The sound of continuous rain and rustling rain played a role as a cover for the unexpected. In the first trench outside the west gate of Meishan, a group of black shadows crawled forward in the muddy water. After approaching the trench, a large rope was placed in the ditch, and the two soldiers carefully followed the large rope down to the ditch and floated on the water, and then the soldiers on the ditch handed a wooden pole to the soldiers below. The poles have staggered pedals from side to side, apparently using the poles to climb up on the opposite side of the ditch.

The soldiers on the ditch held their breath, the rain had already wet their uniforms, their eyes were blinded by the rain, and they seemed to ignore it completely, and nervously watched the every move of the two soldiers in the ditch. Two soldiers waded across the ditch and climbed up the pole with difficulty, and the soldiers on the ditch let out a sigh of relief. The fort on the ditch was empty, hideous and terrifying in the dark, and there were two Qing soldiers standing guard in the sentry box outside the fort.

At this time, the two Qing army sentries standing guard sat cross-seated in the sentry box and fell asleep, and the rustling rain was like a lullaby, prompting the two Qing army sentries to sleep very sweetly. The two soldiers pulled out their blades at the same time, and they quickly pounced on them, and the sentries of the Qing army did not say a word, and their souls returned to heaven in a sweet sleep. The two soldiers quickly untied the rope and slowly lowered the trestle. At the sound of an order, the soldiers behind quickly and silently crossed the trestle.

The second trench was concocted in the same way, and there was no danger. When the demolition team placed the explosives at the base of the city gate, the Qing army still did not notice it. The combat mode of the Northern Expeditionary Army is impossible to know, and Meishan is a rear front, which belongs to a city that can sit back and relax, so the vigilance is very lax. There was a flash of fire, followed by a violent explosion, and the gates of the city were gone. The explosion was the order, and the 91st Brigade commando jumped up and made a brave assault into the city.

A little later, a violent explosion also came from the South City Gate, and there is no doubt that the 92nd Brigade also successfully blew up the South City Gate. The violent explosion naturally woke up the Qing army, but most of the Qing garrison troops were sleeping in the camp, and the senior generals of the Qing army were all in their own residences in the city, and there were only low-level generals in the barracks. The explosion sounded, and they didn't know what was happening, let alone that it was the Northern Expeditionary Army that launched a surprise attack.

The soldiers attacked the city, some of them climbed the city wall and attacked along the city wall, quickly expanding to the left and right, the purpose of this was to occupy the north and west gates of the city to prevent the Qing army from escaping, and some of the soldiers attacked in depth along the streets. It can be said that it was a complete melee, the soldiers of the Qing army were like headless flies, the soldiers could not find the officers, the officials could not find the soldiers, and under the fierce blows, there was no way to resist, and the rest was only to escape.

When the 93rd Brigade entered the city, He Meng breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered the Teaching Brigade and the Recruit Brigade to enter the city through the South City Gate. The recruit brigade was composed of Qing soldiers who had surrendered, and they were not only stunned but also stupid when they saw the Northern Expeditionary Army entering the city in the blink of an eye. It is simply unheard of for the two armies to have such a style of play against each other. The city has been breached, and these Qing soldiers who surrendered to the city are eager to make meritorious contributions, and they are rushing to the city.

The sky gradually turned white, and He Meng set up a headquarters at the south gate. In fact, there was no need to give any orders, because the Qing army was not resisting but fleeing. A company of soldiers rushed along the city wall to the north gate, only to see the city gate wide open, and a large number of Qing troops were fleeing outside the city. The Qing soldiers were extremely embarrassed, many soldiers even wore shorts, and some soldiers did not even wear shoes. The soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army condescended, smashing grenades, and with the explosions one after another, the dense formation of the Qing army was blown to the ground. Where have the Qing soldiers seen such a terrifying scene, some turned around and ran, and some simply knelt on the ground and raised their hands in surrender.

The ensuing battle was a prisoner-and-take-off contest, and by 3 p.m., the gunfire had ceased in the city. He Meng came to the prefect's yamen, the prefect led the officials and officials to kneel on the right side, and the supreme general who defended Meishan was naturally the commander, at this time, the admiral and his generals were tied up and knelt on the left side. He Meng strode up the steps of the prefect's yamen and said: "We are the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Meishan City has been captured by me. The Northern Expeditionary Army treats prisoners preferentially, and as long as you are in good order, your life safety will be guaranteed. Then He Meng ordered the Qing generals to be loosened and imprisoned.

Next, the three brigade commanders under his command scrambled to report on the battle situation separately. The commander of the 91st Brigade reported that they had captured more than 4,000 prisoners of the Qing army, the commander of the 92nd Brigade reported that they had captured more than 3,000 prisoners of the Qing army, and the commander of the 93rd Brigade reported that they had captured about 1,500 prisoners of the Qing army. After verification, the captured Qing army captives were basically true, and the Qing army that escaped was about 2,000 people, and almost all the Qing troops in Meishan were eaten in this battle.

The troops were too tired, and He Meng ordered the three infantry brigades to take a break and teach the brigade and the recruit brigade to serve as patrols and guards. The soldiers lay on the spot with their clothes folded, and the streets were lined with soldiers. Although they were ragged and disheveled, their dusty faces were filled with sweet smiles. When the common people saw this fierce army with strict military discipline, they were all moved. The Northern Expeditionary Army really shocked the world and lived up to its reputation.

A hearty victory, quickly occupying Meishan to cut off the connection between the front line and the rear of the Qing army, He Meng initially achieved the goal of the campaign, and it should be said that he completed the task beautifully. The nervous mood relaxed, and He Meng slept very sweetly. Now there is no radio communication, and the transmission of information is entirely human. At this time, Leng Yifei didn't know that He Meng had already occupied Meishan. Meishan was the logistics transit station of the Qing army, where a large number of grain and military supplies were hoarded.

As the saying goes, blessings are not double, and disasters are not one-way. Instead, it was the opposite, for He Meng, good luck could not be stopped, and it was a nightmare for the Qing army. It is said that the Qing army that escaped from Meishan fled to Pengshan Town in the north of Meishan in embarrassment, and ran into a Qing army transport team, which was about 50 kilometers away from Meishan. At this time, a guerrilla cloaked who escaped from Meishan said: "Lord Commander, the Northern Expeditionary Army suddenly launched an attack on Meishan, there are tens of thousands of horses, we are difficult to parry, Meishan City has been captured." ”

The person in charge of escorting the arms was a general soldier of the Hunan army, with 2,000 men and horses under his command. This time, they escorted 5,000 new Remington rifles with 1 million rounds of ammunition and 10 Western artillery pieces with 1,000 rounds of shells from Chengdu. In addition, 2 million taels of silver were escorted, and these arms were sent to Luzhou. When the general soldier heard that tens of thousands of rebels had appeared in Meishan, he was taken aback and shouted: "Lying about the military situation, how can there be rebels in Meishan, it is difficult for them to fly over from the heavenly soldiers, you are obviously deserters." ”

The chief soldier couldn't help but say something, and ordered all the deserters to be arrested and dealt with later. The guerrillas swore and pleaded with their soldiers, but the chief soldier was unmoved. But then it was difficult for him, and the Qing soldiers arrived one after another, reaching 2,000 people. There were so many deserters that the general soldiers were puzzled, and it was not difficult to see from their expressions that they were all frightened birds. It was impossible for so many deserters to appear at once, and the chief soldier was somewhat convinced.

To say that the generals of the Qing army, including the generals of the Hunan army, they lacked the ability to judge and usually passively accepted orders. The general soldier ordered the convoy to stop in Pengshan Town, and quickly sent people back to Chengdu to report to Zuo Zongtang, while sending scouts to Meishan to find out. It should also be the bad luck of this commander-in-chief. The scout cavalry he sent was captured by the reconnaissance force near Meishan, and the doom of the chief soldier befell him.

At 3 o'clock in the morning, He Meng was woken up. "Deputy Commander! The reconnaissance unit captured several Qing scouts in the north of the city, and according to the Qing scouts, they were the convoys responsible for escorting the munitions. In Pengshan Town, the Qing army encountered the escape, the situation is unknown, the escort of the Qing army sent reconnaissance cavalry to spy on the situation, and the transport team is currently staying in Pengshan Town. The Qing army escorted about 2,000 troops and transported about 1,000 people! He Meng stood up when he heard this, and his eyes were aimed at the military map.

Without hesitation, He Meng said loudly: "Don't miss the opportunity, order all the 93rd Brigade to rush to Pengshan Town as quickly as possible to encircle this Qing army transport team." "As soon as the day dawned, the 93rd Brigade quickly left the city. At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the troops arrived at Pengshan Town, and at this time the general soldier was still waiting for news of the reconnaissance cavalry. The troops quickly deployed, and an hour later launched an offensive on all fronts. Thunderbolt fired, and the soldiers shouted and outflanked in all directions.

Frankly speaking, the Hunan army has a certain combat effectiveness, and if the green battalion soldiers saw this kind of formation, they would have collapsed long ago. There was no wall in Pengshan Town, and the battle was like a field battle for the Northern Expeditionary Army. The Hunan army resisted for half an hour and then could not parry, and two hours later, the general soldier of the Hunan army was killed by a stray bullet, and the Hunan army had no leader but to choose to surrender. The battle ended before dark. At midnight that day, the convoy and the captured Hunan army were escorted to Meishan, while the people of Meishan were still in the dark.

“haha！ Zuo Zongtang is really interesting, sending so many good things.! Under the bright torches, He Meng couldn't help but shout when he checked the weapons and ammunition. The officers and soldiers around him were also happy. He Meng picked up the brand-new Remington rifle and looked at it, a little dismissive. But when he saw 10 infantry guns, he couldn't help but shout: "Haha! What I need now is artillery, Lord Zuo is thanking you! The officers and soldiers around laughed happily when they heard this.