Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 273: The Allied Forces: Pulling the millstone with bare buttocks, going around in circles is shameful!
As the command flag was waved, the coalition fleet received the order and began to retreat slowly.

Upon seeing this, the Tang fleet tried to give chase.

Seeing that the coalition fleet was fleeing farther and farther towards the open sea, they stopped fighting.

Instead, they gave up the pursuit and turned to the coast where the Tang army and British infantry were fighting, ready to assist their own infantry and cavalry in annihilating the landing British troops.

On the other side, the land battle has also come to an end.

The sounds of gunfire on the battlefield had become sparse and scattered, and the British artillery positions were successfully taken out by the Tang army.

The Tang army's cavalry continued to gallop on the battlefield, but their purpose was no longer to kill the enemy, but to drive the enemy away.

They were driving the chaotic British troops to the shore in an attempt to force them to surrender.

A large number of British defeated soldiers were driven to the coast. In the chaos, British soldiers kept trying to jump into the sea to escape.

However, what greeted them was not the support of their own fleet, but the aggressive fleet of the Tang army.

The Tang army's naval soldiers stood on the deck of the ship, aimed at the British troops floating in the sea, raised their guns and shot, continuously reloading, and then pulling the trigger.

Amid the crackling sound of musket fire, blood bubbles rose from the slightly turbid sea water. A large number of British soldiers were shot and sank to the bottom, struggling and screaming.

At the same time, the Tang army also began to seek surrender.

A Tang army soldier shouted in broken English.

"Fuck it, Surrender can't be killed!!"

"You sour bitch, raise your hands and surrender immediately, or I will kill you without mercy!"

"..."

Miller glanced at the Tang army that was pressing forward aggressively in front of him, then looked back at his own fleet that had withdrawn from the battlefield at some point in time.

It was as if his head was hit hard by a sledgehammer. He felt dazed and then became depressed.

He suddenly realized that he and others had been abandoned!
After looking around at the British soldiers who were staring at him eagerly, he finally spoke.

"Although we did not wish for defeat, the overall situation cannot be reversed."

"Now that things have come to this, we have done our best for Great Britain and Her Majesty the Queen. It's time to think about ourselves!"

Upon hearing this, many British soldiers around responded in unison.

“God has taught us to cherish our lives.”

"Yes, yes, we have fought for Britain for so long, it's time to think about ourselves."

"Surrender. I believe that Earl Elgin will redeem us after the war..."

In Europe, surrendering when one is defeated is a very normal thing.

At worst, I can just wait for my family to redeem me after the war.

Although the high ransom is painful, it is better than losing your life.

After the surrender was agreed upon, the British troops began to drop their weapons, raised their hands high, and saluted in the French military style.

……

The battle of Humen has been decided!

The news of the great victory was quickly transmitted to Guangzhou via telegram.

In the city of Guangzhou, cheers that shook the sky immediately broke out.

"Great victory! Great victory!"

"The Tang army and navy fought fiercely with the foreigners at Humen Shajiao, beheaded thousands of them, and the foreigners retreated. It was a great victory!"

"Thousands of ghosts have been killed. Our Tang army is so powerful. This is cause for celebration. This is cause for celebration!"

"Ten thousand victories! Ten thousand victories! Ten thousand victories for the Tang Dynasty!"

"Kill the ghosts and protect our hometown!"

"..."

The people of Guangzhou showed great enthusiasm for this victory.

In the past, when the Tang army faced the Qing army, victory was commonplace.

Therefore, when the news of the great victory reached Guangzhou, the people of Guangzhou were not so excited at all.

But this time it was different.

The Tang army was facing the Eight-Nation Alliance of foreigners.

But even so, the Tang army still won a great victory.

This is very exciting!

In the conference room, Li Yi sat in the first seat, and Li Liang stood up to read aloud the good news sent back from Humen.

Everyone had a smile on their face!
Li Liang looked excited, holding a military newspaper in his hand, and began to report.

"In the Battle of Humen, our army won a great victory."

"In terms of land warfare, our army successfully defended the Shajiao Fort and wiped out nearly 7,000 Allied infantrymen who landed in one battle."

"Among them, 3,200 people were killed in battle and 3,600 were captured, including a British colonel commander, several lieutenant colonels and majors. It can be said to be a great victory."

"As for the naval battle, it can only be considered a tragic victory."

"During the naval battle, our army sank a total of 12 coalition warships and severely damaged more than 10."

"Among the allied warships that were sunk, there were five sailing battleships and eight armed merchant ships..."

"Our army's losses included three sailing battleships, eight red boats, twenty-one centipede boats, fast crab boats and other warships, and fifty-three rocket sampans."

"Almost all the other warships, large and small, were also injured."

"There were nearly a thousand casualties."

When he said this, Li Liang looked obviously depressed.

Upon hearing this, Li Yi suddenly burst into laughter.

"How can this be called a tragic victory? It's clearly a big victory, okay?"

"In this battle, our naval officers and soldiers successfully repelled the invading coalition fleet, and also assisted our own infantry and cavalry to successfully annihilate the coalition infantry that landed."

"All strategic and tactical goals have been achieved. How can this not be considered a great victory?"

"Besides, when it comes to casualties, the foreigners have suffered far more than ours!"

When everyone saw this, they knew that Li Yi had no intention of blaming the navy, and they immediately agreed in unison.

"I congratulate the king and the Tang Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

"..." Li Yi just nodded slightly after hearing this.

Not to mention that Li Yi has never been a leader who is overly harsh on his subordinates.

Even if he was, he would not pour cold water on the navy at this time.

Although the Tang army's navy did not win the battle beautifully, it still won after all.

Although the casualties were a bit high, isn't this the best proof that the brothers were willing to risk their lives to fight the ghosts?

The brothers risked their lives to win the victory, but even with this result, Li Yi still wants to blame his own naval officers and soldiers. That will only lead to the loss of military morale.

Therefore, Li Yi will not be harsh on his own naval officers and soldiers, but will reward them heavily.

And give them honor, give them respect, and highly praise their bravery and sacrifice!

This is what a qualified leader should do.

Looking around, Li Yi continued.

"The victory of the Battle of Humen was due to the contributions of both the navy and the army of the Tang Dynasty."

"The Military Law Department and the Personnel Department should calculate the military merits as soon as possible and pay them to the soldiers."

When everyone heard this, they all responded in agreement.

Afterwards, Li Yi ordered someone to bring paper and pen, and he started writing himself.

[The brave warriors are the pillars of the country! ]

After writing, he began to speak.

"Frame this reward and send it to our brothers on the front lines."

"Tell them that in my eyes, they are the pillars of our Tang Dynasty!"

Li Yi has never been stingy with such cost-free benefits.

Upon hearing this, all the generals stood up and saluted.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Yi continued.

"Although our army won a great victory in the Battle of Humen, this war is far from over."

"Although the invading coalition fleet was repelled and the landing force was completely wiped out by our army, the main force of the fleet is still alive and still has considerable combat effectiveness."

"That is to say, there is still a war to be fought!"

"Everyone must remember not to let their guard down."

Upon hearing this, all the generals spoke in unison.

"Here!"

"I will obey the king's orders!"

……

The allied fleet withdrew from the Humen waters in disgrace.

They withdrew from the Chuanbi Ocean in one breath, and only stopped and dropped anchor when they reached the open sea to rest and catch their breath.

While the fleet was resting, Elgin ordered the senior leaders of the coalition forces and representatives of various countries to come to him for discussions.

Soon, representatives from various countries gathered together.

The dimly lit conference room was filled with smoke and only one candle was on.

Elgin took a deep drag on the cigar in his mouth, and the smoke came out of his nostrils.

He put out the cigar he had just taken a few puffs of into the ashtray and turned to Seymour who was standing beside him and said.

"Seymour, please report our army's casualties in this battle."

Seymour, who was standing by, heard this and stood up and spoke.

"Your Excellency, according to our military statistics, in the Battle of Hong Kong and the Battle of Humen that just took place, our army lost a total of 8,130 men."

“It’s a heavy loss!”

"The fleet suffered less damage. A total of six sailing battleships and eleven armed merchant ships were sunk, and the rest of the ships, both large and small, were also damaged."

"..."

Everyone looked solemn when they heard this.

You should know that the Eight-Nation Alliance mobilized a total of only 3.3 troops and a fleet of nearly sailing battleships and armed merchant ships to invade China.

But the battle had not started for long, and they had already lost eight thousand men and nearly twenty warships.

To put it in context, this is a loss of more than 20% to nearly 30% of personnel, and less than 10% of the fleet.

But the more serious problem is that it would be one thing to suffer casualties, but after losing so many people, there is still no hope of victory. This is the most despairing thing.

Elgin took a deep breath, looked around and asked.

"Everyone, tell us how we should fight this next battle!"

Seymour, who had discussed this with Elgin in advance, spoke immediately upon hearing this.

"Your Excellency, I think that this war has reached this point and there is no need to continue."

"Send someone to negotiate with the Tang Kingdom!"

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but frown.

We formed a coalition and marched from Europe to East Asia, a long expedition, but we did not come here to seek peace.

Well, in the eyes of many people, the so-called peace talks are actually a request for peace.

Because only the defeated would think of taking the initiative to negotiate.

They traveled a long way across half the globe to fight the Tang army. Before the war, they were confident that they would win and turn the Tang into their colony.

As a result, they had to ask for peace halfway through the fight.

Isn't this just like turning the mill naked and going around in circles, which is embarrassing?

It's so embarrassing to travel halfway across the world.

Also, losing face is secondary. Although everyone values ​​face, no matter how important it is, it is not as important as interests.

The most crucial thing is that in such a war that started off well but ended badly, as the defeated party, they were unable to obtain the benefits they wanted from the Tang State.

If this is the case, wouldn't all the expenses and costs of this long expedition be wasted?

Who will compensate for their losses?
(End of this chapter)