However, although Han Zheng did not intend to continue to advance south, the defeated Southern Army was unwilling to be defeated, and the battle between the two troops soon began again.

The only difference was that Han Zheng's side began to defend with all its might, while the southern army began to attack in a big way under the superior forces.

After the 30th was about to get dark, and after Han Zheng's army rested for a day and a night, the vanguard of thousands of reinforcements from the south from the direction of Bengbu finally launched an armed deterrent to Han Zheng's position.

However, due to the carelessness of the Southern Army, they rushed into the trap set by Han Zheng.

This war was first started with the second regiment at the front, and then the third regiment and the first regiment were thrown into the whole line, and a regiment of the Southern Army was encircled and annihilated in an indiscriminate and all-wide range!

The two sides had a fierce exchange of fire in a small area between Bengbu and Yingshang, and in the face of the fate of stepping into the trap and being surrounded, the southern army did not panic at all this time, and there was no sign of breaking through.

In addition to being caught off guard at first, it stabilized later, and instead launched a counter-charge against Han Zhengjun, it seems that he wanted to take this opportunity to cut through the position of Han Zhengjun and lay down the victory of this battle in one fell swoop!

The two sides launched attacks in turns, and even later Xiang Jie went into battle shirtless, leading the guard company to defeat the opponent's counter-charge, and the two sides insisted on confronting each other for more than four hours.

And it wasn't until nearly five hours later that he still hadn't taken this regiment of the Southern Army, and Han Zheng really felt that there was still a lot of room for growth in his army at this time.

Layers of corpses were left on the positions of both sides, and the ground was as muddy as a layer of blood rain, although Han Zheng's army had pressed forward a distance of nearly 100 meters, and the encirclement had been reduced by one-third, but it still did not completely defeat the enemy army.

The other side's southern army is worthy of being the old troops of the south, and after the repeated attacks of the three regiments of Han Zheng, coupled with the repeated bombardment of artillery, they have not broken up, and they still hold their gradually shrinking positions.

In the face of the fierce attack of the Han Zheng army, these southern troops were very calm, under the command of the other regiment commander and officers at all levels, the firepower of the various units was well coordinated, and after the three times did not break through the defense line on Han Zheng's side, they finally realized that their wishful thinking could not be done, and turned to defense, dragging Han Zhengjun to death, waiting for support in the direction of Bengbu.

They also have their own plans, that is, to take advantage of the opportunity of Han Zhengjun's desire to annihilate their own part, drag Han Zhengjun, and then wait for reinforcements from the south, copy inside, and defeat Han Zhengjun.

Although the marksmanship of the soldiers on Han Zheng's side is considered second to none in the country, these southern troops are not inferior to their marksmanship, and the casualties of the soldiers on both sides are increasing, in front of the position, the fiercest battle between the two sides, hundreds of corpses have been left, and even later, the two sides once had a fierce hand-to-hand combat, and the two forces have become a stalemate here!

Until the sun rose on the morning of 31 July, the reinforcements of the Southern Army still did not arrive, and at this time, the three or four cannons brought by the Southern Army had been completely destroyed by the Han Zheng Army, and there was not much ammunition left after a night of brutal and fierce fighting.

On Han Zheng's side, the cannons he originally had in his hands, coupled with the three cannons captured by Han Zheng in Yingshang City, the resistance of the southern army finally began to fatigue under the suppression of fifteen cannons, dozens of heavy machine guns and thousands of rifles.

At this time, the enemy's gunfire had thinned out, and the artillery fire on Han Zheng's side was still continuing, blowing up clouds of smoke and red light from time to time on the opponent's position, and the soldiers killed on both sides were particularly clear under the sunlight.

Temporary Headquarters, Han Zheng looked cold, but it was quite calm, but that pair of trembling hands betrayed his anger at this time, there were so many people of his own, and he had never broken through the temporary defense line built by more than 1,000 people on the plain, this was simply a shame!

Under Han Zheng's glance, the more than 20 generals and colonels around all lowered their heads and did not dare to look at each other, that is, Cao Debiao was honest at this time and did not dare to have any justification.

"Since the founding of our army, we have not fought such a battle! Look at the brothers who died in front of our eyes, they are still there watching us, those of us who are officials, it is time for us to fight hard, I order, this morning, the army will launch the last full-scale attack, whether it succeeds or fails, quickly withdraw to Yingshang County behind you, success and failure in one fell swoop! ”

Han Zheng knew that the current situation was for him, the longer the time dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for him, once he couldn't take the other party's regiment by this afternoon, the opponent's follow-up army would come up to support, and if he continued to drag with these people at that time, he would fall into passivity, and it would also have a huge blow to his own military morale!

"Give me a good grasp of the troops, arrange everyone's food, arrange a good guard, always pay attention to the enemy's movements, and prepare for a general attack!"

"Commander, don't worry, everyone's brothers are still watching us below, this time we will die on the battlefield!" Cao Debiao stood up with a bang, and the others expressed their positions one after another.

Han Zheng silently saluted his group of subordinates, and then strode out.

Standing on a high place, Han Zheng listened to the rumbling cannon sound in his ears, and looked at the blood-stained battlefield in the distance and the other party's position in the flames of war: "I originally thought that my army was already very strong, but now it seems that it still needs to grow slowly in the flames of war, and this defeat is not to blame my subordinates, nor to blame my own soldiers, they have performed well enough, is it because I am too anxious?" But this time really waits for no one! ”

In Han Zheng's bones, he has always been intoxicated with the kind of grand battles shown in those wars, and has always thought that only then will he not go in vain.

He has never denied this, but today when he really saw five or six thousand people fighting together, and saw his soldiers lying down one by one, his heart was like a knife, and he didn't feel the thrill of the big war he wanted, he seemed to see young faces flashing in front of him, disillusioned one by one, and then there were new faces to take their original place.

At this time, the soldiers of the health team carried more than a dozen wounded people past Han Zheng, Han Zheng unconsciously put his hand on the brim of his hat, unwilling to put it down for a long time, and quietly watched the wounded lying on the stretcher and saluted back to themselves, but the soldiers who died in battle could no longer respond to Han Zheng

I don't know when, the various officers have already gathered their subordinates, gathered around Han Zheng, and stood and saluted together, such a group of people in such a battlefield, motionless as if they had become upright sculptures!

From time to time, there will be bursts of shouts and killings from the front line, but it has weakened, and the two sides have a tacit understanding to stop at this time, and occasionally stray bullets cross the night sky, flashing like meteors in the dark night, and the larger battle is brewing unconsciously.

At 11 o'clock in the morning of July 31, 1913, all the soldiers on Han Zheng's side were fully equipped, and under the personal command of Han Zheng, Chen Feng, Xiang Jie, Cao Debiao, Duan Nian and various officers of all sizes took their men to launch the most fierce attack on the opponent's position! (To be continued.) )