Just as the two brigades of the 18th Army were fighting fiercely in the East City of Xi County, the other Qing troops also broke through the various defense lines of the Chinese Army according to the agreed time.
According to the original plan, the Qing army's breakthrough will mainly focus on the west and north sides, with five groups of troops breaking through. Of course, two of them were deliberately sent out to die to attract the attention of the Chinese army. The people who really hoped to break through were the troops led by Ajige, Ashan and Ahanikan.
Now Ajige was dragged down by the Chinese army in Xi County and could not launch a breakthrough as scheduled. However, Ashan, Ahanikan and two other troops launched a breakthrough battle to various positions of the Chinese army at the fifth hour.
However, the various encirclement troops of the Chinese Army had received orders from Li Dingguo at night to prevent the Qing army from breaking through at night, so they also strengthened their guards at night. In addition, a few days ago, the trenches dug by the Chinese Army's geotechnical tactics reached places very close to the Qing army's positions, and also played a considerable role in the early warning of the Chinese army and the speed of the assault along the Qing army. Because the Qing army had just left its position, it entered the range of the Chinese army's trenches, and was soon discovered by the Chinese army's patrol night guard soldiers, and immediately issued an alarm to their defense line. At this time, it was still a distance away from the boss's real defense line.
The four Qing troops that launched the breakout were almost the same. The farthest one walked seventy or eighty steps, while the nearest one was discovered by the Chinese army without even reaching a distance of fifty steps. At the same time, they were attacked by the Chinese army's early warning troops. As a result, they failed to launch a surprise attack, so they all turned into forced breakthroughs. Fortunately, there were not many Chinese soldiers guarding the trenches, and the attack could only slow down the Qing army's advance, but they could not stop the Qing army's advance.
But this is enough, because the Chinese army does not have enough troops to firmly guard every trench. As long as they gain enough time for the back defense line, these trenches have played a significant role.
Therefore, when the Qing army rushed to the near the defense line of the Chinese army, most of the Chinese soldiers on the positions were ready for battle. Various muskets and cannons fired together, and countless dazzling tongues of flames flashed in the darkness, as dazzling as fireworks, but they ruthlessly took away the lives of countless Qing soldiers.
Although it was strongly blocked by the Chinese army, the Qing army who broke through knew that only by successfully breaking through the siege can one gain a glimmer of hope. Otherwise, even if they retreat to the position to defend, they will still be dead under the siege of the Chinese army. Moreover, after all, it was in the dark. Although the firepower of the Chinese army was still fierce, it was also greatly affected by the night and was severely affected. Therefore, they could only fight hard to successfully break through. If they waited until dawn and defended with the firepower of the Chinese army, the Qing army would not be able to break through the defense line of the Chinese army.
Fighting in the darkness did bring certain difficulties to the Chinese army, because they could not see the number and movements of the army clearly, so they could only shoot randomly into the darkness. In addition, the Qing army was indeed desperate and attacking forward frantically. Therefore, shortly after the two sides met, many positions were also attacked by the Qing army. Moreover, some of the Qing army were smarter. They jumped into the trenches dug by the Chinese army and forced into the trenches, because the Chinese army's forced into the trenches were connected with the trenches on the defense line, so that they could directly attack the trenches from the trenches. Although the Chinese army also had soldiers defending the trenches when forced into the trenches, it was always much better than launching an attack directly from the ground. Of course, this was also an advantage brought by fighting in the dark.
However, the Qing army's invasion of the position of the Chinese army does not mean that it breaks through the defense line of the Chinese army. The Chinese army's hand-to-hand combat capabilities are also very powerful. Moreover, once the combat mode enters hand-to-hand combat, the Qing army's various conditions can almost disappear by taking advantage of the night. Both sides are equivalent to fighting at the joint running point, and the formation of the Qing army is also disrupted. Therefore, the battle situation suddenly falls into a stalemate, and no one can do anything to each other, and they all fall into a melee. But after all, the Chinese army fights in its own positions. The Chinese army is familiar with the terrain and its own distribution of troops. Although they are fighting in the dark, they also have to have a certain advantage.
However, the Qing army launched a breakthrough at the fifth update, not far from dawn, and the time spent on the way, so after the fierce battle, the sky to the east gradually turned white. At this time, some figures could be seen vaguely. Although it was not very clear, it was enough on the battlefield, and the sky gradually turned bright. It would not take long to see everything clearly.
After the sky turned bright, the situation of the battle began to change immediately. First, the Qing army's night attack and breakthrough plan was frustrated, and its spirit also dropped by half. Moreover, after dawn, the Chinese army could see the virtual and real distribution of the Qing army's troops very clearly, and could also adjust and arrange in a targeted manner, without having to fight like a blind man touching an elephant in the dark. More importantly, the reinforcements of the Chinese army also arrived.
The reinforcements that rushed to the battlefield on the north bank of the Huaihe River were the first army of the Huainan Military Region. After the Qing army launched a night attack on the northwest defense line of the Chinese army, Li Dingguo immediately sent people to the south bank of the Huaihe River to ask Chengjin for support. After Chengjin received Li Dingguo's request for help, he immediately sent the first army and immediately rushed to the north bank of the Huaihe River to support the battle on the battlefield there.
After the First Army arrived at the north bank of the Huai River, Li Dingguo immediately ordered the two divisions and brigades of the First Army to be dispersed and launched a counterattack against the Qing army on three battlefields.
After the battle on the south bank of the Huai River ended, the soldiers of the First Army had been resting for almost five or six hours. Although they did not fully recover from fatigue at this time, they could be regarded as a new force compared to the troops here that had fought fiercely for the middle of the night. Therefore, after they joined the battle group, they immediately reversed the situation on the battlefield.
First of all, the two assault troops of the Qing army that were ready to give up could not resist the counterattack of the Chinese army, so they had to retreat to Hui. Although the two troops of Ashan and Ahanikan could hold on for a while, it was meaningless. Because this breakthrough had completely failed, continuing to fight with the Chinese army would only make the Qing army more casualties. It would be better to retreat first, defend their positions, and then think of other ways. Therefore, the troops of these two units did not hold on and quickly retreated.
But although Ashan and Ahanikan thought very well, they still defended their positions first after retreating, and then thought of other ways to break through. However, at this time, Li Dingguo had realized that as long as he could firmly hold on to the retreating Qing army, he could follow the defeat of the Qing army and break through the defensive positions set up by the Qing army outside Xi County. Therefore, it was a rare and good opportunity. If the battle was good, he could even attack Xi County in one fell swoop and realize the plan to annihilate the Ajige army, because at this time Li Dingguo had already known that the 18th Army had already captured the outside of the city on the east side of Xi County and attacked the city wall, and the fierce battle with the Qing army was in full swing.