The headquarters of the Third Town of the Hubei New Army is located in Badong. When Zhang Xun, the commander of the Third Town, received the news that the Western Sichuan Army had started to attack and rushed to the front line, the Seventh Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army had already launched an offensive and was preparing for the attack.
Preparation for artillery fire.
Seeing the artillery of the Western Sichuan Army continuously pouring shells into his position, Zhang Xun was very angry. As for how the battle started, he no longer wanted to pursue it. What matters now is
How to resist the attack of the Western Sichuan Army. The Third Town is stationed in the border area all year round. It often fights against the Western Sichuan Army and knows how powerful the opponent is.
"Counterattack! Where is our artillery? Counterattack!" Zhang Xun ordered loudly. The third town was also equipped with artillery, all of which were 105mm howitzers imported from the United Kingdom. There were thirty-six in total, which was more than the Western Sichuan Army's.
The seventh brigade's artillery battalion will have twelve more guns.
"Sir, it's not that I don't fight back due to my humble position. It's just that the range of our cannons is not as good as that of the Western Sichuan Army! Their cannons have a range of seven kilometers, while we only have five kilometers. Unless all the cannons are fired at close range, there will be no
It cannot reach the position of the Western Sichuan Army. But if you get close and shoot, you will be easily bombarded by the Western Sichuan Army." Biao Tong, the artilleryman of the Third Town, replied.
"Asshole! What should we do? Can we only be beaten without fighting back?" Zhang Xun's eyes were filled with blazing anger.
"Sir, our artillery can wait until the Western Sichuan Army starts to attack before firing and bombarding their attacking troops!" replied the commander of the First Association of the Third Town.
"Humph! No matter what? We must hold our position. The Governor is in Yichang. If our position is breached, the Western Sichuan Army will be able to break through to Yichang directly. If the Governor is blamed, no one can afford it!"
Zhang Xun warned.
"Don't worry, sir. The lower-ranking officers will definitely guard the line of defense!" All the generals quickly assured.
After the Western Sichuan Army's artillery raged for half an hour, it finally stopped shelling. The Hubei New Army's positions had long been destroyed to a state of disgrace. At least one-third of the troops stationed on the front line were directly killed or seriously injured in the shelling. The entire
The position also became incomplete.
"Order the troops to attack and the artillery to carry out blocking bombardment!" Xie Dingkun, commander of the 7th Brigade, put down the telescope in his hand and ordered.
Soon, the artillery of the Western Sichuan Army launched another artillery bombardment, but this time the target of the bombardment was behind the position of the Hubei New Army's Third Town to prevent the other party's soldiers from reinforcing the position.
At the same time, soldiers from the 1st and 4th Battalions of the 7th Brigade jumped out of their positions and launched an attack on the positions of the Hubei New Army. More than 2,000 soldiers from the Western Sichuan Army formed a skirmish line, with their waists bent,
They quickly launched an attack on the Hubei New Army position 600 meters away. Behind them, mortars and heavy machine guns from various units also followed their attack, preparing to provide them with sufficient supporting firepower.
"Everyone get up, everyone get up, the Western Sichuan Army has launched an attack!" On the Hubei New Army's position, the standard commanders, supervisors, team officers, platoon leaders and chief officers all gathered those who had survived the Western Sichuan Army's artillery attack.
The soldiers caught up with the position. Mountain cannons and heavy machine guns also rolled out of the bunkers, ready to start shooting.
"Da da da da!" When the Western Sichuan Army rushed into the Hubei New Army less than 400 meters away, the heavy machine guns of the Qing Army opened fire one after another. As soon as the gunfire sounded, the attacking Western Sichuan Army immediately fell to the ground and changed its position.
In order to crawl forward, at the same time, the heavy machine guns and mortars that followed were immediately set up and launched a counterattack. In particular, the mortars were focused on clearing out the heavy machine guns of the Hubei New Army.
At the same time, after seeing that the attack was blocked, the artillery positions of the Western Sichuan Army immediately changed the target of the bombardment and once again ravaged the positions of the Hubei New Army. Mountain cannons and heavy machine guns were blown to pieces.
"Artillery attack, those soldiers of the Western Sichuan Army in front of the target position!" The artillery commander of the Third Town of the Hubei New Army also issued an order for artillery bombardment. Thirty-six 105mm light howitzers began to fire fiercely. The attacking Western Sichuan Army
The offensive of the army soldiers was immediately stopped. In the shelling of the Hubei New Army, casualties increased rapidly.
"Order the brothers to withdraw, and the artillerymen come forward. First deal with the artillerymen of the Hubei New Army, or at least avoid them!" Xie Dingkun, the commander of the 7th Brigade, quickly ordered. Let the opponent's artillery fire unscrupulously on the plains.
One's own soldiers, this is tantamount to asking the soldiers to die.
After receiving the order, the two attacking battalions immediately withdrew. However, in the attack just now, the Western Sichuan Army also lost nearly two hundred people, and the strength of one company was lost.
The artillery battalion of the 7th Brigade immediately advanced two kilometers and aimed its artillery bombardment at the artillery of the Hubei New Army.
"Haha, they were repelled. The Western Sichuan Army was repelled by us!" A smile appeared on the faces of the artillerymen of the Hubei New Army. For them, it was unthinkable to invade Western Sichuan, but resisting Western Sichuan
The army's attack can be considered a great achievement.
"Phew!" However, before the smile on his face dissipated, there was the sound of sharp cannonballs piercing the air in the sky.
"Damn it, shelling! Take cover immediately!" Hubei attacking artilleryman Biao Biaotong quickly threw himself to the ground.
"Boom! Boom!" Artillery shells fell from the sky one after another, accurately hitting the artillery position of the Hubei New Army's Third Town. Shrapnel flew horizontally, and the shock wave ravaged the entire artillery position. A large number of Hubei New Army artillery bombers were killed, and some
The cannon was also directly hit and destroyed. This was not the most serious matter. At this time, a large number of artillery shells were piled up on the artillery position. These shells were hit and the resulting explosions directly destroyed most of the artillery position. Produced
There was a violent explosion, and the ground shook like an earthquake.
"My cannon, my artillery!" Seeing that one of his artillerymen was killed one by one, stumps and broken arms were flying everywhere, and the cannons were blown into pieces. The Hubei New Army's third
The artillerymen of the three towns were almost bleeding from their hearts!
The artillery of the Western Sichuan Army bombarded for half an hour, plowing the Hubei New Army's artillery position several times. Then the bombardment stopped. However, by this time, there were already many casualties on the Hubei New Army's artillery position.
The entire artillery force had more than a thousand men, and now there were only ten of them left. All the cannons had been blown up.
"Da da!" There was a sound of horse hoofbeats, and Zhang Xun, the commander of the third town, and others rushed here quickly.
"What's going on?" Zhang Xun asked angrily.
"Sir, we were bombarded by the Western Sichuan Army. The entire artillery unit was gone and all the cannons were destroyed!" the artillery unit replied, his face was ashen and very desperate.
"You trash!" Zhang Xun was furious and slashed the command knife in his hand, decapitating the artilleryman's head.
However, this is no longer helpful. Without the fire support of artillery, the 7th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army can launch an attack without restraint.
Subsequently, the 7th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army launched another attack. The soldiers of the Western Sichuan Army, who received full support from the artillery, attacked very fiercely. They quickly broke into the defense line of the Hubei New Army. Zhang Xun wanted to mobilize reinforcements to enter the position.
Supporting the battle on the front line. However, the reinforcements were severely shelled by the Western Sichuan Army and suffered heavy damage and had to retreat.
By the afternoon, the Western Sichuan Army had completely occupied the Hubei New Army's front-line positions and established a simple defense line. At the same time, the Western Sichuan Army's artillery moved forward again, focusing on shelling the Hubei New Army's heavy gathering areas. For this reason, the Hubei New Army's artillery
The army had to retreat across the board and retreated to the second line of defense.
Like the Seventh Brigade, the attacks by other units of the Western Sichuan Army were also very smooth. When the various units of the Western Sichuan Army launched the attack, the Hubei New Army was simply unprepared. Many cannons were directly blown up and failed to form a powerful counterattack. Subsequently,
Under the strong firepower support of the Western Sichuan Army, the frontline positions changed hands one after another. The towns of the Hubei New Army had to withdraw from their positions and retreat backward.
By the afternoon, the Western Sichuan Army's frontline had been directed at the Qing Army's second line of defense. The Hubei New Army suffered heavy losses. The total casualties of the New Army in five towns reached more than 20,000, and almost the strength of one town was lost.
.What’s even more serious is that the defeat in the first battle caused the morale of the Qing army to plummet.
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