Master Yuan, start!

Only then did Yuan Xiangcheng notice the young man next to Xu Shichang. There was a layer of stubble on his forehead that had not been shaved clean, and the braid at the back of his head was not as long as that of a normal person. It was obvious that he had shaved his head not long ago.

"Kuang Chunhua, graduated from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, met Mr. Ma Jianzhong in Penang. After a conversation, he was willing to fight for the prosperity of the country and went to the Tianjin Machinery Bureau to participate in weapons design. Meet the chief instructor!" Kuang Chunhua stood at attention and saluted, signaling to Yuan Xiangcheng.

Yuan Xiangcheng also extended his hand in return, shaking Kuang Chunhua's hands and expressing his gratitude: "You can imitate the things that foreigners have just made. With talents like you, the country will surely prosper. Jiashen Youjun welcomes you!"

After a conversation, Kuang Chunhua was included in Yuan Xiangcheng's group.

At this time, Yuan Xiangcheng changed his mind.

Chapter 56: The First Defeat of Jiashen

Heading west from the mouth of the Luan River, you will reach the traditional heart of the capital, the foothills of the emperor.

Especially Tangshan, which is not only a must-pass place connecting North China and Northeast China, but also has a resource point such as Kaiping Coal Mine.

There were many merchants traveling back and forth, and many refugees who went to Guandong also passed through here. There were many people and many things going on, and there were occasional disturbances.

Therefore, the custom of practicing boxing and martial arts is very popular in the countryside, as it can not only improve health but also provide self-defense.

The Boxer Rebellion in later generations did not develop suddenly. It was in this kind of atmosphere where every family practiced martial arts and everyone practiced boxing that the Boxer Rebellion had the soil to survive.

Otherwise, Tianjin would not have produced so many northern martial arts heroes decades later. They were all born in this soil, and after growing up, they soared to the sky in Tianjin, a place at the bottom of the Nine Dragons where good and bad people coexist.

Yuan Xiangcheng now has no chance to interfere in the specific operation of Kaiping Coal Mine, but he is very concerned about the miners in Kaiping area.

However, when we arrived at the place, we found out that the coal mine had already received a notice that a war might break out in the Beijing-Tianjin area, and the nearby miners had all gone home early.

Since it was impossible to go to Guandong alone, the miners from Zhilu, Henan and other places who stayed here were still there.

But no matter how small the mosquito is, it is still meat. After asking if anyone was willing to join the army and explaining the benefits, he attracted hundreds of miners with nothing to do to join the army.

Along the way, Yuan Xiangcheng's Jia0 Shen Youjun were all very hot. Fortunately, the military uniforms they wore were prepared half-sleeved uniforms, but they were still not as comfortable as the miners who had just arrived.

They were wearing coarse cloth riding shirts, with their arms completely exposed, and half breeches on their legs. They looked much cooler than the Jiashen Right Army who were wearing military uniforms.

If you wear long sleeves and walk under the scorching sun in today's weather, you will definitely get burned.

After walking and resting, we learned from the descriptions of the refugees we met along the way that the French had already landed and a large army was heading towards Tianjin along the Haihe River.

After arriving at Lutai, Yuan Xiangcheng and others did not see the Jiashen rear army and its commander He Cheng and others stationed there.

After some inquiries, I was told that I was ordered to go to Tianjin.

"Head Instructor, shall we also go to Tianjin to help?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiangcheng did not immediately order any action, but turned and looked to the west.

"No, keep going to Beijing."

The Tianjin Blocking Battle would inevitably lead to a brutal war of attrition, and there was no terrain advantage near the Haihe River. Going to help would be like offering food to the French.

"But we can't send the main force. We can send people to the rear to support them and say that they are the vanguard troops that landed first and the main force is still at sea and hasn't arrived yet." Yuan Xiangcheng mentioned it again.

Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui's eyes lit up. Yes, if they did not help, they might be held accountable later. The court did not allow Yuan Shikai and others to return to the capital to provide assistance. If they rushed there now, they might be sent out to stop the French.

After some discussion, the three finally decided to send Han Bei with more than 200 people to Tianjin City to gather intelligence and wait for an opportunity to support the front and rear armies of Jiashen.

If the situation is urgent, you can retreat directly and tell Liu Shengxiu, He Cheng and others to retreat towards Tongzhou. At that time, Yuan Xiangcheng will lead the Jiashen Right Army after landing to meet them.

...

"Hurry up, pull up the cannon!"

At a pass near the Haihe River outside Tianjin City, the Jiashen rear army had already arrived and was discussing how to defend with the front army commander Liu Shengxiu.

The rear army commander, Er He Chengjiu, spoke in a distinctive Central Plains accent and yelled at Liu Shengxiu: "Damn it! I don't know how much money Song Qing's left army paid to the higher-ups, but they actually let him station troops in Langfang for maneuvering, and sent us brothers to Tianjin to confront the French head-on."

"Brother He, Lord Rong is also following orders from the imperial court, so we can't blame him," Liu Shengxiu advised. "Besides, the imperial court has already issued an edict that the troops on the front lines can unconditionally control the nearby troops coming to support the emperor, so we are not isolated and helpless."

"Bah, bullshit, unconditional. Do we have to pay for the money and food? If not, which militia will listen to you?"

"Besides, Brother Liu, do you dare to use the militia? After hearing that the French had captured Port Arthur, the imperial court hastily issued an edict to mobilize troops from nearby Zhili to support the emperor.

But can this team, hastily assembled in less than ten days, really have the strength to fight?

In my opinion, it would be better to gather back all the Huai Army troops that have been disbanded in the south. At least I think the brothers who have fought against the Nian Rebellion can still be trusted."

"My dear brother He, I know you had a good relationship with our Huai Army when you were in Henan, but don't you know what the court is thinking? Withdrawing from the Huai is the general trend of the times, otherwise why would I come to the capital to train the Jiashen Front Army? Wouldn't it be better to seek a post as an admiral through Lord Li's connections?"

"It's unlucky that the imperial court is still doing this when facing a powerful enemy. Bah!" He Cheng turned his head away and said no more.

Liu Shengxiu was also speechless and could only use the excuse that Ronglu had allocated more than ten 57mm cannons to them and that he still cared about his subordinates to comfort He Cheng.

Inside the pass, several artillery officers from the Jiashen front and rear armies were constantly checking the fortifications and artillery preparations in front of their positions.

The stevedores hired from the Haihe River wharf transported boxes of gunpowder and bullets produced by the Tianjin Machinery Bureau on horse-drawn carriages to the positions and stored them. The head of each shed cheered and talked to the soldiers squatting in the trenches.

But at this distance, no one knew whether they could defend against the 90mm field cannons that the French pulled down from the ship.

However, after getting off the ship, the field artillery had to be pulled by horses. The French could not find so many horses near Dagukou at the moment, so they could only advance slowly, giving the Jiashen front and rear armies enough time to strengthen their defenses.

The oilcloth on the muzzle of the gun on the position was lifted and pushed into the defensive position. The silver-gray muzzle reflected a little cold light.

"Brothers, do you know who we're going to fight this time?" Junior officers from the Jiashen Front and Rear Armies were shouting at the front lines, trying to boost morale. "The French in the east have already captured Dagu Fort and are heading towards Tianjin. They want to storm the capital and capture the Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi. Do you think we can agree to this?"

The court has already announced that as long as you hold off the French offensive, all officers below the rank of general will be promoted two ranks and awarded 50 taels of silver. Those below the rank of lieutenant general will be promoted one rank and awarded 100 taels of silver.

There weren't many bannermen in the army, let alone Manchus. Therefore, when he heard the previous statement that the French had entered the capital to capture the emperor, his face remained expressionless and he had no reaction.

Anyway, this country is not theirs. What difference does it make if it is given to the French? They still have to farm and pay grain. Even in a famine year, they won't lose two pounds of wheat.

Only when they heard words like "promotion by two ranks" and "reward of 100 taels of silver" did the eyes of the Qing soldiers with long braids and dark faces light up and they became energetic.

No one knew who took the lead, but everyone in the trench raised their hands and cheered.

"Promotion!"

"Get rich!"

"Promotion!"

"Take the silver!"

Someone interrupted loudly, "And visit brothels!" This caused all the officers and soldiers to burst into laughter, and they scolded the person for ruining the atmosphere.

Seeing these so-called new troops who kept talking about getting promoted, getting rich, and visiting brothels, the upright civil servant supervising the battle felt complicated.

"The imperial court spends millions of taels of silver every year on this group of people, and I don't know if it has any effect. They are even worse than Mr. Zeng's Hunan Army. At least the Hunan Army raises its own military pay, without the imperial court spending money."

But who can blame the situation for being stronger than the people? This civil servant could only ponder this in his mind, and then convince himself that after this battle, the court would be able to produce another Zeng Guofan to help the poor.

The Beiyang Navy was completely destroyed, Liu Mingchuan of the Huai Army did not perform very well in Taiwan, and Feng Zicai, who won the great victory at Zhennan Pass in Vietnam, had nothing to do with his Huai Army.

Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang, may be about to end his career in a few days.

But who will be the next Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang?

Before the three Qingliu civil servants could think about it, they heard the frontline officers and soldiers shouting at the top of their lungs:

Private "Enemy spotted, all troops on alert!"

At the shrill sound of the horn, the Wenguan hurriedly ran to the safe area behind the rear position.

Only after running to a safe area did I squint and see waves of yellow sand rising from the land in the distance.

"Ready to load the shells!"

Ronglu scraped together the money from various sources, even dismantling an artillery battalion of the central army, and only then was he able to send three artillery battalions to the Jiashen front and rear armies under the city of Tianjin.

A total of 32 57mm rapid-fire guns were loaded at the same time. After the shells produced by Tianjin Machinery Bureau were stuffed into the gun barrels,

"Ready to fire! Prepare two rounds of proofreading fire outside the front trench!"

"shoot!"

Rows of flames exploded in front of the position, and shells of ammunition whizzed towards the French army in the distance.

To be fair, at this time, the weapons of the Qing army and the French army were not much different in generation. Even if there was a difference between the weapons, it was only in caliber, weight, and quantity.

But there is no doubt that the gap in individual soldier quality greatly reduced the lethality of the weapons in the hands of the Qing soldiers.

The Jiashen Front Army and the Jiashen Rear Army, both artillery battalions trained by former Huai Army instructors, showed this gap vividly.

After the two rounds of proofreading shooting, the French troops in the distance were only slightly disturbed, but it soon calmed down.

Even as smoke and dust from the artillery shells were still spreading around them, the French army had already formed their battle formation, intending to use the cannons behind them to teach the Qing army a lesson.

In an instant, there was a loud rumbling sound for several miles around the pass on the Haihe River, as if God was going to thunder on this hot and sunny day.

Every shell would stir up countless dust, and in just a dozen minutes or so, the fortifications on the pass were shaken to the point of collapse by the precisely calculated French artillery.

No one knew how long these makeshift structures could hold out. At first, dust flew up, and then people's howling and spurting blood could be heard from time to time.

The whistling shrapnel pierced the chests of the Qing soldiers who had not yet had time to hide in the fortifications. The Qing soldiers in the trenches muttered in a language only they could understand, praying for the blessings of the gods and Buddhas.

Tianjin dialect, Hefei dialect, Northern Anhui dialect, Kaifeng dialect

At this moment, no one knew whether the four of them were praying for the illusory official positions and money, or mourning for the lives of their fallen comrades.

The roar of the explosion drowned out the shouts of the junior officers in the trenches, completely suppressing them.

The Jiashen Front and Rear Armies, which were highly expected by the senior officials of the court, were suppressed by the French artillery fire and dared not raise their heads.

Chapter 57: Defense of the Capital

The rumbling artillery fire exploded around the front and rear armies of Jiashen, densely covering the entire Haihe trench.

In the center of the distant French positions, the expeditionary force commander, Courbet, coldly gazed upon the suppressed Qing positions. Undeterred by the deafening artillery roars surrounding him, he turned to the officers behind him and said, "Although the Qing army outnumbers them, a breakthrough won't be difficult. Whoever can break through this line of defense will have your troops exclusively reap all the spoils of this operation from the Qing."

Hearing about the exclusive 10% benefit, everyone was eager to lead the team to a breakthrough. The most enthusiastic among them was undoubtedly the Japanese Taro Kobayashi.

After losing nearly 2% of his troops in Lushun, it was difficult for him to explain to his country. If he did not receive some compensation in terms of money, he would be dismissed and return to his hometown to become a poor teacher.

Under the instigation of Taro Kobayashi, a group of Japanese soldiers also clamored to regain their dignity.

Seeing the French and Japanese soldiers coming like a tide, He Cheng and Liu Shengxiu also shouted for more intense artillery fire. Even though some of the cannons were blown away by the French, the remaining ones were still reaping the lives of those rushing up.

As the two sides approached, one running figure after another fell on the road. However, the artillery support of the Jiashen army was obviously weaker, and as time went on, cooling and jamming occurred frequently.

The French artillery was very keen to grasp this point and concentrated its superior firepower to carry out targeted blasting on several misfiring guns.

"Sir, the French are attacking!"

As the sound of artillery fire around them gradually faded, the Japanese and French shouted slogans and rushed towards the positions of the Jiashen armies.