"Asshole, this Li Hongzhang actually set up an ambush here... I still underestimated him. I didn't expect the Huai Army to be so strong." Xiao Letian saw the bright red in front of him and cursed angrily.
He was now at the entrance of the ambush pocket formation, which was also where the enemy deployed the most troops. As soon as the Huai army saw an officer on horseback, they subconsciously focused their arrow rain on Xiao Letian.
The bow strings made a dense sound, and the sharp serrated wolf-tooth arrows fell from the sky and rushed towards Xiao Letian. Thanks to Long Ye, he woke up and jumped from his horse, blocking Xiao Letian with his own body.
Mr. Long shook out the cloak behind him. The rain-soaked cloak was swung with great force. The bow and arrow he shot at Xiao Letian were rolled away. "My lord, please dismount quickly. There will be a volley of fire from behind..."
Long Ye was not the only guard beside Xiao Letian. The other guards tried their best to pull Xiao Letian off his horse. At this time, the second round of arrows had already been fired.
"Sir... the enemy's bowstring will not remain elastic for too long, and the volley can only be fired three times... Let the brothers counterattack and not be beaten where they are..."
Long Ye's reminder is also the only thought of the new army commanders at the moment. What is a strong army? An army that can subconsciously launch a counterattack in the face of a sudden enemy attack is a strong army.
"Charge... Countercharge, suppress the enemy... The new army has no habit of getting beaten in vain... Countercharge." The army that was just like a long queue spread quickly. The squad leader, platoon leader, and company commander quickly led their soldiers. Rushing towards the place where the bow and arrow were shot, the copper-cased bullets in the cowhide magazine were stuffed into the gun chamber, and the bursts of Mauser and Spencer's firing resounded.
Those officers who have experienced the baptism of the European battlefield have gradually acquired the temperament of famous generals. Faced with the attack, no one was at all confused, and everyone organized the brothers around them to start the attack.
Tian Da Paoba was shot in the left arm. He endured the pain and cut off the arrow shaft with his bayonet and shouted, "This is a serrated wolf-toothed arrow. It cannot be pulled out... He endured the pain and left the arrow in the flesh. He turned around and asked the military doctor to perform a minor operation. Okay... Damn it, our new army is still afraid of pain." After saying this, he raised the Mauser in his hand and made a snap sound, and a Huai Army soldier who showed his head on the opposite side was shot.
"The injured brother stayed... set up a shooting bunker for Gatlin... the uninjured brother rushed with me... cross fire cover, use flintlock grenades to deal with the enemy..." This is Jiang Lie who has returned from the European battlefield. The platoon of soldiers he led was now approaching the ditch where the ambush was.
Grenades flew toward the Huai Army's position with white smoke. The delayed fuse hidden in the grenade was not afraid of protection at all. A burst of explosions was heard, and the opposite position suddenly screamed.
At this time, Nohira Tai and Hyoutaro were already crazy. They and the sword-drawing team members divided into two teams and attacked an ambush position like a crab's pair of pincers. "Duck, give it... a hand-to-hand assault... and chop off their heads." Zhujingguan.”
The four hundred Ba Dao team members didn't care about the wind, rain and mud on the ground. They all ran like the wind and rushed into the ditch with their Da Dao.
The sword flashed across a pool of blood, and the elite Huai army and the Ba Dao team members suddenly collided together. This group of Huai troops were not useless, and they were not afraid of the Ba Dao team members who jumped down, and the two sides immediately got involved.
The sound of wind and rain was mixed with the tearing sound of cold weapons cutting into the body, and the steel knife embedded in the bones made a tooth-piercing friction sound. A group of soldiers with red eyes fell into the tumbling water and fought.
Nohira Tai and Hyoutaro went crazy killing, the swords in their hands rolled like wheels, and the heavy rain could not wash away the blood on their bodies.
"Attack... even if we die together, we are the sharpest steel sword in the Prime Minister's hand... pierce the enemy's formation... ah." The two roared like wild beasts, and the four hundred sword-drawing members went crazy.
At this time, Xiao Letian was already surrounded by more than a hundred personal guards and began to retreat. They wanted to take the prime minister out of this ambush pocket. No matter how Xiao Letian beat or scolded him, Lord Long would not let him go.
"Let me go... I am the commander-in-chief of the army, I want to command the battle... Damn it, Nohira and the others are going crazy again. This is meaninglessly increasing casualties. Where are their grenades and rifles? Why not use them... stupid."
"Send someone to provide fire support. Our brothers' lives are ten thousand times more valuable than the enemy's. We can't die here in vain... Let me go, let me go..."
Xiao Letian punched Master Long on the back with all his strength. He wanted to rush out, but he still retreated while watching his brothers sacrifice. This was not his style.
"Prime Minister, even if you kill me today, I will not let you in... You are our soul. You not only belong to the new army, you also belong to the entire country. Fighting is just one of your tasks. …”
"Where are the armored warships you promised us, where are the huge industrial bases, where are our mines, steel plants and arsenals, all of these have to wait for you, Prime Minister..."
At this time, Pierre, who was escorting Xiao Letian as he retreated, also spoke: "Prime Minister, please calm down. Your soldiers are right. Your army has become an army. They already have the pride of soldiers and their morale in their hearts." It’s long past time for you to encourage them personally... If you go up now, you’re just causing trouble for the soldiers.”
"If you are stuck on the battlefield, the soldiers will break up their formation to rescue you, which will kill many people... Please be sensible."
Pierre's stern tone finally made Xiao Letian calm down. He gasped and said, "Stop... I promised you not to go to the battlefield, but now that you have left the ambush circle, my command center is set up here. Put my flag up, I want to see my brothers win with my own eyes.”
Xiao Letian's flag was quickly set up, and by this time the three volleys had ended. Countless Huai troops suddenly jumped out of the ambush ditches and woods, and began to form a military formation and charge towards the new army.
Strangely enough, Sima Yun, Luo Huo and several commanders, Nohira, who had just massacred more than a hundred people, ordered to stop at this moment.
"Each unit gathers the wounded soldiers...the rifles cover and fire...the seriously wounded soldiers gather towards the prime minister..." As the military order was issued, the new army began to shoot alternately and cover each other's retreat.
Mauser and Spencer crackled, the waves of Huai army charging on the opposite side were pushed back one after another, and the puddles on the ground were filled with rainwater.
"Damn it, does Xiao Letian use copper-cased bullets for all his wealth? Why is he so rich..." Li Hongzhang was so angry that he almost dropped the telescope.
In 1866, it was the era of transition from sub-loading ammunition to fixed-loading ammunition. However, copper-cased bullets were not popular in this era. People in the Qing Dynasty could not understand what industrial mass production was like. In many people's minds, full-case bullets were only for nobles. The price of toys is too high.
They had no idea that Prussia had begun to use industrial power to produce bullets, nor that the Western powers were researching smokeless gunpowder with more explosive power. Even Mr. Nobel was now preparing to open his gunpowder factory to Ryukyu.
The heavy rain could not affect the firing of copper-cased bullets at all. The dense rain of bullets repelled waves of Huai Army soldiers, and dead bodies were spread on the ground.
"Damn, damn, this Xiao Letian's army is so strong. Not only are they equipped with copper-cased bullets, but they are also able to carry out counterattacks when attacked... No wonder Mailer suffered a big loss. This kind of army is armed to the teeth. It’s impossible to attack without ten times the force..."
At this moment, another hundred and ten grenades flew into the air on the battlefield, blowing a huge hole in the Huai army's left wing. More than 300 new troops suddenly launched a very beautiful counterattack with the cooperation of friendly firepower.
"Damn it, they are going to tear apart the encirclement net, they are going to tear apart our battle formation... Let the reserves come in." Li Hongzhang gave the order, and the 600 reserves originally hidden on the left wing rushed out of the ditch, and the copycats followed. The breakout troops fought hand to hand.
Li Hongzhang's Huai army was also tough. They had anticipated the enemy's powerful firearms and specially made a batch of thick wooden shields. However, due to the sudden heavy rain, they did not use these shields.
However, after they paid three to four hundred lives, they finally woke up and the camp urgently transported a large number of shields to distribute them. The soldiers began to use the cover of the shields to fight with the new army, and the mortality rate was greatly reduced.
"Where's our Gatling? Why haven't you fired yet... I'm relying on the enemy in front, so what's the point of you putting the Gatling shooting position next to me." Seeing the battlefield, Xiao Letian became anxious again and became extremely irritable.
Around Xiao Letian's command center, there were actually four Gatling heavy machine guns distributed in a circular pattern in the southeast, northwest and northwest. It was obvious that the enemies were in the west, but there were two Gatling guns placed in the northeast and southeast.
"What's going on? Who told me what's going on..."
"This is our arrangement..." Wang Huaiyuan and Pierre said in unison, "Didn't you see, sir? There are only more than two thousand enemies attacking us on the opposite side, and the number of enemy troops shown in the intelligence is three thousand. The remaining Where did the thousand go?”
"Also, sir, please don't forget that since Cixi gave Li Hongzhang a secret order, he has the right to mobilize the Zhili garrison. If he came from Shandong Province all the way, wouldn't he recruit local garrison? We must consider all possibilities... "
Xiao Letian felt secretly ashamed in his heart. Could it be that he was really dazzled by a series of victories? Why was he so dim when commanding the battle this time?
At this time, Long Ye suddenly spoke in Xiao Letian's ear, "Sir, you have been traveling around Europe this year, focusing on international intelligence... You don't know the domestic situation as well as Mr. Wang, don't forget Since he has been holding on to our base camp after we left, the command of this war should be given to him..."
"Prime Minister, what you have to consider is what happens after you take us into Beijing. Facing the artillery fire from the court is your important task... Please rely on Wang Huaiyuan for everything now."
With a word to wake up the dreamer, Xiao Letian looked at Wang Huaiyuan who was coordinating various troops in the rain, and suddenly felt that he owed him a lot. He was obviously a famous general, but because he took a fancy to his rigor, he was transferred to manage and work as a spy. , which is actually unfair to Wang Huaiyuan.
"Huaiyuan, I will leave this battle to you. Your contribution will never be forgotten by any of us..." This book was first published from. Be the first to read the authentic content!
