Chapter 545: French Army Landing

In order to prevent the French army from attacking from Macau, Liang Shaoqiong sent troops overnight to dig fortifications at the junction of Xiangshan and Macau, and dispatched the most elite Shanziying Yue Yong from the 3 posts to guard it.

Sutter also detached two companies from the 13th Regiment, and assisted Yue Yong in guarding this line of defense with four 6-pound Sacramento cannons and two 12-pound Sacramento cannons.

The remaining main force still guards Xiangshan Port to ensure that Xiangshan Port is safe.

The senior French military officials were very angry when they learned that the Reina had been blown up and that all the surviving officers and soldiers on the ship had been captured by Yue Yong.

At dawn the next day, little Meng Toban came to the port to ask for someone on the order of Old Meng Toban.

"Your country rashly opened fire on my French warship, causing casualties to our French soldiers, and now you are detaining my French crew. What is your purpose?" Little Meng Toban's attitude was arrogant and rude.

Liang Shaoqiong was unhappy and stretched lazily: "I have heard for a long time that France is a big country in Europe. I think the envoy from France should know some etiquette of a civilized country.

I didn't expect that the envoys from major European countries could be so uneducated. They disturbed people's dreams so early in the morning, showed no etiquette to their elders, and had a damn bad mouth. "

"You?!" Little Meng Tuoban is young and energetic, and is not a person who can keep his temper.

"What are you doing? If you have anything to say, just say it, and if you have anything to say, let it go! I'm still waiting for morning tea!" Liang Shaoqiong didn't give Little Meng a good look either.

"Release the French officers and soldiers detained by you immediately, otherwise" little Montauban threatened.

"Your country has declared war on our country, and we are now at war. You want me to release your prisoners just because of your words?" Liang Shaoqiong said coldly.

"Your Excellency, you are so innocent and cute."

Although France declared war on the Qing Dynasty, due to various reasons, the two countries did not formally submit their credentials.

Little Meng Tuoban had always heard that the officials of the Qing Dynasty were ignorant, arrogant, and as timid as mice. They also wanted to use information to blackmail the other party to release the prisoners, but he did not expect to encounter Liang Shaoqiong.

"As long as you let our people go, we promise not to attack Xiangshan." Xiao Meng Tuoban's attitude became much better.

After all, the prisoners of the French army are now in the hands of the Qing army, not the prisoners of the Qing army in the hands of the French army.

"This is just right. When asking for help, you should act like asking for help." Liang Shaoqiong said.

"It's not impossible for me to release these prisoners. You and Britain are allies. I think that since Britain and France can organize an expeditionary force to work together, the brotherhood between your two countries must be excellent and unbreakable.

There are more than 200 prisoners of the Guangdong Navy on Hong Kong Island. If you sincerely exchange, we are willing to exchange prisoners. "

At the Battle of Humen, the British captured 213 elite members of the Guangdong Navy.

Most of these captured elites of the Guangdong Navy were gunners from the Humen Fort. They were the most scarce technical arms of the Qing army at the moment. If French prisoners of war could be used to replace these naval gunners, Liang Shaoqiong would be happy to do so.

"this"

Exchange Qing troops captured by the British for French prisoners of war? Little Mentoban was stunned.

He participated in the Crimean War and fought side by side with the British army. Britain and France might be able to share wealth and honor, but forget about sharing adversity together.

"Still not leaving? Do you want me to stay with you for morning tea?"

Liang Shaoqiong issued an expulsion order to Xiao Mengtuoban.

"If the British are willing to exchange their captured Qing troops for French prisoners, the sun will rise in the west tomorrow."

Sartre, who was acting as translator for Liang Shaoqiong, said.

"Just change it if you can, or not." After saying that, Liang Shaoqiong invited Sartre to have morning tea with him.

The British were indeed unwilling to exchange their captured Qing troops for French prisoners. After all, the British also had prisoners in the hands of Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

The British still hoped to exchange these prisoners for prisoners with Ye Mingchen. If they exchanged prisoners for the French army, what would the British army do for their own prisoners? The British are not good people who sacrifice themselves for others.

Seeing that the British could not be persuaded, the French army sent warships to capture 125 fishermen near the mouth of the Pearl River, and once again sent Little Mentoban to negotiate a prisoner exchange.

The French expressed that they were willing to suffer some losses and exchanged 125 Chinese spies for 31 French prisoners.

Liang Shaoqiong was furious, saying that he would not accept this trick, and immediately expelled Xiao Meng Toban.

After the prisoner exchange failed, the French military leaders decided to formally attack Xiangshan Port.

As Liang Shaoqiong and Sartre expected, the Portuguese in Macau opened the port of Macau under the pressure of Britain and France.

The main force and heavy weapons of the French army continued to disembark through the Macau Port. When they saw the Yue Yong and the Xiangshan civilians recruited from Xiangshan were building fortifications and digging trenches at the junction of Hong Kong and Macau, the French commander-in-chief Montauban praised: " There are still capable people in the Qing Dynasty, and we can expect that we will attack Xiangshan from Macau. "

Montauban ordered the artillery to bombard Yue Yong, interrupting the opponent's civil work.

The French artillery, together with the artillery of the British troops stationed in Hong Kong, fired 42 field guns of various sizes at the unfinished fortifications of the Cantonese Yong.

Immediately, the warships of the British and French coalition opened fire on the Gongbei Port at the junction of Hong Kong and Macao, clearing the way for the troops to land on the flank.

Just after the bombardment ended, the Yue Yong in the fortification walked out of Maoerdong and came to the trench. They saw that the French army had already formed a formation and was advancing towards their position with guns in hand.

The French army advancing in an orderly manner was like a red and blue wave, rushing towards the position of the Shanzi Camp.

Soon, another bad news came.

They had to face not only the French army that was attacking from the front, but also a partial French army of more than 400 people. Under the cover of naval guns, they calmly landed at Gongbei Port and launched an attack on their flanks.

They have been attacked from both sides by the French army!

Fortunately, most of the Guangdong warriors on the battlefield were veterans who had experienced actual combat. Although the situation was unfavorable, they did not collapse and still held their positions!

"Damn it! We suffered from the lack of a navy! If I had a decent navy, I would never let these foreign soldiers land so easily at Gongbei Port!"

Liang Shaoqiong could only watch the French army land at Gongbei Port, feeling very upset, and slammed on the railing of the observation tower.

"After all, they are the French army that has just been baptized by the Crimean War." Sartre also saw the French army landing at Gongbei Port through a telescope.

Liang Shaoqiong's several observation posts and scattered positions at Gongbei Port had been destroyed. The French engineers who landed quickly cleared the wooden spikes and wooden barriers in front of them and quickly opened up a path for attack.

These French troops' military literacy was obviously much higher than that of the general US and Mexican troops. Sartre was also in a state of anxiety at this time, wondering whether the defenders on the position could withstand this wave of French charge.

If they can't hold on, they can only fill in with the three companies of reserve troops they brought with them.

"The French army's attack is orderly, courageous and united, and it is indeed a strong army."

Although they are opponents, Liang Shaoqiong still praises them. To be fair, judging from the offensive formation alone, the French army is the best opponent he has encountered since he joined the army. Before that, the most difficult opponent Liang Shaoqiong encountered was Shi Dakai's troops in the Taiping Army.

"This is a tough battle." Sartre held his breath and clenched his fists.

"Come here! If the three patrols of Bing, Ding and Wu show signs of being unable to hold on, the two patrols of Jia and Yi will immediately take over! There must be no mistakes!" Liang Shaoqiong looked solemn, ready to put the reserve troops into battle at any time.

"Marshal Liang, this is all the assets of our Shanzi Battalion! If we fight all these old Guangdong soldiers, we will only have new recruits left!" The battalion officer next to Liang Shaoqiong dissuaded him.

This Guangdong Yong battalion officer was not exaggerating. The Shanzi Battalion was the only elite old battalion of Guangdong Yong that returned to defend Xiangshan.

The Shanzi Battalion had to be handed over here. Next, they could only rely on the two battalions of new soldiers to defend Xiangshan.

"Why are you talking so much nonsense!" Liang Shaoqiong shouted, he had made up his mind.

The French army was coming fiercely. It would be difficult to stop the French offensive with only the three veterans and two new soldiers on the position.

Although there were still soldiers from the 2nd Company of the 13th Regiment of Sartre on the position, many of these soldiers were veterans of the Western Brigade and worthy of new appointments, Sartre was a guest army after all, and Liang Shaoqiong could not put all his hopes on Sartre.

"These Qing troops have not collapsed yet." Meng Tuoban was surprised.

This was the first time the French and Qing armies fought each other. The Qing army did not know the bottom of the French army, and the French army also did not know how much the Qing army weighed.

Meng Tuoban's understanding of the Qing army mainly came from the British army, and the British army's impression of the Qing army mainly came from the so-called trade war sixteen or seventeen years ago.

The French and Qing armies were equipped with the same rifles. Although the Shanzi Battalion was equipped with the original Walter rifles that fired side needle bullets, which had better performance, there was no qualitative difference in performance between the two. The original Walter rifles were only slightly longer in range than the export model.

The two sides soon entered each other's range, and the charging French army lay down on the spot and fired at the Qing army in the bunker.

As the gunshots rang out one after another, the diffuse smoke soon enveloped the front of the two sides like miasma. After several rounds of shooting, both sides suffered casualties.

But in general, the Qing army in the bunker had more advantages and fewer casualties.

According to Meng Toban's judgment, after this wave of shooting, the French army would suffer at least one company of casualties, which gave Meng Toban a headache.

Didn't they say that the Qing army was exhausted? This Qing army was no less powerful than the elite Russian army in Crimea.

"This is Liang Shaoqiong's personal soldier, an extremely rare elite in the Qing army!" Colonel Watson, an employee of the British East India Company, was afraid that Mentoban would retreat because of the huge casualties suffered by the French army.

"The main force of the Qing army is not even as good as the European security police. As long as we eliminate this Qing army! Both Xiangshan and Guangzhou are within our reach!"

Mentoban did not order a retreat. Giving up halfway was not his style.

Soon, the French army, which had recovered its strength, launched a final sprint towards the Qing army's position.

The French flag bearer, waving the flag of the Second French Empire, rushed into the trenches of the Qing army first.

"The foreigners are coming! Fight with the foreigners!"

"Put on the bayonet!"

"Take the shovel!"

The Guangdong warriors in the trenches were also ready for close combat with the French army.

The two sides met in a narrow and muddy trench and fought a desperate battle.

The French soldiers, wearing blue woolen coats, round hats, and covered in mud and sweat, entangled with the Guangdong soldiers, wearing gray uniforms and using cloth bandages to cover their heads.

For a time, the trenches were filled with smoke, and the smell of blood and mud was everywhere, and the scene was very chaotic.

Here, a Guangdong soldier took out a trench digging shovel and slapped a French soldier on the head, and there, a French soldier stabbed a Guangdong soldier in the chest with a bayonet.

The sound of gunfire, the collision of weapons, the wet and creepy sound of metal piercing into the flesh, and the deafening roars and painful howls of soldiers on both sides were intertwined.

It was unbearable to hear and unbearable to see.

The warm blood in the trenches quickly flowed into a channel, and the bodies of the dead and wounded piled up like a mountain. But whether it was the French or the Qing army, as long as they could still move, they were fighting bravely and vowed to never retreat.

There are many soldiers from Xiangshan in the Shanzi Camp. For these brave Guangdong soldiers, this battle is a battle to encircle their hometown, as their parents, wives and children are behind them.

Therefore, their morale was extremely high and their will to resist was extremely tenacious. They did not hesitate to use their own flesh and blood to do their utmost to stop the French army from advancing, crossing the trenches and ravaging their homes.