The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 399 Battle Prelude
The coalition forces in the front were running and chasing, while firing indiscriminately at the backs of the retreating thousand-plus guards.

Although they were bumpy and bouncing while running, and even if they paused for a moment to shoot, it was actually impossible for the coalition forces, who were breathing heavily, to shoot accurately, and the deviation would be huge.

However, after all, there were a large number of officers and soldiers of the Guards Association retreating in front, and people were constantly shot and fell to the ground in the random gunfire of the pursuers.

All the wounded but not dead officers and soldiers knew that they could not escape. As long as they could still move, they grabbed their rifles, lay on the ground and shot at the pursuing Allied forces, trying to delay the pace of the pursuers and buy more time for their comrades who were retreating in front.

Those officers and soldiers who were seriously injured and unable to pick up their rifles to shoot, as long as they still had Teng's grenades on them, would hold the grenade pull in their hands with trembling hands. Once the coalition forces rushed in front of them, they would pull the pin of the grenade and die together with the coalition forces.

However, the number of these vanguard officers and soldiers who spontaneously blocked the enemy on the spot after being injured was not large after all, and because they were all injured, the bullets they fired were sparse, and the frequency of shooting was naturally not high.

Their shooting had almost no effect on the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms chasing in front of them, and their figures were quickly swallowed up by the turbid current of khaki, black or red.

Although there was dust and smoke from the explosion of Teng's grenades and the scattered limbs of Allied soldiers among the crowd of pursuers, and even the flying guns could be seen through the telescope, these three turbid currents still rushed forward without any hindrance.

Although Teng Yuzao and Wu Peifu both wanted to find Li Jinyu among the running crowd, it was very difficult to find a person in the constantly swaying crowd.

"Artillery battalion, intercept the firing immediately and cover the troops' retreat." Wu Peifu gave the order loudly without turning his head.

As soon as Wu Peifu finished speaking, the artillery staff officer, whose eyes were fixed on the artillery telescope, loudly gave the order to fire.

"Artillery battalion, all hands, position straight ahead, height 52, three rounds rapid fire."

Behind the artillery staff officer, the communications soldier holding the microphone loudly repeated the staff officer's order, and only one minute later, the whistling sound of the shells cutting through the air was transmitted into the shelter.

Immediately afterwards, the first round of six 75mm artillery shells exploded in the open space between the hastily retreating officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guard and the pursuing Japanese, Russian and British coalition forces.

Although the explosion point of the artillery shell was still fifty or sixty meters away from the swarming Three Kingdoms Allied Forces, the huge explosion and the rising smoke still frightened the pursuing Three Kingdoms Allied Forces and forced them to stop in a hurry.

The retreating soldiers of the Guards Association also took advantage of this opportunity to carry several soldiers who had just been shot and fell to the ground on their backs, and then retreated quickly again.

Under the urging and scolding of the officers, the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms hesitated only for a moment, then took another step and began a frantic pursuit.

However, just when they had run two or three steps, the whistling sound of artillery shells rang out again. Although this caused the pursuing coalition forces to slow down their pace again and try to avoid the explosion area of ​​the artillery shells in front, the cruel reality disappointed them.

"Boom boom boom", a series of violent explosions rang out in the dense crowd of coalition forces, immediately setting off a bloody storm in the crowd. The strong shock waves and sharp shrapnel not only tore and blew away the limbs of the coalition officers and soldiers, but also threw their broken bodies high into the air.

The violent explosion immediately caused the pursuing coalition forces to flee in all directions. The worst hit among them were the Indian soldiers wearing turbans. Not only was their formation in chaos, but many of them even rushed out of the crowd in panic and ran backwards.

A few minutes later, when no more shells were fired, several officers on horseback ran up from behind, waving their pistols on horseback, driving away the coalition forces and once again starting to pursue the retreating Guards.

However, after this delay, the last group of retreating troops had retreated behind the three heavy machine guns.

It was not until then that Teng Yuzao finally found Li Jinyu.

Li Jinyu was seen waving a pistol and commanding hundreds of guards. They stopped in front of three heavy machine guns, turned around, raised their guns and prepared to shoot.

This should be because Li Jinyu saw the stone bridge was right in front of him and had his own artillery support and cover, so he had an idea in his mind. In order to cover the officers and soldiers carrying the wounded to pass the stone bridge smoothly, he wanted to stop the pursuers here for a while.

Moreover, the other party was chasing so urgently that their heavy machine guns would definitely not be able to keep up.

Wu Peifu said with some sigh, "Teacher, this time we can't keep the secret of our grenade, what a pity!" Teng Yuzhao, holding a telescope, continued to look at Li Jinyu's position and said.

"There is nothing secret about hand grenades. The great powers have already had them for a long time, and even have special grenadiers. It's just that they think hand grenades are not very useful on the battlefield, so now the armies of the world are not equipped with them."

"The foreign devils don't even need to seize any of these things. They only need to take a look at them to know what they are. I believe that after fighting this war with us, the foreign devils' grenades will be immediately equipped to the troops."

"Da da da da da da da" Just as Teng Yuzhao was speaking, three heavy machine guns began to roar violently.

Wu Peifu hurriedly raised his binoculars. At this time, Li Jinyu had already commanded the soldiers lined up in horizontal rows to quickly retreat behind the three heavy machine guns. Amid the angry roar of the heavy machine guns, the volleys of hundreds of people under Li Jinyu's command also opened fire.

The coalition forces, who had just run a few steps, suddenly found three heavy machine guns in front of them, which made the coalition forces in the front row suddenly terrified.

Some of them lay down on the ground regardless of everything, allowing the people behind them to trample over their bodies.

Some turned around and ran sideways, and some coalition forces even turned around and tried to squeeze into the crowd to avoid the heavy machine gun fire, which once again caused serious chaos in the coalition pursuit team.

But all the efforts of the coalition forces were in vain. They were once again hit by a sudden, fierce and intensive rain of bullets. The coalition soldiers who rushed to the front fell down in an instant like harvested wheat. The remaining coalition soldiers hurriedly lay on the ground with their heads and faces pressed tightly to the mud.

"Well done!"

Wu Peifu cheered loudly for Li Jinyu, and then shouted to the artillery staff.

"Target, the group of people lying down in the coalition army. Fire ten rounds rapidly. Blast these foreign devils hard for me."

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom", violent explosions created clouds of dust and smoke carrying the broken limbs of Coalition officers and soldiers among the lying coalition forces.

The smoke and dust spread rapidly, and within a few minutes it completely enveloped the black mass of coalition forces lying on the ground. Only the coalition forces' guns and flesh and blood were flying in the sky above the smoke and dust.

In October, the climate in Zhili is dry and with little rain, especially in the area near the mountains. There is a thick layer of dust on the roads and in the fields. Only the small area near the river bank is in a better condition.

In a violent explosion, the dust will be blown up immediately by the strong shock wave generated by the explosion and will not dissipate for a long time.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Jinyu commanded the soldiers who stayed behind to block the enemy, and they quickly retreated across the stone bridge carrying three heavy machine guns.

Seeing that Wu Peifu was still in high spirits, Teng Yuzhao had to remind him in a low voice.

"Zi Yu, the foreign devils' artillery shells will soon be coming."

Wu Peifu said nonchalantly, "Teacher, don't worry. By the time the foreigners' cannons are set up, Mingguang and the others will have already run to a safe area."

Before he could finish his sentence, Wu Peifu suddenly realized what Teng Yuzhao's reminder was for, and immediately turned to the artillery staff officer and said.

"Notify the artillery battalion to move their position immediately."

After giving the order, Wu Peifu blushed slightly and said to Teng Yuzao, "Teacher

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(End of this chapter)