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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 216: Smart Shotgun

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    Zhang Guoliang, who was preparing to defend Suzhou City, did not intend to waste too many troops in dangerous places outside the city from the beginning. However, in order to delay the Taiping Army's offensive, he still divided his troops to garrison in dangerous places such as Huqiu and Shantang outside Suzhou City.  , considered as the outer barrier of the city.  But what Zhang Guoliang didn't expect was that the day after the Taiping soldiers arrived, they launched a fierce attack on the Qing army's outer camps. With the fierce artillery fire and the Taiping army's brave charge, the Qing army outside the city only resisted for an hour before being defeated.  Only less than 1,000 of the 2,000 people outside came back, and they also set up several mountain-splitting cannons and a large number of firearms and gunpowder. Zhang Guoliang regretted it. If he had known better, he would not have set up a fort outside the city to defend it. It would have been better to gather the troops early and not have enough troops.  ?

    Although Zhang Guoliang regretted it, he also saw that Changmao was determined to win Suzhou this time. Before the Taiping Army completed the encirclement, he sent messengers several times to issue warnings and request reinforcements to Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places.

    The Taiping Army moved very quickly. After taking the key areas outside the city, they quickly divided their forces to surround Suzhou's six gates and large and small water and land channels, focusing on attacking Changmen and Xumen in the west and Qimen in the north.  Zhang Guoliang, Xu Naizhao and Ma Dezhao were stationed at three gates to defend each other, relying on a few 3,000-pound cannons to barely engage in artillery battles with the Taiping Army's artillery team.

    After several shellings, the Taiping Army launched troops to attack the city. However, the dense concentration of bows, arrows and muskets on the city caused considerable trouble to the Taiping Army.  At the same time, the deep ditches and moats outside the city also hindered the Taiping Army's attack.  Zuo Zongtang attacked several times without success. Finally, Zuo Zongtang decided to send men and horses to fill a road in the ditch at night.

    After three nights, the Taiping Army finally used sandbags and rocks to fill in several passages in the deep ditch, making it easier to attack the city.  As soon as the sky dawned, Zuo Zongtang sent his troops to attack the west gate of Suzhou again.

    Although the Taiping Army had more artillery, Zhang Guoliang was so cunning that he not only erected fishing nets, tarpaulins, and straw mats at the top of the city to guard against the artillery.  A large amount of dry grass was placed under the city wall. When the Taiping troops swarmed forward to attack the city, kerosene and torches were thrown down from the top of the city, causing a fire that reached into the sky and killed and burned many Taiping soldiers.  Seeing the heavy casualties, Zuo Zongtang had to retreat slightly.

    Although Zuo Zongtang had many clever plans, there was no good way to attack the city at this time. The defenders always took advantage of being condescending. Even if the Hunan Army attacked the city later, there was no good way.  Historically, Zeng Guofan personally led 15,000 Hunan Army Marine Divisions to attack Jiujiang, but was defeated in several battles.  There were so many casualties that they had to retreat.  In 1857, famous generals such as Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guoquan, and Peng Yulin, together with Hubei Admiral Yang Zaifu, and registered inspector Li Xubin, led the Hunan Army's water and land division to attack Jiujiang. Starting from January 8, the battle lasted for six days and nights.  Both were defeated by the Taiping Army.  From March to June, the Qing army built long trenches from Guanpaijia to the end of Baishui Lake.  More than 30 miles long.  It is 3 feet 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep, with a total of 6 lanes, surrounding Jiujiang on three sides.  In October, Xiaochikou and Hukou were successively captured by the Qing army, allowing the Hunan Navy, which had been surrounded in Poyang Lake as early as 1855, to rush out of Poyang Lake and join the Yangtze River Navy.  This further strengthened the strength of the Hunan army attacking Jiujiang and formed an encirclement of Jiujiang.  The Jiujiang defenders were helpless and the situation was very critical.  In the spring of 1858, the Qing army's attack on the city became more urgent.  Twice, they dug tunnels and used landmines to destroy the city walls of Jiujiang's east and south gates, but they were severely damaged by the Taiping Army and retreated.  On May 19, for the third time, the Qing army used landmines to destroy more than 100 feet of the southeastern city wall of Jiujiang. Jiujiang city was broken. Lin Qirong led the Taiping Army soldiers to fight bravely. All more than 17,000 Taiping Army soldiers died heroically, and Jiujiang fell.

    This shows that in the era when there were no siege weapons, it was not easy to conquer a heavily guarded and well-defended city. Even if you were Zhuge Liang when he was alive, you would be helpless when facing a well-defended city, let alone back then.  Zhuge Liang was also helpless against a small town called Chencang guarded by Wei general Hao Zhao.  Chinese people have always liked to brag about their military skills and strategies, as if all wars can be won by relying on tactics. However, in the face of real famous generals and absolute strength, all strategies will pale and be useless.  Or are Americans pragmatic? They have a famous saying: "If wisdom can kill an elephant, what's the point of using a shotgun?"

    In the next few days, Zuo Zongtang thought of many ways to attack the city, including water attack, fire attack, cave attack, and even sending daredevils to drive ox carts filled with gunpowder to blow up the city. However, Zhang Guoliang tried  Even if oil and salt are not allowed to enter, Zhang Guoliang can also think of ways to attack the city that Zuo Zongtang can think of.  In the end, Zuo Zongtang had no choice but to concentrate his troops and artillery to attack Changmen, commonly known as the Great West Gate.  After Zhang Guoliang discovered Zuo Zongtang's move, he immediately adjusted his troops. Several defenders took turns to fight, and they fought fiercely with the Taiping Army at the Great West Gate. The two sides began a war of attrition without any tricks. What was competing was the willpower and endurance of the soldiers on both sides.  .

    After three consecutive days of brutal siege battles, the city walls and towers at the Daximen section were damaged by Taiping artillery fire. Several times, the Taiping troops bravely climbed to the top of the city, but were either attacked by the fresh troops commanded by Zhang Guoliang or were beaten down.  The Qing army drove down the city with fire and thunder bombs. What's more, the Qing army deployed several artillery pieces on top of the Miluo Bao Pavilion in the Xuanmiao Temple in the city, specifically to bombard the city head above the west gate. There were two peaceful times.The offensive was fierce, the Qing army could not respond in time, and they ran out of fire and thunder bombs. Zhang Guoliang actually ordered the artillery on the top of Miluobao Pavilion to open fire, forcibly scattering the Taiping Army, buying time for the concentration of troops, and finally blocking the Taiping Army again.  go back.

    After several days of bloody battles, the Taiping Army suffered more than 7,000 casualties. Zuo Zongtang was also furious. He was pressed for time and could not allow him to slowly surround the Qing army in the city. He could only break the city in the shortest possible time.  Dedicate troops to support the West Palace Taiping Army in Shanghai or Hangzhou.  Zuo Zongtang knew this, and the other generals of the Taiping Army under his command in the West Palace also knew this, so the whole army worked hard to attack the city. On the most intense day of the offensive, more than a thousand Taiping soldiers were killed, including two brigade commanders.  Although he was killed in battle, the Taiping Army's offensive did not weaken at all.

    Compared with the Taiping Army, the Qing army in the city was also miserable. Although there was still enough food and grass in the city, gunpowder, lead, kerosene, fire bombs and other supplies began to run out. As a last resort, the Qing army even began to fire gravel and iron.  , If the fight continues like this, I'm afraid they can only use copper coins to make cannonballs.  In fact, in the history of the Taiping Army's war, there are records of the Taiping Army using copper coins, and even radishes and vegetables to make cannonballs. This is not because the Taiping Army was ignorant, but because when the war actually reached such a critical juncture, no one would think so much about those red-eyed killers.  The soldiers only think about stuffing everything that can be blasted into the muzzle of the cannon and then firing it out to kill the enemy.

    In addition to the lack of supplies, the Qing army also suffered huge casualties, with nearly 6,000 casualties. The Qing army's commander-in-chief Ma Dezhao was unlucky to be killed by Taiping artillery on the sixth day of the siege, as were Qing generals at all levels.  The losses were heavy, and wounded soldiers littered the streets.  Zhang Guoliang, who was red-eyed, began to force the strong men in the city to come to guard the city. Although these strong men were not voluntary, as long as you stood on the top of the city, the Taiping Army below would not care whether you were voluntary or not. They would only want to guard the city.  Kill the enemy above you.  If the strong men on the top of the city dare to retreat, the Qing army will immediately serve them with swords.  In this way, these poor common people had to take up arms and fight against the Taiping Army under the city. They didn't want to die.

    In addition to La Zhuangding, many people in the city were also organized by the Qing army to rush to repair the city wall at the west gate at night. Those who dared to resist were killed with a knife, and their bodies were used to fill the gaps in the city wall.  The entire Great West Gate was filled with smoke and flesh and blood. Under the scorching sun, the entire West Gate was as terrifying as purgatory.

    After recalling the fierce battles these days, Zhang Guoliang took a deep breath, but the air was full of gunpowder smoke and the stench of decay, which made him almost vomit. After waving away the annoying mosquitoes and flies around him, he stared at the Taiping Army in the distance.  The Western King's flag was erected in the formation, and he said to himself: "We are here after all."

    In fact, Zhang Guoliang and Zuo Zongtang knew very well that after days of fierce fighting, both sides were at the end of their strength. In the end, it all depended on who could get their own reinforcements first. Once the reinforcements arrived, they would be the last straw to crush the other side.  , but it is a pity that reinforcements from the Taiping Army appear now.

    In addition to the appearance of the Western King's banner, Zhang Guoliang pulled up his monocular telescope and looked at the Taiping Army's artillery array. More than ten new cannons were drawn by oxen, carts and mules and were deployed in front of the array. It seemed that Changmao not only had reinforcements,  A large number of new artillery and firearms also arrived.

    After the artillery team of the Taiping Army placed the new artillery, they began to test-fire a few cannons. The calibration of the three cannons required test firing. The artillery of the Taiping Army did not care about wasting shells and gunpowder, and fired several cannons one after another.  The previous shots were all due to insufficient firing angle, and the shells only hit the ground a few hundred steps away. Then the Taiping artillery increased the firing angle, and this time the shells were much closer to the city wall.

    As the shells fell closer and closer, the Qing troops on the city began to panic, because although the Taiping Army fired explosive shells this time, they were much more powerful than those fired a few days ago. A shell was exploded on the mud outside the city.  You can see what would happen if these shells hit the top of the city.

    "Leave a few sentries while the rest wait to go down to the city to avoid the artillery fire!" Zhang Guoliang roared loudly. Just as he finished his roar, the first Taiping Army cannon shell exploded on the heavily damaged tower of the west gate.  Come and knock down the entire tower built in the Ming Dynasty on the west gate.

    As gravel, bricks and broken wood fell, Geshiha beside Zhang Guoliang protected Zhang Guoliang with all his strength, pushing away the Qing soldiers who were panicking and carrying him down the city.

    After the artillery team of the Taiping Army here found the correct firing angle, several cannons began to bombard the West Gate City Wall. Each burst of cannon shells directly hit the already damaged West Gate City Wall. The Qing troops hiding under the wall felt the impact.  The walls tremble.

    Zhang Guoliang, who walked down the city wall in disgrace, looked back at the city wall shrouded in dust and smoke, gritted his teeth and shouted sternly: "Build barracks on the streets and houses, and each ministry will use the streets as a defense for their own barracks, and prepare to fight to the death with the long-haired bandits in the city!  "(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!</dd>
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