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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 517: Burning the City

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    The city wall has a history of thousands of years. As the ultimate representative of fortification, its mission assigned by history gradually began to end after the emergence of modern artillery.  But what is standing in front of Chen Yucheng at this moment is still a strong city. Although he has the advantage of artillery, he must also consider the defensive capabilities of Zhaoqing's city wall and its blocking role as an obstacle.

    The day after the artillery was deployed across the Xijiang River, the New First Army's offensive officially began. At five o'clock in the morning, the Taiping Army's artillery position at the east gate took the lead in roaring.

    Nearly three hundred new Western artillery pieces were concentrated at the east gate. Chen Yucheng wanted to use this overwhelming firepower advantage to destroy the Qing army's will to resist.  This tactic was used hundreds of years ago when the Jin Army attacked Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, the Jin Army built more than a thousand trebuchets to hurl stones and other objects at Kaifeng City day and night. In the end, there were almost no stones outside the city.  They were all exhausted by the Jin army, and the resistance of the Northern Song Dynasty imperial army completely collapsed, resulting in the humiliation of Jingkang's surrender by the Northern Song emperor.

    Dense shells exploded on the Zhaoqing city wall, and soon the east gate section of the city wall was shrouded in thick smoke and dust. With the flames rising into the sky, the ancient body of the Zhaoqing city wall trembled in the gunfire.

    The bombardment lasted for half an hour. When the bombardment stopped bombarding the city wall, the soldiers at the forefront of the Taiping Army's attack position discovered that Zhaoqing's city wall had been bombarded with five gaps. As expected, Zhaoqing's city wall failed to stop the Taiping Army's various attacks.  caliber artillery bombardment.

    A deep horn sounded, and the soldiers on the attack position raised their battle flags and began to flood towards the gap in the collapsed city wall, while the artillery began to extend their shelling backwards.

    The Taiping Army now has rifled artillery that can hit several kilometers away.  In addition, the artillery positions were set up after crossing the Xijiang River this time and were closer to Zhaoqing City. Therefore, almost the entire Zhaoqing City was within the range of the Taiping Army's artillery.

    When the infantrymen of the Taiping Army rushed to the gap in the city wall.  The Qing soldiers who had been waiting for a long time rushed out from under the inner city wall. Although they were all gray-faced, their eyes were fierce, and they came up frantically with swords and guns to block the gap.

    The Taiping soldiers were stunned. They did not expect that the Qing army did not collapse under such a fierce bombardment, and they also protected themselves well. The company that rushed to the front in a hurry could only stand up its bayonet and fight with the Qing army.  The army began hand-to-hand combat.

    The leading company fought hand-to-hand in the gap.  The follow-up troops did not continue to advance. They began to line up under the command of the officers, forming a row of gun formations.  Be prepared to wait for the front company to retreat and begin an orderly advance.

    Although the leading company fought fiercely in hand-to-hand combat, the Qing army on the inside of the city wall had a numerical advantage after all. Moreover, they encountered Chu Yong, who was known for his fierce hand-to-hand fighting. This regiment trained by Jiang Zhongyuan had once relied on hand-to-hand fighting in Nanchang.  The elite of the East Palace of the Taiping Army were defeated under the city.

    After more than half of the casualties were lost.  The soldiers of the leading company heard the whistle blowing to retreat.  They took turns covering the gap and exited the gap, while the Qing army chased after them, seemingly unwilling to let go of the Taiping Army. However, when their figures appeared on the collapsed ruins outside the city wall, they were greeted by a dense barrage of bullets.

    The Taiping troops outside the city wall have been formed. They are arranged in a row of thirty people wide, and there are as many as seven or eight columns in the column, marching in neat steps.  The Taiping Army began to advance towards the gap with a volley of guns, but this time they advanced very slowly.  Alternating fire and cover while walking is another type of infantry barrage tactic.

    The Qing army was quickly suppressed. Fortunately, the collapsed ruins of the city wall served as cover. The steep slopes of the ruins formed at both ends became obstacles. The Qing army retreated to the inside of the city wall, preparing to wait for the Taiping Army to appear at the highest point of the ruins slope again.  Another swarm.

    But this time they did not wait for the Taiping Army to appear, but what they waited for were dozens of black iron lumps.  In addition to maintaining suppressive firepower, the Taiping Army stopped at the foot of the ruins slope, and the grenadiers in the queue began to throw the newly installed grenades towards the gap in the city wall.

    After a burst of explosions and gunpowder smoke, the Taiping Army accelerated their pace and rushed to the top of the ruins of the city wall. The soldiers in the front row quickly opened fire downwards. After throwing the second round of grenades, the grenadiers in the back row quickly advanced alternately and straightened their bayonets.  Crouching on the ground to cover the soldiers behind them, they continued to advance.

    In this way, huge gaps were opened everywhere by the Taiping Army's alternating cover and advance tactics. As more and more Taiping Army soldiers poured in, the Qing army on the east gate section of the city wall gradually lost control of the city wall.

    When the apricot-yellow flag of the Taiping Army was planted on the dilapidated tower of the east gate, the Qing artillery hidden among the houses in the city suddenly opened fire. Although Jiang Zhongyuan's artillery was old, it still brought a heavy blow to the Taiping Army who were crowded in the gap in the city wall.  Huge damage.  Solid artillery shells plowed bloody paths among the Taiping Army volleys, but no one retreated.??, they still moved forward in an orderly array.

    The artillery instructor at the top of the city hurriedly signaled to the outside of the city to report the location of the Qing artillery that appeared in the city. Soon the Qing artillery fire was suppressed by the Taiping Army artillery fire, and the Taiping Army's leading troops finally stabilized their position.

    From the fierce fighting in the early morning to noon, the Taiping Army basically cleared away the Qing troops in the East Gate area, and established a simple defense line based on the city wall. A large number of sharpshooters were deployed on the city wall to control the intersections of various streets from above.

    Since the Taiping Army used advanced rifled muskets, sniper tactics became possible, so Xiao Yungui introduced the concept of sniper tactics as early as the founding of the Shanghai Military Academy.  Although sniper tactics have not yet formed the concept of special operations, each newly formed unit of the Taiping Army has a large number of soldiers with good marksmanship. Their role is to maintain a large number of casualties on the enemy on the battlefield.

    After the Taiping Army took control of the East Gate, both sides entered a brief period of respite. The Qing army did not collapse as soon as the city was broken as in the past. They retreated behind various street intersections and continued to resist with the help of barricades and residential buildings.  After a simple lunch, both sides adjusted their arrangements and prepared for the next round of fighting.

    After Chen Yucheng saw that the east gate was in his hands, he let the light eight-pound cannon enter the city. After the engineers cleared the mines and obstacles on the road to the city gate, they opened up the east gate that had been filled up by the Qing army. Twenty artillery guns  Eight-pounders were deployed on top of the city walls.  Follow-up troops also began to enter the city, preparing to take over from the leading troops and continue their deep attack into the city.

    It was the Qing army that started the attack first. The Qing troops from the South Gate and North Gate on both sides of the East Gate launched a charge along the city wall, but were quickly suppressed by the Taiping Army's sharpshooters and artillery at the top of the city. At this time, the Taiping Army's firepower superiority  It was fully displayed and condescending, and the Qing army's death squads were ineffective at all.

    The muskets fired at various street intersections were at a disadvantage against the Qing army. The Taiping army's muskets had a long range and high accuracy. The Qing army's shotguns and rifles were completely suppressed. They could only rely on the cover of residential buildings in the city to launch short assaults.  They fought back in hand-to-hand combat, but in the hand-to-hand combat, the Qing army could not take advantage at all. The Taiping army's skillful bayonet tactics always caused the Qing army to retreat in the end. The Qing army's victory was just by charging out of a certain room by surprise.  Only then can a sneak attack be successful.

    Although they had gained a comprehensive advantage, Chen Yucheng was very annoyed. When they broke through the city wall, the Taiping Army lost hundreds of soldiers in hand-to-hand combat and then was suddenly attacked by Qing artillery. More than 400 people were killed and five were injured.  More than a hundred people.  Later, more than a hundred soldiers were killed or injured in the Qing army's counterattack. The Qing army's life-for-life strategy caused the Taiping Army to suffer heavy losses.  After one morning, the Taiping Army lost almost a battalion of troops, and the territory they occupied was only a corner of the east gate.

    As the follow-up troops entered the city, the Taiping Army began arduous street fighting. Teams of Taiping Army began to sweep objects and streets in squad platoons. The Qing Army cunningly hid on street corners, inside houses or on rooftops.  From time to time, cold arrows, hidden guns, and sneak attacks were fired to cause trouble for the Taiping Army.

    By the afternoon of the battle, the Taiping Army began to figure out the tricks of street fighting. They also began to climb on the roofs of various houses, controlling the streets from above, and cooperated with the friendly forces below to continue advancing house by house and street by street.

    The soldiers on both sides were furious, and the people in the city suffered. Many people died from accidental injuries from both sides. After the Taiping Army captured a street, they were able to move the people in the house to a safer street behind.  But in the fight for these houses, accidental injuries are inevitable.

    In the evening, the Taiping Army had to stop. The Qing army gradually couldn't resist in the street fighting. The Taiping Army's superiority in strength and firepower became more and more obvious, and the Qing army began to surrender to the Taiping Army.  Jiang Zhongyuan, an old and cunning man, ordered fires to be set on fire. On the busiest main street in Zhaoqing, the Qing army set fire to the houses along this street. The fire that reached the sky quickly blocked the Taiping army's progress.

    I have to say that Jiang Zhongyuan was cunning. He also saw the direction of the wind. The fire he lit did not move towards the city controlled by the Qing army, but towards the east gate controlled by the Taiping army. It was because of the Taiping army.  The army had to stop and start demolishing residential buildings and carrying water and sand to put out the fire.  In order to defend Zhaoqing, Jiang Zhongyuan did not hesitate to burn the city to stop the Taiping Army. He was really at the end of his madness.

    The people in the city were killed. Many people who were hiding in the houses and did not have time to escape were burned alive in the houses. The people who escaped lost their homes and all their property. The Taiping Army had to dedicate manpower to guide the people to temporarily leave the city for resettlement.  To avoid being buried in the fire.

    At nightfall, the Taiping Army managed to control the fire, but the city under the control of the Taiping Army was a piece of rubble, while the Qing army was ready to continue resisting on the other side.  Chen Yucheng stood at the east gate of the city and saw that most of Zhaoqing City had been burned down. He gritted his teeth and said angrily: "The main offensive force will continue tomorrow morning."After clearing out the remaining enemies, the remaining garrison troops of the remaining gates will stand firm and not allow even a single demon to leave the city!  "(To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!

    PS: Due to my own negligence, there were errors in the previous chapters. It was Chen Yucheng, not Li Xiucheng, who commanded the Battle of Guangzhou. This will be changed from this chapter on. The previous errors are difficult to correct because of the VIP chapter, so please forgive me.
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