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Chapter 199

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    War is a product of irreconcilable politics. Both sides are unwilling to make compromises, and neither side is willing to make interest concessions at the negotiating table in exchange for the other's generous sympathy. At the same time, neither side believes that the other side will be able to defeat itself.  Under the circumstances of not giving in to each other, both the old traitor Wu's side and the Qing court's side both died of fighting for peace at the negotiating table.  Come around the table and make concessions to your side.  Therefore, the Battle of Wuchang, which decided the two sides' offensive and defensive initiative on the Yangtze River battlefield, was inevitably doomed to start.

    This is an evenly matched battle. Neither side is sure of winning. At the same time, both sides have the hope of winning. The Wu army has certain advantages in terms of military strength, combat effectiveness and weapons, but it does not occupy geographical and logistical advantages, and its weapons are too scientific.  , the field force is strong, but the offensive force is relatively weak; the Qing army is slightly inferior in terms of strength, combat effectiveness and weapons, but it has geographical advantages, logistical advantages, and manpower advantages.  It can bridge the gap between military strength and combat effectiveness.  Each lead the coquettish, each has its own strengths, it is really difficult to distinguish between superior and inferior.

    After another two days of intense preparations, on the afternoon of the third day of October in the 11th year of Kang Mazi, the Wu Jun tunnel was finally dug to the edge of the moat outside the east gate of Wuchang - this is very easy to identify, the moat of Wuchang was built by Wu Jun  If sacks are filled with rocks and soil to fill it up, as long as a large number of sacks are dug, it can be concluded that the moat has been dug.  At the same time, the moat outside the south gate of Wuchang has been basically filled by the Wu army. Although the Wu army paid the precious lives of hundreds of brave soldiers for this, but once the moat is leveled, the Wu army's siege troops can directly attack Wuchang without any barriers.  Under the city, it can be regarded as sharpening the knife and chopping firewood by mistake.

    Seeing that the time was right, the old traitor Wu immediately raised his horn and summoned all the generals to arrange the siege plan.  The horn sounded, and Wu Jun's generals, who were very strict in military law, gathered in the commander's tent in less than half a stick of incense. Fatty Lu, who still had ink spots on his face, also rushed to the commander's tent and stood behind Wu Yingqi, waiting for orders.  When the old traitor Wu saw that all the generals had arrived, he immediately said loudly: "Everyone, I have some good news for you. Our tunnel has already been dug to the edge of the moat at the east gate of Wuchang. In half a day at most, our shovels will be ready to go."  Soldiers can dig tunnels under the city wall of Wuchang, plant explosives to blow up the city, and conquer Wuchang city in one fell swoop!"

    "Good!" Wu Jun's generals cheered in unison, all beaming with joy.  The old traitor Wu shouted again: "This king has now decided that in order to reduce the loss of the siege, our army will attack the city overnight. After the city wall is blown up, our army must occupy the east city of Wuchang within tonight, and then fill the inner city after dawn."  The dog launched a strong attack, all generals, make sure your soldiers take the time to cook and rest, and prepare for the night battle!"

    "I would like to obey the order of the prince!" Wu Jun and all the generals clasped their fists together and agreed.  The old traitor Wu nodded in satisfaction, picked up the command arrow and said loudly: "Now this king is starting to distribute the siege troops, General Zhaowu Ba Yangyuan"

    "Wait a minute." A voice suddenly interrupted old traitor Wu's dispatching of troops, old traitor Wu and everyone looked around in surprise, only to see that the person who interrupted old traitor Wu's order was always obedient and obedient at this moment  Fatty Lu.  Fatty Lu knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking bluntly. Our army's siege tactics are authentic. I'm afraid the enemy will see through them. If we attack the city by force, our army will suffer heavy losses!"

    "How can you see it?" Old Han Wu asked in surprise.

    "I don't know if the prince still remembers? Four days ago, our army's airship once dispatched and flew to Wuchang City to distribute leaflets." Fatty Lu replied in a deep voice: "At that time, the general had told our army's airship army to pay attention to it for the sake of caution.  The abnormal situation in the city turned out to be as it should be, and our airship soldiers discovered that the Mangou garrison was also digging trenches in the east gate of Wuchang City, and at the same time, there were signs of construction by the Mandog garrison in the Wuchang Shuimen area, which seemed to be digging diversion ditches.¡±

    "The general suspects that Mangou may have seen through our army's tunnel siege tactics, and is going to wait until our army's tunnel is dug under the city, then suddenly dig the tunnel, or release poisonous smoke, or flood the river to kill our army's diggers.  , Destroy our army¡¯s tunnels.¡±

    "Then why didn't you say it earlier?" The old traitor Wu's face changed drastically, he threw down the command arrow and slapped the table, and shouted: "Since you found out that something was wrong four days ago, why didn't you report it to the king?"

    "Back to the lord, the last general was not sure at the time, so he didn't dare to report." Fatty Lu replied dejectedly: "However, judging from the situation in the past few days, Man Gou did not try his best to prevent our army from filling up the moat river, which is enough  It proves that nine out of ten out of ten have already discovered our authentic siege tactics, so they resorted to tricks and deliberately allowed our army to fill the river."

    "Bastard! Since you have doubts for a long time, you can just say it directly. Is this old man the kind of person who doesn't listen to advice?"  For small sake, old traitor Wu is simplyThe united Qing army will inevitably suffer heavy losses.  In the end, it was Cai Yurong who suggested again: "Tutang, Lord An, why don't we drive all the people in the east gate to the northwest, and let our reserve team live in private houses. In this way, many unnecessary losses can be reduced." Tu Hai and Yue  Le Yi was very satisfied when he heard it, and immediately acted according to the plan.

    In fact, the Qing army still has a hidden worry, and that is the problem of Wu Jun's airship. Once Wu Jun's airship flies over the east gate of Wuchang City and bombs, the Qing army is already prepared to prevent the tunnel from attacking the city.  s eyes.  But fortunately, it may be blessed by the spirit of the wild boar skin. Today, the north wind in Wuchang City is quite fierce. The wind speed and direction are extremely unsuitable for Wu Jun's airship to dispatch, so Wu Jun has never had a single airship fly into the sky and hide in the city wall.  Naturally, the deep trenches of the Qing army were never noticed by the Wu army.  When the sky was basically completely dark, I began to wait for the main force of the Wu army to attack the city with peace of mind, and then used sufficient defense to prepare for a head-on blow to the Wu army.

    In late autumn, the days are short, and before the three quarters of the unitary hour, the outside of Wuchang, where the north wind howls, is already pitch black, and you can't see your fingers.  Half of the sky was red, and the noise of people shouting and neighing could still be heard clearly six or seven miles away.  At the same time, the long-lost sound of excavation and ground breaking finally sounded in the monitoring water tank buried in Wuchang City. It was obvious that the Wu Army engineers had already started the final sprint excavation toward the east gate of Wuchang.

    "Shovel soldiers, all enter the trenches!" Yue Le, who was in charge of commanding the Qing army's engineers to fight against the Wu army's engineers, ordered sharply, "Two people are in charge of each water tank, and they all listen to the water tanks. If they find the location of the Wugou tunnel, report it immediately.  "

    The engineers of the Qing army obeyed the order, and all jumped into the deep trenches with hoes and shovels in their hands, waiting for orders at any time. The carefully selected soldiers of the Qing army with sensitive ears put their ears on the water tank to listen to the movements of the engineers of the Wu army.  The engineers and soldiers of the Qing army who were in charge of releasing the poisonous smoke also prepared firewood, bellows and kindling, knelt on one knee with their backs against the dead corner of the city wall, and waited calmly for orders.

    "Boom!"

    Just when Xu Shi arrived, the first cannonball of the Wu army's main force to attack Wuchang City finally fired. Amidst the thunder and flames, the first Wu army shell escaped, drew a beautiful parabola in the night sky, and flew towards the city wall of the east gate of Wuchang.  .  Tu Hai, who has rich experience in the battlefield, hurriedly let the troops on the city hide behind the arrow stacks, and used shields to protect the chest, abdomen and face, so as not to be shot by shrapnel.  , It fell directly into the civilian houses where the elite Qing troops were stationed and exploded.

    "No way? Is it a coincidence? Or did Wu Gou expect that we would ambush elite soldiers in the houses near the east gate?" Tu Hai cried out in despair.

    "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The sound of artillery shells fired one after another came, and the largest artillery siege of the Yunnan-Guizhou army since the army began.  (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.) (Remember the website URL: www.hlnovel.com
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