The divisions and mixed brigades under the command of Lin Ziran will set up staff departments to assign various operational staff officers to the commanders of the troops.

Among them, the infantry staff, artillery staff, cavalry staff, and logistics staff are all standard!

Otherwise, how do you think Wu Dajiang and Wang Dao commanded the troops, relying only on their own abilities, just kidding.

Even Lin Ziran's hardcore descendant, Liang Chenglei, the commander of the Fourth Division, would not be able to command the Fourth Division by himself.

Because Liang Chenglei was born in cavalry, he has played cavalry artillery at most, so this artillery is barely proficient, but he personally commands the infantry to fight, which is too reluctant!

The third mixed brigade was set up to garrison the northwest defense line, but the mixed brigade under Lin Ziran did not become three, but continued to have only two.

Because during this day's meeting, Lin Ziran officially ordered the expansion of the First Mixed Brigade stationed outside Chongguang City into the Fifth Division.

In addition to the strength of the original 1st Mixed Brigade, the 5th Division was reinforced with a new infantry regiment and an artillery battalion.

This move will increase the garrison force outside Chongguang Castle, that is, the strength of the newly formed Fifth Division, to about 8,000 men, which is naturally impossible to conquer Chongguang Castle, but it is still possible to rely on the fortifications built for defensive operations.

In addition to leaving a total of about 12,000 troops in the north and northwest regions to set up defenses, Lin Ziran officially led the main force back south on 12 May.

At this time, it was not long before he led the army north, and Li Dingjun and his army of more than 30,000 in the south had not yet arrived at the outskirts of the county at this time......

The army went all the way south, because it was not a battle, it was just a simple march, and the road was unimpeded, and there were steam transport ships to help transport heavy artillery, etc., so this speed was also very fast.

Seven days later, Lin Ziran led a part of the cavalry and infantry to return to Luo'an County.

At this time, where is Li Dingjun's army?

On the front line of Dingjiang Fortress!

Well, in fact, they were about to arrive at the outskirts of the county a few days ago, but when they learned that Zhao Song was defeated, they did not hesitate at all, and retreated directly back to the defense line of Dingjiang Fortress.

This made all the preparations of the Fourth Division, which was left on the front line of the county town and prepared to fight a hard defensive battle, useless!

"Some time ago, I was worried about them going north on a large scale, so we have been digging trenches, building fortifications, stockpiling strategic materials, and the arsenal is working day and night to produce all kinds of ordnance and ammunition!"

"But I didn't expect that they just made a false shot, and they went back after an outing to the north!"

When Liang Chenglei, the commander of the Fourth Division, said this, his tone was very relaxed, and there was even a hint of pity!

"Alas, we have arranged a lot of defensive lines in a targeted manner, which can effectively exert the firepower of our breech-loading rifles, as well as the firepower of our heavy artillery, if they take the initiative to attack north, they will definitely be able to break their heads."

"Now they have retreated directly, not to mention the waste of these arrangements, and they are going south later, I am afraid that they will storm the Dingjiang fortress!"

In the Linjiang Manor on the outskirts of Luo'an County, Liang Chenglei and several colleagues chatted in a low voice in the conference room set up in the huge living room.

Sitting next to him was Zhang Hanqiu, who was also a hardcore descendant of Lin Ziran, born in the camp school, and Liang Chenglei at the same time, and is currently serving as the commander of the third division.

Zhang Hanqiu also said with pity at this time: "Yes, if they go north, not to mention how much they can be killed by relying on the defense line, at least it will be easy to fight in the future." ”

"More than 100 kilometers south of the county town is a flat river, as long as the three cavalry brigades of our army attack first to contain them, and then the main force of infantry artillery crushes up, we can easily destroy the enemy!"

"Now, I'm afraid I'm going to storm Dingjiang Fortress!"

"But this Dingjiang fortress is not easy to fight!"

When Zhang Hanqiu said this, he was already frowning slightly.

At this time, Liang Chenglei saw Xu Zhongshu coming in from the door, and immediately said: "Brother Xu, it's just right to come, you know a lot about this Dingjiang Fortress, you can talk about it!" ”

Xu Zhongshu, the commander of the first division, immediately walked over with a smile on his face, facing these two hardcore descendants who were commensurate with Lin Ziran as teachers and students, even though Xu Zhongshu was still their instructor before, but now he didn't dare to put on the shelf of an instructor, let alone call himself their teacher.

Immediately stepped forward and said, "Brother Liang, Brother Zhang!" ”

After a brief greeting, Xu Zhongshu said: "Dingjiang Fortress is the first fortress between my Luo'an and Luohai counties, the terrain is complex, easy to defend and difficult to attack!" ”

"But if we want to go south, it is best to take this Dingjiang fortress, because only by taking this fortress can the fleet and transport ships go south unimpeded, enter several big rivers such as the Dingjiang River, so as to cover the army to cross the river."

"The Dingjiang River is the second largest tributary of the Luo River, and the lower reaches of the Dingjiang River in Dingjiang County are two or three kilometers wide!"

"In addition to the Dingjiang River in the west, there is the Xintai River in the east, and the river is also very wide."

"If we want to go south, we must cross the river, whether it is from the Dingjiang River or from the Xintai River, the difficulty is not small, and it is even no different from crossing the river directly from the Luo River!"

"If you want to successfully cross the river, the cover of the fleet is indispensable, otherwise, the enemy will be able to completely block the river by sending a fleet of ironclad ships!"

"And if you want to get the cover of the fleet, the fleet must pass through the mouth of the Dingjiang River!"

"The Dingjiang Fortress is on the north bank of the Dingjiang estuary, there are heavy artillery on the fortress, and with its fleet, the river can be blocked!"

Hearing Xu Zhongshu say this, Liang Chenglei said: "The importance of Dingjiang Fortress is beyond doubt, but can there be a way to overcome it!" ”

Xu Zhongshu said: "It's difficult, in order to conquer the Dingjiang fortress, Shao Bing's Luo Navy even drove up the thousand-ton ironclad ships to attack the fortification, and gathered dozens of ironclad ships for intensive attack, so they couldn't conquer the fortress, and in the end, because the situation in Luo'an had changed, Li Dingjun lacked ammunition and follow-up supplements, so he was forced to cooperate with Shao Bing."

Xu Zhongshu said: "This Dingjiang fortress is not easy to fight, if it is easy to overcome, then it will not be able to stop the Luo Navy from trying to go north for many years!" ”

"As for how to conquer Dingjiang Fortress, I'm afraid this is also the content of today's meeting!"

Hearing Xu Zhongshu say this, Liang Chenglei and several others also nodded in unison.

As soon as his lord returned to the county town with his troops, he didn't even catch his breath, so a military meeting was held, and the content to be discussed was naturally the subsequent southward journey.

And if you want to go south, you can't get around the Dingjiang Fortress!

So how to conquer Dingjiang Fortress is a topic that must be discussed.

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