After the Central Route Corps broke through the defense line of Tongbai Mountain, it quickly occupied Xinyang. After the capture of Xinyang, the Corps Headquarters ordered 10 reorganized divisions to quickly advance northward from the Xinyang line, and successively occupied Zhumadian, Zhoukou, and Shangqiu. Taking advantage of the fact that the coalition forces did not react, they adopted strategic encirclement, so that the coalition forces thought that they had not yet reached the point of exhaustion. During this period, the British army abandoned the defense line of Funiu Mountain because the defense line of Tongbai Mountain had been broken through, and its strength shrank to the area of Zhengzhou.

The news of the capture of Zhumadian by the Northern Expeditionary Army first caused panic among the French commander Bergeny, who quickly ordered the 1st Guards Cavalry Division of the Russian Army stationed in Zhengzhou to seize Shangqiu and ensure the passage for retreat to the east. At this time, the 14th Field Division of the Northern Expeditionary Army had been deployed in Minquan on the west side of Shangqiu, which was a plain area, a traditional yellow flood area in a broad sense, and a horse and a flat river were all saline-alkali land, which was very suitable for cavalry mobile operations.

When the Russian cavalry units arrived at Minquan, they were greeted by a crisscrossing of trenches and barbed wire. Needless to say, the battle will break out. The Russian cavalry launched several attacks with heavy casualties. The heavy machine guns, barbed wire, and mortars of the Northern Expeditionary Army were simply tailor-made for them. The cavalry troops had fallen behind in attacking the fortified positions, and the Russian army in Zhengzhou had transferred another division to continue to launch a fierce attack at any cost.

The 14th Division stubbornly resisted until the fifth day, and the southbound troops led by Leng Yifei reached the bank of the Yellow River. By order of the headquarters, he left two divisions to defend the north bank of the Yellow River, and then led three divisions to cross the river from the lower reaches of the Yellow River. After Leng Yifei learned about the situation of civil rights, he immediately ordered the forward troops Luo Bingzhang to quickly support civil rights. Leng Yifei's appearance in Minquan means that the encirclement is officially formed, and it also means that the Central Route Corps and the West Route Corps will successfully join forces.

The infantry divisions of the Russian army paid a heavy price and were timid, and the battlefield was littered with the corpses of Russian soldiers, as well as the corpses of war horses. The Russian troops retreated, and the battlefield was quiet. Luo Bingzhang's division replaced the 14th Division and fought for a day, and the officers and soldiers were in high spirits, but the Russian army stopped attacking. The sky was full of stars, and several soldiers in the trench rested with their backs against the trench. "It looks like the Russian army won't attack, they're retreating without a trace, damn it, I'm not enjoying it yet!" A soldier muttered in the dark.

"That's it, the 14th brothers have been fighting for five days, and we have only been fighting for one day, and the Russians are really boring!" "Maybe tomorrow will be a fierce battle, I heard the commander say that we have surrounded more than 200,000 coalition troops, and you are still worried that there will be no battle." The soldiers were babbling, as if they were discussing something very interesting. "Squad leader, take out your wine gourd, I'll take a few mouthfuls of sleep, and tomorrow I will let the heavy machine gun bullets in my hand be empty, and I will kill as many as I can."

"I said big man, it's too boring to drink wine without meat, you wait!" The squad leader's figure shook out of the trench. After a while, the squad leader came back with a horse leg, and everyone immediately lit a bonfire, and the smell of barbecue quickly spread. Seeing this scene, the soldiers in the trenches next to them were not willing to be lonely, and suddenly the bonfires in the trenches formed countless bright spots, which seemed to compete with the stars in the sky.

The next day, a French division came up to replace the Russians, and the Russians instigated, and the French commander Bergony transferred a French division. When the French were not ambiguous, they launched a fierce attack, followed by more than a dozen cannons. Under the cover of artillery fire, the French launched a huge offensive. The French barely stopped attacking all morning, but did not break through a single piece of ground.

The French artillery was fierce, and the heavy machine guns and mortars of the Northern Expeditionary Army were even more lethal. Luo Bingzhang, the division commander in the division command post, observed the attack of the French army and pouted: "If the brave French are not as good as the Russians, but the Russians cannot catch up with the French in terms of military formation and military quality. You see, the French crawled forward under a dense rain of bullets, while the Russians stepped forward. The French knew how to defend themselves, but the attack was too slow. The French would not have been able to break through the line with such an attack. ”

"Division commander, since the French army cherishes life so much, there is no need for us to waste ammunition. Our task was to stop the French. "The chief of staff's words reminded Luo Bingzhang." Order the forward positions to save ammunition and effectively kill and wound the enemy. An operational staff officer came in and reported: "Report to the division commander, the 49th Artillery Regiment has crossed the Yellow River and arrived, and Commander Leng ordered that the artillery of the coalition army must be killed to ensure the stability of the position." "With the voice of a capable man came in," reported the commander of the 49th Artillery Regiment with his troops ・・・・・・. ”

Soon, the artillery of the Northern Expeditionary Army began to roar, and the French artillery positions were suddenly shrouded in artillery fire. Needless to say, the French retreated. On the second day, a British division was pulled up, and the British were even more afraid of death, so they stopped the offensive after only one attack. But the British did not back down, and the two sides began to confront. The enemy did not attack, and the Northern Expeditionary Army, of course, welcomed it.

Shangqiu became the temporary headquarters of the Western Route Corps, and according to the needs of the campaign, several divisions of the Central Route Corps were temporarily under the command of Leng Yifei, and their pockets were already tightened. At this moment, Leng Yifei was observing the map, "Report to the commander, I just received a report that the Russian army defending Tongguan has retreated to Luoyang, and the three divisions on the west side of Tongguan have followed into Henan. Two divisions of the Qing army defending Tongguan surrendered. ”

Leng Yifei said with a smile: "If the coalition forces give up Tongguan, they will also give up the possibility of escaping to the west. What is the situation on the banks of the Yellow River? "This morning, the 47th Division reported that at the beginning of the morning, a large number of coalition forces appeared on the south bank of the Yellow River in the direction of Zhengzhou. The 6th Artillery Division concentrated the artillery fire of one regiment, and the coalition forces quickly retreated. A combat staff officer reported. Leng Yifei left two artillery brigades on the north bank of the Yellow River and used long-range strikes to prevent the coalition forces from crossing the Yellow River north.

Leng Yifei sneered: "The coalition army's attack was fruitless, because I wanted to test the reality and reality. Inform Li Tianxiang and report to the headquarters that the encirclement has initially formed, and the coalition forces in Henan have been unable to escape...... "With the middle route corps on another artillery brigade, the defense of the civil rights front line is more stable, and the coalition forces have been unable to break through." In the second month of April, the Northern Expeditionary Army in various battlefields was marching forward, and the coalition forces in Henan gave up on breaking through Jihua, but stuck to wait for reinforcements, praying for a turnaround.

Subsequently, the coalition forces began to build defensive positions centered on Zhengzhou, and the Northern Expeditionary Army seemed to be very cooperative and in no hurry to launch an attack. The main reason why the Northern Expeditionary Army was in no hurry to attack was that there were not enough troops. You must know that the coalition army has nearly 300,000 troops in Henan, while the Northern Expeditionary Army has 25 divisions of the Middle Route Corps, 8 divisions of the West Route Corps plus three artillery divisions, and a total strength of about 500,000 people.

It stands to reason that it is not easy for 500,000 troops to eat 300,000 horses, but Henan's excellent topography has created the best conditions for encirclement. To the north of Zhengzhou is the Yellow River, which forms a natural moat. To the west and south are rolling mountain ranges. Only the east, the northeast is the semi-mountainous area and the plains, so the Northern Expeditionary Army put heavy troops in the east and northeast, concentrated superior forces on the key points of the coalition army, first trapped the enemy so that he could not escape, and then ate the enemy step by step.

At the beginning of May, the coalition forces formed a new defensive line, with Zhengzhou as the center, Kaifeng on the east side, and the Yellow River on the north side. Fortifications were built in Xuchang on the south side, and Luoyang was the defense line on the west side. The Allied Forces established a temporary command in the period of life and death, with the French commander Bergeny as the commander-in-chief, the Englishman George as the deputy commander-in-chief, and the Russian Dzerzhinsky as the chief of staff. The British army served as the southern defense on the Xuchang line, and the French army defended on the Kaifeng and Zhengzhou lines. The Russian army is mainly responsible for the defense of the west and north flanks, and since the defense tasks of the Russian army are not heavy, most of the troops are used as reserves.

In early May, the headquarters of the Central Route Corps was relocated to Zhumadian in Henan Province with the aim of commanding operations more effectively. The deployment of troops has been completed, and the deputy chief of staff said: "Deputy commander, the deployment of troops has been completed, and the headquarters has not yet issued an offensive order?" Li Tianxiang shook his head and said: "I don't know, the headquarters just issued an internal order to the encirclement, allowing the people in the encirclement to come out and not allowing people from outside to enter." ”

"Difficult to get to the headquarters means besieging coalition forces?" The deputy chief of staff asked in surprise. A combat staff officer came in and reported: "Report, a part of the Qing army who surrendered to Cheng reported that the coalition forces began to disarm the Qing army on a large scale!" Li Tianxiang said with a smile: "This is not unexpected, the Qing army does not work but is a threat." How many Qing troops were in the encirclement. "About 5 divisions!" "Report this to HQ immediately!"

In the temporary headquarters of the Zhengzhou Coalition Army, Bergeni, who was temporarily promoted to the supreme commander, said with a decadent expression: "Everyone, my mood is the same as everyone else, I can only pray for the headquarters to send troops to rescue, I believe that the headquarters cannot sit idly by." As long as we hold out for a month, the tide of the battle will turn around, and everyone should be united. ”

The Englishman George was indignant: "McMahon, this bastard, he should go to the gallows." He did not notice any signs of a large-scale offensive by the Northern Expeditionary Army. The most hateful thing was that Li Hongzhang defected, he actually did not smell any clues, and his headquarters was destroyed, causing us to lose effective command for half a month. Now we are ordered to break through to the east, and without reinforcements, even if we break out, we will be divided and encircled and eaten. General Bergeny, waiting for reinforcements is hopeless. ”

The Russian Dzerzhinsky said: "I believe that the great Tsar Bixia will definitely send troops to the rescue, as long as the Kosako cavalry moves south, we have hope." The two of them heard it and thought it made sense. An adjutant came in and reported: "Report, the disarming of the Qing army has begun, and some Qing soldiers have fled with weapons. "Anyone who is found to be carrying a weapon of the Qing army will be shot immediately after being captured!" Bergeni did not hesitate to give orders.

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