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Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 633: Street Fighting in Tianjin

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    Tianjin is a city that has mixed emotions in the hearts of all Chinese people. The former Tianzi Ferry has now become the key point for the Taiping Army to reverse the entire war situation. The Battle of Tianjin has written another colorful chapter in the history of Tianjin City.  ⊙

    The development of a city requires opportunities. In the Ming Dynasty, one man's rebellion made Tianjin a city. This man was Zhu Di.  Zhu Di successfully crossed the river from Beidaguan and captured the military town of Cangzhou. So when he was happy, he named the ferry Tianjin (the emperor's ferry).  When classmate Zhu Di returned to the north later, he thought something was wrong. Tianjin was too important. If others could cross the river in Tianjin and then go north as smoothly as he did Zhu Di thought about it with cold sweat breaking out on his spine, and hurriedly set up in Tianjin in one breath.  It has three hospitals, the first in the country, with 16,500 people.

    Then came the Korean War during the Wanli period. According to records, during the Wanli period, the farmland area across the country reached more than 644,000 hectares, most of which was in Tianjin.  At the same time, the imperial court was also short of money. Governor Wan Shide suddenly discovered that Tianjin was a holy land for drying salt with plenty of sunshine and strong winds (it should have been discovered long ago), so he vigorously developed the salt industry, imposed taxes like crazy, and fully supported the Korean front line.  According to statistics, Tianjin's military rations shipped to North Korea accounted for more than one-third of the country's total. At the same time, Tianjin also paid a large amount of taxes and money, manufactured a large number of guns, and silently worked hard to

    Support this war.  Only 1,670 cannons were built, and 10,000 small cannons were built. Tianjin Qingjiang Factory is one of the two major shipbuilding bases in China.  Pao, eating Tianjin rice.  With officers and soldiers receiving Tianjin pay, the Battle of Wanli was a heartfelt victory over Japan in Chinese history.  And Tianjin made amazing contributions to this war.  The small area of ??Tianjin is responsible for one-third of the food and half of the arms.  What an honor this is for Tianjin people?

    Now under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, Tianjin is bleak. Although Seng Gelinqin once resisted tenaciously here, he finally lost the emperor's ferry, and the flag of the British and French forces was planted on the top of Tianjin city.  The baptism of artillery fire that started in the middle of the night seemed to herald the arrival of Tianjin's rebirth from the ashes.

    The fire at the South Gate of Tianjin forced the British Army General Sutton to retreat. After demolishing more than a hundred wooden houses near the South Gate in the chaos, the British Army barely stopped the spread of the fire. The 1st Barfors Regiment of the British Army  The battalion reluctantly set up a line of defense in the street near the south gate. The 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment were stationed at the north, east and west gates respectively.  Although the defensive advantages of the south gate city wall and moat were lost.  But what made General Sutton feel a little relieved was that despite the enemy's surprise attack, Tianjin City was still in the hands of the British army.

    The fierce fire at the south gate forced the British troops back, but it also caused trouble for the Taiping Army. The three infantry battalions that followed up the charge after the artillery preparations failed to pass through the south gate. They were also blocked outside the city by the fierce fire.  Their gain was only to capture three forts that looked like ruins. More than 300 Indian soldiers were taken prisoner, and the rest were buried in the forts.

    Su Ji did not expect that the incendiary warhead rockets would cause a raging fire in the south of Tianjin, and the frontline infantry battalions unanimously cursed.  The artillery regiment quickly replaced the warheads. They replaced all the incendiary warhead rockets and prepared to continue the extended artillery bombardment.

    Then Chen Alin, commander of the First Division, came to Xiaosunzhuang, the forward position, and saw the raging fire at the south gate.  They had no choice but to order the main attacking First Infantry Regiment to attack the west gate instead, while Su Ji's rocket artillery regiment moved to cover.  The Second Infantry Regiment stayed outside the south gate and tried to use moat water to extinguish the fire at the south gate.  See if we can save a passage.

    The Second Regiment collected more than 30 water hoses used by ordinary people to put out fires from nearby villages and used them to put out the fire at the South Gate, because Tianjin and nearby villages are important places for grain storage and transshipment.  Therefore, there are many water dragons in the villages here.  As the flames near the city gate were extinguished, at 7:35 in the morning.  The burned-to-piece iron-clad wooden door of the south gate of Tianjin was chopped open by Taiping soldiers with sharp axes. The Taiping soldiers responsible for seizing the city gate were attacked with musketry by British soldiers defending from the barricade 500 meters away.

    After losing three soldiers, the 1st Battalion and 3rd Company of the 2nd Regiment, which took the lead, quickly built bunkers with sandbags and other objects near the city gate entrance to fight back. The other companies of the 1st Battalion began to use wooden ladders to climb the south gate wall.

    The attack of the first regiment was much smoother under the cover of the rocket artillery regiment commanded by Su Ji. Although the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the British East Surrey Regiment in Ximen also used the artillery left by the Qing army to fight back, the British soldiers were unable to attack the Qing army.  There were doubts about the quality of the artillery, so in many cases the amount of propellant was placed at the minimum limit, resulting in the artillery shells not being able to hit far and unable to suppress the artillery of the Taiping Army.  Soon the British makeshift artillery at the top of the city was dispersed by the Taiping artillery. Two of the cannons exploded because the British soldiers who operated them showed heroic spirit and discharged more charges.

    When a regiment of infantry launched a charge after being suppressed by artillery, the British infantry at the top of the city quickly began to fight back.  When the Taiping artillery bombarded the city, the British armyThe soldiers withdrew the city wall and took shelter under the city wall to avoid artillery fire. When the Taiping infantry attacked, the British infantry quickly returned to the city wall to counterattack.  The British rifled muskets caused a lot of trouble to the Taiping Army, but fortunately there were only two companies of the 1st Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment stationed here, so they were at a numerical disadvantage.  Although these soldiers from Surrey, England are very brave, the Taiping Army's firepower is not weaker than them, and they are attacked by a handful of elite troops in the Taiping Army. The soldiers with outstanding marksmanship in the Taiping Army's First Army are very  There were many, and the shooting accuracy of ordinary soldiers was also very accurate. When a battalion of Taiping troops suppressed the British troops at the top of the city, both sides felt the bravery of their opponents.

    In the smoke-filled exchange of fire, the Taiping Army had the upper hand. There were two to three Taiping Army soldiers at each battlement with their guns aimed. Once the British troops showed up, they would be attacked.  Another battalion of Taiping troops took advantage of this opportunity to break through the moat and began to erect wooden ladders for climbing under the city.

    At 8:57 in the morning, the first Taiping soldier stepped on the wall of the west gate of Tianjin City. Soon a regiment of Taiping infantry and the British troops on the wall started a brutal hand-to-hand bayonet battle.

    The Second Regiment at the South Gate on the other side ran into trouble. The soldiers who climbed onto the South Gate wall had to retreat because the temperature of the South Gate wall was very high due to the blazing fire. The soldiers could not stand on the wall where raw meat could be cooked.  Settling down on the ground, the surrounding oxygen became thinner due to the fire. The Taiping soldiers who climbed onto the city wall all jumped to their feet and finally retreated.

    The Second Regiment had no choice but to shine the water dragon on the city head and spray water from the moat to cool down the city head.  I have to say here the precision of the design of the ancient water dragon. The entire water dragon is made of iron and wood and is in the shape of a brown oval. The middle part is a wooden barrel, which can hold about 100 kilograms of water. On both sides of the barrel are engraved "XXX Village Water Dragon"  and "such and such village front security" and other words.  Above the barrel, there is a long thick wooden stick with a pressurizing device in the middle and two pistons on both sides for pumping water and pressurizing. The principle is similar to the pump wells seen in later life.

    These water dragons can actually spray water jets three stories high. The Taiping soldiers lined up in two teams. One team was mainly responsible for passing water from the river with buckets and pouring the water into the buckets of the water dragons; the other team  Pass the empty bucket to the river again, and the cycle continues.  There were several strong soldiers on both sides of the water dragon, pumping water vigorously.  A piece of bamboo water pipe was connected from the wooden bucket of the water dragon. The soldier connected a piece of iron pipe to the water pipe, and the water in the bucket spurted out from the pipe.  The scene of more than ten water dragons spraying water at the same time was very spectacular. The soldiers of the Second Regiment jokingly said that thanks to the brothers of the Rocket Artillery Regiment, they were able to serve as firefighters before entering the city.

    The river water sprinkled on the hot wall tiles and floor tiles, and the water turned into steam and dispersed in the air. Soon the entire south gate was shrouded in thick water vapor, but as the water vapor dissipated, the high temperature gradually dissipated.  .  Following closely in the footsteps of the First Regiment, the Second Regiment of the Taiping Army set foot on the south gate wall again at 9:27.

    The two companies of the 1st Battalion of the Bafors Regiment, which were blocked at the barricade not far from the south gate, were quickly suppressed by the firepower of the Taiping Army from the top of the south gate. After a moment of exchange of fire, the two companies dropped more than ten weapons.  The corpses retreated to the second barricade line of defense.

    General Sutton was watching the entire battle from behind the second barricade line. When he saw the Taiping soldiers boarding the south gate wall with embers and smoke still rising around them, he couldn't help praising his opponents, "What a terrifying group of people."  madman."

    Major Belham said hurriedly: "General, a company of soldiers cannot withstand it. The enemy has at least two battalions attacking. The west gate also needs rescue. Major Winston over there can hardly support it anymore.  "

    General Sutton waved his hand and said: "Let Winston lead the Surrey boys back, and the 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment at the north gate also abandon the north gate. We will engage in street fighting with the enemy in the city.  As long as we can defend until noon, reinforcements from Tongzhou will arrive!"

    Belham quickly issued the order. The British troops of the 1st Battalion of the Barfors Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment resisted street by street and gradually retreated out of the city wall area. The 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment also came to support  , the two sides launched street fighting in the urban areas near the South Gate and West Gate.

    At 10:21, the two infantry regiments of the Taiping Army completely occupied the south gate and west gate, and began to fight the British army for the streets of the city.  The Taiping Army was not afraid of street fighting. The Taiping soldiers of the First Army had rich experience in street fighting in the south. Although the opponent was the Qing army, the British army's performance in street fighting was not much better than that of the Qing army.

    The Taiping Army, who were skilled in street fighting, often sent one group of soldiers to the roof and another group of soldiers to the street. They marched up and down at the same time for cover. The streets on the left and right also marched like this, forming a three-dimensional crossfire. The British army had no advantage in numbers.  The tactics of street fighting were relatively rigid, and they quickly fell into a passive and disadvantaged situation.

    Seeing the taxis around me?Continuously being shot and killed, the area controlled by his soldiers was shrinking. General Sutton looked at the pocket watch in his hand very anxiously. The hour hand had pointed to eleven o'clock, it was almost noon, but where were the reinforcements?  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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