"According to the report, the resistance of the Qing army is still particularly fierce everywhere; The Imperial soldiers began their march in the early hours of the morning, without food, exhausted, and exhausted. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info”

The infantry captain Ochiai Kantomo, who was in charge of reconnoitring the enemy, rode up to the high ground on horseback and dismounted to make a report.

"General, do you want to stop the attack for the time being and let the soldiers eat first?"

The staff officer of the division, Fukushima Yasusa, prudently proposed to Tsuno Kanmichi: "Wait until your strength recovers, and conquer Pyongyang in one fell swoop in the afternoon!" ”

"Fukushima, Oshima Yoshimasa's capture of Pyongyang on that day was nothing more than a morale-boosting rhetoric, and I never took it seriously; The four-way army rushed thousands of miles to encircle Pyongyang, and all of them were able to attack on time on the scheduled 15th, which in itself was a great strategic victory! ”

Tsuno Kando smiled: "Order all the troops to retreat from the battle and establish a defensive line along the river bank; Send heralds to Oshimabe and Tatsumi Satobu, and ask their staff officers to come over tonight to discuss tomorrow's battle. ”

Soon, the gunfire of the entire southern city slowly stopped, and the city of Pyongyang, which had been under heavy artillery fire since four o'clock in the morning, suddenly showed an unbalanced silence.

Only lying on the battlefield, the batches of war horses that were about to die were screaming in a low voice.

"Boom-"

At this moment, in the north of Pyongyang City, there was a sudden roar of artillery like the roar of a thousand mountains, which exploded heavily in the ears of the generals of the Qing and Japanese armies!

Tsuno Guandao, Oshima Yoshimasa, Ye Zhichao, Wei Rugui, Ma Yukun, and many Qing generals and soldiers were all shocked to the north.

- Why are you fighting again?

"This opinion is really an immortal!"

Standing on the top of the Koshiyama Plateau, Tsuno Kando looked at the smoke of the cannon rising from the top of a hill in the northern city, and nodded his head in praise with satisfaction.

There is only the Tachimi coalition in the north, and the Oshima Yoshimasa in the east. Give enough pressure on the Qing army in Pyongyang to attract firepower, so that their side can calmly launch the main attack and capture Pyongyang City in one fell swoop.

"General, that's not right!"

As a divisional staff officer, Fukushima stood by Tsuno Kanmichi's side, and he clearly had a deeper understanding of the terrain near Pyongyang.

Looking at the surging fireworks on the top of the northern mountain, Fukushima An exclaimed in disgrace: "The artillery fire is from the Peony Terrace to the Xuanwu Gate, could it be that General Lijian has already conquered the Peony Terrace?" ”

Tsuno Kando and other Japanese generals looked at the high ground filled with smoke and constantly flashing with tongues of fire in the monstrous roar, and they couldn't speak with surprise and joy.

"Jingyan Mountain Heavy Fort, Jiziling Heights, and the Peony Terrace at the gateway of this Xuanwu Gate, the Qing army will definitely have heavy troops to guard it layer by layer with the help of the moat, how can it fall so easily?"

Fukushima Ann picked up the binoculars and looked at the Peony Terrace from afar, but the smoke on it covered the sun, and he couldn't see anything.

"Since it is Mudodae, and the artillery is bombarding Pyongyang City, then this is the imperial army occupying Mudodae and is attacking Xuanwu Gate."

It was only at this time that Tsuno Guandao's heart that had been worried was finally let go.

Since the coalition forces of the Ministry of Shangwen have occupied Mudandae, which means that the entire city of Pyongyang is covered by imperial artillery fire, will the victory in this battle be far away?

On September 15, 1894, at 11:30 a.m. in the Western calendar, at the Japanese artillery position on the Mudantai Heights, the allied forces on the northern front fired a hundred cannons.

The huge smoke instantly covered the peak of the entire Peony Terrace, and countless cannonballs erupted from the muzzle of the cannon with long tongues of fire, screaming into the sky, blasting down to the Xuanwu Gate five hundred meters in front.

Plummeting clouds of smoke and dust fell on the northern walls of Pyongyang, and a huge explosion exploded on the walls, drowning out all sounds and human tracks.

The battle for Xuanwu Gate between the Qing and Japanese armies finally began.

"Artillery battalion, bomb them for me, ahem-"

In the rocks, shrapnel and dust and smoke, Zuo Guigui roared angrily on the city tower.

"Raise the muzzle of the cannon for me, bang the!"

Adjutant General Yang Jianchun waited until an artilleryman beside him adjusted the muzzle, grabbed the torch in the artilleryman's hand, and lit the fuse.

"Zizi--, boom-"

This 95 mm caliber wild mountain gun, which was modeled after the Beiyang Ordnance Bureau, roared and smashed the projectile fiercely into the Peony Terrace high ground directly above.

"Adjust the muzzle, high, lower!"

Zuo Guigui likes weapons, and when he was in Mukden, he often lit artillery to bombard the bandit fortress on the mountain, and when he saw that a cadet soldier who had not graduated from the artillery department always missed the cannonball, he ran over and yelled for the artillery to adjust the muzzle, and then ignited it himself.

"Boom-"

The muzzle of the Krupp rapid-fire gun erupted a large tongue of fire, and the shells whistled and accurately smashed into the high ground of Peony Terrace.

"Your Excellency is mighty!"

The generals of the Feng army on the city wall praised one after another.

"Wang Shizhen, your artillery team quickly bombarded the Peony Terrace! Weijunmen, your artillery team of Cangguang Mountain also immediately bombarded the Japanese Mudantai Heights and blew up their artillery camp, otherwise we will finish all the games! ”

On the southern city wall of Pyongyang, Ye Zhichao and other generals looked at the direction of Peony Terrace.

"How did this old left, as well as Jiang Zikang, keep it? In just one morning, I lost Jingyan Mountain, Jizi Mausoleum, and Peony Terrace! ”

Wei Ru jumped arrogantly: "No wonder He Changying withdrew from Pyongyang City ahead of schedule, no wonder they privately said to the Korean reinforcements, 'I'm not afraid of losing when playing cards, I'm afraid that my teammate is a pig!" ’”

"Okay, the military strength of the Feng army is no worse than your Sheng army, my Luyu defense army; Playing like this can only show that the opponent on the northern front is too strong! ”

Ye Zhichao said with a gloomy face: "Even He Changying, a hairy child who doesn't have a full hair, knows that it is the best policy for the Pyongyang defenders to withdraw from North Korea neatly and defend the front line of Andong in Jiulian City, but why don't the emperor and the Manchu Dynasty officials in the middle hall understand?" ”

"This rabbit cub is slipping away so fast; And there is also a cavalry squadron of the Japanese army in Shun'an Station, and now no one can say anything! ”

Wei Rugui grinned and said: "Lao Ye, I think this battle is mysterious enough, I don't know if the lives of our two brothers have to be explained here." ”

"Boom-"

The city wall trembled at his feet, and the Luyu Defense Army Artillery Team and the Cangguang Mountain Sheng Army Artillery Team had already turned the muzzle of the cannon and began to bombard the Peony Tower.

"Boom-"

A solid cannonball slammed into the Peony Terrace position, slammed into a mountain cannon, splashing the sparks of the canopy, and in the piercing scream, the cannon suddenly tumbled, smashing a cannon who had not had time to run away.

And the solid bullet that was flattened rebounded and jumped, and plunged headlong into a group of vigilant Japanese squads, and six or seven Japanese soldiers were twisted into a pile of blood and mud before they even had time to shout.

"Yaga! Tsuno, what are they doing on Oshima? Are they all stupid by the Qing army! Especially that Tsuno, when it wasn't for the master, I saw that he was pitiful and let him escape, and he had already cut off his head and gave me a sacrificial knife, why is he still so stupid now? ”

The surrounding Japanese generals all looked away from afar, and they didn't seem to hear the disrespectful curse of Limi Shangwen.

Major General Shangwen yelled: "Adjust the muzzle of the cannon and level the artillery positions of the Qing army on Cangguang Mountain and the southern city wall for me!" Order Tomita, Ushijima, and attack the Xuanwu Gate immediately! ”

"Immediately bombard the artillery positions of Cangguangsan in Pyongyang City and support General Ryumi!"

"Immediately bombard the artillery positions of the Qing army on the southern wall of Pyongyang and reinforce the imperial artillery on the northern front!"

At the same time, Major General Yoshimasa Oshima of Jiangzuo and General Tsuno Michikan of Seongnam tacitly issued the most correct order at the same time.

"Boom-"

In Pyongyang City, the Japanese artillery in the north, east, and south, and then the Qing artillery in the southern city wall of Pyongyang City, Cangguang Mountain, and the southern city wall, were tightly glued together.

For a while, the cannon roared, resounding through the sky!

In the entire history of East Asia, the largest modern artillery bombardment battle of the army officially began.