The battle began as Chen Yucheng's troops appeared within sight of the city wall.
The main force led by Chen Yucheng still had 20,000 people, excluding the two partial divisions. The number of people was tens of thousands, boundless. The appearance of so many people caused a shock to the defenders on the top of the city.
Those British and Indian troops were scared to death. Fortunately, they were suppressed by the British troops.
Such a large-scale army has not been seen in Assam for many years.
Only during the two Anglo-Burmese wars did both sides have tens of thousands of troops.
"Sir, the enemy army opposite is called the Taiping Holy Army. They asked us to surrender. They said that as long as we surrender, our safety will be guaranteed."
"Huh, they're just a group of natives. When did the British Empire surrender to the natives?" the British commander said with a cold snort.
"Sir, the opponent's muskets have a high popularity rate. They don't look like their primitive muskets." The scout continued to report.
Obviously, the scouts were pessimistic about winning the battle.
He originally thought that the other side was an indigenous force.
But when they got closer, they saw with their own eyes the military formation of the indigenous troops marching opposite them.
The military formation was very strict. I originally thought it was the Chinese Renaissance Army. But when I got closer, I could easily see that these people were not the Chinese army from the Mengyang area opposite.
Because these people all have long hair, even the men wear their hair behind their backs.
Military uniforms can be used as disguises, but it is impossible for so many soldiers to wear wigs.
"Are you sure these people are not the Chinese army on the opposite side?" The British commander was not worried that the enemy was the Chinese army.
On the contrary, he hoped that these people were the Chinese army, because then the British Empire would have reason to go to war with China.
Just like the British Empire pinned the Qing Dynasty to the ground more than ten years ago and ravaged it.
You can only make money by going to war with such a wealthy country.
There is no point in fighting these small kingdoms anymore.
"Our scouts have met with the Chinese army. These people on the other side cannot be the Chinese army." The scout said with certainty.
"The Taiping Holy Army? I have heard before that there is a rebel army in China called the Taiping Army. I don't know if they are these people."
"But how did they come to Assam? Have you confirmed their number?"
"Yes, sir, they have about 20,000 people, and we also saw that they have more than a hundred artillery pieces." said the scout.
"Hiss!" the British commander gasped. The opponent's equipment really surprised him.
Where did these Taiping Holy Army get so many guns and artillery?
"Send messengers to report the situation here to the rear and order all troops to guard the city."
Suddenly, the city of Dinsukia was in chaos. The Indian police came to the street and drove all the pedestrians back to their homes.
The streets are littered with the products of small vendors.
Some small vendors who were protecting their goods were beaten to a bloody head by the Indian police.
The city entered a state of martial law. Soldiers from India and Bangladesh walked out of the dirty military camps and rushed towards the city wall carrying ammunition and supplies.
On the city wall, the Indian artillery is adjusting the firing angle of the artillery on the city wall.
"Bang bang bang..." Chen Yucheng's forward was still two kilometers away from the city, and the Indian artillery on top of the city was calibrating its fire.
With such a long distance, they naturally couldn't hit the Taiping Holy Army in the distance.
"King of England, it can be seen from the opponent's calibration design that our heavy artillery has a farther range than theirs." An artillery officer reported to Chen Yucheng.
These artillery pieces are treasures of Chen Yucheng's men. He does not want to use them to fight a war of attrition with the enemy.
"Then first deploy ten heavy artillery pieces to the front to try." Chen Yucheng ordered.
Chen Yucheng was ready to make a quick victory in this attack on Dinsujia. He was not going to waste time here.
As long as the war order leads to this riverside city, then he can implement the leapfrog tactic proposed by Liu Mingchuan.
Now the news of their presence in Dinsukiya must have been spread by the enemy commanders to the cities behind.
Gotta speed up.
"After the artillery fire, the troops were divided into three parts. Two of the troops launched a feint attack on the enemy's city wall to attract the enemy's attention."
"Send another brigade to the dock in the north of the city. They must occupy the dock area and control the ships there." Chen Yucheng ordered.
The battle started immediately, and the artillery deployed by the British here was not the most advanced British artillery.
In such a remote Indian colonial town, it was impossible for the British to deploy the most advanced artillery.
Most of the artillery here were cast in Calcutta decades ago.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the steel cannons obtained by the Taiping Army from China can exceed their range.
"Bang bang bang..." After the deployment, the Taiping Holy Army's artillery began to fight back.
Cannonballs hit the city wall of Dinsugia one after another. Some of the cannonballs hit the city wall.
Let the city wall vibrate violently. Such shelling does not cause much actual damage, but it has a huge psychological impact on the soldiers.
"Sir, the enemy's artillery range is higher than ours." the artillery officer reported dejectedly.
The gang's army rarely has artillery, and having some old-fashioned muskets is already pretty good.
The enemy's artillery is more advanced than our own. This is the first time they have encountered this situation.
"Fake, I have applied to replace these old artillery a long time ago. Those colonial government bugs know how to spend money in the city where they live." The young British commander cursed in his heart.
"Don't worry, they don't have many artillery." On the surface, he could only comfort his officers in this way.
The shelling continued for a while, and Chen Yucheng began to send people closer to the city.
The Taiping soldiers carried the ladders and made a gesture of attacking the city, but not many people went up in the first wave.
Moreover, the charge formation was also very loose. Chen Yucheng certainly did not want his men to die in vain under the city.
All the British attention was drawn outside the city walls.
There are only a few Indian police patrolling the city to prevent people from sneaking out of their homes and violating martial law.
They were a little worried that the Assamese people in the city would take the opportunity to cause trouble. But if these Assamese people had different intentions, these policemen would be enough to suppress them.
At this moment, a group of people opened the door of a large house near the east city wall.
Hundreds of Taiping soldiers wearing yellow scarves and gray military uniforms rushed out.
All of them were covered in dirt and grime, which they had contracted in the tunnels.
There was no charge slogan. They separated a hundred people and went straight to the police station.
The remaining people fought towards the east gate where the fighting was the fiercest. They were holding rifled guns produced by Fuxing Military.
Now the Taiping Army also uses rice pinch bombs. This technology is no longer a secret.
With the development of the Crimean War, the Mi Ni rifle has already spread.
This kind of gun is already an export product of the Renaissance Army.
With this technology, the firepower of the Taiping Army is now no weaker than that of the British regular army.
These people also had some thunderbolts made by the Taiping Army themselves.
This was used when wreaking havoc within the city and attacking the city gates.
The Indian police in the city can also bully ordinary Assamese people.
Facing the sudden attack of elite Taiping troops, these people were defeated.
"Don't spare any of these turbaned Indians," a Taiping commander ordered.
Following the fleeing Indian policemen, the Taiping troops in the city quickly reached the police station.
There was also a group of Indian policemen inside the police station who tried to rely on the police station to resist.
"Set this place on fire." Taiping's commander ordered.
Then a thick smoke rose in the city.
This thick plume of smoke seemed to be a signal.
All the attention of the British and Indian troops on the city wall was attracted.
Immediately, intensive gunshots rang out on the streets inside the East Gate.
"Bang bang bang..." There is no female wall on the inside of the city wall. The British and Indian soldiers who were shooting outwards from the top of the city were suddenly attacked from both sides.
Blood splattered on the backs of many British and Indian soldiers.
"Sir, the enemy has entered the city!" a messenger reported in panic.
"What did you say!" At this time, the British commander who was directing the battle at the top of the city felt that he was surrounded by the sound of guns and cannons, and could not hear clearly what the messenger said.
"The enemy has entered the city!" the messenger shouted loudly again.
At this time, you can also see thick smoke rising from the police station in the city.
The sound of gunfire from inside the city gate was also heard.
"What, damn, how did they sneak into Chengli?" There was no signal that any gate on the city wall had been breached.
Then these people must have sneaked in in advance.
"It must be those Indian natives who took money from others again."
"Robert, take a platoon of soldiers to clear out the enemies in the city." the captain ordered.
He felt that the enemies in the city must be just a small group of enemies. So he sent out his most elite British soldiers and they would be able to suppress those people.
From the beginning to now, his British company has not moved, just to prevent accidents.
There are not many British soldiers in India. However, the Indian colony is so large that the number of British soldiers available to each place is pitiful.
Fortunately, these Indians became surprisingly obedient as long as they were defeated.
Even one company of British troops could completely suppress thousands of Indian soldiers.
"It's sir. Soon a second lieutenant gathered forty or fifty well-dressed British soldiers and got off the tower and rushed towards the street."
The Taiping troops in the city had rifles in their hands that could shoot from a long range, and they pressed down on the native soldiers on top of the city. The native soldiers they beat did not dare to show their heads at all.
Soon a pair of British soldiers wearing red military uniforms appeared.
The Taiping Army could naturally tell that this group of people was different from those native soldiers.
Sure enough, these British people also used rifled rifles.
They lined up on the streets inside the city gate and fired at the Taiping troops.
It was not until this time that the Taiping Army in Chengdu suffered casualties.
However, there were hundreds of them. Although these dozens of British troops were elites, they were completely competing in terms of firepower at this time.
Sure enough, the Taiping Army was completely victorious, and all the British soldiers, including the second lieutenant platoon leader, were killed.
After receiving the bad news, the captain officer who was directing the battle in the tower was shocked.
However, at this time, the Taiping Army in the city had already reached the city gate. A dozen soldiers opened the city gate under the cover of their comrades.
The soldiers outside the city also launched a general attack. The east gate, which was the most heavily defended by the British and Indian troops, was the first to be breached.
This was a serious blow to the defenders on the city wall.
The captain and officer of the British army saw that they could no longer suppress the British and Indian troops under their command.
He took the remaining soldiers and retreated from the tower without encountering a hundred British soldiers.
He directly avoided the Taiping Army in the city and headed towards the North Gate Pier.
There is also a British gunboat there. As long as you capture it, you can escape downstream.
The captain no longer had the proud posture he had at the beginning.
The Taiping Army's attack was like a slap in the face.
Less than an hour after the war started, a city defended by thousands of people was captured by the opponent.
What he didn't know was that the dock area to the north had already started fighting.
However, the Taiping Army's attack on the dock area was not that easy.
A British gunboat happened to be parked on the dock.
The Taiping Army's attack was discovered in advance.
The British sailors on the gunboat fired at the Taiping Army first, trying to stop their advance.
"Brothers, don't be afraid, rush up and seize the gunboat." The brigade commander of the Xuanwu Brigade is a man who is not afraid of death in war. He loudly encouraged morale and led his men to rush forward.
This gunboat was driven by a steam engine and was heating its boiler. The British troops in the boiler room were also anxious.
Before, they stopped here for repairs, and the boiler had been turned off, so it would take some time to heat it up.
But there were thousands of Taiping troops on the opposite side, and they rushed forward like they didn't care about their lives.
The attacks from the several artillery pieces on the gunboat couldn't stop them at all.
There were still 500 Bengali soldiers guarding the pier. These people just lined up to block it for a few minutes and then retreated.
There was no way, the range of the muskets of these servants was simply not comparable to the rifled guns of the Taiping Army. Facing the superior enemy, they could only retreat or wait for death.
The artillery on the British gunboats caused a lot of casualties to the Taiping Army, but these casualties were nothing compared to the Taiping Army's numbers.
As we watched, the Taiping soldiers attacked to a distance of several hundred yards.
The muskets in the hands of the Taiping Army were able to shoot onto the deck of the gunboat.
The sailors, who had no hope of saving themselves, chose to surrender. Now this is a land battle, and the sailors would not be ashamed even if they surrendered.
The Xuanwu Brigade soldiers who attacked the dock in Taiping quickly took control of all the ships on the dock.
Then, under the compulsion of the Xuanwu Brigade soldiers, the British sailors on the gunboats drove the heated gunboats to the downstream and stopped all the merchant ships that had just escaped.
When the captain rushed to the dock, he happened to bump into the hands of the Xuanwu Brigade.
After entering the city, the Taiping Army quickly took control of the military camps and government offices in the city.
Then let the military translators use Dai to promote the Taiping Army's policies to the Assamese people in the city.
Chen Yucheng did not have time to wait for the city of Ding Sugia to stabilize.
He left a small number of soldiers to stabilize law and order in the city.
These soldiers, with the help of the Assamese people in the city, would arrest all the Indians and Bengalis.
Confiscate the properties of these people and then deal with those Indians and Bengalis who committed crimes against Assamese people.
This is the policy formulated by Shi Dakai and others to win over the Assamese and suppress the Indians and Bengalis.
Suppressing Indians and Bangladeshis is also to better win over the hearts and minds of Assamese people.
The best outcome for these Indians and Bengalis in the future is to work as coolies in Assam to atone for their crimes.
Following the leapfrog tactic, Chen Yucheng ignored the small strongholds along the way.
After organizing the fleet, Chen Yucheng placed the artillery on the merchant ships, and then led the army down the river.
Small groups of troops were left to surround the small strongholds along the way.
He himself led the army directly to Guwahati.
The decisive battle between Chen Yucheng and the British and Indian troops in Assam began.
Although the British got the news, it was only on the prelude to the arrival of the Taiping Army.
They did not expect that the Taiping Army would reach the ruling center of Assam so quickly.
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