The midwinter season of the second year of Chongzhen came, and the Tongzhou City, which had been built in the Ming Dynasty, was not too long to link the new city and the old city together under the sufficient strength of the defenders and the reinforcing of the food hoarding and reinforcement, forming a perfect city defense system with a radius of more than nine miles and more than two miles. Of course, the battle of the capital made the defenders in the city realize that the times have been completely different, and the city walls may be able to rely on the defenders in the past, but in the face of the army with new firepower and combat systems, even the city defense of Beijing City is not strong, let alone Tongzhou City? Therefore, in addition to the continuous new and old castles, moats were built outside the castle in the middle of winter and many people were broken. New earthen walls were also built on the entire inner side of the city wall, and relying on the experience of Beijing's city defense warfare, a number of light artillery positions were established in the center of the city for projectile fire to support the direction of the opponent's breakthrough at any time, and bunker-like fortifications were also built in the inner slope of the city wall. The defense system that was once encountered in Beijing was copied as it was.

At this time, Xiao Xuan, who was ready to lead the army again to carry out the operation, did not feel too much pressure. The number of volunteers did not increase much as the month approached, and remained at about 600 people, while the strength of the auxiliary troops of the volunteer back battalion was re-expanded to about 1,000 people. After eliminating and supplementing the new troops, and even after two months of training, many officers and men who had not been consolidated before should have become reliable fighters with certain ideological and ideological qualities according to Xiao Xuan's estimate, and even if there is a gap between them and the old company, it will not be too big.

Of course, everything needs to be tested by the battlefield, and there will inevitably be a big error just by estimating. This is also why Xiao Xuan doesn't think that it will be a big deal if the defenders of Tongzhou are strengthened on the surface. The entire volunteer camp team also needs a tough battle to temper and test the team, and even expand to nearly 100 members of the Datong Society and the social team to be qualified.

In order to develop the consciousness of thinking and skillful battles, Xiao Xuan said to the supervisors above the class level and the members of the Datong Society gathered in his memories before the war: "You have also a general understanding of the enemy situation report of this battle, and many people have even checked it on the spot. You feel that in order to deal a devastating blow to the enemy in the shortest possible time, the casualties should not be too large. Should you attack during the day or at night? What is the siege idea? ”

Xiao Xuan's words were actually a big test for most of the soldiers in the volunteer battalion, because the quality of people is often incompatible. Courage and not being afraid of sacrifice or even volunteering are two qualities that are completely different from intelligence and wisdom in many cases, and even those who have both brains and courage have passed the test of one in a hundred miles, and those who have a basic sense of tactics still seem to be rare. However, there are also a few people who have a certain ability to think, and the opinions put forward are quite valuable.

"Contrary to other people's opinions, I think it is better to attack during the day. After these days of fierce battles in the city of Beijing, the enemy has also become smart and progressive. They will threaten our army with light and heavy shotguns or even explosives. If the offensive is organized at night, the danger posed by these means of projectile and firearm fire of the enemy is even greater. And that's not even counting the possible traps and traps. In the case that our troops are able to grasp the superiority in the local area, it is obviously more appropriate to launch a surprise attack during the day. During the day, it will be easier to spot the clues of the enemy's various mechanisms, the projectiles will be easier to dodge, and the movement and movement of the enemy in the city will be easier to see. A member of the Datong Society, who was supplemented by the Guards Battalion of the Teaching Brigade, said: There is no doubt that the officers and men who came from the Guards Battalion are obviously much better at thinking on many issues than the officers and men who are generally selected from the Volunteer Battalion.

"But it's too difficult to launch a surprise attack at a relatively close distance during the day, and it's not easy to deal with the enemy's ice... Some people also said.

"Now our army's family background is not in the past. The captured more than 20 Hongyi cannons, plus the original Western artillery of our army, there are as many as 40 Hongyi cannons, and for this kind of city that is not very large, it is completely possible to directly open the breakthrough from the front and attack steadily. . . ”

Xiao Xuan finally made a choice: to attack head-on during the day. This may not be the most beneficial method for the course of the war, but there is no doubt that it has inestimable benefits for observing the performance of the volunteer battalion.

Before the battle, the volunteer battalion formed a regimental-level unit composed of nine infantry companies with a total number of about 1,500 people, with regiments and companies as units, and made preparations for the battle. The artillery of the artillery corps, which had gathered and approached the southwest side of Tongzhou City, also launched a fierce artillery bombardment at this time.

Unlike more than 20 or more than a dozen Hongyi cannons, when the 40 Western heavy cannons launched a continuous fierce bombardment when they were ready, although the rhythm was not dense, they could continue to carry out continuous fierce bombardment, and in two consecutive hours, more than 4,000 shells hit both sides of the southwest corner at a vertical angle, making the entire city corner seem to be a breakthrough that can directly climb the city. When the Hongyi artillery group launched an artillery bombardment, the huge artillery group composed of about 200 general cannons was no longer stingy with ammunition, and in the direction of the city head in a row for about two hours, more than 20,000 shells were fired one after another at a distance of only about 200 paces. Almost at the same time, along the direction of a certain bevel, thousands of three-to-two artillery teams also launched fierce fire preparations.

A steady stream of relatively accurate shells flew across the small head of the city, and even the defenders, pushing heavy carts with wheelbarrows, did not seem to be able to safely approach within a mile of the southwest corner.

When the attack of the Volunteer Infantry Regiment began, the defenders in the city finally had a hint of reaction, and heavy bullets like black hail smashed from the direction of the center of the city one after another, even as dense as a black cloud. However, at the maximum projectile distance of about a mile, a large buckshot with a speed like a crossbow stands out in the daytime. The attacking team easily avoided some of the larger lead bullets as they advanced in a scattered formation, armed with steel shields, and at the same time carried a heavy load with a viewing slit in their hands, although many of them were hit by the smaller lead bullets, but there were not many casualties.

(End of chapter)