"Ready! Put! ”

As the red flag held high in the hands of the artillery commanders was violently lowered, the artillery regiment took nine artillery batteries as the basic unit, and carried out saturation attacks on key targets such as enemy camps, supply bases, and river defense positions.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ”

The cannon roared and immediately sounded the prelude to the attack. A loaded cannonball shot at the enemy position, and the long whistling sound completely cut through the pre-dawn silence.

Seconds later, an explosion was heard in the area of the enemy's target in the distance.

"Boom! Boom! ”

The shells rained down on the Russian positions and exploded with a deafening bang like a hundred lightning and thousands of thunderbolts.

In an instant, earth and rocks splashed, flames flew, and gunsmoke filled the air.

I saw that the fire was everywhere on the enemy's position, and the violent explosion cleaned up everything around in an instant like a harvester. Thick smoke wrapped in flames rose into the air, instantly soaring hundreds of meters high, forming huge pillars of red and black glue. When the flames burned out the flammable materials in the surrounding air, they turned into black smoke and stayed in the air, at first in the shape of mushrooms, but gradually merged with other mushrooms to turn into dark clouds that covered the sky.

The Russian battalion in Songbei was built directly in a residential area, and in order to drive the local people away for comfort and convenience, they lived directly in civilian houses, and then pulled up horses and barbed wire fences on the periphery to build a simple military isolation area. There was food, water, bedding and utensils inside, and they seemed to have come for a vacation, because they didn't take the Qing army seriously at all.

The Russian invading army finally got retribution, when countless explosion shock waves swept in, the huge waves and flames generated instantly swept the Russian army and people and houses into the sea of hell, and many Russian officers and soldiers died in their dreams before they even woke up.

There was a rumbling explosion, and the earth shook.

The Russian officers and soldiers in their sleep woke up suddenly, but their faces were full of surprise and fear. Why did you wake up only to find yourself lying in the ruins, in a pool of blood, suffering from the sea of fire and the baptism of smoke?

Staying in the house would have been buried alive, and they quickly reacted and immediately rushed out of the room like crazy. But what awaited them outside was a series of explosions, and deadly fragments that were shot at high speed from an unknown direction. When some Russian soldiers were hit by fragments and fell, they seemed to regret that they shouldn't have come out just now.

The sudden and fierce shelling made the Russian army panic for a while, and the Russian troops who rushed out of the houses were also disheveled, and many of them ran out without even taking weapons.

The Russian soldiers cannot find generals, they will not find soldiers, and there is great chaos. But there are still experienced Russian officers shouting everywhere: "Enemy attack! Find a hidden spot! ”

A Russian officer was directing a dozen stragglers nearby to evade the shell strike, and as soon as he finished speaking, he saw a shell hit it with a 1 in 100,000 chance.

After a thud, the officer vanished into thin air, leaving only a steel helmet that fell to the ground with a clatter. The Russian soldiers who had just gathered suddenly turned into birds and scattered, and they all disappeared like the wind.

The key targets of the first round of strikes of the First Town Artillery Regiment of the Beiyang Army were the weapons depots, ammunition depots, granaries, barracks, and river defense artillery positions of the Russian [***] team.

According to the battle plan, the first town will first disrupt the Russian army's ability to assemble and counterattack with superior artillery strength, and then before the Russian army has not reacted, launch an attack with cavalry speed superiority to break through the enemy's peripheral defense system, and then the infantry will launch an attack and destroy all the Russian troops in Hulan in one fell swoop.

Ten minutes after the shelling, the Russian army's Songbei military camp and Caijiatun supply base fell into a sea of fire, and the Russian troops inside suffered heavy casualties.

On a dirt slope on the west side of Hulan, Jiang Guidi rode a war horse and quietly looked at Hulan five miles away. At this moment, the entire Hulan has been plunged into a thick smoke and fire.

"What round is it?"

Jiang Gui asked the adjutant next to him.

"Report, it's the third round!"

"Ordered, when the fourth round of artillery was launched, our two cavalry regiments began to attack in formation. After the fourth round of shelling, the charge was immediately launched. ”

The adjutant asked, "My lord, the artillery regiment has informed us of a total of five rounds of shelling?" ”

Jiang Gui said: "I know! ”

The adjutant asked, "But we will be accidentally injured by the artillery fire of our brother troops in the fourth round of attack?" ”

Jiang Guidi smiled faintly and said: "I know your worries, there is no need for that at all, don't worry, the artillery regiment brothers who came out of Lao Duan's teaching are still very accurate, and the error will not exceed ten meters." Ten minutes have passed since the shelling, and I believe that the surviving Russian troops are probably finding a place to hide now, as long as they are not stupid. They waited for the moment when the shelling was over before entering the position to organize defense. Now we are less than five miles from the enemy's outer line, and it will take a few minutes for the assault to be in place. And this precious few minutes was enough for the Russian army to enter the position. ”

The adjutant asked: "What do you mean is that we will charge during the fifth round of shelling, and by the time the artillery fire stops and the enemy is ready to enter the position, we will have already rushed to the enemy position, and the enemy will be crushed by us before it can organize a counterattack in the future." ”

Jiang Guidi nodded and said, "That's right, that's the truth!" ”

The adjutant praised him and said, "Your Excellency is wise, and you have been taught!" ”

Jiang Gui waved his hand and said: "This trick should also be used in time, when you encounter an artillery that is not accurate, you must use it with caution!" ”

The adjutant nodded, "Understood!" ”

As he spoke, the fourth round of shelling had begun.

The adjutant immediately shouted: "All attention, unfold the shock formation!" ”

At the sound of an order, the two cavalry regiments quickly opened the battle shock formation, forming two huge goose-winged attack formations.

Jiang Gui urged the horse to run back and forth twice before the battle, as if reviewing his troops.

"Brothers, look ahead, the Russian devils have already blown up the brothers of the artillery regiment to cry and cry. They are also meaty, and they can still play with a knife, so there is nothing to be afraid of. After we rush up, remember not to hesitate, always maintain the impact speed, keep the formation, cut when you see the devil, it doesn't matter if you can't kill with a knife, don't stop, continue to cut the next one, the devil who is not hacked to death will naturally have a brother behind him to make up for him, to ensure that he will not see the sun tomorrow. ”

The soldiers agreed with a bang, and Jiang Gui's words made their nervousness suddenly relax a lot.

At this time, the fourth round of shelling of the artillery regiment ended.

Jiang Guidi took out the command knife, raised it high above his head, and shouted: "The brave wins when you meet on a narrow road!" The time has come, brothers, to make a difference, and come with me to kill the devils!" ”

"Kill! Kill! Kill! ”

After three sounds, Jiang Guidi rushed out of the position first, followed by other soldiers.

Suddenly, the war horses neighed, shouting and killing shook the sky, and the earth trembled.

The 1st Cavalry Regiment rushed straight to Caijiatun, and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment rushed to the Songbei Russian battalion. After a brief acceleration, the two regiments of cavalry quickly approached the target.

According to the plan, the 1st Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Brigade and the 2nd Regiment were responsible for attacking the Russian supply depots, and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Brigade and the 2nd Brigade and 1st Regiment were responsible for attacking the Songbei camp.

Although the original plan was to charge the cavalry first, and then the infantry to assault. But before the shelling was over, two cavalry regiments rushed forward, and the commanders of the various infantry regiments assembled nearby were surprised.

However, we are all colleagues and know each other very well. Liang Huadian, the commander of one of the brigades, immediately guessed the intention of Jiang Gui's question, and was surprised by his boldness and admired his wisdom at the same time.

"It's still an old general with experience! The order is given, and the troops immediately attack the target! ”

The cavalry was also dragged by this assault of the infantry, and immediately launched a general attack.

On the high ground of the artillery regiment, Duan Qirui saw that the Ma Bu army below had begun to attack, so he just smiled bitterly: "They really trust our old Duan!" ”

The staff officer of the artillery regiment also looked a little crying and laughing, and said: "My lord, Lord Jiang is rushing to the front, if this hurts him, but it will fall to the name of our artillery regiment and your lord?" ”

Duan Qirui smiled bitterly: "Yes! This old ginger is actually a problem for us! The order went down, and after 9 rounds of each artillery company, the artillery fire began to extend! ”

"Yes!"

The staff officer of the artillery regiment quickly gave the order, and the artillery batteries began to extend the artillery fire in advance.

Each round of shelling of the artillery regiment consumes one base ammunition, that is, 12 shells. Duan Qirui originally planned to use the sixth round of artillery bombardment as an artillery extension strike, but he still decided that it would be better to be careful, so the fifth round only fired 9 shells, and the remaining 3 shells were merged into the sixth round, and he began to do artillery extension actions in advance.

Not far from the guard positions on the perimeter of the Russian army, some of the Russian soldiers who had escaped from the shelling took refuge one after another. One of them, a major officer named Ivan, organized them.

"Remember, as soon as the enemy's artillery fire extends, give me entry into position."

He repeated the order over and over again until he found that the artillery fire was beginning to extend.

"The enemy's artillery fire has been extended, immediately give me a position to defend!"

At this time, the Russian soldiers were already stupefied by the heavy shelling, and Ivan had to take the lead in standing up.

"Follow me—"

Ivan had just stood up and was about to enter the position, but before he could finish speaking, suddenly the whole person was knocked into the air by a horse. Jiang Guidi took the lead and had already led his troops into the enemy formation.

"Kill!"

The shouts of killing came in an instant, and the horses rushed into the position, and the soldiers above brandished their sabers, slashing left and right. The Russian soldiers, who had just come out and were ready to enter the position, were hacked and killed before they even had time to escape.

The remaining Russian soldiers saw that the position had been lost, and the enemy cavalry was swarming to kill, and they could not raise the slightest strength to resist, so they immediately fled and surrendered.

Similarly, the Russian troops in the Songbei battalion, which was attacked by the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, were crushed before they could enter the position. The cavalry was non-stop, rushing back and forth. And the Russian army is in disarray and simply cannot organize an effective counterattack. After the cavalry regiment rushed back and forth, the remnants of the Russian army suddenly collapsed.

In Hulan County, the sleepy-eyed Russian commander Lieutenant General Zasulich was awakened from his sleep.

"What's going on?"

Zasulic shouted, he could hear it was the sound of artillery, but he didn't realize that it was an attack by the Qing army.

"Report, report, report General!"

A guard ran in in a panic and said breathlessly: "General, it's not good, we are under a fierce attack by the Qing army. ”

"How is that possible? How dare the cowardly Qing army attack us? ”

Zasulic didn't believe it was true, but he soon did. He hurriedly dressed up, and when he walked out of the house, he was dumbfounded by the scene in front of him.

Outside the house was already a mess, with the occasional whistling of shells, and soon a deafening explosion and a field of flying sand and rocks were flying.

The violent wave of air choked Zasulich with a violent cough, and he looked up at the direction of the shells, which turned out to be their flanks and behind.

"Damn it! How did they cross the river to our rear? Assemble your team now! ”

The entire Russian base camp had been bombed, and Zasulich intercepted the Russian officers and soldiers living around him and reorganized himself to prepare for defense. However, the establishment of the Russian army has been dispersed, and the ranks of officers and soldiers are chaotic, and it is not easy to reorganize. It took Zasulich half an hour to barely organize the strength of a battalion.

However, just as he was about to use this battalion to organize defense, he received a report that the Qing army had broken through the outer defensive line. Due to the disparity in strength between the two sides, Zasulic knew that he could no longer turn the tide. So at the suggestion of his subordinates, he led the remnants of his army to retreat from the north.

When the first town launched an attack, the second town in Jiangnan immediately came to its aid and fiercely shelled the positions of the Russian army in Jiangbei. Since the artillery on the Russian positions did not have any concealment measures, the artillery regiment of the second town concentrated its fire and collapsed the Russian artillery positions after two rounds of shelling. At the same time, after the 1st Town Artillery Regiment completed the task of attacking Songbei Camp and Caijiatun, it immediately turned around and bombarded the positions of the Russian army on the north bank of the river.

At this point, it was a foregone conclusion that the Qing army would win the battle of crossing the Songhua River.