On October 26, 1911, Yuan Shikai came to Xinyang, Henan Province, and ordered the Beiyang army to set up a train to march to Hubei, and he commanded in Xinyang. It was only ninety miles from Xinyang to Yingshan County, and it was only three or four hours by train, and Yuan Shikai ordered the army to get off at Wusheng Pass.

Wusheng Pass is an important pass between Dabie Mountain and Tongbai Mountain. In ancient times, it was called "big tunnel" (one said to be called Zhiyuan). The Southern Dynasty Qi was called Wuyang Pass. Tang called Lishan Pass. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, it was called Wusheng Pass. It is located at the junction of Henan and Hubei provinces, 45 kilometers away from Xinyang City, Henan Province in the north. It is the traffic choke point between Henan Province and Hubei Province.

This pass is located in the middle of the canyon, and it is located in a dangerous position, which controls the entire passage. Guancheng takes the mountain as a barrier, chises the mountain into a pass, the city wall is solid, and the ancient times describe its danger as "the car can not be square, the horse can not ride together".

Due to the topography of Wusheng Pass, so many troops could not be spread out at one time, so Yuan Shikai ordered the army to divide into two routes, Duan Qirui led the first army to attack Wusheng Pass, and Wang Shizhen led the second army to attack Pingjing Pass. At that time, Xiong Bingkun led the First Brigade to garrison Pingjing Pass, Tan Feng led the Third Brigade to garrison Wusheng Pass, and Xu Wannian's artillery battalion was divided into two to garrison Wusheng Pass and Pingjing Pass respectively.

The revolutionary army did not have many heavy weapons, only ten heavy machine guns (eight of which were seized from the Beiyang Army) were brought to Yingshan County, five in Wusheng Pass and five in Pingjing Pass, and even Sun Wei's two precious AK-47s and the 1,000 rounds of ammunition were evenly distributed to Xiong Bingkun and Tan Feng, hoping to play a role at the apex at a critical time, Xu Wannian's artillery regiment only had a total of fifteen 75 mountain guns, and eight were here in Tan Feng, which were arranged by Tan Feng in a critical area.

When the Beiyang Army arrived at Wusheng Pass, Tan Feng already knew about it and was already waiting for the attack of the Beiyang Army. It was already dark when the Beiyang First Army arrived at Wusheng Pass, so Duan Qirui ordered the army to set up camp and prepare to attack Wusheng Pass the next day.

As soon as the next day dawned, Duan Qirui sent his army to set up an offensive position in front of Wusheng Pass and began to attack Wusheng Pass. Duan Qirui ordered the Seventh Town of Henan to be temporarily assigned as the vanguard to attack Wusheng Pass. The seventh town of Henan is a dissatisfied town, with only about 7,000 people, but it is also 1,000 more than Tan Feng.

Occupying the dangerous terrain of Wusheng Pass, Tan Lin put the heavy machine guns in an important area. The seven thousand men of the Seventh Town rushed forward in a dense camp with their heads raised and their eyes closed, and at a glance they knew that they had not undergone much military training. When he walked more than a thousand meters away from the city wall, Tan Lin ordered the machine gun to fire, and the dense rain of bullets hit the dense crowd, and the soldiers of the seventh town were instantly knocked down in a large area.

When the soldiers of the seventh town saw that the opponent's firepower was so strong, they were so frightened that they ran backwards, and the Overseers behind could not stop the defeat from retreating with a dozen people with large blades, and finally even the Overseers were carried to the rear by the rout.

Duan Qirui was furious when he saw that the seventh town was so useless, and ordered the army of the fourth town to set up machine guns and kill the defeated army at the front before the soldiers of the seventh town stopped.

Duan Qirui called the ruler of the seventh town to come, and without giving him a chance to explain, he was slapped twice, and immediately removed him from his position as ruler and replaced him with his own cronies.

Duan Qirui didn't dare to use the seventh town to charge the battle anymore, so he called the fourth town to rule Wu Fengling and let his fourth town be the vanguard. Wu Fengling ordered the Seventh Infantry Association to form a straggler camp with guns and bent over to advance on the Zhizi Road, and then Wu Fengling lined up the eight heavy machine guns in the town, and the bullets were fired at the city wall without money, and there were 18 land guns and 36 mountain guns also fired at the city, and the soldiers of the Third Brigade were almost unable to raise their heads under the heavy artillery fire.

The inferior firepower did not deter the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, and their respective commanders, under the leadership of their respective commanders, braved the endless rain of bullets and bullets to constantly counterattack the city. Thanks to the walled blockage, the 3rd Brigade suffered a lot of losses, but the constant approach of the enemy was inevitable.

By the time the enemy rushed to the city wall, the artillery of the 3rd Brigade had not fired a single shell, mainly because the 3rd Brigade had too few shells and could only be used in the most critical places.

Wu Fengling saw that the Seventh Association had already set up a ladder, so he ordered the Eighth Association to attack. The 3rd Brigade lacked artillery, but the 3rd Brigade did not lack grenades, and the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade threw thousands of grenades off the walls while the enemy was erecting ladders.

By the time the Eighth Association rushed to the edge of the city wall, someone had already rushed to the city wall and engaged the defenders in a white-knuckle battle. Tan Lin led the reserve team to put out fires everywhere on the city wall, knocking down the enemies who rushed up again and again. The city wall of Wusheng Pass was crumbling, and every time the Beiyang Army rushed to the city wall, it seemed that it was about to stand firm but was beaten down.

I don't know how many times this repeated battle has happened, and the Beiyang Army has been repulsed again and again, and has rushed up again and again. The war lasted from morning to noon, and the soldiers of both the Revolutionary Army and the Beiyang Army were not only exhausted but also extremely hungry, and it was really not suitable to fight again.

Seeing this situation, Duan Qirui knew that fighting any further would only increase casualties, so he ordered the soldiers to retreat, and both sides rested and ate very tacitly.

Tan Feng hastily ate lunch and began to inspect the defense, most of the soldiers also finished lunch, and a group of people were lying or lying on the city wall to rest, and the huge casualties made the morale very low.

Sun Wei once told Tan Feng that when morale is low, military songs can always awaken the blood in the hearts of soldiers, and this is the role of military songs. Sun Wei taught them a lot of military songs when he was training soldiers, and he may be able to use them now.

Tan Lin sang: "The flag is fluttering, the horse is Xiao Xiao, the gun is on the shoulder and the knife is on the waist, the blood is like a frenzy, the flag is fluttering, the horse is Xiao Xiao, a good man, a good man, a good man serving the country in the present day." The guard battalion in the back sang along with this, and gradually the soldiers resting on the city walls also sang.

Loud singing pierced the sky and echoed across the blood-red earth. The soldiers gradually tightened their grip on their guns, and their eyes became attentive, looking ahead as if victory was ahead.

Duan Qirui could hear from the other party's singing that the enemy's low morale was rising, this was not what he wanted, and he also hoped to be able to stand on the wall of Wusheng Pass before sunset today.

Duan Qirui immediately ordered the soldiers who had not yet rested to prepare for the attack, not giving the enemy a chance to breathe. The crazy heavy machine guns began to sweep the city wall again, the Beiyang Army rushed to the city wall like a wave, the revolutionary army began to counterattack with heavy machine guns, and the 75 mountain artillery also became powerful, but it was dumbfounded by the artillery of the Beiyang Army, and Tan Feng immediately forbade the cannon.

With the suppression of artillery, the Beiyang Army quickly rushed to the side of the city wall and set up a ladder, but they were all beaten down by the revolutionary army with high morale. Tan Lin ordered the conscienceless cannon to be erected on the city wall, and the eighteen conscienceless cannons just made by the Hanyang Arsenal were lined up on the city wall, and a salvo was fired condescendingly, and the lethality of the Beiyang Army was like a giant cannon.

Seeing that the opponent's artillery fire was sharp and they suffered heavy casualties, the Beiyang Army retreated. After Tan Lin finished the first round, he asked the soldiers to move the cannon, which was given to him by Sun Wei, which is called playing a "cannon" to change places. Sure enough, not long after the cannon was removed, the opponent's cannon focused on taking care of the original magnifying cannon.

Duan Qirui heard Feng Guozhang say that the revolutionary army had heavy artillery, and he was still sneering at it, thinking that Feng Guozhang was shirking responsibility for his failure, but he didn't expect that the revolutionary army really had heavy artillery, but the range of the revolutionary army's heavy artillery seemed to be a little close and outrageous. Such a close range should not be heavy artillery, and even if it does not have range, there is nothing to be afraid of.

So Duan Qirui ordered the artillery team to fire at the place where the revolutionary army had enlarged the cannon just now, trying to knock out the opponent's powerful but close-range pseudo-heavy artillery. Duan Qirui didn't know that the pseudo-heavy artillery in his heart was not as heavy as he imagined, and before his artillery fire came, the artillery of the revolutionary army had already moved to a different place.

When Duan Qirui ordered the army to attack again, in Duan Qirui's heart, the revolutionary army should be destroyed but there was a flame. The Beiyang Army no longer had the first shock, and at this time it was obvious that the Beiyang Army was well-trained, and they attacked forward in the formation they had trained, ignoring the huge explosion in their ears as nothing.

Duan Qirui, who was in the rear, ordered the artillery team to fire artillery at the head of the revolutionary army without his life, and really blew up a few unconscionable cannons that had no time to move.

An army with its own beliefs and a well-trained army repeatedly staged a battle between defending and capturing the city on the head of Wusheng Pass on this day, and the blood of both sides has stained the land red.

When the sun slowly set, Duan Qirui ended the brutal battle and ordered the soldiers to retreat. The first day of the battle left both sides exhausted and suffered heavy losses.

When Tan Feng counted the team, he found that there were more than 1,000 soldiers killed in battle alone, and the number of wounded soldiers was twice that number, which was mainly the masterpiece of the opponent's artillery. It is a miracle that in an era when 30 percent casualties could lead to the collapse of the team, this casualty can still raise morale.

Duan Qirui's army casualties were about the same number, but Duan Qirui's injuries began because there were many people. Duan Qirui, who has led the army for many years, knows that the revolutionary army also has heavy casualties, and its casualty numbers are definitely not less than his own. With such a small army of the revolutionary army and such a large number of casualties, even if it does not collapse, it is not far from collapse.

Duan Qirui is behind the railway, there will be no shortage of all materials, he can use artillery unscrupulously, but the revolutionary army cannot, not only do they not have many cannons, but they don't even have many reserves of shells, so Duan Qirui is confident that he will win this war that will determine his future. Duan Qirui injured him, but Tan Feng couldn't afford to hurt him, seeing that his team had suffered two percent casualties on the first day, Tan Feng couldn't sit still.

Tan Feng only informed Sun Wei yesterday that the Beiyang Army was coming and did not ask for reinforcements, thinking that the Beiyang Army was as vulnerable as Yinchang's troops, and wanted to show his face in front of Sun Wei. He was dismissive of Sun Wei's warning at the time, and now he thinks about how wrong he was.

Tan Feng sent someone to Sun Wei overnight to ask for reinforcements, and wrote down his crisis situation one by one in his heart for help.

When Duan Qirui attacked Wusheng Pass, Wang Shizhen also began to attack Pingjing Pass. In order to make up for the merits, Feng Guozhang personally led the officers and soldiers of the second town to attack Pingjing Pass. The officers and soldiers of the second town saw that their rule was so heroic, and they were all brave and courageous in their death.

The guards of Pingjing Pass, Xiong Bingkun and Xu Wannian, led the crowd to resist and repelled Feng Guozhang's attacks many times under the fierce artillery fire of the Beiyang Army.

In order to wash away the shame of the defeat at Hukou, the officers and soldiers of the Second Town of Beiyang attacked very fiercely, and the 54 cannons that had just been replenished in the Second Town increased the difficulty of defending the city. Luo Bingshun, the deputy commander of the Second Regiment, was directly hit in the head by shrapnel from an artillery shell when he counterattacked, and he died on the spot when he lifted his Tianling cover.

Luo Bingshun has always been generous and deeply loved by soldiers. Now Luo Bingshun's death has fiercely stimulated the soldiers of the Second Regiment and even the entire First Brigade, and the soldiers are desperate to fight back with grief, hoping to kill more Beiyang Army to avenge Luo Bingshun.

Xu Wannian even operated the cannon with his own hands, and blew up the three cannons of the Beiyang Army in one go, and even detonated the ammunition next to him and killed a lot of artillerymen, causing the artillery team to be chaotic for a long time. The revolutionary army took this opportunity to kill many soldiers of the Beiyang Army with a conscienceless cannon.

However, because the soldiers of the 1st Brigade were so excited that they forgot to transfer the artillery, they were damaged by the artillery of the Beiyang Army, which restored order, and many artillery pieces died.

Although the Beiyang Army has a lot of artillery and heavy machine guns, the soldiers of the First Brigade have also experienced a lot of battle formations, and there is not much gap in marksmanship and combat quality compared with the Beiyang Army.

The two sides gradually became deadlocked, but because the gap in the number of troops between the two sides was too great, the situation gradually became unfavorable to the revolutionary army.

Xiong Bingkun had a certain understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Army earlier, and when he saw that Wang Shizhen led more than 20,000 troops to attack, he knew that he would not be able to stop it for long, so he immediately sent someone to Sun Wei to ask for reinforcements.

When Yuan Shikai swore to crusade against the revolutionary army, Sun Wei received a secret report from Xinyang, knowing that this time Beiyang was coming with a large army, and Yuan Shikai was not controlled everywhere compared to Yinchang last time.

Yuan Shikai's command of Beiyang is like a command, coupled with the well-equipped and well-trained Beiyang Army, Xiong Bingkun must be under great pressure.

When Yuan Shikai's army just got on the train, Sun Wei's army also began to assemble, and they were also preparing to take the Jinghan Line to Yingshan County to support Wusheng Pass and Pingjing Pass respectively.

During this period, Sun Wei recruited four brigades and three regiments of infantry, which were organized into the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments of the Hubei Revolutionary Army.

After this recruitment, Sun Wei's pockets were really deflated, and if it weren't for the fundraising from all walks of life, Sun Wei's recruits would have to drink the northwest wind.

Sun Wei ordered Hu Xiaoqian, commander of the Third Regiment of the Second Brigade, to be the commander of the Fifth Brigade and lead the Fifth Brigade to support Xiong Bingkun, and ordered Wu Xinghan, commander of the Fourth Regiment, to be the commander of the Sixth Brigade and lead the Sixth Brigade to support Tan Feng. (To be continued.) )