After entering the city, the cavalry regiment immediately began to advance toward the bank of the Sui River, occupying several important street intersections along the way, and setting up defensive positions at the intersections and establishing communication support points. After more than a year of civil unrest, the Zheng Fu army and the people
The army was fighting with each other, and the entire southern Shangqiu population has dropped by two-thirds. Some people died in the war, some were forcibly recruited by the government army and the civilian army, and some moved their families to avoid the war.
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Until yesterday afternoon when the Zhengfu troops came to the border, many of the few people left in Nancheng fled overnight. As of today, the entire Nancheng is very empty. Even those people who have not escaped are hiding in hiding, and they don't dare to be brave.
Take a breath. Here in Nancheng, except for the troops of the 17th Division outside the city who fired shots randomly, there was no gunfire in the city for a long time.
It wasn't until the leading reconnaissance team arrived at the Sui River that they noticed a figure moving across the river bank on the other side.
The civilian army on the other side did not have many positions. They just dug some earth bags at random and found some abandoned carts, earthen jars, millstones and other miscellaneous things as bunkers. There was no military common sense in the distribution of the teams.
Most of the people were crowded behind a bunker, while others without bunkers were running around.
The Suihe River is not a very big river, and the closest distance between the two banks is only about ten meters.
The cavalry regiment that followed quickly deployed defenses along the river bank. During the deployment, the civilian army on the other side did not even dare to shoot first. The commander of the vanguard battalion took a look at the terrain of the Suihe River, but found that there was nothing he could do about it.
After filling in the entire Suihe fire line, the other two battalions had to occupy Nancheng while guarding the northwest blocks. It was obvious that there was a lack of manpower. He immediately asked the communications troops to return to Nancheng to find a communication point and send a telegram to the city.
The 17th Division from outside quickly came up with reinforcements.
The entire third brigade does not have any heavy weapons, and there are only twelve heavy machine guns in the entire brigade.
The Second Cavalry Regiment is now equipped with three heavy machine guns, all of which are deployed on the banks of the Sui River.
The two sides faced off for a while on the Suihe River, and soon the deployment on the south bank was completed, and all three heavy machine guns were set up. However, until this time, there were still no militiamen on the other side firing. After a brief thought, the person responsible for the main defense of the Suihe River
The battalion commander finally ordered the heavy machine gun to fire on the other side.
When the heavy machine guns sprayed out tongues of flame, the militiamen on the other side of the strait were immediately frightened and crawled to the ground without daring to move. After a while, the militiamen launched sporadic counterattacks. The exchange of fire between the two sides of the strait gradually became more intense, and the gunfire sounded like
Raindrops and bursts of gunpowder smoke also gradually rose. However, the exchange of fire was separated by the Sui River, and there were no immediate casualties on either side.
An hour later, the 17th Division outside the city saw that Nancheng had been occupied by the cavalry regiment, and only then did a team dare to enter the city.
After the two troops joined together, they immediately strengthened their control over Nancheng District, and at the same time, more and more firepower came to the Suihe River.
During this period, the People's Army also mobilized more troops from Beicheng to press here. The two sides seemed to have a tacit understanding and concentrated their firepower on the Suihe River. However, the People's Army always lacked organizational strength.
This kind of firepower is not even available with ordinary rifles. Many civilian soldiers even use blunderbuss.
When Zhou Baolin's troops were in Shangqiu, they had several battles with the Zheng Fu Army and captured many fast rifles from the Zheng Fu Army. However, after Zhou Baolin left, he did not leave these rifles for Wang Ze.
The weapons and equipment of the troops were replaced, and the old weapons of the troops were left to Wang Ze.
The 17th Division has eight 65mm mountain guns, but in the past year, these mountain guns have fired all their shells. The subsequent shells have not yet been filled. After all, the Fu has been very disappointed with Zhang Zhenfang's department, so the ammunition has been filled.
On the other hand, priority will be given to He Fenglin, Zhang Xiyuan and the 14th Division.
However, the two regiments of the 17th Division that advanced into the city were relatively good. They coordinated with the cavalry regiment to set up defenses in the south city and strengthened the feint offensive. One of the regiments was transferred to the northwest block and fought with the north city on several streets in the block.
The incoming militiamen broke out in street fighting. Another regiment sent reinforcements to the Suihe River and fired randomly across the Suihe River.
But the other troops that followed immediately revealed their true nature as bandits. Even though the entire Nancheng District was an empty dead city, these soldiers still searched from house to house. Even if they couldn't find anything valuable, as long as they found something that they thought could be used
Everything will be taken away without hesitation.
You can even encounter two morale division soldiers arguing over a dusty earthen jar on the street.
As more and more follow-up troops of the 17th Division entered the city, the entire Nancheng District gradually became lively. Soldiers could be seen everywhere carrying rifles and baskets, wandering around, occasionally breaking into houses where people were still there, and immediately extorting money.
These ordinary people handed over valuable things. Some of them really had no money, but that was fine, but if they encountered big-headed soldiers with bad tempers, they would be beaten twice.
Especially those families with female relatives, as long as the female relatives are a little younger, they will immediately become the targets of these big-headed soldiers. For a time, Nancheng was in chaos, and from time to time, you could hear the wailing of the people and the shouts of the women.
The cry for help was also mixed with some gunshots.
There is a large house at the end of Zhongyang Street in Nancheng District. The house was originally occupied by people, but because there was a ready-made telegraph line, the second regiment that entered the city set up its headquarters in the house. The house is a wealthy house in Nancheng.
However, after more than a year of civil disasters, the family's property has also shrunk severely.
The Second Regiment Headquarters did not embarrass the owner of the house too much. After dividing the regiment area, they ordered the soldiers to guard the area and leave the rest of the house undisturbed. The leader of the Second Regiment was Sun Youtai.
He was an officer at the battalion headquarters of No. 79. Later, he was promoted to the commander of the cavalry regiment of the New Third Brigade through several twists and turns. He was currently taking command at the temporary regiment headquarters, accompanied by a commander of the 17th Division.
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At this moment, there was a sudden commotion outside the door, followed by the scolding of several guards.
Sun Youtai immediately ran out of the door and asked loudly in the corridor outside: "What's going on? What's the noise about?"
A soldier guarding the corridor quickly ran back, saluted and said: "Report to the regiment leader, Old Man Wu is outside the yard asking to see the regiment leader. We said that the military situation is critical now, but the old man Wu cried and begged and still wanted to see the regiment leader.
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Old Man Wu is the owner of this house. He was originally a big landowner in Shangqiu and also ran some businesses. Now a large area of land is deserted, and most of the businesses he runs are forced to go out of business. If it were not for the reluctance to part with the land and ancestral home, the Wu family would
He had also moved to the provincial capital a long time ago. Now it is precisely because he has to hold on to his last few properties that he has to endure all kinds of hardships. This is an ironic thing.
Sun Youtai thought of how Old Wu had served tea and water and flattered him before, so he finally endured it and walked to the door of the courtyard. He saw Old Wu with a mournful face, accompanied by several helpers from home.
, one of these helpers was still in disheveled clothes and could not stand firmly, so he was still relying on the support of several people around him.
After seeing Sun Youtai come out, Old Man Wu rushed forward and cried out: "Master Sun, Master Sun, you must make the decision for me. If this continues, not only our Wu family will be destroyed, but the entire Shangqiu City will be destroyed."
It’s going to be over too.”
Sun Youtai frowned and asked coldly: "Mr. Wu, what do you mean by this? What happened?"