Rebirth of The Deer and the Cauldron, Wei Xiaobao Becomes a God

However, just when victory seemed within reach, something unexpected happened.

I saw the last row of red-haired devils in the last three rows suddenly holding torches and throwing them hard at the attacking Qing army.

In an instant, more than a thousand torches fell from the sky like raindrops. After falling to the ground, they quickly caused a raging fire. The fire soared into the sky and formed a huge sea of ​​fire.

The attacking Qing army was immediately drawn into the flames, and countless soldiers cried out in fear and struggled in pain in the sea of ​​fire...

Suo Etu stood in the rear and witnessed the tragic scene on the front line. He cried out in his heart: "It's over, we have lost the battle!"

It turned out that the cunning John had already secretly set up a trap within a range of thirty to one hundred meters in front of his own camp.

They skillfully mixed kerosene and sand together, waited for the right time, and then set fire to the dangerous area.

When the Qing army rushed to the thirty-meter point like a tide, the battlefield instantly turned into a horrible burning field.

The fine sand under their feet was all burning. There was no place to hide in the early morning. They could only watch themselves and others being burned to death. Many soldiers could not bear the pain and committed suicide...

"Master Zhongtang, let's retreat!" Fu Lata looked at the sea of ​​fire ahead and shouted in panic. His voice was trembling, as if he had lost all his courage and hope.

"Yes, yes, retreat quickly." Suo Etu echoed, his face also full of fear. He originally thought that this battle would be easily won, but now he was in a desperate situation.

"Let's call back the troops first, and take back as many soldiers as we can!" After all, He Yu was a general who had experienced many battles. Although he was very anxious, he still remained calm. He knew that the most important thing now was to minimize the losses and protect his army.

Li Chengdong had a dull expression on his face. He couldn't accept the fact in front of him. He had just seen the dawn of victory, but in the blink of an eye he fell into an abyss of no return. This huge psychological gap almost made him faint.

It was only after He Yu shook him hard a few times that he finally reacted and quickly asked his soldiers to beat the gong. He knew that the order to retreat must be conveyed as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

John was secretly delighted when he heard the gong sound from the other side. He knew that the other side's commander wanted to escape, which meant that they were about to win. He thought that if he could capture a few important people, it would be an important bargaining chip on the negotiation table.

So he immediately ordered the messenger beside him: "Go and convey my order quickly. Let the troops surround the west gate from both sides and capture the Qing army commander alive."

Shortly after the messenger left on the boat, a buzzing sound of a motor was heard upstream and downstream of the Huangpu River, and the sound became louder and louder.

John had never heard this motor sound before and didn't know what it meant. He quickly picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction of the sound.

"Oh my God! What is that?" John couldn't help shouting, and saw hundreds of small boats coming towards him like a swarm of bees, and these boats had no sails, but were very fast, and each boat had 20 soldiers in strange clothes. These small boats going upstream could reach a terrifying speed of knots.

It turned out that after the Eastern Fleet arrived at Chongming Island, they picked up Wei Xiaobao who came by yacht.

"Commander Wei, you've come at the right time. We are preparing to attack Shanghai." Zhang Xiaolong said with a smile.

Wei Xiaobao nodded and said, "Yes, that's why I came here. How many troops do you have now?"

"Commander-in-chief, we have three ironclad ships, two transport ships and two regiments of the Marine Brigade this time," Zhang Xiaolong replied.

"Okay, this time we're going to give those Western red-haired devils a hard time." Wei Xiaobao said with a smile.

Afterwards, Wei Xiaobao brought Zhang Xiaolong and the generals aboard the 251 flagship.

The fleet first went to the port of Shanghai.

The Port of Shanghai is located in the middle of the Chinese mainland coastline and at the mouth of the Yangtze River. It connects the north and south coasts of China and the Pacific Ocean in front, and runs through the Yangtze River Basin, the inland rivers of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, and the Taihu Lake Basin in the back. It is one of the four ports designated by Emperor Kangxi for trade with foreigners.

After the Eastern Fleet arrived at the Port of Shanghai, it took control of all the Western ships in the port and successfully rescued the customs and dock officials who were imprisoned in cages in the cabins of Western ships.

Wei Xiaobao saw his nominal cousin Fahai at a glance, and couldn't help but feel a little playful, and said jokingly: "Isn't this the second son of the emperor's uncle? Fahai, how did you get into the foreign devil's cage?"

However, as a child of a powerful family, Fahai has an extremely keen political sense. He knows that Wei Xiaobao has just accepted the amnesty, but he has recruited the Jinxia rebels, offended the emperor, and is now identified as a traitor by the emperor. Although the empress dowager likes Wei Xiaobao very much, the emperor still has the intention to kill him, so Fahai dare not easily talk to Wei Xiaobao.

"Hmph, it's because you killed the foreigner in Yangzhou that led to the foreigner attacking the city!" Fahai glared angrily, his face full of indignation and dissatisfaction, and there was a hint of resentment in his tone.

"Oh! The foreigner is your father. You keep calling him 'foreign sir'. Let me tell you, the foreigners are robbers. They want to steal my ironclad ship. Of course I have the right to kill them. And you, you have been locked in a cage waiting to be sold as a slave, but you still want to speak for your foreign master. How could a smart man like Tong Guogang give birth to a stupid bastard like you?"

Wei Xiaobao hit back bluntly, with a look of disdain on his face.

"Hmph! Don't talk about my father!" Fahai retorted angrily, his eyes revealing his respect and protection for his father.

At this moment, a low and powerful "rumble" sound came from the distance, as if the earth was shaking. The sound was getting closer and closer, and finally turned into a deafening artillery sound!

"What's that sound? Is someone firing cannons?" Wei Xiaobao asked vigilantly, his brows furrowed and his eyes looking into the distance alertly.

Mu Tingye on the side quickly replied: "Lord Wei, there is the sound of artillery fire coming from the direction of Shanghai County." His face was solemn and there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

Seeing Mu Tingxie flattering Wei Xiaobao, Fahai could not help but get angry and scolded him angrily: "General Mu, you are a second-rank official in the court! How can you be entangled with such a traitor? Cut off contact with him quickly and take me to Chongming Island, otherwise I will report your secret dealings with the traitor to the emperor!"

However, Mu Tingxie was a martial arts student, and he always looked down on arrogant nobles like Fahai. He responded bluntly, "What do you know? Stop yelling here."

Seeing this, Wei Xiaobao raised his lips slightly and agreed, "It's indeed a bit annoying." Then, he pointed his finger at Fahai, turned to Zhang Xiaolong beside him and ordered, "Put him in a cage and find an opportunity to sell him to the emperor's uncle. As a slave, you must act like a slave."