Chapter 354 Cutting the Braids

Chapter 354 Cutting the Braids

Chapter 354 Cutting the Braids

Shao Quanzhong followed the tank division's attacking force into the city. The street fighting division had already cleared the buildings on both sides.

During the battle, Shao Quanzhong put on the uniform of an ordinary soldier, wore a helmet, and cut his braids, turning his hair short.

In fact, all the Huai Army's regular soldiers cut their braids when they swore to go to war in Guangzhou.

It was not that Shao Quanzhong suddenly wanted to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, but that he needed to wear a helmet.

The new combat mode requires cutting off the braid. Anyone who thinks that cutting off the braid is wrong should go and fight the French and experience for yourself which is more important, the head or the braid.

Of course when someone asked this question, the Qing government’s answer would definitely be that the braid is more important, and it is better to keep the hair than the head.

Shao Quanzhong was Prince Heshuo Rui, given the surname Jueluo, and he was an official who could cut off the queues at the command of a single person. If anyone disagreed, the Huai Army could come to "reason" with them.

Shao Quanzhong violated so many of the ancestral systems of the Qing Dynasty that he could roam the palace at will, and even the Empress Dowager had to serve him. Only with such a position could he dare to act recklessly.

The happiest person to have his braid cut was Tian Xing, the commander of the 1st Tank Division. His braid was basically a wig, so he could finally get rid of the ugly Tartar hairstyle from now on.

Unlike Lin Bozai, Tian Xing did not like to lead the charge. He sat in a wheeled troop carrier with Shao Quanzhong, following the tank division to supervise the battle.

Messengers kept running back to report the battle results of the vanguard.

"Report, we have discovered the underground sewer system in Paris, which is interconnected and several meters high. The Paris National Guard is active there. Our destroyed tank was blown up by the nitroglycerin explosives they placed in the sewer."

Well, this is something invented by Nobel, diatom mud solidified dynamite, used in construction, with detonators. A lot of it was used in the Paris reconstruction project, and there was some left, which was used by the National Guard to blow up tanks.

"Commander Lin has ordered part of the street fighting division to enter the sewers to fight and eliminate the insurgents inside. We are not familiar with the sewer terrain and have not trained in underground combat beforehand. Casualties are starting to increase, but we have successfully prevented them from placing explosives again."

Paris's sewer system was newly completed, running underground alongside the roads and stretching for several hundred miles.

The tertiary sewers in the community are responsible for collecting sewage, which is then discharged into the primary sewer under the main road through the secondary sewer under the road, and then flows into the Seine.

The secondary and primary sewers are suitable for ships and rail vehicles. It is basically an underground world.

To accomplish this, technology is not a problem, the only prerequisite is - having money.

Paris' excellent sewer system has been in use until the 21st century and is still the world leader, except that in the 21st century, it did not install sufficient purification equipment required by that era...

If you think others are not advanced enough, think about your neighborhood. When it rains, does water leak out of the manhole cover? Have you ever had your car stuck in water?

The sewer covers in Paris in 1870 were numbered. If someone's belongings accidentally fell into the sewer, all they had to do was provide the cover number and Paris municipal staff would thoughtfully follow the map to find your belongings and return them to them.

The people of Paris enjoy the most advanced municipal services of this era. A large part of the money was stolen from China, and earned from selling Chinese workers and indentured slaves all over the world...
Paris always surprises us, even after a year of thorough preparation. The battle became a three-dimensional war in buildings, streets and sewers, and casualties continued to increase.

After encountering all-round resistance, the troops' advance slowed down significantly.

In the afternoon, we were hit by a larger-scale nitroglycerine explosion. Two tanks were blown up into the sky. It took the engineering battalion half an hour to flatten the big hole in the road, and that was with the help of the ready-made rubble from the barricades. Fortunately, we did not encounter any more attacks from strange advanced rapid-fire cannons, which seemed to be rare in Paris.

Lin Bozi came to see Shao Quanzhong in person. Shao Quanzhong looked at the gauze wrapped around Lin Bozi's head and was too lazy to scold him anymore. If he hadn't been wearing a helmet, this fierce brother would have been killed this time.

Shao Quanzhong was attracted by the remains of weapons held by Bo Zai's men.

The rapid-fire cannon that was dug out from the ruins had been twisted and broken into many parts, making it easier for the soldiers of the engineering battalion to carry.

For the Huai Army soldiers who were familiar with rapid-fire cannons, it was easy to put these parts back together and arrange them into shape.

This thing looks much more sophisticated than the Williams rapid-fire cannon. It actually has five barrels and no wheels underneath. It has a fixed metal base that looks like it was dismantled from somewhere.

After walking around the rapid-fire cannon several times, Shao Quanzhong spotted the trademark on it at a glance - Armstrong Company.

Holy shit! This thing was made by the British! I am a loyal brother of the British and a member of the Windsor royal family, why don’t I know? !
"Come here, send a telegram to the British ambassador Zeng Jize, and ask him to go to British Prime Minister Gladstone on my behalf and ask him what is going on with the five-barrel rapid-fire cannon produced by the Armstrong Company."

The current British Prime Minister is no longer the one Shao Quanzhong met during his first visit to London. He has changed. Shao Quanzhong doesn't care and is too lazy to remember his name. I am a member of the Windsor royal family, the master, and you are just an employee.

The men got off the car and rode out of the city to send a telegram. Since the siege began, the Prussians had cut off the wired telegraph in Paris, turning it into an information island.

The British reply would not arrive for a while, and the Huai Army's 1st Tank Division and Street Fighting Division were still advancing slowly but steadily.

They were not far from the Bank of France, but the sky was gradually getting dark. The Huai Army was preparing to fight in the dark. Suddenly, there was a light on the side of the road and the gas street lights came on.

Paris has 56,000 street lights, making it a glorious city that never sleeps. Even Shao Quanzhong, a country bumpkin, drools at the sight of it.

"Isabelle, record my order and ask Shao Yuan to repair Hailing in the same way as in Paris."

"We have to build a sewer system like Paris, a gas lighting system, and drinking fountains, newsstands, public toilets, and benches that I saw on the roadside. Our Hailing can't be worse than Paris, right?"

This is Shao Quanzhong's take-what-you-need approach. No matter whether it is from an enemy country or not, he would just take the good stuff and use it.

Under the lights, the three-dimensional war between the two sides continued. At midnight, Shao Quanzhong's stomach growled, and the front reported, "We have reached the Bank of France."

It was not easy, and the casualties in this street fighting were heavy. Three tanks were lost, and six or seven tanks were shot to pieces and fought with defects, so they must need major repairs.

After all, there were as many as 300 tanks, which was not a big deal. The loss of soldiers exceeded 2,000, and they were all elite soldiers of the Huai Army.

Shao Quanzhong ignored the fact that the enemy's losses exceeded 10,000. No matter how many enemies died, it could not make up for the trauma of the people of Lianghuai.

Fortunately, his goal was soon achieved, "Come on, stabilize the front, take a defensive posture, and let the soldiers eat."

"The Guards Brigade is attacking, target the Bank of France, start looting!"

(End of this chapter)