Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 270 Miller: Six thousand versus two thousand, the advantage is on my side!
When Miller saw the flag signals sent by the fleet, his face suddenly became uncertain.

But after gritting his teeth, Miller still spoke.

"Pass the order down, all units of our army immediately adjust their array, form a battle formation, and prepare to meet the enemy."

Since the fleet is temporarily unable to spare manpower to support them, the only option before them is to attack and meet the enemy.

As Miller's military orders were issued, flags fluttered on the battlefield and the sound of Scottish drums continued to ring out.

The British army quickly adjusted their formation to the rhythm of the waist drums.

The lobster soldiers were arranged in line formations by company, with their muskets held horizontally and aimed forward.

The only eight artillery pieces were pulled out and placed on a high ground behind the infantry, aimed at the direction of the Tang army, ready to open fire to reinforce the infantry's attack.

In fact, the British army has no shortage of artillery.

But the problem is that this time their landing was a beach landing, not a port landing.

To put it simply, beach landing means transferring soldiers to land by small boats.

Although this landing method can avoid the port, it will undoubtedly greatly increase the difficulty of transporting heavy weapons such as artillery.

As a result, the six or seven thousand Allied soldiers who completed the landing had less than ten artillery pieces in total.

And they are all small-caliber light artillery.

Miller looked back at his own neat formation, his confidence suddenly increased, and he waved his hand and gave an order.

"Boy, attack!"

"Let us march towards victory!"

Although any discerning person can see that the current battlefield situation is clearly unfavorable to the British army.

But from the perspective of Miller, the person in charge, he might not lose.

In his opinion, the reason why the British army's attack on the fort was unsuccessful was because the despicable Chinese had fortifications to rely on.

But now that the Chinese have left the strong fortifications themselves, the brave British soldiers naturally don't mind letting them taste the taste of defeat.

He might even be able to take advantage of the victory of defeating the Tang army's infantry to capture the Shajiao Fort in one fell swoop and achieve the first victory of this expedition!
As for the Tang army’s cavalry?

Well, it is indeed a threat!
However, the Tang army's participating forces in this battle were only an infantry regiment stationed in Shajiao, plus a cavalry regiment that came to provide support.

Excluding the troops who had to stay behind to guard the artillery positions, the Tang army's participating forces would not exceed 2,500 men, rounded up to 2,000.

But what about the British army?

The troops that completed the landing mainly consisted of a British native regiment, two Indian colonial regiments, and a part of the indigenous vassal troops in Southeast Asia.

All together, there are as many as six or seven thousand people. Even if the casualties from the attack on the fort just now are excluded, the British army still has nearly six thousand manpower.

Well, six thousand versus two thousand, the advantage is on me!

Miller did not believe that the British army, which had an advantage in manpower, would lose to a group of yellow monkeys.

On the other side, after leaving the Shajiao Fort, the Tang army infantry also formed a battle formation and moved towards the battlefield.

However, the Tang army's combat formation is completely different from the line formation currently used by the British army.

They are even more scattered!

An entire regiment of infantry, organized into squads and platoons, spread out on the battlefield and advanced rapidly forward.

Several cannons were also pushed up, ready to fire.

It is worth mentioning that the Tang army actually had only a few artillery pieces in this battle.

There is indeed no shortage of artillery on the Shajiao Fort, even heavy artillery.

However, most of the artillery on the fort are fixed and cannot be removed.

Besides, the naval battle is still going on and the cannons on the fort cannot be dismantled.

Therefore, the artillery that the Tang army could mobilize in this battle were only the light artillery that could be dismantled from the fortifications behind and on the flanks of the artillery position.

Not only are their calibers small, but their numbers are also small. The total number of artillery pieces is only about ten.

After all, they couldn't take away all the artillery in the fortifications at once, right?

We have to leave some defensive power on the artillery platform!
"Forward! Forward! Forward!"

"Kill the ghosts and protect our hometown!"

"..."

The Tang army soldiers shouted loudly and advanced forward.

Since they did not need to maintain their formation, their advancement speed was very fast. In the blink of an eye, they were less than a kilometer away from the British army.

Miller raised his telescope and looked out over the battlefield.

Seeing the Tang army rushing towards him aggressively, he was not surprised but happy.

"Haha, these yellow monkeys really don't know how to fight."

"Although their weapons are good, they can't even form a line formation. It's a waste of the weapons they have."

"Young man, cheer up and get ready for victory!"

In Miller's inherent impression, fighting is simple.

To put it simply, both sides line up in a line and then line up to be shot.

Finish one row and then top it up with the next one.

After one troop finishes its battle, another troop will take over.

The artillery fired intermittently, aiming at the enemy's lines and delivering firepower.

They keep exchanging lives until one side collapses.

In such a battle, if the lines are well-arranged, it means that the army is highly organized and has strict military laws and disciplines. Such an army can often withstand more casualties in the line-up shooting, and is naturally the elite!
vice versa.

If an army cannot even line up properly, then no matter how good their weapons are, they are just a mob.

Well, in Miller's opinion, the Tang army he is facing now is a typical mob!
A group of people rushed up without even forming a line or formation.

What else could this be if not a mob?
Now in the whole of Europe, the only country that is fully equipped with breech-loading rifles is Prussia.

The major powers such as Britain and France are still enthusiastic supporters of muzzle-loading rifles.

They don't have the tactical and combat application of breech-loading rifles in their minds.

Naturally, it is impossible to see the superiority of the Tang army's skirmish line attack.

boom! Boom boom!

As the infantry on both sides advanced, artillery opened fire.

Amid the rumbling sound of artillery fire, both sides fired fiercely at each other.

Shells flew wildly across the battlefield.

A shell hit the British army formation, tearing the bodies of several British soldiers apart as it flew, and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

The scene is shocking!

However, this was nothing to the British army.

When they were on the European battlefield, they also experienced many tests of artillery bombardment.

The current intensity of the bombardment is just a sprinkle of water to them!
Moreover, the British artillery was also firing back.

But the problem was that the British artillery bombardment was not very effective.

Faced with the Tang army that had no formation at all and was attacking forward in a skirmish line, the British artillery bombardment could hardly cause actual casualties to them.

The shell hit the ground and created a ball of sand, which bounced and rolled forward.

But the Tang army, which was often far away and not restricted by the formation, flexibly avoided the trajectory of the artillery shells.

Most artillery shells these days are still solid bullets, which rely on kinetic energy to kill.

Moreover, the flying speed of the artillery shells is not very fast, and the flight trajectory is clearly visible.

In theory, it can be avoided.

However, generally speaking, infantry combat on the battlefield requires maintaining formations.

In order to maintain the formation, soldiers on the battlefield cannot move freely.

Even if you watch the shells coming towards you, you can only close your eyes and pray for good luck instead of dodging at will.

But the Tang army is now using a skirmish line to launch an attack. What kind of formation do they need to maintain?
When you see a cannonball flying towards you, you must hide from it!
Miller continued to observe the battlefield with a serious expression.

"The quality of the Tang Army's gunners is quite good, and the accuracy of their artillery fire is not inferior to that of the top European armies."

"It's just a pity that their infantry is not very good and has no spirit of sacrifice."

"It is really short-sighted to launch an attack with such a dispersed array just to avoid artillery fire."

Miller was still mysteriously confident and did not take the ineffectiveness of his own artillery bombardment to heart.

In his opinion, since the Tang army adopted a skirmish line attack, it was normal that their artillery bombardment would be difficult to be effective.

But when the infantry of both sides clashed and collided, the little advantage that the Tang army had gained now would soon be returned tenfold or a hundredfold.

……

Robert is a private in the British Army. Born in the UK, he is an ardent Briton.

In his opinion, this world should be ruled by the noble Angus!
The Angsa people should enjoy all the wealth, food and beauties in this world.

All other races should kneel before the Angsa people and offer everything they have to the noble Angsa people.

So, when he received the order to join the army to march to the Far East to expedition to China, Robert was excited and thrilled.

He hoped that he would be like his predecessor ten years ago, roaming the land of this ancient country, defeating armies one after another, and looting countless wealth...

In this way, Britain forced this ancient country to surrender and seek peace, turning this ancient civilization in the East into a colony of Britain.

However, what he did not expect was that the coalition forces had just arrived in the East when they suffered two losses in Hong Kong and Sha Kok.

Heavy casualties!

This frustrates Robert.

He couldn't understand why Britain couldn't take down a small artillery position?
But now Robert was excited again.

Looking at the Eastern troops that were barely charging forward in a scattered group, he was reminded of the indigenous armies he had encountered in Africa, the Middle East, and India.

Faced with the heroic British army, the natives rushed forward in a disorderly manner just like the Tang army before them.

It seems heroic, but it is actually useless.

After being hit by a volley of gunfire, they collapsed.

Britain can often achieve final victory easily.

In Robert's opinion, there will be no accidents this time. Britain will surely defeat the barbaric indigenous army again and win the victory.

And he will also become a hero who conquers a colony for Britain!
The glory of Great Britain will always shine on this land before our eyes.

"The enemy has advanced 200 meters, everyone must be captured!"

"Raise your gun, aim, and get ready to shoot!"

The officer holding the command knife shouted at the top of his voice.

Robert took a deep breath, raised the rifle in his hand solemnly, aimed forward, and prepared to pull the trigger.

(End of this chapter)