Chapter 164: The Taiping Army's Iron Wall
Chapter 164: The Taiping Army's Iron Wall
Shao Quanzhong smiled at the servant who came to contact the surrender, "General Zhang is very understanding and willing to submit to the court. Very good. Please go to the tent next to you to rest first. I will contact General Zhang soon."
It is said that the governor of the previous dynasty was a Beijing official, and those who were sent to work outside the Censorate called themselves "this court."
The governor of our Qing Dynasty has become a local official. Shao Quanzhong does not have the title of the Censorate for the time being, so he can only call himself "the original governor."
"Sir, beware of fraud!"
Le Xiucai was the first to remind Shao Quanzhong.
Shao Quanzhong nodded and looked at Tian Xing, "Brother, do you know this Zhang Jigeng?"
Tian Xing shook his head blankly, "I haven't heard of it."
Grant did not interrupt, but shook his head and sighed, asking himself why the war here was so complicated?
"Brother Xiaoda, do you think Zhang Jigeng is pretending to surrender?"
Zhang Zhidong said calmly, "It doesn't matter whether it's a false surrender or not. Now is not the time to seize the Shen Ce Gate. However, if Zhang Jigeng is willing to cooperate with us, our casualties can be greatly reduced."
Shao Quanzhong slapped his forehead and said, "Brother Xiaoda is indeed very insightful. Someone, call that servant over here."
Shao Quanzhong gave Zhang's servant some instructions, and the servant left with a confused look on his face.
Shao Quanzhong turned around and said, "Now, I will issue the combat order."
Everyone here please stand up.
"Tomorrow, we will begin the first siege battle. Lao Ge, our light cavalry scouts will cover the battlefield and prevent the Hunan Army scouts from conducting close reconnaissance. In addition, the heavy artillery unit under your command will begin bombarding the city walls from tomorrow."
"Yes!"
"Ziyi, the engineers will start working now. Dig the tunnels for blowing up the city wall immediately. Dig more tunnels and make them deep. Concealment is the most important thing. There is no rush."
"Yes!"
"Hengzhong, tomorrow your unit will be responsible for facing Zhang Jigeng's attacking unit. Be prepared for both fake and real fights. If it's a fake fight, don't use the Hale Rockets."
"understand!"
"Brother, you are the reserve team."
"Yes!"
"Everyone, tomorrow's drama must be played seriously. If Zhang Jigeng is pretending to surrender, be prepared for a real fight. Go back and prepare yourself, and disband!"
Everyone tapped their heels collectively and turned around to leave.
Listening to the neat sound of military boots walking out of the tent, Hu Liuniang scratched her head, "Yuting, if Zhang Jigeng's surrender is true, why don't we just take over the Shen Ce Gate?"
Shao Quanzhong smiled slyly, "Jinling City has four walls. The food and grass in the city have not been exhausted, and there are nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses defending the city, and there is also the famous general Li Xiucheng commanding the defense. If we take down the Shen Ce Gate, we can't rush into the inner city, and we will only attract Li Xiucheng's defense focus. This is a long war, I'm afraid it will take at least half a year, and there will be no result until the food and grass in the city are exhausted."
The next morning, the Hunan Army's scouts were blocked by the Huai Army cavalry and observed from afar.
The Huai Army artillery observation hot air balloon was seen rising into the sky, and the rumbling sound of heavy artillery began to sound early on, one round every few minutes.
Solid bullets continued to hit the solid city walls and towers, causing the walls to shake slightly. It was obvious that they could not be broken down in the short term.
Then, shouts and screams were heard. From afar, soldiers with the "Qing" battalion flag were carrying ladders and rushing towards the city wall. The sound of rapid gunfire in support was mixed with more intensive machine gun fire.
Suddenly, the city gates opened wide, and the Taiping Army, under the banner of "Zhang", rushed out of the city, followed by the sound of fighting. The shouting and killing gradually faded, and the Taiping Army, which had rushed out of the city gates, retreated. It was obvious that the Huai Army's first attempt to attack the city had failed.
The scout shook his head. The Huai Army was nothing special. The Hunan Army also had heavy artillery. What difference did it make whether there were hot air balloons or not? Wouldn't they still be unable to capture the city in such a hurry? He turned around and went back to report the results of the investigation to Zeng Guoquan.
Li Xiucheng in the city heard that a fierce battle had taken place at Shen Ce Gate, so he left Yuhua Terrace and rushed to Shen Ce Gate, where he ran into the defending general Zhang Jigen who was returning victorious. Zhang Jigen, his armor in disarray and covered in dust, knelt on one knee when he saw Li Xiucheng and said, "Report to the King of Loyalty, I led the troops to attack and repelled the first siege of the Huai Army."
Li Xiucheng looked at the shrapnel scattered all over the city walls and the houses destroyed by artillery shells inside the city, and felt quite a difference.
Someone had reported to him that Zhang Jigeng's troops were unstable, so he came to inspect them and was ready to send the reserve troops to fight in the streets to retake the Shen Ce Gate. Now it seems that the Shen Ce Gate is safe and sound, and Zhang Jigeng is still a brave and courageous general.
Being able to counterattack and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy is definitely not a sign of rebellion.
"Report! Zeng Guoquan is attacking Yuhuatai very urgently. He has started the second round of assault and even dug a tunnel to blow down a section of the city wall."
Li Xiucheng patted Zhang Jigeng on the shoulder and said, "Loyalty is shown in times of adversity. I will leave the Shen Ce Gate to you."
He turned around and led his men to Yuhuatai.
…………
Qiao Songnian was very worried, extremely worried.
It has been two months since the Huai Army set out on the expedition. According to the news reported back, the siege has entered a stalemate and there is no possibility of capturing Nanjing in the short term.
This is not very urgent. Nanjing is the most fortified city in the world. The siege has lasted for a year and a half. It is normal to fight for another half a year.
The problem was that the Huai Army fought too hard. Over the past two months, two battalions of "wounded soldiers" had been shipped back to Fengyang Base from the front line, and additional soldiers were sent from the Fengyang base to the front line.
The casualties were not great, but the results were great. In the past two months, 11,000 long-haired heads had been brought back from the front in four batches.
Xiaoxiang Cliff is such an elegant place, but ever since the Huai Army joined the war, heads have been sent there every now and then, which really spoils the scenery.
He waved his hand and ordered his men to deal with the heads, and Lord Qiao went to the sting garden to hide away.
Lord Wu Wenxi also looked troubled. "Lord Qiao, since the Wen family's factories were built and the railway to Xuzhou was opened, our Taizhou's tax revenue has increased significantly, but the environment has deteriorated a lot."
Mr. Qiao was deeply touched. Not to mention the noise of the steam locomotive whistle that woke people up in the early morning, those factories were emitting black smoke all day long, making Hailing City full of coal smoke.
The sky is no longer pure, and this hive garden is full of dust. Alas, it's like burning the piano and cooking the crane.
I had been thinking of buying the Zhe Garden to live there in my old age, but now I don’t have the heart to do that anymore. I can’t stay in Hailing for long.
…………
Jinling, the Huai Army camp outside the Shen Ce Gate.
"Report, the first group of soldiers who went back for rest have returned."
The person who made the report was the camp officer Wu Ziyi. Since the Huai Army joined the battle to siege Nanjing, he was ordered to return to Fengyang, recruit two thousand more soldiers as reserves, and train them in Fengyang.
The act of recruiting soldiers also made the superiors feel that there were constant casualties in the siege.
Soldiers kept going back to rest and new soldiers were replaced to join the battle.
But Wu Ziyi was very skeptical. These frequent siege drills were far from the actual combat atmosphere, and the new recruits actually had few opportunities to train.
For two months, the bombardment of the city walls had not stopped. When Li Xiucheng occasionally came to inspect the city, he could imagine the difficulty of defending the city by looking at the ruined, collapsed and repaired city walls.
Under such difficult circumstances, the defending general Zhang Jigen was not afraid of sacrifice. He organized ten counter-charges, repelled the Huai Army's almost successful siege attacks time and time again, and firmly defended the Shence Gate.
The general, who was originally unknown, now has the glorious titles of "brave and good at fighting" and "the iron wall of the Taiping Army".
Li Xiucheng entrusted the task of defending the Huai Army at Shen Ce Gate to this rising star, and he mobilized the main force defending the city to fight brutally with the Hunan Army.
(End of this chapter)