Chapter 338: The Siege of Jiangning (XII)
"Commander, many people are watching the battle."
"...Did it affect the combat?"
"……No."
"Don't let anything happen to the spectators."
"Riesling, don't you want to chase them away?"
"No, let them see..."
Just as reported, there were quite a few people from Jiangning watching the battle.
At this time, there were more than 20,000 Chinese troops defending in Jiangning City, and more than 100,000 Qing troops attacking outside the city. However, the total length of the outer wall of Jiangning City was 60 kilometers, or 60,000 meters.
The Qing army attacking the city could not form a single ring, but had to arrange the troops in a queue and in layers. This made the actual width of the attack direction not very large, leaving ample space for the people watching the battle on the city.
The Qing troops under the city lined up to attack the city. The musketeers formed a square formation and fired fiercely at the top. The gunshots caused a lot of smoke, and the Qing troops under the city were soon obscured by the smoke.
The top of the city wall was not much better. Even with the use of percussion caps and refined gunpowder, the smoke was only less than that of the Qing army.
Thick smoke gradually obscured the battlefield. The river wind was able to blow away some of the smoke at first, but as the battle became more intense, the river wind was no longer enough to disperse the smoke and could only blow it to the other side.
The Chinese army also smelled something wrong in the air. In addition to the smell of gunpowder that they were already used to, there was also the smell of straw mixed in with the smoke.
The Chinese army then discovered that the Qing army took advantage of the limited field of vision on the battlefield and actually lit up the straw that had been transported. The smoke mixed in greatly reduced the visual distance of the battlefield.
Fu Cha Fu Qing heard that the method was effective and was about to ask. The scout who came to report continued happily: "General, the shield carts have also been transported to the city."
Hearing this, Fu Qing was delighted and asked, "Is it useful?"
In addition to feeling the effects of the smoke, the Chinese army on the city wall also discovered that the Qing army's firepower was much more durable than they had imagined. The Qing army below the city wall seemed to be completely unafraid of the flying bullets, and continued to fire at the city wall in the smoke.
Based on the Chinese army's war experience, which was mainly based on field battles, under such a confrontation, the Qing army would have been killed or wounded by tens of thousands, not to mention 100,000, even 200,000.
The most elite Eight Banners Army and the most courageous Green Camp in the Qing army did not have the ability to continue fighting under such firepower.
The news was immediately passed to the headquarters, saying that the Qing army under the city must have some tricks. Lei Hu frowned when he heard the news. After discussing with the staff, Lei Hu shouted: "Don't think that the Qing army has a big reward. No matter how much money is, people will die and their lives will be gone. It's useless. Besides, how can the Qing army have so much money? Don't say that the Qing army is brave!"
After Lei Hu shouted, everyone felt that something was wrong, but they couldn't come up with a solution immediately.
With the headquarters like this, the front line was under greater pressure. The walls of Jiangning City were strong and the defense system was very complete. Although there were casualties on the city walls, they were far from enough to shake the battle.
Division Commander Xu Min felt his head buzzing. This situation was beyond imagination. Just when he didn't know how to deal with it, he heard that the enemy's performance was beyond imagination. All the commanders were very anxious. Xu Min felt that the Qing army outside the city would definitely do something big, so he quickly called several regiment commanders to a meeting. The regiment commanders had no experience in defending a city, especially a big city like this. The city defense looked strong, but they didn't expect the situation to develop completely beyond imagination.
Xu Min listened to the opinions of several regiment leaders and felt that something was wrong, so he asked the staff officers, "What suggestions do you have?"
The staff looked at each other in bewilderment. As they were hesitating, someone said, "Why not send a troop out of the city to fight?"
Xu Min was stunned for a moment, thinking that this suggestion seemed to be right, but not quite right. He looked carefully and found that it was Yu Qian who spoke.
Before Xu Min could speak, a regiment commander said, "The troops are all deployed now. I don't have any troops here."
Xu Min was a little unhappy when he heard this, so he asked Yu Qian, "Why do you want to send a troop?"
Yu Qian answered decisively: "The enemy's situation is unclear. We should send a troop to find out the situation."
Xu Min asked with a straight face: "How do you figure it out? How are you going to fight?"
"We can't fight in formation in the smoke, commander. I think we should tell the troops before we set out that we have to fight in close quarters. Once we engage the enemy, after a short burst of fire, we have to defeat them with bayonets or swords, and take prisoners and bring them back for interrogation."
Hearing this, Xu Min also felt conflicted. The Chinese army had been relying on musket fire for so long, and bayonet warfare was also carried out after suppressing the opponent with firepower in field battles. They were prepared to conduct close combat from the beginning, and there were indeed corresponding training programs...
Just as he was hesitating, a messenger rushed in and said, "Report, the Qing army is attacking the city!"
"All of you go back and command the battle!" Xu Min shouted.
The regiment leaders stood up and left, and the division headquarters immediately became busy. Yu Qian also worked with everyone.
The news kept coming in that the Qing army was using ladders to attack frantically. The battle on the city wall was not as easy as imagined. Although the artillery, muskets and grenades of the troops on the city wall fired fiercely into the smoke, the Qing army would not let themselves be slaughtered.
They also took advantage of the cover of smoke and fought desperately to attack the city.
The two sides were fighting fiercely, and suddenly there was news that a section of the city wall had been attacked by the Qing army.
Division commander Xu Min was shocked, but didn't care about anything else. He went out and sent someone to call the reserve troops to go to the city wall where the accident happened.
Over the years, the Chinese army had never been overwhelming the Qing army in terms of numbers, but they had always been overwhelming in battle. Even in the field battles, it was still like this, but who would have thought that the Qing army would break through the city walls in the defensive battle.
While waiting for the guards to arrive at the door, Xu Min saw the staff officers in the room in a panic. In this panic, Yu Qian calmly drew out a sword and hung it on the sword buckle at his waist.
Xu Min was unhappy with this move. What does it mean to bring close combat swords into the headquarters?
Unhappy, Xu Min saw the guards rushing back, so he ordered them to call Yu Qian to go to the front line together.
After leaving the headquarters, they immediately led the reserve troops to rush towards the breached city wall. The headquarters was not far from the front line, and within ten minutes they saw gunshots and shouts from the top of the city wall.
The Chinese army gathered towards the top of the city. However, the Qing army did not fall from the city, but instead attacked the top of the city fiercely.
When the reinforcements arrived at the city, they saw chaos on another section of the wall. Judging from the flags and attire, it was obvious that the Qing army had attacked another section of the wall.
Division commander Xu Min was shocked. How could the Qing army be so good at fighting?
The regiment commander in charge of the city wall did not come to see Xu Min, but the regiment staff officer. When Xu Min saw the staff officer, he shouted, "Where is your regiment commander?"
The staff officer knew he couldn't escape the scolding, so he puffed out his chest and answered loudly, "Report to the division commander, the regiment commander is leading his troops to the city wall to fight the Qing army."
Xu Min calmed down a bit after hearing this. At this moment, Yu Qian said, "Division Commander, let's go to another place. Let the regiment commander focus on one opening, and he should be able to take it back. If he tries to take back all the openings, it will only disperse the troops and make it difficult to dispatch them."
Xu Min was very unhappy to hear such a "suggestion" from a junior staff officer. However, Yu Qian's background was not bad, so Xu Min shouted, "Staff Officer Yu, I order you to lead the reserve team to recapture another section of the city wall."
"Yes!" Yu Qian took the order decisively but did not move.
Xu Min thought Yu Qian was scared. Just as he had this thought, he saw the two battalion commanders of the reserve team looking at him. Then he remembered that he couldn't just give orders to Yu Qian. There were two battalions in the reserve team. Which battalion should he give orders to Yu Qian? After a little thought, Xu Min ordered, "The first battalion follows Yu Qian!"
The battalion commander seemed unhappy, after all, Yu Qian was only in his teens, and the battalion commander was almost twice as old as Yu Qian. But military orders were military orders, especially at a time like this, retaking the city walls was a top priority.
"Yes!" a battalion commander responded loudly.
Yu Qian turned around and saluted the battalion commander, then said, "Battalion commander, this time when we get to the city, try to use bayonets, strike fast and strike hard. I will lead the charge."
The battalion commander was stunned, and Xu Min was also secretly surprised. Yu Qian looked quite thin, but he was so brave.
After a moment, the battalion commander turned to look at Xu Min. Xu Min wanted to say something, but then he changed his mind and shouted at the battalion commander: "Why are you looking at me? I asked you to follow Staff Officer Yu to retake the city wall."
When the battalion commander heard the order, he turned around and shouted, "Everyone, put on your bayonets!"
Amid the rustling sound, the Chinese soldiers pulled out the bayonets from their guns and put them on their rifles. In a moment, the bayonets were like a forest, and the murderous aura was already spreading.
Yu Qian drew out his sword, which was a fine steel sword. It was well maintained and the blade shone with cold light. Without further ado, Yu Qian raised the sword high and shouted, "Follow me!" Then he rushed towards the top of the city.
The troops followed Yu Qian and rushed towards the fierce battle. In a moment, they rushed along the corridor to the top of the city. Xu Min felt touched and even a little guilty.
It turns out that my previous view of Yu Qian was not entirely correct. I originally thought that Yu Qian was just a young man who had taken Huo Chong as his teacher and followed Qian Qing to be cultivated. So he was a young man who had achieved success at a young age. I didn't expect that at such a critical moment, Yu Qian was not afraid at all.
Thinking about the words that had offended Xu Min, Xu Min felt that Yu Qian might not be wrong. It was obvious that the leader had lost his mind, and it was beyond his ability to expect him to effectively organize a comprehensive counterattack.
Battle reports came from all over, and the correspondents kept the division commander from thinking too much. Gradually calming down, the division commander determined that the Qing army's tactics were to focus on attacking.
Using the smoke to conceal the enemy and harassing them, the Chinese army thought the Qing army was attacking from multiple directions. In fact, the Qing army was attacking from the center. The main force was actually placed at the two sections of the city wall that were breached.
Commander Xu Min felt that he finally understood what he had heard when he was studying city defense in the military academy: defensive warfare still depends on the number of defenders. If the number of defenders is too different, the defenders will inevitably run into problems.
