"Commander, we can't stand it any longer. We have lost all our artillery now. If we stay above Guancheng, we can only be a living target for the enemy." An officer reported.
He hung an arm with a bandage, and there were blood stains everywhere on his body. The blood stains stuck to the soil and formed plaques on the green military uniform. There was an urgent cry in his tone.
Feng Yuan, the leader of the Tongguan garrison, also had a bandage on his head.
This Guancheng was also built of stone, and was surrounded by stones. When the enemy's artillery shells exploded, the rocks flew everywhere, and many soldiers were injured by the debris.
"Captain Zhao, you take your battalion and go down first. We will leave only a few people to guard the top. When the enemy comes closer, you can come over to support us." Feng Yuan shouted loudly, surrounded by the sound of explosions.
Lanxi people are never petty when using cannons.
On a hilltop outside the pass, Meng Toban was holding a telescope and observing the situation on the pass.
"Order the Third Battalion of the Foreign Legion to prepare the ladders and launch an attack as soon as the gunfire stops. The Tingen Federal Santa Fe Division will press forward to cover." Montauban ordered.
He still has less than 30,000 troops in his hands. In addition to the French Foreign Legion, he also has two Tingen federal divisions.
They are the Santa Fe Division and the Salta Division.
At this time, the Salta Division did not know that its hometown had been captured by the Donghua Army.
Based on the virtues of Zhumu's servants, not even one out of ten people in the area can be left alive.
The Salta Division suffered heavy losses in the previous attack, so this time it was covered by the Santa Fe Division.
The main attack is carried out by the French Foreign Legion, who are good at hand-to-hand combat. The French Foreign Legion is not a ragtag army or a servant army.
They have a long history and are the elite of the French army. Most of these people are experienced warriors, but they come from various countries and they receive high salaries.
France is not their country, they are just fighting for money.
But their morale and combat effectiveness are not weak at all.
"Ula!"
The whistle sounded, and more than 500 soldiers of the Foreign Legion ran towards the pass carrying ladders.
The heavy ladder seemed to have no weight in their hands.
They walked quickly on the uneven road in the valley.
When they set off, the artillery fire hadn't even stopped yet. They actually charged a little early, which allowed them to get closer to the wall.
The tall pass wall is more than six meters high, and the thickness of the wall is also more than six meters, so even with heavy artillery, it is difficult to blast through the Tongguan city wall.
You can only use the oldest tactic of climbing using ladders.
Because of the terrain restrictions here, Tongguan did not build a bastion-style structure.
This makes the difficulty of siege troops a lot lower.
Finally, we crossed the obstacle and came to the trench. There were very few gunshots on the wall.
"Quick, throw the grenade." Feng Yuan shouted. The enemy was moving very fast. As soon as the gunfire stopped, the big noses were already under the wall.
When they were about to counterattack, the Santa Fe Division covering the attack began to suppress the Donghua Army on Guancheng.
The soldiers led by Battalion Commander Liu came up again, but they did not have much effect, and it was difficult for the soldiers to take the lead.
"Ah!" A soldier yelled in pain when his arm was broken while throwing a grenade. Then he saw the grenade falling to the ground together with his severed hand.
The grenade's tail was still smoking.
The young soldier named Zhang Maozi felt severe pain and immediately jumped on the grenade.
"Boom!" After a muffled sound, Zhang Maozi disappeared.
The battle resulted in serious attrition. The garrison and the militia added later originally numbered more than 5,000 people.
Now there are less than two thousand people left.
Many people's eyes turned red as they watched their comrades around them sacrifice themselves one after another.
Most of them hope to seek better development in Donghua.
Some people have married, started a business, and given birth to children. Even if they are gone, they can still leave a piece of industry for their families.
Dong Shutong issued an important decree that every soldier who died in battle would receive at least one hundred acres of tax-free permanent land.
The land is not large, but be aware that it is tax-free and permanent.
This is different from the land allocated before. They also allocated large tracts of land before, but these lands will have to pay taxes in the future, and they must manage them well. If they do not manage well, the income from the land may not be enough to pay taxes.
Therefore, this seemingly small one hundred acres of tax-free land will become a precious family wealth.
It's just that many soldiers haven't even had time to start a family, so these people can only convert their military achievements into money and send them back to their hometowns.
No one has time to feel sad for Zhang Maozi. Too many people have died these days.
Everyone just hopes that the war can end soon.
No one wants a war, but here in Amelia, every inch of living space for the Chinese is fought for.
If you don't fight, you can only work as free labor for white people. If you don't fight, you won't get the respect of others.
This is a fight for survival.
"Liu Battalion Commander, go to the left and take command. Try not to hide behind the battlements and shoot. Let them crawl and organize the firepower."
Feng Yuan must reduce the casualties of his soldiers as much as possible.
They have no reinforcements for the time being and can only continue to change their tactics.
Zhangli is very long. There are more than 20,000 troops in the entire Zhangli, but it has to defend a line of defense that is thousands of kilometers long.
Although they are all dangerous places, if you put a little bit in each place, it adds up to a huge number.
"Yes, Captain, take care of yourself too."
Feng Yuan has already gone into battle injured. He is the backbone of the entire defense. If he is gone, it will be difficult to defend Xintongguan.
"Ula!" Andre finally climbed to the battlement. He was nearly 1.9 meters tall and weighed more than 200 kilograms.
However, he is very flexible.
I saw him putting one hand on the battlement, and using force with one hand, he jumped onto the wall.
But at this time, at least three guns were pointed at him, including a shotgun.
"Bang bang bang..." There was a burst of gunfire, and Andre's body suddenly jumped back, knocking down Karam who had just come up behind him.
"Boom..." An explosion sounded on the wall. It turned out that the enemy had changed their tactics. They first lit the grenade on the ladder and then threw it in.
There are also grenadiers in the French Foreign Legion, and they still use heavy round grenades, each of which is like a cannonball.
Although it is not as useful as the hand grenade produced by the Fuxing Military, it is still powerful.
The Donghua Army soldiers who were originally aiming their guns at the top of the ladder were blown down to a large extent.
France's foreign legion combat experience is very rich.
In the previous battles, they were mainly suppressed by Donghua Army's artillery and had no way to rush to the front of the wall.
Moreover, at that time, General Milani was leading the battle, leaving little room for Montaban to perform.
Now General Milani has led his troops to pursue the Mapuche people.
The battle was led by General Montauban, the highest-ranking military officer here, and some of his tactical ideas were boldly implemented.
The first step was to find high places to mount artillery and destroy the Donghua Army's artillery positions.
Then use your own artillery to suppress and consume the Donghua Army on Guancheng.
Wait until the Donghua Army is exhausted.
Valley
Then take advantage of your own manpower and firepower to launch a full-scale attack.
Meng Toban, I am not prepared to continue to waste time with these Donghua troops.
As long as this pass is broken through, the Chili area will be open to them.
At that time, Donghua's entire southern front will be opened.
A single move can affect the whole body. In that case, victory will eventually belong to the coalition.
"Kill them and drive them down. Guancheng must not be lost." Feng Yuan knew very well that with their strength in the south, withdrawing from Guancheng would mean failure and there would be no second line of defense.
This is the last line of defense.
The casualties of the Foreign Legion were actually not small, and Montauban had once again pressed down with a thousand men.
He wasn't just trying to add fuel to the fire, there were just too many people going up there, and there was no place to stand down below Guancheng.
On those ladders, the attacking foreign legions never stopped.
There were corpses hanging below Guancheng, including on the battlements.
The soldiers behind jumped onto the battlements, unable to stand firmly because there were corpses scattered everywhere under their feet.
The Donghua Army did not have time to clean up.
Fortunately, the top of the wall is relatively spacious, otherwise even the defenders would have no place to stand.
Regardless of his own pain, Feng Yuan picked up the shotgun and rushed forward with his guards.
As the leader of the regiment, he has now become the firefighting captain, and he will supplement the firefighting wherever it is unstoppable.
The enemy's endless and flexible tactics gradually weakened the Donghua Army's defense.
The number of soldiers on Guancheng is still decreasing. However, the enemy's soldiers are coming continuously.
It seems endless.
From morning to noon, the soldiers of the Donghua Army had no time to eat, and many soldiers were exhausted.
Their reloading and firing speed is obviously slowing down.
Some people can't even pull the bolt of the gun.
Just after rescuing a section of the city wall, a company commander from below came to report: "Commander, Battalion Commander Liu has died."
"Yuan Laosan, I now appoint you as the commander of the left wing. If you die, let other company commanders take command. If all the company commanders die, let the platoon commander take command." Feng Yuan shouted.
Just after he finished speaking, he led his people and rushed to another gap.
Every time the enemy opens a gap, the Donghua Army will suffer a lot of casualties. The fact that the enemy can gain a foothold on the wall means that the firepower of that wall is no longer enough.
Time entered the afternoon, and Feng Yuan didn't know how long he could hold on.
Maybe in the next minute, the remaining men of his will be defeated.
Maybe he will be killed by a stray bullet soon. It is just luck that he can survive until now.
Without ourselves, can the brothers still persevere?
Alas! After all, if you die, you won’t be able to see it anymore. Why do you think so much?
A burst of noisy gunfire rang out from the left wing, as well as the sound of foreign devils charging to kill.
Feng Yuan secretly thought that the wall on the left wing was breached by the enemy. He was just about to lead his men to kill them.
The sound of gunfire was also heard outside the pass.
No, why did this sound come from outside the customs? Why is there still fighting outside the customs?
Impossible. The reinforcements coming from our side will also come from inside the pass. How could they end up outside the pass?
Could it be the Mapuche people from the south?
"Reinforcements are coming, brothers, follow me and kill!" No matter what, just shout it out first.
The left wing has been broken through by the enemy, and collapse is imminent. At this time, only the arrival of reinforcements can support the morale of the soldiers.
Montauban prepared for the final assault, for his brave foreign legions had scaled the wall.
Today his men showed his face in a big way.
Outside this pass wall, the Tingen people had left more than 10,000 corpses before.
Now this place has been captured by his foreign legion. These Amelias must have seen the world's number one French Army this time.
"General, it's bad, a Donghua army came from our rear."
"What, what did you say?" Montauban didn't know whether he didn't hear clearly or he couldn't believe it.
"Behind us, behind us is the hinterland of Tingen, and it is not their border. Where did the Donghua army come from?"
"General, it is indeed the banner of the Donghua Army. They are all cavalry and broke through our outpost as soon as they came up.
Because the rear was the hinterland of Tingen, when they attacked Guancheng, they did not arrange soldiers to guard the rear. They only set up a post in the valley behind to deliver messages.
This outpost was easily captured by the Donghua Army.
At the rear of the coalition forces, Mashao, as the forward force, has engaged with the coalition forces. At this time, the coalition forces are all in front, and there are not many troops in the rear.
"Captain, these people have set up artillery positions on the mountainside." the scout reported.
The artillery on the mountainside is their obstacle.
"Fat Bear, take two heavy machine guns and climb them to the mountainside for me. There is only 800 meters away from the enemy's artillery position. Go faster and let me go before the enemy's artillery can turn its muzzle.
When you start strafing, don't save bullets."
Ma Shao now has a sharp weapon in his hands, his tactics are much more flexible, and he has become more confident.
The new heavy machine gun is more convenient to move and can be deployed in a larger area. Its effective range can reach 1,500 meters, which can catch up with most current army artillery.
It must be very refreshing to have two heavy machine guns firing at the enemy's artillery position built on the mountainside.
"Everyone dismount and prepare to attack." The horse whistle began to be deployed.
Why dismount? Because this is a valley with rocks everywhere on the ground, which is not suitable for cavalry charge.
They rode war horses just to go faster.
Fat Bear is a Yin Di'an warrior, not tall but very strong.
He was seen walking swiftly on the steep hillside with a machine gun on his shoulder, and soon he reached the place where the machine gun was deployed.
Behind him were a dozen soldiers, some carrying ammunition boxes and some carrying machine gun mounts.
They set up a position on a large rock with a good view.
This machine gun is very simple to install and use, and even the Yin Di'an people can learn it quickly.
What's more, when every machine gun is shipped, it also comes with a machine gunner.
After a while, the machine gun was ready.
At this time, the coalition's artillery positions also received orders to turn their guns.
These artillery units on the mountainside have no protection and are completely exposed to the sight of the machine gun positions on the top of the mountain.
"Click, click, click..." The crisp and rhythmic sound of the machine gun sounded.
The Allied artillery positions on the mountainside were miserable.
Intensive machine gun bullets fired at the artillery position, shooting the coalition soldiers on the position to bloody pulp, followed by successive bombings.