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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 369: Winter Siege

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    It was the end of November, and the bleak cold wind was blowing early. Wind and snow came to Taizhou earlier than everyone expected. After the first heavy snow, the temperature plummeted to more than ten degrees below zero.  In the past, if such a natural change occurred, for an army that was not well prepared, it would lead to the collapse of the army or serious attrition.

    When Dahong'a woke up and saw heavy snowfall, he ran up to the tower with joy to see how those long-haired thieves were doing. As he walked, he said happily: "Look, this is what God has done to the rebellious officials and thieves."  punish!"

    Although the sudden abnormal weather was also a big trouble for the Qing troops defending the city, the Qing troops were always in the city. They had houses to keep out the cold, but the Taiping troops were sleeping outside the city. The trouble they encountered was the Qing troops.  several times.

    The Daoguang and Xianfeng years were at the end of the Little Ice Age in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although the climate was no longer as abnormal as it was in the late Ming Dynasty, the weather in some areas would occasionally become abnormal. The people in Taizhou City said that the heavy snowfall was dozens of times.  Many people were worried about the Taiping Army outside the city, which they had not seen in years.

    It¡¯s a pity that after Dahong¡¯a climbed up the tower, he didn¡¯t see what he wanted to see. There was a busy scene on the Taiping Army¡¯s position.  I saw many bullock carts and horse-drawn carriages going back and forth on the position. The outside of the city was burned to a white ground. The Taiping Army had to cut down trees from more than ten miles away and built many temporary shacks on the trenches of the position. These shacks were smaller than tents.  Warm enough to withstand the cold.

    Lin Qirong, commander of the newly formed First Division of the Taiping Army, and Chen Bushi, trainer of the First Division, wore thick winter coats and walked in the trench to visit the officers and soldiers of the participating units. They saw many officers and soldiers hiding in the trench, covered with thick  There were logs and a bonfire was lit underneath, and it was still very warm inside.  Moreover, the officers and soldiers all wore thick winter uniforms, which made the two people very satisfied with the logistics department.

    Subsequently, the Logistics Department of the Taiping Army issued a special battlefield manual for winter operations to all brigades and regiments. All kinds of cold protection and warmth, and various matters that should be paid attention to in severe cold were written one by one, down to the need to keep socks dry to avoid trench injuries.  The deficiencies were all written in it, allowing the Taiping Army to avoid a large non-combat attrition situation.

    Lin Qirong looked at the officers and soldiers, although they were a little tired, but their morale was still very high. He looked at Chen Bushi with relief and said, "It seems that the situation is better than expected, thanks to Li Shuai's patience. Let the logistics department thank you for the time to prepare."  Supplies.¡±

    Chen Bushi was from Wuchang, Hubei. He joined the Taiping Army in Hubei. He was originally a teacher. Later, he achieved outstanding results in the military academy and was also reused.  He sighed.  The hot breath he exhaled instantly turned into mist and stuck to his face.  Covered in white with a layer of hoarfrost.  He frowned and said: "Yes, Li Shuai and the brothers in the General Staff and Logistics Department have thought very carefully. In winter operations, various emergencies have to be considered. If it were in the past, half of the soldiers would be killed when this kind of bad weather comes.  It¡¯s not uncommon to get sick from the cold. Now it¡¯s better, our logistics department can deliver the supplies so quickly to save us from the cold.¡±

    Lin Qirong smiled bitterly and said: "The King of the West may have done it intentionally this time. Last year, Luo Gang and the others also chose to send troops to Yangzhou in winter. This year, they also chose to send troops in winter. It seems that the King of the West wants all the troops to familiarize themselves with the weather in the north in advance, so as to prepare for the future Northern Expedition.  Make some preparations.¡±

    Chen Bushi looked at Taizhou City in the distance, where the snow-covered area really looked like an ice city, and said slowly: "Yes, we are all from the south. If one day we go on the Northern Expedition, it will be really troublesome not to adapt to the northern climate.  . To be honest, I¡¯m not afraid of heat, I¡¯m afraid of cold.¡±

    Lin Qirong smiled and said: "Yes, as the saying goes, it is better to travel a thousand miles south than to travel north for a day. The winter in the north is even colder. The most important thing for the southern troops to go to the north is to adapt to the climate. Yesterday Li Shuai came to order,  Li Tingyu's reinforcements have been defeated, Taizhou City has no value in existence, we can close the net."

    Chen Bushi frowned slightly and said, "I saw the staff's battle plan this morning. Do we have to choose today to go out? Yesterday, the officers and soldiers had a busy day building shacks, so they are afraid of being very tired."

    Lin Qirong smiled faintly and said: "We are not leading young master soldiers, so why fight if we can't bear the hardships? Today is a good day, just in time to test our combat capabilities in the snow. There are not many opportunities to train troops like this."  At noon, launch the first attack!"

    At noon, in a leeward mountain col, on the Taiping Army artillery position, a huge fire pit was lit every few meters, with various artillery arrayed in the middle of the fire pit.  The artillerymen of the Taiping Army were afraid that the severe cold weather would freeze the artillery, so they used this method to thaw it. Fortunately, the range of the artillery of the Qing army was not as far as the artillery of the Taiping Army, so the artillerymen of the Taiping Army dared to light fires to keep warm. Otherwise, the fireworks in the sky would definitely attract fire.  Cannonball greetings.

    It was time to attack, and loud bugles resounded throughout the fields. The Taiping Army gathered more than 300 artillery pieces of various types from two division-directed artillery regiments and began to prepare for artillery fire. Amidst the huge roar, Bing Lingzi's muzzle flash hung.  Burst out, the instant heat willThe ice at the entrance melted, and the entire artillery position was filled with smoke, heat, and fog. If the scale had not been calibrated in advance, with such visibility, it would be impossible to hit the target.

    After more than ten days of fighting for the periphery, Dahong'a's Taizhou Qing army lost all its peripheral strongholds.  Dahonga was very happy about the sudden cooling of the weather at first. He felt that no army could operate normally in such heavy snowy weather, let alone launch an siege.  But at noon, the first round of artillery hit the city of Taizhou. When the shells poured down and burst into huge flames on the city, Dahong'a opened his mouth wide and was speechless for a moment. He thought that after the heavy snow, the city would be destroyed.  The long-haired thieves outside were busy building shacks to sleep in. Unexpectedly, at this time, thunderous flames enveloped the top of Taizhou City.

    ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? away from the enemy.  Due to a misjudgment, Dahong'a believed that the Taiping Army would not march out today, so he withdrew most of the Qing troops from the city to rest. Unexpectedly, the Taiping Army, which had been silent for more than ten days, suddenly launched an attack.

    Half an hour of artillery preparations made Dahong'a feel that his days were like years. The Taiping troops outside the city were desperately tilting the artillery shells into the city. Almost all the small Taizhou city walls were greeted by the artillery shells. The heat brought by the explosion made Taizhou city originally  The ice city covered with heavy snow actually showed signs of melting in this cold weather.

    Dahonga kept cursing in his heart. They also had a few foreign cannons, but the shells were very expensive.  It was the sound of the cannon that brought thousands of gold. Dahonga suddenly envied these long-haired thieves. They shot the cannon as if they were free of money.

    Dahong¡¯s beard, dyed with a thin layer of snowflakes, was trembling. Judging from the artillery preparations, the Taiping Army was determined to break the city in one battle. They just didn¡¯t know which section of the city wall would be unable to support it first.

    The sound of artillery fire gradually stopped, and Dahong'a was surprised to find that there was no major collapse in the crumbling Taizhou city wall, which made him very excited.  Then a loud charge horn sounded. Dahong'a had heard this annoying horn sound many times.  This kind of trumpet sound always inspires the long-haired soldiers, and their own soldiers tremble all over when they hear this kind of trumpet sound.  But Dahonga was very surprised. The city wall did not collapse. Where were these long-haired thieves charging?

    Just when he was wondering, a Qian General Manager rushed over with a mournful face and reported: "Commander An. Something bad has happened. Governor Wang opened the west gate to welcome the long-haired thief into the city!"

    "What?!" Da Hong'a felt dizzy for a moment.  Wang Youling actually rebelled?  Only then did he understand why he couldn't catch any of those people who posted ironic comments.  It turned out that someone was protecting her.

    Shouts to the sky rang outside the city. The Taiping soldiers attacked the four gates of Taizhou at the same time. Although the west gate was opened, in order to prevent the Qing army from concentrating their forces to block the west gate, the Taiping soldiers from the other three gates also carried long weapons.  Ladders and various siege equipment began to siege the city.  They rushed over in skirmish lines, seemingly in disarray.  But it gave the Qing soldiers a headache. It was easy to hit soldiers lined up in a dense linear array, but it was very difficult to hit scattered soldiers. Damn muskets.  God knows where the bullet will go after it goes out.

    The soldiers of the Taiping Army kept firing while charging. They finally thawed the firing pin of the musket in the trench, and wrapped it in a thick cloth to prevent water vapor from entering, which would freeze the firing pin again, so they kept firing.  The guns were fired frequently to keep the gun body warm, but there were also many soldiers whose muskets misfired, but these soldiers did not flinch. After attaching the shining bayonets, they rushed forward to cover the soldiers behind who could still fire their guns.

    Several hidden artillery positions in the Qing army's city began to fire, but the damage to the Taiping soldiers attacking the skirmishing line was limited. After the Qing army's artillery began to fire, the Taiping army's artillery began to fire again. After several rounds of artillery, the Qing army would  The artillery of the Taiping Army was suppressed one by one and continued to cover the infantry charge, which shows the high quality of the Taiping Army's artillery.

    A group of Taiping soldiers rushed to the bottom of the north gate city wall. The Taiping soldiers quickly placed huge explosive packets under the city wall. With several loud noises, the already crumbling city wall collapsed, with splashes of mud and ice.  Things are flying in the sky.  Dahong'a's face began to look ugly. He roared loudly and asked the messenger to order the Qing soldiers in the city to block several gaps. Street fighting had already begun on the west gate.

    The Qing soldiers who rushed to the gap fired several rounds of muskets at the Taiping soldiers at the gap. The slow rate of fire put the Qing army at a disadvantage. The Taiping soldiers seemed to have little patience. As the Qing soldiers changed their ammunition,  At that moment, hundreds of Taiping soldiers rushed into the gap with shining bayonets and started a hand-to-hand fight with the Qing soldiers guarding the gap.

    As soon as they took over the battle, amidst the shouts of fighting, many Taiping soldiers actually shouted: "Surrender without killing! Surrender!"Surrender without killing!  "Under the impact of the sharp bayonet and the seductive shouting of the Taiping soldiers, many Qing soldiers who did not have much training put down the messy weapons in their hands at the gap and surrendered.

    In the cold winter, the two armies started a fierce street battle in Taizhou City. Compared with the temporarily formed regiment training troops, Dahong'a had 3,000 elite soldiers and horses. These people were Dahong'a's confidants.  They still showed the style that an army should have. Except for the surrender of individual lone soldiers, there was no institutional surrender like the regiment training and bravery.

    Although they were at a disadvantage in terms of weapons and tactics, they were still under the command of Qing generals at all levels and stubbornly blocked the Taiping Army's advance. However, their defensive positions were gradually shrinking. In the evening, the Qing army  The positions in the city were compressed to the area around the official residence of the Taizhou magistrate.

    The sky gradually darkened, and the Taiping Army slowed down their offensive. All follow-up troops moved into the city, surrounding the prefect's Yamen and the nearby city area on three levels inside and three outside, preparing for the final blow after dawn.

    After dark, Dahong'a organized several night attacks in an attempt to break through the Taiping Army's defense line and break through. However, under the Taiping Army's tight defense, the Qing army did not achieve a decent record, let alone break through.

    After the last night attack failed, one of Dahong'a's generals said in a trembling voice: "Commander An, why don't we surrender?" Sometimes people can say anything and do anything in order to survive.  This general actually said the words of surrender, but this was the sentiment of most Qing army generals.

    Da Hong'a roared angrily: "I will never surrender to the rebellious officials and traitors. We will fight to the last man to repay the emperor's favor. Anyone who dares to say surrender again will be killed without mercy!" (To be continued.)  Search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!
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