Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 280: Bloody Battle in Singapore
Around 11 a.m.
The rumbling sound of gunfire continued, and the battle had lasted for more than three hours. Faint shouts of killing could be heard in the city, and the strong smell of blood drifted in the wind.

The latest military intelligence information was constantly transmitted back to the headquarters from the front. In the urban area of ​​Singapore, the streets occupied by the enemy and our side were intertwined, and the battle was still ongoing.

Until now

The Singapore Expeditionary Force had deployed more than 8600 troops in the urban area, scattered across more than a dozen streets in the city, fighting fiercely with the enemy opposite.

The British army did not show weakness. About 1500 British soldiers returned from the mountain fortress one after another. There were also slightly more white armed civilians, plus some young and strong Chinese forces, who were entrenched in the city and resisted fiercely.

Both sides suffered casualties. In some streets, the Chu army had the upper hand, while in other streets, the British side dragged in several artillery pieces and bombarded the attacking Chu army fiercely, having a lot of fun fighting.

The Chu State had deployed four field artillery squadrons, totaling 4 48-pound Parrot rifled guns. In the exchange of artillery fire, seven guns were lost, leaving 10 guns.

The British were not pushovers either. They dragged more artillery pieces from the military camp, with different calibers. They often mounted them on high places and fired downwards, sending bricks and stones flying everywhere, and they were invincible.

The first to make progress was in the eastern fortress area. The officers and soldiers of the 4th Regiment who took part in the surprise attack caught the British defenders by surprise and successively occupied the four eastern forts. Fierce fighting was underway for two of the forts, and the sound of gunfire resounded through the mountains.

The officers and soldiers of the Fourth Regiment attacked fiercely from the rear, making it very difficult for the British defenders of the fortress to defend. This was also the reason why the four fortresses were lost one after another.

The Eastern Fortress District is a fortress complex consisting of a total of six fortresses, located on the high ground of the eastern coastal hills, forming a winding semi-arc.

The fortress's main and secondary guns face the bay and are composed of several layers of fire lines at different heights, which can cause devastating damage to the invading enemy fleet.

Unfortunately, these fortresses did not take into account the direction of the protected urban area in the rear, and the attacking officers and soldiers of the Fourth Regiment were already in the process of attacking without any intention, and they broke through and captured four hill fortresses with lower altitudes in one fell swoop.

But the good luck ends there. The highest main fort in the east and a fort on a hill to the left form a group of mother-and-child fortresses, which is quite tricky to deal with.

The British army dragged out the small-caliber coastal artillery stored in the fortress, set it up on a high ground behind the fortress, and bombarded the attacking Chu army.

Since the Chu army was attacking from above, they had to pass through the winding road behind the fortress to reach the bottom of the fortress and attack it.

These winding upward roads were exposed to the British army's downward volley fire.

Many attacking soldiers fell on the road. As far as the eye could see, there were more than a hundred corpses, and the road was stained with blood.

After the British army reacted, they had already transferred their main defensive forces to the back of the fortress and organized the defenders to use volleys to fire in turns to prevent the attacking Chu army from approaching along the winding road.

The small-caliber 10-pound Parrot rifled field gun equipped by the attacking troops could only tickle the sturdy fortress, and had no decent destructive power, let alone kill a large number of enemy troops.

Therefore, the battle to attack the eastern fortress area came to a halt, and follow-up troops were being mobilized to prepare to climb up from the mountainous areas on both sides and launch a three-sided siege on the British fortress.

This is what an offensive battle is like, and you have to endure certain casualties.

In the command center
Commands were heard one after another, and officers coming and going reported the latest military situation and quickly rushed to the front line with military orders to adjust the attack deployment.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu folded his arms, one hand holding his chin as he looked at the map. He suddenly raised his head and commanded in a firm tone:

"He Aiqing, come here."

"Your Majesty, I am here."

"There are two field artillery squadrons in the reserve. I will assign both of them to you. I will also transfer a newly formed infantry regiment of 3,000 men as the core assault force, which you will command personally..."

King Zheng Guohui of Chu said this, pointing to the direction of the central city on the map, thrusting forward with one hand resolutely, and commanded;

"You will personally lead this fresh force, under the cover of the rotating firepower of the two field artillery squadrons. Regardless of the cost in casualties, you will charge forward and completely crush the resistance in the city center.

We must fight hard and fast, launch successive fierce attacks at all costs, and not give the enemy any chance to breathe.

Must be within two hours
Break through the British barricade defenses in the central city, don't worry about clearing out the remaining enemies on both sides of the streets, don't waste time, and rush all the way to the dock area.

As long as we penetrate the central urban area and split the enemy's stubborn resistance into two, making it difficult for them to coordinate with each other, and unable to mobilize personnel, supplies and ammunition, it will be much easier to encircle and suppress the rest of the enemies.

Don't worry about casualties, just fight with all your might."

"As you command, Your Majesty. I will personally lead this fresh force and charge fiercely. We must reach the docks and penetrate the central city within two hours."

"Yes, that's what it means."

"I will obey the Majesty's order and complete the task resolutely." Major General He Ruolin raised his hand and saluted, then immediately turned around and left to convey the Majesty's order.

The order was quickly passed down, and a newly formed infantry regiment that was resting nearby was ready to go. It quickly formed a formation and set out under the order of the commander to reinforce the fierce fighting in the urban area.

Expeditionary Force Headquarters

King Zheng Guohui of Chu held a lit cigar in his hand. He took a deep puff and swallowed it into his stomach. After slowly exhaling, he lowered his eyes and looked at the map again.

As the British resistance grew stronger, King Zheng Guohui of Chu realized that this tough nut to crack was not easy to chew.

The British army had no shortage of musket equipment, artillery, officers, or combatants. The longer the time dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for the attacking Chu army.

At the barricades defended by the British

Many Chinese people with pigtails have appeared. These are either bribed or working as lackeys of foreigners. There are quite a few local Chinese. Although they are not skilled in shooting with a foreign gun each, they greatly make up for the shortage of British troops.

In time, it could cause big trouble.

These overseas Chinese who have been under British rule for a long time have a high degree of recognition of British white people and are willing to risk their lives for them. This must be taken seriously.

It was precisely because of this realization that King Zheng Guohui of Chu decisively deployed the reserve troops and allocated a fresh force of 3,000 people to catch the enemy off guard.

As a result, the reserve force under King Zheng Guohui of Chu was reduced to just over 5000 people.

After sending more than a thousand reinforcements to the Fourth Regiment attacking the eastern fortress area, only more than 4000 people were left.

It cannot be easily deployed without important military operations.

This was Zheng Guohui's first time fighting against a strong army of the same level. The British army's quick response, weapons and equipment, and all aspects of military quality were much better than those of the Spanish.

After being caught off guard by the initial shock, they quickly organized an effective defense and counterattack instead of collapsing.

In many streets
After a fierce battle, the attacking Chu soldiers conquered the sturdy building defended by the British, only to find that there were only a dozen people inside, including men, women, and even white teenagers aged eleven or twelve, and almost all of them were dead.

The British or French were extremely determined to resist and would not surrender easily. It was this resistance that greatly delayed the Chu army's attack and bought precious time for the subsequent organized counterattack of the British army.

Not long after
Fierce artillery fire rang out continuously from the direction of the city, the sound of attacking soldiers charging and killing continued, and the dense sound of gunfire suddenly increased to a higher level.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu knew

This was when He Ruolin led 3,000 fresh troops to implement the central breakthrough tactic, using fierce artillery fire to clear the way and attacking fiercely regardless of casualties.

Ten minutes later, good news came.

The central reinforcements led by Major General He Ruolin launched a fierce attack. They divided their troops into three groups, used artillery fire to clear the way, and launched a fierce attack on three blocks at the same time, charging and fighting without regard for casualties.

They mainly attacked with company-level forces of more than a hundred people. Their fierce attacks were continuous and unrelenting like a tide, completely overwhelming the British defense on the front.

The attacking Chu army companies often fired a round of volleys from a distance, then inserted bayonets and began to charge.

The attacking soldiers launched a desperate charge in the face of artillery fire and dense gunfire. After being knocked to the ground one after another, the second company in the rear immediately took over the charge and continued to launch fierce hand-to-hand attacks.

In the era of muzzle-loading muskets, the speed of loading and firing could not keep up with the soldiers attacking like a tide. Countless Chu soldiers captured the barricades and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the defenders.

The Chu soldiers who rushed up from behind in wave after wave completely overwhelmed the white defenders in the block.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the British army commanders retreated urgently and had no time to regroup in the next block and organize an effective defense.

Immediately afterwards, the Chu attacking soldiers rushed over. After firing a round of volleys, they emptied their bullets, loaded their bayonets, and launched a fierce bayonet charge.

Forced to do so, the British soldiers who retreated here had nowhere to retreat and could only bite the bullet and fight with the Chu soldiers. You stab me, I chop you.

Soon, both of them fell to the ground covered in blood, drowned in the enemy's overwhelming attack.

Those armed white residents who volunteered to join the war and the temporarily recruited Chinese expatriates could load and fire in an orderly manner from a long distance, causing casualties to the attacking Chu soldiers.

But once a bayonet charge was launched, under tremendous pressure and fear of death, many of these white armed soldiers and civilians and Chinese expatriates who had not received much training had their movements deformed, their fingers trembling so much that they could not load the bullets.

Or he would just raise his hand and spill the gunpowder.

They either forgot this or that, repeated loading of gunpowder caused the barrel to explode, and various mistakes such as loading gunpowder and forgetting to load bullets occurred one after another, greatly reducing the threat to the Chu army.

When faced with the Chu army soldiers charging with bayonets, most of them subconsciously turned around and ran, but were often stabbed from behind by the soldiers who caught up with them, and their deaths were meaningless.

This is the difference between well-trained soldiers and armed civilians. The former can often burst out with greater combat effectiveness in a crisis, while the latter simply collapse.

Just less than an hour and a half
Major General He Ruolin led the new force in the center and broke through five blocks in succession, all the way to the dock, completely penetrating the entire city of Singapore and dividing it into two from the center.

Upon receiving this good news, King Zheng Guohui of Chu was overjoyed. He deployed another 2,000 of the remaining 4,000 reserve troops to launch a comprehensive encirclement and suppression of Dongcheng District.

As a result, the remaining British troops in Dongcheng District could no longer bear it.

Originally, they were only facing the enemy head-on. The remaining British troops entrenched in the East City District and the white soldiers who were reinforced from the fortress were able to hold on after the fierce battle.

Until noon

There were less than 2,000 British troops left in the West and East city areas. In just one morning, they suffered 1,300 to 1,400 casualties, more than half of whom were killed in action.

There were less than 770 British troops left, of which only 510 were genuine British troops. The others were white policemen and Indians, white armed civilians and more than local Chinese expatriates, who were also mobilized to participate in the battle.

The British troops in Dongcheng District fought back and forth with the 4,000 Chu troops, which were twice their number. They occupied sturdy buildings and fought fiercely in the seven or eight main streets of Dongcheng District, with the sound of gunfire and cannonballs ringing in the ears.

But at noon, the situation suddenly changed. Major General He Ruolin led the new force in the center, defeated the enemy in front of them, and fought all the way to the bay dock, and began to outflank the enemy in the east city from behind.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu sent in another 2,000 reinforcements and launched an attack from the flank.

The British troops in Dongcheng District went from defending the enemy in front of them to being besieged on all sides in a blink of an eye, and the defense line that they had finally managed to stabilize was full of loopholes.

Bullets whizzed past from all directions, and those who were shot fell to the ground screaming and died. Until the moment of death, they didn't know which direction the bullets came from.

There was a chaotic fight in Dongcheng District. Many Chu soldiers rushed to the British positions, raised their shining bayonets and started stabbing and killing. The position was in chaos.

The Chinese civilians who helped the British army died first, and then the armed white civilians died.

Around 3 p.m.

The gratifying news of victory came that the stubborn British troops in Dongcheng District had been wiped out, with a total of 3629 enemies killed, no casualties, and no prisoners.

As to whether there was any killing of prisoners here, it is impossible to verify under the current chaotic situation.

At this point, the Chu army soldiers who had entered Singapore had occupied three-quarters of the city.

For the rest, you need to take a break and slowly remove them one by one.

why is it like this?
Because the British troops retreating to the West City District were mostly entrenched in churches, schools and white residential areas, the defense was very tight and a frontal attack was very difficult.

For example, Chinatown, the Jamek Church, the Mariamman Temple, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, the Thian Hock Keng Temple and some Protestant churches are all places with sturdy buildings. The British dragged out a few horse-drawn carriages to block the streets, and then reinforced them with some broken bricks and stones, and arranged gunners in the high-rise buildings on both sides, forming a very difficult circular defense line.

When the sound of gunfire in Dongcheng District gradually died down, news came that the attack on the main fort of Dongcheng had failed. The attacking Chu army lost 327 people and never reached the edge of the main fort of Dongcheng.

In the East City Fortress battlefield alone, the total number of casualties exceeded 500.

The attack lasted from early morning until around 4 p.m.

The Singapore Expeditionary Force lost more than 3270 troops, including 1441 killed and 1829 wounded, a reduction of nearly one-fifth.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the th Regiment's fierce attack was forced to stop, and it began to lick its wounds and replenish its personnel.

The fierce urban bloody battle came to an end. Both the enemy and our side were reorganizing their troops, rescuing the wounded, cleaning up the battlefield and further stabilizing the situation.

Gather strength and prepare for the final bloody battle.

(End of this chapter)