While everything in the south of the Yangtze River has begun to recover, the grass is growing and the orioles are flying, spring in the outer northeast has just begun.
Although the rhododendrons in the wilderness have begun to show smoke before the migratory birds return, the Heilongjiang, Songhua, Nenjiang, and Wusuli river basins are still frozen for thousands of miles, with no sign of thawing. The cold wind from Siberia has not yet receded. The howling cold wind swept through the mountains and fields, bringing up layers of fallen leaves in the mountain forests. However, those who are careful at this time will find that the buds growing on the branches are moving upwards tenaciously, and the buds are about to emerge. Another season of alternation between old and new has arrived!
On the night of March 24, under the unified command of Wu Siyu, the two infantry regiments and two mortar battalions of the Northern Navy stationed on the west bank of the Lafa River were divided into north and south routes. Using the cover of night, they headed towards the south bank of the Namuluga River and Iraq. Advance from the preset attack position on the south bank of the Han River.
Tens of thousands of feet marched quickly on the narrow path in the mountains and forests. No one spoke. Apart from the rapid breathing, the sound of faster and faster footsteps and the clicking and grinding of gravel on the ground could be heard in the team. When each group left Changbai Mountain, everyone's pace immediately became fast.
Xu Funan, the newly appointed cultural instructor of the Second Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 17th Regiment, marched in the team like everyone else, his legs rolling forward like wheels. Breathing heavily, he was carrying not only rifles and bullets, but also dry food bags, backpacks, grenades, water bottles, etc. Although the monitor next to him offered help several times, he refused.
"No, it doesn't matter! Run, just run and get sweaty!" He took the rifle that had been taken away by the other party and put it back on his shoulder, while walking quickly, panting. This move made all the complaints and strange words around him disappear.
Now everyone in the Bei Navy Staff knows that being an adjutant or guard for Zhao Xin is really painful, and Xu Funan has been no exception in the past two years. The boss would often throw his subordinates aside, and then disappear without a trace. When he showed up again a few days later, he was already thousands of miles away.
However, it was not Xu Funan himself who brought up the idea of disbanding the army, but Zhao Xin's opinion. As one of his most trusted subordinates, Zhao Xin felt that he had to let Xu Funan train for a period of time before he could be promoted after having achieved military exploits. After Shen Xuan learned about it, she was a little worried at first, but after three months, she saw that Xu Funan was obviously much stronger after returning from vacation, so she gave up her worries.
Xu Funan's company is a new recruit company. It was only formed last summer, and he has been here since the beginning. Some of the soldiers came from Jiaodong, some from Sichuan and Zhili, and some of them were veterans. After half a year of recruit training, he came to the front line of Lafa River last winter to replace the garrison.
Although he was walking under the stars at night, he could still clearly see that after a winter of training, the team at this time was much more tidy and powerful than half a year ago.
While resting on the way, he stood next to company commander Li Quan and said softly: "Company commander, we feel that our company is much stronger than it was six months ago."
"It's hard to say! Whether it's steel or iron, earth or stone, it all depends on how this battle goes.
"After marching for so long, the soldiers are still in high spirits."
"The Chinese New Year has just passed, everyone is eating fat and fat, so of course they are in high spirits!"
"Xiao Xu, I heard that you went back to get engaged during the Chinese New Year? Is this girl willing to let you go to the front line?"
"What is there to be reluctant to part with?" A playful and beautiful figure appeared in front of Xu Funan's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth in his heart.
"Our Teacher Xu's unmarried daughter-in-law is so beautiful! Just like the fairy in the New Year pictures." A platoon leader next to him suddenly interjected, smiling.
Xu Funan strangled the platoon leader's neck. The guy frowned and twisted his mouth, saying hurriedly: "Ouch~~! I can't stand it! I can't stand it!"
Xu Funan let go, and Li Quan smiled and said, "Xiao Xu, where is your little lady from?"
"Xiangyang, Hubei."
You guessed it right, 19-year-old Xu Funan and 16-year-old Wang Cong'er got engaged years ago. This made Wan Zao's son Wan Haiyang very depressed, but Wang Cong'er didn't look down on the silly boy from the Wan family at all. The whole thing was proposed by Fang Hua and Zhao Xin, who really couldn't stand Wang Conger's mother nagging her all day long, so they pushed around and finally chose Xu Funan.
First of all, Xu Funan's parents are both gone, so he only has one younger brother. Wang Cong'er married and took charge of the family without having to serve his parents-in-law. Furthermore, Zhao Xin and his wife both treated the Xu brothers as their own family members, and Shen Xuan treated the two children as if they were her own. Like his younger brother, Xu Funan also served as Zhao Xin's aide-de-camp. He will definitely not run away when he becomes a general or a prime minister.
Zhao Xin also intends to deepen his relationship with Fang Hua through marriage. This person has been in Beihai Town for many years. He does not compete or grab, he is busy doing things, and he has brought out several students. He is really a rare talent.
Naturally, Xu Funan was absolutely convinced, and Wang Conner also reluctantly agreed. When they were studying in the past, the two often took Wan Haiyang and Xu Shounan everywhere to get into trouble. Many small animals in the mountains around Beihai Town were turned into barbecued meat and entered Wang Conger's stomach, among which Xu Funan was responsible.
Although the two were engaged, because Wang Conger was not yet eighteen and was currently studying at an administrative school in Deli, Zhao Xin and Fang Hua agreed to wait until the other party was over eighteen before holding a wedding ceremony, and Xu Shounan could also take advantage of the opportunity. Let's do some training for the troops during this time.
After more than five hours of long-distance rapid march, Xu Funan's 17th regiment arrived at the predetermined position at dawn. All the Qing checkpoints and fortresses along the way were annihilated by the reconnaissance company that set off early. Amidst the roar of mortar shells and bullets, the Qing army officers and soldiers panicked and made no resistance at all. From time to time along the way, they could see baggage and flags thrown down by the Qing army's retreat.
After the reconnaissance company reached the predetermined position, it advanced another five kilometers in one breath, defeated a Qing army battalion of more than a thousand people, and seized a hill with a wide view.
At nine o'clock in the morning, when the Qing troops on the Jilin defense line were confused and the generals in the city were at a loss, following Wu Siyu's order on the walkie-talkie, thirty-two mortars took the lead in attacking Daxiu La and The Qing army's positions outside Jilin City launched an artillery bombardment, and the thick smoke quickly obscured the daylight of the forts on the Qing army's defense line.
Almost at the same time, Li Rui, who was in charge of commanding the troops on the northern front, also issued an order. Tens of thousands of Northern Navy troops were divided into four groups and rushed directly towards the city of Mergen. When the leading troops of the Northern Navy appeared five miles outside the city of Morgan, the more than 3,000 Qing troops stationed here were all stunned.
"Junmen! The Northern Pirates are already ten miles away from the east of the city. They are coming from all over the mountains and plains. There may be thousands of troops!"
The deputy capital commander, Eledimbu, had the courage to shout angrily: "Nonsense! There are less than 500 pirates in the North Sea in Heilongjiang City. How can there be tens of thousands!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a loud "boom" outside. Eledimbu's legs trembled in fright and he almost collapsed on the chair. In the battle with the Russian army at Karen Mountain, he suffered a lot from the opponent's explosive ammunition.
Not long after, his subordinates came to report that one of the Beihai Pirates' explosive shells landed on the edge of the oar tower at the east gate of the city, killing three Qing army gunners on the spot, and the flying wood chips made the others wailing.
Immediately afterwards, Zuo Ling, who was stationed at the east gate, sent someone to report that thousands of Northern navy troops had appeared three miles away from the east gate. Only then did Eldemubu feel that something was wrong, and hurriedly took his generals and soldiers to the oar tower at the east gate to check.
Like most of the cities built by the Manchus in the Northeast, Mergen City was built with logs as walls, and the middle was filled with rammed earth. The city was divided into an inner and outer city structure, with a circumference of ten miles, and oar towers were built on the wooden walls of the outer city. Used for defense. This kind of city wall can block solid bullets, but it won't work when encountering explosive bullets, let alone the artillery shells of the Northern Navy.
Some people say that the Qing Dynasty could use brick walls, so why must they use wooden walls? Not to mention that this requires a lot of manpower and firewood. Just building a brick kiln and firing bricks is a technical job. In addition, a large amount of manpower must be recruited to build the city wall. It is not something that hundreds or thousands of people can do.
It is said that when Eled Mubu went up to the oar tower, he didn't even need a telescope, and his heart immediately skipped a beat. He saw the northern navy wearing dark green coats dotted in the wilderness from the northeast to the southeast. With his many years of experience in commanding troops, The number of people on the other side is at least 2,000.
At this time, the Qing troops on the city wall were almost scared to death, thinking that the Beihai pirates really thought highly of us. Their prince only used 600 people to fight Rakshasa in Aihui City, but thousands came to fight us!
Eldemubu was about to aim and fire the mighty and invincible general cannons on the two forts at the east gate, when someone else came to report that there were also pirates from the north and west gate.
God! Eldemubu was really panicked now. The Nenjiang River was frozen, and there was no chance of escaping by boat. If he led his men to escape from the south gate, not to mention whether the Northern Pirates would pursue him or not, given the weather, there wouldn't be many left even in Qiqihar.
At this moment, a thought suddenly came to his mind, how about surrendering?
The main reason why he thinks so is that Beihai Town has not treated the border residents of all ethnic groups harshly and treat them equally in recent years. After capturing Heilongjiang City, some of the injured Qing troops were recruited to join the Northern Navy. In addition, he also heard that anyone who resisted and refused to surrender would be sent to the Bitter Leaf Island in the far east to work as coolies after being captured.
Thinking of this, he took two deep breaths to make himself look less nervous, and then looked at the generals around him. Unexpectedly, his subordinates, assistant leaders, and shotgun soldiers were all looking at him eagerly, and their eyes revealed the desire for life...
Finished bird!
On March 26, Eldemubu, the defender of Mergen City and the deputy commander of Manchuria with a blue flag, led more than 3,000 soldiers and civilians in the city to surrender. However, the Northern Navy, which launched the attack, fired artillery from beginning to end. .
On April 5, two battalions of the Northern Navy marched more than 500 miles forward at a speed of fifty miles per day, crossing the still frozen Nenjiang tributaries Numin River and Arun River, and headed towards Qiqihar thirty miles away. Crossing the Nen River in the east, they blocked all the five gates of Qiqihar City with lightning speed.
At this time, the Heilongjiang general stationed here by the Qing court had been replaced by Duerjia. This man had been a prisoner of the Northern Navy in the 50th year of Qianlong's reign, and was later redeemed with gold by the Qing government along with Fukang'an.
Although this person belongs to the clan, he is the grandson of Yongde. Yongde's Ama is the ninth elder brother Yinzhen who made trouble with Yongzheng. So, after returning to Beijing, Qianlong deeply resented his inability to suppress bandits when he was the general of Jilin, and gave Beihai the opportunity to become powerful, so he planned to "hang the prisoner" according to the regulations, handing over to the clan to imprison his children and grandchildren. He was dismissed from his post and sent to serve in the Shengjing Army.
By the way, Duerjia did not end well in history. In the tenth year of Jiaqing's reign, he was ordered by Jiaqing to hang himself in front of his ancestor's tomb because he had embezzled money while serving as minister of affairs in Xining.
Ordinarily, Duerjia should be finished in this life, but who knows that after Fukang'an replaced Qinggui in Jilin, he picked him up and picked him out again. You must know that there are not many senior Qing generals who have fought against Beihai Town and are familiar with the situation in the Northeast. Based on the idea of using waste, Qianlong asked him to perform meritorious service and succeeded Hengxiu, who was also a member of the clan, as the general of Heilongjiang.
Duerjia had no chance of escaping death, and who thought he could turn around, but even so, he was still very upset. After the Northern Navy captured Kulun with a thunderous force the year before last, the Qing army from Qiqihar to Mergen and then to Hulunbuer became panicked all the time. At that time, Duerjia thought that Beihai Town would attack Qiqihar next.
Unexpectedly, after the attack on Khalkha, they suddenly stopped. After that, Fukang'an was transferred to attack Gurkha. At the same time, news came from the capital, which made Duerjia think he had escaped. .
When he learned that the Beihai Navy had blocked all the roads out of the city, he angrily cursed Zhao Xin for not being trustworthy.
For Durga, surrender was out of the question. Not to mention that he was a direct descendant of Nurhaci, he did not dare to surrender even for the safety of his descendants. He immediately ordered the city gates to be strictly guarded, and the forts in the city to stand ready. If the Northern Navy approached, they would fire their guns and cannons.
In addition, he asked his men to demolish several shops and block the four city gates with wood and stones, leaving only the Nanxun Gate in the south. At the same time, the whole city was mobilized, and all men, old and young, were issued bows, arrows, swords and guns, making it clear that all the soldiers and civilians in the city would be buried with him.
There are quite a lot of artillery in Qiqihar, including 27 cannons including four divine and invincible general cannons, and they are also equipped with explosive ammunition produced by the Ministry of Industry. In addition, after losing Ninggu Pagoda, the Qing government trained a large number of gunners in Jilin and stationed them in various garrison cities.
The problem is that the Beihai Navy will not fight head-on. They built a position five miles away from the city gate and then released drones.
How have the soldiers and civilians in Qiqihar ever seen this? The drone buzzed around for several times, immediately panicking the people in the city. Some people were so frightened that they even threw away their swords and guns and knelt down.
They kept kowtowing on the ground. During this period, although Durga ordered his shotgun soldiers to fire at the drone, the range was really limited and Mao couldn't hit it.
On the night of April 6, Duerjia ordered his generals to lead a thousand men out of the city to attack the positions outside the south gate. The result is self-evident. With the help of the eighteen-bead flashlight, the Qing army who attacked at night was defeated by the south gate. The two consecutive beatings were so bloody that they suffered heavy casualties and less than 800 people escaped back to the city.
