On November 24, Huang Xing officially arrived in Zhenjiang, and Chen Xuan and others went to the dock to greet Huang Xing.

I don't know if it's because of the smoke of gunpowder in Wuhan, Huang Xing, a revolutionary pioneer in his 30s, gives people a sharp breath like a sheathed sword, even if Huang Xing and everyone smile and greet, there is still a feeling that people are difficult to approach.

After greeting each other, the resolute Huang Xing refused the offer to hold a reception banquet and demanded that the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai coalition headquarters be formed immediately.

In fact, there are only three people who have the strength to serve as the commander-in-chief, that is, Xu Shaozhen, Huang Xing and Chen Xuan, Huang Xing's prestige is incomparable to all those present, this old revolutionary has launched countless armed uprisings in China and even Nanyang for more than ten years, although the fight was not successful, but his revolutionary achievements can not be erased.

And Xu Shaozhen, as the commander of the ninth town of the new army, the army in Zhenjiang and Yangzhou is also willing to accept his command, not to mention Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan made his position clear at the beginning, resigning from the post of commander-in-chief due to lack of prestige and experience, and everyone argued for a long time, and finally Huang Xing made a final decision, and the commander-in-chief was Xu Shaozhen, who was strong and familiar with the situation in Jiangning.

After Xu Shaozhen assumed the post of commander-in-chief, everyone made a battle plan, and now Jiangning has 20 battalions of Zhang Xun's Jiangfang battalion, Jiangning General Tieliang's infantry standard and artillery battalion, Zhao Huipeng's patrol army 5 battalions, Wang Youhong's anti-smuggling team 10 battalions, etc., totaling more than 20,000 people.

Xu Shaozhen decided to divide the troops into three routes, Huang Xing led Qi Baicheng's Jiangsu Revolutionary Army and Lin Shuqing's Zhenjiang Army, a total of more than 9,000 people, Xu Shaozhen led the soldiers and horses of the ninth town of the headquarters and the remaining small coalition army, a total of more than 15,000 people, and Chen Xuan led the headquarters instructor and Dong Jian's guard regiment of more than 7,000 people.

At first glance, it seems that Chen Xuan's troops are the weakest, but in fact, Chen Xuan's army has gone through a series of battles from Hangzhou to Suzhou, and has been training in Suzhou for half a month, and the armament is sufficient, and the strength should not be underestimated.

Chen Xuan was given the task of capturing the Shogunate Mountain Fort.

After returning to his barracks, Chen Xuan hurriedly convened a military meeting with the officers, and the operational staff officers also made a sand table based on the military information provided by Xu Shaozhen and Qi Baicheng, who went to Zhenjiang first, and the officers began to discuss fiercely.

The Shogunate Mountain Fort is built on the mountain, there are two battalions of troops stationed, it can be called easy to defend and difficult to attack, after several discussions, there is still no good way, and the strategy of using the Songjiang Battle to lure the snake out of the hole is not successful, Tie Liang and others' combat method is to defend to the death, there is no way, only to attack.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the battle officially began, after two rounds of test firing, under the leadership of Ao Dongxun, 47 cannons were fired at the same time, and the overwhelming sound of shell explosions sounded on the Manchu staff mountain, and the sand and gravel were splashed and thick smoke was billowing out.

Some of the Manchu artillery people did not show weakness in firing back, and the two sides went back and forth, fighting happily, there was no skill to speak of, and they were all hard-hitting.

Chen Xuan hid in the hidden headquarters holding a high-powered telescope imported from Germany, and from time to time he saw that the Qing soldiers on the staff mountain were constantly torn to pieces by shrapnel, and the frenzied waves of madness even swept countless soldiers to the ground, and smashed them heavily on the ground, not knowing whether they were dead or alive.

Judging from the violent artillery sound and the number of shells fired back by the Manchus, the number of artillery on both sides was about the same, but the artillery of the Qing army in the staff was larger, and they were basically veterans, while the independent artillery regiment was better in accuracy.

Although the soldiers of the artillery regiment have undergone strict training, they have never experienced such a tragic artillery battle, and they are all recruits, the shells explode around them from time to time, and they see their comrades around them from time to time being torn to pieces by the shrapnel of the explosion, and even the corpses cannot be found, the stumps and broken arms are flying around, and the hot internal organs are splashed everywhere, the recruits slowly panicked, and Ao Dongxun personally killed a few deserters to stabilize the formation, but the accuracy of the cannon is not as accurate as at the beginning.

With Chen Xuan's order, the death squad shouted and began to charge, more than 100 people kept a sufficient distance, fan-shaped like the staff mountain rushed towards the speed, the machine gun on the staff mountain immediately sounded, the death squad was constantly knocked to the ground, Chen Xuan's hand holding the telescope turned white, and the intensity of the battle was far beyond Chen Xuan's imagination.

"Order the artillery regiment, three salvos, one regiment and three battalions will launch a charge as soon as the artillery falls, and the snipers will find a way to knock out the enemy's command staff and machine gunners!"

"Yes!"

There was another deafening explosion, and before the sound of the artillery fell, the officers and men of the third battalion had already raised their rifles and rushed to the staff mountain, and the snipers in camouflage uniforms were also constantly approaching to shoot accurately.

"See?"

"Instructor, I see, the combat staff officers are constantly marking the observed enemy fire points on the military map."

"Blow the trumpet and let the brothers of the third battalion and the death squad withdraw!"

Seeing the charging soldiers falling continuously, Chen Xuan's heart was dripping blood, and with a round of tentative attacks, it is estimated that the casualties will not be less than 100.

"Instructor! I'll take the second group with me,"

Feng Gu, the commander of the second regiment, stood up and asked for battle.

"Instructor! Or I'll go, my third battalion is still on the battlefield, I promise to take the enemy's position, and the students are willing to make a military order! ”

Huang Xunhe, the commander of the first regiment, and Qi Liyuan, the commander of the third regiment, also asked for battle.

"Nonsense! You are now the commander of a regiment, not a soldier who charges into battle, and fighting a war is not just based on blood and courage, but also by strategy, and a qualified commander must not only be able to win the battle, but must also learn to do his best to save the lives of his brothers! ”

"Yes!"

"Go back and prepare, and launch a general attack at 4:50!"

"Yes!"

The three of them stood up and saluted, turned and strode out of the headquarters.

"Give the enemy's firepower map to Ao Dongjin, launch a second round of shelling at half past four, if you can't pull out the enemy's firepower, tell him, I won't remove him, let him go back and pick up the child!"

Chen Xuan was extremely dissatisfied with the panic and rhythmless performance of the artillery regiment.

At 4:30, the shelling began again, Ao Dongxun probably also knew Chen Xuan's dissatisfaction, this time the shelling was no longer a random firing of one cannon after another, but a round after round of salvo fire, and the accuracy was also greatly improved, as you can see from the telescope, from time to time there are Manchu cannons that are blown away by the air waves of explosions.

The artillery shelling of the Independent Artillery Regiment was like a giant raising a sledgehammer, hammer after hammer on the enemy's position, and the shells of the Independent Regiment seemed to be endless, constantly pouring on the enemy's head, and the green of the top of the staff mountain had disappeared, revealing the ugly yellow mud ground and white tree stumps.

At first, there was artillery fire on the Staffy Hill position, but as the artillery of the Independent Regiment plowed over and over again from the Staffy Hill position, the sound of the artillery to return fire became less and less, and only sporadically sounded.

At 4:50, I couldn't wait for the sound of artillery to fall, and the 1st and 2nd regiments of the instructor, under the leadership of Huang Xun and Feng Gu, had already rushed out of the trench and rushed towards the staff mountain with a shout, 1000 meters, 800 meters, 500 meters, 100 meters.

As soon as the machine guns on the staff mountain rang out, and soldiers continued to fall, Chen Xuan's heart tightened, then he became dumb again, and then he sounded again, and was shot out by snipers.

As the team advanced to 50 meters, Chen Xuan's heart became more and more nervous, 40 meters, Chen Xuan's trembling hands had turned white, 30 meters, Chen Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, the enemy's counterattack was not as fierce as imagined, but at this distance, even if the enemy counterattacked, it was useless.

In the field of vision of the telescope, the fast soldier pulled off the fuse of the hand ** and threw it into the enemy's trench, the distance of 30 meters was fleeting, many soldiers rushed into the enemy's position in the smoke of gunpowder, and the bright red phoenix flag had been erected on the enemy's position.

"Blow the trumpet!"

Chen Xuan shouted excitedly.

When the charge horn sounded, Qi Liyuan, the commander of the third regiment, who had long been unable to hold back, had already taken the lead in rushing out, and Dong Jian of the guard regiment was jumping to his feet excitedly, the task of this attack guard regiment was to protect the headquarters and the independent artillery regiment, so they had no part in the charge.

More and more soldiers rushed into the enemy's position, and the shouts all over the mountains made people's blood boil, and the officers and men of the guard regiment and the artillery regiment were also shouting to cheer for their comrades, and Chen Xuan also had the urge to draw his sword and rush out several times.

Those who have never been on the battlefield can never imagine the hardships and tragies of the battlefield, and at the same time, they cannot imagine the exciting shock and thrill when the war is won!

"Report to the commander, our Commander Huang and Commander Feng of the Second Regiment have taken the Fort of Staff Mountain, the Manchu generals stationed at Staff Mountain have been killed, and the rest of the people have surrendered!"

"Tell Huang Xun and Feng Gu to clean up the battlefield immediately, whether it is our wounded soldiers or not, and transport the prisoners down the mountain together, notify Qi Liyuan, and build fortifications in 2 miles!"

"Yes!"

The soldiers who came to report saluted and strode out of the headquarters.

"Herald!"

"Here!"

"Inform Ao Dongjin, and the artillery regiment will immediately go up the mountain to take over the staff mountain battery, choose a place to build an artillery position, and notify the health team to prepare and take over the wounded!"

"Yes!"

Chen Xuan is no longer a rookie who has just entered the battlefield, after fighting the Battle of Songjiang, he has become more and more comfortable with commanding battles, and orders have been passed out from the command headquarters, and the remaining personnel have also moved in an orderly manner.

Chen Xuan jumped on horseback and walked to the staff mountain under the escort of a guard battalion, originally Hongyuan Automobile Factory sent more than a dozen off-road vehicles and trucks to Chen Xuan, but Chen Xuan found it useless, now the power of the car is not good, and the domestic roads are even more intermittent.

So Chen Xuan left all his cars in Suzhou, and the transportation of materials and artillery completely depended on people's backs, horses, camels, fortunately, there were enough refugees in this era, as long as they were given some food, they didn't have to worry about finding people to transport supplies.

When he went up to the top of the mountain, Chen Xuan really understood the cruelty of the war, the staff mountain fort was almost cut off a layer, there were stumps and broken human internal organs everywhere, blood almost soaked the top of the mountain, and the heart-rending screams were endless.

Countless recruits vomited while cleaning the battlefield, and Chen Xuan's stomach was also constantly twitching, and it was hard to suppress the feeling of nausea.