Careful deployment has produced the desired effect. Along the way, the bandits' rangers failed to cause any substantial obstacles to the officers and troops. According to Zuo Zongtang's words, returning to the official army is "a glimpse of it".

The officers and soldiers of all walks of life met on schedule in a small village and town called the "three no-links."

The name "Three Links" sounds really strange, but, as the name suggests, it can be imagined that this is the traffic key point to enter Dong Zhiyuan, and the elite of the bandits are exhausted here.

In order to make up for the weakness of the fortress, the Hui bandits dug a large number of trenches in the open area in front of the "three no-links" in advance. These trenches, criss-crossed by them, are both wide and deep. However, its function was completely different from that of the Xuan army's trenches, not for hiding, defending, and blocking, but purely to create obstacles to the offensive of the officers and troops, especially in the hope of hindering the movement of the horse team.

The bandits did not live in a trench, but either on the wall of the fortress or in front of the fortress as a whole team. Their calculation was that when the officers and soldiers crossed the trenches, they would have to spend a lot of time and be in a hurry, and they would not have time to protect them, so they could take the opportunity to "attack them halfway through" and inflict heavy casualties on the officers and soldiers.

This wishful thinking did not start.

First of all, the horse team of the official army did not directly attack the frontal attack of the fortress. Zuo Zongtang accepted Zhan Donglu's Jianyi, sent Lei Zhengxuan, the chief soldier of Tongguan, to lead the horse team to bypass the trench and return to the side and rear of the "three no-passes" in a large area.

Secondly, it took little effort to cross these seemingly wide and deep trenches. Zhandong Lubu Engineer Battalion, building a bridge in case of water is a basic skill, even the Yellow River and the Jing River can't stop them. And how many small trenches? Thereupon. Right under the noses of the bandits. As if by magic, more than a dozen trestle bridges appeared. More than a dozen long lines of officers and soldiers led up the trenches from the trestle bridge.

Not only men and horses crossed the trench, but also the cannons crossed the trench smoothly.

Thirdly, when the official army passed through the trestle, the Hui bandits were simply unable to give an effective volley. One part of the officers and soldiers crossed the bridge, and the other part carried out tight fire cover. The firepower and firing range of official and military artillery and foreign guns. They were far more than the Hui bandits, and the Hui bandits could not rush within the effective range of bows and arrows and earthen guns, and therefore could not effectively strike at the officers and troops who were crossing the bridge.

There is absolutely no way to do anything to "attack it halfway".

When all the officers and troops crossed the trench, anyone with a discerning eye could see that although the two sides had not yet fought with all their might, there was actually no suspense about the number of winners and losers.

The artillery regiment of Zhandonglu set up a twelve-pound Napoleonic cannon and bombarded it, but the Hui bandits could not support it, and the outer forts of the "three no-passes" fell one after another, and the officers and soldiers shouted and attacked the "three no-passes".

As originally planned. At this time, another group of bandits lying in ambush outside the village. It should also rush into the village, and together with the defenders of the "three nos", flank the officers and soldiers who entered the village, and strive for "dumplings for the official army".

Unexpectedly, the praying mantis catches cicadas and yellow finches are behind, and this ambush is about to attack, but the Lei Zhengwan horse team, who has returned to their positions, stabbed them hard from behind, and the bandits were taken by surprise and became chaotic.

As a result, instead of helping the defenders, the ambush soldiers collided and trampled on each other with the retreating defenders. The officers and soldiers took the opportunity to attack with all their might, and the Hui bandits completely collapsed and began to run for their lives.

The officers and troops pursued closely, and the Hui bandits were defeated and retreated all the way to the northwest, and the Hui bandit strongholds such as Jiaocun, Shishe Town, Xiaojin Town, and Dongzhi Town were successively recovered by the officers and troops. Along the way, more than 100 miles, the bandits were left behind, and the ordnance, mules and horses were abandoned. The remaining Hui bandits fled to Xifeng Town, which was the last stronghold of the Hui bandits in Dong Zhiyuan.

That night, all units of the Central Route Army of the Western Expedition were stationed in Dong Zhiyuan.

At the beginning of the next day, the officers and soldiers pulled out the team, and Chen Zheng arrived in Xifeng Town. As soon as the Hui bandits made a slight contact with the official army, they abandoned this stronghold and continued to flee in the northwest direction.

Zuo Zongtang's fold said: "According to the confession of the thief, the thief was old and weak, and he was heavy, and he was unable to escape because of the large number of people and horses. It's not more than a day's journey; The thieves behind the palace are pursued by the various armies, running through the night, one by the post horse pass to go out of the ring county, one by the Puhe River to the three-forked river, all in the black city, the lower horse pass will be together, and the same half of the corner city, the area of Jinji Fort. ”

So the officers and soldiers rushed to chase after him, and Zuo Zongtang ordered, "All armies are vying for the first place, and they don't have to wait for the next order."

The various divisions of the Central Route Army were quickly divided. Chasing at the front, it was Lei Zhengwan's horse team; They were followed by two infantry regiments of the Zhan Dong Lu Division. The rest of the troops were thrown off by these two troops. Xuanjun's strict training and good nutrition, in the continuous rapid march alone, showed a strength far beyond his peers.

The officers and troops first recovered the county seat of Zhenyuan County, and at noon, they finally caught up with the bandit rear team at Yima Pass.

The "one-day journey" in the mouth of the captives was less than half a day at the feet of the horse team and the Xuan army.

So the armies rushed to attack first, and after more than ten miles, they were completely out of formation, and the battle almost became a one-sided slaughter of the pursuers against the defeated.

Chased to the party's house, here "the mountain path is cramped, the ditch on both sides is dozens of feet deep", back to the bandits before blocking the back, eager not to move forward. The officers and troops were behind, and the attack intensified. The back team of the bandits is young and strong, squeezing the old and weak of the front team, trampling on each other, and countless people have fallen off the cliff. The terrible screams echoed through the valley, one after another, endlessly.

Ma Zhenghe and Cui Wei, the big leaders in charge of the palace, were anxiously red-eyed, "pro-supervise hundreds of people from the party, and block the death", but to no avail.

The party fought in a battle, and returned to the mountains and valleys of the victims of the bandits; On the mountain road, the dead bodies were stacked on top of each other, blocking the way for the officers and soldiers to continue their pursuit.

Ma Zhenghe and Cui Wei were all killed in this battle.

On the second day of the battle of Dangjiaxian, the official army recaptured the city of Qingyangfu; On the third day, the class teacher Dong Zhiyuan. At this point, Qingyang and Jingchuan were all purged, and in the battle of Dong Zhiyuan, the official army won a complete victory.

In the battle of Dong Zhiyuan, more than 30,000 Hui bandits were killed and trampled to death. There are also tens of thousands of people who died from the fall of the party, but it is impossible to accurately count them.

Among Dong Zhiyuan's bandit stocks, the most powerful young and strong ones were basically wiped out; On the way to escape, the old and weak women and children who retreated to Jinji Fort were frozen in the cold, hungry and tired, frozen to death, starved to death, and buried in the wolf's kiss, and there were countless corpses along the way.

The mules and horses that Dong Zhiyuan's bandits plundered were either killed in the battle or captured by the officers and soldiers, and almost all of them were lost, and few of them could be brought to Jinji Fort.

In the end, they fled to Jinji Castle, and they were almost no longer human. As Zuo Zongtang calculated in advance, this part of the return, not only failed to play any substantial role in the defense of Jinji Fort, but became a heavy burden on Jinji Fort's food supply and spiritual morale.

*

(On Chinese New Year's Eve, the first and second days of junior high school, take three days off, and resume the third day of junior high school.) Lion wishes all book friends: Happy Spring Festival and happy family! ）

*(To be continued......)