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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 597: Capture the Fort

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    After everything was ready, at 6 o'clock in the morning, the French artillery first opened fire on the Qing army's position on the right side of the first fort on the right bank of the White River. Then the British artillery joined the attack with mortars and howitzers.  *

    The Qing army immediately fired back, showing that they were not unaware.  The 47 cannons dispatched by the British army, together with the French army, intensively bombarded the fort and the surrounding Qing army barracks. This was the foothold of the infantry after crossing the river and must be cleared first.

    In order to restrain the opponent, the gunboats of Generals Jones and Badger also crossed the White River Sandbar and bombarded a fort downstream.  This time, the gunboats of the coalition navy became much more cautious after experiencing the last failure. In addition, the underwater chains and other obstacles set up by Senggelinqin at the mouth of the river were almost cleared after the last battle. The coalition forces often blocked the mouth of the river with artillery fire.  As a result, the Qing army was unable to repair underwater obstacles. This time, the coalition gunboats and shallow-water gunboats moved forward much more easily.

    At about 7 o'clock, a loud noise and a terrible explosion shook the first fort on the right bank.  A heavy 12-caliber artillery shell hit the fort's powder magazine, causing it to explode.  Lieutenant Colonel Wu Shili described the scene at that time: "A cloud of thick smoke rose high and spread out in the sky like hell fire. Then, heavy rain carrying mud and wood fell one after another." In an instant, almost  Everyone thought that the fort seemed to no longer exist, and the battlefield was unprecedentedly quiet for a while.  And not long after, the thick smoke dissipated, and the fort was still there!

    After a while, another huge explosion sounded in the downstream fort.  The same situation occurs again.  However, this time it was undoubtedly a French gunboat that hit the fort.  Allied artillery fired.  Getting closer and closer to the target, after the big explosion, the coalition infantry under the waving flag.  Shouting a variety of slogans and cheers, they began to attack.

    The Qing defenders failed to fight back effectively and their shots were inaccurate. Most of the shrapnel flew over the heads of the attacking soldiers.  Among the Qing infantry guarding the fort, there were many soldiers who used advanced foreign guns, but their shooting skills were not good. Grant, who had seen the Taiping Army's shooting drills, was relieved. Fortunately, they were facing the Qing army and not the Taiping Army.  Otherwise at least a third of the men they charge will fall on the way to the charge.

    As the infantry got closer and closer to the enemy, the Qing army's bullets began to hit, and the artillery commanded by Colino immediately bombarded the fort on the other side.  There was no sound of counterattack, and at 7:30, a full-scale charge was launched.

    A hand-to-hand combat started fiercely!  General Blondell thought.  The scene was almost like a medieval battle.  This is like an ancient battlefield.  The Qing army defenders fought bravely with the rushing coalition soldiers.  Some Qing soldiers even grabbed shrapnel from the enemy and threw it at them after running out of ammunition, and then rushed over and bit their opponents like wild beasts.  There were also many people who fought with the coalition assault team with their bare hands. Most of the Qing soldiers were practicing martial arts and could move and dodge as nimbly as monkeys. However, facing enemies several times their size, they all died in battle or died from the enemy's attacks.  Musket shooting.  Either they died in a dense forest of bayonets, or some officers drew their swords and killed themselves

    Fighting hand-to-hand with the Qing army was not what the coalition wanted to see.  They hoped to engage in long-distance artillery battles and cross-fire with the Qing army. At least they had huge advantages in firearm range and accuracy.  But the coalition forces did not have time to wait for the opportunity to fight the Qing army in the field. After Grant and Montauban decided to attack, they knew that fierce hand-to-hand combat was inevitable.

    David followed the soldiers to the fort. He killed a Qing army official in the last battle and was promoted from a first-class private to a corporal.  They stepped on the rubble and boarded the fort where the huge explosion occurred. No one thought that there would be anyone alive on it.

    After boarding the fort, they saw a horrific scene in the ruins. The rubble here was full of human tissue, heads, arms, thighs and red internal organs. A British Marine soldier in front of David appeared again.  Unable to bear it, he held onto the broken wall and vomited.

    Suddenly, there was a roar from a dark hidden soldier cave next to the wall. When the soldier raised his head to look, a sharp flash of sword had already passed by, and the British soldier's head rolled out, and there was a hole in his neck.  Blood sprayed all over David's face.  David looked in horror and saw a Qing soldier whose uniform was in tatters and barely covered his body. He had lost one of his left arms, and his right arm was holding a notched bloody knife. He screamed and pounced on David again.  Come.

    Gunshots rang out, and several Marines from the nearest distance opened fire together. The Qing soldier was hit by several bullets, and finally fell straight down. David was shocked, and finally lay on the ground and vomited.

    The fort at the farthest reaches of the river mouth fell first. The flags of Britain and France were raised successively at the fort, which greatly encouraged the soldiers attacking on land.  At this time, the French and British troops attacking on land were concentrating all their efforts to capture the main entrance of the first fort on the right bank.  They tried to build a bridge across three trenches, which became an ideal shooting target for the Qing defenders. With such a close distance, the Qing soldiers could still hit the target no matter how bad their shooting skills were.Although the coalition soldiers were brave, they were suppressed by the firepower of the Qing infantry and failed to build the bridge, resulting in many casualties.  Fortunately, reinforcements arrived soon. At the same time, luckily, they happened to find a hole in the wall, which was penetrated by a cannonball. The engineers immediately dug the hole big enough that people could get through.

    So the coalition forces rushed in from the entrance of the cave, Colonel Dupin first, and other officers and soldiers followed.  Colonel Dupin was a man respected by the soldiers. He was an intelligence officer of the French army and did not have to lead troops in the charge. However, he took the lead this time, which reduced the criticism of the coalition intelligence department.

    The coalition soldiers filed into the fort courtyard and were immediately besieged by the Qing soldiers. They immediately fought with the defenders with bayonets and started a fierce hand-to-hand battle.  On the wall at the other end of the fort, the heroic Qing soldiers were still shooting. Colonel Dupin temporarily organized twelve soldiers to fight back. The French soldiers' shooting skills were accurate and not affected by the noisy environment. They fought back calmly.  The firepower of the Qing soldiers was finally suppressed. As more and more soldiers entered the fort, the Qing army's defeat was doomed.

    Half an hour later, the French flag was flying on the rampart, and the British soldiers also broke into the fort and planted the military flag at the highest point.  Nearing the point, the fort defenders retreated steadily. After several Qing generals were killed, the Qing army, which had lost its command, finally collapsed and they began to flee.

    "But the Qing army's defeated troops were blocked by the outer defense line. Some of them fell into the horse trap and were killed by the trap they set.  About 600 Qing troops died in the entire fort, and only a hundred escaped. Adding in the soldiers who died in the Qing barracks and trenches around the fort, the Qing army lost more than 2,000 people.  Among the dead was the top guard general, wearing a flower feather and a red-top military uniform. The first fort on the right bank fell in this way.

    Afterwards, Ronglu identified the body of the guard and recognized that this person was Leshan, the newly appointed Zhili Admiral. This meant that in less than a month, two Zhili Admirals were killed by the Qing army in the Allied Forces.  in hand.  After hearing the news, Sir Elgin also ordered the release of several Qing prisoners and brought Leshan's body back as a mark of respect.

    The storm brought heavy losses to the coalition forces. The more than 400 casualties caused Grant to frown. Although the French suffered more losses among them, this was the loss if the left bank forts destroyed themselves without attack. If it were true,  Attacking hard, Grant didn't know how much damage he would suffer.  Many officers in the coalition forces were also injured. General Colino was shot through the shoulder by a bullet. If the bullet had been deflected a little more, General Colino might have become the first senior general of the coalition to be killed. General Napier was very brave, but  Fortunately, there were only 5 contusions on my body, which were not considered injuries.

    In view of the huge losses of the French army, the British politely recognized that the French fought well, and the French also admitted that the British fought well.  Grant paid tribute to the friendly troops and praised: "The French soldiers, with the determination to be the first to put the flag on the high wall of the fort, behaved bravely and tenaciously, and rushed into the fort from the gap at the same time as our officers and soldiers to serve their great country.  Win the glory."

    But who among the French and British was the first to put the military flag on the fort?  According to Grant, it was the young flag-bearer Champlin.  Although he was injured in three places, he still held high the flag of his 67th regiment and rushed forward bravely. He reached the highest point of the fort before the French army and waved the flag.  Wu Shili also said that he had witnessed that "wonderful" moment.  In the end, the British statement was exposed by the photos recorded by the Times reporter. Although the soldier who planted the flag first was not clearly visible in the black-and-white photo, the military flag in his hand was obviously that of the French army.

    Having captured the first fort on the right bank and the last fort on the lower reaches of the Baihe River can be described as a complete victory. The main fort at Dagukou has been completely exposed to the guns of the coalition forces.  At just 9 o'clock in the morning, the Qing army sent envoys over. They wanted to see the British and French envoys, but the coalition responded that the envoys were not available.

    The Qing envoys immediately put forward their request. They hoped that the two sides would have a one-day truce so that the bodies of the wounded and the dead could be carried away.  The request was granted, but only until 4 p.m., and the coalition only agreed to allow four hours.  At the same time, the coalition forces urged the Qing troops at Dagukou Fort to surrender, but the Qing envoys refused to surrender on the spot.

    The two commanders-in-chief of the coalition forces and Elgin followed immediately and walked into the fort that had just fallen.  They saw a shocking scene; there were dead and injured guards everywhere, and the stench was terrible.  After the charge, as soon as the fort was captured, the extremely excited army photographer Bito set up his camera to take pictures of these "wonderful" war scenes from different angles.  According to Dr. Renee, he requested that the scene should not be touched at all and the body should not be removed until the filming was completed.  Photographers throughout history, whoever became famous, wanted to show the cruelty and barbarity of war.

    It¡¯s time to summarize the results.  115 French soldiers were killed and 159 wounded; 2 officers were killed and 11 wounded.  All 170 wounded have been sent to the war hospital in Xinhe Pawnshop.  Ellison lost a comrade-in-arms, Blanche. This sergeant major from a well-known family was killed by several bullets when he and Colonel Dupin captured the fort.  British casualtiesLess than the French army, 57 people were killed and 82 wounded, including officers.

    The Dagu Fort has lost three of its attached forts one after another. The main fort at Dagu Fort is in danger. Will the Qing army defend or retreat?  The generals of the coalition forces are still not sure what action Senggelinqin will take, but they are still ready to continue to attack the enemy, and they will know the result tomorrow.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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