Outside Xi'an County, on Little Finger Mountain, Li Weiguo was condescending, looking at Xi'an County through a telescope, and beside him were Wu Yong, Chen Jingnan and other staff, as well as the generals of the Shanghai Army.

Su Sanniang was standing in it, but her eyes swept towards Li Weiguo from time to time, and she was still angry about being molested by Li Weiguo yesterday.

"Looking at Wei Changhui's posture, it seems that he wants to stick to the rhythm of Xi'an County!"

As soon as someone said this, some Shanghai generals laughed and said: "Wei Changhui's main force has been wiped out by adults, and there are only 5,000 soldiers and horses left, so I want to defend the city to the death. ”

Hearing the words of his subordinates, Li Weiguo turned to Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan and asked, "What do you think the two gentlemen are doing with Wei Changhui?" ”

Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan glanced at each other, both of them were old gods and smiled, as if they were humble, and finally the former said first: "In the first battle of Meiling, Wei Changhui knew that his 15,000 elites were annihilated, and he would definitely estimate that the strength of our army would be at least more than 20,000. Wei Changhui only had 5,000 soldiers and horses, and although he was the elite of the Taiping army, he was definitely not the opponent of our army. But Wei Changhui chose to stick to the city, there must be a conspiracy in this! ”

Li Weiguo nodded, did not speak, but continued the city defense of the officialdom Taiping Army, only to see that the Taiping Army at the head of the city was nervously arranged, there were more than a dozen general cannons, and some musketeers, the number of people was in the hundreds, it seemed that it should be Wei Changhui's personal guard.

At this time, Chen Jingnan began to say: "What conspiracy can Wei Changhui have? If 5,000 troops defend the city, they can block tens of thousands of Qing troops and eight banners, but they will definitely not be able to stop our Shanghai army, because we use foreign guns and cannons, and the final result of defending the city like this will still be the same. If it were me, I'd rather fight outside the city, and the odds would be much better than defending the city. ”

Chen Jingnan's words reminded everyone.

Li Weiguo suddenly asked: "Is it possible that Wei Changhui has been hiding strange troops outside the city, once our army besieges the county seat." This hidden strange army suddenly appeared and attacked the rear of our army? ”

Wu Yong said: "This is very possible! I'm afraid that the foot soldiers alone will be killed by our army's muskets before they reach our army's formation! ”

Chen Jingnan also agreed: "Unless it is cavalry, and there are no less than 2,000 cavalry, it must be a surprise attack at night to possibly pose a threat to our army!" ”

Li Weiguo nodded and asked, "Then Wei Changhui has such a large number of cavalry?" ”

Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan immediately looked at Su Sanniang, Li Weiguo thought that Su Sanniang had stayed in the Taiping Army for a long time, and he should know about this, so he asked Su Sanniang: "Eldest sister-"

"I don't know!" Su Sanniang said angrily. By the way, he glared at Li Weiguo fiercely.

Li Weiguo knew that Su Sanniang was still angry, so he sighed: "If the eldest sister doesn't tell the truth, my 20,000 Shanghai soldiers will be in danger, maybe I, Li Weiguo, will die here tonight!" ”

"Nonsense!" Su Sanniang was suddenly nervous, worried about Li Weiguo, and immediately comforted Li Weiguo and said: "Wei Changhui's cavalry, at most, is just here to kick the camp, don't worry, my sister will take it out." I won't let you die here! ”

Li Weiguo smiled bitterly when he heard this, but he learned from Su Sanniang's words that Wei Changhui must have cavalry, so he gave Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan a look.

Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan naturally knew about their master's affair with Su Sanniang, and they turned a blind eye on weekdays. Now that the stakes are high, the two of them have to come forward.

"Please also ask Chief Su to focus on the overall situation!"

"Please tell the truth!"

Su Sanniang saw that Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan asked like this, and she couldn't be angry anymore, so she glanced at Li Weiguo angrily. said: "That's right, Wei Changhui, as the king of the north, has an elite cavalry force of 3,000 people as a pro-army escort!" ”

Everyone heard the news. They all gasped, and the secret road was so dangerous.

Wu Yong said: "That's it, Wei Changhui dares to defend here, it is to rely on this cavalry, I am afraid that once my army encircles Xi'an County, this cavalry will inevitably come to steal the camp!" ”

Chen Jingnan said with a smile: "Since we know that this cavalry exists, then let them come to the camp, and we will wait for the rabbit to eliminate this cavalry in one fell swoop." ”

The two strategists gave a plan, which Li Weiguo quickly adopted, and immediately ordered his generals to prepare.

Wei Changhui's cavalry could only hide in the nearby mountains and forests, and in order not to startle the snakes, Li Weiguo did not let the reconnaissance battalion get too close to the mountains and forests.

In the afternoon, 20,000 Shanghai troops drove to the county seat of Xi'an, densely packed, looking from afar, like thousands of green rice fields.

The big cap, sunglasses, green military uniform and black leather boots were the key symbols of the Shanghai army, and now they have spread all over the country, and they are not unfamiliar to the Taiping army.

The Shanghai army was divided into three roads, surrounded the county on three sides, leaving only the west gate without encirclement, and the typical tactic of encircling three and missing one.

Wei Changhui stood at the head of the city, watching all this, but did not react, just sneered instead.

Outside the east gate, there were 10,000 Shanghai troops in an orderly formation, of which at the forefront was a team of five thousand people, who would launch a siege operation, and the other five thousand troops were responsible for pressing the formation.

Mr. Liao hurriedly came to the city and reported to Wei Changhui: "Your Royal Highness the Northern King, the secret soldiers have been properly deployed, and the scouts of the Shanghai army have not discovered it. ”

Wei Changhui suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and sneered: "I heard that the Shanghai army is powerful, this king wants to see how this king's three thousand iron horsemen can stop him Li Weiguo, and if he doesn't step Li Weiguo into meat sauce, he can't solve the hatred in this king's heart." ”

Mr. Liao looked at the Shanghai army outside the city that was arranging troops, the killing atmosphere made him feel frightened, although he was afraid, but he was not convinced, he painstakingly helped Wei Changhui train 20,000 elites in the blink of an eye let Li Weiguo destroy 15,000, this revenge can be avenged.

Thinking of this, Mr. Liao said: "His Royal Highness the King of the North can rest assured, even if he can't kill Li Weiguo this time, he will be killed and injured heavily." Of his 20,000 Shanghai troops, at least 15,000 should be left behind to pay tribute to the heroic souls of the 15,000 soldiers who died in Meiling. ”

Wei Changhui saw that Mr. Liao was so confident, he was also deeply infected, and the fear that he had when he looked at the dense Shanghai army outside the city suddenly disappeared.

At this time, the sound of drums sounded outside the city, high-pitched and passionate.

This is the offensive overture of the Shanghai army, Wei Changhui has heard it many times before, but he is acting with the Shanghai army. So I don't care. Only this time it was different, and he clearly felt the monstrous killing intent.

Plop puff!

Outside the city, there was the sound of the army's leather boots stepping on the ground, which was uniform, and the pace of 5,000 people was like the footsteps of one person, which showed that the Shanghai army was well-trained.

This momentum really frightened Wei Changhui and Mr. Liao, and their originally confident hearts suddenly loosened a little.

But it was only for a moment, and neither pride nor self-esteem allowed them to applaud the might of their enemies, but could only hide it in their hearts.

Plop puff!

Plop puff!

As the neat pace of the Shanghai army got closer and closer. That sense of oppression seemed to come to the face, although it was still seven or eight hundred meters away, but it made the Taiping soldiers at the head of the city feel an inexplicable coercion.

This is the might, the power brought by a strong army, just like the power brought to the Eight Banners of the Qing Army every time the Taiping Army attacked the Eight Banners of the Qing Army, which can make the enemy frightened without a fight.

"What are you doing in a daze? Hurry up and prepare to defend the city! ”

Wei Changhui was also shocked when he saw that his generals were nervous and frightened one by one. hurriedly shouted loudly to calm the hearts of the army.

At this time, the first echelon of the Shanghai army had already begun to form and the artillery was in place.

"Fire!"

With the commander's order. Thirty-two artillery pieces fired a salvo like thunder.

Shells exploded on the city walls, shattering the masonry in an instant, sending them flying in all directions. Suddenly, some soldiers were hit by fragments, either dead or wounded.

Shelling has always been the appetizer of the Shanghai army. Every battle must be the first, and it has been tried and tested, which can not only kill and injure the enemy, but also deter the enemy's psychology, making him timid and afraid of war.

The cannon roared, the smoke filled the air, and the whole city was soon engulfed in a sea of fire, filled with the screams and wails of the defenders.

The shelling lasted for a full hour, leaving the otherwise regular city walls in shambles, with corpses strewn across the ground and rivers of blood.

Such a powerful artillery fire, but it is the first time that the Taiping army has encountered it, although the Qing army also has a lot of artillery, but unfortunately most of them are solid iron bullets, and the destructive power is more than enough to kill. Even if the Qing army's flowering shells were only exploded into two or three petals, and their lethality was very limited.

But the shells of the Shanghai army are full of power, the flowering shells are really bursting flowers, any shell explodes, there is no possibility of survival within a radius of a few meters, the huge power is enough to tear the human body apart, that kind of cruel and bloody scene, so that the surviving Taiping army was frightened.

"Fight back! It's a fight back! Don't we also have cannons? Shoot me! ”

Wei Changhui had a dirty face, shouted in embarrassment, and suddenly a personal soldier went to supervise the battle, and ordered the gunner to fire back.

Soon, at the head of the city, more than a dozen generals of the Taiping army opened fire.

I saw that these cannons, whose ages can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty, opened fire violently, and the sound of the cannons shook the sky, but it was only thunder and rain, and the cannonballs could only fall four or five hundred meters outside the city, and they were not as far as the infantry phalanx of the Shanghai army, not to mention the artillery position of the Shanghai army located eight hundred meters away.

The shells of the Taiping Army did jump the officers and soldiers of Shanghai at first, but soon the officers and soldiers of Shanghai saw that the shells of the Taiping Army could not reach them, and they were immediately relieved.

A few minutes later, the artillery of the Shanghai army fired another volley, and the second round of shelling began.

This time, the artillery of the Shanghai army had a new task, because the Taiping army opened fire, exposing the position of the battery, and the Shanghai army began to counterattack after discovering the artillery position of the Taiping army, although the artillery of the Taiping army did not seem to be a big threat, but the Shanghai artillery team still decided to kill the artillery of the Taiping army first.

"Boom!"

The explosions came and went, one after another, and the shells of the Shanghai army continued to fall near the forts of the Taiping army, and some of them directly hit the artillery, damaging the artillery. In some cases, they hit the gunpowder piled up nearby, causing a series of explosions that destroyed the Taiping army's batteries one after another.

In less than half an hour, the Taiping army's dozen old antique artillery pieces were all dumbed and lost the ability to counterattack.

At this time, the drums of the Shanghai army changed, and the phalanx of the infantry of the Shanghai army began to advance, and they approached the city wall with neat steps.

Five hundred meters!

Four hundred meters!

One hundred meters!

At fifty meters, the soldiers of the Shanghai army raised their muskets!

"Fire!"

At thirty meters, the soldiers of the Shanghai army received an order to shoot at the head of the city!

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Rows of guns rang out, flames erupted, smoke dispersed, and close-range infantry battles began.

At the top of the city, a large number of Taiping fortifications were destroyed by previous rounds of artillery bombardment, and the casualties were heavy.

However, this Taiping army is elite after all, and it has been on the battlefield for a long time. They were indeed afraid of the cannons of the Shanghai army, and they were also panicked, but in the end they calmed down and relied on the strong walls to defend.

The Taiping army also had muskets, and there were hundreds of muskets in the Beiwang's personal army, all of which were sold privately to the Taiping army by Li Weiguo. Now the Shanghai army, which is being used to deal with Li Weiguo, was seen by Li Weiguo, and he was also full of emotion.

However, the muskets fought in numbers, and the five thousand troops of the Shanghai army took turns to fight, how could Wei Changhui's few hundred people be able to fight.

Coupled with the irregular shelling of the Shanghai army's artillery, Wei Changhui's musket team soon fell silent.

The Taiping army was still very tenacious, and in the face of the approaching Shanghai musket team, they used bows and arrows and javelins to project, preventing the Shanghai army from approaching the city wall.

However, the Shanghai army did not prepare to storm the city wall, but only consumed the strength of the Taiping army, and by the way, Wei Changhui was just a dismount.

The two sides fought fiercely until the evening, and the Shanghai army gradually retreated like a tide, and set up camp five miles away from the county seat.

Wei Changhui's head was wrapped in a white cloth, blood seeped out, he was wounded, although he was very careful, but in the face of this kind of pure foreign guns and foreign artillery battles, under the bombardment of invincible artillery, it was too difficult to find a safe place, Wei Changhui experienced this kind of battle for the first time, and he had no experience, so it was inevitable that he would be injured.

"His Royal Highness the King of the North, the Shanghai army has retreated!" Mr. Liao was also covered in many places, and most of his beard was burned by artillery fire, and he was embarrassed.

Wei Changhui nodded, turned to an adjutant general and asked, "How are the casualties of our army?" ”

The deputy general said with a sad face: "According to a rough count, there are more than 1,000 casualties on the east gate alone, and the Shanghai troops at the north gate and the south gate are only feints, and the casualties are slightly lower, and two or three hundred people have died." After this battle, our 5,000 troops were simply cut in half! ”

Wei Changhui gasped and sighed bitterly: "The Shanghai army really lives up to its reputation, our army relies on the city to hold on, and it actually suffered more than half of the casualties in one afternoon!" ”

Mr. Liao said: "It's not that the Shanghai army is more powerful than our Taiping army, but that the Shanghai army's foreign guns and cannons are powerful!" If we also have the same equipment, the Shanghai army is simply vulnerable! ”

Wei Changhui was noncommittal, and he was unwilling to admit that the soldiers of the Shanghai Army were better than the soldiers of the Taiping Army, and only thought that they had lost in weapons and equipment.

"Fortunately, we held on, and the rest depends on tonight!"

Wei Changhui and Mr. Liao glanced at each other, all their preparations were tonight, and success or failure was here. (To be continued......)