Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 307 Artillery Fire Suppression
"Thank you for your compliment, sir. I feel the real test has not yet begun. The Red Indians are not limited to these two skills." Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu said humbly.

Major General Huang Shan nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, Your Majesty has often taught us that the British Empire is the world's leading power, dominating the seven seas. We are merely facing a colonial army, not a true native legion."

Before they finished speaking, the rumbling sound of artillery sounded again, and a new round of artillery battle began...

More than a dozen shells hit the solid bunker hard, causing a buzzing sound. The dust in the bunker fell down and the air was filled with smoke for a while.

These bombarding shells could not cause much damage to the solid cement concrete bunkers.

It was just a matter of breaking rocks as big as a washbasin or breaking stones as big as a fist, leaving marks of war on the bunker, that's all.

The 12-pound Napoleon field guns equipped by the British and French forces were capable of destroying earth walls through repeated attacks, but could not cause substantial damage to the solid bunkers.

"These bastards are bullying me because I don't have enough cannons. I'm going to teach them a lesson later." Major General Huangshan spat out saliva mixed with dust and cursed fiercely.

Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu said comfortingly;

"Sir, our Chu State's wealth cannot yet be compared with the Anglo-French coalition forces. We are fortunate to have such powerful guns and cannons."

"Yes, these wealthy people are really rich!" Major General Huangshan looked out from the highest point of the 5th floor through the observation port.

The artillery positions of the British and French forces were filled with smoke and dust, and the orange-red flames produced by the shelling flickered. They were pouring out firepower madly, launching a new round of destruction on the earthen city at all costs.

The earthen city was covered in smoke and dust, and the scarecrows torn into pieces by the artillery fire flew into the sky along with the mud they were wrapped in, like broken limbs.

From a distance, doesn't it look like irrefutable evidence of the mass killing of Chu soldiers?
Behind the earthen wall, Chinese laborers were using British Indian Army uniforms stripped from corpses, putting them on tightly bundled straw, and finally stringing them together with a wooden stick.

There were hundreds of scarecrows ready, all piled up in the rear, ready to be sent to the earthen city when there was a break in the bombardment.

The last thing to do is to cover the scarecrow's head with the tattered iron hat.

Seeing the British and French forces bombarding with artillery as if they were free, even though today was the fourth day of the battle and it was still endless, Major General Huangshan was secretly shocked.

Cannonballs cost money, and gunpowder also costs money. After a cannon fires a few hundred shells, the barrel will basically be useless.

Especially the 10-pound Parrot rifled cannon equipped by the Chu army. This type of cannon is indeed accurate and has a long range, but it is not very durable.

After firing more than 200 shells, the rifling was almost worn out and the accuracy of the artillery dropped sharply.

During these few days of high-intensity fighting, more than half of the 48 artillery pieces on the front line of the Malayan Expeditionary Force were lost in the artillery battle, and the remaining ones were basically stretched to the limit.

Major General Huangshan still had a reserve of more than a hundred artillery pieces, but he was reluctant to use them.

Where has the battle ended now?

If you spend all your money just in the warm-up stage, how will you be able to live in the future?
He is the commander-in-chief of an army, and the lives and property of tens of thousands of people depend on him. The pressure he shoulders is enormous, and it is far from as easy as it seems on the surface.

"Sir, look... the Red Devils have changed their troops. This means we're raising the stakes." Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu, who was observing with a telescope in his hand, suddenly shouted and pointed at the enemy position.

"Oh, let me see." Major General Huang Shan raised the telescope with a serious expression and observed carefully in the direction of the enemy position.

It's really good
Behind a group of British and Indian regiments that had already formed up, some Asian-looking regiments were forming up, and many soldiers had drawn out their strange-looking scimitars and were wiping them.

The uniforms of the soldiers of the British Indian Corps are different and distinctive, and can be distinguished at a glance from a distance.

This caught the attention of Major General Huang Shan, who asked, "What kind of knife is that? What unit is this?"

"Sir, these are probably the Gurkhas in the British Army. They're the Nepalese from the other side of the Tibetan mountains. They're a mountain people, fierce and aggressive. That big curved sword is a local specialty, and it's said it can chop off a bull's head."

"Damn it! These red-haired foreigners have so many goodies in their pockets. You can find all kinds of people here."

"Yes, sir. The ones with red turbans are Sikhs. The ones with black turbans are Punjabis, and those over there are Uttar Pradesh soldiers. You can tell them apart by their clothes and turbans."

"All these fancy things are barbaric." Major General Huang Shan snorted with disdain and then issued an order: "Mobilize the Second and Sixth Regiments and have them prepare for battle in case of any emergency."

"As you command, sir."

The officers under his command went to carry out the order. Major General Huangshan saw through the telescope that the French white troops on the other side of the river began to gather and prepare to cross the bridge to participate in the battle in the front. His expression became extremely solemn.

He thought for a moment and then ordered, "Pull up the reserve artillery team, aim the muzzles at the breach in the earthen city, and get ready for battle. Once the order to bombard is given, bombard them..."

"As you command, sir."

half an hour later

The artillery bombardment of the British and French forces came to an abrupt halt, and the British Indian Infantry Regiment, numbering about 730 people, rushed up again, shouting and yelling, and plunged into the thick gray-yellow smoke.

The neat and rhythmic sound of volleys of gunfire rang out again. The Chu soldiers standing more than 80 meters away, relying on the 1-meter-high earth wall, fired neat volleys of gunfire at the gap in the earth city.

"Clap clap clap clap..."

"Clap clap clap clap..."

"Clap clap clap clap..."

Screams mixed with the sound of falling bodies rang out. The British and Indian infantry regiments that had attacked this time, despite heavy casualties, under the command of their white officers, persisted in firing back volleys. In the poor visibility, the volleys were uneven and the accuracy was appalling.

Many British and French soldiers who had just rushed out of the smoke and fog were hit head-on by the deadly rain of bullets, and fell to the ground screaming in the midst of blood.

The brief standoff lasted only a few minutes, and the Baotou Indians, unable to bear the fear of death, retreated again in terror.

Under the commander's command, the Chu soldiers behind the earthen city continued to fire more than ten rounds of volleys at the dusty gap.

Only then did they collect their guns and organize their troops, and under the command of their superiors, they withdrew from the battlefield and went to a place two or three hundred meters behind to rest and wait, replenish their ammunition, drink some water, eat something, and prepare for the next round of battle.

Dozens of soldiers immediately hugged the scarecrow and rushed into the dusty fog. They hastily placed the scarecrow on the dilapidated earthen city and then quickly retreated.

Other Chinese workers were quickly clearing the battlefield, following procedures and moving in an orderly manner...

at this time

The British and French artillery suddenly opened fire again, bombarding dense shells.

The Chinese labor team leader was horrified when he saw this and shouted for everyone to evacuate immediately! But it was too late.

Dozens of artillery shells flew over the earthen city and hit the rear of the city, instantly smashing some corpses into pieces, like exploding tomatoes, with blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

Those Chinese laborers who did not have time to evacuate were immediately torn to pieces by the shells and became part of the wreckage scattered all over the ground.

This sudden artillery attack immediately caused casualties among twenty or thirty Chinese laborers, while the others hurriedly dodged and managed to escape with their lives.

Major General Huangshan stood on the top of the bunker and had a panoramic view of the entire situation.

He sighed helplessly and didn't want to say anything.

This is the cruel battlefield. Flying shells or bullets can take your life at any time. It is an unavoidable loss.

The British artillery bombardment extended over a hundred meters, causing most of the low wall where the Chu soldiers were hiding to collapse, leaving a dilapidated ruin everywhere.

If the soldiers had not evacuated, heavy losses would have already occurred.

The British are not fools. They will also adjust according to the situation of the station manager instead of repeating useless attacks.

Major General Huangshan looked at the troops in the distance who looked very much like Han Chinese and were gathering. Behind them were thousands of white troops, and two of them were deployed at a time. His brows furrowed even deeper.

He turned to look at Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu and asked, "How about... do you want to adjust the deployment?"

"Thank you, sir. It's not needed for now." Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu shook his head and pointed to the earthen city below.

"I guess the foreigners want to break through the earthen city in one fell swoop this time. They may suddenly extend forward another hundred meters at the end of the bombardment, hoping to cause heavy casualties to our blocking troops.

This time

My soldiers lined up 200 meters away from the earthen city, concentrated their volleys of gunfire on the gap, and resolutely blocked the enemy's offensive momentum.

The ghosts may launch multiple waves of attacks. I request that the artillery, if necessary, concentrate their fire on this area to cut off the enemy's reinforcements."

The location where Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu pointed was within a range of more than 100 meters on and outside the earthen city. This was a blind spot for the bunker artillery, but it was a very comfortable shelling area for the reserve artillery.

Major General Huangshan agreed with his judgment and ordered the garrison in another direction to respond according to this strategy.

As for the effect... we'll know in a moment. A new round of battle of wits and courage between officers from both sides has begun.

The artillery bombardment by the British and French forces usually lasted about half an hour and was very accurate, stopping abruptly when the time was up.

In almost half an hour

The officers and soldiers of the 10th Regiment who were on standby in the rear stood up one after another at the commander's command, ready to enter the blocking position.

at this time

Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu stood at the opening of the 5th floor of the bunker, waved the flag in his hand, and made a downward gesture, meaning "officers wait a moment."

After a few minutes
The artillery fire of the British and French forces suddenly became fierce again and extended forward more than a hundred meters, covering the entire range where the Chu soldiers were originally fighting, and pouring out firepower madly.

This is rapid artillery fire, which means firing as many shells as possible in the shortest time to cover and kill the enemy.

Unfortunately, the bombardment was aimed at an empty area, so it was a lonely attack.

While the rumbling of artillery fire had not yet stopped, the Gurkha Infantry Regiment in the rear had already marched in neat formation, and pressed forward like a dark cloud to the accompaniment of the sound of Scottish bagpipes.

After the Gurkhab Corps advanced more than a hundred meters, a team of more than a thousand French Foreign Legion troops from the rear also pressed forward in a strict formation.

The enemy's attack came in waves, one higher than the other, and with the advantage of artillery fire, it posed a severe test to the defending Chu army.

A war filled with iron and blood tests the limits of human endurance.

(End of this chapter)