The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 245 I, Da Ying, can cooperate with the devil! (Please vote and subscribe)
"bang bang bang"

There was a burst of gunfire.

Although a dozen nitre-sugar smoke bombs produced large clouds of white smoke, a warrant officer who commanded the "lobster soldiers" to fire volleys still ordered to open fire. Sixty Minié bullets spewed out from the muzzles and spun into the large cloud of white smoke in front.
Captain Smith frowned and just stared at the slowly dispersing smoke. He knew very well that the timing and location of the smoke clouds were perfect, and they appeared in front of the Qing Dynasty's "tax skirmishers" just when his own flintlock soldiers were aiming!
This was obviously a well-practiced skirmisher tactic. Among the dozens of Qing "tax skirmishers" that had just rushed out like a swarm of bees, there must have been a dozen grenadiers mixed in. When the skirmishers in charge of shooting opened fire, they must have already ignited the kind of grenades that were specially used to release smoke. After the shooting soldiers finished a round, they immediately threw smoke grenades to cover the shooting soldiers' retreat.
With such exquisite tactical coordination, smoke grenades that he had never heard of, and fearless courage in charging under enemy fire, are these people really Qing soldiers?
Could it be that the Qing Empire has been quietly advancing military reforms since its defeat in the last Sino-British War?

Captain Smith was shocked as he thought about it!
But he didn't feel shocked for long, because a furious British vice-consul came up to him.

"Fuck you! Captain Smith, how dare your men fire a 12-pound cannon at me? Are you trying to kill me? You bastard!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Vice Consul, the situation was very critical! We had to do this"

Smith had no choice but to apologize quickly. Although Wade was only a vice consul, he was an expert on China and a graduate of Cambridge. This resume was considered top-notch among British civil servants, and Captain Smith could not afford to offend him. However, he had to stop his apology only halfway through.

Because the smoke on the battlefield had dispersed, the infantry on both sides began to shoot at each other with rifles again.

Captain Smith knew that many of the Qing soldiers guarding the Customs Office were good at shooting and were equipped with rifled guns and possibly Minié bullets. He did not dare to stand in such a front position with Wade.

It would be a lot of fun if the opponent was sniped.

So Captain Smith quickly pulled Wade back, and at the same time ordered a sergeant platoon leader under his command to take ten men and drag the 12-pound cannon back despite the Minié bullets fired by the "Qing Dynasty Tax Soldiers" - he had never expected that the Qing Dynasty had "Tax Soldiers" who could use rifled rifles to attack their own artillery, so he placed the 12-pound cannon less than 200 yards away from the Beiguan Yamen, which caused him a great loss.

Now we have to drag this cannon farther away and then aim at that damn customs office and fire it hard!
But how could the "Qing Dynasty tax soldiers" guarding the customs office let anyone take the cannon away? More than a hundred Minié rifles were aimed at the British soldiers pulling the cannon. 200 yards was a little far, but it was no match for the concentrated fire of the guns!
Soon, there were five or six more dead or half-dead people lying around the 12-pound cannon. Even the warrant officer sent by Captain Smith to pull the cannon had a bullet through his lung. Now he was lying on the ground, spitting blood and weakly calling Hong Xiuquan "Brother Jesus"!

The remaining few "lobster soldiers" who had not been hit did not dare to continue pulling the cannon, and they could not pull it anymore. They had to retreat with pale faces and ran to Captain Smith trembling.

The infantrymen under Captain Smith who were firing at the "Qing Dynasty tax soldiers" were not much better off. What they were now deployed in was actually a dense horizontal formation of "line shooting" with smoothbore muskets before the advent of Minié bullets.

Their opponents either hid in a circular position made of sandbags or occupied the commanding heights and had cover to rely on, which put them clearly ahead tactically.

Moreover, those "Qing Dynasty tax soldiers" were all good shooters in the Dark Hall or the Upper Army Training Brigade, and they used the Minié rifles and Minié bullets that Luo Yaoguo had bought from the French at a high price! After receiving the Minié rifles and Minié bullets, they practiced hard for two weeks under the guidance of French instructors and basically became familiar with the new weapons.

So the gunfight outside the Customs Office was quickly decided. After more than 12 people were killed or seriously injured, Captain Smith had to give the order to retreat. Even the -pound cannon that was too forward had to be abandoned, and the firing port was not even nailed on.

And this disastrous defeat happened in full view of the public.

"How is this possible? How could our British Empire's army be defeated by the Qing army?"

On the third-floor balcony of the French Consulate, less than three miles away from the north gate of the Jianghai Customs Office, British Consul Alcock held up a telescope, trembling and muttering to himself.

Before launching the action to seize the customs, Consul Aliguo thought of various possibilities and several high-sounding excuses, such as the Qing Dynasty's customs were corrupt and inefficient, the Qing Dynasty had lost most of its land in the south of the Yangtze River, and the goods imported through the Qing Dynasty customs could not be circulated in mainland China at all, and if Britain did not control the customs, it might benefit the rebels, etc. Basically, they were all about how to deal with the aftermath and how to negotiate.

The only thing he didn't expect was that the British army's attack would fail, and it was a miserable failure! Standing on his left and right, the American Consul Major Ma Hui and the French Consul Ai Tong were trying to pretend to be sad, shaking their heads and sighing.

"Alas, how could we be defeated so miserably? It seems that more than 30 people died, and a cannon was lost. Is this still the British Army that defeated the great Emperor at Waterloo?"

"It's been almost forty years since the Battle of Waterloo, but it's really wrong to lose to the Chinese army. In the Sino-British War ten years ago, the British army won one glorious victory after another. Only ten years have passed, and the British Army has..."

Hearing the sarcasm and ridicule from the French and American consuls, Aliguo's face turned green with anger.

Isn't this defeat too embarrassing?

The battle was held in public, with the French and American consuls visiting the scene, and many Europeans, Chinese and Indians watching from the surroundings. Although it was only a company-level battle, the complete defeat of the British army damaged the international image of the British Empire!
"Rutherford, you, the British Army, used troops to attack the Chinese customs building on Chinese soil without declaring war. This is not in compliance with International Law!"

"Yes, this is a blatant act of war, even aggression. We, the United States of America, do not support it!"

"You guys." Aliguo was almost vomiting blood because of the American and French consuls.

When he met with Aitong and Ma Hui this morning, the two of them cursed the Qing Dynasty Customs for being extremely corrupt and seriously damaging the interests of France and the United States. They also said that with Jiangnan about to fall, the Jiang Customs had no right to levy tariffs.

The French Consul Ai Tong also said that he would mobilize the French troops stationed in the French Concession in Shanghai to participate in this military operation! However, today is Saturday, and the French troops stationed in Shanghai have gone to spend the weekend, and have not yet assembled.
Just when Aliguo was about to explode with anger, Wade had already run back from the front line, panting up to the second floor of the French Consulate, rushed to the balcony, and said to Aliguo while panting: "Mr. Consul. That useless Captain Smith was defeated by the Qing soldiers and lost more than 30 people and a cannon. It seems that we need to mobilize the militia in the concession and our French friends to launch an attack together."

"Wait, Thomas, why would our French Empire attack the customs of the Qing Dynasty? France and the Qing Dynasty have a long history of friendship!"

The Frenchman Aitong interrupted Wade rudely before he could finish his words, and brought up the friendship between France and Qing Dynasty.

Wade was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Aliguo.

Aliguo announced with a sullen face: "The British Empire cannot lose to the Qing Dynasty. We will definitely take over the Jianghai Customs and win truly fair trade and tariffs! The setback we just suffered is only temporary, because the Jianghai Customs is just an isolated stronghold. The Qing Dynasty has already lost the entire Shanghai!"

He looked at the Frenchman Ai Tang coldly: "If our European friends are unwilling to fight with us, then we can go and cooperate with the Taiping Army that has occupied the county town of Shanghai!"

"What?" Aitong was stunned. "The Taiping Army in Shanghai. Isn't that the army led by the Holy Angel King Wu? He is very likely a devil!"

Aliguo ignored Aitong and just said to Wade, "Thomas, thank you for taking the trouble to go to Shanghai County to meet the so-called devil!"

"Yes, Consul."

(End of this chapter)