Chapter 3: Rise of the Great Powers 255: India Confrontation 4

It was a forced matter for Zuo Zongtang to stay in Silhet. The average number of soldiers under his command was less than fifty bullets per person.                                                                                                             

Fortunately, after the capture of Selhet, the coalition forces obtained a lot of food, but the ammunition had to be supplied from the base camp. The distance from Kohima to Selhet was more than 50 kilometers, and the mountains were endless and the jungle was densely covered. After sending messengers, the army could only wait quietly. During the waiting days, Zuo Zongtang did not leave the soldiers idle. While he made the soldiers familiar with using the British flints and rifles, he improved their ability to cooperate with each other. After such training, the Burmese soldiers, Bangladeshi soldiers and Chinese soldiers not only strengthened their cooperation, but also promoted friendship between friendly forces.

On April 18, 1851, Zuo Zongtang's troops did not wait for supplies, but waited for a counterattack from the British army.

The British army attacking Silhet was an army stationed in the Ganges plains. The army had a total of 30,000 people, four of which were British troops from the British mainland, and the rest were temporary Indians recruited after the war. Under the leadership of the commander Colonel Charlie, they drove from Dhaka to Silhet with great momentum.

At this time, Zuo Zongtang, who was guarding Silhet, had 10,000 Chinese soldiers, 5,000 Chinese cavalry, 30,000 Burmese infantry, and 6,000 Bangladeshi soldiers. Although the Asian coalition had a great advantage in terms of number of people, the combat effectiveness of 15,000 Chinese soldiers was greatly reduced due to ammunition and land reasons. The armies of other Asian countries were significantly behind the British in terms of weapons and equipment.

On the afternoon of the 18th, Colonel Charlie's army arrived five kilometers outside the city of Silhet. The British army set off a letter of war to Zuo Zongtang after stationing.

On the morning of the 19th, the two sides set up a battlefield in an open space outside the city of Silhet.

The British army pressed behind the formation with four main groups, and placed the temporarily recruited soldiers of various Indian races in front.

The coalition troops on the opposite side were divided into three routes and were arranged in the front. The left side was 15,000 Burmese troops, the right side was 15,000 Burmese troops, and the main force of the middle route was 10,000 from the two Chinese infantry towns. It is strange that the Myanmar troops on the left and right side of the coalition were placed far behind the battlefield, kilometers away from the Central ** team in the middle route. In this way, the 10,000 Chinese infantry on the middle route were conspicuously protruded on the coalition's positions.

Zuo Zongtang rode behind two infantry towns on the front line on a blue and white horse. The soldiers of the two towns won consecutive battles in foreign countries, and they regarded Zuo Zongtang as their support. At this moment, seeing the commander following them, the Chinese soldiers were very motivated. When Zuo Zongtang arrived, a majestic shout came from time to time in the team: "General Zuo Zongtang will win!"

Zuo Zongtang waved his arms to the soldiers with confidence, and could lose anything in marching and fighting. But he must not lose his momentum. Although this battle greatly tested Zuo Zongtang's combat wisdom, his expression did not show any timidity.

This time, the first thing to overcome was the British local artillery. Zhang He, the commander of the 15th Infantry Town who followed Zuo Zongtang, obviously knew this. He asked Zuo Zongtang: "Master General, it's better to let the cavalry brothers destroy the artillery from behind."

Zuo Zongtang looked at the British position and smiled faintly: "We are fighting outside the city, the cannons are dead, and the people are alive."

Zhang He was not stupid either. He immediately understood and said, "No wonder the general manager agreed to fight outside the city with foreigners. In the city, foreigners' artillery was used to attack those city walls."

Zuo Zongtang set up a formation today, and the Asian coalition and the British army were far away. In fact, this was not surprising at all. Zuo Zongtang roughly calculated it. He just placed the army on the edge of the attack range of British artillery. Moreover, the Asian coalition's formation was also standing very evacuated.

Under Zuo Zongtang's command, the Asian coalition forces were ready to stand on the east side of the battlefield and did not take the initiative.

At about 9 a.m. Xu, the British commander Colonel Charlie finally became impatient. In Zuo Zongtang's telescope, the British army's positions were sent to order officials to shuttle back and forth. Soon, the British army's vanguard moved, followed by the central army, and then the rear army. This commotion took about half an hour, and the entire British army finally moved forward.

The British army and the local area were obviously premeditated. On the one hand, they were close to the Chinese team. On the other hand, they were also close to the city of Silhet.

Zuo Zongtang ignored their movements. He directed the middle team in the middle to slowly retreat.

The two armies confront each other and retreat without fighting. This is a taboo in military strategists. You should know that this kind of retreat may very likely turn into a commander's uncontrollable retreat. In that case, the battle will be defeated without fighting. This will create an image of the commander's incompetence in the minds of the soldiers. Once the commander loses the trust in the soldiers' minds, the commander can basically declare his failure.

So this is also the reason why Zuo Zongtang arranged the Chinese soldiers who trusted him the most in the front, and in order to ensure that he was insured, he personally followed the front line to fight. In this way, under the influence of Zuo Zongtang's prestige for many years and his prestige of winning several battles, tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers in the middle slowly and steadily retreated backwards.

Colonel Charlie saw the actions of the Centre ** team without missing a single glance. When he saw the Centre ** team who left his butt on the battlefield, he thought deeply. In the rear of the Centre ** team retreating, tens of thousands of Burmese soldiers separated and welcomed the Chinese soldiers in the middle.

This easily made Charlie feel the conspiracy. Sure enough, the Chinese soldiers in the middle turned around after retreating to a certain distance.          There were a concave formation between the Burmese soldiers and the Chinese soldiers on both sides. The British army bumped into the head-on, and wasn't it in the encirclement of the concave formation?

Colonel Charlie is not a fool. He is not only a fool, but also a top student at the Royal 6th Army Academy in Sandhurst, England. Charlie's flexible mind easily grabbed a fighter plane.

The British army's pace of advance changed with the rhythm of the drum. The entire British army's formation changed slightly. Some of the British army entered the middle of Silchert and the Asian coalition, and some of the British troops attacked Silchert. A small number of coalition soldiers waiting in the city quickly gave up resistance, and Colonel Charlie easily entered Silchert.

At this time, the slow-moving Asian coalition forces reacted and they attacked the British troops blocking the middle.

Unfortunately, the weapons of the Burmese soldiers were too simple and their training was not qualified. Seeing their clumsy appearance of stabbing gunpowder, Colonel Charlie's only worry disappeared. Sure enough, after the British army set up the cannon on the city wall, the Asian coalition began to retreat.

************************************

In a spacious room in Silget City, Charlie tucked the cigar at the corner of his mouth. The adjutant knew the current situation and lit the cigars from Cuba for him. Charlie had to think of himself as a genius. When he thought of the Chinese commander who looked like a pig, Charlie even wanted to laugh. Where can he be so dull in the war? Since he was here to attack Silget, why bother to fight a war with the coalition outside the city? This time he occupied Silget, from a siege to a city defense battle, and those stupid Chinese people will pay more for Silget. And under the subsequent British attacks, these pigs will not even find a suitable place to stay in the wild.

After a comfortable and pleasant association in the room, Charlie walked out. Lieutenant Colonel Burt, Chief of Staff, saw Colonel Charlie coming out, immediately asked Charlie with respect, and then took the initiative to report to him: "The Bengals in the city are very honest. We have easily recruited some volunteers to help us expel the Chinese."
Chapter completed!