January 1, 1841, this day is the New Year's Day of China, as long as there are Chinese, this day must be a lively day, the sound of firecrackers and gongs and drums will be the main theme of this day. However, in Singapore, the sound of shells and gunfire is the main rhythm of this day.

Qin Han led a group of civil and military officials to look in the direction of the port from the lookout of Yangwei Fort. From dawn onwards, the British guns never stopped, and the ground near the harbor was full of dust and smoke, and the explosions continued one after another, and the ground around the batteries seemed to be plowed over, and there was no place to see a single bulge. In the midst of such a heavy bombardment, the fort at the port was still returning fire, thanks to the fact that the builders of the fort were cast two meters deep into the ground with reinforced concrete, in strict compliance with the intentions of the staff headquarters. Moreover, the builders built the fort into a semicircle, exposing only a firing port and lookout. From a distance, the turret looks like a huge round shield inserted into the ground, and in the middle of the shield a cannon barrel pierces out.

At this time, the battle had already been carried out. At the cost of sinking three frigates, the British destroyed 10 batteries of the Chinese defenders.

Qin Han quietly adjusted his binoculars, his face was expressionless, and the large number of British warships gathered outside the harbor could not affect the young Chinese governor.

In the lens of Qin Han's telescope, the number of British fleets has decreased, although it is still bombing, most of the transport ships have lost their trace. Ignoring the empire's East African Fleet in the Indian Ocean, the British mobilized troops and ships directly from India to retake Malacca, the gateway to East Asia.

Wang Dayong's defense area was located in the western part of the island, and his headquarters was located in a bunker. This bunker, like the Yangwei Fort in the south, has a very rustic name: Wuwei Fort. In Wang Dayong's glasses. The British army had begun to assemble on the shore, and the gunboats supporting the landing were bombarding the defenders' positions without thinking. The main guns of the British had a long range. The distance of more than 2,000 meters is still being dropped by shells from time to time, but fortunately, the anti-artillery holes have already been dug in the trenches, and the anti-artillery holes are specially reinforced with logs, and the soil excavated in the trenches has been thickened to the position of the anti-artillery holes.

It seems that the British offensive lineup this time is very strong, Wang Dayong said to Jia Feng, the chief of staff beside him: "The British are in a hurry, see if they have come, a total of twenty horizontal formations have come." There are two columns in each formation, and each column is about 100 meters wide. ”

Jia Feng also took the telescope and looked at it carefully, and when he heard Wang Dayong's words, Jia Feng said: "The British are about more than 10,000 people, and you see the rear of the horizontal formation, their artillery is coming." ”

Wang Dayong had already seen it, and he added: "There are also cavalry, it seems that they want to open a gap from Lao Tzu." ”

Indeed, the west was a suitable place for landing and attacking, and since the Chinese defenders had abandoned the beach, the disembarking British soldiers could calmly assemble on the wide shore, and some of the surrounding rocks could be hidden behind the defenders' guns when they came ashore. But now it seems that there is no need, the Chinese defenders have not fired at the British landing force, and in the thoughts of the new British Army Commander-in-Chief Yi Lu, these Chinese have been frightened silly, but it is precisely because they are frightened that the British naval fleet still has not found the artillery group of the Chinese defenders. As the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, Yilu was very dissatisfied with the attack near the port, and a full four hours and eighteen minutes had passed, and the batteries on the shore still did not stop resisting. Yilu resolutely abandoned the original landing plan and landed on the west side of Singapore Island instead. Judging from the current situation, this choice is the right one. Nearly 20,000 troops landed on the island without a single shell or bullet for the Chinese. Yilu was full of confidence in his British Army, and he believed that the Chinese would regret that he had abandoned the defense of the coast.

The bombardment of the British naval guns had already begun to sparse, and the British Army, which had completed the formation, began to advance in a horizontal line, and the entire line of British soldiers was arranged in a line to attack the length of a kilometer. The British soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, and behind them was a military band beating war drums, and the Army March played by the military band resounded passionately on the battlefield, inspiring the British soldiers to march in order, with the fearless spirit of the British Army, forward, and forward.

The rumbling explosion sounded on the battlefield, and the British commanders reacted quickly, and they shouted: "Keep in formation, continue to advance, these Chinese native artillery, hand over to the artillery brothers behind." ”

The battle of Singapore was no less tragic than the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, but it was a sunny day with good sightlines.

The sound of cannons, which had been resounding all morning, suddenly spread from the southern part of the port of Singapore Island to the western side of Fort Wuwei. Dozens of artillery pieces of the Chinese defenders roared in unison, blasting into the British offensive formation. Later, the sound of British counterattack artillery came from behind the position, and the British naval guns, which had not stopped, began to bombard more violently. The battlefield was filled with violent explosions, flying sand and rubble accompanied by stumps and blood floating in the air, tree trunks hit by solid bullets crashed down, hot shells danced death dances on the battlefield with a dark red light, and the burnt flesh attached to it emits a disgusting and unpleasant smell.

I can't help but admire the good military qualities of the British soldiers, in such a fierce battlefield, they still marched slowly and firmly to the defenders' positions with neat steps, and from time to time along the way you could see the casualties of the British troops fall in place, leaving a place of casualties on the way, but the whole huge formation is still advancing in an orderly manner.

The 1,000-meter, 500-meter, and 300-meter infantry divisions of the 31st Infantry Division have entered the trenches west of Singapore Island under the leadership of Xu Jibing. Xu Jibing, commander of the 31st Division, marched in the trench with two heralds, and from time to time the falling shells made a loud noise near the trench, and sometimes the explosion of flowering shells sounded around, and the dust and gunpowder smoke formed a faint smoke floating above the trench. The pungent smell of artillery fire was mixed with the smell of blood.

Along the trench, Xu Jibing and the three of them got into Wuwei Fort, and Wang Dayong, who was standing at the lookout, saw Xu Jibing's arrival. strode up and punched Xu Jibing, and shouted loudly: "Old Xu, here." ”

Xu Jibing's sturdy body easily took this punch down, and his iron tong-like hand held Wang Dayong and said, "Are you kid also afraid?" ”

"I'm afraid of a ball, Britain can only step over Lao Tzu's corpse, and it will never be possible to slip away from Lao Tzu's side."

"Commander Wang, the British cavalry is ready to charge."

With Jia Feng's voice. All eyes were on the battlefield. I saw a group of about 1,000 British cavalry, divided into several columns before and after. Roll up a low puff of dust on the battlefield and trot.

At this time, the entire British offensive formation was at the forefront of the position, and there was still a distance of about 200 meters from the defender's trench, and the cavalry array was about 150 meters away.

The voice of the British cavalry lieutenant colonel was heard far and wide on the battlefield: preparetoet &–marbsp; Jia Feng recognized the mouth of the British lieutenant colonel, and slowly said to the people at the command post: "The commander of the British cavalry is saying, prepare to charge!" The sword is unsheathed! Take small steps! ”

Wang Dayong had already turned to the lookout, he looked at the British cavalry and scolded: "Grandma." It's against you. ”

"Someone!" As Wang Dayong shouted, an adjutant came to his side.

Wang Dayong's gaze looked at Xu Jibing's position again, and without waiting for him to speak, Xu Jibing said: "Old Wang, Governor Qin has given an order. It's up to you here. After speaking, Xu Jibing quickly saluted and said: "Xu Jibing, commander of the 31st Infantry Division, reports to the commander of the theater of operations, please give an order." ”

The matter was urgent, and Wang Dayong was not polite, he immediately ordered: "Lao Xu, you immediately send some people to the No. 4 Defense Area, which is the frontal position of the British cavalry. The rest of your troops are temporarily in Sector 7 and awaiting orders. ”

"I'll do it right away." Xu Jibing replied and walked out of the command post quickly.

At this time, Jia Feng said at the lookout: "The British cavalry has already advanced quickly. ”

Follow Jia Feng's gaze. I saw that the British cavalry had reached a position of 100 meters, their degree was already much faster than just now, the dust on the ground had risen a little higher, these cavalrymen were wearing cuirasses, holding a straight sword up to a meter long in their hands, wearing a helmet, the helmet was topped with copper ornaments and horsehair, and if you look closely, you can still see that the British cavalry has a pistol pinned to his waist. Compared to the revolvers equipped in the squadron, these cavalry ground pistols can only be loaded with one bullet.

The British cavalry advanced quickly. In a matter of moments, they had advanced to about 50 meters.

The sound of horses' hooves and the thud of gunfire drowned out everything in an instant. It also drowned out the cavalry lieutenant colonel shouting: "Charge! (Charge!) ）”

Although the lieutenant colonel's command could not be heard, it was from the degree of the British cavalry. The lieutenant officer at the lookout could still sense that the British cavalry had begun to make a final charge. At this time, all the trumpeters in the cavalry sounded the trumpet of the charge, and the cavalrymen drove their horses to the highest height. The front cavalry moved the tip of their sword forward in an assassination motion, and the rear cavalry remained aloft. The British cavalry of this assault had good horsemanship, and they remained relatively intact in formation during the charge at Gadu.

In order to match the cavalry charge, the British infantry also sped up. Trumpets and drums on the battlefield were heard one after another, but they were soon drowned out by the sound of gunfire and explosions. The British infantry had already begun firing at the defenders at a distance of 100 meters, and with each round of fire, the British kept moving forward.

At this time, the British cavalry had already rushed into the position of the Chinese defenders, and before entering the position, the British cavalry not only suffered from the fire of muskets, but also caused great damage to them at the same time with bamboo sticks and rejecting wood on the ground.

Many horses were stabbed by sharpened knives like bamboo sticks, and suddenly slowed down, and the huge bodies of the horses fell the rejecting wood, and the pupils of the horses pierced into the soft abdomen by the sharp logs dilated, and the mouth foamed at the mouth, and let out the mournful cry of "shhhhhh The riders fell heavily in front of the position, and the fallen riders were stabbed to death by the bayonets of the defenders.

"Grenade ready!"

"Ignition!"

"Throw!"

With a hoarse shout, the grenade filled with high explosives flew out of the position like drops with the last "throw" command, and a tragic explosion sounded on the way of the cavalry charge, this round of explosions caused great casualties, but told the advancing cavalry that they had pounced into the trenches.

Despite the heavy casualties, there were still quite a few lucky British riders who crashed into the defenders' trenches on the flesh-paved path. More British cavalry abandoned their horses and leaped into the narrow trenches to fight, occasionally with the occasional rider who was very good at riding,* leading the horses in a short charge through the trenches, slashing left and right with his long, straight swords. The Chinese soldiers were not lambs to the slaughter, they stabbed their horses in the neck with bayonets, and shot at the British with bullets in the chambers of their guns, and for a time the position was in chaos, and the British cavalry and Chinese infantry were strangled together.