Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 353: Yellow River Blocking Battle

After listening to this, Li Yi said this.

"Send a message to our navy."

"We must complete this blocking mission and not let the Qing army cross the river alone."

"If the Qing demon bandits escape north of the river and our army fails in this battle, I will take their heads!"

"In addition, send another order to all units of our army to speed up their march and complete the encirclement of the Qing army as soon as possible!"

Upon hearing this, the communications soldier responded loudly.

Immediately he rode away!

As Li Yi's military order was issued, the Tang army's marching speed increased significantly again.

Although at this moment the physical strength of the Tang army has almost reached its limit.

However, the spiritual power brought by the encouragement of the impending final victory made the Tang army burst out with resilience beyond the limits of their physical strength.

Everyone is gritting their teeth and marching quickly!
They were afraid that the Qing army would escape from their encirclement and escape northward.

At this time, no one could stop the Tang army from rushing towards the final victory.

……

Accompanied by the sound of loud war drums, the Qing army launched a desperate counterattack against the Tang army fleet sailing upstream on the river.

"Brothers, charge!"

"Charge forward! Long live the Qing Dynasty!"

"The emperor has decreed that whoever crosses the river will be crowned king!"

"..."

Small boats of the Qing army rushed towards the Tang army gunboats on the river.

Under the temptation of the reward of being crowned king, these Qing soldiers behaved quite fanatically, and many of them risked their lives, ready to fight for wealth and glory.

"Quick, all units, prepare to launch an interception immediately!"

"The king has ordered that the Qing army must not be allowed to cross the river alone."

The Tang army was also quickly preparing for battle.

The gun ports on the side of the gunboat were opened, and the black muzzles were aimed at the Qing army ships on the river.

boom! Boom boom!

There was a deafening sound of shelling.

The shells cut through the air and whistled towards the Qing army ships on the river.

The shell hit the ship and exploded in the blink of an eye, and flames suddenly rose.

A cloud of smoke spread out, and the hit ship was torn apart by the shock wave.

Broken wood chips flew everywhere!
Some shells also fell into the river, blowing up columns of water and causing huge waves on the already turbulent river surface.

The rapidly spreading water waves overturned the Qing army's small boats on the river in the blink of an eye, and the sound of people falling into the water continued to be heard.

Many corpses with missing limbs were floating on the river. The blood and turbid yellow river water mixed together, making the mother river of the Chinese nation look like the legendary Yellow Spring.

"quick!"

"Fire, keep firing!"

Seeing that their artillery fire had effectively blocked the Qing army, the Tang army's gunners were very excited and gave the order to continue firing.

For a moment, the Qing army's offensive slowed down at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But under the temptation of the reward of being crowned king, the Qing troops still rushed towards the Tang army's gunboats one after another.

"Go! Hurry!"

"Charge forward, charge forward, and join forces with the Tang thieves!"

"Don't be afraid. Tang thieves are also made of flesh and blood. If you cut them, they will bleed. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"Long live the Qing Dynasty!"

"..."

The Qing soldiers gritted their teeth and continued to row forward, the oars flying up and down, and everyone was roaring at the top of their lungs.

Finally, the distance between the two sides was shortened to a certain extent.

However, the Qing soldiers had no time to rejoice.

Then the muzzle of the fixed machine gun on the deck of the Tang army's gunboat turned and aimed at the Qing army's small boat on the river.

"Fire!"

"shooting!"

The next moment, the sound of gunfire rang out.

The Tang army soldiers shook the crank hard, and the muzzle of the rotary machine gun turned rapidly, and the barrage of bullets poured onto the Qing army on the river like raindrops.

The next moment, the sound of the bullet piercing through the flesh and punching through the board was heard.

A small boat was aimed at and fired at by a machine gun. In the blink of an eye, dozens of Qing soldiers on the boat were turned into sieves, with blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

Blood gushed out from the bullet holes like a fountain.

However, this fountain did not spray water, but blood.

The bullets penetrated the human body and made holes in the boat's planks. Waves surged and river water continued to pour into the boat through the bullet holes, causing the boat to slowly sink.

As the machine gun continued to fire, the small boat was hit with wood chips flying everywhere and it disintegrated and sank.

All the bodies on the boat were scattered in the Yellow River.

A wave hit him and he was knocked over and sank to the bottom.

For a moment, it seemed that the only sounds on both sides of the Yellow River were the clatter of machine gun fire and the Qing army's shrill screams.

The Qing army's small boats that were sailing towards the Tang army's gunboats were sunk one by one. Before they knew it, a sparse layer of corpses had floated on the surface of the Yellow River.

Several more small boats were destroyed by the Tang army's gunfire, and the soldiers on the boats were shot to pieces. The Qing army finally despaired.

The desire for life and the fear of death finally overwhelmed the greed for becoming king.

Involuntarily, the Qing army began to collapse and retreat!
Seeing that his soldiers failed to break through the blockade of the Tang army, Yi retreated and roared in anger.

"Pass the order down, no one is allowed to retreat, keep charging!"

"Anyone who leaves without permission will be killed without mercy!"

"I just don't believe that the Tang thieves have endless ammunition."

"Tell everyone that the Qing Dynasty has fallen into a deadly enemy. If we want to survive, we must break the blockade of the Tang Army at all costs, even at the cost of human lives!"

Yi had now gambled everything. If he could not break the blockade of the Yellow River by the Tang army, he would die, the main force of the Qing army would be surrounded and annihilated, and the Qing Dynasty would perish.

Therefore, no matter how many people die, Yi will not give up on breaking out.

Of course, Yi is not wrong to think so.

The ammunition used by the Tang army's rotary machine guns are all metal fixed-load ammunition, and the production cost of metal fixed-load ammunition is much higher than that of ordinary paper shell ammunition.

Even though the Tang Dynasty controls the Foshan Arsenal, the world's largest arsenal, the number of metal bullets that the Tang army can currently equip is limited.

With a machine gun firing at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute, the bullets could easily run out.

As long as the Qing army could use human wave tactics to deplete the Tang army's ammunition, they would have hope of breaking the Tang army's blockade of the Yellow River and creating an opportunity for Yi to cross the river and retreat north.

However, since Li Yi had already arranged an ambush for the Qing army in advance, how could he not consider the issue of ammunition consumption?

As early as when the plan was just formulated, Li Yi had already ordered the mobilization of ammunition from various places to support the front-line fighting.

It was not an easy task for the Qing army to use human wave tactics to wipe out all the ammunition of the Tang army.

As Yi's military order was issued, the Qing army's supervisory team stepped forward and chopped off dozens of heads, which intimidated the retreating Qing army.

Afterwards, the Qing army once again launched a charge towards the Tang army's gunboats on the Yellow River.

However, the speed of the Qing army's charge this time was much slower than the last time.

boom! Boom boom!

The artillery carried by the Qing army also began to fire.

Cannons were placed unconcealed on the Yellow River embankment, aimed at the Tang army gunboats on the river, and began to deliver fire.

Well, the Qing army did not consider the issue of defensive fortifications at all when deploying their artillery.

Because there is no need!
The Yellow River before us is the best amulet for the Qing army’s artillery.

The Qing army's artillery positions were arranged on the Yellow River embankment. Once the Tang army wanted to attack the Qing army's artillery positions, the first place they would hit would be the Yellow River embankment.

Yi didn't believe that the Tang army's artillerymen would dare to aim at the Yellow River embankment and fire.

Amid the sound of artillery fire, shells were fired at the Tang army gunboats on the Yellow River.

The shells hit the river, sending up columns of water.

The air was filled with mist.

Seeing this scene, the Tang army on the gunboat hated the Qing army so much.

But there is nothing we can do.

Because they really didn't dare to open fire on the Yellow River embankment.

Last year, the Qing government blew up the Yellow River dike, causing the people to lose all their morale and making people all over the world hate it to the core.

This is a lesson learned from the past!
No matter how brave the Tang army was, they would not dare to take this risk.

"Damn it, these Tartar dogs are so despicable!"

"You have made up your mind that the Tang Dynasty will not dare to attack the Yellow River dike, right?!"

"Fuck! I really want to skin these dogs alive!"

"..."

However, no matter how much they cursed, after that, the Tang army soldiers had no choice but to accept the fact.

While maneuvering the boat on the Yellow River, avoiding the Qing army's artillery fire.

While blocking the Qing army's offensive.

For a moment, they were in a very embarrassing situation.

The only thing to be thankful for now is that the Tang army’s gunboats are not powered by traditional paddles and sails, but by steam.

Therefore, the mobility is outstanding.

It was not easy for the Qing army's artillery to hit the target.

Yi was very excited when he saw the scene in front of him.

"Very good, let's do it!"

"The Tang thieves are just pretending to be kind and righteous. They really don't dare to fire at the Yellow River dike."

"And this is the biggest weakness of the Tang thieves in this battle!"

"Order our artillery to fire hard!"

boom! Boom boom!

Clouds of smoke continued to rise from the Yellow River embankment, and shells were fired towards the surface of the river.

The shells broke through the air, flew past at a low altitude, and made a humming sound.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of gun smoke.

However, at this moment, a Qing army messenger rode his horse up to Yi and began to report.

"Report!"

"Your Majesty!"

"The Tang bandits from the east and south are coming!"

When Yi heard this, his heart suddenly skipped a beat and he became very anxious.

He immediately turned around and said to Shengbao who was standing beside him.

"Shengbao, I appoint you to lead the troops to stop the Tang thieves' offensive and buy time for the Qing Dynasty to open a passage to the north."

"Can you do it?"

When Shengbao heard this, his expression first became serious, then he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Your Majesty, put it down. I promise to complete the task."

"If you cannot stop the Tang army's invasion, I will bring my head to you."

Shengbao knew that he was unlikely to be able to stop the Tang army's attack, but he had no way of refusing Yi's order and could only accept the task.

However, at this time, Shengbao had already made up his mind to die.

He had made up his mind and was ready to sacrifice his own life to buy time for Yi to break out.

Fight for the last bit of life for the Qing Dynasty!
Upon hearing this, Yi took a deep breath, held Shengbao's hand, and spoke affectionately.

"In this case, the life and death of our Qing Dynasty will be in your hands."

Shengbao nodded vigorously to show that he understood.

(End of this chapter)