After walking for nearly four hours in basic safety, the formation of the Seymour coalition was already a little out of order. In addition to the phenomenon of disconnection, the Chinese army in a state of protection, including the stretcher team composed of the French, Japanese, Italian, and Austrian allied forces in addition to the British, German, Russian, and American armies, has long been exhausted. The rest was proposed by the French, and they really couldn't walk.

The Englishman Seymour despised the French. I thought to myself that since the time of Napoleon, the French have ceased to be brave, and the glory of the French Empire may never return. In the opinion of the lieutenant general, in this unsuccessful rescue operation, the worst performers were the French. The most ferocious people who want to go back to Tianjin are these old soldiers. In desperation, Seymour still ordered a rest.

The general did not dismount, but crossed the brigade resting on the spot, preparing to catch up with the British brigade walking ahead, and wanted to personally ask the lovely Chinese who led the way, how long will it take to get to Tianjin?

They didn't have many horses (they had gone to Beijing by train), and on the way back to Xigu in Langfang, they had killed most of them because of the lack of food, and now they had to go on foot, except for a few of the highest-ranking officers.

Seymour had not yet approached the British troops, and there was a fierce gunfire in front of him, and he reined in his horse and looked to the southeast where the shots were fired, and his first judgment was that Nie Shicheng's troops were blocking it.

He had already fought Nie twice on a large scale, and it was said that it was the most elite army of the Qing Empire. Seymour admitted that it was a well-armed enemy army, armed with Isone's German and Austrian rifles, and even the latest German Type 98 rifle. They also had imported 75mm and 57mm cannons, and even Makqin machine guns, which the Imperial Army had not yet equipped. In terms of equipment, the Qing army of Nie definitely surpassed the coalition army under his command, but Nie's training was not good, and the command level was even worse. Just like the first time they attacked the Xigu stronghold, why did they stop the attack at a critical moment? Seymour was puzzled while rejoicing. O stupid commander, you are a crime against those brave soldiers! As long as they hold on a little longer, the defense of the coalition forces will collapse, and once they enter the stronghold, they will rely on absolute superiority in forces. He also stoned the poor coalition troops to death with wooden sticks. But they gave up! God forbid.

Seymour looked down on the Qing army. It's not the clothes that are always crumpled that pose a threat to him now. The Qing army has no military temperament, but the hot climate and tired military spirit, once these warriors under their command are rested, they will be pulled to the battlefield. It will also be a living elite. Seymour even fantasized that he would return to Tianjin and become the new commander of the coalition forces because of his experience in fighting the Qing army. Commanded the army to go north again and capture Beijing. With the conquest of the imperial capital, you will undoubtedly be rewarded by His Majesty the British King, and the promotion and knighthood are all at your fingertips.

"Looks. The enemy has set up a line of resistance in front," Seymour muttered to himself, then turned to the herald following him, "tell Colonel Rudy to rush forward and drive the stupid Qing people away like ducks!" ”

At this time, more intense gunfire rang out from all sides. "Nakabush?" As soon as this thought came to mind, gunshots rang out from the rear of the right wing.

"Damn it! We were ambushed. He jumped off his horse, completely unconscious, because the probability of being hit by a stray bullet on his horse was several times higher out of thin air.

The moment he jumped off the horse, Seymour saw the collapse of the American troops in front! More than a dozen U.S. troops ran towards him like they had bumped into the devil.

"Damn it, block it, block them!" Seymour shouted, "Phillips, stop them, damn Americans!" Seymour forgot that Phillips was an American, and the highest-ranking member of the U.S. military.

"General, let's go," the herald saw the gray figure rushing towards him.

"Damn," Seymour was about to get on his horse, but in a bit of a panic, he stepped on the stirrup, realizing that the situation was critical, he didn't care about getting on the horse a second time, and clumsily turned around and fled towards the Chinese army, but it was too late, the fast ambusher had already caught up, and a squad leader of the Eighth Company smashed the butt of a gun on Seymour's back, knocking him down and knocking him unconscious.

This is the most dramatic scene of this battle. Within fifteen minutes of the battle, the coalition forces had lost their supreme commander.

The Chinese army was in chaos. Dozens of Japanese soldiers in white uniforms were eliminated and stretched out to meet the enemy, and the armies of France, Italy, and Austria (which combined were less than 200 people) were in a state of confusion in the face of the sudden danger. When they came to their senses, the Japanese army had been slaughtered almost, this was a brutal white-knuckle battle, because they were crowded together, the two sides could only choose a bayonet duel, the coalition soldiers watched a massacre in amazement, and the enemy troops who rushed over adopted a strange but effective formation, the three of them formed a group of stabbing teams, dealing with one person is three, and dealing with four or five people is also three, but they will form a back-to-back formation, which is extremely effective, although dozens of Japanese soldiers made a resolute resistance, but it was soon over.

Feng Lun led the 8th and 9th companies to pounce into the enemy group, and quickly annihilated the Japanese army with fierce white-knuckle combat, and shocked the French army and other troops in the hesitation, and when the third battalion began to attack the depth of the coalition army, the French army was the first to flee, leading the Italian and Austrian troops, leaving the wounded and fleeing in all directions.

The middle of the coalition army has been crushed by three battalions! It only took more than half an hour. The only ones still resisting in the middle are the Russian troops on the right flank, who did not retreat back to the main road like the American troops, in fact abandoned their vigilance, but marched on a small road parallel to the main road, separated from Seymour's Chinese army by a 100-meter sorghum field. On their outer side, there is a low mound that forms a natural barrier.

The 1st and 3rd Battalions attacked at the same time, and the gunfire in front was the order to attack. Seeing a battalion rushing out of the crop field dozens of meters outside the mound, the Russian army used a mound next to them to shoot on the spot, and pressed the battalion that launched the attack into the open field. In this way, the first battalion suffered more than a dozen casualties in a very short time.

Ye Yanbing was extremely angry in his heart. The terrain of the first battalion is not as good as that of the third battalion, if it cannot quickly break through the blockade and kill the main road. Commander Long's plan may fail!

Ye Yanbing crawled forward a few steps, approached the second row of the first company at the front, and found the first company commander Xiong Xun, Xiong Xun's face was filthy, sweat and mud were mixed together, in front of Xiong Xun, there was a soldier upside down, who seemed to be dead, and the blood that flowed out continued to seep into the soil, staining the surrounding land into a black patch.

Xiong Xun's gaze met the battalion commander. Both nodded at the same time.

Ye Yanbing jumped up violently. shouted, "Yilian, follow me!" "He had just run two steps before he was dragged down by Xiong Xun." You stay behind and command the whole battalion. Xiong Xun shouted. Jumped over Ye Yanbing and pounced on the mound.

The actions of the battalion commander and company commander boosted morale. A series of bullets rushed up in the dense rain of bullets.

The actions of the first company attracted the fire of the Russian army, and the second and third companies on both sides followed from both flanks.

Ye Yanbing, who was half-squatting on the ground, was painfully watching the soldiers of the first company being shot down continuously. This is his old company and the number one main force of the first battalion. Therefore, Ye Yanbing arranged for a company to take the lead in the charge, but this assault undoubtedly caused heavy casualties to his old company.

The first battalion, like the third battalion, is also desperately fought. Ye Yanbing held his breath, because he had to prove in this battle against foreign enemies that the combat effectiveness of one battalion did not belong to the other three battalions.

The three-way siege that smashed Wang Shizhen in March was the biggest battle since the founding of the Mengshan Army, and in that battle, compared with the other three battalions, the first battalion seemed to be suspicious of tricks. They did not storm and assault like the other three battalions, they only played the role of suspicious soldiers. Although the 1st Battalion bravely pursued and captured Wang Shizhen, the supreme commander of the official army, the 1st Battalion had the least number of meritorious service in the post-war evaluation.

The name of the battalion must be justified!

Ye Yanbing rushed up again, followed the company to break into the mound, and fought a hand-to-hand battle with the Russian army.

On the north and south flanks of the 1st Company, the 2nd and 3rd Companies also broke through the blockade one after another, and the whole line was mixed up.

The commander of the Russian army, Lieutenant Colonel Onegin, was shocked, not shocked by the surprise attack of the Qing army, but frightened by the bravery of this Qing army, he had never seen such a fierce and desperate Qing army!

The white-knuckle battle began, and the Russian army was in chaos behind its back. The signal corps reported to the lieutenant colonel, who was watching the battle in the rear, "The Chinese army is finished, another group of enemies has already defeated the French, and we are surrounded!" ”

"Withdraw, retreat north, rendezvous with the Germans first." Lieutenant Colonel Onegin gave the order.

On a high ground six hundred meters away, Long Qian held a telescope to observe the situation, "Very good, the third battalion is doing a good job." Blow the trumpet, let Wang Mingyuan go up, we must separate them, completely separate! ”

The trumpeters sounded the predetermined trumpet, and the 2nd Battalion, which was in ambush on the northern flank of the 1st Battalion, began to move.

Using the horn tone to tune the troops is Long Qian's "invention", determined to solve the problem of poor communication, Mengshan Army thought of a lot of ways, of which the horn sound is the most important one, using some minor tunes circulated in Lunan, Long Qian prescribed the content of the horn score, attack, retreat, rest __ more and more complete, at least the commander and the signal corps can accurately understand the meaning of the horn sound.

Situ Jun has been following Long Qian's side, and took the telescope handed over by Long Qian, "Situ, as long as you annihilate the enemy's middle lane, you can't lose this battle." ”

"The strong soldier trained by the commander! Not much worse than the Germans. Situ Jun was full of admiration, he once again appreciated the sharpness of the Mengshan army's attack, but this time he was on his own side. Although the view was obscured by the dense crops, the results of the third battalion were still roughly clear, "Commander, there is something wrong with the first battalion on the right flank, but the second battalion is starting to move, yes, they should be close to the first battalion." Okay, go up, now it's up to the four battalions, they want to absorb the enemy's rear, be sure to suck them __"

"Don't worry, what should Lu Shan do." Long Qian was still holding a telescope to observe. He put Lushan on the back road, and he had his own intentions.

The two cavalry messengers came over on horseback, their bodies close to the horse's back, and only then did they stand up and jump off their horses neatly before they reached the small high ground, "Report, the third battalion has broken the enemy's central army and captured a large number of prisoners. ”

"The 1st Battalion broke through the enemy's position, the 2nd Battalion inserted the gap between the enemy's middle and rear roads, and the enemy troops in the center retreated to the rear and were blocked by the 2nd Battalion."

"Excellent! Pay attention to the whereabouts of the enemy chieftain Seymour. To live! A smile appeared on Long Qian's face, "Chief of Staff, the second battalion only has two incomplete companies, and they are a little weak. Jiang Cunxian! ”

"Yes." Jiang Cunxian immediately ran over.

"Immediately lead the guard company to reinforce the second battalion, and be sure to prevent the rendezvous between the Russian army and the German army in the rear road! Blow the trumpet and order the four battalions to attack! Long Qian's expression became solemn, "Chief of Staff, you stay here to control the overall situation, I'll go to the front and take a look." It seems that we are going to deal with the strongest German army first. ”

"Won?" Tang Shaoyi's nervous hands were sweating, and the battle had been launched for less than an hour, and he felt that it had been a long day.

"If you defeat the enemy's Chinese army, you will basically be invincible. The commander wanted a war of annihilation, but __" Ning Shijun did not elaborate, after the troops entered the position last night, a pre-war meeting was held, and Tang Shaoyi was not allowed to participate. Ning Shijun guessed that Long Qian didn't want to show his plan to this prison army.

"Can you catch the enemy chieftain Seymour?" Tang Shaoyi asked urgently.

"Why can't you? They are not three-headed and six-armed. Lan Xinzhi, who marked the symbol on the map, said.

"Commander, let me go with you, if we capture Seymour, we will be famous all over the world." Situ Jun was excited.

"Situ, you know English, you go to the middle and convey my order, no prisoners are killed, your main task is to identify the prisoners and find this Seymour, he is a treasure." (To be continued......)