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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 137 Under Siege

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    "Shells!" Fei Xianghong almost rolled down the stairs. He knew very well how lucky he was. Those sandbags and thin walls couldn't block the shells at all. If the rebels had just fired shrapnel instead of solid bullets,  The reward money accumulated by oneself can only be used to benefit others.  "You mean, those rebels already have artillery?" The officer frowned and stared at the frightened sniper in front of him with doubtful eyes. He had just woken up from his sleep and didn't hear the sound of the artillery at all.  , and the damage caused by the solid bullet was too small-just two holes in the bell tower on the top of the church.  "Yes, sir, they just fired a shot at the bell tower. Look!" Fei Xianghong pointed to the hole on the top of the bell tower and said, "That's the bullet hole!" The officer squinted his eyes for a while, but under the strong pressure  He really couldn't see clearly in the bright sunlight. He lowered his head in annoyance and shouted at Fei Xianghong: "I don't care if they have it or not, even if those gangsters really have artillery, you have to go up there and figure out what it is."  What's going on?" At this point, the officer grabbed the telescope and handed it to Fei Xianghong: "Go back to the bell tower immediately and confirm where the enemy's artillery is!" "Yes, sir!" Fei Xianghong took it with a grimace.  Using the telescope, he looked up at the bell tower, swallowed, and was about to walk into the church when a second shell flew over. This time the impact point was higher than the last time, and it hit the crossbar where the bell was hung.  , only a click was heard, and half of the roof of the bell tower fell down. Fortunately, Fei Xianghong reacted quickly and jumped to the side to avoid being hit. When he got up in shock, he saw that the man who had just scolded him  The officer had been pinned down by the fallen beam. Fei Xianghong and several soldiers on the side quickly moved forward to move the beam away, shouting: "Sir, sir! Wake up, wake up!" That officer  He finally regained consciousness, but when he saw that his face was golden and purple, his breath was dying, and his life was in danger, he raised his head and glanced at everyone, whispered: "Hold on, keep the telegraph machine!" before passing out.  When everyone saw this, they couldn't help but look at each other. This person was a flag bearer, the highest commander in the trading station. The deputy was transferred to the front line a few days ago due to something unexpected, and there was not even an officer among the remaining people.  When Fei Xianghong was having a headache, he saw someone pointing at him and saying, "Old Fei, you are the oldest here. You have been serving for eleven years. You can be the temporary flag bearer!" "I, this -"  Fei Xianghong was stunned when he heard the words, and just as he was about to refuse as usual, he was surrounded by inquiring eyes, and he swallowed the words as soon as they reached his lips.  "Old Fei, everyone has traveled thousands of miles to get here. There are Burmese thieves outside. If they are attacked, even the bones will not be able to return home, and they can only become wild ghosts. You have been a soldier for the longest time and have seen the most battles.  , after surviving this time, we all think of you!" "Yes, we all think of you!" Fei Xianghong swallowed and replied in a low voice: "That's good, but I'll say it first.  There are military rules in the army. If there is a fight later, if you don't obey my orders, you have to follow the military law!" "That's natural, otherwise the chaos will cause the Burmese thieves to break in. We are not familiar with the place here.  "Where are you going?" "That's right, everyone is used to being beaten to death, and there's nothing to say!" Fei Xianghong swallowed when he heard what everyone said, and said, "In that case, I will."  You're welcome, the Burmese thieves have cannons, so we can't fight like this. Everyone digs holes to hide, and only comes out to fire when they hear the gunfire!" Seeing everyone nodding, Fei Xianghong turned to an older man and said.  "Old Qi, take a few people and pull the Gatling cannon inside. The thieves have knocked down the commanding heights, and they will definitely blast the door next!" "Yeah!" The man named Qi nodded and whispered: "  Lao Fei, this is not an option. They have artillery and there are many people. If this continues, they will have to force people in sooner or later!" This man surnamed Qi is a real man. He speaks Hebei dialect and has a strong accent, plus his voice.  He spoke in a low voice and very quickly. Except for Fei Xianghong, none of the soldiers around him could understand him.  "I know, let's postpone it until night, and then find a way to fight out!" Fei Xianghong replied in a low voice: "It's dawn now, there are few of us, we will suffer a loss if we go out!" "Yes!" The man surnamed Qi nodded, turned around and took the  Several soldiers rushed outside. Fei Xianghong also asked a few soldiers to move the flag into the room. He picked up the telescope from the ground, looked up and saw that a section of the church bell tower was missing, and said to himself:  "In life and death, wealth and honor are in the sky. If you lose your head, you will have a scar as big as a bowl. I'm afraid he is a bird!" He walked towards the church with a stoop.  Fei Xianghong carefully walked up the spiral wooden staircase. The wooden boards under his feet creaked, as if they might break at any time. He carefully grabbed the handrail and looked up. The sunlight shone through the damaged parts of the top of the tower.  When it was taken down, there was an extraordinarily dazzling feeling, and he was in a trance for a moment.    Fei Xianghong climbed up to the bell tower, knelt down quickly, climbed a few steps forward, carefully stuck his head out and looked through the gap, and saw hundreds of meters away, enemies gathered in groups of three or five, sitting in a circle.  Beside the campfire, you should be cooking your own dinner.  There was no sentry sent out. Looking from a distance, it looked like a group of ants foraging for food.  Seeing such a scene, Fei Xianghong couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.  At this time, there was a sound of gunfire in the air. Fei Xianghong hurriedly poked his head out and saw a puff of white smoke rising from under a banyan tree more than 500 meters away from the church. He quickly took out his telescope and looked over there.  Looking over, I can see dozens of Burmese thieves busy around a cannon under the shade of the trees. The gun looks like it should be a 12-pound smoothbore Napoleon cannon from the mid-19th century. This kind of gun is popular in the United States.  The artillery that became famous during the Civil War can be said to have reached the pinnacle of the front-loaded smoothbore cannon. It is not only cheap to manufacture, highly maneuverable, but also can achieve amazing accuracy within 1,500 meters.  It can be said that it is of high quality, low price and large quantity. It is very common in Southeast Asia and even the whole of Asia. It is also found in some teams in the Shun Army with relatively outdated equipment in the mainland. Fei Xianghong has been serving military rations for more than ten years, so he is naturally very familiar with this kind of weapon.  "A bunch of idiots, they're still so far away when it's more than 400 meters!" Fei Xianghong cursed, with a disdainful smile on his face. From the tower, he could clearly see that the enemy had just missed a shell.  , the shell flew seven or eight meters away from the outside of the turret of the commercial station, fell into the water, and splashed water all over the sky.  "But luckily they don't have a gunner, otherwise the first shell would have sent me flying to the west!" Fei Xianghong chuckled twice and continued to observe the surrounding layout of the enemy's artillery. As Fei Xianghong observed, his brows gradually  Wrinkled, although the enemy's discipline and military literacy were not very good, they still built a parapet in front of the artillery. Although he could not see how many people there were, there were eighty in the area he could see.  It was obvious that the Burmese thieves were very careful to protect this Napoleon cannon. What was worse was that in front of the parapet, more than 20 people were digging trenches, which meant that if it came at night, the defense of this cannon would be even more complete.  .  At this time, a bullet hit the top of the tower, splashing a lot of dust, and landed on Fei Xianghong's head. Apparently the rifleman on the opposite side also noticed him, so he quickly shrank his neck and crawled down.  As soon as Fei Xianghong's feet landed, he saw the middle-aged man named Qi running over with a very serious expression on his face: "Old Fei, the thief's cannon just hit the barrier at the door!" "Did anyone get hurt?" Fei Xiang  Hong asked quickly. In order to leave an exit for counterattack, Zhang Qi opened the gate at the beginning, piled sandbags into a barrier, and deployed the only Gatling Cannon there to lure the enemy to attack the gate. Sure enough,  It worked wonders and killed many enemies.  "Fortunately, you just evacuated both the people and the cannon, but you only injured one person. The ricochet of the cannonball after it penetrated the barrier hit him and injured his leg!" "Well, carry it to the house behind and let the doctor take good care of him.  !" Fei Xianghong whispered: "Ignore the sandbags at the door. Let the brothers build a new bunker with sandbags in the blind corner, place the Gatling Cannon there, and sweep it away when you rush in!" "Well,  I'll have someone do it right away!" The man surnamed Qi nodded, and after a moment's hesitation he said in a low voice: "But Lao Fei, the sun is long here, and there are still three hours until dark, so let them go down like this.  "It's not a big deal!" "Well, I've changed my mind too. I'll pack the gun later!" Fei Xianghong squatted down, took off the bayonet of the rifle and drew a "dent" on the ground, and said: "  You see, the thieves' artillery is placed under the big banyan tree on the right side of the gate. They are building a parapet on our side and on both sides, and they are also digging trenches in front of the parapet. Apparently they are also preparing for our attack in the dark. " "  What are you going to do, Fei?" The man surnamed Qi looked at the simple map on the ground and tried to ask: "Go through it from behind?" "Well, let's go together." Fei Xianghong patted his thigh.  "Behind the commercial station is the river. Let's pick a dozen brothers to get a small boat and go around the water to catch him off guard!" "Is this okay? There is no obstruction on the water. If the thieves find out, they will run away.  There is no place to run!¡± Fei Xianghong quickly walked to the wall, looked out from a gun hole, and said to his companion: ¡°Lao Kong, look, the river bank over there is high, at least two feet higher than the river surface.  High, as long as the thieves don't look towards the river, they can't be found. I just saw it from the tower. The thieves are a mob, all cooking around the fire to keep warm, and the sentries are also very lax. As long as we act quickly, at least  There is a 70% chance of winning. " "Well, I will pick eight smart young men to go for a trip! If I can't come back, I will bother you." The veteran Qi agreed and agreed.  We know that if we don't take risks, even if the thieves outside are not accurate in artillery, it will be a matter of time before the gap is opened. At that time, the defenders will no longer be able to attack.If you can't resist the enemy's huge numerical advantage, you will still be dead, so you might as well fight to the death.  Fei Xianghong patted his chest and agreed: "Lao Qi, don't worry, if something happens to you, your mother will be my mother, and I will take care of her till the end of her life!" The sun shines on the river surface, showing something similar to transparent jade.  In light green, a fish carefully swam up the water, as if it wanted to breathe. This was the sound of a cannon from the shore. The fish seemed to be frightened, flicked its tail, dived into the depths of the river, and disappeared.  "Quick, paddle hard!" Lao Qi ordered in a low voice. The four soldiers behind him silently put the oars deep into the water and paddled hard. The other four held rifles and covered themselves with fishing nets, holding their breath.  Breathing through the gaps in the fishing net, he watched the river bank vigilantly.  The attackers used a small boat called a "labu". This kind of boat is long and narrow, a little larger than the canoe used by South American Indians. The locals of Ren'anqiang often use it for transportation and fishing, and in trade.  When the station was not under attack, in the evenings there were often locals rowing such boats selling fresh fruits or fish and shrimp to the stationed Shun troops and British.  The reason why Lao Qi chose this kind of boat is very simple. Without a mast, it is not easy to be discovered by enemies on the shore, and even if it is discovered, it may be mistaken for a local fisherman.
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