Chapter 473 Who competes with you (2)

On May 2, Yuanzhuo, a golden red sunlight pierced the lightly bright sky. The rising sun slowly showed its face from the end of the sea. The early birds chirped around the forest. The waves of the sea gently slapped the cliffs by the sea, making noise like applause. A group of seagulls flew up and down in the golden red morning light, diving down from time to time, picking up one, and two unlucky fish and shrimps. The morning in the South Pacific is always so charming, but the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion of the Qing Continental Battle Camp guarding Johor Bahru have no time to enjoy this beautiful scenery at this time. More than 800 people in the battalion are sweating profusely repairing various fortifications, a tension before the war is approaching.

Johor Bahru is not so much a small town in the sea, but rather a village built on a cliff. One side of Johor Bahru is full of cliffs, with only a gentle slope in the northwest corner, and a small pier that is not too large. In addition, there is only a winding path built by the Johor Bahru fortress that can lead to the seaside. The entire terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, Liu Chenghong, the highest commander of the Johor Bahru defender, dare not be careless at all. Since taking down Johor Bahru Town last night, Liu Chenghong has commanded all the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion to build various fortifications without stopping.

Liu Chenghong, Lieutenant Colonel Battalion Commander of the Second Battalion of the Land Battle Camp, a Han army bannerman, was 33 years old at the time. He participated in the Battle of Nagasaki. He was not tall, but he was very strong. His dark face never smiled and always looked serious. The Land Battle Camp is the most well-equipped unit in the Qing army. Each soldier was carefully selected and then tested to stay in this unit. Each soldier's individual weapons include: a rear-mounted needle gun, a revolver, a multi-functional saber, six long-handled grenades, flying claws, and military shovels.

Then, each battalion has a special baggage company, responsible for logistics support tasks. Whether it is individual combat capabilities, unit number organization or small troops' independent combat capabilities are far higher than the average level of the Qing army. Of course, the military rank is one to two levels higher than the corresponding system of the ordinary Qing army. Liu Chenghong was able to become the battalion commander of this most elite unit entirely by relying on his real ability. In fact, no one in the entire army knew that Liu Chenghong was the grandson of the current Minister of the Navy General Liu Shuangcheng, and the nephew of General Liu Yao, the commander of the First Fleet.

"Report, the construction of the first company fortifications is completed. Please ask the battalion commander for advice." Major Chen Yaowu, the company commander of the first company of the second battalion of the Qing Dynasty Land Battle Battalion, walked into the front line command post on a high cliff in front of Xinshan Town with a smile, saluted and said loudly.

"Yeah." Liu Chenghong raised his head from the combat map, looked at Chen Yaowu with a smile on his face. He nodded and said, "That's good. The fort is the support point for our army to defend Johor Bahru. If you lose the fort, be careful of your dog's head. Leave a few posts to let the soldiers rest well. The British are almost here soon. Pay attention to the configuration of front and back forces, and don't use the soldiers' lives to fill the British's muzzle. As long as you can defend the fort, go."

"Yes, the subordinates obey the order." Chen Yaowu saluted, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at Liu Chenghong with a laugh and said, "Battorney General. The fort must be the focus of the British attack. Can you adjust the "Five and Six Styles" of the battalion headquarters to me in a company? Hehe, why not one handful can be done?"

There were less than 80 "Five and Six" semi-automatic rifles in the Qing army. Except for the more than 40 in the Beijing Military Region, most of the rest were in the hands of the Guangdong Land Battle Battalion. Due to the ammunition and cost consumption, it was impossible to popularize the entire army. They could only be all battalions. The regiment headquarters equipped a few as the last military equipment. Liu Chenghong only had five in his hand, and there were not many ammunitions. That was Liu Chenghong's trump card. How could he just let it go? When he heard Chen Yaowu mention "Five and Six", Liu Chenghong's face immediately became stern, glared at Chen Yaowu, and cursed unhappily: "Get out, there is no hair!"

Chen Yaowu is a favorite general under Liu Chenghong. He is a big man from Shandong. He has long known Liu Chenghong's temper. He is used to laughing with Liu Chenghong on weekdays. At this time, he saw Liu Chenghong pretending to be angry, but he was not angry. He smiled, saluted, raised his foot and was about to go out. He never thought that the two of them would come out behind him. They each grabbed one of Chen Yaowu's arms and scolded, "I know that you are running fast, you must be uneasy. Hey, it turns out that you are aiming at the battalion commander's treasure. Let's agree first. When you see that you have a share, the battalion commander can't always help the whole company."

The visitor was Wu Haoming, the company commander of the Second Company, and Wu Chengwen, the company commander of the Third Company. Both of them were tall and short, but they were very strong. The former was from Shanxi and the latter was from Guangdong. The second company was responsible for guarding the dock. In addition to being a reserve team, the third company was also responsible for guarding the rear of Xinshan Town. The two of them had also completed the defense work at this time. In addition to coming to report, they were also making the "five and six-style" ideas. Seeing that Chen Yaowu took the lead, they were not willing to let him go, and immediately grabbed Chen Yaowu.

The war is imminent, and it is a good thing not to be afraid of the war! Liu Chenghong did not stop the three company commanders from playing. After a while, he spoke: "Are you done?"

Wu Haoming and Wu Chengwen saw the battalion commander speak, then let go of Chen Yaowu, saluted each other, and hurriedly replied: "Report to the battalion commander, all the scheduled fortifications have been completed. Please give me instructions."

"That's good. Order the soldiers to rest quickly. The battle may take place. The reinforcements in the rear will not be able to arrive at as soon as three days. Whether this battle can be successful depends on whether our battalion can defend Johor Bahru. Remember, before the reinforcements arrived, our army did not have any ammunition supplements. Tell the soldiers to pay attention to saving ammunition. Just go and rest first." Liu Chenghong glanced at the three company commanders under his command and gave a light command.

"Yes!" The three company commanders saluted at the same time, turned around and left the command center, and went to work hard.

"Lao Lin, how many food and bullets do we have?" After the three main company commanders walked away with a smile, Liu Chenghong asked Lin Mingyu, the company commander of the company who was always silent and sat quietly in the corner.

Lin Mingyu, a native of Xi'an, Shaanxi, participated in the Battle of Nagasaki. He was one of the veterans of the Land Battle Camp. He was nearly 40 years old and had always been taciturn and brave in combat. If it weren't for his illiteracy, he would have been an officer above the lieutenant colonel. At this time, he heard Liu Chenghong's question and stood up calmly. He said calmly: "Report to the battalion commander, in addition to the grain and bullets that have been distributed, our army has 1,800 grenades, 13,000 copper shell bullets, 100 packs of explosives, 100 landmines, 30 children and thunders, and 123 Dutch-style flintlock guns seized. There are about 30 barrels of black gunpowder and 3,000 projectiles; there are quite a lot of grains that have been seized in the Dutch land warehouse, which is enough for our army to use for the past year."

This ammunition is very pitiful, and it is not as much as the cost of a large-scale exercise in the Land Battle Battalion. However, this battle is almost no rear combat. Liu Chenghong has no idea whether he can rely on this ammunition to support reinforcements. But now, he can only bite the bullet and go on, right? Liu Chenghong was walking around the command center silently, feeling a little nervous.

At 3 o'clock, the sun had risen high, and the sunlight drove away the fog between the straits like a sharp sword. Through this small strait, which was only more than 1,500 meters wide, you could see Danmaxi's figure, but the sea was still quiet, and the figure of the English fleet never appeared. Liu Chenghong stood silently at the lookout at the command center. His eyes were staring at the south entrance to the strait, which was the only place where the English fleet could enter the strait. Suddenly, a huge striking corner shook out from the corner of Danmaxi Island. Then, the huge hull of a three-masted fast cruiser rushed out on the wind and waves, and the British army finally arrived!

One, two, three. Four, four fast cruisers were full of sails and entered the narrow strait along the tide. Three cruisers sailed to four hundred meters ahead of Johor Bahru Town, lined up to form a neat battle line. Then the two rows of gun portholes on the ship opened almost at the same time, and rows of black holes stretched out. The two cruisers' muzzles faced the Johor Bahru Fortress. The other two were heading towards the small dock of Johor Bahru, but the signal flags on the head of the cruiser were waving. The four cruisers opened fire almost at the same time, and more than a hundred shells roared on the shore, exploding a bunch of sparks. With the sound of the cannons, the entire Johor Bahru Town trembled slightly.

One round, two rounds, three rounds, four rounds! A total of four rounds of volleys turned over the Johor Bahru Fort and the Small Wharf, but he never heard the sound of the Qing army's counterattack. Perhaps he thought the Qing army had left this place, the British army on the warships had put down more than a dozen small boats, loaded with army soldiers wearing red uniforms and divided into two groups, and began to slowly head towards the Johor Bahru Fort and the Small Wharf.

On the hill of the Johor Bahru Fort, Chen Yaowu stared at the English warships that were showing off his might, and his lips were almost bloody. The shelling just now came too fierce. If Chen Yaowu had not placed most of the officers and soldiers in the trenches behind the mountain, he would have probably not much left under the shelling just now. Even though Chen Yaowu had prepared in advance, the shelling just now still inevitably caused some casualties. What's more, the ten cannons on the cannon were destroyed, and the pre-built fortifications also damaged a lot.

"Enter the position and prepare for battle. Don't fire first, wait until the British man gets ashore before taking action." Chen Yaowu saw the British boat getting closer and closer to the shore and issued a combat order. More than 200 Qing soldiers lowered their bodies and ran to the preset position along the traffic trench, loading bullets, and calmly waiting for the arrival of the British.

Precaution? The British army had no slightest defense. Although the upper-level generals of the British army were all worried, the officers and soldiers at the bottom did not know the truth and were immersed in the invincible fantasy of the Great British Empire. In their opinion, the Qing army was just a group of yellow-skinned monkeys, and they were not on the same level as the Great British army. Moreover, the four rounds of artillery just now had turned over the entire landing ground, and there was no sign of counterattack on the shore. This landing battle was like a trip, at most it was to encounter unnecessary resistance made by local natives with big swords and spears.

Soon, two groups of British dinghys leaned on the shore. Groups of British soldiers slowly jumped off the dinghy and walked towards the shore like walking in the knee-deep sea, without even being able to reach the gun. At the foot of the Johor Bahru Fort, an English army officer kicked and beat the ground with his old nose. Finally, he turned his scattered soldiers into a formation that looked a little more beautiful. The two walked side by side along the path built on the cliff and slowly climbed up towards the fort on the top of the cliff.

"Grandma, beat me hard!" Seeing that the seventy or eighty British soldiers had already walked on the mountain road, Chen Yaowu roared angrily. In an instant, the Qing soldiers who had been waiting in the preset positions on the cliffs were impatient and swept the angry bullets to the British army without hesitation. Amid the sound of fried beans, the British army walking in the front was instantly beaten into a hornet's nest, screaming and rolling down, smashing the British army behind into a rolling gourd. Before the British army could understand what was going on, a rain of grenades fell from the sky again

The British army was in a mess. However, in one meeting, the seventy or eighty British soldiers who attacked the Johor Bahru Fort were all lying on the ground, except for the dozens with faster legs, and were seriously injured even if they were not dead. The entire path was covered with blood and limbs. The British wounded soldiers who were not dead made a shrill scream, hoping that their colleagues could turn around and rescue them. Unfortunately, the alive British soldiers had already been scared, let go of their legs, and rushed towards the boat that had turned around and prepared to escape at a speed of countless times faster than before. They had no courage to look back.

"Haha, it's good to fight. One row of soldiers went up to shoot cannons, and everyone else retreated!" Chen Yaowu looked at the British army's embarrassing look and smiled happily. He quickly issued an order. Except for a row of officers and soldiers who rushed towards the cannons on the fort, the other officers and soldiers returned to the trenches in the back mountain again along the traffic trench.

The soldiers of the Guangdong Land Battle Camp of the Qing Dynasty have received various rigorous training and are naturally familiar with the shooting of artillery. Although the cannons on this turret are old-style bore guns, it is not difficult for the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty Marine Corps. A row of officers and soldiers carried their spears behind them, rushed to the artillery position according to the scheduled combat plan, adjusted the muzzle in an orderly manner, lit the fire rod, and fired counterattack artillery fire in the direction of the English fleet. At the same time, a wonderful ambush was launched at the Johor Bahru Pier...
Chapter completed!