Although the dragons had no leader and had no unified command, as the war situation on Ximen became more and more urgent, the Taiping Army sitting on the same boat still extended a helping hand to Liu Guanfang and honestly brought the army to help Liu Guanfang.

But it was too late. If there were only a few dozen or hundreds of Wu soldiers rushing to the city wall, then the Taiping Army relied on its numerical advantage and its weapons and equipment that were also constantly improving, there was still hope to drive the Wu army down the city wall and defend the city wall again. However, when the Taiping Army generals with their own selfish intentions really launched a counterattack, the Wu army was almost at a battalion of troops rushed to the Anqing West Gate City Wall. If the Taiping Army wanted to drive the Wu army back down the city wall, they could only hope that a miracle would happen.

After the troops gradually became sufficient, the Wu army soldiers of course took advantage of the narrow space on the city and lined up to fight in a densely packed line. While protecting the uptown space of the subsequent army, they used the line-style tactics on which the Wu army became famous to attack the invading enemy head-on. The dense rogue of guns was endless, and the bullets were like storms, killing Taiping soldiers who came from the two wings were killed and injured, screaming.

The Anqing Taiping Army, who directly studied under the Wu army, has also used line tactics to attack the Wu army's positions many times. Relying on the space advantage that is very beneficial to both sides' firepower, it caused a lot of casualties to the Wu army during the competition and queuing. However, under the same tactics, the weakness of the Taiping Army's poor equipment was doubled, and its firing rate was completely at a disadvantage, so its firepower was naturally suppressed very much.

"Prepare! Shoot!"

"Prepare! Fight!"

Amid the orders of the generals on both sides, the soldiers of the Wu army and the Taiping army fired in a row, trying to aim at the enemy on the opposite side to shoot. The gunshots were as dense as beans, and the muffled screams of soldiers on both sides were shot. However, the firing guns equipped by the Wu army soldiers put the limit on the rate of fire at this moment. Just two rounds of fire can maintain continuous firepower, and always block the road ahead with dense guns and bullets, not giving the Taiping army a chance to get close.

On the contrary, the fire rates of the Taiping Army in Anqing are uneven. A small number of equipment can barely match the fire rates of the Wu army. The remaining Minnie guns, flintlock guns, carbine guns and combs have fast and slow fire rates, which are difficult to coordinate. The fire density naturally cannot be guaranteed. Usually, the Wu army has fired two or three volleys, so the Taiping Army can only shoot once.

"Fight! Fight! Fight hard for me! Quickly, install the gun quickly, the faster the better!"

The Taiping generals kept shouting, forcing the self-soldier soldiers to load and fire at the fastest speed. Unfortunately, the performance characteristics of the guns were destined that the Taiping Army's fire speed could not catch up with the elite Wu army who were equipped with firing guns. Amid the sound of the ping-pong guns, the Taiping soldiers loaded and fired quickly and killed and injured some Wu soldiers, but they still could not stop the dense bullets that the Wu army soldiers fired like a storm. The Taiping soldiers in the front row were always killed and injured. The Taiping soldiers in the back row immediately filled the vacancy without hesitation, but they still could not fill the front row forces with constant casualties, and could not reverse the firepower between the self-service and the Wu army soldiers.

During the fierce battle, the Taiping Army launched seven line attacks from both sides of the Wu army's position, but only two times fired four rounds of volleys in front of the Wu army's position. The rest only fired two or three volleys, and was directly defeated by the fierce firepower of the Wu army, and the casualties paid were several times that of the Wu army.

The Taiping Army had to take the queuing and shooting at a disadvantage. The Taiping Army had to take out the cluster charge tactics that were about to be eliminated by the times, and tried to charge in close combat in the brigade. As a result, after this tactic that was barely useful when Wu Chaoyue first started, it made the Taiping Army understand what the times are progressing and technology are developing. They had just barely forced the hardships to be close to the Wu army's position. The Wu army's rear team immediately threw out a large number of bitter and sour grenades, directly blowing their dense crowd into pieces, and the ground was covered with casualties. Not to mention the opportunity to fight in close combat, the Taiping Army soldiers who escaped the grenade explosion were soon shot and killed by the Wu army soldiers. The group charge directly turned into a cluster to die!

The Taiping soldiers were lucky to be behind the battlefield. They had no chance to taste this taste, because as time went by, more Wu soldiers had successfully rushed to the city wall, and the Wu soldiers who had further strengthened their troops had already launched an attack on the Taiping positions, and in turn they gradually suppressed the Taiping army and retreated step by step. The Taiping soldiers behind the position naturally had no need to worry about being forced to charge and die by the generals.

Of course, the Taiping Army could not just give up like this. The Taiping Army was still coming from the city to reinforce. However, when they rushed to the steps of the upper city, the Wu army soldiers who had gradually made their hands immediately smashed down several grenades, blowing the Taiping Army reinforcements lined up the city to the death and wounding. They could not be organized to rush up to the city wall to reinforce, and of course they could not pose a decent threat to the Wu army soldiers on the city wall.

In addition to being beneficial to the Wu army's advantage in giving full play to its guns, the narrow space on the city was also successfully restricted the path and speed of the Taiping Army's reinforcements from other city gates. The Wu army soldiers had to defend a section of the cross-section of the city wall in densely cross-straits, so the Taiping Army who came to reinforcements from the north gate could also not enter the Wu army's position and cut off the Wu army's uptown road. The worry-free Wu army soldiers above their heads could send reinforcements and ammunition to the city wall with just a light ladder, and completely stood firm in the position on the Ximen City.

"The West Gate will definitely not be able to defend it. The West Gate has lost its demon soldiers and enter the city in large numbers. What should we do next? Should we fight street battles or move out of the city as soon as possible?"

The difficult choice of fighting to the end of the streets and applying oil to the bottom of the feet as soon as possible was put in front of every Taiping general. As a result, although some Taiping generals decided to live and die with the city, more Taiping generals were hesitant and were determined to take one step at a time and wait and see. At the same time, there were naturally some scum packing up the gold, silver, and soft and soft to run away.

The generals of the Taiping Army were headless and had different attitudes, but the Wu army had a very firm tactical attitude, which was to take down Ximen City and go to the battlefield, protect the road to the city, and then send appropriate troops to reinforce the Nanmen battlefield, and respond to the southern gate side troops to climb the city, first control the city wall to the highest point and then plan to make progress.

Although this step-by-step tactic is slow to take effect, it is stable and it is not easy to make mistakes, which lead to a turnaround by the enemy. As a result, it is precisely with the help of this steady tactic that the Wu army soldiers on the battlefield of the South Gate side division gradually succeeded and rushed to the south gate of Anqing. At the top of the city wall, they joined the Wu army on the main battlefield of the West Gate, and effectively controlled a large section of the city wall.

It was still at this time that Cao Yanzhong issued an order to ask the Wu army to attack Anqing City. However, before the order was issued, the aide Tan Jixun, who was next to him, raised an objection, first stopped the soldiers who were sending the order, and then suggested: "General Cao, don't you need to be so anxious? Wait a little longer, and it's better to attack the city when the sky is clear?"

Tan Jixun was an aide who was invited by Cao Yanzhong to recommend Zuo Zongtang when fighting in Sichuan. He was calm and cautious and talented. Cao Yanzhong, who was not very educated, also attached great importance to him. Therefore, after hearing Tan Jixun's opposition, Cao Yanzhong was not angry and ordered to be stopped. He also asked: "What are the opinions of Mr. Zishi?"

"Anqing is the capital of Anhui Province and the upstream portal of the Changmao pseudo-duty Jiangning City. The location is the most important." Tan Jixun pointed out: "Changmao has been here for many years. It is impossible for the city to have not built many street fighting fortifications. Almost all of our soldiers have never come to Anqing. They are very unfamiliar with the terrain in Anqing City. They have entered the city in a hurry in the dark. They will definitely suffer a lot when fighting street fighting. It is better to stabilize it temporarily and wait until it is dawn before entering the city."

"Also, the snake cannot do without a head." Tan Jixun pointed out again: "The leader of Anqing bandit Lin Fengxiang has been killed by our army's cold gun. The long-haired generals in the city have no heads. It is impossible to gather together to discuss and act during the war, and the overall situation of the head general is also recommended."

"Under such circumstances, if our army's offensive is too fast and too fast, the Changmao thieves in the city will inevitably resist with all their might in order to protect themselves and are forced to fight with our army to the end. But if our army slows down the offensive and let Changmao in the city see the hope of escaping and living, it may instead abandon the city and flee, so that our army can take Anqing City more easily."

After hearing Tan Jixun's words, he felt it was reasonable. Considering that the soldiers of his army were indeed very unfamiliar with the situation in the city, and fighting in streets was easy to suffer losses and wasted ammunition and weapons, Cao Yanzhong nodded and changed his head to order the army of the city to build fortifications on the spot to prevent the Taiping Army from counterattacking, and give priority to protecting the city wall positions and resting and waiting. At the same time, engineers were sent to build large ladders under the Anqing city wall overnight so that they could quickly invest their troops into the battlefield in the city after dawn.

Although not as famous as his son, Tan Jixun is indeed a ruthless person who is good at understanding the hearts of the people. When Wu army soldiers built fortifications on the spot and slowed down the offensive, the Taiping Army units, whose pressure was greatly reduced, showed signs of division. They either advocated counterattack and regained the positions on the city, or advocated to stand firm in street battles and wait for assistance, or secretly had plans to escape. The people were uneven and had no idea of ​​unification.

The person who firmly advocated the counterattack and took back the position on the city was Liu Guanfang, who was tough in character. Unfortunately, his main force in the headquarters had been severely damaged in the fierce battle, and his prestige was seriously insufficient to control the generals. The request for friendly troops to send troops to counterattack was rejected by his colleagues.

Advocating street fighting and waiting for assistance has become the mainstream call. Unfortunately, no one of these people dared to expect the army in the city to withstand the attack launched by the Wu army after dawn. They all placed their hopes on the Taiping Army in Jixian Pass and Linghu. They went out of the city to seek assistance one by one. At the same time, most of the Taiping Army generals were shouting that they fought bloody battles with the Wu army to the end, while quietly preparing to lead the army to run away when the situation was wrong.

Under such circumstances, when and how much does the Wu army have to pay to win Anqing, the decision-making power ran to the battlefield of Majialing outside the city. Fortunately, the Wu army dared not say that they were completely sure of fighting the tough battle. The Wu army had to consider casualties and ammunition consumption when fighting the streets, but the initiative in fighting the field was completely in the hands of the Wu army. After a fierce battle, at about three o'clock in the second half of the night, the Wu army in Majialing finally successfully repelled the Taiping army who came to reinforce from Jixian Pass, shattering the hope of Anqing's Taiping Army to obtain external reinforcements.

However, Tan Jixun did not completely guess the generals of the Taiping Army. There were not many Taiping Army soldiers who took the initiative to escape from the city throughout the night. They were basically some too timid grassroots soldiers of the Taiping Army. Most of the Taiping Army soldiers still stood firm in the city. There were also several Taiping Army troops building street fighting fortifications overnight, and they were posing as if they wanted to fight the Wu army to the end.

The next morning, when the Wu army soldiers who had eaten dry food were ready for street fighting, they placed more than 200 grenade launchers on the city wall and bombarded the city, and actually launched an attack on the streets and alleys in the city, the situation in the city gradually developed in the direction that Tan Jixun expected.

After more than half an hour of fierce fighting, the Taiping Army, which was the first to be hit on the streets near Ximen, could not stop the Wu army's fierce artillery fire, gave up the street fighting position and fled to the deep part of the city. The Wu army soldiers occupied the blocks near Ximen to establish positions in the city, and then moved the sandbags and earth and stones used by the Taiping Army to block the city gate corridor, opened the city gate and let more rear troops enter the city, and then launched an attack on Anqing City.

It was only after the scale of street fighting gradually expanded that the Taiping Army's weakness of unifying command and uneven people's hearts gradually exposed. Some blocks had strong resistance, some were defeated at once, some refused to lend a helping hand to friendly forces that were trapped in hard battles, and some simply hid near the North Gate and East Gate early, ready to leave the city at any time.

The Linghu Taiping Army battalions, which were so close, were obviously different in attitudes. Only a few camps sent troops to harass the Wu army's flanks and tried their best to share the pressure for the defenders in the city. However, most camps remained unmoved and refused to lend a helping hand to the friendly forces in the city.

Under such circumstances, if the Wu army soldiers could not win the street battle, they would be more than killing them. At noon, the Wu army soldiers who entered the city from the west gate were the first to fight to the intersection in the center of the city, cutting off the direct contact between the Taiping Army in the three cities in the south and north. The Taiping Army units, who knew that the defeat had been decided, also fled out of the city. Only a few Taiping Army fought stubbornly in the city, and ignited the granary in the city in a daze. However, this was of no use except to further arouse the Wu army's anger. At the same time, the isolated Taiping Army in the south city could not withstand the Wu army's offensive entering the city from the south gate, completely collapsed and fled to the east city. The Wu army soldiers chased and chased with all their might.

After three o'clock in the afternoon, the Taiping Army in the city finally collapsed and rushed to escape from the east gate and the north gate. The Wu army then captured the two northeast gates and basically controlled the entire Anqing city. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Taiping Army in Linghu outside the city fled to Tongyang or Jixian Pass. The Wu army did not pursue the enemy in large quantities, but made every effort to eliminate the remaining enemies in the city and seize the Anqing city as the base for the eastward expedition.

In Anqing, even if it was a speculative shot to kill Lin Fengxiang, the chief general of the Taiping Army, in advance, the Wu army still fought very hard, took a long time, consumed huge ammunition, and suffered a lot of casualties. The key reason for all this was that the Taiping Army had been operating in Anqing for many years, and the city defense fortifications were too solid and perfect. The Taiping Army under Lin Fengxiang's troops neither directly participated in the Taiping Heavenly Civil War nor did they suffer heavy losses in the two Northern Expeditions like Shi Dakai's main force, and their strength was relatively complete, so the Wu army fought so hard.

Fortunately, after the success of the beheading tactic, the Wu army's attack on Anqing was still more smooth than expected by the self-army, and the losses were much smaller than those estimated before the war. At the same time, except for Nanjing, Zhenjiang and Jiangyin, the three important towns in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, there was no city as dangerous as Anqing, as it was stationed to protect it. So after conquering Anqing, the Wu army also held a celebration banquet to celebrate this hard-won victory.

As the saying goes, joy leads to sorrow. Just as the Wu army was cheering for the victory of Anqing, a Shanghai Wu army messenger who was advancing westward, after going through a lot of hardships, finally contacted the Wu army's eastern expedition army. Not only did he bring news to Cao Yanzhong, Wang Fu and others that the Wu army had fallen into a hard battle, but he also introduced that not only the Taiping army in Zhenjiang and Jiangyin established a defense line between the rivers, but also Li Kaifang, a famous general of the Taiping Army, also gathered troops in the Taiping Prefecture area and established an interception line in Liangshan, East and West.

"It's a bitch, it's so fast!"

Cao Yanzhong cursed and sweared, but there was no way, so he could only send the Clippers to deliver a letter to Wu Chaoyue, asking for the next tactical plan, should he continue to advance downstream step by step? Or should he send the navy to break through the Taiping Army's obstruction and send reinforcements to the Shanghai Wu Army as soon as possible?
Chapter completed!