Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 223 Fire Coverage! Surrender, We Surrender
Capital city, Purple Palace!

Emperor Li Zheng is reviewing memorials at this moment.

Ever since the Western coalition and the Japanese blockaded the territorial waters of the Daqian Dynasty.

Memorials from eastern Zhejiang, southern Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, Shandong, southern Jiangsu and other places were sent to the capital in a continuous stream.

The world is not at peace!

Li Zheng was in a bad mood and read every memorial carefully.

have to say,

He was a self-disciplined and hardworking emperor.

Although the imperial power was declining, he really wanted to change all this.

Since the Western Allied Forces landed in Guangdong and Guangxi and established concessions, they have been moving northward along the coast again.

The Daqian Dynasty was in danger, and Emperor Li Zheng had no peace of mind.

He didn't even have a good night's sleep, for fear that when he woke up the next day, the Western Allied Forces would invade the capital.

For so many years since the establishment of the Daqian Dynasty, the focus of defense has always been on the barbarians in the north.

but,

Unexpectedly, with the rapid development of Western industry, the fleets of the British Empire and the Oriental Empire actually attacked the coastline of the Daqian Dynasty from the sea.

The Japanese occupied Weihai, Shandong, and headed northward all the way to the northeast.

The Western Allied Forces were not to be outdone and drove their warships directly onto the sea surface of Tianjin Port.

Immediately afterwards, a concession was demarcated in Tianjin and the coastal fortifications were continuously bombarded.

Relying on their strong ships and powerful guns, they blockaded the entire Bohai Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea—!
The Daqian Dynasty's coastal defense completely collapsed.

In particular, the Beiyang Fleet, which was built by Daqian with all its national strength, was completely sunk by the Japanese.

Fortunately, at the most critical moment, the temporary militia organization "Ximen Tang" rose up strongly and dealt a heavy blow to the Western coalition forces.

but,

Now comes the problem that gives Li Zheng a headache.

Ximen Hall has developed so rapidly that it has reached a point where it can shake the rule of the Daqian Dynasty.

at this time,

What made Li Zheng even more uncomfortable was that the armies in various places of the Ministry of War, which the court had spent a lot of money to build, were so vulnerable.

Cangzhou Canal Transport Terminal, the hub of northern Daqian's shipping, was captured by the Western Allied Forces within two hours.

The 30,000 garrison troops were beaten to the point where they had no power to fight back and completely collapsed.

This shows that

The gap between the Daqian Dynasty's army and the Western coalition forces has reached an indescribable level.

"emperor!"

The chief eunuch passed on a message outside the door: "General Hong Yanchuan from Hebei Province of the Ministry of War wants to see you!"

Hong Yan Chuan!
The second son of Duke Ningguo, and also the general guarding Hebei during the Daqian Dynasty.

He is a senior military official and one of the powerful figures in the military.

Li Zheng nodded and ordered: "Let him in!"

Entering the Qiongyuan Pavilion of the Purple Palace, Hong Yanchuan saluted to Emperor Li Zheng.

Li Zheng nodded and said:
"Sit down! You are not in Hebei, what business do you have in the palace?"

Although Hong Yan is the second son of Duke Ningguo, he does not belong to the same camp as Duke Ningguo.

The relationship between the Daqian royal family and the major families is so complicated.

Within the royal family, from the emperor to the princes, there were several factions, each fighting endlessly for their own interests.

The same is true among aristocratic families.

They are also divided into different camps internally; it does not mean that everyone within the same family is in the same camp.

Duke Ningguo was a member of the "cede territory for peace" faction, and was relatively close to both the Ninth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince.

But Hong Yanchuan belongs to the "war faction"!
at this time,

Hong Yanchuan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I came to the palace today to discuss the Western coalition's attack on our Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf!"

After hearing this, Li Zheng frowned slightly.

He knew very well that Hong Yanchuan was opposed to Ningguo Duke's ceding of territory in exchange for peace, and he had always advocated ending war with war!
When he heard that the Western Allied Forces had landed and occupied the Cangzhou Canal Transport Terminal.

Didn't he also want to turn the tables and repel the Western coalition forces?

but,

Now the Western Allied Forces occupied the strategic location of Cangzhou's canal transport terminal.

With tens of thousands of men under Fang Zhiyuan stationed in Cangzhou, they were no match for the Western coalition forces.

not to mention,
On the sea between Cangzhou and Dongying, Seymour's 100,000-strong army and warships were sharpening their swords.

how to spell?
Hong Yanchuan took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, the Western Allied Forces have been stationed in Dongying, Shandong for more than a month!"

"Their warships have never dared to approach Tianjin Port. This shows that they are still wary of their defeat at Tanggu Port last time."

"Nowadays, neither the Japanese nor the Westerners dare to land at the Dagukou Fortress in Tianjin."

"The various armies of the Daqian Dynasty have been deployed around the capital. The entire capital is well-defended!"

"I think we can take this opportunity to have our troops stationed in Hebei and Henan strike a head-on blow to the Western coalition forces!"

"They have artillery, and so do we. If we go inland, we are not afraid of the Western Allied Forces."

"The Westerners and the Easterners only rely on their powerful ships and guns. Once they land on land, they are not much stronger than us!"

"Moreover, we can just cut off their sea supplies like the tactics used by the Ximentang Righteous Group last time, and then we can just shut the door and beat the dog!"

These words sound exciting.

But Li Zheng looked up at Hong Yanchuan without saying a word.

A head-on attack! ?
Just relying on your troops stationed in Hebei and Henan?
If the Western Allied Forces were so easy to defeat, they would not have captured the Cangzhou Canal Transport Terminal in just two hours.

The Western Allied Forces only have 10,000 troops!

However, the canal port, which was garrisoned with 30,000 men, was almost wiped out.

What can we use to meet the attack head-on?

Seeing that Emperor Li Zheng did not say anything, Hong Yanchuan bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, the Western coalition forces are coming with great force this time. The Seymour coalition forces will launch a general offensive within three days!"

"We have always had a misunderstanding that the Westerners' target is not our territory!"

"But this is just an appearance!"

"Westerners and Easterners are the same, they are all robbers, their target is our land, they want us to cede it, they want to gain the greatest benefits!"

"They are setting up concessions in our area and want to colonize us!"

"More than a hundred years ago, Western missionaries entered Daqian and continuously collected various information about our Daqian Dynasty."

"They have been preparing for hundreds of years to set foot on this land in the East!"

"This time they landed at the Cangzhou Cangzhou Port. In fact, their target was not Cangzhou, Hebei, but the Guangdong and Guangxi regions!"

"They are trying to make a feint to the east and attack in the west. They want to carve out a colonial concession in Guangdong and Guangxi as a base for the British Empire in the Daqian Dynasty!"

"At the same time, they started to divide up the territory in eastern Zhejiang and Dongying, Shandong!"

"They occupied the Cangzhou Canal Transport Terminal and did not move forward. Moreover, Seymour's 100,000-man army has not landed yet. They want to force us to surrender!"

"I am willing to lead the troops personally and drive the Western coalition forces out of Cangzhou!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li Zheng narrowed his eyes.

He said in a deep voice: "You are leading the troops to the battle. What do you want me to provide for you?"

It was not until this time that Hong Yanchuan finally stated his purpose.

He stood up, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands together and said:
"Your Majesty! I only ask for the artillery of Ximen Hall!"

"With Ximentang's artillery and my troops stationed in Hebei and Henan, we will surely defeat the Western coalition forces!"

Emperor Li Zheng shook his head and sighed:

"You go back first! You want Ximentang's artillery, I can't help you!"

What a joke!
If Ximen Tang could provide artillery to the Ministry of War, why wouldn't Emperor Li Zheng have such a headache now?
It sounds very high-sounding, but it turns out that he was planning to use the Ximen Hall artillery!

After Hong Yanchuan bowed and left.

Li Zheng ordered: "Come here, bring me all the memorials from Guangdong and Guangxi during this period!"

at this time,

The chief eunuch walked in from outside and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Ximen Tang's secret memorial!"

All memorials from Ximen Tang were directly transmitted to Emperor Li Zheng by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Next,
Li Zheng opened the secret letter and started reading it.

After a moment, his mind was lost in thought, feeling somewhat hesitant.

Finally, he wrote on the secret memorial - approved!
After approving the secret memorial and having the eunuch seal it with wax, Li Zheng let out a long sigh of relief.

Ximen Tang sent out troops!
The requirement is just four words - take root!
That's right,

As long as Ximen Hall sends troops to capture Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf, Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf will be under the jurisdiction of Ximen Hall in the future.

Since the imperial court has already planned to let Ximen Tang give up the Dagukou Fortress in Tianjin and move to Shandong.

If you want Ximen Tang to send troops now, you have to pay something.

Li Zheng also knew that no one would be willing to do something that had no benefits.

The Western coalition forces landed in Cangzhou. If they were not stopped, if Seymour's army bypassed Tianjin and marched straight into the capital, no one would be able to stop them.

The east is turning white!

At the Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf, the Western Allied Forces soldiers temporarily stationed there began to get busy.

They packed their bags, cleaned their cannons and muskets, and checked all the bullets.

When it was bright.

All the soldiers of the Western Allied Forces were lined up in neat rows in the barracks square at the Caoyun Wharf.

The elite troops of the British Empire!

It has to be said that the 10,000-strong army led by Johnson had very strong discipline and combat effectiveness.

in fact,

After the Western Allied Forces captured the canal transport terminal, they did not burn, kill, or loot everywhere, nor did they interfere with the departure of merchant ships at the terminal.

But now, there are no salt-carrying ships to be seen in the entire canal port. The river has become deserted and has lost its former prosperity.

Two days ago,
Led by Johnson, the Western Allied Forces captured the Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf and stationed in the square of the barracks.

Because the entire barracks was almost bombed.

Therefore,
All the soldiers of the Western Allied Forces could only live in simple tents.

The fortifications in front of the camp, as well as the previous sentry tower, have been replaced by Western soldiers.

The sun rises in the east.

On the sentry tower, the sentry could see through the monocular telescope that a small Daqian army was coming in a mighty force a few kilometers away.

No, the clothes worn by the soldiers of this army are not the uniform of Daqian.

The clothes they wore were very special, they were actually uniform camouflage!
Even the soldiers marching at the front wore steel helmets and held strange-shaped muskets in their hands.

Toot—toot—!
The warning whistle sounded.

From the reaction of the Western Coalition at this time, it can be seen that this was a well-trained elite force.

As a major general under Seymour, Johnson's fighting style was completely different from Hunter's.

He has always been careful and cautious.

After hearing the sentry's alert, he quickly climbed up the watchtower and used a telescope to check what was happening in the distance!

hiss--!
Next, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

not good--!
Simon Hall Righteous Group!
Boom, boom, boom——!
Before he could react, the entire Cangzhou Canal Transport Terminal was covered by artillery fire.

One loud noise after another sounded like thunder.

Full firepower coverage!
Standing on the highest watchtower, looking at the Cangzhou Caoyun Wharf camp covered by artillery fire below, it was an indescribable shock to the soul.

so horrible!

On average, there would be a unified artillery attack every ten seconds, giving the Western coalition forces no chance to breathe.

The earth was shaking, as if there was a magnitude 10 earthquake!
As the artillery fire attacked fiercely, in the General's Mansion of the Ministry of War far away in Cangzhou City, all the civil and military officials of Cangzhou were completely stunned when they heard it!
The sound of the artillery was so loud that it even exceeded the artillery of the Western Allied Forces.

Such a commotion is simply terrifying!
this moment,
On the warship docked near the Cangzhou coastline, Seymour, the commander of the Western Allied Forces, felt his brain buzzing!
Cannon fire! ?

How could there be such fierce artillery fire!

Oops--!
This is Simon Hall’s artillery battalion!
At this moment, Seymour did not hesitate at all and quickly ordered the warships to retreat away from the coastline!

Then,

He quickly ordered the suicide squad to land and go to the Cangzhou Canal Transport Terminal to investigate the situation.

Major General Johnson, who occupied the Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf, quickly climbed down from the watchtower.

At this moment, he was completely panicked!

Perhaps other members of the Western Allied Forces did not know much about the Ximentang Artillery Battalion.

but,

He knew Ximentang's artillery battalion better than anyone else in the Western Allied Forces.

The last time the troops were sent to support Hunter's coalition at the Dagukou Fortress in Tianjin, it was led by Johnson.

If he hadn't been quick to see the opportunity last time, he would have been blown to pieces by Ximen Tang's artillery.

Hunter's coalition army had 50,000 men, plus the 5,000 men who came to support them, but they were defeated by Simon Hall's artillery and fled in panic.

Ximen Tang’s artillery battalion appeared at the Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf!
What does that mean?
If Seymour's army received the news, they would evacuate first instead of landing to provide support.

No army can stop Simon Hall's artillery!
The Eastern Fleet and the Western Fleet did not dare to approach Tianjin Port because the range of Ximen Tang’s artillery was too far.

It would be very dangerous if the fleet came too close to the shore!

Seymour's battleship did not fire in response!
It is obvious that the Western Fleet has retreated——!
A lieutenant hurriedly crawled to Johnson and reported loudly:

"Report to the general, the Daqian army is five kilometers away and suddenly opened fire on our camp--!"

Johnson couldn't help but take a deep breath and asked anxiously:

"How many of them came?"

The second lieutenant said with a sad face: "I don't know! There are artillery attacks everywhere. There are more than 500 artillery pieces involved in the attack!"

Om-!
Johnson felt his head buzzing.

Five hundred artillery pieces! ?

No, this is absolutely impossible!

How could the Daqian people have so many artillery pieces?

Damn, who would sell them so many artillery pieces?

Could it be that the Japanese are behind this and want to weaken the power of the Western coalition?
impossible!
The Japanese definitely don't have the courage to challenge the maritime hegemony of the Western coalition!
They cannot bear the wrath of the Western coalition forces!

Johnson gave the order without any hesitation:
"Retreat, let everyone retreat--!"

He knew very well that if he didn't retreat now, his entire army would probably be wiped out.

Five hundred artillery pieces, what the hell does that mean?
After a burst of artillery fire, the ground would sink ten centimeters.

Although the Western Allied Forces occupied the fortifications, Johnson only had fifty Krupp infantry guns under his command!

And at this time, with the coverage of artillery fire, all the artillery were blown to pieces.

but,

Even if Johnson wanted to retreat at this point, he couldn't do it.

The area covered by the artillery fire is too large.

Even the retreat route is completely blocked, how can we retreat?

The sentry who was originally on the watchtower saw Daqian's army advancing towards the Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf.

They have sensed the crisis and issued a warning.

but,

Ximen Hall's artillery opened fire first just as the sentry reacted.

At a distance of five kilometers, there were actually five hundred artillery pieces covering the area.

The first round of continuous artillery attacks lasted two minutes and completely defeated the unprepared Western Johnson coalition forces!

Seventy percent of the 10,000 coalition troops were killed in the first round of attacks!

Many of the remaining Western soldiers were injured.

Because the artillery fire was so intense and the power of the artillery was so strong that it was unbelievable.

If there are no defensive fortifications around you, you won’t even have a chance to lie down.

By the time the second two-minute round of artillery fire ended, the entire Western coalition had been completely defeated.

Toot—toot—!
I saw a white flag raised on the watchtower of Cangzhou Caoyun Wharf!
surrender!

If they don’t surrender, Johnson’s coalition forces will be completely destroyed!

At this time, the entire Johnson coalition had less than three hundred people!

In less than ten minutes, Johnson's coalition forces suffered the most brutal fire coverage.

This time, Ximen Tang dispatched the 'War Department', led by Yan Kuangtu with 3,000 soldiers!
"Ha ha ha ha--!"

When Yan Kuangtu saw the white flag of the Westerners through the telescope, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

In all his years in the army, he had never led his troops in such an enjoyable battle.

It was a massacre without any soldiers being used!

Although the young master repeatedly requested, artillery is very expensive and must be used sparingly.

But once it exploded, Yan Kuangtu couldn't help it at all!

Two consecutive rounds of artillery attacks made him feel his adrenaline rushing.

Fortunately, his subordinates reminded him that after two consecutive rounds of bombing, half of the shells had been used up.

Yan Kuangtu then ordered the artillery to be withdrawn with a feeling of unsatisfied feeling.

"Pass the order down, tell them to lay down their weapons and surrender without killing them!"

"Ximen Hall occupied the Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf!"

this moment,
Yan Kuangtu was filled with high spirits when he saw the white flag raised by the Western coalition forces.

"Ximen Tang! Is this the famous Ximen Tang artillery battalion in Daqian? "

Fang Zhiyuan, the chief general of Cangzhou who was following Yan Kuangtu, was stunned as he looked at the canal dock in the distance.

Five hundred artillery pieces!
After a round of bombing, the Western coalition forces were defeated in less than ten minutes!
What kind of artillery is this?
Why is it so powerful and has such a long range?
Fang Zhiyuan looked at the mortars fired by the artillery battalion in front of him, his eyes burning with anger!

(End of this chapter)