"Bastard, this Li Hongzhang is really setting up an ambush here... I still underestimated him, but I didn't expect the Huai Army to be so strong." Xiao Letian saw the bright red in front of him and cursed in anger.

Now he is at the entrance of the ambush pocket array, which is also the position where the enemy's troops are most deployed. When the Huai Army saw an officer riding a horse, he subconsciously concentrated the rain of arrows towards Xiao Letian.

The bowstrings made a dense sound, and the sharp serrated wolf-toothed arrow fell from the sky and rushed towards Xiao Letian. Thanks to the fact that Long Ye woke up from his war horse, he jumped out of his war horse and blocked Xiao Letian with his body.

Master Long shook the cloak behind him, and swung the cloak soaked in rainy water and was extremely powerful. The bow and arrow shot at Xiao Letian was swept away. "Sir, you'll be dismounted, there will be a volley behind..."

There was not only Mr. Long, the guards around Xiao Letian, but the other guards pulled Xiao Letian off the horse with all their might. At this time, the second round of arrow rain had already shot.

"Sir... the enemy's bowstrings will not remain elastic for too long, and the volley can only be three times... Let the brothers charge back and cannot be beaten on the spot..."

Mr. Long’s reminder is also the only thought of the new army commanders at the moment. What is a strong army? The army that can subconsciously launch a counterattack in the face of a sudden attack by the enemy is a strong army.

"Charge... counter-charge, suppress the enemy... New troops have no habit of being beaten in vain... counter-charge." The army, which was just like a long dragon, spread rapidly. The squad leader, platoon leader, and company commander quickly rushed to the place where the bow and arrow were shot out. The copper-shelled bullets in the cowhide magazine were stuffed into the gun chamber, and the sound of the point shooting of Mauser and Spencer resounded.

The officers who have experienced the baptism of the European battlefield have gradually gained the temperament of famous generals. Everyone is not confused when facing the attack. Everyone is organizing their brothers around to start attacking.

Tian Dahuan was shot in the left arm. He endured the pain and cut the broken arrow shaft with a bayonet and shouted loudly, "This is a serrated wolf-toothed arrow, you can't pull it out... Hold the pain and leave the arrow in the flesh, just turn around and ask the military doctor to perform a minor operation... Damn, are our new army still afraid of pain?" After saying that, Mauser raised his hand and sniffed a Huai army opposite, and was kicked.

"The injured brother stayed...to build a shooting cover for Gatlin...the uninjured brother followed me...to cross fire cover, use flintlock grenades to deal with the enemy..." This was also Jiang Lie who returned from the European battlefield. The row of soldiers he brought was now approaching the ditch where the ambush was.

Grenades flew towards the Huai Army's position with white smoke. The time-delay fuse hidden in the grenade was not afraid of protection at all. Only a burst of explosions passed by, and the opposite position suddenly screamed.

At this time, Noheita and Hitotaro were already crazy. They took the sword-drawing team members into two teams like crabs to attack an ambush position. "The duck gives it to...the hand-to-hand attack...slash off their heads, Chu Jingguan."

The four hundred sword drawers didn't care about the wind and rain or the mud on the ground. They ran like the wind, and rushed into the ditch with the sword.

A pool of blood flashed across the sword, and the elite Huai Army and the sword-drawing team members immediately collided. These Huai Army soldiers were not useless. They were not afraid of the jumping sword-drawing team members, and the two sides immediately gathered together.

The sound of wind and rain were mixed with the sound of cold weapons slashing into the body, the steel knife was embedded in the cracks of bones, and the squeaking and squeaking teeth made people rubbing. A group of soldiers with red eyes fell to the rolling splashes to fight.

Nohei Taro and Hitotaro were crazy, and the sword in his hand rolled like a wheel, and the heavy rain could not remove the blood on their bodies.

"Observation...even if we die together, we are the sharpest steel knife in the Prime Minister's hand... pierce the enemy formation... ah." The two of them roared like wild animals, and the four hundred sword-drawing team members were crazy.

At this time, Xiao Letian was already surrounded by more than a hundred personal guards and began to retreat. They wanted to take the Prime Minister out of the ambush pocket. No matter how Xiao Letian beat and scolded him, Master Long would not let him go.

"Let me go... I am the commander of the first army, I want to command the battle... Damn, Noheita and the others are crazy again. This is unnecessary increase in casualties. Where are their grenades and rifles, why not... stupid."

"Send someone to support firepower. Our brothers' lives are ten thousand times more expensive than the enemy. We can't die here in vain... Let me go, let me go..."

Xiao Letian smashed his fist desperately on Master Long's back. He was about to rush out. Seeing his brothers sacrificed while he was still retreating. This was not his style.

"Prime Minister, if you kill me today, I will not let you in... You are our soul. You are not only a new army, you also belong to the entire country. War is just one part of all your missions..."

"Where do you promise our armored warships, huge industrial bases, our mines, steel mills, arsenals, all of which will be done by the Prime Minister..."

At this time, Pierre, who was escorting Xiao Letian, also spoke, "Prime Minister, please calm down. Your soldiers are right. Your army has become an army. They already have the pride of soldiers in their hearts. Their morale has long been no longer necessary for you to inspire them personally... You are just causing trouble for the soldiers now."

"If you are trapped in the battlefield, then the soldiers will disrupt the formation and save you, which will kill many people... Please be more rational."

Pierre's stern tone finally calmed down Xiao Letian. He gasped and said, "Stop... I promise you not to go to the battlefield, but now I have left the ambush circle. My command center is set up here, erect my flag, and I want to watch the brothers win with my own eyes."

Xiao Letian's flag was quickly erected, and at this time the three volleys had ended. From the ambushed ditch, countless Huai troops suddenly jumped out of the woods and began to form an army to charge towards the new army.

It is strange that Sima Yun, Luo Huo and several commanders Noheita who had just massacred more than 100 people, ordered to stop at this moment.

"Each unit gathers up the wounded soldiers...the rifles cover and shoot...the seriously injured gather at the prime minister..." With the issuance of military orders, the new army began to shoot alternately, covering each other to retreat.

Mauser and Spencer blew up, and the Huai Army tide that was charging opposite was repelled one after another, and the puddles on the ground were filled with rain.

"Damn it, is Xiao Letian all his generous use copper shell bullets? Why is he so rich..." Li Hongzhang was so angry that he almost threw the telescope.

In 1866, it was the era of transition from sub-loading to fixed-loading, and copper-shelled bullets were not popular in this era. The Qing people could not understand what large-scale industrial production looked like. In many people's minds, the shell bullets were all toys for the nobles, and the price was too high.

They had no idea that Prussia had begun to produce bullets with industrial power, and they had no idea that Western powers were studying smokeless gunpowder with more explosive power. Even Mr. Nobel was now preparing to drive his gunpowder factory to Ryukyu.

The heavy rain could not affect the launch of copper-shelled bullets at all. The dense rain of bullets repelled waves of Huai Army soldiers and the bodies were covered with dead bodies.

"Damn, damn, Xiao Letian's army is so strong. Not only are they equipped with copper shell bullets, but they can also charge against the attack... No wonder Mele suffered a great loss. This army that is armed to the teeth cannot be destroyed without ten times the strength..."

At this moment, hundreds of grenades rose into the air on the battlefield, blowing a huge hole in the left wing of the Huai Army. More than 300 new troops suddenly launched a very beautiful counterattack with the cooperation of friendly firepower.

"Damn it, they want to tear open the encirclement net, they want to tear our battle formation... let the reserve team go." With a command from Li Hongzhang, the six hundred reserves originally hidden on the left wing rushed out of the canal, and the scouts came into contact with the breaking troops.

Li Hongzhang's Huai Army was also a tough guy. They had expected the enemy's firearm to be powerful and specially made a batch of thick wooden shields, but due to the sudden heavy rain, they did not use these shields.

However, after they had three or four hundred lives, they finally woke up and hurriedly moved a large number of shields to distribute them. The soldiers began to use the shield cover to fight with the new army, and the death rate was greatly reduced.

"Where is our Gatlin, why haven't we fired yet... I rely on the enemy in front, what's wrong with putting the Gatlin shooting position by my side?" Seeing the battlefield, Xiao Letian became extremely irritable.

Around Xiao Letian's command center, four Gatlin heavy machine guns were distributed in an circular shape in the southeast, west and north. Although the enemies were all in the west, two Gatlins were placed in the northeast and southeast directions.

"What's going on? Who told me what's going on..."

"This is our arrangement..." Wang Huaiyuan and Pierre said in unison, "Didn't you see it? There are only more than 2,000 enemies attacking us on the other side, and the number of enemies shown in the intelligence is 3,000. Where does the remaining one thousand go?"

"Also, don't forget that since Cixi gave Li Hongzhang a secret order, he had the right to mobilize the Zhili garrison. He came from northeast Shandong to collect local garrisons? We must consider all possibilities..."

Xiao Letian was secretly ashamed. Could it be that he was really lost in his mind by a series of victories? Why was he so confused when he commanded the battle this time?

At this time, Master Long suddenly spoke in Xiao Letian's ear, "Sir, you have been traveling around Europe this year, and your focus is on international intelligence... You don't know the domestic situation as well as Lord Wang. Don't forget that he has been sticking to our base camp after we left. The command of this war should be given to him..."

"Prime Minister, what you need to consider is what will happen after you take us into Beijing. Facing the artillery fire from the court is your important task... Please rely on Wang Huaiyuan now."

A word woke up the dreamer. Xiao Letian looked at Wang Huaiyuan who was coordinating various troops in the rain, and suddenly felt that he was very owed to him. He was obviously a famous general, but because he fell in love with his rigor, he was transferred to manage and acted as a spy. This was actually not fair to Wang Huaiyuan.
Chapter completed!