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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 636: Long-planned

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    Colonel Vassone died gloriously in battle, just as he said in the letter he wrote to his wife before the expedition, I will shed the last drop of blood for the French Empire.  ¨RHe was hit by a stray bullet in the forehead, and unfortunately fell down next to a dilapidated stable in Hexiwu Town. His orderly Clifford stayed by his side dutifully until the Taiping Army completely occupied Hexiwu Town after dawn.  Capture Clifford.

    A regiment of Taiping soldiers and more than a thousand Taiping soldiers from the Dalian Bay Special Marine Corps participated in the raid on Hexiwu Town. The careful latent raid plan and the strict discipline of the Taiping elite troops made the raid perfect.

    The two British gunboats and most of the crew members on them were captured by the Taiping Army. As Lieutenant Bernard guessed, the Taiping Marines sneaked in from the water, approached the gunboats, and then attacked the two gunboats.  The Taiping Marines relied on wheat straw to breathe, and after approaching from the water, they killed the sentries and guard soldiers on the gunboats, and the rest of the British naval crew were forced to become prisoners.

    Then the three infantry battalions of the Taiping Army raided Hexiwu Town from three sides as planned. Although Colonel Vassone's Second Marine Battalion was elite, the number of enemies was too many. In the end, this brave and capable French Marine Battalion was completely defeated.  In the battle, more than 200 people were killed and more than 200 people were injured or captured.

    The losses of the Taiping Army were not small, with more than 400 casualties, and two company commanders who attacked the enemy were killed. Moreover, this was the result of the Taiping Army's sudden surprise attack, which shows the elite of the French Marine Corps.

    After the war, the soldiers of the Taiping Army evaluated the French Marine Corps and believed that this elite French force was very difficult to fight, even if they were left alone.  They will also quickly use the terrain to cover themselves, and then do whatever they can to fight back.  Then the mutual cover, cooperation and mutual support between them were done perfectly, and the coordination between tactical actions and the team was also very tacit.  They are a tough force.

    The captured Lieutenant Bernard wrote his memoirs when he returned to China after the war: "That night, what we encountered was a terrible force. A regiment of troops quietly sneaked under our noses to launch a surprise attack, and we  Didn't know anything about it. Their line of attack avoided our minefields, and their reconnaissance work was obviously a hundred times better than ours. Their marksmanship was accurate and their morale was high. Lieutenant Sowberry led a platoon  The soldiers were stationed on the dock hill position, and several death-defying soldiers they sent opened the gap with grenades, so our troops suffered a serious defeat there. We suffered heavy casualties when we retreated"

    The winner in a war is never an ordinary soldier. The soldier saved by Lieutenant Bernard finally lost a leg. Fortunately, the Taiping Army doctor saved his life. In addition, Lieutenant Bernard saw dozens of victims of the Taiping Army.  The French soldiers rescued by the army made Lieutenant Bernard feel better. At least the Taiping Army did not give up the chivalry given by God.

    After occupying Hexiwu Town, Lieutenant Bernard and several officer prisoners were left in the town, while the remaining prisoners were transferred to the villages and towns behind for custody or treatment.  Lieutenant Bernard noticed.  After the Taiping Army occupied this place, they immediately began soil work and built various fortifications and trenches.  Bernard knew that they were going to block Major General Michel and General Colino from Tongzhou for reinforcements. It seemed that the Taiping Army still had some concerns about winning a decisive battle with the coalition forces on the plains.  They planned to first consume the coalition forces through strong fortifications and positions, and then engage in a decisive battle.

    Squatting outside a hut with several captured officers, Bernard was in no mood to talk to them.  In fact, several officers were not in the mood to talk. They were praying for their own fate.  They didn't know how the Taiping Army would treat them.

    "Lieutenant Bernard, do you remember me?" French with a clear accent.  Bernard looked up following the sound and saw a group of Taiping cavalry passing by the roadside. A cavalry member broke away from the group and walked towards him.

    It was a maroon Anglo-Norman horse. The cavalry on it wore a fiery red military uniform with white edges, a symbolic plume helmet on its head, a breastplate on its chest, and five loaded revolvers on its back.  Pistol, a Cespin repeater on the back, and a sharp Gurkha cavalry machete on the waist.  Bernard recognized this man, Song Feng, a cavalry officer of the Taiping Army. They had fought against the Russians together, and it was Bernard who taught Song Feng French.

    "Song, it's you." Bernard stood up and tried his best not to look so embarrassed, but the Taiping soldiers guarding the side fiercely pointed their bayonets in front of them and said, "Don't move forward!"

    Song Feng jumped off the horse, stepped forward and said to the guarding soldier: "I want to say a few words to him." The soldier's military rank was only a first-class private. He gave Song Feng a military salute and said: "I'm sorry, Colonel.  He is a prisoner and cannot have contact with anyone without the permission of our commander."

    Song Feng returned the military salute and said with a smile: "I know, I'm just talking to youIt¡¯s just a few words, just say it here and watch, that¡¯s all.  "

    The soldier looked at the two people in embarrassment, and finally nodded. Song Feng lit a Xiaodao brand cigarette for Bernard. Bernard liked this kind of Chinese cigarette, which tasted better than cigars.

    "I didn't expect to meet again under such circumstances." Song Feng said with some regret, Bernard smiled bitterly and said: "I am your prisoner, I really didn't expect it."

    Song Feng comforted him: "Just do as we say, and you can wait peacefully in the prisoner-of-war camp until the war ends, and then you can go home."

    Bernard was silent for a moment and then asked: "Song, do you hate us?" Song Feng shook his head and said: "I don't know what others think. I don't hate you, I just hate why your army came to the Far East.  . You want to take away our interests and prevent us from reunifying. In fact, these are all because you are afraid that we will become stronger, right?"

    Bernard was speechless. Yes, in fact, the root of everything was just that they were afraid that the Taiping Army would become stronger.  Song Feng said firmly: "Bernard, we will become stronger. No one can stop this. Instead of being our enemies, you should actually consider how to be friends with us, just like before."

    Finally, Song Feng rode away on his horse. Bernard got some food and tobacco, both given by Song Feng. Bernard began to think silently, yes, can the Taiping Army be stopped by its power?  It is a pity that France and Britain are too far away from the Far East, and the strength of the Chinese Taiping Army is already very strong. France and Britain can no longer conquer it by just sending a dozen ships and thousands of troops, and the Taiping Army does not  As the Manchus are so weak and easy to bully, maybe becoming friends with them again is really a good choice.

    Just when Bernard was meditating, he suddenly heard a commotion from the Taiping Army in Hexiwu Town, and they cheered. A message was passed from far to near. Bernard heard the guarding soldiers shouting loudly and excitedly: "Tianjin  The city has been recaptured by us!"

    Bernard can understand Chinese. Perhaps it is better for his colleagues at this time. At least it seems from their confused look that they have no idea what the enemy is cheering for.  Bernard closed his eyes in pain, "Oh God, Tianjin fell, 80% of the military supplies fell into the enemy's hands, Tianjin and Hexiwu Town fell into the enemy's hands, the canal transportation supply channel was cut off, and the main coalition force in Tongzhou  We will face a very terrible situation.¡±

    "Lieutenant, what are those yellow-skinned monkeys talking about?" a captain officer asked in a low voice. Bernard shook his hand feebly and said: "Some of them understand French, be careful with your words. They are celebrating victory, Tianjin  They captured it."

    Hearing this, several court officials became commotion, and the guarding soldiers shouted loudly. A few people became a little calmer. When the guarding soldiers turned around and cheered again, the captain held his head and said in pain: "Oh God, are we going to do this?"  Is the whole army wiped out? The damn British are really vulnerable. You must know that there are more than 2,000 British soldiers in Tianjin."

    Bernard sighed and said: "The enemy has been planning this attack for a long time. It will definitely not be a small number of troops attacking Tianjin, and General Sutton, like us, lacks artillery and other heavy weapons."

    The captain raised his head and said bitterly: "We can only hope that the headquarters can wake up as soon as possible, hope that Major General Mitchell and General Colino can recover this place in time and open up the transportation and supply channels as soon as possible, otherwise"

    Bernard and others muttered secretly. After a while, they were put on an ox cart and escorted by soldiers towards Tianjin. It seemed that the officers were taken to Tianjin for custody or handed over to high-level interrogation. It seemed that the Taiping Army had already  A headquarters has been established in Tianjin.

    ¡­¡­

    As for the Tongzhou Allied Forces, Major General Michel and General Colino were preparing to set off early in the morning. The two infantry brigades had a total of 5,600 French troops and 3,000 British troops, including the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment.  The 2nd Battalion of the King's Royal Rifles, the 1st King's Dragoons and other elite units.

    But just after the troops set off, defeated British troops from Hexiwu Town came to report that Hexiwu Town and Tianjin were attacked. The situation was very critical and they might have fallen.

    Grant and Montauban were very surprised when they received the news. This small group of defeated British soldiers was Lieutenant Colonel Compton's company of the 1st Battalion of the Essex Regiment. They were ambushed on their way to reinforce Tianjin last night. Lieutenant Colonel Compton  The captain was missing, and his life or death was unknown. This team of more than a dozen people managed to escape from the enemy's ambush. Later, they got lost, and finally found their way back to Tongzhou.

    After hearing the descriptions of the British soldiers, Grant and Montauban realized that this was a long-planned sneak attack by the Taiping Army, but Tianjin was too important and they had to take measures immediately, so Major General Michel and General Colino immediately led  Soldiers ready to goreinforcements, and the headquarters needs to hold a meeting immediately to unify an opinion on whether the entire army should immediately turn back for reinforcements and shrink the front to ensure the safety of the entire army.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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