Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 308 Groundhog Nature

Sure enough.

Major General Huang Shan and Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu exchanged knowing glances. Seeing that the British and French allied forces' bombardment continued, both of them had a look of nervousness on their faces.

At this time, the attacking Gurkhab Corps had advanced to within 200 meters of the earthen city. Artillery shells were whistling overhead and slamming heavily into the Chu army positions not far away, stirring up large clouds of smoke and dust.

The Gurkha Infantry Regiment continued to advance forward with firm steps, accompanied by the music of Scottish bagpipes.

Wow, can artillery be used like this?

Or... can the infantry of the European powers advance under artillery fire?

It’s really powerful!
Major General Huangshan's eyes lit up, feeling that he had learned a new trick.

Major General Huang Shan stared at the attacking steps of the Gurkha infantry team, and finally he saw some clues.

These Gurkha infantrymen were not without fear. The roaring artillery fire above their heads slowed down the column's advance a lot, and it seemed that they were also tormented inside.

The rigorous training they have received allows these Gurkha infantrymen to continue to maintain strict formations.

It is this kind of powerful pressure that makes any enemy feel terrified and their momentum weakened by three points.

Unfortunately, the Chu army had only a few soldiers on top of the earthen city wall, so this attack was like flirting with a blind man.

The shelling continued for another two minutes, and when the Gurkha infantry approached to about 2 meters from the earthen city, it stopped abruptly.

And at this moment

The white commander of the Gurkha Infantry Regiment drew his sharp saber, pointed it forward, and gave the order to "charge."

Unlike those shouting Indian Gurkha soldiers, these Gurkha infantrymen charged forward with rifles in both hands and fierce looks in their eyes, without shouting or yelling.

As expected, they are much more elite than the Indians. In terms of their ferocity, they are very similar to the Taiping rebels who were once suppressed by Major General Huangshan, and the same is true for the mountain people in Guangxi.

He was silent in battle, but extremely fierce and good at fighting.

Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu heard the shelling stop and rushed to the opening of the bunker at the back, waving the flag at a rapid speed.

In fact, he didn't need to give any command. The Chu soldiers below were already running forward under the leadership of the grassroots company commanders and entering the new line infantry positions.

This place is 200 meters away from the earthen city and 120 meters away from the low wall. It is an open and unobstructed grassland.

The soldiers quickly took their positions, and then under a series of urgent orders from the commander, they raised their guns, aimed, fired in volleys, and then the rifles passed through the back row.

Raise the gun again, aim, and fire, repeating this process over and over again.

"Clap clap clap clap..."

"Clap clap clap clap..."

"Clap clap clap clap..."

In the thick dust and fog, the attacking Gurkha infantry regiment was vaguely visible, a series of groans and sounds of falling were heard, and the white officer gave the order to fire a volley.

Then a volley of gunfire was fired from the smoke and dust. Although it was a bit messy, it was much better than the Indians.

The Gurkha infantry regiment had thousands of soldiers, and their volleys of gunfire in the hasty counterattack had a certain suppressive effect on the Chu soldiers, also causing many casualties.

Line infantry platoons exchanged fire

The Chu soldiers were hit and fell one after another in the whistling volley of bullets, blood spurted out, and soon the formation became untidy.

The Chu soldiers in the rear silently took a step forward, filling the front row, then took up their guns, raised them, aimed, and fired...

The two sides engaged in a very bloody gunfire exchange at a distance of less than 200 meters.

The Gurkha infantrymen who surged up from the rear stepped on the corpses of their compatriots, rushed forward madly, and then broke out of the large cloud of smoke and dust and spread out to both wings.

But often in the process of unfolding, they were covered by round after round of deadly bullets, falling down like wheat being cut, and the ground was covered with corpses.

These stubborn mountain men still endured the huge casualties. While fighting back with rifles, they rushed out of the smoke-filled gap in the earthen city and surged to both wings like a tide.

Rushed out and was knocked over.

If they rush out again, they will be harvested by the deadly rain of bullets...

After just a few minutes of bloody fighting, the corpses of these Gurkha infantrymen filled the three or four hundred meter wide gap in the earthen city. In some places, there were two or three layers of corpses stacked on top of each other. The scene was extremely bloody.

Seeing the enemy's fierce attack, Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu changed to a small red flag this time and waved it vigorously behind him.

The reserve forces of the newly formed 10th Royal Regiment, totaling about 1400 people, immediately ran forward and quickly rushed to the volley firing positions to provide fire reinforcement.

In an instant

The intensity of the battlefield increased to a new level. The originally rhythmic volleys of gunfire were quickly replaced by the dense and indistinguishable sound of popping beans.

The company commanders of the 10th Regiment commanded their soldiers to fire round after round of volleys at the fastest speed, covering a large area of ​​the gap in the earthen city and carrying out a rain of bullets to cover the enemy.

The Gurkha Infantry Regiment suffered heavy losses in this volley of gunfire.

Firstly, the visibility was poor, and secondly, after the attack rushed up the slope of the earthen city, the infantry columns were all dispersed.

When a volley of gunfire was fired at the commander's command, only some soldiers around the commander raised their guns and fired. The other soldiers could not see or hear in the chaos, let alone execute the order.

The dense rain of bullets that came at them caused blood mist to bloom on the front-line soldiers. Large areas like wheat being harvested were cleared away, and the casualties were extremely heavy.

After holding out for seven or eight minutes and enduring more than a dozen rounds of volleys of fire, this Gurkha infantry regiment of more than a thousand people was almost wiped out, with only less than a hundred people left.

Their huge casualties won the follow-up troops a rare opportunity to attack.

Comparison
The newly formed 1th Regiment of the Chu State suffered only a few hundred casualties, and achieved a huge disparity of almost 9:.

It must be admitted that this brilliant achievement was achieved under special battlefield conditions, when all circumstances were favorable to the newly formed 10th Regiment.

At this moment

The white troops of the French Foreign Legion have already attacked and are pouring into the earthen city like a tide.

After seven or eight minutes, the smoke and dust raised by the artillery fire gradually faded, and visibility improved a lot. At least the Chu soldiers lined up in neat rows 200 meters away could be seen.

The French soldiers who rushed to the gap in the earthen city, braving the deadly hail of bullets, raised their guns and fired back, and the next round of deadly fighting began.

Standing high on the bunker
Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu watched as another Gurkha infantry regiment gathered in the rear. This should be the fourth wave of attack force.

The third wave of French infantry regiments was already on the way to attack, with a number of about 700 people. This made him frown, and the pressure on his shoulders suddenly became much heavier.

The British and French forces launched a massive attack with their elite troops. The five consecutive waves of attacks numbered more than 10 soldiers, which put enormous pressure on the defending New th Regiment.

As the visibility improved, the white French soldiers who attacked the top of the earthen city wall immediately raised their guns and fired a volley. After the shooting, they quickly evacuated to both sides, dragging their guns.

While running, he took out the paper-wrapped fixed bullet from the ammunition clip at his waist, loaded it into the gun chamber while panting, then stopped, quickly raised the gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger to fire.

Their tactical movements are very skillful and they are as slippery as fish. They are much more difficult to deal with than those rigid and tough Gurkha mountain people.

The newly formed 10th Regiment, now with a strength of more than 2760 men, all surrounded the gap in the earthen city, launching volleys of fire from a distance of more than meters and carrying out a resolute attack on the enemy.

Bullets were flying and whistling on the battlefield.

The attacking French soldiers were hit by bullets one after another and fell to the ground one after another.

However, they were not completely at a disadvantage and were still able to fire round after round of volleys, causing damage to the Chu line infantry.

Many Chu soldiers were unfortunately hit in the exchange of fire and fell to the ground in large numbers, which caused many gaps in the originally neat formation.

Just over ten minutes
The newly formed 230th Regiment lost more than men, which doubled the damage it inflicted on the French mercenary soldiers. However, this was only the beginning of a fierce battle.

The third wave of white soldiers from the rear had already attacked, and they immediately launched a dense volley of gunfire. Many soldiers on both sides were shot and fell.

This round of exchange only

Each side suffered fifty or sixty casualties, and then the white French soldiers quickly deployed to both flanks, many forming line infantry formations and engaging in a firefight. The casualties of the newly formed 1th Regiment suddenly increased, from 9:1 to 2:. In the last two or three minutes, as the third wave of white soldiers attacked the earthen wall, the casualty ratio on both sides quickly narrowed.

And in the back
The fourth wave of attacking Gurkha infantry regiment of more than a thousand people has approached within more than 300 meters of the earthen city. They are about to become a new force and continue to put pressure on the Chu defense forces.

At this time, most of the smoke and dust had dissipated, and the only difference between the rifle fire between the two sides was that one side's formation was neat, while the other side's formation was uneven.

The infantry weapons of both sides were of the same standard and their training was not much different. These mercenaries had more combat experience, were more skilled, and had more accurate shooting skills.

This is also the main reason why the casualties of French Foreign Legion soldiers were almost 1:1 in the exchange of fire.

The white mercenaries in the rear rushed in like a tide, fired the bullets in their guns, and quickly spread out to both sides, fighting to the death despite the huge casualties.

Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu watched his soldiers fall down in large numbers in the unprecedentedly brutal exchange of gunfire. The number of soldiers quickly shrank from more than 2500 a few minutes ago to less than 2200, and his face twitched with pain.

If they waited for the more than a thousand Gurkha infantrymen in the rear to rush up, their own troops would suffer even greater casualties.

He couldn't bear to do it even if he had to exchange two or three Gurkha infantrymen for one.

Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Jiayu saluted and said, "Your Excellency, the 10th Regiment requests artillery fire support to cut off the Gurkha reinforcements and assist us in annihilating these two white armies."

"Hmph, I thought you could hold it in?" Major General Huang Shan said to him, then gestured to the officers in the bunker and said, "Order the artillery to open fire! Block the enemy reinforcements."

"As you command, sir."

When the Gurkha Infantry Regiment began to attack the gap in the earthen city, suddenly a burst of dense artillery fire rang out, and dozens of black shells fell on their heads, raising the smoke and dust that had just settled around the earthen city again.

The shells hit the dense attacking column, bouncing along and knocking down more than a dozen people, creating a bloody alley. The scene was unprecedentedly bloody and tragic.

Dozens of artillery shells rained down, and in just a few minutes, the Gurkha Infantry Regiment was beaten to pieces, and the soldiers had to hide.

No matter how big your heart is or how hard your head is, you dare not fight against the cannonballs!

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

Lieutenant General Connor, who was commanding the battle in the rear, saw that the Gurkha Infantry Regiment had been severely beaten by the Chu artillery and was scattered and had lost its offensive momentum, so he had no choice but to give the order to retreat.

He then ordered, "Artillery, fire rapidly at the city for ten minutes."

"Sir, please wait a moment, my French regiment is still fighting inside." Colonel Sami Smodish's expression changed drastically after hearing the order, and he hurriedly requested.

There are more than 700 people in his two infantry regiments. No matter how many troops are left, they cannot be killed by their own artillery fire!

Lieutenant General Connor looked over fiercely. Seeing the other party's insistence on not giving in, he had no choice but to retract the order. He gritted his teeth and said, "Stop executing the order. In five minutes, launch artillery fire, which will last for 5 minutes."

"Yes, sir." The officer under him quickly went to pass on the order.

Lieutenant General Connor knows
At this time, the artillery fire coverage attack will definitely injure friendly forces by mistake, but the damage to the enemy will inevitably be greater.

From a purely military perspective, the exchange was a good deal and a correct military order for the subsequent capture and seizure of the gap in the earthen city.

But from the perspective of the alliance, it greatly hurt the feelings of France's allies.

If there were Indian soldiers from the British Indian Corps in the gap in the earthen city, Lieutenant General Connor would not have hesitated at all, and no one's words would have mattered.

But facing the French, he could only regretfully change the order.

When the attacking British and French troops retreated in a panic, the officers and soldiers of the newly formed 10th Regiment guarding the gap in the earthen city still insisted on firing six rounds of volleys before quickly running away with the bodies of the Chu soldiers.

Left on the battlefield were more than 1,700 enemy corpses, stacked four or five layers high in some places. The dark red blood almost dyed the entire slope red. The situation on the battlefield was unprecedentedly tragic.

After this bloody battle
The newly formed 2117th Regiment was also reduced to 470 people, with more than seriously wounded soldiers and about deaths.

Due to the backward medical conditions, at least dozens of these seriously injured people will not see the sun tomorrow.

The newly formed 400th Regiment achieved brilliant results. Among the enemy soldiers they killed, more than a thousand belonged to the French Foreign Legion, and only more than white soldiers were able to escape.

Two Gurkha regiments of 1660 men were also annihilated, killing about enemies.

In addition, a total of more than 830 people from the British Indian Indian Infantry Regiment were annihilated, and a total of more than 3490 enemies were killed, with a casualty ratio of nearly 4:1.

After this severe blow, the British and French forces no longer had the rampant momentum they had at the beginning.

The rest of the time was spent in a frenzied artillery fire. The Chinese laborers only managed to snatch a few hundred rifles, and the remaining enemy bodies and weapons were blown to pieces by the shells, making it even more difficult to pick up the bodies.

The only benefit is

The more than a thousand French Foreign Legion soldiers who were killed were much richer. They had some francs, pounds, watches, gold jewelry, etc. on them. More than a hundred gold teeth were taken away, which really made them rich.

This motivated the Chinese laborers who were picking up the bodies. They collected the remains of bodies that had their intestines pierced and their stomachs torn apart by the shells, and collected eight or nine hundred pairs of leather boots.

It was dusk, and the day's battle came to an end.

At this time, the city became busy, with a constant stream of people carrying loads, pushing carts and driving horse-drawn carriages. The carts were all loaded with large thatched mud bricks, which were made by removing the mud and drying them.

Before long, the gap in the earthen city was filled with thatch and mud bricks.

After nightfall

Hundreds of laborers, armed with shovels and other tools, went up to the top of the city wall and began to work hard.

They dug up and transported away the loose soil shattered by the shells. The loose soil outside the earthen city was thrown into the deep trench nearby, and the loose soil inside the soil layer was gathered to both sides and piled around the bunker.

The collapsed earthen city was four or five hundred meters long. After it was cleaned up, Chinese laborers carried loads and poured cooked glutinous rice juice on the top of the city, mixed it with the thin mud on the top of the city to form thick mud, and then piled up the frozen hard thatched soil on it.

A thatched adobe brick weighs five or six pounds and can be built very quickly. The bricks are glued together with glutinous rice juice mixed with oil and mud, and then built up piece by piece.

Hundreds of people worked together, and after a few hours, a new section of earthen wall appeared.

Originally, after the British and French forces discovered that these Chinese workers were repairing the city walls, they would open artillery fire at night to disperse these Chinese workers who went up to the top of the earthen city wall and force them to retreat.

who knows

As soon as the cannon fire stopped, these Chinese workers quickly gathered together and started repairing the city wall again.

As soon as the bombardment began, they quickly scattered and hid in the dark night.

This rogue behavior made the British and French forces furious, but they could do nothing about these Chinese laborers. They certainly couldn't scare them, so they could only let them go.

We can't just bombard the city all night long. The Anglo-French forces are indeed wealthy, but they'll also suffer heavy losses.

After Singapore was occupied, thousands of artillery pieces in stock became spoils of war for the Chu army.

The Battle of the Johor Straits was a disaster that haunted the British and French forces to this day, leaving a deep shadow in their hearts. They also lost a large amount of equipment and supplies.

Hundreds of cannons and hundreds of tons of gunpowder, thousands of military tents, thousands of carriages and other large quantities of military supplies were all burned in the raging flames that lasted for several days and nights.

Therefore, the British and French coalition forces are now short of weapons and equipment. Such high-intensity artillery bombardment can only last for a few days, at most a week.

If this continued, even if the artillery could hold out, the black powder shipped on the ship would have been almost used up.

Whether it was artillery, black powder, military tents and other supplies, they all needed to be transported thousands of miles from the British mainland.

Short time
The inventory of the Governor-General's Office of British India has been almost emptied. Even if some more can be squeezed out, the quantity will not be much, so it must be used sparingly.

After four days of hard fighting, they still failed to break through the Chu army's first earthen city defense line. The losses reached more than 4 people, and the camp was full of wounded soldiers. This made the British and French forces complain bitterly from top to bottom.

Morale was slowly eroded invisibly.

The top leaders of the British and French allied forces were also troubled. When they arrived at the battlefield on the morning of the fifth day, they saw a new earthen wall standing tall, which seemed to be slightly higher than the previous few days.

The pile of dirt that was blasted out yesterday has been cleared. Except for the large traces of new dirt on the ground, most of the traces of yesterday's brutal battle have been erased, and it is time to start all over again.

"Oh my God, what the hell! What kind of opponents are we facing?" Lieutenant General Connor's confidence was shaken.

He felt that these Oriental soldiers were more difficult to deal with than the Russians of the Tsarist Russia. They were tough enough in fighting and were determined to fight to the death under the artillery attacks of the British and French forces.

It also has the nature of a groundhog, breaking things during the day and recovering at night. What should I do?
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(End of this chapter)