This naval battle in the waters southwest of Hakodate was very simple.

The privateers used all means to kill the two battleships.

At the same time, they also paid a heavy price. Two of the six gunboats were seriously damaged and had to return to the shipyard for overhaul.

The remaining four gunboats cooperated with the frigates in Zhuo Yiqing's hands and destroyed most of the Tsarist Russian light frigates.

Muravyov took a light frigate and escaped back to Nikolayevsk under the desperate cover of the Russian army.

The escort did not give them a chance to breathe at all.

Muravyov felt extremely regretful. He should not have attacked rashly.

With nowhere to vent, he could only scold Nevelskoy.

Nevelskoy looked innocent. He didn't lie, everything he told was the truth.

It's just that there are some things he hasn't seen, such as those powerful rockets.

But can Nevelskoi be blamed?

After Muravyov returned, he began to organize manpower to guard Nikolayevsk.

This was originally a trading post established by the Qing Dynasty.

But now it has become the center of Tsarist Russia's rule in the Far East.

It is said to be a ruling center, but in fact only a few people live here.

It looks like a small town being built on the riverside.

A simple pier and a rough plank road made of logs. The tallest building in the city is the two-story stone and wood structure steeple church.

The original black earth roads are full of ruts and hoof prints made by livestock.

"Your Majesty the Governor, I'm afraid Nikolayevsk can't be defended anymore." Nevelskoy's face was still swollen.

However, he still faithfully put forward his suggestions.

Most of the people in the city at this time were exiles.

Muravyov's proud Cossack infantry were completely destroyed outside Hakodate.

Originally, these soldiers retreated to the beach after being defeated by the Tempest machine guns.

But in the end they did not wait for their own fleet, but for the escort navy.

The result can be imagined. The tough Cossack warriors were humbly and helplessly wiped out by the escort.

This is already the second battle that has occurred in Hakodate. The strange thing is that the Fuso people don't seem to care about it.

The original Fuso people in Hakodate City were massacred by the Tsarist Russians. Now they are all replaced by Chinese, and no one comes to ask questions.

Zhong Runyi just rented Hakodate from the shogunate, but now the entire Ezo Island is in the hands of the Chinese.

Zhuo Yiqing let the fleet rest for a while, and Ou Zongan also asked his army to prepare.

They were not prepared to give the Russians a chance to breathe.

Dong Liang wanted to control the lower reaches of Heilongjiang and place tens of thousands of construction corps there.

This goal must be achieved.

The territory that the Manchus could not defend was defended by the Chinese.

…

In the Fuzhou City's Head of State Mansion, Dong Liang met a special guest.

Lin Fengxiang finally arrived in Fuzhou City after many days of sailing.

If there is anyone Lin Fengxiang wants to see most now, then it must be Dong Liang.

After escaping from Zhili, Lin Fengxiang fell into a vicious circle of self-denial.

He felt that the Northern Expedition was meaningless. As the Chinese commander said, even if the Northern Expedition was successful, the consequences might be negative.

So much so that he doesn't dare to sleep now. Whenever he goes to sleep, he will see countless brothers who died in battle questioning him.

Ask yourself what is the meaning of their death on the road of the Northern Expedition.

And the people of Duliu Town, their wronged souls want to seek revenge on Lin Fengxiang.

When Dong Liang saw Lin Fengxiang, his whole body was wilted, his eyes were sunken, and there were thick black circles around his eyes.

Mentally numb, people become taciturn.

"General Lin, I respect you as a great hero. The Chinese sent a whole fleet and so many land forces to rescue you. I don't want to see a depressed Lin Fengxiang."

"In Dong's opinion, in the Taiping Army, apart from Feng Yunshan and Yang Xiuqing, the next one should be you, Lin Fengxiang. Although you have not been crowned king, no battle has been won without your participation."

Dong Liang was rude to Lin Fengxiang. He knew that Lin Fengxiang was sick, not physically, but in his brain.

This sudden illness requires some strong medicine.

"Führer, on behalf of the brothers, I want to thank you for your rescue. Without the escort, all the brothers would have died at the hands of the Tatars."

"But I, Lin Fengxiang, am a sinner. For the sake of my great achievements, I killed so many brothers and did something meaningless."

Only then did Dong Liang realize that Lin Fengxiang was doing this.

Once a person enters a dead end mentally, it is difficult to get out on his own.

At this time, he needs an ideological guide. In later generations, this guide is called a psychiatrist.

Dong Liang doesn't know how to be a psychiatrist. But he knows how to understand people.

Many of the vocational school students he took with him in his previous life were problem students.

As we all know, many people regard vocational schools as a place to hang out.

Some students will think, since I will be unemployed after graduation and will not learn anything, then what is the point of spending my time here?

At this time, Dong Liang would ask him, what is the teacher teaching you? Isn’t it knowledge?

Isn’t this knowledge real?

Lin Fengxiang was much older than Dong Liang. Year-round exposure to wind and sun made Lin Fengxiang look much older.

But at this time, Lin Fengxiang was like a lost and hesitant student in Dong Liang's eyes.

"How can you say that what you are doing is meaningless?" Dong Liang's voice was clear and resounding.

Lin Fengxiang shook his head: "Führer, you don't need to comfort me. I, Lin Fengxiang, set out from Yangzhou and fought all the way to Tianjin. But apart from killing so many people along the way, I did not cause any harm to the Manchus. Moreover,

Even if I capture the capital, I might scatter all the nine states in the world. This Northern Expedition is a meaningless thing."

Dong Liang interrupted him and said: "But this time your Northern Expedition allowed us to see the weakness of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and let the people of the world see clearly the true face of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. For this reason, you Lin Fengxiang can be called a great leader."

hero."

"Who dares to lead an army of 20,000 people, fight for thousands of miles under the eyes of the Qing Dynasty without any supplies, and still be able to persist for such a long time even when being heavily surrounded?"

Dong Liang's words finally made Lin Fengxiang's eyes shine.

"Führer, do you really think so?" Lin Fengxiang seemed to be a student eager to be recognized by others.

At this time, there is no general temperament in him.

Fu Shanxiang stood up and said: "General Lin, what the head of state said is right. After the deeds of you and the Northern Expedition were reported in Chinese newspapers, the Chinese people were deeply moved, and many literati even wrote about it.

A heart-stirring poem.”

"The hard-working spirit of the Northern Expeditionary Army has spread among the Guards."

Lin Fengxiang glanced at Fu Shanxiang, and then looked away. He didn't know this woman, but he felt that what she said was very sincere.

"General Lin, come with me." Dong Liang said and brought Lin Fengxiang to the edge of the map.

He knew that for a general, what can activate him is always war.

"This is..." Lin Fengxiang saw a map that was higher than him.

This map is beautifully made and even colorful. It has various markings on it.

He could see that the yellow areas were areas controlled by the Chinese.

This includes Guangdong, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, most of Jiangsu, Hunan and southern Jiangxi. There are also large islands in the East China Sea, and even Luzon Island in the Southeast Asia.

The western part of the big island in the south of Luzon is also painted yellow.

The northern part of Annam is also marked in yellow.

The red area extends from Tianjing to the west, covering almost all of Anhui and some places along the Yangtze River in Hubei.

This should be the territory of the Taiping Army, which is much smaller than the territory of the Chinese.

The rest is mostly gray, with some sporadic touches of other colors.

Lin Fengxiang saw two boat-shaped arrows on the Gan River and Xiang River.

"Is the head of state planning to use the navy as the vanguard to capture Jiangxi and Hunan?" Lin Fengxiang saw this map and immediately became energetic and his eyes lit up.

"Not Hunan and Jiangxi, but the whole south."
To be continued...