Wei Ze finally managed to temporarily convince the people who wanted resources from the various provinces to return to their respective provinces to work. Zuo Zhidan, who had been waiting for Vézé for a few days, immediately reported to Vézé about the British. Wei Ze was also puzzled by the Englishman's action of jumping up and down. Wasn't it just Japan? Why would the British be so agitated?
Intelligence was never isolated. Vézé quickly read the intelligence from Japan. After reading the latest battle report of the Battle of Toba Fushimi, Vézé was a little confused.
First, there were the casualties of both sides. In this era, the Liberation Army had developed a large number of treatment measures for field operations. In addition, the military medical system that Vézé had created was very advanced. Therefore, the military statistics of the Liberation Army had a division of "casualties." The battle report in his hands was based on the shogunate's battle report. Therefore, there were only the number of casualties and no data on the wounded.
In the Battle of Toba Fushimi, 223 shogunate soldiers died and 1,388 of the Toba Army were beheaded. The battle report specifically emphasized that the shogunate had beheaded all the dead and captives of the Toba Army in public. The losses of the victors were nothing special. After all, the Liberation Army had only suffered such a small number of losses. The problem was that only 1,388 of the Toba Army had died. This was a ridiculous result for the Liberation Army. If 5,000 enemies were attacked by 15,000 Liberation Army, and the Liberation Army was determined to kill all the captives, it would be a miracle if 388 of the enemies managed to escape.
The records of the Shogunate were very brief. After all, the troops that fought in Japan were the joint forces of the Chinese Embassy Guards. The Japanese were still quite afraid of this army, so of course, they wouldn't let the Chinese know a lot of information.
According to the report of the "China Embassy Guards", the Liberation Army faced 800 Satsuma Domain soldiers with rapid fire. Then, a platoon of Liberation Army soldiers launched a surprise attack from less than 100 meters away from the Satsuma Domain's position. The Satsuma Domain's army had never expected the enemy to appear so suddenly. In the battle report, the Satsuma Domain's performance was recorded as "the enemy was stunned".
What made Vézé very proud was that with the emergence of the one-on-one metallic bullet, the Liberation Army had eliminated all the tactics of lining up and shooting. Instead, they had adopted the traditional PLA's three-three system and mobile warfare. The new smokeless gunpowder had already been successfully developed, and the 8 mm "small caliber" rifle was already in the process of being developed. All that was left was to replace the 11 mm rifle that was currently popular all over the world after 1875. The original Type 1875 Rifle was made in Hanyang, commonly known as the Old Sleeve. It had an 8 round magazine design and used 8 x 50mm full metal bullets.
In response to this change, the Liberation Army's three-on-three combat team was also the latest military combat model. The elite People's Liberation Army could move up to 50 meters from the enemy before the battle. If it was night and other natural conditions, they could even move up to 20 meters in front of the enemy's position.
Of course, the Liberation Army's own training had the corresponding defensive measures, but for the Satsuma Domain's troops who had just learned the Western style of lining up and shooting, this kind of close charge was indeed enough to scare them.
When the "China Embassy Guards" who were participating in the battle were less than 10 meters away from the enemy, they immediately crouched on the ground and fired fiercely at the enemy. The Satsuma Domain's troops, who had just seen the heavenly soldiers descend from the sky, saw the enemy suddenly disappear, and then suffered continuous fierce attacks. The entire army fell into chaos.
At that time, there were still 300 artillerymen operating 24 cannons firing fiercely. The 500 Sino-Japanese allied troops quickly rushed through the road to the Satsuma Domain's position. They fired a volley of shots at the Satsuma Domain's troops who had fallen into chaos, and then engaged in a fierce battle of bayonets. After the melee began to enter a full-scale melee, the Shinsengumi, who were proficient in hand-to-hand combat, finally joined the battle after running for a while.
The Shinsengumi were indeed proficient in hand-to-hand combat. On the battlefield, they really cut down the Satsuma Domain's soldiers with one slash. They used the Japanese sabers that China had gifted them and even cut the enemy into two. Seeing the ferocity of this group of demons, the Satsuma Domain's troops, who were known for their resoluteness and decisiveness, completely collapsed. However, they had nowhere to run. The Sino-Japanese maintained a clear mind throughout the battle. The fleeing enemies were shot from behind, and they were killed one by one like rabbits.
After wiping out 800 of the Satsuma Domain's main forces, the Choshu Domain's position in the Fujian area was immediately attacked in a chain of attacks. The mixed forces killed more than a thousand Tobaku soldiers. In the final battlefield search and interrogation, the Liberation Army killed around 200 Tobaku soldiers, while the Japanese infantry killed around 400 Tobaku soldiers. The Shinsengumi, on the other hand, didn't even let the wounded off, but they only killed 300 Tobaku soldiers. Not to mention the degree of bloodshed in the battle, the samurai were no longer in the limelight on the battlefield.
Most importantly, out of the 1,388 people, at least 1,000 were the results of the joint forces led by the Liberation Army. The 15,000 Shogunate soldiers faced less than 4,000 Tobaku soldiers. After fighting for three days, they only caused about 300 deaths. The efficiency of the battle was frighteningly low.
Vézé frowned. He read the Chinese commander's evaluation of the battle: the Shogunate had weak fighting spirit, slow movements, and poor tactical arrangements. As long as the enemy was stronger, there was no way the Shogunate could win.
The Shogunate was an army that couldn't afford to lose. Any defeat could lead to the collapse of the Shogunate. This was the initial evaluation of Vézé and the Liberation Army. At that time, this evaluation was based on the situation in Japan and the characteristics of the Shogunate. Now, it was based on the Shogunate's combat effectiveness. From the report, the commander, Zhou Xinhua, was not optimistic about the future of the Shogunate.
After reading the report, Vézé asked Foreign Minister Zuo Zhidan, "What's the British's attitude?"
Zuo Zhidan immediately explained. The British ambassador found the foreign minister of China, and Zuo Zhidan went straight to the point. "I heard that China has joined the war."
"Who made up this rumor?" Zuo Zhidan asked without hesitation.
Unlike the small countries and various independent forces in Europe, there were only a few countries in the Far East. There were only so many countries and forces involved in the Far East. Zuo Zhidan's clear denial made the British very unhappy. However, from another perspective, this kind of unhappiness really puzzled the Chinese side. The United Kingdom was indeed strong, but it was a guest in Asia. Even if the United Kingdom settled the Mughal Dynasty and the Queen of England became the Emperor of India, the Chinese still thought that the British were outsiders.
Therefore, Zuo Zhidan was quite dissatisfied with the British's tough attitude. However, the attitude of the British surprised Zuo Zhidan. The British ambassador said with a serious expression, "We, the British Empire, formally make a request to your country. On the matter of Japan, we ask you to maintain the same position as us!"
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