At the junction of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, the troops of the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the Imperial Army have been assembled here, and several other cavalry brigades are scattered and deployed on the border.

"Brigade commander, telegram from the General Staff." A communications officer sent the telegram to Major General Zou Fang.

Brigadier General Zou Fang took the telegram and looked at it, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Hmph, self-defeating fellows, since you want to find death, then it's no wonder that we are going to die. Ordered the battalions and began the offensive. "Major General Zou Fang gave the order to attack.

Soon, the order reached the various cavalry battalions under the 1st Cavalry Brigade. Subsequently, several cavalry battalions crossed the border in turn and marched towards Long Cheng in Gan province. According to the previously assigned combat missions, the 1st Cavalry Brigade, the 14th Cavalry Brigade and the 15th Cavalry Brigade attacked Longcheng and marched to Longzhong after taking Longcheng. As long as you take Longzhong, you will only be one step away from Jincheng.

The 3rd Cavalry Brigade, the 8th Cavalry Brigade and the 13th Cavalry Brigade attacked Longdong and then marched to Liangcheng. However, after the three cavalry brigades have completed their set operational objectives, they will not march westward again, and they will turn north to deal with the Ningma army in the Ma family's army.

As for the 6th Cavalry Brigade and the 7th Cavalry Brigade, their mission was to guard the Ma Jia Army and the Green Horse Army on Hezhou to avoid their surprise attacks. The 33rd Infantry Division and the 34th Infantry Division of the Imperial Army will build military stations along official roads to defend and protect logistics supply lines. For the Imperial Army's offensive to the northwest, logistical supply lines were the most important. Once the logistical supply line is cut off, the consequences will be unimaginable. Therefore, it is understandable that two infantry divisions and more than 30,000 people are used to protect the logistics supply line.

Of course. When fighting in Gan Province, the logistical pressure may not be very great, but after Gan Province is pacified, it will have to enter the more remote frontier provinces to fight. Logistics supply lines will be even more vulnerable. The construction of military stations by the Imperial Army was not only conducive to the supply of troops, but also conducive to the construction of railways to the frontier along these military stations in the future.

"Da Da Da!" The sound of horses' hooves thundered and converged. It's like thunder.

The green battalion in Gan Province was not deployed at the junction of the two provinces at all, but all of them retreated to Longcheng and other major cities. When the Imperial Army was massing to the northwest, Gan Province was also desperately trying to find out the reality of the Imperial Army, and it was easy to know that the Imperial Army was mainly cavalry this time. If a field battle is fought, the Green Battalion in Gan Province is 100% no match for the Imperial cavalry. Therefore, they could only hold the city, hoping to resist the advance of the Imperial cavalry, and it was best to drag it out until the Imperial cavalry voluntarily abandoned the attack due to too much logistical pressure.

After all. In the impression of Sheng Yun, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and Zhang Dong, the governor of Gansu Province, although the cavalry was good at field warfare, they were not good at attacking cities. In these cities of Gan Province, although the walls are not high, they are already in ruins. However, it was no problem to resist the pace of the cavalry.

On the afternoon of May 23, 4607 (09), the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the Imperial Army. The 14th Cavalry Brigade and the 15th Cavalry Brigade have arrived in Dragon City. Dragon City is just a remote city, with no more than 10,000 people in the city. The walls are less than four meters high. And after a long period of wind and sun, it has looked dilapidated.

The Green Battalion of Gan Province was in Longcheng, with a total of more than 3,000 people deployed. Although, they knew that it would be almost impossible to completely withstand the attack of the Imperial Army. But with a slight delay in the pace of the Imperial cavalry, there should be no problem.

"Hmph. Do you think that if we hide in the city, we will have no way to take them? Get the artillery battalion ready, and give me a hard bang in half an hour! Tonight, I'm going to camp in Dragon City. Major General Zou Fang, commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, ordered.

"Yes, Brigadier." The herald immediately rode away. Pass the command.

A moment later, the artillery battalions of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, the 14th Cavalry Brigade and the 15th Cavalry Brigade all pulled out their 75-mm field guns and advanced to less than three kilometers from the walls of Dragon City.

The cavalry brigades of the Imperial Army, each with a two-company artillery battalion, had a total of 18 75mm field guns. Taken together, the three cavalry brigades had a full fifty-four 75-mm field guns.

When these field guns appeared outside Longcheng, the faces of the Gan Provincial Army defending the city turned green. Originally, they thought that it would be difficult for the cavalry of the Imperial Army to storm the city. But now, they realize that they are really too stupid and naïve.

"Dog's day, Zhang Dong, that old boy dares to yin Lao Tzu. The Imperial cavalry actually brought so many cannons, are they cavalry or infantry? How can this battle continue? The defenders of Dragon City burst out.

It's just that then the artillery of the Imperial cavalry has already opened fire. Fifty-four 75-mm field guns, began to fire frantically. The target of the shelling was the low and dilapidated walls of Dragon City.

The new 75-mm field gun has a maximum rate of fire of up to 10 rounds per minute. Even if the fire was fired at a rate of five rounds per minute, more than two hundred shells flew towards Dragon City in one minute. Let the defenders of Dragon City experience what it means to rain bullets.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

Dense explosions continued to sound inside and outside the walls of Dragon City, and the cannonballs exploded on the city walls, and the huge power easily blew the old and weathered city walls into large gaps, and rubble flew sideways.

The soldiers of the Gan Province Green Battalion on the city wall were even more shrunk on the city wall and trembled. They were all stunned by the powerful artillery bombardment of the Imperial Army, when had they ever seen such a powerful artillery bombardment? In the war in the northwest, everyone rarely used artillery. Even in the entire Dragon City, there are only a few old cannons.

"Boom!"

The hearts of many soldiers of the Green Battalion in Gan Province have been filled with fear. Especially when shells explode on the city walls, shrapnel flies sideways, and lives are harvested wantonly. Some timid people even peed their pants in fright.

Suddenly, a muffled sound came. I saw that the ruined city walls of Dragon City collapsed under the fierce artillery bombardment of the Imperial Army. Many officers and soldiers of the Green Battalion on the city wall were directly buried alive inside.

"Attack!" Seeing this situation, Major General Zou Fang, commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, immediately gave the order to attack.

"Surrender, we surrender, if we don't fight, if we fight again, we will die!"

When they saw the Imperial cavalry preparing to attack, the defenders of Dragon City had the first reaction to surrender. The Imperial Army's powerful firepower had terrified them all. No one had the courage to continue fighting.

In less than an hour, Longcheng, an important town in Gan Province, fell into the hands of the Imperial Army. Moreover, the Imperial Army did not pay any casualties, it was just a waste of a bunch of shells.

The news of the fall of Longcheng soon spread to Jincheng, which stunned Shengyun, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and Zhang Dong, the governor of Gansu Province, who were waiting for the news. In less than an hour, Dragon City fell, so how could this battle continue? Originally, they thought that the three thousand defenders of Dragon City would have no problem holding out for three or four days. After all, the Imperial Army sent cavalry, not infantry skilled at siege fortifications. But in the end, it gave them a slap in the face.

At the same time, the offensive of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, the 8th Cavalry Brigade and the 13th Cavalry Brigade of the Imperial Army on Longdong had also begun. Almost the same as the 1st Cavalry Brigade attacking Longcheng, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade also directly lined up dozens of cannons and carried out a fierce artillery bombardment on Longdong, directly blowing up the defenders of Longdong. In the end, before the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, the 8th Cavalry Brigade and the 13th Cavalry Brigade could attack, the defenders of Longdong surrendered directly.

On May 24, after taking Longcheng and Longdong respectively, the Imperial Army began to attack the set target. The 1st Cavalry Brigade, the 14th Cavalry Brigade and the 15th Cavalry Brigade attacked Longzhong, while the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, the 8th Cavalry Brigade and the 13th Cavalry Brigade attacked Liangcheng.

Perhaps it was the defeat of Longcheng and Longdong that set an example for the defenders of Longzhong and Liangcheng, when dozens of artillery pieces of the Imperial cavalry advanced into the artillery position, the defenders in the city immediately opened the city and surrendered, so that the Imperial cavalry occupied these two important cities without firing a single shot.

In particular, the fall of Longzhong posed a serious threat to Jincheng, the capital of Gan Province. From Longzhong to Jincheng, it was only a few tens of kilometers, and with the speed of the imperial cavalry, it could be reached in two hours.

Longzhong fell, and there was a panic in Jincheng. Some people with little money even planned to flee Jincheng to avoid being plagued by the army.

At this moment, although there were still 20,000 defenders in Jincheng, in the case of several other cities falling so quickly, the defenders had no confidence to resist the attack of the imperial cavalry, and their morale also fell to freezing point.

On the morning of May 25, the 1st Cavalry Brigade, the 14th Cavalry Brigade and the 15th Cavalry Brigade of the Imperial Army marched to the foot of Jincheng City. More than 20,000 cavalry surrounded Jincheng. Although, because of the weak forces, the encirclement is not tight. But the defenders in the city showed no sign of breaking through.

It's cavalry outside the city! Venturing out of the city to break through is completely looking for death. How could ordinary infantry confront cavalry? However, even if they stayed in the city, those green battalion soldiers did not feel safe at all. There is already a precedent for Longcheng and Longzhong cities to be breached quickly, although Jincheng is the capital of Gan Province, but the city walls here are also in disrepair, and it is simply delusional to resist the fierce shelling of the imperial cavalry.

For a time, the fate of Jincheng and the green battalion soldiers trapped in the city, as well as the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Shengyun, and the governor of Gansu Province, Zhang Dong, seemed to have been decided. (To be continued......)

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