The horse's hooves raised a cloud of dust, which was filled in the early morning sun, and the air was so depressed that Yuezhou, which was located at the intersection of rivers and lakes, was shrouded in a black cloud of smoke as soon as the sky was about to shine, and the sound of cannons and gunshots seemed to be the only sound in the air.

As soon as the day dawned, the battle outside Yuezhou City was revived again, and under the cover of the naval guns of a warship, the soldiers of the Hubei Standing Army wearing navy blue military uniforms once again advanced towards the Guangfu Army trenches separated by several barbed wire fences under the command of the soldiers.

The trenches behind the barbed wire fence were crowded with wounded soldiers, as well as the dead, in the trenches, the people kept moving the dead bodies that hindered the movement in the trenches, and moved them to the open space behind the trenches, and these people crowded in the trenches were dressed differently, and even the weapons in their hands were also different, there were the latest Mauser rifles, as well as Han or 88 rifles, in addition to the old Mauser, Remington and other single shots.

In the middle of the Yangtze River, a gunboat was constantly shelling the infantry trenches, and the heavy artillery shells of the Yangtze River Naval Division exploded violently when they landed, easily shattering the barbed wire.

The occasional shell falling in the trench would blow some unlucky soldiers and civilians into the sky, and the soldiers of the Liberation Army in the trench would hide in the anti-artillery hole with a frightened face, waiting for further orders from the soldiers.

At this time, although the artillery fire was fierce, no one dared to escape! In the past three days, the law enforcement team has repeatedly expressed the severity of military law to them with machine guns, and in addition to the enforcement of the law with hand-held submachine guns, the second line of defense is responsible for driving back the deserters of the first line of defense with bullets.

"If anyone escapes, drive them back, or else you will have to go up!"

The cheers of the officers made the soldiers of today's Liberation Army understand that if they want to live, they have to be stared at there on the front line, and they will never spare their bullets in order to survive.

"They all cut off their braids and rebelled, and Hengjian is dead!"

In short, in the past three days, the first line of defense has been staring at it under the barbed wire fence and the threat of bullets, and in the war, the survivors have learned how to fight.

A dark blue line appeared on the horizon, their pace was not fast, they lined up, holding rifles, and the bright bayonets on the heads of the guns became a forest of bayonets outside the city of Yuezhou in the early morning.

As soon as the long blue strip appeared, in the civil machine gun barrier a few hundred meters apart from the trenches, according to the shooters of the machine guns, their eyes showed bloodthirsty eyes, their eyes were fixed on a white stone 300 meters away, with that white stone as the boundary, scattered hundreds of corpses, which were the corpses of the Hubei Standing Army and the defense battalion soldiers that were not carried away in a hurry during the sneak attack last night.

"Ammunition hands get ready!"

The captain of the machine gun gave the order, and the ammunition man standing next to the machine gun firing position had already picked up the long magazine of 56 rounds and was ready to supply ammunition.

The MJ03 machine gun was the only machine gun they had, and in order to make up for the lack of heavy machine guns, these machine guns used heavy barrels, tripods, and the 56-round magazine.

"Raised by a son of a bitch, these slaves are going to die today!"

Seeing through the telescope that there were about 1,000 people of the Qing army, a platoon of the Hubei Standing Army and two platoons of defense battalion soldiers lined up in a ten-column parade formation, the machine gun captain muttered, and the machine gunners with bloodthirsty eyes were also taken aback by the formation of the Qing army today, which was the best shooting target.

"Steady!"

"Stabilize ......"

The sentry commanders, with swords in their left hands and guns in their right, followed the column forward, shouting loudly to the frightened soldiers to stabilize the formation, although the column seemed to be in good order, but the trembling rifles in their hands and the pale faces showed their inner fear.

When the column advanced towards the front of the trench, the soldiers who were originally nestled in the anti-artillery hole in the trench followed the sound of the whistle, and were already aiming at the front of the chest wall of the trench where the gun was leaning to prepare to shoot, and the soldier with a single old-fashioned gun took out a dozen bullets from his waist pack and placed them on the chest wall, and the officer in the black student uniform also picked up his rifle to aim at those soldiers and shoot.

"This is simply sending people to death!"

Putting down the binoculars, Zhang Zhibo's first feeling was annoyance. At this time, when he looked at the troops advancing in a column with guns less than half a kilometer away through the faint morning light, his anger churned even more violently, and his breathing became rapid.

He felt the muscles of the grumpy war horse under his crotch quivering spasmodically, and the rough air from his mouth stirred up the slightly cold air by the river. The sun slowly rose, and a ray of sunlight fell obliquely on his thick body, and his right cheek felt itchy warmth in the sun.

He looked at Chris in a crisp German tweed military uniform, with field binoculars hanging from his chest, and his white-gloved left hand resting on the handle of a saber in a group of officers not far away. It was this Major Chris who proposed the "column assault".

"Enough manpower to tear through any line of defense!"

These were the words of Major Chris last night, and it was at his suggestion that 2,500 soldiers rushed in this column of deaths towards the line of the Liberation Army, which used a large number of electric guns.

However, Chris didn't feel the anger in the eyes of others, he just took a telescope and carefully observed the defense line of the Liberation Army, which surprised him too much, multiple barbed wire fences in front, infantry trenches in the back, and multiple barbed wire fences between the first and second lines of defense.

This is not new, as early as the American Civil War, this kind of trench defense operation has appeared, but the most amazing thing is the machine gun in the trench, it is the machine gun that stopped the Qing army's attack.

"I hope it can be done......"

Shifting the telescope to the white stones, looking at the messy but regular corpses, Chris muttered in his heart, for him, this battle of the Qing army was just a test, used to test the defense ability of the Guangfu army position against a large column charge.

"Li Du belt, if you break through the defense line, be sure to capture the rebel machine gunner!"

Putting down the binoculars, Chris said in stiff Chinese to Li Yuanhong beside him.

"That's natural, I still need those machine gunners to make stun guns!"

Li Yuanhong swept the two electric guns in front of him, which were used to urge the battle, and the use of the electric guns to supervise the battle was what he and the Guangfu Army had learned in the past two days, and in the past two days, when a few soldiers were lucky enough to rush through the barbed wire, the mixed opposition party almost collapsed, and many people dropped their guns and fled backwards, but they were forced back to the defensive line by the electric guns in the rear.

"Compassion is not in charge of soldiers!"

There are also many talented people among these traitors! It's best to even capture the people who train the soldiers, Li Yuanhong even thought that if he captured that Yu Shaopeng, he would have to take out his training skills anyway, and in a few days, he would turn these mixed people into a "strong army", and he did have some ability.

"It's a pity ......"

felt sorry for Yu Shaopeng in his heart, Li Yuanhong, like everyone else, threw his telescope at the advancing column on the battlefield.

Near, near...... Looking at the white stone and the corpse, the soldiers who shouted "steady" with guns all sweated nervously, and that line was the place of death, the place of their death.

"And never retreat, move forward bravely...... Those who retreat will be killed! ”

As they got closer and closer, the soldiers waved their swords and shouted, and everyone just trembled when they heard this, this is not a threat, and the adults have already spoken before leaving.

"Conquer the defense line, each person will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, and if you don't get the order to retreat, those who flee will be killed!"

Before they set off, the two stun guns had even been pushed behind them, and there was no way to go to the sky or the ground, so they could only rush forward.

"Ready...... Prepare for ......"

As the enemy forces got closer and closer, the machine gun captains held binoculars in one hand and waved them in the other, and the machine gunners listened to the password and held their breath, waiting for the last moment to come.

Finally, in the sight of the telescope, a column crossed the white-line corpse realm, and the machine gun commander waved his hand.

"Fire!"

The machine gunner pulled the trigger, and the machine gun, tilted at 35 degrees, spat out tongues of fire, and in an instant the battlefield could only hear the sound of dense machine guns, and in the middle of it was the screams of people as they died...... Every piece of masonry on the Yuezhou city wall is clearly visible, most of them have been mottled, and they have been scarred by shells and bullets, but the city wall still stands there.

Bursts of explosions and the clatter of machine guns came from the air...... Ning Xin stood up suddenly, rushed to the window, and opened the window.

The sound of explosions and machine guns appeared louder, clearer and closer. The floor trembled beneath his feet, and the bowls and spoons on the table crackled.

"It's over there in the north of the city!"

Ning Xin's voice was a little excited, and said, "There is also the south side of the city." ”

When she closed the window, the glass and the rice paper attached to the glass made an uneasy trembling sound.

"It seems that if the official army does not break through the city gate today, they will not withdraw their troops!"

Ning Ze, who was sitting on the chair, said softly, but his expression was a little complicated.

He was a court official who retired and returned to his hometown, and he looked forward to the imperial army recovering Yuezhou. can think of the military disasters that this Yuezhou City will suffer, and his natural mood is much more complicated, he naturally understands the truth that the bandits are like combs, and the soldiers are like sieves, and he naturally understands how many disasters this Yuezhou City will suffer!

Ning Xin sat down beside her grandfather and put her hand in his palm. Grandpa seems to be trembling too.

If only my father and mother were at home! They will know what to do.

Dad went to Guangdong, when my mother went to Guangdong in the first month, I wanted to take Ning Xin with me, but my grandfather was not waiting for me, so my mother changed her mind before leaving, but she never thought that she would suffer from this change.

"Xin'er, are you afraid?"

Ning Ze asked his granddaughter, his grandson stayed in the East, and there was such a caring granddaughter by his side.

"Don't be afraid."

Ning Xin replied, but she knew that she was afraid, at least very worried, she was not worried about the officials and soldiers outside the city, the officials and soldiers came, and when they saw the sign hanging at the door of this house, they naturally didn't dare to disturb, after all, her grandfather was a second-class member of the imperial court who came back, and she was worried about the Guangfu Army.

After the recovery of Yuezhou, all these men have to cut their braids, and today is the last day of the three-day limit of braids, if they come to see grandpa.

Thinking of this, Ning Xin looked at the gray braids of his grandfather's brain soldiers, and his grandfather was reluctant to cut it, he said that the Ning family was an official for five generations, and he wanted to be a loyal minister and righteous son of the Qing Dynasty.

Can...... But we are Han! Ning Xin frowned, thinking about the drama of "The Land of Jiangyin" on the drum tower when the day before yesterday was restored, the loyalty of the righteous soldiers in Jiangyin in the play, the absolute difference when the villagers brought explosives into the camp, the suicide of Mengtong, the loyalty of the woman jumping into the well, and the brutality of the Manchu Dynasty.

"Why do I kneel down as a barbarian slave of my dignified nobles!"

Ning Xin wanted to say it, but she didn't dare to say it in front of her grandfather, in that drama, a person like grandpa is...... Those two words are really harsh, if grandpa hears them.

Seeing the different colors of his granddaughter after seeing her braids, Ning Ze sighed in her heart.

"Xin'er, are you worried that grandpa won't cut his braids?"

Ning Xin nodded, how could she not worry. On the day that the Guangfu army was in Yuezhou, they cut off the heads of hundreds of people, and even the prefect of Nahu only said a word.

"I have been greatly favored by the imperial court, how can I succumb to the rebellious people!"

It was regarded as a Han annihilation by the Guangfu Army, and after the performance of "The Land of Jiangyin" in the Drum Tower, his head was cut off to sacrifice the heroic spirit.

"Old man......"

This will be a servant rushed in, with a look of trepidation on his face, his hair was scattered behind the bag, this is grandpa Yun's Ning family servants can choose whether to keep braids or keep braids, and the servants all cut their braids that day.

"Sir, Governor...... The Overseer's Axe has sent someone to ......"

The servant said that the five soldiers with loaded guns walked into the hall of the Ning family's mansion, Ning Xin looked at the young man with him, his eyes suddenly widened, and he looked incredible, it was him! He...... How is he.

Entering the hall and seeing Ning Xin standing behind Ning Ze, Li Zhuoyi didn't show much emotion, but just gave a military salute.

"Mr. Ning!"

"Who am I? It turned out to be the third young master of the Li family! ”

Ning Ze lowered his eyes slightly.

"This Li family is a loyal martyr for generations, Brother Li Nanyun was Ning's best friend, with the Zuo Shuai Ping Northwest Rebellion, the war fell in Shaanxi, Brother Li's sons Li Zuoqin and Li Zuoren died in Taiwan, in the capital with more than a dozen elastic battles, the Li family has been loyal to the court for generations, never thought about this Li family, and now there is a chaotic minister and thief!"

Looking at Ning Ze, he showed a bit of official authority, and to the young man standing in front of him, Ning Ze said sharply, but his heart was painful, this ...... This Li Zhuoyi is...... Yu Guang saw his granddaughter's pale face, he was the unentered uncle of the Ning family.

The harsh words did not make Li Zhuoyi show any emotion, but the soldiers behind him did not do it.

"Sir, what nonsense is talking to him...... Directly cut the trouble! ”

As he spoke, the soldier drew his bayonet.

"Stop!"

After stopping the soldiers' actions, seeing the annoyance on Xin'er's face, Li Zhuoyi sighed bitterly in his heart.

"Mr. Ning! You need to know that military orders cannot be violated! ”

Ning Ze stood up, puffed up his chest and looked directly at the unentered uncle in front of him.

"The head can be broken, but the braid cannot be broken!"

"Grandpa!"

Grandpa's actions only startled Ning Xin, and she hurriedly protected her grandfather, her eyes staring at her future husband.

"Ayi...... He...... He's my grandfather, and you'......."

"Keep your head without hair, keep your hair without your head! That was done by the Suolu barbarians, not by our Yan Huang nobles! ”

The wife who had not passed through the door stood there, only to let Li Zhuoyi smile bitterly and shake his head, and then raised his head to look directly at Old Man Ning.

"Those who don't cut their braids will be regarded as Han Annihilation at one rate, if Mr. Ning insists on going his own way, I am afraid that after the recovery in the future, I am afraid that he will leave his name on the monument in front of the Yueyang City Gate, and the Ning family will be ashamed for generations! Please also ask Mr. Ning to introspect! ”

"At that time, the Ning family will be ashamed of people for generations! Please also ask Mr. Ning to reflect on himself......"

Sitting on the chair, Ning Ze's mind was full of the words of his grandson-in-law, and his expression became more and more complicated, looking at the leaflet on the table that he left when he left.

“…… Set up the Han Dynasty in front of the city, the township street, in front of the village, engraved with the name of the two hundred and sixty years of Han annihilation, in order to shame the police descendants! ”

“…… Those who refuse to cut their braids will have their names engraved. Those who wear pigtails with death will engrave their names......"

This word, sentence by sentence, only made Ning Ze's face full of sadness, he wanted to be his own loyalty, but he was afraid of tarnishing the reputation of the Ning family for thousands of years in the future, and the dilemma of not being able to die and stay only made him squeeze out some old tears, and suddenly stood up and walked into the courtyard to bow down to the capital.

"The emperor, the queen mother, it's not Ning Ze who is disloyal, it's just ......"

Crying silently, Ning Ze kowtowed a few times, and his hands trembled again when he grabbed the braid. He waved his hand and cut off the braid at the back of his head, and when the gray braid was cut off, he only felt that the thought in his heart seemed to collapse at the moment when the braid was scattered.

Looking at his grandfather kneeling in the yard, Ning Xin's throat choked up, but another stone was loosened in his heart, and now, it's finally fine.

As a man approached the barbed wire, he fell to the ground with a bloody face. An official watched all this in horror. His outpost was destroyed, and all of his subordinates were killed by the stun guns, and they held out to the last minute in the face of the bullets.

The machine guns in the fortifications were still roaring, but the Qing troops were still advancing. The machine gunners kept pulling the trigger and firing continuously, until the barrel was red and replaced, and the magazine was empty, and the machine gun fire would not stop. But they could not stop the men from continuing to rush forward, and when the lucky ones crossed the crossing death zone and walked out of the gaps in the blown barbed wire, they saw heads emerging from behind the chest wall of the trenches, near, close, fifty feet, thirty feet...... "let ......"

When both sides could see each other's faces clearly, a series of machine-gun-like volleys of gunfire sounded in the trenches with roars, and the lucky ones who were lucky enough to cross the barbed wire fell to the ground one after another, and after a few rounds of close-range volleys of guns, there were no longer standing people in front of the trenches and between the barbed wire.

The sound of gunfire and artillery finally calmed down at this time, and in this strange silence, an official covered in blood and holding a saber in the pile of corpses struggled to kneel between the corpses with a knife, he looked at the trench close at hand, and tried to stand up, but in the end he couldn't stand up.

In the thick black smoke of gunpowder, he knelt among the corpses, with a Western-style saber in his right hand, looking at the trench only a few feet away, and scattered the eyes of the gods, with only some resentment, only one step away...... (Loyal ministers and righteous sons, to be honest, used in the Qing Dynasty, this word always makes people feel strange, emotionally, speechless respect for those who are loyal to me, but in the standpoint...... Ay! Pity their talents, pity their encounters! Ask for a commuter pass! Read! ）

(To be continued)