Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 98 Xu Guangjin: Even if there are pigs, it will take several days and nights to catch them, right?
As for artillery?
Installing cannons on a sampan, are you sure you are not kidding?
To put it bluntly, once the artillery opens fire, the sampan's tonnage may not even require the enemy to retaliate, as it will be shattered by the recoil.

"General!"

"Our boat is small, and we brothers standing on the boat can't really defeat the Qing monster!"

"General, let's retreat quickly. If we don't, our brothers will be killed!"

Fang Haiyang's deputy general reported to him with a sad face.

Now, every time they stay on the battlefield, more people will die.

You know, most of the people who died now are the direct descendants that Fang Haiyang brought with him when he defected to Li Yi.

If all these people died, Fang Haiyang, the commander of the Restoration Army Navy, would become a commander without troops.

Upon hearing this, Fang Haiyang glared and shouted angrily.

"Fuck your mother's fart!"

"We have to fight even if we can't. Since we can't hit them with guns and cannons, we'll just have to fight with swords. If we don't withdraw without orders, how will I explain to the Grand Commander if we withdraw?"

Upon hearing this, the deputy general was speechless.

Fang Haiyang immediately waved his arm and shouted loudly.

"Brothers, follow me!"

"As long as we board the ship, the Qing monster will be vulnerable."

"Kill the demons and divide the land!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Haiyang shouted that he wanted to take his men to board the Qing army's ships.

Seeing their general leading the charge, the morale of the soldiers of the Restoration Army Navy was instantly boosted, and they gritted their teeth and followed suit, wielding their swords and guns.

The Qing soldiers leaned their heads out from the red boat, aimed at the Guangfu Army navy on the Guijiang River from a high position, and then pulled the trigger.

Snapped! Bang bang!

The crisp sound of gunfire rang out immediately.

A volley of bullets flew over, killing and wounding many soldiers of the Restoration Army Navy.

The sound of people falling into the water continued to be heard.

Fang Haiyang heard the sound of a bullet breaking through the air, and a bullet brushed past his face, leaving a bloody mark on his face.

But even so, Fang Haiyang was still not afraid. He continued to shout and lead his men forward.

The grappling hook dragging the rope was thrown onto the deck of the Qing army's red single ship, and a nimble sailor of the Restoration Army climbed up along the rope.

But when he had only climbed halfway, the grappling hook rope hanging on the deck of the Qing army's red single ship was cut off by the Qing soldiers.

The incident happened suddenly. The Restoration Army sailor had no time to react and fell heavily to the ground. His head hit the deck with a dull thud.

Blood spread on the deck and the man died instantly!

boom! Boom boom!

There was another burst of artillery fire.

The Qing army's artillery continued to fire from a high position.

Bullets were flying, smoke filled the air, and several sampans of the Restoration Army were hit by shells and disintegrated, with the ships shattered into pieces.

The soldiers of the Restoration Army on the boats fell into the water like dumplings. Fortunately, they were all good swimmers and did not sink to the bottom.

But at this moment, a Qing soldier leaned his head out from the deck of the ship, raised his gun, aimed at the Restoration Army soldiers who fell into the water and shot.

Amid the crackling sound of gunfire, blood flowers appeared on the surface of the river...

……

Li Yi stood in the north of Wuzhou City, holding a telescope, observing the battlefield situation in the distance while listening to a briefing on the battle in the west of the city.

After learning that Li Sheng's troops had defeated the Qing army's detachment on the front battlefield, Li Yi's expression changed and he immediately spoke.

"Go and send the order, and have our navy withdraw!"

"If we keep fighting, we'll really be wiped out!"

Li Yi arranged the navy to block the Guijiang River in order to cooperate with Li Sheng's troops to complete the battle against the Qing army's detachment that crossed the river.

Since the outcome of the battle on Li Sheng's side has already come to a conclusion, the naval battle on the Gui River can almost be called off.

Although after the navy withdrew, Li Yi's plan formulated before the war to completely wipe out the Qing army crossing the river might fail.

However, if the battle continues, the Restoration Army’s navy might be destroyed before the Qing army’s detachment is completely wiped out.

Rather than completely annihilate this detachment of the Qing army, Li Yi would rather retain some bones and blood for his own navy.

Upon hearing this, Li Kang clasped his fists and went to convey Li Yi's order.

Li Yi took a deep breath and asked Bai Guangzhen, the chief artillery commander of the Restoration Army.

"Have our army's heavy artillery been deployed?"

The artillery equipped by the Restoration Army in this battle included not only five-jin field artillery, but also ten-jin heavy artillery.

Among them, the five-jin field artillery with high mobility and easy transportation were incorporated into the field artillery regiment by Li Yi and assigned to Li Sheng to support the battle.

The ten-jin cannon, which was heavy and inconvenient to transport, was placed on the city of Wuzhou and used as a city defense cannon.

When deploying the city defense artillery, Li Yi focused his ten-jin cannon on the east and south sides of the city.

Among them, the east side of the city was facing the Qing army's offensive, so it was natural to deploy more city defense cannons.

The south of the city is because the south of Wuzhou City is close to the Xijiang River.

In order to block the surface of the West River to prevent the Qing navy from bypassing Wuzhou by water and invading the heartland of the Restoration Army, the south of the city naturally could not be ignored.

This also makes the artillery power in the west and north of the city relatively weak.

It was also because of this that the Qing army's navy was able to swagger through the city of Wuzhou, go upstream into the Guijiang River to fight against the Restoration Army's navy.

After Li Yi reacted, he made a quick decision and transferred a batch of heavy artillery from the south of the city and prepared to deploy them in the north of the city.

Used to block the Qing navy which will most likely return along the same route later!

Bai Guangzhen heard this and spoke.

"Don't worry, Grand Commander. Our heavy artillery has been redeployed and is aimed at the surface of the Guijiang River."

"If the Qingyao Water Master dares to pass by our Wuzhou city again, we will make sure he never returns!"

Li Yi nodded when he heard this.

"very good!"

……

The scene on the battlefield made Fang Haiyang's eyes bloodshot.

His heart was filled with a deep sense of powerlessness.

Now they really have no good way to deal with the Qing army's powerful ships and guns.

However, at this moment, several cannon shots were heard from the direction of Wuzhou City.

After hearing this burst of cannon fire, Fang Haiyang was stunned at first, but then he reacted and shouted loudly with a look of joy on his face.

"It's the signal cannon for the withdrawal. The commander-in-chief has ordered the troops to withdraw!"

"Order the entire army to withdraw! Withdraw immediately!"

Fang Haiyang's order was quickly conveyed, and the sailors of the Restoration Army, who were still fighting fiercely with the Qing army, received the order and began to withdraw quickly.

The sampans of the Restoration Army were indeed no match for the red boats of the Qing Army in battle.

However, they are not without merit.

Their greatest advantages are their maneuverability and flexibility in narrow waters.

Seeing the Restoration Army's navy withdraw, Chen Guotai, the Xiangshan Associate Commander who was in charge of commanding the navy this time, spoke with a proud look on his face.

"All the generals say that the Guangxi bandits are brave and valiant, but from my point of view, they are nothing more than chickens and dogs!"

Chen Guotai is really proud now.

When he was stationed in Guangzhou, the enemies he faced were the British and French with their powerful ships and cannons, and he was defeated by them in the past. Now that he was transferred to fight inland, the enemy changed from the foreigners' powerful ships and cannons to the small boats operated by the bandits, and he finally experienced the happiness of the British.

When the strong ships and powerful guns faced the small boats, it was truly a one-sided crushing!
Seeing this, Wu Quanmei, the captain beside him, also spoke in agreement.

"Dusi wise!"

Seeing the enemy soldiers retreating further and further away, Wu Quanmei couldn't help but ask.

"Lord Dusi, do you want to chase?"

Chen Guotai heard this and shook his head.

"You can't chase."

"The Governor-General's military order to us is to regain control of the Guijiang River to support Zhou Junlu's withdrawal. If we rashly pursue and miss the opportunity to support Zhou Junlu, then we will die."

Hearing this, everyone nodded to express their understanding.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion on the west bank of Guijiang River, and the Qing soldiers on the deck of the ship looked up.

At the end of the horizon, I saw a huge crowd of fleeing soldiers.

Countless Qing soldiers ran away, abandoning their helmets and armor. Specimens, swords and spears were scattered all over the ground. Flags were also thrown on the ground and countless people stepped on them.

In addition, stampede accidents occurred frequently during the Qing army's hasty escape.

There was chaos everywhere!
Behind these defeated Qing troops, the Restoration Army was pursuing them.

The soldiers of the Restoration Army raised their bayonets and strode forward, facing the fleeing Qing soldiers who were using their backs to meet their bayonets, and they killed them almost one by one.

The two sides chased each other and soon arrived at the bank of Guijiang River.

In the chaotic battle, Qing soldiers rushed to jump into the river.

Zhou Junlu was protected by several personal soldiers and finally escaped to the bank of Guijiang River.

Looking at the corpses of the bandits floating on the river and the mighty warships of the imperial navy, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he was pushed into the river by the fleeing soldiers who swarmed in from the rear.

Zhou Junlu choked on several mouthfuls of river water. The smell of mud and blood in the river water mixed together, causing Zhou Junlu's stomach to churn.

The pursuing soldiers of the Restoration Army saw this scene and without hesitation, they aimed their guns at the defeated Qing soldiers crowded on the river bank and pulled the trigger.

The sound of gunfire rang out, and soon the riverside was filled with corpses of various causes of death.

Blood flowed freely, dyeing the mud and sand on the river bank bloody.

Chen Guotai, who was standing on the deck of the ship, saw this scene and immediately gave orders.

"Let our artillery aim at the bandits on the shore and fire!"

"Fight them hard for me! Defeat the bandits, and then help our defeated troops cross the river and retreat."

Chen Guotai's order was given and the gunners on the Qing warships began firing.

Boom! Boom!
Amid the thunderous sounds of artillery fire, the surface of the Guijiang River was filled with smoke.

Shell after shell was fired at the pursuing Restoration Army troops on the shore.

The shells flew into the crowd, piercing through the bodies of several people with a whistling sound, and instantly caused certain casualties to the soldiers of the Restoration Army.

When the soldiers of the Restoration Army saw this, they immediately raised their guns and fired back.

But the muskets in their hands posed no threat to the warships floating on the Guijiang River.

It was just a crackling sound, but it had no effect.

As for the artillery, it could not be transported up because the Restoration Army was pursuing too quickly.

Therefore, for the time being, the Restoration Army really had no way to deal with the Qing navy on the river.

Upon seeing this, Li Sheng realized that it was useless to continue the stalemate, so he decisively ordered his troops to withdraw.

The Restoration Army won this battle beautifully.

It took only half a day to defeat more than 10,000 Qing troops head-on on the battlefield.

Including the kills on the battlefield and the captures and prisoners taken during the pursuit, the Restoration Army wiped out at least three to four thousand Qing troops in this battle.

Such results are already brilliant enough!
It is no exaggeration to say that this Qing army has been defeated.

In this case, there is no need to force the annihilation of this Qing army's detachment when the situation is impossible.

……

To the east of Wuzhou City, a large number of corpses with various causes of death were lying in the wilderness.

Another round of attack by the Qing army ended, the retreat horn sounded, and the dark mass of Qing troops retreated like a tide.

boom! Boom boom!

The artillery of the Restoration Army on the city wall continued to fire, and shells flew and plowed through the retreating Qing army's formation, causing heavy casualties.

Chaos continued to spread among the Qing army's ranks.

Xu Guangjin looked at Wuzhou City in the distance and slowly exhaled.

I couldn't help but feel a little frightened!
What Ning Quan, the prefect of Wuzhou, said was actually true.

This group of bandits, who called themselves the Restoration Army, actually had large-caliber artillery.

And it’s not just one or two doors!
Now he has seen about ten doors, what about those he hasn’t seen?
How many more will there be?
"Wuzhou is not easy to fight!"

"When we march west this time, we should transfer a few more artillery pieces from Guangzhou to accompany the army..."

Xu Guangjin said with some emotion.

Don’t think that our Qing Dynasty is quite poor in terms of military equipment.

But the degree of completeness also depends on the place.

Since Guangzhou was the first to open up and was closer to the ocean, it could purchase weapons from abroad, and was one of those cities that was less severely damaged.

Especially after the disastrous defeat in the Opium War, the Qing army in Guangzhou learned from its mistakes. Although it did not carry out military reforms, it purchased a large number of foreign guns and cannons to strengthen its coastal defense.

There are quite a few large-caliber heavy artillery among them.

If Xu Guangjin led his troops westward to Guangxi this time, he would bring some heavy artillery from Guangzhou with him.

Then, in this siege, they would not be suppressed so badly by the artillery of the Restoration Army.

"Your Excellency, perhaps we can send a letter to Guangzhou and ask them to transport some heavy artillery to the front line as soon as possible."

"It's not too late now."

Beside Xu Guangjin, Guangzhou General Zheng Benzong made a suggestion.

After hearing this, Xu Guangjin thought for a while and then nodded.

"What you said makes sense!"

After saying this, Xu Guangjin ordered someone to bring paper and pen, preparing to write an official document requesting Guangzhou to transport a batch of artillery to the front line as soon as possible.

At this moment, a messenger came running hurriedly from a distance.

The messenger rode his horse all the way to Xu Guangjin, knelt down with a plop, pointed his finger in the direction of Wuzhou City and said.

"Your Excellency, something big has happened!"

"General Zhou, General Zhou has been defeated!"

When Xu Guangjin heard this, his slightly fair face instantly turned red.

"How...how is this possible?"

"It's only been a short time, how come Zhou Junlu was defeated? He has 10,000 men under his command!"

"Even if there were 10,000 pigs placed somewhere, it would take the bandits several days and nights to catch them, right?"

"This Zhou Junlu is really a waste, worse than a pig!"

Taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down, Xu Guangjin asked.

"What is the current situation? Where are Zhou Junlu's troops now?"

(End of this chapter)