Chapter 542 The Conservative Hauge (Happy Lantern Festival)
Unfortunately, Jianlu misjudged Guo Dajing's determination and underestimated the strength of the Dongjiang Army. Several battlefields were locked in bitter fighting. As long as one area collapsed, a chain reaction would occur, which would be out of control.
Recently, what is about to undergo drastic changes is the emergence of the Dongjiang Navy and whether Jianlu's mobile corps can contain the danger of being cut off.
Now, Hauge still has confidence. However, the confidence is not that strong.
The fighting outside the city was still going on fiercely, and the New Editorial Association's successive attacks caused a lot of casualties to the Jianlu soldiers, and several trenches and fortifications were also lost.
The following troops are not only following up, but also filling in the trenches, forming passages, and cutting off the connections with the surrounding trenches in order to occupy it more firmly.
The infantry was fighting, and the flying cavalry also began to take action. As soon as Jianlu's mobile regiment made any movement, the two flying cavalry regiments were dispatched in full force, forcing the Jianlu elite cavalry who had stayed behind.
Azig led 10,000 elite cavalry to resist the Dongjiang Navy. The 10,000 Jianlu elite cavalry who stayed behind immediately felt the pressure when facing the two flying cavalry groups.
In order to contain the Jianlu in the city and prevent them from sending too many troops out of the city, Guo Dajing ordered the new association to step up the attack.
In addition to the new association, the promising Chinese association has also been prepared and will soon join the battle group, causing the entire southern position of Liaoyang to be attacked.
In terms of the total strength of the enemy in the Liaoyang area, the Dongjiang Army consisted of five infantry corps and two flying cavalry regiments, with a total of more than 70,000 people; the Jianlu Army only had more than 50,000 people, which was at a disadvantage.
Although the superiority in military strength is not overwhelming, it is enough to prevent the Jianlu in Liaoyang City from taking any rash actions. This will be conducive to the actions of the navy and the front and right associations to implement the plan to cut off the enemy's retreat.
"Jianlu has increased its troops." Shang Kexi said to Guo Dajing anxiously: "Guo Shuai, our troops can start attacking to relieve the pressure on the new editors' association."
Guo Dajing nodded and said, "Go ahead and make arrangements. Once all the additional troops from Jianlu have entered the position, you can start attacking again to make it difficult for the enemy to turn around."
"I will obey your orders." Shang Ke happily bowed and rode away.
Guo Dajing squinted his eyes slightly and looked at Liaoyang City in the distance, estimating the time and judging the development direction of the situation.
Now, as long as a breakthrough is achieved in one of the four battlefields, the situation of the battle will suddenly become clear, and the outcome is basically determined.
Whether it is Benxi, Lianshanguan, the navy on the Taizi River, the two associations on land, or the battle under Liaoyang City.
Of course, Liaoyang City should be the last breakthrough. Victory means that the Jianlu have been defeated and unable to occupy the Liaoshen area.
The possibility of failure was also possible, but Guo Dajing thought it was very small. Despite this, he still tried his best to make careful arrangements and strive to be foolproof.
"Report!" The sentry cavalry rushed over and reported to Guo Dajing: "General Liu came to report that more than 10,000 Jianlu suddenly turned northwest and advanced towards the Taizi River. General Liu has led the Flying Tiger Regiment in pursuit, followed by the Flying Leopard Regiment.
Hold the line."
Guo Dajing pondered for a moment and said: "Inform the two generals Liu and ask them to act with caution."
Jianlu's mobile corps was finally in full action. Azig should have obtained accurate information and believed that 10,000 cavalry was not enough to defeat the more than 20,000 Dongjiang troops.
This also told Guo Dajing that the landing of the outflanking troops had been successful, which put great pressure on Jianlu.
The action of 20,000 flying cavalry and 20,000 infantrymen to jointly attack the Jianlu Mobile Corps is proceeding according to plan. After the victory or defeat is decided, the direction of the battle will become clear.
"Send an order to the Zuo Xie to turn to the west of the city and set up camp to wait." Guo Dajing quickly issued another order to put pressure on the enemies of Liaoyang in the west to contain the actions of the mobile corps.
The camp in the south was very strong, and the prisoners built trench fortifications, which seemed to impose restrictions on their movements. Guo Dajing was not afraid of leaving the city to counterattack, and even looked forward to it.
Set up another camp in the west, defend it with Zuo Xie, and wait for an opportunity to attack the city. If Jianlu wants to go out to meet the mobile corps, he has to worry about whether he will be cut off from the road back to the city.
Facing the strict formation of musketeers with vehicles and artillery as the priority, as well as the combination of long-range mortars and rockets, Jianlu's cavalry and shooting could no longer form an advantage, and even fell into a disadvantage.
Guo Dajing hoped that Jianlu would take the initiative to attack. With the support of a tall and solid city wall, it would still be quite troublesome.
The sound of artillery suddenly became fierce, and the Chinese Association, which was still gratifying, opened a new battlefield, also in Nancheng, and formed a response to the new Editorial Association.
The faces of Hauge and other slave chiefs on the city were solemn. As soon as they increased their troops, the enemy expanded their offensive, turning almost the entire south of the city into a battlefield.
The flames and black smoke of the explosion kept flashing and rising, and the gunfire was like exploding beans. It didn't stop for a moment. The Dongjiang Army's offensive was extremely fierce, and even its troops had an advantage.
"The enemy has exerted his strength." Hauge's voice sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth, "Send the order, and then mobilize the troops. We must withstand the enemy's fierce attack."
Once the position outside the city is lost, the enemy's long-range artillery can bombard the city arbitrarily.
Although some preparations and precautions have been taken, there are so many houses in the city that it is inevitable to catch fire or be destroyed. A certain degree of chaos is certain.
Therefore, Haug would not give up his position outside the city until he could no longer hold on, and tried to keep the enemy's artillery out of range.
This was the battle plan formulated by the slave chiefs, but the reality was beyond their expectations.
They had trenches and fortifications to rely on, but the Dongjiang Army made up for it with firepower. The casualty ratio was almost the same, dragging the Jianlu into a war of attrition that they least wanted.
But until now, the battle is impossible without fighting. Although there is a bottom line and a considerable number of troops must be retained to defend the city, Jianlu's battle plan and concept have been shattered.
"Kill, kill!"
Hu Guoyong roared angrily, led several groups of soldiers, rushed into the trench, and started fighting with Jianlu.
As a former soldier of Guo Dajing, Hu Guoyong had been in the army for more than a year and was already an officer leading more than 300 people.
Everyone has his own ambitions. Compared with the easy job of protecting Guo Dajing, Hu Guoyong preferred to fight in battle and make achievements.
He Guangxian, who also had Guo Dajing's bodyguard, had thoughts and aspirations like his. However, He Guangxian left earlier and is now a mid-level officer of the Zuo Association, commanding more than a thousand people.
Perhaps He Guangxian's success inspired Hu Guoyong and others; or perhaps they had deep hatred for Jianlu. In any case, they chose to go into battle to kill the enemy and fulfill their duties as soldiers.
There was an exchange of guns and knives, and the soldiers in front and the Jianlu were fighting fiercely. Hu Guo used force to get close to the side of the trench, saw the enemy, took a little aim, and fired the crossbow in his hand.
The trench was nearly two meters wide. Jianlu not only wanted to get cover, but also hoped to hinder the opponent's attack.
Although it is still relatively narrow, the Dongjiang Army has also mastered many fighting methods in the drill, and can form a situation where more people attack less.
The soldiers in the front used shields and shorter cold weapons to fight, while the crossbowmen in the rear looked for opportunities to make full use of the width of the trench to carry out over-man strikes.
The three crossbowmen took turns shooting against the wall, shooting crossbow arrows at Jianlu, providing powerful assistance to their comrades in their fight and advancement.
After being bombarded by bombs, there were not many prisoners in the horizontal trenches.
As more and more Dongjiang Army soldiers rushed into the trench, they could not resist it. They left dozens of corpses behind and retreated back along the longitudinal trench.
The muskets were roaring, and the musketeers rushed up along the trench bridge, only more than 20 meters behind the melee soldiers in the trench. Under the cover of large shields, they fired lead bullets at the surrendered prisoners in the trench.
Arrows were thrown out from several trenches, and the Jianlu were desperately resisting. What they responded to was another round of bombardment.
In the flames and smoke of the explosion, you can see the shells, clothes, and even knives and guns that were blown away. Although the power of black powder is small, it is very lethal in narrow trenches. If it is not killed, it will cause injuries.
The loud noise of the explosion covered up Jianlu's screams and screams, and his counterattacks, which missed arrows, became increasingly sparse and weak.
Tulu shook his head vigorously, his ears buzzing. The bomb exploded on the trench, covering his head and face with mud. Not far from him, two wounded soldiers were lying down, groaning in pain, with blood on their heads.
, constantly flowing out from the legs and seeping into the soil.
The shouts of killing from the front were getting closer and closer, mixed with the clanking and clashing of weapons, as well as the roars, curses and screams of both the enemy and ourselves.
The air mixed with the smell of nitrate and sulfur made Tulu very uncomfortable. His throat felt dry and his eyes were sore and made him cry.
Several archers stretched their bows and nocked arrows, and in a half-kneeling position, they shot arrows outwards. They only showed a little bit of their heads from the trenches, and could only roughly see the direction of the enemy's advance.
More than a dozen lead bullets were shot over, splashing up clouds of dust, and several archers immediately became shorter. Even so, one archer was hit in the face and fell straight down without even making a sound.
Tulu was furious in his heart, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, stood up abruptly, aimed at the enemy dozens of meters away, then let go and let go of the arrow.
At the same time as the arrow missed, several lead bullets were also shot towards him.
In the splashing dust, Tulu's head was thrown back, and with the blood blooming brilliantly, he ended his life, and his heroic performance only lasted a few seconds.
After the battle at Anshan Fort, and with actual combat experience in capturing trench fortifications, various departments of the Dongjiang Army also adjusted their tactics to become more effective and more fierce.
Artillery, muskets, and cold weapon hand-to-hand combat are three-dimensional strikes, from far to near; cold weapon hand-to-hand combat has the assistance of short crossbowmen, and in close combat there is non-contact killing of more people.
Jianlu's fighting style seems monotonous, mainly due to the lack of weapons and equipment, which makes it impossible to use other better tactics.
For example, artillery, those old artillery, have a short range and fire solid bullets. Their performance lags behind that of the Dongjiang Army in all aspects, and they have almost no chance to show off on the battlefield.
Therefore, old artillery was erected on the top of the city to increase the range from a high position.
But even so, it is still far behind the Hongyi artillery, not to mention the mortars and rockets with a maximum range of about three miles.
Jianlu knew this very well and did not dare to rely on those old artillery. It was just better than nothing and made the Dongjiang Army have some scruples.
The fierce attack of the Chinese Association immediately reduced Jianlu's newly increased troops to a drop in the bucket. The wide front required more men and horses, so Jianlu had to invest his troops again to fight with the enemy.
Although the resistance increased, the Dongjiang Army and the two associations still did not stop attacking, and gradually shortened the distance to the city wall.
"Master Beile, more than ten thousand enemies have moved to the west of the city and are setting up camp and building fortifications." The Jianlu officer ran to report to Hauge, which immediately made the atmosphere tense and dignified.
Hauge's frown never relaxed, and after hearing this information, his face became even more gloomy.
Only attacking from the south, mobilizing troops seems to be relatively easy. After all, the number of defenders in the city can fully support it.
But there is another threat to the west, and there may be another violent attack. The pressure suddenly increases, and Hauge will naturally not be in a good mood.
Going out of the city to fight?! It is obviously not a wise move when the enemy and our forces are equal in strength or even at a disadvantage.
The psychological shadow of the fierce firepower of the Dongjiang Army affected the fighting style of the slave chiefs. Building trench fortifications and relying on city walls to hold on were the most concrete manifestations.
Therefore, once the infantry of the Dongjiang Army formed a battle formation, or there were camps and trenches to rely on, the Jianlu were fearful and did not dare to attack rashly.
Now, this somewhat difficult choice lies before Hauge and other slave chiefs.
Should we let the enemy arrange their formation calmly and pose a threat to the western city wall, or should we take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold and take the initiative to attack, making the enemy's attempt fail.
This needs to be weighed. If the results are similar, why take the risk? Without fortifications as cover, it is not like the cavalry has never fought against the infantry. How have they ever taken advantage?
Moreover, the enemy may be deliberately luring the people in the city out of the city to fight. It cannot be ruled out that this is a conspiracy, in order to injure their own troops with artillery fire.
At this time, no one dared to make a judgment easily, and all eyes were focused on Hauge.
Haug didn't scan everyone's actions or hear their suggestions, and he already realized that these people left the decision-making power to himself.
After pondering for a long time, Hauge still shook his head and said slowly: "The enemy's troops are not strong enough to besiege on all sides. If we only attack from two sides, our army will not be able to gain strength advantage."
Ten thousand enemies are encamped and must be well prepared. If ten thousand troops are sent to attack, there is no chance of victory. The deployment of too many troops also shakes the strength of the defenders.
The offensive momentum in Nancheng was very strong, and a considerable number of troops had been restrained. Hauge did not want to take risks. Preserving his troops, holding on firmly, and waiting for the situation to change was his purpose of sticking to Liaoyang.
A month later, Hauge still remembered this deadline. Only by maintaining relatively sufficient troops could we survive the enemy's heavy attack for such a long time.
Ta Zhan, Gong Adai and others looked at each other with helplessness in their eyes, but they had no intention of objecting. They could only reluctantly agree with this conservative decision.
If the mobile corps can still respond and cooperate, there is still some hope of launching an attack.
But now, half of the men and horses of the mobile corps have been transferred, and the other half are also tightly restrained by the enemy's cavalry group. The enemy is still attacking hard, and Liaoyang's men and horses seem to be stretched thin.