Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

"Da da da!"

When attacking, the Taiping Army's infantry companies and platoons moved their heavy machine guns to the front.

Dense machine gun fire swept wildly at the foreign gunners.

In the ensuing chaos, the foreign-trained soldiers were riddled with bullets.

Originally, many foreign-equipped soldiers were preparing to line up and exchange fire with the Taiping Army under the command of their officers.

But such a dense formation is practically suicidal in the face of heavy machine guns.

The foreign-trained troops adopted training methods from various Western countries. Their combat tactics also remained focused on volley fire, essentially a line-and-gun tactic.

By using a dense formation, firepower can be fully utilized.

In this tactic, each soldier is a firepower unit. A dense formation is necessary to maximize the firepower advantage.

In this era, this is undoubtedly a very typical and practical tactic.

Unfortunately, facing the Taiping army's overwhelming firepower, such tactics were tantamount to suicide.

"Da da da!"

The heavy machine guns fired wildly, ruthlessly reaping the lives of these foreign-armed soldiers.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The rifles in the hands of ordinary Taiping soldiers were also firing.

The Taiping soldiers used the Type 5 rifle, which had a faster rate of fire and a longer range. They could kill the enemy from over 100 meters away. In contrast, the foreign-equipped troops were equipped with the Enfield M1853 rifle, which, although the standard issue weapon of the British Empire's army, was still a muzzle-loading gun. It had a very slow rate of fire and an effective range of less than 100 meters.

As a result, they were completely suppressed when they exchanged fire with the Taiping soldiers.

Furthermore, when firing, Taiping soldiers would either crouch or lie prone on the ground, or seek cover and hide behind it.

The foreign-equipped soldiers, on the other hand, were firing while standing upright.

This is undoubtedly a perfect target!

The entire battle was almost entirely one-sided.

The Taiping army, relying on its superior firepower and manpower, completely overwhelmed the foreign-trained troops.

"My God! What kind of enemy are we facing? Is this really an army from an Eastern country? Even the armies of powerful European nations wouldn't have such firepower!" Hua Er exclaimed.

"This is absolutely incredible! Their rifles have a faster rate of fire and a longer range than ours. They even have a weapon that can fire continuously—it's terrifying!" Farsde looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Is this really a scientific wasteland?" Bai Qiwen couldn't help but ask.

They had initially believed that their Western-equipped troops, armed with rifles and artillery and trained entirely in Western methods, would be invincible on the entire Eastern battlefield, easily sweeping away the armies of all Eastern countries.

But reality slapped them hard in the face, making them realize just how powerful the Taiping Army was.

At this moment, Ward and the others finally understood why the Qing army had suffered such a crushing defeat in the war.

If even they were no match for them, then the Qing army, with its extremely outdated equipment, was even less of a threat.

"Captain, we are no match for the Taiping Army. Let's surrender!" Farsde suggested.

Bai Qiwen nodded repeatedly.

In Western culture, surrender is not considered shameful.

Especially when the enemy is very powerful and they have tried their best but still cannot defeat them, surrendering is undoubtedly the best option.

"Ugh!"

Hua Er let out a heavy sigh.

He had originally planned to make a fortune in the far East.

But to his utter surprise, his dream had to come to an end just as things were beginning.

However, compared to making a fortune, Wall still valued his life more.

In the current situation, preserving one's own life is undoubtedly the most important thing.

"boom!"

Just as Ward was about to give the order to surrender, a mortar shell landed and exploded less than two meters away from Ward.

Hua Er was thrown into the air by the shockwave from the exploding shell.

When his body fell, it was already a mangled corpse.

Fars and White were a little too far apart, so although they were injured, they were not killed by the explosion.

"Surrender! Surrender now!"

"Surrender to the Taiping Army immediately! Otherwise, we will all die here!"

Fars and Whitehead both gave the order to surrender in unison.

With Walter already dead, Farstead and Whiteheart, as vice-captains, naturally assumed command of the unit.

The officers and soldiers of the foreign-equipped troops were also terrified by the formidable firepower and combat effectiveness displayed by the Taiping Army. They, too, no longer wanted to continue fighting.

So, upon receiving the order to surrender, the soldiers threw down their weapons and knelt down to surrender without saying a word.

After the Taiping army discovered the unusual activity of the foreign-equipped troops, they also stopped firing.

"Commander, the foreign-trained troops have surrendered!" Li Shixian reported.

"Oh? It seems these foreign devils are just as afraid of death. In that case, they have even less to fear!" General Li Xiucheng said with a smile.

This time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom marched into Songjiang Prefecture and also forcibly reclaimed the concession area.

This will inevitably offend the foreign devils severely.

If things go wrong, the foreign devils might start a war against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

This battle was undoubtedly of great importance to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Failure would inevitably deal a heavy blow to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The foreign devils were not very good at fighting, and their fighting spirit was also very weak. This was undoubtedly good news for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Even if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were to go to war with the foreign devils, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's chances of winning would be even greater.

The battle between the Taiping Army and the foreign-trained troops ended in a great victory for the Taiping Army.

In the battle, the Taiping army annihilated the foreign-trained troops with minimal losses.

The foreign-trained troops numbered over two thousand. Apart from the thousand or so who were killed in the battle, the rest surrendered.

With the annihilation of the foreign-trained troops, Songjiang Prefecture was no longer able to stop the Taiping Army's offensive.

In fact, when the Taiping Army ambushed the foreign gunners, the cavalry battalion of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Army had already been dispatched.

The entire cavalry battalion consisted of four cavalry companies, a battalion-level reconnaissance platoon, a fire support platoon, and other units directly under the battalion headquarters, totaling over nine hundred men.

The cavalry battalion's weapons and equipment are exactly the same as those of the regular army battalion.

However, the soldiers only gained an extra warhorse and a saber.

They can fight on foot, like infantry, or charge into battle on horseback, like cavalry.

In this era, the cavalry's powerful assault and mobility capabilities also played a significant role on the battlefield.

On the evening of June 4, while the situation at the front was still unclear in the United Concession of Zhonghai County, the Taiping Army's cavalry had already arrived in Zhonghai County and launched an attack.

The Qing army collapsed and surrendered in Huating County. The foreign-equipped troops were also completely annihilated.

As a result, the entire Zhonghai County and the concession were almost completely defenseless.

Apart from some constables from the county government and a few dozen patrolmen in the concession, there were no other armed forces.

When hundreds of cavalrymen stormed into Zhonghai County, all the officials, including the county magistrate, surrendered without exception.

As for dying for the Qing Dynasty, let's forget about that.

Those officials are only after money; they don't need to risk their lives!

Meanwhile, in the foreign concessions, the police put up resistance.

However, in terms of both troop strength and weaponry, the two sides are not on the same level.

The cavalrymen stormed into the concession with a single charge.

The foreign devils in the concession also wisely laid down their weapons and surrendered.

Compared to their Eastern counterparts, these foreign soldiers valued their lives more. In such a desperate situation, they naturally wouldn't risk their lives against the Taiping army.