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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 731: Evenly matched

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    Elgin's answer made everyone present feel uneasy: "Three days ago we received a piece of information from the Americans. It was a clipping from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Jiangnan newspaper. It clearly described the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's campaign in the north.  Gentlemen, the news is regrettable. The Russians suffered a major military attack from the Taiping Rebellion in the north. At least 30,000 Cossack cavalry regiments were annihilated, and many fortresses and strongholds were lost. I think the Russians will be defeated in the short term.  There is no way to reverse the decline." After saying this, Elgin motioned to his secretary to take out the pieces of information for circulation.

    Several different newspapers published reports on the war against Russia in Northern Xinjiang, which detailed the process and results of the war. After reading it, Field Marshal John Colburn, Baron of Seton, frowned and asked: "Could they be from the Taiping Rebellion?"  Fake news published in newspapers just to boost morale?¡±

    Elgin shook his head and said: "I don't know, but in my personal opinion, the new emperor of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom attaches great importance to the government's credibility. This kind of thing will not be faked, and these newspapers are not official newspapers, and  It's a newspaper run by the people." As soon as he finished speaking, all the generals below began to talk about it.

    Admiral Dundas coughed and said: "Gentlemen, please be quiet." Everyone became quiet, and he continued: "Based on the current situation, it seems that we can no longer count on the Russians. Our original plan was  The Russians send troops from the north. If they can reach Heilongjiang, we can use the fleet to provide cover for them, and then they can fight all the way along the northeastern coast of China to Shanhaiguan. Then we will organize another Beijing-Tianjin battle, directly from the north  Gukou was invaded again, directly threatening China's new capital. Finally, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was forced to surrender. Now that the Russians' land attack cannot be achieved at all, we can only find another way. Do you have any good suggestions?"

    Field Marshal John Colburn, Baron Seton, first said: "We should attack the Yangtze River Delta areas such as Shanghai, Nanjing, and Suzhou, because that is where the military industry of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is located. Destroy it. We will be able to disintegrate the enemy's will to resist and weaken  Their war potential.¡±

    Vice Admiral He Bo was the first to stand up and object. He said: "Gentlemen, of course we know that the Yangtze River Delta is the most industrially developed place in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but I am worried about launching a campaign there. According to our fleet's previous visits to the above-mentioned areas  Judging from the military reconnaissance conducted, the enemy's defense focus is also there." Uncle He asked someone to hang up a map of the Yangtze River estuary area.  Then he pointed at Shanghai and said: "According to the intelligence provided by the Americans, the enemy deployed at least two infantry corps in Shanghai, as well as 20,000 coastal defense troops and tens of thousands of rural soldiers. During our first attack on Shanghai,  At that time, it was discovered that the enemy's troops were very large, and there were many river bends, harbor branches, and swamps. The enemy's mines could block the rivers at will."

    Field Marshal John Colburn, Baron of Seton, interrupted Hubby and said: "Lieutenant General Huber, we do not have to land in an area where the enemy is heavily fortified. The entire area around Shanghai is very vast. We can even choose to land at Jinshanwei.  Then our powerful Army Corps will move along the land route to attack the above-mentioned areas."

    Massimogli immediately said: "With no intention of offending Your Majesty the Marshal, if it were in the past, we would definitely recommend this. Lieutenant General He did not finish what he said just now. Of course we can choose the landing place at will and deploy our troops to fight, but we are now faced with  The problem is that we cannot establish an effective supply line. The enemy has implemented a strategy of solidifying the wall and clearing the country in the southeastern coastal area, and it is difficult for us to get sufficient supplies along the way. After the fleet goes north, if it has to be responsible for guarding the landing site and maintaining sufficient supplies, we have to go back and forth for more than half of it.  In the South China Sea, the enemy's naval power has not been completely eliminated, and pirates still exist, so we must conduct fleet escort for transport ships, and the escort fleet must maintain a certain scale, and the cost of the war will be very high."

    Field Marshal John Colburn, Baron Seton, sneered and said: "So what? We will defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the future. All these losses can be recovered from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

    Finally, Elgin gritted his teeth and told the truth: "Your Excellency, Marshal, we are actually worried that even if the army lands, relying on 60,000 army troops may not be able to capture Shanghai or any important city under the control of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

    The words were shocking. Baron Sidon frowned and said: "Sir Elgin. Do you think that even our 60,000 elite troops cannot defeat the enemy?" Sir Elgin solemnly nodded and said: "Your Majesty Marshal, in fact, they are attacking Russia from the north.  It can be seen from the human war that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's land combat effectiveness is not weak. In Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou and other places, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has a total of nearly 80,000 regular field troops stationed in Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou and other places. This does not include local troops and coastal defense troops.  Once our army lands and launches an attack, the enemy will definitely come from all directions to support us.?The enemy is fighting on home soil and has a great advantage in concentrating his forces.  If our forces are equal and the enemy holds a key point, it will be difficult for us to attack successfully. If the enemy is twice our number, we will be defeated. If it is three times or more, we will be annihilated.  possible¡­¡­"

    Army Lieutenant General Earl Luken frowned and said: "Sir Elgin, why are you so pessimistic?" Massimogli said: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, because our 20,000 troops in the Beijing-Tianjin area were defeated by the enemy's 40,000  Defeated by an infantry corps."

    After everyone was silent for a while, Baron Seton said: "Then what should we do? Is our expeditionary force here just for an armed trip?"

    Lieutenant General He Bo said: "Your Majesty Marshal, we think the most practical way is to attack Guangzhou. We are close to Hong Kong Island here, which is convenient for supply. The fleet can protect the army troops to the maximum extent, and we are also familiar with the terrain near Guangzhou. Unlike Guangzhou,  When attacking Shanghai, we don¡¯t know much about the terrain there. The most important thing is that if we fight in the Guangzhou area, it will be easier for us to organize a retreat if the war goes against us."

    Baron Seton sneered: "When did our generals start thinking about retreating before the war started? Where have your courage, glory and dignity gone?"

    Sir Elgin saw that Uncle Ho, Massimo Gerry and others were very uncomfortable on their faces, and immediately defended them: "Your Excellency, Marshal, it is not that our generals have lost their courage, honor and dignity, but through  We came to this conclusion only after learning from the lessons of the last war. The enemy is very powerful in terms of military combat effectiveness, battle tactics, and strategy. We must pay enough attention to the enemy."

    Baron Seton waved his hand and said: "Okay, let's start a discussion about attacking Guangzhou. We will attack Guangzhou first. If the enemy's combat effectiveness is not what you described, we will attack Shanghai and other places next. We will attack Guangzhou first."  Solve this big trouble in the Far East once and for all!¡±

    After two days of discussion, the British and French forces formulated a combat plan. Then they began to clear a large number of mines on the waterway, and sent out reconnaissance ships to conduct reconnaissance of the forts in the Pearl River Estuary area, focusing on several forts at the Pearl River Estuary.

    The Battle of Guangzhou first broke out on the Kowloon Peninsula. On the fifth day after the British-French Allied Expeditionary Force arrived in Hong Kong, the British army first launched a landing operation on the Kowloon Peninsula. Their army troops were at Lung Kwu Beach in Tuen Mun on the Kowloon Peninsula.  They landed in the area and then attacked Shek Kong in the east. They planned to attack from the hinterland of the Kowloon Peninsula and then surround and annihilate the Taiping Army troops in Kowloon, Kwun Tong and other places. However, the British and French forces encountered trouble.

    The landing of the coalition forces went smoothly at first. Just as Sir Seton said, it was impossible for the Taiping Army to set up defense forces at all landing locations, so the landing of the coalition forces went smoothly.  But on the night of the landing, the actions of the coalition forces were reported to the Taiping Army by local people. The Taiping Army stationed on the Kowloon Peninsula rushed to the Shek Kong area overnight to set up defenses.

    A small-scale battle broke out between the two sides in the Shigang area. An infantry regiment landed by the coalition forces and two battalions of the Taiping Army plus more than a thousand rural troops fought for a day. The two sides were evenly matched. In the end,  The coalition forces chose to retreat, because the coalition forces later discovered that the Taiping Army had mobilized troops from Nantou, Bao'an and other places to come for support. The coalition forces were afraid of being cut off, so they chose to retreat. Moreover, there was no point in fighting here. They defeated Taiping.  The army only occupied a few villages and small towns, and the initial plan to encircle and annihilate the Taiping Army troops on the Kowloon Peninsula also failed. Since the enemy had deployed their defenses, it meant that they knew the intentions of the coalition forces.

    However, the attack by the coalition forces still made the Taiping Army more cautious. The Taiping Army in Kowloon is no longer as unscrupulous as before. They need to always be vigilant about possible landing sites in the rear, so the Taiping Army does not have enough manpower to organize in Victoria Bay.  With the mines laid out, the daily bombardment of Hong Kong from the Kowloon Peninsula has also been reduced.

    Although the coalition forces suffered a setback in the landing battle on the Kowloon Peninsula, the British and French generals such as Baron Seton still intuitively recognized the enemy's combat effectiveness. The two sides were evenly matched in the battle of Shigang, confirming Sir Elgin's words that the number of people is the same.  Next, the two sides are in a tie situation.  So Baron Seton and others began to pay attention to the Taiping Army, and then investigated the Pearl River Estuary more carefully.

    But the subsequent reconnaissance results were discouraging. The Pearl River Estuary in Guangzhou was very tightly defended, and the reconnaissance ship was attacked by the enemy's large-caliber coastal artillery. The enemy's artillery was numerous.  British Army Lieutenant Colonel Walter organized a night landing reconnaissance operation and found that the enemy had established tight positions on the sides and rear of the fort. After observation, they found that the enemy's coastal artillery had been roof-covered and reinforced, and some were simply in tunnels.  Hidden in the sea, I believe it will be difficult for the navy's artillery to destroy these?Defense artillery was completely cleared.

    Lieutenant Colonel Walter¡¯s reconnaissance operation was quickly discovered by the Taiping Army patrol. The two sides exchanged fire for half an hour. In the end, Lieutenant Colonel Walter¡¯s reconnaissance team lost five people and was finally forced to withdraw to the sea (To be continued)
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