A crescent moon hung in the sky, and the bright moonlight shone softly. The moon and stars are bright, and the weather is rare. The continuous rain makes people look forward to clear skies, and the hazy weather makes people feel depressed. In the bright moonlight, He Meng held up the telescope to observe the enemy's situation. The arrival of the soldiers under the city of Xikang means that the progress has been fruitful, but the gloomy atmosphere is unbearable, and the stubborn resistance of the Qing army makes the officers and soldiers anxious and helpless.

It took He Meng a month to advance to Xikang City, and the officers and men had mixed tastes and deeply felt the difficulty of the campaign. At this time, He Meng held up the telescope and was extremely surprised. Obediently, there are three trenches under Xikang City alone, and the walls are tight. It has now been ascertained that the three trenches are 10 metres wide and 4 metres deep, and that the trenches are filled with water. Obviously, the Qing army was heavily fortified in Xikang, and He Meng realized that the real brutal battle had begun.

A few days ago, the scene was vividly vivid, and the troops attacked Dechang and encountered stubborn resistance from the Qing army. The Qing army defending Dechang was only 3,000 men, and it took He Meng and his troops 5 days to take Dechang. What He Meng really felt was that the Qing army seemed to have changed, even if the city was broken, the Qing army was still resisting, and the situation of defeat was gone. Now facing Xikang's heavy guards, He Meng has a feeling of unconfidence in his heart.

"Deputy commander, by capturing the prisoners, now we have figured out that it is Zuo Zongtang's descendant troops, the Tiger Army, who is defending the front line of Xikang. He had three of the strongest troops under his command, one was the Victorious Army, also known as the Chinese Army, which was currently stationed in Chengdu. The other line is called the Hussar Army, which is currently deployed in Luzhou and Yibin. And what we have to face is the Tigers. The total strength of Zuo Zongtang's three descendant troops is 100,000 horses. The combat staff officer next to him was like a treasure.

He Meng's expression could not be seen clearly in the dark, and the combat staff officer continued: "The combat effectiveness of Zuo Zongtang's troops is much higher than that of the Qing army's green battalion, and the combat effectiveness of his descendants' troops is even higher than that of the Huai army. They followed Zuo Zongtang to fight for many years and were loyal to him. In addition, Zuo Zongtang's descendants are well equipped, all Remington rifles, and a small number of Remington serial guns. At present, the artillery of this LTTE is unknown, and its individual weapons are not comparable to ours. If it is a field battle, according to the comparison between the two sides, we can completely win in one battle, but the other side is holding the city and has a large number of people, and our advantage is greatly reduced. ”

He Meng asked, "How is the terrain reconnaissance around Xikang?" "The reconnaissance unit basically figured out the surrounding terrain. On the left side of Xikang is the Yalong River, which runs north-south. On the right side of Xikang is Lunan Mountain, and the troops cannot do it in a roundabout operation, so we are facing a stormy operation. He Meng said helplessly: "The current bad terrain restricts us from forming a large corps combat advantage, and it is simply not feasible to encircle the point and send reinforcements in the current state." Only by taking Xikang and Luzhou can the whole situation be opened. Ordered the troops to rest for two days and make a formal attack on Xikang the day after tomorrow. ”

The artillery fire was continuous, and the fighting was bursting in bursts. The gunfire and artillery gradually stopped. At the headquarters of the Tiger Army in Xikang City, a general soldier carried a waist knife and entered the headquarters covered with dust. "Report to the Admiral, and repel another onslaught of the rebels, but with 500 casualties. My lord, after three days of attacking, my men have suffered more than 2,000 casualties. The rebel artillery was so evil that it exploded in a large area, and most of the casualties were caused by the rebel artillery. ”

Admiral Luo Bingzhang said with a tiger face: "Damn, I don't want to hear the casualty figures, if we repel a rebel attack, we will have more stability." Lord Zuo strictly ordered that we swear to live and die together with Xikang City. You have fought well, and tell the brethren that I have reported to the Governor's Office for a reward. You give me another day, and then I'll take your ministry down. "Lord Admiral, your subordinates are desperately serving, and the people are in the position."

Luo Bingzhang is a fierce general under Zuo Zongtang, who is about 50 years old. This guy followed Zuo Zongtang to fight in the south and the north, and he has a lot of experience on the battlefield. Xikang is the only passage to Chengdu in the west, so Zuo Zongtang handed him the responsibility of defending Xikang. Luo Bingzhang is a martial artist, tall and burly. Speaking of loyalty, Luo Bingzhang was not interested in the Manchu court, but he was loyal to Zuo Zongtang. To put it bluntly, Zuo Zongtang's descendant troops are his private army.

At dusk, He Meng's Chinese army tent. The commander of the 91st Brigade walked in with a snort and said, "Deputy Commander, the Qing army is simply playing with its life, and we have encountered the strongest opponent." He Meng said: "Zuo Zongtang's descendants, if there are no two hits, what is his face, I like such an opponent." After three days of attacking, the enemy suffered heavy losses, but the enemy was outnumbered, and this loss was not a big problem for them. Pull down your unit to rest, stop the offensive tonight, and let the 92 Brigade attack tomorrow. ”

That night, in the Xikang Governor's Mansion, Luo Bingzhang held a banquet to entertain everyone. "Brethren, the rebels have been attacking for three days in a row, day and night, and the rebels have been so good at artillery, but my loyal and brave soldiers have stood stubbornly on their positions, and you are all good. Lord Zuo said that as long as we resist the three axes of the rebels, our city will be impregnable. But in the past three days, you have also seen what kind of army this rebel army is, and if we don't have the city to rely on, we are no opponent at all. ”

"Lord Admiral, the rebels are nothing more than that, they are not three-headed and six-armed, they are also mortal in the flesh. Attacking day and night for three days in a row, the rebels may not be able to bear it. "A subordinate, perhaps stimulated by alcohol, boldly stood up and made a noise." Bastard, your head is dizzy. The rebels have only 10,000 men and horses, and I have 30,000 horses, but the 10,000 men and horses of the rebel region dare to attack our deeply fortified city, which shows that the rebels do not take us seriously at all. In three days, the rebels only mobilized more than 4,000 men to attack us, and you must have seen how the rebels attacked. ”

The generals recalled the nightmarish scene of the past three days, and they all agreed with the admiral's words. Luo Bingzhang warned everyone that although the defense is good, they should not be complacent. In the first round, the stubborn resistance stabilized the position, and Luo Bingzhang's inner anxiety was much calmer. While reporting to Chengdu, he dispatched troops to stabilize the defense.

Ten days passed, and three infantry brigades took turns to fight, but still did not break through the trench outside Xikang. Although it caused a large number of casualties to the Qing army, the headquarters also paid the price of 1,500 casualties. Although they took turns to fight, the officers and soldiers were extremely tired, and He Meng ordered to stop the attack. In the big tent of the Chinese army, He Meng's face was very ugly, and his subordinates tried to be careful as much as possible, for fear of attracting a reprimand.

"Deputy commander, the continuous attack has been blocked, and the morale of the soldiers has been affected, I am afraid that it will not work to fight like this again, and the fighting style must be changed!" An operations staff officer said cautiously. "Do you have any good ideas to speak up?" He Meng's cheeks were not angry but threatening, and a pair of eyes seemed to have become bigger. Several staff officers looked at each other and shook their heads impatiently. He Meng knew that when the battle came to this, no one had a good way. The continuous attack was fruitless, and the morale of the soldiers must have been greatly affected, so it was a helpless move to stop the attack.

All kinds of methods have been exhausted, but they don't work, and it seems that continuing to attack is a dead move. The sound of horses' hooves was heard outside, and in a few moments, a communications officer entered wet. "Report to the deputy commander, the battle situation of the corps headquarters!" He Meng took the letter and ordered the people to go down and rest. Looking at the letter Leng Yifei wrote to him, He Meng frowned and fell into deep thought.

"Deputy Commander, is the main army also experiencing the same problem?" An operational staff officer asked. "Yes, the commander led his troops to attack under Luzhou City for a long time and with great difficulty, and they have stopped attacking now. To make matters worse, Khalid did not make any progress in Neijiang, although the city of Neijiang was not strong, but Khalid did not have heavy weapons, and it was impossible to attack the city without artillery. Although the terrain on the Neijiang front line was flat, the Qing army was very clever, and they dug a large number of trenches, which the troops could not do if they wanted to fight in a roundabout. ”

"Deputy Commander, what do you mean by Commander Leng?" An operational staff officer said. "At present, it has been reported to the Guangzhou headquarters, waiting for news!" There was a neighing of horses outside, and a subordinate came in to report: "Report to the deputy commander, the transport force has arrived." 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition, 3,000 artillery shells, 50,000 grenades, and 2,000 additional soldiers were sent. 200,000 catties of grain. He Meng nodded and said, "Immediately distribute the ammunition, and the supplementary soldiers will also be distributed to the various troops, and the wounded will be transferred." ”

The atmosphere in Xikang City is also very depressing, 10 days of defensive operations, although it blocked the rebels' fierce attack in turn, but after statistics, the casualties of the department were nearly 6,000 thousand, of which 4,000 were killed, many of the wounded were not effectively treated and died, the Qing army was far from rescuing the wounded and sick, and many ambulances were still in the era of cold weapons.

Although Luo Bingzhang felt distressed about his subordinates paying a heavy price, he had witnessed a sea of corpses and a sea of blood and seen countless killings, and his nerves could bear it. The subordinates of this kung fu came in to report that 5,000 soldiers had come in for reinforcements, and a large amount of food and silver had been brought in. Luo Bingzhang ordered to kill pigs and sheep, and to control enough wine to reward all the soldiers. When the subordinates heard this, they immediately became excited, and the entire Xikang City began to boil.

Late at night, Luo Bingzhang was a little dizzy, and walked up the city wall. Looking at the camp of the Northern Expeditionary Army from afar, there was a feeling of admiration in my heart. In his heart, he feared the army of foreigners, despised the Taiping army, and despised the rebels of Aguba. But looking at the army in front of him made him awe-inspired. Perhaps it was this army's sweep of the French army in Annam that made him feel good, or perhaps it was the invincible occupation of half of the rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River that made him admire, or perhaps Lord Zuo also looked at this army differently. In short, for some reason, Luo Bingzhang has mixed feelings about the army in front of him.