"General, we are already surrounded by the army of the Chinese. Look at the number of people, the number of an army group. An adjutant reminded.

Wallace smoked a cigar, took a leisurely puff of cigarette and said, "Don't get in the way, India has already been reinforced by two army groups." There were also two army groups in the east that were moving closer here, and there was a huge encirclement around the perimeter of the squadron. The domestic meaning is to eat the Qing army in one bite and not consume it with them, and now the empire has problems in Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey. Next month we may have to show up in Iran to deal with the Russians. ”

"General, as far as I see. If the squadron is defeated, the military alliance agreement between Russia and China will be terminated. At that time, Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan will all be victorious without a fight, and Egypt will only need to send a colonial division over for that little thing. The adjutant said proudly.

"Haha, lovely Colonel Locke. You're so right, when the time comes, the hungry Russian wolf may invade northern China. However, we can attack the three southwestern provinces of China and Vietnam from Burma, China? Always a lamb to the slaughter! Wallace continued to smoke his cigar.

"Since Napoleonic times, artillery has been the god of war, and he can easily determine the winner of a battle. In such an offensive and defensive battle, the inferiority of the Chinese artillery is bound to be infinitely magnified, and even more soldiers fill such a vacancy. Their artillery was blocked by the mountains and could not be transported. Locke said nonchalantly.

Even within the headquarters, the British top military commander in Burma had a feeling of underestimating the enemy. Even when they have been surrounded by the squadron, the soldiers under their command have a stronger feeling of contempt for the enemy.

At the gates of the city, a few idle sentinels smoked cigarettes and leaned on each other to chat. There was no tension at all before the war, and at the same time, in a direction that could not be seen by the British observation post, mortars and shells were transported to Feng Zicai's artillery position. At a time when many artillery pieces of the same era were cast in bronze, these all-steel mortars stood out. The barrel has been painted the same dark green as the jungle of Burma, and the words "Jiangning 11 Style" are engraved on it, which represents that it was manufactured by the Jinling Machinery Bureau in the 11th year of Guangxu, and the Jiangning 11 Type also became the first generation of mortars in the Qing Dynasty.

"Junmen, we have more than 500 mortars with one artillery standard, which is enough for a little devil to drink a pot. Look, let me take the 10th battalion of this standard to be a commando! Wang Gang, who just graduated from the Army Academy last year, couldn't wait.

"Well, young people have a lot of momentum. The old man will fulfill you, but the ugly words of the general are ahead, but the old man gave a military order in front of the commander Zuo, and he can't take the head of the old man in Mandalay. If you can't take it, General Ben will cut off your heads first! Feng Zicai touched the long beard on his chest and said threateningly.

"Don't worry, old general, if you can't take Mandalay, don't shoot me, save a bullet." Our 10th battalion guaranteed that not a single person would leave the battle alive, opening the way for the army to enter Mandalay. Wang Gang said firmly.

The sun and the moon are eclipsed, and the night is low.

The night was as thick as ink that could not be dissolved at this time, and more than 2,000 people were hunched forward in such a dark and starry environment, not because they didn't want to straighten their waists, but because the dozens of kilograms on their backs pressed them down. In order to fight the mosquitoes in the jungle of Myanmar: ~ they all wear tight long clothes and trousers, and their clothes are dry and wet several times. The white color on their clothes is the salt in their sweat!

Finally, they reached the predetermined artillery position, from which to the British position was exactly the standard range of the "Jiangning Type 11".

Boxes of shells were unloaded from their shoulders and placed next to the mortars, and the shells were wiped clean and the fuses checked.

Cai Ning, the commander of the artillery standard, took out his pocket watch and looked at the time nervously, this was the first real big battle after the old general Feng Zicai entered Burma, there was only one battle with the British army in Myitkyina, but the British army was not prepared at all for that battle, and did not expect the Qing Dynasty to participate in the war, so it was not so much a battle, but a battle that the British army was about to collapse. But this time it was different, the British army had complete fortifications, and even had a firepower advantage, which was the touchstone of their new army.

And what they undertook this time was not an ordinary battle, but a textbook battle of encirclement and reinforcement. The so-called Go, while you surround me, I also surround you, to see who has more qi!

Today, the situation is the same. The Qing army surrounded the city of Mandalay, but on the periphery of the Qing army, a full 170,000 troops were concentrated in the west and south to surround it.

If Mandalay cannot be captured and the outside cannot be held, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no possibility of total annihilation. Even if you retreat to the northeast that you have occupied, you will also enter a primeval forest where you cannot get supplies.

So, this is a battle that must be won.

"The old man has spoken, who made him lose face this time, he will carry Jiangning Eleven for a month of climbing training, that is not a human job." Cai Ning said to the mortar man next to him.

The hour hand pointed to four o'clock in the morning, and at this time the commando should also be in place, Cai Ning turned around and said: "All of them are here, look at my gestures, prepare!" ”

Mortars puff up their chests, ammunition hands hold shells in the muzzle of the cannons, everyone's hands are trembling slightly, such a close distance, such a high angle of fire, as long as it is fired, it can explode on the enemy's position almost immediately!

"Put!"

A scream suddenly sounded on the originally silent battlefield, which was the sound of shells breaking through the air. The awake British soldiers subconsciously raised their heads and saw a patch of black shadows smashing towards them. The shells then unleashed their most brilliant brilliance on the British positions, and the sky to the north was illuminated in an instant.

It was as if a strong wind was blowing on the British position, and countless soldiers hiding in the trenches were blown down by this strong wind composed of metal fragments, and the trenches built by the British army did not do much for mortars with large firing angles. Even the bunker was helpless in the face of an overwhelming barrage of shells. When several shells landed on a bunker at the same time, the British soldiers inside were buried alive.

The British soldiers huddled in the trench watched in amazement as they saw the shells being smashed at them in a huge arc, the number of shells made them feel terrified, could it be that the enemy was bombarding us with 500 cannons? Oh my God, did the squadron send their entire country's artillery, or did the Chinese artillery get rich to this point.

Almost all the mortar shells smashed on the first and second line positions of the British army, so that the British firepower here completely came to a standstill. All along, the British army, which had long enjoyed using superior artillery to collapse the enemy's positions and then launch a charge, finally experienced the feeling of the opponent. The cumulonimbus shells in the sky kept falling on their positions, bringing boundless terror.

Wallace had just laid down when the cannon sounded, and today he discussed with a few staff officers about adjusting part of the defense in order to give his artillery a better advantage.

The bombardment, which seemed to be like the sky falling, shook Lieutenant Colonel Locke from his sleep, and he rolled over and sat up from the marching bed. However, before he could stand up, his command shook violently, secretly saying that the shelling of the city gate would not have such a big impact on the command in the city.

Oh my God, how many cannons should there be?

"What happened?" If it weren't for the violent shaking so real, Wallace would have thought he was still in a dream, could this be the shelling of the Chinese? Where did the Chinese get so much artillery.

At this time, a British staff officer ran to Locke and said: "Commander, the squadron has launched a sudden artillery attack on our forward positions, and the situation is now unknown. ”

Wallace took a few steps to grab the observation glass, only to see that the mountains were full of firelight outside, and between the flickering fires, it reflected that the bunkers were lifted up one by one, and the soldiers were blown to pieces. Wallace, who had always been calm, shouted almost immediately: "Fire suppression, fire suppression immediately, after the heavy artillery destroys the enemy's artillery position, immediately bombard the front 1,000 meters of the front-line position to prevent the enemy's follow-up attack." ”

A staff officer picked up the phone and whispered Locke's order.

However, ten minutes later, the British artillery group in Mandalay City still did not move at all, and Wallace said with a blushing face: "What are the artillery doing, don't they know that every second of their delay will lead to the death of one more soldier?" ”

Holding the microphone in his hand, the artillery staff officer whispered: "Sir." They said that it was impossible to find the location of the enemy's artillery group......"

Wallace was stunned and said in disbelief: "Do you know what you're talking about? ”

"The observation post on the top of the tower also did not show any signs of a large artillery group in the visual range, perhaps the enemy used ultra-long-range artillery......"

"How is this possible?" Wallace said angrily: "Burma is full of mountains, how can the Chinese bring such large-caliber artillery, and look at the explosion point, now it is obvious that hundreds of cannons are attacking us at the same time, if the Chinese have so many heavy artillery, then we will surrender directly." ”

The artillery staff officer was speechless for a moment, and Wallace looked at him and said, "You immediately go to the first and second line positions at the front." Find out the exact location of the Chinese artillery group, and then come back and report back to me. ”

The face of the artillery staff officer suddenly turned pale, and now it is obvious that the focus of the Chinese artillery bombardment is on the first and second line positions, at this time. With such heavy artillery fire, it is likely that if you go up, you will be like the soldiers who were blown away. But the soldier made it his duty to obey orders, and although he was unwilling, he ran out quickly.

Under the command of Cai Ningdi, the artillery beacons happily ravaged the first and second line positions on the hillside outside the British city. The Jiangning 11 was China's first mortar, and it was one of China's few military innovations in the 19th century. However, this is still thanks to the development of military technology in the world.