Chapter 29: Retreat (4)

Many military strategists have said that it is very difficult to organize an offensive, but it is more difficult to organize a retreat than to organize an offensive.

Because when attacking, the soldiers know that they are the attacking side, and they will subconsciously think that their side will be stronger. But when it comes time to retreat, the situation will be reversed. When retreating, the soldiers' spirits are tense, they will feel depressed, and those who fall behind will fear that the enemy will catch up and their comrades in front will not come to their rescue. There have been many times in history when people have been pursued in retreats, and sometimes even if there are no pursuers at all, they will suddenly collapse.

Therefore, there are many generals who can command the army to attack and achieve victory, but only a few can achieve defeat without dispersing, and rout without chaos. This very small part, as long as it does not fall halfway, can become a shining star sooner or later.

The Black Dragon King, who was reluctant to attack the opponent's infantry position with cavalry, simply left the battlefield with her men and returned to the starting position. Then, the non-infantry near the Langfang railway station began their retreat, or rather a change of direction.

The evacuation of the Black Dragon Society began with an attack. As the first rays of sunlight hit the position, three green flares rose into the air. Then, the cannons, pushed into the front-line gun emplacements, fired all the shells out as fast as they could.

The rate of fire of ten shells per minute allowed the fire of dozens of cannons to produce a salvo of hundreds of cannons, and the blast of air tore the human body within the killing range into rag-like pieces. In the previous battle, it was the coalition side that attacked, and the Black Dragon Society side defended, which made everyone have a kind of thinking inertia.

Shouldn't the side that is inferior in strength defend well? What kind of trouble is it to suddenly jump out and attack? Wadsey was shaken out of bed by the guards, and as the commander of the coalition forces, he naturally didn't just find a tent or simply spend the night in the anti-artillery holes of the trenches, like the mud legs on the other side. His Excellency the Lieutenant General ate a chicken roasted mushroom last night, drank a few glasses of wine, and heard that he was still holding a Qing woman who had rolled a sheet for a long time. But let's say it's all shameless slander! Of course, although His Excellency the lieutenant general is a little older, he is very strong, and it is true that he can roll the sheets for a long time. But having the ability doesn't mean that you can do it, Wadsey rubbed his waist, glared at the guard, and said, "You bastard, what do you want to do?" ”

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General! The enemy is attacking us! ”

"Attack?" Wadsey was not fully awake yet, "Where are we attacking?" ”

"Your Excellency!" The guards had to raise their voices, "It's the enemy attacking us!" ”

"What?" A shell that landed nearby made Wadsey wake up instantly, "Who is firing the cannon indiscriminately?" ”

"Your Excellency, is the enemy attacking us?"

Listening to the explosions outside, Wadsey finally believed what the guards said, and he pulled a piece of clothing and draped it over his body, and rushed out the door without even bothering that his hairy thighs were still exposed. The crimson light continued to bloom in the environment before it was completely dawn, and caused a lot of fire.

His Excellency the Lieutenant General grabbed an officer who was hurrying by, and shouted: "What is the situation at this time? And what about the troops on guard at the front? ”

The officer who was being held here glared angrily at the old man in front of him, who was not well dressed when he went out, and who was old and liked to walk birds, and was about to fill his old fist, when he suddenly recognized that this was the commander of the coalition forces, His Excellency Lieutenant General Wadsey, and then put down his fist in a curtled manner, and said: "Your Excellency, there are many enemies, and they took advantage of the darkness to crawl in front of us, and then they followed the cannonballs to kill us. ”

"And what about the troops we are fighting back?"

"Well, there are no troops to fight back. Most of the officers were gone, and now everyone had to hold their positions. ”

"Aren't there either?" Wadsey scolded angrily, and actually remembered that he was not actually in the command, so he had to change the subject and said: "Then"

"My name is Second Lieutenant Bryant, Your Excellency Lieutenant General!"

"All right, Second Lieutenant Bryant, I order you to go and find the cavalry troops, and tell them to leave any other orders and attack quickly. Also, let the artillery unit fire at the outside as fast as possible! Do you understand? ”

"Yes, Your Excellency. Let the cavalry units attack, let the artillery fire! ”

"Very well, Second Lieutenant Bryant, do this well, and I will consider applying to the General Staff for a medal for you."

"Yes!" The second lieutenant gave a military salute and ran away as fast as he could.

The shouts of killing grew louder and louder, and the entire station began to be chaotic. All the soldiers were desperately shooting at the moving figures, and this hysterical approach allowed them to kill and wound many of their own people, but it also stopped the advance of the attackers.

The Black Dragon Society officer who led the team saw that he could no longer take advantage of it, so he asked the accompanying trumpeter to blow the military horn. Then, the soldiers in brown uniforms receded like a tide, leaving only a mess and a large number of wounded.

The attack burned a lot of baggage of the coalition forces, broke through several positions, and consumed a lot of ammunition for the coalition soldiers. But the main result of the battle was that the coalition forces had to retreat thirty miles before they set up camp and position again, and it took two days to put their troops together. At the same time, they had to set up defensive positions again to avoid another sneak attack.

Two days later, the Eight-Nation Coalition returned with the heavy artillery that had just been transported. Langfang Railway Station, a place where corpses were once beaten all over the field, except for a small number of troops left behind, was already empty.

From the outside, the position is no different from the previous day. The coalition forces were also reluctant to send infantry up to send their heads, so they honestly fired round after round of heavy artillery, bombarding the positions of the first line to a pulp, and only then sent infantry to attack.

When the infantrymen, armed with their bayonet rifles, cautiously rushed to the position, they found that the entire position was empty, except for some missing ammunition and food. Although it was a little strange that the enemy had run away, the soldiers cheered.

The officers in the rear also wondered for a long time about this change, but the army used it for war. Since you can't figure it out, don't think about it. At the urging of the officers, the Coalition infantry recaptured the second line of defense at a rapid pace.

Then, with a loud roar, dozens of tons of gunpowder buried under the second line of battle were detonated. Thousands of coalition soldiers were sent to the western sky with this roar. Since none of these people believe in the Buddha, then they will go to heaven or hell.