Chapter 192 Dawn of Victory

Chapter 192 Dawn of Victory

Chapter 192 Dawn of Victory

Shao Quanzhong swayed twice, but finally did not fall down, but his vision was still a little dark.

This was the Battle of Zhenjiang. Since Zhang Wushuan's sacrifice, it was the second time that senior officers from Jiangyan were killed, and two at once.

In fact, the Huai Army rarely recruited soldiers in the territory of Jiangning Provincial Government, and most of the additional troops currently sent in came from Anhui.

It turned out that too many soldiers were recruited in Jiangning Provincial Government, especially in Taizhou, and they could not pluck the wool of a sheep. The insurance team in Anhui had been trained for more than three years and was mature enough.

There will be casualties in war, and we cannot let every family in one place be in mourning. Wu Ziyi tried his best to control the number of conscriptions and distribute them evenly across the place.

This also makes the veterans from Jiangyan increasingly valuable, and almost all of them are officers.

"Yan Laoliu and Qu Laosan Battalion were responsible for attacking Jiuqi Fort, but encountered an ambush by bandit leaders Feng Biao and Yu Xiaohu. Feng Biao led a thousand bandits to attack from Jinji Fort to reinforce Jiuqi Fort, showing weakness to lure the enemy. Yan's Battalion and Qu's Battalion pursued Feng's troops and wiped out the reinforcements. However, because the pursuit went too deep, Yu Xiaohu ordered all the soldiers in the forts along the way to go out, and more than 10,000 people besieged more than 2,000 of them. Shao Hengzhong led people to respond, and more than 8,000 enemy soldiers were killed or wounded, but the 2,000 people who went deep into the enemy were not rescued after all..."

Shao Quanzhong could understand why Yan Laoliu and Qu Laosan pursued the enemy. The enemy had been hiding in the fortress and was difficult to catch, and his soldiers were already very annoyed by the nibbling of the fortress.

Finally having the chance to annihilate the enemy in a field battle, we were inevitably eager to pursue them and fell into an ambush without being careful.

A reinforced battalion of the Huai Army had more than 1,500 people, including 1,008 combat soldiers, 46 officers of various levels, and 500 clerks, committee members, doctors, scribes, buglers, guards, cooks, and stewards.

During trench warfare, everyone was firing in the trenches, and in pursuit warfare, it was the combat soldiers who attacked.

So the so-called annihilation of the two battalions meant that all the combatants and officers were killed, but the 500 people from the affiliated units were still there, and the battalion's structure was not lost.

"Yan Laoliu was shot 15 times and died. Qu Laosan was seriously injured and captured. He was tortured to death by the bandits and his body was hung in front of the Nine Flags Fort..."

Shao Quanzhong endured for a long time, and his tone became calm, "Immediately send 2,000 reinforcements to Shao Hengzhong. Tell him not to attack Jiuqi Fort by climbing the city walls out of anger, which would cause greater casualties. Instead, he should use artillery bombardment to assist in blowing up the city walls, which would result in fewer casualties. He should take his time."

It turned out that the bandit troops that the Gansu Army had surrendered to could climb the city walls and attack, quickly destroying the northern bunkers. They were cannon fodder troops, and the Huai Army could not afford to lose money by doing so.

In fact, even if the method results in less casualties, the losses are almost unbearable.

"Report, Chief of Staff Grant is back."

Grant was out for several days this time, and walked around Jinjibao. After he came back, he immediately went to find Shao Hengzhong.

"Sir, I have drawn up a new battle plan that requires the use of the cavalry, the Gansu Independent Regiment, and the Song Lao San Regiment, and the engineering battalion to make appropriate sacrifices. This should speed up the process of capturing Jinjibao."

The Gansu Army has been training for a month. They were originally elite troops. After becoming familiar with the use of rapid-fire guns, they are basically ready to be sent out into battle. The rest can be learned slowly in battle.

On that day, the Huai Army suspended its attack and adjusted its organization.

The expanding infantry was restored to the original left and right wings. The leaders of the two wings were still Shao Hengzhong and Tian Xing, but now they were promoted to assistant commanders, or brigade commanders.

Shao Hengzhong of the Left Brigade took charge of Nie Shicheng's regiment, and Tian Xing of the Right Brigade took charge of Lin Bozi's regiment, forming two infantry brigade with 12,000 men each. The engineering battalion, machine gunners and artillery brigades were divided into half each, and Song Laosan's regiment, Gansu independent regiment and cavalry regiment were directly commanded by the headquarters.

The Huai Army stopped attacking and frequently mobilized, which confused the bandits in Jinjibao. Then, they were delighted to find that the Huai Army had withdrawn.

Could it be that they finally gave up and decided not to fight? Before Ma Hualong could be happy, he had to report that the gorge in the west and Yongning Cave in the east were under fierce attack by the enemy. The Huai Army changed from a siege to a focused attack, and suddenly hit the soft spot of the defensive fortifications around Jinjibao.

Jinjibao is located not far from the Yellow River, on the fertile Hetao Plain. It is surrounded by dense water networks and the groundwater level is very shallow. This is why the Huai Army has not been able to blow up the fortress walls by digging tunnels.

These water networks provide sufficient water for the fortress group. The gorge is the water inlet of the water network, and Yongning Cave is the water outlet.

By controlling these two key points, building dams at the inlet and digging canals at the outlet to drain water, the water network would dry up and the fortresses would not be able to draw water from the water network. This was the result of Grant's careful personal investigation in the past few days.

These two key points are very close to Jinjibao, and cross-fire can also prevent the communication of personnel and materials between Jinjibao and the surrounding fortresses.

The two heavy troops of the Huai Army suppressed the enemy with powerful firepower, and the engineers buried explosives regardless of casualties. After losing more than 700 engineers, they finally opened up the passage to the gorge and Yongning Cave, occupied two strategic locations, and immediately began water conservancy construction.

The fortress group soon ran out of water, but the bandits didn't care too much. If you run out of water, I can dig a well.

After the bandits dug a well with great effort, they suddenly found that hot air balloons were rising around them. Then, the well was flattened by the precise attack of heavy artillery.

When I bombard you, you can hide in the fortifications, but you can't escape.

The bandits were forced to dig a well overnight. After digging for most of the night, they hurried to draw water. But at dawn the next day, the well was dry again.

Although this strategy could not completely cut off the enemy's water supply, it would make the enemy's water supply tight. And they always worked all night, so they would be tired during the day, right? With lack of water and fatigue, the defense of the fortress suddenly weakened.

When the Huai Army withdrew its siege, the cavalry in the bandits' fortress immediately attacked from all sides, began to destroy the fields for spring plowing, and intercepted the Huai Army's food and fodder transportation.

Shao Quanzhong simply ordered that the nearby fields be no longer plowed in the spring, and retreated to the rear, clearing the fields and having the cavalry focus on protecting the transport team.

The Huai Army cavalry suffered constant casualties, but they were constantly replenished. The replenishment forces transporting food also suffered repeated losses, but once the enemy cavalry came out, they would find that they could not return.

Song Laosan's Regiment and the Gansu Army Independent Regiment could not catch up with the cavalry, but they used the same trick again and blocked the bandits on their way back to the fortress, leaving only a gap in the direction of Jinjibao.

The enemy cavalry, being chased, could only flee back to Jinjibao.

Within a few days, dozens of cavalry troops fled back to Jinjibao, resulting in two consequences.

The number of people in the fortifications decreased, and the defense weakened. The number of people in Jinjibao increased, and the food consumption accelerated.

As the food in Jinjibao was consumed at an accelerated rate, the amount of food rations had to be limited and a rationing system was implemented. The Shaanxi and Gansu bandits in the fort began to have conflicts because of the uneven food rationing...

Tian Xing and Shao Hengzhong each sent a battalion to defend the gorge and Yongning Cave, and the remaining troops began to continue attacking the fortress whose defenses had been severely weakened.

When the enemy forces in the fortresses were no longer able to send out cavalry units to harass them, Song Laosan's Regiment and the Gansu Army Independent Regiment also joined the attack on the fortress group. Shao Quanzhong's command only left backup forces.

This time the speed of capturing the fortress was suddenly accelerated, casualties were greatly reduced, and Shao Quanzhong saw the dawn of victory.

"Report! Tian Xing, the commander of the Right Brigade, was hit by an enemy artillery fire while leading the attack on Mawu Village. He is seriously injured and in critical condition."

(End of this chapter)