The French finally took advantage of the artillery to attack Shansi City. The Black Flag Army used the buildings in the city to resist tenaciously. They suddenly rushed out from the corner and directly engaged in close combat with the French army.
The French had no choice but to pick up a large number of heavy firepower and clean up the buildings one by one. The battle was extremely intense.
The Black Flag Army had no choice but to break out of the encirclement with their lives on the line. Only a thousand or so people managed to escape.
After the Black Flag Army gave up on Shaanxi, they retreated to the mountainous area in the northwest. The front line of Beining and Liangshan was completely cut off.
North Tranquility was an important city that Annan had entered China from.
If they lost this opportunity, not only would they be able to threaten Hanoi, but they would also be able to isolate Liangshan in the north. The entire southwest would be under the French army's control.
……
After losing Shanxi, the French army did not give chase. They had already suffered this kind of loss many times before. They were led around in circles by the Black Flag Army, which constantly consumed their strength.
The French army had sent a large number of troops to Annan, which made Gu Ba's forces extremely sufficient. He began to order most of them to swagger along the main road towards Beining.
In his opinion, although the Qing army had more than 25,000 people, they were not their match at all. Bei Ning, who had worked hard, was only slightly stronger in front of them. They did not pay attention to the protection of the cannons on the flanks.
He sent out gunboats and small troop-carrying ships along the river to seize the Qing army's artillery.
Northern Tranquility Military Governor's Mansion
"Haha! Rebellion is rebellion. He can't even withstand a city. Annan has even given him the title of governor of the three provinces of the left. I think he's crazy to restore the country.”
Huang Guilan couldn't help but laugh at the news of Shanxi's defeat.
"Fortunately, we didn't send troops to reinforce them. Otherwise, we would have lost our troops in vain and be reprimanded by the Imperial Court.”
Zhao Youting was also very satisfied with his wise decision. It was a pity that the lobbyist still wanted to die.
"Hmph, now that the French are going straight for Beining from the main road, they want to attack from the front. I'll set up defenses outside the city and make sure they won't be able to return.”
Huang Guilan was full of confidence. When he fought against the Taiping Army, he saw that the foreign spear team hired by Li Hongzhang was nothing more than this.
"Lord Admiral, as long as we defend North Tranquility, we won't cause any more trouble!”
Zhao Youting frowned. Pan Dingxin was supposed to come to Beining to supervise the battle, but he did not dare to come when he heard that Shanxi was being besieged by the French. He directly returned to Nanning from Liangshan.
If he wasn't afraid of being accused of deserting, he would have left long ago. He didn't want Huang Guilan to challenge the French.
"What are you afraid of? When the French come, I'll personally supervise the battle. If things don't go well, just retreat to the city.”
Huang Guilan couldn't help but despise Zhao Youting's cowardice. He began to adjust the medical records and added two lines of defense outside the city. Together with the frontal forces, it looked like they could advance and retreat as they pleased.
"Milord, Black Mountain and Surge are the strategic locations for our rear. If we lose them, the consequences will be unimaginable. If we move the two troops outside the city here, North Tranquility will be safe.”
a deputy general said.
"Hmph, if that's the case, why would the French attack? Once our supplies are cut off, Liangshan will have to send people to rescue us. A crime of losing the battle will be pressed on us. Can you bear this responsibility?”
Huang Guilan snorted coldly. He might be able to become the governor if he were to severely injure the French. How could he let go of this opportunity…
Tang Yiran still wanted to argue, but she was directly chased out by Huang Guilan.
"Sigh, if you are brave but not resourceful, North Tranquility will definitely lose!”
Tang Yiran stomped his feet. He sent people to the Southern Mountain's City to ask for help while he led his troops to strengthen the defense of the artillery.
Halfway through the journey, the French army split into two groups to attack Xinghua, northwest of Hanoi. There were five Qing battalions guarding the area. Both sides engaged in a fierce battle. Although the French army had the advantage, they could not take it down for a while.
Huang Guilan was even more certain about the French's actions.
In fact, Gu Ba wasn't worried about his equipment being exposed at all. Through the news from the local foreigners, he already knew that the Qing army's two main cannons were just some old-fashioned bronze cannons, and they weren't very powerful.
What he was most worried about was if the Qing army retreated and did not come out.
Zhennan pass
"Huang Guilan, that idiot! Killed my Gui Jun!"
Feng Zicai had finally arrived at the Southern Mountain's City a few days in advance. However, he had received news that Shanxi had fallen and that Beining had become an isolated city.
" Admiral, Huang Guilan has sent troops to set up defenses on both sides of the main road outside the city…"
" What…Quickly gather the troops. We're going to Northern Tranquility…"
Feng Zicai did not wait for the person to finish speaking before his expression changed and he immediately ordered loudly.
He knew that it might be too late…
Huang Guilan was overjoyed to see Gu Ba appear at the gates of North Tranquility City. He immediately led his army to engage in a fierce battle with Gu Ba. Then, with three times the number of troops, they actually fought back and forth with the French. However, on the same day, news came that all the cannons in the rear had been lost.
The French sent a large number of troops to attack the two high and low places. Although Tang Yiran resisted tenaciously, he could not resist at all. The French had the advantage in weapons and numbers. Even if Tang Yiran's more than 500 men died, they still could not hold the two places.
After taking over the two forts, the French moved their cannons to the top of the mountain and bombarded the Gui army inside and outside the city, causing chaos.
Huang Guilan finally understood why the French army had so few cannons. However, the situation was already hopeless. They could not retreat into the city. Although they were filled with regret, they could only draw their swords and commit suicide.
Zhao Youting had actually given up on the city's defenses and fled with Zhang Deng and the others. For a moment, the North Tranquility Army had lost their leader and collapsed…
Feng Zicai received the news halfway and could only gather the scattered soldiers while retreating to the Southern Mountain's City.
After the fall of Beining, Annan quickly fell, and the French troops headed straight for Guangxi and Yunnan…
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。