On February 26, the first year of Guangde, at dawn, about half an hour earlier than originally planned, the Antelope Corps began a general attack on the Jiangxia defenders.
At the beginning of the morning, before dawn, Chief Pu came to Binyang Gate to inspect the battlefield situation.
All Ming army positions and fortresses around Jiangxia were destroyed more than ten days ago. Of the more than 2,000 Ming troops stationed in the outer positions, most of them surrendered to the Qi army, except for a few who died in battle.
Ma Jinzhong sat back and watched the outer positions fall, and did not even dare to go out of the city for rescue. The two waves of Ming troops previously sent to the city to engage in field battles with the Qi army collapsed at the first touch.
Ma Jinzhong still had tens of thousands of troops under his command. He did not pin all his hopes on foreign aid. Instead, he actively prepared for war, raising the city walls and sending more strong men to guard the city.
According to Ma Zongbing’s experience, except for Zuo Liangyu himself, his colleagues in the Northern Expedition are basically unreliable, because over the years, the Ming Army has experienced countless situations where “friendly troops are in trouble and cannot move like a mountain.” occur.
A few days ago, when the Ming army was preparing for a deadly battle and waiting for the Qi army to attack, Pu Gang only sent out refugees to fight.
A group of refugees attacked Binyang Gate every night. Although they were not defeated, they disturbed the Ming army all night;
The other part of the refugees were like tireless ants. The ants filled the trenches, horse pits, and horse troughs that the Ming army had placed under the city in advance, and filled them with flat ground. The mines and cannons on both sides of the trench were cleared by engineers. Also demolished were the densely packed fortification horses and iron caltrops on the ground.
As of before the war began, any carriages and artillery of the Qi army could cross the pontoon bridge on the moat and reach the bottom of the Binyang Gate city wall unimpeded.
This actually means that the Ming army has been defeated.
"let's start!"
As the black flag in the hands of the chief officer of the Antelope Corps was waved down, the general offensive order was given by each battalion officer and each team, and was quickly conveyed to all the soldiers participating in the battle.
Two hot air balloons, which are larger than the carriages, are suspended one thousand meters above the Huangpi River, performing reconnaissance missions.
Among the cotton-like clouds, the hot air balloon seemed like an anchor hook deep into the seabed, firmly controlling the battlefield under the clouds and mist.
This is their home court.
Inside the hanging basket, a lookout wrapped in cotton robes held a telescope, looking like a god through the thin morning fog, overlooking the Jiangxia battlefield from the sky.
Another soldier, also in bloated clothes, was waving a red flag that was longer than himself, trying his best to convey enemy intelligence to the lookouts on the ground.
The rumble of artillery came from below the clouds, as if the whole earth was thundering. The three arms of infantry, cavalry and artillery started almost at the same time, roaring like spring thunder.
Hundreds of artillery pieces on both sides of the Huangpi River poured shells towards the city head of Binyang Gate according to the pre-marked marks.
There was the ear-piercing whistling sound of artillery shells tearing through the air everywhere, and the milky white smoke formed after the artillery fire was like blooming cotton, all over the mountains and plains.
The choking smell of gunpowder smoke spread along the river bank to the south. Soon, everyone's white smoke and pungent smell were blown away by the cold morning wind. The five battalions of the Fifth Corps, totaling 1,500 gunmen, Like ants coming out of their nest, they quickly approached the four gates of Jiangxia in a not dense front.
One thousand pikemen and one thousand sword and shield soldiers formed two tighter phalanxes. These soldiers who used cold weapons and the front row of firecrackers were already in two eras - from a tactical level - following Behind the gunman is the cavalry battalion of the Fifth Corps.
Five hundred cavalrymen with red antelope pennants on their backs galloped out from the rear formation. As they approached the end of the infantry formation, they split into two black torrents, like molten black iron, approaching the two wings of the infantry. He does not participate in siege battles, but is responsible for covering both flanks of the battlefield. Ensure that your own troops will not be suddenly attacked by enemies from both sides during the attack.
The artillery of a battalion was in a position parallel to the Chinese army's tent. They stood still and methodically provided fire support to their comrades in front. A battalion of artillerymen was dispersed around the artillery in a skirmish line to guard against possible attacks from behind.
Two days before the start of the general offensive, Ye Bushou and Tang Ma of the Fifth Corps were all released. Ye Busuo was responsible for scouting the surrounding fifty-mile area, while the sentry horses took Pu Gang's letter of request for help to Henan, Shandong and other places. .
In addition to the staff of the chamber of commerce and workshops who stayed on the south bank, and the two guards standing beside him to protect him, Pu Gang had sent out all the soldiers who could fight.
Just last night, Ye Fushou's investigation revealed that reinforcements from the Ming army appeared in the two directions of Zhudian and Yingcheng. The number was more than 10,000, mainly infantry.
The Ming armies on the east and west sides are approaching, and Jiangxia City is to the south. No matter which way you go, you will face a brutal fight. Of course, you can also flee directly to the north, but retreat is not among Pu Gang's options.
What if we evacuate to the north? Pu Gang knew very well that with Zuo Liangyu's temperament, he would definitely pursue the victory and lead the Ming army to sweep forward.
At that time, the morale was low, let alone whether they could defeat the Ming army. The people of Huguang were affected by the military disaster again. Many places had desolate fields and water conservancy, and they would not be able to recover for three to five years.
After thinking about it for a while, things became simpler in the end.
"Attack with all our strength and capture Jiangxia City before Ming reinforcements arrive!"
Pu Gang and Xing Zhongyi discussed it and decided to immediately start a general offensive to attack Jiangxia City. Only in this way could there be a glimmer of hope.
~~~~
Liu Yi held his rifle, aiming at the footprints of the soldiers in front, and rushed towards the Binyangs.
After Lu Yang's death, Liu Yi decided not to be a guard anymore, so he became the new commander. In this battle on the city, his first battalion was still at the forefront.
Whether it was the artillery of the Qi army or the rifles equipped by ordinary soldiers, their effective range was far beyond that of their opponents, and the battlefield quickly became one-sided.
At the same time, less than forty miles away from the battlefield, the most destructive land artillery "Tyrant" artillery was approaching the Jiangxia battlefield.
The Supreme Emperor hoped to make Zuo Liangyu realize what the true anger of the emperor was.
Daqi's science and technology are constantly innovating, and new technologies will appear every few days. Currently, the workshop's standardized and digital size specification design ideas have been implemented in workshop production. The Tyrant artillery shells have reached an astonishing weight of fifty kilograms and a range of It can reach up to three thousand meters. With one shot, she can overturn half the county government.
Thanks to the further development of workshop technology, the current straight-line gun mount structure has been eliminated, and the gun-bearing part and the ground-resisting part are angled so that more recoil force can be transmitted to the ground.
The pitching mechanism uses thread technology, which allows the gunner to adjust the angle more accurately during shelling and improve the hit rate of shelling.
~~~~~~
At the Yunmeng County government office, Deng Changxiong, the commander of the Second Corps, put down an emergency newspaper with a gloomy expression on his face.
"Why did so many Ming troops suddenly come?"
"Zuo Liangyu is ambushing around, and a lot of friendly troops have come. Even the artillery regiment has been transferred from Henan. There is also a cavalry battalion that went to Liaodong for reinforcements. They turned around and went to Jiangxia. I heard from their chief officer. The Fifth Corps is still holding on in Jiangxia! Let them go to reinforce us."
"Reinforcements?"
Deng Changxiong was puzzled and muttered in a low voice.
"Where are their trainers? Are you just doing this?"
"Forget it, there is still fighting in the south, and there are still our Daqi people. I, Deng Changxiong, will go and help out first!"
Deng Changxiong stood up and called the training officer, and the two began to study the next blocking battle.
To the west of Jiangxia, in the town of Macaomiao, the resolute Wang Zengbin said with surprise after listening to the report of the sentry horse:
"You mean, the entire Jianghan Plain is in chaos?"
The sentry horse replied: "Yes, there are at least five armies of partial divisions. Some of them, like us, originally went to fight in the north, but now they are fighting against the Ming army. They are intertwined. The Ming army we encountered today is Those who came from Xianning seem to be going to Jiangxia. There is news that General Pu was surrounded as soon as he entered the city..."
"The cavalry regiment cannot be idle. Liaodong is guarded by the navy and three main regiments, which are enough to knock out Zheng Chenggong's eggs. Let the battalion officers come to discuss the matter immediately. The cavalry must rush to the front at any time. We cannot fall behind."
"General Wang, do you want the instructor to come and observe?" the ordering soldier asked cautiously.
"No need, the military situation is urgent, so he will observe as a training officer."
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