According to the information currently known, Kaifeng was attacked around 11 o'clock last night. The number of enemies is still unclear. It is estimated to be around 4,000, or even more. The enemy occupied the northern part of Kaifeng during the night.
All the traffic arteries in the suburbs, as well as the situation in the counties and towns in the north, are not yet clear, but they are estimated to have fallen into enemy hands.
Everything happened suddenly. These enemies even carried three artillery pieces and suddenly fired at the old city wall and patrol barracks in the north. At present, in addition to the six patrol battalions guarding the six city gates, only the governor is left in Kaifeng City.
The average number of each patrol battalion of the Mansion Guards is less than 200, and the Dudu Mansion Guards only have more than 300 people.
When the telegram was sent, the enemy had already begun to attack the town. At present, Zhang Zhenfang could only order to assemble all the troops in the city and set up a defense line in the neighborhoods near the Dudu Mansion.
As for the troops of the 17th Division on the Shangqiu side, three regiments are on the march to support them, and a heavy supply battalion and a police battalion from Ningling County have also been transferred to Kaifeng.
"Why did you abandon the city gate and huddle around the Governor's Mansion? Isn't this giving up a favorable military stronghold to the enemy?" After reading the telegram, Jiang Baili's face immediately turned ugly.
"It must have been a conservative policy made by Governor Zhang out of desperation," Dai Fengxiang speculated.
"Night attacks are originally a taboo for military strategists. Whether it is attacking at night or defending at night, there are great risks on both sides. Compared with the troops attacking at night, as long as the guarding troops can calmly respond to the battle and stick to the pass of their posts,
Not to mention that it can completely stifle the enemy's sneak attack, there is even a great chance to launch a counterattack. Once the guarding troops fall into panic, they will really play into the enemy's hands." Jiang Baili said coldly.
"I agree with what Brother Baili said, but the matter has reached this point, and it is useless for us to talk. There are two problems before us at the moment. One is the issue of returning reinforcements, and the other is the issue of attacking Shangqiu at hand.
It is undeniable that the enemy took such a huge risk to launch a night attack, and their purpose was to attack Wei and rescue Zhao." Yuan Su said deeply.
"Captain, your analysis is good. This militia is obviously not ordinary people. It can see clearly the situation so quickly and carry out night attacks so decisively. It is also obvious that it is proficient in certain military tactics and strategies. It can be said that it is the best among the militia.
Genius. It seems that this time it is indeed very difficult for us." Jiang Baili's face was very serious, and his tone of voice was also very serious.
"However, even so, I believe that the people's army here decided to attack Kaifeng temporarily, whether it is Zhou Baolin's department or not. Since there has been no news about this person before, and our attack on Shangqiu has only been decided in the past few days,
It is impossible for the other party to start planning a sneak attack early on." Yuan Su said analytically.
"It makes sense." Jiang Baili nodded and said.
"Since it is a temporary operation, it must be very hasty. Night attacks are originally a taboo for military strategists. What's more, the civilian army's equipment is backward and lacks basic communication facilities. It will inevitably be more difficult to coordinate operations. Therefore, I can conclude that this
It is absolutely impossible for the People's Army to capture Kaifeng at night, and it will never be possible even for a period of time afterwards." Yuan Su said with a firm tone.
"That's right. This civilian army is obviously just to understand the siege of Shangqiu. So we can't easily return reinforcements now. We will surely capture Shangqiu within tomorrow, and it won't be too late to return reinforcements later." Jiang Baili said with deep understanding.
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"Then it's decided. Let the three regiments of the 17th Division return for reinforcements first, and the 57th and 58th Regiments will continue to cooperate with our troops in attacking Wang Ze's troops." Yuan Su said solemnly.
After that, the temporary command post of the First Regiment sent several telegrams to the Seventeenth Division and Kaifeng respectively. The message sent to the Seventeenth Division was that he hoped that Li Qianqian would keep the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-eighth Regiments and continue to wait for the launch tomorrow morning.
Attack. As for those sent to Kaifeng, Zhang Zhenfang was asked to hold on to Kaifeng City. After the fighting on Shangqiu ended, the third brigade would return to rescue.
Soon both Li Qian and Zhang Zhenfang sent back calls. Li Qian said that he would rush back to Kaifeng immediately. At most, he could only leave the 58th Regiment to assist the 3rd Brigade in continuing the attack, and the rest of the troops must return to defense as soon as possible. Because there is currently no
It is not clear what is going on in Kaifeng, and Zhang Zhenfang has given repeated orders. As the deputy division commander, he must not disobey orders.
Zhang Zhenfang's words in his reply were harsh, and he also revealed a sense of resentment against Yuan Su for being ungrateful. He believed that Kaifeng was now at a critical juncture, and the Third Brigade actually only wanted to defeat Shangqiu. By the time Shangqiu was conquered, I was afraid that even
Kaifeng also fell into the hands of thieves. Kaifeng can store a lot of logistical supplies. Once these supplies fall into the hands of thieves, serious consequences will inevitably occur.
Faced with the call back from the two men, Yuan Su called back again, analyzing in detail the current situation and the night attack on the enemy in Kaifeng. He determined that only three regiments of the 17th Division were needed to return to defense, and the enemy would definitely retreat in the face of difficulties. As for Shangqiu
We have reached the final critical juncture here. It only takes one day to recover Shangqiu. How can we give up halfway at this moment?
Once Wang Ze was given a chance to breathe, Wang Ze knew that he would be defeated by the Zheng Fu army, and nine out of ten would lead his troops to flee everywhere. The reason why Henan Province was in chaos, and the reason why the Zheng Fu army and the local government troops repeatedly suppressed it was unfavorable.
The reason is that they are unable to adapt to the mobile operations of the civilian army and are led everywhere by the civilian army.
Therefore, this time we must take the opportunity to completely annihilate Wang Ze's tribe in one fell swoop, otherwise it will be a catastrophe for the entire province.
It was not until dawn that Li Qian sent back another message, still insisting on taking away the 57th Regiment, leaving only the 58th Regiment to assist the Third Brigade in the attack. However, Kaifeng did not reply with any more messages, so Yuan
Su's guess is that Zhang Zhenfang believed his explanation, otherwise Zhang Zhenfang would definitely send telegrams continuously to urge for help.
Although the offensive after dawn reduced the strength of one regiment, Yuan Su and Jiang Baili still had great confidence in winning this battle. After all, after two days of fierce fighting, the morale and morale of Wang Ze's troops were already very low, and the remaining troops
Having lost the confidence to continue fighting, the next battle between the 3rd Brigade and the 58th Regiment was a devastating one.
Because of the emergency in Kaifeng, Yuan Su ordered an early attack at six o'clock in the morning when the sky was still gray. He had to race against time to clean up the mess in Shangqiu. Regardless of whether Kaifeng could hold on, after all, Kaifeng did
Because the provincial capital of Henan is of extremely great political significance, and the civilian army dared to attack even the provincial capital, would the government still have any prestige if word spread?
I thought that starting an attack early in the morning would cause many inconveniences, such as sight lines and too cold weather. But when the attack started, the battle seemed to go much smoother. Objective environmental factors not only affected the Zhengfu army, but also those with flat heads.
The civilian army composed of ordinary people is also influential, not to mention that the third brigade conducts raids every morning and night, so it can deal with it more easily than the civilian army.
After the battle started, most of the civilian army was still sleeping, so they suddenly lost the opportunity.
In addition, the battles in the previous two days had already left us feeling dejected, and at this time, we had even less strength left to resist.
By noon, the civilian army on the north bank of the Sui River was completely defeated, and countless people surrendered and fled. Shortly after the third regiment launched an attack on the northeastern city, another group of troops came out from the east. At first, they could not distinguish each other clearly.
But when the Third Regiment met the opponent in the eastern suburbs, it turned out to be a troop of the Fourteenth Division. The Fourteenth Division only learned of the actions of the Third Brigade and the Seventeenth Division yesterday, so it hurriedly
I hurriedly wanted to join in and get a share of the pie.
Under the cover of Yuan Su, the Kaifeng General Headquarters did not inform the 14th Division of the attack on Shangqiu. The purpose was to prevent the 14th Division from rushing to take credit prematurely. The original plan was to send a telegram to notify the 14th Division yesterday.
, after all, the fight has reached this point, at least the Fourteenth Division should have responded. However, a serious incident of disturbing the people happened in the south city of Shangqiu. Yuan Su was worried that the Fourteenth Division also behaved like this, and would not be able to help but would only add to the chaos.