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"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "South of Hankow. The 5th, 23rd and 41st Brigades of the Imperial Army were ready for the attack. On the artillery position, 24 105-mm light howitzers from the army's heavy artillery battalion and 72 75-mm field guns from the brigade's artillery battalion of three brigades were firing fiercely into the city of Hankou. On the river, the 12 'Shark-class' cruisers of the 2nd Squadron of the Navy's Yangtze River Fleet were also firing fiercely at Hankou. The navy's naval guns are much more powerful than the howitzers used by the army.

A total of nearly 200 large-caliber heavy artillery pieces opened fire on the city of Hankou, and the smoke of the explosion rose everywhere in the city, and the flames soared into the sky. Fortunately, at the time of the confrontation between the Chinese Empire and the Manchus, there were not many inhabitants in the city of Hankow. At the beginning of the war yesterday, the few inhabitants of the city fled. At this moment, the rest of the city are basically the officers and soldiers of the Qing army, as well as the families of those officers. That's why the Imperial Army carried out a large-scale artillery bombardment of Hankow without fear of injuring innocent people.

"Boom!" A house on the edge of the city wall was hit by a shell, and the brick and wood houses could not withstand the heavy artillery fire, and in the explosion, the roof was blown off. The entire house was left in ruins in the explosion. Those Qing soldiers who were hiding inside were killed a lot. The 9th Army of the Qing Army was in the city of Hankou, and apart from the city walls, it did not build many fortifications at all. In such a situation, they could not withstand the heavy shelling of the Chinese Empire.

"Boom!" A 105-mm shell exploded on the walls of Hankow. Violent explosions blasted stone chips flying. Those Qing soldiers guarding the city wall suffered heavy casualties. The rest of the people were so frightened that they fled back to the city, not daring to stay on the city walls any longer.

Heavy shelling. It lasted more than half an hour before it ended. After the shelling, the city of Hankou was almost in ruins, and a large number of houses were blown up. Even the 9th Army Chang Rong Yucai's governor Yamen suffered a lot of shells, so frightened that Rong Yucai hid in the underground headquarters.

"Order the troops, prepare to attack!" Brigadier General Zheng Benqing, commander of the 5th Brigade of the Imperial Army, gave the order to attack. Two infantry battalions of the 5th Brigade, under the cover of artillery fire, launched a fierce attack on Hankow. Thousands of elite soldiers rushed towards the tall city wall of Hankou with a skirmish line.

"Hurry up the walls. The rebels are attacking, so they will fight! If we let those rebels enter Hankou, we will all have a dead end. The military commander said. As long as you resist the attack of the bandits, everyone is a hero. Whoever kills a rebel is rewarded with five taels of silver. Kill ten, and the officer will be promoted to one level! "The junior officers of the Qing army. Shouted loudly. The loyalty of the soldiers of the Qing army. Far from being able to compare with the soldiers of the Chinese Empire, therefore, in order to improve everyone's morale, they were often only able to stimulate everyone with promotions or money. It has to be said that this is indeed a very good way, and some Qing soldiers rushed to the city wall with red eyes, preparing to resist the attack of the Empire* army.

"Boom! Rumble! "At a distance of five hundred meters from the city walls, the mortars of the Imperial Army were erected. Suppressive firing began on the Qing army at the head of the city. The muzzles of heavy machine guns were also aimed at the walls, and a dense stream of bullets poured down on the city. The Qing troops who fought couldn't raise their heads at all.

"Smack! Syllable! "The Qing troops on the city walls braved the rain of bullets from the Imperial Army to return fire, and the sound of chaotic rifle fire rang out. It's just that, in the panic, the bullets they fired were not accurate at all. The Imperial soldiers who were hit, few were pitiful.

The three towns of Wuhan are divided into Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang. As an important city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River since ancient times, Wuhan is one of the most important cities in China. During the Chinese Empire's war against the Manchus, the empire captured Wuchang, but Hankou and Hanyang, located north of the Yangtze River, were still under the control of the Qing army. In response to the threat of the Chinese Empire, the Qing army continued to strengthen the defenses of Hankou and Hanyang, making the two cities more fortified. Of course, even the strongest city will be breached one day.

At about 9 o'clock in the morning, the soldiers of the Imperial Army had approached the walls of Wuhan and began to shoot at the Qing troops on the walls. Even if the Qing army had the city wall as a cover, they could not take advantage of it in the confrontation. At the same time, the sappers of the empire began to prepare to blow up the walls of Hankow with explosives. When dealing with such a fortified city, there is basically no other way but to use explosives to blow down the city walls. Then they went into the city. Under the rule of the Chinese Empire, the size of the city grew larger and larger because of the economic development. As a result, the city walls have become a factor hindering the development of the city. Many cities have already demolished their walls. Only in the Manchu-ruled areas north of the Yangtze River did these cities remain surrounded by walls. This also made it more difficult for the Imperial Army to attack.

Under the cover of their comrades-in-arms, the sappers rushed to the city walls of Hankow and planted two hundred kilograms of explosives under the walls.

"Boom!" In an earth-shattering explosion, the southern wall of Hankou was blown down. This big mouth is dozens of meters long, and many Qing troops on the city wall are buried in the rubble of the collapsed city wall.

The whole of Hankou shook in the violent explosion, as if it were an earthquake.

"What's going on? Was there an earthquake? Rong Yucai, the commander of the 9th Army of the Qing Army, who was hiding in the underground headquarters, was shocked. If there is an earthquake, if you hide in the lower headquarters, isn't it certain that you will die? If the exit collapses, isn't it buried alive?

"Commander, it's not an earthquake, it's the rebels who blow up the walls of Hankou with explosives." Adjutant Zhang Yuchen said.

"Dog's day! Give orders to the three division commanders and ask them to resist the attack of the rebels no matter what! As long as the attack of the rebels is repelled, I will play the court and ask for credit for them! "Rong Yucai can only promise some empty promises now, in exchange for everyone's efforts.

"Yes, Commander!" Zhang Yuchen nodded, but it was difficult to say whether these promises would have an effect.

"Rush!" After the walls of Hankou were blown down, the heroic officers and men of the Imperial Army, who had been waiting for a long time, launched a fierce attack.

"Bang! Bang! "A volley of bullets came at the front, and several soldiers who rushed to the front were knocked to the ground. However, the comrades-in-arms behind them passed over their corpses and continued to move forward.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "A few mortar shells landed in the gap in the city wall, turning the Qing troops guarding there on their backs.

Two Type 44 heavy machine guns were lifted up and fired at the gap. The dense bullets, like a steel storm, shrouded all the recalcitrant Qing troops. After the storm cleared, the Qing soldiers had been beaten into a sieve.

At 10 a.m., after a fierce battle, the Imperial Army entered Hankow. However, even at this time, the Qing army had not given up resistance and was still resisting. In the propaganda of the Manchu government, if they were defeated, the Qing soldiers would not end up, and they would either be directly killed by the Chinese Empire or sold into slavery.

"Haha, it's in! Those Qing troops are really vulnerable! "At the height of the battle, Major General Liu Zhongming, Deputy Director of the Operations Department of the General Staff of the Imperial Army, and Major General Zhao Mingfu, Commander of the 5th Army, crossed the Yangtze River by boat and landed on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

"Yes! Lao Zhao, let the remaining two brigades of the 5th Army, and one brigade of the 3rd Army, launch an attack on Hanyang, there is still a division of the Qing Army there, and they can't be allowed to slip away! Major General Liu Zhongming ordered.

The main forces of the 9th Army of the Qing Army were concentrated in Hankou, and Hanyang had only one infantry division. However, in order to achieve a complete victory, Major General Liu Zhongming obviously will not let go of this infantry division.

"Okay, General!" Major General Zhao Mingfu nodded. A three-infantry brigade against an infantry division of the Qing army, that should be hand-to-hand.

Fierce street fighting took place inside the city of Hankow, and through the gap in the collapsed city wall, the Imperial Army invaded the city of Hankow. However, the remnants of the Qing army still relied on the buildings inside the city to resist the attack of the imperial army. Every time the Imperial Army took a step forward, it had to engage in fierce competition with the Qing army. However, we have to admit that although the Qing army was equipped with new weapons, it also hired British instructors. However, they did not degenerate into a new type of army. It's just a façade. Under the fierce attack of the imperial army, the Qing army was still unable to resist.

Even though the Qing army was more familiar with the city of Hankou than the imperial army, it was still defeated and retreated.

By the afternoon of the same day, most of the city of Hankow had fallen under the control of the Imperial Army. The Qing army was killed and wounded, as many as thousands. In addition, an equal number of Qing troops saw that they were cornered and surrendered to the Imperial Army. At this time, the most important thing is to save your life first, even if you have to live a life that is inferior to pigs and dogs in the future, it is much better than being killed now!

At 4:12 p.m., Hanyang, which was controlled by the Qing army, was first recovered by the imperial army. The 36th Infantry Division of the Qing Army, which was defending here, also saw that the main force of the 9th Army of the Qing Army was in a bitter battle. And with no backup, they surrendered to the Imperial Army after resisting for a short time.

The battle of Hankow did not last long. By evening, the Qing army could not resist. Rong Yucai, the commander of the 9th Army of the Qing Army, sent an envoy to the Imperial Army, requesting conditional surrender to the Imperial Army. If the Empire accepted their terms, he would lead the remaining nearly 20,000 Qing troops to surrender to the Imperial Army. (To be continued......)