Since the original battle plan was to stick to it, it was not surprising at all that Haug made such a decision.
Unknowingly, the psychology of Dongjiang Army and Jianlu had changed, and their advantage and confidence gradually shifted to the side of Dongjiang Army.
This is the result accumulated from several victories. For Jianlu, it is the trauma caused by constant defeats.
Most of the self-confidence in riding and shooting has been lost, and the confidence in attacking difficult positions is basically gone. Then all that is left is to rely on strong defense and use the advantages of hand-to-hand combat to resist the unbelievably strong Dongjiang Army.
Haug adopted the strategy of continuing to persevere, adapting to changes by remaining unchanged, and adhering to the previously formulated battle plan, which was understandable.
Under the command of Liu Xingzhi, the Zuo Xie camped in the west of the city, dug trenches, established a solid base first, and then decided to act according to the situation.
To be precise, the Zuo Xie was only on the south side of the west of the city, and did not spread across the entire line. It formed a comprehensive encirclement facing the west of the city on the wide front.
Despite this, Liu Xingzhi and others were still a little surprised by Jianlu's immobility.
"General, it seems that Jianlu will not come out of the city to attack?" An officer showed contempt and said to Liu Xingzhi: "I didn't expect Jianlu to be so cowardly and timid."
Liu Xingzhi smiled indifferently and summed up briefly: "The military is timid!"
These four words were a rare evaluation of Liao Town. Facing the Jianlu, they could only retreat into the city and rely on the city walls and Hongyi cannons to hold on.
Now Jianlu is almost the same as Liao Zhen, although in terms of combat power, it is still far superior to Liao Zhen.
"It's a pity that we can't give the enemy a heavy blow." The officer shook his head regretfully and said, "The artillery preparations were in vain. I'm really not willing to do so!"
Liu Xingzhi said solemnly: "It cannot be said that being prepared is in vain. The more victory is in sight, the less careless we can be. Since Jianlu can't retreat, it saves us time and can greatly speed up the progress of stabilizing the camp."
Pointing at the enemy, Liu Xingzhi continued: "Now that there are two sides, Jianlu will not panic. When they are surrounded on all sides, they will become turtles in the urn. The battle of Liaoyang will be the decisive battle. The victory or defeat of Ping Liao will depend on this place."
"General, I understand." The officer bowed and saluted, and said, "Now go and urge the soldiers to speed up."
Liu Xingzhi nodded and turned his attention to Liaoyang City again.
The war has now reached a critical moment, and is only waiting for the final turning point, or the breaking point.
Whether it is the front and right Concorde Flying Cavalry Regiments defeating Jianlu's mobile corps, or Liaodong's Dongjiang Army breaking through Lianshan Pass and Motian Ridge, or capturing Benxi, the situation of the battle will suddenly become clear.
By that time, Liaoyang's defense of the enemy was almost in a desperate situation, and defending Liaoyang would become a defense to death, with no chance of a comeback.
However, Jianlu in Shenyang no longer has enough troops to rush to reinforce the siege, not to mention the obstruction of the Taizi River. It is not winter now, and the navy only needs a dozen gunboats to defeat Jianlu's attempt to cross the river.
In Liu Xingzhi's view, the situation of the war is already clear. Except for the battle under Liaoyang City, other battlefields are dominated by more and less, and it is only a matter of time before a breakthrough is achieved.
Therefore, the siege of Liaoyang City will not take long to be completed. Jianlu's hesitation and hesitation are making the noose of the Dongjiang Army tighter and tighter, and their fate will soon be doomed.
"The military is cowardly!" Guo Dajing shook his head and sneered at Jianlu's reaction, giving a classic and sophisticated comment.
If Jianlu went out of the city to counterattack, he would certainly end up with a bloody end. But if he didn't even dare to go out of the city, it would be even more despising.
In a battle between two armies, psychology is also a key factor in determining victory or defeat. No matter how good the weapons and equipment are, they still need people to use them; if people have no fighting spirit, victory cannot be achieved.
"Jianlu's defeat has been decided. This has been obvious for a long time." Fang Zhenghua grinned and said in a high voice with confidence: "Our army has a wonderful way to break the city. Jianlu thought that it could hold on for several months. It's really true. It's beyond stupid."
Ancient siege warfare was cruel and time-consuming. It was normal to defend for a month or two, and there were many examples of more than half a year. For example, in Jinzhou, Jianlu attacked several times, all lasting several months.
It was precisely based on this consideration that the slave chief invested heavily in Liaoyang to hold on and consume the Dongjiang Army's manpower and material resources.
With hundreds of thousands of troops fighting outside, they consumed a huge amount of food and supplies. Based on this, Jianlu estimated that the Dongjiang Army would not be able to hold on for too long.
The bottom line for Jianlu is to defend for a month, and the longer it may be, the better. If it can last until winter and the river freezes, the Dongjiang Army's navy will be useless, and Jianlu's cavalry can travel freely and horizontally.
For this reason, Jianlu had moved away most of the civilians in Liaoyang City and accumulated sufficient supplies of food and grass, hoping to use time to force the Dongjiang Army to withdraw its troops and stop fighting.
"What Eunuch Fang said is absolutely true." Guo Dajing smiled and said, "Liaoyang has not been captured yet, why did Eunuch Fang send someone to deliver the memorial urgently?"
Fang Zhenghua explained with a smile: "Although the city has not been captured, the emperor has known about the situation of the battle, so he can rest assured. Besides, the heroic fighting of the soldiers on the front line should also be made known to the imperial court."
"On behalf of the officers and men of the Dongjiang Army, I would like to thank Eunuch Fang." Guo Dajing cupped his hands and said, "The princes in the court are so high up that they really don't know the difficulty of the battle and the suffering of the people. After receiving the battle report, it was just a matter of capturing one. The city, how many enemies it kills, doesn’t care how much it costs.”
"This -" Fang Zhenghua wanted to agree, but he felt that this also seemed to involve the emperor, so he changed his words and said: "Long live the wise man, he is naturally considerate of the soldiers and will not hesitate to reward him."
Guo Dajing secretly curled his lips, but on the surface he nodded in agreement.
Chongzhen and the court officials were equally virtuous, even worse than them. Otherwise, how could so many people, including soldiers, rebel.
However, Guo Dajing still approves of Founder's live broadcast.
The memorials, one after another, presented the battle process to Chongzhen and the officials in more detail, making them either nervous or excited, and they could truly appreciate the hardships of the frontline soldiers and the cruelty of the battle.
"Report to the commander-in-chief, Commander-in-Chief Mao has arrived at Anshan Fort and is dispatching grain and grass supplies." Several messengers came on horseback and presented letters.
Guo Dajing took the letter, read it briefly, and said with a smile: "I will not write a reply, Commander. You go back and report to Commander Mao that our army is making good progress and is carrying out operations according to the plan. Please rest assured, Commander Mao."
Mao Wenlong did not act with the main force. He deliberately gave up the great contribution to Guo Dajing and provided another support in the Pingliao War.
For him, military exploits were of little use any more, and if he performed great merit again, it would only make the emperor jealous and make things difficult for the court. There was no reward and no title, which was something that was quite taboo in the feudal era.
Of course, as the coach of Dongjiang Town, Mao Wenlong cannot do nothing. It should be a very suitable job to sit in charge of the rear army and arrange food and supplies.
To put it another way, it can also be interpreted as Mao Wenlong strategizing, while Guo Dajing led the army to fight bravely, which sounds better.
Although Guo Dajing reassured Mao Wenlong, he was also a little anxious.
Whether it is Benxi, Lianshanguan, Motianling, or the front and right Union Navy, as long as there is news of victory, the battle situation will suddenly become clear.
But until now, no good news has come. Although the time is still short, Guo Dajing cannot help feeling anxious.
The cannons were rumbling from the front, and the attack of the newly formed Xie He Zhong Xie was still going on, gaining the upper hand and getting closer and closer to the city wall.
Guo Dajing let out a long breath and felt a lot better. He raised his telescope and looked at the battlefield, estimating the distance from which he could bombard the city.
With the current progress, mortars or rockets can already reach the city, but it is still not enough to reach the central area of the city.
There are old artillery on the city, and the appropriate distance is about one mile from the city wall. Not only can mortars cover a larger area in the city, but also Hongyi cannon can bombard the city wall.
It would even be easier to seize all the positions outside the city and drain the moat, making it easier to start digging tunnels and prepare for blasting the city wall.
If the artillery had been able to exert its power, the Jianlu would also realize that the remaining positions outside the city were useless, and would they give up on their own initiative?
In fact, Guo Dajing and Hauge had similar ideas. They did not want their troops to fight in the trenches, but they did not show it in terms of momentum.
The Jianlu troops are constantly increasing their troops, and it seems that they will fight desperately for even an inch of position. But in fact, they are heartbroken and bleeding, calculating the number of casualties, and striving not to exceed the bottom line.
The Dongjiang Army's artillery fire was fierce, and it seemed that they were bound to win. However, the enemy's trench fortifications did reduce the damage of the artillery fire. And this casualty ratio did not satisfy Guo Dajing.
The strange thing is here, neither the enemy nor we show weakness, and they are fighting fiercely in a way that no one expects.
"The enemy has invested more than 10,000 troops!" Hauge mobilized another 1,000 troops. The tactics of adding fuel to the attack made him feel heartbroken, but he did not want to give up easily, and was still thinking about persisting.
The Dongjiang Army's offensive was fierce. The trebuchets passed through the trench bridge and followed the infantry forward, maintaining a range of more than 200 meters and constantly pouring bombs away.
On the trench were musketeers, using large shields as cover. Thirty to fifty meters behind the melee soldiers, they used muskets to provide fire cover and started shooting with bows and arrows.
The close combat soldiers not only relied on the longitudinal trenches to advance forward, they climbed out of the trenches, crossed a distance of twenty or thirty meters, threw the bombs they carried, jumped into another trench in the smoke after the explosion, and started hand-to-hand combat with the Jianlu
.
Yes, Dongjiang Army soldiers are also equipped with a lot of hand-thrown bombs, which also have the combat function of grenadiers.
In the battle of Anshan Fort, the New Editorial Association did not use this weapon, mainly because the number was small and the enemy's resistance was not strong.
But having already reached Liaoyang City, Guo Dajing lifted all restrictions and strived to build pressure on Liaoyang City as soon as possible to create more favorable combat conditions for other troops.
This kind of hand-thrown bomb also has a delayed fuse, but it does not need to be ignited by an open flame. Each bomb weighs half a kilogram and cannot be thrown too far by human power, but it is suitable for this kind of trench warfare.
The reason why there are so few built is also due to the wide range of applications. Apart from trench warfare, and perhaps city defense warfare, this kind of hand-thrown bomb has basically no effect.
Several hand-thrown bombs were suddenly thrown into the trenches. Looking at the smoking bombs at their feet, the prisoners screamed uncontrollably, hid in panic, and huddled together in the narrow space.
Boom, boom, boom, boom! Continuous explosions covered up the screams of Jianluo. Black smoke rose up in the trenches, and shrapnel flew across the trench. Not many Jianluo were killed, but many were injured.
, even more panicked.
As soon as the explosions stopped, several figures jumped into the trenches. Guns, knives, crossbows and arrows were fired at random, causing blood and flesh to splatter. This small section of the trench was quickly captured by the soldiers of the Dongjiang Army.
The sudden change in the battle situation shocked Hauge and other slave chiefs. They were not sure what happened. They only saw that the explosions on the position suddenly became intensive, and the speed of their retreat suddenly accelerated.
"What powerful weapons are the enemies using?" Gong Adai's eyes widened. He saw some clues and said uncertainly: "It must have never been used in Anshan Fort."
Ta Zhan nodded and said: "It is a bomb that can be used at close range and is more accurate than a trebuchet."
Hauge sighed silently and said in a deep voice: "The enemy suddenly used this new weapon when he saw our army increasing its troops, which caught our army off guard and increased its casualties."
Until now, Hauge finally confirmed the determination of the Dongjiang Army, which is to use any means and at any cost. It is obviously a delusion to use casualties to thwart the Dongjiang Army's attack.
This made Hauge give up his illusions. He no longer felt that it was necessary to limit the casualties in the battle outside the city.
Because according to the current offensive momentum of the Dongjiang Army, even if another 18,000 troops are added, it will not shake the enemy's will to fight.
Gong Adai frowned and said: "It is not easy to deal with the enemy approaching the city wall. Whether it is artillery bombardment or blowing down the city wall, it is difficult to prevent it."
Fighting for positions outside the city is a waste of personnel and can also cause damage to the enemy. But once you retreat to the city, you may only be passively beaten in front of the enemy's artillery.
Ta Zhan had the opposite attitude and said: "Instead of continuing to fight with the enemy outside the city, it is better to retreat into the city. I see the enemy's offensive momentum, and it is useless to continue to increase troops. After all, the enemy has an advantage in strength.
.”
Hauge was really in a dilemma, and no matter how hard he fought, he could not escape being passive. Although there was no worse news coming from the surrounding area, he felt an ominous feeling in his heart.
Can we really hold on to Liaoyang for that long? I'm afraid it will be difficult even for a month.
While Hauge hesitated to make a decision, the battle below the city was still fierce, and the balance of victory was increasingly tilted towards the Dongjiang Army.
No matter in terms of military strength or firepower, the Dongjiang Army had an advantage. Jianlu once again put on a posture of being beaten, but did not have more effective combat methods, so of course they could not stop the Dongjiang Army's fierce offensive.
The New Association invested 6,000 troops, and the Chinese Association, which was encouraging, also had a similar number of troops. Three waves of attacks gave the Jianlu troops no chance to breathe, and the additional troops added to the army were quickly exhausted.