September 20th

Today I was immersed in contemplation of the mysterious enemy, and the high-ranking officers believed that the supreme commander of the Qing army, Seng Lingqin, had done it, and that he had personally planned and directed the operation. They also produced corresponding evidence, the direction of the enemy's retreat was the station of Seng Lingqin, and there were also confessions from the people who were forced to work, and the other party personally admitted that he was a subordinate of Seng Lingqin. However, I don't quite trust the judgment of the higher-ups, the enemy's fierce offensive and amazing firepower are very different from the Qing army led by Seng Lingqin. And their terrifying sneak attack did not end with the retreat of the large forces, they just reduced the scale.

Everyone knew that the transport was fraught with all sorts of dangers, but we had to take risks and have to move on in the face of constant harassment from the enemy. The mysterious enemy had almost wiped out our forward stations, and the front-line troops under the command of General Montauban needed a large amount of supplies, so we could only try to make up for the enemy's losses.

I was also given the task of escorting the convoy, and although the commanders still discriminated against my battalion, they now had to use me. The mysterious enemy inflicted huge losses on us, not only in supplies and weapons, but also in the great battle, nearly 3,500 soldiers gave their lives. It was in order to fill the gap in the number of troops that I was given the right to command my own troops into battle.

September 21

Once again, we have failed in front of the so-called Eastern scheme, and we have been ambushed again. The enemy did not adjust to their usual tactics, but in the words of my dear Eastern prisoners of war, we were once again struck the trap. The enemy's tricks are no different from those of previous days, except that they have been magnified almost tenfold.

At 1:40 p.m., scouts spotted enemy cavalry about five miles southeast of us. With nearly a thousand cavalry, this was the largest in recent days. Colonel Smith became very cautious, and in order to avoid being ambushed by the enemy as he had done the other day because of the pursuit, Colonel Smith only deployed a defense in the southeast direction, and did not take the initiative to attack the enemy.

Until 3:30 a.m., the enemy, like a polite butler, followed behind our flanks without any tentative attack. In order to avoid the loss of supplies in the enemy's raids, Colonel Smith arranged for Chinese laborers to be at the forefront of the ranks. My troops and I were responsible for supervising and protecting labour and supplies.

At 3:35 a.m., the enemy launched a tentative assault on our Imperial Rear troops. It was an accurate time, because I looked at my pocket watch when I heard the first explosion. I was at the front of the line and didn't know exactly what was going on. But in the evening some guys who were just as lucky as I did, told me about the situation.

The enemy quickly retreated after a tentative attack, luring the pursuing troops into their ambush, as had been the case for the previous days. Colonel Smith's deployment was entirely in response to the enemy's previous attack pattern, so he did not arrange for the Indian cavalry to meet the enemy, but let the infantry defend in the rear.

But today the enemy changed their approach to attack, and they did not approach and then fire with muskets. Instead, they use improvised wooden launchers to launch rockets at us. At night I had the good fortune to see the launchers abandoned by the enemy. Really clever Orientals, the so-called launcher was just a wooden carriage with a few straight grooves carved into it. As a one-time consumable with low precision, it is really suitable. These things are very lightweight, very maneuverable, and allow the rocket to fly where it is supposed to go.

Their rocket is similar to the Conrif rocket, but may have a larger charge, as the explosion is more powerful than the Conreve rocket. The enemy used a large number of rockets against us, and one of the lucky men who was in the rear at the time told me that he saw almost every enemy cavalry carrying a rocket.

Rockets launched by the enemy, probably because their launchers were too suggestive, were not very accurate. A lot of rockets fell a few dozen meters away from the marching procession, but the number made up for their accuracy, and there were still a large number of rockets that exploded in the rear and middle rear of the line. The formation of the infantry was disrupted by the explosion, and a large number of soldiers were wounded or killed. The enemy, at a distance of 800-900 yards from us, constantly fired rockets at us. The infantry behind the palace was severely hit, and the terrifying sound of the rocket flying in the air made everyone feel unusually depressed.

In order to reduce his losses, Colonel Smith had to send Indian cavalry to drive out the enemy. Faced with half the strength of the Indian cavalry, the enemy quickly retreated. But when Colonel Smith ordered the Indian cavalry to halt the pursuit and return to his own ranks, the pesky enemy returned. I don't want to insult the valiant soldiers, even if they are my enemies. But the way they attack is really annoying. Like flies or mosquitoes, they never fight you head-on, but they do harass you like flies or mosquitoes.

At 4:20 a.m., the Indian cavalry had to strike again and drive them farther away, while we waited where we were. This kind of cavalry chase has no room for us to play. Moreover, Colonel Smith was very impressed by the previous ambush, and he was worried that he would be ambushed by the enemy again.

At 5:30, the Indian cavalry had not yet returned, and there were occasional explosions in the east. Even the Chinese laborers were almost certain that the Indian cavalry would have been ambushed like the small troop of cavalry that had chased away the flies. Colonel Smith decided to rescue the Indians, and made a bold plan for the attack. While rescuing the Indians, we should concentrate all our forces against this Chinese army, which is harassing us.

My Hong Kong Garrison and I were once again discriminated against. Only myself and a hundred good soldiers were allowed to fight, and the other two hundred soldiers of color were to stay behind and guard the camp with the laborers.

The Chinese workers from Guangdong once again showed us their excellent professionalism and professional ethics. They quickly sorted out the supplies and set up the camp according to the command, which greatly saved us time. I very much do not understand how there can be such good workers among these ignorant pagans in such an old and decaying country.

At 6:20, after half an hour's rapid march, we easily found the location where the Chinese ambushed the Indian cavalry. Indians were surrounded in a humble village. According to Smith's plan, we easily broke through the encirclement of the Chinese. There is no treacherous terrain here, only houses made of dirt and straw.

When we joined up with the Indian cavalry, they had lost all their horses and suffered nearly 200 casualties, but they were still fighting stubbornly. The enemy fled quickly and took the horses of the Indian cavalry with them. This frustrated Colonel Smith's plan to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, but we rescued the Indians.

At 7:40, after a brief rest, Colonel Smith asked everyone to return to camp quickly. Only; The camp, defended by two hundred soldiers and five hundred Chinese laborers, was likely to be attacked by the enemy. Smith's decision was undoubtedly the right one, but if I could have foreseen the course of events, I would certainly have prevented him.

I forgot to note that I always took my interesting captive Guo with me on the march. On the way back, Guo kept thinking. I asked him what he was thinking. Guo told me that the commander of the enemy was a man of courage and determination. In the battles of the villages, the courage and resoluteness of the enemy commanders were not felt at all.

Guo believes that a courageous and resolute soldier is like a professional gambler in a casino. At the critical moment of victory or defeat, gamblers will put all their bets and will never give up easily. But the battle in the village, the enemy easily gave up, which did not fit the gambler's mentality. The enemy should devote all his forces, even if the encircled troops are already all his bargaining chips, he should fight to the death. The easy abandonment only shows that the enemy has bigger intentions, bigger hole cards, and the encircled Indians are just bait. Guo is such a smart guy! Unfortunately, I didn't believe him at the time, but paid more attention to the ancient and mysterious oriental scenery in the twilight.

At eight o'clock, when the world entered darkness, Guo's prophecy came true only twenty minutes later. Once again, we were ambushed, and the encircled Indian cavalry was really just bait, and the enemy commanders were targeting us. The enemy may have used 2,000-5,000 troops, and the firepower was very strong. Rockets are dense and precise, constantly exploding in the ranks. Colonel Smith and the officers struggled to form a hollow phalanx, but in the darkness the infantry and artillery were all firing aimlessly. We may be surrounded by mass formations, and even where we have just walked, there is a dense stream of bullets and projectile feathered arrows.

Rockets are constantly exploding all around us, but even more terrifying is the artillery. Armstrong's six-pounder and twelve-pounder field guns, and Napoleon's twelve-pounder front-loading smoothbore cannon, roared incessantly. After the attack on the Hexiwu military station, all 27 lost artillery pieces appeared in front of us. Accurately fired one * and another shrapnel into the infantry phalanx, and the impact of the explosion and the flying shotgun completely dispersed our phalanx. It is hard to believe how the savage and ignorant infidels have learned to wield this advanced artillery. Although they could not do it, they applied it as freely as our artillery. But the Chinese really learned it in just a few days, using the most advanced artillery in the world, and shooting very accurately. Damn the French, damn Napoleonic cannons. We lost only three Armstrong six-pounderers, five twelve-pounderers, and six nine-pounderers, while the French lost a full thirteen Napoleonic twelve-pounder cannons.

The marching formation and the unprecedented density of the enemy's firepower prevented our troops from forming battle formations quickly. Before my company could join the phalanx, it was scattered by dense fire. I tried to regroup, but the dense explosions prevented my men from hearing my orders. The attack in the dark came so suddenly that the artillery did not even have a chance to lower the artillery from the towing state, and our artillery could not return fire.