Episode 10 Eating pot pulp

"What?" Xiang Xiaoqiang held the phone and exclaimed, "A battalion of Qing soldiers was called over with a few words?" Okay, well, who's shouting? …… Sun Gaogang? Lao Sun still has this talent? I didn't find it before! Okay, tell him, give him another half an hour, and try to call two more battalions over! Attention, up to half an hour! I can't afford to put it off, so I have to take Nanyang completely before dark! Well, tell him to be safe! ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang put down the phone, was very happy, looked at the big clock, pondered whether it was possible for his character to explode, and finally shouted the entire Nanyang defenders to surrender. In that case, it will be possible to continue to move forward today, and it is possible to hit Fangcheng County before dark.

This Army Group on the Left performed so well that it had advanced more than 100 kilometers on the first day of the war, which was really unexpected. Not only were the old men in the command department shocked, but Xiang Xiaoqiang was also taken aback. By the standards of mechanized blitzkrieg, that's pretty fast.

After a while, the phone rang again. Xiang Xiaoqiang copied it:

"Hey, People's Guard Command...... What the? Another battalion called? Is there only one battalion? So little...... Okay, okay, there's no time, get ready to attack...... What the? He still wants to shout again? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the big clock, and twenty-five minutes had passed. Five minutes left is not enough. But he hesitated and said:

"Well, give him ten more minutes, the last ten minutes! It's almost five o'clock, and it's going to be dark if you don't fight again......"

He hung up the phone, closed his eyes and prayed: Lao Sun Lao Sun, you must have a big explosion of character, and call the entire Nanyang defenders to me in these few minutes...... I'll get you promoted to the headquarters when I turn around......

Ten minutes passed, and Xiang Xiaoqiang held back and didn't urge.

Another ten minutes passed, Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't help it, and was just about to call to ask, when the phone rang.

There was another report from the front, and Sun Gaogang called another battalion of Qing soldiers to come over.

Xiang Xiaoqiang was depressed, why are they all battalions by battalion? Can't you hula all at once? It's like chicken ribs, it's not okay to keep shouting, it's not okay not to keep shouting......

Li Gensheng reminded him:

"My lord, it's ten o'clock, and in a moment it will be dark, and our air superiority will be lost, and we will have to fight a night battle without air cover...... My lord, then we will suffer a lot of casualties......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and made up his mind. He picked up the phone and gave the order to start the offensive.

……

At 17:15, the offensive battle to compress the encirclement began. On the one hand, they were afraid of hitting the city, and on the other hand, they were afraid of accidentally injuring their own people, so the artillery in the rear of the Ming army stopped suppressing fire, and only the dive bombers in the sky were still dropping bombs in turn.

The Qing army guarding Nanyang City had only one less than a division, about 10,000 people, and now it has been "shouted" past three battalions, which has almost weakened by about a quarter. The remaining thousands of men were compressed into a small position, the encirclement became smaller and smaller, the Qing defenders became denser and denser, and the casualties caused by each shell and bomb also increased.

Soon, the encirclement shrank to the point that the dive bombers could no longer drop bombs. This squadron of bombers flapped their wings and flew away. The battle was completely handed over to the Ming army on the ground.

For the Ming army, which has an absolute advantage in troops, weapons, and morale, this is simply a big hunt. In each of the Ming army's army groups, a considerable proportion of the troops participated in the Battle of Nanjing and the Battle of Pukou at the beginning of the year, and we have seen a much larger and more tragic scene than this. Now dealing with the Qing army, which lacks heavy weapons in front of them and is discouraged, is like an eagle catching a chicken.

At the vanguard were two armored divisions and two mechanized divisions of the People's Guard.

Tanks lay side by side, surrounded by iron walls, and marched together on trenches and sandbags. It was followed by armored vehicles, loaded with truckloads of soldiers, all armed with submachine guns, ready to jump down at any moment to fight. Machine guns on tanks and armored vehicles strafed, chasing the fleeing Qing soldiers in front. The dozens of 37 small guns of the Qing army in the city defense almost did not play any role in the face of so many and such dense Ming tanks. Even if the encirclement is shrinking, the entire perimeter is still 20-30 kilometers, and the average kilometer is about one door, while the tanks and armored vehicles of the four divisions of the Ming army combined are more than 100 taels per kilometer on average.

In this way, the steel giant beast was surrounded on all sides, there was no aerial bombardment, no heavy artillery bombardment, and only relying on the flat push of tracks, machine guns, and small and medium-caliber tank guns, within 20 minutes, thousands of Qing troops collapsed and all surrendered.

At 17:50, a white flag was hung over the head of Nanyang City.

……

Nanjing, Xiang Xiaoqiang answered the phone, and said with a smug smile:

"Well, that's a lot of fun...... This is not much faster than Lao Sun Shouting......"

Li Gensheng was startled, and found that several junior staff officers next to him were looking at Xiao Qiang, and there were one or two generals looking this way. He hurriedly coughed beside him and glanced at Xiao Qiang.

Xiang Xiaoqiang reacted quickly and immediately understood, then lowered his tone and said into the phone quite painfully:

“…… Alas...... But speaking of which, it's a lot of money! If it weren't for the fact that time was pressing, Lao Sun's persuasion would still be the best policy! After all, the current quick victory was filled with the lives of our Ming soldiers...... Alas, but fortunately I took the opportunity to make a quick decision, ordered a strong attack, avoided falling into a night battle, and avoided greater casualties with fewer casualties...... Well, today's persuasion is good, and in the future, we should carry forward the strategy of 'attacking the heart first' to reduce the casualties of our brothers...... Count how many brothers were killed or wounded? Report back to me, I apply for medals for these brothers......"

Li Gensheng next to him was also relieved to see that the adults reacted so quickly. Xiang Xiaoqiang also breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he remember that Da Ming cared about casualties very much. First, it is due to people's concepts, and secondly, there are not many troops in the first place, and every soldier is very precious. This attitude of "one will succeed and ten thousand bones will wither" is the most despised. If everybody thinks this way about you, then you won't be able to get along.

……

On the first day of the battle, the Ming army's left offensive advanced about 100 kilometers, and theoretically occupied the entire Xiangfan Plain. However, this is only theoretical.

The Xiangfan Plain, which is more than 10,000 square kilometers, is surrounded by mountains and is a relatively closed space, where the Qing army originally had 20-30 divisions, most of which were crushed and captured in the morning and morning blitzkrieg of the Ming army. But according to a rough count, the number of prisoners and corpses is only about half. In other words, there are still 10-15 divisions that have either completely retreated to the north, or have been scattered, scattered in more than 10,000 square kilometers, and need to be cleared and suppressed.

The large forces of the army group on the left were to rest for a while, set up camp and prepare for the night, and at the same time send reconnaissance troops to search for large remnants and a small number of stragglers. These delicate tasks are all the business of the motorist.

According to the plan, Xiang Xiaoqiang ordered the four divisions of the People's Guard on the left to continue to rush forward, conduct a fire search, and sweep the 50-kilometer area between Nanyang and Fangcheng before dark. Then stop near Fangcheng to conduct a fire reconnaissance of the Qing defenses. On the one hand, they understand the strength of the Qing army's defense, and on the other hand, they also show off their strength, giving the defenders of Fangcheng a psychological deterrent, so that they will honestly shrink up all night, and dare not come out to make a surprise attack or something.

Then, in the early morning of the next day, the repaired army would launch a more fierce offensive towards the Fangcheng defensive zone.

The Ming army was mentally prepared from top to bottom, and Fangcheng was a pass, leading to the throat of the Henan Plain. The retreating troops of the Qing army, as well as the Henan garrison in the north, will gather here. This place is too important, and the generals of the Qing army here will not dare to surrender without a fight no matter what. And this place is different from Nanyang, it holds the narrow area between the two mountain ranges, and there is no possibility of encirclement, so it can only be fought from one direction. Therefore, the Qing generals here did not have any worries. The resistance here can only be stronger than that of Nanyang.

……

Nanyang City was the first real city under the Ming Army's Left Road Army Group. Out of political needs, Xiang Xiaoqiang ordered each of the four People's Guard divisions to draw out tank regiments to participate in the city ceremony of entering the Ming army. It is said to be an entry into the city, but in fact, it is not very formal, just passing through the streets in the center of Nanyang City. The important thing is to show the people of the Northern Qing Dynasty the strength of the Ming army, so that they can have confidence that the Qing army will not come back, and there will be no worries about the post-war cooperation with the Ming army.

And this display of power could not be more useful than the passage of hundreds of tanks in front of people's eyes in turn.

The People's Guard also had the task of fire reconnaissance below, so it was ranked at the forefront, and it was only a pure tank team. Many other armored vehicles, automobiles, self-propelled guns, baggage, logistics, engineers, bridges, air defense and other units can pass directly outside the city.

On the four city gate towers, the Manchu flag fluttered down and floated to the ground. Subsequently, the Ming national flag was raised, waving in the wind and flying high.

At the four city gates, cheers began to sound, and it was impossible to distinguish which ones belonged to the Ming soldiers and which ones belonged to the common people.

……

The entrance to the city began.

The warmth of the situation in the city was unexpected by the Ming army.

First of all, the vanguard tanks of the Ming army had to march in the smoke of gunpowder. On both sides of the main road in the center of the city, countless firecrackers were exploding, the fire was flashing, the smoke was filled, the blue gunpowder smoke covered the sky and the sun, and the red confetti paved the road in an instant. The tracks of every tank had to march in the confetti of firecrackers, and the ears of every soldier on the tank had to be deaf.

In the loud sound of firecrackers, the people on both sides almost seemed to be crazy, shouting and screaming, and their slaps were red. Many people dragged their families and carried large bags on their backs, standing on the side of the street to watch the Ming army. When the Ming tanks drove over, those old men and women pulled their children and grandchildren to kneel down and kowtow, burst into tears, and then took out a plate of firecrackers from their baggage, lit them and threw them next to the Ming tanks.

Hundreds of people braved the explosion of firecrackers, squinted their eyes, and rushed up, stuffing whole baskets of eggs, buns, tea, and cigarettes into the hands of the soldiers on the tank. The soldiers were also overjoyed, they had never been so popular in their own Ming land. Some of the soldiers took the initiative to take those good things, peeled them directly on the tank and ate them, waving to the people below while eating. Many people's backpacks are stuffed with various brands of Beiqing cigarettes. Some soldiers paid more attention to their image and did not take the initiative to reach out to take it, so the common people put the food on the tank, and many of them rolled to the ground.

On both sides of the road, the ground was littered with food tumbling from tanks, cigarette wrappers and broken eggshells. Large groups of children drilled around, happily grabbing food, rummaging through the scraps of paper for unexploded firecrackers, and then setting them off.

This can really be called "eating pot pulp".

More people couldn't squeeze in front of them, and they all jumped up behind the crowd to watch, climbed to the roofs of houses to see, and climbed to the trees to see. The city gate was also crawling with ordinary people, who had never seen a tank, never seen the legendary Ming army, and were not qualified to climb the gate of their own city. On this day, it can be regarded as a complete fulfillment.

Although the common people shouted hoarsely, the Ming soldiers on the tank still couldn't hear what they were shouting, but in the face of such an almost crazy welcome, what else could the officers and soldiers do but grin?

Both officers and soldiers were very surprised by the reaction of the ordinary people of the Northern Qing Dynasty in the city. Originally, before the attack, they had all been taught that in the early days of the Northern Expedition, they should not expect too much from the common people of the Northern Qing Dynasty.

Because the long-term views of the people of the Northern Qing Dynasty are "the Ming Dynasty is not the opponent of the Qing Dynasty", "the Ming army is too weak, and the attack on the Qing Dynasty is to hit the stone with an egg, and it will not grow", etc., although the people's hearts are very clear, but the people of the Northern Qing Dynasty were not sure at first that the Ming army was just coming to fight and then withdrawing, or they planned to occupy it for a long time. If it is occupied for a long time, the Ming army is so weak, can it hold it? The people of the Northern Qing Dynasty will definitely be worried that if the Ming army is stationed here for a period of time and leaves, if I show a warm and welcoming Ming army, then after the Qing army comes back, someone will definitely tell the truth, and the whole family will be retaliated.

These were all estimates made by the high-level leaders of the Southern Ming Dynasty before the war, and they did not expect to be welcomed by the people of the Northern Qing Dynasty from the beginning. This popular sentiment will not be manifested until the Ming army has achieved a major military victory and occupied a sufficiently distant area.

But now I didn't expect such a crazy situation to happen. This is just the first day, the first city.

No one knows why. It can't be because of the Ming army's royal spirit, right?

……

Simply because of the desire for liberation? No, that's too simplistic. The people of the Northern Qing Dynasty have always been very numb and cautious, and it is unlikely that they will be so unscrupulous. Their usual style is that, despite the ecstasy in their hearts, they can still watch the limelight very sensibly, and they will not let go of their clamped tails until they are finally sure that they are completely safe.

Gradually, the atmosphere in the city began to be abnormal. Many Ming officers and soldiers also guessed the clues.

The real reason is gradually revealed.