Outside the north gate of Shanghai County, there is the Jianghaiguan Beiguan Government Office.
On the tower of the north gate of the nearby county town, the flag of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was fluttering, but on the flagpole inside this newly built Chinese-style Yamen, protected by tall walls on all sides, the flag of the Qing Customs was still fluttering in the wind.
When Captain Smith arrived outside the customs office with more than 80 armed British soldiers under his command, what the British Army captain, who had fought in the First Opium War and stayed in China for more than ten years, actually saw It is a gate with sandbags and horses placed at the gate. Behind the sandbags there are several Chinese customs officials holding foreign guns. The roof of the yamen and the turrets seem to be piled with sandbags, and the customs yamen is equipped with musketeers. .
Is this...an illusion?
At this moment, Captain Smith was starting to wonder if he had drank too much laudanum and was hallucinating?
He had never seen such tight fortifications on the battlefield of the Opium War, and now he saw it in a customs office that had always only known corruption and extortion of bribes!
If Shanghai County was so well-defended, why would it be attacked by a small number of infiltrated Taiping soldiers and a group of gang members?
In addition, didn’t they know that Shanghai County was being attacked? Why didn’t they go to the rescue? Instead, they huddled in the customs office?
When Captain Smith's head was filled with questions, someone behind the sandbags outside the gate of the customs office on the opposite side was already speaking in Chinese with a Cantonese accent: "The British soldiers outside listened, this is the sovereign territory of the Qing Dynasty, and you have violated the Qing Dynasty's sovereignty." Please clear your sovereignty and leave immediately, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences, and all responsibilities will be borne by the British side!"
Captain Smith was stunned when he heard this. He has been in China for more than ten years and has already learned Chinese. But what about "sovereign territory", "infringement of the sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty", "you bear the consequences", "all responsibilities" "The British side will bear the responsibility." This was the first time he heard Chinese people say it in Chinese.
Are the people in that yamen really Qing soldiers? Are they really not pretending to be the army of some European country?
Thinking of this, Captain Smith looked back at Witoma, who taught him how to speak Chinese, and found that the China expert also had a look of shock. "Thomas, do you need to launch an attack now?" Captain Smith asked confidently.
Although the customs office has been fortified, Captain Smith is still very confident in the combat effectiveness of his men.
He estimated that these Chinese customs officials could cause at most ten to fifteen casualties, and no more.
After all, in the Sino-British war more than ten years ago, the British Expeditionary Force suffered only a few hundred casualties, of which only 69 were killed.
This already shows how weak the Qing army's combat effectiveness is. They are not even as good as the Indians who have become slaves of the British Empire...
Witoma's thoughts as a "China expert" were similar to Smith's - the more thoroughly he studied this country and this nation, the more he felt that they had no hope and were not worth saving. Even in another hundred years, the British Empire would still only be It would take tens of thousands of expeditionary troops to completely defeat this country's army!
However, this country is a bit far from the British mainland. Even if it is conquered, subsequent governance will be very troublesome. Therefore, the British bureaucrats from Wytoma and most of Oxford and Cambridge still prefer to maintain a country that can guarantee and expand British interests. The Chinese government does not directly rule over a population of 40 million.
"Wait a little longer," Witoma smiled coldly, "I want to give them one last chance to accept our help."
"Thomas, you are so compassionate!" Captain Smith smiled slightly. "While you have the opportunity to negotiate with them, I think we need to set up the 12-pound cannon. We may need to fire a few shots later to scare them. one time."
This cannon was not originally prepared to bombard the Customs Yamen, but was used to deter the Taiping Army in Shanghai County.
After all, shelling the customs of a sovereign country is too unneutral. But now Captain Smith feels it is necessary to use it... "Captain, is shelling really necessary?"
"Yes, sir." Captain Smith answered in the affirmative.
Weitoma was stunned for a moment, then glanced at the sandbags opposite, turned his back on his horse, and then looked up at the Shanghai County in the distance.
The gate of the county seat was still closed, but the city walls were already filled with "red-headed men" - they should be the Taiping Army, observing the battle between the British Heavenly Soldiers and the Qing Dynasty's weak soldiers. Then, Witoma looked to the left, right and behind him Look, he found that there were many people watching!
Beiguan Yamen is close to Shiliupu and the French Concession. There are many Chinese and foreign merchant ships on the nearby river. Can there be too few people watching the excitement?
Using artillery to bombard the customs office of an independent sovereign country in front of so many people... This is a bit complicated to explain!
However, compared with the heavy losses when attacking this customs office, it is always easier to make excuses afterwards. After all, the truth is within the range of the cannon!
Thinking of this, Weitoma nodded: "Okay, let's hurry up... I'm worried that if the delay is too long, the Taiping Army in Shanghai County will intervene."
Of course, it would be nice if they could be persuaded to leave peacefully.
When Captain Smith sent someone to pull the cannon over, Waitoma walked less than ten steps away from the gate of the customs office holding a white flag symbolizing peace, and then shouted loudly in Chinese to the people inside: "People inside, listen Now, Shanghai County has been captured by the Taiping Army. According to the "Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing", we will now temporarily take over the customs office to ensure that free trade between China and Britain can continue. Please leave immediately, and we will ensure that all of you safety!"
It has to be said that this Witoma is a top student at Cambridge, and he can speak so grandly about the aggressive behavior of seizing the customs agency of a sovereign country.
However, the answer from the Jiangguan Guan Yamen was still: "The British soldiers outside heard this, this is the sovereign territory of the Qing Dynasty, you have violated the sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty, leave immediately..."
"I am Wytoma, the British Deputy Consul in Shanghai, and I want to see your Lordships!" The reply from the customs office was still cold: "This is the sovereign territory of the Qing Dynasty, and you have violated the sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty... "
Is this someone reading according to the standard answer?
Wei Tuoma frowned even more tightly, and why did his speaking style look so similar to that of Luo Xueyan?
Just when he was thinking of Luo Xueyan, he heard a suona sound that made his hair stand on end: "Tick-tick...tick-tick...tick-tick!"
Then I saw dozens of Chinese soldiers holding foreign guns with bayonets, wearing customs uniforms and black turbans on their heads rushing out of the customs office, shouting: "Kill" while rushing back. Witoma has a bad heart and wants to kill the envoy. He is indeed a barbarian!
He couldn't sit still and wait for death. He quickly turned around and ran away. When he turned around, he saw a 12-pound cannon being loaded!
Did those Chinese soldiers charge at the British cannon? Isn't this too fierce?
On the British soldier's position, Captain Smith was also stunned by the brave behavior of the Qing soldiers on the opposite side.
Is there anything wrong with the minds of these Qing soldiers? They actually launched a bayonet assault on a 12-pound cannon and more than 80 British soldiers with live ammunition?
Aren't they afraid that the 12-pounder gun has a shotgun in it?
Even if the cannon was not loaded with shotgun shells, the more than eighty British soldiers were equipped with rifled brown basses!
"Captain, do you want to fire?"
An artillery sergeant suddenly shouted at Smith: "I have to knock that solid round out before I can load the shotgun!"
"Fire!" Captain Smith gave the order without much thought - this is the most standard operation! Artillery should replace shotgun shells when facing the charge of enemy infantry. He knew this when he was in military school in England.
"boom!"
When the gunfire sounded, the British captain remembered that something was wrong, and there was a British vice-consul running towards him...
As Witoma ran, he turned back to look at his pursuers. Suddenly, a strange wind swept past him. The force of the wind was so strong that it swept him over before he could even stand. Before he landed, his ears were filled with blood. There was a loud noise like the earth was shaking.
"Fuck oil!" Wytoma, who fell heavily to the ground, couldn't help but shout the English curse!
That Captain Smith actually fired a 12-pound cannon at him! This was to "kill" him!
"Bang bang bang..."
Before Wetoma could get up and continue running, gunfire rang out in his ears.
Witoma looked towards the place where the gunfire rang out, and found that it was the Qing customs officials who were "chasing" him who were firing! Their formations were widely spread out, and they were all kneeling on one knee, holding up foreign guns, and shooting. The posture is very standard, and it looks like the skirmishing tactics of the Western Army!
"not good!"
Witoma secretly thought, and quickly turned back to look at the British front line, and found that the 12-pound cannon that had just fired a shot was surrounded by corpses! It seemed that several people had fallen on the infantry line near the artillery position.
Obviously, these "Qing tax collectors" had a clear mind and knew that they had to attack the artillery first, and their marksmanship was surprisingly accurate, because the distance between them and the 12-pound cannon was at least a hundred yards!
No, they are not using ordinary muskets, but rifled guns!
Captain Smith looked at his artillery. Each of the infantry was knocked to the ground. He immediately knew something was wrong and quickly ordered the infantry around him: "Fire! Fire quickly!"
His infantry were all equipped with rifled guns modified from brown basses. Although they were not as useful as rifled guns such as the Minie rifle and the P51 rifle, which were specially designed to fire Minie bullets, they still had a powerful effect at a distance of one to two hundred yards. Satisfactory accuracy.
If you can kill all the dozens of Qing soldiers who just rushed out, it will be enough. "Boom, boom, boom..."
Chapter completed!