Chapter 113: Attacking the City is Really Difficult
The two horses rushed quickly to the An Yi camp that was ready to go on the Lujiapo road. The divisional staff officer Chen who was riding on the horse laughed loudly when he saw An Yi, pointing to the "Model Camp" flag held high and said, thanks to it.
I can find you all right away, and when I'm done, I can signal to the headquarters staff around me to pass on the order.
The lieutenant colonel staff officer of the military headquarters took out an order and read it loudly: The engineer battalion immediately turned around and returned to Heshengqiao Railway Station, took the headquarters special train, and rushed to Yujiawan Station in the south of Wuchang City.
An Yi took the order and returned the salute respectfully, and ordered Hu Hu and Yin Jinan to lead the brothers to turn around immediately.
Staff Officer Chen was surprised to see that there were more than 60 horses in An Yi's team. He asked An Yi why there were so many horses all of a sudden and what were the things on the backs of these horses? An Yi replied that some of them were captured yesterday.
, carrying various construction structures, explosives and other special tools on its back.
Staff Officer Chen nodded with relief and told An Yi that fortunately three open-top wagons fell down from Puqi Station in the south early in the morning, otherwise you engineers and soldiers would not be able to transport so many urgently needed things to Wuchang City in time.
Watching the two chief messengers leave, An Yi and Yin Jinan held their horses and exchanged opinions in a low voice. They quickly guessed from what Staff Chen just said: They are probably going to assist the main force in attacking the city!
At night, Anyiying rushed to Yujiawan Station in the south of Wuchang City and immediately received a notice: passing through Hongshan and Xujiapeng to Wushengmen.
At noon the next day, An Yi, who was camping in an old forest four kilometers outside Wushengmen, suddenly received a notice and was asked to rush to the division headquarters outside Zhongxiaomen immediately to attend an emergency meeting.
Without saying a word, An Yi mounted the little black horse and followed the herald to the temporary headquarters of the division in the southeast. As soon as he entered the ancestral hall where the division headquarters was located, he saw that the chief and deputy chiefs of each regiment had gathered together.
Liu She nodded to An Yi and motioned for him to sit at the bottom: "Everyone, according to the order from the headquarters, General Li Zongren will serve as the commander-in-chief of the siege. At Chief Li's request, the headquarters agreed to Chief Li's siege plan.
The enemy was defeated one after another, and the position was not yet stable. At this favorable opportunity, the Fourth Army, the Seventh Army, and the two main regiments of our Second Division, which had already arrived at the gates of Wuchang City, would launch a powerful attack on Wuchang City at 8 o'clock in the evening today.
The Fourth Regiment and the Sixth Regiment of our division will serve as the reserve force of the Fourth Army and arrive behind the Fourth Army's siege force outside Tongxiang Gate before 7 p.m. to provide reinforcement at any time; the division's engineer battalion must arrive at the Fourth Army's siege force before 5 p.m.
Behind the main forces from Wangshan Gate to Zhonghe Gate, the Seventh Army tried its best to build a long siege ladder for the friendly siege troops. Next, the chief of staff will introduce the Wuchang city defense situation."
Hu Shusen glanced at the generals and said loudly: "Wuchang City is second to none among the three towns in Wuhan. It is the political, economic, cultural, and military center of Hubei. It is backed by the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and faces Guishan Mountain in Hanyang across the river. Its strategic location is extremely important.
The city wall has a circumference of 30 kilometers, and the moat is strong and wide. The city is crisscrossed by Snake Mountains. The enemy artillery positions are set up on the Snake Mountains, which greatly increases its power. The depth of the city walls is about 2.30 meters. The bridges above the moats were almost completely destroyed by the defenders. The city wall is extremely strong.
It is about seven to eight meters high. There are nine gates in the entire city. It is heavily guarded and easy to defend but difficult to attack. This battle will be extremely difficult. I hope you are fully prepared."
Everyone looked embarrassed when they heard this, and An Yi was even more excited. It was hard to imagine how an eight-meter-high ladder could be made safely and quickly under the current conditions. For example, using logs would provide the greatest stability.
Even if the brothers can make a cross within an hour with a meter-long log ladder, wouldn't the weight of hundreds of kilograms hinder the speed of the attack? If it is made of tough bamboo, it will be simple and easy to carry, but such a ladder is unstable
It's shaky and full of elasticity, but how can we ensure the stability and speed of the climbing friendly brothers? I'm afraid a grenade will blow the long ladder into pieces as soon as we get up.
Before An Yi could think of a solution, the meeting was about to end. Liu She asked all ministries to carry forward the spirit of Huizhou siege warfare during the Eastern Expedition and go all out to enhance the power of our army!
An Yi could only repeat the oath with everyone, walked out of the hall, went to the big tree in the yard, untied his beloved horse, and pulled it out of the yard full of worry.
"Wait, Xiaoyi!"
Jiang Dingwen strode out of the yard, stopped An Yi who was about to mount his horse, walked up to him and asked in a low voice: "Do you know that your big brother Xu Jishen was shot in the chest when he led the commando to the bridge at He Shengqiao?"
An Yi was shocked: "God...where is Brother Xu? How is he now?"
"Don't worry, he can't die. He was seriously injured and still insisted on commanding until he collapsed. Now he is undergoing surgery at the military hospital in Xianning Camp. I heard someone said in the morning that he never woke up, but he was lucky that his heart was not injured.
.Due to the accidental encounter between our regiment and the sneak attack troops of two enemy regiments when it was covering the advance of the main force yesterday morning, our regiment fought desperately and annihilated more than 400 enemies. However, due to being outnumbered, it also suffered heavy casualties. If the friendly forces had not arrived in time,
Come here, I'm afraid it will be more dangerous, so we can't participate in this siege. We are ordered to escort many injured brothers back to Xianning by special train this evening for medical treatment and rest. If you have anything, I will take it for you." Jiang Dingwen finished speaking slightly.
A smile.
An Yi was stunned for a while, then came back to his senses and shook his head helplessly: "What can I say like this? I guess he won't be able to hear it for a while, so I'd better wait for me to go back and find him again. Thank you, boss, I'm pressed for time.
Go back as soon as possible, you must return to the camp early to lead the people to the Seventh Army to obey the order."
Jiang Dingwen pulled An Yi's sleeve and whispered: "Why are you in such a hurry? Hundreds of people from the Political Department and two engineering battalions of the Seventh Army have already started working before lunch today. The people nearby were very enthusiastic and donated countless stair door panels. They themselves
We have already started working. The reason why I sent your troops is just a matter of face. Don’t be stupid enough to ask me to attack the city. That is a job with a narrow chance of death."
An Yi smiled slightly: "I still have this little bit of self-awareness. Another little brother is not optimistic about this attack at all. In terms of firepower and troop strength, we can't compare to defending the enemy. They still have so many artillery mounted on Snake Mountain, and the shells
After the attack, we will ship it across the river and transport it back from the Hanyang Arsenal. We have neither naval guns nor heavy artillery, and we do not have advanced engineering equipment and complete preparations. It will probably be very difficult to fight like this."
Jiang Dingwen smiled appreciatively and said: "Not bad! You are getting smarter day by day. No wonder the teachers like you so much. Even I am scared by your progress, haha! Okay, let's not talk about anything else. I
I just want to tell you that you must remember to increase the security force of the camp to prevent enemy sneak attacks and destruction at any time, and remember the enemy general Chen Jiamo who is guarding the city. I know you have paid attention to this old fox for a long time, and you have done a lot of other things.
You don’t have to worry about me. Okay, let’s go back. Be careful on the battlefield and don’t put yourself in danger.”
An Yi said goodbye to Jiang Dingwen gratefully. Just as he was about to mount his horse, he suddenly remembered the important opium business, looked around and whispered in Jiang Dingwen's ear.
Jiang Dingwen was ecstatic and whispered a few instructions to leave immediately.
Half an hour later, Jiang Dingwen led a platoon of henchmen on forty-one skin horses and quietly rushed to An Yi's camp. The two entered the tent guarded by three sentries and quickly came out. Jiang Dingwen, with an excited face, ordered his men to move out the opium cigarettes.
The horses he brought with him were not enough, so he took An Yi's seventeen pack horses away and happily returned to the Fifth Regiment's station in Yujiawan. An Yi also breathed a sigh of relief.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, An Yi left Yin Jinan to lead the best-equipped company, two machine gun platoons and more than a hundred new brothers who had just changed into revolutionary army uniforms and were waiting to be assigned to guard the camp.
Company, 250 brothers from the third company, excluding the cooking squad, ran with special tools and few remaining accessories to the predetermined location two kilometers away. Under the guidance of the Seventh Army's combat staff and political ministers, they arrived at the long ladder.
Production site.
An Yi and Hu Hu looked at the method of connecting two or even three bamboo or wooden ladders with ropes for a while. Without saying anything, they immediately ordered the brothers to start work.
After working for more than two hours, the production speed and quality of the Anyi Engineer Battalion were loudly praised by the commanders of the Seventh Army. In particular, the four reinforced long ladders made by the brothers of the Third Company using eight ten-meter-long moso bamboos were praised.
The commander of the main siege force spoke highly of it, and immediately asked a group of people to carry the four long ladders for rapid transportation testing and support load-bearing testing, which won unanimous praise from the officers and soldiers. The five squad leaders of the third company were then ordered by the Political Department of the Seventh Army.
The superiors were brought everywhere to impart their experience.
An Yi and Hu Shi dismissed the annoying Political Department officials and came to the edge of the attack position under a sycamore tree. They each stood smoking silently and looked ahead for a while. Then they took out their telescopes and observed in detail from the Wangshan Gate to the middle.
The terrain along the Hemen Gate, the city walls, battlements, and the firepower points deployed by the defenders in the open.
A Colonel of the Seventh Army who was patrolling before the war signaled his subordinates to be silent, walked quietly to An Yi, and listened quietly to the conversation between An Yi and Hu Hu.
Huzi asked: "It's so dangerous, it's so tight... Why do I suddenly feel that the siege in the evening is very uncertain? How confident do you think our army is in choosing to attack at this time?"
An Yi, who was holding a telescope and observing intently, replied casually without thinking: "How sure is it? You need a good location but not a good location, and you need firepower but not firepower. You want to break through this strong city in front of you while carrying hundreds of broken ladders? What a dream."
Go! Not to mention that the enemy ships on the river can bombard this open and flat area outside the city at any time. Just the artillery on the Snake Mountain in the city and the hundreds of heavy machine guns at the top of the city will kill you."
Huzi nodded and agreed: "I have the same opinion, especially when I heard that the commander of the city defense is that old fox Chen Jiamo. I think the friendly forces will have enough to drink tonight."
An Yi spit out the cigarette butt and put down the telescope. He saw someone beside him out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned around and felt that the unfamiliar colonel in front of him was very unfamiliar. When he looked at the nameplate on his chest, he was shocked. He turned out to be the one who attacked the city tonight.
Hu Zongduo, colonel and commander of the 7th Brigade of the 7th Army, the main force.
An Yi quickly stood at attention, saluted, and greeted awkwardly: "Hello, Sir Hu! I don't know who I am, Sir Hu. I'm so offended by my nonsense. Please forgive me!"
Huzi also came over in surprise, saluted Hu Zongduo and stood next to An Yi.
Hu Zongduo shook his head kindly: "You are right, and it coincides with my thoughts. I also said the same to Chief Li in the morning. At that time, the head of the advisory group, General Galen, was also worried. Lieutenant An Yi, Northern Expedition
I have heard of you before. Your engineer training method has been promoted in our army, but it is still not as good as yours. I just looked around and your engineers are much better than our army's engineers. I just want to say that long
I have never seen several methods of winding and knotting ropes when tying ladders, and it is refreshing to see them fast and strong.”
"Sir, thank you for your praise. We learned these methods from the fishermen in Guangzhou. If you need it, sir, we can teach them to your colleagues. It's very simple. You can learn the tricks in ten minutes."
An Yi smiled sheepishly, finally remembering Hu Zongduo's identity as a Hubei native, the outstanding performance of his two regiments on the day of the He Shengqiao battle, and the fact that he was the only one in the entire Seventh Army who had successfully subdued more than 3,000 prisoners since the Northern Expedition.
Not one of them escaped, and now the strength and number of officers and soldiers of his Seventh Brigade is second to none among the brigades of the Seventh Army, and it continues to expand.
Hu Zongduo nodded appreciatively: "This matter is not urgent. What is urgent is the large-scale siege that is about to begin. I would like to hear your suggestions."
An Yi shook his head helplessly, and the helpless look on his face made Hu Zongduo let out a long sigh. Facing the iron-walled city in front of him, he had no choice but to feel: It's difficult, it's difficult!