In the early morning of 27 July, 10,000 British soldiers attacked Yangpengshan, Yintaishan, Nanshan, Beigushan and other commanding heights outside Zhenjiang City in four directions. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

In the West Gate Tower, Monk Greenqin and Yang Fang watched the dense cannonballs pouring down on the defensive position of Yangpeng Mountain with a sluggish face, although they had already heard from Yi Zhi's mouth that the British battleships were under intense artillery fire, but the two of them didn't expect the artillery fire to be so dense!

As soon as the naval guns stopped, the British position fired dense Congreve rockets that seemed to be a rain of fire, and in the blink of an eye, the unrecognizable position that had just been smashed by solid shells burst into flames, followed by a dense explosion, and the entire position was shrouded in gunsmoke.

Looking at the rocket that exploded like a flower on the ground, Yang Fang couldn't help but be dumbfounded, and couldn't close her mouth for a long time, "What kind of rocket is this?" ”

Monk Greenqin's face instantly turned pale, the British army's rockets are extremely powerful, he heard the green battalion military attache in Zhejiang said, but he has never encountered it, he doesn't want to encounter such a large-scale salvo for the first time, this round of rockets is afraid that there are three or four hundred branches, watching the British army line up in a neat queue with muskets to move forward, he feels bitter and astringent in his mouth, how can this battle be fought?

Although Seng Lingqin ordered to defend to the death, the defenders of Yangpengshan still collapsed uncontrollably after two rounds of musket volleys fired by the British and then launched a charge, and in less than an hour, the Yangpengshan position, which Seng Greenqin thought was enough to hold for three days, was captured by the British.

Seeing this scene, Seng Lingqin was speechless to the extreme, he really didn't understand, how did Yuanqi Tuanlian win the British army, and the British army that could fight at every turn surrendered, could it be that the British army stationed in Wusong was not the main force? Is it the black Yi of India?

Less than noon, Yintai Mountain, Nanshan lost one after another, the small school field in the city, in the big tent of the Chinese army, the monk Greenqin sat expressionlessly behind the handsome case, like an old monk who had entered the meditation, muttered for a long time, Yang Fangcai said loudly: "The British army has become surrounded on three sides, and the last general prays for the prince to evacuate Zhenjiang!" ”

"If you want to withdraw, you withdraw!" Monk Green said in a sullen voice: "16,000 people held on to Zhenjiang, and the city was broken by the British army in one day. ”

"Lord Wang!" Yang Fang said loudly: "Yuan Qi has captured Wusong, and the British army is already a turtle in an urn, why bother fighting to the death?" Please think twice! ”

"The British army is not a turtle, but a caged tiger!" Monk Greenqin said with a hideous expression: "If you don't break a big tooth of this tiger, this king will never evacuate Zhenjiang!" ”

"Lord Wang!" Yang Fang said in a deep voice: "The last general prays that the prince will put the overall situation first, and the death of more than 10,000 sons in Zhenjiang will inevitably affect the ...... of the battle in Jiangning." ”

"This king knows!" Monk Lingqin waved his hand to interrupt him and said, "This king only understands today what it means to be 'fine but not many!'" 'Without a bloody battle, these soldiers will be pulled to Jiangning, and they are still soft-footed shrimps, no matter how much they are, it will be useless! ”

After a pause, he continued: "Withdraw, definitely withdraw!" But not now, you have to retreat by night, retreat now, and the casualties will only be greater! Yang Fang, you led 2,000 people to rush out of the city from the south gate, gathered the scattered soldiers along the way, and after dark, met at the south gate. ”

Yang Fang was stunned when she heard this, and hurriedly said: "The last general will stick to the city, and the prince will ...... out of the city!" ”

"The city is dominated by flag soldiers, you can't gather the morale of the army, and you can't stabilize the morale!" Monk Greenqin gritted his teeth and said: "Sitting in the city, it can only be this king!" Don't talk nonsense, this is a military order! ”

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the key defense of Beigu Mountain was also lost, the British army occupied all the commanding heights outside the city and began to bombard Zhenjiang City condescendingly, solid bullets, flowering bombs, shotguns, incendiary bombs and Kangli Griff rockets were densely intertwined like raindrops into the city, the city was filled with gunsmoke, fires were everywhere, nearly 10,000 British troops surrounded Zhenjiang City on all sides, and stormed the four city gates in the southeast, northwest and northwest.

Monk Greenqin also no longer stayed in the big tent of the Chinese army, but led five hundred guards to wander around the four gates, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, stimulate morale, although he did so, but to the greatest extent to stimulate the morale of the officers and soldiers defending the city, the "monk" word handsome flag everywhere can cause bursts of cheers.

After two hours of fierce fighting, at five o'clock in the afternoon, the west gate and the north gate were captured by the British army one after another, and the two armies began to fight along the streets and alleys, and the most tragic street battles began.

Beigu Mountain, the position of the Qing army.

Pu Ding Cha held the telescope and looked down at the battle in the city condescendingly, a pair of brows wrinkled tightly, after the city was broken, as the artillery stopped shelling, the defenders in the city seemed to be more and more courageous, put down the binoculars, he glanced at Huang Dianyuan behind him, and asked in a deep voice: "Which army is the defender in the city?" ”

This question can stop Huang Dianyuan, there are many banners of the Qing army in the city, and it is not a force at all, he groaned slightly, and then he said: "The commander of the defenders in the city is the king of Monk Greenqin, as for the troops in the city, there are eight banner soldiers, and there are also green battalion soldiers, only from the banner, it is impossible to distinguish ......." ”

"The king of the county? Is it the Mongolian county king in Hangzhou? ”

"Yes, that's him." Huang Dianyuan said: "The king of Horqin County, Mongolia, Monk Greenqin." ”

"This is a force no less than the Dinghai garrison..... Has a tenacious will to fight. Baga said in a deep voice: "If, Jiangning also has such a large number of elite soldiers ....... ”

After discovering that Zhenjiang had such a large number of troops to defend, Pu Dingcha faintly realized that something was wrong, however, the fleet had already arrived in Zhenjiang, and it was only one step away from Jiangning, so he had no reason to stop halfway, and groaned slightly, he said in a very plain tone: "Annihilate the defenders in the city, however, the Mongolian county king, it is best to capture it alive." ”

The British army broke the city, the two sides started street fighting, Monk Greenqin was finally able to experience the gap between the combat power of the two sides, even in the absence of artillery support, the same musket equipped with the Eight Banners Green Battalion is not the opponent of the British army at all, it is obvious that the performance of the British army's musket is far better than that of the Eight Banners Green Battalion, and the musket of the people is either a flintlock pistol or a firing gun and the gun is also equipped with a bayonet.

Once the opponent charges hand-to-hand combat, the Eight Banners Green Battalion using muskets will have a reaction - flee, and a musket without a bayonet is better than a burning stick.

Aside from the weapons, the quality of the soldiers on both sides, that is also a world of difference, the two sides lined up muskets to shoot, the British army ordered strictly, always close to the range of the musket, before giving the order to shoot, but the Eight Banners Green Battalion did not listen to the order at all, far away from the guns indiscriminately, after a swarm of shooting, the British troops who saw it forced up, they ran away, often by a small group of British soldiers with hundreds of Qing soldiers to run.

After understanding that the gap between the two sides could not be bridged by bravery, Seng Lingqin decisively ordered the city to be set on fire to block the offensive of the British army, and then summoned all the troops in the city to fight and retreat, and when it was dark, he joined Yang Fang's troops who came to the rescue, and retreated all the way to Danyang.

Arrived in Danyang, counted the men and horses, only more than 8,000 points remained, heard the report, Monk Greenqin couldn't help but sigh to the sky, although he didn't expect to be able to come to a big victory in Zhenjiang, but 16,000 people defended Zhenjiang was captured by the British army in just one day, and lost 8,000 soldiers and horses, which really made him embarrassed!

At the mouth of the Yangtze River, on the French battleship 'Erigon', Yilu walked out of the official hall with a black face, and negotiated bitterly with the commander of the Dinghai Fleet, Mettler, for two days, but the other party refused to let go at all, let the corners of his mouth bubble, and the other party did not agree to deliver five warships, which made him feel extremely bad.

On the deck, Lieutenant Commander Zezil, who was pretending to be fishing, saw him come out, hurriedly put down the fishing rod in his hand, greeted him with a smile on his face, and said in English: "Are you going back to Wusong now?" ”

"Nope." Yilu said simply: "I want to be quiet." ”

Zezile said unimpressedly: "I have a good brandy here, do you want a drink?" ”

Glancing at him, Yilu said vigilantly, "What can I do for you?" ”

"Oh, it's very simple, I want to know about Wu Song's Yuanqi treasurer."

Baoshan County Ya, Yi Zhishu put down the battle report sent by Zhenjiang, frowned slightly, Zhenjiang was defeated in his expectations, but in just one day, Zhenjiang was captured, and eight thousand people were lost, which was a big surprise to him, although Monk Greenqin has not yet shown his military talent, but how to say that it is not a straw bag, how can it be defeated so badly?

Originally, he also expected Seng Lingqin to hold on to Zhenjiang for a few more days to buy more time for Jiangning, but in this way, it would be a little troublesome, and he groaned slightly, and he commanded to the outside world: "Come here." ”

Li Wang hurried to the door and said, "What does the young master command?" ”

"Send someone to the French battleship in Haikou and inform Yilu that there is no need to talk about it, and I will come back immediately." Yi Zhisuff commanded, "Also." Immediately called Yan Yangtian and Zhao Tianliang. ”

Yan Yangtian and Zhao Tianliang came very quickly, Zhao Tianliang was also born in Yuan Qiyixue, and now he is the head of the fourth regiment, the so-called four regiments are actually formed by the 2,000 mine protection team in Changhua, which can be regarded as a strengthened regiment.

Yi Zhishu didn't talk to the two of them politely, and said straightforwardly: "Monk Greenqin was defeated in Zhenjiang, and he lost Zhenjiang in one day, I have to rush to Jiangning, and go to Jiangyin to have a look, Wu Song's defense is fully responsible for Yan Yangtian." ”

After a slight pause, Yan Yangtian said: "The principal wants to transfer four regiments of troops?" ”

"Two battalions." Yi Zhizhi said: "Two battalions were transferred from the fourth regiment. ”

"Nope." Yan Yangtian objected without hesitation: "The fourth regiment has not experienced actual combat, and the principal still transfers a battalion from the first regiment. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Tianliang puffed up his chest and said loudly: "Each battalion of the four regiments has taken turns to go with the warship to the waters of Annan to conquer pirates, although they have never fought with the British army, but they have also seen blood and experienced actual combat, and they will definitely not disgrace the principal!" ”

"How can the Annami pirates be compared to the British army?" Yan Yangtian looked at Yi Zhizhi and said: "Wu Song has 6,000 troops, 2,000 navy, and 4,000 Yuanqi veterans. ”

"Okay, one regiment and four regiments will each have a battalion." Yi Zhishu looked at Zhao Tianliang as he spoke, and said, "Don't fight, Wusong is the last pass, and there is no room for loss." ”

"Yes, the student obeys." Yan Yangtian and Zhao Tianliang hurriedly stood up and saluted.

Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "The British prisoners of war, it is a hidden danger to be placed in Wusong, transfer them to Shanghai, and if there is something else, Mr. Bao will expedite eight hundred miles to the Jiangning Governor's Mansion." ”

"Yes, students understand." Yan Yangtian said and asked, "Is the principal going by boat, or by land?" ”

"By road." Yi Zhishu said and got up and said, "Let's go, go to Wusong Fort and have a look." ”

After returning from the inspection of Wusong Fort, Yilu and the captain of the 'Erigon' were already waiting in the county office, in fact, for France to send two warships to Wusongkou to watch the battle, Yi Zhixiang was quite unhappy, obviously, France wanted to take a ride in England, he didn't mind France coming in and getting involved, what he minded was France's attitude.

After greeting Zejile without being salty, he hung the other party up, and directly invited Yilu into the study in the backyard. ”

Yilu was slightly embarrassed, and then sighed lightly: "It's not that they don't know the general situation, but they are used to being proud." ”

"Understandable." Yi Zhishu stretched out his hand to give up his seat, then handed over a cigar, lit one casually, and said in a foggy voice: "The main fleet of your army has captured Zhenjiang yesterday, and our army has suffered 8,000 casualties. ”

Since the outbreak of the war, although their fleet has frequently captured coastal cities, they are invincible, but they have never caused such large casualties to the Qing army, that is, the most tragic battle of Dinghai, the casualties of the Qing army are only 5,000, and the casualties of the Zhenjiang battle are 8,000! Doesn't that mean that the two armies will fight to the death?

Seeing Yilu's expression, Yi Zhizhi pondered for a moment before saying, "I'm going to leave for Jiangning immediately." ”

"Huh?" Yilu hurriedly said: "If the casualties of the main fleet are too large, it is not conducive to ending this war as soon as possible, please consider carefully." He understood very well that he could really cause huge casualties to the main fleet, only Yuan Qi was training, and when he heard that Yi Zhixiang was going to Jiangning, how could he not worry.

After staring at him for a while, Yi Zhizhi said: "The Qing army's casualties are too large, and it is not conducive to ending this war as soon as possible. ”

"Your Excellency." Yilu hurriedly said: "In the first battle of Wusong, we were also killed and wounded and captured, and we also lost four warships. ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said: "Your Excellency, although rest assured, I went to Jiangning, not to take revenge, but to end this war as soon as possible, in fact, I am a businessman, although I am not against the war, but I am absolutely against the unlimited expansion of the war, which will greatly affect Yuanqi's business." ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "Please write a letter to General Pu Dingcha." (To be continued.) )