Episode 26 The Queen moves into the fortress

Smokescreen is always the attacker's best ally.

Although the Qing army's machine guns fired wildly, the fog was fair. Just now the Ming army's machine guns could not see the target, and now the Qing army's machine guns could not see the target. The Ming army rushed into the Qing army's position without killing many people, and launched

fight.

For a time, the Qing army's position was full of shouts of killing, screams, and the ping-pong sound of bayonets clashing. It was already dark, and with the thick fog, it was difficult to see each other clearly when facing each other, and two people were often very close to each other.

Then they roared and jumped away to fight. Or the two rushed together with red eyes, only to realize that they were one of them. The burning reeds and dead trees around were red, and the firelight was filtered by the mist, making it even more red.

Weird.

Now that the landmines on this river beach have been almost stepped on, a large number of Qing soldiers are continuously abandoning their boats and coming ashore, entering the landing site opened by the Qing army, forming a team, restoring their organization, and then lining up behind the position, waiting for each round.

round of attack.

Two Qing soldiers jumped from the assault boat, carrying something big on their backs, and struggled to pull their legs in the muddy beach. They worked hard to reach the edge of the river embankment. They were secretly glad that they did not step on a mine, and then climbed up with difficulty.

The two soldiers did not participate in the battle, but marched hunched over to the edge of the battlefield. One soldier climbed up a big tree and set up two loudspeakers. A Qing soldier below connected the radio and tuned it to the predetermined channel.

Suddenly, the voice of Emperor Guangwu of the Qing Dynasty echoed over the battlefield:

"... Warriors of the Qing Empire! You have set foot on the land of Nanming! I want to congratulate you! Have you ever thought that in the past three hundred years, you were the first people to set foot on the land of Nanming!

...After a day of bloody fighting, we have captured Nanming's three river center fortresses! They are: Zimuzhou, New Jeju and Xinshengzhou! We have removed 25 Nanming's permanent fortifications and 32 machine gun fire points

...We have annihilated more than 5,000 Nanming defenders...We have captured 12 Nanming officers above the battalion level, 31 officers above the company level, and more than 200 squad and platoon-level officers. More than 6,000 Nanming soldiers surrendered to us...They

The defense line is constantly retreating...

"This is a good victory! But for our fearless Qing warriors, it is not enough... I ask you to continue your efforts, fight bravely, wipe out the Nanming garrison in one fell swoop, and capture Nanjing as quickly as possible!... I have already

The schedule has been arranged. On New Year's Eve two days later, I will go to Nanjing to celebrate the New Year with my warriors! I believe that you will definitely help me fulfill this wish... In those days, Emperor Wan Yanliang of the Jin Dynasty once

He wrote: If thousands of miles of carriages and letters are confused, how can there be any other territorial seal in the south of the Yangtze River? With a million soldiers on the West Lake, we will immediately mount the first peak of Mount Wu!... My sons, let’s attack Nanjing! The world should have been unified three hundred years ago, and today I

It is up to you to complete the deeds that the great Jin emperors hated! I will also lead you - to raise millions of troops to the West Lake and immediately mount the first peak of Mount Wu!

"Children and warriors of the Qing Dynasty! Enter Nanjing bravely! Your glory, future and wealth are in Nanjing! I promise you here: the first division to invade Nanjing City, the division commander will raise the flag,

Feng Beile, who was promoted to marshal in military rank, was awarded the first-class Barutu Medal and awarded 500,000 silver dollars! All soldiers of the first division to invade Nanjing raised the flag, and each soldier was promoted to one level in rank and awarded the second-level Barutu Medal.

, grant 100 silver dollars!...My warriors, I am a generous emperor, you are brave soldiers!...Fight bravely, the opportunity to make achievements is right in front of you!"

Although there was a lot of water in the numbers of annihilations and prisoners, the Manchu Emperor's speech was still like a shot of stimulant injected into the body of every Qing soldier.

Suddenly, the shouts of killing from the Qing soldiers on the battlefield were loud, and the morale of the Qing army was greatly boosted. The exhaustion of the hard day's battle was all forgotten, and they all fought desperately. In addition, fresh troops were continuously transported from Xi'an.

After joining the battle, the soldiers of the Ming army gradually appeared defeated. Listening to the Qing emperor's speech, they could no longer support themselves mentally and physically. They were knocked down one after another. The last remaining part was injured all over the body, and they were fighting hard alone.

There were two or three Qing troops.

After Emperor Guangwu's speech was finished on the radio loudspeaker, the recorded message to persuade surrender began to be played again:

"Brothers of the Ming army, you have been defeated. Put down your arms and surrender! You have fought well. Now put down your arms and no one can say anything!... The Qing army observes the Geneva Leap and protects your

My life is safe, I will treat your injuries and give you hot meals!...Don't be stubborn, those who know the current affairs are heroes...As long as you come here, eat and drink well, our enemies will become brothers..."

Within five minutes, the remaining soldiers of the Ming army surrendered one after another. At this point, the entire first regiment of the 26th Division was wiped out, with more than a thousand people killed and more than 300 surrendered.

At this moment, on the Ming army's defense line more than a thousand meters away to the north, the deserters who picked up their guns again stepped out of the trenches together with the soldiers of the second regiment of the 26th Division, and rushed towards the Qing army amidst the sound of whistles...

…

On the river, the pontoon bridge from the west bank to Zimuzhou has been basically erected, and the pontoon bridge from Zimuzhou to the east bank has also begun to take shape.

Iron boats were lined up on the river, one after another, on which Qing army engineers were laying planks. The iron boats had been lined up to the east bank, and half of the planks were laid. The progress was slow due to constant harassment by Ming army torpedo speedboats.

Although it is slow, the progress can still be seen bit by bit. In other words, it is only a matter of time before the Qing army's pontoon bridge is built.

With the complete clearing of Zimuzhou, the Qing army set up a 40mm anti-aircraft cannon at the northern end of the island, blocking the waterways on both sides from the middle of the river, and could see through the entire river even in thick fog. The Ming army

The torpedo boats came and harassed several times, but were destroyed in the river by 40 mm caliber rapid-fire cannons. After several overturns, the speed of laying the pontoon bridge was greatly accelerated.

Suddenly, in the dark fog, there was a vague noise that was different from that of the torpedo boat. Two large searchlights of the Qing army were directed towards the river to the north. They were shocked to find that a slow figure appeared in the light beam, much taller than the torpedo boat.

That's a submarine.

This is not a pocket submarine of the Yangtze River Fleet, but a medium-sized submarine transferred from the East China Sea Fleet. In the light haze, the 75mm cannon on the front deck is clearly visible.

The engineers on the pontoon screamed and ran away. Those who had no time to escape simply jumped into the water, and the cold river water splashed for a while.

As soon as the submarine emerged, there was a flash of fire from the bow gun. With a loud bang, the central section of the pontoon was blown into the sky. Splinters of wood and water spray scattered from high in the sky. The two iron boats below sank on the spot, and several boats around it were destroyed.

Be broken up and float away.

The corpses of Qing army engineers floated on the water.

The 40mm cannon at the northern end of Zimu Island immediately erupted with flames, and the lines of fire hit the submarine's body. Flesh and blood flew everywhere next to the main gun on the front deck, and two female soldiers fell to the water in a bloody state.

inside.

The line of fire continued to hit the submarine's conning tower relentlessly, sending shrapnel flying. The conning tower was soon riddled with holes, and the submarine's body began to emit flames and smoke. However, it still rushed towards the remaining pontoon at a full speed of 15 knots.

Come.

This 500-ton submarine was "bathed" in the fire of machine guns, dragging a long plume of smoke and fire into the pontoon. Its steel body smashed the remaining pontoon into pieces, and finally the stern propeller was also scraped.

broken.

The submarine made a turn, slowly slowed down and sank, and ran aground in water several meters deep, with half of the control tower exposed.

A girl wearing a naval officer's hat appeared on the top of the command tower, raised her hand and unfurled a bright yellow Ming Dynasty flag, shouted something, and immediately disappeared in the flames of the machine gun explosion.

The Qing army immediately stopped the artillery fire and was about to arrange for the capture of prisoners, but...

A few seconds later, the entire submarine exploded in an earth-shattering manner. Fireballs shot into the sky with water columns, and there were several explosions in succession. Both sides of the Yangtze River were trembling. The submarine was blown into pieces, with almost no wreckage left.

…

In the central command hall of Purple Mountain Fortress, there was a lot of noise. Phones were ringing one after another. Civilian officers were busy conveying various military information. Under the giant map on the wall, several female officers held up long poles and kept marking the surrounding areas of Nanjing.

The battle situation. In an area on the north side of Zimuzhou, red figures representing the enemy and blue figures representing our army are densely packed, indicating that the armies of the Ming and Qing Dynasties have gathered in large numbers in this area and are fighting to the death. Each figure

People represent the strength of a battalion.

Every once in a while, there will be a few more red people on the picture, and at the same time there will be two or three less blue people. What’s even worse is that the dense red people are moving towards the north inch by inch, and the sparse ones are

The little blue man stepped back accordingly.

A female captain next to the big map answered the phone and glanced at the map:

"Well, yes...yes...I understand, yes, mark it right away."

She hung up the phone and immediately instructed her two little girls to continue taking down the two blue figures from the picture and put five red figures on them.

Under the map, an army general in his forties held his chin with his right hand and stared at the map intently. As the two little blue figures were removed, it seemed as if his flesh had been cut out, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, showing signs of pain.

A more painful expression.

This man was Wang Hantang, the commander of the capital garrison. He stared at the area where the fierce fighting was taking place and said that there were already 65 red men in the Qing army. This was already the strength of more than six divisions. And his capital garrison blue men

There are only 32 people in this area.

There are eight divisions in the Capital Garrison. Four divisions are currently stationed in Qixia Town, northeast of Nanjing, thirty kilometers away from the battlefield. The remaining two divisions are stationed in Jiangning Town, more than ten kilometers east of the battlefield, to guard Niushou Mountain.

There are two heights, Jiangjun Mountain, to prevent the Qing army from crossing the river from advancing eastward. The last two divisions are fighting fiercely with the superior enemy forces on the riverside of Zimuzhou.

His eyes turned to another map of the entire Ming Dynasty next to it. The main force of the entire Ming army was the strategic reserves stationed in southern Jiangsu and southern Anhui. The closest to here is the 12th Army, which is currently stationed in Lishui County, not far away.

The battlefield is at least 60 kilometers long. And most of them are infantry. Even a forced march will take at least a day. Now the headquarters has ordered all the motorized units of this army to be drawn out to form a motorized division and rush to the rescue quickly.

.Although it is only a drop in the bucket, this is the only reinforcement that can arrive within a few hours.

Wang Hantang's eyes turned back to the map of Nanjing again. There, on the south side of Purple Mountain, a small area of ​​​​Xiaolingwei was marked with twenty blue figures and a very eye-catching small tank.

That's the People's Guard. There is a division there, one-third of which is a fully mechanized force - the 1st Mechanized Regiment. Its backbone is the only tank battalion in Asia.

It was not that Wang Hantang had never thought of asking for assistance from the People's Guard, but he gave it up several times as soon as the thought came up. After all, it was just a unit with only one, which was too few. Even if there was a tank battalion, the visibility now was

, tanks can't play a role either. There are ten divisions in the capital's garrison. Now that only two divisions have been invested, asking for reinforcements from a unit with only one division is unreasonable in anyone's opinion.

Too incompetent. As a soldier, even his sense of honor does not allow him to do this. That young man Xiang Xiaoqiang is a nouveau riche. He relied on himself to remain neutral at critical moments to get where he is today. During the New Year's coup, he only needed to move his hand slightly

If the cabinet is a little more biased, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his men will be crushed.

Therefore, Wang Hantang always thinks that he is the hero behind the New Year's Coup, but he has been stolen from the limelight by Xiang Xiaoqiang. The situation is not that bad yet. Reinforcements from the south will arrive tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Besides, the People's Guard is the defense force.

If the troops in Nanjing were transferred to the outer suburbs more than ten kilometers away, there would be no soldiers left in the city. If the Qing army formed a breakthrough in the north and west of Nanjing on the river, they would be in the city in no time.

Wang Hantang believed that he was not the kind of person who would disregard the interests of the country for the sake of face. If it came to the point where Nanjing could not be defended with only ten thousand people, he would ask the People's Guard for reinforcements before he fired a bullet.

.

…

Suddenly, a silence spread from the door of the hall. Ten seconds later, the entire hall was silent. No one spoke, only the phone kept ringing. Everyone stood up from their seats and rushed to look at the door.

A group of people walked in, and their footsteps echoed clearly in the open hall.

The one walking in the front was Zhu Yourong. She was wearing a simple gray dress, a beret, and a pair of white silk gloves in her hands. She nodded gently to everyone. Following behind were Mrs. Li, Zheng Gongyin, Zheng Yuqing,

Behind the others are a row of palace maids and servants, carrying various luggage. These are a few "core members" who must stay with Zhu Yourong. Most of the other royal relatives, such as Zhu Yourong's grandfather, Prince Yanping, and several
To be continued...