Liu Mingchuan was shocked when he heard this, "How could this happen? Did General Cao not receive any information that the legal person was preparing to detour in advance?"

The personal soldier said in a crying voice: "My master has already received information and knows that the French army is about to cut off my retreat, but the master said that if the Yuemeishan guards for one more day, Taipei will be more fully equipped and will be able to support it for one more day, so he will live and die with his position."

After listening to the personal soldiers' narration, Sun Kaihua stomped his feet and said, "This old Cao..." Then he turned his urgent eyes to Liu Mingchuan, "Sir..."

Liu Mingchuan knew the relationship between Sun Kaihua and Cao Zhizhong, and now, in addition to him, there is also the Chu army sent by Zuo Zongtang. These eyes are staring at him. Even if he doesn't consider these relationships, Yuemeishan must not help him. However, when things come, it is useless to rely on rushing. In addition to considering how to rescue Yuemeishan, he also needs to consider ensuring Taipei's defense.

Time waits for no one, and decisions must be given quickly.

"Taipei is even more crucial, and we must place the French army directly attacking Taipei along the river, so there must be sufficient troops to retain them. Lord Zhang of the Chu army has arrived and is not familiar with the terrain and environment of Taipei. General Sun, you will take a battalion of people to help General Zhang defend Taipei."

Just as Sun Kaihua was about to speak up, Liu Mingchuan raised his hand to stop him and said, "General Sun, you can understand your mood, but please put the overall situation first. The legal person attacked Yuemeishan in a fierce manner, just to let us abandon Taipei and ask for help. If we really fall into the trap, not only will Taipei be dangerous, but also will not be able to save General Cao."

After persuading Sun Kaihua, Liu Mingchuan turned to Nie Shicheng. "Attacking the Pavilion, the important task of rescuing General Cao will be handed over to you. You bring 800 people from the headquarters, and I will give you another battalion of Hunan Army and a battalion of native recruiting troops, and set off overnight."

Nie Shicheng immediately said, "I will definitely live up to the entrustedness of Lord Futai." Then he turned to Sun Kaihua, "General Sun, please believe me."

Sun Kaihua nodded solemnly, "I will hand over Hu Junde Camp to you, please!"

Rescue soldiers were like putting out fires. After making arrangements, Liu Mingchuan and others did not delay for a moment and immediately issued orders to the various armies. A quarter of an hour later, the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion had completed the assembly and rushed to Keelung under the guidance of the personal soldiers sent by Cao Zhizhong to deliver the letter.

From Taipei to Yuemeishan, Ruifang, where the Shenaokeng position is located, is only six or seventy miles. However, because it was a night marching and there was an artillery team, Nie Shicheng's reinforcements did not reach Sijiaotingpu, southwest of Shenaokeng until noon the next day.

More than two thousand meters away were the French army attacking the deep abyss.

"The whole army rests on site, and the scout team quickly inquire about military information." With Nie Shicheng's order, the exhausted soldiers immediately collapsed on the ground, and some even took out their guns from their arms - they all depended on swallowing two cooked bubbles that night, otherwise they would have fallen down long ago.

Half an hour later, the scout came back with his extremely tired body and replied: "The French army has captured Yuemeishan and is now attacking the deep auspicious pit. As for the situation of Lord Cao and the others, it is impossible to explore."

Cao Zhizhong's personal soldiers, who had been withering their red eyes, were waiting for the news, heard the scout's return, regardless of their body that was on the verge of collapse, knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "General Nie... General Nie, please send troops quickly and save my elders and brothers from the Hunan Army..."

Hu Junde, who was also a Hunan Army, also came over with fatigue. He also hoped to rescue Cao Zhizhong's troops who had been besieged for a long time as soon as possible.

Why didn't Nie Shicheng think about it? But he signaled Hu Junde to look at the Hunan Army and Huai Army soldiers who were tilted behind him... He marched overnight and only rested twice on the way for less than two hours. Now there are not many troops who can stand, so what can he use to save him?

Hu Junde smiled bitterly, then said softly: "Mr. Nie, look at this..."

The personal soldiers also knew that the Huai Army was not useful at all now, but he was eager to save people, so he could still consider these things, but he kept crying and begging.

Hu Junde looked around and found that the Taiwanese indigenous regiments seemed to be more physically strong and had few soldiers who smoked smoke. He immediately said: "Sir, why not let the indigenous regiments set out to rescue first, and then take a break, and then go again, what about?"

Nie Shicheng looked around and found that there were less than 500 soldiers who could gather. Although these indigenous groups had good physical strength, they were simply equipped and received very little training. At this time, they rushed to fight and were still the main attacker. I am afraid...

"Sir, time is not waiting for anyone. Although these team trainings are simple and insufficiently trained, they can at least harass and harass them, and they can also deeply deceive General Cao's troops!"

Nie Shicheng gritted his teeth and took the least of the two evils, and now this is the only way. So he immediately summoned the group of local soldiers and a few Hunan Army that had recovered some of its physical strength, and the Huai Army formed a temporary camp. At the same time, he forced the artillery soldiers of the Huai Army to whom he belonged to immediately deployed their positions on the spot and prepared for artillery attacks.

"General Hu, please bring five hundred people forward to harass you now. Be sure to make a big noise and confuse the enemy. I will launch artillery fire attacks in two quarters of an hour to support you. As long as you can hold on for an hour, I will arrive with the army."

Nie Shicheng still needs to stay and command the two battalions of Huai Army and command the artillery team. The only one who leads troops to break through is Hu Junde.

Erzhuzi put the rifle back on his shoulders. Before he drove with the troops, he turned around and looked at the comrades lying on the ground with contempt. He couldn't help but curl his lips, and the word "Qiu Ba" suddenly appeared in his mind.

Erzhuzi didn't know what "Qiu Ba" meant, but looking at the scene in his eyes, he suddenly realized something - maybe a soldier who looked like a rogue is "Qiu Ba"?

Erzhuzi, who was bullied by those rogues in the town since he was a child, disliked and despised these comrades from the bottom of his heart. In his simple mind, when he served as a soldier, he should go to the battlefield to kill the enemy and fight. Since the court issued military pay and the silver for excavation, Zhenyong's silver was also distributed in front of the road last night, then he should rush over in one go in one go, instead of lying and sleeping far away from the enemy.

As for those who smoked big smoke, Erzhuzi had not been in the army for a long time and had not yet developed this habit, so he could not understand why they would wear guns and bubbles all the time, and could not imagine the snot and tears. Perhaps the ecstasy that those comrades showed after sucking was true, but in Erzhuzi's view, it was just a split of the uncomfortable period.

So he decided to stay away from these "Qiu Ba", at least when they showed such a rogue appearance, so when the army head greeted him, he joined Hu Junde's forward camp without hesitation.

He was also very tired, but he felt that he should stand up, otherwise wouldn’t he be the same as the rogue “Qiu Ba” he hated?

Other comrades also stood up like themselves, but unfortunately there were not many such people. General Hu organized them into five teams as his personal soldiers. Being able to become a real general's personal soldiers made Erzhuzi feel inexplicably proud and excited, and he seemed to be not so tired suddenly.

The vanguard battalion continued to move forward, and the sound of artillery in the distance became clearer, and followed by the sound of gunfire that began to be clearer, which shows that the troops were already very close to the battlefield. Although Hu Junde was eager to rescue Cao Zhizhong, he did not want to trap himself in for this, so he ordered the troops to slow down and sent scouts.

Sure enough, the first wave of reconnaissance of the Qing army had already attracted the attention of the French army. Colonel Polcheri, who was responsible for commanding this battle, had already assigned a landing battalion to turn around and prepare to block the reinforcements coming from Taipei. Fortunately, Hu Junde was cautious and did not bump into the French head-on.

While secretly rejoicing, Hu Junde began to set up an attack. The native regiment trained four posts, two on the middle and two on the left wing, and the five personal soldiers were also on the middle. The distribution of troops was moderate.

The Qing army's first charge was beaten back without any suspense.

The team training equipment arranged on the front line was too poor, and most of them were still using cold weapons. They were killed by a platoon of French troops, but they didn't even catch a single hair from foreigners.

The middle lane retreated, and the left wing naturally had no chance to continue moving forward. Hu Junde had to gather his troops and prepare for another battle. At this moment, the French shelling came.

The French landing battalion included a gun platoon equipped with two 65mm battalion guns, and each company had two 1.65-inch rapid-fire guns or Hatchkas machine guns. Such firepower could already be described as "brutal" for the Qing army.

This is not the first time Hu Junde has fought with the French. Before, in the close of Shanghai, the artillery fire of French warships was much more fierce than this, but at that time there was a fortress to avoid, but now he has no support.

The first thought that came to my mind was to retreat, but immediately, a more rational idea overturned the idea of ​​retreat. As an old corps, he knew the power of artillery than any soldier. When he was storing the "Bandits", many soldiers were killed by the bombardment because the cannon was fired in panic. The front-bucketed bronze cannon equipped by the Qing army could still be shot for two miles, let alone foreign cannons. No matter how fast they ran on their legs, could they be faster than the shells?

The thought passed through my mind for a moment, and Hu Junde began to greet the soldiers beside him loudly: "Don't run around! If you want to survive, don't run around!"

But even if you don't run around, you can't escape the attack of artillery fire. The Qing soldiers who had not undergone any modern battlefield training had no idea of ​​lying down to avoid being killed by shrapnel. They just stood there blankly, waiting quietly towards a walking corpse for the next shell that would land beside them at some point.

Hu Junde shouted, thinking about countermeasures quickly. Then a low small mound fell into his eyes.

There is a large hilly area southeast of Keelung. Although these hills are not high, they can block some shells fired by the French army. Hu Junde did not know what the reverse slope tactic was, but the obvious fewer craters behind the mound made him subconsciously feel that it would be safer.

"Everyone, look for the closest to you to hide it! Quick!"

It was the first time that Erzhuzi went to the battlefield, and the fierce artillery fire completely stunned him. Fortunately, as a personal soldier, he was closer to the chief general and could hear the command of the superior earlier.

Without any combat experience, the only thing left for the second pillar was to obey, so he rushed towards the small earth bun not far away without hesitation, and then he lies behind him without moving. The soldiers who did not have any mounds nearby also chose to hide in the nearest crater.

The French bombardment did not last long. Their main attack direction was the deep pit, which was just a blocking attack. Since the Qing army failed to continue the attack, there was no need to waste shells.

But for Erzhuzi, these ten minutes were extremely long. He was like a tiny piece of wood on the sea that was raging with storms. He could do nothing except hold his rifle tightly and curl up on the ground, allowing the wind and rain to strike.

If Erzhuzi had studied, he would probably have a deeper understanding of the idiom "Life as a Year" from now on.

The storm finally stopped. Hu Junde patted the soil on his body and stood up again. He looked at the personal soldiers who were still lying on his side, and involuntarily kicked him: "Boy, you're up. Why are you planning to sleep until dark!"

Erzhuzi stood up in a daze, still roaring in his ears. He could not hear anything, nor knew what to say, and even couldn't stand steadily.

During this gap, Hu Junde had already begun to call on the surviving soldiers to gather again. It was not until the robes around him that Erzhuzi gradually felt that his soul had returned to his body.

Erzhuzi let out a long breath and murmured: "I'm not dead yet?"

At some point, Hu Junde had returned to his side. Although he was just a small murmur, he still heard it. Hu Junde reached out and patted Erzhuzi on the head, "How could he die so easily? Boy, he didn't react slowly just now. How many years have you been in the army?"

Erzhuzi's soul had just returned to his head. Before he could react, he had not yet realized who was talking to him. He just subconsciously responded: "In less than a year."

Hu Junde was stunned. The new recruit, it seems that Nie Shicheng is indeed good at managing the army. "How old is it?"

"nineteen."

"What's the name?"

"Two pillars."

"Don't you have a last name?"

"Ah?" As I asked and answered, Erzhuzi also came to his senses and hurriedly said, "I'll reply to my lord's words, my surname is Wang."
Chapter completed!