Chapter 219: Victory or Defeat (Part 1)

January 12th.
The Anglo-Japanese forces officially crossed Kowloon and, together with some of Zhang Zhidong’s retreating troops, advanced northward. This could be considered the strongest army in modern Chinese history: 8,000 British-Indian troops, 13,000 Japanese troops, over 1,200 members of the “Hong Kong Legion” supported by the British, and Zhang Zhidong’s forces, which claimed 40,000 men but actually numbered 12,000. In addition, Hakushi Kenzo had several hundred Sino-Japanese joint troops in the fight.
Nearly 40,000 soldiers formed massive armies stretching for dozens of miles, with a front line spanning 20 miles. Equipped with artillery, cavalry, and supply units, the sheer scale of these forces was evident from afar.

The Japanese and British armies hired or conscripted tens of thousands of Chinese laborers and thousands of Chinese carts, carrying ample ammunition for a major battle, especially a large supply of shells. The artillery columns left deep tracks in the road. The consumption of such an imperialist army was astonishing—its supplies could arm a Chinese army of over a hundred thousand men. Black artillery pieces could be seen everywhere in the columns, with the Anglo-Japanese forces alone having over 200 artillery pieces, all of the latest European design.

In Hong Kong, reinforcements for the Anglo-Japanese forces kept arriving. Though they were optimistic about the war situation, their mobilization capacity was truly remarkable. With the lessons from the French war in mind, they felt it was necessary to send reinforcements for safety.

The Qing army served as the vanguard, with the British taking care of the right flank and the Japanese the left. Along the way, the Anglo-Japanese forces deployed large scouting units to assist the Qing as pioneers. Now, even these Qing officers became overconfident, believing that with foreign support, they could win the battle instantly.

To defend against the Anglo-Japanese forces in the north were Ye Chenglin’s and Huang Shouzhong’s brigades of the Black Flag Army. One brigade was responsible for defense in the rear, while Sima Tai’s brigade was stationed in Guangzhou as the main reserve force for fighting the British.

This was the most formidable formation the Black Flag Army had ever assembled. Ye Chenglin’s and Huang Shouzhong’s brigades were experienced units from the anti-French war, each with over 4,000 troops. In addition, there were about 5,000 newly formed local troops and various other armed groups under their command.

The battle between the two sides soon began. The Li Yunlai detachment, once driven out of Bao’an by the British, launched an attack using a flanking tactic after receiving some reinforcements.

The massive army marched swiftly along the road. Zhang Zhidong’s five infantry battalions, supported by a small number of British-Indian troops, advanced northward without hesitation. They believed that with British and Japanese protection and their own strong five infantry battalions, the Black Flag Army would never dare attack them. Their columns were very long.

But they were wrong. While they were laughing and joking, mortar shells from the Black Flag Army struck from both sides. The exploding shells killed many Qing soldiers, followed by close-range artillery fire from the Black Flag Army.

On distant hills, thousands of enemy soldiers in grass-green uniforms suddenly appeared. They fired numerous shells, causing great chaos in the Qing ranks. Several Qing officers who tried to lead their troops forward became victims of Black Flag Army snipers.

The Black Flag Army deployed 400 veterans and 800 newly recruited local troops. At first, this mixed force hesitated, but after seeing the Qing army easily defeated, they grew bolder and began organizing bayonet charges by their infantry. The courage once possessed by the Qing army vanished instantly under the hail of musket fire; they abandoned their flags and the modern equipment recently given to them by the British and retreated like a tide. This boosted the morale of the Black Flag Army greatly. Especially after seizing a large number of good guns left behind by the Qing, even the new recruits became brave. They crushed the resistance of two Qing infantry battalions and inflicted even greater casualties through more intense combined infantry and artillery attacks. “For the king!” The British-Indian forces behind the Qing army also pressed forward. Although consisting of only two companies, they quickly gathered the retreating Qing troops and engaged in firefights with the Black Flag Army. The Li Yunlai detachment had prior experience in small-scale clashes with the British and recognized the British flags at a glance, immediately shouting, “Shift the artillery fire! Shift the artillery fire!” The Black Flag Army’s mortars, howitzers, sniper fire, and even most of their rifle fire were directed at these two Sikh companies. Six white officers were killed instantly, and many sergeants in charge of the troops were also wounded. However, the Qing army finally got a breather. Instead of abandoning the British, they approached them actively, and the Sikh companies put up strong resistance. After all, they were imperialist troops—although most of their soldiers were Asians, under the command of British officers, they held their ground despite many falling, struggling desperately against the Black Flag Army’s guns and artillery. Although the Black Flag Army had over a thousand soldiers in battle, two-thirds of them were newly recruited, causing problems in their attacks. Several assaults failed due to poor coordination, and the battle turned into a stalemate, with the Qing army also beginning organized resistance. Meanwhile, the British forces in the south rushed to reinforce them, deploying two battalions at once. The Black Flag Army’s shortage of troops became immediately apparent; the two reinforced companies sent to reinforce could not withstand the frontal assault and had to retreat while fighting. “Fire the artillery quickly!” “Fire! Fire! Fire!” Both sides’ artillery units threw themselves into the battle. To the British’ surprise, the Black Flag Army’s smaller artillery force gained the upper hand, inflicting heavy casualties on the rescuing British forces. But the battle was clearly coming to an end. Upon realizing that the Qing army had also deployed two infantry battalions, the Black Flag Army decided to withdraw. They provided mutual cover as they retreated northward with the wounded and heavy weapons. The Qing army pursued them joyfully northward, only to have half of their infantry battalion wiped out by musket fire. As for the British, they were already satisfied to have rescued two companies.

Although it was only a skirmish, the British suffered significant losses—36 killed and over 90 wounded. However, they found more than 50 corpses of the Black Flag Army on the battlefield and captured about a dozen wounded soldiers from them. Considering that more wounded and dead soldiers were taken away by the Black Flag Army, they estimated that the Black Flag Army’s casualties exceeded 500, which could be considered a great victory.
In reality, the Black Flag Army’s casualties were only 250, and they killed or wounded 600 to 700 Qing soldiers while also dealing heavy blows to a British unit. Based on these results, their victory could also be considered significant.
But for the Black Flag Army, such an outcome could be regarded as a failure.