Rain fell from the sky again, and the western horizon began to darken. The headquarters of the Qing army continued to move back, and now it has retreated to Gaoqiao Town. At this time, the headquarters of the Qing army relocated to Gaoqiao Town was in chaos, especially the wounded soldiers of the Qing army were left in Gaoqiao Town, and the scene was even more unsightly. Admiral Min and his entourage were a little embarrassed with their subordinates, huhula entered Gaoqiao Town, looking at the wounded soldiers all over the ground, especially the howls and moans made by the wounded soldiers were very harsh.

Min and his entourage frowned and said, "The wounded weishenme are not transported away?" "My lord, there are too many wounded, and we don't have enough manpower to transport them away." One of his subordinates said worriedly. "Bastard, you won't force the civilians to transport the wounded!" "My lord! The common people have run away. "You have to find a way to get them away immediately, I don't want to hear this bad voice." This subordinate was a little stupid when he heard this, and thought of a way, if there was a way, he would have done it a long time ago, but this subordinate did not dare to refute.

In fact, Min and his entourage knew in their hearts that it would be easier said than done if so many wounded people wanted to be transported away, but it was just for his subordinates to show that he cared for the soldiers. Suddenly, the gunfire stopped, and the battlefield suddenly fell silent. The crowd didn't know what was going on, and they all looked in the direction of the battlefield. "What's going on, what's going on?" Min and his entourage asked loudly. One of his subordinates flew on his horse and galloped away.

The waiting time was long, and after about half an hour, the subordinate returned, and everyone felt as if time had frozen. "Report to my lord, good news, the Northern Expeditionary Army has stopped attacking on all fronts." Min and his entourage were stunned for a while, and suddenly daxiao said, "Haha! The Northern Expeditionary Army launched an offensive for four days in a row, and it seemed that it could not attack with heavy casualties. When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but get excited.

This Kung Fu Maxson came from behind, and the guy was under house arrest for a day. "Lord Min, I protest, I will go to Marshal McMahon to sue you for illegally placing an officer of the British Empire under house arrest. According to the regulations of the Joint Command, I have the right to make decisions in times of crisis. Now I order you to retreat immediately! As soon as they met, Maxson roared loudly. Min and his entourage smiled and said, "Mr. Maxson, please forgive me for my recklessness, the Northern Expeditionary Army has stopped attacking, and they can't attack, which means that we are defending." ”

"Stupid, just stupid. It's not that the Northern Expeditionary Army can't attack, but it's sending troops to confuse you, with the aim of eating you all, and I order you to retreat immediately! Min and his entourage just wanted to have a seizure, but they couldn't help it, and said with a smile again: "Mr. Maxson has been too tired for days, come here!" Mr. Maxon, please go down and rest. Two guards came in and carried Maxon away once more.

In the corps headquarters, Chen Jintang said to Li Tianxiang and Wang Feng: "After the rotation of the attacking troops tonight, we will continue to launch the offensive at 4 o'clock tomorrow morning. I asked the left flank to attack the cluster, and by dusk tomorrow, we must take most of Hanyang, cross the Han River east at the golden mouth before dark, and form a situation of outflanking the main city. It is required to attack the cluster on the right side, capture Sanjintan, Yujialing, and Li Jiadun respectively before dusk tomorrow, and form an encirclement of the main city from the east side. ”

"Yes, please rest assured that the deputy commander-in-chief will resolutely complete the task!" Li Tianxiang and Wang Feng assured loudly. "In order to confuse the Qing army, the middle lane cluster slowed down. After launching a strong offensive for four consecutive days, the Qing army's defensive strength has lost half of its strength, and the conditions are now ripe for encirclement and total annihilation of the Qing army. After forming an outflanking trend on the east and west sides, a general attack on the whole line was launched in the morning of the day after tomorrow. Today is April 9th, and I ask that all the fighting be ended by the 12th! ”

After the ceasefire on all fronts that night, the Qing army headquarters was still depressed, and the key was that around the headquarters, the wounded soldiers of the Qing army were gathering more and more. In a fit of rage, Min and his entourage slashed the unlucky subordinate, but to no avail, there were still more and more wounded soldiers coming down from the front line. At this time, one of the staff members came up with a bad idea and said: "My lord, I heard that the Northern Expeditionary Army treats the prisoners and treats the wounded well, I think it can be done like this・・・・・・ Min and his entourage took his advice.

The next day, just after dawn, a company commander led his subordinates to hide behind a collapsed house on an attack position in the middle lane cluster, waiting for an attack. As the day gradually dawned, the company commander took out his pocket watch and looked at it: "Give me some spirit points, there is still half an hour before the attack time." "Report to the company commander, there is a situation!" An observation post shouted. Everyone stretched their necks to check, and a large number of Qing soldiers appeared in the open space and streets in front of them. ”

"What's going on,? What does it mean when the Qing army moves the dead to the front? "Company commander! It's not the corpses of Qing soldiers, it's wounded soldiers! ”

"Company commander, listen, it's the moaning of the wounded soldiers of the Qing army!" Faced with this situation, the company commander did not know what to do and immediately reported the situation. In the corps headquarters, Chen Jintang was patiently waiting with a pocket watch in his hand, when a subordinate hurriedly came in to report: "Report to the deputy commander-in-chief, the 7th Division and the 9th Division are reporting that there are a large number of wounded Qing soldiers in front of their positions. ”

"Deputy Commander-in-Chief, the Qing army's intention is very obvious, it wants to use the wounded soldiers to stop us from attacking!" An operational staff officer said. The left and right flanks of the attack group arrived with flying horses, and said that a large number of Qing soldiers and wounded soldiers also appeared in front of their positions, and it was obvious that the Qing army had thrown this burden to the Northern Expeditionary Army. "Order the entire line to stop the attack and immediately rush to transport the wounded soldiers of the Qing army!" Chen Jintang decisively gave the order.

On the front-line positions, our soldiers carried the wounded Qing soldiers to the rear. Because the Qing army's battlefield ambulance was very backward, some wounded soldiers had to be treated on the spot. This scene was seen by the Qing soldiers on the front line, and they were moved by the benevolence of the Northern Expeditionary Army, so that the Qing army's will to resist was further disintegrated, which accelerated the demise of the Qing army.

The operation to treat the wounded soldiers of the Qing army lasted until noon, and the offensive did not begin until 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Although the Qing army won half a day to breathe, it was a foolish move that made the Qing soldiers on the front line lose the will to resist. After the offensive was launched, many Qing soldiers who witnessed the Northern Expeditionary Army rescuing the wounded soldiers simply laid down their weapons and surrendered, which invisibly accelerated the speed of the Northern Expeditionary Army's offensive.

Min Yixing paid for his stupidity, and by dusk, the left flank of soldiers and bees smoothly advanced to the golden mouth. At present, the Han River is controlled by the Yangtze River Fleet. Under the cover of the fleet, the forward troops successfully crossed the Han River eastward to launch a front. A little later, at about midnight, the right attack group took Lijiadun, and the situation of attacking the main city from east to west was formed.

At dusk, Min and his entourage led the headquarters to withdraw to Luojiawan, where it could not be withdrawn again, and any further withdrawal would be tantamount to abandoning Wuhan. The smell of failure hangs over everyone. "My lord, at present, the Northern Expeditionary Army is attacking the Golden Pass on the right flank, and there is no doubt that Hanyang has been captured. The Northern Expeditionary Army took Lijiadun on the right flank, and we were in danger of encirclement. One of his subordinates said with a pale face.

Min and his entourage were also pale and seemed to be a little numb. "Report to your Excellency, letter from the Governor!" A subordinate rushed in to report. Min and his entourage were shocked when they heard this. I took the letter and checked it, and there were only two words on it: Hold on! After reading the letter, Min and his entourage sat weakly in their chairs. "My lord, Wuhan City has been powerless, it is a wise choice to retreat now, adults can't bury all the children of the Huai Army for their own selfish interests, they are all your hometown children, it is difficult for adults to bear it?" A staff member wisely plays the family card.

"My lord, we have been defending stubbornly for 6 days, and we have done our best. The Northern Expeditionary Army is too strong, it is already good to be able to reach this level, my lord, this is not your responsibility! Another aide said. Several generals under his command also clamored, and it was obvious that the generals had completely lost confidence. After a long time, Min and his entourage sighed and said, "Go and invite Mr. Maxson, you guys go down and let me be quiet for a while!" ”

Min and his entourage walked into the discord and took off the official mansion on their bodies. After a moment's hesitation, he put pen to paper: Mr. Maxson commands the retreat. Before he died, he didn't want his subordinates to take responsibility for retreating, and if Maxson commanded the retreat, Liu Mingchuan would not be able to ask for guilt. Then Min and his entourage decisively committed suicide with a knife, he didn't want to see Maxson humiliated, and he had to maintain that high and arrogant attitude before he died.

McSon's figure appeared at the command headquarters, and several generals were crying. Maxson walked over to Min's corpse and shook his head in pity. "Now I order all the rear forces to retreat, and the target is Macheng." McSon gave the order to retreat. "Lord Yang, Weishenme does not retreat to Xiaogan, Xiaogan has our defense army to meet us." A staff member questioned.

"Now facing a critical moment, the Northern Expeditionary Army will definitely follow and pursue, and Xiaogan will not be able to hold it at all. We retreated to Macheng and could safely retreat into Anhui. "Lord Yang, the rear defense troops retreat, what should the front-line troops do?" A subordinate general asked. "Idiot, do you think the front-line troops can be withdrawn? Let the front-line troops cover us! Order the front-line troops to continue to hold out! "Maxson was very calm and made the right decision.

The outflanking and encirclement went smoothly, and the fighting ended at noon on April 12. McSon led 50,000 formed troops to withdraw in the direction of Macheng. In the Corps Headquarters, Li Tianxiang's figure appeared. "Report to the deputy commander-in-chief, the battle in the urban area is over, and the first part of my right attack cluster is pursuing in the direction of Xiaogan. It has been confirmed that about 50,000 officers and soldiers of the Qing army fled in the direction of Macheng. ”