The two sides engaged in melee combat on thick walls, extremely chaotic, with no tactics to speak of, relying entirely on the instincts of the brave. There were five or six meters between each other, and they all quickly fell down in a row, and they didn't have time to load, so they all pounced with bayonets, and immediately there was a burst of hand-to-hand combat, and the soldiers behind did not dare to shoot indiscriminately, and they were afraid of accidentally injuring their own people.

The more and more the fight to zuihou became, the two sides were completely face-to-face battles, and they couldn't care so much, at close range, it was much more convenient to go up and stab than to load the bullets, and the guns were framed, so they simply hugged each other and wrestled.

The French had filled in several trenches by this time, and hundreds more jumped up. The Chinese soldiers gave full play to their flexibility, and all kinds of weapons axes, forks, sticks, sickles, and long knives were dazzling, but the French soldiers responded to all changes with the same attitude, liliang, speed, and angle, and picked up a spear nearly 1.9 meters long, which was a simple move, striding and sprinting, breaking a thousand moves with one move, but making it difficult for the other party to deal with.

The passage became more and more fought, and nearly 2,000 French troops had rushed up the thick wall, and reinforcements were still pouring in from behind. More than 200 officers and soldiers crossed the thick wall and tried to attack the Chinese army from the rear, but were blocked by Nguyen Thien Shu's troops.

These Vietnamese officers and soldiers were resentful of the brutality of the French army, and the extraordinary tenacity of their fighting was very different from the usual.

Yuan Shikai felt that things were not good, and if this continued, the French gathered more and more, and the momentum was very strong. He immediately suggested to Ding Huai that Yang Yuke's brigade go out through the secret passage of the minefield on the Xiling side and fight the French army from behind, to see if he could contain the opponent's continuous reinforcements and reduce the pressure on the side of the thick wall.

Ding Huai also had no idea at this time, Yuan Shikai said whatever he wanted, and he immediately asked Yang Yu's department to dispatch.

At this time, the fierce battle entered a white heat, the Chinese and French sides occupied half of the thick wall, China on the west side, and the French army on the east side, forming a tug of war and stalemate.

Beran felt that the time had come to defeat the Chinese in one fell swoop, and he ordered all the reserves to rush in and completely open the opening, so more than a thousand French officers and soldiers rushed to the thick wall.

A moment later, Belan was observing the battle with a telescope, only to hear a sudden burst of gunfire on the west side, as dense as fried beans. Beran had a bad premonition, and immediately ordered the troops who had just been transferred back to be brought back, and he himself simply slipped into the woods.

Almost at the same time, thousands of Chinese soldiers swarmed in, and after a simple battle, they routed the French army and captured some of them, thanks to Belin's quick reaction, or he would have become the second French general to be captured after Guba.

Frey, who heard the report, immediately sent troops to reinforce him, but Yang Yuke did not fight hard, he was worried that he would be attacked from front and back, so he retreated back the same way.

Although the attack commanded by Yang Yuke did not annihilate many enemies, it had a very good effect, and the French army was forced to focus part of their attention on the flanks and did not dare to press it with all their might.

The sky gradually darkened, and the Chinese and French troops were separated by a section of ruins dozens of meters wide, and both sides used a large pile of stones to build simple fortifications, forming an east-west confrontation.

That night, several commanders of the Chinese side discussed countermeasures, Ding Huai believed that the two sides were in a scuffle, and the French artillery did not dare to attack, for fear of accidental injury, and at dawn tomorrow, the opponent's artillery would bombard, and this section of the thick wall would be less than 800 meters, and it would be difficult to defend it any longer. Yang Yuke believes that there are still some tunnels under the thick wall on the west side that can hide from artillery fire. Wei Gang thought that the mine command post was also here, and it was a pity to give up like this.

Ruan Shanshu listened to the fact that both sides made sense, so he didn't speak.

At this time, Yuan Shikai returned, and he had just gotten some news from the mouths of the group of French people who had been captured by Yang Yuke, which made him have some new ideas.

Among these Frenchmen was an artillery staff officer, transferred from the 2nd Brigade on Daqingshan. According to this person's confession, the Second Brigade of the French Army on Daqing Mountain was requisitioned twice, and now it has less than 2,500 troops. Moreover, almost all the artillery units were transferred to the Fifth Brigade, especially after the night attack of Wei Gang's troops last time, and even some of the Haqi Kaisi machine guns were even transferred from the mountain, and there were almost no heavy weapons on the mountain.

This information made Yuan Shikai's mind flash, and he suddenly remembered that a few days ago, a Vietnamese soldier reported that he knew a secret passage to Daqingshan, and now Daqingshan has insufficient troops and weak firepower, isn't it just a good opportunity to counterattack? As long as Daqingshan is recaptured from the flank, it can threaten the French army from the rear, even if the French army occupies a thick wall, how can they attack Zhennan Pass?

After Yuan Shikai put forward this idea, everyone's eyes couldn't help but light up, and their eyes immediately broadened, as if they were looking down on the entire Zhennanguan area from the air, rather than staring at a defensive position in this area.

There was no suspense in the ensuing discussion, and everyone reached a consensus: since they were preparing to attack Daqingshan and threaten the rear of the French army, wouldn't it be better to take the initiative to completely abandon the thick-walled position and let the French army go deeper?

immediately sent someone to ask Feng Zicai for instructions on this consensus, and sure enough, the hero saw the same thing, and it was quickly approved.

Immediately, Yuan Shikai sent people to blow up the mine command post, since he wanted to retreat, he naturally could not stay with the enemy, it was nothing more than those jumping mines could not be used.

At the same time, the entire army sneaked back to Zhennan Pass along the dark passage in batches, and in order to prevent it from being used by the French army, the dark passage was also blown up.

Later, at Zhennanguan, Feng Zicai listened to Yuan Shikai's suggestion, believing that the time was ripe to recapture Daqingshan, and held a military meeting overnight. It is pointed out that on the one hand, it is necessary to block the enemy's attack, and on the other hand, it is necessary to send strong troops to ensure the success of the sneak attack.

He encouraged the generals: "Wei Gang's night attack destroyed part of the French artillery, which indirectly led to the weakening of Daqingshan's firepower; Yang Yuke came out to fight and captured a few more "tongues" alive, and it happened to be from Daqingshan; A Vietnamese soldier provided a secret passage to Daqing Mountain. It's really a causal cycle, interlocking. Could it be deliberately arranged by God? This is God's will on me, and it is a tyrannical thing to keep moving. Heaven gives the Buddha to take, but suffers the blame; If you can't do it, you will suffer from it! ＂

Everyone was excited, full of anticipation of victory. Subsequently, Feng Zicai made the corresponding troop deployment, and he asked the Zhang Gaoping Regiment, the most combat-effective guard, to be led by the Vietnamese as the vanguard of the sneak attack. Yang Yuke was brave and good at fighting, leading a brigade to follow, and the 1,500 people of Su Yuanchun's department and the 1,000 people of Pan Tingfeng's department, who were originally stationed in Xiaoqingshan, will be used as backup to do Zuihou's impact. The whole army will assemble at Xiaoqingshan tomorrow, and the time of action is set for midnight tomorrow. Night battles are always the first choice for sneak attackers.

Yuan Shikai nodded: The total attack force has reached 9,000 people, and if you fight more and fight less, it will be a surprise, and you will be able to succeed immediately!

At the same time, the family should also do a good job of defense, and the more than 4,000 people of Ding Huai's department who withdrew from the thick wall position will go down to rest first, as a reserve, Feng Zicai will personally command the rest of the troops to defend.

On July 9, 1881, as dawn came, the thick wall on the west side controlled by the Chinese army was empty, except for a bunch of fake soldiers disguised as straw and bamboo, and the whole position was empty, and the wind blew and blew the flags whirring.

The French did not know it, and as soon as the day dawned, they began to bombard, and after a burst of artillery fire, the French troops swarmed out, crossed a ruin, howled and rushed into the Chinese position, but unexpectedly, except for the rubble and rubble all over the ground, and the debris abandoned when the troops retreated, the French army found nothing.

Major General Beran walked in the ruins, facing the sand blowing in the wind, feeling not very satisfied, such a victory made people unsatisfied, not like an attack success, more like the other side took the initiative to give up and shrink the force. But Frey in the rear was very satisfied, thinking that the Chinese were cowardly in the face of the attack, so they chose to flee, which was in line with the characteristics of the Eastern people.

In any case, the capture of the thick-walled position, which shows that the Chinese's turtle shell has been broken, the French army has advanced to the front of the Chinese Zuihou defensive line, the next step is to attack Zhennan Pass, and the enemy's escape shows the low morale, he has seen the goddess of victory beckoning to him! My cocktail party!

In the early morning, the sun gradually spread on the ground, Feng Zicai stood on the wall of Zhennanguan, and the military flag next to him hunted and waved in the wind.

The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying, Feng Zicai looks up to the sky and smiles, God really helps me! Today, it is so windy, the hot air balloon of the French army will not be useful, and the troops who gather to Xiaoqingshan will be able to secretly cross Chen Cang without leaking secrets.

Providence is mine, and I will win!

The key is, can Zhennan Pass withstand the enemy's attack and hold out until dark?