Chapter 180 The most severe test
Chapter 180 The most severe test
On November 15, the third year of the Tongzhi reign, the Huai Army's Shao Hengzhong Regiment led the way, with Song Laosan's Regiment, the Artillery Regiment, the Machine Gun Battalion, and the Engineering Battalion as the central force. Led by Grant, the Chief of Staff of the Huai Army, they marched towards Jinjibao in a mighty force.
They moved slowly along the way with great momentum, and advertised everywhere that they wanted to eliminate Ma Hualong and kill the chief leader of the bandits in one fell swoop.
Ma Hualong panicked and prepared for war. He armed the 10,000 Shaanxi bandits who had defected to him to assist in the defense. At the same time, he sent people to urgently ask for help from the bandit Dong Fuxiang.
Dong Fuxiang and his general Zhang Jun led 20,000 bandits to reinforce Ma Hualong. At the same time, they sent people to notify Li Shuangliang's troops in Yan'an Prefecture and Fuzhou to return to Gansu to fight against the Huai Army.
The walls of Jinjibao were tall and solid, reaching ten meters at the thickest point. There were ten thousand of the most elite bandits in the fort, equipped with advanced muzzle-loading Russian-style Ridge rifles and countless cannons on the wall.
A group of more than 570 forts were built on both sides of the fort, where Shaanxi bandits and second-rate bandits were stationed. Dong Fuxiang's reinforcements were also arranged to be stationed in these forts.
Jinjibao has well-trained soldiers, sufficient food and ammunition reserves, and enough food and fodder to feed 10,000 people for two years. It is a solid defense system that is no less powerful than Nanjing.
As the Huai Army approached Jinjibao, a major battle was about to break out.
…………
Huan County, Zhenjing Fort.
Shao Quanzhong held binoculars and observed the heavily guarded fortress with a smile on his face.
"The bandits are poor, and their soldiers are still equipped with flintlock rifles, and most of them are swords and spears. They are not as tough as the leader of Jinjibao Ma, who is rich and powerful. It is right for us to clip their wings first."
Tian Xing next to him was eager to try, "I go to persuade them to surrender? Dong Fuxiang went to rescue Ma Hualong, and the ones left in Zhenjing Fort are his father Dong Shiqiu and his brother Dong Fulu. The old Dong family is from the Brotherhood Society. I don't know Dong Fuxiang, but I have met Dong Shiqiu once."
Shao Quanzhong shook his head. "It's no use meeting them once. Let's fight them first. These bandits won't cry until they see the coffin."
At the previous combat meeting, Shao Quanzhong unexpectedly proposed to subdue Dong Fuxiang.
Based on the combat objectives proposed by Shao Quanzhong, Grant proposed a combat plan to feint an attack on Jinjibao, mobilize Dong Fuxiang's main force to reinforce, and actually attack Zhenjingbao.
Dong Fuxiang, the so-called bandit, was actually a militia leader who made many contributions to the imperial court in suppressing rebels and bandits.
Later, the main force of the imperial court disappeared, and there was no food or money to be given to Dong's troops. Dong Fuxiang was a troublemaker, with more and more subordinates. When there was no food or money, he started to rob them himself and turned his group into a bandit.
For a long time, Dong Fuxiang fought against the rebels and the Qing government at the same time. Surprisingly, his subordinates grew in number, gathering an army of 200,000, with an actual force of 30,000 to 40,000. He was quite capable in fighting.
With the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Qing government sent Shengbao, Duolong'a and Duxing'a to pacify Shaanxi and Gansu. Dong Fuxiang could not bear it anymore, so he joined the bandits to fight against the Qing government.
However, Dong's troops were a Han army after all, and they were superficially united with the bandits, so they could be won over. That's why Shao Quanzhong wanted to subdue him.
In history, Dong Fuxiang was also recruited by Zuo Zongtang, and since then he has been a loyal member of the Qing court. He was a well-known and brave general in the Gansu Army.
"Fire!"
Tian Xingtuan's four battalions surrounded Zhenjing Fort in a semicircle. The soldiers lay down in the dug trenches, and six thousand breech-loading rifles fired at the same time.
The remaining 8,000 second-rate Dong troops in the city retreated behind the city walls and were instantly beaten so badly that they could not raise their heads.
"Boom! Boom!"
Three hundred Hale rockets were fired into Fort Zhenjing.
Then rockets were fired continuously, with ten shots fired in one breath.
Three thousand rockets hit the fort, and the small Zhenjing Fort was completely covered by firepower, and suddenly a blazing flame appeared.
The defenders in the fort could no longer hold out, so they opened the north gate and fled.
"Crack, clap."
Two battalions of 3,000 cavalry appeared, and immediately fired with carbines. After firing the volley, the acting regiment commander Ma Yukun held the command knife, eager to try.
The defenders gathered at the north gate, unable to advance or retreat.
Dong Shiqiu was panic-stricken. All the elite soldiers in the fort had been taken away by his son. The Huai Army was so unruly that they used their best troops to bully the remaining old and weak soldiers. The fort was full of Dong's family members. What should we do?
"Captain Dong, are you alright? If you don't surrender now, when will you surrender?"
"Heaven, Skywalker--" With the persuasion of his old friend Tian Xing, Dong Shiqiu, who was already at his wit's end, happily surrendered, and Zhenjing Fort was recovered.
…………
On the fifth day of December in the third year of the Tongzhi reign, Shao Hengzhong's troops, the vanguard of the Huai Army attacking Jinjibao, arrived in Lingzhou and exchanged fire with bandits at the outer Guojiaqiao fortress.
The bandits were defeated at the first blow in the field battle and immediately retreated to the fortress for defense.
Shao Hengzhong's troops had no artillery and did not attack by force. Instead, he ordered, "Dig trenches and wait for the main force to arrive."
"Report! The bandit cavalry sent by nearby Ning'an Fort, Tongxin City, and Yuwang City attacked our army from the flank."
"Dig trenches on three sides for defense, and Nie Shicheng's battalion will maneuver."
Outside Guojiaqiao, as soon as the Huai Army's vanguard came into contact with the Jijinbao defense system, they immediately felt the power of the bandit leader, and Shao Hengzhong's troops held their ground and waited for reinforcements.
Five days later, Grant arrived with his central army and began shelling Guojiaqiao.
Ten days later, Shao Quanzhong, Tian Xing and Ma Yukun, who had easily pacified Zhenjing Fort, arrived with Tian Xing's regiment and the cavalry regiment.
The main forces of both sides faced off, starting the arduous attack and defense battle of Jinjibao.
Opposite them was the impregnable Jinji Fort and a firepower cluster consisting of more than 570 large and small sturdy fortresses.
The soldiers were loyal and fanatical, well-trained, and equipped with artillery and Russian-made rapid-fire rifles.
This will be the most severe test the Huai Army has faced since its establishment.
…………
Guojiaqiao Huai Army front-line command post.
Shao Quanzhong was walking around with his hands behind his back. When Hu Liuniang came in and made a loud noise, Shao Quanzhong yelled, "Get out... Ah, Liuniang, what's the matter?"
Liu Niang covered her mouth and laughed, "Yuting, what's wrong with you being so angry?"
Shao Quanzhong touched his chest and said, "I have been feeling uneasy and nervous lately. I always feel that something bad is going to happen. My temper is a little bad. Please bear with me, Liuniang."
The personal secretary looks honest and well-behaved, but you can't scold her. If she gets angry, she might grab me by the arm and take me to the mountain to get married.
"Yuting, Wu Ziyi has sent another 10,000 new soldiers. Including four infantry battalions, one cavalry battalion, and 1,000 reserve soldiers and service personnel. They also brought 10,000 new breech-loading rifles."
"Okay, reorganize immediately. Promote Lin Bozi to the commander of the 4th Regiment, and equip all members of his regiment with the latest breech-loading rifles."
"That - there is the latest information about Jiang Chunlin."
"what's up?"
"We wanted to exchange technology with the Americans before. In the telegram exchanges, the Americans thought that our breech-loading rifle modification and copper bullet technology were not worth that much money, and were unwilling to exchange spring steel smelting technology and warship special steel technology. At most, we could only exchange one of them."
"and after?"
"But the Americans didn't say it was a dead end. What they meant was that if other benefits were attractive enough, it was not impossible to negotiate to give us both technologies. Therefore, Sister Xiu'er went to Shanghai to negotiate with Xi Huade. She controls all the economic interests of the Huai Army and can make the decision for you. As a result, Xiu'er was on her way to the American concession-"
Shao Quanzhong, who had been sitting down to listen to the report, jumped up, grabbed Hu Liuniang's collar with both hands, and said in a trembling voice, "Is Wenxiu in trouble?"
Hu Liuniang giggled, "Yuting, you really care about your wife. How can I still talk to you so calmly when something happens?"
It’s good that everything is alright. Shao Quanzhong suddenly realized that he was still holding Liu Niang’s collar.
I let go of her hand with apology. Well, Liu Niang's neck was really white, and the feeling on my elbow was very comfortable. But I didn't dare to try it again.
"Sister Xiu'er was attacked by a large number of Green Gang thugs on her way to the American Concession, but—"
(End of this chapter)