Chapter 126: Colonel Bishi’s Dignity

The rain in Neicun grew heavier, yet it couldn’t drown out the thunderous sounds of battle. Just as the Black Flag Army thought their opponents were on the verge of collapse, the French forces fought with frenzied determination. Many French soldiers even removed their blue uniforms soaked with rain, donned red breeches, and charged at the Black Flag Army’s assault teams alongside the indigenous infantry. Although the Black Flag Army sent in an additional row of troops to reinforce them, they could only manage a stalemate, briefly holding their lines.

But behind the front lines, the severely wounded picked up their guns again. Holding their comrades’ hands, they made their final requests: “I only have a mother, lieutenant—leave her to you.”
“I have nothing to hold onto. Truly, don’t worry about me, not even you, brother.”
“Live on. My family hopes you’ll take care of them.”

A French lieutenant commander stayed behind to lead the remaining nearly hundred French soldiers and about two hundred indigenous infantrymen—most of whom were wounded and unable to walk, along with some volunteers who had stayed out of tears.
“Break through!”

While the Black Flag Army was reorganizing its attack, the now completely light-equipped French soldiers abandoned all heavy gear, even throwing away their water-filled boots, and ran barefoot toward Anzhai Village. Amid the storm, their hearts were icy cold, but the desire to survive drove this group of French soldiers forward with unstoppable momentum.
“The enemy is trying to break through!”

The heavy rain obscured the vision of the Xiliu Camp, but by the time they noticed this sizable enemy force, it had already run over a hundred meters outside Anzhai Village.
“Chase them!” A infantry company from the Crow Camp immediately set out in pursuit. Yet inside Neicun, the French forces launched a final, desperate counterattack. Ignoring casualties, they charged in dense formations—everyone fought, and although the Hanhai Camp halted their advance, it also tied down the main force of the Xiliu Camp there.

The storm made communication difficult. By the time Liu Yu realized the situation had changed, the enemy had disappeared from sight. He said to his battalion commanders, “I give you a chance to atone—destroy them!” He was referring, of course, to the remaining two hundred-plus enemies in Neicun. These French soldiers were extremely stubborn. Though wounded, they defended house by house to cover the retreat of their main force. Even when shot, they feared nothing, stubborn to the extreme: “We must think of our comrades. Anyway, we can’t survive anyway.”

Resolving such heavy casualties required time, especially on this rainy day when explosives were ineffective. All three battalion commanders saw the determination in each other’s eyes. Sima Tai was the first to step forward: “Our Xiliu Camp is enough!” It was his pride.

The fierce battle continued for another hour until 1 p.m., when all the remaining enemies in Neicun were eliminated. Meanwhile, the Zhiqiao Camp on the Anzhai Village side reported that they were at the final stage of dealing with the enemy. Due to the sudden arrival of the enemy breaking through from Neicun, the battle stalled. Eventually, the two enemy forces joined forces and retreated together.

Walking through Neicun, traces of blood were everywhere. Both sides had suffered heavy casualties here. Only the wounded from Xiliuying could retreat, while all the French soldiers’ wounded remained behind.
Liu Yu ordered loudly, “We must counterattack! Prepare to assault Huaidefu.”
He estimated that Bo Hua was still near Wangcun at this time. If he could take control of Huaidefu, he might be able to block the main force of the right-wing column.
Wangcun.
The attack at 11 o’clock had left the French forces severely weakened. In particular, the Yellow Flag Army had lost over a third of its troops and also lost commander Qiao Erchi, resulting in low morale. They were forced to let the French provide cover.
“Order the entire army to retreat. The reserve troops at Zhiqiao will come to reinforce us.”
He hadn’t received any news from Neicun, but the gunfire from both Neicun and Anzhai Village had stopped, which wasn’t good news.
It was possible either the French could win or lose, but given the situation in Wangcun, he thought defeat was more likely.
As he had expected, not long after he began retreating, the central column that had just reached Huaidefu sent word that they had joined the reserve troops and were ready to defend Huaidefu on the spot.
This was clearly neither good nor bad news. The central column had also suffered losses, but at least it secured the rear for their retreat. Bo Hua was behind them, saying, “25th Company, I’ll go with you. Although we can’t have dinner in Shanxi, at least we can eat something in Hanoi.”
He had suffered the same defeat as Li Weiyeh, but he hadn’t lost confidence.
Just as he started retreating, the Black Flag Army chased after them. Liu Yongfu didn’t want such a valuable force to slip away, especially since this army had many wounded. If they were left behind, the results of this battle could improve.
The 25th Company, under Bo Hua’s direct command, suffered heavy losses. But as a Western-style army, they were well-trained and highly combat-effective. With the support of Annamite infantry units, they managed to repel the Black Flag Army.
The remaining troops of the central column near Huaidefu and the reserve troops also engaged in fighting with Xiliuying, suffering heavy losses. One infantry platoon was even annihilated by Xiliuying, but they managed to hold the line around Huaidefu.
After Bo Hua’s troops joined the French forces, Xiliuying changed its strategy from a frontal attack to harassing attacks, constantly provoking these troops.
Bo Hua was forced to push forward despite the losses. Amidst gunfire and artillery fire, they crossed Zhiqiao once again in disarray.
Standing at the bridgehead, General Bo Hua’s tears streamed uncontrollably: “Soldiers, this is Zhiqiao!”
The soldiers crossed the bridge, with few paying attention to his words.
“In 1873, Anye’s expedition failed here.”
“On May 19th this year, Li Weiyeh’s expedition was annihilated by the Black Flag bandits here.”
“Today, on August 15th, 1883, the large force led by General Bo Hua has crossed Zhiqiao once again. We have suffered another crushing defeat!”

Everyone slowed down, paying attention to what the general would say next: “Let me tell you, as the Chinese proverb goes, nothing should be repeated more than three times. I will never cross that paper bridge again; we will surely achieve victory.” He still carried boundless enthusiasm as he led the soldiers back toward Hanoi. The entire army became well-organized, and they crossed the paper bridge more quickly. His confidence in his troops grew even stronger; he was convinced he would not lead them across that paper bridge again. Today was a heavy defeat, but for France, such a loss was still within acceptable limits. The greatest losses were not suffered by French regular troops but by the native infantry of Tokyo and the Yellow Flag Army, with the native forces of Annam also suffering heavy losses. Yet all the officers praised the combat effectiveness of these allied forces. The native infantry of Tokyo performed well in defensive tasks, no longer collapsing at the slightest provocation—showing significant improvement. The surviving troops of Tokyo would gain more combat experience and perform better in future battles. The Yellow Flag Army lost one-third of its troops, but their outstanding performance deserved praise; they bravely launched several attacks, even outperforming the native infantry of Annam. The excellent performance of the native infantry of Annam also delighted everyone. The losses of all these troops could be replenished in a short time. As long as there was pay and weapons, these allies could have whatever they needed, as France could afford it. However, he did not realize that the existence and losses of these native forces also imposed enormous pressure on France. But he believed that the losses of all allied forces could be made up within half a month. Of course, the new recruits would not have the same combat skills as the current ones, but as long as the core combat troops remained, restoring combat strength was only a matter of time. As for France’s losses, no further statistics were available yet, but even in the most pessimistic estimate, it would not exceed one French battalion. And he would soon receive a full French battalion as reinforcements. Next time, he would cross the paper bridge triumphantly. While the central and right columns retreated in disarray across the paper bridge, the left column resolved to launch another attack. Colonel Bischoff was a proud typical French officer. The attack on the Temple of Four Pillars was a complete failure. “Eleven dead, thirty-one wounded,” he announced. But this figure did not include losses from naval forces or casualties among the native infantry—it only covered losses among the French regular troops involved in the battle. The native infantry also suffered heavy losses in the left column, yet Colonel Bischoff used this as a reason to demand that the entire column launch another attack for his honor. “Will we stop attacking after losing just forty men? Where is the honor of the French army?” he said proudly. “The enemy has only four or five hundred men, with outdated firearms, weak firepower, and low morale. We are twice their number and have full support from naval forces. We only need one attack to defeat them.”

For the sake of his face, he simply set fire to everything, burning down the nearby villages. But the officers and soldiers still had great doubts about such a fortified stronghold; they could only resolve to attack. The reason was simple—hunger. Since setting out at dawn, they had been soaked in rain without eating a single bite, yet Colonel Bi Shuo, who valued his pride, forced them to attack. Only by capturing the Sizhu Temple position could they hope to get food. This attack was much more organized than the last; the entire force spread out with artillery support to assault Sizhu Temple, while the naval forces also resumed their bombardment. However, their several heavily damaged ships had to retreat to Hanoi for repairs, and the remaining gunboats dared not engage in close-range firing. Both the painful lessons from the Lightning Ship and the attacks that morning made them realize one thing: the Black Flag Army possessed terrifying shore-based firepower. In particular, the 65-mm samp gun captured by the Black Flag Army was an extremely powerful weapon—just a couple of shells from it could sink their inland ships. Thus, they could only bombard from afar. The land forces, fighting for food, showed remarkable tenacity, but the Black Flag Army had a light front and heavy rear defense, with numerous firing positions. Although the French had advantages both at sea and on land, just as Liu Yu found it extremely difficult to deal with the French defending the villages, the French also faced huge troubles. These fortresses had been carefully repaired by the Black Flag Army over a long period. Although the French artillery inflicted significant damage on many fortresses, coupled with the relentless rain since dawn, the French infantry’s attacks made little progress. There were no close-quarters battles in the mud like those in Neicun. The Meimei Wuwei Battalion, being a new unit with many recruits, was weak in close combat. They simply used layered firepower to lure the French into their fire network and then strike hard. The naval bombardment also achieved only partial success due to the floods and fortifications. Now, the French suffered heavy losses in front of each fortress, with corpses and wounded lying beneath them. Even if they captured a fortress, they faced more fortifications. Moreover, during the truce, due to the smooth progress in the battles at Neicun and Wangcun, Huang Shouzhong sent his 200 soldiers to the Sizhu Temple position, greatly increasing the defending forces. Such battles clearly would yield no results. After continuous casualties, the French were forced to withdraw from Sizhu Temple and regroup to launch another attack. This was a devastating blow to Colonel Bi Shuo, who felt he had completely lost face. “Keep attacking! We won’t withdraw until we capture Sizhu Temple!” He would never admit his mistake. So, the French quickly organized a third attack. But since frontal attacks were completely ineffective, this time Colonel Bi Shuo used a French company and a native Tokyo regiment to attack from the flank.

But no matter from which angle they attacked, France faced intense machine gun fire and fortified positions. Although prolonged exposure to water had severely damaged many of these positions, the French forces still suffered heavy losses in this attack.
“We’ve lost over thirty soldiers again, including a lieutenant who died in battle—these casualties don’t include the indigenous infantry.”
Such losses didn’t affect Colonel Bi Shuo’s pride at all. He insisted once more, “We must organize a fourth attack.”
“Colonel, our soldiers haven’t eaten in thirteen hours; they haven’t had anything at all.”
“Keep attacking! Our fourth attack will surely succeed.”
The staff officers were utterly speechless in the face of Colonel Bi Shuo’s stubbornness and pride. But they knew well that unless they captured the Sizhu Temple position, the soldiers would never get food.
Even under normal circumstances, going thirteen hours without food would be unbearable, let alone now when things were far from normal. From dawn till now, all the soldiers had been marching in the rain. They had launched three attacks on the Black Flag Army’s fortified positions, becoming completely soaked and freezing cold.
Even the French troops had endless complaints, not to mention the indigenous soldiers. Yet Colonel Bi Shuo remained stubborn: “Keep attacking—until we take Sizhu Temple.”
One of the staff officers, who was more sensible, immediately thought of a small temple discovered during the third attack. It was an isolated outlying position outside the main defensive area, with few defenders. “We can capture their small temple position.”
Colonel Bi Shuo asked coldly, “The small temple position?”
After discussion, it was decided to send an indigenous infantry company and a French company to seize this lightly defended outpost. Even so, the battle lasted about twenty minutes. Faced with the overwhelming enemy force, the defenders retreated with their wounded and dead, while the French forces suffered over twenty casualties.
But Colonel Bi Shuo’s pride was finally preserved. He had captured a position and achieved a barely acceptable victory, so he finally ordered, “All men, rest.”
It was already past five in the afternoon, and the entire area had become pitch black. Their clothes, already soaked repeatedly by the rain, the ordered soldiers rushed into the small temple. Due to the heavy rain, their supplies couldn’t be delivered—there were no sleeping bags or food. But the exhausted soldiers lay down in their clothes, chewing on a few pieces of dry food, enjoying this rare moment of peace.
Meanwhile, at Lian Wei’s battalion, despite Lian Mei’s leadership, the strong command of various company and platoon leaders, and the soldiers’ fierce fighting, they managed to repel four consecutive attacks. Yet they also suffered heavy casualties. More importantly, their positions remained submerged in rain, and coupled with the French forces’ continuous artillery bombardment throughout the day, the damage was severe.
Worse still, the water level kept rising. Now, the water in the trenches was already up to their chests, forcing Wu Wei’s battalion to retreat to higher ground.
“What heavy rain!”
It was Huang Shouzhong, who was responsible for mobile support, who arrived. But upon seeing the situation on the battlefield, he frowned immediately.

The rain grew heavier, causing great trouble for the Black Flag Army as well.
He originally thought that bringing in two more companies of reinforcements would be enough to hold the position at Sizhu Temple, but it was clear he had made a subjective mistake.
Numerous lower-ground positions had become extremely soft due to the water, and they could collapse even without enemy artillery fire, forcing troops to move to higher ground.
Yet even so, the water kept rising, and the entire Sizhu Temple area was at risk of being washed away by the floodwaters. The troops could no longer hold onto the positions where they had fought.
As a commander, he had to be responsible for the lives of his soldiers: “Company Commander Lian Mei, from now on, I am taking command of the Sizhu Temple area.”
“My only order is to abandon this place for the sake of the soldiers’ lives and move to Danfeng County.”