Chapter 55: The Battle of Cheng Huan

  News of the Battle of Tsushima spread quickly around the world. To be honest, many countries had been eagerly awaiting this war. Since the advent of ironclad ships, there had never been a real naval battle, and now two fearless nations had finally emerged as test subjects. As a result, everyone flocked to the East like flies attracted to blood.

  As the navies of various countries mobilized their latest warships and rushed to the Yellow Sea day and night, a large fleet also sailed out of the Swan River mouth, then turned north and headed straight for the Tsushima Strait. At the same time, in the distant Beijing, inside the Forbidden City, an old lady who was painted like a Japanese geisha looked at the memorial in front of her and asked with a very thick nasal tone to a zombie-like figure standing in front of her: "What kind of person is this overseas righteous citizen after all? It's rare to have such loyalty."

  "As for Old Buddha's words, it is said that Xue Fucheng hired a translator in England because he had several ancestral secret recipes that cured the illness of the British Crown Prince. Later, he made some money and opened several factories, and in recent years, he has become somewhat famous." The zombie-like person said cautiously.

  "A businessman knows nothing about war." Cixi said with disdain.

  "The old Buddha said it was true, and this person seemed to have some self-awareness. He had hired many foreigners in England and the United States to lead his troops, with Langweili, a former Beiyang naval officer, as the commander-in-chief. As for himself, he just wanted to gain a title, secure a good life for his wife and children, and return home with honor. It was rare to see such loyalty." The zombie-like person continued to speak with a smile.

  "Then let him be the General of Taiwan, after all, he came with warships and thousands of people. It's just right that Shao Youlian is ill, so let Xue Fucheng fill his vacancy. As for going north to participate in the war, it's not necessary anymore. Let a group of mobs come, it's not enough to make people laugh." Cixi said, what she didn't know was that soon she would find out what it means to invite wolves into her home.

  Yang Pao-hsia then had another title, Taiwan General of the Qing Empire. Of course, this title was also bought with money, 50,000 taels of silver to buy himself a Taiwan General, and to buy Hsueh Fu-cheng a Taiwan Governor, and incidentally also bought a Tao-tai title for Chang Chuan to be his advisor. As for his father, naturally there would be no objection.

  After receiving this telegram, Yang Feng found himself loving this era of open pricing to death. With money and official positions, things could be bought as easily as goods on a shelf. Just as he was rejoicing at having solved the legitimacy of his identity, the land battle between China and Japan broke out.

  In the village of Kajong-ri, Korea, a small village that was hard to find on maps before, is about to become the starting point for the rise of an empire and the starting point for the fall of another empire. At 3:00 AM, the vanguard troops of the Japanese 21st Brigade, consisting of about one company of soldiers, were cautiously advancing through the dark rice fields, carrying their old-fashioned Village-Tan Type 18 rifle. Although the latest Village-Tan Type 22 smokeless powder rifle had begun to be equipped, it was mainly only equipped by the Imperial Guard Division, and the front line still mainly used this old-style rifle, of course, mainly because they lacked money.

  What they didn't know was that in a nearby village, dozens of soldiers from the Wu Yi army were hiding behind doors and windows, taking aim. Just as the faint light began to reveal the blurry figures, an officer shouted "Fire!"

  Almost simultaneously, he pulled the trigger of his latest semi-automatic pistol, followed by a burst of gunfire like a storm, and the Wu Yi soldiers, who were equipped with Yang Feng's Lee-Enfield rifles, poured hot bullets into the Japanese army at an astonishing rate.

  In an instant, the Japanese troops across from them fell in droves into the muddy water. The Japanese, who were used to single-shot black powder rifles, couldn't understand such dense gunfire coming from just a few dozen enemy soldiers. Thinking they had been ambushed by the main force of the Qing army, they immediately began to retreat towards the narrow Anqing Bridge behind them.

  However, the crowded figures on the narrow bridge deck, set against the night sky, became the most conspicuous targets in the dark night, and bullets rained down on Japanese soldiers.

  But immediately after, the Japanese army's follow-up troops who were swimming across the water also arrived. It is estimated that at this time, the Japanese commander also judged that the number of ambushers was not many, and immediately ordered a strong attack with superior forces. However, just as they were about to do so, a strange whistling sound suddenly came from the sky. The 21st Brigade Commander, Takeda Hidesan, looked up in astonishment, and immediately after, there was a series of huge explosions around him. The Japanese army that had gathered on the shore was instantly blown to pieces.

  "Qing army mortar!" An officer shouted as Takeda was pushed down into the mud. Unlike in history, this time Nie Shichen's artillery not only had old-fashioned 60 mortars but also added 12 82mm recoilless guns. This kind of gun that two people could carry and run with was highly praised by the Qing army. Moreover, Li Er Guizi deliberately emphasized it, and the main forces of the Huai Army were almost all heavily equipped. Although the price of shells was a bit expensive, at this time the Huai Army really didn't care about money, which was something that the Japanese army couldn't compare with.

  At the time of the Anqingdu battle, the Qing army's artillery on the Niuzheli main position immediately began firing at the bridgehead area according to the previously designated shooting unit. The modern alloy steel-made howitzers used on the Yangfeng ships had a range similar to that of the heavy artillery of the land army, and the rate of fire was astonishing, instantly turning the crossing into a hell for the Japanese army. In the open paddy fields without any cover, the four companies led by Takeda Hideshima were simply lambs waiting to be slaughtered, with the Anqing River behind them, ambushes in front of them, and swamps formed by the overflowing river water due to the Qing army's damming downstream all around.

  "Retreat, retreat!" Takeda Shizan yelled hoarsely amidst the artillery explosions. Just then, a shell exploded nearby, and scorching shrapnel hit his shoulder. The commander of the Takeda unit let out a blood-curdling scream, clutched at his shoulder, and under the protection of the guards beside him, he ran without hesitation into the chest-deep river water. The remaining Japanese soldiers followed their commander, rushing down to the river in disarray, fleeing for their lives amidst the artillery explosions. Hundreds of people crowded and pushed against each other, inevitably causing a few more to drown.

  History changed again here, the Takeda Alliance lost nearly half of its troops in Anchengdu, and it was impossible to win at Anchengdu. On the other hand, the main force of ōshima Yoshimasa, who crossed the river to attack, also suffered a huge setback in the subsequent battle. Nie Shichen's 82mm mortar could cover both Niuxili and Yuefeng Mountain positions, and even posed a threat to the Japanese artillery. To be honest, the equipment of the Japanese army at that time was really poor, not only were the rifles all old-fashioned single-shot Murata, but also the field guns were still old-fashioned bronze cannons.

  Originally, the Krupp 75mm field gun that was specially transported to reinforce Nie Shicheng sank to the bottom of the sea because of the high tide. He had no choice but to use the old-fashioned 60mm bronze cannon in his hand to fight against the Japanese army. Moreover, the position was not chosen properly and was completely suppressed by the Japanese artillery. But this time it's different.

  Attack on the fort of Niu-jih-li, Ta-chia-yueh, seeing his soldiers being torn apart by the bombardment of the Japanese artillery, which they could not even see, but he was also heartened by the bravery of the Japanese troops, who, despite leaving behind a mountain of corpses, still charged forward with bayonets under the command of their officers. In fact, at this time, the Qing army's losses were not small either. They had hastily built a breastwork, which was very thin and could even be penetrated by bullets. The soldiers' shooting level was also too poor, completely not in the same league as the Japanese, who had learned from the American Civil War to shoot in formation, but the Qing army, with insufficient training, could not produce such firepower.

  So despite being bombarded to death and injury, the Japanese army still approached the defense line with bayonets. The Qing army, which had never understood the concept of bayonet charges in history, should have retreated at this point, but this time was different, because they had hand grenades. Li Er's favorite general equipment was not spared, and all the best things were only used by Nie Shi Cheng's Lutai Training Army and Ye Zhi Chao's Zhengding Training Army.

  So just as the Japanese army approached the Qing army's defense line, they were met with a barrage of hand grenades, with hundreds to thousands of them exploding at once. The distant observer, ōshima Yoshimasa, turned pale.

  The Qing army's equipment level, he actually knew it like the back of his hand, but the problem was that these things were either unavailable for purchase or too expensive to equip, just like hand grenades, which at this time even the Japanese and European countries couldn't afford, as the price of using antimony sulfide explosives was too high.

  The Japanese also got a few to try and copy, but firstly the level was limited and couldn't reach the performance of Bofors products. The proportion of those that didn't explode or exploded into two halves was shockingly high. Secondly, after loading with nitrocellulose or picric acid, let soldiers carry these things in simulated battlefield environments to run and jump, drill through a ring of fire and so on. It wasn't good if they blew themselves up. After blowing up several test products, it was simply abandoned.

  But today, ōshima Yoshimasa has seen the battlefield power of this thing. In the dense and continuous explosion sounds, the attacking Japanese army was blown to pieces, with corpses piled up in front of the chest wall, and the splashed blood and flesh stained the front of the chest wall red. Even Nie Shichen, who personally led the reinforcements, was shocked and stunned, and he didn't expect this thing to have such great power in defensive warfare.

  The Qing soldiers hiding behind the breastwork soon discovered that fighting like this was even safer than standing up and shooting, without having to expose their heads. They crouched down behind it, pulling the fuse and throwing out hand grenades in dense waves from behind the breastwork. Even the Japanese troops retreated, and some were still throwing them out!