After the initiative in the Shandong battlefield was completely controlled by the Huaxing Army, the Henan battlefield also entered the final decisive stage.The Yuan family's forces have been swept away one after another, and they are located in the Central Plains, and their grain, grass and weapons are the most sophisticated than other places.However, the Huaxing army besieged from the south, north, and east this time, and concentrated 600,000 men and horses.Every time you attack any city, you will have an absolute advantage.The Qing troops in various provinces of Henan were as afraid as tigers, and they dared to insist on resisting.Within a month, the three-way army commanded by Liu Yunqing, chief of staff of the Taiyuan Military Region, occupied Kaifeng in the north, and the three-way army of the Lanzhou Military Region, commanded by Li Qingyun, occupied Luoyang in the west.The three-way army of the Guangdong Military Region, under the command of Xu Desheng, advanced west from Xuzhou to Shangqiu.The Xuchang Mansion, the old nest of the Yuan family, was surrounded on three sides, and to the south was the Yangtze River defense line of the Huaxing Army, and he had no way to retreat.Kaifeng was originally led by Yuan Baoheng's cousin Yuan Baoqing, who was the son of his uncle Yuan Shusan.Yuan Baoqing followed Yuan Baoheng's father Yuan Jiasan to join the army when he was young, because of his meritorious efforts in suppressing the Taiping Army, and after the Huaxing Army occupied Jiangnan, the imperial court was in urgent need of talent to lead troops.Therefore, Yuan Baoqing was also specially named the prefect of Kaifeng, and commanded the military and political power of Kaifeng.Kaifeng was the provincial capital of Henan at this time, and was often used as the capital of a country in history.The city is high and strong, with a total length of more than 14 kilometers, and the water surrounds it.It is second only to the Nanjing City Wall in terms of scale, and it is also an important defense base of the Yuan family in Henan.The 100,000-strong army of the Taiyuan Military Region mainly attacked Kaifeng, and the Lanzhou Military Region cleaned up small armed forces outside Kaifeng.The Lanzhou Military Region and the Taiyuan Military Region under Wang Shijie are also the most elite troops in the Huaxing Army.The commander and deputy commander are also relatively young, and their tactics are very aggressive.On the day of the attack on Kaifeng, 20 naval light warships of the Huaxing Army also entered the Bianhe River to assist.After a burst of intensive bombardment, most of the walls collapsed.More than 100,000 people of the Taiyuan Military Region occupied one city wall and directly besieged the other three sides.All machine-gun openings, mortars as cover.Yuan Baoqing had already made sufficient preparations, and deployed more than 100,000 men and horses armed with cold weapons in Kaifeng, as well as more than 50,000 foreign spearmen.There are more than 50 breech guns on each side of the city wall, and Yuan Baoqing also asked the people to bring a large amount of wood, stone, fire and oil, thinking that it was foolproof, and waiting for the Huaxing army to attack the city.Unexpectedly, after the Huaxing Army launched an attack, a burst of indiscriminate bombardment completely stunned Yuan Baoqing.He can be regarded as having fought with the Taiping army for many years, and he has never seen this kind of fighting.The strong walls did not work at all in the face of shells, and the navy's battleships were all heavy rapid-fire guns, and after only half an hour of bombardment, the northern walls collapsed on all fronts.The defenders of the city were also frightened, and after escaping from the artillery fire, they retreated to the other three walls.The Huaxing army mainly attacked the north city wall, and more than 100,000 people were dispatched to almost 70,000.Only trenches were dug outside the other three city walls, and 10,000 men and horses were deployed to prevent the Yu army in the city from breaking through.After the capture of the northern wall, the other three walls were also lost.Kaifeng City was completely blocked for a while.The two armies fought face-to-face on the city wall, and the Huaxing army easily tore a hole with machine guns.Usually after the mortar bombardment began, before the infantry began to charge, the Yu army raised their hands and surrendered, giving up resistance.Yuan Baoqing saw that the general trend was gone, and he didn't want to defend it.disguised as ordinary people, took advantage of the chaos to sneak out of the city and fled in the direction of Xuchang.The battle only took two hours before the drums stopped, most of the defenders in Henan were Han people who had just held swords and guns, and in the face of such a large formation, who was willing to put their lives into it for a little military salary, and surrendered without thinking about it.Yuan Baoqing drove all the way non-stop, and after returning to Xuchang, he hurriedly followed his subordinates to find Yuan Baoheng and entered his study to discuss matters."
Big brother, the Huaxing army is attacking Kaifeng, why do you come back at this time" Yuan Baoheng saw that he was in rags, and he sighed in his heart, and secretly said that it was not good."
Don't mention it, it's over, it's all over.Hua Xingjun is not human at all, they are the evil ghosts of hell.150,000 of us held on to the city, and before we could resist at all, we were blown up by their artillery fire.If I hadn't slipped away early, I'm afraid I would have been buried in Kaifeng by now" Yuan Baoqing took a few sips of the tea bowl, and as soon as he returned to Xuchang, he entered the mansion where Yuan Baoheng was, and he didn't even have time to drink saliva."
How is this possible, Kaifeng has 150,000 soldiers and horses, sufficient food and grass, and complete ammunition, how can you hold on to the last month" Yuan Baoheng's whole body trembled in surprise, and his face was full of incredulity.Kaifeng is the provincial capital of Henan, if it were not for Yuan Baoheng's hometown in Xiangcheng, his general military office was also located in Kaifeng.If Kaifeng is lost, Henan will lose most of it."
Report" Before Yuan Bao's face could answer, the herald outside the door dragged his long voice and followed the report, "Marshal Yuan Baoling led the army back from Xuzhou, and now he asks to see him outside the door" "Let him in" Yuan Baoheng twitched in his heart again, and he had already guessed that it must be bad news.He knew this brother too well, if he won the battle, he would definitely not be so polite, and asked his subordinates to report before entering the door."
Big brother, I'm sorry for you, I had a big battle with the Huaxing Army in Suqian, and as a result, more than 100,000 people were killed and injured tens of thousands in an instant, and only 30,000 people and their brothers fled back" Yuan Baoling knelt on the ground and wailed as soon as he entered the door, and when he looked up, he found that his uncle's son Yuan Baoqing was also in the house."
Alright, get up and speak."
The skin on Yuan Baoheng's face was clenched together, and he waved his hand to signal Yuan Baoling to get up.If the house leak happened to rain overnight, this bad thing either didn't come, or if it did, it would come in a pile."
Brother Baoqing, aren't you in Kaifeng, why are you going back to Xuchang" Yuan Baoling asked Yuan Baoqing with his eyebrows, he had already guessed in his heart, but he couldn't believe it."
Don't mention it, Kaifeng is now also in the hands of the Huaxing Army.Now Henan has been surrounded on three sides, one side is blocked, and this part of central Henan is left. ”Yuan Baoqing patted the table and sighed."
Big brother, the combat effectiveness of the Huaxing Army is too incredible.We have to think of a way, we can't sit still" Yuan Baoling hurriedly suggested to Yuan Baoheng, thinking of the scene of fighting with the Huaxing Army."
Brother Baoqing is right, we have to come up with an idea right away.The imperial court has been driven to the northeast by the Huaxing army, do we still have to accompany the funeral for the imperial court" Yuan Baoqing followed his uncle in the army very early, and he didn't have so many Confucian thoughts of loyalty to the monarch, so he had already begun to plan for the back road of the Yuan family."
We have no way out, now Henan is the turtle in the urn, there are Huaxing troops on all sides, except for surrender, which is a bloody battle to the end."
Yuan Baoheng is also from a high background, and he has been loyal to his father since he was a child, and he has not thought about surrendering.Besides, everything the Yuan family has is given by the imperial court, and if they surrender, they will have nothing."
Can we send a letter to Qiao Zhiqing to discuss.If he promises that our Yuan family is still in charge of Henan, we will raise our troops and return to obedience.If he doesn't agree, we will fight to the end" Yuan Baoling's eyes rolled, he is not as pedantic as Yuan Baoheng, and everything is also based on the interests of the Yuan family itself."
There is no need to consider this problem, Huaxingjun now has an absolute advantage, and it is absolutely impossible to distribute the meat in hand to us again."
Yuan Baoheng shook his head and categorically rejected Yuan Baoling's proposal."
I think we can give it a try, at least we can know where Qiao Zhiqing's bottom line is, and we can face it calmly."
Yuan Baoqing supported Yuan Baoling's opinion, and the two of them now unconsciously consider it from the perspective of surrender."
Okay, you can do these things.Now that you're back, defend Xuchang and don't take chances. ”The Yuan family is now also in charge of the three of them, and the two have already agreed, and Yuan Baoheng is not easy to object.He has his own beliefs in being a man, but he can't force others.Besides, there are many foyers in the Yuan family, and they can't be affected by him."
Yes" The two of them clenched their fists in unison, got up and went out.Military reports from all walks of life soon spread back to Nanjing, and the Boxers in Zaozhuang, Shandong Province and the surrendered troops from the Jiangbei battlefield were all escorted to Nanjing.They will also be sent to Western Xinjiang and the Philippines respectively, where they will be trained and reorganized in the military camp in Nanjing.Although Qiao Zhiqing didn't kill them, he didn't absolutely rest assured of them.Together, these people are a large force, and he must insert Huaxingjun into these prisoners before he dares to let them leave Nanjing with confidence."
Brother Qiao, a letter from the Yuan brothers of Xuchang Mansion" Wei Ziyou has been busy these days, and all kinds of intelligence have almost flooded her office.She had to sort it out in order of importance and hand it over to Qiao Zhiqing one by one."
Brother Yuan" Qiao Zhiqing frowned and took the letter in Wei Ziyou's hand."
They can't hold on, they want to come to talk to you about business" Wei Ziyou smiled, sat down on the couch, picked up the tea bowl and filled a bowl for himself."
That's really the case, the Yuan family is really unlucky.The descendants of their family also have the fortune of the emperor, I don't know what the future will be" Qiao Zhiqing took the letter and looked at it for a long time, and chuckled to himself."
How does Brother Qiao know about the Emperor's Fortune" Wei Ziyou asked curiously, not knowing what Qiao Zhiqing meant."
It's okay, it's all for later.Is there any news in Shandong?"
Qiao Zhiqing did not answer, he could not say that there was a descendant of the Yuan family named Yuan Shikai in the future, who later overthrew the Qing Dynasty and finally became the emperor."
There is no news from Jinan yet, but the army has completely blocked Jinan.The generals on the front line have obeyed your orders and started a psychological war with Ding Baozhen in the city.Now that the grain and grass in Jinan City are cut off, Ding Baozhen estimates that he will not be able to control the situation immediately" Wei Ziyou smiled and did not ask any more.Qiao Zhiqing often says these brainless words, and Wei Ziyou is used to it.Ding Baozhen of Jinan Mansion is indeed at a critical juncture of life and death, and now he is about to vomit out his bitter gall.If Qiao Zhiqing was by his side, he couldn't wait to tear Qiao Zhiqing apart
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