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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 82: Bombardment

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    "Okay!" Duncan gestured to the adjutant to stop reporting. He knew very well that the subsequent reports on the enemy's losses were very informative. Soldiers would always instinctively exaggerate the enemy in that situation.  Loss, after all, people are always unwilling to admit failure subconsciously.  In any case, the plan to eliminate the Chinese water power through raids has failed. An attack of this level is not enough to destroy the enemy's dock. He can only destroy the camp first before making the next attack. After all, a garrison will  It is very risky to conduct an expedition when the enemy is in a strong position and has water power to stay behind you.  "My order is as follows: 'In the afternoon, bombard the Chinese camps with artillery from both water and land directions. The main tasks of the eight-pound or more heavy artillery and surface ships are to suppress the Chinese forts, destroy the enemy's warehouses and camps, and kill and injure them."  Its personnel; the main mission of artillery under eight pounds and heavy mortars is to destroy its forward fortifications, kill its personnel, destroy its equipment, and open a gap for the next infantry assault. The ultimate goal is to eliminate the enemy in the camp. '" Duncan!  In a low voice, he issued a standard order to the adjutant, the same order that almost any Army officer in his position in the Western world would have issued at that time.  After the Prussians destroyed the French hegemony in Western Europe in the 1870 battle and achieved the unification of Germany, Clausewitz's teachings became popular throughout the world at that time.  The war doctrine of "Forcing the enemy to engage in a main battle, destroying its effective strength, and finally using force to achieve the country's political goals" has become the motto of most military personnel in the Western world.  Duncan was no exception. Although he had not read the immortal work of the Prussian, he was very clear about his position in this conflict between China and Shun - win the battle and then leave the problem to the people behind the scenes.  The civil servants will handle it.  Along the northern section of the army's defense line, the midday sun shines on the hay, emitting a pleasant aroma.  The soldiers of the Shun Army sat on the ground in small groups, gnawing dry food, drinking water or chatting in low voices.  Behind them is a parapet made of sacks filled with soil. The inside of the parapet is reinforced with rows of wooden stakes to prevent the soil from rolling down. On the outside of the parapet, there is a deepened and widened trench.  , and various roadblocks, which were built to prevent the enemy from using shock to break through the Shun army's defense line.  Zhang Qi walked quietly. As a veteran, he had a wonderful premonition that an unprecedented fierce battle was about to break out. Compared with this battle, everything he had experienced before was just a joke. He himself  The fate of the army, as well as that of the entire Shunguo Expeditionary Force, will depend on the outcome of this battle.  This made Zhang Qi feel very nervous, so he decided to come out to see his soldiers and relax himself.  "My lord!" "I have met your lord!" When the soldiers and officers saw Zhang Qi, they all stood up and saluted him, but Zhang Qi just waved his right hand slightly, indicating that they should sit down and continue to rest.  Unlike most of his colleagues who graduated from the military academy, his etiquette requirements for soldiers are not so high, and his attitude towards soldiers is much kinder. Perhaps because of this reason, Zhang Qi has a good reputation among soldiers.  Maybe it was because of the light rain in the morning that the ground was a little slippery and there were some mud spots on Zhang Qi¡¯s shoes.  Suddenly there was a sound of voices coming from the corner in front, and he stopped.  "Hey, tell me, from your perspective, what are the British doing?" "You can't see anything!" "What, you can't see anything? How could this happen?" "I'm standing too short, from this angle  , all I can see are those damn bushes and mounds of dirt! If I want to see clearly, I want to go to the hill in the middle!" Zhang Qi took a step forward and could see seven or eight soldiers or more from around the corner!  Whether sitting or standing, he raised his head and looked at a soldier standing on the ladder. The soldier was observing the enemy on the opposite side with the help of a monocular telescope.  "Damn it, since you can't see it, come down!" A stout soldier shouted impatiently. The people below also agreed. The soldier on the wooden ladder suddenly straightened his body and whispered:  "Don't make a sound, I saw it, I saw it!" The people below immediately held their breath, as if their breathing here would be discovered by enemies in the distance.  The soldier on the wooden ladder carefully turned the telescope and said to himself: "Finally, I saw the officer, the soldiers in a single column, and the artillery, it should be a four-pounder -" "Bang!" With a sound  The gunshot rang out, and the soldier on the wooden ladder fell down. Apparently, a British rifleman hit him, and there was chaos in the field.  "Get out of the way, let me see what's wrong with him!" When the soldiers saw that the person coming was Zhang Qi, they silently moved out of the way. The soldier who was shot was struggling painfully on the ground.It was just dirt. Zhang Qi held his body down, checked it carefully, and whispered: "Two people came to take him down. We were lucky. The bullet only penetrated the shoulder and there were no other injuries!"  A soldier helped the wounded man lie down on a wooden board and carefully lifted him down.  Zhang Qi turned around, and he immediately felt a strange atmosphere. The soldiers' behavior and expressions were a little stiff, and it was obvious that these soldiers were afraid.  "See, this is war. The bullet will hit this person or that person, it all depends on God!" Zhang Qi said in a hoarse voice: "But this is fate, understand? This is fate!" "Yes.  , Sir!" After listening to Zhang Qi's words, the fear on the faces of these simple people gradually disappeared, and a few even laughed rudely. A kind of primitive fatalism drove away their natural fear and regained control of them.  Yes, maybe a bullet will kill one of them in the next moment, but he will be hit by a carriage while walking on the road, he will be capsized and drowned in a boat, or he will even die lying in bed. Who knows?  Everything is arranged by God.  "That's right!" A smile appeared on Zhang Qi's face. He walked over, gently patted everyone's shoulders, and said with a smile: "If you are destined to die here, then be brave.  I will send your savings and pension to your home; if you don¡¯t want to die here, you can go back and add thirty acres of land, two cows, and live a good life!¡± The soldiers showed smiles on their faces, and their injured companions!  The gloom was lifted.  Zhang Qizheng was about to say a few more words when suddenly there was a strange vibration in the air. He instinctively threw himself to the ground. Almost at the same time, a British eight-pounder grenade exploded on the ground more than ten meters away. The gas generated by the explosion  The waves knocked the soldiers down, and there was a sudden scream.  This artillery shell seemed to be a signal, and there was a roar from the British army's position. Eight-pound mountain cannon, eight-pound field cannon, 12-pound field cannon, six-pound cannon, and all kinds of artillery shells rained down on the Shun army.  On the defense line, if you look from the hillock at the base of Shunjun's defense line, you can clearly see clouds of smoke and dust rising from Shunjun's defense line, as if an invisible giant is throwing soil and various debris into the air.  After a while, the roar of artillery was also heard from the Shunjun position. First it was the mountain cannon on the hill, and then the cannon on the fort on the top of the mountain. There was also a burst of gunfire and the scream of rockets from the river. That was the Irrawaddy River.  The British squadron on the mountain was using artillery fire to suppress the Shun Army's six-inch cannon on the top of the mountain. The British field artillery in front of the Shun Army also began to extend its firepower and began to suppress the Shun Army artillery that was firing. The remaining mountain guns and light artillery began to continue bombardment.  Shunjun's defense line opened a gap for the upcoming infantry assault.  "Bah, bah!" Zhang Qi spit out spittle filled with mud from his mouth and climbed up from the ground with difficulty. At this time, his ears were filled with buzzing sounds.  Zhang Qi's face was covered with blood, his steps were staggering, his whole body was swaying, and he stretched out his hands to hold on to the wall, as if he might fall again at any time.  "My lord, my lord! Are you okay?" A soldier rolled over and helped Zhang Qi up.  "Water, water!" Zhang Qi murmured in his mouth. The soldier quickly helped Zhang Qi to lie down beside the parapet, then turned around and started groping around. The shells kept exploding all around, but miraculously, until he found  A bamboo tube filled with water was not hit by a bullet or shrapnel.  "Sir, here comes the water!" The soldier carefully held the bamboo tube and ran to Zhang Qi's side. He carefully pulled out the stopper and poured the water into Zhang Qi's mouth. Zhang Qi coughed weakly and opened his eyes.  The soldier was startled by the blood on Zhang Qi's face and whispered: "My lord, my lord, your face is covered with blood!" "Oh!" Zhang Qi responded, and then he felt  Everywhere in his body and limbs were in pain. Zhang Qi moved his arms with great effort, supporting himself to sit up again. He carefully moved his limbs and head to confirm that there were only a few scratches on his body and on his head.  After there were no serious injuries except for a cut, he struggled to get up: "Help me go to the command post!" Seeing that the soldier was hesitant, he whispered in a commanding tone: "Quick!  "Yes, yes, Master Zhang!" On the British army's position, it was a different scene.  The four British colonial infantry battalions that served as the first wave of the offensive. The soldiers of these five infantry battalions were almost all from the Sikh ethnic group, which is famous for their bravery. Although these Indian minorities, mainly from Punjab, only accounted for a very small part of the Indian population,  However, they were famous for their bravery and prowess in warfare. In the face of their fierce resistance, perhaps even the most talented emperor Aurangzeb in the Mughal Empire was unable to conquer them, causing the Mughal Empire to turn from prosperity to decline.  When the East India Company conquered Sindh in 1843, there was only the last independent country left in the entire Indian subcontinent, which was the country of Punjab where the Sikhs lived. After the British army suffered great losses,, using the method of bribing enemy generals, Fang conquered the Punjab in 1849 after the two Sikh wars, completing the conquest of the entire subcontinent.  After that, the Sikhs became an important member of the British colonial army. Now these soldiers wear khaki military uniforms, follow their nation's traditional black cloth headbands, have thick beards, and sit on the ground expressionlessly, carrying their arms.  British officers commanding swords passed through their ranks, waiting for the bombardment to end.  The sound of artillery gradually faded away. Several British officers took out their pocket watches from their arms and confirmed that the time to start the attack was about to begin. They turned around and shouted to the soldiers: "Everyone stand up and fix your bayonets!" Sikh soldiers  They stood up from the ground, silently pulled out their bayonets, loaded their rifles, and formed a formation.  The British officers drew their pistols and command knives, jumped up the gentle slope, and led the soldiers towards the Shun army's defense line.  As the gunpowder smoke was blown away by the wind blowing from the Irrawaddy River, the Shun army also discovered the British infantry attacking them. The Shun army artillery on the hill began to fire at the enemy infantry. Soon, under the attack of the British infantry,  Pillars of smoke rose from the formation, which were traces of being hit by artillery shells.  However, the soldiers of the British Colonial Battalion firmly endured the damage from the artillery fire and kept moving forward in formation.
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