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Volume 3: The Wind Rises from the South Chapter 20 Chapter 20 The Battle of Babu Village 4

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    "Your Majesty!" Duncan bent slightly and whispered: "Now we should leave here quickly!" "Yes, that's true!" Meng Ji's face was pale, and he was no longer wearing the gorgeous robe just now.  , but it was just a cotton short robe worn by ordinary soldiers. Obviously he had no determination to stay on the battlefield and fight to the death. At this time, there was a burst of gunfire and screams not far away. It was the Burmese army that was disrupting their formation.  The farmers opened fire.  Hearing the gunfire, Meng Ji's face turned a little ugly. He took a deep breath and asked, "Mr. Duncan, can I trust you and your soldiers?" "Of course!" Duncan nodded affirmatively,  He loudly said: "I can make every young man under my command run back to Mandalay from here, and then back again. If anyone dares to disobey the order, I will use the nine-tailed whip to spread his ass!" "Very good  !" Hearing Duncan's affirmative answer, Meng Ji's face looked better. He turned his head and called Diok to the side, and said in a deep voice: "Diok, now I will return to Mandalay with Mr. Duncan to deal with something.  It's urgent. You will be back tomorrow morning, and you will take command of the army in my absence. If the situation is unfavorable, all the baggage that cannot be taken away will be destroyed and cannot be left to the Chinese. Do you understand? " "Understood, my majesty?  !" Diok bent down deeply.  "Very good, raise your head, my shadow!" Meng Ji held Diok's head, touched his cheek lightly with his, and lowered his voice: "Don't let others know that I have left.  " "Yes, Your Majesty!" Diok bowed his head in obedience.  In Babu Village, Chen Zaixing and Batu still didn't know how fruitful their previous shellings had been. They only saw the Burmese people, like a flock of alarmed sheep, starting to fight and trample on each other in chaos.  , at first they thought that this level of chaos would soon subside, but as time went by, the chaos became bigger and bigger, and even spread from the temporarily recruited farmers to the nearby better-organized Burmese army.  At this time, they finally realized that a great opportunity was now in front of them.  "You won just like that?" Chen Zaixing looked at the scene in front of him with dull eyes. He couldn't believe his eyes.  Batu on the side was also a little strange. The purpose of his artillery bombardment was just to disrupt the enemy's deployment and prevent the Burmese from simply setting up their formation. However, he did not expect that a few rounds of artillery shells could collapse the enemy. This was too much.  It was beyond his expectation.  "Do you want to pursue?" Chen Zaixing asked.  "Don't be anxious yet!" Batu shook his head and whispered: "There are too many Burmese people. We don't have cavalry and we are not familiar with the roads. Once the troops are spread out and encounter an accident, they will not be able to take them back. Let's take a look first.  , Well, I asked Zhang Qi on the left wing to lead a team to cover the two Green cannons and test them out! "Compared to the caution of his superiors, Zhang Qi's actions were much bolder. After receiving the order, Zhang Qi immediately gave the order.  The soldiers fixed their bayonets, crossed the parapet, and lined up in two skirmish lines to go out to the paddy field. Behind them were two 11 mm hand-operated Gatling guns. This kind of firearm looks like a short gun.  A thick cylinder with eleven barrels arranged in a circle around the cylinder. The entire barrel is mounted on a two-wheeled frame and can be flexibly adjusted up, down, left and right, and can be carried by three soldiers or a mule.  .  When shooting, the gunner gives a firing order, and the shooter turns a handle to continuously rotate the barrel to complete continuous shooting, and the ammunition feeder will feed ammunition through a hopper or magazine.  For logistical convenience, the standard rifles used by Gatling guns and Shunjun are all 11 mm caliber, and the bullets can be used universally.  When Zhang Qi saw that the Gatling Cannon had entered the firing range, he made a gesture to stop preparing to fire. The gunners immediately put down their brackets. The gunner and shooters adjusted the scale. After the ammunition feeder was ready, his eyes turned to Zhang Qi.  Zhang Qi looked at the chaotic Burmese people across the paddy field. At this time, many people had discovered the existence of his compliant army, and began to wave their weapons and rush towards this side while shouting loudly.  Zhang Qi hurriedly ran to the Green Cannon, picked up the whistle from his chest, took a deep breath, and blew it hard.  The intensive shooting sound immediately pierced people's eardrums. The soldiers were surprised to see the two strange-looking weapons spraying out two fire dragons. Almost at the same time, groups of Burmese people across the paddy field fell down, as if there was a gun.  It looked like an invisible giant scythe sweeping across.  In front of the heavy rain of steel and flames, life and flesh seemed so cheap and weak, being roughly crushed by the big hand of death.  "Ahem!" Zhang Qi, who was next to the Gatling Cannon, was coughed violently by the pungent smell of burning black gunpowder. The smoke from burning black gunpowder also obscured his sight, making it impossible for him and the gunner to see clearly what was being fired.  As a result, the shooter could only grit his teeth, turn the handle, and shoot in the direction of the Burmese.  Suddenly, Zhang Qi heard a mechanical click, and the Gatling Cannon on the right stopped firing.    "What's going on? Who allowed you to stop shooting?" Zhang Qi shouted loudly.  "Mr. Zhang, this Gatling gun is jammed." The shooter replied with a red face: "This thing is good for everything else, but as long as the handle is cranked too slowly or too fast, it will jam, which is very troublesome!" "Don't!  You're talking nonsense, please unload and fix it!" Zhang Qi waved his hand impatiently. At this time, a gust of wind blew away the gunpowder smoke, and he saw that the slopes of the fields where just now were filled with Burmese people were littered with corpses.  Apart from the people fleeing in all directions, there was no one standing upright.  At this time, the other Gatling Cannon stopped shooting even though it did not receive Zhang Qi's order. The surrounding area suddenly became quiet, and Zhang Qi could clearly hear the dying moans coming from the air.  "Ugh, vomit!" When the shooter who was unloading and clearing the chamber saw his masterpiece, he felt his stomach contract. He instinctively threw himself to the side and vomited violently. The gunner and the gunner next to him also vomited violently.  His face was very ugly. It was obvious that if Zhang Qi hadn't been standing by, he would have rushed to the side and vomited.  Although Zhang Qi is a veteran who has experienced many years of war, this is the first time he has seen such unilateral high-speed killing. He only felt an unconscious discomfort in his stomach, and a sentence could not help but flash through his mind - "Three generations are generals."  , Taoist taboo!¡± ¡°Commander, do we want to pursue him?¡± a junior officer asked.  Zhang Qi hesitated for a moment. The order Batu had given him just now was to carry out a tentative attack, but no subsequent orders were given. He thought for a moment and said to the messenger on the side: "Go back and report to the commander, saying that I  The enemy troops in front of us have been defeated, with dead and injured¡ª¡ª" At this point, Zhang Qi's eyes swept across the corpse-strewn slopes across the paddy field, and he immediately said: "Nearly a thousand were killed and wounded, let me know how to proceed next!  " The exploratory actions of Shunjun were nothing less than a wake-up call for Diok. Obviously, the opponent had discovered his own confusion and weakness and began to take the initiative to attack.  Now there is only one path available to him, which is to return to Mandalay with as many troops as possible and retain a little more capital.  Thinking of this, Diok couldn't help but secretly regret. If Meng had agreed to the British terms earlier and obtained enough arms, why would he have used such a bloated and fragile army to resist the Chinese attack?  "Order the artillery team to move forward, enter the position, and bombard the Chinese position!" Diok ordered loudly. He knew in his heart that it was impossible to take away those heavy artillery pieces. They were waiting for their final fate even if they were destroyed to avoid falling into the enemy's territory.  In the hands of the Chinese, the best option is to let them fire all the artillery shells and cover their retreat.  The actions of the Burmese army immediately attracted Batu's attention. From the high ground of Babu Village, he could clearly see through his binoculars that the artillery team that had been on the rear side of the Burmese army began to advance slowly. Some soldiers even used whips and bayonets to drive them away.  The broken troops blocking their way forward clearly indicate that the Burmese are trying to use these bulky guys to launch a counterattack on their own side.  Batu's nerves immediately became tense. No matter how backward the Burmese artillery was and how many people they had lost just now, after all, they still had more than ten times the advantage in numbers. Any small mistake in his command would have to be paid for.  Unacceptable price.  "Go back immediately and inform Zhang Zhangqi. He did a good job just now. Now let his troops return to the starting point and prepare to fight!" Batu said loudly to the messenger standing aside. Then he turned to Chen Zaixing and said: "Brother Fusheng  , The fight is about to start here, why don't you push the prince and princess over first to avoid anything happening there? " "Brother Zhenwu, what do you mean? Do you think I am a rotten scholar who is afraid of death?  ?" Chen Zaixing's expression changed slightly.  Batu whispered: "Brother Fusheng, there are many people in this army who can fight, but you and I are the only ones who really know the purpose of our trip. When it comes to fighting, guns and cannons have no eyes. If we are together, we will be able to fight."  Once the artillery shells are fired, everything will be reimbursed. It is better to separate. If there is an emergency, no one will be able to deal with important matters. " Chen Zaixing thought about it, and no longer shied away, he cupped his hands and said, "Brother Zhenwu, take care of each other.  !¡± ¡°Take care of each!¡± Sitting on the back of the white elephant, Diok watched coldly as the artillery position not far away began to shell. With the sound of gunfire, white clouds rose from the Burmese artillery position.  The smoke is quite spectacular when viewed from a distance.  Seeing that their own side finally started to attack the Chinese, bursts of cheers arose among the Burmese army, and their morale also rose for a while.  Diok jumped off the white elephant, took a piece of clothing worn by ordinary soldiers from the attendant on the side, and ordered to the general on the side: "Send my order to let the army behind retreat and return to Mandalay.  " "Sir? But the artillery is bombarding the Chinese, and the situation is good for us!" The general looked at Diok in shock. At this time, he was not at all like that in front of Meng Ji.Humbly, he walked up to the general, stared at him with sharp eyes, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty has entrusted me with the full power to command the army. You must obey my orders without reservation. I don't want to say anything else."  Listen, do you understand?" The general was overwhelmed by Diok's momentum. He lowered his head instinctively and replied, "Yes, sir!" Diok looked at the still unconvinced general and shook his head.  Shaking his head, he put his right hand on the opponent's shoulder, pulled him into his arms, and whispered in his ear: "We can't win this battle anymore, understand! The Chinese artillery can hit farther and more accurately than us.  , they also occupied favorable terrain. Without the monks, we couldn't control so many peasants. Now what we can do is to bring as many troops as possible back to Mandalay. Those artillery are too cumbersome, so I put them  Stay here to delay the Chinese pursuit, do you understand?" The general was convinced by Diok. He stood up straight and replied: "I understand, sir!" Diok nodded.  He smiled and said: "Very good, then go quickly, hurry up! Time is precious to us now!" Looking at the other party's leaving figure, Diok put on the clothes of an ordinary soldier and loudly ordered his followers: "We  Leave immediately, and leave this white elephant and all the honor guards here as they are, lest others discover that the king has left!" In front of Babu Village, the Burmese army's artillery shells continued to fall, about one-third of which were solid shells, and the rest  There were all kinds of grenades. The soldiers of the Shun Army curled up and stayed close to the obstacles according to what they were taught in training to minimize the possibility of being hit by shrapnel.  Since most of the artillery on the Burmese side are already behind the times, the range is generally insufficient. Most of the artillery shells fell into the paddy fields in front of the village. The heavy artillery shells plunged into the muddy water, except for splashing muddy water all over the sky.  , there will be no other effects.  Only a few shells fired by new artillery fell on Shunjun positions, causing certain casualties.  On the artillery position of Shunjun, it was a different scene.  Batu carefully arranged these eight 75mm mountain cannons at the bottom of this saddle shape in advance. The highlands on both sides and the frontal barriers blocked most of the Burmese artillery shells, making this a shooting dead spot.  However, the artillery here can accurately counterattack the enemy through the data relayed by semaphores from the observation post on the high ground on the right.  As soon as the second Burmese artillery fire fell on the Shun Army's position, the well-trained observation posts responded based on the smoke emitted by the opponent's artillery.  The commander shouted loudly: "The enemy artillery is located at 600 mils, a distance of 2,500 meters, and the height difference is 15 degrees! Test fire!" "The enemy artillery is located at 600 mils, a distance of 2,500 meters, and the altitude difference is 15 degrees.  15 degrees! Test fire!" the gunner repeated the boss's order loudly.  "The observation post reported that the point of impact has shifted eleven meters to the left, adjust the shooting!" "The adjustment is completed, fire!" "The observation post reported that the target was hit!" "Everyone has it, fire three rounds quickly!"
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