January 21, 1872

The northern end of the Red Sea, off Suez City

On the vast sea, the wreckage of several burning sail warships floated and sank, and the chimneys of several ironclad giant ships sailed past with billowing black smoke, deducing a sad song of conquering the blood and fire of the weak.

Corpses floating on the sea, barrels and charred sail fragments littered the sea, and the icy bow of the ironclad battleship ploughed over the sea to make a clear track, these sunken Egyptian sail warships are their masterpieces and the glory of the conquerors.

Inside the wide conning tower of the armored cruiser "Evil Wind".

His Royal Highness Tang Li Xin, who was wearing a crisp rear admiral's uniform, had a bright look on his young face, and said to Brigadier General Zheng Huaishan, deputy commander of the expeditionary force, with satisfaction; "Well fought, Your Excellency My Deputy Commander, this naval battle is a classic example of didactic warfare."

"Thank you for your Royal Highness's reputation, Huaishan really doesn't dare to take it. This is the merit of His Royal Highness's reckless stone to sit in the expeditionary fleet, and all the officers and men of our expeditionary army fought bravely to be the first, and they were all successful. ”

"Hahahaha...... Raising the majesty of our empire beyond the waves of thousands of miles is a great achievement, and the commander will ask for merit on his behalf. His Royal Highness Don Li Xin also laughed, and turned to look at Major General Fan Pengfei, the deputy commander of the expeditionary force in charge of land command operations.

Major General Fan Pengfei immediately "snapped" and saluted, saying; "Your Highness, please."

"Deputy Commander Zheng's good show is over, and the obstacles of the Egyptian fleet have been cleared, and it will be up to you next." His Royal Highness Don Leeshin pointed his hand in the direction of Suez City and said loudly; "This is the end of the 10,000-mile journey, give you 48 hours, and the day after tomorrow at this time, I will set up the headquarters of the expeditionary force in the city. Occupy the city and do not seal the sword for three days. ”

"Obey, Your Highness, don't seal the sword for three days." Major General Fan Pengfei repeated the order with a serious expression.

Any act that dares to humiliate the Empire will inevitably lead to bloody retribution.

The port city that flourished with the construction of the Suez Canal has a history of more than 1,100 years as the terminus of the canal connecting the Nile and the Red Sea in the 7th century.

On April 27, 1541, Estevo da Gama led a Portuguese fleet to raid the port of Suez, which was under Ottoman control, in an attempt to capture it, but was forced to retreat due to the Ottomans' heavy defenses.

After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, it developed into an important port city, and the port transshipment business was busy, with only more than 143,000 city residents.

According to intelligence

Suez City consists of three parts: the new city, the old city of Port Ibrahim and Port Tawfik, after learning of the Tang Empire's large-scale expedition, Egypt's Pasha Ismail quickly mobilized three elite infantry divisions with a total of about 18,500 people to rush to the aid of Suez City.

In addition, Suez City originally had more than 1,760 Egyptian soldiers, with a total strength of more than 20,000, and thus formed the Northern Army, with the second son Issam as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, and the German Major General Ludwig as the chief of the General Staff of the Army.

Because the German army has shone in the European war for more than ten years, the German-style army training is highly favored, and the Ottoman Empire even hired General Moltke, the chief of staff of the German army, as the chief of staff of the Austrian army, and gave him a high salary and generous treatment.

The more distant ancient kingdoms of the East have expressed similar intentions, but they have not yet been implemented.

Major General Ludwig was one of the senior generals who followed General Moltke to the East to pan for gold, and after he arrived in Suez City, he immediately did his best to organize the men in the city to form a militia, and issued knives and guns and other weapons for training to assist the Egyptian army in defense.

Over the course of a few months, a total of about 15,200 militia members have been recruited, a force to be reckoned with.

However, due to the lack of advanced weapons such as muskets, most of these militias use knives, guns and shields, and their combat effectiveness is relatively low.

In a city of more than 140,000 people, the regular Egyptian army and militia exceeded 35,000 people, so the current Suez City can be fully staffed. Even the residents, who were not armed with knives and guns, were serving the Egyptian army, washing and cooking or transporting food and grass, and there were almost no innocent people.

After annihilating the backward sail fleet of Egypt, the warships of the Tang Empire's expeditionary force gathered at the port of Tawfik, intending to force a landing here.

The prelude to the bloody war began

"Boom, boom...... Boom Boom Boom ......"

The guns of armoured cruisers and armed merchant ships opened heavy fire, burying the Egyptian troops assembled there in a fierce explosion of fire, and the ports and houses on the shore were shattered by artillery fire, and the Egyptian troops had to retreat out of the artillery coverage with dead and wounded.

Then the large migrant boat forced its way onto the dock, and a large group of heavily armed Imperial soldiers poured down from the boat. The soldiers, under the orders of their commanders, quickly lined up and attacked the Egyptian troops with dense volley fire, and the battle entered a fever pitch from the very beginning.

As time passed, more and more soldiers of the Tang Empire landed in the port of Tawfik, and the battle line gradually penetrated deeper into the port area, leaving behind a large number of corpses of Egyptian troops along the way.

Relying on the advantage of sharp weapons, the soldiers of the Tang Empire achieved an absolute crushing advantage in the confrontation with the old smoothbore guns of the Egyptian army, and the enemy retreated step by step.

It was 3:00 p.m

The fierce fighting has lasted for more than four hours, and the stubborn resistance of the Egyptian army finally lost its strength, and after leaving more than 3,400 corpses in Port Tawfik, they retreated in disarray, retreating to the old city of Port Ibrahim and the center of the city.

Compare it to

The Imperial soldiers who successfully repelled the enemy suffered only more than 310 casualties, of which 67 were killed and 243 wounded, and the losses were negligible.

On the pier of Port Tawfik

"Hit me hard, keep exerting strong offensive pressure, and don't leave the enemy a chance to breathe." Major General Fan Pengfei, the deputy commander of the expeditionary force in charge of commanding the land offensive, looked stern, pointed in the direction of the old city with his finger, and ordered loudly;

"The Egyptians used the city buildings to build defensive walls to try to stop the advance of the imperial army, which is wishful thinking!

I will tell them with heavy artillery fire that all stubborn resistance will be crushed.

The Imperial army had to attack simultaneously in both the east and west directions, smashing down like two iron fists, maintaining continuous pressure until the enemy was completely defeated.

There is an artillery regiment in each direction of attack, and I will smash their turtle shells with artillery fire and open a gap into the city.

Ladies and gentlemen, our Royal Army will use this battle to conquer the foreign barbarians and conquer this land where the Arabs live.

Wherever the army went, it was the territory of the Empire.

All those who are stubborn will be killed, and His Royal Highness has a word first; Entering the city for 3 days without sealing the sword, now preparing to launch a full-scale attack. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency Deputy Commander." The officers were so encouraged that their blood boiled, and they clenched their fists in response to the order with awe-inspiring expressions.

The Imperial Expeditionary Force was mainly composed of the 4th Royal Marine Division, reinforced with artillery regiments and cavalry regiments attached to the 3rd Division, with a total of 19,300 officers and men.

Judging from the strength of the regular army, the difference between the two is similar.

However, the army of the Tang Empire has advanced weapons and equipment, comprehensive training, strong combat effectiveness, and artillery superiority, and has formed a dimensionality reduction strike advantage in the face of Suez City, which is strictly defended by the Egyptian army, which is particularly obvious on the battlefield.

After the attack order was issued, the expeditionary force of the Tang Empire formed a pincer attack posture of one left and one right, using sharp artillery fire as the leading strike, smashing the strong houses and stone walls defended by the Egyptian army, shrouded in a sea of fire.

These fortified defenses did not give the Egyptian army a place to rely on, but instead became a bloody slaughterhouse, suffering heavy casualties from artillery fire.

Egyptian soldiers hiding behind houses and defensive walls, after the dense shells fell, the remains of corpses and severed arms were torn to pieces by the violent explosion and flew all over the sky.

Every time a shell falls, it explodes into a bloody paste within a radius of more than ten meters......

After the artillery fire, the dense infantry lined up to storm and attack, and under the rain of bullets in turns, the Egyptian army had to continue to retreat.

After more than two hours of fierce fighting in the city, the Egyptian army had been defeated and could not be formed, and the officers could not help but flee in all directions.

Seeing that the general situation was gone, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army of Egypt, Lieutenant General Issam, and the chief of staff, Major General Ludwig, had to give up resistance and lead a small number of remnants of the defeated army to flee the road, hoping to escape.

Didn't think about it

The experienced Major General Fan Pengfei has long been guarding against this move, the so-called capture of the thief and the king, if they really escape, it will not be considered a complete victory.

"Allah Almighty, are these demonic Easterners going to kill them all?" Seeing a large number of chasing cavalry, and the Egyptian guards who were guarding him, were shot and fell one after another, Lieutenant General Issam had a shocked and angry look on his face, and couldn't help but curse.

Riding on his horse, Major General Ludwig, who fled with him, smiled miserably when he saw this, pulled out the saber at his waist, and said angrily;

"Your Excellency, please go ahead, I will lead all the personal guards to stop the pursuers, please tell my dear Elena that I will always love her."

The so-called food of the king, the matter of loyalty.

Major-General Ludwig, who originated from the Junker military aristocracy of Germany, was a loyal practitioner of the traditional Teutonic Knights' courageous discipline, cherished the Prussian mercenary tradition, and was ready to defend the glory of the military with his life.

Lieutenant General Issam looked at the large number of cavalrymen who were getting closer and closer, and knew that it was not the time to be polite, so he immediately ordered the captain of the Mamluk army; "From now on, you will unconditionally obey the orders of Chief of Staff Ludwig until the last moment of your lives, may Allah bless!"

While talking

A group of Tang cavalry was killed in the hills and slopes ahead, and they coincidentally blocked the way, and it turned out that there were already cavalry ambushes here.

There is a strong enemy in front, and there are pursuers in the rear.

Lieutenant General Issam was completely desperate at this moment, and he strangled the handsome mount that sat down and changed his words; "Forget it, give up resistance. There was no point in any struggle, and neither did General Ludwig, and if he had the opportunity to return to Cairo alive, His Excellency would have said to Elena himself; "You love her forever". Noble captives like us have redemption value, may Allah forbid! ”

Seeing that the employers had given up, Major General Ludwig also had to throw away his saber and surrender with his hands outstretched.

(End of chapter)