Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 159 This Battle Can't Be Fought

In order not to expose his strategic purpose, Chen Gu let Yang Kui and the group of generals go yesterday. Now that they have already started the action, they will naturally not hold back.

Seeing that Yang Kui and a group of generals on the other side were still within the attack range of their rifles and peering through binoculars, Chen Gu directly ordered a concentrated fire attack on them.

In order to increase the success rate of killing with one blow, Chen Gu arranged a company of soldiers to attack the thirteen people at the same time, with each person only having to fire one shot. He also arranged a platoon of soldiers to shoot those who were still alive.

After a burst of gunfire, all thirteen of the other side were shot. After the second round of gunfire, the few guys who were lucky enough not to be seriously injured and could still run around in panic also lay on the ground.

"Tsk tsk, two were shot in the head, five were shot multiple times in the chest and abdomen, these seven people are dead, including our Governor Yang Kui. Everyone was shot, hey, there was really one person who was lucky, he was only shot once in the arm and shoulder, and even the second bullet was shot in the thigh, rolling down the hill, but he actually escaped, what a lucky guy!"

Chen Gu watched through a monocular telescope and explained what he saw.

This telescope of his was seized. Two were seized from Attis, one was seized from Delenta, and Lebao also had one, but unfortunately it was burned in the fire.

The technical content of this thing is actually not high, but the price is very expensive. At this time, it can only be imported. One piece costs several hundred taels of silver. Unfortunately, Chen Gu can't make it, and he hasn't found a corresponding glass craftsman.

The other three Chen Gu were given to Lao Nian, and he only kept one in his hand. He planned to give this Chen Gu to Lao Piao to take to Chengdu, as he had no need for it in Luzhou.

Chen the Assassin’s explanation made Liu Qing’s eyes bloodshot. Because his mouth was stuffed with sackcloth and was strangled by a cloth strip, he could not shout out and could only roar “wuuuu wuuuu”.

The war had already begun, and Chen Gu was not afraid that Liu Qing would shout and alert the enemy, so he stood up and untied the cloth strip that was tied around Liu Qing's mouth.

Liu Qing used his tongue to push out the sackcloth in his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Run, run! As long as you have the green mountains, you will not be short of firewood. Run!"

"Old man, save your breath. There's gunfire everywhere down there, so no one can hear you. And when it's time to run, they will run faster than rabbits without you shouting!" Chen Gu said with a smile.

The collective deaths in the command center did not allow the imperial army to escape. Even though the logistics battalion continued to shoot at the ships below, as well as the Green Camp and Eight Banners soldiers on the opposite bank, the other side did not collapse.

The Green Camp soldiers were lying on the ground pretending to be dead, while the Eight Banners soldiers were shooting at them while rushing down the river bank to get on the boat. The navy on the boat had already turned the bow and prepared to fire at Chen Gu.

Although the intensive gunfire caused heavy casualties to the imperial army, the enemy still had a tenacious fighting will. This surprised Chen Gu somewhat. He didn't understand how the imperial court, where corruption was rife, could have an army with such a tenacious fighting will.

Liu Qing could answer this question, because these one thousand Eight Banners soldiers and one thousand navy were also elite troops, and together they formed the backbone of the entire Sichuan.

There are more than 20,000 troops in Sichuan, most of whom are from the Green Camp, and only Mancheng has 2,000 Eight Banners soldiers.

It is true that corruption was rampant in the imperial court, and the army was indeed corrupt, but Sichuan is so big, you must have an army that can keep its peace, right?

Apart from anything else, if a rebellion broke out somewhere, someone had to suppress it, and high-ranking officials such as the governor, the Chengdu general, and the provincial governor also had to be protected.

Therefore, the two thousand Eight Banners soldiers and the one thousand navy were the elite troops of Sichuan. As for the other more than 20,000 local troops, they were just tools for the masters to make money. Unfortunately, the two thousand Eight Banners soldiers were taken to Fobao by Le Bao, and before they could go on the battlefield, they were burned to death by Chen Gu. Therefore, Chen Gu actually did not know the specific combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners soldiers.

It was precisely because Chengdu had two thousand elite troops, namely, one thousand Eight Banners soldiers and one thousand navy, that Yang Kui and Liu Qing dared to bring them to Luzhou, attempting to trap Chen Gu to death in Luzhou. It would not take too long, perhaps one or two months, and the imperial court should have reacted.

If these two thousand elite soldiers were as incompetent as the one thousand Green Camp soldiers, Yang Kui and Liu Qing would not dare to bring them out to besiege Chen Gu even if they were killed.

Unfortunately, they did not know the specific performance of the rifle in Chen Gu's hand, and made a wrong judgment based on the performance of the shotgun.

The maximum shooting distance of a shotgun is only about a hundred meters, and the effective killing distance is only fifty to sixty meters, and its accuracy is just so-so.

They thought it was safe to stand on a hilltop a hundred meters away and spy on the enemy. They also thought it was safe to place the navy's fleet in the Naxi River. After all, they had cannons, while Chen's army did not.

Although they were wary of Chen's army's battle record and did not dare to engage in direct battle with him easily, they were not really afraid of Chen from the bottom of their hearts.

We are all elites. As long as we don't play any tricks, we can fight against each other head-on. Even if we lose, we can still bite off a piece of meat from our opponent.

For the so-called elite, their combat effectiveness is secondary, but their fighting will is absolutely top-notch.

But it was precisely because of the tenacious fighting will of the Eight Banners and the Navy that Liu Qing felt even more desperate.

The court's command center has been completely destroyed. These soldiers are only fighting back with their blood and courage. If it were an era of cold weapons, there might be a chance that the army of the underdog would win.

But on this battlefield of hot weapons, especially when Chen Guijun’s rifles are so powerful, the more fearless you are, the faster you will die.

Moreover, what Liu Qing saw from his high vantage point was that Chen's army was hiding in the trenches and shooting calmly, and 90% of the bullets they fired hit people, with a terrifyingly high hit rate.

On the other hand, the imperial court was dodging and firing at the same time. Some people didn't even aim. They fired randomly and then immediately dodged back. No one knew where the bullets went.

Some people are so fearless that they want to aim before shooting, but being fearless will only lead to the fastest death.

The greatest losses were suffered by the navy. The artillery on the ships were the main targets of Chen's army. After the first round of shells were fired, the artillery beat the ships so hard that they could not raise their heads. Anyone who showed their heads was dead.

The loading of shells was relatively slow, so the cannons on the ship only had time to fire the pre-loaded shells, and it came at a huge cost.

Even if a round of artillery shells was fired, because they were fired in the hail of bullets, the accuracy was very poor. Even if a shell occasionally fell on Chen Gu's position, it did not cause any effective casualties because of the cover of the trenches.

So there is no way to fight this battle!
(End of this chapter)