The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 248 Victory forged in flesh and blood
It was a little after three in the morning, and the moon was hanging brightly in the sky like a round disk. The attacking army had already retreated to the barracks, and only some vanguards were still stationed in the captured Xishan Army camp.

Ye Xianchun, carrying a sword on his waist and a pistol in his hand, led more than 30 personal guards and patrolled forward in the faint moonlight.

As more and more Hakkas went to Southeast Asia, these groups, which could only rely on Mozibu in Southeast Asia, began to produce talents.

Ye Xianchun is the cousin of Ye Xianyang, the lord of Taogong City. He is also the cousin of Ye Xiaomei, who is beside Mo Zibu. They have the same grandfather.

With such a relationship, and Mo Zibu's special favor to the Hakka people, the Hakka people were extremely brave when fighting for Mo Zibu.

Ye Xianchun was the most outstanding among them. Not only was he brave in combat, he was also literate.

At the beginning, his third uncle, Ye Xiaomei's father, wanted to train Ye Xianchun to become a scholar.

As a result, the Ye family was too poor and could hardly support one of their sons to study literature full-time, so he did not even have the chance to take the county examination and went to Southeast Asia.

But it can be considered a blessing in disguise. A man like Ye Xianchun who is both civil and military, went to Southeast Asia where people were not too competitive, and ended up rising rapidly.

In less than a year, he had become a high-ranking lieutenant colonel with the rank of major.

"Qian Tang!" When the few of them walked to a small intersection, a low shout suddenly came out.

"Xingji!" Ye Xianchun smiled with satisfaction, and then said his own command. Then he saw a figure walking out of the sentry post made of several stones, and there was another person on duty behind the stones.

"Captain, everything is normal. No suspicious people have passed by." The sentry saluted and reported in a low voice.

"Where is the secret sentry? In which direction is he? Is he still guarding his post?" After Ye Xianchun asked, the guards around him lowered their heads with very strange expressions.

The last sergeant who answered Ye Xianchun's question truthfully had been kicked twice and received a warning.

"Captain, according to military scout regulations, I cannot answer your question unless it is an emergency, unless you are the highest-ranking officer in my regiment."

The sentry on Ming's watch hesitated for a moment, but quickly refused to answer.

"Hahaha, not bad!" Ye Xianchun felt better.

"Soldiers must remember that regulations cannot be violated. Even if the emperor comes, we must act according to the rules, especially frontline scouts like you."

The sentry also grinned. He was about to say a few words to Ye Xianchun when he suddenly heard a gunshot from a distance.

Immediately afterwards, a thick firework flew into the sky and exploded with a bang.

"No, this is the spy's emergency fireworks. He won't set them off unless it's absolutely necessary."

The sentry shouted, and Ye Xianchun and others drew their weapons and quickly gathered behind the rocks.

Nguyen Van Hue looked at the Xing Tang Army soldier who was stabbed and twitching on the ground in front of him, and he cursed angrily.

Who would have thought that there was a small ditch in this seemingly open plain, and there was a secret sentry lurking in it. As a result, the man was killed, but they were also exposed.

"Charge! Charge forward to recapture the military camp, then follow me and swoop down. We must kill our way into the southern bandit's camp."

Nguyen Van Hue shouted loudly, holding branches in his mouth all the way to be careful of the advancing Tây Sơn soldiers, and immediately threw away all disguises and started running wildly up the mountain.

In fact, Ruan Wenhui knew in her heart that since she had been discovered, the best option was to retreat and wait for the next opportunity.

But now, he knew he had no choice but to hope to quickly capture the camp on the top of the hill.

"Retreat, retreat back to the big camp on the top of the mountain and hold it!" Ye Xianchun immediately saw through Ruan Wenhui's plan. He took the guards and sentries and quickly retreated to the military camp on the top of the mountain.

This was a military camp built by the Xishan Army. It could originally accommodate about 400 people, but after being destroyed, it can only accommodate 100 to 200 people.

Ye Xianchun rushed back to the mountain village quickly. He knew that he would have to bear a huge responsibility this time.

It is now nearly two hours before dawn, and the moonlight is not very bright. If the main force of the camp at the foot of the mountain wants to come to reinforce, they have to wait until dawn.

If he could hold out for these two hours, the West Mountain bandits would be finished by then. If he couldn't hold out, the West Mountain bandits would likely gather their forces and charge into the camp that had just received the news.

Well, actually, he only needs to hold on for an hour, because after an hour, the main force of the camp will be assembled, and Nguyen Van Hue will not dare to attack no matter what.

The clear sound of "pa pa" echoed in the hills and valleys, and waves of red dots flashed back and forth. Ye Xianchun and others fought and retreated at the same time.

The warriors at the front of the Xishan Army almost did not carry muskets, and all of them were holding melee weapons such as waist knives, rattan shields, or double swords.

These people were bandits and pirates recruited by the Ruan brothers over the past decade or so. They were not capable of a full-scale battle formation, but on such a night with low visibility, on the rugged mountain paths, they moved swiftly and agilely.

When Ye Xianchun heard the shouts behind him, he turned around and fired a shot. Then he was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat, because the Xishan soldier who had just fallen was actually less than twenty steps away from him.

Thinking that he must not be entangled, Ye Xianchun was about to turn around when he saw the sentry he had just praised yelling.

"General Bai, hurry up and leave. I'll cover your retreat."

Ye Xianchun's eyes turned red, he said nothing, and ran even faster.

Then he heard screams and two huge explosions in succession.

The fire illuminated the road. When Ye Xianchun ran back to the military camp, the soldiers in his company had already gotten up.

"Retreat to the big house in the northwest corner and pull the artillery over to block the door. That's the only place we can hold. Light a big fire to warn the main camp."

After doing all this, shouts and screams came again from far away. The bandits from Xishan came very quickly. They were only a few minutes later than Ye Xianchun and rushed in directly.

"Boom!" The few six-pound field guns opened fire. The high-speed rotating projectiles carved a bloody groove in the Xishan army, and they suffered heavy casualties as they had just rushed to the village gate.

But then, these guys immediately dispersed and squeezed in through various gaps in the dilapidated military camp.

It was only then that they saw that the soldiers of the 37th Infantry Company of the 2nd Hakka Regiment of the Xingtang Army in Tangshan Town had retreated behind a wall mainly made of stones.

There were at least two thousand people. Ye Xianchun only took one look at the dense crowds of people outside and immediately made a judgment.

He quickly ordered officers and non-commissioned officers at all levels to organize the battle, and he himself summoned ten guards as a reserve, ready to fill the gap at any time.

The orange-red flames flickered continuously, and the smoke from the black powder quickly obscured the already scarce moonlight. Everyone rushed forward instinctively.

A Xishan Army soldier had just rushed to the stone wall when a flash of fire appeared and his head was blown open.

But the second man rushed forward fearlessly, and then more flames flashed, and he and a comrade next to him fell down.

But their deaths paved the way for those who followed. Nguyen Van Hue waved his hand again, and another twenty or so men charged forward. As he had expected, the gunfire was less intense. After three repetitions of this, the intense tension completely disrupted the Xing Tang soldiers' firing rhythm.

Everyone was desperately loading, and after loading, they started shooting, completely fighting on their own.

After hearing the uneven gunfire from the Xing Tang Army, Nguyen Van Hue grinned. Beside him, two hundred strong warriors were ready.

They were armed with weapons suitable for close combat, wearing iron armor, and accompanied by auxiliary soldiers. As long as they climbed over the stone wall and went in, they could kill as many people as they wanted.

Behind the stone wall, Li Bao, who was at the strongest line of defense, also noticed something was wrong. He shouted loudly and patted the shoulder of a soldier from behind.

"Those who were tapped on the shoulder should continue shooting, and the rest should put on their bayonets."

Li Bao roared loudly, and the red cloth with a white day tied on his shoulder, which symbolized the officers of the Young Guard, was very conspicuous even in the dark night with only moonlight.

"Ye A'an, you can only throw bombs if I tell you to!"

Hearing Li Bao's roar, the tall and long-armed grenadier Ye An weighed the bomb in his hand and responded loudly.

As soon as the bayonets were fixed, the Xishan Army rushed over, flames flashed continuously, and they fell down.

The soldiers who were patted on the shoulders by Li Bao just now were all braver and they reloaded relatively quickly.

But it is only relative, because the light from the moon and torches is far less than that from the daytime, and the loading is greatly affected.

As for those soldiers who were so panicked that their hands were shaking when they were setting the gunpowder, it would be better to let them hold it with bayonets.

An armored soldier of the Xishan Army smiled cruelly. He pulled the auxiliary soldier who had just been killed down from the stone wall, threw it under his feet as a stepping stone, and then rolled in with a roar.

Several Xing Tang Army soldiers shouted and stabbed at him together. With a "swish", the bayonets pierced into his body, but most of them did not penetrate deep into the flesh.

Seeing this, Li Bao roared and hit the guy on the head with his gun, killing him instantly.

But then, more armored soldiers of the Xishan Army came over.

"Stab them in the neck!" Li Bao roared. The soldiers heard his command and shouted as they rushed forward.

They worked in groups of three, pushed a fallen armored soldier to the ground, and then stabbed him wildly in the neck.

The second armored soldier flipped in, and the musketeer behind him had just finished reloading and quickly fired another shot.

The third armored soldier came in again. He didn't care about the bayonet soldiers, but ran towards the musketeers, breathing heavily.

The two bayonet soldiers saw this and rushed over howling. Finally, when he reached the musketeer, they stabbed him from behind.

However, as a result, the coordination between the two sides was completely disrupted. More and more Xishan Army armored soldiers and auxiliary soldiers fell over. A Xingtang Army soldier held a flintlock rifle and tried to block it, but was soon chopped down to the ground.

"Ye A'an, drop the bomb!" At this time, Li Baocai shouted.

Upon hearing this, Ye A'an lit two bombs in succession and threw them out. Amidst the violent explosion, two armored soldiers were knocked to the ground, and the Xishan Army's offensive was halted.

Taking advantage of this gap, Li Bao rushed forward, killed one person with his gun, and then stabbed down a Xishan Army auxiliary soldier who was rushing towards him with a knife.

The surrounding soldiers also rushed forward with a shout and killed all the Xishan troops who turned over.

But soon, with a loud bang, the stone wall shook twice and collapsed, leaving a big gap.

It turned out that while the bloody battle was going on inside, Nguyen Van Hue ordered his men to lift a large piece of wood and knock down the stone wall.

Li Bao was scared out of his wits, and the dozen or so soldiers defending this side screamed collectively. Before they could open fire, several javelins flew towards them from the opposite side.

Ye A'an was holding the bomb and before he could throw it, he was pierced through the abdomen and nailed to the ground.

Li Bao was furious, and the other soldiers also opened fire, but there were too many Xishan troops rushing in.

This time, there were at least a hundred people, and three or five were killed by muskets, but the others still rushed over like a flood.

"Damn my mother!" Ye A'an, with blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, did not feel much pain. He was just anxious. He was anxious that he would be killed before he could throw several bombs. How could he be worthy of his comrades and the general?

Amidst the curses, he took out a lighter and lit a bomb he had touched.

With a loud bang, everyone around was knocked to the ground by the shock wave generated by the violent explosion. The dying Ye A'an ignited the bomb and bought time for his comrades.

Li Bao shouted wildly and was about to lead the remaining soldiers to fight to the death to block the gap, but suddenly there was a sound of dense footsteps behind him.

Li Bao looked back and saw that it was Captain Ye Xianchun who had brought over the last six-pound field gun that could be deployed.

"Boom!" There was no need to aim at all, because the Xishan Army was everywhere, and there was no need to aim, because what was fired was a shotgun.

The whistling rain of bullets swept through the crowd, and the Xishan Army screamed in pain, and dozens of people were killed.

"Thirty counts, hold on!" During the reloading interval, the artillery commander roared loudly.

Li Bao and his men surrounded the cannon tightly. Whenever the cannonfire stopped, they would desperately provide cover until the cannon was loaded.

As the Xishan Army began to rush in this direction, more and more soldiers were attracted here.

It was like a whirlpool. The lives of the soldiers on both sides were forced to be stirred back and forth constantly in this small rotating space, and then crushed.

Li Bao didn't remember how many enemies he had killed. He only knew that his pistol couldn't withstand the pressure and exploded, almost blinding one of his eyes.

By the time he felt the pressure was gone, the gap in the earth wall had become a bloody avenue with corpses piled up layer upon layer and flesh and blood covering both sides.

Only two French gunners were left beside the six-pounder gun that had made such a great contribution. Their faces were covered in black and gray, and only their eyeballs were still moving.

At Li Bao's feet were the bodies of the dead Xing Tang Army soldiers, all surrounding the six-pound cannon. Not one of them turned his back to the enemy. They held on to the end.

Deafening cheers rang out because daybreak was almost approaching.

Loud military songs rang out, and the reinforcements from the main camp, carrying torches, came towards the mountain camp like a giant dragon.

Nguyen Van Hue fell to the ground in despair. Looking at the corpses all over the ground and the six-pound cannon at the end of the road that seemed to stand still forever, the ambition in his heart was completely extinguished.

Two thousand five hundred brave warriors, all the bravest warriors of the Xishan Army!
During the night attack, they were actually blocked by a southern bandit group of more than a hundred people. Even with five or six hundred casualties, they still couldn't take the city. So what's the point of fighting this battle?

(End of this chapter)