Chapter 227 New Year's Eve - Take the initiative to attack (3)
At this time, the Qing army's fleet had no resistance at all. Although there were several warships that were close to the Merchant Army, the Qing Army's ships were small and it was difficult for the soldiers to climb onto the Merchant Army's warships, not to mention that every day A Merchant Army warship is guarded by at least dozens of rifles, and there is no chance for the Qing troops to board the ship. And after a while, the Merchant Army warship's side cannons will fire at the closest distance. The bombardment, with just one artillery salvo, was enough to break up the Qing warships. Therefore, it was impossible to carry out the boat-pedaling operation.
And even if some rockets fall on the deck, it doesn't matter, because the Qing army's rockets are not large in number and have limited combustion power, and there are sailors on each ship who are responsible for putting out fires, and the fire-extinguishing tools used are not just water. There is also mushy mud mortar. As long as there is a rocket falling, a spoonful of mud mortar will be poured out, and even if the kerosene is ignited, it can be destroyed immediately.
Therefore, the Qing army posed almost no threat to the Merchant Army, and could only allow the Merchant Army's warships to advance in a straight line in their formation, and then fire bombardments at will.
Most of the Qing navy's naval forces were originally composed of surrendered troops. At first, they could rely on their own large number of ships to hold off for a while. However, as the merchant army's warships penetrated deeply into the Qing army's formation, the two sides came into close contact. In the battle, they found that the Merchant Army's navy could not be defeated by relying on more ships. The Qing soldiers were immediately discouraged. What's more, the Merchant Army's firepower was so fierce, so no one was in the mood to continue fighting, and they all just wanted to retreat. .
But at this time, there were still 1,560 warships of the Qing army, and their formation was in chaos. Everyone wanted to escape early, but the movement of ships in the water was not as flexible as people on the shore, and each other was They were scrambling for the first place, and there was only so much space on the river. As a result, many warships crowded into each other and bumped into each other. In fact, they were crowded together and no one could move. Several ships also entered because of the bumping. The water sinks.
In this case, the warships of the Merchant Army could almost hit the target by aiming in a general direction and firing. Therefore, the entire battlefield became a target practice for the Merchant Army.
However, the Qing Army's warships were too numerous. After the peripheral warships evacuated the battlefield first, the space on the river gradually opened up, so more and more warships had enough room to move. And The warships that were the first to turn around and leave the battlefield rowed their oars desperately and fled towards the Longshan Shipyard. However, there were more than thirty warships that could not escape from the warships and had no choice but to surrender to the merchant army.
The purpose of this battle was not only to defeat the Qing navy, but also to destroy the entire Longshan Shipyard and completely eliminate the Qing navy's naval power. Therefore, Huang Zhen also immediately ordered that only ten ships be left to handle and accept In response to the surrender of the Qing Army, the remaining warships were divided into three columns to pursue the Qing Army's escaping ships and launch an attack on the Longshan Shipyard.
Just as the navy of the Merchant Army was attacking Longshan Shipyard, Cheng Jin also led his troops to attack Gaochun County on the outside of Nanjing.
The ones attacking Gaochun County this time were the 1st and 5th Divisions and the 1st and 5th Brigades of the First Army. There was also a cavalry regiment. The remaining 9th Division was led by Deputy Commander Zhao Yingjie and stayed in Jianping County.
Gaochun is about fifty miles away from Jianping, so although the battle also started on December 30, at noon on the 29th, Cheng Jin took the first and fifth divisions to set off.
At dusk that day, the troops arrived at Guangtong Town, which was only ten miles away from Gaochun. Since it was already dark when they arrived at Guangtong Town, the Qing troops in Gaochun County did not notice it even though they were close at hand.
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After resting for a night, Cheng Jin immediately led two divisions and headed straight for Gaochun County early the next morning.
The general responsible for guarding Gaochun County of the Qing Army was Baya Lahuzhang Jingsubai with a yellow flag. There were three Manchu and Han Jia La in the defenders, but they had no firearms. Because all the firearms of the Qing Army were used by Azig.
Focus on attacking Nanjing.
When he learned that the merchant army was coming, Subbai couldn't help but be shocked. He knew very well the importance of Gaochun. Once Gaochun was lost, the entire defense line outside Nanjing would be broken through. Of course, Azig could not spare Jueluobahana.
, but before that, Jialuo Bahana would definitely take action on himself first. Because while Subai hurriedly sent people to rescue Jialuo Bahana who was stationed in Ningguo Mansion, he also ordered the entire army to defend Gaochun County.
Fortunately, after Subai garrisoned in Gaochun, he also prepared a lot of items to defend the city and built some fortifications. This is because before this southern expedition, Subai Aljin also heard that the merchant army was attacking.
The city used artillery to blast away first.
The city gates may be blown open and the city walls may then be sent out to attack with infantry. Gaochun is only an inland county and the city walls are not very strong, so Subai is also ready for hand-to-hand combat with the merchant army after the city walls are opened.
But after the Merchant Army launched its attack, Subai finally understood why the Qing troops who had fought against the Merchant Army changed their faces and looked horrified when they mentioned the Merchant Army's firepower. Because once the Merchant Army's artillery was fired,
At the beginning, the rocks were shattered, the mountains were shaking, and the earth was shaking. Subaish felt as if the entire city wall was about to be blown down. The temporary defenses he had built before basically had no effect.
In the blink of an eye, almost the entire city wall was covered by thick smoke. Moreover, many Qing soldiers guarding the city wall were shocked by the aftermath of the explosion, causing numerous casualties. Therefore, Subai had to order the entire army to retreat down the city wall.
Go to the city to avoid the artillery fire of the merchant army, and prepare to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the merchant army after the city wall is blown open.
Chun'an was originally just an ordinary county town. Under the continuous bombardment of the Merchant Army, it took more than half an hour to blast five or six gaps of various sizes in the city wall, and the artillery of the Merchant Army also
The bombardment stopped, several groups of soldiers came from behind the artillery
The crowd came out and advanced towards the county seat of Chun'an County. Subai also hurriedly took advantage of this opportunity to call all the soldiers out of the bunker and guarded every gap, preparing weapons such as swords, guns, bows and arrows.
Waiting for the merchant army soldiers to attack.
But the subsequent process was far beyond Subai's expectations, because the merchant army did not directly launch a fierce attack on every gap, but stopped when it was only within 200 steps of the city wall, and
Once, artillery was set up in front of the position, but this time the artillery used was basically small artillery. Then it aimed at various gaps and fired artillery bombardment again.
Although the firepower of small artillery is much worse than that of heavy artillery, this time the merchant army's goal is not the city wall, but the Qing army behind the gap. Because the distance is too close, the accuracy of artillery shooting has also been greatly enhanced.
After a round of artillery fire, there will always be nearly half
The artillery shells fell in the gap and immediately killed and wounded the Qing army guarding the gap. At this distance, the Qing Army's archers could not shoot at the Merchant Army's artillery position. In desperation, the Qing Army had no choice but to
Retreat toward the city, or hide on the side away from the gap.
After all the Qing troops in front of the gap were cleared, Cheng Jin gave the order and ordered the infantry to formally launch an attack on the city.
Because there were no clear troops guarding the gap in front, the merchant army's offensive infantry also reached the city wall very smoothly. First, a dozen soldiers in the front row threw grenades into the gap, and then took advantage of the thick smoke from the explosion.
They crossed the gap and entered Gaochun County.
Cheng Jin, who was watching the battle from behind, was also very satisfied with the siege. It seemed that the hard training over the past few months had paid off. The cooperation between the infantry and artillery was also satisfactory. Although Gao Chun was not a strong man,
city, but from the beginning of the siege to breaking through the city wall and entering the city, during this process, the merchant army lost almost no troops, which is very rare.
Although according to common sense, after the enemy invades the city, the city is basically conquered. Even if the defenders still resist, they cannot resist for long. But this time the battle is different.
The merchant army is rushing into the city
In the process, although they did not suffer any losses, and the losses of the Qing army were not large, they were still capable of fighting the merchant army. Therefore, after the merchant army broke into Gaochun County, a battle
Hand-to-hand combat is inevitable.
Moreover, although Su Bai, the chief general of the Qing army, did not expect that he would be attacked by the merchant army into Gaochun City before he could hold out for even an hour, he had nothing else to do at this time, because once Gaochun fell,
Even if I have escaped from sex
It was difficult for him to survive. Now he could only grit his teeth and fight to the death. Maybe he could still defend and repel the merchant army. Even if he died in the city, he would not hesitate. Therefore, Subai also took the lead and led the Qing army.
They held on to the city and fought hard.
The two sides immediately met each other in Gaochun County and started a fierce battle. Among the Qing army and the merchant army, there were also a large number of casualties.
But after breaking into the city army to fight, the Qing army no longer had any advantage, and although the merchant army's hand-to-hand combat ability still lags behind the Qing army, it is not far away, and the merchant army can already use it well.
Combining musket shooting, grenades and other weapons with hand-to-hand combat certainly offers a lot of advantages.
The actual combat effectiveness of the Qing army is already superior to that of the Qing army. In addition, after breaking through the city wall, the merchant army's morale has been high, and it can also make up for the gap in combat effectiveness. However, the Qing army is actually now a cornered beast still fighting. At the same time, in terms of total strength, the merchant army is also in the Qing army.
Therefore, no matter how desperate the Qing army was, the outcome of this battle had already been determined.