Chapter 217: A Big Black Cauldron
With the help of Goxinga, the coalition forces finally recovered from the carelessness of the enemy and the scattered deployment. It formed the formation of the three main clusters of Tianjin Dagu, Zhangjiawan, and Vincent's mobile corps. Each force is abundant, and the arms are complete, which effectively condenses the combat effectiveness.
Guoxinga, who helped so much, of course would not stay to witness the strength of the coalition army, but simply slipped away. The long snake formation of the coalition army from Tianjin to Zhangjiawan was beaten to pieces, and Montauban in Zhangjiawan was likely to lead the army back to help, and the city of Tianjin also gathered all the main forces of the British army to support it. No matter which side it hits, Goxinga can't take advantage of it, and it's safest to apply oil to the soles of his feet.
Goxinga swept all the outlying strongholds of the coalition forces this time, and he had already robbed a lot of money, and if he robbed again, he could only rob the warships. And he doesn't have the ability to rob warships, he can't do things that steal chickens and eat a handful of rice, so it's most practical to go home and wait for the rain to pass.
The sudden abandonment of Tanggu, Xinhe, Beitang and other places by the British army was completely unexpected by Guoxinga, and also led to a serious lack of preparation in terms of transportation capacity. Guoxinga didn't have so many people to carry the materials, and he was reluctant to get what he got for nothing. It can only be implied that Bi Yuntao opened the way with a bayonet, captured thousands of strong men from the people, and helped the army carry supplies.
In addition to the people of Beitang, the people of other places are all nostalgic for the good of foreign devils. After the foreign devils came in, they neither harassed the people nor forcibly recruited strong men, except for the fact that there were more people in strange clothes and strange complexions on the streets, which had almost no impact on the lives of the people.
This official army came back, and it was supposed to be Wang Shiguang's recovery of the army and the people, and everyone celebrated together to defeat the foreign invaders. But the people were not happy at all, and Guoxinga's * accuracy has always been bad, so when the British stronghold was bombarded, many houses were affected. The house was blown down, and the kind Chinese people recognized it. But the power of Goxinga* is so great that some families have lost their lives, or they have been disabled for life.
Before the people could wrap their wounds, the officials and soldiers entered the city, and there was no list to calm the people, let alone open a warehouse to release grain, but just a warehouse to carry foreign devils. After that, the soldiers with muskets rushed into the house, and when they saw the strong laborers, they grabbed them, and hurried them with leather whips to work for the officials. Moreover, these soldiers are worse than Indians with unclean hands and feet, and they have to rob some of the gold and silver, and the big girls and little daughters-in-law have to touch two handfuls. All the livestock working at home were taken away, and the carts and even wheelbarrows were all snatched clean.
Whether it was the old man crying or the child screaming, the officers and soldiers ignored it. In the early morning sun, the men, livestock, and vehicles of the family were all escorted away by the officers and soldiers. The rest of the old and weak women and children could only cry, and they desperately hoped that the foreign devils would come back quickly, help them take the man in the family, and help him take away the objects that the family relied on for his life.
Guo Xing'a had never been embarrassed to look at the angry eyes of the people, so he also pretended not to hear the helpless cries of the people, his battle was not over yet, and he could not be distracted at the moment. Although the two major coalition clusters in Tianjin and Zhangjiawan are strong, Guoxinga has already run away, so the threat is not particularly great. On the contrary, it was the Vincent cluster that looked the weakest, which gave Goxinga a headache.
The coalition was divided into three parts by Goshinga, and Goxinga's troops were also cut in two by Vincent. Vincent and Smith were less than 5,000 men at full strength, but even if Goxinga concentrated all his strength, it was impossible to eat him in one day. If he can't eat it, he will face the danger of being attacked by Tianjin and Zhangjiawan, and Guo Xing'a can only give up Vincent's department. But now Ji Ying and Tan Shaoguang are exchanging fire with Vincent, and the two sides are anxious together, and it is not easy for Guo Xinga to withdraw these two regiments. If you are bitten by Vincent, you still have to face the problem of being pinched. If you ignore the forced withdrawal, you may lead the coalition forces directly to Gu'an, and Guoxing Ah doesn't want Gu'an to become the main battlefield, so that Seng Lingqin can take advantage of himself.
"My lord, the latest information, the enemy army in Zhangjiawan has sent a detachment to rescue Hexiwu!" Fuquan handed the latest information to Guo Xing'a.
"Let Bo Zhtu give up the feint and go to join up with Ji Ying and Tan Shaoguang to find a way to defeat the trapped enemy army. You don't need to do anything to annihilate them, you can just drive them away, even if it's a temporary retreat. Let Tan Shaoguang command the overall situation, and be sure to withdraw all our people before noon today! "Goxinga's order of speech is a bit out of order.
"Huh!" Fuquan could hear that Guo Xing's heart was now in chaos, and he didn't seem to have thought about how to end Tan Shaoguang's direction in the end.
"Fuquan, call Changlu and Mu Daxia to come over!" Guo Xing'a pondered for a long time, and suddenly opened his mouth.
"Your Excellency!" Fuquan didn't agree, but Xiande, who had been following Guoxing's side, stopped him with words.
"Huh?" Guo Xinga looked at Xiande suspiciously.
"My lord, all the tricks and tricks in the world are risky, and there is no foolproof way. The troops had been fighting for a day and night, and they were very tired from top to bottom, and now they were holding on to the joy of victory. Even elite troops such as the heavy cavalry battalion and the reconnaissance battalion felt that they could not withstand the toss of a hundred miles of attack. Xiande said, guessing how Goxinga would refute him.
"Alas! Oh, yes! I'm just sitting, and I'm tired now, let alone the soldiers! Tan Shaoguang's three regiments are currently the best in physical strength, and now they can only look at themselves. Guo Xing'a didn't habitually refute Xiande, and the eyes of the guards platoon were fighting, not to mention the soldiers on the front line.
From the moment the light cavalry attacked at 8 o'clock in the morning of September 19 to lure Robert's convoy into division, Goshinga's huge plan began to work. First of all, Tan Shaoguang's department completed independently, divided and annihilated Robert's transport team, and lured the coalition forces in Hexiwu, Yangcun and other directions to rescue Robert. Then there were Ji Ying and Bo Ritu, who took advantage of the chaos to attack Hexi. After attracting all the enemy's mobile forces and attention to the direction of Hexiwu, Guoxing Aqin led Bi Yuntao and his direct troops to raid Yangcun. With the strength of Hejiying and Tan Shaoguang, after holding back Vincent, the last reinforcement in the direction of Tianjin, Guoxing'a directly took the military grain city and plundered all the key points around Tianjin. By the time Guoxinga led the team back, the various departments had been fighting for a full twenty-five hours. With his strong mobility ability, Guo Xing'a traveled back and forth on the battlefield for more than 200 miles, completely defeating the coalition army, but also exhausting the physical strength of the troops.
Vincent didn't know that he had become a sword hanging over Goxinga's head, and he was looking for a way to break through. Vincent, who had been on the road all night, rescued Smith and Wilson in the morning light, but their situation was not at all rosy. Tan Shaoguang, who suddenly appeared from behind, suddenly disrupted Vincent's deployment.
Tan Shaoguang knew very well that once the British army set up a huge phalanx, he would fall into passivity. So as soon as he came up, he took a huge risk and played an interlude. Taking advantage of the convergence of the two British armies, it was temporarily impossible to judge whether the people coming from the rear were friends or foes, and directly tore Vincent's troops into three pieces. Because of the dogmatic formation of the British army, Tan Shaoguang had the opportunity to tear them evenly, one infantry, one cavalry, and one artillery, which put the British army in an embarrassing situation where all arms could not cooperate.
However, Tan Shaoguang and Ji Ying also secretly complained, the British army was extremely tenacious, although it fell into a disadvantage, but it was still not chaotic. The infantry lined up in a neat line to fire alternately, the artillery also opened fire with all its might under the cover of a small number of infantry, and the cavalry repeatedly stormed the encirclement in an attempt to converge with the infantry and artillery. Although their own people were either lying on the ground or lying in the trenches, the British army was basically unable to fight, and the British cavalry charge was also suppressed by machine guns, but it was basically impossible to quickly solve the enemy.
The British army, which was at a disadvantage, was attacking as defending, and their continuous shooting and repeated charges, although they had no success, also suppressed Tan and Ji, making it impossible for them to organize an effective attack. In this way, everyone has entered a situation where you can't take me, and I can't take you. Although the British were at an absolute disadvantage in the battle, and the casualties of the soldiers were increasing, Vincent knew that as long as he persisted, the enemy would be caught in the dilemma of being flanked by several reinforcements from his side. As long as you hold on and bite the enemy, the final victory will definitely belong to the Red Shirts.
With the arrival of Bo Ritu and the order to end the battle in the afternoon, Tan Shaoguang became more and more anxious. Although Bo Zhitu is a new force, they are equipped with too few firearms, mainly relying on cold weapons to fight, and there is no stage for them on such a battlefield. However, the coalition forces in the direction of Zhangjiawan have sent reinforcements, and there is really no delay for a minute here.
"Brother Bozhtu, time is running out, if it drags on, we may be besieged, and we can only fight!" The anti-thief Tan Shaoguang has a good personal relationship with the Mongolian fox Bo Ritu, and he is also a little guilty when he wants to use Bo Ritu's family background to fight hard.
"Fight!" Bo Ritu nodded at Tan Shaoguang and Ji Ying, and agreed to the plan they had discussed before.
"Concentrate all artillery and prepare to bombard the main body of the enemy cavalry and infantry phalanx. Order Cao Meng's troops to withdraw from the joint and let the divided enemy forces converge! The whole army is ready for a salvo! Tan Shaoguang gave the order without hesitation.
"Cavalry mounted! Get ready to charge! "After the battle, Bozhtu also stepped on the war horse, although he was cunning, he was a Mongol, and the Mongols must charge ahead.
Cao Meng's department, which had been holding the node to death, suddenly withdrew from the battle, and the divided British cavalry and artillery found hope of convergence, and they all quickly ran towards the infantry phalanx.
"Go back, stupid!" Smith was so angry that he jumped to his feet, but there was nothing he could do.
The rushing cavalry disrupted the ranks of the infantry, and the clumsy artillery not only moved slowly, but also deprived the troops of the cover of artillery fire at once.
"Hit me hard!" Tan Shaoguang roared hoarsely.
Dozens of artillery pieces and machine guns fired frantically at the British army in the confusion, completely knocking the originally chaotic phalanx into a completely upside down. The moving artillery was even more devastated, and the slow-moving artillery was caught in the crossfire of three machine guns. The cannon body was hit by bullets, but the artilleryman's body could only bloom with blood flowers, and then fell weakly one by one.
"Cavalry, attack!" Bozhtu raised his saber and rushed to the enemy in one fell swoop.
"Retreat! Fall back! Vincent chose to accept defeat, his troops in confusion simply could not withstand the onslaught of two thousand cavalry, and he could not let his troops fall into a situation of slaughter.
Tan Shaoguang took some risks, but he still cleaned up the battlefield before twelve o'clock, took the loot, and happily set out on the way home.
"Go home! The court will remember you, reward for freedom after the war! As for these vehicles and livestock, the imperial court requisitioned! After the battle, I will return you, you can rest assured, our monk Greenqin is trustworthy! In Goxinga, Fengsheng's people took over the transportation work and began to send the collected strong men. Before leaving, he also gave a speech to others, and properly put a big black pot on the head of Monk Greenqin.