With the cooperation of the Zhengjia Naval Division and the Guangdong Naval Division, the 17th and 18th Divisions launched a fierce attack, breaking through seven coastal barriers in a row, and burning the Qing army's Wangjiangmen Naval Division camp.

This battle, wiped out the Qing army sailors and miscellaneous soldiers nearly 3,000 people, the rout fled to the city of Hangzhou, the Chu army pursued from behind, the defenders in the city did not dare to open the door, the rout had to bypass the city, and fled, the Chu army pursued all the way until the scouts reported that Ji Xiha's reinforcements were in front, and then collected the troops and retreated to the coast of Hangzhou Bay.

Although the naval camp of the Qing army was burned down, seven strong walls were occupied by the Chu army, each wall was built with forts, erected artillery of various calibers, a total of more than 80 cannons fell into the hands of the Chu army, and other captured more than 120 large and small ships, thousands of banners, swords, guns, gunpowder and shells, enough for thousands of people to eat for two months' food, and captured more than 900 Qing sailors.

These Qing sailors belonged to a technical branch of the armed forces, and they were relatively lenient and used on the basis of merit; because they did not have time for careful interrogation and interrogation for a while, they were all taken to prisoner of war camps for temporary custody. There were four ramparts closer to the walls of Hangzhou, and the Chu army turned their guns and bombarded their own walls with Qing artillery.

When Ji Xiha arrived, what he heard in his ears was the rumbling sound of cannons, and what he saw was the naval camp that had become a ruin, the embers in the camp were not exhausted, and the black smoke was billowing into the sky, plus Hangzhou, which was constantly trembling in the shelling and constantly falling bricks and stones? The city wall seems to indicate that the Qing army in Hangzhou has reached the last moment of exhaustion.

The Eight Banners cavalry hurried over, but they failed to save the sailor, and the opportunity to venture out to sea to escape was gone. Morale was obviously frustrated, and Ji Xiha did not dare to launch an attack on the Chu army. He led his troops around the north of the city and entered Hangzhou.

By this time. There was no point in continuing to hold on to the Fuyang stronghold, Ji Xiha immediately sent people to Fuyang County and Yuhang County to give up the stronghold, shrink to Hangzhou, that night, the Qing army in the two strongholds of Fuyang and Yuhang took advantage of the night to quietly go out of the city, all the way to the rapid march back to Hangzhou, Ji Xiha painstakingly managed the Fuyang-Yuhang defense line was broken, Hangzhou completely became a lonely city.

The various units of the Chu army quickly advanced. Surround the city of Hangzhou.

The art of war is cloudy, ten are to surround it, and five are to attack it. Wang Sheng's army was about four times that of Ji Xiha, but he dug deep trenches, built a wall, and encircled Hangzhou, which was the advantage of mastering the "sea power", with the Qiantang River to the south and the sea to the east. There are also canals blocking the road in the north, as long as the Chu army blocks the west and northeast directions, the Qing army will not be able to escape, and there are a large number of battlefields on the Qiantang River that are monitored day and night. If the Qing army tried to cross the river to break through, they directly bombarded them into the Qiantang River with artillery to feed Wang Ba.

The Chu army closed the iron wall and blocked the way out of the Eight Banners cavalry. It is to eliminate this enemy in Hangzhou, and not to allow them to wander everywhere and cause trouble. Wang Sheng blocked the two directions with four times the force, and then equipped with the fortifications of deep ditches and fortifications. The Eight Banners could no longer escape.

Seeing the Chu army digging trenches from afar, Ji Xiha also knew that going on like this was the result of catching turtles in the urn, and he had always been active in combat, although the shape was unfavorable, he still organized the Qing army to go out of the city to counterattack several times, trying to find the flaws of the Chu army and open a breakthrough.

But he was unlucky, he met Wang Sheng, who had a calm personality, and Wang Sheng's war always gave people a feeling of swallowing slowly, because he had always sought stability, and he didn't like to take risks and advance quickly, but he had to be invincible first...... What kind of generals have what kind of soldiers, under his command, the Chu army surrounded the camp of Hangzhou is very firm, speaking of which is a camp, in fact, it is a weakened version of the city, Ji Xiha personally led the Eight Banners cavalry back and forth to kill, but every time he returned, although the cavalry's mobility is very strong, but the room for maneuvering in the encirclement is too small, the Chu army infantry from all directions attacked, Ji Xiha can only be forced back to the city again and again, check the results, the loss caused to the Chu army is not large, But he broke two teeth.

All preparations were advanced at the same time, and after the ditch and wall were built, the siege equipment was also built, and Wang Sheng ordered an attack on Hangzhou.

His offensive method is also different from others, it seems more simple, there is no enthusiastic 10,000 people attacking the city, there is no fierce fighting, but taking advantage of the night to clean up all kinds of obstacles outside the city wall of Hangzhou, try to avoid losses, and do not rush to war with the Qing army, just like a conscientious worker, the attack on Hangzhou as a job, in a dull atmosphere, step by step.

In the middle of the night, the Chu army quietly left the camp, thousands of people tied grass and carried soil, snaked close to the city wall, and filled the trenches and moats with sandbags.

On the city wall, the Qing army sentries on duty at night were finally alarmed, lit torches and lanterns to check, and the city defense walls of the Liuhe Tower immediately opened artillery bombardment. In the middle of the night, I couldn't see the target clearly, so I could only aim in a general direction, but the Qing artillery took a shit luck, and a shell hit the pile of people, killing fifteen soldiers who were carrying dirt.

Most of these soldiers were recruits and auxiliaries, many of whom were on the battlefield for the first time, and they were all frightened when they saw their comrades being broken by cannonballs and their flesh and blood blurred, and they did not dare to continue to go forward to bury the moat.

Seeing that his morale was declining, Teng Shuanglin swung his knife and killed two soldiers who wanted to escape, and personally led more than a thousand elites to rush forward and launch a fierce attack on the Liuhe Tower barrier.

Liuhe Pagoda is located on the south side of the West Lake, on the Yuelun Mountain on the bank of the Qiantang River, the Qing army has built a strong barrier according to the mountain, stationed with heavy guards, and there are more than 20 cannons on the fort, thinking that they are impregnable, Teng Shuanglin's attacking troops have discharged a skirmish line that they have never seen, and the soldiers are not fighting in close formations, but are separated from each other by a loose distance, and charge fiercely towards the top of the mountain.

After all, the solid shells are not as good as the flowering shells that can explode, and the target cannot be seen clearly in the dark night, although the Qing gunners are desperately firing, they cannot stop the Chu army's charge.

The Qing army guards thought that the Chu army did not form an array, even if it rushed to the top of the mountain, it was not a problem, and led a team of men and horses to fight out of the barrier, trying to counterattack and push the Chu army back, but Teng Shuanglin's attacking troops looked like some stragglers, and the Qing army came into contact with the battle, but immediately assembled after the battle, at first it was a squad, a unit. Then gather into a platoon, a team. And then a company, a sentry...... The Chu army and the Qing army on the front are entangled. The Chu army on the flanks and behind continued to attack the side and rear in a company and a sentry unit, the vision was unclear at night, the banner was not obvious, and the battle in formation was too luxurious for both warring parties, and the battle quickly developed into a melee and chaotic battle, the small force of the Chu army advanced and retreated freely, very flexible, and the Qing army trying to maintain the formation appeared very clumsy.

The night battle was supposed to be a random fight!

The Qing army commander found the battle situation unfavorable. Only then did he realize his mistake, the Chu army came up and was ready for a chaotic battle, each company, each post could fight independently, and they could find the target of the attack by themselves without the command of the commander, but the Qing army neglected this, there was no special arrangement for night battles, and the troops fell into chaos after being scattered, and the stragglers fought on the side. While looking for their own flags everywhere, although the Qing army was carrying a lot of torches, the trees on the top of the mountain were luxuriant, and the terrain was uneven. Those stragglers couldn't find the flag when they fought, and they had no intention of fighting anymore, and they were defeated in an uproar. From skirmishers to routs.

In the chaos, a small group of disguised Chu army death squads infiltrated the Qing army. They were all wearing the armor and armor of the Qing army, but they had a white sweat towel wrapped around their left arm. Outsiders didn't know the details, no one found anything abnormal, everyone fled to the front of the barrier together, the defenders inside hurriedly opened the door and let them in, the Chu army death squad suddenly burst out to seize the door, and immediately released a firework after succeeding.

Brilliant fireworks rushed into the air, and a tidal wave of shouts suddenly sounded on Yuelun Mountain, and the Chu army team rushed up together, rushed into the barrier, and wiped out all the Qing troops inside.

The Qing army scattered and fled down the Yuelun Mountain, Teng Shuanglin sent a team of men and horses to chase and suppress, and did not care too much, Hangzhou City has formed an iron wall, even if the Qing army can run for a while, they can't run out of this big encirclement.

Siege is the top priority!

On the Liuhe Tower Fort, one cannon after another turned its muzzle and aimed at Hangzhou City.

Because of the topography, the Liuhe Tower barrier is closely related to the defense of Hangzhou, and if you want to hold Hangzhou City, Liuhe Tower and Yuelun Mountain cannot be lost. Erecting cannons here can not only hit the city wall and tower of Hangzhou, but also cross the city wall to hit the city of Hangzhou. With a cannon burst into fire, the whistling cannonballs drew a visible trajectory in the night sky, smashing heavily into Hangzhou, the city tower was hit by the cannonballs one after another, the broken stone and bricks were splashed everywhere, with a loud bang, the main hall on the city tower collapsed, and then a piece of fire rose, illuminating the night sky red and shining.

Now that there was a reference, the Chu artillery was more sure, and after several test firing and corrections, all the cannons were aimed at this section of the city tower, and bombarded both sides of the city gate...... Hangzhou is a strong provincial city, there is also an urn city inside the city gate, and the shelling of the city tower is only to clear the defenses above, and the real breakthrough point is the two sections of the city wall on the left and right of the city gate.

Wang Sheng mobilized troops and horses, infantry and cavalry combined, lit pine torches, and lined up in front of the city gate to prevent the Qing army in the city from launching a counterattack, and then transported all the cannons captured by the Wangjiangmen Water Division Camp and lined up in front of the city wall to join the lineup of shelling the city wall.

The systematic artillery bombardment continued until dawn, during which the Qing army tried to counterattack with the cannons on the city wall, but they were all pressed down by the Liuhe Tower Battery, which was higher terrain, and after dawn, the Liuhe Tower Battery carried out two more sweeps of the nearby city wall, and when they saw anything suspicious from the telescope, they concentrated all their firepower to smash it. By noon, the city walls were in shambles, like the construction sites of old houses, and the slightly larger defenses, such as wolf's fangs, sasswoods, and artillery, were all smashed into a pile of scrap copper and iron and fragments, and the Qing soldiers hid behind the walls, never daring to raise their heads again.

Besiege!

Wang Sheng belongs to the "sharpening the knife does not mistakenly chop wood" tactics, although the preparation stage is slow, once the fight starts but will not drag the mud and water, the various obstacles outside the city wall have been cleared, the city wall itself is also bombarded by continuous artillery bombardment, the Chu army directly pushed up the solid siege equipment such as half a boat, and at the same time carried out operations at several points, digging and chiseling the city wall.

The cannon of the Liuhe Tower Fort, which continued to be responsible for fire suppression, constantly fired at the city wall, which was a fixed target, and after a night and a morning of correction, the artillerymen were able to shoot accurately, and each cannon was basically guaranteed to hit the top of the city wall without accidentally injuring the friendly troops below.

Methodical!

Wang Sheng's tactics may not be the most efficient, but they are definitely the most cost-effective, with the fewest casualties, and they have blocked the opponent's possible counterattack means in advance. The Qing soldiers braved the artillery fire of the Chu army, rushed up the city wall, and attacked the half-cut ship with fire oil rockets and falling rocks, but the half-cut boat was very strong, and their attack did not see any effect, and was knocked down by the artillery, archers and musketeers of the Chu army.

Break the city!

After digging a few big holes in the city wall, the Chu army blew up the city with gunpowder, and if it didn't work once, it would come again, little by little, and the solid provincial city wall was blown open with a gap several zhang wide, and the Chu soldiers of the brigade immediately rushed in. Although the Qing army resisted desperately and fought in the streets for another afternoon, it was still divided and eliminated little by little in the face of the absolute superiority of the Chu army.

At the last moment, Ji Xiha led hundreds of remnants to launch a decisive counterattack against the Chu army, and the Eight Banners had the pride and honor of the Eight Banners.

The Chu army fulfilled them.

But he avoided the war horse very carefully.

These hundreds of horses are all good horses, and since Ji Xiha is dying, he still has to pretend to be cool and handsome, and he didn't kill these war horses, of course Wang Sheng can't live up to his "heart".

In addition to these war horses, there were many other captures, the Qing army set fire to the warehouse at the last moment, although more than half of the materials were burned, but the Chu army put out the fire in time and still grabbed a lot...... Taking stock of the losses in this battle, the casualties of the Chu army were only a few hundred, and they fought a solid battle of annihilation at the smallest cost and recovered Hangzhou, an important town in the south of the Yangtze River!

The recovery of Hangzhou means the end of the war in Zhejiang, as early as two months ago, the Fujian Qing army learned of the news of the defeat in the battle of Ningzhen, and had already retreated to the back to defend, Zhou Lianggong retreated to Xianxia Pass, not daring to enter Zhejiang lightly.

The good news reached Nanjing, and the whole city celebrated.

In the celebratory crowd, there was no figure of Wang Kefan.

He was writing a letter to Emperor Longwu.

Emperor Longwu is struggling to support in Guilin, and Hangzhou has been recovered, so he can be persuaded to come to Jiangnan. (To be continued......) R1292