"Division commander, the order of the young marshal." A staff officer with a face full of excitement sent a telegram to Major General Duan Tianwei.

"Haha! I knew that the young marshal would not swallow this breath. These guys actually dare to snatch food, they don't know what to do! Major General Duan Tianwei smiled. After getting Wu Haoxuan's order, he could launch an attack without fear.

"General Duan, we have to plan carefully, it's best to annihilate all the new Hubei troops entrenched in Zhumadian, and teach these guys a lesson." Wang Liangchen, commander of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, also said.

"Hmm. In this way, General Wang, let your cavalry make a detour to the south of Zhumadian. If the Hubei New Army can't support it and wants to escape, it's up to you when the time comes. Major General Duan Tianwei said.

"Okay, as long as they dare to leave Zhumadian, they will be killing themselves." Wang Liangchen agreed. Once the Hubei New Army left Jiancheng and went to the field, it would be pursued by the cavalry of the Northern Army. It can be said that the battle will be one-sided.

"Order the artillery to prepare for me, bombard the damn hard, and let these Hubei new troops know how powerful we are!" Major General Duan Tianwei ordered.

Although, on a snowy day, marching with heavy cannons was very troublesome. The wheels of the cannon often get stuck in mud puddles, and it takes a lot of effort to push them out. However, the Northern Army has always attached importance to artillery firepower, and even so, it managed to take the artillery away with it. Now, it comes in handy in Zhumadian.

After receiving the order, 36 105-mm light howitzers from the divisional artillery battalion of the 7th Infantry Division of the Northern Army were pushed out, and the artillerymen built improvised artillery positions. The regimental artillery batteries of the 3 infantry regiments were also pulled up, and 27 75-mm field guns were aimed at Zhumadian.

The abnormal movement of the Northern Army immediately attracted the attention of the Hubei New Army on the city wall. Especially when the muzzles of the cannons were pointed at them, it was even more terrifying for some timid people.

Zhang Biao, the commander of the first town of the Hubei New Army, and Xia Zhankui, the commander of the second town, both went to the city wall. When I saw the cannon deployed by the Northern Army outside the city. I couldn't help but gasp.

"Lao Xia, could it be that those guys really dare to start attacking?" Zhang Biao couldn't believe it.

"Lao Zhang, it seems that we got into trouble this time. Those northern armies actually have so many cannons, if we want to hold it, I'm afraid it will be very difficult. Xia Zhankui now wants to retreat.

"If we can't hold it, we must hold it, if we retreat like this. Wouldn't that be a shame? When the time comes, how will we explain to the Governor? Besides, the Northern Army outside the city is limited in number, and although they have powerful artillery, we also have strong cities to defend and may not be able to resist their attacks. Zhang Biao said ruthlessly.

Xia Zhankui hesitated, but finally nodded and agreed with Zhang Biao's statement.

2:40 p.m. on December 15. The artillery of the 7th Infantry Division of the Northern Army, which had completed its preparations, began to open fire on the Hubei New Army entrenched in Zhumadian. 36 105-mm light grenades and 27 75-mm field guns began to rain frantically at Zhumadian.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! With a loud bang, one after another blazing shells flew towards the Hubei New Army.

"Get down and get out of the way." The low-ranking officers of the Hubei New Army all exclaimed in surprise and began to look for hidden places.

Shells exploded on the walls and inside the city, sending flames and shrapnel flying. Many soldiers of the Hubei New Army were directly lifted up. fell into the city and fell half to death.

Old city walls in disrepair. In the explosion, a lot of them were blown up. The Hubei New Army, which was guarding the city wall, paid heavy casualties. Zhang Biao and Xia Zhankui hid under the city for the first time and were not threatened. However, the heavy shelling of the Northern Army. It still made the two of them very frightened.

"Damn, what about our artillery? Why not fight back yet? Zhang Biao scolded viciously. The Hubei New Army is not without artillery, on the contrary, it also attaches great importance to the construction of artillery. Only, like the rest of China's armies. The artillery of the Hubei New Army simply cannot be compared with the Northern Army. The two sides are basically heaven and earth.

The main forces of the first and second towns of the Hubei New Army had only 18 75-mm field guns or 57-mm camp guns in each town. The two towns combined, a total of just over thirty artillery pieces. Neither in terms of performance nor power, it cannot be compared with the new artillery of the Northern Army. In addition, the artillery quality of the Hubei New Army cannot be compared with that of the Northern Army. Artillery training requires the consumption of a lot of shells, and shells are not cheap! As a result, the artillery of the Hubei New Army could not fire a few rounds of live ammunition throughout the year, which naturally led to their low quality.

In the face of the fierce artillery bombardment of the Northern Army, the artillery of the Hubei New Army also counterattacked. It's just that their ability to calculate ballistics is obviously not very good. After the artillery deployed in the city fired, the shells flew out of the city. However, it was far away from the artillery positions of the Northern Army, and it did not pose any threat to the artillery of the Northern Army at all, it was just a waste of shells.

The shelling of the Northern Army, which lasted less than twenty minutes, began to extend in depth. At this moment, the city wall is already in a mess, with stumps and broken arms everywhere, like hell on earth. The soldiers of the Hubei New Army, who were lucky enough to escape, shrank in the corner of the wall and trembled, already frightened. Although the Hubei New Army can be regarded as a strong army. However, fighting against a strong army like the Northern Army made them immediately see the gap between the two sides. It can be said that the Hubei New Army chose to seize the food from the tiger's mouth, which is simply a mistake.

"Blow up the gates and storm the city!" While the artillery of the Northern Army continued to suppress the Hubei New Army, Major General Duan Tianwei gave the order.

With a pair of sappers carrying explosives on their backs, they quickly ran towards the city gate. Mortar units and heavy machine-gun units of the Northern Army, which also went on the offensive, were to approach the walls and provide fire support to the engineers.

Although, the new army of Hubei on the city walls realized the threat. Under the orders of the officers, the Hubei New Army leaned out and shot at the sappers of the Northern Army. But the intensive machine-gun vitality and mortar fire of the Northern Army pressed them down. Quite a few were beaten into a sieve or torn to pieces by shells. The rest of the people said that they would not want to open fire again.

The sappers of the Northern Army rushed to the city gate, piled up the explosives package under the city gate, and then pulled the lead and quickly retreated.

A minute later, an earth-shattering explosion rang out. The city gate of Zhumadian was torn apart in the loud bang. At the same time, the city wall near the city gate was also directly blown down.

"Attack!" Major General Duan Tianwei ordered directly. The officers and men of the 71st Infantry Regiment took the lead in the attack.

When the earth-shattering noise sounded, Zhang Biao and Xia Zhankui's faces changed drastically.

"It's over, the city gate was blown open by the Northern Army, what should I do now?" Xia Zhankui muttered.

"Retreat, the Northern Army is fierce, and we are not opponents. If you stay, there is only a dead end. Zhang Biao immediately made a decision. If he had known that the northern army was so difficult to deal with, he would never have suggested to Zhang Zhidong to enter Henan to grab territory. You know, this is looking for death at all!

"Yes, retreat, retreat immediately." Xia Zhankui also nodded again and again.

When the Northern Army attacked Zhumadian, Zhang Biao and Xia Zhankui immediately led the Hubei New Army to abandon Zhumadian and retreat south.

If they choose to stay in Zhumadian and engage in street fighting, they may also be able to bring some trouble to the Northern Army. However, they directly chose to retreat, which is undoubtedly giving up resistance. The Northern Army easily captured Zhumadian and pursued the Hubei New Army.

Fleeing from Zhumadian, for the Hubei New Army, does not mean that the crisis is over. The 6th Cavalry Brigade of the Northern Army has long been stationed south of Zhumadian. When the Hubei New Army escaped from Zhumadian, it was immediately attacked by the cavalry of the Northern Army.

The sound of horses' hooves was like thunder, the swords were like snow, and the attack of more than 8,000 cavalry immediately dealt a fatal blow to the Hubei New Army, which had fled rampantly from Zhumadian. Even in the snow, the speed of the cavalry was affected. However, in comparison, the infantry was more affected.

After the cavalry caught up with the Hubei New Army, they began to slash and slash with their sabers. Many of the Hubei New Army directly raised their hands and surrendered.

Zhang Biao and Xia Zhankui fled on horseback with their guards, but they became the key targets of the cavalry of the Northern Army. In the evening of the same day, a cavalry company of the Northern Army caught up with Zhang Biao and Xia Zhankui, who had fled, and a fierce exchange of fire developed between the two sides.

In the battle, Zhang Biao was killed, and Xia Zhankui saw that the general trend was gone, and immediately gave up resistance and led his troops to surrender.

So far, there were more than 25,000 people in the first and second towns of the Hubei New Army entrenched in Zhumadian, and except for a few hundred who took advantage of the chaos to escape, the rest were either killed or captured. Among them, more than 20,000 people were captured, but not many were actually killed in battle. The Hubei New Army, at best, is about the same combat strength as the Beiyang Army, and it cannot be compared with the Northern Army at all. It is understandable that there will be such a result.

After taking Zhumadian, the Northern Army continued to move south and soon recaptured Xinyang. By December 25, the 7th Infantry Division and the 6th Cavalry Brigade of the Northern Army had reached Wusheng Pass, and as long as they captured this place, they would be able to directly attack Hubei.

The northern army pressed the border, which made Hubei very panicked. I am afraid that the northern army will attack with the main force, in that case, how can they resist it. (To be continued......)

PS: The first update is here, and today we will continue the fifth update, thank you for your support. Let's smash all the monthly passes to Xiaoyu! Thank you to the book friend xigua2022, the king's ten steps, the fragrance in the breeze, the Longling maze, and a little drunk reward! Thank you for the monthly pass of QQQWWWQQQ, Sikong ★ Mingyue, Hua Ao Tianxia, sheng12345, jack10027631, Xinhai Wubo, and Frozen Bamboo Yeqing! There are still many book friends who have not been able to record their names, thank you very much for your support!