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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 639: Test Attack

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    The soldiers of the coalition forces prepared their own individual equipment before setting off. Each man had a front-loading flintlock musket, received enough ammunition, military bayonets, aluminum kettles, standard blankets and individual shovels, and  They brought enough dry food for five days, and each person carried a weight of about 40 kilograms.  ¡ÆAfter a day of tiring march, they arrived at Sanjie Village, Sanli, Hexiwu Town. After a short rest, they began to build forts and positions.

    After Major General Michel returned, he exchanged opinions with General Colino with a solemn expression. Judging from the deployment of the Taiping Army, it only took them one morning to complete the defenses in Hexiwu Town, which shows the plan of the Taiping Army.  It is here that the Eastern Reinforcement Force blocks the coalition forces.  Major General Michel saw with his own eyes the layout of the trenches and barbed wire fences. He believed that the coalition forces were unlikely to capture it quickly. It seemed that the coalition forces needed to prepare to sleep in the wild at night.

    General Colino agreed with Mitchell's opinion, and they ordered the soldiers to begin setting up forts and strengthening their wild camping positions to prevent enemy raids at night.  At the same time, General Colino proposed to first send a light infantry force to tentatively attack Hexiwu Town with the cooperation of artillery to test the enemy's firepower and troop deployment. At the same time, let the scouts expand the scope to see if Hexi has been invaded from the north and south.  service path.

    The exploratory attack mission was assigned to the 102nd Regiment led by Colonel Aumale of the French Army. After the two artillery squadrons established artillery positions in advance, they provided them with artillery preparations. At the same time, two engineer companies followed up.  On the trench, wooden planks were used to set up several passages that could be passed quickly.

    At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the coalition's artillery fire opened on time. Two artillery squadrons, sixteen nine-pound rifled artillery and four 5.5-inch 24-pound howitzers, simultaneously began to bombard the Taiping Army's fortifications outside Hexiwu Town.  In an instant.  The Taiping Army positions outside Hexiwu Town were engulfed in a sea of ??fire.

    Observing the effects of the bombardment through the telescope, except for the destruction of some trenches and barbed wire fences.  It is rare to see the Taiping Army suffer losses in strength, nor to see the Taiping Army fire back.  No Taiping artillery fired back.  The artillery's fire reconnaissance failed. The Taiping Army on the opposite side just endured the artillery fire silently without making any move to fight back.  In an instant, Major General Mitchell almost thought that the Taiping Army was a light infantry raid on Hexiwu Town and did not bring any artillery.  Thinking about it, it is feasible for the Taiping Army to use light infantry to detour eastward and raid Tianjin, but if they also bring heavy artillery, it will be impossible to escape the investigation of the coalition forces.

    ¡°Probably after negotiating that the Taiping Army had no artillery, General Collino breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the French army of the 102nd Regiment should be able to suffer less casualties.  Also thinking the same way as General Colino was Colonel O'Malley, who was commanding at the front.  He ordered a battalion of the 102nd Regiment to attack first, and after the artillery fire extended forward, they immediately began to conduct a probing attack.

    Hexiwu Town is narrow from north to south and long from east to west. From the east gate to the west gate is a main street that is not very straight and is three miles away.  The town has no city walls, and there are 8 city gates at the four intersections. To the north: Yaowang Temple Gate; to the east: Laoye Temple Gate, East Gate; to the south: Jishikou Gate, Main Gate, Muushishi Gate; to the west: West Gate, Xishao Gate  Door.

    There are many temples inside and outside the town, such as Yaowang Temple, Laoye Temple, and Chaoyang Temple outside the east gate.  The mosque in front of the main entrance; the small nunnery temple inside the Muushi Gate; and the Gongde Chanlin Temple outside the Xishao Gate.  Gongde Chanlin Temple is the core position of the Taiping Army on the outskirts of Hexiwu Town.  The dense trenches and barbed wire fences outside were built with it as the basis and center.  The main attack direction of the 102nd Regiment was Gongde Chanlin Temple. It was believed that the headquarters of the Taiping Army's peripheral troops was also here, so when the artillery fire extended, the place was quickly covered by artillery fire.

    When the coalition artillery basically blew up the Gongde Chanlin Temple.  Artillery fire extended into the town.  Colonel O'Malley felt a little disappointed. He had been stationed in Hexiwu Town for a few days, and the streets here left a deep impression on him.  There are many small and large shops next to each other on the street.  Plaques, fonts, and signboards are dotted all over the place.  Production and daily necessities store has everything you need.  The town does have a somewhat prosperous scene, and it is even more lively on the second, fourth, sixth and ninth market days.  Many prestigious shop names are still vivid in my mind. They are crowded in the center of the main street from Zhai Street to Dongheng Street to the west.  Such as: Wanhe Hao, Tianlixing, Dejuyong, Dechanghao, Zengshengji, Yijulong, Sanyihe, Fuhaiju; Hengyuan Hotel, Yadong Hospital, Yongyang Photography in the west of Zhaijiezi  Museum; there is Lanji Pharmacy in the back street.  Yihecheng Iron Shop; Shaoguo in Hengyuan Hotel in Xishaomenli.  It's a pity. After all this is covered by artillery fire, I believe there will be nothing left.

    The charge of the 102nd Regiment was very determined, and the soldiers moved forward quickly. While the coalition's artillery fire was still raging in the town, they were already running on the road of charge.  From the small steps at the beginning to the rapid charge later, the experienced commander of the 1st Battalion, Major Delati, knew that they should quickly capture the outer positions while the artillery blocked the Taiping Army in the town from reinforcing the outer areas.  Only in this way will they be able to counterattack when the enemy launches a counterattack.?Occupy a foothold.

    When he was still a hundred meters away from the first trench, Major Delati's premonition was getting worse and worse. Even if the Taiping soldiers were suppressed by artillery fire, it was impossible that there would be no soldiers at such a close distance.  Another explanation for firing back is that the Taiping Army did not deploy many troops in the outer positions.

    The distance was getting closer and closer. Except for the distant sound of coalition artillery shells exploding in the town, the outer positions of the Taiping Army were still deathly silent. Major Delati became even more nervous, and his palms were constantly sweating.

    Just fifty meters away from the first trench, a crisp gunshot from behind the trench penetrated the entire position, followed by countless muzzles from the trench at the closest distance, and the intensive volley was no less  A dense linear array of fire, and at such a close range.  Major Drati saw in pain that the soldiers in front were knocked down like straw by the enemy's bullets. In an instant, more than a hundred soldiers fell on the charging road.

    "Spread out and keep charging!" Major Delati did not order the soldiers to stop and fight back. At this distance, the enemy can aim and shoot without restraint, but the 102nd Regiment's shooting will not cause much damage because the enemies are hiding in the trenches.  Within, they were unable to suppress the enemy's firepower, and the artillery did not dare to provide any fire support at this distance. The best situation was to rush over and fight with the enemy in the trench as soon as possible.

    "Damn it, the enemy has grenadiers!" Dozens of black grenades flew out from the trenches. Since the Napoleonic War, countries have not paid much attention to the improvement of small bombs dropped by grenadiers. Instead, they have heard that  The Taiping Army greatly improved this.  Previously, most explosives used black powder, and the power of the explosion depended on the sufficient amount of powder. Therefore, the grenade thrown by the grenadiers was actually equivalent to a small artillery shell. It was very heavy and required soldiers with considerable arm strength to be used as grenades.  soldiers.

    But later, the Taiping Army's arsenal introduced advanced explosive formulas and took the lead in using picric acid explosives as grenade explosives. In 1771, British p.  Soldier grenades, it is said that the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom specially allocated special funds for research and development.  Although picric acid explosive was invented early, it was actually widely used in the late 19th century. It was first used as a yellow dye. It was not used in the military until France used it to fill artillery shells in 1885. The Taiping Army was very interested in this explosive.  The use of this explosive changed the course of military history.

    Under the attack of the Taiping Army's first trench infantry with firearms and grenades, the French soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 102nd Regiment suffered heavy casualties. They were unable to rush through the last thirty meters. Major Delati decisively ordered a retreat.  The Taiping Army's firepower was also poorly prepared, and the soldiers on the outer positions of the Taiping Army obviously did not lose many men under the coalition's artillery fire. They preserved themselves very well.

    After seeing the French soldiers of the 102nd Regiment leaving more than two hundred corpses and fleeing in panic, Major General Mitchell did not speak for a long time, and finally sighed and said: "We don't know enough about the Taiping Army. In the past, we learned from their presence in  The practice of some non-traditional tactics in military academies was considered a step backwards, but it seems they have found a solution."

    General Colino did not say anything. He knew that Major General Michel was referring to the grenade tactics of the Taiping Army. There were foreign teachers from various countries in the Shanghai Military Academy. They also reported some of the tactics of the Taiping Army to their superiors, but the British and French  The military maintains that it is one of the best in the world today, and they disdain the Taiping Army's tactics of digging trenches and throwing small grenades. How lethal can a fist-sized grenade explode?  How can you defeat the enemy in a bayonet charge while hiding in a trench?  This is conservative tactics and a regression in offensive tactics, but now the British and French forces are suffering for this.

    It¡¯s not that the British and French forces are incapable of developing grenades, or that no one among them has thought of trench tactics. Just like when the German armored forces¡¯ blitzkrieg came out in World War II, Britain and France were not prepared at all for this kind of tactical innovation. The military is innovative.  This place is also the most conservative place. No army will easily change its victorious tactics unless they have learned a bloody lesson.

    The 102nd Regiment's exploratory attack suffered heavy casualties. More than 200 soldiers were killed and many more were injured. Fortunately, the injured soldiers returned to their starting positions, and then the coalition bombarded the first trench in retaliation.

    When the 102nd Regiment failed, the reconnaissance teams from the north and south returned. There were still three ancient large stone bridges on the roads leading to the north and south of Hexiwu Town. The Taiping Army had blown up the three stone bridges.  There is no bridge left, and there are Taiping soldiers guarding the other side. It is estimated that it will be difficult to pass through by engineers building a bridge.  This means that the coalition forces must lay down the five trenches outside the west gate. Major General Michel and General Colino looked at each other. They felt a sense of powerlessness. Apart from a strong attack, there seemed to be no better way.There's a solution.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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