Chapter 122: Defeat and Encirclement
Looking at the rockets on the battlefield with their tail flames cutting through the sky, Olsen's eyes were full of disbelief.
"How could this be? How could the rebels also have rockets?"
You have to know that in this era, rockets are powerful weapons exclusive to the British Empire.
Not to mention the Far East, even other countries on the European continent do not have it.
Olsen could never have imagined that he would encounter an enemy using rockets in the Far East.
Almost everyone around him had an expression as if they had seen a ghost, and their eyes were full of disbelief.
But before they could respond, the rockets were fired at them.
Several rockets, trailing flames, hit Olson's ship.
Under the thrust generated by the burning gunpowder gas, the projectile directly pierced the side plate of the hull.
As the fuse inside the rocket burned out, the rocket body exploded.
Amid the rumbling sound of the explosion, a ball of fire burst out from the side of Olsen's ship, and smoke and shock waves, mixed with wood fragments shattered by the explosion, flew everywhere.
A large hole appeared on the side of the ship, and smoke billowed into the air.
From within the big cave, bursts of screams and wails could be heard faintly.
The ship was shaking constantly due to the shock wave generated by the explosion, and Olsen himself was almost knocked down.
At the same time, those British rocket boats that took the initiative to attack the Restoration Army Navy suffered an even more miserable fate.
Under the comprehensive rocket fire launched by the Restoration Army, the British rocket sampans that were dispatched were almost wiped out.
One sampan after another was hit, and the flames produced by the explosion ignited the rockets on the sampans, causing a chain reaction.
Immediately, the violent explosion tore the sampan and the sailors on board into pieces.
Soon, the entire surface of the Pearl River was filled with floating corpses and broken planks.
Some British sailors who fell behind survived and struggled desperately on the water.
Olsen looked at this tragic scene, his eyes instantly turned red, and he shouted at the top of his voice.
"Fight back, fight back!"
"Aim all your artillery and rockets at the rebels and hit them hard!"
boom! Boom boom!
There was a deafening burst of artillery fire on the battlefield.
Amid the smoke, many huge projectiles weighing 24 pounds, 36 pounds, and 48 pounds were fired at the Restoration Army Navy on the river.
Occasionally a shell would hit a ship, and immediately the small boat would disintegrate and break into pieces.
The soldiers of the Restoration Army also fell into the water screaming.
But most of the shells just hit the river, and apart from shooting up white water columns on the surface of the river, they had no other effect.
Chen Guotai wiped the river water off his face and shouted at the top of his voice.
"Brothers, aim your rockets at the British ships and keep shooting at them!"
"Fuck these sons of bitches."
Chen Guotai was captured in the Battle of Wuzhou. In order to save his life, he chose to surrender to the Restoration Army. Then, he naturally became a member of the Restoration Army navy.
The scene on the battlefield now really made him feel deeply moved.
Chen Guotai still remembers the scene ten years ago when he followed Admiral Guan to fight against the British.
Although they were guarding the artillery positions at that time, they were almost being attacked unilaterally by the British's powerful ships, guns and rockets, and had no ability to fight back at all.
But now things are different. The situation has changed, and it is now the turn of the British to taste the power of the Chinese rockets.
Looking at the miserable plight of the British barbarians today, he inexplicably felt a sense of pleasure of revenge.
As Chen Guotai's order was issued, the sailors of the Restoration Army quickly completed the reloading of the rockets and installed one rocket after another on the launcher.
Then, the fuse was lit.
The whooshing sound of breaking through the air was heard again.
Another round of rockets was fired at the British fleet.
Because there were relatively few waves on the river and the British fleet's ships were tall and large targets, the Restoration Army's rockets achieved a fairly good hit rate.
Olsen's ship alone was hit by two rockets.
A rocket hit the sail of the ship. Although the rocket penetrated the sail, it did not explode.
However, the white sail was ignited by the tail flame of the rocket.
The fire spread quickly and the sails were quickly burned.
Another rocket hit the stern ammunition compartment of the British warship.
The gunpowder in the ammunition compartment was ignited, and with a loud bang, the stern of Olsen's ship was almost completely destroyed.
A large amount of river water poured back, causing the ship to quickly lose balance and tend to sink...
The British army wanted to retaliate with rockets, but they had no time to release the rocket sampans before the third round of rocket salvos from the Restoration Army arrived.
With a whooshing sound, the rocket streaked across the sky like a meteor.
Immediately there were bursts of explosions.
In the naval battle on the Pearl River, the British navy was unilaterally suppressed.
The British now finally understand the helplessness of their enemies when facing the rain of rockets fired by them...
Olsen could only grit his teeth as he saw his ship about to sink.
"Retreat, order the entire army, retreat, retreat from the Pearl River!"
Olsen had realized that the situation was hopeless and was ready to retreat.
It’s a pity that Olsen’s ship was unable to escape because its sails were burned and its hull was severely damaged.
Olsen had no choice but to abandon the ship and escape...
……
At the same time, the British infantry led by Uncle He were chasing the retreating Restoration Army through Longtou Mountain and then towards Daejeon Mountain.
Cornes, holding a musket with a bayonet in his hand, led the attack.
Seeing that he was about to catch up with the retreating Restoration Army soldiers, a hint of cruelty and tyranny flashed in Cornes' eyes.
"Kill, kill all these damn yellow monkeys."
Cornes shouted and continued to rush forward. He had no psychological burden about killing people.
One reason is that he is a mature soldier and will not be soft-hearted.
But the more important reason was that God taught them that killing pagans could lead to heaven.
Therefore, when Cornes killed pagans, he did not feel guilty, but felt extremely excited.
But at this moment, there was a sudden roar of artillery fire.
Cornes subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction where the artillery sound came from, and saw several clouds of smoke rising from Longtou Mountain and black shells shooting through the air.
The shells hit the ground, rolled forward, and poured into the British formation from the side and rear.
Wherever the bullet passed, broken limbs and arms flew everywhere.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of blood and gunpowder.
Under the watchful eyes of a group of British soldiers, a team of Restoration Army suddenly rushed out of Longtou Mountain and attacked the side and rear of the British army.
Prepare to cut off the British army's retreat!
boom! Boom boom!
The sound of artillery fire continued on Longtou Mountain.
Shells flew in one after another, causing considerable casualties to the British troops exposed in the wilderness.
He Bo saw this and felt a pang in his heart, thinking that it was not good. But before he could make a decision, he heard the sound of artillery fire from his right wing.
Bai Yuanqin's troops, who had ambushed in the mountain pass between Longtou Mountain and Datian Mountain in advance, also began to deliver firepower.
The roar of artillery resounded throughout the battlefield.
Li Sheng's troops, who were originally retreating in a hurry to lure the enemy deep into their territory, also stopped and turned around to prepare to engage the enemy.
In an instant, the situation on the battlefield changed, and a three-sided encirclement was formed.
The British army went from being the one pursuing and expanding the victory to being the one isolated and surrounded.
When Uncle He saw this scene, the expression on his face kept changing from blue to white.
He knew that he had really miscalculated this time!
He wanted to take the opportunity to expand his victory, but unexpectedly he fell into the encirclement of the rebels.
At this point in the battle, Uncle He couldn't help but feel a little panicked.
Now, the only thing that makes him feel relieved is that his fleet is still floating on the Pearl River.
Even if the war on his side was not going well, he could still retreat calmly along the banks of the Pearl River under the cover of the fleet...
Thinking of this, Uncle He turned his gaze towards the Pearl River and prepared to order the army to retreat to the riverside.
However, the scene on the surface of the Pearl River is so eye-catching that one can’t help but feel like cursing.
Because he watched with his own eyes as the flagship of his fleet was sunk by the rockets of the Restoration Army Navy, and the remaining ships retreated in a panic downstream along the Pearl River.
Damn it, you can’t play like this!
Your fleet can retreat whenever you want, and no one can stop you.
But if your fleet withdraws, what will happen to their land forces?
Damn Olsen, you are such a jerk!
But at this moment, a sharp sound like a devil's scream was heard on the battlefield.
The sound of rockets breaking through the air continued to be heard, and rockets were fired from all directions at the British troops trapped in the encirclement.
Feng Zicai shouted excitedly.
"Fuck you foreigners, you guys just blew me up with rockets, didn't you feel good about it?"
"Now it's my turn!"
The sound of explosions resounded throughout the battlefield, and the British army was blown to pieces. The number of casualties continued to rise rapidly.
There was fear on Uncle He's face. He subconsciously took the lead and rushed in the direction they came from, trying to break out.
They had just turned around to retreat when they ran head-on into Li Kang's guard regiment rushing out from Longtou Mountain.
"Brothers, fight for me!"
Li Kang shouted at the top of his voice.
Snapped! Bang bang!
The crisp sound of musket fire resounded throughout the battlefield.
The breech-loading rifles equipped in large numbers by the Restoration Army once again demonstrated their advantage in firing rate.
The British troops who wanted to retreat were repelled by the musket fire of the Restoration Army as soon as they rushed forward.
Apart from leaving a streak of corpses on the battlefield, they gained nothing else.
"No, Sir Colonel, the rebels' muskets are firing too fast. We can't break through their blockade."
Edson came to Uncle He and spoke with a grim expression.
"Shet!"
"how so!"
"God, merciful Lord, are you no longer looking after us?"
Uncle He said with a grim expression. He couldn't help but touch the cross on his neck and began to pray.
However, the situation on the battlefield will not change because of his prayers.
shhhhhhhh!
The sound of rocket launches continued.
They aimed at the British army and delivered firepower, which blew up the British troops who were surrounded and caused heavy casualties.
The shells flew across the battlefield and passed through the British army's formation, leaving behind flying limbs and arms wherever they passed.
Cornes was blown away by the shock wave generated by an exploding rocket. While he was still in mid-air, he was hit by a flying shell, which directly broke his body in half.
But I don’t know whether to say he is lucky or unlucky.
He was lucky because even in this situation, Cornes was not dead yet. His upper body kept twitching and struggling, and he let out bursts of screams.
It's bad luck that he is not dead even though he is in this state.
The body was broken into two, the internal organs flowed out of the wound, and the blood was all over the ground. The pain was unimaginable.
In his dying moments, Cornes opened his eyes wide and looked up at the sky, wanting to see what heaven looked like.
But no matter how hard he opened his eyes, all he could see in the sky were rockets with tails of flame.
Until the light in his eyes gradually dimmed, and he never saw the shadow of heaven from beginning to end...
The sounds of explosions and artillery fire continued to ring out.
Under the three-sided encirclement of the Restoration Army, the British army could only flee in panic towards the Pearl River.
Seeing this, the Restoration Army in three directions also began to pursue the enemy and squeeze the living space of the British army.
Soon, the British army fled all the way to the banks of the Pearl River.
However, looking at the broad river before them, with water stretching as far as the eye could see, the British army could not help but fall into despair.
Because they really had nowhere to escape.
The only way to escape is to jump into the Pearl River.
On the battlefield, the devilish scream of rockets breaking through the air rang out again.
Rockets kept falling into the British camp and then exploded. The rumbling sound of the explosions mixed with the screams and wails of the British soldiers, forming a perfect piece of music.
Faced with the British army in a desperate situation, the Restoration Army did not attack rashly, but chose to continue to fight the enemy with artillery and rockets.
The battle has reached this point, and the victory of the Restoration Army is a foregone conclusion.
Under such circumstances, what the Restoration Army should think about most is how to achieve the greatest results at the lowest cost.
Compared with human lives, rockets and artillery shells are definitely cheaper...
Seeing that the artillery and rocket fire from the Restoration Army showed no sign of stopping, Uncle He looked desperate.
He kept praying in his heart and looked around the battlefield, trying to find a way to survive.
It’s a pity that this is the East, and even if his God heard his prayers, he couldn’t help him.
"Colonel, Britain has already lost this battle."
"We should think about ourselves next!"
Edson came to Uncle He with a dusty face and spoke.
His words were full of expectations, as if he was waiting for Uncle He to say those two words.
surrender!
Hearing this, Uncle He was inevitably tempted, but expecting him to surrender to the Orientals whom he despised without any psychological pressure would put Uncle He under tremendous psychological pressure.
Uncle He looked around the battlefield again, but saw no hope of a comeback. He opened his mouth and made a difficult decision.
"Now that things have come to this, prepare to raise the white flag."
"Enough of the boys' casualties have already occurred. Don't make any more unnecessary sacrifices..."
(End of this chapter)