Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 314: Attack at All Costs

Blood-red sunset
The brutal battle on that day enveloped the Batangas Bay in a smoke-filled atmosphere of war, playing out a sonata of steel and life, and the flowers of life withered one after another.

On the long defense line surrounding Batangas Bay, everything else was quiet, only the bunker defense line near the small fishing village was enduring round after round of increasingly fierce attacks.

There was a roar of cannons and bursts of gunfire.

The drums and music of the attack, accompanied by the sounds of soldiers charging, have continued to this day without stopping, and have become increasingly intense.

In the command post behind the front line

King Zheng Guohui of Chu put down the telescope in his hand. In front of him stood the tall and strong captain of the royal guard, Zheng Shan, and several other officers, forming a tight human wall to block the king behind.

The light at dusk was still sufficient, and King Zheng Guohui of Chu clearly observed the latest attack of the Anglo-French coalition forces. They once again captured the coal pile and attacked, causing considerable casualties to the defending soldiers.

As the attacking side, the British and French forces suffered greater casualties.

Looking at the British and French soldiers who were shot to the ground one after another in the dense rain of bullets, King Zheng Guohui of Chu felt a little pleased in his heart, but at the same time he was secretly alert.

The Anglo-French Allied Forces were not as weak and cowardly as the legend said. Even the Indian soldiers from Baotou in the British Indian colony showed courage during the charge and launched round after round of attacks despite suffering huge casualties.

Those French white soldiers were even more hardcore. When a wave of four or five hundred soldiers attacked, more than half of them were killed or wounded, but they were still able to fire neat volleys at each other. This shows that the army was well-trained and worthy of being the world's top army.

The defending First Division countered the attack with a counter-attack. Major General Pan Tianshou withdrew troops from the defense line in an orderly manner and used a rotation method to plug the gap in the small fishing village.

From noon till now, two groups have been changed.

The replaced infantry regiments were immediately replenished and, after being fully restored, they were placed at the back of the sequence as reserves, ready to continue the rotation.

The advantage of doing this is
The defense line will always remain extremely resilient, and its combat effectiveness and defense level will not be weakened in the slightest. No matter how fiercely the enemy attacks, I will remain calm and unmoved.

The British and French forces concentrated their forces to attack this point fiercely. The First Division then dispatched regiments to assist in the defense in turns. If there were more than a thousand casualties, they would be withdrawn for replenishment, and this cycle would repeat.

By 7 o'clock in the evening, dusk had enveloped the whole area.

The British and French forces, who had been attacking relentlessly, finally calmed down a bit, raised the white flag and requested to clear the battlefield.

The battlefield at that time was littered with corpses, mostly from the attacking British and French allied forces, numbering more than 4,000, with corpses overlapping in four or five layers in some places.

A gap of more than 40 meters long was opened in the coal slag pile, and the corpses in the gap were stacked layer by layer like stacks. Large amounts of black and red blood were flowing everywhere, and the fishy smell was overwhelming.

The Chu army also demanded that the weapons be confiscated first, as they were spoils of war. Otherwise, they would not agree to clear the battlefield, and this request could not be changed.

In desperation, the British and French allied forces agreed to the harsh conditions of the Chu defenders.

So both sides sent people with white flags to clean up the battlefield full of corpses. The Chu side mainly confiscated weapons and equipment, as well as the suede boots worn by the French soldiers' corpses.

Compared with the luxurious equipment of British and French soldiers, the equipment of Chu soldiers was much simpler.

Especially shoes. Every season, a pair of cloth shoes were issued. During normal marching and training, only straw sandals could be worn. Therefore, every Chu soldier knew how to make straw sandals, and only officers could afford leather boots.

Watching the Chu soldiers happily stripping off the leather boots from the corpses and searching the pockets of the French soldiers, almost everyone left with seven or eight rifles hanging on their bodies.

The Baotou Indians who were cleaning up the battlefield couldn't help but grumble. They worked in groups of two as they carried the corpses onto animal-drawn carts. After they were full, they were transported to a deep pit that had been dug long ago to be burned and buried.

This is the common rule of warfare in the tropics, needless to say.

The Chu army also suffered more than 2200 casualties. Since they were on the defending side, the injured soldiers were able to receive timely treatment and were able to withdraw immediately.

Therefore, there were about 772 soldiers killed and 1529 soldiers injured, most of whom were able to recover.

In this head-on dialogue with the armies of the world's powers, the officers and soldiers of the Chu army, who had undergone rigorous training, performed with moderation and responded appropriately, which was what King Zheng Guohui of Chu was particularly satisfied with.

The low wall defense line built 80 meters behind the coal slag pile was extremely effective.

The casualty rate of Chu army officers and soldiers was far lower than that of the enemy. This simple low wall played a very important role, blocking most of the fatal bullets fired by the British and French soldiers. It was truly an unexpected surprise.

This excellent tactic originated from the successful experience of the Malayan Expeditionary Force in the battle for the earthen city, and has now become an essential auxiliary defense facility behind the earthen city wall defense line.

In the attack and defense of the small fishing village, he once again demonstrated his prowess.

When the fighting paused
Major General Pan Tianshou, who had personally commanded the battle at the front line of the bunker, hurried back with several of his subordinates, his face covered in the color of gunpowder.

After he entered, he immediately stood at attention, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Your Majesty, I, Pan Tianshou, report to you."

"No need to be polite, drink some water before talking."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your reward."

Pan Tianshou took the teacup with both hands, picked it up and drank it all in one gulp, looking very hungry and thirsty.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu smiled and said to the guards beside him, "Come here, get General Pan a bigger cup. I have plenty of tea here. Oh, and tell the kitchen to quickly make some hot soup for the soldiers."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The young officer saluted and immediately went to carry out the order.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu was already accustomed to showing favors casually. The hot soup and hot water served during the breaks in the battle, along with the dry biscuits, could allow the officers and soldiers to have a full meal and have the strength to fight the British and French coalition forces to the end.

No matter how you look at it, it's much better than going hungry.

Although it was just a meal of soup, it was not that in the eyes of the officers and soldiers who participated in the war. It was a grace sent by His Majesty the King, which showed that His Majesty the King was always thinking about these men in the army.

Military morale is built up through these little things.

Major General Pan Tianshou drank three large glasses of water before wiping his sleeves, raising his hand in a military salute and saying, "Your Majesty, I have behaved in a manner inconsistent with your honor. Please forgive me." "General, you are a man of true character. What crime have you committed?" King Zheng Guohui of Chu waved his hand nonchalantly and asked with concern, "What do you think of the hostility?"

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid the situation is not optimistic." Major General Pan Tianshou's expression returned to seriousness. He stretched out his hand and made a "please" gesture, then followed His Majesty to the sand table.

He pointed to the location of the small fishing village on the sand table and the port on one side and said;

“Your Majesty is wise;
The enemy troops began to gather and land in the fishing village at 2 a.m., and by the evening most of them had completed the landing. The total number of British and French troops who landed was more than , roughly half British and half French.

Since 3 p.m.

The Allied fleet has also gathered here, continuously transporting large amounts of combat supplies ashore, and has not stopped until now. Its determination to break through our defense line is clearly evident.

After a day of fierce fighting, the enemy's offensive came in wave after wave, like a surging tide with increasing momentum.

The current calm may lead to a more violent backlash.

dusk
I have observed from a high vantage point that several thousand sailors have been assembled from the Anglo-French fleet and are gradually disembarking, presumably as reserve forces.

There will be no peace tonight."

King Zheng Guohui of Chu listened to Major General Pan Tianshou's report with an expressionless face. After a moment's hesitation, he pointed with his finger at the cinder wall, which was about 2 kilometers wide, and gave the order:

"Inform the workers to immediately gather firewood and bring it up as quickly as possible. Soak it in diesel fuel and scatter it outside the cinderblock wall.

This action was carried out in one go 40 minutes later.

Depending on the enemy situation, the fire would be lit to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack at night, which was also a preemptive plan.

Do it quickly and without delay."

"I will obey your majesty's order." The commanding officer immediately took the order and went to organize the militia to prepare firewood.

There were plenty of dead trees and broken branches, and there was no shortage of kerosene, horse-drawn carriages, and laborers. Soon, a large number of horse-drawn carriages loaded with firewood arrived.

Taking advantage of the night, the migrant workers climbed onto the coal pile and then threw the firewood forward with all their might.

With hundreds of people working together, the speed is really fast.

When the British and French forces realized the situation was not good, they raised their guns and fired indiscriminately. The bullets hit the coal pile, emitting smoke and dust, which scared the workers so much that they shrank back their heads.

However, the top of the coal slag heap defense line was relatively wide, and the migrant workers squatted at a position farther back, which did not affect the smooth throwing of firewood, and the bullets fired by the British and French forces in the distance could not hurt them.

Therefore, it cannot be stopped at all.

Not long after

In front of the coal pile defense line, which is two or three kilometers wide, firewood is thrown everywhere. Although it is scattered, the piles can still be roughly seen.

When the British and French allied forces were assembling in the rear, five or six piles of firewood around the small fishing village were set on fire. The burning bonfires drove away the darkness and completely exposed the allied forces' formation.

The enemy sent out small groups of Indian soldiers to try to put out the bonfires.

Then they were hit by several rounds of volleys of gunfire from the depths of darkness, which knocked all the figures exposed in the campfire to the ground, leaving many dead or wounded.

Now

It was General Maignan's turn to be dumbfounded. His original plan to take advantage of the poor visibility at night to launch a fierce attack and completely capture the earthen city was discovered and could no longer be implemented.

Generally speaking

Launching an attack under the cover of darkness is extremely advantageous to the attacker.

Because it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe in the darkness, the defending Chu soldiers found it difficult to launch accurate and deadly volleys of fire at the attacking British and French soldiers from the heights of the bunkers on both sides.

It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. Even if I could see something, it was just black shadows.

As long as they could quickly penetrate into the coal slag pile and engage in a close-range volley fire melee, they would be able to cause greater chaos among the Chu soldiers and break through in one fell swoop.

The five or six bonfires now illuminated a large area around them, instantly revealing the British and French soldiers who were assembling. This made General Maignan's face turn pale with anger, and he shouted, "Attack, run and attack, charge in and kill these Orientals!"

He was really unwilling to let such a good offensive opportunity slip away.

The hastily assembled soldiers immediately obeyed the order, without playing military music or bagpipes, and just ran forward to start the attack.

Shortly after the attack
Then I saw hundreds of rockets flying out in the night and shooting in all directions.

Pile of bonfires were lit, and within just one or two minutes, the number of bonfires around the battlefield increased from five or six to more than ten, all burning fiercely.

This illuminated the battlefield of attack.

At this time, the British and French forces were still more than a hundred meters away from the gap in the coal slag pile, when they heard bursts of gunfire, knocking the attacking British and French soldiers to the ground in large numbers.

Just a few rounds of volleys defeated the British and French forces in this round of attack, leaving behind 130 to 140 corpses as they retreated in panic.

The figures of the Chu army soldiers were completely hidden in the darkness, which made General Maignan's plan to attack at night completely aborted.

After much hesitation, I had to cancel it.

(End of this chapter)