Chapter five hundred and sixty second crossing the river to the north
The rising sun rises high, turns from red to bright, from low to high, and has already risen into the mid-air, causing the sparkling Taizi River to constantly change colors.
The face that also changed color was the slave chief Sobodo who stayed on the north bank. Looking at the gunboats anchored on the river and the pontoons extending to the north bank, he complained repeatedly in his heart.
Shenyang's order was to concentrate troops. Azig also felt that the entire army on the north bank would have no big effect. How could he just watch the enemy attack Liaoyang?
Since it was no longer possible to respond to the friendly forces in Liaoyang City, it was better to retreat to Hupiyi and other key points for defense. Therefore, Azig only left three thousand troops led by Sobodo to monitor the enemy in the camp on the north bank.
That's right, it can only be surveillance, but it cannot prevent the enemy's army from landing and marching north. Jianlu did not expect that before Liaoyang was captured, the Dongjiang Army rushed across the river to attack.
There were nearly 10,000 men and horses on the other side, ready to cross the river and land on the pontoon bridge.
But they were not the main attackers. Amidst the rumbling of war drums, dozens of flat-bottomed landing boats left the south bank and galloped towards the other bank with their wide fronts.
Sobodo sighed secretly. Although his face calmed down and he gave the order to prepare to attack. But he knew that if he just responded in vain, even if all three thousand men and horses were used up, they would not be able to stop the enemy.
A thousand cavalrymen were divided into three teams, charging straight forward and harassing the enemies who landed on the beach. Only God knows how many casualties they could kill. However, the casualties of our own troops were foreseeable.
The pontoon was accelerating, and the wooden boats were anchored one after another. The planks were immediately laid out and fixed with iron nails. They were getting closer and closer to the north shore, with only forty or fifty meters remaining.
At this time, the landing ship had already washed up on the river beach. With ten ships as a unit, a team of more than 100 people could quickly disembark and assemble.
Mao Chenglu was on the big boat in the river, holding up a telescope and looking around, with a slight smile on his lips.
Those with actual combat experience in landing, the former Xie Xie was considered the leader of the Dongjiang Army. This landing was also the plan formulated by Mao Chenglu, and he passed on his experience and insights to the officers of the You Xie Xie.
Obviously, the officers and soldiers of the Youxie Association performed well in this battle, which gave Mao Chenglu a sense of accomplishment.
Originally, he asked Ying to be tasked with the first batch of beach landings by the former association, but Guo Dajing declined politely. The reason was very good. He wanted more troops to master the essentials of landing operations and get them trained in actual combat.
In future wars, this amphibious combat mode will appear many times. Guo Dajing also wanted to use this to train a marine force, which would be drawn from various ministries and directly merged with the navy.
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The hoofbeats rumbled, the horns whined, and Jianlu launched a counterattack.
Although he knew that there were many gunboats on the river and the cavalry near the river bank would be bombarded, watching the enemy come ashore and gather in formation to stabilize their position was not the battle pattern that Jianlu expected.
"Fire!" The command flag on the gunboat waved, and the fuses of each mortar were ignited. After a moment, they made a dull roar, and the shells hit the shore with a trajectory visible to the naked eye.
Dozens of artillery shells landed one after another, forming a bombing area about a mile away from the river bank, covering the landing site.
At this time, a group of Jianlu's cavalry rushed in, but they were unable to hold back, so they could only bite the bullet and rush into the area.
"This -" Sobodo frowned, not expecting such a result.
Fires burst out, one after another, and black smoke rose. In the midst of Jianlu's cavalry group, explosions occurred one after another, and the loud roars even covered up the shouts of people and horses neighing.
The roar of the gunboats came one after another, and the cannonballs passed through the air in a black mass, hitting the road where Jianlu attacked, and even landed among Jianlu's cavalry.
This is a fixed-range bombardment, and what is important is speed. It can fire the most shells in the shortest time, deter the charge of the Jianlu cavalry, and provide the greatest cover for the landing infantry.
Each squadron had two light Franchise machines, equipped with six muskets. They were carried by several artillerymen, quickly set up, and opened fire on the Jianlu cavalry who rushed out of the smoke.
As dense as raindrops, pellet shells were fired head-on. The Jianlu cavalrymen fell off their horses in embarrassment as the men fell on their backs, screaming and howling, and were either killed or wounded.
The two Fran machines fired in turn, and it only took more than ten seconds to replace the muskets. After the bombardment was completed, there were already corpses of men and horses in front of the formation.
The overwhelming artillery fire was all fired within a distance of one to two miles. This firepower density was even stronger than when the former association landed.
One thousand Jianlu were beaten to pieces before they even got into the battle, and were out of formation.
One of the main reasons is that war horses have not been trained to withstand artillery fire and are easily frightened. This would not happen in modern times.
The power of the cavalry lies first in the impact and secondly in the battle formation. The sparse formation poses no threat to the strict infantry battle formation.
Jianlu, who finally broke out of the bombardment area, was bombarded by Fran machine cannons and then came under concentrated fire from platoons of musketeers.
Three rows of rounds fired, giving full play to the firing rate of the flintlock muskets. Within a distance of sixty or seventy meters, lead bullets rained down on Jianlu.
The sparse arrows were lost in the counterattack, and the Jianlu, who had been hit continuously, could no longer organize a too dense rain of arrows.
Another group of troops rushed to the beach and landed. They bravely stepped forward, shelled and fired, and formed a crossfire with friendly forces at the landing site that was more than two miles long.
The big boat in the river suddenly made a deafening roar, and the thousand-jin Hongyi cannon on it fired up.
Several solid artillery shells passed over the river, passed over the heads of the landing troops, fell in an arc, and bounced up again, smashing all obstacles in front of them.
The battle is still going on fiercely. In some places, the two sides are fighting in close combat. The shouts of killing and the sound of gunfire form an exciting and cruel theme song.
"Retreat!" Sobodo's face turned pale as he gave the order.
The Dongjiang Army's landing this time was different from the previous ones. The front troops only occupied half of the landing ships. There was no need for the ships to return, and the follow-up troops could rush across at any time. It seemed that they had the intention of luring the enemy to attack.
The two groups of landing troops were close to 2,000. Unless Sobodo increased his troops, it would be difficult to stop the enemy's actions.
In addition to the artillery that exploded when it hit the ground, the Dongjiang Army also used Hongyi artillery, which brought the Jianlu within one mile of the shore within the striking range.
"There is no way, we can't fight anymore!" Sobodo stood on the mound, looking at the battlefield in the distance and the river that could not stop the enemy, and sighed helplessly.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and his face became serious. A handsome flag was hoisted on the other side, which was the word "Guo" that Sobodo was familiar with.
"Guo Dajing personally led it. Crossing the river may not be that simple." Sobodo thought, thinking that this was important information and needed to be reported immediately.
Although Hupiyi, Fengji Fort, and Baitapu can be regarded as defense points, the city has few soldiers and is not even as large as Anshan Fort. It is very difficult to resist the Dongjiang Army's fierce attack.
The Hun River in the south of Shenyang City is considered a natural barrier, but for the Dongjiang Army with its navy, it is nothing.
What the Jianlu were most afraid of was that the Dongjiang Army did not have a strategy, but that the army would advance along the road, attack the city when it saw it, pull out the stronghold when it encountered it, and push it all the way to Shenyang.
In a head-to-head battle, Jianlu didn't want to fight, and couldn't afford it. Whether it was firepower, military strength, or combat power, Jianlu had no capital to fight together.
The several defeats against the Dongjiang Army over the past few years have finally accumulated into an irreversible defeat.
The defeat of Lushun Fort, the defeat of Nanguan, the disastrous defeat of Zunhua, the failure of Jianzhou, the disastrous defeat of Liaodong, and the loss of tens of thousands of elite Jianqi soldiers caused the Jianqi soldiers to break their ridges.
They can barely manage to cobble together tens of thousands of combat troops, but their combat power and psychological quality are far behind what they were when they were strong.
Even so, except for Dorgon and others, the slave chiefs still could not understand the situation clearly, or were unwilling to admit defeat. They were still like gamblers, hoping for a lucky victory.
Sobodo's eyes were still on the battlefield. What he saw was not only the enemy's fierce artillery fire, but also the soldiers' will to fight bravely.
Facing the charging cavalry, as an infantryman, he was undefeated and could not retreat. He could still fire normally, and even bravely raised his bayonet and charged forward.
This deeply shocked Sobodo and shattered his original luck and fantasy of turning defeat into victory.
"Perhaps, Liaoyang can rely on the strong city and wide trenches to hold out until the enemy's food supply is exhausted and they have to retreat to rest." There is still hope, Sobodo comforted himself, but he also knew that it was very slim.
"Guo Dajing has always been cautious in using his troops. Now he is leading his troops across the river in person. He is obviously very confident. Maybe the Dongjiang Army can quickly break through Liaoyang; maybe the strength of the Dongjiang Army is more than what the intelligence estimates?"
Soboduo shook his head, shook off the messy thoughts, and quietly left with more than two thousand captives.
It was just a short battle, and the thousand Jianlu cavalry suffered seven to eight hundred casualties, with only about two hundred of them escaping back.
Sobodo was glad that he did not rush forward with all his troops recklessly, because he saw that the pontoon bridge had been set up, and the final speed was astonishingly fast.
Obviously, this is another trick of the enemy. They could have reached the other side quickly, but they decided to act slower, hoping to lure more enemies to join the battle group.
Sobodo was indeed right. The last few dozen meters of erecting the pontoon bridge could indeed be completed quickly using large wooden equipment similar to the pontoon bridge designed by Guo Dajing.
Although it is not as stable as a normal reinforced pontoon bridge, it is not a problem to pass through infantry. This allows the number of troops to land to increase rapidly and exhaust the enemies who have entered the battlefield.
"The Jianlu soldiers have no fighting spirit." Mao Chenglu put down his telescope, curled his lips, and said to Zhang Tao: "It was unexpected that the landing was completed so easily."
Zhang Tao smiled and said: "The Jianlu soldiers left only these few troops. They have obviously given up on preventing our army from crossing the river. A fight is just a test, and it will be easy to explain when we go back."
Mao Chenglu nodded and said: "Between Liao and Shen, the only ones that can hold on are Hupi Post and Fengji Fort, but they are not strong enough to withstand our army's attack."
"That is to say, we are going to launch." Zhang Tao glanced at the handsome flag with the character "Guo" on the bank and said with a smile: "Shuai Guo has built up momentum and crossed the river in a large scale, which can be regarded as containing the main force of Jianlu."
Mao Chenglu said: "Jianlu didn't expect that our army would cross the river so quickly, and they would definitely respond hastily. It will be beneficial to us and the flying cavalry action."
"Has the flying cavalry been launched?" Zhang Tao was in charge of the navy, and he really wasn't very clear about the deployment of troops on the shore.
Mao Chenglu chuckled and said: "We set off last night, and now under Liaoyang City, only the Feibiao Group is still there."
Zhang Tao pondered, calculated the time, and said with a smile: "Guo Shuai's calculation is very accurate, and it is a perfect match for crossing the river to attract Jianlu's attention."
This is a series of actions. Today we cross the river, occupy the prison camp, strengthen the pontoon bridge, transport food and ammunition, and consolidate the bridgehead.
Tomorrow we will advance twenty or thirty miles, and at the same time, under the command of Mao Wenlong, we will attack Liaoyang City. We will try to reach Hupiyi the next day, and the troops attacking Liaoyang City will also cross the river to join the battle.
The day after tomorrow, the flying cavalry should cross Benxi and go straight to Fushun, that is, behind Shenyang, and start the great destruction of burning, killing and looting.
If we include the actions of the navy and the front association, it was almost three simultaneous actions, which made Jianlu exhausted. There was no place where they dared not to guard against, but it was difficult to guard against anywhere.
At this time, the officers and soldiers of the Right Association had already begun to pass the pontoon bridge, heading to the north bank one by one. The special operations battalion was also ready to cross the river.
The ships shuttled on the river, no longer transporting soldiers, but artillery, ammunition, food and supplies. After all, the pontoon bridge needed to be reinforced before it could carry heavier things.
"In winter, the traffic here is unobstructed, but you don't have to worry about the Jianlu coming." Guo Dajing looked at the river with great regret in his heart.
According to the current technical level, it is very difficult to build a bridge across the Taizi River. Even he couldn't think of a good solution.
It's okay to freeze in winter, but in spring, summer and autumn, you can only rely on ferry. Even this pontoon bridge is temporary. Once the flood season comes, it will no longer exist.
The people around him didn't know that Guo Shuai's thoughts were jumping like this. Feng Xijian blinked and said: "During the winter, the remnants of the Jianlu captives are probably drinking the wind in the bitter cold land, and there is no possibility of them escaping again."
Guo Dajing smiled at himself, turned around and called the messengers to give orders to the navy and the front association to march along the Hun River to Shenyang tomorrow. At the same time, he was also preparing to board the boat and cross the river.
"Set up camp on the north bank today. It won't be too late for Guo Shuai to cross the river tomorrow." Feng Xijian advised: "There are still preparations for the siege today, and we may ask Guo Shuai for instructions and report."
Guo Dajing thought for a while and accepted Feng Xijian's suggestion, but still ordered a group of soldiers to cross the river and plant the flag in the newly established camp.
The commander's flag crossing the river means the commander's movements. If the Jianlu soldiers have sentries to conduct reconnaissance, it will give them a clear signal, that is, the main force of the Dongjiang Army has escaped from Liaoyang City.
According to the plan, today will be about filling the tunnel with gunpowder and laying out leads. This is the most important stage of the siege, and Guo Dajing also wants to hear the report so that he can finally feel relieved.
"Tomorrow, amidst the roar of the ruined city, the army will advance northward and head towards Shenyang."
Guo Dajing showed a confident smile, looked back at Liaoyang City in the distance, turned his head again, and watched the army marching proudly across the Taizi River towards the final victory.