Because of the severe attrition of the infantry, the combat effectiveness of the Fourth Mixed Regiment has been greatly weakened, so Gu Shizhong also adopted some alternative methods. He began to transfer some soldiers from two supply battalions and three artillery battalions, mainly
It was used to transport heavy troops, transport troops, and temporarily supplement the infantry battalions that suffered losses.
In order to restore the combat effectiveness of the five infantry battalions in the fourth mixed regiment!
Although in most cases in the past, these auxiliary troops would not participate in front-line battles and would only participate in some defensive battles to a limited extent, but that was just an ordinary situation. Now, Gu Shizhong's lack of troops can no longer take care of them.
Instead of providing auxiliary troops, we are preparing them to participate in front-line battles.
Although these baggage troops and some transport troops are auxiliary troops, they are also regular troops and have received complete infantry tactics training. Although their overall quality cannot be compared with that of formal infantry, they are at least better than pure recruits.
As for the lack of manpower in the baggage and artillery units after the deployment of these auxiliary soldiers, it is difficult to complete the existing tasks of large-scale artillery transportation, baggage transportation and other tasks. On the one hand, Gu Shizhong used more than 200 captured Ming Army cavalry prisoners for transportation, and in addition, he also
Several civilian laborers were recruited from two villages on the road.
Because the situation was urgent, Gu Shizhong no longer cared about maintaining the attitude of the king. When recruiting civilian men, it was not voluntary as in the past, but forced.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to recruit so many people from just two villages. That's because he recruited all the young people in these two villages.
Of course, even if it is a forced recruitment, Gu Shizhong still cannot be as unscrupulous as the Ming army. When recruiting, he will still provide certain supplements, such as distributing a certain amount of food to the families of these young and strong civilians, and at the same time he will not let them
These young men bring their own dry food to work on the road, but they will be provided with sufficient food.
He also promised that after the troops arrived in Nanchang, they would be given a certain amount of money to allow them to return.
From here to Nanchang, there is only one day's journey left. Although these civilians are dissatisfied, they are forced by swords and guns on one side, and on the other side they have enough to eat, and there is still food for their families and money to take.
So I work pretty hard.
Gu Shizhong deliberately did this to give more generous preferential treatment than the usual recruitment of civilian men. Now Gu Shizhong doesn't have much time to waste on the road. He needs to get to Nanchang within one day, and he must arrive at Nanchang City at noon tomorrow at the latest, and then
Prepare to siege the city
Along the way, he needed these civilian men to work hard to transport artillery and baggage.
Otherwise, if these civilians are passive and slow in their work, it will greatly delay his march. At that time, even if a few civilians can be killed as a deterrent, it will be of no avail.
Relying on these useless methods along the way, Gu Shizhong finally arrived at Nanchang City with the fourth mixed regiment, without leaving any artillery or ammunition cart behind!
It has to be said that this can be regarded as a small miracle in the history of the march of the Fourth Mixed Regiment!
You must know that the Fourth Mixed Regiment has been strengthened and has dozens of field artillery and enough ammunition to fight three large-scale battles. In terms of artillery shells, it carries tens of thousands of rounds.
Either so many artillery shells can be successfully brought to Nanchang City, especially when a large amount of baggage and transportation troops are all transferred to temporarily serve as infantry, the Fourth Mixed Regiment can still do it. It can be said to be quite difficult.
In the morning of the next day, the Fourth Mixed Regiment of the Tang Army, which had gone through a lot of hardships along the way, finally successfully arrived at Nanchang City!
When Gu Shizhong looked at Nanchang City, which was only five or six hundred meters away, he couldn't help but sigh. This journey was really not easy!
Just when Gu Shizhong and his troops arrived at Nanchang City, Zhang Yue also received the news of the disastrous defeat of the Dubiao cavalry!
When he heard that the Du Biao cavalry suffered a tragic defeat, Zhang Yue couldn't believe his eyes and thought he had read the battle report wrong. After he repeatedly confirmed the authenticity of the battle report, he directly cursed Wang in front of a group of subordinates.
Bian Yi is a pig brain.
The officer asked him to just contain and delay the puppet Tang rebel army. Who gave him the courage to take the initiative to attack the infantry square of the puppet Tang rebel army?
Zhang Yue, who was extremely angry, directly sent his own bodyguards to rush to where the Du Biao cavalry was, then knocked Wang Bianyi to the ground and escorted him back to watch and await trial!
Wang Bianyi also felt that he was aggrieved. It was all the fault of that bastard Zhao Qianhu. He just wanted to die and dragged him into the water. If Zhao Qianhu hadn't rushed up to him at that time, what would Wang Bianyi have done?
He will also charge forward with the main cavalry.
But it's all too late!
At this time, Gu Shizhong had already set up dozens of artillery pieces, and then began a large-scale bombardment of Nanchang City. Twelve heavy howitzers roared one after another.
The heavy grenade flew hundreds of meters and then landed on the top of the city, or exploded behind the city wall. Each explosion was huge. If there were Ming soldiers within the explosion range, there would be heavy casualties immediately.
Even in uninhabited areas, large amounts of smoke and dust will be raised.
In addition, more than 30 other field guns continued to bombard the city. It didn't take long before the gate tower was blown to pieces. Even the city wall was full of pits. Many battlements were directly destroyed.
Break open.
Although the shelling did not cause any actual casualties to the city wall itself, those dozens of kilograms of shells were actually of no use against the city wall that was almost ten meters thick, but the fierce shelling completely swept away the city.
.
The Ming army soldiers who were still waiting on the city top were killed and wounded in large numbers in an instant. The Ming army artillerymen who tried to control the artillery on the city head to fight back also suffered heavy casualties.
By the evening of that day, the Fourth Mixed Regiment had not even started to use infantry to attack the city. The Ming army defending the city had already suffered hundreds of casualties. Some of them were killed by cannonballs on the top of the city.
Some of them were killed by grenades behind the city wall.
In the evening, the defender Deng Mingjun did not even dare to go to the top of the city. He did not even dare to stay in some open areas behind the city wall, because the rebel grenades would fly over the top of the city and then land and explode inside the city.
The retreat of the Ming army was also the result of the Tang army's fierce bombardment!
If the artillery could not suppress the Ming army on top of the city, then the heavy armored infantry could not attack the city.
"Sir, the artillery suppression effect is relatively good. If this continues, when our infantry attacks at dawn tomorrow, we will encounter too much resistance!" At this time, a major said to Gu Shizhong.
But Gu Shizhong said: "Tomorrow? No, tomorrow, there are too many variables. Let the troops be prepared. We will start to attack the city in half an hour."
The subordinate looked puzzled: "Attack the city in half an hour? In half an hour, it will be almost dark by then! If we launch an attack at night, I'm afraid it won't be easy to fight, and it will be inconvenient to enter the city later!"
Gu Shizhong said: "I know, but time is not waiting for me! If we wait until tomorrow, the Ming army infantry will arrive, and it will be even harder to fight when we are attacked from the front and back!"
I learned from the prisoners of the Ming Army that the Ming Army returned to Nanchang not only cavalry, but also tens of thousands of infantry. These ten thousand infantry are heading towards Nanchang. According to their itinerary, they are expected to arrive tomorrow.
So there is not much time left for Gu Shizhong!
Anyway, we will light torches to fight later. Although it is more difficult than during the day, it is not insurmountable. After all, this is not a night march, let alone a night sneak attack.
They just launched the attack openly and openly, holding torches. He wanted to turn night into day!
The sky gradually darkened, but it was not completely dark yet. At this time, Gu Shizhong also issued the order to launch a general attack, and the infantry troops that had been well prepared rushed towards Nanchang City like a tide.
Under the urging of generals at all levels, the Ming troops in Nanchang City also began to rush to the city to prepare for defense. However, under the fierce artillery fire of the Tang Army, these Ming soldiers who had just entered the city suffered heavy casualties.
The guardsmen and civilians who were originally not very determined to fight, yet they dared to stay at the top of the city to fight back despite the heavy casualties. Many people just ran up, and after seeing a pile of corpses and wounded, they immediately ran down again.
Some even left the city wall directly, took off their military uniforms, threw away their weapons, and ran directly to become good citizens.
As a result, this siege battle progressed much more smoothly than Brigadier General Gu Shizhong expected!
Gu Shizhong, who was originally prepared for a tough battle, found that after his infantry launched a charge, the Ming army in the city did not resist at all. The soldiers of the assault battalion only encountered sporadic obstructions before they boarded the city!
After the assault battalion of the Fourth Mixed Regiment climbed to the top of the city and opened the city gate, the total casualties of the Fourth Mixed Regiment were only a few forty people!
After the city gate was opened, the main force of the fourth mixed regiment quickly entered the city, and then cleared the Ming army on other city walls. Facing the fierce attack of the fourth mixed regiment, the Ming army, which was already in complete chaos, had no intention of resisting, and soon became
Lost the stragglers.
Gu Shizhong didn't bother to pay attention to these stragglers. As long as they didn't gather to resist, Gu Shizhong didn't spend much thought on them. They could just run away if they wanted!
But if these defeated Ming troops dared to gather together to resist, the Fourth Mixed Regiment would launch a fierce attack and disperse them again, without giving them a chance to reorganize.
Defeated, this is the best way to describe the current Ming army defenders in Nanchang City!