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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 641: Prepare to meet the enemy

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    Dense artillery shells descended on the charging path of the Taiping soldiers with screams, and the scattered shrapnel blew up a wind of death in the wind, rain, and snow. The power of the God of War was fully demonstrated at this moment.  [One Taiping soldier after another fell on the road of charge, and their successors continued to move forward on the bloody road paved with their blood.

    General Ran Man saw all this in the telescope, and he murmured: "The artillery firepower is still not enough!" He immediately turned back and loudly said to the messenger: "Go to the headquarters and report, we need artillery support, otherwise we will defend  Don¡¯t live in this damn Bali Bridge!¡±

    The messengers mounted their horses and left quickly, while General Ranman took his adjutant and several followers to Brigadier Croton's artillery position.  It was a lively scene here. The coalition artillerymen braved the scorching sun and repeated the firing action while sweating profusely, pouring more artillery shells onto the Taiping Army's charge path as quickly as possible.

    "General, we need more cannons and artillery shells." The first thing Croton said after meeting Ran Man was that reinforcements were needed. Ran Man expressed his understanding, and Croton said loudly: "I saw the damn Taiping Army.  Thousands of troops were used to attack our defense line, but your two light infantry battalions were entangled by them and stayed on the other side. If our artillery cannot block their subsequent investment of troops, your infantry will be in danger."

    General Ranman nodded and said: "General Croton, thank you for your timely artillery support. I have asked the headquarters to mobilize more artillery. You have done a good job, but before that, we need to try our best to maintain  firepower, and you need to watch out for retaliatory enemy fire.¡±

    The words just fell.  Three Taiping Army artillery shells flew over from a distance, landed more than 300 meters behind the artillery position, and exploded.  Croton's expression changed slightly when he saw this.  Those three shells did not cause any losses to the coalition forces.  A moment later, three more artillery shells flew in, and this time they exploded more than two hundred meters in front of the artillery position.

    At this time, Croton's face was already turning gray. He shouted loudly: "Be careful to avoid the artillery! The enemy is calibrating the artillery!" Following him, he immediately said to General Ranman: "General, get out of here quickly. The enemy will fire the next time."  It will hit here accurately!"

    General Ranman hurriedly left the artillery position with his adjutant and entourage. The British artillerymen on the position hurriedly adjusted their muzzles or moved the shells away, creating a chaotic scene.  At this moment, a fierce artillery fire fell accurately on the British artillery position as Brigadier General Croton said.

    The huge air wave knocked General Ran Man off his horse. Fortunately, the ground was soft green grass. General Ran Man was only slightly injured. Croton was protected by several British artillerymen and escaped from the sea of ????fire.  But at least seven or eight British cannons were destroyed.

    "I'm sorry, General, I can't help you anymore. We have to move our position." General Croton's scalp was scratched by shrapnel.  There was blood all over his face.  General Ran Man was helpless. The artillery of the Taiping Army was not as elite as the British army. They had experienced too many wars with the Qing army, and foreign instructors such as the British taught them how to use ballistics to calculate artillery positions.  They are now using what they learned to teach their old teachers.

    The British artillery and Nanyang coolies risked their lives to move out several artillery pieces and some ammunition under the artillery fire. They had to move their positions and then calculate the Taiping artillery positions.  It takes time to suppress the enemy's artillery fire before providing firepower to the infantry.  The French light infantry battalion on the other side of the canal had no time.

    After the British artillery fire stopped, more follow-up troops rushed forward.  Soldiers from both sides have engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat.  Seeing the soldiers of the light infantry battalion on the other side desperately signaling for help, General Ranman was painful and unable to make a choice. In the end, he had to order another battalion of French soldiers to rush across the Bali Bridge for reinforcements.

    Soon the reinforcements of the Grenadier Battalion crossed the Bali Bridge and entered the battle. The two sides fought fiercely on the other side of the canal. The French army's stabbing technology is known as the best in Europe. They once let another one known as the best in Europe.  The Russians suffered a lot, and now they have encountered a stronger opponent in the Far East.

    After the Taiping Army's skirmishing charge line reaches the front, they will immediately form a three-by-three assassination team formation. Each team maintains a certain distance between them, covering and supporting each other. The display of discipline and courage is not illegal at all.  Under the army, both sides began to suffer a large number of casualties in this primitive hand-to-hand combat.

    As time went by, the superiority of the Taiping Army's strength became apparent. General Ranman was very anxious. When he was about to send another battalion, General Montauban appeared behind him: "General, let the boys retreat back.  , don¡¯t get involved in the meat grinder-style fight anymore, we just need to hold on here.¡±

    General Ran Man turned around, slightly surprised, but he immediately said: "But General, we areThe soldiers on the shore are entangled, and retreating will cause heavy casualties.  Montauban said painfully: "There is nothing we can do about it. Just come back as much as you can. Pay attention to intercept the enemies who are following our infantry."  "

    General Ranman was helpless. Although he knew that Montauban was right, with his order, less than one-tenth of the soldiers from the other side would be able to come back. But judging from the current situation, he could no longer use this refueling tactic.  , we can only cut off our wrists and order the soldiers to withdraw first.

    After the order signal to retreat was given, the French soldiers on the other side fought and fled. Nearly two hundred French soldiers voluntarily stayed to block the enemy, creating opportunities for their comrades to escape.  Although they were very brave, they were soon submerged in the grass-green camouflage color.

    Less than 500 French troops withdrew across the Bali Bridge, and many of them were injured. The Taiping troops who followed them were hit by intensive rifle fire from the French position on the other side. A bridgehead formed a bottleneck, and the Taiping troops were unable to rush through.  , after paying the life price of dozens of soldiers, the Taiping Army chose to hide on the spot and exchange fire with the French army on the other side.

    At this time, a steam whistle sounded on the canal, and four British gunboats came to support. The artillery on the ship and the rifle fire on the side of the ship suppressed the Taiping troops on the shore.  A burst of cheers.

    Montauban breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that the battle line had stabilized. He was very worried that once the enemy broke through here, they would definitely stick to the coalition forces. In this case, the coalition forces would not be able to retreat smoothly. Fortunately, the French army blocked them.

    Montauban said to Ran Man: "Keep until dark and prepare to retreat one after another. Be prepared for a hard fight. Cover the retreat of Tongzhou's main force and block the enemies on the other side. We cannot let them rush over. The enemy will not let us leave easily.  .¡±

    Montauban was very worried. The enemy first launched an attack on Bali Bridge with the obvious intention of cutting off the connection between Bali Bridge and Tongzhou, and then formed a pincer offensive with the enemy due west against the coalition forces. Since Bali Bridge was formed at this time  In a deadlock, the enemy will definitely choose another breakthrough, and this breakthrough is likely to be at Maju Bridge in the southwest of Tongzhou.

    Sure enough, just after Montauban returned to Tongzhou, a scout came to report that Maju Bridge in the southwest of Tongzhou had also been attacked and the enemy was organizing a forced crossing.  Montauban's heart was filled with worry. The enemy's series of punches were so compact that it was dizzying to see. There was only one company of coalition soldiers guarding the Maju Bridge, and it was impossible to stop the large enemy force.  Montauban immediately went to find Grant. Maybe they could no longer retreat. They had to stay and have a decisive battle with the enemy. Only after repelling the enemy could they leave here, otherwise they would be chased by the enemy along the way.

    Grant also received the news. After meeting with Montauban, the two immediately decided to use their current forces to severely damage the enemy at Maju Bridge, and then retreat along the canal. General Ranman continued to block the enemy at Bali Bridge to prevent the enemy from going south.  The enemy breaks through here.

    After the order to fight was given, the coalition soldiers quickly gave up transporting items and baggage. They threw down unnecessary baggage and quickly gathered together. French Major Bougett led a regiment of French troops to take the lead. The British troops were all on the left wing.  On the right wing is the main force of the French army led by General Montauban himself.

    When Major Boujie led a regiment of French troops to arrive three miles from Maju Bridge, he saw that most of the Taiping Army had already crossed Maju Bridge and had deployed a three-mile-long route on the open land near the canal.  Judging from the enemy's offensive phalanx, there are at least 10,000 enemies on the front.

    Major Bougett immediately ordered the soldiers to form a phalanx to prepare for the enemy. More than a thousand French troops formed several double-row horizontal formations, which at least temporarily guaranteed their flanks. They were stationed on a mound, waiting for the left and right flanks to attack.  Friendly forces arrive.

    Major Bujie saw a huge apricot-yellow flag in the Taiping Army formation opposite. It was very conspicuous. Whenever that flag arrived in front of a military formation, the Taiping Army soldiers there would inevitably burst out like a mountain roar and a tsunami.  Cheers.

    "That must be the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he is right there!" Major Boujie has heard some legends about the Western King. He has never lost a battle, just like the French Emperor Napoleon whom he most admires. Before Waterloo, he had never lost a battle.  Having fought a true defeat, including the failure of the Russian expedition, Major Buger believed that it was His Majesty's army that was defeated by the weather, not the Russians.

    However, Major Bujie was not very fond of the Western King. Since the Western King claimed to have never been defeated, this might be the Western King's Waterloo. He vowed to teach the Western King a lesson here and let him  Taste failure.

    The Taiping Army on the opposite side did not give Major Bujie much time. After discovering Major Bujie's troops, the Taiping Army began to launch an attack. More than two thousand people pressed over from the left, middle and right directions. TheyThey formed a horizontal formation like this and tried to eat Major Buger's coalition forces in one go.

    The bugle sounded, and the enemy lined up in an orderly queue and walked slowly, with firm and steady steps. The enemy's artillery began to fire at Major Bujie's line, and the distance was getting closer (To be continued, please search  Piaotian Literature, the novels are better and updated faster!
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