While the British army encountered accurate and dense fire interception along the river, behind the British brigade was the "Chinese army" in the middle, which included the allied forces of Russia, France, the United States, Japan, Italy, Austria and other countries, and suddenly encountered a fierce attack from both sides.

The marching brigade of the coalition army was advancing roughly to the southeast, on a dirt road where ox carts could pass, and on both sides of the road were densely covered with sorghum, which was already more than half a man high, and suddenly, gunfire erupted in many sections, and a dense rain of bullets came towards the "Chinese" troops of the coalition army.

The first to suffer the blow was the US military, which was on the left flank of the "Chinese army."

This U.S. force was an incomplete Marine company, numbering 100 men at the time of departure, and now it is 95 men, of which 7 are still lying on stretchers, and only 88 soldiers are on combat alert. The commander is called Gaxon. Dawson, an active-duty captain. Captain Dawson is the second-in-command of this U.S. Army, and there is also a major staff officer Phillips who follows Lieutenant General Seymour's command and is considered the supreme commander and liaison officer of the U.S. Army, and it is Captain Dawson who actually commands this Marine Company.

According to General Seymour's order, the American army was tasked with guarding the left flank, and Seymour felt that the Americans were more obedient except for his own British compatriots. This is also an unavoidable flaw of the coalition forces, especially in this largely unfettered multinational force, where everything is good when things go well, and when there are setbacks, there are different opinions.

The British army took the lead as the pioneer, and after the German army was broken, the Russians, who were the third most powerful in strength, were placed on the right flank by Seymour, and the left flank was originally going to arrange the French, but the French, under the pretext of their heavy casualties, preferred to retreat in the center and serve as stretchers with the Japanese, Italians, and Austrians. Unwilling to serve as a combat unit, Captain Dawson volunteered to lead his officers and men to take on the duty of guarding the left flank.

It was not that the Americans did not search the fields on both sides of the road, but after three or four hours of walking, their vigilance weakened with fatigue, and the greater factor was that the British troops in front had actually traveled a road. The GIs did not hesitate to trample on the freshly tasseled seedlings, leaving a mess behind. The American troops who walked behind began to advance in the dense sorghum fields, taking on the duty of combat vigilance, and when they came to the end, they were also tired. After all, it's not as comfortable as walking on the road – albeit on a rutted dirt road.

When gunshots rang out across the river. The U.S. Marine Company was resting on the dirt road and eating dry food. Now, they went to the front of the "Chinese army", connecting with the forward British army. It is no longer on the flank of the "Chinese army".

The U.S. officers and soldiers did not pay attention to the gunfire ahead. Because of this way. Especially the damn place where I just left Xigu, I was always constantly harassed by the Qing army or the Boxers. But the gunfire continued continuously, causing Captain Dawson to be uneasy. He stood up and looked southeast, unable to see anything clearly. Of course, he couldn't see clearly, and he could see far along the dirt road, but he couldn't even see the butt of the British army. The platoon commander, Sergeant Jensen, approached the captain, "Captain, are the British in trouble?" ”

"Damn it, I can't see anything__" As soon as he finished saying this, he heard Captain Dawson scream and fell into the arms of Sergeant Jensen, Sergeant Jensen was startled, and held the captain, seeing that the captain's head was bloody, the right temple was open, and the person was dead!

Sergeant Jensen, in his nervousness and panic, did not hear the gunshot, which took Captain Dawson's life.

"Enemy attack!" Jensen dropped Captain Dawson and shouted, "Enemy attack! In fact, there was no need for him to warn, and dense gunfire rang out in the sorghum field on the left, and the American soldiers who were resting screamed again and again, and many of them had been shot.

At the same time, more than a dozen gray figures rushed out of the sorghum field, holding bayonets that had been erased by the mud, and they had already appeared in front of the American brigade that had just stood up.

The white-knuckle battle began almost before the US military fully woke up!

The attack was launched by three battalions and seven companies. Company Commander Fei Ning was the first to rush onto the dirt road, and behind him, more than 100 men who had been holding back for half a morning followed him onto the road, and in an instant, the Seventh Company "drowned" the American troops.

Captain Jensen only had time to remove the bayonet in front of him when a sharp pain in his ribs came, and his consciousness was blurred amid the screams.

The U.S. troops only resisted for more than ten minutes before they were defeated, some of them were killed, most of them surrendered, and vaguely, the U.S. troops heard someone shouting "Surrender and avoid death" in strange English, and the Americans, who were stunned by the sudden attack, immediately discarded the weapons in their hands, knelt on the spot, and raised their hands.

This perfect ambush lasted only seven or eight minutes, and after about twenty American troops ran back to the "Chinese army", more than a dozen were killed, and the rest were taken prisoner.

Seven companies were killed and one wounded.

"Well done! Fei Ning," Feng Lun shouted brandishing a revolver, "you hold here, block the reinforcements in front, and I'll take eight or nine companies to fight north." Listening closely, the first battalion on the right flank of Zhilu Dao also started.

"Yes, Battalion Commander." Fei Ning wiped the sweat from his face and wiped the blood of his opponent on his face, looking terrifying.

The mission went more smoothly than expected, the eighth and ninth companies were not used, and the first step of the task was completed with only the seventh company. The next task is also very clear, that is, to complete the middle breakthrough and eat the enemy in the middle first.

It took a lot of effort for the third battalion to grab this most important intermediate breakthrough task. The situation of the third battalion is relatively special, the formation time of the ninth company is short, the chief officers of the two main companies of the seventh company and the eighth company have been transferred away or killed, and the current three company commanders do not have much experience as company commanders, Ding Xiaofu is okay, he took over the eighth company after Bi Zilong's sacrifice, and Liu Chunning and Fei Ning were both transferred from other battalions. Liu Chunning, like Hu Zongyu, served as a military referee, and later took up the command post and rose all the way up from platoon commander. Fenning was transferred from another battalion before the departure and took over the Seventh Company. Three months ago, in the ambush on the mountain road to annihilate Lu Yongxiang's troops, the third battalion took on the most critical intermediate breakthrough task, and the casualties of the squad and platoon commanders were very large.

The Mengshan Army chose the Seymour Coalition Army as the target of the "sword", but in fact it still adhered to the operational principle that the Mengshan Army had formed, that is, to attack the weak enemy or the isolated enemy first. The enemy situation in the direction of Tianjin is unknown. But Long Qian knew that the coalition army was by no means one or two thousand. What's more, there is also the unreliable "friendly army" of the Qing army, Yulu and Nie Shicheng, which are not easy to deal with. Not getting in touch with the imperial court now is not a bad thing but a good thing, if you first fight a victory that is enough to shake the imperial court, and then be impeached for disobedience. The cost of coping with it is there.

These calculations. only wandered around in Long Qian's mind, and did not tell his confidants, of course, not to Tang Shaoyi, the prison army.

Heaven has mercy on Seymour's troops for not joining up with his main force! Long Qian listened to Jiang Yun's information. In an instant, it was decided to hit Seymour first. This decision. It once made Tang Shaoyi feel worried. Because Jiang Yun said that the strength of this foreign army is quite a lot, at least it is equivalent to the Qinwang detachment. Seymour is the teacher of exhaustion, aren't we? Seven or eight days of forced march. I've been tired for a long time.

Eliminate each other? Just kidding, right? But looking at the officers under Long Qian, they didn't care about the comparison of forces, but only discussed how to fight. This made Tang Shaoyi sigh in her heart, these people are indeed tough.

If it was the Qing army general on the Gyeonggi battlefield who listened to Long Qian's decision, he would have dropped his jaw in surprise, whether it was Dong Fuxiang, who looked down on foreign soldiers before, or Nie Shicheng, who had fought with the Japanese army, they all once again understood the power of foreigners, not to mention one-on-one, three-on-one may not be able to win!

However, the generals of the Mengshan Army did not fear the enemy. Since the reorganization of the army in Mengshan, a series of battles have been fought with the weak, whether it is a general or an ordinary soldier, they are not very concerned about the enemy's superiority in strength, they are more concerned about how to fight.

This kind of tactical literacy, which is higher than that of the domestic armies, is exactly what Long Qianfei has vigorously cultivated.

Storming the Xigu stronghold is not considered, even if there are a few small cannons to help. Ambush is what the Mengshan army is best at, so the way of fighting is still ambush warfare. How to transfer out the coalition forces in Xigu, Jiang Yun made meritorious service again, and his people intercepted a traitor sent from Tianjin to find the whereabouts of Seymour's troops, so he sent Li Sancai to impersonate. Originally, Jiang Yun was going to go in person, but Long Qian thought that Li San had only learned some English from him, and he believed that Li San could do this well.

Yesterday afternoon, that is, the day after the Mengshan Army arrived at Yangliuqing, Long Qian personally led the main officers to survey the terrain and select the battlefield under the guidance of Jiang Yun. This is a dangerous task, and there are Chinese troops of various identities roaming around the periphery of Xigu, and if the Boxers are counted, they are undoubtedly the main force in "besieging" the Xigu stronghold. The air was filled with the smell of corpses, reminding that there had been a vicious battle not long ago, in fact, there was no need to bother more brains, and soon, Long Qian chose the battlefield.

"This is it." Riding on the horse, Long Qian pointed at the small river with his horsewhip, "Stop their heads here with a small force, occupy Xigu with a battalion and cut off their tails, and the main force will cut off their waists, and annihilate each one." ”

For this method of warfare, the generals of the Mengshan Army are already familiar with it, and the recent battle of annihilation, the battle against Lu Yongxiang, is like this.

Situ Jun participated in the refinement of the plan, and it was on the selected battlefield, because the time was pressing, Long Qian's scheduled battle time was tomorrow. Situ Jun had two questions, both of which were raised on the spot:

First, if the enemy fails, all the achievements will be wasted. You have to be ready to move in.

Second, a breakthrough in the middle is very risky, and if the enemy's main forces cower in a ball, this plan is not feasible. Multi-hand preparation is a must.

Long Qian praised Situ Jun's question and replied that according to common sense, it had been more than twenty days since Seymour's troops had left Tianjin, and even if the Xigu stronghold provided him with the necessary provisions, they were exhausted and urgently needed to return to the base to recuperate. On the whole, the strength of the Western army to endure hardships and stand hard work was worse than that of the Eastern army, and the German army was not much better, not to mention that they were coalition forces, and the problem of not being convinced by each other must exist. The reason why the coalition forces are commanded by a British vice admiral is not only because of his high rank, but also because the British army is its main force. Therefore, when breaking through, the British army will definitely take the lead, and our army can let go of the British army and surprise other messy troops, and you have also seen the terrain, if the enemy is plotted to take this road, they will not be able to shrink into a group. The key to this battle is that the troops in the middle of the assault must conceal the enemy, bravely rush to kill, and completely defeat the enemy with melee and white-knuckle combat!

Situ Jun still had to argue, and Long Qian didn't discuss it anymore, "The general plan is decided like this." After dark, I brought the troops into the battlefield, and I personally arranged to lure the enemy, and Lu Shan and Shi Jun studied and arranged the hidden positions and tasks of each battalion. ”

Lu Shan, Ning Shijun, and the General Staff Section quickly came up with a plan, and set up a reinforced company equipped with sharpshooters to ambush on the other side of the river to carry out the task of blocking the attack, and use the cavalry company to cover the battlefield and deliver the news. After the enemy is dispatched, the four battalions occupy Xigu and cut off the enemy's return route, and the first and third battalions are placed on both sides respectively to carry out the middle breakthrough, and after eliminating the enemy in the middle, first destroy the second half of the coalition army, turn around and strike at the first half. Wang Mingyuan took the rest of the second battalion and the guard company as a reserve.

Originally, the third battalion was arranged to be responsible for the task of "blocking the head", but Feng Lun made a difference, "Commander, don't worry, although Sheng Guang stayed, Bi Zilong was killed, and the third battalion wanted to fight for Lao Bi!" Breaking through in the middle, it is my third battalion. ”

"Okay, then let Feng Lun go!" Long Qian slapped the board.

Now, the three battalions, which took the lead in the attack, neatly routed the U.S. Marine Company on the left flank of the coalition forces and turned around and entered the "middle army" of the coalition forces. (To be continued......)