A night encounter gave the entire New Army a clear understanding of the rebels' combat effectiveness.
Even in the hand-to-hand combat where the new army was weakest, the rebels were defeated. It can be said that the rebels have no hope of winning this battle.
"The rebels will definitely attack again tomorrow. Tell the entire army to prepare for a counterattack."
Zuo Mengeng attached great importance to the report of the Fourth Regiment, and at the same time lost interest in the rebels.
If the rebels are driven back as soon as possible, the Denglai area can be well constructed.
Early the next morning, after both sides had breakfast, the rebels pressed forward again.
The situation determines that the rebels must attack even if they lose two battles in a row. If they cannot recapture Dengzhou, their situation will not improve.
"How many poison bombs are left?"
Bu Shiren said quickly: "There are fifteen pieces left."
Geng Zhongming became fierce and said: "Fight them all out."
They were able to defeat Guan Ning's army before thanks to poisonous bombs. This time Li Jiucheng and Geng Zhongming still pinned their hopes on this magical bomb.
Compared with yesterday's attack, today's rebels invested 20,000 people at once.
Divided into more than a dozen square formations, the entire front pressed towards the New Army's position.
Bu Shiren obeyed the order and fired all the poison bombs in his hands onto the new army's position.
The pungent poisonous smoke quickly filled the air, and many soldiers of the New Army were immediately infected.
However, the new army reacted quickly, lowering their bodies and retreating along the tunnel.
Toxic smoke is lighter than air, so it floats upward.
Squatting down in the tunnel can greatly avoid the poisonous smoke. Moreover, the tunnel can also function as a flue to help the poisonous smoke evacuate.
Therefore, the damage caused this time is far from comparable to that of the Battle of Shahe.
But in the final analysis, the new army gave up its position.
Kong Youde was so excited that he waved his hand, and the second-line infantry also quickened their pace to keep up with the pace of the forward.
This time the rebels had pliers in their hands and quickly opened several holes in the barbed wire fence.
On Weiyang Mountain, Zuo Mengeng, who was holding a telescope, saw the rebels rushing into the position through the broken barbed wire mesh and entering the tunnel, with a sneer on his lips.
He waited patiently, and when the rebel forwards almost all entered the tunnel and the second wave was about to approach the barbed wire fence, he immediately ordered: "Fire artillery and counterattack."
The artillery that had been hidden since the war finally got a chance to be put to use.
When the red flag on the top of the mountain was waved continuously, Jia Yunzhi jumped up and shouted: "Heavy artillery, target the enemy's follow-up troops, fire three rounds rapidly! Infantry artillery, fire coverage according to the original calibration!"
The heavy artillery and infantry artillery of the New Army immediately roared.
The artillery units of the New Army were trained completely in accordance with the standards of later generations. When the battlefield was set, they had already included the battlefield in the shooting report.
Therefore, after getting the command, there is no need to aim at all, you only need to aim at the fixed coordinate position and fire.
The heavy artillery troops were behind the mountain, and the enemy could not see the thick smoke caused by dozens of cannons. They could only hear the thunder-like vibrations.
Then I saw dozens of black spots in the sky coming with sparks. They didn't give the rebels any time to react, and they all fell into the array.
The rebel soldiers thought that if they ducked left and right, they would not die from the shells. However, they never expected that the shells did not roll after they landed, but instead exploded on the spot.
The air within tens of meters was torn apart rapidly, as if countless blades were spinning wildly, and the flesh and blood they encountered immediately shattered and flew away, exuding the aroma of ripe meat.
The New Army's heavy artillery will form a storm of about 30 to 40 meters near the impact point of each round. Coupled with the casualties caused by the dust and gravel, the rebels' second wave array immediately lost three points.
one.
People of this era still only know about artillery as solid bullets. Faced with explosive bombs filled with gunpowder like the New Army, there is no protection at all.
the most important is……
This time, the explosive in the artillery shells fired by the New Army was collodion.
With nitric acid and sulfuric acid, preparing collodion was a piece of cake under the guidance of Zuo Mengeng, an arms expert.
The Battle of Huangxian became the first testing ground for collodion explosives.
In practice, the effect is frightening.
The power of guncotton was very obvious compared to that of black gunpowder. The explosion crater on the ground was more than a full circle larger, and the scope of the explosion was more than doubled.
Although collodion is better than explosives as a propellant, under the current limited conditions and beyond the times, this shortcoming is irrelevant.
The new army was very satisfied with the new gunpowder, but the rebels collapsed.
No one, whether it was Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde or other generals, or ordinary rebel soldiers, had ever seen such a weapon.
A large area was exploded, leaving no corpses, and the sturdy shield vehicle was blown to pieces, rendering it useless for protection at all.
The rebels who were still alive completely lost their minds and immediately turned around and ran away. The generals who were among them were unable to stop them and did not want to stop them. They fled equally fast.
However, with advanced artillery technology, their actions were useless.
The artillery observers lying on the commanding heights of Liujia Mountain quickly reported the data.
"Target 546, sight scale 334, direction 1-12, height plus two!"
The artillery below immediately followed the instructions, completed loading, and hit the coordinate position, which was exactly on the rebels' retreat route.
The rebels still gathered together, not knowing that evacuation was the best way to avoid the bombardment.
Once again, nearly a thousand rebels were killed by the steel flames.
The place where this happened was not far from Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde and others. Feeling the power of the New Army's artillery at close range, the rebel generals all collapsed.
Li Jiucheng shouted: "Fire the artillery, fire the artillery, kill the artillery on the opposite side!"
Bu Shiren wanted to cry but had no tears.
"Commander, the artillery on the opposite side is behind the mountain, a full five miles away, and our artillery can't hit it!"
Li Jiucheng was stunned and asked nonchalantly: "How can you fire a cannon behind a mountain? What kind of cannon can shoot five miles away?"
However, thinking about the strange and terrifying damage power of the New Army's artillery, he also knew that he was encountering a weapon beyond his imagination.
Covered with just two rounds of artillery fire, the will of the rebels was defeated.
No one dared to speak, and they once again organized the military formation to move forward to support the forwards who had entered the New Army position.
At this time, the new army also began to launch a counterattack against the rebel forwards who rushed in.
After the rebel vanguard entered the tunnel, they discovered that there was a lot of mystery inside.
The tunnel is low in front and high in the back. It is very convenient to stand in the tunnel and shoot in the direction of the rebels. However, if you shoot backwards, no one can do it without a stepping tool due to the two-meter-high earthen wall.
With such a high slope, it is very difficult for people to climb up, especially if they are wearing armor.
After the rebels were repulsed, the New Army infantry began to counterattack.
They rushed to the top of the tunnel without entering, and instead shot down from above.
Facing an attack from behind, the tunnel has almost no blind spots, and it is impossible to resist even if you want to.
Some of the firecrackers in the hands of the rebels are simply incomparable to the cap guns of the new army. Often one firecracker has to face more than a dozen cap guns.
The asymmetrical battle resulted in an extremely exaggerated battle loss ratio.
While there were many key points where the rebels gathered, the New Army soldiers simply greeted them with grenades.
Although the tunnel is very effective in defending against artillery shells, it cannot protect against grenades. Moreover, the narrow tunnel makes it easier to harvest the shrapnel of the grenade. It can take away several lives in almost one explosion.
The fortifications that gave the rebels a headache and fear were no more defensive than a beautiful widow's window in front of the new army.
The rebels who were trampled on by the new army and harvested wantonly could no longer stand it any longer and fled backwards one after another.
The New Army's fortifications have been determined. It will be difficult for the enemy to enter, but it is still very easy to return the same way.
When they discovered that they could easily jump out of the fortifications, the rebels were like crabs that found a loophole in a fishing net and ran out one after another.
They jumped out of the fortifications, opened their legs, and fled madly.
Unfortunately, they still have a difficulty ahead of them.
That's barbed wire.
During the previous attack, the New Army did not block the attack, so the rebels cut several gaps in the barbed wire fence and were able to enter easily.
But now we are running for our lives, and everyone is like a lost dog.
The narrow gap only allows a few people to pass through at a time, but there are hundreds or even thousands of people rushing towards it.
Everyone wanted to rush through the barbed wire fence quickly and get away from this terrifying place. So people were squeezing and pushing people, and they were all blocked by the barbed wire fence.
The person in front was pushed wildly and couldn't stand at all, and his body was hung on the barbed wire fence.
The barbed wire fence was full of barbs, which dug into their flesh and blood and tore them to pieces, leaving only terrified wails, but nothing could be done.
Behind the fleeing rebels, the New Army soldiers had never had such an easy shooting opportunity.
They only need to hold their muskets flat and shoot forward. There are almost no misses, and every shot can kill a rebel.
In front of the barbed wire fence, the rebels failed to become crabs that broke through the fishing net, but became fish meat that was caught in a net.
