At the foot of Beijiang City, after receiving the telegram from Li Weidong, Jiang Tao immediately launched a general offensive. Excluding the logistics personnel, a total of more than 20,000 Hainan Army soldiers were ready to begin a violent attack on Beijiang County.
Soon, as three signal bombs of different colors took off, the Hainan Army officers and soldiers, who had already held back their energy, immediately roared and rushed towards Beijiang City.
The charge horn sounded, and the soldiers of the Hainan Army launched a charge despite a hail of bullets. The defenders in the city were not unsteady Vietnamese indigenous soldiers, but French regular army troops, whose fighting will far surpassed the Vietnamese soldiers.
The war made people crazy, and the more than 20,000 French troops in the city were still fighting. Beijiang City turned into a veritable battlefield "meat grinder".
After the raging artillery fire, incomplete and collapsed houses can be seen everywhere in the city. The soldiers of the Hainan Army fought desperately with the French army on the ruins, among the broken walls, fighting for every inch.
Life has become so worthless at this moment, a bullet can take away an unwilling soul.
Blood, death, and choking smoke are accompanied by every Hainan Army soldier. Comrades are constantly falling around him, some are getting up, and some are falling forever. This cruel battlefield cannot
Stop the Hainan Army's offensive.
The flags fluttering in the flames seemed to echo the "Hainan Army March" written by Li Weidong for the Hainan Army:
Our numbers are few, our blood boils,
We fear neither enemies nor death.
We only know one task: the country and the nation are in danger,
To fight, to win, to fight death to the death.
Put on your military uniform and pick up your rifle!
Comrades, that is a journey with no return,
In the far north there is the weeping Yellow River,
Come, don't lose your mind,
Come, let's move forward together!
…………
As the war continued, the soldiers in the rear artillery position used their full power to push the shells into the barrels one after another, and then fired them into the French position, forcibly blasting a path for the Hainan Army's infantry offensive troops.
The artillery fire roared, and the French army positions covered by the barrage were shaking. The officers and soldiers of the third battalion of the second regiment of the first division of the Hainan Army charged the fastest. They had broken through two French defense lines and broke into Beijiang City.
"Ta...ta...ta...!" There was a military bunker built by the French army on a street corner. It kept spitting out tongues of fire, and soldiers who were shot kept falling down.
The soldiers rushed forward in the smoke of gunfire, and were swept away by their bullet chains, but they were suppressed behind a brick wall and unable to raise their heads.
"Mortar! Kill it for me!" Seeing soldiers being shot one after another, the battalion commander shouted back with red eyes.
The battalion commander's officer's uniform was stained with dust and blood, his white gloves turned black, and there was a steel helmet on his head.
Upon hearing the battalion commander's order, the two gunners immediately lowered the ground with the mortar and set up the mortar.
"Battal Commander! The angle is too small, the mortar can't hit!" The gunner gave a thumbs up to measure, and then shouted into the battalion commander's ear.
As we all know, the mortar is a curved-fire smoothbore artillery with a short body, a large firing angle, and a high ballistic arc. It uses a seat plate to bear the recoil force, uses muzzle loading, and launches finned projectiles.
Because there are houses in the city, this kind of curve shooting is seriously affected and it is very easy to hit the house.
"Go to hell...! Demolition team, come on!" The battalion commander couldn't help but cursed and could only let the demolition team carry out the demolition.
For this siege, the Hainan Army had made comprehensive preparations and bundled explosives into explosive packets in advance, so they did not have to bundle a handful of grenades as before.
Immediately, three or four Hainan Army soldiers immediately put down their rifles, picked up explosive packets in their right hands, and rushed out despite the hail of bullets.
The intersecting lines of fire blocked the progress of the demolition crews. When the last demolition crew was sacrificed less than five meters away from the French bunker, the first team of demolition crews was wiped out.
The battalion commander smashed his fist on the ground angrily and shouted in a low voice: "Second Demolition Team, move in!"
Then several Hainan Army soldiers rushed forward with explosive packs. After sacrificing several soldiers, a loud noise representing the anger of the Hainan Army buried the French troops in the bunker under the rubble.
As night fell, the fierce offensive carried out by the Hainan Army for a day gradually stopped. Both the Hainan Army and the French Army needed to take a breath.
After a day of fierce fighting, basically all the French positions outside Beijiang City were captured by the Hainan Army, and the more aggressive troops had already rushed into the internal defense lines of Beijiang City.
Under the night, darkness completely shrouded Beijiang County. The distance between the most forward Hainan Army position and the French Army position was less than 200 meters. If it were daytime, you could clearly see each other's faces with the naked eye.
In this dark night, any bit of light may expose your location, and then you may be shot to death by the opponent's god.
It was already late November, and the airflow from the north brought a hint of coolness. The soldiers of the Hainan Army, still wearing their autumn military uniforms, endured this freezing night.
At the forefront of the Hainan Army, in a crater half a meter deep, there was a young Hainan Army soldier curled up, chewing a cold and hard pancake in his mouth.
Although the army is equipped with canned food, not all Hainan Army soldiers can eat canned fish and meat every day. Usually, their staple food is mainly grains.
Hainan Army Headquarters outside Beijiang City.
In the headquarters, officers and staff were busy working, and Jiang Tao was busy sorting out the information reported by each unit.
Unable to sit still, Wang Shanhu found an excuse and ran to the front line. The task of organizing documents and materials had always been a headache for him.
Suddenly, the door of the military tent was opened, and Li Weidong brought in a cool breeze and walked in.
"Stand at attention and salute!" Following the command, the headquarters suddenly became silent, and the busy officers quickly stopped what they were doing and saluted.
"Keep working!" Li Weidong said, handing Gao Yi his military coat and wearing a dusty face.
When he came to the table, Li Weidong took off his military cap, patted the dust off it, and put it on the table. He set out from Hongji County overnight yesterday and arrived at Beijiang City.
After ordering the Hainan Army to attack Beijiang City, Li Weidong decided to come to the front line of Beijiang City. The first reason was to boost the morale of the Hainan Army soldiers and let them see him on the front line.
If the soldiers fighting fiercely on the front line see Li Weidong's arrival, it will definitely give them the belief that they will win. The generals and commanders of the Hainan Army are on the front line, so can our army still not win?
Secondly, the Hainan Army is a young army and has only been trained for less than half a year. There is still some gap between the quality of the troops of those established military powers.
Moreover, this was also the first time that the Hainan Army conducted a large-scale offensive, which was difficult for the Hainan Army, so Li Weidong personally went to Beijiang City to take charge.