The wind and snow are much smaller unconsciously, and the soldiers of Fu and Zhang's two armies, who are attacking on the back, have also unconsciously rushed to the position of the Wu army on the top of the west mountain, and in close combat, whether it is the original arquebus, or the world's most advanced pin gun and Lizhi rifle, they have lost their shooting effect, and the two warring sides can only stand up bayonets, pick up primitive machetes and spears, and sacrifice their lives to fight with flesh and blood. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Like the hand-to-hand combat in the mountain road, the alternative Fu Zhenbang army and Zhang Guoliangjun in the Qing army are not afraid of white-knuckle combat, and are familiar with and even good at white-knuckle combat, even if they are limited by insufficient physical strength and the strength is temporarily at a disadvantage, they still fight with the Wu soldiers on the position, one after another, not retreating, and effectively entangled a large number of Wu soldiers and soldiers, and won valuable time for the Qing army's rear team to rush to the Xishan position.

With the light of the flame brought by a little bitter acid grenade, he clearly saw this situation in the telescope, Jiang Zhongyi was so anxious that he was sweating in the wind and snow, knowing that if he couldn't hold the West Mountain, and let the Qing army in the mountain road rush to the West Mountain to occupy the highest point, then the self-army would not only be difficult to destroy the enemy in front, but the Qing army on the side of Jingcheng would send troops to rescue, then the Wu army would probably have to win and lose.

"Do you want to rush up to the West Mountain with my last battalion to rescue?"

The idea of personally leading the army to reinforce the Xishan position appeared in Jiang Zhongyi's heart, but considering that there was no room for any mistakes at the exit of the mountain road, Jiang Zhongyi immediately dispelled this idea. At the same time, Jiang Zhongyi suddenly had an idea, and said secretly: "Why am I so stupid? Don't dare to let go of the front, can I let go of the back? ”

Jiang Zhongyi immediately sent someone to give an order to the Wu army camp guarding the Yanfeng area, ordering the battalion responsible for blocking the retreat of the Qing army to abandon its position and move to the Dongshan position, where the Qing army still retreated by the way from which it came. Then Jiang Zhongyi muttered to himself again, "You can't swallow it forcibly, you will choke to death if you swallow it forcibly!" ”

…………

It would have been nice if Jiang Zhongyi had thought of this idea earlier, because just when he sent people over the mountains and mountains to give way to herald, the Qing army on Jingcheng's side was also under the command of Shuanglu, and dispatched more than 2,000 people to the east in one go, and hurried to the area of Changgang to meet the headquarters of Fu Zhenbang, a famous general of the Qing army. And the army sent by Jing Cheng did not need to fight and rescue, basically as long as they appeared on the Changgang battlefield, they could immediately reverse the psychological situation of the warring parties, making the already difficult Fu and Zhang armies even more difficult.

Located in the Dongyao area between Jingcheng and Changgang, Li Hongzhang first received a report that the Qing army had sent troops to help, and he suddenly fell into a dilemma - it was definitely not certain to intercept it directly, and it was even more pure to seek death if he directly got out of the way. With no other choice, Li Hongzhang, who had successfully stabilized the Qing army for nearly three hours, gritted his teeth and simply retreated to the Changgang battlefield with his army.

"Go back and help Jiang Zhongyi, of course it is best to defeat the enemy in the mountain road before the Jingcheng Chaos Party rushes to Changgang, if you can't run away, you can also join forces with Jiang Zhongyi, climb the mountain and defend it, and wait for our reinforcements!"

While making up his mind, Li Hongzhang, who had been paying close attention to the situation on the mountain road battlefield, did not waste any time, and after rushing back to the mountain road battlefield with the only battalion, he did not have time to tell Jiang Zhongyi his plans, and directly ordered the battalion that temporarily obeyed his orders to rush to the Xishan battlefield for reinforcements.

Li Hongzhang's army, which suddenly rushed with dense torches, once made the soldiers of Fu and Zhang's armies see hope, but after seeing clearly that the army that came in a hurry was waving the banner of the Wu army and rushing directly to the west mountain, the officers and men of Fu and Zhang's armies who were fighting fiercely with the Wu army on the top of the west mountain were of course disappointed, and their morale was inevitably affected.

At this time, the reinforcements of the Qing army hurriedly arrived from Jingcheng and were only ten miles away from the mountain road battlefield, and if it were not for the mountains around Xihe and Beizhang, the Qing soldiers on the West Mountain should have seen the firelight of the reinforcements.

"The Wu thief in the back has withdrawn! Our retreat is open! ”

At the moment of life and death for Wu Jun, bursts of cheers sounded in the ranks of Fu and Zhang's armies in time, and the good news that Wu Jun took the initiative to give up cutting off the back road of the Qing army was also quickly sent to Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang, who was already injured, but in addition to the surprise, Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang of course immediately became suspicious of Wu Jun's abnormal behavior, and asked each other: "Wu thief took the wrong medicine, why did he suddenly let go of our retreat?" ”

"Could it be that our reinforcements are coming?"

Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang had this idea at the first time, and immediately turned their heads to look in the direction of the south, but inside the mountain road, all Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang could see was the gunfire of the Wu army at the exit of the mountain road, and they couldn't see the Jingcheng reinforcements who were indeed coming in a hurry.

After the Wu army battalion team responsible for cutting off the rear route was transferred to the Dongshan position, the bullets fired from the high mountains in the east naturally became more intensive, and the pressure on Fu and Zhang's armies, which were attacked on three sides, was also even greater, and at the same time, a difficult choice was also placed in front of Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang -- was it to take the risk of holding on for a while? Or take advantage of the opportunity that the back road has been opened to escape back to the interior of the mountain road to regroup?

The gunfire on the battlefield was intertwined, but the Qing soldiers around Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang were silent, their faces were full of exhaustion, their eyes were full of expectation and desire, and they all wanted to say and stopped, but no one dared to say a word, let alone say what they thought in their hearts.

Unable to stand the pitiful expressions of the soldiers under his command, Zhang Guoliang gritted his teeth and yelled: "Withdraw!" Let's try to keep the brethren first! ”

Hearing this, Fu Zhenbang was shocked at first, and subconsciously wanted to open his mouth to object, but after seeing the exhausted appearance of the surrounding soldiers, Fu Zhenbang swallowed the words of opposition back into his stomach, and after hesitating, he also nodded and said, "Withdraw." ”

Under the withdrawal order, the golden gong sounded loudly, but the soldiers of Fu and Zhang's armies were so tired that they didn't even have the strength to cheer, and they didn't stop one by one, but with the banners of Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang fled to the way they came, and the soldiers of Fu and Zhang's two armies who were fighting fiercely with the Wu army on the top of the west mountain also withdrew down the mountain like a tide, and at the same time, none of these Qing soldiers who hurried down the mountain noticed that there was a touch of reddish in the dark distance to the south......

After confirming the news that the enemy in front had fled to the way he came, Jiang Zhongyi sat on the ground with his buttocks, wiped the sweat from his forehead and shouted "Danger, even if the rebellious army in front lasts another cup of tea time, it will be us who escape." ”

"Zhongyi, now is not the time to relax." Li Hongzhang said quickly beside him: "We have to enter the mountain immediately and guard the intersection on both sides of the mountain road, and we should hold on to help immediately!" ”

Jiang Zhongyi nodded, jumped up with his hands on the ground, and then immediately commanded the army to enter the mountain to fortify, while re-blocking the narrow mountain road on the side of Yanfeng, while rushing to build a defensive position at the exit of the mountain road, and turned around to meet the Jingcheng Qing army. At this moment, Fu Zhang's two armies had not yet had time to fully withdraw from the Yanfeng area, and the Jingcheng Qing army was only five miles away from the exit of the mountain road.

I can't describe Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang's next emotional reaction, just took all the men and horses of the headquarters to withdraw from Yanfeng, and the sound of gunfire in the rear was again, and at the same time, the Wu army, who once took the initiative to get out of the way, frantically re-blocked the mountain road, and there was no need to send soldiers to climb the mountain to investigate, Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang had already understood how wrong their previous retreat decision was, and they also roared with regret, "God, I'm dizzy!" ”

It was too late to find out that he had made a big mistake, and the Wu army had not only re-blocked the narrow part of the mountain road, but also took the opportunity to catch his breath, re-seized the favorable terrain and prepared for battle, and it was difficult for Fu and Zhang's armies to break through even under normal conditions, let alone the current situation. So Zhang Guoliang had no choice but to scold his own foolishness, carrying Fu Zhenbang, who was crying loudly, and continued to retreat to the distance where he came, and the soldiers of the Qing army who had abandoned their previous achievements all looked depressed and silent, and in the wind and snow, only Fu Zhenbang's painful cry echoed......

"Brothers, I'm confused! I'm sorry for you! ”

On the other side of the mountain road, although the Wu army was also tired and sleepy, but in the case of the enemy in front and behind, the soldiers of the Wu army still relied on the favorable terrain to stubbornly meet the Jing Cheng Qing army, but the Jing Cheng Qing army, which was less than ten minutes late, was full of anger and bullfighting, but suffered from the unfavorable terrain, and the two fierce attacks were repelled by the Wu army hiding behind the temporary fortifications with intensive firepower, and the Wu army could not break through the Wu army's defense line and enter the mountain road, and Fu Zhang's second army was only seven or eight miles apart, but it could not meet in one place.

After the news reached Jingcheng City, Shuanglu only thought about it for less than ten minutes before deciding to temporarily stop the attack, preparing to wait for the sky to be clear, and let Fu Zhenbang's army, who must have been exhausted, rest for half a night, and then join forces to flank the Wu army in the mountain road, and open the road to meet the friendly troops into the Jingcheng Basin.

Still after the Qing army temporarily gave up the attack, the soldiers of the Wu army, who basically didn't have much rest for a day or two nights, had a little rest, Jiang Zhongyi also immediately discussed the next tactical plan with Li Hongzhang, and said: "Shaoquan, I think the best choice for us now is to quickly transfer all the troops to the mountains east of the mountain road, the mountains in the east are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the snow is so heavy that we don't have to worry about the lack of water, we can ensure that we hold on until our reinforcements arrive, what do you think?" ”

Li Hongzhang didn't answer immediately, and after thinking about it, Li Hongzhang also asked rhetorically: "General Zhongyi, have you considered such a point?" If we all move to Dongshan, it will be easier to protect ourselves, but what will happen after the rebellious army in Jingcheng and the rebellious army in the mountain road will join forces? ”

"What can be the consequences?" Jiang Zhongyi asked suspiciously, and said: "We are condescending on the top of the mountain, and our troops are concentrated together, so we need to be afraid that they will counterattack?" ”

"And what about our reinforcements?" Li Hongzhang asked rhetorically, and then pointed out: "If we let the two chaotic party armies meet in one place, then when our reinforcements arrive, the chaotic party army can calmly deal with it, and if it can block our reinforcements, it can not stop our reinforcements, and you can easily return to the city immediately, and then our reinforcements, your brother, will have the opportunity to break the enemy in one fell swoop?" ”

Jiang Zhongyi opened his mouth and stammered, and only after a while did he ask with wide eyes: "Do you mean to say that without making any adjustments, continue to defend the mountain road and the mountains on both sides, and do not give the rebellious army a chance to join forces?" ”

"That's right!" Li Hongzhang nodded vigorously and said gloomily: "Only in this way can we use the chaotic army in the mountain road as a bait to lure the Jingcheng rebel party to continuously invest troops into this battlefield and create enemy-breaking fighters for our reinforcements!" ”

Jiang Zhongyi opened his mouth wide again and said, "But this is not only dangerous, even if I succeed, the main force of my headquarters will basically be disabled?" ”

Li Hongzhang hugged Jiang Zhongyi's neck, leaned into Jiang Zhongyi's ear and whispered: "The main force of the headquarters is disabled, naturally your brother Jiang Zhongji and Jiang San will supplement you, you are doing this to create opportunities for him to make great achievements, and he can still lose you?" But if you are unwilling to work hard for your brother in order to preserve your strength, even if he doesn't say anything, what will he think in his heart? ”

Jiang Zhongyi suddenly realized, and then he didn't make any calculations, he just nodded viciously!

After accompanying Jiang Zhongyi to arrange the next defensive deployment, Li Hongzhang, who was tired and tired, did not rush to rest, but took the opportunity of the suspension of the war to personally interrogate the officers and men of the Wu army and catch a few seriously wounded in the mountain road, and learn about various Qing army military situations that urgently need to be mastered.

No matter how good Li Hongzhang was, intimidating and coercing, several seriously wounded Qing soldiers who were unfortunately captured refused to confess. Fortunately, Li Hongzhang still had a way, and after careful observation found that a Qing soldier was not resolute enough, he took him aside for interrogation alone, fed him water, fed him food, and dressed him with medicine, and even coaxed, and finally pried open the mouth of this Qing prisoner.

Of course, Li Hongzhang understood the reason why the enemy was so strong, and he also strengthened his determination to prevent the Qing army from joining forces no matter what--put the two fierce tigers Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang into the Jingcheng basin and gave them time to recuperate.

After Yifa decided to make up his mind, Li Hongzhang asked another key question to the Qing captive, and said, "Why did you march more than 100 miles from Gaoyi to Jingcheng in such a short time? Did Fu Zhenbang say the reason? ”

"Nope." The rebellious Qing prisoner shook his head and said, "Although General Fu is very good to us, he never allows us to inquire about military aircraft, so he didn't say the reason, and no one dared to ask." ”

Seeing that the Qing army prisoner's expression did not seem to be fake, Li Hongzhang asked again: "Then do you know about the official text leaving Zhengding with the main force of Zhili?" ”

"The official platform has already left with the main force?" The Qing prisoner was surprised and asked, "When did the little one never hear of it?" ”

Li Hongzhang continued to observe the words and expressions, until he confirmed that the Qing army prisoner should not tell a lie, Li Hongzhang said in his heart: "There must be something serious in the rear of the official document, otherwise, the rebel army will definitely not block the news so tightly and hide it from the soldiers of the own army." ”

"What is the important thing going on in the rear of the official document? Can you force him to this point, desperately blocking the news, while rushing to dispatch elites from Gaoyi to Jingcheng to strengthen the defense? From Gaoyi ......, Gaoyi ......, Gaoyi ....... ”

Silently reciting the place name Gaoyi, Li Hongzhang always felt that something was wrong, but his overly tired brain could not make Li Hongzhang think about it further, so he could only silently recite this place name and quietly fall asleep, and slept until dawn, until he was awakened by the gunfire from the exit of the mountain road......

…………

The first shot that woke up Li Hongzhang was fired by the Qing army of Jing Cheng, who was eager to meet Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang, the two elite strong soldiers, and as soon as the genius was bright, the Qing army of Jing Cheng could not wait to launch a frontal assault on the position of the Wu army, and the officers and men of the Wu army rose up to meet the attack under the command of Jiang Zhongyi, and resolutely defended the road in the mountains and the highest points on both sides.

Originally, the strength was not very enough, and it was necessary to guard the front and rear intersections of the mountain road and the high ground on both sides at the same time, of course, the battle of the Wu army was how fierce and fierce it was, how tragic and how tragic it was, and before it had time to repel the first wave of attack of the Qing army, Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang, the two elites of the Qing army, were killed from behind, and the soldiers of the Wu army were forced to fight on two fronts, and at the same time fought to the death with the Fu Zhang elite soldiers who were full of physical strength and killed red-eyed.

If it weren't for the narrow mountain road and easy to defend, and the commanding heights on the top of the mountains on both sides were in the hands of the Wu army, then it would have been difficult for Jiang Zhongyi's army to support it for a morning, but even so, the Wu army officers and men still paid a very heavy price in the fierce battle, and just after 11 o'clock in the morning, more than 500 people were killed and countless wounded.

The real test of the Wu army is still ahead, after many strong attacks were repelled by the Wu army, the Qing army of Jingcheng, who was red-eyed, not only put reinforcements into the mountain battlefield again, but also moved ten heavy artillery to defend the city, and covered their own infantry with artillery fire to attack the Wu army's position, and also sent a supervision team to cut down their own soldiers who escaped from the battle, forcing the Qing soldiers to go forward to fight hand-to-hand with the Wu army under the rain of bullets.

In this regard, Jiang Zhongyi's only way was to continue to invest in reserves, and also constantly draw troops from the mountains on both sides to go down the mountain for reinforcements, when the situation was most critical, Jiang Zhongyi also personally brought his own personal army to join the battlefield, desperately resisting the Qing army of Jingcheng from the south.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the four lines of defense established by the Wu army at the southern entrance of the mountain road had broken through three lines, and in the area of the rock peak in the north, the Shandong New Army under Zhang Guoliang had also rushed to the top of the mountain made of rolling stones and fallen trees with Lizhi rifles, and the Qing army of Jingcheng could already see each other's figures! And the Wu army's supervising team could no longer stop their soldiers from fleeing to the mountains and forests on both sides of the road!

"Bell

When the fate was on the line, the rear of the Qing army finally suddenly rang Jiang Zhongyi's long-awaited gong for retreating, which not only announced that the Qing army's dream of meeting was shattered, but also directly told Jiang Zhongyi an important news - the reinforcements of the Wu army finally came! There must be quite a few!

While the Qing army retreated like a tide, and the soldiers of the Wu army cheered, the Shandong New Army under Zhang Guoliang was also forced to retreat with a helpless howl, and was no longer able to threaten the Wu army Jiang Zhongyi who could defend the northern front with all their might.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Zhongyi, who had already killed with blood on his face, couldn't help but raise his bloody saber, raised his arms and shouted, but before Jiang Zhongyi could put down his arm, Li Hongzhang rushed to him like an afterimage, quickly grabbed Jiang Zhongyi's armor collar, and shouted: "Zhongyi, I understand!" I understand! ”

"Shaoquan, what do you understand?" Jiang Zhongyi asked confusedly.

"I understand why Fu Zhenbang and Zhang Guoliang rushed from Gaoyi to Jingcheng!" Li Hongzhang shouted excitedly: "Guanwen himself left with the main force, and he would rather affect the morale of the army than dare to announce the reason, Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang, the two elite soldiers of the chaotic party, also marched from Gaoyi to Jingcheng for reinforcements, do you know what this means?" ”

"What does that mean?" Jiang Zhongyi asked even more confusedly.

"Of course, it means that Guan Wen was really forced to retreat, not to lure the enemy, but to really have an earth-shattering event in his rear! He had to go back to the rescue, and he was afraid that we would take the opportunity to break through Jingcheng and enter the hinterland of Zhili, so he could only send troops from Gaoyi to strengthen Jingcheng in case of emergency! ”

"Also, Zhang Guoliang and Fu Zhenbang were stationed in Gaoyi before, clearly preventing our Henan friendly army from going north to Zhengding, and receiving us into the hinterland of Zhili! Now the chaotic party has taken the initiative to give up the Gaoyi defense line and go all out to defend Jingcheng, which means that the chaotic party is no longer worried that our Henan friendly army will go north to Zhengding to attack Jingcheng, and our Henan friendly army has also opened up another world in the hinterland of Zhili and stabbed another fatal point of the chaotic party! ”

More tired and sleepy than Li Hongzhang last night, Jiang Zhongyi of course couldn't understand Li Hongzhang's complex logical analysis, so he could only ask in a daze: "Then our friendly army in Henan has stabbed the fatal point of the chaotic party?" ”

"Beijing City!" Li Hongzhang replied categorically, and said: "Except for the capital, there is no place that can make the old fox of Guanwen so nervous and anxious!" Otherwise, even if our friendly army in Henan defeated Tianjin, the old fox in the official document would not be in such a hurry! ”