Episode 26 The Empress enters the fortress

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Although the Qing army's machine guns fired wildly, the fog was fair, and the Ming army's machine guns could not see the target just now, and now the Qing army's machine guns could not see the target. Without many deaths, the Ming army rushed into the position of the Qing army and started hand-to-hand combat.

For a time, the Qing army's position was full of shouts of killing, screams, and ping-pong sounds of bayonets colliding. It was already dark, and with the thick fog, they couldn't see each other clearly when they were facing each other, and it was often the two people who were very close to each other before they yelled and jumped away. Or the two rushed together with red eyes, only to find out that it was their own people. The burning reeds and dead trees were red, and the firelight was filtered by the mist, which made it even more eerie.

Now that the mines on this stretch of river beach have been almost stepped on, a large number of Qing soldiers are constantly abandoning their boats and going ashore, entering the landing ground opened up by the Qing army, forming a team, restoring the formation, and then lining up behind the position, waiting for round after round of attacks.

Two Qing soldiers jumped off the assault boat, carrying something big on their backs, rowing their legs in the mud and sand with difficulty, trying to march to the edge of the river embankment, secretly glad that they did not step on the mine, and then climbed up with difficulty, these two soldiers did not participate in the battle, but marched to the edge of the battlefield with their waists, one soldier climbed a big tree, set up two loudspeakers, and a Qing soldier below connected to the radio and tuned to the predetermined channel.

Suddenly, the voice of Emperor Guangwu of the Qing Dynasty echoed over the battlefield:

“…… Warriors of the Qing Empire! Your feet have set foot on the land of Nanming! I want to congratulate you! Have you ever thought that in the past three hundred years, the first people to set foot on the land of Nanming are you! …… After a day of bloody fighting, we have taken the three Jiangxin fortresses in Nanming! They are: Mother Continent, New Jeju and New Life Continent! We have uprooted 25 permanent fortifications and 32 machine-gun fire points in Nanming...... We have annihilated more than 5,000 defenders of the Southern Ming Dynasty...... We captured 12 officers above the Nanming battalion, 31 officers above the company level, more than 200 officers at the squad and platoon level, and more than 6,000 Nanming soldiers surrendered to us...... Their defenses are constantly collapsing......

"It's a good win! But for our fearless Qing warriors, it is far from enough...... I ask you to make persistent efforts, fight bravely, destroy the Nanming garrison in one fell swoop, and take Nanjing as quickly as possible! …… Shu has already arranged the schedule, and on Chinese New Year's Eve two days later, Shu will go to Nanjing City to celebrate the New Year with the warriors of Shu! I believe that you will be able to help me fulfill this wish...... Back then, Emperor Wan Yanliang of Dajin once wrote: If thousands of miles of cars and books are mixed, how can there be other frontiers in the south of the Yangtze River? Raise millions of troops on the West Lake, and immediately the first peak of Wushan! …… Sons, let's enter Nanjing! The world should have been unified three hundred years ago, and today I rely on you to complete the cause that the Dajin Emperor hated back then! I also want to lead you - raise millions of troops on the West Lake, and immediately the first peak of Wushan!

"Sons and daughters of the Qing Dynasty, warriors! Bravely enter Nanjing! Your glory, future and wealth are in Nanjing! I am here to promise you: the first division to attack the city of Nanjing, the division commander will raise the flag, seal Baylor, promote the rank of marshal, award the first-class Barutu Medal, and give 500,000 silver dollars! The first division to attack the city of Nanjing, all the soldiers carried the flag, each of them was promoted to one level, awarded the Order of Balutu of the second class, and gave 100 silver dollars! …… I am a generous emperor, I am brave soldiers, my warriors! …… Fight bravely, the opportunity to make a difference is just around the corner! ”

Although there was a lot of moisture in the figures of annihilation and capture, the speech of the Manchu emperor was still injected into the body of every Qing soldier like a stimulant.

Suddenly, the shouting and killing of the Qing soldiers on the battlefield shook the sky, the morale of the Qing army was greatly boosted, and the fatigue of the hard fight for a day was all thrown out of the clouds, all of them were desperate to fight, plus the new force was continuously transported from the west case, to join the battle, the soldiers of the Ming army gradually appeared defeated, listening to the speech of the Qing emperor, the psychological and physical could not support it, and they were picked down one after another, and the last remaining part was already wounded, and it was a person who fought hard against the Qing army for two or three.

After Emperor Guangwu's speech was broadcast on the radio speaker, the recorded shouts of persuasion began to be played again:

"Brothers of the Ming army, you have been defeated, lay down your arms and surrender! You've fought well, now lay down your arms, and no one can say anything! …… The Qing army obeyed the Geneva jump, protected your lives, and gave you treatment and hot food! …… Don't be dead-eyed, those who know the times are Junjie...... As long as you throw it over, you will eat and drink well, and your enemies will become brothers......"

Within five minutes, the remaining remnants of the Ming army surrendered. At this point, the 1st Regiment of the 26th Division was completely annihilated, with more than 1,000 killed and more than 300 surrendered.

At this moment, on the Ming army's defense line more than 1,000 meters to the north, those deserters who had picked up their guns again and the soldiers of the second regiment of the 26th Division stepped out of the trench together, and rushed towards the Qing army at the sound of whistles......

……

On the river, the pontoon bridge between the west bank and the mother island has been basically erected, and the pontoon bridge from the mother island to the east bank has also begun to take shape.

Iron boats lined up horizontally on the river, one after the other, and the Qing army sappers were laying wooden planks on them. The tin boats had already reached the east shore, and the planks were halfway laid. Because of the constant harassment of the Ming torpedo boats, the progress was slow.

Although it is slow, the progress is still visible little by little. In other words, it was a matter of time before the pontoon bridge of the Qing army was built.

With the complete liquidation of Zimu Continent, the Qing army set up 40 mm anti-aircraft guns at the northern end of the continent, so that the waterways on both sides were jammed from the middle of the river, and the entire river surface could be seen through even in dense fog. The Ming torpedo boats attacked and disturbed several times, but they were all destroyed in the river by 40 mm rapid-fire guns. After a few turns, the speed of pontoon laying was greatly accelerated.

Suddenly, in the dark fog, there was a faint noise that was different from that of torpedo boats. The Qing army's two large searchlights went to the north of the river, and they were shocked to find that a slow, much taller figure than a torpedo boat appeared in the pillar of light.

It was a submarine.

This is not yet a pocket submarine of the Yangtze River Fleet, or a medium submarine transferred from the East China Sea Fleet, where the 75-mm cannon on the foredeck is clearly visible in the light fog.

The sappers on the pontoon bridge screamed and ran away, but those who had no time to escape simply jumped into the water, and the icy river water splashed for a while.

As soon as the submarine appeared, the bow gun was a flash of fire, and with a loud bang, a section of the central pontoon bridge was blown into the sky, and pieces of wood and water were scattered from the sky.

A few sentences of the corpses of Qing army sappers floated on the water.

The 40-millimeter cannon at the northern end of Zimu Island immediately erupted with fire, and one after another smashed into the submarine's body. Flesh and blood flew next to the main gun on the foredeck, and the flesh and blood of the two female soldiers fell into the water in a blur.

The line of fire continued to smash on the submarine's conning tower, shrenching and causing the conning tower to soon become full of holes, and the submarine's hull began to emit flames and smoke. But still rushed at full speed of 15 knots towards the remaining pontoon.

The 500-ton submarine, bathed in the light of machine guns, dragged a long line of smoke and fire and cut headlong into the pontoon, and the steel body smashed the remaining pontoon to pieces, and finally the stern propeller was also scratched off.

The submarine made a turn, slowly slowed down and sank, stranded in water several meters deep, exposing half of its conning tower.

A girl wearing a naval officer's hat appeared at the top of the conning tower, raised her hand and unfurled a bright yellow Ming flag, shouted something, and immediately disappeared into the flames of the machine gun explosion.

The Qing army immediately stopped the artillery fire and was about to arrange for the capture of the prisoners, but ......

A few seconds later, the entire submarine exploded earth-shatteringly, the fireball soared into the sky with a column of water, and several explosions in succession, both sides of the Yangtze River trembled, the submarine exploded into fragments, and there was almost no wreckage.

……

In the central command hall of the Purple Mountain Fortress, there was a lot of noise at this time, the telephone rang one after another, the civilian officers were busy, transmitting various military information, and under the huge map on the wall, several female officers held long poles, constantly marking the battle situation around Nanjing. An area on the north side of Zimu Continent, which represents the red villain of the enemy army, and the blue villain mark that represents our army are densely packed, indicating that the armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties have assembled in large numbers in this area and are fighting to the death. Each villain represents the strength of a battalion.

Every once in a while, there will be a few more red figures on the picture, and two or three fewer blue figures at the same time. What's worse is that the dense red villains move inch by inch to the north, while the sparse blue villains retreat accordingly.

A female captain next to the large map answered the phone, her eyes glancing at the map:

"Well, yes...... Be...... Understood, yes, marked immediately. ”

She hung up the phone and immediately instructed her two little girls to continue to take down the two blue figures from the picture and put five red figures on them.

Under the map, an army general in his forties pinched his chin in his right hand and stared intently at the map. As the two little blue figures were removed, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly as if his flesh had been stripped of his flesh, showing an expression of even more pain.

This person is Wang Hantang, the commander of the capital garrison. He stared at the area where the battle was raging, and said that there were already 65 red villains in the Qing army. This is already the strength of more than six divisions. And his capital garrison, the Blue Villain, has only 32 in this area.

The capital garrison had a total of eight divisions, and four divisions were now in Qixia Town, northeast of Nanjing, 30 kilometers away from the battlefield. The remaining two divisions were deployed in the area of Jiangning Town, more than ten kilometers away on the east side of the battlefield, holding the two heights of Niushou Mountain and Jiangjun Mountain, and strictly preventing the Qing army crossing the river from advancing eastward. The last two divisions were on the riverside of Zimu Island, fighting fiercely with superior enemy forces.

His gaze turned to another map of the Ming Dynasty next to him. The main force of the entire Ming army was the strategic reserve stationed in southern Jiangsu and southern Anhui. The closest to here is the 12th Army, which is now stationed in the vicinity of Lishui County, at least 60 kilometers from the battlefield. And most of them are infantry, and even if they are forced to march, it will take at least a day. Now the high command has ordered all the motorized units of this army to be drawn out and form a motorized division to rush to the rescue. It's just a drop in the bucket, but it's the only reinforcement that can arrive in a matter of hours.

Wang Hantang's gaze turned back to the map of Nanjing. There, just south of the Purple Mountain, in a small area of Xiaolingwei, twenty little blue figures were marked, and a small tank that was quite eye-catching.

That's the People's Guard. There was a division there, a third of which was fully mechanized - the 1st Mechanized Regiment. Its backbone is the only tank battalion in Asia.

Wang Hantang didn't have the idea of asking for assistance from the People's Guard, but several times he had the idea together, and he was dispelled by himself. After all, it was just a unit with only one yes, too little. Even if there is a tank battalion, now with this visibility, tanks will not play a role. It would be incompetent for anyone to ask for reinforcements from a troop with only one division of the garrison of his own capital, which has ten divisions of his own capital garrison. As a soldier, even the sense of honor does not allow him to do so. Xiang Xiaoqiang's young man is an upstart, and he relied on himself to maintain neutrality at a critical time to get to where he is today. During the New Year's coup, as long as his hand is slightly biased to the cabinet, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his subordinates will be crushed.

Therefore, Wang Hantang always thinks that he is the hero behind the New Year's coup, but he was robbed of the limelight by Xiang Xiaoqiang. The situation has not gotten worse to that extent, and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, reinforcements from the south will come in a steady stream. Besides, the People's Guards are defending the city of Nanjing, and if they are transferred to the outskirts more than 10 kilometers away, there will not be a single soldier in the city. In the event that the Qing army made another breakthrough on the north and west sides of Nanjing, it would be in the city.

Wang Hantang thinks that he is not the kind of person who disregards the interests of the country for the sake of face. In case the time comes when he can't hold Nanjing with 10,000 people, he will ask the People's Guard for reinforcements of 10,000 people before he has a bullet.

……

Suddenly, a silence spread through the door of the hall, and ten seconds later, the entire hall was silent. No one spoke, only the phone kept ringing. Everyone got up from their seats and scrambled to look at the door.

The group walked in, their footsteps clearly echoing in the open hall.

At the forefront is Zhu Yourong. She was dressed in a plain gray dress, wearing a beret, and a pair of white silk gloves in her hands, and nodded gently to everyone. Behind were Mrs. Li, Zheng Gongyin, Zheng Yuxuan, and others were followed by a row of palace maids, carrying all kinds of luggage. These are a few "core members" who must stay by Zhu Yourong's side, and most of the other royal relatives, such as Zhu Yourong's grandfather Yanping Junwang, several eldest princesses, etc., have already withdrawn to the south by train.

Everyone in the hall was excited, and many young male and female officers shouted:

"Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yourong smiled and beckoned to everyone. She had wanted to move into the fortress in a very low-key manner, but she was going to walk through the hall quietly. Now not only has the audience attracted attention, but many eager young officers have already leaned in. Everyone wants to see Her Majesty the Empress up close, and if you can say a word, or kiss your hand, it will be in vain.

Zhu Yourong stopped and smiled:

"I've been causing trouble for everyone when I moved in, and now everyone is still getting their hands on the job. Your position is important, and you command the battle of the entire line. The soldiers in front and the people in the rear are watching you. They don't want you to stop what you're doing and look at me. ”

A soft laugh gradually sounded in the hall, and a female voice on the radio above also said:

"Please keep up your work...... Please keep up your work. Your Majesty, I ...... On behalf of all the officers and men of the Purple Mountain Fortress, I welcome you! ”

The laughter was louder, and Zhu Yourong also raised his head and smiled:

"Thank you!"

Her Majesty's arrival in the fortress suddenly raised the morale of the fortress. The male and female officers were more energetic in delivering documents, answering the phone with a hundred times more energy, and the voice of the central radio was full of energy, and even those who had not slept for more than a day and whose eyes were red did not feel sleepy. A kind of confidence spread like a ripple, spreading throughout the Purple Mountain Fortress.

"This is your room, Your Majesty."

A female colonel in her forties, suppressing her excitement, introduced Her Majesty to the best room in the fortress, and the only ensuite. Originally, the commander of the fortress wanted to accompany the visit, but Zhu Yourong didn't let him, and finally found a few major generals with relatively less important positions, and the director of the women's department who was responsible for the lives of all the female soldiers in the fortress, to take on this glorious task together.

At this moment, the head of the women's department was so excited that he was almost incoherent, and he gestured to the top of the room and said:

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, look, this is a humidifier vent, and the air in the belly of the mountain is too humid, so you need to humidify it...... Behold, moist air is drawn in through this mouth, and then dry air is sent out of this mouth. ”

Zhu Yourong nodded slightly, understanding that the "humidifier" she said was probably a dehumidifier.

This suite is more than 40 square meters, with only one bedroom for Zhu Yourong to live in, a small outer room for the personal palace maid to live, and a bathroom and bathroom. It's not big, but it's very comfortable. Instead of cold gray concrete walls, they were brightly painted white, with a few paintings, carpets on the floor, and a few simple pieces of furniture that were exposed to wood and a faint scent of pine.

Zhu Yourong expressed his satisfaction, and then went to the other people's rooms to see how they were settled and arranged. The dozen or so people who came with her did not have this treatment, and several imperial relatives lived in the standard officers' single rooms in the fortress, but the difference was simply arranged, like Zhu Yourong's room, showing the difference between their identities and the other officers in the fortress. As for the palace maids and servants, they can only live in a room for several people, just like the junior officers.

Zhu Yourong was visiting the fortress accompanied by those major generals, and was familiar with the emergency staircase, escape route, and airtight door for anti-poison and fire-proof...... Suddenly, I saw a figure at the end of the hallway.

Several accompanying major generals also saw it, hurriedly rushed forward, and when they saw that the rank was a colonel, they scolded:

"What department are you in? Your Majesty is here, why are you still standing in the way of this? Hurry up and avoid it! ”

The colonel didn't speak, just put his hands in his pockets and stared at Zhu Yourong.

Zhu Yourong was stunned, a trace of brilliance flashed in his eyes, he smiled slightly, put aside the two major generals in front of him and stepped forward and said with a smile:

"Why is Xiang Qing here?"

The major general who scolded him was startled, and only then did he see the other party's collar badge clearly in the dim light, and understood that the young colonel in front of him was Xiang Xiaoqiang, the commander of the People's Guard.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and bowed to Zhu Yourong and the three major generals, and stopped talking. Zhu Yourong hesitated for a moment, and smiled at the three major generals:

"Hehe, please stay out of the way."

The three major generals hurriedly withdrew from the corridor. Zhu Yourong smiled at Xiang Xiaoqiang again:

"Teacher Xiang."

Xiang Xiaoqiang also smiled, he knew that Zhu Yourong only called him "Xiang Qing" just now, mainly because the generals around him had just scolded him, and if he shouted "Teacher Xiang" immediately, the generals would be embarrassed. Zhu Yourong's carefulness, Xiang Xiaoqiang likes it very much.

"Your Majesty," Xiang Xiaoqiang suppressed his smile and said, "I want to ask, how much do you know about the battle situation on the front line?" ”

Zhu Yourong was a little surprised and asked:

"What, what's wrong?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang continued to ask:

"Do you know that the Qing have broken through the Yangtze River defense line?"

Zhu Yourong paused, his expression was a little gloomy, and he said in a low voice:

"I know, in the Mother Continent, right?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang asked again:

"Do you know how many troops have come?"

"How much?"

"8~90,000."

Xiang Xiaoqiang said lightly.

Zhu Yourong looked dazed, she still didn't understand what Xiang Xiaoqiang was trying to say when he told her this so seriously. She laughed:

"Oh, 8~90,000. That's a lot. …… Isn't it a lot? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang said:

"Your Majesty, more and less are relative in war. Do you know how many troops we have in front of the Qing captives? ”

Zhu Yourong didn't speak, just looked at him.

Xiang Xiaoqiang gritted his teeth and said a number:

"Twenty thousand."

Rao is Zhu Yourong doesn't understand military affairs, and he was also taken aback:

"Why so little? Isn't there 100,000 garrisons in the capital? ”

"100,000 people are now scattered around Nanjing. The four divisions were stationed in Qixia, which was used to prevent the Qing captives from breaking through the river from the east of Nanjing, and probably could not move. Two divisions were stationed in Jiangning. If you want to say that you can count on reinforcements at the moment, it is these two divisions. It is estimated that Commander Wang is transferring these two divisions to the riverside. But even so, the total is only more than 40,000 people, and the disparity in strength is still very large. The most important thing is that the Qing army has erected three pontoon bridges in Zimuzhou, Xinshengzhou, and Xinjeju respectively, and completely controlled this section of the river, and now the strength here is increasing rapidly. It is likely that after Jiangning's two divisions are transferred, they will no longer have to face **10,000 people, but more than 100,000 people. ”

When Xiang Xiaoqiang said this, he felt a pang of pain, as if the sinking of a dozen torpedo boats and the heroic suicide ramming of a submarine were just around the corner. Especially the submarine, the girls on it are the same as Qiu Yu. He couldn't help but think, if Qiu Yu was not his fiancée, if the Grasshopper crew had not been asked to enter the headquarters by himself, then it might be them who carried out this mission tonight, right?

Zhu Yourong slowly pulled the gloves in his hand, unable to say anything for a while. She was a little frightened by the terrible reality that Xiang Xiaoqiang said, subconsciously put the glove to her mouth, and just wanted to bite, but suddenly found that Xiang Xiaoqiang was still by her side, her face was slightly red, and she coughed lightly.

After a moment of silence, she sighed:

"Teacher Xiang, seriously, it's useless for you to tell me this. Alas, if I could learn more from you, I would have been able to come to my own conclusion. Teacher Xiang, you should tell these people outside. …… Tell me, there's really nothing ......."

"No, Your Majesty," Xiang Xiaoqiang interrupted her, and said firmly, "very useful." There's one thing that no one out there can do. Only you can do it. …… Only you. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang stared into Zhu Yourong's eyes.

Zhu Yourong looked at him, couldn't help but feel his heart beating faster, and said with a smile after a while:

"Teacher Xiang, what do you mean ......?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang said word by word:

"Mobilization, use, people, people, guards, and teams."