When Zhang Qiang bombarded the city wall of Stung Dinh, he happened to be waiting for the arrival of the Marine Corps.
The transport ship transporting the Marine Regiment did not stay with the main force of the Navy, but followed behind the main force of the Navy under the escort of two gunboats.
After Zhang Qiang commanded the main force of the navy to clean the side of Stung Treng's city wall near the dock.
The Marine Corps finally came slowly over on a troop transport.
"Captain Zhou, there are at least four to five thousand enemies in this city. They all seemed to be hiding when we shelled just now. I think you'd better send someone up to test it out first, right?"
Command. He was just making a suggestion.
He directed the artillery bombardment of Stung Treng City for such a long time, but he did not see a single enemy infantry. This was a strange situation, and the enemy seemed to have learned the lesson.
According to the old man Xiang, this Pula had at least four to five thousand musketeers. Therefore, Zhang Qiang made that judgment.
A force like Pula is already considered very powerful in Zhenla.
For the Marine Corps, Zhang Qiang could only put forward demands, but could not direct the Marine Corps on how to fight. After all, he was just a naval general, and the Marine Corps was sent by the theater to cooperate with him.
"Well, thank you Commander Zhang for the reminder. I'll send a battalion up first to test it out. I also ask Commander Zhang to use the artillery and machine guns on the boat to help us cover it."
At this time, in Stung Treng City, Pula was personally deploying his infantry.
The navy of the Renaissance Army ate up all the power in the water at once. This was his special power.
Without these naval forces, what would he do to smuggle opium? Where would he get money? So Pula must take revenge and go back. He must not make those Renaissance soldiers feel better.
"Mr. Adam, don't worry. I sent someone to check it out. There are only more than 2,000 infantrymen on the other side. Let me eat their infantry first. Without the legs to go ashore, let's see what they do." Pula gritted her teeth.
said.
"General Pula, be careful. The rapid-firing guns on their ships can definitely be moved to the road. As you just saw, with such rapid shooting, our muskets can't hit them at all." Adam kindly said
reminded.
"Since the opponent's guns are powerful, I will lure them into the city to fight." Pula said.
He is now deploying troops to occupy the houses on both sides of the street. Although most of the buildings in the city are made of bamboo or wood, hiding in these buildings can at least bring the enemy closer to fight.
And when the two sides are fighting fiercely together, the enemy's rapid-fire guns and their artillery will be of no use.
Adam didn't listen carefully to what Pula said. He was thinking about how to get out.
In fact, he is no longer optimistic about Pula. Maybe the company's investment will go to waste again this time. Pula has hit an iron plate.
The combat power of the Renaissance Army was completely beyond Adam's understanding. It is estimated that the company's senior officials did not expect that the Renaissance Army had developed to this extent. The East India Company had a hand in selling arms to China's Huaihai Navy.
The East India Company's understanding of the combat power of the Renaissance Army mainly came from the expeditionary force led by Liu Qingnan.
Although Tsarist Russia had fought several times with the Renaissance Army and already knew the depth of the Renaissance Army, Tsarist Russia would not foolishly tell this information to its enemies.
Tsarist Russia is now fully engaged in the development of breech-loading guns and artillery. They have obtained some technologies from Prussia through various means.
They also specially organized people to develop mortars and rotating machine guns based on pictures uploaded from the battlefield.
Only by actually fighting against these weapons can you feel how powerful these weapons are.
Under the order of Alexander II, Tymochenko had sent people to investigate. They were surprised to find that neither Britain nor France had such equipment.
Moreover, not all of these weapons came from Prussia. The Russians judged that maybe China absorbed some of the Prussian technologies and then improved them on its own.
Tsarist Russia also investigated that China had poached many scientists in Europe in the past two years. Perhaps it was these people who helped China develop these advanced weapons.
This was a reminder to Alexander II. He planned to introduce some talents from Western Europe to Tsarist Russia after the war.
When Liu Qingnan led his troops abroad, he deliberately used all front-loaded rifled guns and did not bring a single artillery piece.
Dong Shuheng's purpose is very clear. How can his good things be seen by others casually?
However, he is not worried now. There is no point in worrying. The Renaissance Army has no choice and no need to hide its strengths when fighting abroad. If you hide your strength at this time, you are making fun of the lives of soldiers.
And it doesn't matter if it's exposed now. If those Europeans want to imitate the Renaissance Army, they will never be able to surpass the Renaissance Army.
Appropriately showing off some muscles can also make the enemy think more carefully before making a move.
Commander Zhou of the Marine Regiment first sent a battalion to the dock, but did not encounter any resistance.
The soldiers searched and moved forward. First, they relied on the buildings on the dock. When the battalion commander who led the team saw that the enemy had not made any movement, he sent a reconnaissance squad to take a look at the city gate.
The reconnaissance team walked over and encountered no enemies when they reached the city gate. They tried the city gate and it was pushed open easily.
What is the enemy doing? Is it an "empty city strategy"?
The squad leader went back and reported it to the battalion commander, who in turn sent someone to tell the regimental commander.
"What a fool! Are these Siamese guys imitating Zhuge Liang? Have you read too much about the Three Kingdoms?" Captain Zhou complained.
"Captain Zhou, I wonder if the enemy wants to start a street fight with us, so that our naval artillery will not be able to support you." Zhang Qiang said.
Captain Zhou nodded repeatedly, obviously agreeing with Zhang Qiang's statement.
"Street fighting? It's not like we haven't fought before. They were just hiding in the houses, so we used grenades to demolish them one by one," said Captain Zhou.
Zhang Qiang suddenly remembered that a new batch of special bombs had arrived on the ship. They were only given to the frontline troops to test their effects, and there were not many of them.
The warheads of these artillery shells are painted with a circle of red paint.
The logistics officer said this is called an incendiary bomb, and it can burn a large area once it explodes.
After getting it back, Zhang Qiang fired one at a mountain and tried it. It happened to be the dry season, and the shell almost burned down a mountain.
"Captain Zhou, the enemy is planning an empty city, so why don't we use a fire to empty the city? I think the wind is not bad today. And this city is not big, and the buildings inside are basically made of bamboo and wood. I think
It shouldn't be difficult to put out the fire," Zhang Qiang said.
"Okay, Commander Zhang, if you can set the fire, I can block all four of their doors." Commander Zhou said, patting his chest.
"Captain Zhou, you don't need to guard the four gates. Our navy can guard the gate here at the dock."
"Okay, Commander Zhang, I will deploy our troops now."
After the two made plans, Captain Zhou went to make arrangements for the gatekeepers.
Although Captain Zhou's troops are not large, as a marine regiment, the equipment is still good. There are a lot of rotating machine guns and mortars.
To be on the safe side, he also ordered his men to dig trenches and fortifications in front of the enemy's city gate to prevent the enemy from rushing out of the city gate too fast later.
Inside the city, Pula waited and waited, but the landing troops of the Renaissance Army refused to attack.
"General, the enemies outside the city are building fortifications outside the city gate." A messenger came and reported.
"What, are they planning to use those two thousand people to besiege the city?" Pula couldn't believe it.
In order to confirm this matter, Pula even went to the tower to take a look in person.
Unfortunately, in order to introduce the Renaissance Army into the city, Pula has already transferred all the soldiers on the city wall.
Otherwise, when the enemy is building fortifications outside the city gate, they can still attack them on the city wall.
Because the Fuxing Army's fortifications are only a few hundred meters away from the city gate.
They can use their newly equipped rifles to shoot enemies on the city wall.
There were not many people around Pula, so he did not take the opportunity to attack. Instead, he led his people back.
He was a little confused. The Renaissance Army didn't even dare to enter the open city gate, so why did they want to besiege the city?
Could it be that they have seen through their plan? But as long as they don't go out, it will be fine. They can't stay outside the city all the time.
Seeing that Commander Zhou was ready, Zhang Qiang finally gave his subordinates the order to bombard.
This time the shooting did not need to be too precise. However, Zhang Qiang still found a few points in the upwind direction.
"Boom..." The incendiary bomb hit the buildings in the city, and sparks suddenly exploded, just like a goddess scattering flowers, except that these flowers were poisonous. The scattered sparks immediately ignited the surrounding buildings.
Setting fire is also an art activity.
The solidified gasoline shot out from the warhead with the explosion, burning everything attached.
Several fire spots immediately broke out in the city.
Only then did Pula realize that he had just come up with an empty city strategy, and the result was that the city was burned down and empty. Because they had previously occupied private houses as a position, most of the people in the city were driven out by Pula.
The people in the city now are basically Pula's subordinates, as well as some people who serve Pula.
"General, the enemy has released a will-o'-the-wisp fire, and the soldiers can't put it out even with water." Just as Pula was about to let people put out the fire, a messenger came to report.
"What should I do, Mr. Adam, do you know what this is?" Adam, who had always wanted to get away, was dragged beside Pula and never had the chance to leave.
Adam was about to despair. Why did "Greek Fire" appear again now? He didn't know how many weapons the Renaissance Army had in its hands.
Greek fire, which can be fired by cannonballs, would be terrifying if thrown into the enemy's camp during a war! This is the devil's weapon!
Maybe the East India Company really shouldn't be an enemy of the Renaissance Army.
"General Pula, this is Greek fire. As long as it is touched, it will not be extinguished unless it is burned out. Prepare to retreat quickly. When the city is completely burned, we will be burned to death in this city.
." Adam said in panic. He didn't want to die here with Pula.
The fire in the city gradually spread to the downwind direction under the influence of wind.
Pula's musketeers who were hiding in houses near the fire scene fled one after another.
However, as the scope of the fire expanded, the fire spread faster and faster. Soon it was completely out of control.
Some soldiers had already escaped from various gates on their own, but what awaited them was intensive shooting from the Marine Corps.
"Gather the soldiers, let's fight out from the south gate." Pula finally made up his mind.
The enemy's tactics were really confusing to him. He didn't blame Pula for this. The Renaissance Army's tactics were all extended by their special equipment.
Pula didn't understand the equipment of the Renaissance Army, so naturally he couldn't imagine the tactics of the Renaissance Army.
Pula's assembly order at this time did not summon all his soldiers, and there were less than 3,000 soldiers gathered under his command.
However, he still felt that his three thousand people should be able to break through the blockade of less than a thousand people outside the city.
"Brothers, get ready. The enemy is coming out from here. We must not let anyone go," said the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Marine Regiment guarding outside the south city gate.
Because the city gate was open, he had already seen a large number of enemies gathering inside the city gate.
But now, he has no reinforcements, so he can only rely on his soldiers, a dozen mortars in the rear mortar position, and more than twenty grenade launchers in the position.
Of course, the most important thing is that there are four rotating machine gun positions in the position.
As the output of the arsenal increases, the number of rotating machine guns in the army is also increasing. At the beginning, it could only be equipped to regiment-level combat units, but now it has been equipped to battalion-level combat units.
Dong Shuheng's goal is that in the future, every company should have a machine gun squad as the infantry's fire support equipment.
The navy's rotary machine guns will gradually evolve into 30mm cannons.
The main problem now is that it is still difficult to produce this small 30mm artillery shell.
Artillery shells are developing in two directions: larger and smaller. It would have been difficult to make 30mm artillery shells in the black powder era, but now the Renaissance Army can do it.
If such a machine gun is installed on a standard gunboat, it will definitely be very impressive. However, it will definitely be more difficult for soldiers to operate than a machine gun.
"Mr. Adam, be careful and follow me. Let's break out together." Pula said.
He will not leave Adam behind now. After escaping, will he still be able to make a fortune? He will still have to rely on the East India Company!
Adam actually didn't want to follow Pula. He thought Pula was an unlucky guy and a lunatic.
From the beginning until now, none of his decisions have been correct.
In just half a day, he destroyed the power he had managed for so long.
Although Pula also has many troops stationed in other places in Chenla, most of those troops are miscellaneous troops, so they can only suppress the miscellaneous troops.
The first wave of infantry had already rushed out of the city gate, and intensive gunfire rang out outside the city gate.
Pula saw his men falling one by one, and soon a wall of corpses was piled up at the city gate.
Naturally, Pula will not rush to the front.
"Go up to the city wall with a team of people and suppress the enemy on top." Pula then remembered that some of his men had switched to rifled guns, which seemed to be able to shoot at enemy positions in the distance.
Soon a group of Pula's soldiers climbed onto the city wall. They fired at the Renaissance Army position a few hundred meters away from the city wall.
The third battalion commander also discovered the enemies above his head. The mortar position behind him was prepared for these enemies who had climbed up the city wall.
"Prepare the mortars to knock down the enemies on the city wall." The leader of the third battalion shouted loudly behind them.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Then a burst of explosions sounded on the city wall, and of course many shells fell on the Pula camp in the city.
Some of the infantrymen who entered the city were killed, and some were directly rushed off the city wall by the shock wave and fell to the ground. The wailing sound infected the infantrymen who had not yet rushed out of the city.
"General Pula, surrender, we can't attack anymore." Adam suggested.
"No, no... Mr. Adam, I haven't completely lost yet, I still have a chance." At this time, Pula was like a madman. He had already lost, but he still wanted to stay at the gambling table.
"You're crazy, General Pula. I don't want to die with you." Adam then took out his pistol and shot the crazy Pula.
"You are just a dog raised by the company. When will it be your turn to make the decision?" Adam spat at Pula, who was still staring at death.
The strange thing is that none of the men around Pula fought back against Adam.
"Pompumi, now it's up to you to lead your men to surrender to the Renaissance Army. Hurry up, the fire is about to come." Adam said to Pompumi, the defeated general before, and the other party simply nodded in agreement.
Adam believed that even if he surrendered, as a British person, the Renaissance Army would not do anything to him.