But although the other side was fleeing, they still fled with 75-mm guns, and the result was naturally very sad, not to mention that they did not stop others, and they were killed and wounded more than half, and finally fled in embarrassment, but the results of this infantry battalion were also quite rich, according to their own words, at least hundreds of enemy soldiers were killed and wounded.

Although the artillery of the unified army had the upper hand, the enemy still carried out a powerful counterattack in the early stage, which not only led to a part of the casualties of the army troops, but even the navy was sunk by a river gunboat, and many gunboats were injured.

The war started in less than one day, strictly speaking, in less than 12 hours, and the casualties reached more than 4,000 people, which is the price of fighting a tough battle!

Fortunately, the strategy of crossing the river went well, and now the troops of more than 200,000 troops have crossed the river from Wuyu Ferry and other ferries.

By noon the next day, the First Field Artillery Regiment of the Third Army had even crossed the river.

The 1st Field Artillery Regiment had 12 100-mm field guns and 24 150-mm howitzers, and the regiment's successful crossing of the river meant that the troops could finally be supported by a large number of heavy artillery.

At this time, the main force of the river-crossing force, that is, the three divisions under the Third Army, has fully crossed the river, and has left the beachhead, forming three arrows to break north, and its forward troops have reached the three towns of the southern front.

However, these three divisions could only get the support of a part of the divisional artillery before, although this level of firepower is not bad, but the firepower of the Jingzhou coalition army on the opposite side is not bad, and these Jingzhou coalition forces also have some heavy artillery.

This made the infantry units of the Third Army shrink a little, and they missed those heavy artillery pieces very much.

Now, with the heavy fire support of the artillery regiment, it will be easier for these infantry units to fight in the future.

For the infantry units that are fighting on the front line, the support of heavy artillery is very important, especially the long-range suppression artillery such as 100 mm field guns and 120 mm field guns in the artillery units.

Without these long-range suppression artillery, it is often more difficult to fight against the enemy's main forces.

Because the three-state coalition army on the opposite side has a lot of breech-loading rifled guns, even if their number is not large, even if most of their artillery has been lost on the front line of the Mihe River beach.

But they still have dozens of artillery pieces, and at the same time, Prince Kang has urgently dispatched reinforcements from two artillery regiments by train from the rear, and these two artillery regiments together have more than 60 rear-loading guns.

Prince Kang is well aware of the importance of the three towns on the southern front, and even more aware of the importance of the hundreds of thousands of troops who have now retreated to the three towns on the southern front.

If this 200,000 army is finished, then the entire southern front will have to be declared completely finished, and then their Ji clan will have to consider the defense of the capital division.

Therefore, when he learned of the rout at the front, he did not hesitate to send the last two rear-loading artillery regiments in his hands, more than 60 rear-loading artillery pieces, to the front line, not only the artillery unit, but also the strategic reserve in his hands with 30,000 people.

No matter what, the three towns on the southern front must be defended!

Holding the three towns of the southern line is equivalent to holding the southern railway, and as long as the southern railway is not lost, then the forest thief army will not be able to go north along the railway line to the Beijing division.

As for the forest thief army bypassing the railway line and heading north, then it doesn't matter.

Because if they dare to make a detour, the 200,000 troops of the three towns on the southern front will dare to cut off their back route.

The defensive strategy of the three-state coalition is actually very simple, if it can hold the Mihe defense line, it will be defended, and now that it can't be defended, then it will lay a huge nail here in the three towns on the southern front.

The nail that the forest thief army can't bypass and must attack!

As a result, the situation on the battlefield quickly changed from yesterday's river crossing and anti-river crossing operations to an offensive and defensive battle of the three towns on the southern front.

Although more of the main forces in the rear had not yet arrived, and although a large number of heavy artillery units had just crossed the river, the units of the Third Army did not stop.

After resting for the night, at dawn today, the Fourth Cavalry Division had already broken away from most of the main force and began to detour along the east, preparing to bypass the three towns on the southern line and go straight to the railway line behind the three towns on the southern line.

Their task is to destroy the railway line north of the three towns on the southern line, and they do not need to stick to a certain area, they only need to cut off the railway line so that the train cannot pass.

To put it bluntly, it is to engage in sabotage.

As for the strategic detour of the war, it is not their task, it is the task of the Second Cavalry Corps and the Third Cavalry Corps.

At present, the personnel and horses of these two cavalry corps are crossing the river through numerous pontoon bridges, and they will not be able to launch a strategic detour for a while.

But once they have crossed the river, the two cavalry armies, more than 50,000 elite cavalry, will make a large-scale strategic detour, aiming directly at Guan Chongcheng.

Guan Chongcheng, the county seat of Zhounan County, the southernmost part of Jingzhou, is about 50 kilometers away from the Mihe front, and the headquarters of the General Headquarters of the Three-State Alliance, the third son of Yongchang Tianzi, and Prince Kang are stationed here.

Of course, these cavalry units were not to conquer Guan Chongcheng, but to go over first and encircle them strategically, on the one hand, to cut off the connection between Guan Chongcheng and the three towns on the southern front, and on the other hand, to cut off the connection between Guan Chongcheng and the Jingshi Division in the rear of Jingzhou.

Interspersed with a wide range of roundabouts, this has always been the specialty of the Daheng United Army, and now it is no exception!

In fact, in the frequent roundabouts of yesterday and today, a large number of enemy troops have been annihilated, and even the number of enemies destroyed is much greater than yesterday's strong offensive operation.

The next day, the Jingzhou Front estimated that each unit had killed and wounded at least 30,000 enemy troops, and even surrounded and destroyed an entire enemy division through roundabout operations

By the third day, the number of enemies destroyed by the unified army was even greater.

At the same time, by the evening, with the arrival of the cavalry troops, the troops of the Third Army and the Fourth Army had completely completed the strategic encirclement of the three towns on the southern front.

Although the enemy army seems to be still holding the three towns on the southern front, in fact, not all of the enemy forces that were able to retreat from the Mihe defense line to the three towns on the southern front were finally able to retreat, and a considerable part of them were annihilated by the Daheng unified army.

As a result, the current three towns on the southern front have a maximum of 160,000 trapped troops, including 30,000 people who have been urgently reinforced in the past few days, and 30,000 people who were originally stationed here.

Only about 100,000 people managed to retreat here!