Chapter 184 The Beginning is the Decisive Battle

Chapter 184 The Beginning is the Decisive Battle

Chapter 184 The Beginning is the Decisive Battle
In this battle, we lost 300 cavalrymen and wiped out more than 3,000 enemy troops. It was a victory, but in terms of the scale of the battle, it was not a great victory.

The enemy was composed entirely of cavalry, and their mobility was too strong to form an encirclement and annihilate them.

But the strategic goal was achieved, and the Shaanxi bandits who were originally stationed in the blockhouse group in the southern part of Jinjibao were driven into Jinjibao.

The Huai Army immediately launched a large-scale attack on the southern fortress group.

There are few people left in the fortress group, so no matter how strong the fortress is, it is useless.

The Huai Army, which had grown to 36,000 men, deployed almost all of its troops except for the artillery, and quickly broke through one fortress after another.

Ten days later, most of the southern fortress group were destroyed and the army was forced to retreat. Seeing that the situation was not right, Ma Wanchun's troops fled back and were besieged in Tongxin City, becoming an isolated army.

The Huai Army seized some food and fodder inside the fortress. It wasn't much, but it was enough to hold out until the next batch of food and fodder arranged by Lord Qiao arrived.

The attack and defense of the southern fortress group has basically come to an end, and Tongxin City cannot be captured in a short period of time.

The fortress city of the bandits here is different from Dong Fuxiang’s Zhenjing Fort.

Dong Fuxiang was a Han Chinese who liked to use wood to build houses. So when the Hale rockets were fired, the fire shot up into the sky, making it impossible to stay in the fort, and Dong Fuxiang's father and brother were forced to surrender.

The bandits' buildings are all in Western style, made of either stone or loess. As long as people hide, the firepower coverage of Hale rockets will be of little use.

If they couldn't take it down, they would lay siege. Song Laosan's regiment and Tian Xing's regiment, with 12,000 people, dug trenches around Tongxin City and surrounded the 3,000 defenders led by Ma Wanchun in the city.

Uh, didn't Song Laosan's regiment run away? As expected, just as Shao Quanzhong expected, they all ran back again. This group of Shao Quanzhong's guards basically achieved the achievement of being invincible.

In later generations, there were truly the most powerful armies, and they were people with great faith.

The two companies were disbanded, scattered among the people, and developed and brought back two regiments. The two regiments were disbanded, and after a few years they brought back two armies, which, when organized together, became a powerful force.

Only such an army can advance in dispersed forms, gather to fight after reaching the destination, without losing a single man, and become the strongest light infantry in history.

Only when a great military strategist has such troops to command can his talents be fully utilized.

As for the Huai Army, their ideal was to follow Shao Quanzhong to get promoted and make money, which was much lower than ordinary troops. If they were disbanded, they would be gone.

The Song Laosan Regiment was mainly composed of Shao Quanzhong's fellow villagers from Jiangyan. They were the most loyal and had trained the longest, so they were able to barely run back intact after being defeated. This was quite impressive in that era.

The southern fortress group was broken, and Shao Hengzhong's regiment advanced to the vicinity of Qinqu on the west side of Jinjibao, less than twenty miles away from the core fortress of Jinjibao.

His reinforced regiment of 6,000 men did not go to attack Jinjibao which was defended by 10,000 elite soldiers. Instead, they dug two trenches as soon as they arrived at the site.

His mission was to prevent the enemy troops in Jinjibao from escaping westwards, and at the same time block the enemy reinforcements from Didao and Hezhou.

Now we have the conditions to cut off the connection between Jinjibao and other parts of Gansu and isolate Jinjibao. The sudden arrival of reinforcements, which is unpredictable and uncontrollable, and the attack on Lingzhou City must not happen again.

The Tian Xingtuan and Song Laosantuan who besieged Tongxin City also dug two trenches, and the scouts kept an eye on Jinjibao at all times to prevent the enemy from sending reinforcements to rescue Tongxin City.

This was basically a repeat of the Hunan Army besieging Anqing, digging two trenches and preventing Chen Yucheng's troops from coming to the rescue. The Huai Army was confident that they would do no worse than the Hunan Army, and Ma Wanchun's troops were doomed.

Leaving behind the artillery battalion to continuously bombard Tongxin City and deplete the morale of Ma Wanchun's troops, Shao Quanzhong led the Lin Bozai Regiment, the Engineering Corps, the Cavalry Regiment, the Rocket Artillery Unit, and the Rapid-Fire Artillery Reinforced Company, bypassed Guojiaqiao and headed straight for the northern fortress group of Jinjibao.

Isn't it difficult to fight at Guojiaqiao? Aren't there always bandits coming from Jinjibao to support the troops and food from behind? I won't fight you anymore, I'll fight Dong Fuxiang.

Dong Fuxiang's troops did not occupy the northern fortress of Jinjibao.

Any strong fortress city cannot be too big, otherwise it will be difficult to defend.

Jinjibao is impregnable, with an area of ​​only one square kilometer, and can only accommodate 10,000 troops.

There were 30,000 or 40,000 bandits, all of them elite. The remaining troops of the 18th Battalion were stationed in the original southern fortress group, and the northern fortress group was full of Gansu bandits. The enemy's place was full, and Dong Fuxiang's foreign troops were all Han people. The enemy did not trust them and would not give them space, so Dong Fuxiang could only camp independently.

Even if they are not trusted, they have to stick to them. There are only two "righteous armies" resisting the Qing Dynasty, so they can only huddle together for warmth.

Dong Fuxiang gathered an army of 200,000 people and had 30,000 capable troops under his command. He was unwilling to be recruited as someone else's subordinate.

Dong Fuxiang was determined not to surrender, and Shao Quanzhong was very angry because he had been targeting the Gansu Army for a long time.

Dong Fuxiang did not surrender because he was capable and really knew how to train soldiers. Historically, after the Gansu Army trained by Dong Fuxiang was conquered by Zuo Zongtang, it had always been a powerful force of the Qing court.

When the Eight-Nation Alliance entered the capital, the Gansu Army fought to the end. It was the Gansu Army that protected Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu during their hunt to the west.

Dong Fuxiang is a real man. He will not surrender. Once he surrenders to a wise leader, he will not rebel again. Shao Quanzhong knew this based on "historical experience".

A flock of sheep led by lions can defeat a group of lions led by sheep. Famous generals are still very useful and cannot be replaced by any ordinary generals.

Shao Quanzhong stared at Dong Fuxiang for a long time, as if he was staring at a plate of delicious braised pork, with his mouth watering.

Dong Fuxiang received the order to cover the flank of the northern fortress group and cooperate with the fortress group.

When fighting against Dong Fuxiang, once a stalemate is reached, the fortress groups will send troops to support, and it will become a war of attrition.

Dong Fuxiang prepared his troops and rubbed his hands, ready to fight the enemy.

The two armies faced off, with the Huai Army having more than 16,000 troops against the Dong Army having more than 20,000 troops. Even if the Huai Army was elite, it seemed like they could hold out until the fortress group sent reinforcements, right?

"Boom! Boom!"

To Dong Fuxiang's surprise, the Huai Army launched a large-scale attack, starting with a salvo of Hale rockets, machine guns, and Williams rapid-fire cannons, which went straight to Dong Fuxiang's center.

The firepower blasted a gap, and Lin Bozai's troops fired a row of shots and rushed forward with bayonets in hand.

The Huai Army did not want to fight a protracted war, so the start was a decisive battle.

Lin Bozai's troops advanced deep into the enemy's territory alone, and 6,000 of them fought fiercely and charged directly towards Dong Fuxiang's flag.

This is generally a taboo on the battlefield, as it will result in being outflanked and eaten by the two wings.

But after the rapid-fire cannons and machine guns opened the gap, they began directly shooting at the two wings of Dong Fuxiang's troops.

The Hale Rocket continued to raise the scale and extend the shot.

The Huai Army relied on firepower to bully Dong Fuxiang.

Dong Fuxiang's troops were well-trained, compared to other rebels and bandits, but their equipment was far inferior to that of the Jinjibao bandits. His men were all hungry people with no money.

Only the elite troops in the central army are equipped with matchlock rifles, while the two wings are equipped with swords, spears, and bows and arrows. No matter how powerful the soldiers are, they will not be able to defeat them due to insufficient firepower.

As the firepower of the Hale rocket launcher group extended, Lin Bozai coordinated with the quasi-infantry artillery and bravely followed the firepower. The forward almost rushed into the coverage range of his own firepower.

A reinforced regiment of 6,000 men advanced at full speed, and the center was in full swing. They were about to reach the flag of General Dong Fuxiang. If they continued to fight, they would penetrate it and pursue the fleeing soldiers.

The Huai Army's blitzkrieg meant that Dong Fuxiang could not wait for reinforcements. Seeing that his own strength was about to collapse, the central army raised the white flag.

Dong Fuxiang surrendered.

(End of this chapter)