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A year has passed, and the new 6th to 150th divisions have been formed. In one year, the vast majority of 100,000 people of the 10 divisions stayed in Fujian without moving, and after the Mawei Army Workshop went all out to expand and increase production, the 100,000 rifles were still not fully completed, but eighty percent of the recruits were already equipped with new weapons. The Mawei Army's basic army workshop has been able to produce more than 8,000 rifles per month, which was originally enough for the new army of 100,000 people, but the first to fifth divisions of the front, including the artillery divisions, have to replace a batch of rifles every month, so the number still has not caught up. Even in the early 20th century, when the rear-loading rifled guns were fully equipped with industrial science and technology, the wear and tear of the guns was still a very strict thing, and the more than 40,000 people in the Mawei Army only replaced more than 20,000 pieces a year was already good.

The 6th to 9th Divisions changed their defenses with the Mawei Army stationed in Jiangxi and southern Zhejiang, and the 10th to 15th Divisions combined with the 3rd Division, which was the original artillery division, plus the troops of the 5th Division, went north. The artillery division of the old army and the troops of the 5th Division were the main force of Anqing this time, and the 10th, 11th, and 12th divisions assisted. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Divisions continued to cross the river as ordered, took over the defense of the northern Jiangsu region, and began to attack the northern part of Anhui.

The Mawei Army has expanded rapidly in the past two years, and the original establishment needs to be changed, but according to the merits of the war, it is also difficult to deploy. The commanders of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd divisions of the old battalion have now been promoted to army commanders, while the three old units of the 123rd division have all been reorganized into independent divisions. It is also the veritable main force of the Mawei Army now. They still belong to the original commanders, and officers at all levels have their own promotions. In fact, it is fortunate that the officers who were transferred to the newly formed units in these divisions were originally only deputies. Now all of them have been regularized, and their military ranks have been promoted a bit.

Most of the forces of the Mawei Navy Fleet were in the Bohai Bay, and only the Seventh Fleet left ten warships and not a few warships of the former Qing Army's naval division to defend the Yangtze River. Most of the officers and soldiers of the original Qing Army's naval division were captured, including those who surrendered voluntarily. The officers and men of the Jiangning Naval Division and the Poyang Lake Naval Division of the Qing Army were not a few, and as a result, after a strict selection, more than 12,000 people were finally left to reorganize. These other sailors are good at maneuvering warships. But the personal quality is not good, and the original naval division officers are even worse messes. The Mawei Army reorganized these people into the Mawei Army Naval Reserve Army, and selected officers from the original fleet to lead them.

In the last two months. The newly formed naval reserve force has not been idle, and has been training in the big camp. As for what to train, it is still the old routine of the Mawei Army, and what these Qing troops are poor is military discipline. Without a strict set of military discipline for them to observe, they will still be the same. The officers of the Ponytail Army took the lead in setting an example. The sergeants of the reserve army had no complaints. At present, the monthly salary of each sergeant in the reserve army is only half of that of the regular Mawei soldiers, and there is no disadvantage in food. Although the salary is only half, this is not less than the salary issued by the Qing army. What's more, the Mawei Army has never had a precedent for deducting money, so each sergeant gets the full amount, which was unthinkable in the past.

Withholding military salaries and eating empty salaries has been in China's thousands of years of history. It is a common phenomenon in all dynasties. During the Chongzhen period of the former Ming Dynasty, it was the strictest, and even now it is also deducted in the Qing army. The soldiers can get it on time, and eighty percent of them can get it, then the family is thankful. Now in the Mawei Army, they can get the full amount on time every month, which feels completely different in their hearts, and their sense of belonging to the Mawei Army has suddenly risen to a new height.

Each officer and soldier of the Mawei Army has his own account in the Development Bank, and the monthly salary will be recorded in his own account on time, and officers at all levels will not touch the money at all, and the logistics department is directly responsible for it. The good treatment of the Mawei Army makes these newly formed reserve soldiers very yearning, but they are not formal naval soldiers, and they must be retrained to pass the assessment before they can get the nameplate of the official naval soldiers.

The officers who led them, such as the highest officer of the reserve army, Rear Admiral Ge Sanchuan, was just a small flag officer eight years ago, and it didn't matter, he was promoted by real military merits. In addition, most of the officers in the reserve army, who were originally only big soldiers, have now become squadron leaders, group leaders, battalion commanders, and so on, which greatly stimulates the enthusiasm of the reserve army sergeants. They felt that their future was once again full of hope, and their fighting spirit was awakened.

In this attack on Anqing, the reserve army also participated, but they did not participate in the siege, but drove the warship back and forth to meet the army officers and soldiers, and was responsible for transporting grain, grass and ammunition. Originally, the logistics department of the Mawei Army only transported the materials to Jinling, and then transferred them by the reserve army, which was faster. When the whole army was in place, that is, when the attack on Anqing Mansion City officially began.

Zhao Guozuo, the chief general of the Qing army's defenders, Xia Jingmei, the deputy commander, and Chang Jingong, the chief soldier, led 53,000 troops and waited for them, but they had very few spies in Jiangnan, and even if they found out the news, it was not easy to send them across the river. The river is full of the figures of the Mawei Navy warships, and in the past ten days, the river near Anqing has been completely blocked.

This time it was the first time that the Mawei Army invested so many troops to attack one prefecture, and when it used to fight Jiangxi, it was less than 30,000 people to fight four prefectures at the same time, but at that time, the Qing army in Jiangxi was not as many as it is now.

The Qing army had more than 50,000 soldiers and horses in Anqing, and in addition to the 10 warships of the 7th Fleet, the number of other army units in the Mawei Army's attack this time was almost 50,000.

The commander of the Mawei Army is none other than Geng Jingzhong, who has been staying in Jiangnan. The person in charge of dispatching the troops was Bai Xianzhong, the commander of the Second Army. After he left Yangzhou after inspecting Yangzhou, he began to deploy this battle for ten days. A qiē is also ready here.

The ancient city wall of Anqing was built in the Southern Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 500 years. Although the geographical location of Anqing is very important, the city wall here is not very tall, compared to Suzhou Yangzhou is not much inferior, but it is still far from Jinling City. The highest part of the city wall of Anqing Mansion City is eight meters, and other places are generally two zhang and more than six meters. It has always been a garrison area. Therefore, there are many hidden caves and military camps in the city, and more than 50,000 troops are all stationed in the city, making this small city into a huge barracks.

These days. It was rumored that the Mawei army was about to attack the city, and in order to escape the disaster of war, a large number of people in the city moved out of the city to hide in the countryside, and some moved to farther places. There are also many who secretly took refuge in the Jiangnan Mawei Army and did not move away. He was also prepared to help the Mawei Army after it entered the city. There were even a few Anqing families who were ready to cooperate with the Mawei Army when the Mawei Army attacked the city, but they were vetoed by the Mawei Army. The Mawei army attacked the city head-on, and it did not need the cooperation of the city, and the 50,000 Qing troops in the city were not enough to see.

"General, the Ponytail Army is menacing! According to the Tanmalai report, the three counties of Wangjiang County, Zongyang County, and Susong County have been conquered by the Mawei Army, and the troops of the Mawei Army who have crossed the river are also rushing towards us. We've got to plan ahead! Xia Jingmei, the deputy capital commander, reported to Zhao Guozuo worriedly.

"This was expected by me, with our troops. Dispersion is simply not enough for the Mawei Army to eat, and from the experience of our army and the Mawei Army fighting many times, the combat power of the Mawei Army is very strong, and it is generally impossible to start a war at will without three times the strength. I heard that the Mawei Army dispatched a lot of troops this time, so let's defend it if we can hold it, so let's retreat according to the original plan. In front of us is the Yangtze River in the south, and the east and west sides are either mountains or waters, although the county towns on both sides were taken by them, but the Mawei army on these two roads couldn't catch up with us for a while. We must guard the Yueshan Pass behind us, that is our way out, and we must not lose it. ”

"Don't worry, General, the last general has already sent heavy troops to guard it, and Huaining County in the north also echoes this side."

"Okay, continue to arrange manpower to monitor the riverbank, once the Mawei army is found to have landed on the shore, immediately lead the army to attack, and attack the enemy in the middle of the crossing, in order to achieve the greatest effect."

"But general, if the Mawei warships cover and the cannons accompany us, we won't be able to get close at all!"

"This" Zhao Guozuo missed this point, but then arranged: "Regardless of him, we also have thirty red-coated cannons in Chengtou, as long as the Mawei warship is close to the river bank, immediately open artillery bombardment, be sure to destroy its warship, and prevent it from docking." "This Zhao Guozuo himself doesn't have much confidence, the southernmost city wall of Anqing is 13400 meters away from the river, and the red-clothed cannons at the head of the city can barely reach the riverside, but it is really a bit too much to say that it can hit the Mawei Army warship.

It is really said that Cao Cao Cao arrived, and as soon as he finished ordering, more than forty Mawei warships appeared on the river, and slowly approached the river bank on the edge of Anqing City.

"What are you doing in a daze, hurry up and prepare to fire, the enemy is coming!"

The soldiers of the Qing army in the city finally waited for the siege of the Mawei army, which they had long known that there would be such a day sooner or later, and finally came. However, the strength of the Mawei Army has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and even the Qing Army itself feels that it will not be the opponent of the Mawei Army, coupled with the matter in the capital, the Mawei Army sent fine work to spread everywhere in the provinces and counties of Jiangbei, and the morale of the ordinary soldiers of the Qing Army is unprecedented, and the combat power is of course declining greatly.

At this time, the ten warships of the Mawei Army had approached the river, and only one of the ten battleships was a third-class battleship, and the other three were fourth-class and six fifth-class, and there were not many cannons on the battleships that could hit the previous five hundred meters away, and only eighteen pounds or more naval guns could be used, and the ten battleships were equipped with a total of forty-five guns on one side of the ship.

But even if it was forty-five, that was quite a lot, much stronger than the red-coated cannon that could only hit more than a thousand meters at the head of the city, and the number was half more.

"Tom tom!"

"Tom tom!"

"Tom tom!"

After the Mawei army was ready, it did not pause, and a burst of gunpowder smoke rose, and forty-five solid bullets flew out of the cannon at the same time, roaring towards a section of the city wall in the south of Anqing City. The city gate is still in the east, and the cannonballs can't reach it, but it doesn't matter, as long as you aim and hit, hit ten or twenty rounds, thousands of cannonballs fall on a section of the city wall, and you can also collapse the city wall that should not be and is not too wide. When the time comes, the Mawei Army will break through this gap again, and it will be much easier.

Half of the forty-five solid bullets smashed into the city wall of Anqing City, and pits of different sizes were smashed on this section of the city wall, but they were not damaged at all. This is only the first round of comparison, and the masonry walls are not so fragile. But the cannonballs were not without merit, the cannonballs that hit the city walls cracked the masonry and stones, and the debris flew everywhere, and at the same time, the bouncing shells also took the lives of a group of advancing people.

Since the invention of the cannon, the most used thing is not to siege the city, but to defend the city in the past. I have to say that defending the city with artillery is indeed a sharp weapon, but the greater role of artillery should be used to siege the city, which was what the Qing army did decades ago. Now the Qing army has reversed itself and used the Hongyi cannon to defend the city. There were also a lot of artillery guns in the cities in the area under the jurisdiction of the Mawei Army, but more of them were equipped with troops, and the naval warships were even more densely fired. Originally, the cannon was supposed to allow it to give full play to its advantages of long range and high impact. It can be used to attack the towers and walls of the city to suppress the resistance of the city head, bombard the city gates, and open a gap for the besieging soldiers, so there is no need to fill the city with human lives. Some cities that seemed impossible to conquer at once can be conquered. In modern warfare, since the advent of artillery, there have been many examples of heavy artillery being used to defeat the enemy's defensive positions, city walls, fortresses, etc., and achieve victory.

The Qing army also counterattacked with artillery fire, but their red-coated cannons were angry, only to find that the cannons had not hit the Mawei battleship once, which made the Qing gunners discouraged.

"Tom tom!"

"Tom tom!"

The Mawei army didn't think about it at all, but just fired 20 rounds of artillery fire according to the order, and it just so happened that an hour passed, and 20 rounds of shells were fired, and this section of the city wall in the south could no longer withstand the bombardment of the cannons, and collapsed to form a huge gap more than 20 meters long. (To be continued......)