The coolness of late autumn was tinged with desolation, and flocks of crows were circling above the Qing troops, cawing noisily.
The black crow seemed to be saying, "Where's the meat, where's the meat, where's the meat,"
During the war, the army had meat to eat, and it was human flesh. Crows were waiting to fall from the sky, and the Qing army was also waiting for a hail of bullets.
The large troops were marching, and the Chinese army looked like an army. The troops were neat and tidy, and the footsteps were mixed with the urging of the officers.
The meandering army can't be seen to the end. The artillery carts are dragging heavy cannons. The artillerymen sit on the artillery carts with their heads held high proudly. The artillery is the backbone of the Qing army. The Qing soldiers look at it with envy. With artillery.
A large number of soldiers stopped to take a look at the majestic artillery battalion.
The cavalry troops accelerated and passed in front of the Qing army. The dust was flying, the horseshoes were forming, and the momentum of thousands of troops made the Qing army who walked on feet jealous.
The cavalry has strong mobility. When the cavalry troops came to Taiwan, the Qing army fought on the plains and had an advantage. The Japanese troops who looted the villages were often surrounded by the Qing cavalry troops. The Japanese troops who burned, killed and looted were destroyed. disaster.
The Qing cavalry's favorite was to string Japanese ears into rings and hang them on their horses' necks. You can see many cavalry horses with garlands made of human ears hung around their necks.
The outposts of the Qing army are scattered around. They are the clairvoyants of the army. They seem to be moving forward freely and casually, but in fact they are the bravest warriors. The scattered formations are in line with the way of using troops and will not let the enemy take over.
Fan soldiers, carrying tribal flags, were scattered on both sides of the large army, and sporadic gunshots echoed in the wilderness.
Some enemies escaped from Orchid City and became bandits, hiding in barren mountains and hills. The bandits ran into the countryside and caused harm to the villagers.
War will give rise to bandits. Some Qing troops who violate military orders will defect with their guns, and Qing troops who desert on the battlefield will also become bandits.
To deal with these stragglers turned bandits, the Qing army adopted the method of mass searches, using a small group of Qing troops to cooperate with a small number of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians to surround an area, and then thousands of people worked together to sort out the area and barren mountains and wilderness. The same is true for ridges, giving bandits nowhere to hide.
The power of the people is infinite. The united villagers are no longer weak to be bullied. In this way, the common people can catch the bandits, those bandits who think they can run faster than rabbits, the end is destined to be a tragedy.
The cool breeze blew across the young faces, and the large Qing army passed through Dadong Township and Dong Yong Mountain and headed towards Langjiao Port.
The Japanese army relied on rivers, jungles and other favorable terrain to build a series of fortifications to block the Qing army's attack. They kept firing cold shots and sent small groups of troops to cross from Shani to Hexi to attack the Qing army's grain transport troops and intercept the grain.
A grain team of the Qing army was attacked, resulting in the loss of 300 civilians and the sacrifice of a team of Qing troops. Liu Mingdeng was very angry and shot a grain guard.
Liu Mingdeng concealed the truth from Li Guolou. For Liu Mingdeng, this kind of loss was just a scabies disease, and there was no need to take the blame himself.
But Li Guolou soon learned about it and immediately transferred 2,000 Hongyun Rifle No. 2 long guns, 50,000 rounds of ammunition, and 20,000 grenades to arm the civilians.
Liu Mingdeng had a tacit understanding, and both parties had their own balance of mind.
The Jianwu Army quickly made tactical adjustments, sending small teams to lurk in strategic locations and building fortresses along the way to deny the Japanese troops any strategic space to maneuver.
On Xinlupo, twenty miles away from Langjiao Port, there are five Japanese fortresses, standing on a high slope in the shape of an angle. Xinlupo is more than 1,000 meters high and surrounded by water on both sides. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. This is the Qing Dynasty.
The largest Japanese fortress the army encountered.
Relying on the terrain, the Japanese army excavated the fortress and combined it with the mountain. The fort was built in the tunnel with 25 openings. It was built on the mountain wall and looked like a tough nut to crack. This kind of fort was improved by the Japanese army after previous battles.
The original tunnel fortifications were designed to deal with the Qing army's giant artillery.
The Japanese army gained wisdom after suffering a loss. All the trees on the new road slope were cut down and the bushes were burned, turning it into a bare hill, which looked very ugly, like a huge monster.
The Shani River flows under the hillside, like an iron tower, blocking the steps of the Qing army.
When the Jianwu Army of the forward battalion encountered a roadblock, battalion officer Liu Jinhua was eager to conquer Xinlupo in one go. He used mountain-splitting cannons and small steel cannons to make a tentative attack, and the Qing troops rushed up the hillside with skirmishing tactics.
More than a hundred Qing troops faced death and slowly climbed halfway up the mountain. The Japanese army began to fight back violently. The Japanese bronze artillery wreaked havoc once and the guns fired. After the smoke, a Qing soldier died heroically on the hillside.
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Black crows descended from the sky, covering the sky and the earth, and the sky changed color. The black crows feasted and enjoyed a sumptuous meal. The black crows croaked and screamed, as if they were making fun of the Qing army for overestimating its capabilities.
Liu Jinhua thought that the Japanese army was not strong in combat effectiveness and was already defeated. The new road slope was not steep and could be conquered in one go. Liu Jinhua underestimated the Japanese army.
Liu Jinhua's improper use of tactics caused more than a hundred Qing soldiers to die in vain on the hillside. Liu Jinhua was filled with regret and slapped himself twice on the spot.
The Qing army became helpless and could only wait for the follow-up troops to bring the Knub cannon. The officers and soldiers of the forward battalion dug trenches along the foot of Xinlupo Mountain and surrounded them with iron walls to trap the Japanese troops in Xinlupo.
The next day, the follow-up troops transported two Knub cannons, and deputy general Fu Xianchu came to take command.
Because the Jianwu Army had been sparse for a long time and had no experience in attacking tough battles, Li Guolou sent more than a dozen officers from the New Armed Forces, including Zheng Hengdan, Su Yuanchun, Fang Zhiyong and others, to serve as staff advisors to the Jianwu Army.
After seeing the terrain of Xinlupo, deputy general Fu Xianchu sent a group of death squads to make a tentative attack. After that, the Qing army sounded the bugle call to retreat.
Su Yuanchun and Fang Zhiyong had experience in fighting Japanese artillery in Dawu Mountain, so Deputy General Fu Xianchu first consulted their opinions.
Su Yuanchun said: "In Fu Xie Town, the mountain slope of Xinlu slope is 45 degrees at most. It is not difficult to break through the Japanese positions. Attacking during the day will cause too many casualties, so we have to fight at night. We can use grenades and spearmen to conquer the Japanese positions in one night."
Bronze cannons have shortcomings. They need to cool down for a long time, and they will win in a protracted war."
Fang Zhiyong said: "In Fuxie Town, the death squads first sent a team of Jianwu troops, and then asked the chieftains from various ministries to send death squads to form thirty death squads, and they continued to attack in turns. To attack this kind of cave fortification, it is useless to use the Knub cannon.
We still have to use small steel cannons, mountain-splitting cannons, fire at close range, and use grenade launchers to blow up the Japanese artillery in order to destroy the Japanese fort. Let’s do it hard before dawn.”
Zheng Hengdan was a little worried and said: "In my opinion, it is too far-fetched to capture Xinlupo in one night. We don't know how many troops the Japanese army has. There may be thousands of Japanese troops in Xinlupo Fortress. The Japanese army built the road uphill.
They formed a pocket formation on purpose to allow us to burrow into it.
, rush and fight fiercely, the troops cannot be deployed, and casualties will be huge. It is better to be safe and let the engineers blast the road on the hillside, blow up the boulders blocking our army's advance, and open up a few more passages. It will not take three nights.
We can charge straight up and engage in hand-to-hand combat. The Japanese army is no match."
Fu Xianchu made up his mind and nodded: "We can win the war by working together. Taiwan is our territory and it is our duty to recover the territory. However, the Japanese army is good at fighting in tunnels and has built Xinlupo into a strong fortress. So, we will We must use our troops wisely and not compete with the Japanese for a short period of time. As for the hillside of more than 1,000 meters, we can reach the top of the mountain within 100 meters a day in less than ten days. We fire artillery day and night and let the engineers dig tunnels up and blast a tunnel. , and then let Liu Zhentai see what razing to the ground means,"
Zheng Hengdan shook his head and said: "Fu Xiezhen, you made a mistake in your calculations. The enemy is not a fool. He will soon know our tactics. The higher you go, the harder it will be. It will take at least a month to dig tunnels. But according to your thinking, the casualties of our army will be "Youngest, I agree with digging a tunnel, just in time for a comfortable year and a gun salute,"
Fu Xianchu felt a little warm. Fortunately, Li Guolou was the commander-in-chief of Taiwan, so military decisions could be flexible, and perfect military operations could avoid a tragic victory.
If you encounter a commander with an impatient temper, your military orders will fall like a mountain.
Originally, the Qing army made a plan to capture Langjiao Port in 30 days, which could not be changed. So the Qing army would have to sacrifice their lives to attack Xinlupo. At least thousands of soldiers would have to die on the hillside.
Liu Mingdeng was a very stubborn commander, but in the overall situation, Liu Mingdeng still had to obey Li Guolou's orders. Several officers of the New Armed Forces agreed to delay the attack on Xinlupo.
Fu Xianchu said happily: "Then I will report to Commander-in-Chief Li first and decide to capture Xinlupo on the 25th. The bottom line in my heart is the 20th. We must plant the Yellow Dragon flag on the top of Xinlupo. You guys Do you have confidence?"
"Yes," the generals promised in a loud voice, their eyes as resolute as torches igniting blazing confidence.
Fu Xianchu redeployed his troops and secretly dispatched two engineers to start tunnel operations.
Two tunnels were dug just in case. This was a common tactic used by the Qing army in combat. For example, when the Qing army attacked a city and blew up the city wall, they selected multiple locations and carried out fixed-point blasting together.
Under the new road slope, two Qing army engineers dug the earth in the dark with artillery cover. The engineers started very smoothly, because there was soil under the surface and they could dig without explosives. They dug a large hole about ten feet away from the entrance. The cave entrance is still being reinforced. This is because the air in the cave is thin. In order to allow air circulation in the cave, the cave entrance must be large. More than 300 Qing troops are digging together, and slowly there are more and more gravels in the basket. , the digging speed of the engineers is also getting slower and slower.
The engineers, who looked like monkeys, got out of the hole, took a breath of fresh air, and looked up at the new road slope.
Under the cover of night, with artillery fire blaring and bugles blaring, the Qing army's death squads climbed along the mountain to attack the Japanese positions.
The death squads risked their lives by carrying the bodies of their comrades on their backs, and carried the Qing soldiers who died in Xinlupo down the mountain. If they could not capture the Japanese position, they would take back the bodies of their comrades and never let the crows eat them.
The night was deep, the moon hung high, and the sound of gunshots like exploding beans pierced the night sky.
The sky was dark, and the Japanese artillery was extremely accurate. The Japanese artillerymen, who were familiar with the terrain, mastered the key and suppressed the Qing army's charge, allowing the Qing army to retreat in defeat.
In the early morning, the Qing army stopped attacking, and smoke rose from the trenches. The smoke was like incense in memory of their dead comrades.
After one night's work, the Qing army built a fort and the prototype of a military camp. The tunnel operation went very smoothly, and the tunnel was dug more than 100 meters.
Fu Xianchu stayed up all night and looked up at Xinlu Slope. As expected, the Japanese army was hiding its troops. The Japanese fortress on Xinlu Slope was a tough nut to crack. He had received a call back from Li Guolou and was determined to fight on Xinlu Slope. Beautiful battle.
"A bunch of rats only dare to hide in their nests and wait to go to hell," Fu Xianchu said harshly and turned back to the command post.
"I'm right, the Japanese army is deliberately showing weakness. I predict that there are a large number of Japanese troops hiding in the cave, at least thousands of them. It is very likely that there are two regiments of troops. The Japanese army has put their treasure in Xinlupo," Zheng Hengdan had already concluded from the sound of Japanese artillery fire that the Japanese troops on Xinlu Slope were sufficient.
"Well, we are getting less and less courageous in fighting, but it's good that we don't give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it." The two of them walked back to the command post side by side. Half of the command post built by the Qing army was on the ground, and the outside was built with trees. The house was made of rammed earth outside the trees and decorated with shrubs. From the outside, it looked like a mound. Fu Xianchu walked along the tunnel. The tunnel was very deep. There were compartments inside, with tables, chairs, maps, and bedrooms.
A group of officers were having a meeting to summarize the battlefield. Fu Xianchu nodded slightly and sat gracefully among the officers, listening to their speeches. In addition to being brave in fighting, one must also be good at figuring things out and summarizing experiences and lessons.
Five thousand Xinwu troops and tens of thousands of additional soldiers were engaged in battle with the Japanese troops at Xinlupo. The Qing army did not forcefully cross the Nidu River.
The Qing army could skip the Japanese army at Xinlupo and directly cross the Nidu River to attack Langjiao Port. However, this would have endless consequences, and the consequence would be that the transportation lines would be completely exposed under the nose of the Japanese army.
Li Guolou relied on integrity as the way to use troops and used surprise as a strategy. After the Qing army took advantage of the military in Taiwan, they no longer took risks when using troops, but used troops in a step-by-step manner. Even if the enemy anticipated his tactics and guessed every step of the Qing army, There is no way to crack it.
Li Guolou went all the way to the dark side, using cage tactics to trap tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers alive.