The huge smoke and dust from the explosion of the ammunition depot gradually dissipated, and the bloody limbs mixed with the rubble scattered everywhere. There were also some people covered in blood but all over their bodies* who crawled out of the floating earth in a trance, and the huge shock wave of the explosion tore off their loose clothes.

The coalition forces reacted a little slower and did not seize the opportunity to explode at the arsenal and cause chaos in the Qing army, because the damned French were angry. In the six days before the attack began, the commanders of the coalition forces discussed several times, and the French commander Montauban always insisted that with the support of gunboats, the main battery of Dagu should be captured first. The British commander-in-chief Grant was to attack the North Shore Battery, and after a fierce quarrel, the French decided to adopt the British battle plan. Of course, the French are not easy to talk to, and the reason why they agree with the British is because they have problems with their supplies, and they have to borrow things from the British, so their tone is naturally soft.

As the old Chinese saying goes, "the soldiers and horses are not moved, the grain and grass go first", the original plan of the Anglo-French alliance was to fight a quick battle, but due to the frequent problems of its logistics and material supply system, the Second Opium War turned into a "delayed" expedition, of course, the main problem was the French. At the beginning of June, the British troops and all kinds of war supplies had arrived at the Zhili Bay garrison. After a period of recuperation, British Commander Grant proposed that the landing operation begin on the first day of July. However, the French had problems, due to the backward supply system of the French army, the inadequate preparation of war materials, the limited capacity of sea transportation, and so on. The British army waited for the French army for nearly a month on the sea surface of Dagukou before launching the Beitang landing battle.

The French are always lost, lacking * today, and shells tomorrow, which gives the British a great headache. Although the French were pulled to the north shore with supplies this time, the proud French were still a little reluctant and a little unable to work. When the Qing ammunition depot exploded, the French were in the best position to charge, but the French watched the fireworks and did not charge until the British troops on the flanks rushed over.

Le Shan drew his sword, shouted to repay the country with death, and began to command the Qing army to counterattack. Although the coalition army surpassed the Qing army in terms of weapons and tactics, the weapons of this era could not support the skirmish line tactics after all, and the coalition army's charge was still in a dense formation. And apart from the artillery in the rear, they did not have any fire support, and the front-loading guns did not allow them to charge and shoot at the same time. Before rushing into the gap opened by the artillery, they could only use their flesh and blood to withstand the fire of the Qing army. The Qing army's small-caliber primitive artillery, arquebuses, bows and arrows were struck down, and hundreds of coalition soldiers fell on the way to charge before they could touch the parapet.

However, the artillery fire of the coalition army was still fierce, and the artillery shells of the Qing army were constantly flying overhead, and the power was huge. But the warriors, who had long put life and death on the line, still gritted their teeth and shot the enemy bravely. The allied troops rushed to the moat and began to return fire with their rifles, and the bullets on the fort were raining down for a while, and the parapet wall of the fort was almost stained red with the blood of the Qing soldiers. The accuracy of the arquebus, in any case, could not be compared with the rifled gun, and the Qing army was using a casualty ratio of ten to one or even fifteen to one, and the tenacious firing against the coalition army.

The long distance not only limited the accuracy of the arquebus, but also severely weakened the lethality of the arquebus, and the fallen coalition soldiers were often more wounded and less dead. The rifled gun's ultra-high range can easily penetrate the limbs of the Qing army at a distance of 200 meters, and even shatter their bones. The bow and arrow are not long-range precision weapons, they can only be thrown at long distances, and relying on projectiles to kill the enemy requires a large number of archers to form a rain of arrows, in order to completely cover the enemy army and kill the enemy by probability. But now the battery simply did not have so many archers available, bows and arrows were only used as a supplement to the arquebus, and these unskilled archers were completely relying on luck to kill the enemy.

However, fortunately, the fortifications were complete, the city was high and the pool was deep, and the defenders had a natural advantage, and the coalition forces were stagnant by the moat for a long time and could not move. As the casualties mounted, the coalition offensive showed signs of retreating, and a smile appeared on Leshan's face. However, at this time, there was a sudden change on the battlefield, and a group of coolies carrying sandbags to fill the river did not retreat with the coolies of the brigade, but jumped into the moat. Standing neck-deep in the water, they built a pontoon bridge for the coalition forces with a ladder on top of their heads. This was obviously not the arrangement of the coalition forces, because the coalition soldiers who were trapped by the river were also shocked by the sudden actions of these people and did not react immediately. However, the road had been opened, and the coalition forces soon stepped on the heads of these coolies and rushed through the moat.

"Cattle!" Le Shan was almost so angry that he could see the faces of these coolies, and these bastards were all the people of the Qing Dynasty. They have yellow skin and black eyes, and they have braids on the top of their heads, and these beasts who have forgotten their ancestors actually do this to the foreigners.

The coalition's plan to deal with the Qing army's moat was not very clever, but after the infantry set up a defensive line, coolies carried sandbags to fill the moat. The coolies in the coalition were originally black Africans, black Indians, Manilans, and later many Chinese Cantonese. The Cantonese were recruited from Guangzhou at a price of nine dollars a month after the coalition forces occupied Canton and found that the coolies they had brought were not enough. In this year when everyone can starve to death, nine dollars is simply sky-high. It's just that the coalition forces will not pay them monthly, but will wait until the end of the war and pay them in a lump sum. Foreign devils are not stupid, if these guys receive their wages first, they will be allowed to slip away halfway. Cantonese people are not stupid, this is definitely a trick of foreign devils, such a high salary, there must be fraud in it. There is even a legend in the streets and alleys of Guangdong that foreign devils recruit Chinese, not for work, but for war, and when the war starts, they will be forced to take the lead. Therefore, no matter how the coalition forces explain it, there are very few serious people in Guangzhou and Hong Kong who are recruited. In the end, the Coalition and the missionaries were treated similarly, and most of the people they recruited were scoundrels and hooligans in society, many of whom had gang backgrounds. These people don't usually have any serious jobs, they steal and rob, they are hired to kill people, they do everything. It seems that the price offered by the coalition is more than that of those who are hired to kill people on weekdays, and it is worth believing in foreign devils and taking a risk. Moreover, many of these people were big smokers, and although the wages of the coalition army were owed first, opium was supplied free of charge at any time.

They followed all the way from Guangdong to Zhili, and they worked with the blacks every day, and there was nothing special about it. Being able to eat well, make money, and smoke opium casually also made the coolies feel very comfortable. After they set off from Guangdong, the residents of Guangzhou were also very happy, because the scum in the city was gone at once, and there were no thieves in Taiping in the territory.

Before the battle, these coolies had been nervous, for fear that the rumors were true, and they did not have the courage to fight. But the war really started, and the coolies found that the foreign devils did not need them to take the lead, but only let them watch the battle. When the battle was over, they were used to carry the wounded, not only the devils, but sometimes the wounded Qing soldiers. This discovery made the coolies very down-to-earth and excited. They happily watched as the cannons on both sides fired at each other, and they cheered excitedly, whether it was a foreign devil or a Qing soldier who was shot. However, in comparison, the Qing army died much more, but this did not affect their enthusiasm for cheering. The scene of the Monk Green's desperate charge of the Mongolian cavalry and the competition to fall to the ground under the superior firepower of the coalition forces made them feel particularly enjoyable, and the scene was much more tragic than watching the head kill on the execution ground.

After confirming their safety, the coolies worked hard as long as they were too addicted to cigarettes and worked. Carrying stretchers, digging trenches, and carrying the wounded are also hard, and they never complain that they are tired, and the moved foreigner boss is in tears. Black people are not so self-conscious, they are always disobedient, and they complain endlessly.

Although these high-performing employees are all scum among the Chinese, they still have some traditional Chinese virtues. Since the foreign devils did not let them take the lead, then the salary is reliable, and since they have earned a high salary from foreigners, they should do a good job for others and do a good job for others.

Of course, they knew that these foreigners were here to fight their emperor, and they also knew that they were the emperor's subjects, and they knew how serious people viewed them. However, they still faithfully fulfilled their duties as spectators, watched the excitement very neutrally, cheered desperately, and gave applause to the good performers. Obviously, they regarded the war of aggression against China by foreigners as a good show with no right or wrong. At the same time, they also fulfill their responsibilities as high-paid employees, and they do what their employers need. The festival of loyalty and righteousness has nothing to do with them, and they don't understand the national righteousness very well. If they are not hired as coolies, stay in the local area, the local magistrates, the gentry, who will take them seriously. In fact, if the Qing army hired them at a high price and gave them a lot of cigarettes, they could also become warriors against the foreigners, even more fierce than the flag soldiers under Leshan, but the Qing Dynasty had no money to hire them.

It's not just them, it's the people who are watching, and they don't necessarily have much hostility towards foreigners. As long as they found that the foreigners did not mean to harm, everyone came out to do business with the foreigners, and a large number of fresh goods were delivered every day in the camp of the coalition army, because they could be sold at a high price. No one has ever thought of getting some poison and putting it in it to poison these foreigners. As soon as the smoke cleared, the common people came out in groups to watch the foreign warships and troops. After some little literati read it, they also wrote their impressions. Strangely sighed, why this team of foreign devils, white people are so white, and black people are so black. It's just that between the words, there is a little regret, but I definitely can't hide my curiosity. Of course, these bystanders are limited to the area of Xinhe and the Military Grain City, where the coalition forces do not rob things and things, and the people of Beitang do not have this leisure.

None of the allied forces today asked the coolies to do this, and jumping off the river and using their heads to top the ladder was entirely spontaneous. When the blacks went back to get sandbags, the bright-headed Chinese jumped into the moat without hesitation. The coolies were tasked with helping the coalition forces cross the moat, filling sandbags and stepping on their heads. The coolies are very smart, and they choose ways to save time for their bosses and effort for themselves.

Boss Yang's eyes moistened again, how could there be such good employees in the world! With tears in their eyes, they stepped on the heads of outstanding employees and rushed into the battery.