Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 532 I've wanted to beat him up for a long time
"Captain, the G Army forces on the other side of the river are demanding that we withdraw from the Yangtze River immediately!"

"Let us leave?" Captain Skinner of HMS Violet scoffed. "The British Empire has enjoyed its legal rights for nearly a century. When have the Chinese ever had the right to point fingers?"

First mate Weston said, "Captain, all the American warships have taken refuge in Shanghai. Should we..."

"What's wrong with Americans? When the flag of the British Empire was flying all over the world, America was just our cornfields and cotton plantations!"

"Ignore the Chinese orders and continue sailing to Nanjing."

His mission this time was to relieve troops in Nanjing; he couldn't just leave because of a single sentence.

"Commander, we warned the British warships, but instead of responding, they turned their guns around."

"Warning again! Prepare to fire!"

"Yes!"

When the communications officer issued another warning using flag signals, Wang Chengzhu also gave the order.

"All guns ready! On my command! Fire both guns simultaneously! 15 meters to port, 15 meters to starboard!"

"First and second shots, prepare!"

"Commander, the British ships are not responding!"

"Wang Chengzhu! Fire warning shot!"

The shell was already loaded, and Luo Ping shut his mouth, offering no further comment.

"fire!"

"put!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Two 105mm shells landed in the water, creating huge splashes.

The warning shot did not hit the British ship, but it did trigger a stress response in Skinner.

"Ready for battle! Ready for battle!"

"All personnel, take your positions! Ready for battle!"

"fire!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"
Upon seeing the British ships retaliate, Wang Chengzhu didn't waste any words: "All guns ready! Aim at the British ships!"

"fire!"

"put!".
Seeing that the two sides had already begun to exchange fierce fire, Chen Chengxing didn't waste any words.

"The artillery battalions in each mountain area also began shelling the enemy ships!"

"Give him a good beating, you bastard!"

Although the guns of the Second General's cannons were firing high-explosive shells, which couldn't penetrate the armor of enemy ships, they couldn't get their upper decks either.

The armor of British frigates is indeed thick; neither 75mm nor 105mm high-explosive shells can penetrate it when hit on the side.

However, the dense barrage of shells was enough to clear everything off the ship's deck.

Even armored turrets can become stuck and unable to turn due to repeated hits.

The bridge and engine room were also hit by several shells, resulting in heavy casualties among the personnel on the bridge.

"Commander, the enemy ship has lost course and run aground on a sandbar on the south bank!"

"Should we cease fire?!"

"Don't stop!" Chen Chengxing immediately ordered, "Since he can't move, beat him to death! Today we'll beat him until he surrenders!"

"Yes!"

Faced with continuous bombardment from hundreds of cannons, the British ship could only return fire with its twin main guns at the stern.

But with two ships against a hundred, the British sailors were beaten so badly they were practically spitting out their own excrement, and the ship was billowing thick black smoke.

After being hit by dozens of shells, the seriously wounded Skinner finally couldn't take it anymore: "Raise the white flag and cease fire!"

"Stop shooting! Stop shooting!"

"Commander, the enemy ships have surrendered."

"Okay! Report to the Corps Headquarters."

Soon, a call came from the Corps headquarters: "Chen Chengxing, you've got some nerve, daring to beat up even the British?"

"I've wanted to take them down for a long time. These bastards still think it's 1840."

"Today we must let them know that foreign warships are not entitled to freely travel in Chinese waters!"

"He's talking to me about treaties? Whoever signed it with him, he can go find them! The grave is still standing there!"

"Hahaha, well done!" Chen* laughed heartily. "Who fired first?"

"Don't worry, Sir, it was the enemy who fired the first shot! We were forced to retaliate!"

Although the artillery regiment fired two shots at the beginning, those were warning shots.

Does a warning shot count as a shot?
"Okay, I understand." All he needed was for the enemy to fire the first shot.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Chengxing didn't rest. He immediately ordered all howitzers and mountain guns to form east and west artillery groups and change positions.

"Still fighting?" Luo Ping asked, somewhat surprised.

"There's still a British warship in Nanjing; they'll definitely come down to rescue us."

Chen Chengxing's estimate was correct. At 1 p.m., another destroyer from Jinling, the "Black Swan," arrived at the battlefield.

However, whether or not it received orders, the Black Swan did not fire directly, but instead tried to secretly tow the stranded frigate away.

"East and West artillery groups, open fire and beat that bastard to a pulp!"

"Old Chen, the other side hasn't fired any shots."

"No shots fired? He says no shots were fired and that's it? Besides, that frigate was the Second Division's spoils of war."

"They've come to steal from me, how can I let them get away with this?"

"Pillar! Fire!"

"Yes!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"
The two ships, which were busy connecting, were once again subjected to barrage of fire.

Moreover, because the location was fixed this time, even the rocket artillery regiment opened fire. The decks of both ships were once again cleared, and all the sailors who were busy connecting the two ships were gone.

"Weigh anchor! Weigh anchor!"

"Fight back! Fight back now!"

The captain of the Black Swan was frantic. At this point, he didn't care about the stranded Violet anymore; he just wanted to get out of there first.

Under the captain's command, the Black Swan sped up to its maximum speed and left Chen Chengxing's shelling area ten minutes later.

Chen Chengxing felt a pang of regret as he watched the ship flee, billowing black smoke.

"Pillar, keep a close watch on it. No ship is allowed to approach the grounded British ship! If any ship comes, open fire without asking for permission!"

"Yes!"

On the opposite bank of the river, seeing that the fighting had stopped, Liu Ziliang put down his binoculars.

"You all saw it, right? The G army even dared to fight foreigners, do you still think they won't cross the river?"

The commander of the Eighth Army Corps and the division commander standing next to him both had very serious expressions.

The G army fought the foreigners, and now they're next.

"Please sit down," Liu Ziliang waved his hand.

"I didn't send you here just to watch foreigners get beaten up."

"You've all seen Tang Keqin's river defense deployment; we're just pawns."

Liu Ziliang may not be strong in combat, but that doesn't mean he has poor eyesight.

He saw Tang Keqin's plan clearly; Chang Ruiyuan was going to defend Shanghai.

Placing ragtag troops like his along the Yangtze River would only slow down the G army's advance at their cost.

Therefore, his deployment was a straight line, without any depth or reserves.

Their main tactic is to run away as soon as the battle begins.

The reason he summoned all the army commanders and division commanders to a closed-door meeting was to arrange this matter.

"I called you here and I only have two words to say to you: 'good' and 'clever'."

Upon hearing Liu Ziliang's words, everyone was puzzled: "Lord Siren, what is good? What is skillful?"

"The so-called 'good' means to take advantage of the situation, strike the G army hard, and annihilate them on the river."

"The so-called skill is to retreat immediately and abandon the position to preserve strength once the situation is not right."

Now everyone understood: they were ready to flee at any moment.

As for the claim of inflicting heavy losses on the G army, that simply didn't happen.

"I want to emphasize one point."

"When issuing a retreat order, it should always be communicated verbally; if that's not possible, then by phone."

"We must not let the 88th Division know that every minute they stay on the position, we will be safer."

"Rest assured, Lord Siren, we understand!"

We've all been playing the role of ragtag players for years, and aside from everything else, our survival skills are second to none.

"Alright! That's settled then. Wait for my orders." Liu Ziliang nodded.

"Yes!"

"Commander-in-Chief, the Corps Headquarters has ordered that all units begin artillery bombardment at 4:00 PM sharp!"

"I see."

"In modern warfare, firepower is authority. Tell the artillery groups to attack his deep defensive positions."

"The fortifications of the Guo Army along the riverbank can be freely attacked by the artillery battalions of each regiment."

"I have only one request: fire a full hundred shells at each cannon!"

"Yes!"

Upon receiving the order, Wang Chengzhu grabbed a tin megaphone and shouted, "Comrades! We are the first echelon of the campaign and must set an example! We have plenty of shells! Give them a good beating!"

Hundreds of cannons of various sizes, fully equipped and ready to fire, unleashed a barrage of shells that slammed into the enemy positions on the opposite bank.

The intense shelling lasted for two and a half hours, with the first hour and a half being saturation fire and the second hour being destructive fire.

Each artillery group of the G Army had intelligence maps provided by the underground party in southern Anhui, so all artillery fire was targeted.

Seeing that the G army had stopped shelling, Liu Ziliang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He was terrified that the G army would launch a sudden attack.

"Chief of staff, tell the men to get ready, the G army will be here in the next day or two."

As night fell, the 211th Regiment, the vanguard, pulled out their boats and positioned them near the launching rails, ready to set off at any moment.

Following the orders of the General Front Committee, the crossing of the river officially commenced at 8 PM.

"Xu Wu, the Second Army is the vanguard of the Fourth Army Corps, and your detachment is the vanguard of the Second Army. You must bring honor to the Second Army."

"Several leaders in the central government are waiting for good news of our victory."

"Don't worry, Captain! The comrades have been preparing for three months and training hard for a month, just waiting for this final push!"

After hanging up the phone, Xu Wu turned to Li Chishui and said, "Tell the comrades that the Central Committee is staying up all night, waiting for our good news!"

Li Chishui immediately called Ren Wuliu, the commander of the 211th Regiment.

Ren Wuliu was extremely excited and immediately relayed the message: "Comrades! Great news! *** might be coming to our detachment headquarters! Let's see who will be the first to cross the river in the first boat!"

By the time the message was passed down further, it had completely changed its meaning.

"Comrades! *** has arrived at our detachment!"

"Comrades! *** and the central leaders are watching us from the shore! We must strive to be the first boat to cross the river!"

"Huh? Squad leader, *** really came?"

"You little rascal, how could you not come to cross the river, such an important event?"

"I'm telling you, all of you better watch yourselves. Don't lose face in front of the leaders. Anyone who embarrasses me in front of the ***, you'll see what I do to them!"

(End of this chapter)