Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 178: Battle

ps: Thanks to classmate Dongtianxiadayu for the tip and support!
Two days later, the coastal phong governor Li Yu led his regular army and militia forces, totaling 13,000 people, to the front of the Halong camp.

The Annan troops approached the Ha Long camp step by step without encountering any resistance, which deepened Li Yu's determination to take the enemy by surprise and quickly wipe out the Chinese troops.

In front of the outermost defensive position of the Halong camp, which was formed by a trench, Li Yu took the telescope handed to him by his generals and carefully observed the deployment of the Chinese troops on the position.

After observing for about a quarter of an hour, Li Yu returned the telescope to Chen Wuyuan.

"The Tang rebels certainly didn't expect that I would gather a large army to attack them." Li Yu controlled his momentum and pretended to be in command as he taught his generals: "The imperial army attacked suddenly, and the rebels had no time to build a solid defense line. They just dug two or three earth pits and wanted to resist the imperial army. They are really courting death!"

"Governor, your opinion is great. I have observed that the rebels' frontline positions are crudely constructed and have no artillery to support them. The rebel leaders either really left Halong two days ago as the insider said, or they are ignorant of military strategy and have recruited bandits with the intention of rebellion just for the sake of a few silver coins. They are truly reckless and reckless."

"General Chen is worthy of being a general who has followed me in battle. He discovered the rebels' strengths and weaknesses in a short time. He did a great job."

Li Yu was very pleased with the praise from professionals, as it highlighted his wisdom and insight.

"General Chen will be in charge of commanding the battle on the front line. I will be stationed in the central army and await news of the general's victory."

"I obey your command!"...

On the wooden building of Xialong Camp, Ye Chenglin stood beside Sun Bin and watched the situation on the front line.

"Mr. Sun, I don't understand why the artillery is not deployed on the front line?" Before the two armies engaged in battle, Ye Chenglin looked at the hundreds of lonely soldiers on his first line of defense and asked.

"Artillery is a powerful weapon on the battlefield. It can damage the morale of the enemy and help our army defend its position when deployed at the front line. However, although Captain Ye saw me withdraw the artillery to the third line of defense, he did not notice the five machine guns on the first line of defense."

"Five machine guns can really match five artillery pieces?"

Ye Chenglin had seen five 75mm field guns unloaded from an armed merchant ship. The short, thick black gun barrels and the neatly stacked shells made him feel very close to them. After watching the test firing of the 75mm field gun, he wanted to see five field guns firing together on the battlefield to attack the Annan troops.

"Firing the five guns together can suppress the attack speed of the Annan troops. In the early stages of the Annan troops' attack, their morale is high. Placing the guns at the front can cause some damage to them, but it cannot defeat them.

Only by inflicting heavy casualties on the Annan troops can their morale be suppressed, and then the entire army will launch a reactionary movement and lay the foundation for victory in the war. "

"Can you inflict huge casualties on the Annan people with just five bulky machine guns?" Ye Chenglin said with disbelief.

“Haha, Captain Ye did not fight with the prince. When we were in South America, the machine gun tactics arranged by the prince played a significant role.

Captain Ye, open your eyes and watch carefully how our machine gun troops kill and wound the Annan soldiers row by row."

"I will wait and see."...

"Boom, boom, boom!" More than a dozen Annan drummers beat the drums hard. The dull and long drum sounds spread seven or eight miles away. The Annan soldiers squatting in the four or five miles long camp heard the drum sounds and lined up under the leadership of their respective commanders, preparing to attack.

As thousands of troops gathered, the Annan army's chief general Chen Wuyuan drew his sword and shouted heroically: "We must wipe out the bandits and establish our cause in this battle!"

Chen Wuyuan's voice was very loud, but the ordinary soldiers below did not match their commander's reaction. They stood on the ground listlessly. Although they were wearing military uniforms and holding weapons in their hands, they did not look like what soldiers should look like at all.

"You, you, you, why are you all frowning? General Chen is leading us to wipe out the rebels, so everyone, please put in some effort!" No soldier responded to Chen Yuanjia's words. The middle-level generals under him taught their soldiers a lesson with fierce faces.

The soldiers did not respond. Chen Yuanjia was a little embarrassed. He shook off the fat on his face, suppressed his anger, and shouted again: "The governor has ordered that whoever first breaks into the Tang bandit position will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver, and whoever captures the bandit leader will be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver!"

"Victory, victory!" Chen Yuanjia announced the reward offered by the governor, and the soldiers below finally burst into cheers.

"Quiet!" Chen Yuanjia spoke again to stop the restless troops. He took two steps forward with his fat body and pointed his sword at the Chinese position with high spirits: "All troops, listen to my orders. Target the bandit position and attack!"

"Boom!" Chen Yuanjia swung the sword in his hand downward, and the Annan artillery unit, which was ready, immediately fired artillery shells.

In order to capture the Ha Long camp, Li Yu dispatched more than 60 large and small artillery pieces from various places. More than 60 artillery pieces were fired at the same time, and the huge roar instantly covered up other sounds on the battlefield.

"Ahem." Chen Zongbai, who was hiding in a trench inside the Chinese army's defense line, coughed violently twice because the smell of the shells choked his throat. "Brother Chen, the damn Annan people have a lot of artillery!"

Wu Fengdian said loudly.

"There are at least four or five cannons. It seems that old man Li Yu has brought all the cannons from the Coastal Defense Province here!"

Chen Zongbai couldn't help but curse, crouching down and asking loudly: "How is the defense line? Are the brothers suffering heavy casualties?"

"The defense line is fine. Brothers are safe hiding in the trenches!" Wu Fengdian said, then carefully stretched his head out to check the position: "The damn Annan artillery has no accuracy. The shells have all flown behind the position."

"Hey, brother Wu knows what kind of people the Annan soldiers are. Once they finish firing their cannons, it will be our turn to attack!"...

After the first round of artillery fire, intermittent artillery fire continued for about five or six minutes. When the last artillery stopped firing, the Annan infantry assembled on the front line began to attack under the leadership of grassroots officers.

"Bang bang bang!" The advancing Annan soldiers started shooting when they were still four or five hundred meters away from the Chinese troops' defense line.

"Brothers, hold on. Wait until the Annanites enter the 300-meter range before shooting!" Bullets flew in front of the position, and several experienced National Defense Forces officers loudly reminded the young and strong men who had just joined the army to prevent them from being too nervous.

"Master Zhou, is this damn thing really as powerful as you say?" A peasant soldier in the machine gun position asked, pointing at the bulky machine gun.

"Needless to say, when I was following the prince to conquer the world in South America, all I had to do was fire my machine gun and none of the enemies in front of me could stand up!" The machine gunner was a veteran soldier dispatched by Sun Bin from among the 300 national defense forces. He spoke with a sense of pride.

"Well, I feel relieved then." The peasant soldier took a look at the Annan soldiers who were swarming towards him and calmed down a little.

"Brother Wu, let me remind you that if you study hard on the battlefield, you may become an officer like me in the future." The machine gunner was an experienced veteran. Because he followed Sun Bin to Southeast Asia, he was promoted to second lieutenant before departure. Therefore, when facing the Annan soldiers in front of the position, he was not nervous or afraid, but also had a sense of anticipation for gaining military merit.

"Yes, yes..." The peasant army soldier nodded in reply, his attention mainly focused on the Annan soldiers on the position.

"Master Zhou, the Annan people are approaching!"

"Don't make a fuss, I'm watching!" The machine gunner blamed and said to himself: "Thirty steps, twenty steps, ten steps... enter the shooting range!" After the last sentence, the machine gunner immediately shook the firing lever of the Gatling heavy machine gun. "Da da da" the crisp sound of machine gun shooting rang out. The Gatling heavy machine gun with nine shooting holes fired bullets continuously, and the Annan soldiers who swarmed in front of the position fell down one after another.

"Hurry up and prepare spare bullets!" The machine gunner loudly reminded the three ammunition handlers who were standing by while operating the machine gun.

The Gatling heavy machine gun fired three hundred rounds per minute, and half of the bullets in the machine gun were soon consumed. The three peasant soldiers who were responsible for loading the ammunition were stunned for a moment because they saw the lethality of the machine gun for the first time.

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and get the ammunition!" The machine gunner kicked a soldier angrily.

"Yes, yes, yes," the soldiers who reacted quickly stood up. One of the three cleaned up the bullet casings left after the shooting, and the other two worked together to reload the ammunition.

After the busy and tense reloading, the Gatling gun fired again. The "da da da" sound of shooting became the nightmare of the Annan soldiers. All the soldiers fell down within the range of the machine gun.

Less than half an hour after the war started, more than a thousand Annan soldiers on the front line were killed or wounded.

The Annan army was a backward feudal army. The casualties of one thousand people accounted for nearly one-tenth of the total number of Annan troops, and the Annan army was on the verge of collapse.

"Monster!" The heavy machine gun that appeared for the first time on the Annan battlefield scared the Annan soldiers at the front line. It was not known which soldier shouted first, and then the other soldiers retreated one after another and collided with the troops that continued to attack from the rear.

"Hold on, calm down! If anyone dares to retreat, I will kill him!"

The Annan general who was supervising the battle in the rear shot and killed a fleeing soldier. Just as he had frightened a group of defeated soldiers, a larger group of fleeing soldiers rushed to the front of the battle line.

"General, please retreat quickly. The troops have been defeated. It will be too late to retreat if you delay any longer!" The personal soldier grabbed the sleeve of the Annan general who was supervising the battle and urged him urgently.

"Alas! The defeat is like a landslide, and I alone cannot turn the tide." The general supervising the battle sighed, and helplessly followed his personal soldiers in retreating to the rear.

(End of this chapter)