The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 140 Full Coverage
After the test shell exploded, the artillery staff officer holding the telephone receiver immediately reported the relevant adjustments to the firing parameters, and then looked at the Russian army that was still advancing rapidly without hesitation, and spoke to himself in confusion.

"My goodness, these Russians are really tough. Are they made of steel? Or are they invulnerable to swords and guns as the Boxers said? Aren't they afraid of our artillery fire?"

The staff officer's words made Teng Yuzhao, who had come to his side, couldn't help laughing, but he put away his smile and said.

"Little brother, it's not that the Russians are not afraid of artillery fire, but that the Qing army is too incompetent. For a long time, although they have a large number of artillery pieces, they have always dispersed these artillery pieces to various units, each fighting on its own, and never used them in a centralized manner. This time, the Russians probably thought that our artillery fire was just a few scattered cannons and would not cause them too many casualties, so they were not afraid."

After Teng Yuzao finished speaking, he asked again, "Can your artillery battalion fire within one minute?"

"no problem."

The artillery staff officer replied affirmatively, "Within a minute the shells will surely fall in the area designated by your Excellency."

"Alright! All eighteen guns open fire, all five shots at a rapid pace, and try to completely cover the Russian reinforcements in one go. Let's see if these stubborn old Russians are made of steel!"

"Yes."

The artillery staff officer responded excitedly, and then shouted into the phone, "The president has ordered all guns to fire five rounds at full speed, quickly."

"Da da da da", although more than a dozen Maxim heavy machine guns on the top of the city kept firing, Teng Yuzhao could still hear that the heavy machine gun commanded by Wu Peifu behind him had already opened fire.

Without bothering to look back to check the situation, Teng Yuzhao nervously looked at the Russian troops in the distance who had already run into the preset artillery area he had designated.

The retreating British troops had also seen the Russian troops coming to meet them, and the panicked troops suddenly became jubilant. Although no one could hear what the British troops were shouting, their state showed their excitement very well. The chaotic troops not only stopped retreating, but also began to quickly reorganize their troops, braving the dense rain of bullets from the top of the city, and prepared to meet their covering troops and retreat in stages.

At this moment, a burst of dense, sharp whistles suddenly came from the western sky, coming from far away and getting closer. These sharp whistles were not just one or two, but many whistles gathered together, and quickly flew over the heads of the coalition forces with the power of a tsunami.

Such intensive artillery fire not only caused the Russian troops that were responding to the attack to slow down slightly, but even some of the British troops who were quick to react fell to the ground, holding their heads with their hands, and lying tightly on the ground.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM."

The sound of dense artillery explosions was deafening. Nearly twenty 75mm howitzer shells exploded accurately in the crowd of Russian troops who had just rushed into the area designated by Teng Yuzhao. The strong air waves and the bursting hot shrapnel immediately blew the large and aggressive Russian troops into pieces, and their flesh and blood flew everywhere. The broken limbs and arms flew high into the air along with the exploded gravel and dust.

Moreover, the sharp whistling of artillery shells and the fierce explosions did not stop, but continued to sound, constantly blowing up clouds of dust in the Russian army's ranks. These smoke and dust almost instantly covered the Russian army's support troops tightly.

"Hit! Hits, all hit the targets accurately." The artillery battalion staff officer excitedly shouted into the telephone receiver, waving his hands.

"Artillery Battalion, target, British Battalion, three rapid fire rounds."

Teng Yuzao didn't bother to observe the effect of the shelling of the Russian army, and hurriedly gave orders to the artillery staff. "Yes, all guns increase the elevation by ten, keep the direction unchanged, and fire three rounds rapidly."

Just after the artillery staff officer finished reporting the firing parameters, amid the dense gunfire, Liu Shijiu's angry shouting in his broken voice suddenly came from under the city wall behind Teng Yuzhao.

"You bastard on the city wall, are you f**king blind? Why are you helping the foreigners to beat me up? If you let the foreigners run away, I'll tear your head off."

Teng Yuzhao hurriedly turned around and saw that Wu Peifu was directing the heavy machine gun which was still firing "da da da" continuously.

Teng Yuzhao was shocked and didn't know why Liu Shijiu was yelling like that, so he hurried to the parapet behind him and stuck his head out slightly at the battlement.

The remnants of the Russian army below have successfully rushed into the city gate. The Russian soldiers in front are in a panic, throwing out the wood and debris blocking the city gate. The two or three hundred Russian soldiers outside have their backs pressed against the earthen city wall. Most of them are firing continuously in the direction of the street intersection, and another thirty or so Russian soldiers are using their Mosin-Nagant rifles to continuously shoot at the north city wall.

Although some of the Russian soldiers were constantly being knocked down and screaming, they had no way to retreat and were gritting their teeth and holding on. No one gave up resistance or sought shelter.

The area below the city wall is a blind spot for shooting from the city walls. Without grenades, there is really no way for those on the city walls to deal with the Russian troops below.

If you want to hit them with a gun, you can only shoot from the side and stay away from the east wall to have a larger shooting angle.

The soldiers of the guard squad had already run over and were firing "ping pong pong" at the Russian troops under the city wall.

Teng Yuzhao's eyes moved quickly, looking for the reason why Liu Shijiu burst into curses.

Hundreds of Russian soldiers with broken limbs lay dead on the bluestone road from the street corner to the city gate, and the flowing blood had dyed the bluestone road surface blood red.

There is no doubt that these Russian soldiers' bodies with broken limbs were all caused by the Maxim heavy machine gun shooting at close range.

Liu Shijiu, with a large group of soldiers from the assault brigade, was completely blocked at the street entrance by the volley fire from two or three hundred Russian soldiers.

Here, Teng Yuzhao finally found the reason why Liu Shijiu was so angry.

This was because the intensive firepower that blocked the assault brigade and prevented it from rushing out of the street was not only the volley fire from the remnants of the Russian army, but also the Maxim heavy machine gun commanded by Wu Peifu. Moreover, the biggest threat was this Maxim heavy machine gun.

At this moment, the Maxim heavy machine gun commanded by Wu Peifu was still firing "da da da" at the ground at the street intersection. The heavy machine gun bullets with huge kinetic energy hit the bluestone-paved road surface of the more than 20-meter-wide street intersection, causing gravel to fly and splatter, and emitting wisps of green smoke, blocking the assault brigade at the street intersection and preventing them from getting out.

Liu Shijiu's angry voice came from the street corner.

(End of this chapter)