The reason for the slow advance of the Second Army was naturally because Du Danqing changed his previous stupid defense tactics on the city wall!
They did not rush directly to the city wall as before, but began to dig trenches, communication trenches, and build civil fortresses outside the city wall. They also used some low hills outside the city to build artillery positions and firepower.
As for the city wall, they directly used it as an artillery position, just to take advantage of the height of the city wall. They also modified the city wall and piled a large number of sandbags on the city wall to increase the defensive effect against solid artillery shells and howitzers.
This made the Second Army attacking outside the city a little uncomfortable!
If you stupidly launch an infantry attack directly, the firepower of the supervisor is not bad. There are not many large-caliber artillery, but there is no shortage of five-pound field guns, and there are a lot of bowl-mouth cannons and Franco machine guns.
There are a bunch of these artillery pieces, and the killing effect on infantry is naturally not bad.
And it is difficult for our own artillery to cover and destroy these Ming troops hiding in trenches and earthen fortresses!
In the end, they still had to dig trenches and advance in the same way, then advance to a certain distance and engage in firefights with the Ming army, and then pull up the lighter 24-pound howitzer to shoot at close range.
Doing this will take too much time!
Wang Chaohong was a little hesitant. Should he just charge forward? Although he would suffer a certain amount of casualties, it would still be better than the current stalemate.
But Wang Chaohong didn't dare to make such a decisive battle. Who knows how many casualties it would cost if he charged forcefully!
He could accept the death of a few hundred people, but if there were tens of thousands of casualties, he doubted that the Holy Emperor would become furious and directly give him a glass of poisonous wine!
The Royal Army of the Tang Dynasty always maintained a low casualty rate in battles. Even in siege battles, there were usually not many casualties!
The long period of low casualty rates and smooth battles will inevitably make the generals of the Tang Army fearful of some difficult battles, especially battles that require high casualty rates.
Li Xuan, who was in Jiujiang, also quickly received reports of unsatisfactory fighting conditions from the front!
This report was handwritten by Wang Chaohong himself. It introduced in detail the many difficulties currently encountered by the Second Army. At the same time, he tactfully proposed whether the Second Army could be given more time to conquer the Huangzhou Defense Line.
When I saw this report now, it was one day before he issued the instructions on the Chen Lifu case!
So now Li Xuan has no intention to care about the conflicts among the officials in Jinling City. There are more important things waiting for him to do now.
The attack on Huangzhou progressed slowly, and the huge Second Army was almost dragged behind the Huangzhou front line!
It had already taken them nearly half a month to fight all the way from Susong to Huangzhou. Now they were delayed for another five or six days in Huangzhou, which meant that most of the month was wasted.
Calculating the time, it is already almost the middle of December. If it continues like this, it is estimated that Huangzhou will not be conquered before the Spring Festival!
Moreover, the Huangzhou War was only part of the second phase of a series of southwest battle plans. The Second Army's attack on Huangzhou was to create opportunities for the First Army's actions. If the Second Army failed to severely damage the enemy on the Huangzhou front line,
The army was unable to put more pressure on the governor, forcing the Ming military governor on the Hanyang front line to send reinforcements to Huangzhou. Then when the First Army landed on the west side of Hanyang, they would be attacked by the Ming military governor on the Hanyang front line.
The attack by the main force of the Chinese army.
This poses too great a risk to the subsequent First Army’s action plan!
Li Xuan thought for a long time, and then summoned a group of combat staff represented by Lieutenant General Lei Wan, asking them for their opinions on the war in Huangzhou!
Lieutenant General Lei Wan said that even though the Second Army encountered some difficulties, these difficulties were not insurmountable, and time did not allow the Second Army to continue to delay. They must create pressure on the Superintendent's Left Army and inflict heavy damage.
This department is afraid that the Chinese Army will send reinforcements, or simply break through the Huangzhou defense line and fight all the way to the eastern part of Hanyang.
Only in this way can we cooperate with the landing troops of the First Army to start the battle!
Now the landing force of the First Army, the First Infantry Division, the Tenth Infantry Regiment and other units have completed the final preparations. The Yangtze River Fleet has also completely eliminated the remaining strength of the Ming Army's Supervisory Navy in this section of the Yangtze River.
The ships used to cross the river have also been prepared, and all kinds of ammunition and supplies have even been loaded on the ships, waiting to launch the cross-river operation.
However, to cross the river, they need an opportunity, and this opportunity can only be created by the Second Army!
Other operational staff also said that no matter what the Second Army has no way out, it must conquer the Huangzhou front line before the Spring Festival. Even if it cannot conquer the Huangzhou front line, it must still put heavy pressure on the Supervisor Zuo Army!
The staff officers of the Privy Council Operations Department considered the overall situation and gave Li Xuan such advice. After careful consideration, Li Xuan also felt that he was not a mother-in-law and was afraid of casualties.
There is no such thing as death in war!
Back then, when the King of the Tang Dynasty first started to rise up, they did not fight to the death, which led to the current situation.
At the same time, as the combat staff said, the second phase of the Southwest Campaign has now reached the most critical moment, and the Second Army cannot let go!
Therefore, at this time, various units of the First Army had already launched operations one after another. The First Army was the main force crossing the Yangtze River, ready to cross the Yangtze River at any time and capture the area west of Hanyang.
At the same time, the Second Infantry Division had already left Yuezhou. Under the cover of the navy, they were rapidly advancing westward along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. They were attacking Jingzhou!
Various plans have been launched, and up to now, due to the distance and backward communication, Li Xuan is actually unable to control the actions of the units of the First Army, regardless of whether the operation of the Second Army is going smoothly or not.
, they will all act according to the predetermined plan.
If nothing unexpected happens, around the 25th of December, the Second Infantry Division will officially reach Jingzhou City and then launch an attack on the city!
And earlier, the third mixed group will also cross the river to kill Anluzhou!
The First Infantry Division and other units will also launch a cross-river campaign during this period!
In other words, in the short ten days before the Spring Festival, the various units of the First Army will be deployed one after another as planned!
Once the Second Army loses control, Zhang Yue can calmly mobilize various troops to resist the First Army's offensive, thus causing a stalemate in the battle, which the Tang Army is absolutely unwilling to see.
They must cause heavy casualties to the supervisory left army on the Huangzhou front line before the Spring Festival, or even more accurately, before December 20th, create huge pressure on them, and force the supervisory Chinese army on the Hanyang front line.
Send reinforcements to Huangzhou, or dare not act rashly and send troops westward to reinforce Jingzhou or Anluzhou.
Many combat plans in the second phase are linked one by one. The various departments of the first army cannot cause trouble, and the second army cannot fall behind. Otherwise, all the previous efforts will be wasted!
Even with the water advantage, even if the Tang Army failed in the battle, it could basically retreat by relying on the Yangtze River. However, this was not what the Privy Council Operations Department wanted, nor what Li Xuan wanted.
So after he pondered for a moment, he called Lieutenant General Chen Keqiao, the first commander of the Fifth Army, over. As soon as Chen Keqiao entered his office, Li Xuan asked him: "The Fifth Army has prepared
How's it going?"
The Fifth Army was the strategic reserve for the Southwest Campaign. Originally, according to the Privy Council's battle plan, the earliest time for this force to appear was during the decisive battle of Hanyang.
But now, due to the situation, Li Xuan plans to use this strategic reserve team now!
Hearing Li Xuan's question, Chen Keqiao didn't know yet that it was time for him to lead the Fifth Army to the battlefield. He immediately raised his head and said: "The 35,000 soldiers of the Fifth Army are training hard day and night. They are ready to fight at any time."
We are all ready to fight for His Majesty!"
"good!"
Li Xuan, who was wearing a military uniform, turned around, pointed at the large map on the wall and said: "Then get ready and lead the army to march westward tomorrow!"
If you go west, you will go to Huangzhou.
This is not beyond Chen Keqiao’s expectation!
The Second Army on the front line in Huangzhou was in trouble. As a senior general of the Tang Army and one of the only lieutenant generals in the army, he naturally knew everything about it. The Second Army had been unable to open up the situation.
If the superiors want to send more reinforcements to them, they can only send their own Fifth Army.
At this time, Li Xuan did not put down his hand pointing at the map, but said: "However, I am not asking you to assist the Second Army in attacking the Huangzhou Defense Line. I want you to bypass the Huangzhou Defense Line and pass directly through the Yangtze River.
Land from here under the cover of the navy!"
At this time, Li Xuan's finger pointed at a location on the huge map!
It is an area in the northwest of Huanggang County, Huangzhou Prefecture. In the center of many villages there is a market town formed by the spontaneous gathering of nearby villagers: Tuanfeng Town.
This is a little place with an unknown name. Even the name on the map looks a little too small, so you can't see it clearly unless you look carefully.
Li Xuan pointed to this place and said: "Land here, cut off the connection between the Huangzhou line and the Hanyang line, and launch an attack on the enemy forces on the Huangzhou line of defense from behind!"
After saying that, Li Xuan stared at Chen Keqiao and said: "I want to use the 50,000 puppet Ming rebels on the front line of Huangzhou to make a big dumpling!"
"And your fifth army is the dumpling wrappers!"
After Chen Keqiao heard this, a clear look of caution appeared on his face. This was different from what he expected. It was not a simple reinforcement, but a direct bypass to cut off the rear of the supervisor's left army.
As a result, the pressure on the more than 30,000 new recruits of the Fifth Army will be even greater!
But after taking a deep breath, he said with determination: "I obey your order!" 8)