emperor's escape. Their purpose was very clear.

On the one hand, they wanted to restore their image as a great power and safeguard their interests; on the other hand, they simply wanted to further intimidate the newly established People's Republic of China.

Of course, it was also convenient for them to open a gap in the southwest of China to extend their colonial tentacles to Yunnan and Guangxi provinces in China.

If these two provinces could be obtained, France would not actually cling to the new republican government. They would also be willing to provide a lot of assistance like the British.

Even concluding a treaty with China is not impossible.

However, the real world does not develop as France expected.

Just before Paris responded to the disastrous defeat between Zhen and Liang, Yuan Shikai, President of the Republic of China, arrived in Guangzhou again at the end of March 1898.

Chapter 438 Chain Reaction Counterattack

Against this background, at the end of March 1898, Yuan Shikai, President of the Republic of China, arrived in Guangzhou again.

On the first day of his arrival, Yuan Shikai stood on the Guangzhou city wall, in front of all the people in the city, holding the military cap of Major General Jeannissen sent back from the Zhenliang front, tied it to a rope, and hung it in the city gate.

The foreigners in the city were somewhat confused when they saw this scene, but the Chinese were all excited and agitated.

　"Head hanging in the market"

Although it is not a real head, this military cap with the rank of major general inlaid on it represents the honor of the French army and is hung here. The meaning of humiliation is much stronger than a head.

Soon, the news reached Paris. The French press, which had learned about the story of the man hanging his head in the market through various channels, was immediately overwhelmed with anger when they saw the news.

For three consecutive days, the French newspaper Le Parisien used two consecutive pages on the front and back pages to describe the miserable conditions faced by the French in the Chinese Concession, hoping to arouse the anger of the French people.

At the same time, they clamored for the government to massively increase its troops in Indochina, force the Chinese to abandon Lang Son, and hand over all three passes and 3 passes in southern Guangxi, headed by Zhennan Pass, to the colonial government.

Otherwise, a full-scale war will break out between China and France.

Yes, until now, the French public opinion still believes that the French army's failure was caused by "momentary negligence".

However, compared with ordinary people, the French government is much more sober. They know that the French army is currently at a disadvantage on the ground battlefield in Vietnam, and it is wishful thinking to ask the Chinese to hand over Zhennan Pass, so they can only settle for the second best.

However, they cannot ignore domestic public opinion.

After all, in the old revolutionary district of Paris, citizens have taken to the streets to protest against the government's inaction. If the unrest continues, it may turn into political unrest.

Therefore, in order to respond to domestic public opinion, French politicians chose to send the Far East Navy to attack and bombard Guangzhou, Quanzhou and other places.

The French government wanted to use this to threaten Yuan Shikai to withdraw his troops from Lang Son immediately. Otherwise, they would send their fleet north to Bohai Sea to seek a decisive battle with the Beiyang Fleet, repeating the "Fujian Mawei Navy" incident.

Faced with the French's crazy public opinion and military offensive from the government to the people, Yuan Shikai once again sent a telegram to the whole country, reiterating his determination to fight France to the end.

At the same time, in response to the French Far East Fleet's 7 bombings of Guangzhou, Quanzhou and other places, and the th also claimed to go north to bombard Shanghai, Inchon, Tianjin and other places.

Yuan Shikai stated that he would never compromise with the French and that the Republican government would immediately issue war bonds against France to raise funds to build semi-permanent or permanent artillery batteries in important coastal ports.

"I would rather spend ten thousand golds to build a watchtower than give a penny to the French invaders!"

After this strongly sealed telegram was published, it immediately aroused the patriotic enthusiasm of the vast majority of citizens of the Republic.

They took to the streets and began to march and demonstrate.

The citizens in the French Concessions in Tianjin, Shanghai and other places united extremely well and occupied all the entrances and exits to the local French Concessions, cutting off the French Concessions' connection with the outside world.

Although the French Concession in China is no longer as prosperous as it used to be due to the repeated conflicts between Yuan Shikai and France, there are still some normal business activities and defensive forces there.

But now, the French soldiers inside the concession did not dare to shoot at the demonstrators to disperse them because of the watchful eyes of the National Revolutionary Army soldiers standing beside them.

Every day and night, there were people shouting and cursing at the gate of the French Concession.

Some people even got some Ming Dynasty catapults from somewhere and launched feces and black dog blood into the French Concession in Shanghai.