Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 90: Artillery Battle (1)
"General, we have been surrounded by the Chinese army. Judging by the number of people, there is a group army." An adjutant reminded.

Wallace smoked a cigar, let out a puff of smoke and said, "It's okay, two army groups from India have already arrived for reinforcements. There are also two army groups approaching here from the east, and there is a huge encirclement around the Chinese army. The meaning is to eat up the Qing army in one bite and stop spending with them. Now the empire has problems in Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey are all at war. Next month we may show up in Iran to deal with the Russians.”

"General, in my opinion, if the Chinese army is defeated, the military alliance agreement between Russia and China will be terminated. At that time, Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan will all win without a fight, and Egypt can send a colonial division there for such a trivial matter. "The adjutant said proudly.

"Haha, lovely Colonel Locke. You are so right. At that time, the hungry wolves of Russia may invade the northern part of China. However, we can attack the three southwestern provinces of China and Vietnam from Burma. China? Always one Lamb to the slaughter!" Wallace continued smoking his cigar.

"Since the time of Napoleon, artillery has been the god of war, and he can easily determine the outcome of a battle. In such an offensive and defensive battle, the inferiority of the Chinese artillery will be infinitely magnified, no matter how many soldiers there are. Such a vacancy. Their artillery was blocked by the mountain and could not be transported." Locke said casually.

Just in the headquarters, the top British military officer in Burma has a feeling of underestimating the enemy.Even when they were already surrounded by the Chinese army, the soldiers under their hands underestimated the enemy more strongly.

A few idle sentinels at the gate of the city smoked and chatted against each other.There was no tension before the war at all, and at the same time, mortars and artillery shells were transported to Feng Zicai's artillery mark position in a direction that the British observation post could not see.At a time when many artillery pieces were still made of bronze, these all-steel mortars were particularly dazzling.The cannon barrel has been painted the same dark green as the Burmese jungle, and the words "Jiangning Eleventh Type" are engraved on it, which means that it was manufactured by Jinling Machinery Bureau in the 11th year of Guangxu. A generation of mortars.

"Junmen, each of our 500-odd mortars is enough for a kid to drink a pot. You see, let me take the ten battalions of this standard to be a commando!" Wang Gang, who just graduated from the Army Academy last year, couldn't wait. Said.

"Okay, young people have a lot of drive. This old man will help you, but the general's ugly words are up front, but this old man issued a military order in front of Commander Zuo, and he can't take down the old man in Mandalay. If you can't take it down , this general will chop off your heads first!" Feng Zicai said threateningly while touching his long beard on his chest.

"Don't worry, old general, if you can't take Mandalay, don't shoot me to save a bullet. I guarantee that none of my ten battalions will leave the battle alive, and open up a life channel for the army to enter Mandalay." Wang Gang said firmly. .

The eclipse of the moon is waning, and night falls.

At this time, the night is as thick as ink that cannot be melted. More than 2000 people in the cannonball are walking forward in such an environment with a dark moon and a few stars. Push them down.In order to fight against mosquitoes in the jungles of Myanmar: ~ all wearing tight long clothes and trousers, their clothes have been dry and wet several times.The white beauty on the clothes is the salt in their sweat!

Finally, they arrived at the artillery position that was planned and calculated. From here to the British army position, it happened to be the standard range of the "Jiangning Eleven Type".

Boxes of shells were unloaded from the shoulders and built next to the mortar. The shells were wiped clean and the fuzes were checked.

Cai Ning took out his pocket watch and looked at the time nervously. This was the first real battle of the old general Feng Zicai after he entered Burma. He had only fought the British army in Myitkyina before, but the British army did not fight at all. There was no preparation, and no expectation that the Qing Dynasty would join the war, so it was not so much a battle as the British army was about to collapse.But this time it was different. The British army had complete fortifications and even an advantage in firepower. This was the touchstone for their new army.

And what they undertake this time is not an ordinary tough battle, but a textbook-like siege and aid battle.The so-called Go, when you surround me, I also surround you, to see who is more angry!

Today, the situation is exactly the same.The Qing army surrounded Mandalay City, but a full 17 troops were concentrated on the periphery of the Qing army to surround it from the west and south.

If Mandalay cannot be captured and the outside cannot be defended, there is no guarantee that the entire army will not be wiped out.Even if they retreated to the occupied northeast, they would also enter a virgin forest where supplies could not be obtained.

Therefore, this time is a battle that must be won.

"The old man just said something. Whoever made him lose face this time, he will carry out the climbing training for a month with the Jiangning eleven style on his back. That's not a human job." Cai Ning said to the mortarer next to him. .

The hour hand points to four o'clock in the morning, and the commando team should be in place by this time. Cai Ning turned around and said, "Everyone is there, look at my gestures, get ready!"

The mortars straightened their chests, and the ammunition hands held the shells on standby. Everyone's hands were trembling slightly. With such a short distance and such a high shooting angle, as long as they fired, they would be able to kill the enemy almost immediately. Exploded above the position!

"put!"

There was a sudden scream on the originally silent battlefield, which was the sound of shells breaking through the air.The awake British soldiers raised their heads subconsciously, and saw black shadows falling towards them.Those shells immediately released the most brilliant brilliance on the British positions, and the northern sky was instantly illuminated.

It was as if a strong wind had blown on the British army's position. Countless soldiers hiding in the trenches were blown down by the strong wind made of metal fragments. The trenches built by the British army did not have much effect on the mortars with super large firing angles.Even a bunker is helpless in the face of overwhelming shells.When several shells fell on a bunker at the same time, the British soldiers inside were directly buried alive.

The British soldiers huddled in the trench stared dumbfounded at the shells hitting them in a huge arc. The number of shells made them feel horrible. Could it be that the enemy is using [-] cannons to bombard us?My God, did the Chinese army bring their entire country's artillery here, or the Chinese artillery has become so rich.

Almost all the mortar shells hit the first and second line positions of the British army, completely bringing the British army's firepower here to a standstill.For a long time, the British army, who had long enjoyed bombarding the enemy's positions with superior artillery, and then launched a charge, finally realized the feeling of the opponent.The cumulonimbus-like shells in the sky kept falling on their positions, bringing boundless terror.

When the gunfire sounded, Wallace had just lay down. Today he discussed with several staff officers about adjusting part of the defense in order to make his artillery advantage more obvious.

Lieutenant Colonel Locke was awakened from his sleep by the shelling as if the sky was collapsing, and he turned over and sat up from the camp bed.However, before he stood up, his headquarters shook violently, secretly saying that the shelling at the gate of the city would not have such a big impact on the command in the city.

God, how many cannons should there be?
"What happened?" If it wasn't for the violent shaking so real, Wallace thought he was still in a dream. Could it be the Chinese shelling?Where did the Chinese get so many artillery pieces?

At this time, a British staff officer ran up to Locke and said, "Commander, the Chinese army launched a sudden artillery attack on our forward position, and the situation is unknown now."

Wallace took a few steps to the observation mirror, and saw that there were fires all over the mountains and plains outside. The flashes of fire reflected that bunkers were set off one by one, and soldiers were blown to pieces.Wallace, who has always been calm in his work, shouted almost immediately: "Firepower suppression, firepower suppression immediately, after the heavy artillery destroys the enemy's artillery position, immediately bombard the first 1000 meters of the front line to prevent the enemy from attacking."

A staff officer picked up the phone in response, and delivered Locke's order in a babble.

However, 10 minutes later, the British artillery group in Mandalay City still remained silent. Wallace said with a livid face: "What are the artillerymen doing? Don't they know that every second of their delay will lead to one more attack?" A soldier's sacrifice?"

The artillery staff officer holding the microphone in his hand said in a low voice: "Sir, they said they couldn't find the location of the enemy's artillery group."

Wallace was startled when he heard the words, and dared not answer: "Do you know what you are talking about?"

"The observation post on the top of the tower did not find any signs of large-scale artillery groups within the visual range. Perhaps the enemy used ultra-long-range artillery."

"How is this possible?" Wallace said angrily, "Myanmar is full of mountains, how could the Chinese transport such large-caliber artillery, and judging from the explosion point, it is obvious that hundreds of artillery are attacking us at the same time. , if the Chinese have so many artillery pieces, then we can just surrender."

The artillery staff officer was speechless. Wallace looked at him and said, "Go to the first and second front lines immediately. Find out the exact location of the Chinese artillery group, and then come back and report to me."

The artillery staff's face suddenly turned pale. Now it is obvious that the Chinese are focusing their shelling on the first and second line positions, at this time.With such fierce artillery fire, it is very likely that they will look the same as those soldiers who were blown up.But the soldier takes obeying orders as his bounden duty, and despite his reluctance, he ran out quickly.

Under the command of Cai Ning, the artillery marks happily ravaged the first and second line positions on the hillside outside the British city. The "Jiangning 19th Type" is China's first mortar, and it is one of the few Chinese military innovations in the [-]th century.However, this is still due to the development of military technology in the world.

(End of this chapter)