On the same morning when the main force of Shi Dakai was surrounded by the Wu army in the Tuanshan position, after a series of intense preparations, the main force of the Wu army in the Eastern Expedition led by Cao Yanzhong finally launched a large-scale attack on Anqingjian City.

This day was the fifth day when the Wu army Cao Yanzhong's troops successfully seized the beachhead position on the north bank. It took four days to delay Anqing to launch an attack. There are two main reasons for Anqing to launch an attack: the first is that the position space outside the west gate of Anqing is too narrow, with the Anhui River on the back and there is a city in front of the Anhui River. Most of the space outside the city is covered by Taiping Army artillery fire, so it is impossible to establish a camp at all. Establishing a camp on the west bank of Anhui River is not conducive to attack. Not only is the army inconvenient to mobilize and heavy weapons are difficult to carry, but it is already early summer. If you are lucky, you may encounter floods when attacking.

In view of this situation, without absolutely certainty in taking down Anqing Jiancheng in a battle, Cao Yanzhong could only establish the Wu army camp in the area of ​​Shizishan to the northwest of Anqing. However, in this way, the Wu army faced three threats at the same time. First, the Anqing Taiping Army may send troops from the Ximen to cut off the connection between the Wu army's land division and the navy division, second, the Jixian Pass Taiping Army, and third, the Taiping Army's garrison on the north and south sides of Linghu.

A arrogant soldier will be defeated! Wu Chaoyue once not only warned his generals, but also one of Wu Chaoyue's most capable and trusted accomplices, Cao Yanzhong naturally remembered Wu Chaoyue's warning, so Cao Yanzhong did not dare to underestimate the enemy. He spent some effort to build the Lion Mountain Camp. At the same time, he divided his troops to monitor the Taiping Army at Linghu and the West Gate of Anqing. He first stood firm and then launched an attack, which would of course waste a lot of time.

The second reason was that the Taiping Army's reinforcements came faster than the Wu army expected. On the evening of the third day after the capture of the North Bank position, the Anhui Taiping Army led by Lai Wenhong and Gu Longxian rushed to Jixian Pass from Tongcheng. In order to strengthen the Taiping Army outside the city, they boldly walked out of Jixian Pass the next day and took the initiative to attack the Wu army monitoring Jixian Pass, in an attempt to share the pressure of defending the city for the Anqing Taiping Army. Then, although Cao Yanzhong decisively sent troops to pull them all over the ground for searching for teeth, he wasted a day of time. At the same time, he was forced to increase troops on the northern front to prevent the situation.

As a result, the Wu army not only wasted a lot of time, but after increasing troops to strengthen the monitoring of the Taiping Army in Jixian Pass and Linghu, the troops that could be invested in the siege battlefield were also reduced to about 15,000. Fortunately, the Wu army had sufficient weapons and ammunition, and at the same time, there were not too many Taiping Army in Anqing City, which was about 23,000 points. The Wu army not only had enough confidence to deal with it, but also had a very high morale. So that on the eve of the war, this situation happened in the Wu army camp...

"Second Brother Cao! My brother took me and you to take office from Shanghai to Hubei after King Zhennan. You were on the way to be regarded as brothers. You are my brother's brother, and you are older than me. I have always called your second brother and treat you as my second brother! Now the opportunity to kill Changmao is here. Second brother, you touch your conscience and say, should this opportunity be given to me?!"

When he said this, Huang Yuanbao, who was sent by Wu Chaoyue to help Cao Yanzhong after the war, was smiling, but the reason was that Cao Yanzhong could not refuse at all. He forced Cao Yanzhong to nod on the spot and handed over the task of fighting the main attack to Huang Yuanbao. However, Cao Yanzhong, who is steady, reminded him: "Brother Yuanbao, the main attack can be allowed to fight, but you must not underestimate the enemy. Don't think that our weapons and equipment are invincible in the world if we have good weapons and equipment. Siege is not as good as field battles, and the advantages of weapons and equipment cannot be used."

"Of course I know this. I'm not the first time I'm on the battlefield." Huang Yuanbao agreed casually and said in a big way: "But it's okay. As long as our blasting team can blow out the gap in the city wall, the remaining battles will be much easier."

"This is exactly what I worry about the most." Cao Yanzhong frowned and raised three fingers and said, "Anqing's city wall is three feet thick (bottom) and four feet high, which is much harder to blow up than the Pengze city wall. Lin Fengxiang, who guards the city, is also a famous general with long hair. He must know that we were making holes in Pengze and directly blowing up the city collapsed. Maybe we have come up with a way to crack our way. If he really does this, we will have to fight this battle."

Although he was brave, Huang Yuanbao was definitely not a reckless person. After listening to Cao Yanzhong's analysis, he was not careless about underestimating the enemy. He also asked, "What are you going to do with the second brother?"

"It can only be an old method. I will clear the fortifications outside the city during the day and attack the city at night." Cao Yanzhong still frowned and said, "I am only worried about whether I can blow up the city. The long hair raised by the bitch. Our detailed report said that they added glutinous rice paste when ramming the city wall. This kind of rammed earth is the most difficult to dig. I am really not sure whether the blasting hole can be dug smoothly."

"Can you find a way to win by surprise?" Huang Yuanbao asked again: "Like our King of Zhennan, kill Changmao unexpectedly?"

"If your second brother had the ability of Zhennan King, he would have to beat Lin Fengxiang so worried?" Cao Yanzhong smiled bitterly, and said casually without much hope: "You can also use your brain to see if you can catch Changmao off guard when siege. You don't have to dig the city wall and bury explosives and directly take down Anqing City."

Huang Yuanbao agreed and really racked his brains to figure out how to win a surprise victory in the siege. Unfortunately, this aspect is not Huang Yuanbao's strength, so he didn't think about it for long. Huang Yuanbao, who had to take on the main attack task the next day, simply fell asleep.

The night passed quickly. The next morning, under the command of Cao Yanzhong, the Wu army officially launched a siege against Anqing City. Given that Linghu natural barriers are protected outside the north gate of Anqing, it is even more unfavorable to attack. At the same time, the east gate has to be left for the Taiping Army to run away to reduce the resistance to siege, Cao Yanzhong could only choose the main battlefield of the siege at the west gate of Anqing, and the south gate was deputy. The navy was responsible for providing fire cover, clearing the periphery during the day, and breaking the city at night.

Although he was a famous general of the Taiping Army and had secretly learned linear tactics from Wu Chaoyue, Lin Fengxiang's tactical ideas still did not make much progress. The fortifications built outside the city were still old-fashioned pile trenches, walls and bunkers. Such fortifications were effective in resisting the attacks of the Qing army, and there was no big problem with dealing with the second-line Wu army with poor equipment. However, when he encountered Wu Chaoyue's elite army armed to the teeth, such fortifications became purely a bunch of decorations. Apart from delaying time and causing the Wu army to waste some ammunition, it did not play any role at all.

The fierce sound of artillery fire was like the sky collapsed and the earth was always echoing in the southwest of Anqing City. The firing shells and solid artillery shells of various caliber were roaring and accurately hitting the field walls that the Taiping Army had worked hard to build with speeds that were unaware of the naked eye. The stones and earth were flying, shrapnel flying, and flames burst. The Taiping soldiers who were crawling behind the wall were like in the iron fire hell, constantly being covered by the sea of ​​fire, being shot by shrapnel, and being buried alive by the collapsed wall from time to time. No screams were heard. Any sound made by the Taiping soldiers were completely submerged in the sound of the Wu army's artillery fire.

After all, the one who came to attack Anqing City this time was the elite of the Wu army, and a modern army with firepower that could be comparable to the armies of Western powers. The artillery and land jointly invested in artillery wars directly exceeded 600 pieces, and half of them were directly used for flowering artillery shells. It was a dream to try to block such fierce artillery fire by the Taiping Army.

The sixteen turrets built by the Taiping Army outside the two gates of the southwest city were completely silent in less than an hour and a half. They were all directly dumbed by the dense artillery fire of the Wu army. Without the power of the hand, the Taiping Army outside the city was only left to be beaten.

Before the infantry advanced to the city, the Wu army's grenade launcher also joined the battle. On the Ximen battlefield alone, Cao Yanzhong threw hundreds of grenade launchers in one breath. The curved shells continued to fall before and behind the Taiping Army's walls, and the Taiping Army soldiers who were squatting behind the walls were blown up to cry and shouting for their parents, with heavy casualties.

The south gate was even worse. Although the Wu army's four third-level sail battleships and two fourth-level battleships were lagging behind the times, the terrifying firepower was enough to directly level the Taiping Army's sheep and horse wall fortifications. As a result, the first wall fortification built by the Taiping Army outside the city basically lost its value of guarding and could no longer play any due role.

It was after the artillery fire had basically eliminated the direct firepower of the Taiping Army that the Wu army's infantry launched a slow attack. They pushed the trench bridge chariots built against the Taiping Army trench and gradually approached the trench to build a trench bridge. The remaining Taiping Army and the Taiping Army in the bunker behind the walls were desperately firing, but they still did not achieve much effect. On the contrary, they also attracted the key shots of the Wu army's grenade launcher.

The first trench bridge chariot quickly landed on the trench. The Wu army infantry commando brigade fired fire to cover it. Individual soldiers charged through the trench, crawled and rolled forward, smashed the bitter and sour grenades into the Taiping Army bunker at close range, and even stuffed them into the Taiping Army bunker. They kept pulling out the adjacent bunker like a nail, opening the charge road. As the Wu army infantry crossed the trench, the removal speed of the Taiping Army bunkers quickly accelerated. The remaining soldiers of the Taiping Army behind the wall could only give up their positions and fled back to the second field defense line of their own army.

Despite the opposition of his generals and personal soldiers, Lin Fengxiang insisted on going up to the city to observe the enemy situation. When he saw the scene of his first line of defense being quickly broken through by the Wu army in the telescope, Lin Fengxiang felt like a knife and hated Wu Chaoyue, who had seriously injured himself, to the core, but he had no choice but to do anything.

"Prime Minister Lin, go down quickly." Liu Guanfang, the general, persuaded again, and said, "The artillery fire of the demon soldiers is too fierce. You must beware of stray bullets coming."

Lin Fengxiang ignored Liu Guanfang's persuasion, but strode towards the south city where Wu army's artillery fire was more. The personal soldiers came up to stop him, but were kicked away by Lin Fengxiang. Everyone had no choice but to try their best to protect Lin Fengxiang from the top of the city wall to the south gate of Anqing.

Fortunately, the stray bullets of Wu's army only once passed twenty meters away from Lin Fengxiang. At the same time, Lin Fengxiang was not a reckless man who was blindly ignorant. When he walked to the southwest corner of Anqing, where the Wu army's artillery fire was relatively sparse, he stopped and raised his telescope to observe the situation. Then after a lot of time, Lin Fengxiang suddenly said: "The demon soldiers planned to use the tactics they used in Pengze to open up the roads that reached the city during the day and attack the city at night."

"The same is true for the last general." Liu Guanfang, who left his name in history, agreed with Lin Fengxiang's point of view and said: "It is very likely that he would use the tactics of attacking Pengze to directly dig holes and bury gunpowder on the city wall and directly blow down our city wall."

"The decisive battle is at night, and our main force is asking to hurry up and rest. We are having dinner at You hour, prepare enough dry food torches, and climb the city to change defense on time at You hour." Lin Fengxiang said coldly: "The reserve team is stationed half an inside and outside the city wall to guard against cannons that the demon soldiers will turn."

Liu Guanfang quickly agreed, and Lin Fengxiang ordered: "Clog the inner city gate passage of the Wengcheng, and the outer city gate is not blocked. Have more ropes for downtown, the more the better! Be ready to go out of the city and attack!"

Immediately understood Lin Fengxiang's intention. Liu Guanfang responded to the promise and thought for a while and suggested: "Prime Minister Lin, I remember that when we were fighting Changsha, the old Qing demon Luo Bingzhang once wrapped gunpowder with a quilt, threw it down to the city to light a fire, and burned many of our brothers under the city to death. This method should also be effective against the pointed wooden donkeys of demon soldiers."

Lin Fengxiang nodded, first gave Liu Guanfang a command to prepare more, and then said: "If nothing unexpected happens, the demon soldiers should dig the city wall at the two southwest gates tonight. Tonight, you guard the south gate, I personally guard the west gate, and pay attention to the city wall section that was severely damaged by the demon soldiers' artillery fire."

"Prime Minister Lin, this matter cannot be subject to you." Liu Guanfang quickly opposed: "You are the commander of the entire army. You must personally sit in the city and command the city. You cannot go to the city to take risks. Let me guard the west city and let Li Yuanji brothers guard the south gate."

Knowing that this was Liu Guanfang's kindness, and considering that he had to command the Linghu garrison to attack in time, sharing the pressure for the defenders of the two southwest gates, Lin Fengxiang nodded reluctantly and gritted his teeth and said: "Demon soldier, come on, see how this prime minister avenged the revenge of the one-shot that year!"

…………

Lin Fengxiang, who was almost shot to death by Wu Chaoyue, learned a lesson and did not insist on coming to the front line to command the city. But what Lin Fengxiang never dreamed of was that when he walked from the west gate to the south gate, Huang Yuanbao, who had participated in the Shence Gate Battle with Wu Chaoyue, had been watching him with a telescope. Although he had never seen Lin Fengxiang, just looking at Lin Fengxiang's different clothes and his appearance, Huang Yuanbao had already vaguely guessed Lin Fengxiang's identity.

"That guy should be Lin Fengxiang. He is dressed in extraordinary clothes and has so many people to protect him. It should be him."

Observing Lin Fengxiang's movement on the city, Huang Yuanbao thought about it and said with regret: "It's a pity that the distance is too far. Otherwise, if I asked my sniper to fire a cold gun, I might be able to do the same as last time..."

"Huh? Wait, if I were Lin Fengxiang's big hairy hair, at that time, I would have to go to the city to see the situation and arrange the arrangements no matter what?"

Thinking of this, Huang Yuanbao, who had been influenced by Wu Chaoyue more than nine years ago, suddenly felt a sense of heart. He quickly called the sniper in his personal army to the front, whispered the order, and handed them the telescope so that they could see clearly the person in the city who might be Lin Fengxiang...
Chapter completed!