Chapter 1123: Total Annihilation

"Da-da-da..."

Hariman's pupils kept dilating; before his remaining consciousness dissipated, all he heard was the strafing sound of the Da Song Machine Gun.

The Da Song army was getting closer and closer to the tents.

The facts were indeed so.

After the Da Song army breached the trench fortifications, the Coalition soldiers collapsed completely.

The Da Song soldiers drove the Coalition soldiers across the mountains and plains as if they were herding cattle and sheep.

The Coalition soldiers ran in front, the Da Song soldiers chased from behind, continuously pulling the Trigger to shoot down one Coalition soldier after another.

The shelling and night raids of these past days had already caused over eighty thousand casualties among the Coalition soldiers.

Now, the Coalition's casualties were once again rising in a straight line.

At the same time.

Seeing the Coalition soldiers collapse completely, Qin Shan and Guan Tong exchanged a look and nodded simultaneously, as if having made a decision.

Qin Shan summoned Captain Shang Yi and said to him, "The Coalition soldiers are now in a full-scale rout; they will inevitably pass through the Homalin River to the west. I now order you to lead three thousand men to march day and night to the Homalin River, set an ambush on the west bank of the bridge, and block the Coalition at the east bank of the river, in preparation for us to annihilate this entire Coalition force."

After this period of reconnaissance, they had become very familiar with the nearby terrain.

The Homalin River was a large river between Tianzhu and Piaoman; the river surface was very wide, fully one hundred meters, and the current was rapid.

With the capabilities of the Piaoman and the Tianzhu people, it was naturally impossible for them to build a bridge over such a wide river surface.

It was the British who, in order to invade eastward, used Steamships to travel upstream, set up iron cables, and laid wooden planks over the iron cables to create this bridge.

Therefore, as long as this bridge was controlled, the Coalition soldiers would have nowhere to escape.

"Yes, General." Acknowledging the order, Shang Yi left to carry it out.

Watching Shang Yi depart, Qin Shan said to Guan Tong again, "It is time to let the Gun Cavalry attack."

This time, the order given to them by the Emperor Zhao Xu was very clear: to annihilate the Coalition's vital forces and make the Xitu Guo suffer a crippling blow.

For this purpose, they naturally could not allow the routed Coalition soldiers to escape safely.

"Hehe, of course." Guan Tong sneered, "It won't be that easy for them to run."

Having said that, he relayed the order to the Cavalry commanders.

Before long, twenty thousand Gun Cavalry appeared on the two flanks of the battlefield.

At the same time, a portion of the Da Song soldiers appeared on the battlefield carrying wooden planks.

They laid the planks across the earthen walls on both sides of the Trench, allowing the cavalry to pass through the battlefield.

Seeing the Da Song cavalry appear on the battlefield, the Coalition soldiers fled even more desperately.

But their two legs could ultimately not outrun four legs, and the Gun Cavalry soon inserted themselves into the scattered Coalition soldiers like a sharp knife.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The Horse rifles rang out, and one Coalition soldier after another fell under the muzzles of the Gun Cavalry.

Some Gun Cavalry, in order to kill more enemies, simply drew their Cavalry Sabers and charged on horseback, hacking one Coalition soldier after another to the ground.

The entire battlefield immediately became a hunting ground for the Gun Cavalry.

"That bastard Hariman!"

At this moment, Wesley wished he could eat Hariman alive.

He was currently hiding among the chaotic troops, with only a few guards by his side.

He hated Hariman to death; it was precisely because this bastard did not listen to his advice that the current great rout had occurred.

If they had followed his plan, withdrawing from the battlefield under the cover of night and then resisting at every step along the way, they could have covered the majority as they retreated to the border between Tusman and Tianzhu.

They would certainly have been able to preserve the most soldiers.

But now, they were almost in a desperate situation.

After the morale of the swarming Coalition soldiers collapsed, coupled with the fierce attack of the Da Song army, they were as muddled as a drunken man.

The soldiers were running, and the officers were running too.

No one attempted to reorganize the army or withdraw with rhythm like an army.

Even he was powerless against this and could only be swept forward in the torrent of fleeing soldiers.

"Run into the woods." Seeing the Da Song cavalry charging over, Wesley spotted a forest to his front-left and immediately said to his guards.

He knew very well that routed soldiers were even more fragile than a flock of sheep in front of chasing cavalry.

Receiving the order, the guards immediately took Wesley into the forest.

Sure enough, the Da Song cavalry did not pursue.

After all, for the cavalry, entering a forest full of enemy troops was no different from suicide.

However, Wesley did not dare to linger too long and immediately continued toward the direction of Huomalin with his guards.

The Da Song cavalry was followed by the Da Song Infantry.

These Infantry would sweep through every corner.

Hiding and dodging, after two days of trekking, Wesley finally saw the Homalin River.

Seeing the bridge on the river, Wesley felt a surge of joy.

He led his guards and walked toward the bridge deck.

At the same time, he was calculating in his heart whether to immediately dismantle this chain bridge.

If it were not dismantled, the Da Song army would very likely cross the bridge and continue their march toward Calcutta.

If it were dismantled, then the subsequent Coalition soldiers pouring over would have no way to cross the river.

Just as he was thinking, Wesley's body suddenly stiffened, and a streak of bright red blood flowed down from his head.

Immediately afterward, the sound of a gunshot followed.

Then, his body slowly fell, tumbling from the bridge deck into the river.

The guards were terrified; they were just about to pick up their guns to defend themselves, but a few more gunshots rang out, and the guards were also shot down, falling into the river.

So that was it.

Shang Yi had long since followed Qin Shan's orders to maneuver around the battlefield, arriving at the west side of the bridge ahead of time via a forced march to lie in ambush in the woods on both sides of the opposite bank.

During this time, they had already shot and killed quite a few Coalition soldiers who had come by in dribs and drabs.

"Stay sharp; the frequency of Coalition soldiers appearing is increasing, and their main force will arrive soon. When that happens, wait until they reach the center of the bridge before firing," Shang Yi said, glancing at the corpses floating on the river water.

He knew that the one he had just shot and killed seemed to be an officer.

But he did not care at all; in their eyes, these Coalition officers were worthless.

Just as Shang Yi had anticipated, two more hours passed, and the number of retreating Coalition soldiers suddenly increased.

As if fleeing from a wild beast, they lunged toward the bridge as if grabbing a straw to save their lives.

But just as they reached the center of the bridge, a sudden burst of gunfire rang out, and the Coalition soldiers fell into the river one after another.

The sudden attack made the Coalition soldiers realize that the Great Song army had already seized control of this only road leading to Calcutta.

At this moment, they finally lost all hope.

They could not cross the bridge, and the Great Song army was still in pursuit.

If they resisted, they would have only one path: death.

It seemed that only by surrendering could they survive.

Thinking of this, many Coalition soldiers took off their outer uniforms and tied their white shirts to the muzzles of their Rifled Muskets.

They had truly admitted defeat.

Because from beginning to end, this was never a fair war.

The war between them and the Great Song army was simply incredibly foolish and had a massive disparity.

Now, they could only hate those politicians who, ignoring the situation entirely, had sent them to the Far East battlefield!