Jiachen year, Xin Weiyue, Xinhai said, Yanhuang 4602, the fourth day of the sixth month, 1904 in the Western calendar, July 16, at noon, the earth was scorched by the heat waves, and the heat waves rising from the ground twisted people's lines.

While the heat was scorching the earth, a group of officers and soldiers who had approached the houses in the outer city last night, with their bayonet rifles in their hands, staring at the door, and even raising their heads to the roof from time to time, they were waiting for the shelling, the submachine gunners used the last time to check the submachine guns, and the light machine gunners closed their eyes to recuperate.

At this moment, the world is quiet, there is no smell of gunpowder in the air, but everyone can feel the tension of the atmosphere at this time, the officers of the commando team in the house, from time to time look at the pocket watch, sweat dripping down the brim of the hat, but do not raise their hands to wipe the sweat, some nervous soldiers picked up the kettle, regardless of the reprimanding eyes of the squad leader and sergeant, gulped water.

Not to mention them, but also some reporters from all over the world who came from Tianjin outside the city, are also waiting, looking forward to it, the reporters have set up their cameras, and even brought movie cameras, they know what they will record, they will record the end of the next empire, this may be the first time in modern history, an empire is about to end its fate today.

On the artillery fort in the field, the dark and shiny cannon body pointed straight into the air, and several officers were there on the fort, holding pencils and notebooks in their hands, and several people were surveying distances with maps.

Zhao Nianbai, who was born as a pipe belt of the battery, walked around in front of the various gun positions as soon as the morning dawned, inspected the batteries and artillery for the last time, installed a gun shield in front of the cannon, and also installed a news trolley to transport artillery shells, and the telemeter room and command post were already prepared.

Originally, according to the plan, two guns should be fired to test whether the fort could be put into use, but Zhao Nianbai, the fort officer who was changed to the Wusong Fort because the Yantai Fort was broken, patted his chest and said that it was okay.

"11:57!"

He took out the pocket watch from his waist and closed it with a click.

"Measure the distance!"

Zhao Nianbai shouted.

"Six thousand five hundred!"

The telemeter in the telemeter room reported the distance with binoculars, which was also shown on the map.

"Load the shells!"

Zhao Nianbai's order was repeated by the commanders of the six batteries.

Almost after the fort was built, this group of gunners hoped to be able to open fire, and even a little impatient, but an order, immediately cheered and pushed out the shells with a cart, and at the same time launched a nitrocellulose wrapped smokeless propellant pack, the original these guns were equipped with black medicine shells, black medicine propellant packs, after the Dagu fort was occupied, although these Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau made artillery, they couldn't look down on it, but it didn't mean that they couldn't look down on the shells, so most of the shells were transported away, The shells used in these six batteries are all new shells and new cartridges brought from the south.

Excitedly shouting that the soldiers used a crane to lift the heavy shells high, and then stuffed them into the barrel, and then stuffed a heavy powder bag into the barrel of the shells, and after loading the gunpowder and pulling the fire hydrant, the bolt was finally closed.

"Aim and don't let us lose face!"

The turret resounded with the excited shouts of the gunners.

"Sir, you won't blow up the cannon!"

An artillery second lieutenant asked the chief with some concern.

"These cannons used to use gunpowder, but now they use smokeless gunpowder!"

"Don't worry, we've already fired dozens of cannonballs in Wusong, it's definitely no problem!"

Zhao Nianbai comforted that this was only a sixteen or seventeen-year-old ensign.

"When the first row of guns is fired, everyone hides in the blast hole!"

In order to avoid accidents, Zhao Nianbai ordered loudly, there are dozens of guns in the warehouse in Tianjin, but there are not many gunners, and these gunners are all temporarily transferred.

"Two hundred and fifty degrees! All guns ready! ”

"In addition to the station commander and the aiming hand, one chance to enter the explosion-proof hole!"

At the sound of the order, the gunners immediately headed towards the anti-artillery pit more than ten meters away.

The cannon body pointed at the sky like this, and Zhao Nianbai glanced at his pocket watch, there were still two minutes!

"Da Da ......"

The hour hand walked slowly, every time it turned so slowly, in the command room, Zhao Nianbai's hand pressed the telephone, waiting for the command command's order, at this time in the command room, there was no sound at all.

Suddenly, the phone rang, and I picked up the phone urgently, and only two words came from the other end of the phone, and at the same time, the same order was also conveyed to the artillery positions of the Guangfu Army and the Beiyang Army, and there were only two words at the same time.

"Jiashen!"

"All Battery! Fire! ”

Six pillars of fire from the high folding cannon barrel, according to the straight flight, in an instant, after a burst of flames disappeared, there was a faint smoke shrouded in the battery, the shock wave of the muzzle in the vicinity of the battery raised a burst of smoke and dust, the air was full of pungent smell of gunsmoke, the gun carriage with the rear seat retreated, retreated to the tail of the rack after the blocking column, and began to follow the gentle slope of the gun carriage, under the automatic action, slowly reset, when the soldiers jumped out of the anti-gun copper, the gun was reset.

At this time, there was a shocking noise from the direction of the capital, and three huge explosions in the city almost rushed into the sky up to a height of 100 meters, which was caused by the explosion of 240 mm and 210 mm shells, and the city wall was also shrouded in a cloud of black smoke raised by the explosion, which was to suppress the fire suppression of the Qing army defending the head of the city.

"Battery No. 1 is intact!"

"Fort-2 is intact!"

"Battery No. 3 is in good condition ......"

In the sound of the cannon one after another, the bolt was opened, and the gunner immediately carried the water cannon to clean the gun chamber, pushed a grenade with the cart again, hung the crane, and began to load.

"It's close!"

A soldier shouted on the phone, and then began to report new readings, the first shelling was a test firing, and new guns, new shells, new propellants, always had to go through several rounds of test firing.

"Lying down ......"

The fort suddenly sounded a loud shout, and then a burst of shells whistled over, just shouted an order, the fort was immediately shrouded in smoke and dust, concrete blocks and steel fragments flew in all directions, and the soldiers pushing the shells even used the shells as shelter and hid behind the shells, which was the counterattack of the Qing gunners at the head of the city.

As soon as the danger passed, the battery was busy again.

"Sir, the cannon is ready!"

Then the commanders began to give orders for new gauges, and the soldiers were busy adjusting the angle of fire.

"Fire!"

After about ten seconds, a section of the city wall exploded into a cloud of smoke, and part of the city wall was blown down, and cheers suddenly rang out on the fort.

The gunners on the gun emplacements observed and measured the results of each shot, and every time the shell hit the wrong ear, they would curse their mother angrily, but as the shooting became more and more accurate, the shooting accuracy became higher and higher, and the thick city wall was constantly hit by the cannonballs, and each explosion could blow up part of the city wall.

"The rate of fire is five minutes and thirteen seconds, and a row of guns can be fired, maybe it can be increased!"

Zhao Nianbai put down the timer and said to the staff officer beside him, all that was left was to flatten the city wall one by one.

"Boom ......"

There was another loud bang, and the doors, windows, and roofs of the houses, which were more than 100 meters away from the city wall, which were already completely covered in flying dust and smoke, trembled, and the soldiers hiding in them had their mouths growing, and their ears were buzzing, and they could not hear anything other than the sound of the explosion.

The flying dust covered everyone with a layer of yellow ash, several half-human-sized holes in the roof, which had been smashed by the falling bricks, and a faint, painful groan could be heard in the house, the wounded soldier.

Listening to the whining of the cannonballs, the room suddenly resounded with a burst of shouting and scolding, they hated those artillerymen from the bottom of their hearts, and the shelling was also eyeless. At that moment, a sudden whistle sounded from the yellow smoke cloud.

Thinking that the officers and soldiers of the Liberation under the root of the city cursed at this time, Liangbi, who was in charge of the defense of the capital on the city wall, had already scolded his mother as early as the first round of shelling, and the explosions, screams, and desperate shouts were endless.

With the violent "Adult,"

The officer in the standing army uniform, covered with dust, ran to Liangbi and knelt down first.

"The walls have been blown open!"

When he reported, there were bursts of rapid whistles from the smoke and dust that could not be seen, accompanied by whistles and hoarse trumpets, and the rebels charged!

"Brothers, it's time to serve the country!"

As soon as they heard this, the Qing soldiers, who had been hiding from the shelling on the remaining city wall, immediately shouted and rushed towards the gap in the city wall.

The smoke and dust shrouded the city, and the dust flew with the whistle, dozens of guns, silent, just staring at the soldiers in front of them towards the city wall that was bombarded by cannons, the bullets were whistling around them, and the bullets in the smoke and dust did not have much accuracy, but they would always hit some people, no one spoke, even the one who fell to the ground snorted, fell to the ground, and the soldiers who followed him, jumped over his body, jumped into the moat mixed with mud, and rushed to the rammed earth of the collapsed city wall. The gentle slope of bricks is upward.

At this time, these soldiers, whose bodies had been dyed the color of dust, were like ghosts rushing to the world from hell, and the whole charge was not only the sound of heavy breathing and the sound of hurried footsteps, except for the trumpets in the rear and the whistles of the officers' commands.

At the top of the city, bannermen with spears of various colors tried to see the movement in the smoke and dust at the gap, and the blurred vision and shrill whistle frightened them, and they kept pulling the trigger in the smoke.

"There's movement!"

"It's up to town!"

The sudden strange sound made the city chaotic, the Qing soldiers shouted and pulled the trigger into the smoke and dust with their rifles, and a muffled hum could be heard with the sound of gunfire, but the footsteps were getting closer and closer, this completely different charge, and the smoke and dust full of smoke and gunpowder, but it made the Qing soldiers on the city feel a little frightened, and even the hairs on their bodies stood up.

"Hoo ......"

Panting heavily, breathing in the choking dust in the air, Ma Youcai only saw a few figures appear in front of him, and at this moment, a long-suppressed roar burst out from his throat.

"Kill!"

With a deafening roar, the Qing soldiers at the head of the city only saw a dozen shadows flashing in the smoke and dust, and the next moment, they saw the ash-stained bayonet rushing out of the smoke and dust, the bayonet with serrations, the blade seemed to reflect the terrifying cold light, this thick blade, only let this fierce silence was broken, the Qing soldiers who trembled in their hearts, their hearts were even more panicked, so that they forgot to aim when they pulled the trigger.

Just when the gunfire sounded from the slightly faint smoke and dust, a roar and roar rushed from behind the snowy bayonet, no, they are not people, full of sweat and ash and the hideous on it only makes people become devils, the sharp bayonet instantly pierced the body of the Qing army in the front row, and the impact force even pushed the body of the Qing army backwards, and after the nearly two-foot-long bayonet pierced a person, it was pushed backwards with blood, and the scene at this moment suddenly frightened the Qing army in the back row.

When they reacted, they saw that this group of demons rushed out of hell with all their might, and they rushed towards them with bloody bayonets.

In the screams, they pulled the trigger backwards, and after a burst of green smoke, they saw the group of people rushing towards them like immortal demons, at this moment almost everyone thought that they were a group of unkillable demons, and they didn't notice that in the charging crowd, the moment someone fell, the people behind rushed up.

On the battlefield fear is like a contagion, it will spread, and once it spreads, it may even be irretrievable, and the previously dull and silent charge has made their hairs hardened, and this will pounce on the enemy like a demon, adding to their fear.

"Mom!"

I don't know who shouted first, turned around and ran backwards, first one person, then several people, and finally dozens of people, hundreds of people, while they were running, the shouts of killing behind them became louder and louder, and the officers and soldiers of the Guangfu Army commando who rushed to the head of the city along the collapsed city wall only turned the siege into a chasing enemy in an instant.

The submachine gunners who rushed to the head of the city, this will begin to exert their might, they hold submachine guns, rush in the front row, while pursuing, lower the muzzle and aim at the enemy's legs to shoot, the muzzle of the gun often makes the bullet hit the enemy's body, at this time the submachine gunner, light machine gunner became the main actor on the city wall, they were divided into three or four rows to run at the front of the troops, the first row of empty bullets to change the magazine, the second row to make up, continue to pursue, strafe.

They rushed forward, ignoring the moaning and struggling wounded soldiers on the ground along the way, and the riflemen who followed behind would stab the wounded soldiers in the heart or neck, and the muscles of the wounded soldiers who were on the verge of death spasmed and trembled. They died in disbelief what they saw.

It's a bunch of devils!

At least that's the thought that popped into their minds at the time of their death.

When the battle at the head of the city was in white heat, Cai Yi, who was holding a telescope, looked at the soldiers who were tearing up at the head of the city, just nodded incessantly, and finally took off the telescope and looked at the city wall for a long time. Once I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn't help but arouse a stronger psychological impulse than ordinary people.

For a moment, he almost had the urge to climb the city with a bayonet, and tear at the enemy with a rifle, for the men admired violence in their bones, and the scene of tearing and killing not only did not frighten them, but aroused their bravery.

Finally, after a long while, Cai Ye sighed to himself.

"It's a good fight!"

"Our soldiers have nothing to say!"

Lin Yuqing went on to say that he knew that almost all of these soldiers crawled out of the pile of dead after tearing up with the Russians on the battlefield.

"When we were outside the gates, it was impossible for us to train for a few months, and on the battlefield, we all relied on the qi in our hearts and the blood of our brothers to fight, and the men of Kanto were red-eyed! You call him and drag him down, and he doesn't come down! ”

Cao Shijie followed Lin Yuqing's words and said that he was a native of Kanto, and he knew the blood surname in the bones of the Kanto masters.

"You can't fight like this! Our soldiers, even if they fight him, ten or twenty don't count! Hand-to-hand combat is good, and sometimes, it is necessary. However, you can't fight like this! Calculate how many soldiers the Volunteers have recruited in the past year or so, if there are not 200,000, there are 1780,000! But now, how many people are there after the entire Volunteer Army is reorganized into the Liberation Army? ”

Cai Ye said with regret that he had been torn apart outside the gate and knew nothing more about that army, if it weren't for this kind of fighting style of fighting without dying, the Volunteer Army might be the largest army in the entire Liberation Army, but now? How many people are there in him? Nearly half of them either died on the battlefield or were disabled and discharged.

Hearing this, Lin Yuqing paused for a moment, and then looked ahead, and his eyes seemed to see those soldiers who were desperate, let the bullets hit, and never shout if they didn't answer the enemy, "They want to pounce into the enemy formation like ghosts, and tear them like demons".

"This can't be helped, the Russians didn't give us time to train, and we also don't have time to train!"

"It's not a matter of not having time to train!"

Cai Yi's small but very sharp eyes stared at Cao Renjie's face and categorically denied his excuse.

"For us, the entire Liberation Army has emphasized the role of officers from beginning to end, and officers are the soul of the army, as for soldiers? They are cannon fodder, a herd of livestock, and we rely on military law, on the officers' guns, and on the team's company to drive them to battle! ”

When he said this, Cai Yi's small eyes closed, and a trace of pain appeared on his face.

"What would it be if the ninth battalion didn't hit the city wall today, or was beaten back to wait for them?"

With a painful expression, Cai Ye knew what was waiting for them, the Liberation Army did not accept defeat, failure was okay! Unless the whole army dies in battle, as soon as the order is received, the regiment commander presses the battalion commander, and if it is unsuccessful, it will become a benevolent, the battalion commander presses the company commander, and finally the first level is pressed by the first level, and in the last sentence of the order, there is always only one sentence "Success becomes benevolence!" "It's their only choice.

"We! All orders for retreat have been burned, and for us, there is only forever to move forward! ”

Either destroy the enemy, complete the mission, or be wiped out by the enemy! What do the officers rely on to stand in their hearts to liberate the whole nation and restore the prestige of the nation? While the officers instilled honor in them, they relied more on the machine guns and submachine guns of the gendarmerie, and any unit, from the moment they received the order to attack, faced the enemy's guns in front and their own guns in the back.

"Die like a hero, or die like a coward!"

For both officers and soldiers, this is a multiple-choice question, for officers, they need to protect their honor, they all risk killing their heads to join the army, and for soldiers, there is only one answer to this multiple-choice question, either they are killed by their own people during the retreat, like wild dogs and violent corpses, or they can go forward like a soldier, in that case, their families can also get a few hundred yuan of pensions, and in the future, after the recovery of the family to get dozens of acres of land of martyrs.

"Our servicemen have no choice, either kill the enemy or be killed by the enemy!"

Once upon a time, when he arrived outside the Guanwai from Yueben, the commander Lin once told them that whether it is an officer or a soldier, it is always the same in front of orders, even if it is a meritorious service, there are only two choices on the battlefield, whether it is the Liberation Army or the Volunteer Army, it relies on strict and faceless military law.

"Commander-in-chief, success is the honor of a soldier!"

Lin Yuqing said coldly, he may have pity for those soldiers, but it does not mean that he can accept the commander-in-chief's criticism of the troops.

"If half of the Manchu army, even if one-third of the soldiers, had the consciousness of success and success, would this country be like this?"

His voice asked rhetorically, making Cai Yi dumbfounded, indeed, if the army of the Qing State had the consciousness of success and success decades ago, then this country would never be such a field, and the place where this country is like this is because the soldiers do not have the consciousness of death.

"When you go to the battlefield, you must have the consciousness of death, either kill or be killed, with this awareness, you can win the battle!"

Cold words spat out from Lin Yuqing's mouth, and as he spoke, he just stared at the city wall in front of him.

"Ruthless, people have their own feelings, but military law is ruthless, if military law is ruthless, this country is about to die, past, present, future, it is like this, commander-in-chief, we are soldiers, we should understand this, what do you think?"

At this time, Lin Yuqing picked up the saber in his hand with one hand, this saber was a Kyaksi cavalry captured from the Russian cavalry, and it was the first weapon he captured on the battlefield.

Cai Ye nodded.

"As commanders, we must try to avoid unnecessary casualties among our soldiers, and that's what we need to consider!"

The sound of conversation failed to interrupt the sound of gunfire on the battlefield, no matter what the three of them said at this time, they all knew that one fact, this capital was broken!

(To be continued)