Master Yuan, start!

He could certainly not take the fall of Tianbao City seriously, but when Yu Lianyuan told him about the current situation of Jiangning City being surrounded by enemies on all sides, it still touched Liu Kunyi's heart.

Seeing that Liu Kunyi seemed to be wavering, Yu Lianyuan thought about his first wife, who was from the Wuxi Qian family, and finally made up his mind:

"General Xian, Li Hongzhang asked Sheng Xuanhuai to pass on a message to you."

"Pass on a message?" Liu Kunyi looked at Yu Lianyuan suddenly.

Liu Kunyi never expected that Yu Lianyuan, a staff member of the Hunan Army, was secretly involved with Li Hongzhang.

In fact, Liu Kunyi wronged Yu Lianyuan. He had never had direct contact with Li Hongzhang.

However, Yu Lianyuan had been in the officialdom of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for more than ten years, and his first wife was also from Wuxi. The family business had long been closely connected with the businessmen of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

It can be said that although Yu Lianyuan is from Hubei, he has long become the representative of the interests of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang consortium in the Hunan faction.

Some merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang had close ties with Sheng Xuanhuai, who went south to Guangdong and Guangxi, and Sheng Xuanhuai was Li Hongzhang's money bag.

One line vaguely connects the Hunan and Huai factions.

Sheng Xuanhuai and Zhang Jian have always been at odds with each other. Although neither of them is in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, with the support of the bigwigs behind them, they both want to compete for the right to speak among the businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

After the National Defense Army moved south, Jiangbei merchants led by Zhang Jian would inevitably move south in large numbers to seize the Jiangnan market.

So Sheng Xuanhuai proposed to Li Hongzhang that he wanted to accept some of the "Xiang faction"

Liu Kunyi was not clear about the twists and turns here, so when he heard Yu Lianyuan say

"The Huai River originates from the Xiang River, and the Xiang and Huai River are originally one. If the Xiang River encounters disaster, why not try to return to the Huai River?"

After saying this, his face immediately turned pale!

"Let's go, Jinshan." Liu Kun closed his eyes and waved his hands weakly.

"Huai may originate from Xiang, but Xiang cannot belong to Huai. If I lead the Xiang army to surrender to Li Hongzhang, how can I face the people of Sanxiang again?"

At this point, both Yu Lianyuan and Chen were very clear that Liu Kunyi could no longer be persuaded.

He clearly wanted to stay in Jiangning City, which was already a dead end. What was the difference between him and Hong Xiuquan who was guarding the Heavenly King's Palace 30 years ago?

Chapter 276: France and Hunan Army. OUT!

The next morning, after receiving the news of the general attack, Yuan Shikai stood on the deck of the Hailong, holding a telescope together with Xu Shichang, Zhang Jian, Yan Fu, Churchill and others, and witnessed the ill-fated city of Nanjing with their own eyes.

Yan Fu raised his telescope, frowning as he said, "Weiting, the French are here too."

He pointed to the river in the distance. Through the fog, he could vaguely see the French tricolor flag fluttering.

"The French are coming with warships?" Xu Shichang asked hurriedly.

"No, judging from the mast and the bow gun turret, it seems to be a civilian ship." Yan Fu put down the telescope and replied indifferently.

9 He had attended classes at a British naval school for several years and was quite familiar with the appearance of various warships.

If Yan Fu had not been obsessed with politics, he might have become the captain of a warship in the Beiyang Fleet in his original time and space.

"What's the harm in being here?"

Yuan Xiangcheng looked at the two worried people, pointed at Churchill behind him, and said with a smile: "We have foreigners here too!"

"Huh? General Yuan, what's wrong?" Churchill asked in English when he was mentioned.

"Oh, nothing." Yuan Xiangcheng turned around, looked at Churchill and replied:

“I say, Queen, your opinion is excellent!

Thanks to the assistance of the British Foreign Office and the Indian Bangalore Regiment, the French were kept as spectators.

If I had the opportunity, I would love to thank the Queen in person.”

"Really, General Yuan?" Churchill couldn't help but look happy when he heard this.

Churchill had read in the newspaper that Yuan Shikai was serving as "Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary" before.

Although he was not clear about the difference between "inner and outer ministers" in Chinese, there was no doubt that no matter which position it was, it showed that Yuan Shikai was already one of the highest decision-makers of the Chinese government.

When Churchill learned about this, he quickly submitted an article to The Times.

He boasted that the Chinese were influenced by the British Empire and decided to emulate the constitutional monarchy system.

He also praised the role played by Chinese Minister to China, Sir Claude MacArthur.

Of course, at the end of the article, the good personal friendship between Churchill, Lieutenant of the Bangalore Hussars, and Yuan Shikai was also mentioned.

In addition, in order to prove to the people of London the important role he played in this matter, Churchill specially attached a conversation between him and Prime Minister Yuan in the article, which was purely in English.

Churchill: “?” Mr. Yuan, what do you think of the current situation in China?

Yuan Xiangcheng: “Man, whatout!

. "

My friend, what else can I say? France is out, and Britain and China are friends.

Although the grammar of this passage is very strange and does not seem to be the correct English expression today, many people in London have expressed doubts.

But there is no doubt that this is the fact!

After Sir Claude MacDonald and Lieutenant Churchill arrived in Far East China, that backward and stubborn old country decided to implement a constitutional monarchy.

Even though the constitution has not yet been promulgated, a responsible cabinet has been established at the central level and it has been decided to carry out official system reform. The constitution is definitely not far away.

You know, this is the establishment of another constitutional monarchy in the world, and it is in the mysterious China.

Therefore, thanks to these news commentaries, which are unique in the world, Churchill made a lot of money from royalties after several years of being a failed writer, which brought him one step closer to earning money to go home and enter politics.

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Just now, after hearing Yuan Xiangcheng express his respect to the Queen, Churchill couldn't help but start to daydream again.

If, if I could get the Prime Minister of the largest country in the Far East to visit London, wouldn't I no longer have to suffer in the army to gain experience?

I'm afraid it's not impossible to enter the House of Commons directly and become a member of parliament.

"General Yuan, I will convey this to Sir Claude MacArthur." Churchill put his legs together and saluted Yuan Xiangcheng with a standard British Army salute: "The British Empire is General Yuan's eternal partner!"

The water surface was surging, and the sunlight pierced through the river mist, leaving a touch of red on Churchill's fair face.

At this moment, the young, down-and-out English nobleman was extremely grateful that he had come to the Far East, to his lucky place.

...

The British's help was not unconditional. Liu Kunyi still had three main warships left in the Jiangnan Navy, all of which were armored cruisers.

After sending people to persuade them to surrender without success, Yuan Xiangcheng told the British that he was willing to use these three Zhiyuan-class warships to cover the "labor costs" of the British.

Although the Zhiyuan class was not advanced, it was definitely a giant ship in the Far East. When the British learned of Yuan Shikai's conditions, they immediately agreed.

To this end, the British also pulled the Far East Second Fleet from Sasebo and sailed upstream along the Yangtze River.

The Jiangnan Navy, anchored in the north of Jiangning City, was forced to stop and board the ship before they had time to ask for instructions or react.

The British naturally "took over" these three ships and incorporated them into the Second Far East Fleet.

It was precisely because the British Second Far East Fleet was patrolling at the mouth of the Yangtze River that the French troop transports were able to stay in the open sea and Courbet could only stare blankly on the Yangtze River.

...

Yuan Xiangcheng and his party were discussing things on the Hailong, but the artillery fire around them never stopped. More than a dozen warships of various sizes on the river were continuously firing towards Jiangning.

Although they might not be able to hit the city, the continuous exploding shells still put great pressure on the Hunan Army in the city.

At the same time, under the cover of artillery fire, the National Defense Force, which had landed a few days ago, continued to approach the Jiangning city wall under the leadership of their respective military commanders and political instructors.

Looking down from the sky, it looks like a group of blue ants, forming large and small groups, and constantly charging towards the obstacles in front of them.

Chen and Yu Lianyuan have already left Liu Kunyi's mansion. They have to come out. Whether they defend or move away, they have to gather the remaining Hunan Army and cannot let them all be consumed on the city wall.

But when they saw the Wehrmacht charging in front of them, they were still a little dazed.

"I'm afraid even if Shi Dakai were alive again, he wouldn't be able to win in this situation, right?"

For some reason, Chen was inexplicably reminded of Shi Dakai, the invincible King of Wings among the bandits.

Although he was invincible, he was eventually defeated and captured.

"No, we have to go!"

Chen looked up and met Yu Lianyuan's eyes. The two looked at each other and knew what the other was thinking with a slight nod.

Chen immediately shouted loudly, and used the excuse of going out of the city to kill the enemy, and asked his deputy general to gather all his troops.

When the National Defense Army attacked the city, at the most critical moment of defending the city, Yu Lianyuan quietly retreated from the city wall with his confidants.

Yuan Xiangcheng had no idea what was happening in the city. At this moment, all his attention was focused on a team of national defense troops near the city wall.

Through the telescope, Sheng Fei was seen commanding the troops, who, under the cover of wooden shield carts, continuously delivered bundled explosive packs to the foot of Jiangning City, into a cave that had been dug in advance.

The artillery roared, the soldiers charged, and the explosives piled up.

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After several rounds of charge, the team transporting explosives no longer appeared, and there was a rare absence of people in front of Jiangning City.

Yuan Xiangcheng looked through the telescope and saw Duan Qirui wave his right hand downwards. The National Defense Army who were originally resting on the ground stood up again, pulled out the bayonets on the outside of their thighs, and put them on the heads of the long spears in their hands.

The spear tips flashed in the sunlight, and the soldiers held their spears and glared at each other.

6 At this moment, a layer of yellow soil suddenly splashed up from under the section of the city wall that had just been attacked, and then there was an explosion that almost deafened people's ears.

Through Lu's telescope, the solid city wall made of blue bricks and rammed earth was like soft tofu, which was smashed to pieces from top to bottom by a fist with a loud "bang".

Countless pieces of debris exploded and scattered in all directions, and even some National Defense Forces who were too close to the city wall were knocked down by the rubble.

4The dust was stirred up and scattered in the air, and it took a long time for it to fall to the ground.

On the Sihailong, except for Yuan Xiangcheng, who had personally experienced the bombing of Shanhaiguan, everyone else had their eyes wide open and their mouths opened wide.

2 The aftermath of the explosion even stirred up the surface of the river, and everyone was able to stand steady by holding on to the railings.

Seeing a breach in Jiangning City, tens of thousands of National Defense Army soldiers shouted in unison and launched an attack on the collapsed city wall.

At this time, Chen, who had been leading the troops to defend nearby, had disappeared after gathering thousands of troops, leaving only one general to defend the city and fight hard.

However, with the continuous support of the National Defense Army pouring into the gap, the 5000 Hunan Army defending the city finally collapsed and turned around to flee into the city.

"Jiangning City is broken!"