Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1237 Three Battles to India ([-])
In the dizziness after the explosion, someone pushed him, and he finally came to his senses.Afterwards, the company with bamboo ladders had squeezed over, and Zhao Lisheng stretched out his hand to help put the long bamboo ladders on top of the fort.

An English soldier tried to push the ladder out of the way, but when he got out, he was shot with a musket and smashed his head.

The officers shouted hoarsely, amidst the swishing and exploding sound of lead bullets, it seemed to come from far away.

"Continue to throw grenades up there three times in a row! Hold them down!"

"Your mother and father, go eat shit! Don't hide in the trench, isn't that courting death?"

The bamboo ladder has already been set up, and the soldiers behind are holding a long bamboo pole with a lighted grenade tied to the front of the bamboo pole. The force of pushing the people inside out.

Several soldiers held short-barreled muskets with bayonets and climbed up by ladders.

After Zhao Lisheng helped set up the ladder, an officer grabbed him by the collar and shouted, "Climb up! Go for me! Quick! Quick!"

The officer's order seemed to have some kind of magical power, or maybe it was the rigorous training of the officer on weekdays that made Zhao Lisheng react like calling a dog.

Almost subconsciously, he followed the direction the officer was pulling his collar, and climbed up the ladder with his unfired musket after loading.

Looking up, I don't know which comrade's buttocks are moving upwards, giving him a great sense of security, like a huge shield that can block all bullets.

Although that's just a fragile piece of meat.

Looking down, the officer who was brandishing a short gun had also climbed onto the ladder.

Beside the ladder, there are soldiers who are busy loading, and fellow soldiers who are crouching down and rubbing the phosphorous sulfide head.

The fellow who had asked his brother how he was doing in the Southern Ocean before the battle was right behind the officer.

There was a scream from above, and a curled arm fell from the side of the ladder into the ditch, and it should have been chopped off by the British above with an axe.

The top soldier didn't know whether he was pushed or dragged off the ladder by the British, or his companions who thought he was in the way, and fell into the ditch full of mud, looking down blankly for the place where he had been chopped off by the axe. arm.

Another lead bullet flew past Zhao Lisheng's ear. Following the direction of the bullet, one could see an outcropping British soldier on the salient fort just finished firing, and the smoke hadn't cleared yet.

But the outcropping British soldier was quickly shot down by the skirmishers and mast shooters below.

Another grenade was thrown up below. In the smoke after the explosion, Zhao Lisheng found that the huge ass in front of him, which gave him a sense of security, had left the ladder and jumped onto it.

The officer was still urging him to hurry up, hurry up.

Although he didn't know what was going on above, Zhao Lisheng still stretched his arms and jumped into the gap in the protruding fort reached by the ladder.

A British soldier on the opposite side was finishing the final loading in a panic. Zhao Lisheng picked up a navy-style short-barreled musket with a bayonet inserted, and plopped it into the stomach of the British soldier who had not finished loading.

The smell of blood has already been smelled a lot. This place is close to the sea, and the salty smell of sea water in the Indian Ocean covers up the stench of blood.

He took a step forward, held the rifle with both hands, stepped on the ground with his left foot, raised his right foot, and kicked the still breathing British soldier in the chest, pulling out his bayonet with both hands. .

There was a scream from behind, and Zhao Lisheng, who had drawn out his bayonet, looked back subconsciously. The officer who urged him to climb up quickly was really out of luck.As soon as he set foot on the salient fort, his thigh was hit by a buckshot, he rolled on the ground twice, and hid in a corner.

However, the officer still maintains the quality of an officer, covering his thigh with one hand, waving a short gun with the other hand, and shouting: "Throw a grenade into the troop tunnel! What are you doing in a daze? Don't let them come again! Stop it!" Here, wait for the people behind to come up! Quick!"

Although he had practiced countless times, if it wasn't for the officer's reminder, Zhao Lisheng would have almost continued to charge forward with his gun.

Hearing the officer's reminder, Zhao Lisheng realized that behind the winding parapet, the range of his vision was not very wide, and there was a corner in front.

He didn't know if there were enemies behind the corner, but he followed the officer's order, ignited the last grenade, and threw it towards the corner.

"Go around the corner and hold the ladder! Go!"

The officer shouted loudly, and handed another grenade from his waist to Zhao Lisheng's hand.

The officer's thigh was already bloody, and some blackened blood was gushing out from the huge wound caused by the lead bullet.Coupled with the accumulated blood from previous killings, the ground was a bit sticky and slippery.

Behind him, the comrade who had asked his brother how he was in Southern Ocean, pushed him and said, "Wait for them to come up. Wait for them to come up!"

Zhao Lisheng heard the familiar voice of eating and living together for several years—in terms of eating and living together, it was longer than he and his wife—finally he took a breath, ignited the grenade handed to him by the officer, He threw it around the corner and shouted, "Ergou, do you still have grenades?"

The one who was called Ergou shook his head and cursed: "Those fire support companies are all shit eaters! And those mast shooters, usually a bully, when they start a war, their guns I can’t hit it right! There are so many enemies here! I’ve thrown all of them away!”

After cursing this sentence, although he hadn't enjoyed himself enough yet, the mechanical movements trained according to the drill code put a lead bullet in his mouth, and he couldn't swear at this time.

The soldiers behind were still climbing up. Zhao Lisheng was about to rush forward with those people when Er Gou pulled his clothes and shouted: "You fucking reload!"

Zhao Lisheng was stunned, and saw that Ergou, who had actually finished loading, was still pounding with the cleaning rod. He also came to his senses, and hurriedly took out a fixed bullet from the cowhide bag at his waist, and used it Fang skillfully tore off the grease soaked in grease, put the lead bullet in his mouth, and started to reload without continuing to rush forward.

The new soldiers didn't notice the two of them at all, after all, it's normal to reload on the battlefield.

It wasn't until five more soldiers climbed up, Er Gou, who was about to smash the gunpowder into pieces, that he pulled out the blow rod, and called Zhao Lisheng to follow the crowd, and charged forward along the narrow passageway of the breast wall behind the salient fort.

Zhao Lisheng observed the situation ahead keenly, and saw a British soldier who had just stood up in the distance being hit by the bullets below, and he turned around and said, "Those mast shooters and skirmishers are fighting well!"

Ergou scolded: "If I'm down there, I'm using a rifled gun, and I can shoot more accurately than them! By the way, Da Zhuzi was beaten to death in the ditch just now. He lost his head and fell into the ditch." I watched him try to climb out, but he failed to climb up, and was killed by a grenade kicked in."

As he spoke, he raised his musket, killed a British soldier on the opposite side, and then hid in the corner to reload again.

Zhao Lisheng raised his bayonet and stabbed a British soldier lying on the ground to death. Just when he didn't know what to do, an officer wearing a hat with a pheasant tail also climbed up from the ladder and shouted: "Load! Load! Ready to follow me."

He took off the hat with the pheasant feather tail from his head, raised it up and waved it high, the first wave of soldiers quickly gathered, and according to his order, bowed their heads to load their muskets.

These headless soldiers seem to have finally found their backbone. Even though they have practiced many times and think about it carefully, they should know what they should do at this time, but if no officer comes forward to organize them, they will be confused.

Once the officers organized the soldiers climbing up the ladder, these people also came to their senses, knowing that what they had to do at this time was to strike forward from the parapet, go around to the side, and kill the cannons on the salient fort.

However, according to the code of practice, at this point, these soldiers who have found their backbone understand that the most difficult battle is over.

Zhao Lisheng looked down at the ditch below. On the slope in front of the ditch, there were at least 30 dead bodies.

The slope in front of this bastion is the cruelest battle field in the general range at this time.

You can't hide in the trench, because grenades may fall in the trench at any time.It may be the enemy's, or it may be that one's own side did not cast it and fell down.

You can't expect and count on artillery support, because it is impossible to provide support at such a short distance, and if you support, most of your own artillery shells will fall on the slope.

Don't be timid, because if you are timid, this cruel scene will make people panic, or run back, or run forward in a daze to hide in the trench and be killed.

I can't even rely on the formation of the private line to keep myself calm, because when I get to the slope, I can only rely on courage to support myself, throw grenades and load muskets calmly, and shoot and throw freely without the psychological comfort provided by the formation.

Even though Dashun has specialized in siege capabilities, if he adopts storm tactics instead of siege to death tactics, casualties on the slope are inevitable.

The cannon that fired gunpowder was reduced, and the bouncing shells caused by hitting the salient fortress, it is difficult to completely eliminate the enemies above, it can only rely on luck.

Those tiger squatting guns that fired grenades were obviously not accurate enough. They could only suppress the side firepower and the supporting troop corridors, and ensure that there were no British troops firing in formation behind the slope in front of the trench.

Mast shooters and skirmishers only play a role in suppressing left and right.

What really determines whether the fortress can be captured is the combat engineers who are paid a high salary. On the slope, they throw grenades and shoot at close range with courage, and then climb up the bamboo ladder to start a brutal hand-to-hand fight.

Although Zhao Lisheng's colleague Ergou scolded fiercely, in fact, this battle was not so cruel compared to the normal fort attack battle.

Those skirmishers, mast shooters, and fire support projectile grenadiers with improved tiger squat guns have actually completely suppressed the British army.

Although the battle that Zhao Lisheng experienced at this time was cruel, it was still cruel after being completely suppressed.If it weren't for their suppression, this kind of storm, on the slope in front of the trench, would not have only casualties of more than [-] people.

Things like being swept by three-pounders and one-pounders at close range, no matter whether it is shelling or the cover of mast shooters, cannot be eliminated.

It is impossible for the British troops hiding above to be completely killed or blown up, not to mention the enemies hiding behind and throwing grenades down.

The only way to fight back is to rely on courage and ruthlessness, either by throwing a grenade at close range, or by rushing forward and stabbing with a bayonet.

Combat engineers must stand, stand firmly, and not retreat on the slope, so that subsequent climbing and hand-to-hand combat are possible.

Once they got over the slope in front of the trench, the rest of the fighting was easy.The task of the [-]th Battalion was to attack the slope, control the salient fort, and wait for the partners of the [-]th Battalion to blow up and fill it up, and pull up the cannon behind it.

(End of this chapter)