Kai Fu Han

Chapter 496 Battle in Cangzhou 3
Zhao'an County is located in the northernmost part of Binzhou, fifty miles away from the east coastline.

On the 29th, Liu Xinqi led the army to go north again, and arrived directly at the foot of Zhao'an County that afternoon.

The magistrate of Zhao'an County was much more courageous than the magistrate of Binzhou. Not only did he not escape, he also organized some militiamen to assist in the defense.When the Xinghan Alliance troops arrived, the southern city wall was filled with garrison soldiers, estimated to number thousands.

"How many defenders are there in the city?" Liu Xinqi asked Xu Zhong.

"Binzhou's Diting platoon leader has entered Zhao'an County, and accurate news will come out soon. According to previous estimates, Zhao'an County originally had 1000 defenders. These 1000 people are recorded in the account books. As for how much they have eaten, If you don't pay, the spies won't be able to find out." Xu Zhong replied.

Looking at the city wall of Zhaoan County now, the stations are very dense, and there are more than 1000 defenders at the south station alone.In addition to this city wall, there must be other three walls. It is very likely that there are still defenders in the city who are preparing for battle.

The two chatted for a while, and a middle-aged man in plain clothes was brought over. Xu Zhong walked over and started talking with him. When he returned to the Chinese army, he reported to everyone:
"There are 600 defenders in the city, [-] of whom are original defenders from Zhao'an County, [-] are militiamen recently recruited, and [-] are from Wumai County," Xu Zhonghui reported.

"Wukai County? How can there be the ability to support Zhao'an County?" Zhao Yinghao asked in confusion.

"It should be left behind after transporting grain." Liu Zhijie guessed.

"Yes, they were left behind after transporting grain from other counties in Cangzhou. They were auxiliary troops prepared for the Jin Army." Xu Zhong said.

After everyone finished speaking, they all looked at Liu Xinqi, waiting for his decision.

"It will be dark soon, attack the city tomorrow." Liu Xinqi ordered.

"Yes!"

With the experience of the previous day, setting up camp today was much smoother.

Some small and convenient tools were made yesterday and were brought over during today's march, which made the camp much faster. Finally, the camp was set up before the sky completely darkened.

At midnight, Liu Xinqi was resting in the Chinese army's tent. Most of the soldiers were asleep. Only a small number of soldiers were on duty and patrolling in accordance with the night watch regulations.

Liu Zhijie led a team of guards through the camp. No one was lazy, but some were dozing off in some areas.

When I arrived at the logistics support camp, I saw a large number of large vehicles connected together. With Liu Zhijie's dark eyesight, he couldn't even see the edge.

Since the introduction of steel bearings, steel axles, and wheels with steel inside and wood outside, the load capacity of a large truck in Xinghan League has exceeded forty stones, and it can carry more when the road is smooth.This kind of two-wheeled cart can be pulled by only two horses and controlled by two cartmen, allowing the Xinghan Alliance to march and fight, and the number of auxiliary troops required is greatly reduced.

This time when we went north to fight, the 2-strong field army was only equipped with 4000 civilians.

Unlike the civilian men who accompanied the army from other forces, the civilian men of the Xinghan League were recruited, not forced.The information of young men who had previously signed up to join the army had been retained by the Military Department of the Xinghan Alliance. This time when they went north to fight against the Kingdom of Jin, when they needed to recruit civilian husbands, they set up a recruitment platform and went to their homes to consult, and they were recruited in two days. A team of 1 civilians was formed.

4000 people followed the sixth and seventh brigades to Xinzhen directly by boat, and 6000 people followed the eighth and ninth field brigades to Hebei by land.

"Clang! Clang!"

The piercing bell rang, and the big copper bell was struck fiercely. The sound was very penetrating. In this silent night, it instantly spread throughout the entire camp.Liu Xinqi stood up, put on his coat, picked up a long knife and walked out of the Chinese army's tent. A small team of guards had already assembled outside the tent.You can see that in the tent nearby, soldiers are quickly gathering to pay their bills.

The torches were lit, and after igniting each other, within a few breaths, the entire camp where Liu Xinqi's eyes were directed was already illuminated by torches.

The soldiers who paid the bill did not run around, but lined up directly at the entrance of the camp. The squad leader was organizing the team and reporting the numbers. Then the deputy squad leader checked the weapons and equipment of each group of soldiers, and the squad leader gathered at the platoon leader.

The Xinghan League set up camps and set up tents in a regular way. One squad has one tent, ten people live in it, the squad leader lives outside the tent, and then a row of four (including the platoon department) tents are arranged in a precise row. Sixteen tents (including two platoon tents, independent tents for female soldiers, and independent medical tents) form a small camp, which is separated from other company camps in terms of planning, and is separated by wide drainage ditches and roads.

Four verticals and four horizontals are a company, with independent night duty. The night duty can basically know all the soldiers in the company. If other soldiers enter the small company-level camp, they will be interrogated to prevent spies from getting in.

Officers below the company level do not have independent tents. The company commander needs to live in a tent with the deputy company commander, the three-officer team, and the communications team.

Soon the entire camp was assembled in company units. The soldiers lined up in the small open space reserved outside the company-level camp, while the auxiliary soldiers (medical and cooking) stayed in the tents and did not come out.

Finally, a signal soldier came over and reported to Liu Xinqi:

"The secret sentry discovered that troops in Zhao'an County were out of the city for a night attack and fired a signal flare. The person in charge of the night watch immediately sounded the alarm."

"Do the two brigade commanders know?" Liu Xinqi asked. At this time, the brigade commanders must be commanding in their respective troops and will not come to the Chinese army's tent.

"When I came over to report the news, I saw that Brigadier Liu had arrived at the gate of the camp, and a signal soldier went to notify Brigadier Zhao." the signal soldier replied.

Liu Zhijie was responsible for the first half of the night and was still awake, so his response was faster than Zhao Yinghao.According to the preset anti-night attack measures, Zhao Yinghao should organize troops to gather behind the camp at this time, and not rush to the front with their heads covered.

After listening to the report, Liu Xinqi did not go to the camp gate to cause trouble, but returned to the Chinese army's tent. There were only 5000 people in Zhao'an County, and the night attack was discovered in advance, so there was no big problem.

At this time, a platoon of guards had already assembled and were standing guard outside the tent.

...

"Bah!" "Bah!" "Bah!"

A gun formation more than 100 steps wide fired at the overcoming night raiding army. The night raiding army, which was marching silently, immediately erupted into various screams.

"Bah!" "Bah!" "Bah!"

Less than half a breath later, there was another round of volley fire.

You must know that the first three rounds of guns have a reloading preparation time in advance, and the shooting interval is very small, which can be called "three axes".

After three rounds of volleys of gunfire, the night attack army, which could not see far away, was about to collapse.I only heard the thunderous sound coming from the enemy camp in front, and people fell to the ground in groups on my side, and the splashing blood could be seen in the night.These "militiamen" who were recruited temporarily have never seen such a battle before.

(End of this chapter)