Chapter 47: Capturing the Allied Commander

  Yang Nengge found that outside the camp were Li Zhen's soldiers, and he immediately became angry in his heart.

  Isn't fighting against both Chinese and British armies looking for death?

  The soldiers in the camp are dead, but they can't offend the Anglo-French army! Yang Nengge is a typical softie, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, only caring about his own interests.

  British and French soldiers with guns rushed out of the camp and killed them. They all looked surprised when they charged.

  About fifty meters to the left and right of the camp, there were trenches. Li Zhen's soldiers hid inside, exposing their heads and rifles on the ground. These soldiers fired at the British and French coalition soldiers who rushed out of the camp, bullets flying everywhere, the British and French coalition soldiers on the ground became targets, while Li Zhen's soldiers under his command were relatively safe.

  Gunfire continued, bullets flew horizontally, and miserable cries rose and fell.

  In the trenches, Yang Banhou and Huang Shihai were extremely excited.

  Yang Banhou's spirit was soaring, and he asked excitedly: "General, how did you determine that the foreigners would attack our camp? You are truly a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, with your divine calculations."

  Li Zhen smiled and didn't explain.

  In fact, when the Qing army was besieging the Small Swords Society, the British army had attacked the Qing garrison, threatening the Qing government and intervening in the war of the Small Swords Society. Moreover, they forced Wu Jianchang, the then Shanghai Daotai, to sign an unequal treaty, taking away China's customs rights and the rights of the Shanghai concession.

  Li Zhen knew history and also knew that Ali wouldn't give up easily, so he made preparations ahead of time.

  He led the soldiers out of the camp for drills, shouting slogans, but at night, he secretly had the soldiers dig trenches outside the camp, and then hid with the soldiers outside the camp. When Li Zhen learned that the Anglo-French army was approaching the Qing army's main camp, he led the soldiers to quietly approach the camp. When the Anglo-French army attacked the camp, Li Zhen again led the soldiers to secretly enter the trenches.

  Although Li Zhen abandoned the soldiers under Yang Neng's command, Li Zhen did not regret it. The soldiers under Yang Neng's command had become a scourge, addicted to gambling and opium, lazy and corrupt by nature, and were already beyond salvation.

  "Give me a good beating, beat until the Anglo-French army surrenders."

  Li Zhen laughed freely and aimed at the people beside Adams, picking them off one by one.

  The battle had begun and the Anglo-French army was already in disarray.

  Adams had only a thousand men, while Li Zongren had over nine hundred. The difference in troop strength was not significant between the two sides. At the same time, both sides used the same type of breech-loading rifled guns with equal firepower. However, Li's soldiers were hiding in trenches and behind cover, whereas the Anglo-French troops were fully exposed. Many of the Anglo-French troops were killed or wounded, but this did not affect Li's soldiers.

  Adams watched as soldier after soldier fell, his heart wrenching with pain.

  The allied forces were defeated in this battle.

  "Your Excellency, our troops cannot break through and reach the enemy's position. The number of casualties has already exceeded 400, if we continue to fight, all 1,000 soldiers will be annihilated, please consider this, Your Excellency." Adams' staff officer hinted at surrendering in a subtle manner as he saw that the battle was not going in their favor.

  "Raise the white flag," said Adams with a sigh, "and surrender."

  The soldiers of the British Empire had never been defeated on Chinese soil. Now they suddenly surrendered, but couldn't find a white flag to surrender with. Adams looked around, but couldn't find a white flag either. In desperation, Adams ordered his aide-de-camp to take off his outer garment and then remove the white shirt underneath, tie it to a wooden stick and wave it back and forth to indicate surrender.

  The Allied soldiers were given orders to surrender, stop shooting and no longer attack.

  Li Zhen's mouth corner revealed a smile, and he ordered: "Huang Hu, let the foreigners drop their weapons and retreat to the military camp."

  "Yes!"

  Huang Hu nodded, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly: "All you foreigners listen up! Put down the foreign guns in your hands and retreat to the camp. Wait for my general to accept your surrender. Otherwise, we'll shoot you all dead!"

  Adams' face turned pale upon hearing this, but he could only nod in agreement.

  The staff officer passed down the order and the Allied soldiers immediately threw away their guns and retreated into their camp.

  Li Zhen ordered: "Huang Shi Hai, Yang Ban Hou, you take 300 soldiers to collect the weapons on the ground, and then control all the Allied soldiers."

  "I will obey your orders!"

  The two of them gave the order, and without hesitation, 300 soldiers stood up and ran out of the trenches towards the camp.

  Adams looked at Li Zhen with caution and secretly said that he was defeated without regret.

  Yang Banhou and Huang Shihai collected all the guns and controlled all the Allied soldiers, Li Zhen and Huang Hu brought the remaining soldiers out of the trenches and back to the camp.

  The war is over, and the cleanup of the battlefield has begun.

  After the statistics of the war results came out, 2,000 soldiers died and 1,300 were injured in the Qing army camp. The remaining soldiers were not injured. Among the British and French coalition forces that attacked, 358 people died, 197 were injured, and 445 were captured. After collecting and burying the dead soldiers, Li Zhen led the military leaders back to the central general account.

  Sitting in the tent, Li Zhen raised his legs and looked at Yang Nengge and Lan Weiwu who were anxious and uneasy. He also glanced at the disheveled and dejected Allied Commander Adams and asked: "Who are you, what is your position?"

  "Adams, Commander of the British Fleet!"

  Li Zhen's eyebrows slightly rose, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He didn't expect to catch such a big fish. Li Zhen's mouth curved up, and he asked with a smile: "Mr. Adams, now that the Allied Forces have failed, what are your thoughts?"

  Adams grunted and remained silent.

  Li Zhen did not continue to entangle with Adams, and directly ordered: "Huang Shi Hai, find a British soldier, let him return to the Allied Forces' camp to pass on a message, and ask Ah Li Guo to come to the camp to see me."

  "I will obey your orders!"

  Huang Shi-hai nodded in agreement and found a British soldier who could speak Chinese to go back and deliver the message.

  ……

  Headquarters of the Anglo-French army, in the commander's tent.

  British Consul in Shanghai, Harry Parkes, and French Consul in Shanghai, Auguste Léopold Protet, were chatting with each other. Parkes smiled and said: "My dear friend, after the defeat of the Qing army and Li Zongren's capture, what kind of scene will it be?"

  Ai Tang said: "According to the usual practice of the Qing Empire, he will kneel down and beg for mercy."

  "Kneel down and beg for mercy! That's right, kneel down and beg for mercy."

  Ah Li Guo burst out laughing and said, "Li Zhen is a hardliner, stubborn and unyielding. He must be disciplined. Anyone who does not cooperate with the British Empire should be punished."

  The corners of Ai Tang's mouth curled up, and she thought to herself, "What if France didn't cooperate with Britain?"

  The idea just flashed by.

  The two men chatted with each other, discussing the arrangements after defeating the Qing army, and already showing a sense of victory. When the two were laughing and chatting, a soldier who had returned from the Qing army's camp ran into the commander's tent, panting heavily, and said a lot of words in a hurry, after finishing saying the news of Adams being captured, he also said: "Consul, General Li Zhen of the Qing army invites you to go."

  "What? It actually failed!"

  Ari's eyes widened in shock, his mind buzzing with confusion, becoming hazy and disoriented.

  Ai Tang also did not expect the Anglo-French army to fail.

  Ari quickly regained his composure and calmly said, "Li Zhen is too cunning. He guessed that we would send troops and set up an ambush, waging a surprise attack. Now Adams has been captured, the soldiers have been detained, and I have no choice but to make a trip. For the sake of the captured soldiers, I can only compromise, otherwise the news will spread back home and the congressmen will find excuses to criticize me again. What bad luck!"

  Ai Tang sighed and left the commander's tent with Ali Guo.

  At this moment, Ai Tang even wondered if Ma Hui knew he would fail and left on purpose.

  Postscript: one of three watches