Chapter 182: Biting Down (Part 1)

The blue tide of soldiers surged forward uncontrollably, abandoning everything that could hinder their advance, moving like a wildfire toward Danfeng. The intermittent gunfire only strengthened their resolve. Like a prairie fire, they trampled across the entire road, with heads visible in every direction; everyone was armed with rifles and bayonets, ready for battle at any moment.
“Move forward! We’ll make it home!”
Officers directed the retreat of the entire force, firmly believing they could bring the soldiers back to Hanoi and their warm homes: “We are French. We won’t repeat Napoleon’s tragedy.”
But on the hill ahead, Li Zhen observed the retreating French troops—a long line stretching for miles. From this vantage point, aside from the deep blue uniforms and red breeches, little else was visible.
“The enemy is coming! Prepare for battle! Remember, we can hold them off.”
His soldiers were equally determined: “We’ll use every means to stop them!”
This was the first unit of the Black Flag Army to overtake the enemy in pursuit. They had successfully reached ahead of the French forces and prepared for sniper warfare using large stones and hastily dug individual shelters. They too were fully armed, their sights aimed at the retreating French troops. Yet Li Zhen knew well that this would be a costly battle—his force consisted of just one squad.
After continuous battles, Li Zhen Qing, as the deputy squad leader, finally led seven soldiers to the front of the French forces. Along the way, four soldiers from a rifle squad of the Crow Camp also voluntarily joined his command. But against ten thousand French soldiers, they were just twelve men.
The blue tide continued to advance, and the French retreated quickly. At the forefront was a native Tonkinese unit, so disheveled that they had lost their shoes, dragging their guns as they ran, panting and looking back.
“Get ready!”
The twelve soldiers had only makeshift fortifications, but they had no time to think further—only to follow orders: “Divide into three groups. Open fire once the enemy enters the ambush zone!”
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The Black Flag Army began firing. With four Spencer rifles in their ranks, the twelve rifles created a formidable sustained fire. Before the native infantry could react, they had fired fifty to sixty rounds, causing significant casualties among the enemy ranks.
But for this blue tide, such casualties were insignificant. The native infantry didn’t even have time to regroup before being pushed forward by the waves behind them.
A gunfight erupted. Countless bullets flew through the air, exploding on the battlefield. Under the personal leadership of French officers, the native infantry charged in ranks of platoons and companies.
The gunfight intensified. Soon, two of the Black Flag Army’s twelve rifles stopped firing, and casualties appeared among the remaining soldiers as well.

The figures of the indigenous infantry were already approaching the position. Li Zhen threw grenades and shouted, “Use grenades!”
A rain of grenades caused heavy casualties among the indigenous infantry. Countless shrapnel knocked down many of them at once, forcing them to retreat.
But this time, they had rushed into range of the grenades!
“Get ready to fight again!”
Without even Li Zhen needing to order it, every one of his soldiers was already firing at the red breeches in the background—the most obvious targets.
The French loved those red breeches so much that even on the eve of World War I, many stubborn old officers still firmly believed they were the essence of the French army. Now, these highly visible targets became excellent targets for the Black Flag Army to shoot at.
More than a dozen French soldiers were knocked down at once, and the indigenous soldiers even had the courage to charge into the bayonet formations, causing some chaos in the French army’s organization.
But the French officers quickly realized that apart from breaking through the Black Flag Army’s sniper line, they had little chance of escaping: “Charge forward! Frenchmen, Algerians, Legions—we must break through the enemy’s lines!”
On the other side of the battlefield, Li Zhen was making brief adjustments before another battle: “Squad leader, two dead, one seriously injured, two lightly injured in the squad…”
After the brief fight, only nine people remained capable of continuing to fight—quarter of their forces lost in just a few minutes. “Get them closer! Shoot them from close range!”
Just as he spoke, the French soldiers were charging over shoulder to shoulder, ruining Li Zhen’s original plan: “Fire! Fire!”
With such a crowd, precise aiming wasn’t necessary; they could hit a target randomly among the throng. But such results were meaningless.
The French didn’t even use a wave-like attack formation but brought several frontline infantry companies straight up, clearly taking advantage of the Black Flag Army’s smaller numbers and weaker strength.
The Black Flag Army fired a hundred bullets in an instant, but the French bullets seemed to penetrate even the cracks in the ground. Although the defenders were entrenched, they paid a heavy price. Li Zhen himself was hit by a rifle bullet, but fortunately, his injury wasn’t serious.
Without time to treat his wound, he threw grenades at them. Yet this barrage of grenades didn’t stop the French advance. Although it caused heavy casualties among their ranks, the French knew this was their only hope of breaking through, so they charged forward with roars.
One grenade after another exploded, finally knocking down dozens of French soldiers. But the already disorganized French front line had also advanced to within ten meters of the position.
“Bayonets! Bayonets!”
They knew time was their greatest shortage. Apart from capturing the position through close combat, they had no other options.
But at that moment, another wave of grenades was thrown at them. A seriously injured soldier who had been lying on the ground once again pressed his finger on the trigger to fire.

The Black Flag Army concentrated all their firepower on this group of vanguards, with Spencer rifles firing at any moving target despite the risk of barrel overheating. A large number of French soldiers attempting to charge into the position were knocked down, but more French soldiers followed behind them, charging angrily at the position now holding only a few soldiers.