Neither the British regular army nor the Min soldiers had ever seen such a massive offensive formation, and were completely stunned by the sight before them.
The expeditionary force's steam tanks formed an uneven formation, divided into two rows at the front and back, advancing forward in a staggered manner.
Behind each tank were about a dozen or twenty infantrymen, and the tanks were constantly firing with artillery and machine guns.
The third-generation steam tank has a crew of five, including a driver, a loader, and a commander and gunner.
If necessary, the other two are responsible for using the vehicle-mounted machine gun, which uses forty rounds of medium-sized bullets.
When the secondary shooter is not busy, he can also shoot with a rifle or pistol.
Originally, Emperor Haojing planned to add two more machine guns to each tank, especially after considering the design of the front opening of the vehicle body.
However, considering the bulletproof reasons, this was canceled and only the machine gun was installed on the roof.
However, the machine gun can be raised and lowered, and members can use the periscope to pull the trigger in the vehicle.
The machine gun is equipped with a bulletproof plate and a sight, which can effectively protect the shooter while improving shooting accuracy.
There are as many as 600 vehicle-mounted machine guns alone, and you can imagine the pressure on the British army in terms of firepower.
Any soldiers exposed in the open ground may be violently fired by the Ming army's machine guns.
Rows of bullets are fired, which can drill a series of holes in the ground, just like plowing.
Some British soldiers saw the bullets whizzing towards them and wanted to run, but they were too slow and were shot in the legs or waist.
In just ten minutes, five to six thousand people were knocked to the ground by the hail of machine gun bullets, wailing incessantly.
The British army's simple tanks did not fail to exert their combat effectiveness, but the shells fired by the small cannons could no longer penetrate the frontal armor of the Ming army tanks.
During the research and development, the project team of the Daming Academy of Sciences carried out targeted upgrades so that the new generation steam tank can withstand the attack of the opponent's tank artillery in close combat.
Generally speaking, artillery under ten pounds can no longer destroy third-generation steam tanks, especially the rapid-fire large and small Folang machines.
The third generation steam tank mainly protects against such fast-firing artillery. You don’t need to worry about other large-caliber artillery, because the firing rate is very slow.
If a shot misses, it will take at least five minutes to re-aim the target after reloading.
It is impractical for barbarian tanks to install large-caliber artillery, which will greatly reduce their mobility.
Small-caliber artillery was unable to destroy the Ming army's steam tanks, which meant that this land warfare weapon had entered its heyday.
After entering the 1780s, the era of cavalry has been officially swept into the trash can by the emergence of tanks.
Especially in plain areas, infantry protected by tanks can completely defeat cavalry units that are two or three times the number of their own.
This was the reason why Churchill did not let Monk carry a large number of cavalry. The former also saw the problem.
Even if they attack the opponent's temporary dam, the cavalry will be blocked by the opponent.
Without the ability to attack fortresses in advance, the cavalry can only use its own mobility to conduct mobile warfare.
At present, the coordinated charge of Monk's infantry and tanks was defeated by the Ming army's offensive tactics in a short period of time.
According to Monk's observation through his telescope, three-quarters of the 200 tanks put into the battlefield had been destroyed.
The situation in the rest of the battle was even worse. The artillery firepower of the opponent's tank was really terrifying.
The accuracy of artillery fire and the anti-strike ability of the car body are also much higher than our own. They are completely two-level weapons.
What's even more tragic is that when Munch looked across the way with a telescope, it was difficult to see the burning and smoking chariot.
Although after one's own tank is destroyed, the infantry behind the tank will run behind the nearby tank that can still drive normally and continue the attack.
However, as the number of tanks became smaller and smaller, and more and more infantry followed behind, the situation became precarious.
From a mile to a half mile to three or four hundred feet, one or two hundred feet.
The distance between the two sides continued to shorten, and finally there were very few British tanks left before they crossed paths.
The British infantry advancing with the chariot was instantly overwhelmed by the Ming army's infantry-tank coordination tactics.
The flintlock rifle was no match for the magazine-type rifle. Coupled with the raging machine guns, the Ming army's crushing firepower was vividly demonstrated.
More than 30,000 British troops were pushed forward. In less than an hour, more than 20,000 were killed and wounded. Those with flexible legs and feet chose to run away at the first opportunity.
Just one round!
There is no such thing as hand-to-hand combat!
The British army of about 35,000 has been overwhelmed by the steel torrent of the 15,000 expeditionary force!
To the regret of many expeditionary force soldiers, they did not even have a chance to throw grenades.
More than twenty steps away, the British barbarians who had lost their fighting spirit had already turned around and fled.
But it was too late to run away at this time. The expeditionary infantry would not let go of such a good opportunity to hit a live target.
If the infantry is out of reach, the tanks will open fire, followed by aircraft chasing them down at low altitudes.
About two thousand remaining British soldiers ran into a nearby forest. Huang Ting, who was good at water and fire tactics, immediately ordered his troops to surround the forest and then set fire to the outer circle.
The soldiers of the expeditionary force who were responsible for clearing out the British troops in the forest downwind finally caught the opportunity to throw grenades. As long as they found any signs, regardless of whether they were humans or animals, they would be ready with grenades.
So much so that when we were cleaning the battlefield after the war, we actually found that two wild boars, five deer, and thirteen rabbits had been killed or blown up...
In addition to fighting, you can also perform tooth sacrifices. This is something that no one expected.
The British troops in the woods couldn't stand this kind of tactics at all, and they were not good at fighting guerrillas.
After trying to hide in Tibet without success, they continued to lose men. After more than half of them were killed or injured, the remaining 700 people were forced to surrender.
Before dark, the battle, later named the "Battle of Kent's Plains," came to an end as the sun set.
The battlefield was thoroughly cleaned the next day, and a total of more than 12,100 corpses were found on the main battlefield and surrounding areas.
About 4,000 people were injured and died that day, and some people who were seriously injured died one after another within a few days.
In total, about 19,000 British troops were killed and about 20,000 were captured.
Thirty-nine thousand enemies were wiped out, and the rest should have escaped and ascended to heaven.
This can be regarded as the greatest result achieved by the expeditionary force since landing in British North America. It is not without glory.
Huang Ting is not proud of this, because it has been almost a year and New London has not been won yet.
If he hadn't changed the course of the river and "flooded Yidu", the siege might have been longer.
News came from Zheng Shao that the defenders and people in New London had begun to retreat to the west bank of the Chattahoochee River.
After the news that 50,000 men under Monk's command had been severely damaged reached the ears of James II, all the officials felt that the capital could no longer be defended.
There were strong enemies outside and floods inside. The defenders' strength was reduced by half after this battle.
If the yellow-skinned monkeys use river water to besiege the city, even if the troops of King Qin from all over the country arrive, it will be of no avail.
How can we keep this going?
Faced with almost a desperate situation, even Churchill was helpless.
After several discussions, James II finally had no choice but to learn from the pain and decided to abandon the capital and evacuate all troops to the area west of the Chattahoochee River.
At least the fleet can be used for the last time to provide fire cover for the retreat.
To retreat westward, we must pass through the Alabama River. As for how to get so many people across the river, no one can think of a good way.
The worst-case scenario is just to cut down trees together and make a raft to cross over.
On October 3, after seeing that the city was empty of people, Huang Ting ordered the dykes to be blown up to allow the river water to return to its original flow direction, and then block the newly dug river channel so that the water in New London would slowly recede.
Two weeks later, when the river water had been almost dried by the sun and the silt on the surface had dried up, and no one could get trapped in it, the expeditionary force cautiously entered the city.
Before you can determine the specific situation in the city, you must be careful. No one wants to be attacked by British barbarians. This is not cost-effective.
Therefore, Huang Ting asked 35,000 Japanese troops to go in and have a look, and also have a tooth ceremony. After all, they had been looking forward to it for a long time.
This was also done with Zheng Chenggong's consent in advance. James II should have taken away all the valuable belongings.
Zheng Chenggong doesn't like things that are worthless.
After owning a bunch of mines in the Southland, the wealthy Zheng Chenggong was not interested in ordinary loot.
If I had to get one, it would definitely be a slave!
With a slave miner able to create wealth of at least thirty silver coins for himself every year, one million miners would be worth thirty million silver coins.
This is at least at least, usually 40 to 50 million, and the annual income is very stable, and it is not dependent on the weather like farming.
Zheng's current annual net income has exceeded 100 million silver coins, which can fully support the important task of landing in North America and wiping out the United Kingdom while developing the West.
For the Zheng family, making money and fighting are not contradictory, and the more they fight, the richer they get, because the spoils of war are millions of miners in British North America!
White-skinned barbarians are easier to manage than black people, and mining is more efficient. Therefore, everyone in the Zheng family is very enthusiastic and dedicated to the task of conquering British North America.
It's just that the people who stayed in New London were either old, lame, sick, or dying. The young and strong all ran away with James II.
The prisoners were almost worthless, and the expeditionary force occupied a place that was about to become a ghost town.
As for the children who were left to take care of their elderly parents, Zheng Chenggong thought of their filial piety and had no intention of arresting them.
Rather than leaving the old people to fend for themselves and sending troops to clean up the bodies in the end, it would be better to keep these children, which would save the expeditionary force trouble.
Before that, Huang Ting and Zheng Jiaqi led their troops to catch up with the main force of barbarians fleeing westward on the banks of the Alabama River.
The royal family, ministers' families, and 20,000 regular troops had already crossed the river first, while Min soldiers and their relatives fell behind.
When the Ming army appeared in everyone's sight, there was chaos along the river.
The businessmen and ladies who originally had to wait for the ships to arrive before crossing the river rushed to jump into the river.
The fear of being caught by a yellow-skinned monkey and being mined is a well-known outcome.
No one wants to work hard in a dark mine for a lifetime and eventually be exhausted to death.
Some people say that if you do well, you will be released after twenty years, or even promoted to supervisor.
But still no British person wants to be caught by a yellow-skinned monkey, which is equivalent to falling directly into hell.
As many as a thousand people drowned in the river, and about 20,000 people became prisoners of the expeditionary force because they could not swim.
Others managed to cross the river at the last moment, happily celebrating their escape from the tiger's mouth as if they were surviving a disaster.
They were not happy for long. The expeditionary force arrived at the river, and the engineering troops began to use steam bridge erecting vehicles to erect the pontoon bridge.
Within two hours, three pontoon bridges capable of carrying steam tanks were successfully constructed.
Huang Ting estimated that the number of military minions who followed James II to the west bank of the Alabama River exceeded 50,000.
If it were one or two thousand people, they would have fled.
But letting so many people go at once would definitely be impossible to explain to the respected master.
Huang Ting and Zheng Jiaqi followed closely behind.
Don't chase the poor enemy. It won't work. You must chase them until they die!
Judging from the map, if James II went all the way west, he would definitely be blocked by the Mississippi River.
This river is not as good as the Alabama River, and many people will have to give up by then.
As long as you can keep chasing and killing, you will get good rewards if you don't follow him!
Huang Ting's judgment of the enemy was that James II would eventually cross the Mississippi River and continue westward into Spanish Texas in an attempt to join the Spanish army.
By then, the King's Division will be constrained by the long supply line and may be unable to continue the pursuit mission.
Huang Ting's guess can be said to be quite accurate. Under the advice of the ministers, this is what James II planned.
The current situation is very unfavorable to him, and Monk has already reported the situation of the Battle of Kent Plains to him.
The firepower of the Yellow-skinned Monkeys greatly exceeded the level of the British army, and our side had almost lost its field combat capabilities.
First, the city of New London must be abandoned, and second, retreat westward.
If the opponent does not pursue, then go to Birmingham City and wait for reinforcements.
Otherwise, they could only forcefully cross the Mississippi River, go to Spanish Texas, and join the Spanish defenders there.
Under the premise that the yellow-skinned monkeys have absolute air superiority, fighting guerrillas on the plains is asking for death.
Churchill also suggested widening the opponent's supply line, hoping that the enemy would be overwhelmed by supplies and eventually give up the pursuit.
He did not agree with the main force crossing the Mississippi River, as that would cause too much loss.
In the severe shortage of boats to cross the river, most of the miners loyal to the king could only be abandoned.
If we can have a nice counterattack in the Mississippi River plate, we may be able to reverse the situation.
The straight-line distance from New London to the Mississippi River was more than 500 miles, and Churchill believed that it should be able to deplete the enemy's supplies.
James II was not willing to give up the hard-won land, so he decided to go to Birmingham first to see what the situation was like before making any plans.
However, on the third day after the British army arrived in Birmingham, the Ming army appeared outside the city in a mighty manner.
Both sides were old acquaintances, so without saying any polite words, Huang Ting ordered to directly bombard the city!
