1876 A.D., April 15, Bengal, Mekna River Front. The rain of the pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info came to an end temporarily, and the moment of the decisive battle came.

The guns shook slowly, flattening the muzzles. The gunners were all in position, and the ammunition men were holding the shells, nervously waiting for the order to reload. Along the east bank of the Mekna River, the 18th Mountain Army of the Ming Dynasty and the First Army of the 6th Army of Dali have established a 15-kilometer-long position. Two hundred and eighty 75mm mountain guns went to the front line overnight, preparing to destroy the Indian pillboxes on the opposite bank with direct fire. Hundreds of large and small wooden boats were also collected, all hidden on the river beach in advance, and covered with camouflage. Countless commandos hid beside the wooden boats, waiting with bated breath.

Zhu Guowei strode into a civil shelter, which was located on a slightly raised low mountain, no more than thirty or fifty meters high, but it was already the highest point on the plain like a tabletop. It is only three or four kilometers away from the other side of the river in a straight line, and there is no shelter in between, and the entire battlefield can be seen without a telescope.

Many officers in the shelter department were waiting, and they were all together. Seeing the king of Dali coming in, he was all righteous. Wu Changqing, Luo Ange, and a number of staff officers were all waiting for the final attack.

Although the weather had cleared, the ground was still muddy, and as the sun gradually rose, the fog that had been floating on the Mekna River had completely disappeared.

The reason why the attack was chosen during the day with fairly good visibility was to use artillery to shoot directly at the pillboxes on the opposite bank. In the previous Battle of Sylhet, the Chinese army had already suffered losses from these pillboxes. Although as long as the Chinese soldiers approached, most of the Indian soldiers guarding inside would retreat. But it still inflicted some casualties on the Chinese army - in the Battle of Sylhet. The total number of killed, seriously wounded, and missing people of the Chinese army has passed 2ooo. In addition, more than 4ooo people (including the people) fell ill during the march along the way.

Such a reduction is really nothing under normal logistical circumstances, but it is not a small amount for this lone army that cannot replenish troops without logistics. Therefore, after careful consideration, Zhu Guowei decided to destroy the Indian army's pillbox with firepower.

It would take about five or six thousand shells, plus two thousand casualties, to tear open a gap 1o kilometers wide, and then the Indians would have collapsed. Zhu Guowei thought so in his heart, and then looked at the pocket watch in his hand, and the hour hand was about to point to the Roman numerals at eight o'clock. King Dali nodded emphatically. Commanded in a deep voice: "It's time to start!" March to Dhaka! ”

The staff officers who were waiting here immediately gave the order to the artillery positions via telephone lines.

More than 200 mountain guns shook almost at the same time, and the fire first spewed out, and then the thunderous cannon sounded, and the smoke filled the air, and in the blink of an eye, all the Indian positions on the opposite bank rose blue-black pillars of smoke.

However, the shelling did not work well! The direct aiming accuracy of the 75mm mountain gun is not high, and at a distance close to 2ooo meters, it is indeed difficult to hit the rather low Indian pillbox. Other than that. Because of the continuous rain, the land on both sides of the Mekna River has become very muddy. The explosive power of the shells that fell into the mud was also greatly reduced, and the shock wave and the single piece were absorbed by the mud, making it difficult to cause casualties to the enemy.

The Indian artillery counterattack began almost immediately, and artillery was indeed placed in those ring fortifications! They were all 5-pound Armstrong rear-loading guns, and there were not many of them, and they were not new tube-mounted guns, but old-fashioned rack-mounted guns. However, quite a few shells landed on the Chinese positions on the other side of the Mekna River. The banks of the Mekna River suddenly became a world of shells, but the losses on both sides were not very large.

, from the observation port of the inner figure, I watched the artillery battle outside with a telescope. Although he suffered a lot of defeat, he was not demoted——。。 The breakthrough point chosen by Zhu Guowei was exactly the southern part of the 1st Army defense line and the northern part of the 11th Army defense line.

'It seems that today's protagonist is not artillery! Gordon thought to himself, 'The key is the Gurkha mercenaries and Sikh mercenaries who are on the front line!' ’

After fighting a few battles with the Chinese army, Gordon already knew that it was difficult to resist the charge of the Chinese army with ordinary Indian troops, these Indians were very afraid of death, and it was okay to stay in the position and shoot, but as long as the bayonets were handed over, most of them would be crushed at the touch of a button. , he strongly recommended to put the Gurkha mercenaries and Sikh mercenaries on the front line! Only they can withstand the Chinese army.

The artillery battle between the two sides lasted about half an hour, and the 75mm mountain artillery shells smashed out by the Chinese army exceeded 5ooo. Such an artillery density is already a bloody cost for a lone army without logistical supplies! There was a burst of whistles from the Chinese army's position, and the officers straightened up and raised their red hand flags, waiting for the final order to attack.

Three red flares rose into the sky from the rear and hung high in the air. Under this Indian sky, countless officers from the Sichuan-Yunnan or Miaoxiang Plateau jumped into the trenches, hoisted their flags, and gave orders in the southwestern colloquial dialect: "Brothers, follow me!" Machine guns were also set up on the forward positions, and almost at the same time they roared, and the fire flowed to the opposite side, which seemed to form a path of fire, guiding the direction of the infantry attack. Under the successive victories, every Chinese soldier was in high spirits, screaming and picking up the rifles that had been loaded with bayonets, removing the camouflage that covered the wooden boats, pushing the assault boats into the water one by one, and then leaping up and paddling desperately with all kinds of tools.

This was an assault that mobilized 20 infantry battalions, of which 9 battalions were to divert the attack and attract the firepower and attention of the Indian army, and 11 mountain infantry battalions drawn from the 55th Mountain Infantry Regiment, the 56th Mountain Infantry Regiment, and the 1st Guards Infantry Regiment of the 6th Army in Dali were the main attack. There are another twenty battalions that will be used for the second wave of the assault or to follow up quickly after the first wave is successful. Covering them were more than eighty mortars, each of which was firing shells frantically. The soldiers let out heart-rending cries and slid the oars like crazy. The Indian army's reaction was very fast, and all the machine guns they deployed in the forts or trenches fired, and hot tongues of fire swept over the Chinese assault boats! , knock down the crowded people on the assault boat one by one! The shooting range on the Mekna River is open, there is almost no cover, and it is illegal for the Indian army to raise firepower, and this burst of impact has simply become suicide! But the living, the wounded, still desperately paddled hard.

At the forefront were more than a dozen small boats, all of which belonged to the Kokang Battalion of the Guards Infantry Regiment of Dali State, and their ancestral home was Kokang County, Yunnan Province, and their ancestors were officers and soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty. In the past 2oo years, they have been insisting on the Sino-Burmese border, maintaining their own ** armed forces, and neither the Manchu nor the Burmese Gongbang dynasty has been able to make them lay down their arms. More than 20 years ago, when the sun and moon banners of the Ming Dynasty fluttered in the land of China, their fathers held the Bessemai rifles produced by Lan Fangxing, and marched to the northern Burma plateau, becoming the pioneers of the Dali Kingdom! The current chief of staff of the 6th Army in Dali, Guo Yi Hou Luo Ange, and the left prime minister of the Dali cabinet, Guo Yong Hou Yang Chunrong, used to be the battalion commanders of this Kokang battalion.

Now, the warriors of the Kokang Battalion have become the sharp knives of the Ming Dynasty to advance into India! The first assault boat had approached the west bank of the Mekna River, and a young second lieutenant officer jumped out of the assault boat with a double-toned, air-cooled light machine gun. But in the blink of an eye, he was hit by five or six bullets coming from his face, but he still tried his last strength to pull the trigger and shoot the hot bullet at the position of the Indian army! A non-commissioned officer who jumped off the assault boat immediately behind dropped the rifle in his hand, took the light machine gun from the fallen officer, and fired a fierce shot at the Indian position in front! There was also a roar that almost overwhelmed the sound of guns: "Kokang battalion, follow me!" (To be continued!)