Chapter 270 Hong Chengchou’s Ability
Just when Hong Chengchou ordered the mobilization of reinforcements, a messenger rushed over: "Military seat, something bad has happened. Thousands of officers and soldiers launched an attack from the west city."
Hong Chengchou did not panic, because before he came, he had thought that the army could launch an attack from the south city, so the west city, which was the same city wall, must also be within the attack range, so he asked Yuan Shizhong to lead a brigade of troops to stand by on the street near the west city. , ready to support Xicheng at any time.
"Has Commander Yuan gone?"
"Go back to the military seat. Commander Yuan has already led his troops."
Hong Chengchou knew that Yuan Shizhong had been in the army in Liaodong for a long time. He was also a survivor of the Saarhu War. His combat capabilities were not simple. Moreover, the number of officers and soldiers launching a large-scale attack in front of them was only around 20,000 to 30,000. If they wanted to It was absolutely impossible to enter Songjiang without anyone noticing. The only thing that made sense was that Chen Cao's pursuers were right behind them.
Moreover, there could not be many soldiers in this group. Therefore, Hong Chengchou seasonedly judged that the number of officers and soldiers attacking Xicheng would not exceed five thousand at most, and a brigade under Yuan Shizhong was enough to defend Xicheng.
The only difficulty is Nancheng, which is right in front of me.
"Come here, pass on my military order. Go to the magistrate's office immediately and tell Mr. Huang to mobilize the young men in the city to come to Nancheng to defend the city. If Huating falls, I will kill him first to sacrifice the flag."
Such cruel words can only be said by Hong Chengchou, a military commander with a civilian background, and Huang Shijing can be regarded as a veteran cadre of Chen Cao after all. Hong Chengchou, a civilian veteran, naturally has no reason to resist.
What's more, Chen Cao had long ago changed the Ming Dynasty's rules that civilian officials were responsible for the overall situation during wartime. Instead, the military commander was the command center and civilian officials were responsible for cooperation. If Huang Shijing did not cooperate with Hong Chengchou, there would be no need to go to a military court after losing Huating. It would not be an exaggeration for Hong Chengchou to kill him directly.
There is a railway connecting Huating to Shanghai at the east gate. The messenger who went to Shanghai to dispatch the 15th Division for rescue had already left on a steam train. By the time the 15th Division arrived at Huating, it would only be before noon at most.
Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou took a deep breath, looked at the bright sky, and said: "Go and ask the people from the Nancheng Inspection Department to organize manpower immediately to move all the people in Nancheng to Beicheng, and immediately... "
"Military, be careful..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a throwing spear was stuck upright on the wooden railing at the feet of Hong Chengchou. The tail of the throwing spear was still trembling back and forth with the inertia.
Hong Chengchou didn't even look at it, but he picked up the telescope and looked at the increasingly larger gap in the left city wall. All he could see was the fire and the soldiers of Shence who had been shot and fell to the ground. The officers and soldiers were under such violent fire. Under the blow, he actually kept charging forward with his shield upright.
"I'm afraid this is not the Beijing camp's troops."
"Military seat..." The messenger was a little flustered: "The gap is too big and the fire is too fierce. The 73rd Regiment cannot stop it."
Hong Chengchou had already seen it from the telescope, so he put down the telescope and shouted coldly: "Send the order, the 75th and 77th regiments will immediately fill up. Even if they fight to the last man, they will have to stop them. There will be two more reinforcements." You can arrive in an hour.”
Two hours are too many. According to the current speed of steam trains, as long as the 15th Division in Shanghai is ready to go, the first batch of reinforcements will arrive in an hour, which is half an hour.
The current steam train cannot transport the troops of one division at a time, but it is more than enough to transport the troops of two regiments.
Hong Chengchou didn't dare to lose Huating. There were railways connecting Shanghai County and many military factory branches that were moved here. If Huating was lost, he could imagine that Chen Cao would dismiss him from his position. This would put all the pressure on him. Gamblers who gambled have no way to gain a foothold here with Chen Cao, so they can only surrender to the court and become a slave of the third surname.
However, as the commander of an army, he would naturally not have such an idea, otherwise his choice to surrender to Chen Cao regardless of his own interests would be in vain. In his view, the future battlefields will be replaced by firearms, and the old-fashioned kind of imperial court His tactics can no longer adapt to the current battlefield.
"Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang..."
"Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang..."
"Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang..."
Liu Chuanfu had already used up the 40 rounds of spare ammunition he carried. His 73rd regiment now had less than 300 people left. Facing the wolf-like tiger-like officers and soldiers, they pounced on them desperately. With red eyes, he stabbed the bayonet into the body of an officer and army commander who rushed up. Then he was slashed in the neck by his opponent, and blood burst out.
It had only been three months since he joined the Shence Army as a refugee. At home, his wife, children and mother were making money in a workshop in Shanghai County. At this moment, after blood was pumped from his neck, his eyes gradually became distracted. Then, suddenly, the figure of his youngest son appeared in front of him. Waved to him, he felt sorry for his youngest son the most. His lifelong regret was that he starved to death halfway along the way from Shaanxi...
"My baby...Daddy..."
There are countless unknown refugees like Liu Chuanfu in the 73rd Regiment, and every family's experience is different. However, the leader of the regiment, Song Xingfu, was a squad leader of the Dingwu Army. Seeing that Liu Chuanfu, whom he often took care of, has fallen dead, he hates them. Shi threw the exploded flintlock gun in his hand to the ground, picked up a Yan Ling knife that fell at his feet, and slashed at his opponent violently.
After the Seventy-fifth Regiment joined the battle, they were able to block the gap in the city wall on the left. However, the fierce guardsmen in front of them shouted slogans and rushed into the battle group. The battlefield between the two sides gradually moved from the opening of the city wall to the city.
Finally, as far as Hong Chengchou could see, the officers and soldiers rushed into the city for the third time, and started a fierce street battle in Nancheng, right next to the famous residence on the square wall.
Hong Chengchou pulled out the issued pistol, and then shouted: "Reserve team, military guard regiment directly under the army, follow me to kill the enemy..."
Hong Chengchou, who was a civil servant, first studied politics in Zhejiang during the Ming Dynasty. After accidentally following Chen Cao, he moved to fight in various parts of Liaodong. His experience in commanding on the battlefield was also learned from Liaodong, and he became a member of the New Army. After growing up, he went to the Officer Academy to continue learning new tactics. At this moment, he can be regarded as the first civilian commander to personally command.
With Hong Chengchou's personal participation, the street fighting in Nancheng that had spread to the city was now in full swing. Among the left soldiers who finally broke into the city, only Jin Shenghuan and Ma Jizhong were fighting with Hong Chengchou. The remaining soldiers were all in the city. Everyone set fire to and looted.
Those people who had no time to evacuate became the target of the left soldiers to vent their anger, and some even committed adultery and adultery on the battlefield where gunfire was everywhere. For a time, the southern city of Huating became a Shura field with no regard for others.
Yuan Shizhong never thought that all those attacking Xicheng would be cavalry. When he led his troops to Xicheng, the less than two-meter square wall was directly breached by the first round of impact from the opponent's cavalry. Although it was blocked for a while, But those thousands of cavalrymen had already charged into two or three thousand.
Yuan Shizhong had no choice but to put the cavalry into the West City, and then sent troops to guard various street openings in the West City, blocking the cavalry in the West City, so that they could not rely on the horse power to charge and kill in the city.
Obviously, Yuan Shizhong, who had been a general in the Liaodong border army for a long time, was also very good at dealing with cavalry. Therefore, after Xicheng was broken through, he could only leave Xicheng alone, concentrate his troops on various street openings in Xicheng, and widely spread iron caltrops to resist horses. , completely blocking them in Xicheng.
"Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Nancheng has been breached, and the military commander has personally gone into battle to fight with the enemy in the streets of Nancheng."
After receiving the news, Yuan Shizhong took a deep breath. He couldn't separate any soldiers here. Facing the cavalry, his brigade was still stretched thin and it was really impossible to separate the troops.
"Go back and tell the military commander that the west city is full of cavalry and we dare not divide our troops."
Although Yuan Shizhong had no reinforcements, two civil servants, the prefect Huang Shijing and the county magistrate Liu Wenzheng, personally brought together the prefecture and county officials and recruited young men, almost a thousand people, to Nancheng, because Hong Chengchou had issued a strict order beforehand. They are co-prosperous with the city.
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
'Bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...bang bang bang...'
"Tiger Crouching Cannon..."
"ignition..."
"The Shenwu Cannon is ready to fire..."
The artillery unit of the Shence Army was somewhat wary because of the previous wall. However, street fighting has begun in Nancheng, and most of the people have moved to the north city. Some of the remaining people have been killed and injured, so the artillery unit After receiving orders from Hong Chengchou, artillery was now set up in the city and bombarded the Zuo soldiers who were still pouring into the south city.
Zuo Liangyu saw such a brave army outside the city, rushing into Nancheng despite a hail of bullets. He immediately smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, and then ordered: "Attack the whole army, crush them, and rob..."
The last sentence is the key, and being able to rob is the motivation for them to fight.
In the end, the five thousand reserve troops, led by Zuo Liangyu, personally rushed into the Nancheng and joined this huge battle group. With the loud sound of artillery fire, they actually blocked Zuo Liangyu's troops in the Nancheng. go ahead.
However, Zuo Liangyu, who had already rushed into Nancheng, did not restrain his men at all and allowed them to loot as much as they wanted, so as to arouse the combat effectiveness of the soldiers.
After all, their opponents were all armed with firearms, and they had already suffered huge casualties during the attack. If they were not allowed to loot at will, they would have lost their morale to continue after this battle.
This is the case for the guardsmen. Only huge rewards and incentives can unleash their combat effectiveness. Otherwise, with ordinary fighting will, these guardsmen will inevitably suppress the troops after paying thousands of casualties at the beginning. The whole army was defeated.
