Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 215 It’s okay to cheat others, but why do you cheat yourself?

boom! Boom boom!

The sound of artillery fire on the battlefield became more and more frequent.

As the distance got closer, the Taiping Army's artillery began to fire back.

Amid the booming sound of artillery fire, bullets flew on the surface of the Yangtze River.

With a crack, a cannonball fired by the Taiping Army's artillery hit a Qing Army ship.

A cannonball smashed a large hole in the hull of the Qing army ship, and the bullet poured into the cabin, causing it to deflect.

A Qing soldier was hit in the calf by a deflected artillery shell, and his entire calf disappeared, with blood gushing out of the wound like a fountain.

The Qing army soldier held his half-broken leg and let out a series of shrill screams.

boom!
The shell hit the bow of the Maria.

Under the influence of the kinetic energy carried by the shell, the projectile was directly embedded into the hull.

But that’s all!
The Taiping Army's light artillery, which weighed only a few hundred pounds at most, could hardly cause actual damage to a sailing battleship like the Maria unless the shells happened to hit a weak point such as the mast.

Even the ship's planks are difficult to penetrate!

At the same time, the artillery on the Qing army's warships also began to fire, and both sides unscrupulously poured firepower.

On the battlefield, both sides continued to fire while closing the distance between them.

The accuracy of the artillery fire began to increase significantly.

The sailors on the ship are preparing for boarding.

The pace of firing of those sailing battleships became faster and faster, and they kept calling out the names of the Taiping navy on the river one by one.

In particular, Tang Zhengcai's ship became the target of concentrated fire from the Qing army and foreigners.

In just a short moment, Tang Zhengcai's ship was hit several times in succession. Amid the booming sound of artillery fire, big holes were blasted in his ship.

The river water surged with the waves, continuously pouring into the cabin, causing the hull to slowly sink.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"Brothers, kill the Qing monster!"

However, even so, Tang Zhengcai still shouted for a fierce fight and commanded the Taiping Navy to continue moving forward.

The next moment, the sound of a rocket breaking through the air was heard.

Everyone looked in the direction where the sound came from, and saw rockets rising into the air from the British army's rocket sampans on the surface of the Yangtze River.

Like a meteor streaking across the sky, it shot towards the Taiping Navy.

The next moment, rumbling explosions sounded continuously.

Under the attack of British rockets, the Taiping Navy suffered heavy losses in the blink of an eye.

Soon, the Qing army launched an all-out offensive.

Taking advantage of the east wind brought by the rockets, the Qing navy warships, under the cover of British naval guns, attacked the Taiping navy.

Soon, the two sides started fighting each other.

The Taiping Army's naval officers and soldiers rowed their boats closer, attempting to board the Qing army and engage in combat.

It’s a pity that the foreign warships were tall and the Taiping Army’s navy brothers could not board the other side’s deck.

Even the Taiping Army's naval warships couldn't get close to the enemy before they were destroyed by the foreigners' rockets and sampans.

The fierce battle lasted for most of the day.

The surface of the Yangtze River was littered with broken wood and floating corpses with missing limbs.

On the broken ship, clusters of flames burned, making crackling sounds.

Another cannon shot rang out, and the burning ship was hit by the cannonball and smashed to pieces in an instant.

The warship of Tang Zhengcai, inspected by the Taiping Navy, began to sink slowly under the concentrated fire of the Qing army.

Seeing this, Tang Zhengcai had to abandon the boat and escape.

However, as Tang Zhengcai abandoned his ship and escaped, the Taiping navy, which had been struggling to hold on, finally could not hold on any longer and began to retreat in defeat.

The Qing army began to pursue, chasing the defeated Taiping Army towards Zhenjiang.

The Qing army's warships and those foreign warships chased the defeated Taiping Army soldiers to the river near Zhenjiang. The ships were arranged in formation, with the black muzzles of their guns aimed at the Zhenjiang beach.

boom! Boom boom!

Another round of artillery fire rang out.

The shells whizzed towards the Zhenjiang beach.

After being defeated, the Taiping navy chose to land in Zhenjiang to escape, and the ships they were on were abandoned on the shore after landing.

The shells flew in and the concentrated fire destroyed and sunk the Taiping ships stranded on the shore.

Some shells fell to the ground, rolled forward, and rolled into the crowd of Taiping sailors who were fleeing after landing.

In an instant, wherever the shells passed, the Taiping sailors' bodies were torn into pieces by the bullets, leaving only their limbs and arms.

Amid the rumbling sound of artillery bombardment, the Zhenjiang beach almost turned into a sea of ​​corpses and blood.

Tang Zhengcai was seriously injured and was supported by several personal soldiers as he stumbled away towards the Taiping Army position on the Zhenjiang beach.

With a loud hum, a shell grazed Tang Zhengcai's body. The terrifying kinetic energy tore into pieces a personal soldier who was supporting him. Tang Zhengcai was also knocked to the ground and fell flat on his face.

The muddy sand on the beach filled his mouth.

Blood and flesh were all over Tang Zhengcai.

Tang Zhengcai wiped his face, shaking off the warm blood and flesh, and without caring about sadness or fear, he quickly got up and continued to use his hands and feet to escape to the beachhead.

At this time, the Qing army and foreign warships on the river began to raise their guns and turned their shelling targets to the Taiping Army positions on the beach. Shells flew over the heads of Tang Zhengcai and others, and the moment they landed, they smashed into a ball of flying mud and sand on the ground, and then continued to roll forward.

The shells hit the Taiping Army's beach fortifications, and in an instant, bricks and stones flew everywhere, and broken wood chips flew everywhere.

The Taiping soldiers on the beach were hit by artillery shells and their bodies were cut off. Blood mixed with broken flesh and bones spread all over the beach.

Waves surged, the river water flooded the beach, and then was dyed red by blood, with light traces of blood spreading in the river water.

boom! Boom boom! Boom boom boom!

The sound of shelling continued, especially the guns on the sailing battleships, the noise of firing was even more terrifying.

The fortifications built by the Taiping Army on the beach were as fragile as paper in the face of these large-caliber naval guns.

Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of rockets breaking through the air was heard.

The British army began to use rockets to clear obstacles for the Qing army before crossing the river and landing.

Rockets flew over, raising clouds of smoke and rumbling sounds of explosions on the beach.

As if to destroy everything!
When Lin Fengxiang saw this, his expression changed several times.

"The foreigners' powerful ships and cannons are indeed as good as their reputation."

"I'm afraid Zhenjiang can no longer be defended."

Li Kaifang on the side saw this and spoke up.

"Brother Lin, what do you think we should do next?"

"If Zhenjiang is not defended, Tianjing will be in danger..."

Lin Fengxiang couldn't help but look conflicted, and spoke after a moment.

"Immediately send someone back to Tianjing to report that Zhenjiang is in danger and ask Tianjing to make a quick decision."

"Order the entire army again, prepare for battle, resist step by step, and hold out until the military order arrives from Tianjing!"

Lin Fengxiang’s thoughts now are very simple.

Although Zhenjiang would probably be difficult to defend in the future, he had to hold on for a while to buy time for Tianjing to make a decision.

Upon hearing this, Li Kaifang nodded in agreement, then turned and left to prepare for battle.

The battle situation in Zhenjiang continued to evolve. Faced with the powerful ships and guns of the Qing army and the foreigners, the Taiping Army began to gradually withdraw from the beachhead, wanting to first leave the enemy's artillery range and then resist step by step.

At the same time, the Qing army in Jiangbei also began to land in Zhenjiang under the cover of their own naval guns...

……

Soon, Tianjing received emergency news from Zhenjiang.

Hong Xiuquan threw down the fishing rod in his hand, his face gloomy, and said with some disbelief.

"You mean, Zhenjiang can't be defended?"

Meng De'en said with a nervous look.

"Yes!"

Hong Xiuquan clenched his fists and asked in a low voice.

"What exactly is going on?"

Munden continued.

"In reply to the Heavenly King, the Qing demons colluded with the foreigners, borrowed foreign ships and soldiers from them, and relied on their powerful ships and guns to catch our army off guard."

"In Zhenjiang, Tang Zhengcai's troops were defeated in the naval battle. Then the Qing demons and foreigners used their naval guns to bombard our beach fortifications..."

Hong Xiuquan was furious when he heard this.

"Damn those foreigners! I will report their assistance to the Qing demons to Heaven and make them all go to hell after they die!"

After venting his emotions, Hong Xiuquan asked while suppressing his anger.

"We've lost Suzhou, and Zhenjiang is going to be lost too. What do you think our Kingdom of Heaven should do next?!"

Seeing this, Hong Rengan, who was standing by, tried to persuade him again.

"Your Majesty, from your humble perspective, it is time for our Kingdom to leave Tianjing and move somewhere else."

Hong Xiuquan's face was still ugly, but he still shook his head firmly and said.

"No, I won't leave!"

"Even if I die, I will not leave Tianjing."

"Since Zhenjiang cannot be defended, Danyang may not be defended either. Let's go and call back Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, Hu Yihuang, Huang Wenjin and others immediately, and have them lead the troops to defend Tianjing."

"I believe that as long as my kingdom of heaven can defend Tianjing, the Father will surely appear and save my kingdom of heaven from danger."

Hong Xiuquan had already made up his mind to fight the Qing demons to the end in Tianjing.

Upon hearing this, Hong Rengan and Meng De'en looked at each other, their eyes full of helplessness.

They couldn't help but want to complain, what is the difference between the current king and Chongzhen of the former Ming Dynasty?
During the Jiashen Rebellion, Chongzhen insisted on staying in the capital and refused to move south, which led to the Jiashen Disaster and the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

The same is true for the current King of Heaven. Even though Tianjing is in danger and besieged by Qing demons, he still insists on staying in Tianjing and refuses to break out. The outcome is unpredictable.

The only difference between the two is that Chongzhen hoped for rescue from Wu Sangui.

The king of heaven hopes that the Father will appear...

To be honest, this is not as reliable as Chongzhen's hope that Wu Sangui would send troops to rescue the capital!

At the very least, as long as Chongzhen could afford to give money and confer official titles, Wu Sangui might really send troops to rescue the capital.

But it is a bit ridiculous for the king of heaven to expect the Heavenly Father to appear.

They just want to say, it’s okay for you, the King of Heaven, to deceive others, but why do you even deceive yourself?
Hong Rengan and Meng De'en were helpless, but facing Hong Xiuquan they could only obey orders.

(End of this chapter)