"Retreat to the second line of trenches!" Xu Yanqing knew that there was no chance of a third round of salvos, because if they stayed and continued to reload, after they finished loading and carrying out the third round of salvos, it was estimated that they would jump into the trenches and engage in hand-to-hand combat with their own side directly.

And now that his side is at a disadvantage, it is irrational to engage in large-scale hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, and he will hold out until the arrival of the 7th Infantry Division!

Fortunately, this situation was considered when the fortress was built, and there were not two trenches for defense, but two, and the loss of this trench did not mean that the whole line collapsed.

When the second volley was fired, the soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division quickly ran back to the second trench a hundred meters later, and then made the final reload again!

After those British soldiers crossed the wooden stakes and many other obstacles, they easily occupied the abandoned Chinese trench, but they did not climb over the trench and continue to advance at the first time, but bent down to rest a little.

The long-term running makes their physical exertion very large, and the most important thing is that this trench is all external, in order to facilitate the counter-charge, so there is an outward ramp, but inward only traffic trenches, and this kind of traffic trenches needless to say are tightly guarded, if the British army wants to rush from the narrow communication trench to the second trench, you have to send a few tanks in front to lead the charge, otherwise dozens of hundreds of people rushed over and people fired a four-pound shot of scattered bullets and the whole army would be annihilated.

However, the rest of the British soldiers did not last long, and only about ten minutes later, the sound of drums was heard again, and at the same time, there was a sharp brass whistle, and countless British soldiers climbed over the trench they had just occupied. Then keep rushing forward.

At the very moment when they had just climbed out of the trenches, the position of the 2nd Infantry Division. Many officers also waved their command knives at the same time: "Shoot!" ”

The British soldiers who had just climbed out of the trenches suddenly turned on their backs!

After this round of shooting, Xu Yanqing looked anxious. He saw that the Seventh Infantry Division was still some way away, and it would take at least a few minutes to come over, but now let alone a few minutes, even a minute was gone.

Immediately, he said in a deep voice: "Get on the bayonet, counter-charge!" ”

In the face of a massive bayonet charge from the enemy, this hiding in the trench and firing can only be an early method at best, and when the enemy rushes to a distance of 100 meters, there is no chance to continue to reload and shoot, because after you have finished the last round. They have already rushed to your trenches, and then the enemy soldiers will be condescending, and they will be accurate with their bayonets.

Therefore, in the final stage, it is impossible to continue to hide in the trenches, which is to wait for death, and it is necessary to directly launch a counter-charge in the final stage, rushing out of the trenches for hand-to-hand combat.

This is also a disadvantage of the trench tactics used by modern front-loading units, because the rate of fire is too slow to completely block the enemy's charge, and when the enemy rushes up, it must take the initiative to climb out of the trench and launch a counter-charge. Otherwise, it would be very disadvantageous to engage in hand-to-hand bayonet combat with a condescending enemy in the trenches.

Comparatively speaking, the breastwork or wall fortifications on the flat ground were more suitable for defensive warfare in the era of pre-loading guns, and even if the enemy army rushed over, there would be a breastwork to block it, and then it would become a two-way soldier stabbing with bayonets across the breastwork. However, there is also a disadvantage to the breastwall, that is, the artillery resistance against the enemy is too poor, unless you build a breastwall several meters thick. Otherwise, a solid ball cannonball will come and the breastwork will have to be blown apart. Especially now when artillery is becoming more and more powerful and the accuracy of hitting is increasing. The breastwork was already becoming more and more difficult to withstand artillery bombardment.

The trench defense artillery trench works well, but in the final hand-to-hand combat stage, you have to start a counter-charge, or simply continue to retreat, in short, you can't wait for someone to be condescending to be beaten in the trench.

Breastworks and moats, both types of fortifications have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The main purpose of fortifications such as Wusong Fort was to defend against the huge artillery strength of the British and French forces, so on the breastwork and trenches, the Chinese army chose trenches.

The trench did greatly reduce the role of the artillery of the British and French forces, but now in the face of the bayonet charge of the main force of the British and French forces, the soldiers of the Chinese army had to leave the trenches and then take the initiative to rush out and fight the enemy hand-to-hand.

As the officers of the Chinese army gave the order to counter-charge, the Chinese soldiers, who had just finished firing a salvo, loaded their bayonets into their rifles, and then quickly climbed out of the trenches, shouting various slogans and rushing forward.

The 2nd Infantry Division, the main force of the 2nd Army, and an infantry regiment of the 11th Infantry Division, totaling about 8,000 men, took up their bayonets and launched a counter-charge.

In the next moment, I saw that the two armies collided violently between the two trenches, and the blood continued to fly into the air in the shouts, and there were lives constantly flowing in the sound.

At this moment, the heavens and the earth had been eclipsed, and the rumbling of the cannon seemed to have stopped, in this world, only the soldiers on both sides fought in the most primitive way, and many lives disappeared almost every second.

Here, there is no difference between officers and soldiers, they are all fighting with knives and guns, and the proud officers of the past are not picked off their horses by the bayonets of the soldiers, let the blood soak the ground below them, and then slowly close their eyes.

Watching the soldiers in front of him fall one after another, the speed of casualties made Xu Yanqing clench his fists, even if he won in the end, his second division was probably going to be completely disabled.

"Let the 2nd Cavalry Regiment attack!" Xu Yanqing's tone couldn't help but get higher and higher: "And let the Seventh Division come over for reinforcements quickly, we won't be able to support it for long!" ”

With Xu Yanqing's order, nearly 800 cavalry regiments of the Second Cavalry Regiment of the Second Army roared out from the left flank, but as soon as they jumped out of the mountain, they were heavily shelled by the British army.

But they did not stop, and faintly heard the cavalry officers shouting: "Disperse, disperse!" ”

In the face of heavy artillery fire, one cavalry after another fell from the galloping horses, but the remaining cavalrymen still whistled forward with their sabers brandished.

However, just when they thought they could rush to the flank of the enemy infantry and support the infantry in battle, they saw a brightly dressed cavalry in front of them also galloping at high speed, and their purpose was the Second Cavalry Regiment.

I didn't have time to think about it, and told the galloping war horse that didn't give the two sides much time to think about it at all, but after dozens of breaths, the two sabber-wielding cavalry just hedged together, and a more tragic confrontation broke out than the hand-to-hand combat between the infantry!

The moment the cavalry of the two sides touched, the cavalry in the front row fell in unison, and then drowned in the melee between the two sides!

Xu Yanqing saw that his cavalry was blocked by the cavalry on the opposite side, he turned his head to look in the direction of the Seventh Division again, and the soldiers of the Seventh Division were trotting forward in his sight, and the distance from the war was only about a kilometer, which was nothing in normal times, but in the current situation, this short distance of a kilometer became the key to the victory or defeat of both sides. (To be continued......)