All the troops of the Tenth Army were crowded into the small city of Huaining. The officers and soldiers were all resting, eating and drinking on the street, and could mount their horses and leave the city at any time.
"Is this really necessary?" Yi Feng asked Shao Diantai.
"Otherwise?" Shao Diantai asked back.
"The Gongsun family chose to stand by and watch, we should go back." Yi Feng said in the lowest voice, not wanting the third person to hear.
"Escape in front of the Eighth Army? I can't do it!"
"Ding Kui put up such a formation just to lure us over. Why did he throw himself into a trap?"
"One-on-one, it's very fair. I may not have such an opportunity in the future."
"The Eighth Army has help."
Shao Diantai said in a voice that was almost like a roar: "We have one too! Although we are a little weaker, we are the cavalry legion, the strongest legion in Shaodian country!"
Yi Feng looked at the other party's eyes calmly and squeezed out each word from his throat: "Cao Guo can hardly be called the strongest after the war."
The Ten Legions were severely damaged in the First World War with Cao State, and were later defeated by the Giant Shark Legion. The world-famous Knight Legion was severely damaged, and the new recruits added to the legion after that would definitely not be as good as the veterans who were good at fighting.
If Lei Feixiang faced the Tenth Army Corps at its peak in Donglai City, there was basically no chance of winning, and the 196th Division might not be able to defend Gongbo City.
Objectively speaking, the massive attrition of veterans has a non-negligible impact on a unit. The decline in combat effectiveness is unavoidable, and commanders are forced to adjust their previously used tactics.
Shao Diantai stared at Yi Feng with wide eyes, and Yi Feng faced his immediate boss calmly.
After a while, Shao Diantai gasped and said: "When the military flag is raised, I am the strongest. The Tenth Army has not fallen before, and it will not fall now and in the future! You lead the 100th Division to escort the military flag back."
King Zhouzhou, I must stay and defend the honor of the legion."
No one was confident of victory when facing the Eighth Army. Even the always arrogant Shao Diantai was not sure that he could defeat them. Before the decisive battle, he asked a division to take away the flag, obviously to keep it for the army.
Tinder.
There is no military flag. The commander's flag can be used to command the troops. The commander can wave the military flag. Young Diantai is risking his own life.
"No!" Yi Feng cried out, "I think Gongsun Zhong was also defeated by Ding Kui. You take the 100 division back and I stay."
"You are no match for Ding Kui. The Tenth Army Corps is not much worse without me. The Eighth Army Corps is a completely different army without Ding Kui. Needless to say, execute the military order!"
There are more than 8th Army Corps troops outside Nanjing City, and Shao Diantai has more than 10th Army Corps troops at his disposal. Reinforcements are coming from the north of Nanzhao Prefecture.
There are four counties in the northern part of Nanma Prefecture. From west to east, they are Wenguo County, Chiba County, Qingdong County, and Changtai County. Among them, Wenguo County has no movement, and the remaining three counties have improvised 5,000 people.
The troops, including the state navy emergency rescue force, totaling nearly 30,000 people, headed straight for Nanjing City under the leadership of Gan Yun, deputy commander of the navy.
Shao Dianxi's order to the navy was for the whole army to come to the rescue, but Hua Song made an excuse: "Our navy will not leave the waters of Nanzhou Prefecture for a day, and everyone in the navy will fight to the death against it."
Gan Yun was a naval general belonging to the local faction. There were also officers and soldiers loyal to Zhou Mu among the navy. This time Hua Song happened to attack them in Nanjing.
Ding Kui didn't know the movements of the Tenth Army, but he knew Gan Yun's movements.
"This rescue force has more than 10,000 sailors, and the remaining local armies don't have much combat effectiveness. It is difficult to pose a threat to the battalions." He asked Jiang Zhi to discuss countermeasures.
"They add up to nearly 30,000 people. It takes a lot of effort to drive away 30,000 pigs, let alone a heavily armed enemy. A division must be deployed to deal with them." Jiang Zhi did not underestimate the reinforcements from Nanjing City.
.
"Fortunately, the Gongsun family had evil intentions and did not go all out to rescue Young Dianxi. Otherwise, with the reinforcements that I had not calculated, the outcome of the battle for Nanjing City would have been uncertain." Ding Kui underestimated the war potential of Nanjing City.
"The tenth Army Corps plus this supporting army will be in danger." Jiang Zhi planted a red pennant in the north of Nanjing City, "If it were me, I would gather here, advance, attack, retreat and defend, and be able to contain the siege troops on three sides.
"
"Shao Diantai is a ruthless person. He may not consider retreating. He wins when he wins and loses when he loses. He will not be sloppy." Ding Kui recently made up the information on the Tenth Legion, focusing on studying the legion commander.
"Without the support force, it would be difficult to predict. After all, this is not the home ground of the Tenth Army."
"It makes sense, let's give it a try." After speaking, Ding Kui gave Jiang Zhi a blank military order with the commander's seal on it.
On the afternoon of the third day of Nanjing's siege, the offensive and defensive battles became more intense, with all battlefields approaching the city wall.
On the battlefield in the south, a team of engineers risked their lives and rushed to the city wall to remove the antlers and clear the first area where a ladder could be set up. After only one stick of incense, huge stones fell from the city wall, filling this area.
On the western battlefield, an iron beast passed through a gap in the fortifications and stood at the foot of the wall. The infantry controlling the iron beast withdrew and tilted slightly. More than a dozen oil tanks were smashed down, followed by several torches. The fire instantly engulfed the iron beast.
.In this case, no one can be hidden in the iron beast, but when the fire goes out, the iron beast can be used as the fulcrum of the ladder.
On the northern battlefield, the attackers used wooden planks to pave the road, and the 200-step cordon was paved with iron boards instead. Under the cover of fine armored infantry, the progress was very fast. There were three roads that were less than 50 steps from the foot of the wall.
On the eastern battlefield, the offensive progress of the attackers was slightly slower, but the seven dirt roads had already extended to the 200-step cordon. Civilians transported a large number of cement boards to the archer positions, and the next step was to use cement boards to open the road.
The 12th Army Corps was stationed in Shibu County and stockpiled some cement in the city to the north of the county. The 111th, 112th, and 113th Divisions all brought some of them to Nanjing City. Han Ruren ordered prefabricated cement covers on the first day of the siege and waited.
It came in handy today.
The number of iron plates and cement boards is limited and cannot be supplied to the entire army. They can only be used by those who are prepared to use them, even if they make a noise in front of Ding Kui.
The defenders on the city had no choice but to fire stone bullets, bows and arrows, spears, steel needles and other long-range attacks to prevent the attackers from advancing as much as possible.
However, the closer to the city wall, the stronger the defender's defense. The conventional method is fire attack. In addition to using kerosene, there are also flammable materials such as hay, dry firewood, torn straw mats, torn quilts, etc. If anyone approaches, throw them down.
, and then there is a fire.
There is a lack of water on the battlefield, and there are not many ways to deal with fire attacks. There are also long-range attacks above key points, and there is no environment for safe fire extinguishing. Most people can only avoid and wait for the fire to extinguish.
Most of the attacker's losses were concentrated at the foot of the wall. Those who died halfway up the road and on the wall were not as many as those who died at the foot of the wall. Twenty steps away from the wall was the "death zone."
As night fell, except for the eastern battlefield, all attacking soldiers fell in the "death zone", and the pressure on the defenders reached its peak.
The enemy climbed up the city wall. At that time, the defenders had no choice but to fight to the death. They had no idea in their minds. Instead, they were most nervous when the enemy was about to climb up. They could easily kill the enemy by leaning out, which was what the defenders struggled with the most.
point.
"Continuously attack the city, and each battalion will find ways to break through." Ding Kui ordered an overnight attack on Nanjing.
The attacker's purpose is clear and the pressure is relatively low. Those who rush into the "death zone" must be the death squads. The long-range soldiers try their best to kill the defenders on the city. The auxiliary troops focus on opening up more climbing points. The reserve team is on standby in the rear, ready at any time.
On the battlefield.
The camp leaders are basically veterans and are no strangers to key breakthroughs.
First, you need to identify the weak points of the defenders, usually the two ends of the city wall, the section near the corner turret, and then the area where long-range troops focus their fire.
The second is to organize death squads. Most of these are veterans, especially those who have not accumulated enough military exploits over the years. If they cannot live a good life after retirement, it is better to gamble with their lives. Even if they die in battle, they can bring generous pensions to their families.
The last step is to battle wits with the defending commander to choose the best time to break through. This is the most important and difficult to master. Otherwise, all the previous preparations may be in vain.
"Bah! These traitors are really unstoppable." Commander Beicheng's eyes were red. He didn't sleep much last night, and it seems he won't have time to rest today.
At this time, Wei Shiwen climbed onto the North Tower and asked, "How is the situation?"
"More than a dozen waves of enemy troops have already broken into the 'death zone'. They used iron plates to clear the way, but they couldn't stop them at all." The Beicheng commander was very depressed.
The iron plates used by the siege troops are larger than the door panels, and are usually mounted on carts. The shield bearers open the way in front and advance along the paved road. Most of the long-range attacks of the defenders are ineffective, and only the larger stone plates are used.
Blocks can briefly stop their progress.
It's not easy to throw a big stone, and it's even harder to hit it accurately.
An iron plate is about two or three paces long. If it is ten pieces, it will be twenty or thirty paces. If it is less than one hundred pieces, it will be laid under the city wall. If each squadron lays ten pieces in an hour, it can be laid in one night.
"Well, let the trebuchets rest for a while. The entire army is preparing for contact combat. The poisonous gas and gold soup are ready. If there is a ladder coming up, I will greet you."
Wei Shiwen's order relieved the trebuchet troops. They all ran down the city and lay on the ground, unable to get up no matter how they shouted. Such a high-intensity battle exhausted them.
In the blink of an eye, Qiao Meng found that the trebuchets on the city had stopped, so he immediately ordered: "The third brigade is about to break through. Let me board it first."
This is experience. When the opponent changes tactics, there will definitely be a rotation of troops. At this time, the defenders will have a gap period in battle preparation and psychology.
The Third Brigade of the 8o Division had just organized a death squad and had not had time to mobilize before the war. The captain received the order and immediately led the team to attack.
Ten wells attacked a section of the wall on the east side of the city tower at the same time. The armored infantry carried the huge stone and spread iron plates at the corresponding wall foot to provide the suicide squad with a fulcrum for the ladder. The two squadron leaders struggled to throw up more than ten shields and hit the falling missiles from the air.
The oil tank, then worked together to lift a boulder away, and led the troops to defend around the fulcrum.
The suicide squad took advantage of the gap suppressed by the well fence, shouldered the ladder with their shoulders and stepped on the iron plate, rushed to the city, and set up the ladder with the help of the elite infantry.
"Brothers! I'll pull up first!" A warrior jumped up high and climbed up the ladder using his hands and feet.