1850 American Gold Tycoon

The senior leaders of the British and French coalition forces were furious when they learned that the Qing Dynasty not only executed the Parkesli mission, but was also gathering troops to prepare for war.

Under the instruction of the special envoys of Britain and France, Grant, the commander of the British Army, and Montauban, the commander of the French Army, raised their troops to invade Tongzhou.

The command and dispatch of the Qing army highlighted chaos, disorder and inefficiency.

It was not until the main force of the British and French forces arrived near Tongzhou that the Qing army barely completed its assembly.

What is rare is that the morale of the Qing army was high this time, unlike before.

After all, this is the most elite military force of the Qing Dynasty and its last fig leaf.

The main forces of both sides met near Tongzhou.

"The terrain here is open and suitable for my cavalry charge! God helps me! God helps me!"

In Tongzhou City, facing the open plain terrain and the 40,000 elite troops with high morale, Seng Gelinqin was full of confidence.

In his view, the powerful Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners forces of the Qing Dynasty had never really competed head-on with the foreigners. If they had not competed, it would mean they had not lost.

What kind of wars did the Qing Dynasty and foreigners fight before?

These are all naval battles and landing battles that the Qing Dynasty was not good at! The foreigners won the war by using their strengths to overcome the Qing's weaknesses!

Now in the flat Tongzhou Plain, he wants foreigners to experience the true strength of the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners that swept the world!

"King Monk, the enemy is attacking and we are defending, and the foreigners have sharp guns and cannons and a large number of elite soldiers, so we cannot waste the battle. We should take advantage of our military strength to hold on to the fortified city! Wait for work and kill and injure the enemy as much as possible!" Liang Shaoqiong suggested.

"When the enemy soldiers are trapped and exhausted, it will not be too late for Monk King to lead the Eight Banners force to pursue the remaining enemy soldiers and defeated generals!"

Before the war began, the two commanders-in-chief of the Qing army had serious differences in tactics.

Seng Gelinqin advocated taking the initiative to take advantage of the field combat advantages of the powerful cavalry of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia, defeating the British and French coalition forces in one fell swoop, and deciding the outcome in one battle.

Liang Shaoqiong advocated rejecting the city and sticking to it, preserving his strength and choosing the right opportunity to attack at the right time.

The final result is self-evident. Seng Gelinqin is the commander-in-chief, and the command power lies in Seng Gelinqin's hands. Liang Shaoqiong can only obey Seng Gelinqin's orders, lead his army to take the initiative to attack, and fight the British and French coalition forces.

However, Liang Shaoqiong also kept an eye on it. Except for half of the artillery battalion that had to be taken out of the city, Liang Shaoqiong only took the new Yue Yong battalion out of the city for field battles. The most elite old Yue Yong battalion still stayed in Tongzhou City in case of emergencies.

Soon, Seng Gelinqin, the commander-in-chief of the Qing army, made arrangements.

He personally commanded 17,000 horses and infantry (including 7,000 Mongolian cavalry, 3,000 Sauron elite cavalry from Duolong Abe, and 7,000 infantry), stationed on the line from Zhangjiawan to Baliqiao, facing the British and French coalition forces, and guarding Tongzhou to Guangzhou, the capital. The main road of Qumen.

Liang Shaoqiong commanded 3,000 Yue Yong, 4,000 Zhili Green Camp troops, and more than 1,000 Sauron cavalry to coordinate with Seng Gelinqin's main force.

Deputy Governor Yildong'a led 4,000 Mongolian cavalry to defend Bali Bridge. Another 1,000 Chahar Mongolian cavalry, led by the general manager Namashan, stationed at Maju Bridge to prevent the British and French forces from advancing westward from the direction of Maju Bridge and making a detour to invade. Capital city.

The deputy capital commander led the green battalion to win with 4,000 soldiers, and joined the old battalion of Yue Yong to defend Tongzhou.

Cheng Bao, the governor of Zhili, led the 5,000-strong Beijing Battalion to garrison the area east of Qihua Gate to Dingfuzhuang. They were responsible for guarding the capital and acting as reserve troops.

Liang Shaoqiong believed that there were too few reserve teams and suggested that Seng Gelinqin keep more reserve teams.

Deputy Commander Shengbao and others also sided with Liang Shaoqiong and suggested that monk Gelin Qin keep more reserves.

Seng Gelinqin was so annoyed that in order to stop the noise between the two, he left 2,000 more people in Tongzhou City as a reserve team.

Early morning on June 15, 1858.

The British and French forces approached Zhangjiawan from Hexi and launched artillery attacks on the Qing army's garrison near Zhangjiawan.

Half of Yue Yong's artillery battalion fired back with Sacramento artillery. However, the British and French allied forces had an absolute advantage in the number of artillery. Yue Yong's half of the artillery battalion failed to suppress the artillery fire of the British and French allied forces, and suffered heavy losses.

The casualties were heavy, but the Guangdong artillery still persisted in shelling the British and French forces, providing fire cover for the charge of the large forces.

The powerful Mongolian cavalry under Senggelinqin had already been prepared, and under the cover of artillery, they shouted and launched a massive charge towards the British and French allied forces. Trying to break up the British and French allied forces and decide the outcome in one battle.

Seeing that thousands of Mongolian cavalry were getting closer and closer to their own military formation, while increasing their gunfire output, the British and French forces showed off their Congreve rockets.

Suddenly, hundreds of Congreve rockets fired in salvo, and the rockets broke through the sky like a flock of burning birds, with flames and thick smoke ejected from their tails, and pierced the blue sky with a sharp and ear-piercing whistling sound.

Hundreds of rockets were arranged in a spectacular formation in the air, like a gorgeous fireworks feast, splashing on the densely packed Mongolian cavalry.

The accuracy of early rockets was not high, and there were not many casualties caused by direct rocket hits on the Mongolian cavalry. However, the momentum of the rocket salvo was a huge blow to the morale of the Qing army.

Even if the riders of the Mongolian cavalry and the Sauron cavalry can suppress the fear in their hearts and continue to charge, their mounts may not be able to obey their orders.

The sharp and ear-piercing sound of the rockets frightened the war horses, causing them to run wild and uncontrollably, making them almost unable to form an army.

The frightened horses directly broke up the infantry phalanx in the rear, causing the infantry to fall into chaos.

Fortunately, the infantry phalanx was personally commanded by Liang Shaoqiong, and with Guangdong Yong as the core, the infantry phalanx could barely be stabilized without collapse.

Even though the situation was so chaotic, there were still a small number of Mongolian cavalry and Sauron cavalry, under the cover of Yue Yong's gradually sparse artillery fire, they seized the opportunity to rush to the front of the British and French allied forces.

However, the final outcome of these Mongolian horsemen and Sauron cavalry was also shot to death by volley guns fired by the British and French forces. The proud cavalry of the Mongolian cavalry caused extremely limited casualties to the British and French forces.

Traditional cavalry cannot adapt to modern warfare. On the Crimean battlefield, the Cossack cavalry has proved it with their blood.

The British and French allied forces using rifled guns defeated the once invincible Tsarist Russian Cossack cavalry with only a thin row of line soldiers.

"how come?"

Senggelinqin was horrified as he looked at the scores of Mongolian riders who fell under the gunfire of the British and French forces.

But he did not intend to stop there. He believed that as long as he continued to charge, he would be able to overwhelm the British and French coalition sooner or later. The firearms used by the British and French forces will overheat and explode!

Seng Gelinqin's understanding of firearms still remained at the level of the Qing army's native guns and cannons.

Little did they know that the matchlock gun had long been thrown into the trash heap of history in Europe.

Like a gambler who lost his sights, Senggelinqin kept raising his bets and feeding the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry into the guns of the British and French forces, hoping to defeat the British and French forces head-on.

At the same time, Senggelinqin sent two more cavalry teams, one of which was responsible for bypassing the flanks and raiding the rear of the British and French forces.

The other group used the cover of shrubs and reeds near the Tongzhou River to rush towards the British and French artillery positions and eliminate the opponent's artillery.

Grant and Montauban, the commanders-in-chief of the British and French forces, were shocked by Senggelinqin's fighting style regardless of losses, and could no longer tell whether these Qing cavalry were brave or foolish.

Seeing that the charge of the Qing cavalry became more and more fierce, a large number of dense Qing cavalry troops used the shrubs and reeds by the river as cover to swoop towards the British artillery position.

Grant dispatched a Sikh cavalry regiment to intercept these Mongolian cavalry to cover his own artillery.

The Sikh cavalry soon became entangled with the Mongolian cavalry. As more and more Mongolian cavalry joined the battlefield, the Sikh cavalry gradually fell into a disadvantage. Several Sikh cavalrymen were shot down by Mongolian cavalry with bows and arrows.

Seeing that the Sikh cavalry failed to complete their mission, Grant determinedly dispatched the Royal Dragoons, the most elite regiment in the coalition, defeated the Mongolian cavalry that raided from the flanks, and rescued the Sikh cavalry.

The fierce fighting lasted from 7 am to 14 pm.

After seven hours of high-intensity fighting, the exhausted Qing army suffered heavy casualties and was finally unable to organize an effective group charge.

The Qing army, which was still high in morale in the early morning and full of fighting spirit, experienced a half-day of fierce fighting and disastrous defeat. At this time, it lost all fighting spirit and showed signs of defeat.

The British and French forces took advantage of the situation and launched a counterattack.

The arrogant British and French forces even sent two artillery companies ahead to bombard the Qing army's remaining infantry phalanx.

"Damn it! So damn arrogant!"

Liang Shaoqiong, who saw this scene through the smoke and dust, was extremely angry and ordered the remaining artillerymen to open fire and severely beat the two companies of British artillery in the front row to suppress the arrogance of the British army.

The remaining 13 Sacrament field guns of the Yue Yong poured explosive shells into the two artillery batteries in front of the British and French allied forces.

Several bursts of bullets fell, and the two British artillery companies in front suffered heavy losses. One British artillery company commander died on the spot, and the British artillery companies had to stop following the large army.

Soon, the remnant soldiers of the Guangdong Artillery Battalion who opened fire and exposed their position were discovered by French artillery observers and received intensive care from the British and French artillery forces.

Before their field artillery had time to move, solid bombs and explosive bombs from the British and French coalition poured down on the heads of these Yue Yong artillerymen like a dense rainstorm.

As the offensive launched by the British and French forces became more and more fierce, the Qing army gradually collapsed.

The Royal Dragoons drove away the stragglers of the Manchu and Mongolian cavalry as if hunting. Even Senggelingqin himself could not retreat and was captured by the British cavalry.

The commander-in-chief was captured, and the Qing army's morale fluctuated and they had no intention of fighting again.

Seeing that the situation was over, Liang Shaoqiong could only reluctantly leave a battalion in the rear to delay the British and French forces and buy time for him to gather the main force and withdraw to Tongzhou.

The remaining battalion of Yue Yong caused a lot of trouble to the British and French forces.

The British and French allied forces did not expect that among the defeated troops, there were still troops capable of organized resistance.

It took the British and French forces an hour, a company and a half of casualties, and a lot of ammunition to completely eliminate the Yue Yong battalion that blocked them, and continued to march toward Tongzhou City over their corpses.

In this battle, the British and French forces defeated the most elite troops of the Qing Dynasty at a cost of less than 380 casualties. Among them, the biggest casualties of the British and French coalition forces were caused by the shelling of the Yue Yong and Yue Yong artillery units.

The Manchu and Mongolian cavalry charges caused extremely limited casualties to the British and French forces.

It seems that the road to the capital city has been opened for them.

Without repairs, the British and French forces planned to take Tongzhou in one go.

After gathering outside the city, the British and French forces launched a fierce attack on Tongzhou City.

Fortunately, Liang Shaoqiong was well prepared and had reserved enough manpower in the city to preserve some of the artillery artillery of the artillery battalion.

What's rare is that Deputy Commander Shengbao was very cooperative with Liang Shaoqiong's deployment of the city defense. He also personally went to the city wall to supervise the troops and fought hard. Two stray bullets in his body still stayed in the line of fire, which greatly boosted the morale of the defenders.

The Manchu, Mongolian and Han armies worked together and bravely, and barely blocked the British and French allied forces' attack.

After three consecutive unsuccessful attacks on Tongzhou City, the British and French forces finally temporarily stopped their offensive after leaving 370 corpses at the foot of Tongzhou City.

After defending Tongzhou City, Liang Shaoqiong breathed a sigh of relief and immediately sent someone to send a letter to the capital city to inform them of the current war situation. Let Emperor Xianfeng rest assured that he will definitely defend Tongzhou City.

At the same time, Liang Shaoqiong wrote a letter privately to Pan Shicheng in the capital city.

Tell Pan Shicheng that if the emperor can stay in the capital city, there will be three old Yueyong battalions left in the capital city: Qiongzi camp, Chengzi camp, and cavalry camp. The emperor must be protected.

If the emperor wants to go hunting, whether he is hunting in the west or the north, he will also accompany him. He must express the determination of the two of them and King Yongqin of Guangdong to the Aisin Gioro royal family.

In short, no matter what happens, the three old battalions of Yue Yong must follow the emperor, and he will be responsible for any big things outside.

"Shilang Liang, you still understand foreigners. It's a pity that there are tens of thousands of Mongolian knights. If we had followed Shilang Liang's plan and relied on the strong defense of the city to resist the foreigners, we would never have been defeated so miserably. The Monk King would not have been captured by the foreigners! "

At the top of Tongzhou City, Shengbao paused after treating his wounds.

The Manchu and Mongolian cavalry that Seng Gelinqin buried were the last cavalry available to the Qing Dynasty.

"Why did Commander-in-Chief Shengdu say this? Tongzhou has not been lost, so why say defeat? You and I will definitely be able to defend Tongzhou if we work together!" Liang Shaoqiong consoled him.

What Liang Shaoqiong hates are banner men who only know how to eat, drink and have fun. He still respects real men like Shengbao who dare to go to battle in person and stay in the line of fire even after being wounded.

Seng Gelinqin's capture was actually a good thing for Liang Shaoqiong.

Regardless of whether other Manchu and Mongolian generals were convinced or not, he was the highest commander of this army before the new imperial edict was issued.

Liang Shaoqiong counted the remaining troops of the Qing army.

There are still more than 5,000 Yue Yong in Tongzhou City, more than 6,000 Green Camp troops from the Zhili area, more than 1,000 Mongolian cavalry, and more than 1,000 Solon cavalry. A total of 13,000 to 4,000 troops and horses can be directly commanded and dispatched.

Bali Bridge is also defended by the 4,000-man Mongolian cavalry led by Vice-Capital Iledonga, and Maju Bridge is also defended by the 1,000-man Chahar Mongolian cavalry led by Ma Shantong.

Although these 5,000 cavalry are difficult to mobilize directly under the current situation, they have not been defeated by the British and French forces after all, and they can be regarded as two combat forces on paper.

The only thing that made Liang Shaoqiong upset was that all the 5,000 Beijing battalions stationed east of Qihua Gate to Dingfuzhuang and responsible for defending the capital were gone.

The troops in the front were not completely defeated, but the Manchu soldiers in the rear ran faster than rabbits.

"Yes, the enemy is facing a formidable enemy, and the three armies cannot be without their commanders. Only Commander Liang can deal with the current crisis, and Sheng Baoyuan is at Commander Liang's command!"

The battle outside Tongzhou City was witnessed by Bao with his own eyes. Without the artillerymen of Guangdong Yong who fought against the British and French forces regardless of casualties, the main force of Senggelinqin's Mongolian cavalry would have suffered a worse defeat.

After the army was defeated, Liang Shaoqiong did not leave a battalion of Guangdong soldiers to break off the rear and gathered the remaining soldiers into Tongzhou City to assist in the defense.

Whether Tongzhou City can be defended now or whether he can survive is irrelevant.

Although there are more green soldiers in Tongzhou City than Yue Yong, Shengbao still knows the virtues of the green soldiers in the Zhili area.

If you want to hold Tongzhou now, you will definitely not be able to hold it with the green battalion soldiers. You still have to rely on Yue Yong, and you must rely on Yue Yong, the coach who understands foreigners and soldiers better.

As long as Guangdong Yong does not collapse, the morale of Tongzhou City and the people's morale can be stabilized, and Tongzhou City has hope of holding on.

Covered in blood and bandaged, Shengbao's sharp eyes glanced at the displeased Man-Mongolian generals beside him, making these Man-Mongolian generals feel numb.

"I am willing to listen to Liang Shuai's orders!"

Under the pressure of Shengbao, these Manchu and Mongolian generals expressed their stance one after another.

"How does this make"

After some hypocritical pretense, Liang Shaoqiong decisively took over the command of the Qing army.

After taking over the command, Liang Shaoqiong helped Shengbao return home to recuperate.

Shengbao couldn't help but asked curiously: "Liang Shuai, is it true that this foreigner can't kneel down?"

Liang Shaoqiong smiled helplessly and said seriously: "Foreigners are just like us. They are human beings. They can sing and dance, cry and laugh, crawl and run. They are also made of flesh and blood. They can bleed, get injured, and die."

"As long as they are human beings, as long as they are not monsters and monsters, there is hope to defend Tongzhou City. Behind Tongzhou City is the Capital City." Shengbao said, covering the aching wound on his shoulder.

Early the next morning, the British and French forces did not attack Tongzhou City.

The soldiers and civilians in Tongzhou City got a brief respite.

In the afternoon, Liang Shaoqiong received bad news.

The British and French forces began to storm Bali Bridge and Maju Bridge this morning.

The 5,000 Mongolian cavalry in Baliqiao and Majuqiao failed to withstand the fierce attack of the British and French forces and collapsed one after another.

It only took half a day for the British and French forces to capture the two important locations of Bali Bridge and Maju Bridge.

At this point, Liang Shaoqiong only had an isolated city in Tongzhou left with 13,000 to 4,000 remaining soldiers.

The Qing army's absolute strength advantage over the British and French forces before the war had been lost.

In the evening, worse news came from the capital city.

Emperor Xianfeng of the Forbidden City was horrified when he learned that Seng Gelinqin had been defeated and captured. With the support of his powerful ministers Sushun and others, he decided to flee to the Chengde Summer Resort with his queen, concubine and others in the name of hunting in the north.

Before leaving, Sushun did not forget to suppress his political opponents and played a small trick. He suggested that Xianfeng appoint Prince Gong Yi as the plenipotentiary imperial minister and stay in the capital city to be responsible for negotiating with the British and French forces to clean up the mess. He wanted Yi to bear the infamy and be ruined.

In order to escape as soon as possible, Emperor Xianfeng agreed and ordered Prince Gong Yi to stay in the capital to preside over the peace.

When Yi learned about this, he sent greetings to Sushun's whole family, but he had no choice but to obey his orders and could only stay in the capital. However, Yi made a request, asking Emperor Xianfeng to correct Liang Shaoqiong so that Liang Shaoqiong could legitimately lead King Qin's troops to fight against the enemy.

Liang Shaoqiong's Guangdong Yong faction was from the Yi faction, so Sushun was naturally unwilling to let Liang Shaoqiong take charge of King Qin's troops, and blocked it on the grounds that no Han ministers in the dynasty were in charge of such heavy troops.

Yi asked Sushun, if Liang Shaoqiong is a Han official, aren't Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi and others not Han officials? Otherwise, you let Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi fly over from Jiangxi to take charge of King Qin's troops.

Pan Shicheng also stood up and expressed the current situation. Among the civil servants and generals in Beijing, only Liang Shaoqiong had the ability to clean up the mess.

The reason why Sushun opposed Liang Shaoqiong's leadership of Qin Wang's army was certainly not as simple as the apparent defense of Manchus and Han. The root cause is that Liang Shaoqiong was not a Han official from his line, but a Han official from the Yi line, and was his political enemy.

If Zeng Lin and other Han ministers from the Hunan Army were allowed to take charge of Qin Wang's troops, Su Shun would not be happy.

But what troubled Sushun was that the Hunan army, which he had always relied on, did not come to Qin Wang.

When Emperor Xianfeng saw that Pan Shi Chengdu, who had always been taciturn, stood up and spoke, and that Prince Gong Yi's request was reasonable and he wanted to rely on the three battalions of elite soldiers from Yue Yong to escort him to Chengde, he promoted Liang Shaoqiong to the position of Minister of the Ministry of War, in charge of King Qin's troops.

Subsequently, the fleeing team of Xianfeng, Sushun and others dragged their families and fled northward in a hurry under the escort of Jingying and Sanying Yueyong.

Before Tongzhou was lost, the rulers of Jingshi City had already abandoned their capital.

The war between the British and French allied forces and the Qing army was in full swing, and Liang Yao, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, was not idle either.

In the field battle outside Tongzhou City, the British and French forces captured a large number of prisoners.

These prisoners include Mongolian cavalry, Sauron cavalry, and Green Camp soldiers.

Because there were so many prisoners, the British and French forces had to spare some of their troops to guard the prisoners and provide them with meals.

The senior leaders of the British and French coalition forces even came up with the idea of ​​executing these prisoners on the spot.

At this time, Liang Yao stood up thoughtfully and expressed his willingness to share the worries of the British and French forces and take in these prisoners of war.

The British and French allied forces wanted nothing more than they wanted. They immediately screened the prisoners on hand and kept the senior officers they thought were valuable. The rest of the soldiers and low-level officers were all thrown to Liang Yao.

This move was exactly what Liang Yao wanted. He didn't want any senior officers, he only wanted these cavalry.

In order to encourage the British and French forces to capture more prisoners for him, Liang Yao offered the Mongolian cavalry $20 per person, and the Sauron cavalry offered a generous price of $30 per person to buy prisoners of war in cash.

As for the Green Camp prisoners, Liang Yao didn't even bother to take a look, let alone accept them.

What he lacks is high-quality cavalry troops, but he also has no shortage of infantry troops.

Hearing that the Americans were willing to use real money to buy prisoners, the British and French forces on the front line became more active in capturing prisoners, specifically focusing on the Qing cavalry.

The British and French forces, which originally took pleasure in shooting the remnants of the Qing army, now prefer to capture people alive and exchange them for dollars with Americans.

In the Battle of Tongzhou, the field artillery, rockets, and rifles of the British and French forces were all fired up. Senggelinqin used the flesh and blood of the cavalry to shoulder the bullets of the British and French forces head-on. It was frustrating to lose, but not unjust.

Senggelinqin's tactics were seeking death in front of rifled guns.

Senggelinqin's Mongolian cavalry was completely defeated by the guns of the British and French forces, which only shows that the classical cavalry equipped with traditional melee and long-range weapons such as spears, swords, bows and shields can no longer adapt to the war environment of the industrial age. It does not mean that the cavalry is useless.

Transform the classical knights with superb riding skills from the Mongolian tribes and the Sauron tribe into modern cavalry, and use the high mobility and flexibility of the cavalry to assist the infantry and artillery in performing mobile combat tasks such as reconnaissance, harassment, rapid mobile support, pursuit, and interception of local communications. It still smells good and is very cost-effective.