September 21

The enemy's horrific artillery bombardment lasted five minutes or more, and the enemy's infantry continued to overwhelm us with a dense barrage of bullets. The enemy cavalry, which had just been driven away by me, appeared behind us. Instead of charging at us in a dense formation, they quickly flanked us in a loose formation.

I think Colonel Smith, who was accustomed to the Western mode of warfare, did not judge the enemy's intentions at that time, because I was relatively familiar with China, and I could not understand the enemy's intentions at all.

Almost at the same time that the enemy cavalry in the rear outflanked us, another group of cavalry of the frontal enemy launched a real charge. Dressed in blue Chinese armor and armed with spears, they lined up in a dense formation similar to the Queen's cavalry regiment and launched a deadly charge at us. The scattered infantry on the plain in the face of the cavalry charge was nothing short of a massacre. The screams of the soldiers before they died made me despair, I thought of Anna in Hong Kong, I thought of the lead-gray clouds of London.

Thank God for once again for His favor on me, a lost Lamb. When an enemy cavalry approached me, a valiant soldier raised his rifle and met the enemy. When the enemy's spear pierced me, the soldier's bayonet pierced the body of the enemy's horse. The soldier was knocked up by the huge impact of the war horse, and the enemy was also thrown out by the inertia of the war horse. Thanks to the great sacrifice of the valiant soldiers, which kept me alive.

It's a pity that the good luck belongs to me alone, and the heroism and tenacity of the soldiers did not change the fate of our defeat. The charge of the enemy's cavalry completely routed us. With the sound of strange musical instruments in the distance, thousands of enemies began to shout at the same time, and I understood the meaning of the word, kill!

The enemy infantry also began to charge, and in the darkness of the night we inevitably failed. Smith gave the order to retreat, and everyone began to retreat in the direction of the camp, or rather to break and flee. The enemy's cavalry and infantry are pursuing us, weakening us as much as possible.

The enemy cavalry, which had outflanked us before, showed their role. They packed us in like a bag, and as we moved, they kept shooting at us with muskets and bows and arrows. Like a greedy child, stealing cream cakes, weakening us layer by layer, poor fellows are forever left in this far east.

At 11:15 a.m., the remaining lucky ones finally fled back to camp. My men, the valiant soldiers of the Hong Kong Garrison, built a strong defensive line in the camp and stubbornly held back the enemy. After two tentative attacks, the enemy quietly left. This is where this enemy is terrifying, they leave suddenly and quietly. My men were nervous all night long, unable to determine the enemy's situation, in the darkness of the night. Finally, I should once again praise the amazing Chinese, these guys are as mysterious as their country. The two groups of Orientals inside and outside the camp were deeply shocking to me.

The enemy outside the camp, they are not the same as the Chinese troops who fought with us before. They are well-trained, well-equipped, and extremely capable of learning. Especially their commander, he should be a greater general than the monk Grinqin who once defeated us at Dagukou. He was supposed to be a veteran general of great prestige, who filled his subordinates with the belief that he would win, and did not hesitate to give his orders. And he was thoughtful, genius in designing continuous traps, and taking into account our reactions, giving us a major blow, what a terrible man.

The workers in the camp are hard-working and proactive. If it weren't for their active assistance in rescuing the wounded and dealing with the defeated, we would have faced even greater danger. When we returned to the camp, the laborers had not only prepared us with hot water and food, but also weapons and ammunition for our re-fighting. All we do is eat, drink, rest, and then take up arms and fight, they really are the best logisticians in the world.

This ancient country has a population of almost 400 million people and endless products. If they can learn civilization, even if only to be like the people I am facing today, I am afraid that no country in the world will be able to defeat them. But thank God, that couldn't have happened.

September 22nd

Colonel Smith was a strong and conscientious man, having been stabbed in the right arm by an enemy spear in the last night's battle, but he had been holding on to his command. Today we counted the losses from yesterday's battle, and now there are only 789 of the 1,500 troops, and nearly 200 wounded of varying severity. In addition to the supplies in the camp, we lost all the artillery, 80% of the rifles and other weapons, and all the horses of the Indian Cavalry Regiment.

There were cries everywhere in the camp, and our morale was extremely low. The result of cleaning up the battlefield is even more discouraged. The only complete 200 soldiers were from my battalion, so I was in charge of cleaning the battlefield, and the rest of the troops needed to rest and reorganize in the camp.

I only told Colonel Smith the results of the battle cleanup, and the news was so depressing that everyone needed comfort now. From a distance of a few dozen yards outside the camp, there seemed to be a signpost made up of the corpses of heroic British soldiers. A dozen yards away will be a corpse, and there will be more in dense places, all the way to yesterday's main battlefield.

The main battlefield has been swept by the enemy, and they have taken everything they can to take with them. But it was still a gentleman's decency, they did not strip the soldiers of their clothes. The corpses of the soldiers were neatly stacked together as if they were in a military parade. I can't describe the sight in words, I can only cry.

The terrain nearby is not complicated, it is flat like other places, except for some ups and downs near the battlefield. The undulation is very small, probably only a little bit of slope. I don't understand how the enemy set up an ambush, maybe they used the night and surprise attacks more to defeat us.

My interesting captive, Guo, did not take the opportunity to run back to his country's army last night, but fled back to the camp with us. I didn't understand this guy, but luckily he was there and helped me solve a lot of confusion. The corpses of our soldiers, though fully dressed and neatly arranged, were gone, as they were last time. In order to avoid looking ugly, the enemy also deliberately put their military caps around their necks. I hated this barbaric behavior of the enemy very much, but Guo gave me an explanation.

China is really a barbaric country, and they actually have to calculate military merit by capturing the heads of enemies. It is unbelievable that the commander of the enemy should show respect for the warriors by placing the corpses, and then cut off their heads to apply for military merit from the government.

Guo also explained to me a strange phenomenon that I had discovered during the battle last night. Our cavalry basically used sabers, and spears could only be used as disposables, because it was difficult for cavalrymen to pull out spears that pierced into the human body. The Chinese cavalry, however, could use spears to attack continuously. Last night I saw with my own eyes the Chinese cavalry, stabbing many people to death with their spears in a row.

Guo told a Chinese term called shaking the gun or picking the gun. Guo said that the spears of the Chinese cavalry, called spears, were commonly used weapons. The angle of the spear is very demanding, the war horse is close to the enemy infantry, and the waist and arm force to send out the spear at the same time, not a frontal stab, but an oblique stabbing past, so the enemy killed by the Chinese cavalry spear is not a hole like we are common, but the head of the spear is stabbed obliquely, piercing into the enemy's chest with horsepower, and the waist and arm strength are just right to make the spear head cut to the side, causing a deep blood groove. Stir up the internal organs of the infantry, and by the way, cause centrifugal force to shake off the corpses of the enemy. The wound is definitely not a single shot to the chest. If you pierce the enemy straight into the body, the enemy's corpse will be hung on the gun, and the horse will lose its balance and fall headlong. Once the horse falls, the cavalry will fall off the horse, and the cavalry that falls will definitely not end well. Therefore, most of the Chinese cavalry are highly skilled in martial arts.

I would love to ask Guo to demonstrate this tactical move for me, but unfortunately Guo won't. I began to wonder if Guo was an officer in the Chinese army, because more often than not, Guo was more of a military scholar. He knows so much theoretical knowledge that he could even judge the intentions of the Chinese commander yesterday. But he is not at all able to apply his knowledge and is definitely not a qualified military man.

Colonel Smith was very brave and comfortable with his defeat, sent a signal corps to the front to explain the situation, and called for help from the rear.

I was worried about how terrible it would be if the enemy concentrated all his forces to besiege us before reinforcements from the rear arrived. But Guo speculated that such a situation would not happen, because the enemy's commanders cherished their own strength. He will not go into a hard-fought battle, attacking our defensive positions head-on, causing heavy damage to himself. Guo believes that the enemy is likely to ambush our reinforcements. I think Kwok might have a point, but I didn't tell Colonel Smith. I myself find it ridiculous to have enemy prisoners of war to assist in the analysis of enemy strategy.

Finally, I was very curious about the identity of the local commander, and Guo did not know of any general in northern China who could match or even surpass Seng Lingqin. Guo said that Monk Greenqin was already the most powerful general in northern China.

September 26th

Our team arrived at the outskirts of Tongzhou, a place called Zhangjiawan. Guo's prediction was correct again, but the other party's plan was even more terrifying.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, when the reinforcements were less than thirty miles away from us, the enemy again attacked the military station in Yang Village, and then looted a large number of supplies. The reinforcements were forced to abandon their plan to rescue us and return to the Yangcun military station. As a result, we were ambushed by the enemy by the canal, and it was still a night attack with front and back attacks, and the outcome was similar to ours. They did not have a camp to defend, but they were helped by reinforcements from Tianjin. They also lost a lot of weapons, but fortunately, because of the reinforcements from Tianjin, the enemy troops withdrew quickly. Only some of the soldiers' bodies had their heads cut off, and most of them were still decent.

We were rescued by the front-line troops and came to the outskirts of Tongzhou with supplies. However, because of the successive blows to the logistical supply, the generals temporarily slowed down the pace of their advance. Cavalry and Tianjin were sent to jointly search for the traces of this mysterious force, but unfortunately nothing was found after three days of searching. It's like they appeared out of nowhere, and they disappeared out of nowhere.

Through the news brought by the missionaries, a large number of enemy troops appeared in the north of Tongzhou. The generals judged that this mysterious force had been replenished into the defending forces by a detour. They are under the command of their commander-in-chief, Monk Grinqin, and are ready to fight a decisive battle with us.

I hope the generals are right, and it is my desire to go head-to-head with this mysterious force. We will not forget the night battle by the canal, and we will avenge the warriors.