The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 380 Welcome to Chicago

Accompanied by the smoke of gunpowder at the train station, half of the dozen soldiers who had just got off the train fell down, and the rest hurriedly looked for a place to hide.

At the same time, the soldiers on the train opened fire back and there was a lot of gunfire.

Two thugs hiding behind the window were shot on the spot and were dragged to the back covered in blood.

In a short period of time, the train station was filled with smoke and even the shadows of people could not be seen.

This is also a huge flaw of black powder bullets on the battlefield.

It would be better if it was an open area, but with dozens of people shooting in the same area, fog formed on the battlefield and people could not be seen at all.

Then the muzzle of the gun tilted a little, and I didn't know where the bullet flew to.

Wen Bingzhong hid back under the window and heard the sound of bullets hitting the walls, glass, and even the wall behind him. After the other side finished firing, he poked his head out through the smoke in front of him and continued shooting.

As for where the bullet will fly, no one knows.

"I really want to give them a volley of bullets!" Wen Bingzhong cursed as he hid behind the wall after firing the gun.

When he came here with the gun before, he didn't have much thought. After all, this time he came here just to put some pressure on them, not to wipe them out completely.

But after one round of shooting, he began to miss the San Francisco typewriter.

"Let the fourth team give them something powerful!" Wen Bingzhong said gritting his teeth.

Immediately a messenger ran to the side window and waved a flag, while a group of people hiding behind the stairs of the train station put their guns aside and took out the prepared six-pound shells.

"Wait a moment, wait for them to shoot another round!" A Chinese man in hunting clothes stretched out his hand to hold down the person next to him and looked outside.

The other side was taking turns shooting in the four carriages to reduce the impact of the smoke. At this time, most of the smoke around the first carriage had dissipated.

The other party could already vaguely see the situation ahead through the smoke.

Soon, the enemy started another round of shooting. After the four carriages took turns shooting, there was a white smoke in front, and even the inside of the carriages was almost filled with smoke. All the soldiers of the 22nd Infantry Regiment huddled in the carriages waiting for the smoke to dissipate, and occasionally stood up and fired to continue suppressing the opponent's firepower.

"Get started!" The captain of the fourth squad picked up a six-pound cannonball and lit it on the torch that came over, then trotted a few steps, exposing his entire body outside the stairs.

The shell flew past his hand, hit the ground and rolled directly to the edge of the platform.

At the same time, dozens of six-pound shells flew over like rain, some falling on the platform, and some falling from the edge of the platform and falling under the train.

Others hit the train carriages and bounced off.

Boom boom boom!

Accompanied by the continuous explosions, the train carriages were also shaking continuously.

"It's a six-pounder!"

All the members of the 22nd Infantry Regiment huddled tightly inside the carriage, feeling the huge impact coming from outside the train and praying to God nervously.

"Where's our three-pounder?" Gibbs shouted.

"We didn't bring it... Our mission is to deploy defenses, not to prepare for an attack!" a soldier shouted immediately.

"Fuck!" Gibbs cursed angrily.

boom!
Suddenly, a huge explosion was heard in the adjacent carriage, and even the door of the carriage was blown open by the shock wave.

Gibbs' eyes were bloodshot. He thought he came here just for tourism.

I didn't expect to be hit head-on as soon as I arrived.

"We can't go on like this, get off the train, everyone get off the train!" Gibbs shouted loudly. When some soldiers saw the explosions stop, they quickly jumped out of the window on the other side.

After leaving the train, the threat posed by these soldiers became much greater, especially the second team behind the stairs, who were too afraid to show their heads due to the bullets.

"Cover them and let them retreat!" Wen Bingzhong said.

Then there was fierce gunfire, but some members of the second team were hit by bullets during the retreat and were dragged back.

The two sides exchanged fire at the train station for more than half an hour. Wen Bingzhong felt that it was enough, so he led everyone to evacuate from the position arranged in advance.

100 out of 97 people evacuated, and 97 of them were shot and injured.

After all, bullets don't have eyes.

But the soldiers of the 22nd Infantry Regiment were in trouble.

There were 140 people in the two companies, and one third of them were directly reduced.

The biggest casualties occurred when we first got off the train, which was like shooting at targets, and when a shell was thrown into the carriage from behind.

Apart from this, the casualties from the exchange of fire on both sides were very low.

After occupying the train station and counting the casualties, Gibbs almost gritted his teeth and his eyes were bloodshot.

The worst thing was that the company commander of the Sixth Company also died.

"The rest of you set up the defense line, be careful of those Chinese coming again! Where's the signalman? Connect the telegraph to the railway station's communication line and send a telegram back!"

"Tell the headquarters about our casualties. Those gangs may seem smart, but they can't handle pressure well! Start retreating after a certain number of casualties! Otherwise, they will cause us even more trouble!"

Half an hour later, the 22nd Infantry Regiment headquarters in Joliet received the telegram.

"The casualties were greater than expected, but fortunately our goal was achieved. Now the 3rd and 6th companies are guarding the train station!"

Vincent, the commander of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, called other officers to a meeting in a small room.

"Gangs are gangs after all. They are not soldiers, and they don't have the willpower of soldiers. Even the best army will collapse if casualties exceed 30%, but these gang members can withstand even fewer casualties!"

"How long will it take for the supplies to arrive?"

"Three hours!"

"Everyone will set off in five hours and arrive at midnight."

"Then we'll start the operation tomorrow morning. By the time the rest of the troops reach Chicago, the battle should be over."

"who are we?"

"The 22nd Infantry Regiment!" everyone stood up straight and shouted.

“Deeds Not Words!”

……

"Weige!"

Hearing the knock on the door, Chen Zhengwei yawned and got up, drawing open the curtains. The sunlight poured into the room, interweaving with shadows on the white body on the bed.

It looked to be at least three in the afternoon.

"It's almost like working day and night!" Chen Zhengwei felt that this was not a good idea, as he could normally get up at 12 o'clock.

It's women who have delayed themselves.

Chen Zhengwei casually grabbed his bathrobe and put it on, took out a cigar from the box and lit it, then opened the door and walked out.

"Has the advance team arrived?" Chen Zhengwei sat down on the sofa and yawned. He was very confident in his previous judgment.

"Brother Wei is really a god, he guessed everything right! There were more than a hundred people coming, covering four carriages. Wen Bingzhong fought with them, and then left the train station!" A'long was full of admiration.

He felt that it was a waste of Chen Zhengwei's talent to be involved in a gang.

If he were put in troubled times, he would at least be a figure like Han Xin.

"Their reinforcements will arrive next. The earliest they will arrive will be tonight and the latest will be tomorrow morning. Notify the people outside Chicago that if they see a train, they should blow up both the train and the bridge!" Chen Zhengwei said while smoking a cigar.

"Notify Sacramento and ask the governor to reiterate that the cavalry is strictly prohibited from approaching Sacramento, but they will definitely not listen.

Leave some people at the train station and then fight them in street battles!

At most they carried twelve-pound field guns, probably three-pound and twelve-pound guns. They certainly wouldn't dare to bombard Sacramento. If they were dragged into street fighting, they would be doomed.

But be careful of the shotgun shells, don't let them spray you in the face! The Indians suffered a lot from it!" "Also be careful of the locals!"

"It's the same in Los Angeles. We set up defenses at the train station and then fought street battles with them."

"Please hurry up the weapons factory. Haven't they finished researching the mortar yet? It's such a simple thing, but they've been researching for so long? I doubt they've put in any effort!"

"Put some pressure on them. If that doesn't work, we can find an excuse to hang a few of them. At worst, we can replace all these weapon designers in the future!"

After Chen Zhengwei finished making the arrangements, A Long nodded and took note.

The bedroom door opened, Anna poked her head out from the crack, and then hooked her finger at Chen Zhengwei.

"Fuck, are you kidding me? Don't you even look at the fucking time? I'm not doing my work?" Chen Zhengwei's face suddenly turned ugly.

"Are you scared?" Anna bit her lower lip, her eyes full of provocation.

"Fuck, get out!" Chen Zhengwei cursed angrily, without even looking at the time.

Anna then raised her chin, a bit of complacency in her eyes, and then closed the door.

"Brother Wei, take care of yourself!" A Long advised. Although he also liked women, he did not have the same physique as Chen Zhengwei.

"Do I need you to remind me?" Chen Zhengwei kicked him.

……

A farm about fifteen kilometers south of San Francisco.

"There shouldn't be any problems this time! We've made some improvements, and now the flight stability isn't a big problem! This gun is easier to carry than today's light field guns, and can be carried by one person.

Moreover, the flight arc of the shells is very large, and they can even hit targets behind obstacles! Compared with the attacking role of cannons, this kind of gun is more suitable for killing enemies, and is very suitable for cavalry and infantry!"

"I think those cavalry regiments facing the Indians will love them!"

Because the news here is blocked, the people here are still unaware of the changes outside, and they don’t know that the cavalry regiment’s target is here.

A weapons designer is introducing the artillery shell in his hand.

"Show it to me!" Rong Jiacai said with great interest.

"There is a striker at the bottom of the shell. Just put it into the barrel and let it fall..." The weapon designer signaled the person next to him to hold the barrel. There was a bipod in front of the barrel.

The entire mortar was designed according to the drawings provided by Chen Zhengwei.

The weapon stuffed the shell into the barrel, then quickly stood aside and covered his ears.

Boom!
Everyone only felt the air vibrate, and something flew out from the muzzle.

boom!
The hills in the distance suddenly exploded.

"It's really convenient. Is this thing safe? Will it explode during transportation?" Rong Jiacai asked again.

"It is safer than most artillery shells. This one is like a bullet, with a primer cap underneath. Only a strong impact in the middle will activate the primer," the designer introduced.

"What's the range?"

"Adjust the range according to the angle. The minimum range is 50 meters and the maximum range is 2000 meters! If you increase the propellant, the maximum range can be increased!"

Seeing the designer firing a few more mortars, Rong Jiacai smiled, patted his shoulder and said meaningfully: "You were right about something you just said!"

"The Cavalry will love them!"

Rong Jiacai stayed for more than an hour before calling someone:
"Have the metal processing plant allocate two stamping machines to produce cannon barrels and shells!"

After giving the order, Rong Jiacai looked up in the direction of Chicago, although he could not see anything.

He is not worried about San Francisco.

He had so many men under his command, and had distributed a lot of submachine guns and bullets. He wouldn't be worried even if there were three more cavalry regiments, let alone three.

But in Chicago, Chen Zhengwei only has more than 700 men under him, so I hope nothing serious will happen.

……

It was almost late at night before Chen Zhengwei received the news.

"It's finally done. If they can't do it well, I'll want to hang them!" Chen Zhengwei looked at the telegram in his hand.

Although it is obvious that the mortar has just been developed and will be put into actual combat directly, there will definitely be problems of one kind or another.

But something is better than nothing.

With mortars, we won’t be afraid even of a field battle with the army.

Chen Zhengwei knew what the problems were with his men. Many of them were good at street fighting and their firepower overwhelmed the army.

This is because of the complex environment of street fighting, the closer distance of exchange of fire, and the fact that the army does not use artillery.

If he fought a field battle, he would not be able to afford it even if the casualty rate was lower than that of the army.

So he never thought about having a wild fight.

But now that mortars have been made, we have many more choices.

"A week later, have them contact New Orleans and Detroit and send a batch of bullets, mortars, and artillery shells over!"

"Snakes have their ways, rats have their paths. There's martial law in Chicago, and these people are the rat paths!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

"Brother Wei, they may not be reliable!" Aaron reminded.

"So it will be a week later! After a week, the army will have been beaten badly and they won't dare to change their bet easily. And we will send more people by then. If they try to play tricks... just kill them!" Chen Zhengwei explained casually.

By that time, the first wave of the army's corps had been badly beaten and it was difficult to withdraw and assemble other corps at once.

Even if they really do something, the army doesn't have the troops to encircle and suppress them.

……

By nine o'clock in the evening, all the soldiers and supplies had been put on the train.

Then the train whistled loudly and slowly set off from Joliet to Chicago.

At eleven o'clock in the evening, a group of people were resting in the woods near a bridge. Many of them were sitting against the trees and chatting in low voices.

On the railway line not far away, several young people took turns putting their ears to the rails.

When a young man heard the sound coming from the railroad tracks, his eyes widened. After listening for more than ten seconds, he confirmed that the train was coming, then stood up and whistled.

The people in the woods immediately stood up.

"Are you coming?"

"coming!"

"I've been feeding mosquitoes here all day, and they finally came!"

A young man put one hand on the tree, and after a moment he finally saw the lights of a locomotive in the distance.

"Any problems with the explosives?"

"no problem!"

"Check the detonator and fuse!"

"I've checked it, no problem!"

"Okay!" The young man smiled when he saw that everyone else had checked.

Looking at the train getting closer and closer, he raised his arms with an excited smile on his face.

“Welcome to Chicago!”

When the locomotive reached the bridge, his arms dropped suddenly!

(End of this chapter)