Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 55: Bloody Battle in Nanwang Town

North of Jining, Nanwang Town
Nanwang Town belongs to Wenshang County, Jining Prefecture. It is located in the southwest of Wenshang County and is connected to Kangyi Town in the east. It is also a must-pass place for the canal heading north from Jining Prefecture. It can be said to be an important transportation route.

A few hours ago

Dozens of grain transport soldiers stationed in Nanwang Town were killed by more than 2,000 Nian bandits. After occupying the town, the Nian bandits disguised themselves as grain transport soldiers and waited for the fleet to be captured.

These canal guards blocked several merchant ships on the canal, blocked the water surface, and sent some people on board the ships.

The plan was to launch an attack from both sides of the strait and from the ships to seize the fleet heading north to the capital.

The plan is quite sophisticated and vicious, and if you are caught off guard, you will most likely fall into the trap.

The abnormality along this road
The northbound fleet had already increased its vigilance, and when it reached a distance from Nanwang Town, it soon discovered the flaw.

"General, two bodies have been found in the river. They were pulled out not long ago and both had fatal knife wounds. I am afraid there may be changes. Please give your instructions, General."

"Oh, take me to see it."

Zheng Guohui's face changed when he heard this. He put down the foreign book in his hand, stood up, and walked to the bow to check.

The soldiers he led were all experienced elite soldiers who were familiar with corpses. They could tell at a glance that the corpse had not been in the water for long.

The two wet corpses that were fished out were placed side by side on the bow of the boat. When Zheng Guohui came over, several captains of the personal guards who were checking quickly stood up.

"Greetings, General."

"Well, how's it going?"

"Reporting to the General, both bodies were wounded by swords and knives. They fell into the water no more than three hours ago. It can be confirmed that they are floating corpses from upstream."

Just talking
Suddenly, one of the guards cried out in surprise, "Sir, look... there's a body in the water."

Zheng Guohui walked to the side of the boat and looked out. A male corpse with its head down was floating in the river, drifting downstream past the official ship. He looked up along the canal with a serious gaze. A few miles ahead was a town with houses faintly visible.

"What town is that?"

"General, it's Nanwang Town, which is under the jurisdiction of Jining Prefecture. It's an ancient town and a major transportation route to the north."

Zheng Guohui's expression hardened when he heard this, and he gave a decisive and loud order;

“Pass the order down;
All soldiers are ready for battle, musketeers are loading ammunition, swordsmen and shieldmen are providing cover, and others are seeking cover to hide, as a fierce battle is about to begin.

Order all ships to be on full alert and make no mistakes."

"As you command, General."

Give an order

The soldiers who were originally in the cabin rushed out one after another. Under the order of the officers, the musketeers stood on the ship and began to load bullets, while other soldiers provided protection with swords and shields.

In just a moment, the tense atmosphere before the fierce battle reached its peak.

Zheng Guohui turned around and walked into the cabin without saying a word. His personal soldiers helped him put on armor. He wore cotton armor inside, a layer of fine steel wire armor, and a Western-style half-body steel armor on the outside. He soon came out fully armed.

The fleet is still moving up the canal and cannot stop now.

If we stay in this wilderness and the Nian bandits come to kill us at night, we will be dead.

The fleets were all anchored at the docks of prefectures and counties along the Grand Canal, where there were heavy military presence. There were at least hundreds and sometimes thousands of soldiers stationed there, providing great security.

The only way to survive was to rush all the way to Kunshan County (note: Liangshan County) where they could find a place to anchor.

Zheng Guohui raised the monocular with a serious expression and carefully observed the Nanwang Town which was getting closer and closer. Now that he was alert, he discovered more suspicious points.

More and more people began to gather along the dam, staring fiercely at the fleet on the canal, and simply wandering around instead of going along the way.

It is obvious that this person has ulterior motives and is not an ordinary kind person.

When the market town approached within two miles, we could see several merchant ships parked in a haphazard manner in the canal ahead, blocking most of the river surface.

There were also some boatmen on the boat waving flags vigorously, signaling the fleet to stop.

Turning the telescope, I saw a lot of people looking around from behind the building on the river bank. They were wearing turbans on their heads and holding spears and swords in their hands. It was obviously a trap.

See this scene
Zheng Guohui immediately ordered;

“Pass on my military orders;

The town ahead has been occupied by bandits who intend to harm us, so a battle is inevitable.

Officers and soldiers must strive to be the first and fight bravely!
The fleet sailed along the right bank of the river without slowing down, ready to ram the enemy ship blocking the river and rush forward.

All officers and soldiers, beware of enemy bows and arrows, raise your lances, sword and shield soldiers provide close protection, musketeers fire from a distance, and kill all invading enemies without mercy."

"Yes, General." All the soldiers responded loudly.

In a blink of an eye
The battle formation was formed along the side of the ship, with all the sword and shield soldiers and sailors holding shields and facing the enemy on the right bank.

The musketeers stood behind the swordsmen and shieldmen, all of them had loaded their weapons and were ready to fire at any time.

The same was true for the nine ships lined up in a long snake formation, while the merchant ships following behind them had already been thrown into chaos.

The merchant ship guards rushed out one after another, holding swords and guns in their hands with uncertain expressions.

The sharp-eyed caravan manager hurriedly ordered the cargo ship to follow the official ship in front, deviating from the central river channel and moving along the right bank of the river.

This section of the canal is about 20 meters wide and runs along the right bank of the canal, only meters away from the riverbank, making it vulnerable to attacks by bandits on the right bank of the river.

But in this way, we can avoid being attacked from both sides of the river, which is a wise move.

The enemies on the left bank of the canal were about a hundred meters away. Even if bows and arrows were drawn from the left bank of the canal, most of the arrows would not be able to cross the wide river surface.

Therefore, all the officers and soldiers on the fleet faced the right bank of the river for defense. If they could be killed and wounded by the enemy on the left bank at such a long distance, it could only be attributed to fate.

really
Seeing their intentions exposed, the Nian bandits preparing to rob the official ships no longer hid. Amidst the shrill blasts, they emerged one after another, densely packed along both banks. Many Nian bandits, mounted on horseback, swords drawn, and shouting, rushed to the riverbank, shouting threats at the soldiers on the official ships and engaging in all sorts of unbearable and obscene behavior.

"Fire!"

"Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa……"

Dense volleys of gunfire rang out one after another, and shouts of killing resounded throughout the world. The long fleet in the canal continued on its way, fighting with countless Nian bandits who had surged up from both sides of the river.

After each round of gunfire, the Nian bandits on the river bank were shot and fell.

Even the reckless thugs on horseback were not spared. The hot bullets had bloody holes in their bodies and they fell off their horses.

The officers and soldiers directed all their firepower at the Nian bandits on the right bank of the canal. The 120 musketeers fired intermittent volleys, causing forty to fifty casualties on the other side.

The distance was too close. The fleet was moving forward along the right bank of the canal for more than 20 meters. Many Nian bandits who were ambushing on the river bank rushed down the slope with knives and guns, making them sitting ducks.

These Nian bandits armed with knives and guns were actually unable to cause any harm to the officers and soldiers on the boat. There was more than 20 meters of river water between them, and trying to swim over was tantamount to seeking death.

The swordsman and shieldman standing on the side of the ship half-knelt on the ground, holding a shield in one hand to protect his chest and a knife in the other, and slashed at the heads of the few Nian bandits who swam to the side of the ship, showing his advantage without a doubt.

The musketeers standing behind the sword and shield men, at the orders of the officers, "lower the gun," "load the bullet," "raise the gun horizontally," and "fire," firing round after round of deadly volleys.

The dense rain of bullets covered the Nian bandits like locusts, hitting large numbers of bandits, causing them to bleed splattered and fall to the ground.

The archers on the right bank were the ones who could pose a fatal threat to the officers and soldiers on the ship. Seeing that the attack was not going well, a bearded bandit leader shouted and ordered "archers fire in unison."

Many archers who were lying in ambush rushed onto the embankment, drew their bows and shot at the official ships sailing in the river. For a moment, arrows rained down.

The distance was too close, and despite the defense of the sword and shield soldiers, many soldiers were still hit and shot down by arrows onto the boat, and screams rang out.

"Target the enemy archer, hold your gun level, and fire!"

“Pah pah pah pah…Pah pah pah pah pah…”

Round after round of crisp musket fire rang out again, knocking down a large number of exposed archers to the ground. They fell one after another, and the two sides entered into the bloodiest shootout.

At this moment

The fleet had already reached the blocked section of the river. The soldiers on the official ship at the front pointed their guns at the bandits on the merchant ship blocking the river and opened fire intensively.

“Pah pah pah pah…Pah pah pah pah pah…”

“Pah pah pah pah…Pah pah pah pah pah…”

The hot bullets sent wood chips flying everywhere, and the exposed bandits were covered in blood. They were knocked over onto the boat or fell into the water, and the blood soon dyed the river red.

The deadly volleys were extremely lethal and quickly suppressed the archers on the right bank of the river, forcing them to flee with heavy casualties.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The crisp sound of several feather arrows piercing into the ship's tower was heard.

Zheng Guohui, who had been hiding in the ship's tower, looked around the battlefield calmly, then quickly retracted his head from behind the door, but the trace of worry between his brows did not disappear.

The Nian bandits attacked with extreme ferocity and were fearless of death. They continued to fight bravely even when hundreds of people were killed or wounded.

This shows that this is a group of fierce bandits who have experienced the battlefield for a long time, rather than a group of refugees randomly assembled.

Zheng Guohui had been fighting against the rebels for several years and was extremely experienced, so he could tell at a glance.

This group of Nian bandits was equipped with hundreds of cavalry, archers and a dozen armed men with spears. They advanced at the command and fought extremely bravely.

They caused considerable casualties to the elite soldiers on the official ship and were truly a formidable enemy.

In particular, the bearded bandit leader responded immediately and organized archers to launch a surprise attack from the right bank of the river. In just one wave, he caused more than 20 officers and soldiers on his side to be killed or wounded.

Zheng Guohui was so angry that his teeth were itching. He ordered Zheng Gui, "Load some guns for me. I need them."

Zheng Gui's face changed drastically when he heard this. He knelt down and said urgently, "General, please don't take this risk."

"Go quickly! Otherwise, I will kill you."

"As you command, General."

Zheng Gui quickly agreed and took several personal soldiers to load bullets into the five rifles in the cabin.

They were the last guards around the general, and together with the aide Zheng Guotai, they hid in the cabin on the first floor to avoid the rain of arrows.

At this moment, the cabin on the second floor where the general was staying had already been pierced by arrows like rain through the doors and windows, and was densely packed with feather arrows.

The first floor below is relatively low, and the windows are covered with window panels, so arrows cannot penetrate and it is very safe.

After a muffled "bang" sound, the wooden boat at the front of the fleet collided with the merchant ship lying across the river, causing the musketeers standing on the boat to fall down one after another.

Under the strong force, the merchant ship lying across the river slowly swayed away, and soon half of the river was exposed.

What a pity
The wooden boat in the front was pushed hard, which also pushed the direction of the boat off course, and it rushed straight to the nearest right bank of the river, and then unfortunately ran aground.

Fortunately, the sacrifice of this wooden boat opened a passage for other ships in the fleet.

One after another, they passed between the two ships and soon reached the ship in the middle where Zheng Guohui was, and also headed towards the space between the two ships.

At this moment, Li Yuntai, the leader of the White Flag, who was hiding by the river bank and commanding the battle, could no longer hold back and became furious.

There was only one two-deck official ship in the entire fleet, which was very conspicuous. The person sitting on it must be a high-ranking official of the imperial court, probably the general Zheng Guohui whose hat was stained red with the blood of the rebels.

Seeing the duck in his mouth flew away, Wei Wang Li Yuntai rushed out in a hurry, pointed the big knife in his hand at the stranded official ship on the river bank, and shouted an order;
"My brothers in the White Banner of the Nian Army are not cowards. If you are a man, come and seize that official ship and block the way for the corrupt official to escape north."

"Archers, provide cover and kill the demons!"

"Go, go... all of you, come on! Whoever takes the dog official's head first will be promoted three levels and rewarded with a thousand taels of silver."

At the command of Prince Wei Li Yuntai, the stimulated Nian bandits howled and rushed out regardless of the heavy casualties, swarming towards the river bank.

(End of this chapter)