The area around the city gate was already open, and when the monk Lingqin retreated, he set fire to prevent the British from pursuing, and a large fire burned the vicinity of the city gate into an open field, which not only opened the line of sight, but also helped to spread the formation, and the tension between the two armies seemed to freeze even the air. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

With the rhythmic sound of the snare drums, the British troops marched forward with neat steps to the beat of the drums, without paying any attention to the Qing army on the opposite side.

Seeing that the British army moved, Chen Hongming, the commander of the second regiment, ordered in a deep voice, "Advance in formation, keep the distance, ten steps at a time, and walk in unison!" ”

With the order, Yuan Qi Tuanyong, who was lined up in three horizontal columns, also stepped forward with neat steps in the sound of the password, looking at this scene, Seng Ling felt a little dry mouth, he really didn't expect Yuan Qi Tuan Yong to dare to directly hedge with the British army!

George, the commander of the British army on the opposite side, was also very surprised to see this situation, and his heart suddenly became vigilant, the Qing army charging at them was not nothing, but without exception, they were all rushing and shouting in a swarm of bees, such a neat and quiet steady hedge in such a queue, he had never encountered it in the east.

"Five hundred meters!"

"Four hundred meters!"

"Three hundred and fifty meters!"

"Three hundred meters!"

The head of the regiment, Chen Hongming, waved his hand and shouted in a deep voice, "Stop moving forward and prepare to shoot!" ”

The two sides stopped at such a distance? Monk Lingqin glanced at Yi Zhixiang with some surprise, this does not seem to be much different from the musketeers of the Eight Banners Green Battalion, most of them start to release their guns at a distance, and they shoot randomly, and the bullets don't know where they fly, and they can't cause damage to the enemy at all, but he didn't expect Yuan Qi's group practice to be like this, and he couldn't help but be a little disappointed in his heart for a moment.

As Chen Hongming raised the pistol above the top let out a dull gunshot, the dense gunfire immediately rang out, and with the gunshot, the British troops on the opposite side fell in rows, and Monk Greenqin's eyes widened, what was going on?

Bursts of gunfire rang out continuously, in this battle, the strength of the Yuanqi regiment at the south gate was as high as 1,000, but the British army was only 1,000, Chen Hongming ordered to shoot at a distance of 280 meters, the hit rate of the Mini gun was amazing, many regiments had no chance to shoot the second bullet, and there was no standing British army in front of them.

It's literally lined up to shoot! It was a massacre! The British soldiers on the opposite side were killed cleanly without firing a shot! Monk Greenqin and a group of banner soldiers couldn't help but gasp, looking at the British soldiers who fell to the ground in front of them in a daze, speechless. Mother. Is that the British army who beat them a few days ago?

Seeing the Yuan Qi Tuan rushing towards the city, Monk Lingqin licked his lips and said, "What kind of musket is this?" ”

"Citigroup's latest musket is also the most advanced musket in the world, one hundred taels of silver." Yi Zhixiang said slowly: "Gunpowder and bullets are custom-made, one ammunition, one penny of silver." ”

"So expensive?" Monk Grinqin lost his voice.

"Compared to this record, it's not expensive at all." Yi Zhifen smiled and said, "The British army is known as a world-class army. ”

Monk Greenqin nodded slowly, compared to this record, it is indeed not expensive, or even if it is expensive, it is worth it! After a long silence, he asked, "Why did Citi sell this new musket to Yuanqi Tuanlian?" ”

It's not stupid to be able to ask this, Yi Zhizhi smiled and said: "Because Citigroup is not as stupid and confident as England, and Citigroup's own military strength is not as strong as England's, they are very sober, and they can't conquer the Qing Dynasty by force, and if they want to get benefits from the Qing Dynasty, the best way is to trade and trade."

Citigroup hopes to replace England as the largest trading country in the Qing Dynasty's foreign trade through this war, and it can be said that Citigroup, which is sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, is the biggest beneficiary of this war.

Another important point is that we in the Qing Dynasty do not have an industrial base to imitate this new musket and ammunition, and we must continue to purchase guns and ammunition from Citigroup. The consumption of ammunition is quite large, which the prince understands, and in addition, the loss of this new musket is also very large, the rifling in the barrel will be smoothed out when firing a hundred bullets, that is, this new musket will be scrapped if it shoots a hundred bullets. ”

The gunfire in the city rang out intermittently for more than an hour before it stopped, and the monks and monks and Yi Zhixin entered the Zhenjiang Mansion under the banner soldiers and Tuan Yong.

Stepping into the gate of the palace, Monk Greenqin sighed in his heart, just a few days, but for him it was like a world away, the two directly entered the lobby, a cup of tea was not finished, Chen Hongming walked in quickly, saluted the two of them after a military salute, and turned directly to Yi Zhicontent, and said: "Report to the big treasurer, the British army in the city has been basically cleared, killing more than 1,300 British troops, capturing more than 1,500 people, and our army suffered 42 casualties, including 18 casualties, 9 seriously injured, and 15 lightly wounded. ”

Yi Zhizu ordered: "The sacrificed officers and soldiers will be cremated on the spot, the ashes will be preserved, and the wounded will be treated with all their might." ”

"Yes, my subordinates obey."

After a slight pause, Yi Zhicontent continued: "How can there be so many captives? ”

"Back to the big shopkeeper, six or seven hundred of them are sick numbers."

Six or seven hundred sick numbers? Yi Zhishu was a little surprised, changed his mind slightly, and said, "Are there any senior commanders of the British army among the captives?" It's no wonder that he asked, the shooting targets of the Yuanqi regiment give priority to officers, and it is difficult for senior commanders to survive in the case of stubborn resistance from the British army.

"Back to the big treasurer, the commander of the British army in Zhenjiang, Brigadier General Shu De was captured, and his subordinates have brought him."

This was quite surprising to Yi Zhi, and he immediately ordered: "Bring him in, and in addition, arrange for Lang Zhong to treat the sick and wounded of the British prisoners of war." ”

"Yes!"

"Closely guard against reinforcements from the British army on the river."

"Yes." Chen Hongming said, saluting and retreating.

Monk Greenqin said in a deep voice: "Why did you send Langzhong to treat British prisoners of war? ”

took out a cigar and lit it slowly, and Yi Zhizhi said: "We will finally end this war through negotiations with England, and the prisoners in hand are all bargaining chips in negotiations." ”

A tall, about fifty-year-old British officer, slightly bald, with a beard, was escorted up by two flag men and "knelt down." With a shout, the two flag men kicked him neatly in the knee socket and pushed him to his knees.

Yi Zhishu hurriedly waved his hand and said, "English people are not used to kneeling, just let him stand and reply." After speaking, he said in English: "Your Excellency is Brigadier General Shude?" ”

Shu De glanced at him and said, "Yuanqi is the shopkeeper, Mr. Yi?" ”

"Let him go and let him sit down." Yi Zhisuff gave an order, and then nodded and said in English: "Can General Shude make the battleships on the river surrender?" ”

Shu De didn't answer, but asked rhetorically: "What is the situation with Wu Song?" ”

"Yilu and Barrett led the five thousand defenders of Wusong to surrender, and the casualties of your army were not large, but six or seven hundred."

"It can't be!"

"With Your Excellency's current situation, do you think I need to lie to you?"

Shu De's face was a little ugly, he was now a prisoner, and the other party really had no need to deceive him, and only after a slight groan did he say in a deep voice: "It's not that they are in a desperate situation, the soldiers of the British Empire will not surrender." ”

"Don't you think your fleet is in a desperate situation?" Yi Zhizu laughed and said: "It's okay, it's just a matter of a few days earlier and a few days later, and they all surrendered in the end." As he spoke, he turned his head and said, "There is a big epidemic in your fleet?" Is it malaria? ”

Hearing this, Shu De glanced at him and said, "I hope that Your Excellency will isolate those sick numbers and not be imprisoned with prisoners of war." ”

Contagious disease? Yi Zhizu was startled, and hurriedly ordered: "Come on, immediately inform Chen Hongming quickly, prohibit all regiments from contacting the British army's sick number, and if there is contact, immediately isolate, there may be an outbreak of plague in the British army." ”

Hearing this, Monk Lingqin was also startled, the plague is not a joke, Yi Zhixiang glanced at him, then looked at Shu De, and said, "What kind of disease is it?" ”

"Cholera is suspected, along with malaria." Shu Dedao said and explained the symptoms of the onset in detail.

"Do you have any quarantine measures in place?"

"Yes, it is forbidden to move people around the boats."

Cholera! Malaria! Yi Zhixin has a kind of excitement in the big lottery, the British fleet actually broke out two infectious diseases! This will inevitably lead to a great reduction in the combat strength of the British army, and more importantly, the British army cannot afford to drag it out! In the first battle of Jiangning, the British army must want to fight quickly, and after a little muttering, he said: "Cholera and malaria are both highly infectious diseases, but our Qing Dynasty can treat and prevent these two diseases, and in the first battle of Dinghai, we captured 4,000 prisoners of war, and many prisoners of war contracted malaria have recovered under our careful treatment, you should know this." ”

Shu De had indeed heard of this, and he said with some surprise: "Mr. Yi is willing to treat them?" ”

"Of course, in the spirit of humanitarianism, we will do our best to treat every prisoner of war." Saying that, Yi Zhishu paused for a moment and said: "I hope that Your Excellency will do your best to restrain the prisoners of war and cooperate with the Yuanqi Group to practice the management of prisoners of war, otherwise, we don't mind killing prisoners, how many people died in the first battle of Zhenjiang, Your Excellency should be clear." After saying that, he commanded, "Come, take them down." ”

Shu De, who was waiting, was escorted down, and Monk Lingqin hurriedly asked, "What plague did the British army get into?" ”

"Cholera and malaria." Yi Zhizhi said: "Don't worry, Lord Wang, there are not many sick people, and the British army has isolated the patients, but this is not a small matter. With that, he got up and said, "Let's go, go to the riverside and have a look." ”

In the north gate, Chen Hongming held a telescope and carefully observed the British fleet moored on the river, and heard that the monk Greenqin and Yi Zhixin were coming, he hurriedly greeted him, and without waiting for him to speak, Yi Zhizhi ordered: "The British prisoners of war and sick numbers should be separated and detained, and they are far away from our camp, and leaders at all levels should put epidemic prevention in the first place, pay attention to food hygiene, avoid drinking raw water, prevent mosquito bites and other mosquito bites, and once fever and diarrhea are found, they will be isolated immediately." ”

"My subordinates understand." Chen Hongming hurriedly said aloud.

After observing the situation on the river with a telescope for a while, Yi Zhizhi said: "A survey ship, a steamship, a troop carrier, five warships, and twelve transport ships, it seems that the British army still attaches great importance to Zhenjiang." ”

Monk Greenqin glanced at him and said, "Contentment is not worried that this fleet will catch up with most of the British fleet and leak the situation in Zhenjiang?" ”

"The main force of the British fleet has left Zhenjiang for five days and cannot catch up." Yi Zhizhi said calmly: "I also ask the prince to order that the local officials of the prefectures and counties along the Yangtze River must send ships to clear all the buoys left by the British army on the Yangtze River waterway." This Yangtze River waterway, it's easy to come up, it's hard to go down, since you're in, don't think about leaving easily! ”

Jiangning, Liangjiang Governor's Palace, Signature Room.

"Good! Yuanqi group practice is really invincible! Lin Zexu applauded and forwarded the emergency report to Wei Yuan, saying: "Copy a copy, transfer it to Qin Chaxingyuan to see, recover Wusong and Zhenjiang, and we will have confidence in this battle." ”

Wei Yuan took the urgent report and glanced at it quickly, and said with a smile: "Although Yuanqi group training is brave and good at fighting, contentment is even more rare. ”

Recovering Zhenjiang, killing 1,003 British troops and capturing 1,000 and 5,000 prisoners, this is a great merit, easy to be content but not caring about the main merit on the head of Seng Lingqin, this open-mindedness is indeed unparalleled, for Lin Zexu and Yishan, the two Qincha, there are so brave and good at fighting, but they know how to advance and retreat of their subordinates, it is really worry-free.

Lin Zexu nodded with a smile and said, "Tomorrow, the Monk King, Yang Fang, and Yi Zhishu should also arrive in Jiangning, let's go to greet them." ”

"Don't welcome it." Wei Yuan said with a smile: "The monk king and Yang Fang are the remnants, and the defeated army is ......." ”

Lin Zexu sighed lightly: "That's grievance and contentment." ”

After evacuating from Zhenjiang, Yi Zhizhi led two battalions to march all the way, and arrived at the Baitu Mountain camp - the Yuanqi regiment training station at dusk the next day.

Hearing the report, Yi Zhizhi arrived, Feng Renxuan, acting head of the Fifth Regiment, Yin Youcai, deputy of the Third Regiment, and Chang Kunning, deputy of the Third Regiment, hurriedly led a group of officers above the battalion level to meet outside the camp. ”

Yi Zhizhi returned to the camp and hurriedly took a bath, changed into a military uniform, and came out, acting head Feng Renxuan and deputy Yin Youcai of the Third Regiment greeted him, drank a cup of herbal tea, and said: "Where has the British fleet arrived?" ”

"Go back to the treasurer." Feng Renxuan said loudly: "The British forward fleet is less than fifty miles away from Jiangning, and it will arrive at Xiaguan at dusk tomorrow. ”

"Where's the main force?"

"At the current speed of the British fleet, it is estimated that it will take three or four days for the main fleet to arrive."

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "What is the current situation in Jiangning?" ”

"The news of the loss of Zhenjiang spread, and all the gates of Jiangning were closed, and people inside and outside the city were panicked and chaotic."

How can it be chaotic? Yi Zhishu was slightly surprised, and said, "The news of the recovery of Zhenjiang has not spread? ”

"Nope." Feng Renxuan said: "I think it should be Lin Butang's intention to keep it secret. (To be continued.) )