"Okay!" Duncan made a gesture and signaled the adjutant to stop reporting. He knew very well that there was a lot of water in the subsequent reports of the enemy's losses. In that case, the soldiers would instinctively exaggerate the enemy's losses. After all, people are always unwilling to admit their failures in subconsciously. In any case, the plan to eliminate the Chinese water power through a surprise attack has failed. This level of attack is not enough to destroy the enemy's dock. He can only destroy the camp first to make the next attack. After all, it is very risky to leave an enemy stationed in a solid stronghold and with water power behind him.

"My order is as follows: 'In the afternoon, bombard the Chinese camps with artillery from both the water and the land. The main task of heavy artillery and surface ships over eight pounds is to suppress the Chinese turrets, destroy the enemy's warehouses and camps, and kill their personnel; the main task of artillery and heavy mortars under eight pounds is to destroy their fortifications, kill their personnel, destroy their equipment, and open gaps for the next infantry impact, and the ultimate goal is to eliminate the enemies in the camp!'" Duncan issued a standard order to the adjutant with a low voice, and almost any army officer in the Western world would have issued the same at his position.

Command. After the Prussians destroyed the French hegemony in Western Europe and achieved the unification of Germany in 1870, Clausewitz's theory had become popular throughout the world at that time. "Forcing the enemy to engage in the main battle, destroying their living forces, and finally using force to achieve their own political goals" The war theory has become the motto of most soldiers in the Western world. Duncan is no exception. Although he has not read the immortal works of the Prussian, he is very clear about his position in the conflict between the two countries of Zhongshun - winning the battle and then leaving the problem to the civil servants behind him.

The northern section of the Shunjun defense line, the noon sun shines on the hay, emitting a pleasant fragrance. The Shunjun soldiers sat in groups of three or five on the ground, gnawing on dry food, drinking water or talking in a low voice. Behind them was a chest wall made of sacks filled with soil, and was reinforced with rows of wooden stakes on the inside of the chest wall to prevent the soil from rolling down. On the outside of the chest wall, there were deep and widening trenches and various roadblocks, which were built to prevent the enemy from breaking through the Shunjun defense line by using impact.

Zhang Qi walked quietly. As a veteran, he had a wonderful premonition that a fierce battle that had never happened was about to break out. Compared to this battle, everything he had experienced before was just a joke. His own destiny and the fate of the entire Shunguo Expeditionary Force will depend on the result of the battle. This made Zhang Qi feel very nervous, so he decided to come out and see his soldiers and relax himself by the way.

"grown ups!"

"See you sir!"

When the soldiers and officers saw Zhang Qi, they stood up to salute him, and Zhang Qi just waved his right hand slightly and signaled them to sit down and continue to rest. Unlike most of his colleagues who graduated from the military school, he did not have such high etiquette requirements for soldiers and was more kind to the soldiers. Perhaps because of this reason, Zhang Qi has a good reputation among soldiers.

Perhaps it was because it was a light rain in the morning, the ground was a little slippery, and there was a bit of mud on Zhang Qi's shoes. Suddenly, a sound of talking came from the corner in front, and he stopped.

"Hey, tell me, from you, what are the British doing?"

"Nothing can be seen!"

"What, you can't see anything? How could this happen?"

"I'm standing too short. From this perspective, all I can see is the damn bushes and mounds of soil! To see clearly, I want to go up the hill in the middle!"

Zhang Qi took a step forward and could see seven or eight soldiers sitting or standing from the corner, all raising their heads to look at a soldier standing on a ladder. The soldier was using a monocular telescope to observe the enemy opposite.

"Damn it, since you can't see it, just come down!" A thick soldier shouted impatiently, and the people below agreed. The soldier on the wooden ladder suddenly stretched out and he whispered: "Don't make a sound, I saw it, I saw it!"

The people below immediately held their breath, as if the sound of their breathing here would be discovered by the enemy in the distance. The soldiers on the wooden ladder carefully turned the telescope and said to themselves: "I finally saw the officers, soldiers from a single column, and artillery, which should be four-pound cannons--"

"Bang!"

With a gunshot, the soldiers on the wooden ladder fell down. Obviously, a British rifle soldier hit him, and the field was in chaos.

"Go aside and let me see what's wrong with him!"

When the soldiers saw that the person coming was Zhang Qi, they made way silently. The soldiers who were shot were struggling in pain on the ground. The sky-blue military uniform was covered with mud. Zhang Qi pressed his body and carefully checked it. He whispered: "Two people come and send him down. I'm lucky. The bullet just shot through the shoulders and there were no other injuries!"

Two soldiers lay down on a wooden board with the wounded, and carefully carried it down. Zhang Qi turned around and immediately felt a strange atmosphere. The soldiers' behavior and expressions were a little stiff, and it was obvious that the soldiers were afraid.

"See, this is a war. The bullet will hit this person or that person. It depends on God!" Zhang Qi said in a hoarse voice: "But this is fate, do you understand? This is fate!"

"Yes, sir!" After hearing Zhang Qi's words, the fear on the faces of these simple people gradually disappeared, and a few even laughed rudely. A primitive fatalism drove away the natural fear and re-controlled them. Yes, maybe the next moment, the bullets will kill one of them, but walking on the road will cause death, capsize and drown on the boat, and even lying on the bed will die. Who knows? Everything is arranged by God.

"That's right!" Zhang Qi smiled a little on his face. He walked over and gently patted everyone's shoulders, and said with a smile: "If you are destined to die here, then be brave. I will send your savings and pensions to your home; if you shouldn't die here, you can go back and add thirty acres of land, two cows, and live a good life!"

The soldiers smiled and their companions' grim emotions were dispelled. Zhang Qi was about to say something more, but suddenly a strange vibration sound came from the air. He instinctively threw himself to the ground. Almost at the same time, a British eight-pound gun grenade exploded on the ground more than ten meters away. The air waves generated by the explosion rushed the soldiers down, and there was a scream of exclamation.

This shell seemed to be a signal. A roar came from the British position. Eight-pound mountain cannons, eight-pound field cannons, twelve-pound field cannons, six-pound cannons, and all kinds of shells fell on the defense line of the Shun Army like raindrops. If you look at it from the hill at the base of the Shun Army defense line, you can clearly see that smoke and dust rose from the defense line of the Shun Army, as if an invisible giant threw the soil and various debris into the air.

A moment later, the roar of cannons also came from the Shun Army's positions. At first it was the mountain cannons on the hills, and then the cannons on the top of the mountain. There was also a sound of cannons and rockets on the river. It was the British squadron on the Irrawaddy River that was using artillery fire to suppress the six-inch cannons on the top of the mountain. The British field cannons on the front of the Shun Army also began to extend their firepower and began to suppress the Shun Army's artillery that was firing. The remaining mountain cannons and light artillery began to continue bombarding the defense line of the Shun Army, opening a gap for the infantry impact that was about to begin.

"Ph, ph!"

While Zhang Qi spitting out his mouth full of dirt, he climbed up from the ground with difficulty. At this moment, his ears were full of beeping. Zhang Qi's face was covered with blood, his steps were staggering, and he staggered, stretching out his hand to support the wall, as if he could fall again at any time.

"Sir, sir! Are you okay?" A soldier came over and helped Zhang Qi up.

"Water, water!" Zhang Qi murmured. The soldier hurriedly helped Zhang Qi to the wall of his chest and lay down. Then he turned around and groped around. The shells kept exploding around, but miraculously, until he found a bamboo tube containing water, he was not hit by a bullet or shrapnel.

"Sir, the water is coming!" The soldier carefully held the bamboo tube and ran to Zhang Qi's side, carefully pulled out the plug, poured the water into Zhang Qi's mouth. Zhang Qi coughed weakly and opened his eyes. The soldier was shocked by the blood on Zhang Qi's face and whispered: "Sir, sir, your face is full of blood!"

"Oh!" Zhang Qi responded. Only then did he feel that his limbs and bones were hurt everywhere. Zhang Qi tried his best to move his arm, support him to sit up again, and carefully moved his limbs and head. After confirming that there were no major injuries except for a few scratches and a hole in his head, he struggled to get up: "Please help me to the command post!" He saw that the soldier hesitated and whispered in a commanding tone: "Quick!"

"Yes, yes, Lord Zhang!"

On the British position, there was a different situation. The four British colonial infantry battalions that were responsible for the first wave of attacks. Almost all the soldiers of these five infantry battalions came from Sikhs, who were famous for their bravery and warfare. In the face of their fierce resistance, perhaps the most talented emperor of the Mughal Empire, Aurangzeb, could not conquer them, which led to the decline of the Mughal Empire. When the East India Company conquered Sindh in 1843, the entire Indian subcontinent was the most

The latter country, the Punjab, where the Sikhs are located, was the British army. After great losses, they used the means of bribing enemy generals. After two Sikh wars, they conquered the Punjab in 1849 and completed the conquest of the entire subcontinent. After that, the Sikhs became important soldiers of the British colonial army. Now these soldiers wore khaki uniforms and packed thick beards according to their national traditions, sitting on the ground with expressionless expressions. The British officials carrying commanding knives walked past their ranks, waiting for the end of the shelling.

The sound of cannons gradually faded, and several British officials took out their pocket watches from their arms, confirmed that the time for the attack was about to begin, turned around and shouted to the soldiers: "Stand up and put on a bayonet!"

The Sikh soldiers stood up from the ground, silently pulled out the bayonets and installed rifles, forming a formation. The British officials drew their pistols, pulled out their command knife, jumped up the gentle slope, and led the soldiers towards the defense line of the Shun Army.

As the smoke of gunpowder was dispersed by the wind blowing from the Irrawaddy River, the Shun Army also discovered the British infantry attacking them. The Shun Army artillery on the hill began to fire at the enemy infantry, and soon smoke columns rose in the formation of the British infantry, which were traces of being hit by artillery shells. However, the soldiers of the British colonial camp firmly endured the killing of artillery fire and kept moving forward.
Chapter completed!