Chapter 297 Attacking Zhenjiang II
Li Shouye looked at the retreating artillery and felt overjoyed. He was at least a mile away from the rebel infantry. At this time, he could quickly destroy their artillery position.
After paying the price of nearly a thousand casualties, Li Shouye finally rushed to the artillery position. There were many ammunition boxes next to the red Shenwu cannons. However, they could only destroy them with fire. The medicine exploded.
It was during this period that most of the First Division had pressed forward, another volley of musketry was fired, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.
"At least thirty cannons were lost..."
Chen Cao put away the telescope: "Send an order to the First Division not to pursue, but to defend to the death. The Northern Army will definitely come again."
Abandoning the artillery array was just an illusion given by Chen Cao to Xu Chengqing. The main purpose was to make him relax his vigilance about his artillery. Although the Shenwu artillery was lost, the twenty P-1 field artillery brought with him were unscathed and quiet. Stay behind the army.
Not long after, Chen Cao received the battle damage report.
"Thirty-seven Shenwu artillery pieces were lost. The first division lost more than 100 people, and more than 500 people were injured. They are being treated. At least a thousand cavalrymen of the Northern Army were killed, and more than a thousand horses were captured in front of the formation. , and captured more than a hundred people.”
"I wonder how the battle is going over there in Tang Kainian?"
.
Forty miles north of Danyang City, Lijiaji
There is no highland woodland around Lijiaji, but there are many woods on its east and south sides. Coupled with the river, it is absolutely impossible to set up an ambush in Lijiaji.
It is precisely because of this that Xu Shiji led the army to march without any defense at this time. When passing the river bridge south of Lijiaji, Longwu's army came out from the southeast and caught Xu Shiji off guard.
Most of the 50,000 Northern troops were still gathered at Li's house, and Xu Shiji was also resting at Li's house. Their marching speed could reach Danyang City before dark, but they never expected that they would stumble here.
"Sir, the only way is to break out from the north and let's go back to Dantu."
A general came over. The sound of artillery and gunfire outside Lijiaji made the guardsmen like them unable to raise their heads at all.
Xu Shiji sat with a cold face on the steps of the inspection office in Lijiaji. He was ordered to rescue Danyang. If the army did not arrive, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Each battalion immediately organized its troops and must rush south."
It was not until the news of the destruction of the southern river bridge reached Xu Shiji's ears that Xu Shiji, who was full of confidence, felt that this rescue operation south to Danyang was probably not feasible, and suddenly felt that the future was bleak.
"Charge to the death?"
All the generals looked horrified, but Xu Shiji, who proposed the plan, had a serious look on his face, not joking at all.
"Our army went south and was blocked by the rebels here. However, it also dispersed the rebel forces and reduced the pressure on the commander-in-chief. However, judging from this, there is actually no benefit to both sides;
The Duke's order is to stick to Zhenjiang, but now the rebels have arrived in Danyang, and the general's letter for help must have been sent to Nanjing. We must rush to Danyang to join the general in any case. "
General Zhang Gonghao stepped out and clasped his fists: "At the end of the day, I would like to lead our troops as the vanguard of the breakout."
Xu Shiji looked up at Zhang Gonghao, and then clapped his hands: "No matter the outcome of this battle, I will definitely personally ask the Duke for credit."
Although it is a guard army, its organizational structure is based on that of a town army. Zhang Gonghao has more than 5,000 men, which is enough to serve as a vanguard for a breakout.
"I will allocate another two thousand troops to you to help you break out."
Although the Longwu Army did not change their rifles, the powerful flintlock rifles were simply deadly weapons for this backward army who still fought with cold weapons.
The river bridge at Lijiaji in the south was cut off. Zhang Gonghao's men brought long logs to build a river bridge. A unit of the 11th Division of the Longwu Army blocked the enemy from the front. Although countless arrows and spears flew from the north, the troops of the 11th Division still remained. It caused huge damage to Zhang Gonghao's men who were trying to build a river bridge.
The first wave of thousands of troops went up, but only a hundred people came back, and the remaining 900 people were all dead or injured by the river.
However, Xu Shiji had already said that this was a desperate charge. Faced with such severe casualties, Zhang Gonghao's men couldn't help but react strangely. If Zhang Gonghao hadn't promised a heavy reward and distributed a lot of property in front of the battle, it would have been his men. It is impossible to make another impact at all.
The 12th Division is located southwest of the river bridge. Forty tiger crouching artillery pieces that have been eliminated for a long time are set up in front of the position. This kind of close-combat artillery within 20 steps is only suitable for this kind of position blocking battle.
Naturally, Xu Shiji could not only choose to cross the river at one place. After all, it was a large force of 50,000 people. Even Zhang Gonghao crossed the river from the Zhengnan River Bridge, and other troops also had to go sideways.
"The Northern Army has artillery..."
Tang Kainian was watching the battle from a distance of the Chinese army, and was startled when the sound of cannons coming from far and near came.
Then the forward position of the 11th Division was covered by artillery, and gunpowder smoke suddenly filled the battlefield.
Xu Shiji's army had artillery, which was supplemented by Nanjing. As Xu Chengqing's deputy general, Xu Shiji guarded the Dantu Jiangkou area and obtained artillery earlier than Xu Chengqing. Even Xu Chengqing's artillery in Danyang City was also transported from Dantu.
Thirty general cannons, fifteen red barbarian cannons, and ten red barbarian cannons imitated by Wang Gong Factory, totaling fifty-five cannons, which were considered powerful firearms. However, Tang Kainian had never known this configuration before.
The Longwu Army moved north to intercept. In addition to the Tiger Crouching Cannon, the entire army carried thirty Shenwu Cannons, as well as grenades and other items carried by each unit.
"I'm so careless..."
Tang Kainian put down his telescope and said, "Send artillery up immediately to support the 11th Division's forward positions."
Mangui was on the position of the Twelfth Division. He was startled by the explosion of artillery in the southeast. As a precaution, he immediately ordered the Twelfth Division to withdraw its forward position one mile to clear the river: "Send the order, The grenadier enters the trench, and if the Union army moves, it must be intercepted.”
When Xu Shiji reported that the rebels in the southwest were retreating, he immediately laughed and said: "The rebels don't know we have artillery, huh..."
'Dong dong dong...'
Accompanied by large-scale artillery fire, Longwu Army's artillery positions bombarded the Li family center indiscriminately, and the two sides began a large-scale artillery battle.
Zhang Gonghao drew his knife and shouted: "Kill...cross the river..."
..
"They didn't take action?"
Chen Cao suddenly frowned. The destruction of the artillery array did not attract Xu Chengqing to send troops to attack in a large scale.
Huang Chunyao walked into the big tent. He had just returned from the forward observation post: "The students looked at the reaction of Danyang City. Except for the fact that there were people entering and exiting the trench in front of the city gate, there was no movement at all by the Northern Army;
Sir, maybe we made a wrong judgment. "
'Snapped...'
Chen Cao slapped the sand table in front of him hard: "Damn it, I thought wrong...
Ma Dexu Chengqing's purpose is to stick to Danyang and ensure that the east of Nanjing is not lost. There must be only one military order for him from Nanjing, and holding Zhenjiang is the top priority. "
Song Che raised his head and said: "They know that our army's artillery is sharp, so they will definitely be afraid of it. Xu Chengqing sent cavalry out to destroy our artillery array regardless of the consequences. The purpose is to ensure that Danyang City will not be bombarded."
When several people said this, Chen Cao suddenly felt that he had lost all his blood this time and destroyed thirty-four Shenwu cannons. He originally wanted to use this to stimulate Xu Chengqing to send troops to take the initiative to attack, but unexpectedly he thought the other way around. Xu Chengqing's purpose was to defend Zhenjiang. , only to block Chen Cao's march to Nanjing, and there was no order to take the initiative.
What's more, he suffered a big loss with artillery in Changzhou Prefecture, and he will definitely not take the initiative to attack again. After destroying the artillery, he can better guard against the intensity of Chen Cao's troops during the attack. Without the support of most artillery, he can defend Danyang. The opportunities are also much greater.
The atmosphere in the big tent was a little tense, because this plan to show weakness to the enemy was thought up and executed by Chen Cao himself. Unexpectedly, he shot himself in the foot.
Upon seeing this, Huang Chunyao broke the embarrassment and said seriously: "Since Xu Chengqing is unwilling to go out of the city to fight with our army, then our army does not need to take the initiative to attack the city;"
As he spoke, Huang Chunyao pointed to the sand table: "Isn't it also a good thing to eat the reinforcements of Dan disciple Xu Shiji?"
After waking up the dreamer, Chen Cao immediately became energetic. Since Xu Chengqing did not follow the routine, he chose other targets: "How is the battle situation over at Lijiaji?"
"There is no news yet, my subordinates have sent more than a dozen groups of people over." Zhao Xin interjected from the side.
"If Xu Chengqing wants to hold on to Danyang, then let him hold on. Let's go north to Lijiaji to gather reinforcements."
Chen Cao said loudly: "This old guy didn't play according to my routine, causing me to lose so many divine weapons in vain."
Xu Fuyuan circled around Lijiaji and said, "You can let the Tang army commander divide his troops to immediately surround Lijiaji, and then set up blocking positions along the way for the Wu army. Xu Chengqing will rescue them and then encircle them for reinforcements. If they don't rescue, our army will slow down." Slowly eating up the 50,000 Dantu reinforcements from Lijiaji, the students thought that Xu Chengqing would not be able to sit still."
Chen Cao also looked at the terrain around Lijiaji: "The two places are forty miles apart and can be reached within a day. Xu Chengqing must have been unable to sit still after getting the news that Xu Shiji was besieged. If the troops are divided for rescue, there will be no rescue over there. When the city is attacked, I will only send reinforcements and not rescue him. Hehe, I will capture Xu Shiji and show off his power under Danyang City."
The action on Chen Cao's side started immediately. When Xu Chengqing got the news and was still amusing himself for deceiving Chen Cao, the news that Xu Shiji was besieged by Li Jiaji was brought to Danyang City by the dead soldiers.
"They want to surround the site and call for reinforcements."
This is what Xu Chengqing said after studying it for a long time.
According to his research on Chen Cao's army, pure firearms troops can definitely crush their opponents when faced with the same strength of both sides. Although Xu Shiji's troops have added many firearms, their overall strength is never a match for the rebels.
Li Shouye raised his head: "Sir, we can follow the same plan. The general will lead the cavalry to disrupt them, and the reinforcements will go north to rescue them."
