At this time, the building on top of the large fortress in Passage 3 had long been reduced to ruins. A large number of Chu army's five-pound and nine-pound field artillery continued to bombard the fortress, almost smashing the top building of the fortress to pieces. , and several long-barreled artillery pieces deployed above were destroyed.
However, the destruction of the upper part does not mean that this kind of fortress has been completely destroyed.
One thing about this kind of earthen fortress built by the Ming army is disgusting. It is almost solid... If you use solid cannonballs to hit it, even the solid cannonballs fired by the 14-pound heavy artillery will have no effect on this kind of fortress... Hmm , it’s no different from directly aiming your artillery at a hill.
Using mortars has some effects, but the firing rate of previous mortars was too slow and the accuracy was too poor. The Ming army could rely on anti-gun holes and trenches to hide first. After the mortar bombardment, the infantry had to come up and then crawl out to fight. .
Therefore, in the past, when the Chu army attacked this kind of fortress, they often needed to use a large number of artillery repeatedly, grinding it bit by bit. When it was almost worn out, they would send out commandos for a strong attack.
But this time it was different.
Before the Chu army's infantry charged, the shelling of eighteen-pound grenades never stopped...
Continuous artillery shells continued to fall on the Ming army's positions, leaving them without the courage to get out of the artillery holes!
Waiting until the Chu army's infantry was about to charge forward, the Chu army's new howitzers began to extend their artillery fire...
Instead of stopping the bombardment, we extended the artillery fire.
When the disgraced Ming troops who had been bombed reacted and prepared to crawl out to fight, they found that the Chu soldiers on the opposite side were only dozens of meters away.
The distance of only a few dozen meters was not that far for the charging soldiers, not to mention that there were no machine guns these days that could sweep away a large area.
Even at this distance, muskets, bows and arrows, and even short-barreled artillery are useless because the rate of fire is too slow and the amount of ammunition projected is effective. This firepower can kill several people, but you can't stop the crushing dust. A large group of Chu soldiers.
At this time, the most effective way is actually for the defenders to take the initiative to rush out of the trenches, then launch a counterattack, and engage in close hand-to-hand combat with the Chu army.
There is no need to even form an array, and there is no time for you to form an array slowly.
After all, the Chu army rushing over from the opposite side also rushed over in skirmish formation, and there was no formation at all!
A fortified battle is different from a battle in the wilderness. It is impossible for you to slowly form a formation and then attack the enemy's position. By the time you slowly come over in formation, a large area will have been knocked down by other people's guns, bows and arrows.
Therefore, the Chu army would not stubbornly engage in formation attacks, but would directly launch a skirmishing charge.
Therefore, for the defenders, if they want to hold their position, they need to organize a counterattack in an extremely limited time to directly block the momentum of the offensive force's charge.
However, this kind of counterattack requires courage and even more organization.
The Ming troops on the opposite side were frightened and even dumbfounded by the bombing from beginning to end. How could they have the morale and morale to engage in such a counterattack?
We can't blame them, not to mention ordinary soldiers, even the generals of the Ming army were hit by the Chu army's intensive artillery fire and lost all their square footage.
This battle was different from what they expected from beginning to end!
The Chu thieves on the opposite side did not launch a forceful attack with soldiers all over the mountains and plains. They did not even use heavy armored infantry units.
From the beginning to the end, there were artillery blasts that made their hearts pop out.
And the speed of the battle far exceeded their expectations.
It has only been more than half an hour since the Chu Army's 98th Regiment launched the artillery bombardment. In just over an hour, the Chu Army used powerful artillery fire to cover the infantry one by one, captured all the peripheral positions, and advanced forcefully. Arrive at the main fort.
In such a short period of time, they didn't even have time to ask for help from Tongguan City!
At this time, Sun Chuanting in Tongguan City had just learned that the No. 3 Passage was attacked by the Chu army and the connection to the outer positions was lost. However, he did not yet know that the No. 3 fortress had been directly attacked and the Chu army had launched an attack. General attack.
The straight-line distance between No. 3 Passage and Tongguan City seems to be only about one thousand meters, but there are mountains in between. Sun Chuanting cannot see the battle situation on No. 3 Passage. Sun Chuanting needs the continuous notification of the messengers to be able to Understand the situation on this side of Channel 3.
In fact, even if Sun Chuanting knew the critical situation in Passage 3 immediately and planned to send troops for reinforcements, he would not be able to catch up.
Mobilizing troops takes time, and emergency dispatches also require a certain amount of preparation time. At the same time, there are about a kilometer of mountainous terrain in between. Although there are roads connecting the rear, these roads are actually small roads, which is nothing. Flat avenue.
The Chu army, on the other hand, would not wait slowly for the enemy's reinforcements to come over. Their attack was swift and fierce. After preparing the artillery fire, they immediately launched an infantry charge. The Ming army on the opposite side had already panicked, and there was a chance. Some resisted on the ground, some turned around and ran away, some thought of counterattack, and some surrendered directly. As a result, the remnants of more than a thousand Ming troops became a mess.
At around one o'clock at noon, the first battalion of the 98th Infantry Regiment of the Chu Army successfully captured the large fortress in Passage 3!
Of the more than a thousand Ming troops garrisoned at the fortress, hundreds fled, more than two hundred were killed or wounded, and the rest all surrendered.
After the 98th Infantry Regiment captured the fortress, the 2nd Battalion, which suffered relatively few casualties, and the 3rd Battalion, which had previously served as a reserve, continued to advance westward along the trail. They needed to urgently occupy the entire trail and then fight all the way to the back of Tongguan City. Go, cut off the connection between Tongguan City and the rear, and also cut off the connection between Tongguan City and many large fortress garrisons in the south.
The First Battalion, which had previously undertaken the main attack mission and suffered relatively large casualties, stayed in the fort to rest and recuperate. It was also responsible for taking care of eight or nine hundred prisoners of war, maintaining the security of the rear, and was also responsible for the strategic reserve of the entire regiment. task.
While the 98th Regiment continued its operations, the 99th Regiment, which also belonged to the 25th Division, also stepped up its offensive. The second battalion of this regiment set off directly from Channel 3 to the north and launched an attack along the trail.
Their goal was simple, to capture several mountains with good shooting ranges south of Tongguan City so that the artillery troops could bombard Tongguan City from a high position.
There are three engineering battalions at the rear, totaling more than 2,000 engineering troops. They also carry various professional excavation and blasting tools and begin to enter the site, preparing to attack No. 3 Passage and the area extending north from No. 3 Passage. The trail was urgently blasted and excavated to facilitate the passage of subsequent artillery and even ammunition trucks.
To assist the engineering troops in the construction, there are tens of thousands of civilians who have been prepared long ago.
The Chu army's series of military plans in Channel 3 were not just as simple as capturing Channel 3, but also included emergency expansion and road construction of Channel 3.
Otherwise, a simple winding and steep road would have no practical effect on the Chu army.
Only roads that have been specially widened and can carry artillery and carriages have greater strategic value.
However, even if a large amount of gunpowder is used to blast and build the road at all costs, and even if more than two thousand engineers and tens of thousands of civilians are mobilized, the widening project of this passage will still take several days.
Therefore, in a short period of time, it is impossible to see the large-scale Chu army, especially the artillery appearing outside Tongguan City. For the time being, it is impossible to see the Chu army's heavy artillery appearing on the hilltops and bombarding Tongguan fiercely. .
The current battle in this direction has changed from constant artillery fire to a battle between light infantry with a small number of light artillery.
However, even so, the Ming army on the opposite side cannot stop it!
After Sun Chuanting lost the No. 3 fortress, he quickly learned the news. As soon as he learned the news, he mobilized more than 3,000 troops to reinforce the No. 3 channel, trying to reverse the situation of the battle and plug the gap again.
But these more than 3,000 troops were never able to break through the Chu army's interception!
Because at this time, the Ming army on the opposite side lacked guns even more. They didn't even have many muskets. So many light infantry were crowded in the narrow valley terrain, and they were hit by a large number of bullets fired by the Chu army's flintlocks.
At this time, the Ming army could not even stop the Chu army's attack, let alone counterattack.
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, the 98th Infantry Regiment successfully repelled many Ming army counterattacks, successfully captured and controlled the entire No. 3 Passage, and together with the 99th Infantry Regiment, defeated more than 3,000 Ming troops. Military reinforcements.
In the evening of that day, the light infantry of the 99th Infantry Regiment had already planted the Chu army's flag on a hilltop only more than 200 meters away from Tongguan City.
And this hilltop was the place that the Chu army had previously selected as an artillery firing position.
After the 99th Infantry Regiment captured these hills, they immediately dug trenches here and changed from the offensive side to the defensive side to resist the Ming army's counterattack.
In the rear, a large number of engineers and civilians were sweating profusely, and used a large amount of gunpowder to carry out continuous blasting construction, just to allow heavy artillery and carriages to pass and reach the top of the mountain.
Before the arrival of these heavy artillery, the Chu army also used mules, horses and even manpower to transport many two-and-a-half-pound field cannons into parts, and forcefully carried these two-and-a-half-pound field cannons up the hill. Further assembly and deployment further increased the defensive firepower.
Well, if necessary, these two and a half kilogram field guns can actually bombard Tongguan City directly below.
When Sun Chuanting looked at the Chu bandit's artillery on the hilltop to the south, he didn't speak for a long time, then turned around and went down the tower.
Tongguan can no longer be defended!
In the past, the defenders of Tongguan City could barely support the fierce bombardment from the Chu bandits. Now that the southern mountains are occupied by the Chu army, the Chu bandits will be able to conduct bombardments from the top of the southern mountains. By then, the entire Tongguan City will be under the Chu army's control. Under the threat of gunfire from thieves.
Under such circumstances, no matter how proud Sun Chuanting was, he did not think he could hold Tongguan.
Now, it's time to consider retreating.
