I started with the Shinsengumi in Bakumatsu

Chapter 190 The Dangerous French Army

The French troops who relaxed their vigilance directly charged towards the Japanese positions without even sending out chasseurs. However, shortly after the bombardment paused, the remaining Japanese sentries on the position saw the charging French troops and immediately blew their whistles.

The Japanese troops hiding in the artillery holes immediately rushed out and returned to their positions to target the French troops more than [-] meters away.

It's a pity that the Gatling gun on the machine gun position was destroyed by the shelling, and the new Gatling gun is on the way.

The Japanese battalion commander looked at the approaching French troops and shouted: "Hit me!"

"Bang bang bang..."

The charging French army immediately suffered casualties. The French battalion commander cursed and said: "Damn it, where did these mountain monkeys come from? Don't stop, keep charging!"

"Come on!"

"kill!"

More than a thousand French troops accelerated towards the Japanese position. In less than a minute, the French troops had already rushed to [-] meters.

The Japanese battalion commander stood up, drew his sword and shouted: "Fire the bayonet and kill!"

The soldiers immediately stuck their bayonets, rushed out of the trenches, rushed towards the French army, and started hand-to-hand combat.

In the rear, the remaining infantry regiment of the French army was also landing. The backbone first and second battalions quickly assembled to support the French army in the front.

The Japanese commander could only watch this scene, knowing that this battalion was probably going to be finished.

More than [-] Japanese troops fought with more than [-] French troops. In just a moment, the Japanese troops were unable to resist. The remaining more than [-] people retreated one after another. The forward positions that had been held for more than an hour were abandoned and fled up the mountain.

When the French army saw the Japanese army retreating, they were unwilling to give up and immediately launched a pursuit of the Japanese army.

The commander of the Japanese army on the mountainside said angrily: "How dare you chase me? Come closer and hit me!"

More than [-] Japanese soldiers were fleeing, and dozens of them were shot in the back and fell. The remaining Japanese soldiers, who were in their early [-]s, threw away their guns and ran frantically up the hillside using their hands and feet.

"Bang bang bang..."

"Keep chasing and kill these mountain monkeys!"

More than a thousand French troops were still chasing behind them, unaware of the distance between them and the following teams.

This group of French soldiers pursued them directly to the foot of the mountain. The French soldier running at the front saw the Japanese position on the mountainside. He was stunned for a moment, his eyes widened quickly, and then he shouted in horror: "The enemy position!"

"what?"

Before the people behind could hear clearly, bullets roared towards him.

"Da da da…"

Six Gatling guns fired at the same time. The French soldiers rushing in front screamed and fell to the ground as if they were hit hard.

The trees at the foot of the mountain were also damaged, and the thigh-thick trunks were directly broken at the waist.

"what!"

"Go back!"

"There are still enemies ahead!"

The French soldiers slightly behind saw their companions falling, screamed in fright, and fled in a hurry.

How could the Japanese commander let go of this opportunity? He immediately ordered the Second Battalion to pursue a [-]-meter pursuit and completely defeat the more than [-] French troops.

The infantry regiment that came to support from behind responded to the retreating French army. Unfortunately, the leader of this infantry regiment had died in the retreat, and his body was carried down.

The colonel looked at the corpses of his colleagues and was filled with rage. He grabbed the battalion commander on the side and shouted, "How many more enemies are there in the front?"

The battalion commander said ashamedly: "There should be more than a thousand people."

The colonel immediately ordered: "Gather the troops and we attack the enemy's positions."

The staff officer on the side immediately suggested: "Sir, the enemy's firearms are no worse than ours, and they also have firearms that we have never seen before. In addition, in the previous battle, nearly half of an infantry regiment was lost. The enemy should not be underestimated. I thought , we should request artillery support from the Commander."

The colonel didn't want to follow in the footsteps of the dead colleague in front of him. He nodded and said, "Go and ask."

When Du Bailei saw the flag signal of the Roland, he frowned. Unexpectedly, the attack suffered a huge loss. The entire infantry regiment was completely destroyed, the regiment leader was also killed in the battle, and the enemy still had defensive forces behind.

But the problem now is that the cruiser's artillery cannot reach the Japanese position.

He had no choice but to order: "Let General Jules' warships enter the port to provide artillery support for the army."

The more than [-]-ton ironclad ship anchored on the Dubai Lei side set sail and turned into the Manila port.

The artillery battalion commander on the fort saw an ironclad ship entering the port and shouted excitedly: "Get all the cannons ready to focus fire on the enemy's battleships!"

Rear Admiral Jules commanded the battleship to sail into the port, pointed to the fort with black smoke in the distance and said: "Boys, the enemy is down below, use cannon to declare the victory of the French army!"

The gunners immediately adjusted the cannon and aimed it at the Japanese position on the mountainside.

But they didn't know that the eighteen howitzers behind the fort were already aimed at the battleship parked in the port.

The artillery battalion commander shouted: "Fire rapidly, calibrate the trajectory!" "Boom!"

A shell exploded on the sea surface a few meters in front of the battleship, causing a water column more than ten meters high to wet the deck of the battleship.

Jules was stunned for a moment and asked doubtfully: "The enemy still has shore defense artillery?"

The first officer's face changed drastically and he shouted: "General, set sail and retreat quickly!"

Jules was awakened, and he hurriedly shouted: "Retreat!"

For the current navy, in their consciousness and experience, no battleship cannon can be an opponent of coastal defense artillery, except for the backward East Asian countries.

The battleship wanted to escape, but it was already too late.

"Boom boom boom..."

The first round of Japanese artillery fire struck, and three shells hit the deck of the battleship and exploded.

A shell struck the battleship's side deck, causing a crack.

The sudden change caused the French army to be in chaos. Du Bailei looked at the hit battleship, and his heart skipped a beat.

He hurriedly ordered: "Retreat quickly, everyone retreats! All battleships retreat!"

He knocked on the railing angrily, knowing in his heart that he had been tricked. He thought that the fort was blown up by him, but in fact it was just a bait.

"Damn it, these cunning yellow-skinned monkeys!"

The Japanese bombardment continued, and the artillery on the battleships also counterattacked. The artillery battle between the two sides was fierce, and the French troops on the shore had begun to board the ship with corpses and retreat.

The Japanese commander who was watching ignored the artillery fire and immediately ordered all troops to charge and pursue the French army.

A part of the French army was left behind to fight with the Japanese army.

This time the French army damaged a battleship, sunk a cruiser, and three gunboats. The army suffered more than [-] casualties and withdrew from Manila Port in panic.

The escaping battleship was injured, the power room was damaged, the speed was reduced by half, the main gun on one side was damaged, more than half of the naval gun was damaged, the crew lost more than [-] people, and it had lost its combat effectiveness.

Du Bailei did not expect that the first defeat of his career would occur in this backward place. He just attacked the port.

The staff officer on the side said dejectedly: "General, I'm afraid it will be difficult for our army to take Manila."

Du Belle felt ashamed, but his military honor did not allow him to escape. He immediately said: "For the glory of France, we cannot evacuate. The enemy's artillery must have suffered a lot of losses, so we have to kill their last artillery, and we will surely capture the port."

We need more soldiers for landing operations, so we immediately ask the Governor of Nanqi for help and ask Mr. Alphonse to send another infantry regiment. "

At this moment, Alphonse asked Du Belle to withdraw the ships that were already on the way.

The French army had only four regiments in Nanqi, and the remaining two regiments were in Da Nang and Saigon. After launching the offensive in Vietnam, Alphonse underestimated the enemy, and an infantry regiment was defeated by the elite First Division of the New Army. , the troops huddled in the Governor's Mansion in Zigong.

The first division of the Nguyen Dynasty's new army used Japanese modified Enfield breech-loading rifles, and was commanded by a Japanese officer staff group of more than ten people. Only then did they defeat the French infantry regiment.

Du Belle also wanted to counterattack Manila, but reinforcements had not yet been requested. Instead, they were waiting for Alphonse's order.

He looked at the order to withdraw troops and wondered: "Why are the Vietnamese so powerful?"

The officer who sent the message said: "It was the Japanese who provided help, and the person in charge was the Japanese officer."

Du Bailei suddenly realized: "These Vietnamese are fools, the Japanese are using them as gunmen! The Japanese are so insidious, they asked the Vietnamese to hold us back so that they can occupy Spanish territory, damn it!"

The officer said helplessly: "General, the Vietnamese want to take back their land. No matter what the Japanese think, the Vietnamese will never let go of this opportunity."

Du Belle let out a long sigh and immediately ordered the fleet to return. The other injured battleship was too slow. Du Belle could only leave a cruiser and a few small ships to escort Jules. He returned with his flagship and other ships at full speed.

In Vietnam, outside Saigon City, Nguyen Chi Fong led an army of [-] people to attack for several days, but was still repelled by the French army. The Vietnamese army suffered more than [-] casualties.

Nobuyuki Nakajima glanced at the impregnable Saigon and said to Ruan Zhifang: "Sir Ruan, the French fleet will return to Da Nang in three days at most. Once the French army returns to defense, the previous advantage will be wiped out."

Ruan Zhifang glanced at Nobuyuki Nakajima and said with some disgust: "If you let Japan help, isn't it just inviting the wolf into the house?"

Nobuyuki Nakajima said with a serious face: "Sir Ruan, what you said is wrong. We have already captured Spain's Luzon Island and other territories. As for helping you in Vietnam, it is to drive away the threat of France.

Of course, we can make it clear that our country will not help for free. Vietnam can give our country a military expenditure, and our country will dispatch a fleet and a division of troops to support you.

If your country is short of money, you can also exchange it for resources, such as coal, iron, and iron. "

Ruan Zhifang lowered his head and thought about the feasibility of this matter.

Nobuyuki Nakajima continued: "Master Ruan, don't worry, we will never occupy your land. Don't you still believe in the friendship between us?"

Ruan Zhifang said quietly: "It seems that there is only trade relations between our two countries, right?"

Nobuyuki Nakajima admitted generously: "Since Mr. Ruan knows it well, what else do you have to worry about? This is just a transaction."

Ruan Zhifang glanced at Saigon in the distance, and finally said, "I will send someone to report this to the court."

(End of this chapter)