Читать книгу The Battles of the World or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military events онлайн

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The action of Pā-li-chow left us in possession of the important strategic point called the Pā-li bridge, whereby the paved causeway from Tung-chow to Pekin crosses the canal constructed between those places. It further gave us the line of the canal on which the enemy had rested, and left the approach to Pekin open to our troops.

Our success was immediately followed by a letter from the Prince Koung, brother of the Emperor, and heir to the throne, announcing to the Ambassadors that he had been appointed, with full powers, to conclude a peace, in the room of Prince Tsai.

After the fight of the 18th, Sir Hope Grant had sent an express to summon General Napier, with as much of the 2nd division as could be spared from Tientsin. The General had already succeeded in procuring from the Chinese authorities carriage for his troops, which the Commissariat was unable to furnish. The order found them ready to move, and General Napier reached headquarters on the 24th, having marched seventy miles in sixty hours, with a supply of ammunition, which was much required, escorted by a company of Brownlow’s light-footed Punjabees.