Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 488: The 4th Legion, extremely afraid of death, bravely launched an attack on Xiangyang

Chapter 488 The 4th Legion, who was extremely afraid of death, bravely launched an attack on Xiangyang~
Xiangyang City.

The Qing troops on the city walls were on high alert and busy all the time.

because,

The final decisive battle has finally arrived.

On the west side, the flags of the Wu army were faintly visible on the land.

Han River,

Wu army warships also appeared.

……

During this time,

Zheyong lost 30 kilograms and his big face became narrower.

but,

It makes the eyes look bigger.

He inspected the South City.

Looking at Yanshan, he suddenly said:
"Liangshun, you go guard the Yanshan Fort. All the previous grudges will be written off. If we lose Yanshan, we will just die one after another."

"I obey your orders."

Because of his strategic mistake, Emperor Qianlong ordered him to be demoted to the second-class guard of the upper three banners, Liangshun.

At this moment, there was no arrogance or anger on his face as before.

He even knelt on one knee to accept orders from Xiang Zheyong.

Without him,

We are all in the same boat, there is no need to hate each other.

The Qing dynasty fell,
Both of them will die.

……

Yanshan is on the south side of Xiangyang City.

Overlooking Xiangyang City~
The average altitude is over 300 meters.

The Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains and enjoyed a hundred years of peace.

Yanshan only had dozens of soldiers stationed in a dilapidated village for a long time.

At the beginning,

The White Lotus army was able to easily capture Xiangyang not because of their sharp siege skills, but because of their lax defense.

No matter how strong the city is,

Without elite soldiers, scientific firepower deployment, and a resolute mind, the enemy would be defeated in one attack.

[I was a bit hasty in writing about Bai Lian's attack on Xiangyang, and I didn't study the topography and geography around Xiangyang carefully. History and geography should not be separated, so please forgive me, fellow readers~]

……

And 20 miles downstream from Xiangyang, there is Shiwan Village on the south side of the Han River.

The 4th Army set up camp here, along with the 1st Expeditionary Army.

In the central army tent,
Liu Wu pointed his sword at the simple sand table:
"Commander Huang and all the brothers, please look, this is the sand table we spent a whole summer making."

"The Han River flows through the north and east sides of Xiangyang City."

"Yanshan has blocked the infantry brothers' path to attack Xiangyang from south to north."

Huang Si asked:

"It seems that the infantry can't be deployed to attack the city because the battle line is not wide enough. There is only one narrow attack route on the west side."

Liu Wu nodded.

The geographical conditions of Xiangyang City are amazing.

……

Dozens of officers and staff in the tent were discussing the matter.

finally,
Agreed:
"It would be best if the heavy artillery carried by the navy could blow open the city wall."

"If that's not possible, then we can only send out the infantry to attack Yanshan, and use the navy and mixed battalion as a diversion."

Huang Si and Liu Wu whispered for a long time.

Final decision:
Focus on Yanshan!

If we take Yanshan, Xiangyang will be conquered even if it is not taken.

At worst, we can take some time to pull the cannon to the top of the mountain, and then patiently blow up the entire city!

……

Attack the top of the mountain.

The entire 4th Legion looked solemn, and everyone was busy making the necessary preparations.

In addition to the mobile fortress vehicles brought by water transport,

We also have to urgently make various shields~
What’s more important is the mortar!
To attack the top of the mountain, only mortars can be used.

Long-barreled cannons are all in vain~
The artillery officer with his spotter,
From morning to night, observe the terrain on the west side of Yanshan Mountain.

The officers donated all their telescopes for their artillery brothers to use.

This battle,
Artillery is the key!
Only if they stand up can fewer infantry casualties be achieved.

If they behaved in a fragmented manner, the infantry casualties would double.

of course,

The expeditionary force must take the lead.

but,

It would be impossible to attack the top of the hill without the infantry of the 4th Corps keeping up.

……

Fortunately, there is not much vegetation on Yanshan.

Most of the mountains in the Qing Dynasty were bare.

Artillery officers,
The first goal of repeated estimation:
It is a hillside with an altitude of 300 meters belonging to Yanshan - Hutou Mountain.

Hundreds of years later,

There is a TV tower here.
The slope of Hutou Mountain is very steep.

The artillery officers pondered over and over again, where to place the mortars?
How to overcome the slope at these points and quickly create a horizontal surface to place the mortar?

The mortar should be set at a certain firing angle and with a certain amount of explosives to ensure that it can hit the enemy camp.

……

The artillery officers finished their study.
The six infantry company officers who were chosen by drawing lots to carry out the main attack, as well as several battalion officers of the expeditionary force, were called together to discuss the steps and details of the coordinated attack.

The commander of the 1st Battalion of the Expeditionary Force, Zhang Laosan, rolled his eyes when he heard this.
Can't understand!
but,

He could see that these soldiers were extremely afraid of death.

The topic of the argument revolved around how to reduce the number of deaths of soldiers.

I wanted to despise it, but then I thought it seemed like a good thing.

then,

He patiently held a piece of dogtail grass in his mouth and listened to the scriptures.

He noticed,

There was a young officer next to him who was pretending to know everything just like him, with clear stupidity in his eyes.

Lieutenant commander of the mixed battalion - Li Ergou.

Li Ergou has a good understanding, but he is really helpless when it comes to this non-intuitive military knowledge.

His deepest understanding of artillery was the parabolic trajectory of the cannon.

because,

Peeing yourself is also a parabola.

Ergou even thought that the ugly-looking mortar was an evil way.

He had no faith in those weird guys in the 4th Legion.

……

Although the military order from the commander-in-chief of the Huguang Campaign, the Minister of the Army Lin Huaisheng, had arrived for several days.

but,

The 4th Army Corps managed to remain calm under heavy pressure.

He completely ignored General Lin's military order: "We must speed up, capture Xiangyang, and then march south to encircle the Mongolian cavalry."

Concentrate on studying infantry and artillery coordination.

I used dozens of pieces of draft paper and drank bowls of tea.

Four people carried the mortar and practiced climbing the mountain repeatedly.

The service battalion also built a special artillery hoe.

Zhang Laosan watched these unusual soldiers every day and found a hillside with a similar slope to practice sparring and hoeing.
Artificially created horizontal surface
And it's a serious attack.

several times,
Because of the recoil, the mortar and the man on the horse fell over and rolled down the hillside.

In this situation, Zhang Laosan laughed so hard that he cried.
Do not know why,

He always felt that the soldiers in the 4th Corps were not quite normal.

……

The first exploratory attack,
In the evening,
When half of the sun disappears into the horizon, it suddenly unfolds~
Liang Shun, the former second-class imperial guard stationed at Hutou Mountain, looked suspiciously at the mighty Wu army that was approaching.

I muttered to myself:
"Is Wu Zetian out of his mind?"

It is almost military common sense not to fight at night or in rainy days.

Just like a "battlefield of military strategists", it is valuable experience passed down from generation to generation.

Violation,

It cannot be said that failure is certain.

But the failure rate is as high as 99%.

Just like Deng Ai climbing over mountains and attacking Shu Han, even if he did it a hundred times afterwards, he would not be able to replicate the success.

……

The huge 1st Expeditionary Army cannon fodder had no armor and no formation~
Scattered,
A chaotic charge.

There were more than 2000 infantrymen from the 50th Corps mixed among the 4 people.

Charge under the Qing army's artillery fire~
When attacking from above,
They also suffered repeated attacks from the Qing army's matchlock guns and bows and arrows on the top of the mountain.

Corpses rolled down one by one~
Three unarmed infantrymen rushed to the position they had long considered.

One man picked up an engineer shovel and started digging the ground.

"All right."

Another person poured the prepared cement from the wooden bucket he was carrying into the room.

"Put down the cannon hoe."

The iron cannon pick was wedged into the cement-filled pit.

……

The man holding the engineer shovel was about to make slight adjustments to the horizontal position when he was hit on the forehead by a shotgun shell.

The man rolled down the hillside without saying a word.

The other two were stunned for half a second.

Silently adjusted the horizontal position.

Then he shouted:

"withdraw."

The friendly troops in the rear, who had been observing through the telescope, sounded the retreat.

The attack formation was like the ebb tide.

Only more than 100 bodies were left lying quietly on the land still warmed by the sun.

Liangshun looked through the battlements of the fort at the receding black line.

Yelling:

"Why are these bastards here?"

A Green Camp gunner nearby said jokingly:

"Master Qi, these unruly people are here to be beheaded."

"Humph~"

……

Scold after scold,
People of Liangshun's background must be a staunch supporter of the Qing Dynasty and share the same destiny with the country.

Before he returned to the main camp of Yanshan,

He repeatedly checked the fort's defense and told the gunners:

"Use more shotgun shells."

"If you don't have enough lead bullets, just melt them yourself. If that's still not enough, you can use stones."

The gunners looked at the hard-labored stonemasons who were pounding stones and thought to themselves that this was what was going on.

Take local materials.

……

The Qing government had been managing Xiangyang for a long time.

With great painstaking efforts, he built the Yanshan military camp, one large and one small, using stones and glutinous rice and brown sugar syrup.

Hutou Mountain is small, with an area only one-third of the main village.

The garrison has 700 troops from the Northwest Green Camp.

the next morning,

The Qing troops stationed on Hutou Mountain were awakened by the rapid sound of gongs.

I looked up and saw
numb.

The massive Wu army has already formed an offensive formation.

At the front were the soldiers in swords and shields, followed by the infantry in red and black uniforms.

……

A Qing army captain with a dark red face shouted,

excitation:
"Brother, don't panic. We are all born and raised by our parents. We will die if we get shot. They are attacking from above, so we can't use cannons~"

"Master Liangshun said that if you repel the Wu bandits' attack once, you will be rewarded with 1 taels of silver."

A Green Camp gunner asked:
"What if the brothers fought back 10 times?"

"10 taels!"

"Sir, those officials won't default on their debts, right?"

Qian Zong chuckled.
Pointing to Xiangyang City in the distance:

"Didn't pay?"

"If you're one ounce less, I'll take the brothers in the main camp, turn the cannons around, bomb Xiangyang into pieces, and then surrender to Wu."

……

Everyone was excited.

The pre-war preparations were completed in an orderly manner, and the gunpowder and shells were carried to the side of the cannon.

Light the torches one by one~
Silently watching the Wu army below.

The Qing government drew 1200 Green Camp soldiers from the Northwest, and 700 of them were stationed in the Hutoushan military camp.

There has been a long-term war in the northwest.
From the Big and Small Khojas to the Dzungars and horse bandits~
The Northwest garrison has been at war for a long time, and the proportion of veterans is large.

Just like now,

The commander-in-chief seemed full of confidence.

They hid in the sturdy military camp and used cannons, matchlock guns, and bows and arrows to resist the enemy infantry who were climbing up the hill to attack them.

……

"fire."

The shells whizzed down the mountain, and from their high vantage point, their range was greatly increased.

The dispatched troops rushed to the front.

Suddenly, three blood marks were plowed open~
The battalion officers shouted:
"Go ahead."

The sword and shield warriors howled, broke away from the formation and began to charge.

The surrendered soldiers were told that if they encountered cannons, charging forward was the best solution.

The shells will fall behind.

If you retreat in fear,

The 4th Legion will be transformed into the Justice Guard.

This battle,

The cannon cannot bombard enemy forces on the hill, but it can bombard friendly forces.

……

Huang Si nervously held the telescope and stood on a supply cart to observe the battle situation.

He first observed the military camp,

There was white smoke and then a flash of fire.

From the frequency point of view,

I knew the defenders were not new recruits, as they fired at a steady pace.

Looking at the dispatched troops that had already rushed down the mountain,

Scattering and climbing hard~
at the same time,

Arrows from the military camp flew into the air and fell in a parabola.

Many of the defenders were originally camel drivers and horsemen, and they always carried bows and arrows and scimitars with them.

They knew that firearms were more powerful,

But the life-saving skills have not been abandoned.

……

"Fight, win, get the reward, go back home, build a house, get married, and have kids."

Qianzong held his saber in his hand.

Walk around and encourage others.

This time, the court's rewards were more generous than ever before.

Seize the opportunity and earn dozens or hundreds of taels of silver each to return home and improve their lives.

The northwest is barren,

The chances of turning things around are pitifully slim.

Men from the northwest never count on taking the imperial examinations, because the star of literature had long since moved to the south.

Join the army,

It’s the only choice.

……

Submachine guns and large rifles.

At this time, it became a fan-scythe that reaped lives.

Every bombardment caused huge casualties to Wu’s army.

Huang Si's arm holding the telescope trembled slightly, and he could even see the blood mist rising from the hillside.

moment,

He somewhat understood what Wang Jie felt on the city wall of Wuchang.

Fortunately, the Qing army’s artillery casting technology was not up to standard.

1 quarters of an hour later,
The sound of artillery fire was noticeably sparse.

The barrel needs to be cooled down, otherwise it will explode immediately.

good chance!
The 10 carriages that had been waiting for the opportunity rushed out like arrows.

The gunners cracked their whips,
The horse was in pain and ran as fast as it could.
The vehicle was loaded with mortars and shells.

The gunner sat on the edge of the cart.

……

Rushed down the mountain in one breath,

They were divided into groups of four, with the shorter ones in front and the taller ones in the back, carrying the mortar and climbing up the hillside desperately.

Behind,

The gunners carrying shells and powder bags followed closely.

Later,
There was also a group of unarmed soldiers following them to replace the casualties on time.

top of head,

It was bullets and arrows flying everywhere.

The sound of raising the gun was dull and iron sand flew all over the sky.

……

In the military camp,
The commander of the Qian army remained calm during the on-site command:
"Don't panic, one person loads the gun while the other shoots. Aim carefully and shoot, gunpowder is precious."

"Ready your bows and arrows, wait for these cowards to approach, don't show your head and shoot at the sound."

Among a camel driver's eyes, ears, and nose, at least one of them is very sensitive.

otherwise,

They had long been killed by bandits and eaten by wolves in the desert.

Several shirtless gunners covered the barrel of the gun with a thin blanket and slowly poured water on it, with the steam making a hissing sound.

……

on the hill,
The screams were endless.

The bodies kept falling, and the casualties were heavy.
The defeated soldiers have begun to appear!

Even some veteran soldiers of the expeditionary force could not bear such tragic casualties and retreated.

The 4th Legion infantry continued to shoot.

But the effect is weak, the enemy is not stupid, and the area of the exposed battlements is not large.

Especially after the submachine gun cooled down, it became powerful again.

The French cannon was called a mother-and-child cannon in the Qing army.

Fast reload, fast shooting.

Just keep changing the dressing room~
……

at this time,

The mortar finally showed its power.

1 solid bullet fell into the military camp,

Bang~Dang~
Everyone was confused. What was going on?
The general looked up at the sky.
He had been a soldier for six years and had never seen or heard of a mortar, so he was unable to understand where the shell came from.

Was it thrown down by God?

……

After a while,
Two more solid bullets fell from the sky.

Qian Zong's forehead was instantly covered with sweat. He picked up his shield to protect his head and leaned out of the parapet to watch.

Just right,

1 mortar fired,
White smoke gushed out of the muzzle.

He could even see the trajectory of the shell.

The small black dot gradually grew larger and then fell into the military camp behind him.

Amazing movement~
The shell hit the tail of a Type 2 general cannon, and the barrel bounced and rotated, crushing and killing three gunners who were caught off guard nearby.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! The bandits' short cannons."

Qian Zong was anxious.

With a ferocious expression,

Roaring:

"Cannons, muskets, bows and arrows, aim at the short cannons and kill them."

"Aim carefully and roll the stone down."

"Kill them."

……

Both sides were anxious.

Victory or defeat depends on this one move, it depends on who can destroy whom first.

A dozen Qing soldiers pushed a huge angular rock down from the military camp.

No one can stop the rolling momentum.