After the city of Zwutoust was broken through by the coalition forces and the fortifications of the 2nd Division of the Andong Provincial Garrison, the coalition army and the 2nd Division launched a tragic street battle in the city, but because the strength of the 2nd Division was much smaller than that of the coalition army, as the street fighting became longer and longer, the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Division fell into a very passive situation, occupying less and less territory outside the city, and the number of people who could fight in the 2nd Division was also decreasing, and many officers and soldiers of the 2nd Division were swallowed up by the swarming coalition forces.

Two wounded soldiers of the 2nd Division were surrounded by coalition forces in a dead end, "Squad leader, you go quickly!" Leave me alone! "One soldier was hit in the thigh by a bullet and the wound was still bleeding, shouting at another soldier who was wounded only in the arm.

The squad leader looked at the dozens of coalition soldiers who came around, and couldn't help but say with a wry smile: "Sanwazi, none of us want to leave today, we can only fight." ”

The third baby, who was injured in the thigh, looked at the surrounding situation and knew that the two of them had nowhere to run, so he couldn't help but say with annoyance: "Squad leader, you all complain, if you don't drag me, squad leader, you can't be blocked here at all." ”

"Stop talking nonsense, prepare grenades! Shoot after throwing the grenade, kill one more, and we'll earn one. ”

The coalition officer who led the group was a French lieutenant company commander, who saw the situation of the two Chinese Imperial soldiers and wanted to take them prisoner, and he shouted loudly in French for the two Chinese Imperial soldiers to lay down their arms and come out from behind the pile of rubble.

"Squad leader, what is that foreign devil shouting?"

"What else can you shout except for us to surrender!"

"Squad leader, I won't be a prisoner even if I die!"

"Know! Three babies. Throw grenades! Fight with foreign devils! ”

After a burst of explosions and gunfire, two soldiers of the 2nd Division fell in pools of blood. And this group of French officers and soldiers also fell here, 6 or 7, including the lieutenant company commander who wanted to capture the soldiers of the Chinese Empire.

In the western part of the city of Zwutoust. A group of officers and soldiers of the 2nd Division of the Andong Provincial Garrison of the Chinese Empire retreated while fighting, and finally were surrounded by the pursuing coalition forces in a courtyard, "Division commander, there are too many enemies, you and Lao Gao go quickly, I will take someone to cover you!" Ding Hui, the deputy commander of the 2nd Division, shouted loudly to the division commander Xu Yong and the chief of staff Gao Yuanpeng.

This group of officers and soldiers of the 2nd Division of the Andong Provincial Garrison of the Chinese Empire was a member of the 2nd Division, and after a fierce street battle, there were originally hundreds of officers and soldiers of the 2nd Division. There are only a few dozen people left in the battle, and even the 2 Black Wolf light tanks and 4 Z1 armored vehicles that followed the division headquarters were blown up by the explosives bags of the coalition soldiers during the battle.

The coalition army that invaded the city of Zwutoust found that there were senior officials in the group of Chinese Imperial troops they were fighting with, so they pursued Xu Yong and them relentlessly, and finally surrounded the remaining dozens of officers and soldiers of the Chinese Empire here.

Xu Yong, the division commander standing behind the courtyard wall, fired a shot at the enemy outside the courtyard with the rifle in his hand, then lowered his head slightly, hid his whole body behind the wall, and then shouted loudly: "Let's go together." However, there are enemies all around, and it seems that it is already difficult to leave! Let's eliminate some more foreign devils here, fight for one, and earn one! ”

Chief of Staff Gao Yuanpeng on the other side of the courtyard wall. With a submachine gun in his hand, he opened fire on the coalition forces outside the courtyard and shouted: "It's a big deal to sacrifice your life for the country, brothers, give me a hard beating!" ”

The walls of this courtyard are also made of stones. Less than a man tall, although the stone walls are not too thick. But it's still no problem to block bullets and grenades, otherwise there are dozens of people left in the division headquarters. I can't even have bones left after being eaten for a long time.

However, as several coalition soldiers besieging this courtyard, under the cover of fire from other coalition officers and soldiers, after approaching the courtyard, they threw a few grenades into the courtyard, which made the situation in the courtyard suddenly become dangerous, and many officers and soldiers of the division headquarters were killed and injured, and even the chief of staff, Gao Yuanpeng, was seriously injured and fainted covered in blood.

Division commander Xu Yong saw that they were about to lose control of the courtyard, and that the courtyard was surrounded by allied officers and soldiers, so he immediately shouted to a room in the courtyard: "Blow up all the radio stations, and don't leave a single one!" ”

When the division headquarters of the 2nd Division was evacuated from the temporary headquarters, it only carried one radio station, and the other radio stations had been blown up, and even the code books had been destroyed, and the division headquarters of the 2nd Division also issued an order to destroy the radio and code books to the troops below the city of Zwutoust, and the military radio stations of the Chinese Empire were much more advanced than those of other countries in the world, and such an advanced radio station must not fall into the hands of the coalition forces.

Even Xu Yong, the commander of the 2nd Division, gave a cold order to the telegraphers of the division, and absolutely did not allow any telegrapher to become a prisoner of the coalition forces, otherwise it would be regarded as treason.

You must know that in the army of the Chinese Empire, there is no clear provision that it is not allowed to surrender to the enemy in a desperate situation, but the officers and soldiers of the Chinese Imperial Army think that it is an extremely shameful thing to be a prisoner, and the vast majority of officers and soldiers would rather die than be taken prisoner.

Now seeing that the entire division headquarters was about to be surrounded and annihilated by the coalition forces, the division commander Xu Yong asked the telegraph operators to blow up the last one radio station, and also asked the remaining telegraph operators of the division headquarters to prepare for the arrival of the last moment.

The telegraph operator in the house had just blown up the only remaining radio station with a grenade according to the order, and suddenly there were more violent gunshots and explosions on the west side of the courtyard, and the division commander Xu Yong was on this side, and he saw a group of officers and soldiers of his 2nd Division from the gap in the courtyard wall, followed by a Black Wolf light tank and a Z1 armored vehicle, and was storming the coalition forces on the west side of the courtyard.

Because of the suddenness and the appearance of the 2nd Division, there were hundreds of officers and men, most of whom were armed with machine guns or submachine guns, and there were 2 chariots to help, which suddenly caused a great chaos to the coalition forces west of the courtyard.

At this time, he didn't wait for when, the division commander Xu Yong shouted loudly: "Everyone follow me to break through to the west!" Immediately, Xu Yong took the only remaining officers and soldiers of the division headquarters. Kill from the west side of the courtyard and desperately break out. Gao Yuanpeng, the seriously injured chief of staff, was also carried by his guards and broke out with the division headquarters.

Division commander Xu Yong led the officers and soldiers of the division headquarters after paying part of the losses. Finally converged with the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Division who rescued them, "Division commander, quickly, let's continue to rush west!" A church to the west is still in our hands, let's go there! ”

"Zhao Dongxu, just do as you say!" Division commander Xu Yong looked at the leading officer and said, this leading officer is Zhao Dongxu, the commander of Wang Chenglong's regiment.

Then Zhao Dongxu's men and the people of the division headquarters converged and fought and retreated, all the way to the church west of the city of Zwutoust. At this time, at least 2 or 3,000 coalition officers and soldiers surrounded the church outside the church, and the flat ground around the church was already covered with the corpses of the coalition officers and soldiers, especially the side of the stone wall of the church, which was stacked with the corpses of the coalition officers and soldiers.

The division commanders Xu Yong and Zhao Dongxu did not hesitate, and led the remaining officers and soldiers to follow 1 Black Wolf light tank and 1 Z1 armored vehicle to attack the main entrance of the church courtyard, and Wang Chenglong was on the second floor of the church at this time. He also discovered that the officers and soldiers of his own division were rushing into the church, and immediately ordered two Black Wolf light tanks at the main entrance of the church to launch an assault to meet the brother troops outside.

The coalition forces surrounding the church on this side were flanked from front to back. There was chaos suddenly, and even many officers and soldiers fled to both sides, allowing the division commanders Xu Yong and Zhao Dongxu to enter the first floor of the church smoothly. As for the Black Wolf light tank and Z1 armored vehicle, they were all left at the main entrance of the church.

"Commander—oh my God! Deputy division commander - division commander - you are all here! Wang Chenglong couldn't help but exclaim when he saw the leaders of the brother troops who entered the church.

Zhao Dongxu gasped and glanced at the situation around the church. Then he said, "Okay! Little fellow, you didn't embarrass Lao Tzu. Now there are not many places in the city that are still in our hands, and your church is well guarded, if you can live this time, let alone a company commander, it will be no problem for a battalion commander to give you a boy. ”

The division commander Xu Yong also gasped and asked Zhao Dongxu, "This is your regiment?" ”

Zhao Dongxu nodded and said, "Yes!" This kid was promoted by the line of fire, his name is Wang Chenglong, and now he is the acting company commander, I cobbled together dozens of people for him to guard this church, and now it seems that he is doing a good job. ”

The division commander Xu Yong said to Wang Chenglong: "Is there anything to eat?" Many of these people in our division headquarters have not eaten since the morning, and the chief of staff, Gao Yuanpeng, was seriously injured. ”

"Yes! Commander, the hygienist has food and food, so I immediately asked people to call the hygienist and then let them prepare food. Wang Chenglong hurriedly said.

After a while, the health officer from the original 3rd Company hurriedly ran down from the second floor of the church and began to give emergency treatment to the seriously injured Chief of Staff Gao Yuanpeng, but the health officer saw the injury of the Chief of Staff Gao Yuanpeng, and the look on his face was very ugly.

Several soldiers under Wang Chenglong also brought some food and distributed it to the officers and soldiers of the division headquarters who had just entered the church, as well as the officers and soldiers brought by Zhao Dongxu.

The officers and soldiers of the division headquarters and the officers and soldiers led by Zhao Dongxu who entered the church now add up to more than 70 people, and the rest have already died on the way to the church.

Division commander Xu Yong and regiment commander Zhao Dongxu listened to Wang Chenglong's report on the troops, weapons and ammunition in the church while eating, and the gunshots and explosions in their ears did not stop, and the coalition forces pursuing Xu Yong and Zhao Dongxu converged with the coalition forces outside the church and continued to launch a more fierce attack on the church.

Hearing that there were nearly 200 officers and soldiers in the church, and the weapons and equipment were very sophisticated, there were 2 Black Wolf light tanks, 3 Z1 armored vehicles, and there was still a lot of ammunition left, so that plus the people and combat vehicles they just brought, they could hold out in this strong church for a while, and then Wang Chenglong's command of the entire church was naturally deprived, and the division commander Xu Yong personally commanded the guard of the church.

The time soon came to 8 o'clock in the evening of January 3, 1909, the battle of the city of Zeutoust, counting from the attack of the coalition forces on the positions outside the city, 43 hours have passed, at this moment the gunfire and explosions in the city of Ziwutoust only a few places are still continuing, the other urban areas have no sound of fighting, the troops of the 2nd Division of the Andong Provincial Garrison of the Chinese Empire, there are only a few positions left in the city of Zwutoust are still holding on, but the situation is not too good.

The church in the west of the city of Zwutoust was in dilapidation at this time, and the coalition artillery fired multiple shells at the church, although the main body of the church was not damaged, but it looked a little miserable.

The coalition army originally had not many shells, but the nail of the church in the west made the coalition army like a fish in the throat, and the continuous attacks were frustrated, and the loss of thousands of officers and soldiers was lost, so even the shells that were kept to deal with the main army of the Chinese Empire in Ufa City were also generously taken out by the commander of the coalition forces, and they bombarded the church, but unfortunately the stone wall of the church was very powerful, except for the bell tower and roof of the church were blown up, the stone wall of the church was not blown up by the 75 mm shells of the coalition army, but the shells penetrated the roof and fell to the 2nd floor of the church, but it brought very large casualties to the officers and soldiers in the church.

"Wang Chenglong, how many of us are there?" The head of the regiment, Zhao Dongxu, leaned against the stone wall on the second floor of the church and asked, at this time, one of his arms was wrapped in gauze, and blood had penetrated the gauze.

"Regiment Commander, there are about 100 people who can breathe now, but our ammunition is running out, the tanks and armored vehicles below have reported that the ammunition on their tanks will not last long, and there is not much left in our church, Regiment Commander, it seems that we may not be able to hold it out!" Wang Chenglong sighed and said.

Regiment commander Zhao Dongxu gritted his teeth and said: "The division commander, deputy division commander and chief of staff have all sacrificed, we are the only one left, and we must not let the church fall into the hands of foreign devils, tell the brothers, when the bullets are gone, throw grenades to Lao Tzu, throw all the grenades, fight bayonets for Lao Tzu, as long as there is a breath, we have to fight to the end with foreign devils!" ”

Chief of Staff Gao Yuanpeng died of serious injuries and finally died of excessive blood loss in the church, deputy division commander Ding Hui was killed on the spot by a bullet in the head in a fierce battle, and division commander Xu Yong was hit by shrapnel from shells that fell on the second floor of the church and hit his body in many places, including a piece of shrapnel that directly hit Xu Yong's heart.

Wang Chenglong nodded and said: "Don't worry, regiment commander, when the ammunition runs out, let's fight with foreign devils for bayonets, fight for one to make one, fight for two to earn one, brothers will not discredit the 2nd Division!" ”

Suddenly, in the western position outside the city of Zeutoust, there was a deafening sound of shelling, and Zhang Zhao Dongxu and Wang Chenglong couldn't help but have bright lights in their eyes, as if reinforcements were coming! (To be continued.) )