......A sharp whistle sounded, and more than 300 officers and men of Dong Xueli's department, who were resting, jumped up, and then began to form a combat group of more than 10 people under the command of grassroots officers and approached the Qing army's position along the trench dug up.

Each battle team has a complete range of troops, including shotgunners (using captured shotguns), rattan players (part-time melee knife axes), spearmen (wearing leather armor and using East Coast standard spears), archers, etc. After the reorganization of the East Bank Army, these troops were added to the establishment of armored grenadiers, and in general, compared with the green battalion of the Qing army, Dong Xueli's army has made great progress at least in terms of tactical thinking.

In addition, the soldiers of this army originated in Ningxia Prefecture, Shaanxi Province are resistant to war by nature, although they have all kinds of bad habits of the old army, but after the training of the East Coast Advisory Group, the appearance has been greatly improved, and the combat strength of the various servant armies on the East Coast (in addition to Chen Zhilong, Zhai Congge, Qin Shangxing, Du Chong, Ding Mingwu, Xie Qian, etc., a total of seven) ranks first, and is much stronger than the second-ranked Zhai Congge Department, you must know that the equipment and training time of the three or four thousand people in the Zhai Congge Department are better than those of Dong Xueli's Department. This shows Dong Xueli's ability to govern the army and the combat effectiveness of the officers and men of the department.

And Dong Xueli is indeed quite popular with Mao Desheng now. Although this person is a general, he has a very clear mind, knows what he should do and what he should not do, and whenever he breaks through the enemy's city and executes the wounded soldiers of the Manmeng Eight Banners, Dong Xueli never shirks, but personally supervises the execution of his own soldiers. When the captured Qing generals were sentenced to death, the officers and soldiers of the Dong Department also participated in the executions many times, and most of the female dependents of the Qing court generals were also rewarded to the meritorious men of the Dong Department. Arguably. Dong Xueli's whole army was 4,500 people. Now there is basically no possibility of reconciliation with the Qing court. Without him, the enmity with the Qing court was too great, and it was impossible to turn back.

For people like Dong Xueli who are knowledgeable and interested (there was a former gift to Mo Dashuai, the palace maid of Heng Wangfu), Mao Desheng is not stingy with rewards. For example, he approved 300 sets of armor for Dong Xueli in one go, and 200 high-quality muskets were also allocated to Dong Xueli's pro-army, and the ordinary soldiers of Dong Bu were also equipped with equipment (leather armor, produced in Jeju Island Ranch). On weekdays, there is no shortage of supplies. Every month, the salmon, saury and other pickled products are 20% more than other departments, and even more, Mao Desheng also allocated a batch of canned meat to the Dong Department (jar, 7.5 kg per jar, beef or moose products, red red roast and Laotan sauerkraut), which can be described as a pamper.

Dong Xueli received this treatment, and naturally understood what to do. Therefore, when advancing westward from Anqiu and Weishui, Dong Bu marched the fastest. and led his troops to clear a Qing army fortress outside Yidu County, which was the first shot in this battle. And when Ding Ming's troops attacked the fortress on the mountain and suffered heavy losses. Dong Xueli's department was transferred to join other troops in the attack on these stubborn strongholds of the Qing army.

At this time, the artillery on the east bank had already pulled the artillery closer and carried out targeted strikes on the camps that the Qing army had been renovating one after another over the course of several months. At this time, if you look at the mountain from a distance, you will find that in the vast field, from time to time, there is a cloud of white smoke rising from time to time, which is the artillery of the East Coast Army. Sometimes some long-barreled large-caliber artillery shells fell on the Qing army's position, and the place in the middle suddenly collapsed and cracked, giving people an incomparably shocking feeling.

Dong Xueli's subordinates have changed into the earthy yellow military uniforms of the East Coast standard, which is very close to the color of the land in the sun. They wore cowhide water bladders from the East Coast Army (regular troops had been replaced with thick carafes), as well as some dry food such as wheat crackers and dried fish. The march was fast, and in front of them was an open field, and the remnants of the Qing army were shooting at them with accurate bows and arrows, and sometimes a well-hidden Furlong cannon was brought out to shoot at them, which caused the casualties to increase dramatically.

If it were left in the past, the soldiers on the east bank could have slowly eliminated these enemy strongholds under the cover of artillery, but at this moment, in order to seize time, they couldn't care so much, so they could only let the lives of the servants and soldiers fill it. They were originally doing this work, and they all have this consciousness at this time.

And after the departure of the Dong Department, more than 400 people under the command of Qin Shangxing quickly took over the position from which they set off. These men were now arrayed in the field, doing military training at the orders of the officers, probably the last of their lives. According to the plan, they will also be thrown into battle soon, and the more than 300 people of Dong Xueli's department in front will rush forward without hesitation, whether they will conquer the Qing army's position or be scattered and defeated.

None of the people in Qin Shangxing's troops were newcomers, but at this moment, facing the strangulation of life and death, everyone was still panting with nervousness, so much so that the officers had to organize soldiers to train at the request of the military advisers on the east coast to divert their attention. While waiting for departure, they will practice all the movements and precautions that must be kept in mind again in order to prepare for the next rain of bullets.

The East Coast Military Advisory Group's transformation of Qin Shangxing's troops for many years was successful. Although this unit of several thousand people is still an old army in its bones, it has initially acquired the characteristics of a professional army in many aspects. Military training is also becoming more and more scientific and orderly, the soldiers' nutritional supplements are also sufficient, and their combat effectiveness is increasing day by day.

The shelling stopped. More than 300 people from Dong Xueli's department braved the arrows and lead bullets of the Qing army to pass through the obstacles set up by the Qing army, and then fiercely rushed to the position held by the Qing army. The armoured grenadiers fused the fused hand-thrown bombs frantically smashed over the heads of the Qing soldiers, the rattan players held their shields and slammed into the Qing soldiers, the spearmen followed behind to stab, the junior officers used their rich combat experience to command, and the shotgunners and archers followed behind and fired freely.

The battle has turned into a chaotic battle. The Qing army, which had been bombarded by artillery, was at the end of its strength at this time, and was beaten hard by hundreds of soldiers of Dong Xueli's department, who were like fierce tigers, and suddenly couldn't support it. Some of the Green Battalion soldiers threw away the heavy weapons in their hands, turned around and ran back, and some of the Eight Banners soldiers in the camp who were supervising the battle roared at them, but no one paid attention to them, on the contrary, they were quickly hit by the concentrated fire of the soldiers of Dong Xueli's department.

Are you kidding! Killing a true Tartar and granting thirty acres of land, accompanied by houses, livestock and women, how can there be such a cheap thing in this world? At this moment, seeing dozens of Zhenglan Banner soldiers wearing cotton armor in the position, the soldiers of Dong Xueli's Department had no fear in their hearts, because what they saw was not the "invincible" Jurchen elite, but the human-shaped cash cabinets shining with golden light!

The battle ended at four o'clock in the afternoon. More than 400 people from Qin Shangxing's department came up with reinforcements, and together with hundreds of people from Dong Xueli's department, they wiped out all the six or seven hundred Qing troops guarding the hilltop position. In this vast valley, nearly 10,000 soldiers on the east bank did the same thing under the cover of artillery, and the Qing army guarding this series of camps was crushed under the blows of the army on the east bank, and more than 7,000 Qing troops, including 1,000 Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners, were mostly wiped out, and the rest were scattered and disappeared. And in order to capture these thorns behind the main force, the army on the east coast also paid more than 4,000 dead and wounded, which shows the cruelty of the battle.

After capturing these Qing fortresses, which had held off the army on the east bank for five days, Mao Desheng simply moved his headquarters to one of the stockades overlooking the entire city of Yidu. He was very surprised by the unexpectedly stubborn resistance of the Qing army, but this was obviously not the time to get to the bottom of it, so he quickly ordered all units to launch an attack on Yidu County according to the plan. In addition, all 3,300 cavalry of the cavalry wing were also called upon to intercept possible enemy reinforcements and enemy troops fleeing out of the city. As for the elite security scouts, they were also asked to expand the search area and closely monitor the movements of the Qing army.

The battle against Yidu County was much larger than the previous one, with a total of about 20,000 soldiers included in the battle sequence. In addition to these infantry, more than three thousand cavalry and 24 artillery pieces were thrown into battle. Outside the battlefield, more than 20,000 soldiers, with the help of mules, horses, and carts, transported all kinds of supplies, especially gunpowder, to the front line through the muddy snow, which led to a large-scale non-combat attrition of the soldiers.

According to incomplete statistics, in the battle against Yidu County, a total of about 721 soldiers died in non-combat (mainly due to illness), and a total of 1,908 people were admitted to field ambulance centers.

With the full support of the soldiers, the army on the east coast, which was still well stocked, launched a tidal offensive against Yidu County, where the Qing army was shrinking. Every time the terrifying long-barreled siege artillery fired a shell, the surrounding soldiers on the east bank cheered collectively, while the Qing troops on the opposite side were as earth-colored as their faces.

The city wall of Yidu County, which had been urgently reinforced, could not withstand the fierce bombardment of the huge artillery on the east bank, and after three days of shelling, the city wall on the south side collapsed by six or seven zhang. The East Bank Army, which had long been demoralized by the power of the artillery, suddenly attacked and advanced towards the collapse of the city wall under the cover of light field artillery.

On the morning of March 10, after a night of fierce fighting, the First Wing of the Advance Team, under the command of Captain Zhang Xudong, defeated the Qing army that was blocked by many forces, and successively conquered the government office, the county office, Changping and other places. Tong Yangliang, the general soldier of the Qing Dynasty who guarded Qingzhou City, led his troops to break through at night, but most of them were annihilated in the wild, and only a few managed to escape.

The 18,000 Qing soldiers, including 2,000 Manchu and Mongolian officers and soldiers, relied on the fortified city that had been built for several months, but they only blocked the army on the east coast for 11 days. At this time, from Qingzhou to Jinan, it was basically a smooth road, and the situation in Shandong deteriorated again! (To be continued......)