Chapter 21—Blood Stains the Earth (2)

Because of the great disgrace in front of the soldiers of other countries, and then at the request of the British, the artillery carried by the coalition forces launched a long artillery bombardment.

For a while, the sound of artillery rumbled and shook the wilderness, and the earth bloomed with clouds of smoke from explosions. It's just that this old tactic has not produced more results. The trenches, made of dirt and logs, were stronger than they looked. The coalition forces were carrying some light field guns, and these field guns with a caliber of less than 100mm bombarded the fortifications that had already been built, and only blew up some gaps.

By the time the second wave of coalition soldiers rushed upward, the soldiers who had retreated into the second trench quickly entered the first line of defense. The crisp firing of rifles sounded again from the trenches. Rows and rows of coalition soldiers were cut down like wheat, and blood smeared the ground in a matter of moments.

It was the Russians who were sent this time, because the British had already died, and it was the turn of people from other countries to die. Known as the Tsar's "grey animals", these Russians were tough and fearless of death. People who live in the country of Russia can't survive if they don't have a tough temperament, and those who are not tough enough can't survive. As for being fierce and not afraid of death, or it is better to describe it as numb.

Whether to be killed by a bullet in the front, or to be killed by a bullet in the back, or to die in any way, is not a question that needs to be answered well. The gray animals screamed "Ula" with a loud cry, and then plunged headlong into the hell of fire.

The queue of 4,000 Russian troops was several miles wide, but the trenches on the side of the Black Dragon Society were longer. Even these Russian soldiers were brave and good at fighting and had high morale, but they had to pay a great price to fight into the first line of defense.

Among the coalition officers who watched the battle behind, a Russian major general said proudly: "In front of the bayonets of our Russians, there is no position that cannot be rushed." ”

Another Russian captain said, "Yes! The bullet is a fool, the bayonet is a hero! ”

The British sneered, in the Crimea, the Russians' bayonets were crushed in front of the guns of the Anglo-French army. But now everyone is in the same trench, and they didn't say anything, just said lightly, "Congratulations to the Russian friends for their great work again!" ”

Just when the triumphant Russian ** officials raised their heads, the earth-shattering shouts of killing sounded behind the defense line. Countless Chinese with red scarves jumped out with large knives, spears and other weapons, and fought with the Russian troops who rushed in. At this time, the fighters on the Black Dragon Society's position and the infantry on the other defensive lines began to block their shots, blocking the follow-up troops of the Russian army from the battlefield.

Then, the Russian army, which had not yet been invincible, was quickly turned into corpses all over the ground under the siege of several times the enemy. Although these Russians are brave and good at fighting, they are not the tenacious humanoids of the Japanese army. When he saw that the situation was not right, he shouted "the wind is blowing".

As they evacuated the battlefield, they were subjected to another round of gunfire. By the time they returned to their starting positions, less than 1,000 of the original 4,000 people remained, and they were disabled.

"The soldiers of your country are really brave!" A British officer said to the Russian major general who had spoken earlier: "One charge has caused casualties like this." "One of the great policies of the British was to limit the expansion of the Russians, and it was a pleasure to see the Russians dead and wounded everywhere.

The new commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Wadsey, came out and said, "Okay, there is no need to say these words. Let's find a way to take down the position in front of you. ”

Wadsey said to the Japanese military attache who was watching the battle: "You have fought with the Qing army in Korea before, and have you ever encountered such a position?" ”

The military attache sent by the Japanese army was Major General Michiharu Umezawa, who later shined in the Russo-Japanese War, but he is still only a large sa. Umezawa listened to the interpreter's words and replied respectfully: "During the Korean War, the Qing army did not build such defensive positions. According to our intelligence, these people are not the regular troops of the Qing State, but their civilian armed forces. ”

"Civilian armed forces? Is it the militia like that? ”

"Yes." "Many of the regular armies of the Qing Dynasty were converted from the militia. Including the Nie Shicheng troops we defeated in Tianjin, they were transformed from the militia armed forces of the Huai army. The enemy in front of him is said to be the Black Dragon Society, which has only recently risen in the Qing Kingdom. ”

"Black Dragon Society?"

"Well," Umezawa Michiji didn't know how to explain the unique Taoist system in the East to this German general, so he could only say vaguely: "That's also a kind of militia." ”

"Is it just that the militia has such combat effectiveness? It seems that the power of the Qing Kingdom is stronger than we think. ”

Wadsey had only recently arrived in China and had not been involved in a series of previous battles. The news he had seen in the newspapers he could collect was that the coalition army had won a great victory, and that the Qing army had been defeated and fled.

But when he arrived in Tianjin, he found that some of the newspapers were simply nonsense. There is no need to look at any other information, just look at the hospitals full of wounded soldiers to know that the war situation is by no means as favorable as the newspapers and government officials boast about.

However, he only thinks that these braided Qing people may be similar to the nomads of Central Asia, brave and fierce enough, but the weapons and equipment cannot keep up with the times. Now looking at it this way, where is this level of nomads? This is simply not the same as the armies of some European countries.

I heard that the Qing country had 40,000 people, and even according to the conscription ratio of 1 percent, it was a terrible country. Fortunately, I heard that there is no industry in this country, and it is estimated that it is not able to arm so many troops.

Wadsey was not a traditional Prussian officer, but more like a political bureaucrat than a pure soldier. When I encounter a hard bone, the first thing I think of is not how to gnaw the bone off, but I will think of some roundabout means to deal with it, such as political skills or something.