Wild North America 1846

Chapter 586 Entering the city

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 586 Entering the city

January 21, 1872

The northern end of the Red Sea, off the coast of Suez

On the vast sea, several burning wreckage of sail warships floated and sank, and several giant iron-clad ships passed by with billowing black smoke from their chimneys, performing a tragic song of blood and fire that conquered the weak.

Bodies floating on the sea, wooden barrels and charred sail fragments were everywhere. The cold bows of the armored warships plowed the sea and drew clear tracks. These sunk Egyptian sailing warships were their masterpieces and their conquerors.

Medal of Glory.

Inside the spacious command tower of the armored cruiser "Bad Wind"

His Royal Highness Tang-Li Xin, who was wearing a straight navy rear admiral uniform, was full of energy on his young face. He said with satisfaction to Brigadier General Zheng Huaishan, deputy commander of the expeditionary force; "A great fight, my deputy commander-in-chief, this naval battle can be called a

A classic teaching example."

"Thank you for your high praise, Your Highness. I really don't deserve it at Huaishan. This is all due to His Highness's risk of risking his life and sitting in command of the expedition fleet. All the officers and men of our expeditionary army fought bravely to be the first, and finally achieved the full success."

"Hahahaha... It is a great achievement to spread the might of our empire beyond the waves of thousands of miles. I, the Commander-in-Chief, will take the credit for me." His Highness Tang Li Xin also burst out laughing and turned around to look at the responsible person.

Major General Fan Pengfei, deputy commander of the expeditionary force, commanded the operations on land.

Major General Fan Pengfei immediately stood at attention and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, please give me instructions."

"Deputy Commander Zheng's good show is over, and the obstacles to the Egyptian fleet have been cleared. Now it's up to you." His Highness Tang Li Xin pointed in the direction of Suez City with high spirits and said loudly; "This is thousands of miles away.

At the end of the journey, I will give you 48 hours. The day after tomorrow, I will set up the headquarters of the expeditionary force in the city. Occupy the city and not seal it for three days."

"As ordered, Your Highness, the sword will not be sealed for three days." Major General Fan Pengfei repeated the order with a serious expression.

Any act that dares to humiliate the empire will inevitably lead to bloody revenge.

The port city in front of you has prospered and developed due to the construction of the Suez Canal. In the seventh century AD, it was the terminal of the canal shipping connecting the Nile River and the Red Sea. It has a history of more than 1,100 years.

During the Ottoman Empire, this was an important military and commercial port on the Red Sea. On April 27, 1541, Estevo da Gama led the Portuguese fleet to raid the Port of Suez under the control of the Ottoman Empire, trying to capture it because the Ottomans were heavily guarded.

, was forced to retreat.

After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, it developed into an important port city. The port transshipment business was busy. There were only more than 143,000 urban residents who made a living from the canal transshipment trade. Now it is about to face the baptism of cruel war.

Learned based on information

Suez City consists of three parts: the New City, the Old City of Port Ibrahim and Port Tawfik. After learning that the Tang Empire was launching a large-scale expedition, the Egyptian Pasha Ismail quickly mobilized three elite infantry divisions totaling about 18,500 people.

People rushed to the aid of the city of Suez.

Coupled with the original more than 1,760 Egyptian soldiers in Suez, the total strength exceeded 20,000, and the Northern Army was formed. The second son Issam served as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, and the German Major General Ludwig served as the chief of staff of the Army.

.

As the German army has made great achievements in the European wars in the past ten years, German-style military training has been highly favored. The Ottoman Empire even hired General Moltke, the German Chief of Staff, as the Austrian Chief of Staff, and gave him a high salary and generous gifts.

The more distant ancient Eastern countries also revealed similar intentions, but they have not yet been put into practice.

Major General Ludwig was one of the senior generals who followed General Moltke to the East to pan for gold. After arriving in the city of Suez, he immediately did his best to organize the men in the city into a militia and issued them with weapons such as knives and guns for training to assist Egypt.

Army defense.

Over the course of several months, a total of approximately 15,200 militiamen were established, which is a force that cannot be ignored.

However, due to the lack of advanced weapons such as muskets, most of these militiamen use swords, guns and shields, and their combat effectiveness is relatively low.

In a city of just over 140,000 people, there are more than 35,000 regular Egyptian troops and militiamen, so now all the people in the city of Suez are soldiers. Even residents who do not hold swords and guns are still serving the Egyptian army, doing laundry, cooking or transportation.

Food and grass, almost no innocent people.

After annihilating Egypt's backward sailing fleet, the warships of the Tang Empire's expeditionary force gathered at Tawfik Port with the intention of forcibly landing here.

The bloody battle begins here

"Boom, boom, boom... boom, boom, boom..."

The artillery on the armored cruiser and the armed merchant ship opened fire violently, burying the Egyptian troops gathered here in the violent explosion of fire. The ports and houses on the shore were shattered by the artillery fire. The Egyptian troops suffered casualties and had to retreat from the artillery fire.

Coverage.

Then the large immigration ship forcibly docked at the dock, and a large group of heavily armed imperial soldiers poured out of the ship. The soldiers quickly formed an array under the orders of their commanders and attacked the Egyptian army with intensive volley fire. The battle became intense from the beginning.

As time went by, more and more Tang Empire soldiers landed at Tawfik Port, and the battle line gradually moved deeper into the port area, leaving behind large swathes of Egyptian corpses along the way.

Relying on the advantages of sharp weapons, the soldiers of the Tang Empire gained an absolute crushing advantage in the exchange of fire with the Egyptian army's old-fashioned muskets, and drove the enemy back step by step.

By about 3:00 p.m.

The fierce battle had lasted for more than 4 hours. The Egyptian army, which had resisted tenaciously, finally could no longer hold on any longer. After leaving more than 3,400 corpses in Tawfik Port, it retreated in disgrace and retreated to the old city of Ibrahim Port and the city center.

compare with

The imperial soldiers who successfully repelled the enemy suffered only more than 310 casualties, including 67 killed and 243 injured. The losses were very minimal.

On the pier of Taufik Port

"Press me up and hit me hard. We must continue to exert strong offensive pressure and don't leave the enemy any chance to breathe." Major General Fan Pengfei, deputy commander of the expeditionary force in charge of commanding the land attack, looked sternly and pointed in the direction of the old city.

He ordered loudly;

"The Egyptians used city buildings to build defensive walls in an attempt to block the advance of the imperial army. It was simply a wishful thinking!

I want to tell them with fierce artillery fire that all stubborn resistance will be crushed to pieces.

The imperial army will launch attacks in the east and west directions at the same time, slamming down like two iron fists, and maintain continuous pressure of attack until the enemy is completely defeated.

Each attacking direction is assigned an artillery regiment. I will use artillery fire to smash their turtle shells, open a gap and attack the city.

Soldiers, our Royal Army will use this battle to spread its power beyond the waves, frighten the foreign barbarians, and conquer this land where Arabs have lived forever.

Wherever the army went, it was imperial territory.

Anyone who is stubborn and restless will be killed without mercy. His Highness has spoken in advance. We have not sealed the sword for three days after entering the city, and now we are ready to launch a full-scale attack."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Deputy Commander-in-Chief." The officers were so excited that they responded with stern expressions and clasped their fists.

The Imperial Expeditionary Force is composed of the 4th Royal Marine Division as the main force, and the artillery regiment and cavalry regiment of the 3rd Division are strengthened, with a total of 19,300 officers and soldiers.

Judging from the strength of the regular army, the difference between the two is almost the same.

However, the Tang Empire's army had advanced weapons and equipment, strong training and comprehensive combat effectiveness, and also had artillery superiority. Facing the heavily defended city of Suez by the Egyptian army, it formed a dimensionality-reducing strike advantage, which was particularly evident on the battlefield.

After the attack order was issued, the Tang Imperial Expeditionary Force formed two pincer-shaped attacks, one on the left and one on the right. They used sharp artillery fire as the lead strike to smash the solid houses and stone walls defended by the Egyptian army into pieces, shrouding them in a sea of ​​fire.

These solid defense facilities did not bring reliance to the Egyptian army. Instead, they became a bloody slaughterhouse and suffered heavy damage from artillery fire.

The Egyptian soldiers hiding behind houses and defensive walls saw their corpses and broken limbs torn into pieces by the violent explosion after dense shells fell, flying all over the sky.

Every time a shell falls, it explodes into a bloody mess within a radius of more than ten meters...

After the artillery fire, dense infantry formations charged and attacked. Under the repeated rain of bullets, the Egyptian army had to continue to retreat.

After more than two hours of fierce fighting in the city, the Egyptian army was defeated and the officers could not help but flee in all directions.

Seeing that the situation was over, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Northern Army, Lieutenant General Issam, and the chief of staff, Major General Ludwig, had to give up resistance and led a few defeated soldiers to flee, hoping to escape.

never thought

The experienced Major General Fan Pengfei had long been on guard against this move. The so-called "capture the thief and capture the king" would not be considered a complete victory if they really escaped.

"In the name of Almighty God, are these demonic Orientals actually going to kill them all?" Seeing the large number of cavalry chasing after them, and the Egyptian Guards cavalry guarding them falling down after being shot, the look on Lieutenant General Issam's face

He was shocked and angry, and couldn't help but started to curse.

Major General Ludwig, who was riding on the horse and escaping together, smiled miserably when he saw this, pulled out the saber from his waist, and said with emotion;

"My lord, please take the first step. I will lead all the cavalry to block the pursuers. Please tell my dear Elena that I will always love her."

The so-called eating the emperor's salary and being loyal to the emperor.

Major General Ludwig, who originated from the German Junker military aristocracy, is a loyal practitioner of the heroic and fearless doctrine of the traditional Teutonic Knights. He cherishes the Prussian mercenary tradition and is prepared to defend the glory of the military with his life.

Lieutenant General Issam looked at the large number of cavalry that were getting closer and closer. He knew that this was not the time to be polite. He immediately ordered the captain of the Mamluk soldiers: "From now on, you will unconditionally obey Staff Officer Ludwig."

Long command, until the last moment of life, may Allah bless you!”

While talking

A group of Tang Dynasty cavalry rushed out from the hills ahead. By chance, they blocked the way. It turned out that there were already cavalry ambushing here.

There is a strong enemy in front of you and a pursuer behind you.

Lieutenant General Issam was completely desperate now. He strangled Shenjun's mount and said, "Forget it, give up resistance. Any struggle is meaningless, and General Ludwig also

Similarly, if there is a chance to return to Cairo alive, the general will still say to Elena personally: "You will always love her". Noble captives like us have redemption value, may God bless us!"

Seeing that his employers had given up, Major General Ludwig had no choice but to throw away his saber, spread his hands and surrender.

(End of chapter)