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Volume Three: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 83 Infantry

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    Duncan did not distribute his forces evenly. He used four battalions to attack the northern section of the Shun Army's defense line, and only used one battalion to contain the right wing. The reason was simple: as long as the British army could break through the northern section of the camp, they would  They can directly attack the forts on the hills and occupy the docks and trestles. The British squadron can also enter the river bend to directly support the battle with artillery fire. The victory of the entire battle is just a matter of time.  The starting position of the British army was about 800 to 900 meters away from the Shun army's defense line. The British soldiers lined up in a sparse formation and began to move forward slowly at a speed of about 40 steps per minute, and then  It is the second wave and the third wave. The front width of each battalion is about 300 to 400 meters, and the length is about 200 to 250 meters.  When the British troops at the front advanced to a distance of about 400 to 500 meters, the gunshots on the Shun Army's position suddenly became denser. The British soldiers began to spread out into a skirmish line, facing the Shun Army on the position.  Fighting back, while taking advantage of the terrain to leap forward, the British light artillery also began to bombard the Shun army's positions, suppressing the enemy and covering the attack of their own infantry.  On the Shun Army's position, bullets were raining down, and smoke columns rising after being hit by enemy artillery shells continued to rise. Shun Army soldiers continued to be shot and fell.  Zhang Qi used a rifle without a bayonet as a crutch, limped behind the soldiers, and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Soldiers, children, calm down! Aim and hit the British guy on the head, they  No matter how many cloth bags are on your head, they can't stop our bullets!" At this time, a shell exploded in front of the parapet, and the splash of dust hit Zhang Qi's face, but he just spat, sticking out the gun in his mouth.  Ni Sha shouted loudly: "See, those who don't die will not die, and those who die can't run away. Behind us is the British gunboat, and there is no way out!" To be fair, the soldiers of the Shun Army  The resistance was very tenacious. They were all veterans. Even the youngest soldiers had already experienced some battles in Babu Village and later. The most experienced among them had participated in the Anxi Protectorate in the 1870s.  Fighting with Russians and Russian-backed nomads.  Even under the rain of British artillery fire and bullets, the soldiers still fired calmly at the British soldiers. However, as time went on, the enemy was getting closer and closer to the position, and the British eight-pound and six-pound artillery shells also  The parapets in some areas were destroyed. The British soldiers at the front were less than 200 meters away from the nearest parapet, and they were within striking distance.  "Damn it, what are the Gatling guns in the semicircle on the north side of the position doing? Why haven't they fired yet? Could they have been silenced by the British artillery fire?" Zhang Qi looked anxiously towards the semicircle located on the northernmost side of the position.  There are two Gatling guns deployed, where this continuous fire firearm can form a fatal flank fire on the enemy attacking the defense line. Of course, the British bombarded the semicircular fort with the most violent artillery fire from the beginning in an attempt to destroy it.  They threaten great firepower points.  Zhang Qi called two soldiers and ordered sternly: "You guys, go to the semicircular fort and see what's going on. Why don't you open fire?" "Yes!" The semicircular fort was filled with smoke.  This important firepower point located at the northernmost end of the Shun Army's front is very strong. It is composed of thick side walls and surrounding walls. All walls are made of solid wood and thick covering of soil. Even if it is directly hit by a twelve-pound artillery shell, it will be difficult to hit it.  destroy.  However, the British artillery had already used a large number of shrapnel and shrapnel, especially shrapnel. This new type of artillery shell, which was commonly used in European armies from the second half of the 19th century, was a combination of black powder and small steel balls, steel columns,  The steel arrows are mixed and then wrapped with a thin iron sheet. The warhead is equipped with a timing fuze. Before launching, the gunner measures the distance and sets the timing fuze time. When the shell flies over the target, it will explode, ejecting a large number of steel ball fragments to the enemy.  The dense formation caused a lot of damage.  These two types of shells caused considerable damage to the defenders inside the fort, not to mention the heavy casualties suffered by the soldiers on the parapet outside the dome.  "Is there anyone? Is there anyone?" The two soldiers walked through the tunnel and entered the interior of the fortress. The strong smell of gunpowder smoke made them cough loudly when they were not used to it.  "Who, what's going on?" A voice came out from inside the gunpowder smoke. A moment later, a stout man with unkempt hair walked out. One of the soldiers said loudly: "Master Zhang asked me to ask you, why are you here?"  Why didn't the Green Cannon fire? The British were almost here!" "What the hell, Mr. Bird Zhang!" The stout man scolded, "Don't you look at what I've done here with the British cannonballs?  He can still move. How can he fire without anyone?" One of the soldiers was startled by the other party's rude answer. He quickly recovered and replied loudly: "It's Mr. Zhang Qizhang, you are so rude, please be careful of military law.  Ruthless! " "The military law is a bird, the military law is a thief. I don't know if I can go back alive. I was a soldier when the late emperor was alive., stop scaring your grandpa with military law!  "The strong man cursed a few words, but when he heard that it was Zhang Qi's order, his voice was still a little quieter. He pointed to the smoke that had gradually dispersed and said: "It's not that we don't fire. Look, then.  A beam on the side collapsed, covering the gunner and the Gatling gun underneath. How to fight?  " "Then let's dig it out quickly!  "The three of them woke up a few survivors by kicking and beating them from the smoke, found shovels and hoes, and quickly cleared away the soil on the Green cannon. Fortunately, the broken beam only crushed the two gunners to death. Green cannon  The cannon happened to be in a cavity formed by the broken beam and the wall, and it was still intact. Several people hurriedly dragged it out, changed the nozzle, and started shooting at the British army who was about to rush to the front of the Shun army.  The position was at its most dangerous moment. The troops on the hill had already discovered the emergency and started firing with mountain cannons. However, this place was too close to the hill, and it was no longer the best shooting range for the mountain cannons.  . The Sikh soldiers with black cloths on their heads held out their bayonets and shouted unknown slogans, and rushed towards the Shun Army's position. Many people had already crossed the ditch on bamboo ladders, and even British soldiers in some areas  Having already rushed to the parapet and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the guards, Zhang Qi could almost see the beards of the enemies at the front. He gritted his teeth, pulled out the bayonet from his waist and loaded his rifle, preparing for the final hand-to-hand fight.  Suddenly, the first few Sikh soldiers fell down, followed by the soldiers behind them, one after another, as if they were a group of toy tin soldiers pushed by an invisible big hand.  Zhang Qi's eagle-like eyes clearly saw a string of small mud pillars rising at their feet as the enemies fell. He was keenly aware that the Green Cannon of Semicircular Fort had finally fired. "It's time to die.  !  Although it¡¯s a little late, it¡¯s better than never!  "The firepower coming from the side was like a fierce right hook hitting the British army's waist. Especially the officers and the bravest companies who rushed at the front were almost knocked down. They rushed to the army's position in the first wave.  There was a gap between the enemy and the second wave of troops behind who had just jumped out of the trenches. Zhang Qi keenly discovered this. He suddenly raised his rifle with a bayonet and shouted: "Come on, kill these bastards.  Get out!  " The soldiers of the Shun Army roared and rushed forward after Zhang Qi. Although the bravest Sikh soldiers resisted desperately, they were quickly stabbed down or killed by intensive bayonets, and the remaining soldiers began to abandon them.  The weapons fled towards their own position behind them. On a small slope in the center of the British position, Duncan was observing the progress of the battle with a telescope attentively. As he had expected, the resistance of the Shun army was very fierce.  They strengthened their artillery as much as possible, but the enemy still made full use of the time after occupying the dock and fortified most of the fortifications. They were not exposed during their previous reconnaissance, so the effect of the recent bombardment was not ideal.  "Let the two battalions of the second wave retreat first!  "Duncan turned around and ordered to the adjutant behind him. He had recently received a total of six battalions of reinforcements from Yangon. Including the two battalions in the advance team, there were only eight battalions in total. In fact, the number of troops was no better than that in the camp.  The main advantage of having more troops is that it has a decisive advantage in artillery and surface fleet, especially large-caliber mortars, which are a great weapon against the fortress-based defense system. According to a letter from Yangon, Gillings has already conquered Myanmar.  All the troops that can be spared from the region have been sent to themselves. Even the defense of Yangon is now handed over to temporarily recruited armed European expatriates. The next reinforcements will be sent from Calcutta, India and Singapore, and the fastest is  A month later, I had to conserve my troops. With the sound of brass horns that were characteristic of Sikhism, the soldiers of the British Colonial Infantry Battalion retreated to their starting positions, and the sound of gunfire on the battlefield gradually became sparse.  Get up. As the smoke gradually dissipates, people can see that the empty battlefield is full of colorful military flags and corpses. The open space originally filled with knee-deep plants has been filled with craters exposing black soil.  On the battlefield, one could clearly hear the screams of wounded soldiers and the moans of the dying not far away, just like ghosts. On the Shunjun battlefield, exhausted soldiers were sitting or lying down, while short Burmese servants were carrying stretchers.  , carried down the injured soldiers and corpses, delivered water, food and ammunition, and some began to repair the fortifications destroyed by the British artillery fire. The battle just now was actually not long, and it would not exceed four at most from the beginning of the shelling.  Ten minutes, but the high-intensity physical exertion and tense nerves squeezed the soldiers' physical strength completely. Once the battle was over, the soldiers almost felt like they were falling apart. "Get up, get up and eat something."  Something, drink some water!  "A few experienced old sergeants and officers yelled at the soldiers and kicked their butts. It took a while for the soldiers to get up lazily.When you get dry food and water, they taste like chewing wax, and you probably can't tell what they are chewing in their mouths.  While war takes away the lives of the dead, it also takes away many things from the living that normal people have.  "Sir!" Zhang Qileng, who was busy counting the number of casualties and replenishing the soldiers, accidentally saw a familiar figure in front of him. He quickly raised his hands and saluted: "Why are you here? There may be bombardment here at any time. No  "Safe!" "Nowhere is safe in the camp!" Batu returned the gift casually: "How is the situation here? The focus of the enemy's attack just now is here!" "It's not good!" Zhang Qi frowned and replied:  "I just did a rough count and found that there are more than 200 dead and wounded sergeants. In total, one-third of the people in the northern section are dead. Many places of the fortifications have been damaged, especially the northernmost semicircular fort.  , although a lot of effort was spent in advance and the enemy's artillery fire did not directly destroy it, the shrapnel still killed many people and caused considerable damage to the equipment, especially the Gatling cannon. One of the Gatling cannons was damaged by a falling beam.  Even the gunners were buried. Fortunately, they were dug out temporarily, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to hold on. " "Yeah!" Batu looked at the dull-looking soldiers on the left and right, as well as the corpses and wounded soldiers who were being carried down, and there were still bullet marks.  The tired parapet, the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood in the nose, did not speak.  Although he had previously observed the brutality of the battle with a telescope from the hill fort, it was completely different from seeing it with his own eyes while standing on the battlefield.  In his ten years of military career, he had not experienced bloodshed and battles, but this was the first time for him to have such a cruel and fierce struggle.  "What about the British?" "Look, they are all over there!" Zhang Qi pointed to the battlefield outside the parapet. Within fifty meters outside the parapet, nearly a hundred Sikh soldiers wearing their colorful national costumes were charging according to their instructions.  The formation was lying on the ground. This was a masterpiece of side fire from the semicircular fort on the far left. The bodies further away were sparse, but there were still many. At a rough calculation, there were probably no less than 400 people.  "It will only be more than ours. At least we have a parapet here to block it, but they have nothing!" At this point, Zhang Qi shook his head and sighed: "These British devils are really ruthless.  If you do this twice, we will be finished!" "No, if we do this twice, they will be finished first!" Batu replied firmly.  "Yes!" Zhang Qi nodded: "But the British guys are indeed different. These guys with their heads covered are rushing forward with their heads down, not caring about their fallen comrades, and their guns are also more accurate. They are no better than those Burmese soldiers.  How strong are you!" "These are not British soldiers!" Batu shook his head: "These are just Indian soldiers, a vassal of the British Empire. This time they came to fight with us. For example,  Let's start a war with the Russians, those Mongolians are just like soldiers!" "Are these just soldiers of the vassal state?" Zhang Qi couldn't help but clicked his tongue: "Even the soldiers of the vassal state are so good, I don't know how capable our own soldiers are!  "Well! The British soldiers are also rare in Europe. However, they have few people and use a volunteer army. The army is only 200,000, but the navy is the best in the world," Batu said!  When he got here, he turned around and said to Zhang Qi in a low voice: "Master Zhang, when I go back this time, I will suggest to the commander-in-chief that you go to the military academy for a short training. Your status is different now from the past. There are some things you must know!" "Thank you for your cultivation, sir!"  !" Zhang Qi hurriedly bowed to Batu. He was originally just a low-level officer. This time he entered Myanmar and suddenly rose to prominence. Although he had outstanding military achievements, he also knew that he had met a good boss. Otherwise, there would be a gap between military academy students and non-commissioned officers.  The invisible barrier between military cadets is not so easy to overcome.
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