"Bang bang bang..."
There was a burst of gunfire.
Although more than a dozen sugar-nitrate smoke bombs exploded into large clouds of white smoke, a warrant officer instructing the "lobster soldiers" to fire volleyball still ordered the fire. Sixty minie bombs spewed out from the muzzle of the gun, spinning. Then he got into the big cloud of white smoke ahead..
Captain Smith, on the other hand, frowned and just stared at the slowly spreading smoke. He knew very well that the timing and location of the appearance of these dozen clouds of smoke were perfect, just when his own fusiliers were taking aim. Appear in front of those Qing "tax stragglers"!
This is obviously a skirmishing tactic that has been practiced for a long time. Among the dozens of Qing "tax skirmishers" who just rushed out like a swarm, there must be a dozen grenadiers mixed in. The skirmishers in charge of shooting opened fire. At that time, they must have lit the grenades specially used to release smoke. After the shooters finished their round, they immediately threw the smoke grenades to cover the retreat of the shooters.
Such exquisite tactical coordination, smoke grenades that he had never heard of, and fearless courage to charge under enemy fire... Are these people really Qing soldiers?
Could it be that the Qing Empire has been quietly promoting military reforms since the failure of the last Sino-British war?
Captain Smith was shocked as he thought about it!
However, he was not shocked for long, because a furious British vice-consul rushed to him.
"Fake oil! Captain Smith, how can your men point a 12-pounder cannon at me and fire on me? Do you want to kill me? You bastard..."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Vice Consul, the situation was very critical! We had to do this..."
Smith had no choice but to apologize quickly. Although this Witoma was only a vice consul now, he was a China expert and a Cambridge graduate. His resume was considered top-notch among the British civil servants. He was not something Captain Smith could offend. However, his apology Only halfway through, I regretfully had to stop.
Because the smoke on the battlefield had dispersed, the infantry on both sides began to shoot at each other with rifled guns again.
Captain Smith knew that many of the Qing soldiers guarding the customs yamen were very good at marksmanship and were equipped with rifled guns and possibly mine rounds. He did not dare to stand in such a forward position with Wetoma.
It would be great fun if the opponent sniped you.
So Captain Smith quickly pulled Wetoma back, and at the same time ordered a sergeant platoon leader under his command to take ten men and drag the 12-pounder gun back despite the minie bombs fired by the "Qing tax skirmishers" - - Just now, he had no idea that the Qing Dynasty would have "tax skirmishers" who could shoot its own artillery with rifled guns, so he placed the 12-pounder gun less than 200 yards away from the Beiguan Yamen. Now I have suffered a big loss. Now I have to drag this cannon farther away and shoot at the damn customs office!
But how could the "Qing tax skirmishers" guarding the customs office be willing to let the cannon be pulled away? More than a hundred Miner rifles were all aimed at the few British soldiers who were pulling the cannon. The distance of 200 yards was It's a little far away, but if you can't hold the gun, focus more fire!
After a while, there were five or six more dead or dead people lying around the 12-pound cannon.
The half-dead people, even the warrant officer who was sent by Captain Smith to fire the cannon, had been shot through the lungs. Now he was lying on the ground, vomiting blood, and feebly calling Hong Xiuquan's "Brother Jesus"!
The remaining "lobster soldiers" who had not yet been hit did not dare to continue to pull the cannon, and they could not pull it, so they had to retreat with pale faces and ran to Captain Smith, trembling.
The infantrymen under Captain Smith who were fighting against the "Qing tax soldiers" were not faring much better. What they were actually displaying now was the dense line of "queuing up and shooting" with muskets before the appearance of the Minie bomb.
Their opponents were either hiding in a circular position made of sandbags, or occupying the commanding heights and relying on bunkers, so they were clearly ahead in tactics.
Moreover, those "Qing tax soldiers" were all good shooters in the secret hall or the upper army teaching brigade, and they still used the minie guns and minie bullets that Luo Yaoguo bought from the French at a huge price! After getting them After firing the Minie gun, I practiced hard for two weeks under the guidance of a French instructor, and I was basically familiar with the newly acquired weapon.
Therefore, the winner of the gun battle outside the Customs Yamen was quickly determined. After more than thirty people were killed or seriously injured, Captain Smith had to issue an order to retreat. Even the 12-pound cannon that was too far forward was It had to be thrown away, and the fire door was not even nailed. And this fiasco happened in full view of everyone.
"How is this possible? How could our army of the British Empire be defeated by the Qing soldiers..." On the balcony of the third floor of the French Consulate less than three miles away from the North Pass of Jianghaiguan Yamen, the British Consul Aliguo held up his telescope and trembled. Muttering to himself.
Before launching this operation to seize the customs, the consul of Ali State thought of various possibilities and several high-sounding excuses, such as the Qing Dynasty's customs was corrupt and inefficient, and the Qing Dynasty had lost most of the land in the south of the Yangtze River. , the goods imported through the Qing Customs cannot be circulated in mainland China at all. For example, if the British do not control the customs, they may benefit the rebels, etc. It is basically how to deal with the aftermath and how to negotiate.
The only thing I didn't expect was that the attack of the British Heavenly Soldiers would fail, and it would fail miserably!
Standing to his left and right, Major Ma Hui, the American consul, and Aitang, the French consul, were trying to pretend to be sad, shaking their heads and sighing.
"Oh, how come it was so tragically defeated? It seems that more than thirty people died and a cannon was lost. Is this still the defeat of His Majesty the Great Emperor's British Army at Waterloo?"
"Almost forty years have passed since the Battle of Waterloo, but losing to the Chinese army is totally inappropriate. In the Sino-British war ten years ago, the British army achieved brilliant victories one after another. This In just the past ten years, the British Army has..."
Hearing the cynicism from the French consul and the American consul, Aliguo's face turned green with anger.
Isn't it too embarrassing to lose this battle?
There was a large audience, and the French consul and the American consul visited the scene, and many Europeans, Chinese and Indians were watching the excitement. Although it was only a company-level battle, the complete defeat of the British army damaged the international outlook of the British Empire.
!
"Rutherford, your British Army used troops on Chinese land to attack the Chinese customs building without declaring war... This is not in compliance with International Law!"
"Yes, this is a blatant act of war, even aggression...We in the United States of America do not support it!"
"You..." Aliguo was so angry that the American consul and the French consul were vomiting blood.
When he met with Aitang and Ma Hui this morning, the two scolded the Customs Office of the Qing Dynasty for being extremely corrupt, which had seriously harmed the interests of France and the United States. They also said that when Jiangnan was about to fall, Jiang Customs had no power at all.
The French consul Aitang also said that he would mobilize the French troops stationed in the French Concession in Shanghai to participate in this military operation! As a result, today is Saturday, and the French troops stationed in Shanghai have gone away for the weekend, and they have not yet assembled.
stand up..
Just when Aliguo was about to explode, Weitoma had already ran back from the front line, panting on the second floor of the French Consulate, rushed to the balcony, panting, and said to Aliguo: "Mr. Consul...
That useless Captain Smith was defeated by the Qing troops...losing more than thirty people and one cannon...It seems we need to mobilize the militia in the concession and our French friends to launch an attack..."
"Wait a minute, Thomas, why did our French Empire attack the Qing customs? There is a long-standing friendship between France and the Qing Dynasty!"
The Frenchman Aitang interrupted Wetoma rudely before he could finish what he said, and brought out the friendship between France and Qing Dynasty.
Weituma was startled, then turned to look at Aliguo.
Aliguo declared with a calm face: "The British Empire cannot lose to the Qing Dynasty... We will definitely win Jianghaiguan and win truly fair trade and tariffs! The setback we just suffered is only temporary, because Jianghaiguan is just an isolated
The stronghold...the Qing Kingdom has lost the entire Shanghai!"
He looked at the Frenchman Aitang coldly: "If our European friends are not willing to fight with us, then... we can cooperate with the Taiping Army who have occupied Shanghai County!"
"What?" Aitang was stunned, "The Taiping Army in Shanghai... isn't that the army led by the Holy Angel King Wu? He is probably the devil!"
Aliguo also ignored Aitang and just said to Wade: "Thomas, please go to Shanghai County to meet the so-called devil!"
Chapter completed!