Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 212 Zhang Guoliang: I can also believe in God!
Ball said with a shrug.

"Admiral, you can completely trust me and my companions."

"We will use these cannons to teach those damned heretics a lesson."

Zhang Guoliang and others couldn't help laughing when they heard this, and they were in high spirits.

Jilhanga on the side spoke up.

"Please follow me. I have prepared a welcoming banquet for you foreign brothers in the camp."

As he was speaking, Jierhanga, the governor of Jiangsu, welcomed Ball and others into the Qing army camp.

While the Qing army was preparing a welcoming banquet to entertain these foreign gunners who had come from afar, it was also beginning to prepare for the battle of Suzhou once again.

……

Inside Suzhou City, Taiping Army defenders including Hu Yihuang, Zeng Shuiyuan, and Huang Wenjin stood on the top of the city walls, looking out.

Looking at the dark Qing army camp in the distance, the expressions on their faces were quite solemn.

The battle in Suzhou has been going on for some time.

Although the Qing army failed to capture Suzhou after repeated attacks, the Taiping Army could only defend itself against the Qing army's camps in the south and north of the Yangtze River.

There is no way to fight back!

"Looking at the movements of the Qingyao camp outside the city, I think the Qingyao will come again..."

Hu Yihuang said with a grim expression.

Although they were on the defensive, they had the strong city of Suzhou to rely on.

However, facing the mighty Qing army's Jiangnan camp outside the city, they were really powerless.

Zeng Shuiyuan on the side also spoke up.

"This can't go on like this."

"Now, our Heavenly Kingdom is being suppressed by the main force of the Qing Demons in Jiangnan. Suzhou and Zhenjiang are both on the defensive."

"Although the battle situation can be sustained for a while, in the long run, it will be particularly disadvantageous to our Heavenly Kingdom."

In Zeng Shuiyuan's view, after the Tianjing Incident, internal friction in the Heavenly Kingdom was extremely serious. To a certain extent, the main force of the Qing army had lost the ability to fight a decisive battle.

Under such circumstances, since the main force of the Qing army had reached Jiangnan, the Heavenly Kingdom would have abandoned the city and fled.

Just like before, since Jintian cannot be defended, then leave; since Yongan cannot be defended, then leave again; since Changsha cannot be defended, then continue to leave...

The best option is to avoid the sharp edge and wait for the future.

Instead of wasting the Kingdom of Heaven's limited elite troops in one offensive and defensive tug-of-war after another.

There is no point in continuing to fight this kind of war!
In addition, although the Heavenly Kingdom has now sent envoys to ask the Tang Dynasty for help, Zeng Shuiyuan believes that the Heavenly Kingdom cannot pin its hopes of relieving Jiangning on whether the Tang Dynasty will send troops.

After all, if the Tang Kingdom refused to help, what would the Tian Kingdom do?
Huang Wenjin on the side was silent for a while, then spoke.

"There is nothing we can do. We have no say in front of the king and can only follow his orders..."

Hu Yihuang and Zeng Shuiyuan couldn't help but sigh when they heard this.

What the hell is going on?

Just as several people were talking, the Qing army outside the city moved. The black mass of Qing soldiers formed an array and quickly advanced towards the Suzhou city wall.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

"Kill the Taiping rebels and protect the Qing Dynasty!"

"..."

The earth-shaking shouts echoed outside the city of Suzhou, and seemed to shake away the clouds in the sky.

The dark mass of Qing troops advanced forward, shouting and killing loudly.

Upon seeing this, the Taiping Army in Suzhou City all looked stern and began to prepare to meet the enemy.

On top of the city wall, cannons of all sizes began to load and aim.

The musketeers quickly loaded their muskets, ready to meet the Qing army's siege again.

However, at this moment, a deafening sound of artillery fire suddenly rang out outside Suzhou City.

boom! Boom boom!

Several clouds of smoke rose from the Qing army's artillery positions outside Suzhou city.

The black shells cut through the air, drawing a graceful parabola in the air and shot towards the Suzhou city wall.

With a bang, the shell hit the city wall heavily.

An obvious dent was smashed into the Suzhou city wall, and around the dent, dense cracks spread like a spider web.

Another loud bang was heard, and a cannonball hit the battlements of the city wall. In an instant, the battlements were flattened by the kinetic energy carried by the cannonball.

As the shells whizzed past, two Taiping soldiers hiding behind the parapet were also affected.

One man was cut in half by a shell and then crushed to death by flying bricks and stones.

One man was hit on the head by a shell, and in the blink of an eye half of his skull was blown off. Blood mixed with brain matter splattered everywhere, and his body, like a rag bag, was thrown off the city wall.

The scene is shocking!

boom! Boom boom!

The sound of artillery fire outside the city became more and more intense.

A cannon deployed by the Taiping Army on the top of Suzhou City was hit by a cannonball. The barrel of the cannon was blown away, and several gunners were also knocked out.

The tall city gate tower was the main target of the Qing army's concentrated fire outside the city.

Several shells were fired in succession, penetrating the walls of the city gate tower and pouring into the building.

There was a crackling sound of wood breaking, and the wooden beams of the city gate tower began to break gradually.

The heavy wooden beam fell heavily, crushing to death a Taiping Army soldier who was right under the beam.

The head was smashed into the chest cavity!
As the wood broke and collapsed, the entire city gate tower also collapsed rapidly. Many Taiping soldiers had time to escape, but were buried in the collapsed city gate tower. Seeing this, the Taiping Army's gunners began to fight back.

However, as a few clouds of smoke rose from the top of Suzhou City, the Taiping Army made a horrified discovery.

Their cannons couldn't even reach the Qing army's artillery formation outside the city!
Hu Yihuang and several others hid under the city wall to avoid the artillery fire, and their faces were visibly confused.

"How could this happen? When did the Qing Yao's cannons become so far and so accurate?"

Hu Yihuang said this with a tone full of disbelief.

Previously, the Qing army had also used artillery fire when launching an offensive against the Taiping Army in Suzhou city.

However, everyone knows about the Qing army’s artillery!

Although the fighting seemed intense, the threat to the Taiping Army was actually very limited.

In addition, the Taiping Army's artillery positions were deployed on the top of Suzhou City, allowing them to shoot from a high vantage point when engaging the Qing Army.

Therefore, they gained a considerable advantage in the artillery battle between the two sides.

Therefore, it was no problem for the Taiping Army's artillery to suppress the Qing Army's artillery fire.

However, the situation today is completely different.

The Qing army's artillery not only had a long range, but was also incredibly accurate.

Even though the Taiping Army had a height advantage and could shoot from a high position, they were still completely suppressed in the artillery battle.

Boom! Boom!
The sound of cannons resounded throughout the city of Suzhou.

On the Qing army side, under the command and operation of Bauer, the foreign cannons that the Qing court had purchased from foreigners at a great cost fired one after another.

"Boys, hurry up and load the guns. Move faster."

"For God's sake, fire!"

"Let's severely punish those damn Chinese pagans!"

The reason why Ball chose to serve the Qing army was because of the high salary offered to him by the Qing Dynasty.

But more importantly, it was because he was a devout Christian.

But for a devout Christian, Hong Xiuquan, who claimed to be the second son of God, was a heretic among heretics and a demon who must be burned at the stake.

Therefore, when it came to dealing with the Taiping Army, Ball was really full of initiative.

Because in his opinion, he is not only fighting for money, but also for God!

He will go to heaven in the future!
As time passed, the Taiping Army's artillery positions on the city walls of Suzhou were removed one by one.

The sound of firing from those large-caliber 32-pound and 24-pound artillery was even more terrifying.

Under the repeated firing, the Suzhou city wall was beaten into a pockmarked face with pits and pits.

In particular, the section of Suzhou city wall that was hit by concentrated fire showed signs of collapse.

On the top of the city wall, the Taiping soldiers were running around like headless flies, fleeing in panic.

Ball raised the telescope and observed the miserable state of the Taiping Army on the city wall of Suzhou, feeling very happy.

"Mr. Bauer, when will our artillery be able to destroy the walls of Suzhou?"

"As long as the city wall collapses, our Qing army will be able to charge into Suzhou and kill all those hateful heretics."

Zhang Guoliang was wearing cotton armor, a sword on his waist, and a silver cross around his neck. He walked up to Bauer and asked.

In order to get closer to Ball, a devout Christian, Zhang Guoliang said that he could also believe in God.

When referring to the Taiping Army, the name had already been changed from long-haired thieves to pagans.

Seeing this, Ball looked obviously happy and spoke.

"Don't worry, Admiral. Our artillery will be able to destroy the Suzhou city wall in an hour at most."

"God bless us, we will surely achieve final victory and kill all those pagans!"

Zhang Guoliang picked up the cross hanging on his chest and spoke very sincerely.

"God bless!"

On the battlefield outside Suzhou City, artillery fire was still roaring.

Finally, with a loud bang, a section of Suzhou city wall collapsed instantly.

The smoke and dust rolled back and filled the air instantly!

The next moment, the Qing army's command flags fluttered and the sound of war drums sounded.

The Qing army infantry, which had been preparing for a long time, launched a mighty final offensive towards Suzhou City.

"Brothers, kill!"

"Kill the Taiping rebels and protect the Qing Dynasty!"

"Long live the Qing Dynasty!"

Amid shouts, the Qing army infantry rushed all the way to the outside of Suzhou City, and rushed in through the gap in the Suzhou city wall created by artillery shells.

Immediately, the Taiping Army began to collapse and flee.

Hu Yihuang, Zeng Shuiyuan, Huang Wenjin and others wanted to organize the army to continue fighting, but they were simply unable to do so and could only retreat in defeat under the influence of the fleeing soldiers.

If it was the Taiping Army before the Tianjing Incident, it would certainly not be like this.

Fighting against the wind was nothing for the Taiping Army.

Starting from Jintian, Guangxi, almost every battle they fought was against the wind.

But the Taiping Army had never collapsed so easily!

However, the Taiping Army is really no longer powerful nowadays.

From top to bottom, there was a lack of motivation, and it was this lack of motivation that caused the Taiping Army's combat effectiveness to begin to decline significantly.

The Qing army entered Suzhou City, and the Taiping Army retreated all the way, leaving Suzhou City and retreating towards Wuxi and Changzhou...

(End of this chapter)