The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 513: Long live the Divine Lightning Guards!

Sir Eyre Coote saw Baron Sebright's call for help, but he would not send the Plassey Battery.

It was not only because the Plassey Artillery Battery was his life-saving weapon, but also because the city of Calcutta where they were located was located on a large plain at the mouth of the Ganges. The so-called hills were only about one hundred or two hundred meters high and not steep.

If Sir Air Coote moved the artillery to a position where it could bombard the Chinese troops attacking the Irish Infantry Regiment, what if the Chinese vassal army and the 2,000 Mysore cavalry launched a desperate charge?

If things go wrong, the precious Plassey artillery company might be eaten up by these cavalrymen.

"Sir, we have two options now. We can either send out a battalion accompanied by artillery to flank the Chinese on the right.

Or wait until they are exhausted fighting the Irish infantry, and then attack them."

Lieutenant General Giles Stibbert suggested to his commander, Sir Al Coote, and he quickly continued:
"But I'm worried that if we continue to wait, the Irish Infantry Regiment will be trapped in a desperate situation and may be eaten by the Chinese because their fighting spirit is not particularly strong."

Although the Irish are not native to England, they are a white people who are superior to the locals in the East.

If they were wiped out as a whole, not to mention the impact on the war situation, the blame for this command error would be enough to put one of Lieutenant General Stibbert and Sir Al Coote in a military court.

Then Lieutenant General Stibbert thought about it and felt that, whether in terms of status or other aspects, he would definitely be the one to be court-martialed.

Because what seems a bit of a joke now is that Sir Eyre Coote, who insisted on giving priority to preserving the three English regiments, was actually Irish.

He was born into the Coote family, an old Irish aristocratic family that held the title of Earl of Montras and actually owned two baronies. His mother was also an Irish aristocrat and the sister of George Evans, the first Baron of Carbery.

"Groove politics!" Lieutenant General Stibbert cursed inwardly.

Because politically speaking, an Irish nobleman's insistence on prioritizing the preservation of the English legion was absolutely politically correct in the Kingdom of England and an action that even King George III would appreciate.

So even if the Royal Irish Regiment was gone, as long as the three English regiments were safe, Sir Eyre Coote would be politically invincible.

Sir Al Coote was in an invincible position. The unlucky one who took the blame must be him, a guy who came from a distant branch of the lower-class nobility in England and got the rank of lieutenant general entirely by killing people and bribing in India.

Of course, Lieutenant General Stibbert could understand this, and a political veteran like Sir Al Kurt would certainly understand it as well.

Seeing Lieutenant General Stibbert's eager eyes, Sir Al Kurt said slowly:

"Giles, we may be in big trouble this time. We must keep Fort William so that we can keep everything. I think you understand what I mean."

Lieutenant General Giles Stibbert nodded. "Yes, sir, I agree with you. Please allow me to oversee the defense of Old Fort William."

Sir Al Coote rarely smiled. It was a pleasure to communicate with smart people.

The defense of the Old William Bastion is far inferior to that of the New William Bastion. Judging from the current combat capability of the Chinese, it is very likely that it cannot be defended.

But at the same time, the longer Old Fort William holds out, the safer New Fort William will be.

Then Lieutenant General Stibbert, who has excellent command ability, is good at defense and has enough reputation, is the best candidate. Originally he was a little reluctant to go, but now Lieutenant General Stibbert has to go.

As for the annihilation of the Royal Irish Regiment, it could be due to Lieutenant General Stibbert's command error, or it could be due to the willful behavior of Baron Sebright, the commander of the Irish Regiment.

Lieutenant General Stibbert was also helpless. If he did not take on the task of Old Fort William, he would have to take the blame for the loss of the Royal Irish Rifles.

If he agreed to take charge of Old Fort William, then even if Old Fort William was lost, at least he would not have to bear the responsibility for the annihilation of the Royal Irish Infantry Regiment, and besides, Old Fort William might not be lost.

Of course, Sir Al Coote's simple report alone cannot completely absolve Lieutenant General Stibbert of his responsibility. He must also let the gentlemen far away in London see that Lieutenant General Stibbert has made reasonable and necessary efforts.

"Giles, I'll give you the second regiment and three field guns. Now you attack from the flank and test the quality of those Chinese.

If their fighting power is close to or even exceeds ours, then they must be the Chinese Emperor's guards."

Lieutenant General Giles Stibbert understood what Sir Al Coote said. From the very beginning of today's battle, the British Indian Army had not been very motivated.

Then the Chinese on the other side were too powerful, so what was originally a test battle gradually became a battle that forced the British Indian Army to cut off its limbs in order to survive.

Sir Al Coote asked him to try it now. If the Chinese combat effectiveness was obviously lower than theirs, then they could still fight and let the Royal Irish Infantry Regiment suffer a little loss, but most of them must be rescued.

If the enemy's combat strength is higher than that of their English regiment, then they must be the Chinese Emperor's Guards. In that case, they must run away quickly and leave the Royal Irish Regiment behind as a "bribe".

Li Quan saw the main force of the British army coming down from a distance, and immediately waved his hand to let a lieutenant colonel officer come over.

"Guomogui, send your direct reinforcement company up, and I'll give you eight more companies. We only have 1,100 people, so we'll take down those British!"

The lieutenant colonel officer known as Guomogui was Li Quan's younger brother Li Tai, and Guomogui is the most vicious curse in Meizhou Hakka dialect.

Because in Meizhou Hakka dialect, not having a son to carry on the family line is called "guo", and if there is not even a daughter, the family line will be cut off in one's generation is called "mo".

For the Hakka people, who are very patriarchal and place particular emphasis on their ancestors and family, there is nothing more vicious than this sentence.

Li Tai glared at his brother with anger in his eyes, "I know you're still blaming me. I'll die today to show you!"

The reason why Li Quan asked his own brother to take the blame was because he and Ye Xianyang had originally agreed that each of them would give one of their sisters to marry as a concubine to Mo Zibu, who was not even the Phraya Andai of Siam at that time.

This was equivalent to placing a heavy bet when the emperor was just starting out. What was even more amazing was that Ye Xianyang had no suitable sister, so he could only kidnap his third uncle's daughter.

Not only does Li Quan have a 28-year-old sister, but his sister has also been a famous beauty since she was a child. She is well-educated, gentle and lovely. Li Quan's family is also a small landlord in the local area.

It can be said that Li Jia Xiaomei's conditions are far better than Ye Xiaomei recommended by Ye Xianyang in all aspects, and she has a very bright future.

When Li Quan returned to his hometown, he found out that just seven months before he came back, his parents had married his sister to a student from the next door picture at the strong instigation of his younger brother.

Li Tai strongly supported it because this student was his classmate in private school and they had a very good relationship.

This made Li Quan very angry, and he became more and more angry as time went on, because the Ye Xiaomei back then was now the third-ranked Defei.

Moreover, in Li Quan's opinion, Ye Xiaomei could only rank third because she had not given birth to a prince.

If nothing had happened to his sister and he had been able to follow the emperor when he was still in a low position, he would definitely have been much more favored than Ye Xiaomei. He might have given birth to several princes, and even his nephew might have had the possibility of becoming the crown prince.

Li Quan was so angry that he was about to explode when he thought about missing out on the opportunity to become the future uncle of the emperor.

This is all thanks to the fact that he is his biological brother. If he were not his biological brother, Li Quan would definitely strip Li Tai naked and hang him directly on the mast to dry into jerky.

Li Tai actually felt very regretful in his heart. No matter how good his buddies were, could they resist the temptation of being the uncle of the future emperor?

So even though his brother Li Quan roughly pulled him out of the private school and threw him directly into the army to face life and death, he had no complaints over the years.

Li Tai just felt that he was so unlucky. Why was he so unlucky?
But when Li Quan heard his brother Li Tai's intention to die, he felt more secure.

His younger brother is capable, but a little cunning. Unless his anger is aroused, he will not make up his mind to fight to the death.

"Okay, if you die, I will officially include your bastard in the family tree, and I will have him enter the ancestral hall as your son.

If you don't die, I'll never call you a scoundrel again, and we brothers will be even now. "

In order to make his younger brother Guo Mogui more worthy of his name, Li Tai was already 25 years old, but Li Quan still refused to marry him off. So until now, Li Tai really has no children in name, and even no wife.

The only son was secretly born to a prostitute that Li Tai found outside. No good family would be willing to let him live with no status in this way.

But not to mention that the Li family has become rich now, even if they were originally a small landlord family, it would be impossible for them to allow a prostitute who had turned to good deeds and her son to be included in the family tree.

This has always been Li Tai's concern. He was afraid that after he died, there would be no one to take care of the mother and daughter, and he would have no son to see them off.

When Li Tai heard his brother say this, he saluted him solemnly and then went down immediately.

. . . .

The saying "an expert's skills can be recognized the moment he or she demonstrates them" means that one can see the professionalism gained from long-term training in simple movements.

Lieutenant General Stibbert personally took command, with eleven companies and one thousand one hundred British troops, eight line infantry companies in the middle, two flank companies using rifled guns and bombs on both sides, and an artillery company that pushed the cannons to a high place to bombard the enemy.

The same was true on Li Tai's side. There were also eleven companies with the same configuration and basically the same number of people. Except for the lack of cavalry, this was the standard combat template of a first-class European army.

As soon as both sides saw each other's actions, and saw that the infantry lines on both sides were almost equally straight, as if they were made from the same mold, their calves began to tremble at the same time.

In the era of hot weapons, true elite confrontations are often extremely brutal, with terrifying lethality released in an instant, leaving neither side with a chance to stop.

"Three horizontal rows! Three horizontal rows!" Seeing that they were almost 300 meters away, Li Tai gave orders loudly.

In an instant, the infantry that was originally divided into five small square formations, with two companies in each formation, immediately began to form a horizontal formation with three rows of more than 300 people in each row.

Because this can greatly reduce the penetrating damage of the artillery. There are only three horizontal rows in total, and you can't kill many people with one cannon.

Don't underestimate the ability of this phalanx combination. Ordinary armies would not dare to do this. Any adjustment of the formation on a highly tense battlefield may cause chaos.

"Stop, let them attack!" Li Tai dared to change the formation, but Lieutenant General Stibbert did not dare.

Because he has now left the hill a long way, if he changes to three thin horizontal rows, if the Mysore cavalry makes a diagonal attack at this time, they will be able to penetrate him.

So the British stopped at the bottom of the hill and placed their cannons on the higher ground. 'Boom! Boom! Boom!' The British artillery opened fire first.

Li Tai's strategy was successful. A shell came and hit the Shendian Guards accurately, but because there were only three horizontal rows, the shell created a big hole, causing one death and two injuries, and then bounced away from the team.

"Fire!" Three hundred meters away, the British army, which had not advanced, fired six shots, killing and wounding fourteen Divine Lightning Guards. Only then did the Divine Lightning Guards' field artillery find the position to fire.

The whistling solid bullets shot directly through the British army, which had basically not moved, and were hit by one bullet. Seven or eight foreigners screamed in pain, with their bones and tendons broken.

Two hundred meters!
The artillery's lethality was not strong. The light infantry of both sides infiltrated from both wings almost at the same time in a skirmish mode. At a distance of 200 meters, they half-knelt and fired at each other with precise shooting skills.

These elite sharpshooters, who were usually the best in their respective armies, were killed so quickly in front of the two armies.

Still relying on the advantage of Minié bullets, the Divine Lightning Guards Archery Corps achieved an exchange ratio of about 1:2.5. Soon, more than of the British light infantry were killed or wounded, and they had to retreat.

Lieutenant General Stibbert waved his hand with a sullen face, and a small square line of two hundred infantrymen quickly stepped forward and strode towards the Divine Lightning Guards Archery Army, which still had about eighty men.

"Two shots per person, retreat immediately after you finish shooting. Do not delay to avoid getting entangled." The company commander of the Shesheng Army gave orders loudly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Minié bullet fired from the rifle flew rapidly towards the British line infantry who was striding towards him.

In one and a half minutes, 150 Minié bullets whizzed by, and the two British companies that had arrived suffered heavy casualties, with at least 40 people gone.

But they still managed to force back the light infantry of the Shinden Guards and completed their basic mission.

Just as the Shinden Guards Light Infantry were forced to retreat, the British light infantry that had already retreated completed their second reorganization.

Under the death threats and promises, these guys who were about to have a mental breakdown finally mustered up the courage to come forward.

This time, they spread out further to both sides, not attacking the line infantry from the front, but mixing with the grenadiers, spreading out very far, like a white crane spreading its wings as far as it can.

Therefore, in ancient China, this type of attack was also called Crane Wing Assault.

The light infantry and grenadiers of the Shinden Guards also deployed to both wings. They would engage in a desperate fight with the enemy far away from the horizontal formation of the line infantry.

If one side wins, it can then outflank the line infantry and attack their flanks with rifles and bombs.

The extremely inflexible combat style of line infantry and the need to compensate for accuracy with quantity in their weapons were destined to make them completely unable to withstand the light infantry and grenadiers coming from the flanks.

Therefore, when Lieutenant General Stibbert saw the light infantry and grenadiers of the Shinden Guards begin to move to the two wings, knowing that his light infantry was destined to be no match for the opposite side, he gave the order for the line infantry to attack.

He needed to defeat the opposing line infantry as quickly as possible, and then have his own line infantry use bayonets to assist his own light infantry and grenadiers before they collapsed.

"Bang! Bang!" Bombs on both sides continued to explode. The frantic grenadiers howled and threw the flaming bombs at each other with all their might, recklessly throwing their lives.

Some were thrown too early and did not explode before falling, and then the arranged people would cut the fuse with a dagger. Some were thrown too slowly and would explode in front of their eyes, causing them to have a concussion.

While the bombs continued to explode, the light infantry continued to fire in bursts. Human life was more precious than the dirt on the ground, resulting in flying limbs and groaning wounded.

With a bang, the dust raised by the explosion of the bomb covered the heads and faces of the military drummers outside the formation.

At this time, the tradition of not playing military bands was still being followed, so these people beat drums and marched forward with the line of infantry amid the sounds of explosions and gunfire, ensuring their safety.

"Lieutenant Colonel Li has ordered the military band to stop advancing!" The guard beside Li Tai broke away from the front line and ran to the drummer of the military band who was still beating the drum on the flank.

The military band leader Shangwei quickly signaled to stop beating the drums, and all the drummers saluted with crossed arms to the Shangwei who came to deliver the message.

"Comrades, the glory of the Divine Lightning Guards depends on you, for His Majesty!"

After that, the rapid and passionate drumbeats sounded again. The military band stood still and beat the war drums in front of their chests with all their strength.

"Clang!" Li Tai drew out the red-tasseled eight-sided Han sword, the symbol of a commander, and held the shining sword high.

"Divine Lightning Guards, forward!" Li Tai roared loudly, and then he was the first to take a step and walked to the front of the entire camp.

"Forward, forward, forward!" The officers and soldiers shouted three times, raised their flintlock rifles to the left, and strode forward.

Sixty meters.

boom!
Thunderous volleys of gunfire rang out as both sides made their first test. Only the frontmost of the three horizontal rows opened fire.

Hot lead bullets flew like raindrops, and many soldiers on both sides were shot and fell.

This round is a test. If you are not elite, two situations are likely to occur: you can't withstand the damage and fall into chaos, or you get stressed and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Then next, the two rows behind can harvest the opponent.

But unfortunately, and cruelly, both sides attacking today are absolutely elite.

On one side was the Jiao Jilang of western Guangdong of the Chinese Emperor, the young guards recruited by the Emperor from western Guangdong.

One side is the cornerstone of England in India. It once achieved a horrific record of defeating 70,000 with 2,900 troops in the Battle of Plassey commanded by the legendary colonist Robert Clive.

Therefore, after the first round of 60-meter volleys, both sides did not hesitate at all. The first row stopped to reload, while the other two rows continued to move forward with a fearless attitude.

The lead bullet penetrated Li Tai's vermilion lacquered helmet with the word "Yong" on it. The huge impact force made his neck a little crooked and almost half of his left ear was blown off. Only a little bit of flesh was still connected to his body, swaying with his steps.

Not far from him, the tricorn hat of British Lieutenant Colonel Zeppelin, whose face was completely blackened by smoke, had fallen to the ground.

But the two commanders, one holding an eight-sided Han sword and the other holding an English halberd, still moved forward firmly.

At forty meters, the two could almost see each other.

Thirty-five meters.

In a flash, the two men suddenly drew their pistols from their waists and fired at each other almost at the same time.

"Ah!" Li Tai screamed, and half of his left palm was knocked off.

"Damn!" Lieutenant Colonel Zeppelin was shot in the right shoulder, and blood instantly soaked his white military uniform.

Almost at the same time, without anyone's orders, three volleys of gunfire rang out with earth-shaking force.

The terrifying kinetic energy caused the gray smoke emitted by the black gunpowder to rush forward, and countless lead bullets rushed towards the other side like a barrage of bullets.

Thirty-five meters, this is the distance of death!

No one can escape the volley of smoothbore rifles from thirty-five meters away in a dense formation. This is the fairest thing. Everyone is equal in the face of death. The only thing that can make you defeat the enemy is luck.

Almost all the front row of the Shendian Guards fell down. Three hundred and thirty people were killed and more than two hundred were injured within five seconds. At least one hundred of the three hundred people in the second row were also killed, and dozens of people in the third row were killed or injured.

At this moment, the casualty rate reached a terrifying high of over 30%.

Flesh and blood were flying everywhere, and the blood instantly soaked the ground beneath their feet. The wounded soldiers struggled and twisted on the ground, trying their best not to let out too miserable howls, so as not to affect their comrades who were still able to fight.

The British army was in a similar situation. Under the cover of black smoke, most of their first row of line infantry had disappeared.

Tears rushed down Li Tai's face, forming two muddy stains on his dark face, like stains after a mountain torrent.

"Long live the Divine Lightning Guards!" Li Tai howled, holding the eight-sided Han sword in his intact right hand, and rushed towards Lieutenant Colonel Zeppelin opposite him.

Lieutenant Colonel Zeppelin also roared, and with his uninjured left hand, he desperately rushed towards Li Tai, holding the halberd.
"Ha!" Li Tai roared, and used the sword to knock Colonel Zeppelin's halberd off course, then knocked him to the ground, and at the same time used the strength of his body to slash the sword hard.

Kuji!

The sound of a sharp blade entering flesh was heard, and then Li Tai used his left hand, which only had a few fingers left, to insert it into the bullet hole on Lieutenant Colonel Zeppelin's shoulder, screaming and pumping it violently back and forth.

Lieutenant Colonel Zeppelin let out a series of earth-shattering screams and struggled desperately like a loach, but he could not get rid of Li Tai.

I don’t know how long it took, but when Li Tai was almost exhausted, pink blood foam kept flowing out of Lieutenant Colonel Zeppelin’s mouth, and the eyes of this British warrior began to straighten.

At the moment when the two main generals were stabbing each other, more than 400 people of the Divine Lightning Guards launched a collective bayonet charge. They came through the smoke like gods.

Huang Renyong ran the fastest. He roared and stabbed a British soldier with his bayonet. The British soldier screamed and tried his best to hold on to Huang Renyong's gun to prevent him from pulling it out.

Huang Renyong was well prepared. He loosened his gun, took out two eight-cut knives from his waist, and rushed towards the other British soldiers like a tiger descending from the mountain.

The knife flashed like a streak of silk, and the blood seeped through the green mud!
"Long live! Long live! Long live!" Shouts in Chinese were heard everywhere.

The British army finally couldn't hold on any longer. Under the relentless attack of the Divine Lightning Guards, the pride they had formed in India for a long time completely disappeared.

The British army desperately and futilely resisted in groups of three or four, and retreated in groups of three or four. They were completely unable to form a fighting force and they failed.

At the farthest point, Lieutenant General Stibbert watched this scene in horror, muttering, "It's over, it's over, I should commit suicide, I should commit suicide, I'm so sorry to His Majesty the King!"

Fortunately, his attendant officer was still conscious and carried the collapsed lieutenant general away quickly.

(End of this chapter)