novelSusiti Chapter 108 Rushing to Nanjing
Chapter 108 Rushing to Nanjing
Chapter 108 Rushing to Nanjing
"The admiral ordered me to patrol the mountains, ee-er-yo ee-er-ee-er-yo."
"I searched the South Mountain, now I search the North Mountain, oh dear, oh dear."
At the foot of Jingxian Mountain, a group of more than thirty people were walking along the official road, the group stretching out rather long.
A short Green Standard Army soldier behind him fanned himself with his hand and used the butt of his spear as a fulcrum to drag himself forward: "Is our Foreign Affairs Commander a little too happy today? He's been humming a tune the whole way."
His tall companion beside him was panting heavily. He said, "He received a letter from his family yesterday saying that his wife had given birth to a big, healthy baby boy after ten months of pregnancy, so he's overjoyed."
"I see."
The short Green Standard Army soldier suddenly realized something, then blinked and said, "But it's been a year since the Foreign Affairs Commissioner and we left, hasn't it? Doesn't that timeline seem a bit off?"
The tall Green Standard Army soldier turned his head and exchanged a glance with the short Green Standard Army soldier, then both looked at the happy figure not far away.
"Maybe we shouldn't tell him."
The foreign affairs officer was unaware of the gossip these two were spreading behind his back. He rode a brown horse, humming a tune as the horse slowly walked in the middle of the procession, occasionally snorting.
"Brothers, quicken your pace! Once we've finished patrolling this area, we can go back for dinner!"
Upon hearing this, dozens of Green Standard Army soldiers quickened their pace in unison, and the next second, the Green Standard Army soldier at the head of the group and Tang, who had just emerged from the ravine, bumped into them head-on.
"Who goes there?!"
The Green Standard Army soldier shouted and drew a single-edged sword from his waist, the blade pointing directly at Tang He.
Upon hearing the shout, the Green Standard Army soldiers behind him immediately perked up, gripped their weapons tightly, and their previously loose formation gradually tightened.
The foreign officer, mounted on his horse, sized up the six burly men in front of him, his eyes gradually narrowing.
He was dressed in simple clothes and wore a bamboo hat, looking travel-worn, and he carried firearms.
This is a battlefield, and the admiral's camp is located on the mountain. This attire definitely doesn't belong to ordinary people.
Just as he was about to order the man in front of him to be arrested and taken back to the camp for interrogation, he suddenly heard the man opposite him speak.
"Damn it, I told you you chose the wrong place. You ran into Green Standard Army soldiers."
"6
"Damn it, the Qing army camp on Jingxian Mountain will be able to see us soon. This slight curve can conceal us, where else can we hide?"
"If you ask me, I would have been better off not dismounting, but just observing from the horse and then leaving."
The six people opposite seemed to completely disregard them, the Green Standard Army soldiers, and were exchanging barbs with relaxed expressions.
A Green Standard Army soldier who had circled around to the side of the six men shouted, "Sir, they don't have queues at the back of their heads; they're long-haired!"
The sergeant waved his hand and ordered, "They really are Taiping spies! Brothers, charge! Capture them! I'll go to my superiors and ask for a reward for you!"
Upon hearing the word "reward," the more than thirty Green Standard Army soldiers all showed excited expressions.
Although the rewards were always deducted at each level, they would still receive a few copper coins and a few meals of wine and meat, enough for them to live comfortably for a few days.
They formed a semicircle, some holding rattan shields in their left hands and single-edged swords in their right, others carrying spears, while the Green Standard Army soldiers behind them took down their longbows or bird-shaped bows, preparing for a long-range attack.
Tang He watched the approaching Green Standard Army soldiers, drew his revolver, cocked it, and grinned: "Five of them each, no problem, right?"
There's no need.
Li Shanchang narrowed his eyes, drew his revolver, and fired six shots in quick succession. "Whoever kills the fastest gets the head. The one with the fewest kills gets to massage everyone's feet tonight!"
"Holy crap, this bastard has no sportsmanship, he jumped the gun!"
In an instant, gunfire erupted.
The Green Standard Army soldiers had no idea that the enemy's firearms were so powerful. Their cotton armor and rattan shields were completely ineffective, and more than ten soldiers fell to the ground in the blink of an eye, groaning in pain.
The smoke from the firing of the black powder completely obscured the figures of the six men, and the gunfire stopped at that moment.
Seeing this, the foreign officer shouted, "The Taiping rebels are out of bullets! Charge! All of you, charge!"
The remaining Green Standard Army soldiers gritted their teeth, their ferocity ignited, and they charged into the smoke with their weapons in hand.
The next second, a blade of light as sharp as a bolt of lightning flashed from the smoke and slashed down!
The head of the Green Standard Army soldier at the front flew off, rolled to the ground with a thud, and blood spurted from his severed neck before his body crashed to the ground.
Tang and his feet hooked the rattan shield at their feet, held it in their left hands, and parried the spear that was thrusting at them. Then, like a ghost, they moved in and slashed the throat of the spearman in front of them, ending his life.
Seeing how brave Tang He was, the detachment commander on horseback took a deep breath, drew his long sword from his waist, spurred his horse, and charged straight at him.
As the commanding officer, with so many men dying under his command, he will definitely be punished when he returns. The lightest punishment would be a pay cut or dismissal.
The best course of action now is to capture these few people so that he can have a chance to redeem himself!
"Damn it, why did they all rush up there? With everyone mixed together, we can't fire our bows and muskets!"
At the same time, several Green Standard Army soldiers at the back of the column dropped their bows and arrows, put on single swords, and charged forward.
The deputy commander roared, bent down and slashed, the blade aimed directly at Tang He's head.
Tang He showed no fear, parrying the attack with a single slash. Then, taking a deep breath, he shouted, "Have you reloaded yet? I'm going to kill them all!"
"alright!"
The smoke was blown away by the wind, and Li Shanchang and the other four men, having finished loading their bullets, raised their revolvers again and aimed them at the Green Standard Army soldiers.
boom!boom!boom!boom!boom!
Another volley of bullets flew past Tang He and precisely pierced the bodies of the Green Standard Army soldiers in front of and beside him.
With cries of agony and splattering blood, none of the thirty-odd Green Standard Army soldiers remained standing. The body of the Foreign Affairs Commissioner also fell from his horse, blood flowing from the hole in his forehead.
Tang He glanced at the ground and said, "Clean up the battlefield, leave no survivors, and then retreat."
"By the way, who killed the most?"
Jingxian Mountain Camp.
Admiral Yu Wanqing sat in the central command tent, a newly delivered urgent report on the table in front of him, his face somewhat grim.
"A battalion commander and thirty-one soldiers were all wiped out less than five miles from my camp!"
He slammed the urgent report on the table, laughing angrily, "They've infiltrated near our camp, and you're only reporting this now?! Next time, will they just storm my camp and take my head?"
The generals standing in the tent kept their heads down, and none of them dared to speak.
"Li Zhihe, it was your men who died, you tell me!"
The guerrilla officer, forced to answer, replied, "Sir, I have examined their bodies. Apart from two who died from longswords, the rest of the men were all killed by powerful firearms. In my opinion, the killers were undoubtedly the Taiping rebels."
"I'm asking you who killed him, not who! I'm asking you what to do about it!" Upon hearing this answer, Yu Wanqing couldn't help but slam his fist on the table again.
Guerrilla commander Li Zhihe said, "I have already issued orders to increase the number of scouts near the main camp. All battalions are to strengthen their defenses and patrol day and night to prevent the Taiping rebels from attacking again."
"Um."
Yu Wanqing nodded and said, "Collect the bodies of those thirty-two people and count them as casualties."
"Yes."
"In addition, the governor's order has come down, ordering my Jingxian Mountain camp to strengthen the siege of Zhenjiang and not allow a single grain of food to enter the city."
Yu Wanqing said slowly, "This attack is very likely a test of the camp's defenses by the Taiping rebels. You should all be more careful in the future. If anything goes wrong and the governor holds you accountable, I won't be able to help you."
Shanghai, Mohai Bookstore.
Hong Rengan put down his pen and let out a long breath.
On the table in front of him lay a stack of manuscript paper, densely covered with writing; those were the last few chapters of the Epistle of the Romans.
"Chunfu, how's it going on your end?"
Yung Wing put down his pen and rubbed his sore wrist: "The proofreading is almost done. We can show the final draft to Mr. Medhurst."
These past few days, they've spent all their time in this study translating the Book of the Romans.
The Epistle to the Romans is the longest of Paul's letters, consisting of sixteen chapters. In addition, Medhurst provided a Greek version, which had to be translated into English first to accommodate Hong Ren and Wang Han, who did not understand Greek. The workload was indeed enormous.
The three of them worked together: translating, refining, proofreading, returning, and refining again.
After several days of hard work, I finally finished translating the Epistle of the Romans.
Just then, Medhurst pushed open the door and entered, a smile on his face: "Finished translating?"
Hong Rengan handed over a stack of manuscript papers: "The translation is finished. Mr. Medhurst, please take a look."
Medhurst took the manuscript and sat down in the chair by the window, turning the pages one by one. He read very slowly, almost word by word.
"This sentence: They would rather worship the created than the Creator than the true God, and God is worthy of praise, who has been through countless ages. Amen."
What does "靡暨" mean here?
Yung Wing explained: "The literal translation of '靡暨' is 'not reaching' or 'without end,' which can be extended to mean 'endless.' The whole sentence means that the praise of God is endless, which is consistent with the meaning of the original Greek version."
"Great! Better than I expected!"
Medhurst slapped his thigh excitedly: "I've translated this sentence several times and I'm still not satisfied. Your version has both the accuracy of Greek and the charm of Chinese."
He continued flipping through the pages, occasionally asking a question, and after half an hour, he finally finished reading.
"Rengan, Ronghong, you did a great job."
Madhurst said excitedly, "Many sentences in this version are more accurate than those translated by me and Wang Han."
He stood up, walked to the bookshelf, and took a flat wooden box from the inside of one of the shelves. Inside the box was a neatly folded drawing.
"This is the Yangtze River waterway map you requested."
Medhurst unfolded the blueprints and slowly said, "This was surveyed by the Royal Navy last year. It clearly marks the water depth, reefs, and sandbars along the route from Wusongkou to Nanjing."
He pushed the blueprints in front of Hong Rengan: "Take them."
Hong Rengan took the blueprints, carefully folded them, and put them in his pocket: "Mr. Medhurst, thank you."
Medhurst waved his hand: "No need to thank me. You've helped me translate Romans, so I'll give you the navigation map. It's a fair trade."
He paused, then looked at Hong Rengan: "Rengan, I won't stop you from going to Nanjing to see your brother. But I hope you can persuade him. What he said is too shocking; neither Catholicism nor Protestantism can tolerate him."
Hong Rengan was silent for a moment, then said, "Mr. Medhurst, he is my elder brother."
Maddox sighed and said nothing more.
After saying goodbye, Hong Ren and Rong Hong returned to the Chengfeng.
Hongwu took the navigation map and unfolded it on the table.
Looking at the map, he combined its contents with the intelligence about the forts, water fortresses, and navy that Tang had relayed back, and suddenly everything became clear to him.
"We'll set off tomorrow morning, and by the time we reach the vicinity of Jiangyin, it will be evening. We'll advance at full speed tonight to break through the Qing army's blockade, and we should arrive in Nanjing the next morning."
The next morning, the sails of the Wind Chaser were raised, the boilers were preheated, and wisps of black smoke rose from the chimney. The anchor slowly rose from the water, the ship shuddered slightly, and began to sail along the Huangpu River towards the Bund.
The boat left the Wusong Estuary and entered the Yangtze River. The river suddenly widened, and the turbid water lapped against the gunwale, making a dull sound.
Hongwu stood in front of the bridge, holding the navigation chart in his hand, his eyes fixed on the river ahead.
"Full speed ahead," he said.
Thicker black smoke billowed from the smokestack of the Wind Chaser, the ship sped up, cleaved through the river, and sailed upstream.
When we arrived near Jiangyin, the sun was already setting.
The Qing navy's patrol boats were patrolling in the distance. When they saw the large ship flying the American flag, they did not come to stop it, but simply followed it from a distance.
Hongwu stood on the side of the ship, holding a telescope, observing the forts on both banks by the remaining light.
Tang He had already mentioned the fifteen gun emplacements along the Jiangyin section. But from the river's surface, the scene was quite different. Dark cannon muzzles pointed towards the river; although they were only muzzle-loading cannons, there were many of them.
"These gun emplacements would be a problem if they opened fire," one of the suicide soldiers whispered.
Hongwu shook his head: "We're flying the American flag, they won't dare to move."
Sure enough, when the Chengfeng passed under the Jiangyin Fort, the people on the fort only looked around for a while, and no one fired.
"Full speed ahead! Before the Qing army reports back, charge straight for Nanjing!"
"yes!"
Inside the boiler room, the suicide squad quickened their pace of adding coal. The boiler glowed red-hot, and the roar of the steam engine echoed across the river.
The river is very narrow in the Jiangyin section, with the narrowest point only about 1.2 kilometers wide. The shadows of the mountains on both sides are dark and silent in the night, like two high walls.
After advancing for a short while, the Qing navy ships in the distance seemed to have received some kind of order and began to slowly surround them.
Leading the fleet was a red-flagged ship. The captain, holding a monocular telescope, looked at the Wind Chaser and clicked his tongue: "Flying the American flag, they're Westerners here to smuggle again."
He turned and called out, "Brothers, the same old method, keep a distance. The commander has already sent messengers to inform the naval forces outside Zhenjiang; we can attack from both sides then!"
"Brother, it's always the same method, but we rarely catch them," someone muttered. "Foreigners are all on steamships; they can easily escape."
The officer glared at him: "Whether you can catch them or not is one thing, but whether you actually did anything is another."
"Not catching them is just incompetence; at most, you'll get a scolding and a pay cut. Not going to catch them is disobeying military orders. Don't you want your head?"
As night deepened, the Chengfeng had already entered the Zhenjiang section.
As the most heavily fortified section of the river by the Qing army, the sound of the steam engine immediately caused an uproar.
A sharp whistle pierced the night sky, and the dozen or so fast crab and long dragon boats that were still patrolling the river quickly turned around and began to chase after the direction from which the sound came.
Torches were lit on the shore gun emplacements, and many figures appeared near the cannons. They began firing, but in the darkness, the shells flew off somewhere unknown.
With its speed of nine knots and the cover of night, the Wind Chaser successfully left all other ships that relied on wind power and manpower far behind.
Time passed, and dawn broke.
On the Chengfeng, Hongwu slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and looked at the tall city wall in front of him.
We've arrived in Nanjing.