My Italy

Zhennanguan Pass was built very early. The Han Dynasty established a pass here more than 2,000 years ago. It was first named "Yongji Pass" and later renamed "Jieshou Pass" and "Da Nanguan Pass".

In the first year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368), in order to consolidate southern Xinjiang, it was rebuilt into a two-story gatehouse. Later it was renamed Zhen Nanguan. In the following years, Zhennanguan Pass has always been the most important pass in Vietnam and Guangxi.

But now there are only a bunch of ruins left in Zhennanguan, because the French burned the pass after occupying it before. The Qing army is now stationed in the pass area in front of the pass, and its commander is veteran general Feng Zicai.

As for this person’s experience, there is no need to say much. He was born in Tiandihui and engaged in anti-Qing Dynasty. He was later ordered to peace and participated in the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement. Later, he was promoted to the governor of Guangxi and suppressed various anti-Qing movements. I just retired and returned to my hometown two years ago, preparing to spend my remaining years in peace.

Later, because Zeng Guoquan was transferred to Liangjiang (because Zuo Zongtang rushed to serve as governor of Fujian and Zhejiang), Zhang Shusheng, who was temporarily acting as governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, invited the veteran to come out again. Although Zhang Zhidong later took over as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he still trusted him.

But speaking of it, Feng Zicai was a little helpless when he led his troops to be stationed in the Zhennanguan area. Because he had many disputes with Pan Dingxin, the governor of Guangxi, mainly because the governor of Guangxi had different ideas from him.

Master Pan kept asking the ministries not to fight at will. He regarded the French army as the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and wanted to build a stronghold to fight the war.

However, Feng Zicai believes that today is different from the past. The French are much more powerful than those rebel bandits, and this kind of strategy will not work at all.

So the two had a dispute. Pan Dingxin was a civil servant and a governor of a province. Feng Zicai was originally an admiral of a province, but now he is still a veteran general who has returned to the army. Therefore, one can imagine the relationship between the other ministries and him.

Fortunately, the new Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Zhang Zhidong, had great trust in him. No, less than half of the newly arrived Italian firearms were shipped to him.

"General Feng, here are a thousand Italian fast guns, eight fast cannons, six electric cannons, a thousand artillery shells, and 400,000 rounds of various bullets. This is a list, please click on it."

The officer in charge of the escort reported to Feng Zicai the weapons shipped from Guangzhou and presented a list.

"Thanks to my brother for bringing us the weapons. I feel a lot more at ease here."

Because Feng Zicai was born in the Tiandihui before, he still has some habits that he has not changed to this day, such as calling his soldiers Erlang.

However, this was not the main reason for Feng Zicai to talk to him. He pulled the official and glanced at Cosenz and others standing nearby who were dressed similar to him, but their faces looked wrong.

"Brother, why are you bringing foreigners here?"

Facing Feng Zicai's inquiry, the official showed an enigmatic smile. "These are the same Italians as on the second ship Zhijing. They are here to help us."

"But it looks awkward to me."

General Feng was obviously a little uncomfortable with the presence of Italians in his military camp.

"Old General, these people have been specially transferred here by Master Tai. Among other things, do you have any of you who know how to use the electric cannon? Moreover, with these people, you can have multiple helpers when using the fast cannon."

The official's words made Feng Zicai feel much better. But he thought of a question and asked quickly. "How do you say they are under my command?"

The official thought for a moment and said. "That's right, but they are mainly responsible for operating the electric cannon. In addition, the master of the platform has issued a strict order prohibiting them from being used as infantry."

It was obvious that Governor Zhang was also afraid that someone would use these foreign soldiers as consumables.

"Don't worry, how dare I, Old Feng, disobey Master Tai's orders."

After sending the official from Guangzhou down, Feng Zicai recruited his eldest son.

"Renqing, arrange these foreign soldiers so that no one notices them."

Obviously, Feng Zicai is also a person who understands military affairs and intends to conceal the fact that he received a batch of ordnance.

"Father, leave this to me."

Then Feng Xiangrong, the eldest son, rushed over with several soldiers.

"All heroes, please follow me."

Feng Xiangrong didn't know what to call him, so he simply called him a more quaint title. Of course, Cosenz and others would definitely not be able to understand these words, not to mention Feng Xiangrong's thick Guangxi accent.

But it doesn't matter, isn't there a translator? Cosenz and others immediately followed Feng Xiangrong's footsteps and were taken to a separate barracks area. During this period, Feng Xiangrong basically gave them the best treatment in the barracks.

After settling the Italians, Feng Xiangrong returned to his father.

"Father, the arrangements for the foreign soldiers have been made."

Facing his son's report, Feng Zicai retracted his gaze from the map. "I understand, Renqing."

"Father is still worried about the French?"

When Feng Xiangrong saw that Feng Zicai was still looking at the map, he knew his father better than his son, and he immediately guessed what his father was thinking.

"How can we not worry about this?"

Facing his son, Feng Zicai expressed his thoughts without hesitation. "Currently, the company has 3,000 troops in Lang Son and Wenyuan, including 2,000 French soldiers and 1,000 Vietnamese auxiliary troops, complete with guns and artillery. On the other hand, we only have 5,000 troops at Zhennan Pass, and among them can Less than half of them use guns and artillery. Although we have geography, the disparity in strength is huge. Without troops, we have no chance of winning."

A soldier must take risks, and taking risks is not a good idea when it comes to military affairs.

Feng Zicai has been fighting for so many years, how could he not know the risks involved? Although there are guns and cannons sent by the manufacturer, they are still not as sharp as the guns and cannons of the company, so head-on confrontation is not within the scope of his consideration.

But now he had an idea, and he was going to use aggressive methods to lure the legal person to attack. For this reason, he was going to personally find out the legal person's background.

"Renqing, go and call Lao Er, I have an idea."

"Okay, Father."

"Remember not to make any noise about this."

"Father, please rest assured. I am not a three-year-old boy. I know the severity."

In the next two days, Feng Zicai did not move, but the five hundred soldiers he brought from his hometown secretly prepared torches, kerosene and other items for night travel.

On the third day, after talking with General Feng and his deputy Wang Xiaoqi, he secretly led his two sons and five hundred soldiers from his hometown to Wenyuan. Taking advantage of the darkness, Feng Zicai, led by the local Li people, came to the French camp.

Then under his command, five hundred soldiers broke into the French camp and shot and killed 32 Vietnamese servants and three French soldiers. He also set fire to the camp and burned thirty-one tents and tents. The sudden attack by the Qing army made the French commander Nigri, then commander of the second brigade of the Beiqi Expedition, extremely angry.

Then he decided to teach the Qing army a profound lesson. To this end, he reported to his superior, Colonel Poliye, and asked the colonel to allow him to conduct a raid on the Qing army in the Zhennanguan area.

Due to the poor performance of the Qing army before, Colonel Poli also agreed to his request and sent a battalion to support Nigri in order to be foolproof.

Nigri, who had received support, collected supplies and waited for an ammunition supply before rushing to Zhennanguan with two thousand French soldiers and one thousand Vietnamese servants.

Because of Carlo's intervention, the deployment of troops at Zhennanguan in the book is quite different from that in history. I hope you won't worry too much about it.