Wawu Mountain was unexpectedly lost, Tunqi's flank lost cover, and it was likely to be divided and surrounded by the Chu army if it dragged on, so he asked Jierharang for instructions, and led the army to retreat on his own initiative and moved closer to Jierharang's main force.

On the march, Tunqi was in a heavy mood.

In this division of troops, Tunqi obviously felt that the Chu army had become more tenacious and more difficult to fight, and suppressed the Eight Banners both offensively and defensively, making him hit a few hard nails in a row...... The loss of Wawu Mountain is a very dangerous signal, and the retreating Chu army can still launch such a sharp counterattack, which shows that they have reservations before, and only now have they shown their true strength, Tunqi was shocked, and he was deeply worried about the prospect of the Battle of Ningzhen.

"After our army entered the mountains of Ningzhen, Wang Kefan lured the enemy step by step, and the plan was very big, and the danger was also asked to be clear to the uncle, don't fall for his tricks......" After seeing Jierharang, he solemnly reminded.

"Don't think that much. More than 15,000 soldiers in Yanling Town are trapped and waiting for help, this king knows that Wang Kefan intends to lure me deep into Maoshan Mountain, and he must be rescued, there is no choice here, do you understand? Jierharang walked to the window, stared at the verdant mountains, and said: "The Chu army under Wang Kefan is indeed the first division of the puppet Ming to be good at fighting, and whether this battle can be won, this king is not completely sure. But for the sake of the mountain, how can it fall short? Our army is now only separated by a mountain from Yanling Town, victory or defeat is between millimeters, breaking through the mountain and entering Yanling Town is victorious, trapped in front of the mountain to sit and watch Zhu Mala, Mulima is defeated, this king can only go all out, and must not let the reputation of Baqi Erlang for decades be ruined! ”

At the beginning, Zilharang's demeanor and tone were very flat, but in the end, his eyes were like lightning and his momentum was flamboyant.

Wang Kefan deliberately lured the enemy deeper. He had been aware of it for a long time, but in order to rescue Jumala and Mulimah. Still did not hesitate to step into Maoshan Mountain. Yes, this division of troops failed. The Chu army was more difficult to deal with than expected, but it could not immediately withdraw to Danyang County now...... The most important thing in the battle between the two armies is strength, the Qing army has more troops and stronger combat effectiveness, Zierharang has no reason to avoid the battle, and is confident that he can win, and even achieve a brilliant victory, annihilating the Chu army in the mountains of Ningzhen.

The 40,000 Chu army wants to eat the 60,000 Qing army? Zilharang was convinced that it was impossible. The Battle of Ningzhen was carried out in this way, and the worst result was before the Maoshan defense line was breached. Zhu Mala and Mu Lima were annihilated by the Chu army first, but at least there is no problem in self-preservation, if the momentum is not right, his 60,000 troops will turn around and retreat, and there are more than 20,000 Qing troops outside the Ningzhen Mountains to respond, and the Chu army will definitely not be able to stop it.

What we have to do now is to do our best to attack Maoshan and join forces with the Qing army in Yanling Town.

In the following days, the fighting on the Maoshan front became more and more intense.

In the face of the fierce attack of the Qing army. Wang Kefan personally wrote a mobilization order and conveyed it to the whole army.

“…… The Battle of Ningzhen was a battle about the fortune of the country and a battle about the peril of the nation. Victory can turn the tide, and defeat will destroy the country and extinction. All officers and men of all units of the Ming army must sacrifice and pay no attention to the cost. With the belief of success and death, he blocked the troops of Jierharang in front of Maoshan Mountain. And wipe it out completely! ”

This mobilization order was conveyed to every ordinary soldier, and the officers and comrades of the soldiers would vigorously explain the propaganda. Wang Kefan convened the generals at the same time and asked the battalions to show the determination to burn the grass and fight the old book, and fight to the death with Zierharang.

"What Jilharang brought this time are the elites of the Manchurian Eight Banners and the Han Army Banner, plus Zhumala and Mulima, nearly half of the elite soldiers that the Eight Banners can fight are in our pockets, even if this battle kills all our battalions, fill in myself, as long as I can destroy Jilharang, it will be worth it!"

Wang Kefan glanced at the generals and said resolutely: "This battle has been won, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty will no longer have the strength to attack Jiangnan, and at worst, it will be able to form a north-south confrontation like Wuhu Chaohua." Qingshan buries the bones of the loyal everywhere, why should the horse leather shroud be returned, even if we are all sacrificed here, the Yuezhou camp, the Tongshan camp, the Tongcheng camp and the Chuang camp will also raise the banner of the Chu army, and one day the Manchu Qing will be driven back to the outside of the pass! ”

It's really going to be desperate!

The population of the entire Manchu Qing clan was only one million, and there were only a few hundred thousand soldiers who could fight, and as long as the Han people showed the spirit of fighting one by one, they would never be wiped out.

In this crucial battle of Tianwang Mountain, Wang Kefan gambled on a gamble, regardless of his personal gains and losses, and also put aside the interests of Chu Jun and Chu Xun. In his heart, salvation is the only goal, the Qing army is the only enemy, and the self-respecting warlord is just a means, and he will never think about preserving his strength at this time.

After the meeting, the Chu generals returned to the barracks, still very excited. They have followed Wang Kefan for many years, and they have never seen this kind of scene, and they are full of generosity and pride, and their blood is boiling, and they can't help themselves. If the husband dies, he will die, and he will die for the country, so why should he be afraid of being crushed!

Zhang Jiayu and Lu Renqing both gave death orders, and the whole army lived and died with the position, unless all the 6,300 soldiers of the Dongguan battalion and the Puqi battalion were wiped out, unless the two of them were killed, the Qing army would not want to step across Maoshan.

"Qingshan buries loyal bones everywhere, why bother to return the body of the horse leather!"

In the face of the fierce attack of the Qing army, the Chu army broke out with unprecedented courage and sacrifice, holding the position and fighting to the death, although the Qing army did its best, the Chu army was also desperate, every mountain and nameless heights had to be fought over repeatedly, every stream and every valley would become a battlefield full of corpses, under the baptism of blood and fire, the Chu army was as tough as a hundred refined steel.

Tenacity! The Chu army has become more tenacious, which is the most intuitive feeling of the Qing army.

The Eight Banners who are not afraid of death rely on the advantage of troops, often can make some progress locally, capture a certain mountain or unnamed high ground, but can never break through to the depth of the Chu army's defense line, the Chu army's counterattack is extremely sharp, the position is lost during the day, and the night must be organized to recapture it at night, after the Qing army's assault troops cut into the Chu army's defense line, they will definitely be stubbornly blocked and counterattacked, either withdrawn in disgrace, or eliminated by the Chu army's reserves...... The Qing army was still exploring the tactical essentials of this kind of positional offensive and defensive warfare, but Wang Kefan had the experience and theories accumulated in the past 400 years. The reserves of the Chu army can always appear in the most critical position to plug the gap in the defensive line. Cut off the follow-up forces of the Qing army, surround and annihilate the assault forces of the Qing army.

The key to positional defensive warfare. In terms of how to use strategic depth and how to use the counterattack force of the second-line reserves, Wang Kefan is an expert in this area, and the positional defensive battle of the Chu army is also well fought, as for the generals of the Qing army such as Jierharang...... There is no clear concept of this yet.

The Qing army used brute force more, relying on the strength of the army and the Chu army, and launched a strong attack on the scale of more than 1,000 people, and the number of casualties increased rapidly, so that Zilharang had to convene an emergency meeting. Study the problem of tackling tough battles.

"This battle can't be fought like this anymore......" Although Jierharang has the intention of fighting to the death, since entering the Ningzhen Mountains, the total casualties of the Qing army have been nearly 10,000, even if he has 60,000 troops, he can't afford it...... Well, even if it costs to continue the attack, but too many casualties have caused a serious decline in morale, and even the most ferocious Eight Banners soldiers are silent when talking about mortars and flintlock guns. There was a faint fear, and the large number of wounded soldiers was a heavy burden, and the logistical pressure was very high.

"It's useless to have fewer soldiers!" He Luohui sang the opposite: "If you only send a few hundred people to attack the mountain like at the beginning, you will be hit by the cannons of mortar first." After a few more rounds of flintlock shots, there are not many people left before rushing to the trench, how can they attack upward? Don't talk about the loss of children in vain. If you delay, when will you be able to attack Yanling Town? ”

From the mouths of the captives, the Qing army had long known the names of mortars and flintlock pistols. Zilharang attaches great importance to these two new weapons, which are obviously bullies. I found some of the wreckage that had been blown up as treasures, and specially sent people to transport them back to the rear, ready to send them to Beijing to study and imitate.

What He Luo would say also made sense, Zierharang showed a look of embarrassment, and couldn't make up his mind for a while, but Tun Qi stood up and retorted: "It's not in the way to delay for a few more days, anyway, you can't let the sons and daughters go to death, there are too many people rushing up at one time, and more people are killed by cannons and leads, don't you know?" ”

"......" He Luo would be speechless.

In a real thermal weapons war, it is necessary to destroy the enemy's firepower points with fierce artillery fire before attacking the fortifications, and the red-coated artillery of the Qing army is limited by the terrain and does not play its due role...... There are fewer people in the attacking troops, and they are all over before they rush to the front, and there are more people in the attacking troops, and they will cause a large number of casualties in the rain of bullets.

There was a dead silence in the room, and the Qing generals looked at each other helplessly.

Tong Tulai looked left and right, coughed and said, "If you are not afraid of damaging the cannon, I have a way......

Under the urging and inquiry of everyone, he proposed a new tactic, pushing the red-coated cannon to the front of the mountain, building a special shape of a simple fort, and raising the barrel to increase the elevation angle of the firing range, so that the Ming army position on the hillside could be hit.

"This is a stupid way to make do, don't look forward to it too much, the foundation of the red-clothed cannon erected in this way is unstable, and it must be restored after every shot, and it is good if a stick of incense can be fired, and if you push the red-clothed cannon to the front of the mountain, it will be bombarded by the southern thief cannon......"

If the red-coated cannon changes the angle of fire, it has no advantage in range, and must enter the range of the Chu army's artillery to fight, although it can cover the Qing infantry, it will inevitably suffer heavy losses, and the red-coated cannon is not easy to manufacture, and the price is expensive, so it is too wasteful to use.

The generals of the Qing army discussed and discussed, but they never came up with a foolproof plan, and Jierharang hesitated again and again, and finally made a decision, adopting Tong Tulai's Jianyì, and reducing the casualties at the expense of the red-coated artillery.

"Send someone to Tan Tai to give an order, and send another 10,000 reinforcements into the mountains of Ningzhen, and guard the grain road for this king."

The main force of the Qing army went deep into Maoshan, and the supply line from Danyang to here was already seventy miles long.

After several days of hard fighting and the loss of more than a dozen red-coated artillery, they finally broke through the outer defense line of Maoshan and advanced to the core position of the Chu army - Sanmao Peak and Baopu Peak of Maoshan Jiufeng.

The nine peaks of Maoshan are the main veins of Maoshan Mountain, which are a cut higher than the surrounding nameless highlands, as long as the three Maofeng Peaks and Baopu Peaks are captured, they can break through the core position of the Chu army.

In the following days, the Qing army's offensive became more ferocious, but it remained stagnant.

The terrain of the nine peaks of Maoshan was even more dangerous, and the red-coated cannon once again lost its effect, Tong Tulai tried to push the cannon closer, directly to the foot of the mountain, but was hit by the Chu army's artillery. Because the distance is too close, in addition to the accurate and ruthless three-pounder cannon and four-pounder cannon, the mortar cannon that is not far away can also hit the red-coated cannon, as long as the cannon body is directly hit by the cannonball of the Chu army, there will be a different deformation of Cheng dù, and more than 20 red-coated cannons were scrapped in a row, Tong Tulai finally gave up this futile effort.

Seeing that there was only a layer of window paper, but it couldn't be pierced, Jierharang was in a hurry, and a string of bubbles rose at the corner of his mouth, the only thing that made him feel a little relieved was that the Chu army had not launched a general attack on Yanling Town, and Jumala and Mulima were still struggling to support it.

Obviously, Wang Kefan was deliberately consuming his offensive strength and targeting his 60,000 Qing troops (there were still 50,000 left), so he besieged Yanling Town and did not fight. Although Zilharang felt that the other party was too arrogant, he also had to admit that the Chu army was very tenacious, and if it was not for the containment of Zhu Mala and Mu Lima, and without the cooperation of the 20,000 Qing troops on the periphery, he was really in danger.

After several days of fierce fighting, the corpses of Sanmao Peak and Baopu Peak were piled up like a mountain.

After a day of fierce fighting, the Puqi battalion defending Baopu Feng shot a letter to the Qing army, asking them to send people to collect the corpses, stipulating that they were not allowed to bring weapons, the number of people was limited to less than 100, and a red cross and white flag was played as a symbol, and a schematic diagram of the red cross and white flag was drawn.

The former commander of the Qing army, Suke Saha, hesitated again and again, and after asking Zilharang for instructions, he sent a team of green battalion auxiliaries to collect the corpses, but he did not bring weapons or anything, but he did not want to play a white flag, and replaced it with a special red cross green flag.

Lu Renqing was angry at that time, and sent a sentry Chu army to rush down the mountain, capture all these green battalion auxiliaries alive, cut off the left ears of several leading officers, and gave them a red cross and white flag to wake, and then escorted them down the mountain to collect the corpses...... This was Wang Kefan's order, due to the hot weather, the corpses would decompose quickly, so the corpses of the Qing army were all handed over to them for their own disposal.

In contrast, the Qing army's awareness of hygiene and epidemic prevention was very poor, and with the large increase in wounded soldiers, the plague suddenly appeared in the army, and the infection spread rapidly. (To be continued......)