Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

However, although the Anglo-French cavalry regiment temporarily retreated, the artillery became powerful again.

At Meng Daban's command, dozens of heavy artillery pieces behind him unleashed their might and launched a fierce attack on the positions garrisoned by the Qing army. Shells whizzed towards the Qing army, and the entire position was shrouded in smoke and flames of war.

The vanguard suffered a setback, and then encountered a fierce attack from the foreign artillery. The morale of the Qing army began to destabilize. Under the attack of the British and French artillery, they suffered heavy losses. Senggelinqin was furious, but he could only sigh helplessly at the foreign artillery. He had less than 20 Western artillery pieces, and they were ordinary infantry guns. In order not to anger Britain and France, the Americans had to sell small-caliber infantry guns to the Qing Dynasty, replacing the field heavy artillery originally agreed with Liu Ye. As for the rest of the Qing Dynasty's own artillery, it was completely useless. The range was too short to reach the British and French positions. Moreover, they were all smoothbore guns with a very low hit rate! How could they possibly be a match for them?

Senggelinqin was filled with resentment, but victory or defeat on the battlefield could not be determined by human will. No way, no way. The two sides fought fiercely in Zhangjiawan for a whole day. The artillery of the British and French forces was extremely sharp. The position where Senggelinqin was stationed was completely destroyed, and the casualties were heavy. Zhangjiawan could not be defended!

Senggelinqin had to lead the Qing army to retreat towards Baliqiao.

On his warhorse, Senggelinqin was so depressed that he wanted to kill someone. It was all because of the emperor. His own fighting power was already insufficient, and now the main force of the brave and combat-savvy Firearms Battalion has been transferred away. Damn, you want the horse to run without giving it grass to eat. How can such a good thing happen in the world? If the entire suburbs of Beijing are defeated and the British and French forces are at the gates of Beijing, what use will you still have to keep the Firearms Battalion? Even their base has been destroyed!

Senggelinqin led the remnants of his defeated army and retreated to Baliqiao in one breath, where he joined forces with the armies of Ruilin and Shengbao. After taking stock of the troops, he found that the entire Qing army had suffered more than 4,000 casualties. The attack of the Anglo-French coalition was too fierce!

After arriving at Baliqiao, Senggelinqin made emergency deployments again to prevent the British and French forces from taking advantage of the situation to attack.

At this time, the British commander-in-chief Saxton led the main force of the coalition forces to Zhangjiawan. The army advanced and instantly occupied Tong County. With Tong County as the rear, they advanced towards Baliqiao!

At Baliqiao, Senggelinqin was now worried. The strength of the Anglo-French coalition forces had exceeded 20,000. The Qing army could not resist even with 10,000 troops. Now that the strength had increased to 20,000, it would be even more difficult to defeat the Anglo-French coalition forces.

Sheng Bao said, "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, we need to deploy troops on the left, center, and right roads. We must defend all three of these directions. Otherwise, if the British and French forces bypass our main force and march directly to the capital, the capital will be shaken, and we will be even more passive."

Senggelinqin nodded and replied, "What Kezhai said is absolutely right. I will be responsible for the crucial Baliqiao road in the middle. Lord Ruilin will personally supervise the battle in the south, and you will personally supervise the battle in the north. I think that in order to quickly advance the front line, they are most likely to attack Baliqiao directly. This is the throat and a battleground for both the enemy and us! I will personally lead 10,000 Mongolian cavalry. This time, even if our army is completely wiped out, we cannot retreat even a single step. If the foreigners want to attack the capital, they will have to march on my corpse!"

The three men had made their plan. Senggelinqin immediately ordered the Qing army to build earthen ramparts and trenches on the spot to deal with the artillery of the British and French forces. The 10,000-strong army was on guard, waiting for the arrival of the coalition forces.

The news of the defeat at Zhangjiawan soon reached the capital. Emperor Xianfeng could no longer sit still. Even the important canal town of Zhangjiawan had been lost, so the Qing army had no place to defend. If they were defeated by the coalition forces again at Baliqiao, the British and French forces would be at the gates of the city!

Sushun, standing by, advised, "Your Majesty, there is no time to hesitate. The Anglo-French coalition is becoming increasingly crowded. According to reports from the front, their strength has reached 20,000. Although the monk king is a renowned general, without sufficient artillery support, victory is impossible. I believe Your Majesty must visit Rehe to avoid the enemy!"

Xianfeng had already been at a loss, and the entire Qianqing Palace was silent. Only Sushun could give some suggestions, and he had no choice but to obey.

Xianfeng said urgently, "Immediately issue an order to mobilize the Shenji Battalion and the Huoqi Battalion to escort the emperor. Tomorrow morning, they will go on a hunting tour in Rehe! All affairs in the capital and foreign affairs are to be handled by Prince Gong. You must urge Senggelinqin to repel the powerful enemy and protect the country!"

In the early morning of the next day, Xianfeng hurriedly left Beijing with a group of important court officials and ran towards the northeast. He took Beijing with him. Was he waiting to die?

Almost all the important officials in the court were left with only a few people such as Prince Gong and Grand Secretary Wenxiang.

Prince Gong and Wenxiang looked at each other in bewilderment. The huge city of Beijing was now deserted. The two of them were just pawns used for peace. But what should they do next?

The two people now have no idea. It's difficult. This time they have really angered Britain and France. So many people have died. If they don't give them some benefits, it will be almost impossible to get them to withdraw their troops.

Wen Xiang said in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, we'd better negotiate peace as soon as possible. If we continue fighting, there will be no good results. If that brat Liu Ye were here, perhaps he could still find a way to turn the tide. But now he's far away from the Great Wall, unable to reach us. From Dagukou to Tianjin, and then to Zhangjiawan, the Monk King has suffered defeat after defeat. Even the invincible Mongolian cavalry can no longer withstand their attacks. The only option now is to negotiate peace, accept the conditions of Britain and France, and send them away first before discussing other matters. Otherwise, if the coalition forces capture Beijing, our losses will be far more than just a little bit..."

Prince Gong's face darkened as he angrily said, "I know that negotiating peace is the best policy right now, but what about the upright officials in the court? They only know how to impeach one today and another tomorrow. They're dissatisfied with everything. Apart from impeachment, they're completely useless. It really makes me furious!"

Wen Xiang said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, why don't I go to Zhangjiawan myself and then go to the foreigners to test their will and see if there's any room for maneuver. As long as there's even a sliver of room, we must protect the army from harm and Beijing from being lost..."

Prince Gong sighed heavily, nodded, and replied, "Well, pack your bags and leave now. Remember, don't agree to any conditions first. Just bring them back and discuss them. We can't let ourselves get involved in such a small matter."