Chapter 107: Flooding
Chapter 107: Flooding
On the Haichang, Shao Quanzhong and Zhang Zhidong stood side by side, each holding a telescope to watch the battle.
Seeing that the Haichang had hit Yang Fuqing's side with a cannon, even blowing down the Fuwang flag, Shao Quanzhong gave a thumbs-up and said, "You Sihai did a good job, hiring a few reliable foreign gunners for me."
When the smoke from the shrapnel cleared, all that was left was a mess at the site of the impact, with blood and body parts scattered everywhere.
"Hehe, Liao Rong has done a great job by killing the Prince Fu with one shot - no, he was not killed by the explosion."
The remaining few personal soldiers of the Prince Fu pulled aside the bodies of a dozen personal soldiers who had thrown themselves on the Prince Fu to cover them, and pulled Yang Fuqing up.
Yang Fuqing gestured for a long time, but his guards remained unmoved. It seemed that the shrapnel exploded around them, and those who were not injured were temporarily deafened.
Yang Fuqing suddenly staggered twice and fell on his back. He was lifted up by his personal soldiers and walked inland to avoid the artillery fire from the warships in the river.
Shao Quanzhong is an expert. He put down the binoculars and said, "Preliminary judgment is that Yang Fuqing has fainted due to a concussion. Okay, the enemy leader losing his command ability at a critical moment is almost as good as being killed by a bomb."
The Haichang's artillery shells extended their bombardment, sending 5,000 elite Taiping troops who had crossed the river fleeing inland. Not many people were killed, but the deterrent effect was sufficient.
Yang Fuqing was the commander-in-chief of the Taiping Army guarding Nanjing. He had outstanding personal abilities and his subordinates were all brave and decisive.
The commander was unconscious, and the remaining subordinates gathered together to discuss. Soon, they reorganized 5,000 troops and headed northwest towards Wuwei City.
The city of Wuwei was in the hands of the Taiping Army. It was a reliable idea for them to first enter the city for supplies and reorganization, and then head to Tongcheng in the northwest to join up with Chen Yucheng's troops.
The city of Wuwei was not far ahead. Two large flags were raised in front of them, with the words "Star" and "Tree" written on them. Two thousand quick-gun troops from the "Star" and "Tree" battalions on the right wing of the Huai Army were lying in ambush there.
The land was flat except for the relatively high ground where the ambushes were. The ambushes emerged from the trenches on the high ground. Tian Xing and Song Le waved their sabers and said, "Fire!"
Dense bullets were fired towards Yang Fuqing's troops.
There were bursts of artillery fire and gunfire here, and the people in Wuwei City reacted immediately.
Ma Yutang, the Taiping Army commander of Wuwei City, knew that Yang Fuqing would come and had already made preparations to meet him. He responded quickly and led 2,000 soldiers to attack the back of the Xingzi Camp and the Shuzi Camp, intending to meet the friendly forces.
As they were approaching the battlefield, a large "Bo"-shaped flag was raised in front of them, and a thousand soldiers from the "Bo" battalion on the right wing of the Huai Army Infantry emerged from the trenches. Lin Bo and Lin Buer were ordered to ambush here to stop Ma Yutang's troops.
Wu Ziyi led the engineers to arrive first and dug two trenches on this east-west strip of high ground overnight to target the enemy forces in two directions.
The elite troops of the Taiping Army in Jiangbei were concentrated in the hands of Chen Yucheng in Tongcheng. The troops stationed in Wuwei Prefecture were third-rate defenders who did not even have matchlock guns. When they were attacked by a thousand quick guns commanded by Bo Zai, they were immediately confused and turned around and ran away.
Lin Bozi waved his command knife and shouted, "Charge!"
Led by Lin Buer, a thousand soldiers jumped out of the trenches, rushed down from the high ground, and chased after them with bayonets in hand.
Ma Yutang's soul was horrified, and he led his troops to flee back to Wuwei City in a hurry. The city gates were closed, and all the soldiers went up to the city to defend it.
Lin Buer led his troops to the city, but was helpless in the face of the strong fortress and returned in disappointment. It seemed that he would not be able to accomplish any great success in this battle.
However, the "Bo" Battalion was the only unit of the Huai Army that carried out a bayonet charge in this battle.
In other words, the opponent was a worse third-rate Taiping Army unit. Otherwise, it would be quite risky for a thousand semi-finished troops that had been trained for three months to chase two thousand people in hand-to-hand combat.
Yang Fuqing's men were all elite soldiers. Facing the obstruction of two battalions, his generals fought bravely and continuously charged towards Tian Xing and Song Le's defense line.
Tian Xing and Song Laosan had received strict orders to defend the trenches and not lead troops to attack.
Two thousand muskets fired in turns, repelling the Taiping Army's attacks twice.
The semi-finished soldiers might not have the courage to fight hand-to-hand, but they could still shoot while lying in the trenches. The Taiping Army's third charge was even more valiant. Just as they were about to reach the trenches and engage in close combat, another row of rapid-fire shots came from behind Tian Xing, and the Taiping Army's vanguard fell less than 30 meters away from the trenches.
Lin Buer fought off the Taiping Army reinforcements from Wuwei City and had nothing else to do, so he came here to help.
The three assaults resulted in the death toll reaching 500, and the loss of 10% of the elite troops made the Taiping Army generals feel heartbroken. Seeing that the Wuwei City support troops had been defeated and returned, several generals discussed and led the troops to turn northwest.
We will not enter Wuwei City, but go directly to King Ying of Tongcheng.
In the distance, there was a lot of smoke and dust rising in the sky. Several Taiping Army generals raised their telescopes and saw the "King of England" flag in the distance.
Chen Yucheng was a veteran of many battles and had a meticulous mind. He personally led an army of 20,000 out of Tongcheng to support Yang Fuqing.
Now it's settled. The 4,500 subordinates of Yang Fuqing will form a team and move closer to Chen Yucheng's troops. In another ten minutes or so, the two sides will be able to meet.
There was a huge explosion, and the earth shook.
The approaching troops of Chen Yucheng and Yang Fuqing stopped at the same time.
Thick smoke was seen billowing in the south, and a violent explosion occurred in the direction of Fenghuangjing on the Wuwei Yangtze River dike.
The newly arrived troops of Yang Fuqing had no idea what was going on. Chen Yucheng, who was very familiar with the terrain, cursed loudly, "You evil Qing demons, you are so mad that you dared to dig the Yangtze River embankment! Retreat!"
The rolling flood rushed out from Phoenix Neck, with huge waves rushing directly to the north.
Chen Yucheng responded promptly and commanded his troops to escape from the flooded area, sighing in despair.
Yang Fuqing's troops ran a little slower and retreated eastward. More than 300 people were caught in the flood and disappeared.
The main stream of the flood formed a river along the low-lying terrain and went all the way to the city of Wuwei, completely isolating Chen Yucheng's troops from Yang Fuqing's.
Soon the low-lying areas were filled and floods began to spread to both sides.
Chen Yucheng's troops continued to retreat westward to avoid the flood, while Yang Fuqing's troops could only flee eastward.
You will be safe if you run to the river embankment in the eastern Nizha and Shentang areas.
One hundred steps away from the eastern dike, ambushed troops appeared on the dike, with flags bearing the characters "森" and "青".
This is not the regular infantry camp of the Huai Army, but the logistics, artillery, and cavalry troops led by Le Sen and Hai Qing. Although their marksmanship is not as good as that of the regular army, their number reaches 4,500 and the firepower density is sufficient.
Yang Fuqing's troops turned around and ran south. The enemy has an ambush here. If we run to the high ground next to the Yangtze River embankment, there will definitely be no enemy ambushes there. We will hold on and wait for help. The King of England will not abandon us.
Whistles sounded on the Yangtze River, and five cargo ships came from downstream, Yunsheng No. 1 to Yunsheng No. 5, and moored at the simple pier of Liudu.
Shao Hengzhong was the first to jump off the boat, followed by Qu Laosan and Yan Laoliu.
The left-wing infantry of the Huai Army from two battalions, carrying rifles on their backs, disembarked one after another.
Shao Hengzhong looked anxious, "Hurry, run forward!"
Let me explain here that the Yangtze River is not the Yellow River, so digging the dike will not cause such a big harm. Blowing up the Fenghuangjing dike was something that the Qing army did in history. In history, Zeng Guoquan attacked Wuwei after taking Anqing, not to intercept reinforcements. Of course, the protagonist did not take Wuwei this time, because there were no artillery. He just set up an ambush circle in the swamp by the river and released water to stop Chen Yucheng's reinforcements. Ordinary people will not live in swamps, so it will not flood ordinary people, and it will only delay the actions of the Taiping Army. In history, Zeng Guoquan did not flood the Taiping Army when he broke the dike in Wuwei, and no one lived in the swamp. He just surrounded the Taiping Army to make it easier to fight. The breach did not even flood the city of Wuwei, but only the swamps along the coast were flooded.
According to historical records: In the 1861th year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign (), the Taiping Army fought a fierce battle with the Qing Army and lost the city. The Taiping Army held Nihan and Shentang to prevent the Qing Army from moving east along the river. The Qing Army dug up the Fenghuangjing Dam and flooded the Taiping Army, causing the Taiping Army to fail.
(End of this chapter)