"What?" Xiang Xiaoqiang held the phone and exclaimed, "A battalion of Qing soldiers were called over with just a few words? Okay, okay, who is calling?...Sun Gaogang? Does Sun still have such a talent? I haven't discovered it before.
Ah! Okay, tell him, give him another half hour, and try to call two more battalions over! Note, half an hour at most! I can't afford it, I have to completely capture Nanyang before dark! Well, tell him to pay attention to safety.
ah!"
This call came from the Left Headquarters of the People's Guard Mobile Force from Xiangfan. Xiang Xiaoqiang put down the phone and was very happy. He looked at the big clock and considered whether there was a possibility of his character breaking out. Finally, he called out to the entire Nanyang garrison.
Surrendered. In that case, we can continue to advance today, and it is possible to attack Fangcheng County before dark.
The army group on the left performed so well that it had advanced more than 100 kilometers on the first day of the war, which was beyond expectations. Not only were the old men at the headquarters shocked, but Xiang Xiaoqiang was also shocked. The mechanized blitzkrieg
By standards, this speed is considered very fast.
After a while, the phone rang again. Xiang Xiaoqiang picked it up:
"Hey, People's Guard Headquarters...what? Another battalion is called over? Only one battalion? So few...Okay, okay, there is no time, prepare to attack...What? Does he want to call again?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the big clock and saw that twenty-five minutes had passed. The remaining five minutes were not enough. But he hesitated and said:
"Okay, give him another ten minutes, the last ten minutes! It's almost five o'clock, and it will really get dark if we don't fight..."
He hung up the phone, closed his eyes and prayed: Old Sun, Old Sun, your character must explode. Call the entire Nanyang garrison to me in the next few minutes... I will promote you to the headquarters later...
Ten minutes passed, and Xiang Xiaoqiang held back and did not rush.
Another ten minutes passed, and Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't help it any longer. Just as he was about to call to ask, the phone rang.
There was another report from the front, and Sun Gaogang called another battalion of Qing soldiers over.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was depressed, why are they all in one camp? Can't they all come over at once? This is like a useless thing. It doesn't matter if you continue to shout, and it doesn't matter if you don't continue to shout...
Li Gensheng reminded him:
"Sir, it's ten past five. It will get dark in a while, and our air superiority will be lost. We will have to fight at night without air cover...Sir, our casualties will be very high..."
"
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and made up his mind. He picked up the phone and ordered the attack to begin.
…
At 17:15, the offensive battle to compress the encirclement began. On the one hand, they were afraid of hitting the city, and on the other hand, they were afraid of accidentally injuring their own people. The artillery in the rear of the Ming army stopped suppressing fire. Only the dive bombers in the sky were still taking turns dropping bombs.
The Qing army guarding Nanyang City only had one under-strength division of about 10,000 people. Now it has been "called out" to three battalions, which has been weakened by about a quarter. The remaining several thousand people are compressed in
On the narrow position, the encirclement was getting smaller and smaller, the Qing defenders were getting denser and denser, and the casualties caused by each shell and bomb were getting bigger.
Soon, the encirclement was reduced to the point where the dive bombers could no longer drop bombs. The bomber squadron shook its wings and flew away. The battle was completely handed over to the Ming army on the ground.
For the Ming army, which had an absolute advantage in strength, weapons, and morale, this was simply a big hunt. A considerable proportion of the troops in each army group of the Ming army had participated in the Battle of Nanjing and the Battle of Pukou at the beginning of the year.
Yes, we have seen scenes much bigger and more tragic than this. Now dealing with the Qing army, which lacks heavy weapons and is disorganized, is like an eagle catching a chicken.
Leading the main attack were two armored divisions and two mechanized divisions of the People's Guard.
Tanks were lined up side by side, surrounded by iron walls, advancing one after another on trenches and sandbags. Behind them were armored vehicles, carrying a car full of soldiers, all holding submachine guns, ready to jump down and fight at any time. Tanks and armored vehicles
The machine guns were firing, chasing the Qing soldiers fleeing in front. The Qing soldiers who defended the city
Dozens of 37 small guns were almost useless against so many and dense Ming tanks. Even though the encirclement was shrinking, the entire perimeter was still 20-30 kilometers long, with an average of only about one gun per kilometer.
, and the total tanks and armored vehicles of the four divisions of the Ming Army averaged more than one hundred taels per kilometer.
Surrounded by such a steel behemoth on all sides, without aerial bombardment or heavy artillery bombardment, relying only on crawlers, machine guns and small and medium-caliber tank guns, within 20 minutes, thousands of Qing troops collapsed and all surrendered.
At 17:50, a white flag was hung above Nanyang City.
…
In Nanjing, Xiang Xiaoqiang answered the phone and said with a triumphant smile:
"Well, this is such a good beating... It's not much faster than Old Sun shouting..."
Li Gensheng was startled and found that several subordinate staff officers nearby were looking at Xiaoqiang, and one or two generals were looking this way. He quickly coughed next to him and winked at Xiaoqiang.
Xiang Xiaoqiang reacted quickly and understood immediately. Then he lowered his tone and said sadly to the phone:
"...Sigh... But speaking of it, the price is very high! If time were not pressed, Lao Sun's persuasion to surrender would still be the best policy! After all, the current quick victory was achieved with the lives of our soldiers from the Ming Dynasty.
Ah...sigh, but luckily I made a prompt decision and ordered a strong attack to avoid
In order to avoid falling into a night battle, we used smaller casualties to avoid larger casualties... Well, today's persuasion to surrender is good. In the future, we must carry out the strategy of 'attacking the heart first' to reduce the casualties of our brothers... Let's count the number of casualties among our brothers.
?Report it to me later and I will apply for medals for these brothers..."
Next to him, Li Gensheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the adults reacting so quickly. Xiang Xiaoqiang also breathed a sigh of relief. He then remembered that the Ming Dynasty was very concerned about casualties. Firstly, it was due to human concepts, and secondly, there were not many troops in the first place.
Every soldier is valued. This kind of attitude of "one general's success makes a thousand bones dry up" is the most despised. If everyone has this view of you, then you won't be able to survive.
…
On the first day of the battle, the Ming army's left offensive advanced about a hundred kilometers, and theoretically occupied the entire Xiangfan Plain. However, this was only theoretical.
The Xiangfan Plain of more than 10,000 square kilometers is surrounded by mountains and is a relatively closed space. The Qing army originally had 20-30 divisions stationed here. Most of them were crushed and captured in the morning and morning blitzes of the Ming army.
. However, according to a rough count, there are only about half the number of prisoners and corpses. In other words, there are still 10-15 divisions that have either completely retreated to the north or been broken up and scattered over more than 10,000 square kilometers.
Specific cleanup is required.
The large forces of the left army group will temporarily rest and set up camp to prepare for the night. At the same time, reconnaissance troops will be dispatched to search for large groups of remnants and a small number of stragglers. These detailed tasks are all the responsibility of the motorized infantry division.
According to the plan, Xiang Xiaoqiang ordered the four divisions of the People's Guard on the left to continue to rush forward, conduct fire searches, and sweep the 50-kilometer area between Nanyang and Fangcheng before dark. Then they stopped near Fangcheng.
, conducted a fire reconnaissance of the Qing army's defense. On the one hand, it understood the strength of the Qing army's defense, and on the other hand, it also showed off its force, giving the Fangcheng defenders a psychological shock, making them cower all night and not dare to come out to do anything.
Surprise attack or something.
Then, in the early morning of the next day, the repaired army will launch a more violent offensive towards the Fangcheng defense zone.
The Ming army was mentally prepared from top to bottom. Fangcheng was a pass, the throat leading to the Henan Plain. The Qing army's retreating troops, as well as the Henan garrison in the north, would gather here. This place is too important.
The Qing generals would not dare to surrender without a fight no matter what.
.And this place is different from Nanyang. Here we guard the narrow area between the two mountains. There is no possibility of encirclement. We can only attack from one direction. Therefore, the Qing generals here have nothing to worry about. The resistance here is only
Can be stronger than Nanyang.
…
Nanyang City was the first real city captured by the Ming Army's Left Army Group. Due to political needs, Xiang Xiaoqiang ordered the four People's Guard divisions to each draw out tank regiments to participate in the Ming Army's city-style entry. It was said to be entering the city.
The style is actually not very formal, it is just a walk through the central streets of Nanyang City. The important thing is to show the power of the Ming army to the people of the Northern Qing Dynasty, so that they have confidence that the Qing army will not come back again. Next
There will be no worries about post-war cooperation with the Ming army.
And this kind of display of strength can never be more useful than hundreds of tanks passing in front of people's eyes one after another.
The People's Guard also has the task of fire reconnaissance, so it is ranked at the front, and it is only a pure tank team. Many other armored vehicles, cars, self-propelled artillery, baggage, logistics, engineer pontoons, air defense and other units are directly from
Just pass outside the city.
On the four city gates, the Manchu and Qing national flags fluttered down to the ground. Then, the Ming national flag was raised, fluttering in the wind, flying high.
At the four city gates, cheers began to ring out one after another, and it was unclear which ones were from the Ming army soldiers and which ones were from the common people.
…
The entry into the city has begun.
The excitement in the city was beyond the Ming army's expectation.
First of all, the leading tanks of the Ming army had to march in the thick smoke. On both sides of the main road in the center of the city, countless firecrackers were exploding, the flames flashed, the smoke filled the air, the blue smoke covered the sky, and the red confetti instantly
The road was completely paved. The tracks of each tank were traveling among firecrackers and confetti, and the ears of every soldier on the tank were deafened.
Amidst the loud sound of firecrackers, the people on both sides were shouting almost like crazy, their palms turning red. Many people with their families and carrying large and small bags stood on the street to watch the Ming army.
When the Ming army tanks came over, the old men and women took their children and grandchildren and knelt down and kowtowed, with tears streaming down their faces. Then they took out a plate of firecrackers from their bags, lit them and threw them next to the Ming army tanks.
Countless people braved the explosion of firecrackers, rushed up with squinted eyes, and stuffed baskets of eggs, steamed buns, tea, and cigarettes into the hands of the soldiers on the tank. The soldiers were also very happy. They were so good in their own Ming Dynasty land.
I have never been so popular before. Those good things, the soldiers took the initiative
After taking it, he peeled it and ate it directly on the tank, waving to the people below while eating. Many people’s backpacks were filled with various brands of Beiqing cigarettes. Some soldiers were more concerned about their appearance and did not take the initiative to reach out to pick them up.
The people put food on the tanks, and a lot of them rolled to the ground.
On both sides of the road, the ground was littered with food rolled down from the tanks, as well as cigarette papers and broken egg shells. A large group of children crawled around, happily grabbing food and rummaging through the piles of paper scraps.
Exploded firecrackers and then set off.
This can really be called "making food in a pot of pulp".
More people couldn't get to the front. They all crowded behind the crowd and jumped up to see, climbed to the roof to see, and climbed to the trees to see. The city gate was also covered with people. They had never seen a tank before.
He couldn't defeat the legendary Ming army, let alone climb the gates of his own city. On this day, it was all realized at once.
Although the common people shouted at the top of their lungs, the Ming soldiers on the tanks still couldn't hear what they were shouting. But in the face of such an almost crazy welcome, what else could the officers and soldiers do besides grinning widely?
Both officers and soldiers were surprised by the reaction of the Northern Qing people in the city. Before the attack, they were all taught that in the early days of the Northern Expedition, they should not expect too much from the Northern Qing people.
Because the people of the Northern Qing Dynasty have long held the view that "the Ming Dynasty is not the opponent of the Qing Dynasty", "the Ming Dynasty's military force is too weak, attacking the Qing Dynasty is to attack the Qing Dynasty with an egg against a stone, and it will not grow", etc. Although the people's support is very clear, the people of the Northern Qing Dynasty were not sure at the beginning.
The Ming army only came to fight for a while and then withdrew. Or did they plan to continue to fight for a long time?
If they occupy it for a long time, can the Ming army be so weak that they can hold it? The people of the Northern Qing Dynasty will definitely be worried that if the Ming army stays here for a while and then leaves, if I show enthusiasm and welcome the Ming army,
After the Qing army returns, someone will definitely tell the truth, and the whole family will be retaliated against.
These were all estimates made by the senior officials of the Southern Ming Dynasty before the war, and they did not expect to be welcomed by the people of the Northern Qing Dynasty from the beginning. This kind of people's aspiration was to achieve a major military victory for the Ming army.
It will only be reflected after occupying a far enough area.
But I never expected that such a crazy situation would occur. This is just the first day, the first city.
No one knows why. It can’t be because of the bastard spirit of the Ming army, right?
…
Just because of the desire for liberation? No, this explanation is too simple. The people of the Northern Qing Dynasty have always been very numb and cautious, and it is impossible to be so unscrupulous. Their usual style is that although their hearts are filled with ecstasy,
He can still look at the limelight very rationally and will not let go of his tight tail until he is finally sure that it is completely safe.
Gradually, the atmosphere in the city began to become abnormal. Many Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers also guessed the clues.