After the New Year, it was already March weather.The snow and ice melted, the rivers thawed, and everywhere was a thriving scene.According to the predetermined plan of the Ministry of National Defense, the Huaxing Army was also preparing to launch a general attack on the Qing court in the three eastern provinces.The main offensive task of this battle was jointly completed by the Taiyuan Military Region and the newly established Kulen-Ulaanbaatar Military Region, which was also part of the Taiyuan Military Region at the beginning, but in fact it was completed by the Taiyuan Military Region alone.The Taiyuan Military Region's main offensive was the Jinzhou defense line in the eastern part of the country, with Commander Liu Yunqing dispatching troops to Shanhaiguan and Qinhuangdao attacking Jinzhou from the front.Lin Quanbao, the deputy commander, crossed the Yalu River, first dealt with the Qing army on the Liaodong Peninsula, and then moved his army north to attack Panjin and cut off the Qing army stationed in Jinzhou.Jinzhou was garrisoned by the Protector Army under the command of Rong Lu, with a three-way army of more than 100,000 people.Rong Lu was also the first Qing army general to use firearms, and his Protector Army had been preparing for a long time and was quite proficient in the use of firearms.Britain originally sponsored 300,000 breech rifles from the Qing court, and the Protectorate was the first to get 100,000.Moreover, Rong Lu also specially built an arsenal, although it could not produce guns, but it was more than enough to produce bullets.He built defensive positions outside Jinzhou City layer by layer, all using the latest trench defense system.The trench was not straight, but zigzag, and the soldier could not see anything beyond ten meters in the trench.A trench of this shape, when the enemy attacks from the flank, will protect the infantry inside it.Otherwise, all the troops inside will be exposed to enemy fire, which will greatly increase casualties.The advantage of this is that it also protects against artillery shells.If a shell falls into a trench, its shrapnel will not fly far and will be blocked by a jagged trench.Rong Lu's days in the Kanto region were not idle for a day, and he was still the last general among the Manchus who could fight well.In every battle of the Huaxing Army, Rong Lu had to send a detailed work to the battlefield to observe.Whether it is the deployment of troops on both sides or the tactical use of both sides, he has to carefully deduce and figure it out.Then he regarded himself as the enemy of the Huaxing army, and imagined how to defend in the face of the Huaxing army's attack.He is a Manchurian, and when facing the attack of the Huaxing Army, he can only fight to the death.Jinzhou is the throat of Kanto, and Cixi handed over such an important place to him, and the pressure in his heart can be imagined.The military objective of the Kulen Military District was to take advantage of the mobility of its cavalry to enter the Kwantung region from the Horqin steppe and raid the large rear of the Qing court.The Qing court deployed its main forces in the Liaoning and Jilin areas, and only deployed more than 100,000 Eight Banners soldiers on the Heilongjiang defense line in the rear.They never thought that the Huaxing Army would be able to go deep alone and launch an attack from the rear of the Kwantung region.As early as last year, Ma Xun's logistics department began to operate intensively.Through various channels of land, sea and air, grain and grass have been continuously transported to various armies, and now all supplies have been completed.The Right Army Corps stationed in Korea, because it still had to solve the problem of the Liaodong Peninsula, was the first to attack the Qing army on the defense line of the Yalu River.Gu Yunfei was not affected by the Hong Renji incident, although he was guilty of not reporting it, Qiao Zhiqing did not punish him.After all, he is Qiao Zhiqiang's brother-in-law, and Qiao Zhiqing has just promised to make Su Sanniang's son and Yan Minxia's daughter a baby parent.With these two layers of relationship, he has no doubts about Gu Yunfei's loyal ministers.The matter of setting the baby is still Yan Yuting's pluck, her sister's daughter Gu Youyou is seven years old, and Su Sanniang's son Qiao Wujie is one year apart.Yan Yuting wanted to win over Su Sanniang, and at the same time make the relationship between the Yan family, the Qiao family, and the Gu family closer.She ran up and down in the middle, and eventually made it happen.Yan Minxia and Su Sanniang also know each other, everyone knows each other, and they can support each other, so naturally there is no problem.The two of them nodded, and Yan Yuting put on the wedding wine and called Qiao Zhiqing, Su Sanniang, Gu Yunfei, and Yan Minxia over.When the parents of the two sides met, Qiao Zhiqing and Gu Yunfei had no objection, so they got married.Lin Quanbao, as Gu Yunfei's old department, was naturally not affected.He also continued to hold the post of deputy commander of the Taiyuan Military Region, and at the same time served as the governor of Korea, with full command of the Right Army to attack the Kwantung region.At the beginning of the year, Qiao Zhiqing successively issued a variety of reform measures, one of which was to establish the post of governor in the states of the Great China Federation.The Governor's duties were primarily to administer the military affairs of the States, and he did not interfere with the administration or the judiciary, but he had the power to oversee them.Qiao Zhiqing didn't want the governor to have too much power, and he didn't want the states to be too independent.In this way, the two parties will not lose control by restraining each other.Since the Huaxing army occupied Korea, the Qing army had no choice but to divide the Han Kwantung New Army from the scarce soldiers and horses to fortify along the Yalu River.Dandong City, Andong County, Liaoning Province, this small border fortress city, because of its close proximity to North Korea, has been a military fortress since ancient times.After the Qing court entered the customs, in order to keep the so-called dragon vein, the border ban policy was implemented in the Kanto region, and wicker borders were built in the area of Andong.Outside the wicker border, it is forbidden to engage in farming, animal husbandry, fishing and hunting, logging, and mining activities, resulting in the area around Andong becoming a barren land.After Zhang Zhidong entered the Kanto Reclamation Desert Frontier, Andong County gradually regained its vitality, and at this time it also became the bridgehead of the Liaodong Peninsula.The Han Kwantung New Army was all descendants of Han people who broke into Kanto from Shandong and Hebei, and most of the troops were bearded men recruited by Zhang Zhidong in Kwantung.After the assassination of Zhang Zhidong, the high-ranking generals of this army, all related to the nine mountains and eighteen villages, were all bloodbathed by the Qing court.Now the Han Kwantung New Army is commanded by Li Hongzao, the secretary of the military department, and the position of general in the army is vacant.It was also seconded by Li Hongzao from other units.Although this temporarily stabilized the army, the consequences were very serious.That is, the lieutenant generals of the army do not know the soldiers, and the soldiers do not know the generals, and the combat orders are very capable of carrying out.Li Hongzao is a civilian commander of the army, and he is honest by nature, and he can't see a little filth.Originally, in addition to the fixed salary, the Han Kwantung New Army also set up cards at important intersections to collect fees, and even smuggled goods from New China.However, after Li Hongzao discovered this matter, he immediately ordered the rectification of the small coffers of various armies, cutting off the financial routes of many middle and lower-level generals in the army.These generals had been holding their breath for a long time, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on Li Hongzao.One is to fight for military power, the second is to make money, and the third is to avenge the death of old friends and brothers.On the day of the vernal equinox, the sun shines on the earth, and it is peaceful.In the Kwantung New Army barracks in Andong County, except for the brothers who stood guard at the gate, the others slept lazily, chattered, and gambled.It turned out that the people in charge of patrolling along the Yalu River were too lazy to move, and they didn't even go out of the barracks in the morning.No one noticed that two huge sails gradually appeared on the horizon.The sails are getting closer and closer, and the ships below the sails are gradually revealed.From a distance, it looks like two small hills floating in the middle of the river.The barracks were set up one kilometer away from the Yalu River, and the two warships slowly stopped as if they had eyes, and after driving to a position perpendicular to the barracks.The "Xiuxiu" shell slashed through the barrel of the cannon, making two piercing sounds, piercing the silence of the entire dawn."
Boom, boom" One kilometer away in the camp of the Kwantung New Army, two deafening voices suddenly sounded.The shell hit the gate of the barracks, and the soldiers on both sides of the gate were shocked by the huge shock wave and bled out.The bombs scattered in a frenzy destroying everything around, and the gate, which was originally made of wood, was torn like a piece of paper."
Someone sneak attacked, someone sneak attacked" Commander Wu Lao Liu roared, and ran out of the command tent naked.He just found a little girl last night, and he tossed and turned all night before he went to sleep.The shell rang out like this just now, and it almost scared his urine out.The barracks had already been in chaos, and all the soldiers came out of the tents with their spears in their hands, and they all looked around nervously.This military camp stationed in Andong County has a total of one division's strength, with a total of tens of thousands of horses, and Wu Laoliu is the division commander."
Boom, boom," there was another sound of cannonballs in the sky.The soldiers in the barracks subconsciously looked up, only to see a dense patch in the sky, and they didn't know how many shells were flying."
Cannonball, it's a cannonball, dodge quickly, dodge" Wu Lao Liu's eyes were quick, he roared, and found a nearby earthen wall and lay down below."
Boom, boom, boom" A series of explosions sounded, and in an instant, gunsmoke rose from all parts of the barracks.The dust was splattered and the sky shook.But any experienced commander must know that the two cannon shots just now were just to determine the direction, and the real bombardment had just begun.The two warships on the banks of the Yalu River are the Liaoning and Shandong, which were commanded by Deng Shichang, commander of the North Sea Fleet.The task of the North Sea Fleet this time was to use its powerful firepower to tear a hole in the Qing army's defense line on the Yalu River, and then transfer all the North Korean Right Army Corps to the opposite bank.The Liaoning and Shandong are the latest warships in the Navy, and the guns used on them are also new rapid-fire guns, which can fire up to six shells per minute.A total of 30 guns were installed on the side of each battleship, and after Deng Shichang gave an order, all the guns were adjusted to the angle and bombarded the Qing military camp on the shore at a rate of three rounds per minute.Unbeknownst to the Qing army, there was an airship flying above their heads.The airship also provided the navy with the coordinates of the bombing, and the guns of the battleship bombarded wherever the airship stopped.The barracks were all made of wood and tents, and under the constant bombardment of artillery shells, a fire also ignited, and in an instant the entire barracks burned all over the barracks."
Get down, don't run around, lie down" Wu Laoliu was selected by Li Hongzao from the Protector Army, and it turned out that he had also fought with the Huaxing Army, so he naturally knew this thing.The more you run, the more the shells look like they have eyes.But the shells exploded in waves and everywhere in the barracks.The soldiers panicked, and they were willing to listen to him lying on the ground waiting for death.They were all in a mess, looking for a place to hide, and the last ones were torn apart by the fragments of the shells.The bombardment lasted for half an hour, and more than 5,000 shells were fired from 60 artillery pieces.The barracks of the Kwantung New Army were almost razed to the ground, and half of the soldiers were killed and wounded by shells: