It's late at night and people are quiet.

There are few night battles in military operations nowadays. After a day of fierce fighting, it is time for everyone to rest at night.

At the Yunnan Army's garrison, Lord Tang Jiong, the governor of Yunnan, was sitting face to face with his Biao Gang General Zhang Yongqing.

Looking at Zhang Yongqing in front of him, Tang Jiong's face was gloomy and clear, "General Zhang Shen, do you have the confidence to defend Shanxi?"

Zhang Yongqing was stunned when he heard this, and then said, "Sir, if you persist for two more days, when the reinforcements arrive, Shanxi will be free of worries."

Tang Jiong said: "What if reinforcements are not there?"

Zhang Yongqing gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, it is not the last general who is incompetent. These two **** have also seen that the French army is better than our army in terms of military strength and weapons. Now the strength of the French army is only 4,000 inside the city, and there are still many French troops outside the city. If there are no reinforcements and defending Shanxi, the last general is not sure. But don't worry, the last general is one and the next, and you will definitely protect your uncle!"

After hearing Zhang Yongqing express his sincerity, Tang Jiong nodded, "It's great that you have this kind of heart."

After saying this, Tang Jiong no longer had any voice. Zhang Yongqing didn't know what Shangguan meant, and it was not convenient to speak at this time. It was very embarrassing to sit wherever he was.

After a while, Tang Jiong said, "I think General Zhang Shen will help me if he leads his army out of the city tonight?"

Zhang Yongqing was shocked when he heard this.

Now there are few soldiers in the city, and they are not careful about the realities of the French army outside the city. Moreover, everyone in the French is tall and big, and their close combat abilities are all clear in their hearts, and they are more than several stories taller than the Yunnan Army. Even if they rely on fortifications to defend the city, they may not be able to defend it. Tang Jiong suddenly said that he wanted to go out of the city to meet the enemy. Isn’t this touching the stone with an egg?

Thinking of this, Zhang Yongqing was about to advise him. When he looked up and met Tang Jiong's shiny eyes, he suddenly realized that Tang Jiong was not going to attack the enemy, he was going to run away!

Cold sweat immediately emerged from Zhang Yongqing's forehead. No wonder he asked me first if I could still defend the city without reinforcements.

Since Tang Jiong asked this, it is obvious that reinforcements will not come. If they stay, it may be like Mo and Xu, who are dead. But if they leave, they will abandon their brothers who have been dependent on each other for many days. How can they bear it?

But Zhang Yongqing knew that Tang Jiong would not give him much time to think and had to make a decision immediately.

In the end, reason defeated emotions. Zhang Yongqing made a cruel decision and knelt down and said, "The last general is the only one who is the leader!"

Looking at Zhang Yongqing kneeling in front of him, Tang Jiong smiled. "Okay, you go and prepare first, let's go from Ximen. Be careful not to leak the news."

"Yes!" Zhang Yongqing took the order and prepared to go. Soon, the west gate quietly opened. A team of more than 300 armed forces quickly came out of the city and disappeared into the night. After a while, a burst of gunfire came from the night sky in the distance, but it quickly became sparse, and then it was depressed. The night was still quiet as if nothing had happened.

On Courbet's flagship, the messenger was waiting for the command of the chief general.

"Just a small team of Qing soldiers?"

"Yes, Your Excellency General. According to Major Regas, there should be no more than four hundred people. Judging from the banner, it is not the Black Flag Army."

Courbet thought for a while, "Haha, it seems that the enemy can't stand it anymore. This means that the morale of the army in the city has dispersed and they are now starting to escape. OK, tell Regas, there is no need to pursue. We just want the soldiers in the city to know that only by abandoning the city can we have a way out!"

"Yes!" The messenger saluted Courbet and then went out to convey the general's order.

Then, Courbet called another messenger in. "Tell me my order, so that the troops will rest for one day tomorrow and no longer need to attack."

After several days of fierce fighting, the French army suffered huge casualties. Now that the city is in chaos, it is possible to obtain targets without losing soldiers. Why not do it?

Tang Jiong ran away!

The next morning, Liu Yongfu, who learned of the bad news, immediately ordered the blockade of the news, and immediately went to Tang Jingsong to discuss countermeasures.

Tang Jiong's escape was not only a matter of how many soldiers he took away, but more importantly, it was a fatal blow to the already depressed morale.

Tang Jingsong naturally understood the truth and became anxious at that time. When he heard that Liu Yongfu had blocked the news, he breathed a sigh of relief. But this matter could not be hidden by hiding it. Tang Jiong, such a big official, was responsible for supervising Ximen, and he was not alone, so there were hundreds of people.

what to do?

"Master Tang, do you think reinforcements will come?"

It has been ten days since we asked for help. Everyone is not thinking about when reinforcements will come, but whether they will come.

Now there are only Liu and Tang. What Tang Jingsong is thinking is no longer necessary to hide it. He shook his head dejectedly and said, "If you don't come now, you may not come. If you don't come later, it will be useless if you come."

Yes, if you drag on it, the city will definitely not be able to defend. What can we do if reinforcements come?

Liu Yongfu looked at Tang Jingsong who had just gotten older and said slowly: "Sir, break through, and you can still keep a glimmer of life, so that you can plan for the future."

Looking up at Liu Yongfu, knowing that he had no choice at this time, Tang Jingsong said helplessly: "Okay, please arrange it in the military."

After reaching an agreement with Tang Jingsong, Liu Yongfu immediately went out to re-mobilize and arrange troops and withdrew the Black Flag Army on the embankment and the fortress outside the city back to the city.

On this day, the French army unexpectedly did not launch an attack, and the evacuation of the Black Flag Army outside the city went very smoothly.

Liu Yongfu didn't know that this was Courbet on purpose.

The French army's attack on Shanxi has two strategic goals. One is to occupy Shanxi and protect its flank security. The other is to defeat Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army and re-establish the confidence of the Legislative Army.

However, the French army's initial offensive was very unsuccessful and did not open up for several days. The large casualties made Courbet begin to doubt whether it was necessary to continue this battle.

Now the French army's losses have exceeded 30%. If it exceeds 40%, even if it wins Shanxi, this war cannot be considered a victory. At most, it will be a tragic victory. And if the casualties reach half, then the idea of ​​rebuilding the confidence of the French army will be a joke.

So like Liu Yongfu, Courbet was actually at a difficult time to get off the road. If he still couldn't conquer Shanxi on the 25th, the morale of the French army would be difficult to control. If he was forced to retreat, not only would Shanxi not be able to occupy it, but the Black Flag Army, as the victorious side, would have a stronger fighting spirit, which is definitely not good news for the French army.

Of course, Courbet could mobilize reinforcements from Hanoi, and Shanxi would eventually become his victory, but in that case, his idea of ​​rebuilding the confidence of the French army would be ruined. This battle is still not a complete victory.

Now, Tang Jiong's escape sent a message to Courbet-the Qing army could no longer bear it.

As Courbet said before, this is a battle of will. Which side will collapse first, which side will lose!

As for the Black Flag Army's breakthrough? Haha, Courbet is not worried about the Black Flag Army breaking out. What should I worry about? At that time, send a powerful brigade to follow and chase them completely!

This is why the French army did not attack on the same day - he was waiting for the Black Flag Army to abandon the city by himself.

Courbet had the right bet.

That night, another Qing army of about 500 people broke through. Early the next morning, the Black Flag Army, who could no longer hold on, gathered all the remaining troops to break through the Ximen gate and gave up Shanxi City.

The French army attacked Shanxi for ten days, and more than 2,000 people were killed or injured, and they were lost.

"Genius, according to your order, we did not have all our strength to intercept." In fact, what Regas said was not completely correct. Although the French army did not intercept the Black Flag Army that broke through, the remaining troops of a naval landing battalion of Regas might not be able to intercept with all our strength.

At this time, Courbet, standing at the head of Shanxi city, had begun to consider his next military goal, and naturally he was not so concerned about the Black Flag Army that had become the past. He smiled and said to Regas: "You are right. Don't forget that there is a proverb in Europe, saying, 'Don't block the soldiers' way home'. If they want to escape, let them run away."

Now in Courbet's eyes, the morale of the army has passed away and the Black Flag Army, which has become a defeated soldier, has nothing to worry about. So when Colonel Simoyong proposed to lead a team of soldiers to pursue, he did not stop him.

He only approved one-quarter of Simoyong's troops. Whether he could catch up was irrelevant to his opinion.

Leaving Shanxi City and heading to a wilderness thirty miles west, Liu Shaoqing called out to all the Black Flag Army leaders who were marching.

Liu Yongfu looked at the surrounding terrain and then asked, "Is this here?"

Seeing Liu Shaoqing nodding, he then arranged to the generals who came to the meeting: "Yalu, you will walk back with Zuoying for a mile to ambush. When you hear the cannons here, you will rush your troops to cover up and kill the enemy in front of you!"

Wu Fengdian had already received the notice in advance and immediately clasped his fists and said, "Get order!"

Liu Yongfu turned around and said to Lian Mei: "Xuanzhi, you take Wu Weizheng and the two deputy battalions to ambush a mile ahead, and look at the signal here, and then wave your troops to cover up the killing."

Lian Mei and Zhu Bingqing also said in unison: "Get order!"

After arranging these two routes, Liu Yongfu said to Huang Shouzhong: "Xuchen, your two battalions are responsible for cutting off the back. Walk slowly. When you hear the cannons behind you, you will immediately lead the team back to kill the enemy."

Huang Shouzhong also smiled and said, "Disciple him to come and go!"

Finally, he looked at Liu Shaoqing, "Qing'er, do you want to stay too?"

Liu Shaoqing nodded: "It is better for the child to stay here. My father can lead the brigade to leave."

This was discussed in advance. Liu Yongfu was a son and daughter of the world. He was not pretentious at this time. He just instructed: "Be careful. From this, there is a small village five miles ahead. For my father, we will camp wherever we go tonight. You have to take the pursuers behind and catch up as soon as possible."

Liu Shaoqing nodded: "Don't worry, my father, there will be no trouble. Oh, by the way..." As he said that, he looked at the uncles and said: "Several uncles, I'll start a fire later. Please instruct the soldiers to approach and aim and shoot as much as possible to reduce ammunition consumption. Our family's expenses this time are not light!"

Huang Shouzhong and others laughed and said, "We can save this."

At this time, Tang Jingsong, who was following Liu Yongfu, asked in confusion: "The French are catching up with you?"

Liu Yongfu said: "Just just in case, we are carrying a lot of injuries and can't walk fast, and we may have to camp halfway through tonight. If the enemy pursues it, we may be caught off guard. Of course, there is no better."

"Oh..." Tang Jingsong seemed to understand, and then looked at Liu Shaoqing again, always feeling that the father and son had something to hide from him, "Will you stay?"

Liu Shaoqing blinked his eyes and said with an innocent look: "Uncle Tang, the Black Flag Army suffered a great loss in Shanxi this time. My nephew stayed and collected some interest from Courbet."

Liu Yongfu, who was standing aside, hurriedly pulled him and said, "Hey, let's get to him for this matter. It's important for us to take the wounded to the road first."
Chapter completed!