Bayonets are like a forest, and bullets are like rain.

The walls of the streets and alleys that surround the western half of Gyeongbokgung Palace have all been pushed open through large and small openings. And the crowd of people in yellow military uniforms is tumbling forward.

The Praetorian Guards were indeed inexperienced, and the initial assault was concentrated at the exits of several lanes, where the fire of the Janissaries was also concentrated. When the number and impulse of the people could not overwhelm the counterattack firepower of the army, it became inevitable that they would be suppressed again and again. Although Zhang Xuzhou urgently commanded the troops to extend to the two flanks, the impact path was still limited, and it was still impossible to achieve a breakthrough. It wasn't until this equally young adjutant general was awarded the rank of general that he was ready to move forward by himself with red eyes, and as a result, he led the officers and soldiers under his command to tear down the walls of those houses that were not very strong, but unexpectedly achieved the effect.

A skirmish-like white-bladed assault was formed on the west side of Gyeongbokgung Palace!

The distance between the two sides is not far away, and street battles have always been almost face-to-face. The army was a little more experienced and paid attention to the blockade of the impact road by firepower. But now what is waiting for is the impact of almost all the Praetorian Guards!

In the era when machine guns had not yet become the backbone of infantry firepower, infantry white-knuckle assault has always been an effective tactic for modern armies. But this kind of tactic, Xu Yifan has repeatedly emphasized, for the army's discipline, obedience, and tenacity, there are extremely high requirements. Without hard training and strong nerves, as well as subconscious obedience to discipline, this tactic cannot be fought. The casualties in white-knuckle combat are never higher than in firepower battles, but they often cause another army to collapse suddenly!

In this attack, an army that has only been in the army for a long time, lacks experience, and has not been sharpened enough, but launched a brazen white-knuckle attack, which is also caused by various reasons.

The backbone officers of this army are the Beiyang Cadets and the Nanyang Cadets. Either Xu Yifan brought it out from the thorns along the way, or the entire family was saved by Xu Yifan from the Nanyang riots. They have not been polluted too much by the world, and they are training in such a simple environment as North Korea, and their loyalty to Xu Yifan is unimaginably high for outsiders.

Xu Yifan handed over the task to them, and they desperately wanted to complete it, even if it was to give up their lives!

The morale and cohesion of this army had begun to take shape in the five days of miraculous forced march, when everyone supported each other and struggled forward, in the struggle against heavy rain, mud, fatigue, hunger, and hardship. The officers took the lead and marched with red eyes, and the soldiers naturally followed! Not to mention the harsh discipline and absolute obedience that has been instilled in a few months of training.

The army is a group of courageous people, and the most backbone class is the junior officers. After a period of training, the soldiers have long developed a knee-jerk reaction to obey the orders of the officers, not to mention that these officers are taking the lead!

Another point is that these recruits have only been completing their nurturing training for a short time, and their training has just begun. Xu Yifan whimsically stuffed the white-knuckle combat training into the recruit training training, this white-knuckle combat can be said to be the most familiar combat method for these recruits subconsciously in a panic, low visibility, and the panic of seeing so many casualties for the first time!

So, bayonets are like a forest!

The firepower of the army to return fire was very fast, but even if they were called elite, they were newly trained troops who did not have much actual combat experience. And at this time, they did not develop an absolute psychological advantage over the Qing [***] team!

The junior officers of the army looked at the bayonets in the straggler line and did not know where to point the command knife and in what direction to concentrate the fire. The soldiers only fired spontaneously, and the fire dispersed at once. But even so, the rain of bullets poured from the barricades and from the palace walls still made many officers and soldiers who rushed in front roll to the ground.

In a short distance, before the soldiers could finish firing a bullet, the bayonet had already reached in front of their noses. A young Praetorian Guard officer's face was almost distorted, and his body was already painted in several places, and a soldier in front of him was hurriedly pulling the bolt of a golden hook rifle, and when he saw the bayonet stretching out in the cold light, he opened his mouth wide and was about to exclaim, but the bayonet had already reached through his mouth, and a thrust came out of the back of his head!

The officer dropped the rifle in his hand, lifted the six-wheeled pistol hanging from his chest with the rope, and had already climbed over the barricade with one hand, and several soldiers were so frightened that they dropped their guns and retreated, and a second lieutenant officer screamed and waved a Western command knife and pounced, and the Praetorian Guard officer had a young face from the South Seas, tanned, and his eyebrows were high, and he pulled the trigger of the pistol and fired out all six bullets in the magazine, and pounced on the body of the second lieutenant, and he shook and dropped the command knife. actually pounced on the Nanyang student officer and stuck his hands. Only then did the soldier come over with his rifle without a bayonet and wanted to hit him with the butt of his rifle. Then I saw that several Praetorian Guard soldiers and officers on the barricade had turned over, and a few spikes overturned them. The officers and soldiers of Kumamoto Towntai screamed strangely, brandishing their rifles to resist, but only one corpse was heavily knocked down before the blades were exchanged. The rest were red-eyed, and they scuffled with the growing Praetorian Guards. According to the soldiers and officers guarding the palace wall, they did not dare to fire their rifles, and when they shot down, they did not know whether it was the enemy or their own people.

The training of the new army, at least in this era, did not fully attach importance to white-knuckle assault. In the Southwest Counterinsurgency War, which they participated in when the new army was first established, they were once killed by the sword drawing team of the remnants of the southwest samurai with foreign guns. Talk about white blades and change color. In the era that Xu Yifan once experienced, it was not until after the First Sino-Japanese War that the Qing army, which had a numerical superiority, was defeated several times by the army with white-knuckle impacts, that it began to re-attach importance to this aspect of training, and it was further strengthened after the Russo-Japanese War. Until ignoring the rapid development of firepower later, it has been going rigidly.

After a short and bloody fight, the remnants of the officers and soldiers on the barricades had collapsed, turned around and ran. The red-eyed Praetorian Guards chased after him and rushed towards the palace gate. Some of the soldiers were dizzy, ran under the palace wall, and were chased after them in a few steps, and the bayonet came from behind, nailing them to the palace wall in one fell swoop!

Zhang Xuzhou also climbed into the barricade, his arm was still grazed by bullets, he wanted to pounce on it several times in person, but he was protected by loyal guards, watching the soldiers under his command still chase and kill those who had collapsed with red eyes, and the army on the palace wall was still watching blankly, and when he was shocked by this bloody struggle and couldn't react for a while, he immediately threw his arms and shouted: "Shoot at the wall!" Rush open the palace gates! Shoot! Shoot! As he spoke, he pulled out a rifle that was stuck in the corpse and bent the bayonet, and slammed it against the palace wall. The guards around him reacted at the same time, and they hit a Qi Fang at once.

A few of the soldiers who were still standing at the head of the wall turned over and fell, but more people woke up, and one of the officers also roared hoarsely, and the army at the head of the wall could no longer control the robes underneath, and it suddenly started. The palace wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace is only two or three meters high, and the two sides are separated by such a close distance, and they shoot up and down! The rain of bullets and fires poured back and forth, and on and off the walls, people were turning on their backs. There were heavy casualties on both sides. Some of the Praetorian Guards did not participate in the shooting, but chased the fleeing Yue army and rushed into the barricade blocking the palace gate, and they couldn't tell too much direction, and with their last breath they swept along the palace wall to both sides, still using bayonets!

The garrisons at the head of the wall just now were frightened by the fierce fighting scene that was close at hand. When the bayonets came again, under the attack from both sides, the rest of the people jumped off the palace wall one after another, and ran towards Gyeongbokgung Palace like headless flies. Without the suppression of the firepower on the wall, more and more Praetorian Guards poured into the palace, and it was too late to form a team at this time, and everyone had a thought in their hearts. The enemy in front of you can be defeated by Lao Tzu!

It was almost with this will that the exhausted Praetorian Guard officers and soldiers were supported, and they followed the pursuit with rifles, preparing to sweep the entire Gyeongbokgung Palace. Zhang Xuzhou was still a little sensible, and shouted while running with a rifle: "Find King Li of North Korea!" Find Concubine Min! ”

With their last breath, the officers and soldiers rushed through the Chongju Square to the west before entering the entrance of the Inner Temple Square, and the people in front stopped their steps.

Zhang Xuzhou followed a few steps behind the officers and soldiers who were rushing to the front, rushed behind them, brandished a pistol that he didn't know where to pick up, and was about to reprimand, his eyes turned. The body that was still boiling with blood just now was almost completely cold.

The three bridges in the inner hall are the square of the inner hall, and the four lower corridors connect the inner hall buildings such as Jiaotai Palace, Ciqing Palace, Qinghui Building, and Xiangyuan Pavilion. On the empty blue brick square of Sanqiaoyuan, hundreds of soldiers stood neatly in the black!

The first platoon lay on the ground, the second half crouched, the third platoon stood upright, and all the muzzles were pointed at the dozens of Praetorian Guard officers and soldiers who rushed over. At the head and tail of each column of firing queues, there are officers who press the formation, and the command knife is suspended in the air, just waiting for the order to shoot!

Why are there so many troops here, if they were all guarding Gyeongbokgung Palace just now, adding the firepower of these hundreds of rifles, their white-edged charge would be more ferocious, and they wouldn't want to kill Gyeongbokgung Palace!

Zhang Xuzhou didn't have time to think about it, he just waved his hand violently, and his roaring voice was already deformed: "Hurry back!" ”

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With so many troops gathered here, it was not intended to set a trap for the Praetorian Guards.

War has always been shrouded in the fog of the battlefield. Gunshots rang out from all sides of Seoul, but it was the minister of Sugimura who was sitting in Gyeongbokgung Palace. Lieutenant General Kawakami was to stay in the legation with the cable telegraph, and keep in touch with the country. The task of Minister Sugimura is to be optimistic about King Li and Concubine Min and let them quickly comply.

When the Praetorian Guards descended from heaven and entered Seoul, no one knew how many Qing troops came. Sugimura's subconscious reaction was to leave more than 100 people to guard the Jiaotai Hall to watch Princess Li Wang Min to the death, and at the same time send the rest of the people to the palace wall and to the barricades to guard. No matter how tight the fight was in the west, Sugimura didn't dare to send more than 100 people out for reinforcements, who knew if there would be more Qing troops in the east?

It wasn't until Kawakami hurried to take up the town and brought the last part of the army in Seoul that even the legation was empty. Kawakami arrived, but before he had time to change his subordinates, the western garrison army, which lacked strength, had been crushed by the white-bladed charge led by Zhang Xuzhou. Kawakami only had time to gather all his forces in front of the Jiaotai Hall and wait for the Praetorian Guards to pounce.

Both sides are fighting in chaos, making mistakes in and out. Zhang Xuzhou took his men and horses to kill in front of the main force assembled by the army!

The gunfire rang out like a torrential rain, and even the shooting order given by the officer was suddenly covered up. The smoke of gunpowder and gunpowder filled the square of Sanqiaoyuan, and it was easy to rush to kill the Praetorian Guards who could see the Jiaotai Palace, and suddenly fell down in response. Zhang Xuzhou was also shot in the shoulder, and the guard Goshha who was blocking him was either dead or wounded. He could only give the order to return fire while retreating.

He had hundreds of brothers under his command, nearly half of them were killed or wounded, the ranks were disorganized, and he was exhausted to the extreme. Even if he still has the strength and spirit to impact, it will never be possible to defeat this advantageous army with a white-edged charge again! What he can do now is to retreat with the remnants, withdraw from Gyeongbokgung Palace, reorganize the garrison, and wait for Chu Wanli to send reinforcements.

The Praetorian Guards retreated, and at the same time, they each found the pillared pools in the palace to rely on to fight back. Under the command of the officers, the army marched slowly in a perfect queue, approaching dozens of paces, and then stopped to play a few in unison. After a few rounds, the Praetorian Guards had retreated step by step to the entrance where they were about to rush in. On the square again, there are corpses of the Praetorian Guards and the Yue Army, but now the host and guest have completely changed their position. Zhang Xuzhou was shot in the leg again, limping back while retreating with the first battalion. The rain of bullets screamed and flew around the palace of the Joseon royal palace, and there was a mess everywhere. Some of the wounded soldiers were dragged and dragged backwards by their brothers, and those who could not be rescued were given a shot or a bayonet to them when the army passed by!

Zhang Xuzhou had already retreated to the door with the remnants, his teeth were gritting, but there was nothing he could do. No one thought that the Yue army would have such a strong force in Seoul!

When the soldiers were still preparing to resist by relying on the palace gate, at this time, gunshots rang out again behind them and on both wings! With a clamp of firepower on three sides, there were a lot more corpses at the gate of the palace. Looking back, the streets and alleys where they relied on the impact just now had already risen with billowing smoke, and many fireheads had already rushed onto the thatched roofs, and the tongues of fire spewed out, and the retreat route was even blocked!

And on the wings, there were also dense bullets pounced.

There is actually an army! And they surrounded their team, which had suffered more than half of the casualties!

Zhang Xuzhou glanced back to the west and took a deep breath. He threw the rifle that had run out of bullets in his hand to the ground, and the force was so great that the butt of the rifle fell into two at once. He pulled out his command knife: "Lao Tzu is dead here!" Lord Xu will take revenge on us! ”

Kawakami was at the back of the team, under the heavy protection of the guards, and also saw the tall Qing [***] official. The tired, haggard, and scarred Qing soldiers and officers gathered around him, and none of them had the intention of throwing away their guns and running away. Those junior officers wearing military boots even put on a posture of breaking the boat. The rain of bullets that returned fire from the opposite side did not abate in the slightest, although their men fell one after another.

Kawakami just took a deep breath.

The situation is finally back under control...... No matter how these capable Qing [***] teams came to be, they are doomed to perdition here......

A bullet passed very close to his ear, and Kawakami didn't bend his waist, but just lightly ordered Ota Shaosa, the captain of the Kumamoto Zhentai Advance Team next to him: "Don't take prisoners." ”

Datian, who was also scarred by battle, nodded respectfully and listened. Kawakami smiled, turned around and was about to walk back towards Jiaotai Hall.

King Li and Concubine Min must be protected in a different place! These soldiers are obviously the new army trained by the guy surnamed Xu in Pyongyang, but I don't know if there will be people to kill them!

However, as long as he is Kawakami, all this will not go off the rails!

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"Dare to ask ...... adults?"

Chu Wanli quickly glanced at the telegraph room, and the North Korean staff were still crackling and sending telegrams. Seeing Rong Lu come in, he unconsciously slowed down, was swept away by Chu Wanli's gaze, and quickly lowered his head.

Then Chu Wanli changed his smile to Rong Lu.

The noise outside the door became louder and louder, and more Ronglu attachés poured into the courtyard of the official office of the water and electricity telegraph room, all embarrassed, but they were all scolding. Rong Lu rushed into Seoul like a madman, but they followed this Rong Lord with their heads up! Many timid people simply stayed outside Seoul and sneaked out of Lord Rong's team. Fortunately, the anxious Lord Rong didn't find out.

Those who followed him are all heroes who share weal and woe. North Korea made a big fuss twice, didn't they all calm down? No matter how much trouble the North Koreans make, they don't dare to hurt the angels of the kingdom, right? It's all a credit for the future. However, these guys who followed Rong Lu to gamble on their lives are now looking in the direction of Gyeongbokgung Palace one by one, and the tighter the gunshots, the more empty their hearts become. Seeing that the house of the water and electricity office was sturdy, one by one I wanted to squeeze inside.

The soldiers wanted to stop it, but they really dared to do it. Seeing that these attachés are all colored tops, and even the most beloved bird of Rong Lu is the top of the five-grade gong brand of flowering coral, the soldiers can only block it with their bodies. The more they scolded, the more unbearable it became.

Looking at Chu Wanli's smirk, Rong Lu still didn't know what to expect? He rushed back to Seoul at the risk of danger, and went straight to the Seoul water and electricity telegraph office without even going to the Bong'en Bureau. He is not here because of the chaos in Seoul, and now he must send the news back in time! As a plenipotentiary minister, if there is another coup d'état similar to the Jiashen Incident, he can't afford this responsibility!

They once encountered the Praetorian Guards rushing towards Seoul, and Rong Lu only had one thought, to rush back as soon as possible, seize this army, and quickly put down the chaos in Korea. Then he is not only innocent, but also meritorious. Any responsibility can be pushed down on the head of Xu Yifan, who pulled Qingjun to Pyongyang. This is also his only chance!

As soon as he arrived at the telegraph room and saw the Praetorian Guards garrisoned here, Rong Lu was so excited that he was almost about to collapse. God will not die, he is glorious!

Looking at Chu Wanli's smirk, he didn't care at all, now the life-saving straw is this kid!

"Chu Xietong, Lord Chu! Now the great credit is in front of you. Thou hast obeyed my moderation and put an end to the troubles. I will make sure you will be promoted to Admiral! Xu Yifan's current position is yours! This new army of the imperial court is all yours! If there is half a lie, I will be thundered in the sky! ”

Rong Lu said with tears in his eyes, Chu Wanli didn't expect that Rong Lu would put down all the shelves of the minister as soon as he came, and he would be so heartfelt to him. He just smiled, but he didn't speak.

Rong Lu's eyes flashed, but he looked at the few North Korean employees who were buried in making telegrams. After a pause, he strode over. The guards behind Chu Wanli wanted to block it, but Chu Wanli smiled and shook his head to block it.

Rong Lu walked over, several North Korean staff members were so frightened that they stopped their hands, Rong Lu picked up the manuscript of the telegram on the table, glanced at it twice, and turned his head to look at Chu Wanli: "How did Xu Yifan know that Seoul was going to be in chaos?" How do you know that I, Youngrok, will leave Seoul? I sent you here at night just to bring down my Ronglu, right? I'm telling you, that's wishful thinking! ”

He made a loud voice, and violently tore the draft of the telegram prepared by Chu Wanli to shreds, and raised it all over the room.

"Chu Xietong! I'll tell you the truth, the imperial court is going to Xu Yifan and then quickly! I won't hide it from you now, the only thing I rely on to turn over is you. The Manchurians speak cheerfully, you helped me, I will ensure that you will be prosperous and rich for the rest of your life! As long as the Praetorian Guard is in the hands of you and me, you will be in the position of governor in the future, and it will only be a matter of ten years, and you will only be wasted for a lifetime with Xu Yifan! Good boy, full of ambitions, are you ready to waste like this? Now it's up to you to decide! ”

The two looked at each other, but they didn't notice it, and there was another sound of horses' hooves and footsteps outside, and the scolding of those attachés quietly quieted down.

Chu Wanli looked at Rong Lu, and after a while, he smiled faintly: "Lord Rong, we don't know that you are not in Seoul, and Lord Xu is not an unpredictable prophet, and he knows that there is a riot in Seoul...... He just sent us men over and walked 800 miles in five days, mountain roads in torrential rain and lightning...... It's just to keep the screen of our country! As for how to judge that there is a riot here, the lower officials don't have to tell the adults...... In fact, when we arrived here, if Lord Rong was still on a mission to serve the Grace Department, and was trying his best to quell the chaos, and his strength was insufficient, why wouldn't we be driven by Lord Rong? ”

He reached out and stretched out a handful of things. In his hand was the pile of burnt and deformed tops.

"It's a pity that we only found this one in the Feng'en Bureau's Qin Mission...... But Lord Rong, you are safe and sound. I know that you went to Pyongyang and sent Yuan Shikai to seize power, so you went out in person...... Leave the great cause of Seoul Xuanfu behind! It was not you Lord Rong who rebelled in the Pinghan City Rebellion, but Lord Xu who wanted to go quickly after the imperial court! The lower officials are just telling the truth to the court and Beiyang! ”

He stared at the North Korean staff and said coldly: "Send the telegram!" If you don't have a manuscript, I'll write you another copy! ”

Rong Lu's face turned pale, and he suddenly took out a six-wheeled pistol from his arms, and pointed at Chu Wanli's head: "Rong Laozi, see how dare you!" Even if you are killed, these Qiu Ba under your subordinates dare to bare their teeth at Rong Laozi? You're not worth anything! I don't know what to lift! I am the envoy of the imperial court, and these are my soldiers of the Qing Dynasty! It's the dog of the Aixin Jueluo family! ”

Chu Wanli still had a smile on the corner of his mouth, and walked forward slowly, without the slightest intention of stopping, he shrugged his shoulders: "Lord Rong loves to be a dog, no one stops you, and your subordinates will be spared." Can Lord Rong shoot or not? The shooting was fired, and my soldiers dispersed in a hurry, so Lord Rong went to calm the chaos by himself, and then killed Lord Xu in Pyongyang, then whatever you wanted...... Please let me, the telegram is not yet finished! ”

Outside, a tired voice sounded with the same smile, but with a tiredness that could not be concealed: "Who said I was in Pyongyang? You kid walked 800 miles, and I didn't walk a foot less! ”

(To be continued)