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Stephen?? Hendry did not expect that at the beginning of 1856, he would be fighting against the British as a second lieutenant in the icy and snowy Crimea, and at the end of 1856, he would be fighting against the Chinese army as a first lieutenant in the warm and humid Guangdong, China.
Because he had participated in the Crimean War, and the British heard that China had flowering bombs, Lieutenant Hendry and a group of British soldiers mainly came to impart their experience with flowering bombs. Since he was a seed for imparting experience, Lieutenant Hendry was in charge of observing the artillery on the ships docked by the shore, and did not have to serve as cannon fodder on the front line.
Lieutenant Hendry was not in a good mood when he was unable to seize any spoils of war in the Crimean. After entering the city of Guangzhou and still not being able to seize any spoils of war, Lieutenant Hendry's mood inevitably became worse. Before the battle with the Liberation Army, the resentful Lieutenant hoped to be able to annihilate the backward China in the war and seize a large amount of spoils of war on the battlefield.
After the two sides clashed, Lieutenant Hendry felt that something was wrong. First of all, the China's battle line looked decent, and did not look like a backward army, and was not necessarily worse than the Russia. Secondly, the feeling that the soldiers on the other side revealed was something that only soldiers could feel, and it was difficult to use very accurate words to describe it. If one had to say, the army on the other side was very "proud". They firmly believed that they would be able to win the next battle against the British, and this kind of pride was actually very similar to the British army.
Lieutenant Hendry wanted to sneer at the performance of the Chinese army. The British army was the best army in the world, and not long ago, the "European gendarmerie" Russia was scared witless, and admitted that they had lost the war. Why would the China people be so "proud" when facing the British army?
Both sides very normally started the battle with artillery fire. The British army thought that the flowering bombs could easily teach the Chinese army a profound lesson, and even defeat the Chinese army in one fell swoop. However, Lieutenant Hendry did not have time to observe the tragic situation of the Chinese army, and was frightened by the huge firepower of the Chinese army's firepower.
This was a genuine Flowering Bomb, a weapon of the same standard as the British first used in the Crimean War, and the Flowering Bomb that surprised the Russians. In the previous wars, the artillery shells were all solid shells. Because the range of the grapeshot shells was relatively short, they were only useful in close combat. There was a lot of luck involved in the use of a solid bullet. It had to be a direct hit. Otherwise, it could only be used as a cannon from a distance.
The new Blossoming Bullet had the same range as the Solid Bullet. Compared to the Solid Bullet, which could only kill a short line of people, the Blossoming Bullet could kill a large number of people. Under the onslaught of such weapons, the traditional mode of warfare was completely changed. The firepower of the artillery continued to increase, and the infantrymen were in an even more miserable position as "cannon fodder".
When both sides began to fire fiercely at each other, Lieutenant Hendry finally felt that the battlefield he was once familiar with had finally returned to reality. Lieutenant Hendry had great confidence that the traditional infantry against the enemy was the best way to show the strength of the English army. In fact, the English did perform well in tactical execution and caused the Chinese army to suffer heavy losses. The Chinese army suffered heavy casualties in the two waves of crossfire with the English army. The English army could make the Chinese army's crossfire thinner with each round of shooting. Although the English army also suffered heavy losses, the English battle line was still stable, and the Chinese army's battle line was getting thinner and thinner.
What surprised Lieutenant Hendry was that the Chinese army rushed to the front of the English battle line like moths to a flame. Even though they suffered heavy losses, no one ran away, no one retreated. The Chinese soldiers on the battlefield were completely mechanical as they loaded bullets, raised their guns, and fired. Their comrades around them were knocked down by the English army's bullets one by one, and the soldiers who were not knocked down continued to fight without stopping. Until they were knocked down by the bullets.
Not only that, the Chinese army's commander seemed to not see the casualties of his troops, and still sent out the third wave of the battle line. The third wave of Chinese soldiers did not hesitate to line up and cross the British artillery's barricade, advancing towards the front line where the intense crossfire was taking place on the battlefield.
In the past, the English army often relied on enduring the enemy's firepower to close in on the enemy, inflicting heavy damage to the enemy with fierce firepower, and then break through the enemy's line in one fell swoop. In this battle, the British had performed at an excellent level, and the enemy had suffered heavy casualties. However, the Chinese did not collapse, and suffered more casualties than the English army, the Chinese still fought tenaciously.
The artillery was still firing fiercely, and the battlefield was filled with smoke, and the vision through the binoculars became blurred. Lieutenant Hendry put down the binoculars and tried to observe with the naked eye, but the naked eye could not see clearly. Lieutenant Hendry had confidence in the command ability of the English army's grass-roots officers. Since the English battle line was still in a state of shooting, it meant that the Chinese army's resistance was still fierce, and the English army did not think that this was the time to break through.
However, when he turned around, another Chinese army on the English army's right had already closed in on the English army, and it would not be long before they engaged the English army. In the original plan of the English army, the battle would not last for so long. Faced with the Chinese army, which was far fewer in number than the English army, the English army could defeat them head-on. Of course, the English army did not hold back, and the artillery immediately divided a part of the attacking Chinese army and began to fire. At this time, the English army suddenly shouted, and when they turned around, they saw that the English army's front line had finally begun to rush forward, and the battle had entered the stage of hand-to-hand combat.
In the command center of the Liberation Army's Second Regiment opposite the English army, the radio operator shouted excitedly, "Reporting to the commander, the reinforcements of the Second Brigade have arrived!"
When they turned around, they saw a column of soldiers running quickly in the distance. Looking at the distance, it would take at most 15 minutes for the troops to reach the position. The Second Brigade's troops were not far from the First Brigade, and when Wu Liao saw that something was wrong, he immediately requested for reinforcements. The Second Brigade seemed to be moving quickly.
At this time, the Third Battalion had been sent out, and Wu Liao could only command the Fourth Battalion. Two companies of the Fourth Battalion were also sent out to the flank to prevent the English army from attacking from the flanks, and only half of the battalion remained at the front.
The commander of the Second Regiment, Wu Liao, looked calm. He ordered the regimental chief of staff, "Wait a moment, I will lead the guard company and the two companies of the Fourth Battalion to attack together. Chief of staff, you will be responsible for leading the Second Brigade's reinforcements into the position. "
The regimental chief of staff was dumbfounded when he heard this. "Commander, you can't go to the battlefield …"
"Why can't I go to the battlefield?" Wu Liao smiled bitterly. "This battle has become like this, and almost all of our brothers are going to die here. If I don't go to the battlefield and die with them, am I going to just watch my brothers die? Besides, if my brothers die here, even if I don't die on the battlefield, the commander-in-chief will not let me go. Instead of being killed by my own people, I'd rather die here with my brothers! "
When the regimental chief of staff heard these words of despair, he wanted to say that this was not Wu Liao's fault. In fact, during the internal exercises of the Liberation Army, because of the addition of fireworks, the casualties of the troops often exceeded 60%, 70%, and there were many times when the casualties reached 80%. Therefore, although the chief of staff was shocked by this situation, it was his soul that was shocked, not his rationality.
"That's enough! You are responsible for leading the reinforcements into the position. "After Wu Liao finished speaking, he led the guards out of the command center without looking back. Wu Liao had never thought that there would be nothing left of more than two thousand men on the battlefield in less than half an hour. What Wu Liao led was the incomparably valiant Liberation Army, the most powerful army in the whole of China.
Within fifteen minutes of the battle, there was almost nothing left of the First Battalion. Fifteen minutes later, the Second Battalion began to exchange fire with the English army. If the enemy was Manchu Qing's troops, these two waves of attacks would have already broken through Manchu Qing's formation, and then it would be time for them to pursue. Now that the soldiers were performing at a very high level, even if the First Battalion could not hold the line, the Second Battalion did a good job of filling the gap. The Second Battalion and the English fought fiercely for less than five minutes, and Wu Liao had to order the Third Battalion to attack. This was because the entire line that stood like a forest was rapidly thinning out. His brothers fought without fear of death, but such bravery did not bring them victory.
At this moment, he only felt a flame burning his soul, the burning feeling made the sound of gunfire on the battlefield become somewhat inaudible.
Wu Liao did not even think about what would happen if he lost, the reality that his subordinates were all killed made Wu Liao despair. The despair was not only because Wu Liao believed that Vézé would not spare him, the more than two thousand casualties were equivalent to the total number of casualties of the Liberation Army in a year. More importantly, so many of his brothers in the army had fought with Wu Liao for years, they were comrades who were closer than brothers. Now, under Wu Liao's command, they stepped onto the battlefield, and then died just like that. His brothers had died just like that, as their regimental commander, what reason did Wu Liao have to live on?
There was only one thought left in Wu Liao's mind at this time, "I want to die with my brothers."
As soon as he left the headquarters, Wu Liao saw the Fourth Battalion Commander running towards the regimental headquarters in panic. Seeing Wu Liao appear with the guards, the Fourth Battalion Commander was stunned on the spot. At this time, the guards not far away ran over, and the Fourth Battalion Commander finally regained his ability to speak. He stammered, "Regimental commander, Regimental commander, we're the only ones left!"
"Hahahaha!" Wu Liao's eyes were shining with a strange light. He clenched his teeth and laughed through his teeth. "Very good, we're the only ones left, then let's go!"
The Fourth Battalion Commander was stunned. After the first three battalions entered the battlefield, they only blocked the English's advance. In the following shoot-out, the Liberation Army obviously did not win against the English. As a veteran soldier, the Fourth Battalion Commander had never had the experience of retreating on the battlefield. Retreat, escape, these were all unfamiliar terms to the 4th Battalion Commander. Therefore, the Fourth Battalion Commander was confused. He ran to Regimental Commander Wu Liao, trying to get the "correct" instructions from Wu Liao. And Wu Liao's instructions made the Fourth Battalion Commander even more confused.
"Fourth Battalion Commander, take your troops and follow me!" Wu Liao continued to give orders. The closer they got to the frontline, the clearer Wu Liao could see. At this time, the three battalions of more than 1,800 people were left with too many people. And the reinforcements from the Second Brigade could see it more clearly. Wu Liao believed that in at most ten minutes, the reinforcements could begin to set up on the position. At this time, the reinforcements only needed time, and Wu Liao's attack with the remaining brothers of the Second Regiment should be able to buy enough time for the reinforcements.
After giving the order, Wu Liao glared at the Fourth Battalion Commander. This gaze was like a whip that made the Fourth Battalion Commander shudder. The Fourth Battalion Commander ran towards the place where the Fourth Battalion Commander was. Wu Liao strode behind the Fourth Battalion Commander, and at the same time, he turned his head to look at the frontline in the distance.
At this time, the frontline was already filled with smoke, and in the smoke, Wu Liao saw the Liberation Army soldiers who were still standing like pine trees, reloading their bullets and firing their guns. At this point, the soldiers were still performing at such a level, Wu Liao only felt a pain in his heart. But this pain soon subsided. Not long after, Wu Liao would stand together with his brothers on the battlefield, and then die together with these brothers.
In front of the Fourth Battalion, Wu Liao looked at these soldiers, and everyone's face was a little pale. There was no longer the high-spirited and eager look that they had when they were fighting before.
"Brothers, I will personally lead you in the charge!" Wu Liao shouted. This shout lifted the spirits of the soldiers. At this time, everyone was frightened by the tragic situation on the battlefield. In the past, they would march valiantly to the frontline, and then easily overwhelm the enemy and win. Forward, charge, that was the road to victory, to glory. The current battle with the British revealed another side of war to the Liberation Army soldiers. There were indeed troops in this world that far surpassed the Qing Army, and when fighting against these strong enemies, forward, charge, was also the road to death.
At this time, a new sound was heard in the distance. Although no one understood English, Wu Liao and the others were all soldiers, and with a glance, they understood one thing. The British army had begun to charge with bayonets. The battle had entered the final stage.
Wu Liao suddenly laughed out loud, and he shouted to the guards, "Bring me my spear!"
Then, he turned back and shouted to the troops, "When the bayonets meet blood, either the enemy dies, or we die. There are so many brothers on the frontline, if we don't go, those brothers will all die. All of them! Bring the bayonets! "
At this time, the guards had already handed the spear to Wu Liao. Wu Liao raised the spear in his hand high and threw it to the ground. He raised the spear in his hand and shouted to the troops, "Brothers, charge with me!"
Hand-To-Hand combat was a competition of skills, and a regiment commander like Wu Liao had learned spear skills from masters such as Vézé and Wei Changrong, so he had absolute confidence in this aspect. Full of the urge to die, the second regiment commander, Wu Liao, led the way toward the frontline in the smoke.
Lieutenant Hendry knew that when the British army launched a bayonet charge, it would be the moment of victory. Therefore, he raised his binoculars and looked behind the enemy's frontline, which was not yet completely covered by the smoke. He hoped to see the heroic appearance of the British army breaking through the enemy's frontline. Breaking through the enemy's frontline meant that the British army had won the frontal battle, and then the British army could turn around and face the enemy attacking from the side. At that time, it would seem that the enemy's flanks had been cleared, and the attacking flank would be attacked by the British army from both sides.
But Lieutenant Hendry was disappointed. Although there were signs of a large number of moving figures on the smoke-filled battlefield, the British army had never been able to break through the Liberation Army's frontline of defense. Not only that, but many new troops appeared behind the Liberation Army's frontline of defense. They should be the Liberation Army who came to help.
Although the Liberation Army's flanks were blocked by the British army, they firmly lined up and shot at the British army. The battle went on for less than twenty minutes, and the British army actually began to retreat under the commander's order.
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