For the North Navy, attacking Shengjing City is really not difficult militarily. The troublesome thing is to minimize civilian casualties.
The time to launch the general offensive was set at 4:15 in the morning on the sixth day of August, which is when people are most trapped and relaxed. At half past two o'clock, the leading battalions of each regiment, which were responsible for the main attack, entered the planned attack position and lurked under the cover of night.
In the past few days, the Eastern Front troops and Qing army sentries have fought many times. In the eyes of ordinary people, the Eight Banners armored soldiers with superb martial arts skills were not enough to meet the scouts composed of Ewenki and Daur people, and suffered heavy losses. As a result, the Qing army no longer dares to send people out of the city at night.
"Let's get started." Deng Fei looked at his watch and saw that the time was up.
Zhao Xin nodded noncommittally, and under the eager eyes of everyone in the headquarters, he took a sip of the warm tea, then picked up the walkie-talkie on the table and gave the order to start the attack.
"Tum!", "Tum!", "Tum!"
Several red flares rose from the dark night sky, illuminating the dark earth. This kind of scene is no longer strange to the Qing troops stationed on the city walls and outside the city gate of Shengjing; the Qing troops on night duty on the city wall just looked up and muttered, not even bothering to gong. knock.
On the first night of harvesting sorghum, the Eastern Front Command requested that flares be used. Although the frontline troops did not understand the command's intention, they still complied. Sure enough, when the Qing army first started, they thought the Northern Navy was going to attack the city, so gongs rang loudly on the city walls. No one dared to sleep all night. However, it only lasted for three days, and the Qing army couldn't bear it any longer. By daylight, each of them looked like a black-eyed rooster, with two dark circles under their eyes.
The first to attack was the artillery. The Eastern Front Command split the two 75mm artillery battalions and the 122 howitzer battalion directly under the headquarters and deployed them in the east, north, and west directions of Shengjing City. The positions were only two kilometers away from the city wall. When the artillery company commanders from various places gave the order to fire, thirty-six 75mm field guns and eighteen 122 guns fired directly at the Wengcheng at Fujinmen, Fushengmen and Waipengmen. Since the azimuth scales of each target had been measured in advance, there was no test firing at all.
The entire city of Shengjing suddenly became shaken by the earth and the mountains, and the shells roared one after another, fierce and dense, like thunder and rain rolled down by a blazing storm. Bricks and stones collapsed, crenels exploded, limbs were torn apart... the whole city was shaking and shaking. Red and green tracer bullets flew wildly on the city wall like meteors, smoke followed by smoke, flame after flame, raging on the city wall, blinding people's eyes.
In the light and shadow of the flames, purple-black mixed with red and black, the smell of gunpowder smoke, burnt smell, blood smell, dust smell, turbid and unpleasant smells invaded the mouths and nostrils of the defenders, and everyone was helpless. Coughing, sneezing, and even being choked to the point of being unable to breathe.
One hundred and sixty-three years ago, that is, the fifth year after Jin Tiancong, Huang Taiji ordered the reconstruction of Shengjing City. The Shenyang Acropolis wall built during the Ming Dynasty was made of bricks on the outside and earth on the inside. After reconstruction, it was built on stone, with both inner and outer walls made of bricks and tamped earth in the middle. The height of the city wall increased from the original two feet and five feet to three and a half feet, and the wall thickness was one foot and eight feet. There were eight gate towers, four turrets, and 651 crenellations.
At the eight city gates, there are concave-shaped urns built, the height of which is the same as the height of the gate tower base. The front is closed, and the two sides are connected to the city wall, with an arched door on each side. In order to prevent attacks by battering rams and other weapons, the gates on both sides of the barbican are not in the same straight line as the gates they protect.
Three years later, Huang Taiji personally issued an order to name the eight city gates, with Manchu script on the outside and Chinese script on the inside. As the saying goes, "The blessings of heaven are received from above, and the blessings of the earth are carried down from the bottom. We cultivate civility and governance internally, fight off military troubles externally, appease the people we have gained, be gentle to the tribes outside, and create great merits."
When the bombardment lasted ten minutes, the attacking troops, who had been preparing for the attack, were dispatched. Under the cover of machine gun fire, they carried the assault boat that had been inflated in advance, ran quickly along the roads at various gates, and arrived at the moat in a blink of an eye.
The moat in the outer city of Shengjing was also re-excavated under the order of Huang Taiji, and it was re-cleaned in the first few years. The river is nearly fifty meters wide and three meters deep, and connects to the Hun River from the north to the south.
Su Wan's 3rd Battalion and 3rd Company of the 17th Regiment served as the assault company to attack Xiaoximen. Under the leadership of company commander Xu Jian, more than 100 of them used engineer shovels as oars and paddled desperately, ten black rubber boats It only took the boat a minute to cross the moat. At this time, the artillery fire of the Northern Navy had extended to both sides of the Wengcheng. Xu Jian ordered a platoon to stand under the city and shoot at the collapsed Wengcheng tower. Another platoon took cover behind them. After all this was done, a squad responsible for blasting the city gate brought explosives. Bao came to the coupon hole outside the arched door on the east side.
This ticket hole is the same as other city gates. The inside is made of azurite bricks, and the joints are made of glutinous rice egg white ash. The surface is painted tightly. The inner city gate is nearly five meters wide, and is made of thick wood inside and outside. Board covered with iron sheet and covered with nails.
"adhesive tape!"
Following the squad leader's order, several soldiers took out the tape and stuck two ten-kilogram packs of explosives firmly near the middle of the two doors. The sound of the tape being ripped off was extremely harsh in the empty coupon hole. . When everything was ready, the two soldiers opened the firing tube, and then everyone retreated outside the door.
"hidden!"
30 seconds is neither short nor long. Su Wan was half-crouched on the slope of the moat, holding a machine gun and shooting towards the turret. He was so addicted that he didn't pay attention to the reminder behind him. He only heard a loud noise behind him, and a shock wave immediately knocked him to the ground. Here comes a mouth chewing mud. Immediately afterwards, countless pieces of gravel, sawdust, and iron pieces whizzed past his head.
Previously, through drone reconnaissance, the troops already knew that the Qing army blocked the Wengcheng gate with sandbags and logs, so a full 20 kilograms of ammonium nitrate explosives were used for the blast.
When the smoke cleared, two soldiers from the demolition squad took out their large flashlights and looked into the cave. They saw that the two city gates wrapped in iron sheets were in pieces, with only a few broken wooden boards left hanging on the door shafts. The blockages behind the city gate have disappeared.
"Charge!" Following the platoon leader's order, a dozen soldiers passed through the city gate and soon arrived at the urn city. There is a small temple under the urn at Xiaoximen, which is close to the base of the urn wall. It is the Zhenwu Temple dedicated to the Xuantian God.
Speaking of which, Beihai Town has a close relationship with Emperor Zhenwu. When they first attacked Fuldan City, the migrant workers discovered a basalt statue in the Suifen River Valley. Although Liu Sheng prohibited burning incense and worshiping at that time, he also punished Jiang Tenglin for this. However, when Fuldan City grew in size, the Xuanwu statue became a local sight. Since then, there have been rumors among the people in Beihai Town that Zhao Xin is the reincarnation of Emperor Xuanwu.
But for Xu Jian and his soldiers, no one has the intention to go to the temple to worship gods at this time. There is a city gate not far away that is about to explode!
At this moment, more than a dozen pine oil torches were suddenly thrown down on the walls on both sides of the Xiaoximen Gate Tower and the Wengcheng. Then dozens of Qing soldiers, holding muskets and bows and arrows, fired at the Wengcheng indiscriminately, and even fired at the Wengcheng. Someone lit a gourd filled with gunpowder and iron sand and threw it down.
"Machine gun cover! Su Wan! Where are you dead!"
"Here it is!"
While he was talking, Su Wan, who was covered in dirt, ran over with a machine gun in his arms. He stood in the darkness at the corner of the doorway, raised the machine gun and hit the outer gate tower. The trajectory of the red tracer bullet was like an electrified whip, hitting the gate. The blue bricks at the crenels were filled with fire. Soon, two more machine gunners climbed onto the roof of Zhenwu Temple, lay on it and joined in the shooting. The Qing army behind the crenel suffered heavy casualties in an instant.
The Qing troops behind the city wall no longer dared to show their heads. Whoever showed his head would die. They could only ignite the few flying thunders in their hands and then throw them down aimlessly.
"Boom!" After the flying thunder exploded, there was a puff of smoke.
"Whoa!" That was iron sand flying around after the explosion.
"Boom!" A grenade was thrown onto the city wall.
Seeing that the Qing army's counterattack was suppressed, the demolition squad rushed forward again. The same operation, the same thirty seconds, this time Su Wan heard the prompt, but because he was standing at the door of Wengcheng, the echo caused by the huge explosion almost shattered his eardrums. This guy is not stupid, but stunned. He has a single-threaded thinking and only focuses on the one thing in front of him.
The city gate was blown open. Xu Jian used the walkie-talkie to report to the battalion commander. Then he rushed forward with his men and arrived at the small cross street in a blink of an eye.
The dark night sky began to turn white, and the figures on the streets became faintly visible. The North Korean navy's bombardment stopped as several city gates were opened. However, as a large number of follow-up troops crossed the moat and entered the city, the sound of gunfire and shouts of death were instead heard. Intensifying.
Xu Jian led his men down to the city tower. Dead and wounded Qing soldiers and civilian soldiers were lying everywhere, and there was no place to put their feet.
"Attention! There is someone in the gate tower!"
A soldier heard movement in the gatehouse and immediately issued a warning. The people from the second platoon of the third company quickly gathered around, and the leader of the second platoon shouted: "Come out! Put down your weapons! Put your head in your hands!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the remaining Qing troops in the gatehouse responded with two strange cannons loaded with shotguns. As the fire suddenly appeared, two strange cannons that looked like large shotguns sprayed out more than thirty rounds of iron bullets. The two soldiers of the Third Company closest to the door were injured and fell to the ground. Immediately afterwards, more than twenty Eight Banners armored soldiers armed with swords and guns, led by the gatekeeper Zuo Ling, rushed out howling. Su Wan shouted "I'll do it", and after a round of shooting, a pile of corpses lay at the door.
The company's health worker ran to the soldier who was shot. After examination, it was found that one of the soldiers had been shot through the shoulder and there was no major problem; the other was disabled. He had been shot in the abdomen and his intestines were exposed. He had to be sent out of the city for treatment immediately.
Xu Jian ordered the second platoon to clean the gatehouse to see if there were any living enemies. He also arranged for personnel to escort the wounded out of the city. Then he walked to the city wall and raised his binoculars to observe inside the city.
At this time, large troops of the Northern Navy had entered the city one after another from Waihuang Gate. The first few hundred people who came in quickly ran south along the roots of the city wall. Their goal was to block the Tianyou Gate and Desheng Gate in the south, thereby completing the attack on Sheng Sheng. The inner city of Beijing was completely surrounded.
The field of view of the telescope ranges from near to far. More than a hundred meters east of Xiaoximen, there is a large-scale temple. Figures are constantly running in panic. The temple is also crowded with people. Xu Jian thought for a while, and then ordered the first and second platoons to stay at the city gate, while he took the third platoon over to take a look. When he came to the mountain gate of the temple, he saw a large archway standing outside. Because the sky is dim, you can see the four characters "Longevity without Borders" written on the plaque above.
He really came to the right place. About 300 remnants of the Qing army and bannermen who had escaped hid inside. These people were scared out of their wits and were kneeling in front of the main hall, kowtow and beg the Buddha for blessing. The ground outside the temple gate was littered with all kinds of swords, guns and weapons, obviously thrown by the Qing troops who fled in.
When Xu Jian led people to the mountain gate, several soldiers from the Northern Navy were chatting with some monks at the gate. The monk stood in front of the door and blocked the door. Several soldiers were so angry that they had no choice but to do anything.
"what happened?"
The leading soldier saw the two vertical stripes on Xu Jian's helmet and knew that the other party was a captain and company commander, so he hurriedly saluted: "Sir, we want to go in and search, but these bald donkeys are stopping us! Damn it!" Yes! If I hadn’t said it in the previous meeting, I must make them look good!”
At the pre-war meeting held in the regiment, all major buildings in Shengjing City were marked and explained. In addition to the imperial palace, general office and five government offices in the inner city, the Wanshou Temple in the outer gate is also one of the most important buildings.
This place is known as the "Permanent Jungle of Buddhism in the Ten Directions". The temple houses a copy of the Tripitaka given by Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty in the 5th year of Zhengtong. In addition, in the 13th year of Emperor Yongzheng's reign, a newly engraved version of the Tripitaka was given. Today, in the entire Liaodong region, there is only one temple with such a rich collection of Chinese scriptures, and no other temple.
The Eastern Front Command put forward requirements for the siege troops to avoid destroying Wanshou Temple as much as possible during the battle. Of course, if the Qing army relies on temples to resist, they must be resolutely eliminated; if they just hide in temples to survive, then as long as they check and confirm that they will no longer resist, let them go.
At this time, the eldest of the several monks took two steps forward, bowed and clasped his hands together and said: "Amitabha! Soldiers, this is a holy land of Buddhism. You are not allowed to use weapons without permission. Please forgive me."
Xu Jian looked up and down. He saw that the monk looked to be in his fifties, with a medium build, wearing clean Haiqing clothes. He had a face with a Chinese character, a straight nose, a wide mouth, deep eyes and low eyebrows.
Xu Jian said coldly: "What do you do?"
"Well, the poor monk is a monk from Wanshou Temple." The monk thought to himself, "What else can I be dressed like this for?"
"How to call it?"
"The poor monk's dharma name is Yuanbao."
Xu Jian was stunned for a moment, wondering why there were still monks with such a name. The few Beihai soldiers around also had strange expressions on their faces, thinking that this monk's Buddhist name was really interesting. Could it be that he was crazy about money?
Xu Jian nodded and said: "Master Yuanbao, our people found that many Qing troops were defeated and fled into the temple. It is a war now, so we have to go in and take them away."
Monk Yuanbao said: "What the official said is wrong."
Xu Jian interrupted: "There are no masters or slaves in our Beihai Navy. Officers and soldiers are equal. Just call me Captain Xu."
Monk Yuanbao's eyes showed a trace of surprise and said: "Company Commander Xu, you have seen the weapons all over the ground. Those people are just poor people trying to survive. Furthermore, there are not only officers and soldiers who put down their swords and guns in the temple, but also old, weak, women, children and There are also many children, all of whom came here to take refuge.”
After he finished speaking, he recited the Buddha's name, and then said: "In the early years, I heard Uncle Chengche mention the matter of your department. He said that the Beihai Navy was kind and righteous to the people, and King Zhao was the reincarnation of the holy king who saved the people from water and fire."
Xu Jian ignored the compliment, but he keenly noticed a name, so he interrupted: "Chengche? Do you know Master Chengche from Wuya Temple?"
Monk Yuanbao said that it was true, it seems that Master Chengche is very famous among the North Sea pirates! When he was about to speak again, Xu Jian raised his hand and interrupted: "I don't care what reasons you have, now we have to enter the temple and search! Not to mention your Wanshou Temple, I will also enter the palace! Everyone listen! After entering, only take away the people wearing Qing army uniforms, leave the old, weak, women and children alone!"
At this time, a soldier behind him muttered: "Company Commander, if we rush in like this, Buddha will be blamed."
Xu Jian said angrily: "Fart! We are not going in to burn, kill and loot, we are here to arrest the enemy! People from the first class are guarding the door. No one is allowed to go out without my order!"
After that, he waved his hand, and more than 40 Beihai navy soldiers rushed forward. Without any explanation, they pushed aside the blocking monks and rushed in with a roar.
1. Monk Yuanbao really existed in history. He later went to Changchun and was the founder of Changchun Wanshou Temple. 2. The reason why writing has been slow these days is because the content of the previous chapter has basically been overturned and rewritten. I feel like I've reached a dead end and can't continue without rewriting.
