Chapter 1086

Qingzhou.

A smile appeared on Xiao Ming’s face after he read Wang Xuan’s telegram. Just as he had planned, the allied forces, after being blockaded, had finally run into trouble.

In fact, for a soldier, the fear was not dying on the battlefield, but missing their loved ones in a place far from home. This longing would completely break a soldier’s will.

The allied forces were now facing this problem. This was because every soldier of the allied forces did not know how long this blockade would last. It could be half a year, a year, or ten years, twenty years.

But no matter how many years it took, the only certainty was that they would not be able to break through this blockade line, and this was what was truly despairing.

“Issue an order to Lei Ming. Tell him he can act now.” Xiao Ming said.

In the intelligence, Wang Xuan also mentioned the issue of the allied forces’ food supplies. If the allied forces were to desperately seize food from the native states, it would be beneficial to them.

The reason Britain was able to get along peacefully with the native states was that it rarely interfered with them. Now that this had been broken, a chain reaction would follow.

The enraged native states would very likely use military force to fight back against Britain’s actions. In this way, Britain’s stable rear would be gone.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” With a response, Qian Dafu turned and entered the side hall. The telegraph machine was in the side hall.

Seven days later, Xiao Ming’s order arrived in Singapore, which immediately lifted the spirits of Lei Ming and Yue Yun.

“General Yue, the Cao family father and son are in your hands now.” Lei Ming said.

The secret guards’ ship anchored at the mouth of the Ganges River had already received a telegram from Calcutta. The telegram clearly described the current situation in Calcutta and laid out their planned route of action.

“That is certainly not a problem. Once he is at sea, not even with wings will this Cao Kun be able to escape.” Yue Yun sneered.

Lei Ming nodded. He looked in the direction of Calcutta and said, “Now that they have fallen into trouble with the native states, it is the best time to attack. We will march on Calcutta tomorrow.”

The next day, with the help of the imperial warships, the soldiers of the Southeast Army, crammed onto the warships, were transported to the mouth of the Ganges River in Calcutta. This was the allied forces’ frontal position. As long as they could break through here, the allied forces would be completely defeated.

The arrival of numerous ships at the mouth of the Ganges River quickly caught the attention of the allied forces, and the entire Calcutta defense line immediately fell into chaos.

Butler’s order to his men to seize food from the native states had naturally caused a conflict with the native states. Although the backward soldiers of the native states were not worth mentioning to them.

But now it was a matter of life and death, because once the Empire attacked, they would be attacked from two sides.

“They really came. It’s strange. How did they choose such a perfect timing?” Butler was very puzzled. He now even suspected that they had informants in Calcutta.

But after thinking for a moment, he felt that it was impossible, because their surveillance of Cao Kun was very strict. These people had all been behaving themselves during this period, and none of them went near the coast.

Shaking his head, Butler no longer dwelt on this matter, because he was currently facing the biggest crisis of his life.

“Have all the soldiers enter the trenches. They are serious this time.” Butler said.

No sooner had his voice fallen than a series of sounds of something cutting through the air came, and then deafening explosions rang out on the position.

Caught off guard, many of the allied forces’ soldiers were blown to pieces or wounded by the bombardment. For a time, the position was filled with the sounds of wailing ghosts and howling wolves.

At sea, Lei Ming was observing the effect of the bombardment. Launching an artillery preparation before landing had almost become a fixed pattern for the Empire’s military campaigns.

Now, the ironclads on the sea all had their cannons aimed at the position on the coast. The dark muzzles continuously spewed flames.

And the allied forces’ position was filled with clusters of flames, and the dirt was repeatedly sent into the air by the impact of the shells before scattering down.

“The navy’s firepower is indeed fierce.” Chang Yuzhu, holding his binoculars, was lying on the side of the ship, a look of envy on his face.

Lei Ming heard this and glanced at the large caliber of the cannons on the warships. The caliber of the ironclads’ cannons was significantly larger than that of the field cannons, and their power went without saying.

“The navy’s artillery firepower is good, but taking the position still depends on us.” Lei Ming glared at Chang Yuzhu. “Why aren’t you preparing for the landing operation? If we can’t take the beachhead position today, I will deal with you myself.”

Chang Yuzhu put away his casual demeanor, his expression solemn. He shouted at the soldiers under his command to lower the small boats.

Unlike previous attacks, this time, they would land under the continuous fire cover of the navy, which would prevent them from being met with a concentrated volley of fire as soon as they landed.

On the coast.

Butler’s face became very grim when he saw the imperial soldiers coming towards the coast under the cover of the artillery fire.

Under the bombardment, the demoralized allied forces’ soldiers were all hiding in the trenches, not daring to show their heads, which created a safe landing environment for the imperial soldiers.

“Go, have everyone counterattack, quickly!” Butler grabbed a messenger and pushed him out of cover, but the messenger was sent flying by a shell that landed beside him before he could even run five meters.

Butler was also affected by the explosion of this shell. The dust on the tunnel he was in fell continuously.

After glancing at the dismembered messenger, Butler could only find another messenger to relay the order.

But he was disappointed. After receiving the order, most of the allied forces’ soldiers did not come out of the tunnels and were still huddled inside. Only a small number of soldiers got onto the trenches, but under the continuous fire, these soldiers quickly suffered heavy casualties.

And at this time, the small boats of the imperial soldiers were getting closer and closer. Soon, the first batch of imperial soldiers landed safely on the coast, followed by the second batch, and the third batch.

The soldiers who had landed quickly established a beach defense, and some of the soldiers began to use continuously firing weapons to sweep the trenches, which caused the allied forces in the trenches to suffer a rapid increase in casualties.

Chang Yuzhu also landed on the beach. This time, his regiment was the first to land. After his entire regiment landed, the sound of the shelling from the sea suddenly stopped.

At this time, Chang Yuzhu also ordered the machine guns to stop firing. He took out a tin-plated megaphone and shouted in English, “Friends on the other side, I am Chang Yuzhu, the regimental commander of the First Regiment of the First Division of the Southeast Military Region of the Empire. I am now officially informing you that there are two things on the warships behind me: the first is bullets, and the second is bread. Now, put down your guns, and you can go to the warships to eat bread and wait for your countries to take you back to Europe. Otherwise, you can only wait to be shot. You have already tasted our firepower. It’s not a pleasant feeling, is it? You still have time to make a choice now. Choose!”

After shouting in English, he then shouted again in the languages of the other countries in the allied forces. These were all taught to him by an interpreter.

Although his pronunciation was not very accurate, it was enough for the soldiers on the battlefield to understand.