Although the dragons had no leader and no unified command, as the war situation on the Ximen side became more and more urgent, the Taiping troops sitting on the same boat still reached out to Liu Guanfang's side one after another, and honestly brought the army over to help Liu Guanfang. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

But it was too late, if there were only a few dozen or so Wu soldiers rushing to the city wall, then the Taiping army, relying on the numerical advantage and the same constantly improving weapons and equipment, still had the hope of driving the Wu army from the city and re-holding the city wall position. However, when the selfish Taiping generals really launched a counterattack, the Wu army had almost a battalion of troops rushing to the west gate of Anqing, and the Taiping army could only hope for a miracle if they wanted to drive the Wu army off the city wall again.

After the troops gradually became sufficient, the soldiers of the Wu army of course took advantage of the narrow space on the city, lined up a number of dense horizontal formations to meet the battle, while protecting the space of the follow-up army in the upper city, while using the line tactics that the Wu army relied on to become famous to meet the invading enemy, the dense platoon of guns was endless, and the bullets were like a raging storm, and the Taiping soldiers who were killed from both wings were killed and wounded, and screamed again and again.

The Anqing Taiping Army, which was directly subordinate to the Wu army, also used line tactics to attack the Wu army's positions many times, and also relied on the space advantage that was very favorable to the firepower of both sides, and brought many casualties to the Wu army during the competition and queue up to be shot. However, in the case of the same tactics, the weakness of the Taiping Army's relatively poor equipment was doubled and magnified, the rate of fire was completely at a disadvantage, and the firepower was naturally suppressed very strongly.

"Ready! Shoot! ”

"Ready! Beat! ”

In the sound of the orders of the generals on both sides, the soldiers of the Wu army and the soldiers of the Taiping army fired volleys in rows, aiming at the enemy on the opposite side as much as possible and shooting. However, the firing pin guns equipped by the Wu soldiers at this moment gave full play to the advantage of the rate of fire, and they could maintain continuous fire with only two rounds of fire, and always blocked the road ahead with dense bullets, not giving the Taiping army a chance to get close.

On the contrary, the rate of fire of the guns of the Taiping army in Anqing was uneven, and the firing rate of a small number of equipped pin guns could barely keep pace with the fire rate of the muskets of the Wu army, while the remaining mini guns, flintlock guns, carbines and arquebuses had a fast and slow rate of fire, which was difficult to coordinate, and the density of firepower could not be guaranteed.

"Hit! Beat! Give Lao Tzu a heavy blow! Quick, load the gun, the sooner the better! ”

The roar of the generals of the Taiping Army has been continuous, forcing the soldiers of the army to load and fire at the fastest speed, but unfortunately the performance characteristics of the guns are destined to the fire rate of the Taiping Army is impossible to catch up with the elite of the Wu Army equipped with a firing pin gun, in the sound of ping-pong guns, no matter how hard the Taiping soldiers are to quickly load and shoot, they have killed and injured some Wu soldiers, but they still can't stop the dense bullets of the Wu soldiers like a storm, and the Taiping soldiers in the front row have been killed and injured one after another. No matter how desperately the Taiping soldiers in the back row immediately filled the vacancy, they still couldn't fill the front row of troops with continuous casualties, let alone reverse the firepower between the soldiers of the Self Army and the Wu Army.

In the fierce battle, the Taiping army launched seven linear attacks from both sides of the Wu army's position, but only two times they fired four rounds of volleys in front of the Wu army's position, and the rest of them were all only two or three salvos, which were directly defeated by the Wu army's fierce firepower, and the cost of casualties was also several times that of the Wu army.

The queue was completely at a disadvantage, and the Taiping army had no choice but to come up with the cluster charge tactics that were about to be eliminated by the times, in a vain attempt to charge the brigade to fight a hand-to-hand battle, but after this tactic, which was barely useful when Wu Chaoyue first started, was put into use again, it made the Taiping Army understand what it means that the times are progressing and science and technology are developing. -- They had just barely forced the Wu army to get close to the position after paying a lot of casualties, and the Wu army immediately threw out a large number of bitter acid grenades, which directly blew up their dense crowd to pieces, killing and wounding all over the ground, and completely lost the opportunity to fight in close quarters.

For the rear of the battlefield, the Taiping soldiers are lucky, they have not had much chance to taste such a taste, because with the passage of time, more Wu soldiers have successfully rushed to the city wall, and the Wu soldiers who have been further strengthened have launched an attack on the Taiping army's position, which has gradually suppressed the Taiping army and fought back one after another, and the Taiping soldiers at the rear of the position naturally do not need to worry about being forced to charge and die.

Of course, the Taiping army could not just give up directly, there were still Taiping troops rushing from the city to reinforce, but when they rushed to the steps of the city, the Wu soldiers who had gradually freed up their hands immediately smashed a number of grenades, and the Taiping army reinforcements who were lining up to the city were blown up to the wolf, with heavy casualties, and they could not rush to the city wall to reinforce at all, and of course they could not form a decent threat to the Wu soldiers on the city wall.

In addition to the advantages of the Wu army's guns, the narrow space on the city also successfully limited the path and speed of the Taiping army's reinforcements from other city gates, and the Wu soldiers wanted to hold a section of the city wall with a dense horizontal team, and the Taiping army did not want to get close easily, so the Taiping army that rushed to reinforce from the north gate was also unable to enter the Wu army's position, cutting off the Wu army's road to the city.

"The West Gate will definitely not be able to hold it, the West Gate is lost and the demon soldiers have entered the city in large numbers, what should I do next? Is it to fight in the streets, or to move out of the city as soon as possible? ”

The difficult choice of fighting to the end in the street and smearing oil on the soles of their feet as soon as possible was put in front of every Taiping army general, and as a result, although some Taiping army generals decided to live and die with the city, more Taiping army generals have been hesitating, holding a wait-and-see attitude with the intention of taking one step at a time, and at the same time, naturally there are some scum who are packing up gold and silver and preparing to run away.

The generals of the Taiping army have no leader and have different attitudes, but the tactical attitude of the Wu army is very resolute, that is, first take the West Gate City to the battlefield, protect the road to the city, and then appropriately send troops to reinforce the South Gate battlefield, and then take the South Gate division to the city, first control the highest point of the city wall and then try to forge ahead.

Although this step-by-step tactics are relatively slow, they are better than steady, and it is not easy to make mistakes and be turned over by the enemy, and it is precisely with the help of this steady tactics that the soldiers of the Wu army on the battlefield of the south gate have gradually ascended the city and succeeded, constantly rushing to the south gate of Anqing, and the Wu army company on the main battlefield of the west gate at the top of the city wall is a line, and has effectively controlled a large section of the city wall position.

It was only at this time that Cao Yanzhong issued an order for the Wu army to attack the city of Anqing, but before the order was issued, Tan Jixun, a staff member next to him, objected, first stopped the soldiers who went to pass the order, and then suggested: "General Cao, is there no need to be in such a hurry?" Wait a little longer, wait until it's all clear before attacking the city? ”

Tan Jixun is Cao Yanzhong's staff recommended by Zuo Zongtang when he fought in Sichuan, he has a calm and cautious personality and is quite talented, and Cao Yanzhong, who is not very educated, also attaches great importance to him, so after listening to Tan Jixun's opposition, Cao Yanzhong was not angry and ordered to be stopped, and asked: "What is Mr. Zishi's opinion?" ”

"Anqing is the capital of Anhui Province, and it is also the upstream gateway of Jiangning City, the pseudo-capital of Changmao, and the location is the most important." Tan Jixun pointed out: "Changmao has been operating here for many years, it is impossible for the city not to build many street fortifications, almost all the soldiers of our army have never been to Anqing, they are extremely unfamiliar with the terrain in Anqing City, and they hurriedly entered the city in the dark night, and they will definitely suffer a lot of losses when they start street fighting, or temporarily stabilize, and it is not too late to enter the city after the sky is bright." ”

"Also, a snake can't be headless." Tan Jixun also pointed out: "Lin Fengxiang, the leader of the Anqing bandits, has been killed by our army, and the long-haired generals in the city have no leader, and it is impossible to get together to discuss and act during the war. ”

"Under such circumstances, if our army's offensive is too rapid and too fast, the long-haired thieves in the city will inevitably resist with all their strength in order to protect themselves, and they will be forced to fight our army to the end. However, if our army slows down its offensive and lets the longhair in the city see the hope of escaping and surviving, it is possible that it will abandon the city and flee on its own, so that our army can take Anqing City more easily. ”

After listening to Tan Jixun's words, he felt reasonable, and considering that the soldiers were indeed extremely unfamiliar with the situation in the city, and the street fighting with black lights and blind fire was easy to suffer losses and waste ammunition and weapons, Cao Yanzhong nodded, and ordered the army to build fortifications on the spot to prevent the Taiping army from counterattacking, give priority to protecting the city wall position to rest and stand by, and at the same time send sappers to build a large cloud ladder under the Anqing city wall overnight, so as to quickly put troops into the battlefield in the city after dawn.

Although not as famous as his son, Tan Jixun is indeed a ruthless character who is good at perceiving people's hearts, when the Wu army soldiers built fortifications on the spot and slowed down the offensive, the Taiping army units with greatly reduced pressure showed signs of splitting, or advocated an all-out counteroffensive to recapture the position in the city, or advocated holding on to the support in the street battle, or secretly planned to flee for their lives.

It was Liu Guanfang, who resolutely advocated a counteroffensive to take back his position in the city, but unfortunately the main force of his headquarters had been severely damaged in the fierce battle, and his prestige was seriously insufficient to command the generals.

It is a pity that none of these people dare to expect the army in the city alone to withstand the attack launched by the Wu army after dawn, and they all pin their hopes on the Taiping army in Jixian Pass and Linghu, and the messengers who went out of the city to ask for help one after another, at the same time, most of these Taiping generals shouted that they would fight with the Wu army to the end, while quietly preparing to run away with the army when the situation was wrong.

Under such circumstances, when and how much the Wu army had to pay to take Anqing, the decision was instead run to the Majialing battlefield outside the city. However, fortunately, the Wu army did not dare to say that it was completely sure of the siege, and the Wu army had to consider casualties and ammunition consumption in street battles, but the initiative in field battles was completely in the hands of the Wu army. After a fierce battle, at about three o'clock in the second half of the night, the Wu army of Majialing finally succeeded in repelling the Taiping army that ran from Jixian Pass for reinforcements, and shattered the hope of the Anqing Taiping army for external reinforcements.

However, Tan Jixun did not completely guess the thoughts of the generals of the Taiping Army, and throughout the night, there were not many Taiping soldiers who took the initiative to flee for their lives in the city, and they were basically some grassroots soldiers of the Taiping Army who were too timid, and most of the Taiping soldiers were still holding their positions in the city, and several Taiping troops were building street fortifications overnight, posing a posture of fighting with the Wu Army to the end.

In the early morning of the next day, when the soldiers of the Wu army, who had hurriedly eaten dry food, were ready for street fighting, and after putting more than 200 grenadiers on the city wall and bombarding the city indiscriminately, they really launched an attack on the streets and alleys of the city, and the situation in the city gradually developed in the direction that Tan Jixun expected.

After a fierce battle for more than half an hour, the Taiping army in the street near the west gate could not stop the fierce artillery fire of the Wu army, and abandoned the street battle position and fled to the deep part of the city.

In some neighborhoods, some of the Taiping army resisted stubbornly, some of the Taiping army was about to collapse at the first touch, some refused to lend a helping hand to the friendly troops who were caught in the bitter battle, and some simply hid near the north gate and the east gate early, ready to leave the city at any time.

Only a few battalions sent troops to harass the flanks of the Wu army, trying their best to share the pressure on the defenders in the city, but most of the camps remained stationary, refusing to lend a helping hand to the friendly forces in the city.

In such a situation, if the soldiers of the Wu army can not win the street battle is simply one by one, the fierce battle to noon, the soldiers of the Wu army who entered the city from the west gate took the lead to kill the intersection in the center of the city, cutting off the direct contact of the Taiping army in the southeast and north cities, knowing that the defeat has been decided, the Taiping army also fled out of the city one after another, only a few Taiping troops in the city stubbornly resisted, and also set fire to the granary in the city in a frenzy. However, this did nothing but further arouse the anger of the Wu army, and at the same time, the isolated Taiping army in Nancheng could not withstand the attack of the Wu army entering the city from the south gate, and completely collapsed and fled to Dongcheng, where the Wu soldiers pursued and fought fiercely, and pursued and killed with all their might.

After three o'clock in the afternoon, the Taiping army in the city finally collapsed, scrambled to escape from the east gate and the north gate, and the Wu army then captured the two northeast gates, basically mastering the whole city of Anqing. The Taiping army in the Linghu area outside the city saw that the situation was not good, and they also fled to Zongyang or Jixian Pass, and the Wu army did not pursue and kill on a large scale, but only made every effort to clear the remnants of the enemy in the city and seize the city of Anqing as the base for the eastward expedition.

In the battle of Anqing, even if it was opportunistic and killed Lin Fengxiang, the main general of the Taiping Army, with one shot in advance, the Wu army still fought quite hard, took a long time, consumed huge ammunition, and suffered a lot of casualties. The key reason for all this is that the Taiping army has been operating in Anqing for many years, and the city fortifications are too strong and perfect, and the Taiping army under Lin Fengxiang did not directly participate in the Taiping civil war, nor did it suffer heavy losses in the two northern expeditions like the main force of Shi Dakai's lineage, and its strength was relatively intact, so the Wu army fought so hard.

But fortunately, thanks to the success of the beheading tactic, the Wu army still attacked Anqing more smoothly than the army expected, and the losses were much smaller than estimated before the war, and at the same time, except for the three important towns of Nanjing, Zhenjiang and Jiangyin, there was no city in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River that was as dangerous and difficult to fight as Anqing, and heavy troops were stationed to protect it. Therefore, after defeating Anqing, Wu Jun also held a celebration banquet to celebrate this hard-won victory.

Just as the saying goes, happiness begets sorrow, just as the Wu army was cheering for the victory in Anqing, a messenger of the Wu army in Shanghai who was marching west by land finally got in touch with the Wu army's eastward expeditionary army after going through a lot of hardships, and not only brought Cao Yanzhong, Wang Fu and others the news that the Wu army in Shanghai had fallen into a bitter battle, but also introduced that not only the Taiping army in Zhenjiang and Jiangyin and other places had established a defense line to block the river, but also the famous general of the Taiping army, Li Kaifang, also gathered troops in the area of Taiping Mansion and established an interception line in the east and west Liangshan.

"Raised by a bitch, it's so fast!"

Cao Yanzhong cursed a dirty word, but there was no way but to quickly send a clipper to send a letter to Wu Chaoyue, asking for instructions on the next tactical plan, is it to continue to advance downstream step by step? Or should you send a sailor to break through the blockade of the Taiping army and send reinforcements to the Wu army in Shanghai as soon as possible?