“Da-da-da!”
The dense bullets from the Maxim heavy machine guns formed an invisible wall beneath the city wall.
Those Qing army soldiers who charged forward were like directly crashing into the wall, their heads bleeding.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The 12 mortars set up on the city wall began to fire.
The shells constantly fell among the Qing army's ranks, killing and injuring many.
This kind of dense, swarm-like charge formation of the Qing army was simply the best target for the Beiyang Army, which possessed powerful firepower.
This was the reason why the Beiyang Army only deployed a single infantry battalion on this side of the city wall.
The other two infantry battalions and the division's direct troops were responsible for defending the other three sides of the city wall.
Even so, such powerful and dense firepower was enough to make the Qing army pay a heavy price.
“Oh, God! Are these rebels using sorcery?”
“Are we fighting devils?”
Countless Qing army soldiers, seeing their comrades-in-arms falling down in rows, their bodies piling up everywhere, were all terrified.
The courage that had been ignited by the reward money vanished in an instant.
Many Qing army soldiers turned and fled.
They no longer thought about the reward money. They were only thinking about how to escape this hellish battlefield and how to save their own lives.
As for Qing army commanders like Ye Zhi Chao, they were also dumbfounded at this moment.
They never imagined that the Beiyang Army would be equipped with so many Maxim heavy machine guns and cannons. This was completely beyond their expectations!
“Commander, it's the Maxim! The rebels are equipped with a large number of Maxim heavy machine guns!” The deputy commander, Liu Kun, was pale with fright.
“Damn it! How many heavy machine guns and cannons did those damned rebels buy from the foreigners!” Ye Zhi Chao couldn't help but curse.
A large number of soldiers were shot and killed by the Beiyang Army's dense firepower, making his heart bleed.
At the same time, Ye Zhi Chao realized.
Faced with the city defended by the Beiyang Army's powerful firepower, it was impossible for them to capture Dong Guang.
“Commander, what should we do now?” Liu Kun asked.
“Order the brothers to withdraw and reconsider our strategy!” Ye Zhi Chao ultimately didn't want his troops, which he had painstakingly trained, to be lost like this, so he issued the order to retreat.
“Yes, Commander!” Liu Kun replied.
The other Qing army commanders also breathed a sigh of relief.
When the order to retreat was given, the Qing army soldiers who were attacking retreated like a tide.
But during this process, countless Qing army soldiers were still chased and hit by the Beiyang Army's artillery fire and machine gun bullets, leaving behind a large number of corpses.
The Qing army's attack this time resulted in over a thousand casualties.
You must know that Ye Zhi Chao's entire Tianjin Sea Defense Army, including all personnel, only numbered five thousand.
Losing twenty percent of their troops in a single attack was enough to make him very heartbroken.
As a result, Ye Zhi Chao directly led his troops to retreat from the battlefield and stopped launching attacks.
For the Beiyang Army, repelling the Qing army's first wave of attack also boosted their morale.
Although the Beiyang Army was far superior to the Qing army in terms of weapons, equipment, and individual soldier quality.
But this was, after all, the first time these soldiers went to war. Many new recruits had undoubtedly seen blood for the first time and inevitably felt some tension.
However, after this battle, these soldiers quickly matured.
They were rapidly transforming into elite soldiers.
The failure of Ye Zhi Chao's Qing army attack quickly angered the main commander, Bo Yan Na Mu Hu, and the deputy commander, Jiumen Tidu Fu Kun, who had arrived at the battlefield.
“Commander-in-Chief, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, this subordinate and his troops have tried their best. But the rebels have powerful firearms, equipped with a large number of heavy machine guns and cannons, and are defending the city. My troops have suffered heavy casualties during the battle and are unable to launch another attack!” Ye Zhi Chao knelt before Bo Yan Na Mu Hu and Fu Kun, begging for forgiveness.
He looked like a dog.
In fact, during this period, there were many people like Ye Zhi Chao.
Even though they were Han Chinese in terms of bloodline.
But deep down, they had long since regarded themselves as servants or lapdogs of the Qing court.
“This is clearly a pretext! Even if the rebels have more firearms, more machine guns and cannons, they are still just a group of newly formed rebels.
Could they really contend with the elite forces of our Great Qing Dynasty based on their advantage in firearms?
Tomorrow morning, the Tianjin Sea Defense Army will launch an attack again. This time, don't hold back, attack with everything you've got.
This commander will personally lead the Menggu Iron Cavalry to support you!”
Bo Yan Na Mu Hu had a cold expression on his face.
He always viewed these Han generals and Han armies with contempt.
As long as they could achieve victory, even if they all died, he would not have any mercy.
After all, there were so many Han Chinese, and even if they lost a large number of Han troops, it would be easy to recruit new ones.
Therefore, these Han Chinese were undoubtedly the best cannon fodder.