Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Taiping blood

Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 638: Stunned

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    When Major Fanner led more than 400 horsemen from the 1st King's Dragoons of the British Guards to the battlefield, the morale of the Indian Sikh cavalry, which was on the verge of collapse, changed slightly. They gritted their teeth and persisted.  ¦æMajor Fanner learned about the battle situation from a few defeated Indian Sikh cavalry. The fact that the enemy cavalry was able to carry out intensive fire strikes on horseback was beyond Major Fanner's surprise.

    In the past, some small-scale conflicts broke out between the coalition cavalry and the Taiping cavalry during the pursuit of the defeated Manchu troops in Tongzhou. At that time, Major Fanner heard about the Taiping cavalry shooting on horseback.  At that time, the Allied Forces Headquarters believed that this was a case of a few elite cavalrymen of the Taiping Army imitating the tactics of the Swedish Chasseurs. Or perhaps the Taiping Army cavalry deliberately retained some strength at that time, which led to a misjudgment by the Allied Forces.  In short, the coalition believes that the Taiping cavalry is just a special type of light cavalry that uses hunter cavalry tactics well.

    But at this moment, it seems that the Taiping cavalry is a perfect combination of hunter cavalry and heavy dragoons. They can skillfully load, aim, and shoot on horseback. They can also launch attacks on targets like heavy dragoons or cuirassiers.  A deadly powerful charge.  They perfectly combine horseback shooting and horse fighting, and the Taiping cavalry are generally over 1.8 meters tall. Regardless of their physique and height, they are not inferior when facing the coalition cavalry. In addition, they ride on  With their tall Anglo-Norman horses, Major Fanner found that the Union cavalry had no advantage at all in front of them.

    "We still have courage and discipline!" Major Fanner gritted his teeth secretly. He encouraged himself in his heart and made a short judgment.  Major Fanner believed that the dragoons should quickly join the battle group when the enemy had begun to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Indian Sikh cavalry.  This offset the enemy's firepower advantage on horseback, so Major Fanner did not hesitate to order the trombone to sound the attack.  The British Dragoons rushed towards the chaotic battlefield.

    The 1st King's Dragoons of the Guards, led by Major Fanner, are elite heavy dragoons. They are equipped with bronze helmets with beautiful plumes, and have loaded flintlock rifled short lances on their horses.  Equipped with two short guns, and now the scimitar they held high in their hands.

    The scimitars of the British cavalry are Mamluk-style cavalry scimitars. Different from the early British cavalry, after the Napoleonic Wars and the advancement of the times, the British cavalry finally gradually gave up the traditional broad-edged straight swords and replaced them with various types of cavalry scimitars.  A standard scimitar that imitates excellent cavalry swords from other countries.  More than four hundred Mamluk-style cavalry scimitars shine in the sun.  It shines with a bright light, but it is so beautiful.  The sharpness of this scimitar and the huge momentum on the horse's back allow it to easily cut off any part of the human body. The perfect curve of the scimitar allows the British cavalry to better demonstrate their superb fighting knife skills.  Major Fanner believed that they could defeat the Taiping cavalry force of more than 300 people in front of them.

    The commander of this Taiping cavalry obviously noticed the arrival of the British dragoons. He decisively gave up the fight with the Indian Sikh soldiers. The loud bugle sounded, and the Taiping cavalry turned their horses and retreated.  .

    Seeing the Taiping cavalry retreating, the Sikh cavalry who had just been held down and given a severe lesson became elated.  They did not wait for Major Fanner's order and launched a fierce pursuit. Just like they used to pursue the Manchu cavalry, the spears they were equipped with could easily pierce the back of the fleeing enemy.

    it is a pity.  They were chasing a group of fierce enemies, and their superb equestrian skills allowed the enemies to turn around and gallop away while still pulling out their equipped revolvers.  At the closest distance, they struck at the Sikh cavalry chasing them behind them.

    After being caught off guard, the Sikh cavalry lost dozens of people in the pursuit.  They no longer dared to pursue. This group of Taiping cavalry seemed to be covered with spikes.  No matter what they try, they can't give the other party a powerful blow. They will always be injured in the end if they act reluctantly.

    When Major Fanner led the dragoons to join the battlefield, most of the enemy cavalry had already left the battlefield. They only surrounded a few dozen enemy cavalry who had charged too deeply. Dozens of Sikh cavalry were still fighting with them.  , at this moment, they finally relied on their absolute numerical advantage to annihilate these dozen Taiping cavalry.

    "I noticed a Taiping cavalryman who was attacked by five Indian Sikh cavalry at the same time. He bravely fought the unfair battle, and after a minute or two he fatally stabbed one of his enemies in the throat.  He killed one opponent. The battle between him and four other enemies lasted for about five minutes. Then at that time, the Taiping cavalry hit his opponent with a backhand chop, causing the Indian cavalry to wrap around his body.  The headband and the head inside flew up. The horse galloped away, and the headless rider was still sitting upright in the saddle, blood sputtering from the artery like a fountain. Taking advantage of this gap, an Indian tin  The spear in the hand of the Ke cavalry pierced the body of the Taiping cavalry, and the huge pain made him covered with blood.His facial features became more ferocious, and the scimitar in his hand and his arm were chopped off by another Indian Sikh cavalryman. At this time, I noticed that he used his remaining hand to pull the fuse of a grenade on his waist.  Green smoke immediately came out, and the remaining Indian cavalry around him became red-eyed and did not know the situation. They swarmed up and tried to capture the Taiping cavalry alive.  Before I had time to remind them, a violent explosion burst out, and the huge air wave made my mount stand upright and almost dropped me" Many years later, Major Fanner wrote in the book "Elegy of the Dragoons"  Such memories.

    Although these dozen Taiping cavalrymen failed to escape in the end, they detonated the only grenade they had on them. After the war, Major Fanner, who was captured, learned from the Taiping cavalry that this grenade was their glorious bomb.  , the Taiping Guards Cavalry is not allowed to take prisoners.

    The Taiping cavalry escaped very quickly, and they were not willing to fight at all. Major Fanner wisely gave up the pursuit in order to gather the nearly collapsed Indian Sikh cavalry. He knew very well that once the shooting distance was increased, nothing could be achieved in the pursuit.  As a result, their horses did not seem to be able to easily catch up with the enemy.

    When cleaning the battlefield, the British army only found the remains of more than 70 Taiping cavalry. There were no prisoners, not even injured survivors.  More than 250 corpses of Indian Sikh soldiers were the damage caused by them, and several British dragoons were also killed and wounded in the explosion of their final opponents.

    Major Fanner found the body of Major Probyn among the remains. He had been stabbed very deeply in the chest, almost cutting him in half. His face was facing up, his eyes were wide open, and his mouth was wide open.  The shocked expression was frozen on his blood-stained face.

    In this brief cavalry outpost battle, the Taiping Army had a clear upper hand. After the coalition Major General Michel and General Colino received the news, they felt a little nervous. What would happen if the enemy's cavalry attacked the infantry following behind?  For the first time, Major General Michel was not sure whether the coalition's infantry hollow phalanx could stop this group of fierce cavalry. What's more, during the march, could they form a hollow phalanx before the enemy cavalry rushed to their side?  Therefore, after discussing with General Colino, Major General Michel decided to slow down the march of the army to prevent the enemy's cavalry from attacking.

    Shortly after Major General Michel issued the order, the French infantry regiment on the left was attacked by the Taiping cavalry. Fortunately, the losses were not great. The enemy only opened fire at them from a distance. When the French infantry formed a square formation,  , the enemy cavalry left quickly. When the coalition cavalry heard the news and came, they were gone.

    Repeatedly, these cunning and elusive Taiping cavalry always cruised around the more than 8,000 coalition forces. They seemed to be equipped with sufficient ammunition and were always able to harass the coalition forces in unexpected places during their march.  The allied infantry could not bear this kind of provocation. Whenever they formed a square formation, the enemy always left immediately.  If they ignored them, the enemy's cavalry would prepare to charge, and the cautious officers would have to organize their infantry into formation.

    The coalition cavalry came and conducted several expulsion and pursuit battles, but the results were always ineffective. Each time the coalition cavalry would lose men, while the enemy suffered almost no losses.  Major General Michel was so angry that he wanted to stop and lay a sophisticated trap to lure the cavalry to charge, and then the infantry and cavalry would work together to exterminate these pesky flies.  But General Colino felt that they did not have much time. If they could not recapture Tianjin or Hexiwu Town before nightfall, the coalition forces would be forced to sleep in the wild. This was a very dangerous thing. The Taiping Army was also a good force.  An army that fights at night.  As a result, Major General Michel had to accept the reality. The troops moved slowly and the soldiers were very tired.

    Along the way, there were dozens of harassments, large and small, during the more than 30 kilometers. The most dangerous one was when a group of Taiping cavalry rushed into the artillery convoy. Fortunately, the coalition cavalry provided quick support, and the enemy  They only cut down a few horses pulling the artillery pieces and left. They didn't have time to attack the ox carts carrying the artillery shells, otherwise the excitement would have been great.

    This harassment slowed down Major General Michel's marching speed. It was still several kilometers away from Hexiwu Town at noon. From six o'clock in the morning to twelve o'clock, after marching for six hours, Major General Michel decided to stop and rest.  Let the soldiers have a full lunch and then take a short rest before launching an attack on Hexiwu Town as soon as possible.

    Major General Michel set up many temporary positions for security. He was still worried about the harassment of the enemy cavalry, but fortunately the enemy cavalry seemed to have gone to eat, and no one disturbed the coalition forces during the entire lunch break.

    At 1:40 p.m., the coalition forces continued to advance towards the goal after taking a rest.  Two kilometers away from Hexiwu Town, the coalition infantry, cavalry, artillery, baggage and other units began to deploy. Logistics, baggage, headquarters, field hospitals, etc. were set up. Combat troops set up their positions and reconnaissance teams were dispatched to detect enemy movements.

    Mi Qi?The major general set out with a reconnaissance team as early as one o'clock and conducted a reconnaissance in advance. When he came to a small hill outside Hexiwu Town to observe, he was stunned to see the entire Hexiwu Town inside and outside.  It¡¯s densely packed trenches and barbed wire fences¡­ (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report