Chapter 5: The Troops Enter Guangzhou

  In the mid-19th century, Western armies were already fully equipped with firearms and the concept of war had changed. Unlike in the era of cold weapons, before going to battle, soldiers no longer needed to be mobilized with grand speeches about defending the country and boosting morale. The British and French armies are far more advanced than those of the Qing dynasty, so going to war is like taking a vacation - there's no need to mobilize soldiers.

  The British army mobilized 4,600 people, with 4,000 going into battle and 600 guarding the base. The French army had 1,000 men all on the battlefield. Hundreds of ox carts that had been requisitioned earlier pulled dozens of large cannons and other military supplies to Guangzhou City.

  The US Envoy Reid and the Russian Envoy Putiatin were clearly trying to get a share of the spoils, but pretended to be good people, claiming neutrality and not following the troops in attacking the city.

  British warships transported troops from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon for landing, and then sailed up the Pearl River towards Guangzhou in preparation for shelling Guangzhou.

  Jiulong is about two hundred kilometers away from Guangzhou. In modern times, it would take a car over an hour to get there, but in this era, the speed of horse-drawn carriages was too slow, and they could only travel less than one hundred miles per day.

  Around 5 pm, the troops arrived at a desolate area and Elgin ordered them to camp on the spot. The high-ranking generals of the British and French armies collectively discussed the specific plan for attacking the city tomorrow.

  Li Mingfeng, as a military translator, was treated well, but during wartime, it was impossible for him to have his own tent again, so he had to squeeze into one with Palande and Andrew.

  In the middle of the night, Li Mingfeng couldn't sleep, so he went to a deserted place, sat down and quietly gazed at the stars in the sky. The ancient starry sky was much more beautiful than modern times, because there were no dazzling lights in ancient times.

  "The ancients did not see the present moon, but the present bright moon shines on the ancients." Li Mingfeng murmured this poem to himself, and he couldn't help but feel a little amused. He had become one of the "ancients" himself, and yet he still saw the ancient moon - truly a strange occurrence without equal in the world.

  "Li, what are you doing here?" Parand's voice came from behind. Li Mingfeng detected a hint of worry in his tone and wondered what this slightly foolish but lovable soldier was worried about.

  "What's wrong, Palrand? I feel like you're worried about something."

  "Ah, I suppose you must be quite disgusted with the Allied Forces?" Palant's tone was somewhat hesitant.

  Li Mingfeng did not expect Palande to say this, and persuaded him: "Why do you say that? I still hope the Allied Forces will avenge me."

  "But after all, we are going to invade your motherland. Although the Allied Forces can avenge you, they also invaded your country. You must hate us very much." Parand was somewhat excitedly insisting on his theory.

  "No, I do not hate Britain and France. The strong bullying the weak is the law of this world. The Allied Forces are not wrong, and a thorough defeat may not be a bad thing for my country." Li Mingfeng said with a smile.

  Any Chinese person has a deep impression of the humiliating history of the late Qing dynasty. Although Li Mingfeng also did not want China to be bullied by powerful countries, he was powerless to change anything when he first arrived in this era. Now, this world has already entered the industrial age, while the backward Qing dynasty is still an agricultural civilization. Being backward means being beaten, this is the truth.

  If the gunfire of the powers can awaken a small part of China, then that is also a blessing in disguise. If the powers do not invade the Qing Dynasty and allow the closed-off Qing court to continue dreaming of being the celestial empire, then decades later, when Japan and Russia become powerful, it will not only be a matter of losing power and dignity, but even the possibility of national destruction and extinction.

  On the morning of December 28, 1857, British and French warships at the Pearl River estuary began bombarding Guangzhou, and it was only then that Governor-General Ye Mingchen believed that the British and French were really attacking.

  After receiving the final ultimatum from England and France, Ye Mingchen still stubbornly believed that helping the red-haired devils was just a bluff. Attack the city? What a joke! Guangzhou City is high and deep, with tens of thousands of elite soldiers, while the English and French only have a few thousand troops. Although they rely on their sharp firearms, Sun Tzu wrote: "Ten then surround it, five then attack it". These barbarians may be dull-witted, but attacking a city with tens of thousands of soldiers garrisoned in an area of dozens of miles with just a few thousand soldiers is still something they shouldn't do.

  The cannon fire at dawn shocked Ye Mingchen, had the foreigners really attacked the city? Had they gone mad?

  Binggui Shen understood this point, although the foreigners could not attack the city, they had to adjust their troops and give these barbarians a lesson, let them know the dignity of the heavenly dynasty. Ye Mingchen immediately ordered General Guan to lead his troops into the city.

  The Qing army also had some artillery, but the range was too short and they were standing on the city wall and could not move, posing no threat to the British and French warships. Two hours later, the city walls of Guangzhou, which were equivalent to having no defense at all, had been destroyed by the giant cannons on the warships for half.

  At noon, the Anglo-French army arrived under the city of Guangzhou and set up large cannons to prepare for the attack. Elgin called Li Mingfang over, and Elgin, riding on horseback, pointed at the several-li-away Guangzhou City with his white-gloved hand and said: "My translator, how long do you think it will take to capture this poor city?"

  Li Mingfeng stood under the horse, looking at Elgin with some arrogance, and felt very unhappy in his heart. This old Scottish man was showing off Britain's strength to a Qing national. Although Li Mingfeng was on his side, in everyone's consciousness, Li Mingfeng was still a Qing national, no matter how Westernized he became, it could not change this fact.

  When the British army had already destroyed nearly half of the city wall at Guangzhou's South Gate, Elgin wanted to show off the greatness of the British Empire in front of a Qing national, so he called Li Mingfang.

  Li Mingfeng had no good impression of this arrogant guy, and directly retorted: "Governor, although China is backward, please do not underestimate their resistance. You should know that overestimating one's enemy will bring unnecessary losses to the coalition." Elgin was the Governor General of Canada before coming to China, and previously the Governor General of Jamaica, so he was used to his subordinates addressing him as "Your Excellency".

  "Oh dear Li, you actually think these guys with cold weapons can cause losses to the Allied Forces? This is ridiculous. It seems you still don't understand the Empire's strength." Earl Kin did not agree with Li Mingfeng's words.

  Li Mingfeng was just about to give him a few examples of the terrible consequences of underestimating the enemy when a loud "boom" shook the ground, and the city wall of Guangzhou was completely destroyed.

  "Children, go take your guns and knives to seize the glory that belongs to you!" E'ergin raised his battle knife and gave the order to charge.