As the wind and snow trudged through the frozen ice surface of the Huai River, a group of people from Xincai on the other side boarded the embankment, and after they played their flags outside the faint range of the tunnel; they were all snowed. People who popped up suddenly were introduced into the city of Gwangju, Gwangju. And then, a few riding messengers took news from Henan on the north bank, broke through the wind and snow and went south.
And outside the Zhongling City of Haozhou Administration, inside the camp covered by heavy snow. Qian Jumei, the short and stocky Lieutenant General, was also holding a large bowl, enjoying the consolation items sent from the rear with the soldiers; it was the canned vegetables, pork and lamb and blood sausage stewed in a large pot. The large mixed soup of fish cubes and shrimp paste is thick enough to make the spoon stand up.
On the other side of the iron-skinned cauldron, in the steaming boiling oil, continuously use the strainer to fish out chunks of golden and crispy fried cakes, fruit noodles, and rice cubes. On the side, there were Sergeant Firehead who were constantly squeezing and squeezing the noodles and fruits filled with bean bacon filling; the overnight rice balls with oil residue were thrown into the eyes quickly.
For a while, the air above the camp was filled with the fragrant smell of fried food, and even the circling cold wind blew onto the top of Zhongling City, provoking the sound of drooling after another. And in the early morning of freezing and killing people, wearing a thick flannel jacket and eating a few fragrant fried food, and drinking a bowl full of soup with mixed soup, it is simply nothing more beautiful.
Although the cold weather hinders the progress of field drills and operations, it also brings benefits in disguise. Even the criss-cross and Huainan rivers are frozen hard enough, so that the Taiping boats in Huainan can use various modified sliders and ice sledges along the ice surface of the original river course. Other temporary transportation vehicles are transported from Guangling to a steady stream of supplies such as firewood, winter clothes, tents, and antifreeze plasters.
On the other hand, it was the good news from Qian Gumei. Compared with the artillery team and the combat engineering group that were still stumbling on the road after Guangling was under the city, the first one arrived was the declaration of destiny from the Gangneung Metropolitan Government House. The two groups in Huainan are about 55,000 troops. After the war, they will be stationed in battalions, supplementary battalions, and reorganized battalions, forming the twelfth army order under the command of Taiping.
And Qian Gumei also transferred and promoted from the original status of the Fifth Army (Navy) Zuoxiang Lang to the Twelfth Army You Lang. The temporary preparations are also considered as the first rank. Once had the qualifications to be alone. Therefore, he still can't wait to wait for the arrival of the artillery team and the combat engineering team, so as to achieve a relatively perfect ending for this Huainan battle.
However, this kind of thing was really anxious in front of the huddled Huaixi army just by blocking the four gates and turning Zhong Ling into a tortoise shell. Qian Jumei could only encourage and encourage these soldiers from different places with diverse backgrounds, especially those from Liangling and Hunan, who have basically never seen snow in his life.
In order to prevent frostbite and frostbite and other non-combat attrition caused by their unfamiliarity with the environment and water and soil, Qian Gumei has exhausted his mind. Not only did they urge the application of ointment and medicine during the day, but even in the middle of the night, they also occasionally got up to patrol and check, for fear that these southern soldiers, who are not accustomed to the cold, would cause the heavy snow to collapse because of the negligence and mistakes they did not notice. Camp tents or smoked carbon gas will increase unprovoked losses.
On the other hand, there is a new problem that devices become more difficult to use under low temperatures in winter. Ordinary knives and guns are okay as long as there is a leather cover that is not afraid of tearing the skin; but some complicated equipment such as firecrackers need to be maintained, dried and lubricated from time to time, in order to prevent the spring from being frozen and not working; Traditional crossbows are basically useless. As for the flaming oil bombs and explosive bombs of the fire throwing team, there were also some problems that they could not hit or explode.
In spite of this, in front of everyone, he was still so well-prepared and wise. The planning and deduction of the corresponding siege, as well as the pre-formation exercises, continue uninterrupted day by day. Qian Gumei even dived into the city to explore the terrain and water and soil conditions to confirm whether it was possible to dig the city in caves.
After all, it is hard to say with the strength of the Taiping Army today, but the daily consumption of more than 27,000 combat fronts, garrisons and auxiliary soldiers under his command is completely sufficient. Even though the number of livestock that have been frozen to death, exhausted, and smashed to death has reached hundreds of heads, except for immediately getting out of the soup pot; the various trails behind and the teams full of supplies are still running water. Converged here.
He was munching and chewing, while thinking about the omissions and shortcomings of his arrangement these days, he saw Gu Quanwu, the school captain of catching a life with snowflakes, also came over and said:
"Vice-General, the secret post in the north of the city caught a few who fled last night..."
"It's not that all four doors are sealed, so how come there are still escapes..."
Qian Gumei couldn't help being slightly surprised:
"It has already been tried, but it was roped down from the wall before dawn... There is also a lieutenant guarding the gate..."
Gu Quanwu took a bowl of hot ginger tea boiled over the fire and drank it before proceeding to:
"Deputy lieutenant at the gate? Does that mean that the hearts of the people in the city have begun to mess up? I have to go and interrogate myself!"
Qian Gumei immediately noticed the key points in the words.
"The little people are true, there is no deception..."
After a while, the deputy guard lieutenant of the Huaixi Army, who collapsed on the ground like a mass of mud, whispered with tears and nose:
"There is never a shortage of food and equipment in the city. It's just that Liu Dutong suddenly killed several chiefs and their cronies the day before yesterday. He also merged with his troops and killed many people! The rest of the people were panicked, I don't know. Who would be the turn, the villain was so timid that he escaped first..."
"You are not timid, but rather courageous!"
Qian Gumei smiled inconspicuously and said: Looking back, he said to the many ministers who hurriedly assembled:
"Let everyone move, just follow the usual practice situation and make an all-out attack on the city..."
"All the equipment, whether they can be used or not, will be moved out for me to put them in the battle. Even those civilians and military servants will take up flags and spear sticks and go out to line up outside the camp..."
"After surrounding the city for these days, maybe you can see the results now. Please also work harder. If you can break the Huaixi Army, the New Year will be better..."
With the wind and snow that stopped for a while, the crowds in the camp outside the city came into full swing; it was shown in front of the defenders at the head of the city; it was like the last straw that overwhelmed the camel. In the same way, the defenders at the head of the city are no longer desperately singing gold and beating the drums, but amidst the tone of the drum horns that have changed, they scurf like fire ants.
Therefore, when the first long ladder, which was lifted up with all its strength, hit the Zhonglingcheng plate full of slippery skating surfaces without any hindrance; the city gate frozen by watering to the north of the city also clashed fiercely. In the middle, a large piece of land collapsed and shattered into one place; then opened from the inside out, a lot of horseshoe cloth-wrapped cavalry came.
These cavalry also seemed to have been prepared, so desperately they rushed through the frozen trenches, jumped over the frozen trenches and rejected horses; although some of them also stumbled and fell in the trenches, or I couldn't dodge and bumped into those refusing horses and sharp obstacles, but was trampled over by others without any pause or hesitation, and then fled north without looking back.
And I don’t know that some of the sentries and cruising teams in the north of the city could not stop them from making full-scale breakthroughs. It was not until the Taiping army rushing over from both sides that they were able to stop the tail of the continual pouring out of the horse team; The large groups that came out immediately fought face-to-face and became a ball.
Within a few moments of effort, the new forces that kept coming to gather outside the city gates were smashed by the swords, guns, guns, and guns that relied on the camp and the formation, and the Huaixi squadrons that followed the breakout steadily retreated; Within the distance of the city gate, it turned into a defeated brain racing to flee back;
Therefore, after a long time, I watched dozens of long ladders easily get up to the top of the city, and the rushing warriors put in the Taiping Qingqi, and then opened the money tools that came to the Nancheng gate from the inside out. Mei; I also suddenly saw the signal fireworks rising in the sky, which means that they have penetrated the north gate.
At this time, the wind and snow became bitter again, but it was no longer able to stop the Taiping Army's roars and screams of attack that had surpassed the waves in Zhongling City.
In the Huaixi breakout horse team that disappeared in the wind and snow, the Huaixi Dutong and Huainan camp recruiting envoy Liu Hanhong, who used to have most of the seven states in Huaixi, also looked at the direction of the city that was hidden behind, secretly. Greatly relieved. The peaceful thieves turned their heads to capture Zhongling City, instead of catching up to try to intercept his horse team.
However, the price is really heavy. In the past, he used to cross the river and cross the Jinghu Lake and the Jianghuai River. The horse team composed of Shenguang's children also suffered repeated losses in the repeated battles with the Taiping Army. Only the more than one thousand six hundred riders around him were left. Up. In addition, the land of Shenguang, which he believed to be the foundation, was damaged by the plague; therefore, he could only escape north through the frozen Huai Shui and go to Henan to find a chance to recover.
But as long as he can survive this defeat and setback, relying on his methods of dealing with all parties and his imaginary ability, whether it is to temporarily send people under the fence or take the opportunity to occupy one side, there will always be a chance to make a comeback and make a comeback. . He thought about it this way, and suddenly saw the white reflections dazzling in front of him, and the left and right riders reined their horses to slow down, but they had already reached the ice surface of Huai Shui.
Immediately, they removed the cloth that had been worn out from the horse's hoof, and re-wrapped the four hooves of the mount with a wicker-woven sheath. There were a number of sharp iron pieces on it; this is what they once saw as the imperial court." The stubborn and hard-to-treat" Huai Shangma thieves and gangsters have been able to wreak havoc between Jianghuai River and Huaihe River for years.
Slowly stepping on the creaking lines at the foot of the icy surface. After walking a long distance, Liu Hanhong let go of the last bit of worry and concern. Even if someone is chasing it, but after reaching the ice, who can run it? They are the pirates on the Huai River who are used to running around in the winter.
However, just as he had thought, a faint and fleeting roar came from the sparse wind and snow, and then they were near the walking horse team where they crossed most of the ice with this line of fish. Suddenly, a few large pieces of snow-white crushed ice and snow flakes were blown up, and then something bounced and whizzed into the stumbling formation on the ice surface, pulling a long blood stain on the smooth ice surface. (End of this chapter)