1890 King of Southeast Asia

Duan Zhiquan led the army to run all the way, and Zheng Lei was not idle either.

In the area ten to fifteen kilometers east of Xuzhou City, the Third Light Infantry Division dug out individual field fortifications like stars.

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This kind of field fortification may be just a shallow pit, or a small mound to clear the field of vision, or even a drainage ditch in the farmland. The construction is very simple.

Simple generally means not solid, and the firepower distribution is not very good, which is not suitable for holding on.

However, Zheng Lei did not plan to hold on, as the casualties would be great. Instead, he used a large number of field fortifications to form a deep position to minimize the enemy's offensive capability.

Before tanks and armored vehicles appeared on the battlefield, the two armies with no equipment difference in direct battle, as long as one side was not defeated, had never advanced five kilometers a day.

The war between Japan and Russia was a long-term war of thousands of casualties and thousands of artillery shells a day, and then advanced hundreds or even dozens of meters.

Finally, the Japanese fell in love with the tactics of outflanking, because it cost less, whether it was the lives of soldiers or ammunition and supplies.

In Xuzhou City, the two divisions coming from Jinling were each assigned a regiment, and the remaining six regiments were divided into two parts. Three regiments built barricades in the city and blocked the streets with dense machine gun fire.

The remaining three regiments were reserves, and their main role was to prevent Feng Huafu from attacking or breaking out at night.

…

On the night of April 2, Duan Zhiquan's troops, who had been on a long-distance raid, marched 20 kilometers in six hours and arrived at Zizhuang Town, where the Third Light Infantry Division was deployed.

Because the field positions were very scattered, Duan Zhiquan's vanguard did not find anything wrong at all and plunged into the densely packed positions.

The Third Light Infantry Division reacted and used crossfire. In just half an hour, more than half of Duan Zhiquan's vanguard suffered casualties.

"President, they are very evil. We were walking on the road and didn't notice anything. Suddenly, there was a gunshot, and then bullets came from all directions."

"We can see the fire, but there are too many enemies everywhere. Brothers have tried their best..." Biaotong had gauze wrapped around his head and his left leg was still bleeding. He reported the situation miserably.

"These cunning foxes have an ambush, map!" After listening to Biaotong's report, Duan Zhiquan seemed to be dismissive, but in fact, his hands holding the map were shaking.

He knew that he would be seen through, but in his calculations, Zheng Lei should be helpless at this time.

Where did they get the troops?

Thanks to the "powerful" intelligence capabilities of the Qing Empire, they had no idea that the two divisions in the direction of Jinling had arrived.

"We are only more than 20 miles away from Xuzhou City. If we get closer by more than 10 miles, the artillery can hit the position of the rebels under Xuzhou City, and the rebels will have to run away."

"Order! Tonight... stop attacking and have a good rest. Tomorrow morning, we must break through the enemy's defense with all our strength to save Xuzhou." Duan Zhiquan originally wanted to say a night attack, but seeing the tired expressions of the officers and generals, he suddenly changed his words.

The officers are so tired, can the soldiers be better?

They are already exhausted, and they have to go on a night attack, which is uncomfortable for themselves.

Therefore, even if Duan Zhiquan is very unwilling, he can only postpone the attack time and let the chance of victory go away little by little.

...

At one o'clock in the morning, the vanguard of the First Light Infantry Division returned to the northeast of Xuzhou City. Seeing the tired expressions of the soldiers after a long raid, Zheng Lei did not arrange them to build positions, but let them rest first.

At around four in the morning, Duan Zhiquan concentrated the few dozen light artillery pieces he had and launched a fierce attack on the "enemy position".

In order to improve the effect of the bombardment and achieve suddenness, the targets of the bombardment were all in the same area, the firepower was very dense, and only three minutes of firepower preparation were carried out.

On the one hand, Duan Zhiquan wanted to achieve the effect of a quick surprise attack. If the bombardment lasted too long, it would give others time to react. On the other hand, in order to march quickly, they did not carry too many shells.

Hundreds of shells fell in a 200-meter-long and 300-meter-wide area in a short period of time. A platoon of the Third Light Infantry Division stationed in this area suffered heavy casualties and its combat effectiveness seriously declined.

The main reason was that the machine gun group was destroyed by chance, and most of the soldiers were injured. In desperation, the platoon leader looked at the Beiyang Army swarming up, and fired two rockets to vent his anger and quickly retreated to give up the position.

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"Did you attack?" Duan Zhiquan put his hands behind his back, raised his head slightly, and looked at the direction of the attack.

It was dark, and it was useless to use a telescope, so it was better to pose in a good-looking way to increase the confidence of the people below.

"It seems that they have attacked. If the attack is blocked, there should be fire everywhere. Now there is nothing except two explosions." The captain of the personal guards stared at the front.

Duan Zhiquan's face became darker and darker, but fortunately the light was too dim to see.

"It would be strange if there was no movement. Since the rebels set up defenses here, it is impossible for us to rush over so easily." Duan Zhiquan felt more and more weird.

Fortunately, this weird feeling soon disappeared.

Whoosh~~

Pop!

Suddenly, one "light bulb" after another appeared in the sky, emitting dazzling yellow-white light, clearly illuminating the Beiyang Army that was swarming up.

Although the Beiyang Army was the best military unit in the Qing Empire and received the best training, it could not change the reality that most of the soldiers were illiterate.

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Soldiers need to fight under the organization of the squad leader or low-ranking officers, and it is still dark, so people will instinctively follow their peers.

It is still invisible in the dark, but once the flares are fired, the dense Beiyang Army soldiers are clearly visible.

Boom, boom, boom...

Tutu, tutu...

The dull sound of water-cooled machine guns or the crisp sound of air-cooled machine guns are mixed together, and tracer bullets are flying everywhere like fireflies.

The metal storm coming from all directions is like an iron broom, sweeping back and forth in the Beiyang Army's formation, and soldiers fall down wherever they pass.

It took only four flares before and after, and the noisy machine gun sound gradually stopped.

Whoosh~

Pah~

The fifth round of flares was fired, and with the light of the flares, Duan Zhiquan saw an attacking battalion in the telescope.

The bodies in Beiyang Army uniforms were lying on the ground in all directions, and some wounded were struggling. A rough count showed that a battalion was over!

"There are so many machine guns. Nanhua is really rich." Duan Zhiquan felt like a mouthful of phlegm stuck in his throat, which was very uncomfortable.

He didn't have time to feel sorry for the loss of a battalion of people. The dense machine gun fire from all directions just now attracted most of his attention.

One machine gun is equivalent to the firepower of a company. So many machine guns are hidden in the dark. How can we break the situation? This question bothered him.

Woo woo woo~~

The sound of heavy artillery breaking through the air sounded very terrifying in the dark night.

"Bombardment!" The captain of the personal guard pounced and pressed Duan Zhiquan under him.

boom!

The explosion came from not far away.

"Sir, it's the artillery position." The captain of the personal guard raised his head and looked at the direction of the explosion.

"Have all the artillery moved away?" Duan Zhiquan asked.

"This..." The captain of the personal guard didn't know this, and his eyes turned elsewhere, to those senior officials.

No one responded. It had been less than a quarter of an hour since the artillery attack, and it was late at night. Whether the artillery had moved and how much had been moved was a big question mark.

Standing up and speaking at this time would be asking for trouble.

"The First Town has them all!" Duan Zhiquan sighed, stood up and looked to the west. Xuzhou was in that direction, only a dozen kilometers away from him.

It was so close, but he might never get there again. If he had known this, he should have taken the risk to attack last night.

"There's still a chance, I haven't lost yet!" Duan Zhiquan kept suggesting to himself.

He didn't know the specific situation of the enemy, but he knew that with every second that passed, his chances of winning would be one point smaller, so he had to act.

"Yes!"

"I'm here."

The officers of the First Town stood up sparsely.

"Two corps of the First Town, from now on, launch continuous attacks on the left and right wings to cover the breakthrough in the middle."

"This battle is related to the victory or defeat of the war and the survival of the country. The First Town is full of banner soldiers, who have been blessed by the country for generations. This task is handed over to you."

"Listen carefully, if this battle is lost, then the Qing Dynasty will no longer exist, and all the wealth and power in your hands will be gone!"

Duan Zhiquan looked at the officers of the First Town and said it very bluntly.

"Dare not to die? I will do my best!"

"Sir, you can rest assured! Leave it to me, I will keep it safe!"

"I am the same..."

When it comes to their own interests, even if they are reluctant, these officers have to stand up and express their opinions.

"Go down and prepare. I want to hear your gunshots in two quarters of an hour." Duan Zhiquan waved his hand.

If possible, he really didn't want to let the First Town go, but there was no way. He couldn't use the First Town to attack, right? It would be better to surrender, and fewer people would die.

…………

"What's going on?! I'm a yellow belt, and you asked me to charge into battle. Is there any law? No! Kill me if you dare!"

"This Duan guy is not a good guy. Let's go and die, and let the fourth town rest. If this goes on, who will be the master?"

"That's right! Isn't it true that there is no distinction between master and servant? If you ask me, let's not move. No matter what Duan wants to do, he won't dare to touch us."

The news of the battle spread to the first town, causing an uproar. The bannermen of "noble status and pure blood" cursed.

They saw the lights in the early morning. It was said that hundreds of people went out, and they were all gone in a moment.

Letting them go now, isn't this asking them to die? Duan has no good intentions!

"Stop yelling! We are all bannermen, and we have received the grace of the country for generations. If we don't go up now, who can we rely on?"

"In my opinion, the Beiyang government is too useless. Our ancestors were able to conquer this country, so we can do it too!"

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"That's it..."

After a whole hour of arguing, Duan Zhiquan pulled out a soldier with no relatives and killed him, and the First Town reluctantly reached a consensus and agreed to a feint attack.

At this time, it was almost seven o'clock in the morning, and the entire First Light Infantry Division returned to support. The time Duan Zhiquan had fought for had been snatched back by Nanhua...