In the temporary tent of the Chinese army, Wang Huazhen talked about the significance of capturing Xining Fort. The generals bowed their heads and listened for half an hour, and they all began to show impatient looks.
Among the generals present, Liu Qu, the commander-in-chief of the Guangning Army, is nominally the commander-in-chief of the Guangning Army’s Central Army. However, because he was sent by Xiong Tingbi, Wang Huazhen deliberately ignored him. Now, Liu Qu is actually the commander of the Xining Fort Battle.
Logistics manager, all the troops at hand were placed under the command of the Chinese guerrilla Sun Degong. Now, the Ming Army on the North Road has arrived and camped five miles north of Xining Fort. The Ming Army on this road is mainly the left army of the Guangning Army, and the chief officer is Ping.
Bao Chengfu, the general of the foreign fort, guerrillas against Hu Jiadong. It will take two days for the Ming army on the south route to arrive. The commander of the Ming army on this route is the deputy chief soldier Gao Gao.
What Wang Huazhen kept talking about was that he hoped that the generals would work together and attack with all their strength to defeat the Xining Fort in one fell swoop and sweep away the Chinese army on the west bank of the Liao River.
However, most of the generals who saw or heard the details of the Ming Army's first attack on Xining Fort last night lacked enthusiasm for this. They are soldiers and have fought on the battlefield in person. The strength they have shown through the Chinese Army is
I feel unsure about this battle.
Wang Huazhen saw everyone's impatience and shrinkage, and his face suddenly turned ugly. He finally managed to maintain his handsome demeanor and did not slap the table to get angry. He used his eyes to signal Sun Degong and another henchman, guerrilla Mao Wenlong, in front of him.
The people looked at each other, and Mao Wenlong spoke first: "I would like to report to the army that I am willing to lead troops to attack the city and take the lead."
Wang Huazhen was waiting for someone to cheer her up, and immediately made a joyful gesture: "Okay, Mao's guerrillas are commendable for their courage and loyalty. I will give you a military order, allowing you to mobilize the entire army from all walks of life. Everyone..." Wang Huazhen looked around at everyone.
The general said with a smile: "Generals, Mao Guerrilla is the vanguard of this attack. Each department has gathered elite troops, and he will command the lead. Wang hopes that everyone will work together to capture Xining Fort, and when the time comes to cross the Liaohe River and regain Liaodong, the imperial court will not hesitate to do so."
The reward from the duke..."
…
The Ming army has been concentrating all its firearms for the past two days, planning to use quantity over quality to cover the infantry assault on the Xining Fort wall.
After the Ming Army arrived on the South Road, they brought a large amount of supplies and baggage, and the Ming Army prepared more intensively for the general attack. A large number of reeds along the Sancha River and coastal wetlands were cut, mixed with soil and piled on the side carriages.
On the vehicles. These large vehicles filled with soil will serve as moving shell barriers.
Mao Wenlong made full use of Wang Huazhen's military orders, using chicken feathers as command arrows, threats, inducements and sweet words, and gathered 80% of the army's elite cavalry in his hands, as well as all Western cannons, Daifa, Folang machine guns, tiger squat cannons, etc.
Wait for heavy firearms.
Zu Dashou's forward battalion patrols along the Sancha River every day to detect the movements of the Chinese army on the other side.
On the day when the Ming Army troops on the South Road arrived at the reed marsh five miles south of Xining Fort, Zu Dashou's patrol force discovered two three-masted sailboats with slender hulls entering the estuary of the Liao River.
"This is the devil ship of the pirates!" shouted a Ming army general Qian who was patrolling the river mouth.
Zu Dashou was resting on a mound above the water in a wetland three miles away. He was guarded by 200 Biao camp soldiers. They also discovered these two strange-looking ships that were said to travel thousands of miles a day. This
It is the latest communication ship "Seabird" and "Haiying" of the Chinese Military Headquarters. It has the appearance of a typical clipper ship and an all-metal cast iron keel structure.
The scissor communication ship stopped at the mouth of the river and put down eight centipede boats. More than a hundred people boarded the eight rowing boats one after another, and then passed through the hundreds of miles of swamp wetlands at the mouth of the Liaohe River, winding among the reeds.
Driving on a winding road, the destination is clear: Xining Fort.
This was the first batch of Chinese military reinforcements to arrive at Fort Xining: 200 Chinese Military Academy student troops. They set out from the Taiwan Military Port eighteen days ago and did not go to Jinzhou. They met up with the larger troops in Lushun and ran directly to the mouth of the Liaohe River.
Although Zu Dashou saw them entering the reed marsh, he could not stop them. From the west of Xining Fort to the bank of the Sancha River, there were almost all wetlands and swamps, with reed marshes everywhere, and only a few roads could pass through. The centipede boat was completely in the reed marsh.
You can travel secretly, and as you look around, you can see that the water and the sky are all densely packed with reeds. The Ming Army patrol quickly lost track of these small boats. Of course, the Ming Army patrol had no boats and could not enter the water at all.
Go chase.
In the evening, 200 student soldiers crossed the reed swamp and successfully entered Xining Fort. Among these student soldiers, the oldest was only seventeen years old, and the youngest was only fourteen. Their leader was the student army trainee lieutenant Zhao Yi, a member of the Liaodong Marching Army.
The son of Zhao Tie, the general manager of the Dao University.
There was joy in Xining Fort. Although the student army only had 200 people, their arrival meant that the entire Chinese army was working hard to reinforce them. The morale of the defenders in the fort was greatly boosted, while Zhang Pan was happy and surprised:
The arrival of reinforcements boosted morale, which was a good thing. However, after the Chinese Army's Northern Expedition to Houjin, the student army rarely participated in front-line battles in Yin Feng's ruling area. One of the reasons: China
Ying'er, the son of Yin Feng, the company's chief director and the president of the Chinese Army, is also studying in the military academy. In order to show his fairness, Yin Feng announced that his son will not enjoy any special treatment in the military academy. Once necessary, he must also participate in the military academy.
The army goes out for battle.
Although Yin Feng had such a statement, the people in the old camp of the Chinese Army Headquarters did not dare to let his son go to the front line to fight casually. Therefore, in the past three years, the blue eagle battle flag of the student army has rarely appeared on various lines.
battle front.
As for the student army's reinforcement of Fort Xining this time, the original plan was to join other troops in Jinzhou and then reinforce Fort Xining by land.
This time, Zhao Tie's son led the student army that went north for reinforcements, and the captains of the two communication ships were also recently promoted young people. The group of people were eager to make contributions, so they turned around at sea.
The course went directly to the mouth of the Liaohe River.
What surprised Zhang Pan the most was that Yin Feng's son Yin Bin (nicknamed Ying'er) was also in this team. He was Mai Waner's child, Yin Feng's eldest son, and the youngest among the student army.
Zhang Pan had seen Yin Bin before, both at the military academy and at Yin Feng's home. Although the boy was now much taller, wearing a small plate armor, holding a gun in both hands, and with the title of second lieutenant on his epaulettes, Zhang Pan still recognized him at a glance
.
Yin Bin inherited his mother's gentle personality and smart eyes. He was tall from his father, but did not have a strong body like Yin Feng, and looked a bit lanky.
"You are violating military orders, do you understand?" Zhang Pan began to reprimand Yin Bin and Zhao Yi. The two men lowered their heads and made a sign of admitting their mistake.
Zhang Pan opened his mouth, feeling that it was meaningless to say anything now. We couldn't let them break out anymore, right?
"Okay, you are directly under the jurisdiction of the old battalion, so I have no right to punish you. However, I am the supreme commander of the field in Fort Xining, and you must obey all my orders. Do you understand?"
The two young men's eyes lit up and they raised their heads and looked at Zhang Pan expectantly.
Zhang Pan smiled bitterly and ordered: "Take your people to the fortress ammunition depot. Your mission: guard the ammunition depot."
The two boys lowered their heads and left in disappointment.
Guo Yun, the supervisory officer, was the adopted son of Yin Feng, so of course he knew Yin Bin. He asked Zhang Pan with black lines on his forehead: "What should we do? This Ying'er is also here, what should we do?"
"What else can we do? If we fight this battle, everything will be easy to handle. Now that the student army has arrived, other troops should also arrive one after another. Our top priority right now is to hold on to the fortress." Zhang Pan walked to the crenellations of the city wall and looked at the night.
In the dark distance: there are patches of lights there, which is where the main camp of the Ming Army is located, five miles away from the city wall of Xining Fort.
The nearest Ming Army Pioneer Camp is only three miles away from Xining Fort. The Ming Army soldiers did not know that the Chinese Army's 36-pound heavy artillery had a range of more than three miles, and the range of new rockets far exceeded five miles.
The night before the Ming army was expected to launch a general attack on Xining Fort, that is, the fifth night after the Ming army arrived at Xining Fort, Zhang Pan used all five 36-pound bronze cannons, plus thirty rounds of thunder rockets.
Launched a long-range attack on the sleeping Ming army camp to the west of the fortress.
Thirty rounds of Tianlei rockets were set up at the racecourse of the former Taipusi Yamen in Xiningbao. This was the second actual shooting of Tianlei rockets. The first actual shooting was outside Wuchang half a year ago.
The gunners of the artillery brigade used gun gauges, set squares, and telescopes to measure and calculate the angle of the launcher. Then, after the five heavy guns fired, they ignited the propellant fuse of the Tianlei rocket.
Wang Huazhen was working hard to draft a victory announcement to the imperial court that night. Several of his staff were also busy in his tent. Suddenly, five loud noises came from the Xining Fort in the east, and then it seemed that a strong wind blew between heaven and earth.
, bursts of "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" sounds came immediately.
Soon, the whistling wind turned into a sharp whistle, and then loud rumbling noises erupted one after another from the front, back and left of Wang Huazhen's Chinese army tent. Immediately afterwards, the entire Ming army camp was filled with howls of ghosts and wolves.
The sound echoed everywhere.
A thunder rocket landed fifty feet away from the big tent, and the shock wave of the explosion wiped out several tents in front of the big tent. In panic, Wang Huazhen opened the door curtain, and a bright fire suddenly appeared in his sight, and then there was chaos.
The main camp of the Ming army was blown up! At this time, no one could control the situation.
Zu Dashou's forward battalion camp was also completely in chaos. Although the 36-pound heavy artillery fired were solid shells, the shells knocked down dozens of military tents, and dozens of soldiers died of bloody injuries in their sleep. In addition, continuous
With the constant sound of artillery and the whistle of rockets, the forward battalion also exploded.
There was no need for a sneak attack by the Chinese army. The Ming army's camp was completely disrupted by the Chinese army's long-range attack.
That night, only more than 300 Ming soldiers died under Chinese artillery fire. However, the Ming army, which had completely bombed the camp, retreated to Pingyang Bridge before they stabilized their pace. In the chaos all night, the Ming army in Xining
On the land to the west of the fort, nearly a thousand bodies were left trampled to death.