Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 168: Don’t enter the woods when you encounter them, and don’t chase after poor bandits.

riverside

Wang Fugui and another swordsman, holding their injured companion on the left and right, ran quickly to the stream and rushed down without hesitation.

The splashing water created resistance, covering Wang Fugui's calves and causing him to stumble and fall into the river.

This time, the injured companion was also knocked over into the stream, and the water turned red in an instant, and he looked extremely miserable.

"Boss..."

Several musketeers who had retreated to the forest on the other side of the stream shouted out in panic, and two of them had already rushed to the bank of the stream, ready to help.

Wang Fugui choked on some water when he fell, but the alarm bells in his mind kept ringing, as if a life-eating devil was chasing him closely, making him struggle desperately to get up again.

Seeing the two brothers rushing over, he was dripping wet and shouted, "Don't come over, hold the line, we can do it ourselves."

He reached out and tried to lift the injured person, but found that the unfortunate man had lost consciousness. The weight of 130 to 140 kilograms was so heavy that both of them had difficulty lifting it.

Wang Fugui cursed subconsciously, "What a bad idea! You fainted after falling down. Are you a woman?"

Hesitating

Suddenly, another group of people rushed out of the jungle and jumped into the stream. They were the vanguard team responsible for searching the other side.

The captain of this vanguard is called He Zhuzi, and he has a deep connection with Wang Fugui.

Seeing this, He Zhuzi immediately rushed over, pushed away the man with sword and shield, grabbed the injured man's arm and lifted him up with force. It was obvious that he had amazing strength.

He cursed as he lifted the gun, "Fugui, what the hell is wrong with you? Who fired the gun? You scared me to death."

Wang Fugui immediately lifted up the other side. Both of them were very strong. They lifted the unconscious victim's feet off the ground and ran quickly to the other side of the stream.

Wang Fugui explained as he ran, "What a wicked man! My team fell into Frankie's trap. Luckily we found out early, otherwise we would all be dead and you would be the one collecting my corpses."

"You mean... Frankie fired the gun?"

"Nonsense! My squad only has six musketeers. How could they fire such a dense volley? Of course it's the ghosts who are firing."

"Fuck! Let's quickly establish a new line of defense." He Zhuzi, also a veteran, dragged the wounded man to the forest on the river bank, panting, and then threw him away without caring about him.

He quickly called on his team to go to the other side, more than a hundred meters away, and blocked the empty stream with muskets.

He had just run halfway with his men when he saw another group of people jumping out of the woods. They turned out to be the Chinese scouts on the other side, who were scared to death by the gunshots.

Although they were not surrounded by the Frankies, these experienced teams were able to tell from the gunshots that they were not the ones firing.

There were three scout squads in total, 12 people in each squad, and only 6 musketeers. How could they have fired dozens of shots and made such a loud noise? They must have been ambushed.

No matter what, it's always a good idea to retreat first.

This is the experience of veterans who have survived every war and have their own life-saving skills.

As soon as this team of 12 scouts ran to the stream, the Frankish soldiers who were in the front of the bushes revealed their figures and chased after them, shouting and yelling.

"Aim and fire!"

"Clap clap clap..."

Wang Fugui gave the order to shoot without hesitation. His team hid in the bushes. Each musketeer found a tree, stood sideways beside the tree and fired.

The Frankish pursuers were about fifty or sixty yards away from Wang Fugui. At this distance, the American-made Springfield M1861 rifle had a very high accuracy, and almost everyone fell down as soon as the gun was fired.

Six bullets knocked down three foreigners. The musketeers began to reload urgently, and a volley of gunfire was also heard from He Zhuzi's side.

"Clap clap clap..."

After the gunshot, five foreigners fell down. They shot more accurately than Wang Fugui's team.

This made Wang Fugui burst into swear words, "Fuck, what's wrong with me? Why are Dazhuzi's soldiers so arrogant?"

It was no wonder that he was surprised. The foreigner was chasing his group closely, rushing out of the woods and arriving at the bank of the creek. The distance between them was only fifty or sixty yards.

He Zhuzi's team retreated to the left wing over a hundred meters away. Shooting obliquely from his direction, which must have been at least a hundred and thirty or forty meters away, they were actually more accurate than his team of musketeers.

Wang Fugui didn't know that the diagonal damage was more severe.

When the foreigners rushed out of the woods in a swarm, from an oblique angle, they were crowded together, piled up together. As long as you aim in that direction, you would most likely not miss.

The foreign soldiers who were charging fast had already reached the creek, while the foreign soldiers who were charging slowly slowed down their pace cautiously. At the order of the officer, they raised their muskets and opened fire to fight back.

"Clap clap clap..."

"Clap clap clap..."

After a burst of chaotic gunfire, there was another round of intensive volleys of gunfire. The foreigners rushing in the stream slowed down their pace and became sitting ducks.

The distance was shortened to more than 30 meters, and this round of volleys directly knocked down 5 foreigners. They fell screaming in the shallow stream, immediately dyeing the stream red.

"Stop moving forward! Raise your guns and shoot." Lieutenant Olmo Perez, who rushed to the shore, hurriedly gave orders, raised the command knife in his hand, and swung it down fiercely.

These foreign soldiers had loaded bullets in advance, so the hasty shooting just now did not have much effect.

But this time it was different. Forty or fifty foreign soldiers raised their guns in unison, aimed at the dense forest ahead and pulled the trigger.

“Pah pah pah pah…Pah pah pah pah pah…”

After the dense volleys of gunfire, deadly bullets swooped down like locusts, making the jungle rustle, followed by muffled groans and screams.

This round of volleys of gunfire knocked down seven or eight members of Wang Fugui's team. Five of the six sword and shield men fell, and two musketeers also fell.

Wang Fugui was shot in the waist, blood gushing out. He gritted his teeth and continued to reload, shouting, "Those who are still alive, reload and beat that son of a bitch!"

As he spoke, he struggled to raise his rifle, aimed at the crowded area ahead and pulled the trigger.

"Bang..." A crisp gunshot rang out.

In the opposite group of foreigners, a white soldier was shot in the head and fell to the ground.

This made Wang Fugui grin. Damn it... I was aiming at the chest.

He felt dizzy and couldn't hold the gun, so he happened to be hit in the head.

At this moment, two rounds of intensive volleys of "bang bang bang" and "bang bang bang" came from the left and right wings respectively, immediately knocking down more than ten exposed foreign soldiers on the river beach like cutting wheat.

This startled Lieutenant Olmo Perez, fearing an ambush, and he hurriedly ordered, "Retreat, quickly... retreat to the woods! These Orientals are well prepared."

The foreign soldiers didn't want to stand by the empty stream and wait for death, so they retreated immediately after hearing the news. They left behind more than a dozen dead and wounded lying on the riverbank, screaming incessantly.

Colonel Fabian arrived breathlessly, just in time to see the white soldiers retreating. He immediately became furious and shouted, "What the hell! Can anyone tell me what happened?"

"Sir, the Easterners have set up a sniper line on the other side of the creek. There are ambushes in front of us, on our left and right, which has caused heavy losses to our troops."

"How can this be?"

"Sir, look for yourself, we have 17, no... 18 casualties, all exposed on the exposed river beach. The situation is extremely dangerous." "Oh my God, it's damn it!" Colonel Fabian also saw the tragic scene on the river beach. The soldiers' blood dyed the shallow stream red, and several soldiers were rolling and screaming.

His face twitched violently for a few times, and then he decided to say, "Mr. Lieutenant, I need you to take 30 men to the left and overwhelm the enemy with deadly volleys of gunfire, so that they will know the invincibility of Spanish warriors."

"As you command, sir."

"And you, Second Lieutenant Zubimendi, lead your men to the right and use dense volleys of gunfire to suppress the arrogance of these Orientals and inflict heavy damage on them."

"As you command, sir."

"Lieutenant Merino, come here." Colonel Fabian saw Lieutenant Merino who came panting and pointed at the woods and ordered.

"The Orientals are hiding in the woods ahead. I want your Cavite Company to organize a dense volley of fire and teach them a lesson. Can you do it?"

"No problem, sir, at your service."

A moment of silence
Suddenly, there was a dense volley of gunfire in the woods. The deadly bullets were like locusts, causing the opposite woods to tremble, branches to break and leaves to fly. The soldiers hiding inside were in danger.

In the era of line-up executions, the army did not have the tactics of lying down or hiding. Everyone stood up straight and faced the enemy. The same was true for this makeshift sniper line.

In the volley fire between the two sides, the side with fewer people must have suffered a great loss, because the volleys were not as dense and deadly as the other side.

After just a few rounds of shooting

The return fire from the woods weakened, with only a few sporadic gunshots.

"Okay, okay, stop shooting." Colonel Fabian raised his hand to stop the volley of gunfire.

He listened carefully and heard faint screams coming from the jungle opposite, which made a cruel smile appear on his face.

It is clear

Although our side paid the price of seven or eight casualties, the enemy's sniper line had been destroyed and they could not cause much harm.

To show his discretion, Colonel Fabian turned and asked, "Lieutenant Merino, do you think we have successfully destroyed the resistance of the Orientals?"

"Yes, sir, I can confirm that."

"Excellent! Your battlefield judgment has improved. Keep it up, Lieutenant." Colonel Fabian smiled smugly and ordered, "Mr. Lieutenant, lead your company through this damn creek quickly. We can't waste too much time here and let those Orientals react."

"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Merino waved his hand back without hesitation and ordered, "Forward, soldiers! We need to attack resolutely, destroy the enemy's sniper line, bring back our wounded guys, and set off!"

Give an order

Of the 72 soldiers in his company, 9 had been killed or wounded. The remaining soldiers advanced slowly with their muskets in hand, observing their surroundings vigilantly.

However, nothing happened.

When these soldiers waded across the stream and rushed into the jungle opposite with shouts, there was no fierce hand-to-hand combat or shouts of killing.

This brought a smile to Colonel Fabian's face, and the Frankie soldiers on his left and right followed him out of the jungle, crossing the stream with guns in hand.

"Go ahead, men! Let's get the victory we deserve. When you appear in front of the Orientals, I guarantee they will be scared to death." Colonel Fabian is a typical Spaniard, brave and fearless, and his enthusiasm will burn his brain when it surges.

Colonel Fabian led a main force of nearly 150 people out of the jungle, waded across the stream with muskets, and walked towards the opposite bank.

Suddenly, he heard a loud noise in the jungle, followed by a deafening volley of fierce gunfire. After only a pause of three or four seconds, another round of volleys of gunfire rang out. It was so dense that he couldn't tell how many there were.

This frightened Colonel Fabian so much that his face turned pale instantly, and there was a look of seeing a ghost in his eyes.

This is obviously not a volley of gunfire from our side.

The three waves of Frankie's army that entered the jungle had a total number of just over a hundred people.

The volleys of gunfire were so dense that it was impossible to tell the order, like dozens of firecrackers exploding at the same time. There were at least 200 people firing in one round, so two rounds meant more than 400 people.

Colonel Fabian raised his hand and shouted, "Stop moving forward and be on guard!"

At this moment

A dozen Spanish soldiers fled in panic from the woods, including Lieutenant Merino, whose body and face were splattered with blood, and who ran wildly and shouted loudly;

"Get out of here, sir! A large group of Orientals is coming soon. If we don't leave now, we'll all be doomed."

Lieutenant Merino jumped down from the riverbank in a flash, rushed forward a few steps with great agility, slowed down his body, stepped into the stream, and then ran wildly in the stream.

Wow! You bastard, you actually ran away so fast?
"Retreat...everyone retreat! Damn it, retreat quickly!" Colonel Fabian was so scared that he shouted orders repeatedly, then turned around and ran away.

The main force of the Spanish, which had just crossed the stream, immediately turned around, stepped into the stream again, and began to flee at a much faster speed than when they came.

Just as these Spanish soldiers fled into the jungle, a large number of Chu troops appeared on the other side of the river. There were at least three or four hundred of them, almost covering the hundreds of meters long river bank.

Rushing here, the officer raised his command knife and ordered, "Stop, everyone, aim your guns! Fire!"

"Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa……"

The panting Chinese soldiers raised their guns, aimed at the jungle ahead and pulled the trigger.

The dense volleys caused branches and leaves to fly everywhere, and muffled groans and screams were heard in the jungle. It was obvious that there were heavy casualties.

"Round two, aim! Fire."

"Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa……"

After another round of dense volleys of gunfire, the commander raised his sword and gave the order: "Stop shooting! Fall back 50 meters and establish a defensive line."

"The vanguard team attacks! Search for remaining enemies."

"As you command, sir."

As the saying goes, don't chase an enemy in the woods, and don't chase a desperate enemy.

Although the commanders of the Great Chu Army did not show outstanding abilities, they still abided by such taboos and would never advance rashly.

Don’t seek merit, but seek no faults.

About an incense stick of time
The search scouts came back to report that they had found 26 bodies in the jungle opposite. The white army had retreated and no one was seen.

Including the 18 bodies on the riverbank and the 63 bodies killed by the brigade during the counterattack, it has been confirmed that a total of 117 Frankies were killed.

If the enemy intelligence was correct, then the remaining troops were about 250 people, and nearly 1/3 were wiped out.

Our side suffered more than 50 casualties, which was considered a considerable victory.

But now that a large group of troops are landing, we should not underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. The situation ahead is unclear, so we must focus on maintaining a stable defense.

Only after the large group of troops have successfully landed and the artillery has caught up can we continue to advance.

Building a strong fortress and fighting a stupid battle has become an implicit consensus.

(End of this chapter)