Dominate the Country

Night fell quickly, and the battleground was still filled with the sound of killing. The Dadongmen Gate of Guangzhou, which was still majestic in the daytime, has now become dilapidated, and even the outer city wall has collapsed in two places under the fierce bombardment of the Fu Han Army's artillery. Before the teams of Fu Han Army soldiers reached the outside of the Dadongmen City Wall, the Qing army on the outer city wall was still resisting.

Zeng Hai used half of his banner soldiers, standard camps and training troops, plus more than 10,000 Green Camp militiamen, and deployed them on Baiyun Mountain in the northeast of the city, Xiannongtan, Shanchuantan and Dongjiaochang in the east of the city. The training troops suppressed the Green Camp, the standard camp suppressed the training troops, the banner soldiers followed the standard camp's methods, and kept filling the positions with soldiers and refueling. No matter how many Qing soldiers died, they at least held on until night.

Under the cover of artillery, the Fu Han army launched several charges against the Qing army positions outside the city. The Qing army's artillery also fought back with all their strength. The shells drew red traces in the dark night sky, shuttling back and forth between the two sides.

Yang Zhengjie lowered his head, stepped deep and shallow on the gravel-like "path" from the gap in the city wall to the outside of the city, followed by a team of a thousand militiamen. These people were less than half of his troops, but these thousand people were definitely the best-equipped and most capable team under his command.

As a scholar who started as a militia and was awarded the title of Dusi for his "war merits", Yang Zhengjie was loyal to Guangdong's militia minister, Governor Liangqing, and to Daqingguo. Since this year, he has sent troops to attack Hunan many times. Although he is only a Dusi, his name has repeatedly appeared in the "Xiang Bao".

In the "Shiguwen" and "Yuelu Mountain", he was praised as one of the "Three Heroes" of the South, along with Wu Xiongguang of Southern Jiangsu and Chen Jie of Zhejiang! It would be even better if Wu Xiongguang also had the word "Jie" in his name.

As soon as you leave the city, you can see broken limbs everywhere along the way. The once prosperous Guancheng has become a ruin. The Xiannongtan in the distance has been lost, and the Shanchuantan can't stand it. Yang Zhengjie's team must quickly reinforce. Before the battle started, Yang Zhengjie, as well as the officials and soldiers in the city, did not expect that the Fu Han army would fight so fiercely, so fierce from the beginning!

The shells were thrown like they were free. In just less than a day, the Qing army stationed in the east of the city suffered four to five thousand casualties. Many lines of defense and positions were captured by the Fu Han army. At the same time, the Dadong Gate was also severely damaged. Whether it was the women's wall, the urn city, or the city gate tower, it was completely unrecognizable by hundreds of shells.

Guangzhou City is surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one side, but the east side of Guangdong, that is, Dongguan, is connected to a flat road, and the geographical location is still very prominent.

The Fu Han Army went north from Xin'an, first took Dongguan, and then attacked Guangzhou City.

They did not attack from the west, north, or south, but only attacked from the east!

The Humen line guarded by the heavy troops of the Qing army became a decoration.

Yang Zhengjie and his men had not yet entered Shanchuantan, because he had just passed the East Training Ground from the edge, and a group of defeated soldiers suddenly emerged from the Shanchuantan position. They were the Qing army, but the Fu Han Army had defeated the guards of the Qing army position in Shanchuantan before Yang Zhengjie.

"Follow me, quickly, quickly!" Yang Zhengjie led his troops to form an array on the right side of the route where the defeated soldiers fled, "Everyone get ready, raise your guns-"

"Aim-"

"Fire-"

When the Fu Han Army chasing the defeated Qing soldiers arrived, Yang Zhengjie shouted loudly to open fire regardless of whether there were still Qing soldiers in the range.

The experienced Fu Han Army officer immediately blew the whistle. Reminded by the sharp whistle, hundreds of Fu Han Army soldiers who were chasing them fell to the ground. The bullets shot through their heads in rows. "Grenade, grenade..." the Fu Han Army officer shouted.

Yang Zhengjie should be thankful that he was in the dark. Otherwise, when his six or seven hundred men were in formation, the Fu Han Army's shells would have fallen on their heads.

The continuous grenade explosions could not fail to affect Yang Zhengjie's volley guns, and in the dark, the loading speed of the bullets was slow. There were only a few hundred Fu Han troops attacking, and it was unknown whether there were other troops hiding in the dark except for the Qing troops diagonally opposite. Taking advantage of the grenade explosion, the command troops retreated.

All the Fu Han troops felt that they had a sure victory in this battle, so their adventurous spirit was a little weaker. As the last Fu Han Army soldier retreated to Shanchuantan, dense shells fell again. They really didn't leave anyone a chance to breathe.

The fierce battle of the day lasted until 2:30 in the morning before it finally stopped. When the Qing soldiers lay in the trenches of Dongjiaochang, gasping for breath, the entire Guangzhou East City was no longer the same as it used to be. Blood and corpses filled their sight.

After passing the Great East Gate, not far inside was Yushan Mountain, and next to it was Fanshan Mountain. This is how Guangzhou was called "Panyu" in ancient times.

At this moment, there was a residential area at the foot of Yushan Mountain. There was no civilian here. Hundreds of wounded Qing soldiers who were withdrawn from the front line were gathered here. Doctors who were captured from inside and outside Guangzhou were bandaging them nervously. At the same time, outside Guangzhou City, the young and strong men who were recruited to fight Guangzhou were using stretchers to pack up the bodies of the fallen Qing soldiers and civilians. All these bodies would be sent to Baiyun Mountain.

The young faces with their eyes closed forever, the bodies with limbs blown off, and the charred bodies made everyone grit their teeth.

At the foot of Yushan Mountain, a civilian whose thigh was torn by shrapnel was wailing in pain. The doctor next to him probably knew that the golden wound medicine could not stop the bleeding, so he asked someone to hold the soldier tightly and pressed a red-hot iron directly on the wound.

"Sizzle..." The pungent smell of burning was spreading in the air,

Accompanied by the chilling sound, it was the scream of the wounded soldier that was ten times more miserable. The huge pain made him faint immediately. The doctor quickly sprinkled white hemostatic powder on the scalded wound, and then wrapped it with a bandage, and that was it. As for whether the wounded soldier could really survive, it depended on whether he could survive.

Another morning, Yang Zhengjie appeared at the front line of the East Training Ground, and his face was not good. Because he felt that he was cannon fodder.

The word "cannon fodder" came from the north. It was the Fu Han Army that first mentioned it, but it vividly interpreted the current status of Yang Zhengjie's troops. They are cannon fodder, a group of scum who come to consume the bullets and shells of the Fu Han Army.

Compared with the previous Xiannongtan and Shanchuantan, the defense of the East Teaching Field is weaker, not to mention the comparison with Baiyun Mountain in the northeast. However, the Fu Han Army did not attack Baiyun Mountain at all. Anyway, there was enough space for Chen Ming to deploy troops in the east of Guangzhou. The large army just went straight to the Great East Gate and did not hit Baiyun Mountain.

What appeared in front of Yang Zhengjie was a hellish picture. The houses in the entire East Teaching Field and the surrounding residential houses had completely collapsed. There was no intact house. There were broken bricks and rotten wood blown up by shells everywhere, large and small deep and shallow craters, and uncleaned limbs and dried blood on the ground.

And the deputy governor Wood, who led the troops to guard the East Teaching Field for a day and a night, Yang Zhengjie almost didn't dare to recognize him after looking at him. This person with a face full of gunpowder, wrinkled and dirty clothes, and a sour smell all over his body, could it be Lord Wood?

Of course, the food of the Qing army on the front line is super good.

There are fish, chicken, duck, pork, and officers also have beef and mutton...

Zenghai has definitely spent a lot of money to reward the soldiers on the front line. The portions are sufficient, and everyone can eat with an open stomach, and there is no reason not to be full. Except for the lack of wine, this richness can already catch up with the New Year's Eve dinner of the Qing army in Guangzhou.

In the Fu Han Army camp opposite Guangzhou City. In a military tent, an instructor with the rank of sergeant was leaning over the desk and writing a letter. The tea in the iron teapot next to him, which had no taste at all, can more or less explain the fact that this sergeant officer had not slept all night.

Yesterday, the Qing army suffered heavy casualties, and the Fu Han Army also suffered certain casualties. Not to mention the injured, the families of the officers and soldiers who died in the battlefield will receive a letter from the unit to which their relatives belonged.

The soldiers' comfort letters all have a unified format and are printed. You only need to fill in the name, the unit organization, and the time of writing. For officers, no matter how big or small, they must write handwritten letters.

The sergeant was writing a letter to the family of a fallen officer. Although this was a very artificial form of expression, the sergeant's expression was solemn. This kind of "technique" that seems exaggerated and artificial to outsiders, as a soldier, will only be considered solemn and dignified, and will never be considered false and ridiculous.

This is Chen Han's recognition and respect for soldiers.

A thick stack of letters was taken to the logistics unit, and the sergeant ate breakfast hastily and went back to the tent. Their battalion, which fought all day yesterday, does not have to go to the battlefield again today. The attack of the Fu Han Army is still the same as yesterday. It started shelling at six o'clock, indiscriminate covering shooting. After a full hour of shelling, a regiment of the attacking force launched an attack on the East Training Ground.

Let time go back an hour ago. At six o'clock in the morning, the sky in Guangzhou in September just brightened.

Lieutenant Colonel David Osmante, a senior staff member of the British East India Company, rubbed his sore and swollen eyes and walked out of his residence.

It was terrible. I had a terrible sleep last night. The sound of gunfire and artillery continued, and the Fu Han Army was constantly harassing the Qing army all night.

There was no large-scale attack, but instead there were occasional artillery bombardments and hunting by hunters hidden in the dark. This harassment was shameless and dishonorable, but it was also extremely demoralizing, forcing the Qing army to cheer up to deal with it.

David Osmante was not unfamiliar with this combat mode. In his eyes, the sniper was like a rifle shooter in the British Army. As a weapon with excellent range, accuracy and extremely slow firing rate, the rifle is best at using this shameful method to consume the opponent's morale and energy.

Moreover, as an elite of Great Britain, David Osmante can also see the deeper meaning of this tactic - the inequality of combat power or deterrence between the two parties will also have different effects on the harassed party.

If the Qing army is replaced by the Great British lobster soldiers, the enemy on the opposite side is the Fu Han army. The British army warriors will not be afraid of them at all. In the eyes of Great Britain, the Fu Han army is just an ordinary army, no different from the armies of other European countries.

Therefore, although the harassment of the Fu Han army will make the lobster soldiers furious and consume some of their energy, it will not wear down the morale of the army in the short term. It will only make the soldiers more angry, not afraid and terrified.

Because the status of both sides is equal.

But the Qing government army was different. Their spirit had been greatly weakened before the war, and the combat effectiveness of the Fu Han army was indeed much better than theirs. They were inherently afraid and wary of the Fu Han army. David had been a military adviser to the Qing army in Guangzhou, and he understood the Qing government army's vigilance against the Fu Han army.

In the constant harassment of the Fu Han army day and night, the government army would become irritable and furious, and after the anger faded, what was left was fear and fear.

Everyone has a brain. The opponent is not a weakling, but an army stronger than oneself. I was harassed overnight, and my spirit was not as good as before, that is, I felt that my state was not as good as before, which meant that my combat effectiveness was declining. In this case, wouldn't I be even less of an opponent? The feeling of retreat would of course appear in the hearts of the soldiers!

And once the heart is exposed to cowardice, how can the army win the battle?

When the desire to retreat appears in the soldiers' hearts, but the officers do not order them to retreat, facing the bullets that are constantly fired from invisible places in the dark night, the fear will quickly arise and increase rapidly.

This is the current Qing army soldiers.

It can be seen from their random shooting when they are harassed at night. They have fear in their hearts!

It can be seen from the fact that the Qing army officers knew that the opponent was deliberately harassing but did not dare to be careless, and they always asked the soldiers to tighten their expressions. They also have fear in their hearts!

"This is really a desperate war." The fear and retreat are the marks of a unit's failure in David Osman's eyes. It is the disappointment of countless soldiers in the war!

The lieutenant colonel walked to the Pearl River embankment, and the position on the east was clearly visible. The sun in October in the Western calendar covered it with golden rays of light, and of course it also covered countless soldiers on this land.

"Ah..." David Osman stretched his arms and yawned a long time towards the rising sun in the east. He didn't sleep well last night.

David Osmante was born into a noble family and lived in comfortable conditions. Although he graduated from the military academy during the Seven Years' War and later served in Quebec, he did not suffer much. As a well-deserved elite of the Kingdom of Great Britain, David can be said to be a good practical general.

As a nobleman and an officer, he has the right to enjoy a comfortable life. He is a glorious noble officer. Instead of the soldiers below, the marching tents with unbearable smells in the war are not where he should be.

Therefore, just after yawning, the pampered David Osmante muttered: "Damn cannons!" He couldn't sleep well all night and had no energy during the day.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency! The anti-government army is about to launch a new attack on Guangzhou, and this place will soon become a war zone. Mr. Robert, please return to the safe area immediately. There will be shells falling here soon!" A low-level clerk of the East India Company shouted to him from a distance.

Shells! ? David Osmante shuddered violently.

He was just taking a walk, but he didn't want to walk in the battlefield area. "Damn Chinese, they actually launched an attack so early!"

Not only did last night's sleep get ruined, but even this morning's breakfast was ruined.

David Osmante walked quickly. He must get to the new trading area as soon as possible, that's the safe place!

The battle lasted less than an hour. When the Fu Han Army launched the second attack, the Qing army withdrew from the city gate position and completely retreated into the city. This greatly encouraged the Fu Han Army!

The Fu Han Army's artillery began to bombard the entire Dadong Gate like raindrops.

The foreign merchants' trading area was originally on the riverside about 200 meters away from the southwest corner of Guangzhou City. The so-called new trading area was occupied by merchants from Britain, France, the Netherlands and other countries, relying on the Qing court to buy guns and cannons from them, and occupied a new piece of land in the southeast corner of Guangzhou City.

Now many Europeans with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes are climbing on the high roofs, looking at the battle outside the Dadong Gate.

Whether it is the Fu Han Army or the Qing Army, their performance makes them feel "collapsed". Many Europeans could not accept the fighting mode of these two armies, especially the Fu Han Army. Their soldiers were digging trenches, and it seemed that some soldiers were holding short-handled iron hoes and hammers specially used for digging trenches.

The Chinese trenches were wider and deeper than those in Europe. The Qing soldiers could stand in the trenches to load ammunition, and even some small cannons could be placed in the trenches. The Fu Han Army also moved its large mortars into the position, one of which was particularly powerful. According to the ship doctor who came out of Guangzhou City last night, some Qing government soldiers had no scars on their appearance, but only countless small red dots on their bodies. They died completely from the shock of the explosion of the shells. This cannon is called "Flying Thunder Cannon"!

Of course, there are also some people in Europe who sneer at China's civil war. The offensive and defensive battles between the Fu Han Army and the Qing Army, and the confrontation between the two were considered by them to be a manifestation of cowardice. They felt that the wars between the East and the West were completely incomparable. In the West and in Europe, volley shooting was the right way.

"That's the war of the brave." As for the Chinese army in front of them, "They are just a bunch of groundhogs! Cowardly groundhogs!"