In 1865, the fourth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, it was a year that the people of Tanggu would never forget, because during this year, a small port city actually encountered two military disasters in a row.
The massacre in the summer is still fresh in my memory. Many people's property was looted in that conflict. Countless mobs and green camp soldiers were killed by foreign guards and the Hunan Army of the Nine Marshals. The blood stained the whole place. City.
The simple people thought that a nightmare could guarantee peace for at least a few years, but they never expected that on a cold winter night when the Chinese New Year was about to come in two months, the nightmare of killing would once again come to Tanggu City.
"Marine Corps...shoot!" This is the first military order of Xiao Letian's new army. This is the majestic and murderous aura of Ruhuhu's first roar. This is the whip of punishment in Xiao Letian's hand. The head of Manqing is getting into it. The fat ostrich in the sand dunes met the biggest enemy in his life.
The silent soldier pulled the trigger, and the muzzle spit out an orange-red light. A faint white smoke filled the air under the moonlight, adding a bit of cruel beauty to the entire battlefield.
"Open fire, open fire, kill these unrepentant bitches. With this killing, we will break their courage, so that they will never dare to raise their heads in front of our new army, so that they will have to walk around us even if they become ghosts... …”
"Adhere to the shooting discipline, maintain intensive firepower, and extend the shooting. You must not let any thug go. This massacre should be remembered by the Qingyao for a hundred years. Don't... let them remember it for a thousand years!"
Xiao Hexin and Sima Yun, two small company commanders, sounded so crazy that a company of less than 200 people wanted to devour 1,500 Green Camp soldiers? He was not afraid that Feng Da would flash his tongue, but none of the proud soldiers present felt that the commander was bragging.
This is the spirit of the new army, this is their pride, this is the domineering attitude that pure men who have fought in the national war should have when facing these cowards who only know civil war.
The green camp soldiers never expected that there would be an ambush here. Although Sun Sanhu warned them that Xiao Letian had a batch of new-style troops, in the eyes of these Manchu veterans, they were at most an upgraded version of Xia Yangxing's guards. As long as the Hunan Army does not get involved this time, they cannot fail.
Sun Sanhu patted his chest and promised that there was absolutely no Hunan Army soldier in Tanggu City now, and Xiao Letian's forces had no reinforcements at all. Even if he had money to buy foreign guns, in the middle of the night, the power of foreign guns would be too much. How much can be achieved?
What's more important is that Xiao Letian can't have many people under his command. Even if he secretly mobilizes troops from the sea, a few hundred people will be enough to support the sky. If two thousand people can't take down these few guards, it will be really embarrassing. Went to grandma's house.
The firepower poured out by Spencer formed a long whip of death. With just one lash, hundreds of Green Camp soldiers screamed and were knocked to the ground as if they had received electric shocks. Their painful wails resounded throughout the official road.
"There is an ambush, the enemy has an ambush...it's a foreign gun, a foreigner's fast gun..."
"The intelligence is wrong, the intelligence is wrong, the enemy is said to be at least five or six thousand. Why is there such a dense rain of bullets? Get down and take cover!"
These soldiers with medieval thinking have seen foreign guns that fire seven pellets in a row. In their impression, the muskets fired one pellet and then stuffed the pellet and gunpowder from the muzzle, and it took a long time before firing another one.
Now the fire coverage of the ambushers was like a heavy rain, and the gunfire traced the position of the formation in the darkness like a long dragon. But no one dared to charge. They had been blinded by the incoming bullets.
"Man, get down quickly, get down quickly, you will save your life... There are definitely thousands of foreign guns on the opposite side. This is called three-stage shooting! The Jingshi Tiger Spear Camp knows this kind of tactics, and only three-stage continuous shooting can With such intensive firepower..."
"Ancestor Huangtian, as long as you keep me alive, I will shed this layer of skin immediately. If I continue to eat food and serve as a soldier in this life, I will be the son of a little mother..."
"Help me, help me, I was shot in the leg... Young and old gentlemen, for the sake of throwing a spoon in a pot, don't leave me..."
There were screams on the official road, and the New Army's two one-line formations now formed an inverted figure-eight shape, like an upside-down bowl that just caught the green battalion soldiers marching along the road. A dead snake-like marching column, with both sides becoming the slope of the bullet rain, a large number of casualties had already occurred in the first three minutes of the battle.
The three generals who were now in control of the situation were frightened. Xilulu's horses knocked them to the ground. Dozens of soldiers protected them and hid in the irrigation ditch on the roadside. Bullets were flying overhead.
"General Li, Mr. Sun lied to us. What kind of bullshit information did he give us? This is pushing us towards death!"
"Where is General Ding? Where is he? Have you retreated?"
"I'm here. Mom's forehead was hit by a bullet. It's nothing serious. I can't lose my life..."
The three generals were now mad and yelled at Sun Sanhu, but the problem could not be solved by scolding. At this time, the oldest General Li said, "Forget it, no matter how many enemies there are, we have to fight despite being favored by the country. , I don’t feel unjust for losing this life. It’s a pity that these brothers who are with us...have all retreated? Let all brothers retreat into the ditch..."
Ten minutes had passed since the encounter, and they had escaped the most intensive period of killing in the first three minutes. Now the Green Camp soldiers were hiding in the irrigation canals on both sides of the road, shivering among the dry reeds. Fortunately, it's winter now, the ditches have dried up, and the remaining water at the bottom has frozen into ice. If it were summer, a lot of people would have drowned.
There was a whole layer of corpses lying on the official road. The soldiers who were hit in vital parts and died quickly were the lucky ones. Those seriously injured who were struggling in a pool of blood and could not die or live were the most unlucky. There were everywhere in the cold wind. is their wail.
"Brother Li, let the brothers retreat. This battle is unwinnable. There are too many enemies, at least three times our number. We cannot let our brothers die in vain..."
"Retreat? Where else can we retreat? The court has been very disappointed with what we did in the summer, not because Ma Bao took advantage of the situation, but because of our incompetence. Originally, the court sent us here with the intention of intimidating foreigners. Inside, we allowed a group of foreign guards and the cavalry of the Ninth Commander to be easily defeated. Do you think the imperial court is embarrassed?"
"Now Sun Sanhu has come with a secret order from the court to ask us to deal with a businessman. If we fail again, what do you think will be the fate of everyone? Even if we are all a bunch of pigs, we can't be so wasteful, right?"
General Li's sad tone silenced the soldiers around him. Ding slammed the frozen ditch hard and said, "What should we do? The front is death, and the back is death. We have to live!"
General Li shook his head and whispered, "We may not lose. You didn't listen carefully just now. This burst of foreign gunfire is not the rhythm of three shots, but a completely chaotic gunfire... I heard the foreigners say it before. , it seems that Xiao Letian also wrote in his book that the West has invented a breech-loading foreign gun, which is extremely simple to operate and does not require pellets and gunpowder at all. I am sure that it must be this kind of foreign gun that ambushed us!"
"It seems that Sun Sanhu's intelligence is not wrong. There are not many enemies on the opposite side. There are only 300 people standing in the sky. It's just that their foreign guns are powerful. In the chaos, we made a mistake in judgment... Don't worry, now we are hiding in In the ditch, their foreign guns are no longer effective. If they want to defeat us, they have to rush over and fight hand-to-hand. That's our chance..."
Facts proved the old general's judgment. At this time, the gunfire from the opposite side gradually weakened, and the roars of countless grassroots officers came from the scattered gunfire.
"Stop shooting, reload ammunition, and count the number of people and ammunition in each squad and platoon..."
"The third platoon of the first company has consumed one-third of the ammunition... There are slightly wounded people in the fifth squad of the first platoon of the second company who need first aid... Messenger! Report the battle situation immediately..."
In the cold wind, the new army's combat readiness commands spread far away, and a sense of order unique to the modern army emerged spontaneously. Although these Qing army soldiers did not understand what they were doing, they could all feel it. Strict order, this is the discipline that only the legendary Iron Army has.
"Impossible, this absolutely cannot be Xiao Letian's army. How long has he been in the Qing Dynasty? How could he train such a powerful army? I'm afraid the core force in the Hunan Army can't do it either? Sun Sanhu's information is inaccurate. In other words, it is not comprehensive. There is definitely a more terrifying force behind Xiao Letian..."
Thinking of this, General Li grabbed the coat collars of the two brothers and said nervously, "You remember, no matter who lives to vent his anger tonight, he must send the most authentic information to the emperor. Remember, what we encountered today is definitely... An army that is no less powerful than the British and French forces, no no no... In my opinion, this army is even weirder than the British and French allied forces five years ago!"
At this time, Xiao Hexin and Sima Yun had suspended their attack. There were no soldiers standing on the official road, and the situation in the ditch could not be seen clearly in the darkness. Shooting randomly at this time would be a waste of ammunition. The two young commanders gathered together and whispered a few words, and the next battle plan was decided.
But at this moment, a strange commotion suddenly came from Tanggu City behind everyone, the light emanating from the entire city jumped, and people's shouts were heard everywhere in the wind. , "What happened? There is some trouble in the city, send someone to find out quickly..." At this moment, a shout came from the dark night, "My lord's personal guard... Tietoutuo is here to report... Send reinforcements quickly, Your Excellency is surrounded..."
A strong man like an iron tower rushed towards him in the darkness, it was the Iron Touduo who was good at pretending to be a ghost. His legs were flung out like hot wheels and he was running forward. He was the famous Eight Steps of Qinggong in the world. Chase the cicada'.
"Let it go, it's Tietoutuo..." Xiao Hexin shouted slower for one second, and Spencer might have beaten the intruder to death. Tietoutuo rushed to the two of them and gasped for air, and when he saw a dark crossbow arrow nailed to his back.
"Toutuo, you were hit by an arrow? Sit down quickly, medical soldier...well done, what a good man..."
Tietoutuo ran so fast that he forgot about the pain. The crossbow arrow only hurt his skin and not his internal organs, so he was able to survive. The iron-clad Toutuo shook his head, "I'm fine, don't worry about me. Quickly mobilize troops to rescue the Lord. The Lord is surrounded and now the fate is uncertain... Damn, the whole Tanggu City is in flames, and there are people fleeing everywhere. Now even The foreigners have closed their doors and are all armed. It is really more chaotic than Naha Port..."
