After a few days of recuperation, the Forces nouvelles recovered considerably, and in the ensuing battle, they were pleased to find that the number of captured intruders had skyrocketed.

"The thieves are getting weaker, and the five-day truce has not done them much good." Reports from the Forces nouvelles show that the two battalions of the invading army were not replenished, although they were fighting on home, so that the larger Forces nouvelles benefited more from the truce.

As the invading army became weaker and weaker, it became more and more difficult for them to carry their wounded off the battlefield. On the 14th of the first lunar month, the new army finally covered the sappers to dig the communication trench to the opposite side of the last trench before breaking into the army's fortress, and on the 15th, they seized the last barrier to cover the fortress. And the artillery was transported all the way to the fort gate, and the defenders were suppressed by continuous bombardment at close range, creating an opportunity for the sappers to blow a gap in the wooden wall. The next day, the new army captured it, and this fortress that was heavily defended by the camp finally fell into the hands of the Ming army after eighteen days and nights of fierce fighting.

While Pu Guanshui sent an army to chase and defeat the enemy, he ordered to treat the prisoners well, and this time when he captured the fortress, he left a large number of wounded in the camp, and in addition to the previous prisoners, more than 1,000 officers and soldiers had been captured. Pu Guanshui ordered that they should not be tortured or killed: "In the battle of Qixian, our army owes Xu Ping a favor, and we can't return this favor to him, but we can return it to his subordinates." These soldiers who broke into the thieves were not evil bandits, they were all ordinary people in Henan, and when the world was peaceful, they were still the emperor's people and the Ming Dynasty's people. ”

Before the fortress was captured, a herald rushed to the cavalry camp northwest of the fortress and told them to retreat immediately. The cavalry had been recuperating in this camp before, plus monitoring this section of the Yellow River close to Kaifeng. Although Xu Ping judged that the Hebei army in Zhili would not send troops in winter, the cavalry stationed here could be a minimum of precautions to protect these Yellow River crossings near Kaifeng. These days, the north bank of the Yellow River has been very calm, and there is not even a shadow of the Ming army.

Liu Ran and Ji Huaiyu are both cavalry officers who are being trained. When they heard that this key fortress was about to fall, they were surprised by the progress of the new army. The main force of the cavalry left in a hurry to the southwest, and the two men were ordered to stay behind to make sure that the camp tent had been completely burned before chasing the troops.

When the two were chasing the large army to the southwest, they heard the sound of gunfire from the east, Liu Ran and Ji Huaiyu glanced at each other, turned their horses' heads in unison, and ran in the opposite direction.

"The general does not allow us to participate in defensive operations, but today we are encountering officers and soldiers, so we must not escape from the battle."

After the two of them ran to the defensive line on their own, they saw the 1st Infantry Wing, which had just retreated from the front line, and they were now less than 700 men. When the officers wearing felt hats were busy deploying defenses, the vanguard of the Tianyi battalion had already been killed, and immediately charged the invading army.

"Kill the officers and soldiers." Ji Huaiyu shouted and drew his saber, and was about to rush towards the Tianyi camp.

As a result, before he could rush over, he was quickly stopped by Liu Ran's eyes: "You can't attack the infantry in the array, do you want to die?" ”

"Faint," Ji Huaiyu dismounted and jumped into the trench, and Liu Ran also jumped down. When they heard the order from the infantry officer to shoot, they drew their handcuffs and fired at the new recruits who rushed at them with the infantry.

"Fight!"

After two shots, following the officer's orders, Ji Huaiyu and Liu Ran rushed out of the trench with their fellow infantry and launched a counterattack. The two brandished sabers and fought with the new army. Ji Huaiyu, like Liu Ran, all his family members died at the hands of the government. After retreating from the attack on the outpost of the Tianyi Battalion, the officers of the 1st Infantry Wing were busy urgently deploying defenses, and the scale of the fortress they were now on was much smaller than the one that had just been lost today, and the trench was relatively shallow. On the way to Kaifeng, Xu Ping built a number of these small cover positions, defended them with a minimum of troops, and was useful in providing temporary positions for the defeated and retreating troops to gain a firm foothold.

In the chaos, Ji Huaiyu and Liu Ran had already picked up a rifle by themselves, and more new troops appeared in front of the camp, they seemed to want to take advantage of the instability in the camp to take this small fortress, and the new army launched a continuous multi-faceted attack. And the camp also fought separately.

The two cavalry officers gritted their teeth and shot at the new army opposite, and Liu Ran shouted every time he shot: "Dog officers and soldiers, this is for my father...... This is for my mother...... This is for my eldest brother......"

After some scuffle, the commander of the opposing Forces nouvelles finally admitted defeat and determined that the 1st Infantry Wing of the Breaking Battalion could not be driven back with the little force at hand. After watching the new army retreat, both of them shouted excitedly, laughing and scolding the faint traitors of the imperial court in unison.

"Who are you?"

With a stern shout, the two men pulled back from the excitement of the battle, and in front of them stood a stern-looking infantryman, with a hat and a spear in his hand. According to the newly adopted rank identification of several infantry wings of the Chuang Army, Liu Ran immediately recognized that this was an infantry sergeant, and he stepped forward with a military salute: "Brother, I am Liu Ran's third-class lieutenant." ”

The infantry sergeant looked suspiciously at the felt hats on the heads of the two of them, and his gaze slowly fell to the collar position of the two of them, and the collar badges were both horse heads: "Two cavalry ensigns? What are you doing here? ”

"Fight the officers and soldiers."

The infantry sergeant reached out and asked for their waist tags, and then took them and examined them carefully. Their movements alarmed Hu Chen, who had just been promoted to team officer in the distance. Xu Ping designated the team officer as a captain, and after the officer and deputy of the Fourth Infantry Corps were killed in battle a few days ago, Hu Chen was not only promoted to the post of team officer, but also quickly promoted to the rank of captain.

"Sergeant Qin, what's going on?" Hu Chen walked in front of Ji Huaiyu and Liu Ran, and after seeing the felt hats on their heads, he introduced himself: "Hu Chen, the first-class captain of the guards battalion." ”

"Liu Ran, third-class lieutenant of the Guards Battalion."

"Captain Ji Huaiyu, third rank of the Guards Battalion."

Hu Chen stared at these two unfamiliar faces with confusion, Qin Dedong, who had just checked the waist card, handed the waist card of the two to the commander, Hu Chen took it and glanced at it and said angrily: "The general ordered all the cavalry officers to retreat, what are you two staying here for?" ”

"My lord, the lowly ones want to fight the officers and soldiers......"

"Get out!" Hu Chen rudely interrupted Liu Ran's defense and slammed his waist card on them: "Don't let me see you again, otherwise I will kill you, get out!" ”

On the 17th day of the first lunar month, the new army approached 20 miles away from Kaifeng, and the rumbling cannons of the besieging troops could already be heard in Kaifeng that night. The Shanlan battalion, which was closest to the troops who broke the siege, and Li Zicheng's troops, who were monitoring them, listened to the east as they looked to the east, as if they could already detect the shouts of the soldiers.

Li Dingguo planted his flag on the fort on the front line, and around the fort were the remnants of the four infantry wings, about only about 2,000 people: "The flag is in the people, the flag is dead, and there is no complete victory, my flag will never be taken down from here, and Lao Tzu will never leave this flag one step." ”

That night, Jia Minghe and Wei Landu stood side by side on the east side of the fortress, looking towards the sky, the fire from the muzzle of the cannon flickered in the night, and the dark clouds in the sky were reflected red by this light from time to time, as if thunder was running in the clouds.

In the place where the thunderbolt sounded, Puguanshui was looking into the distance, and the Shanlanying Fort more than ten miles away was already in sight. He silently said in his heart: "Big brother, I'm here." ”

"There are no more large forts for the robbers, only a few small and simple forts," and the staff officers of the new army breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the end of the arduous battle, which, with their trenches, did not occupy a large area. The staff officers had already begun to consider plans for further operations after joining forces with the Yamalan battalion.

"Our army has also suffered a lot of losses, let's rest and recuperate after the division," Pu Guanshui was unwilling to continue fighting, and now the three battalions of the new army were also full of wounded soldiers, and there were only more than 6,000 combat soldiers left, and they were extremely tired.

……

"If it weren't for the general's soft-heartedness, we wouldn't have been beaten so badly." Speaking of the New Year's truce, Chen Zhe was still full of resentment, and began to place the cavalry camp near the Yellow River crossing near Kaifeng, and another reason was that the camp was scheduled to use the fortress that was lost on the 16th to exhaust the attack power of the new army's siege relief troops. And when the battle situation reached a stalemate, Xu Ping estimated that Jia Minghe was likely to >

"You don't have to go back, since King Chuang sent you, then stay with me." Xu Ping waved his hand: "I'm about to launch a counterattack, every soldier is useful." ”

Xu Ping asked the staff officer to integrate Li Laiheng into the counterattack force.

"The new army is already full of wounded soldiers, and I'm afraid there are more people lying down in the cold than wounded. They were only one step away from Kaifeng, and Pu Guanshui had been using his last strength to attack in the past few days. Xu Ping laughed lightly and said to Hei Baoyi beside him: "It's time to fight back." ”

"Good!" Hei Bao was already eager to try it early in the morning, and his armored battalion was set up as he wished, full of determination to fight this maiden battle.

"The armored battalion carried a day's worth of dry rations and went straight to the baggage battalion of the Forces nouvelles. Except for a small number of guards, only the sick and wounded and the civilians remained, and the key to victory was whether you could capture the main force of the new army before they could come back to their rescue. After seizing their baggage, you don't have to go out of the camp to fight, just hold it firmly, this harsh winter will wipe out all the new troops for us. ”

"The last general understands, the general can rest assured." Kurohoichi confidently assured: "It is also Allah's wish to eliminate evil and promote good." ”

"Speaking of Allah," Xu Ping asked a little strangely, "Brother Hei, there are not many religious believers in Henan, and according to your teachings, they don't seem to be Allah's people?" ”

"The great general misunderstood that Allah is the creator of this world, and everyone is a child of Allah. Allah created animals and plants for His children to eat. Kurohoichi said solemnly: "I firmly believe that Allah loves everyone, just as a father loves every son of his." ”

On the night of the 17th, after giving a full meal to the soldiers of the armored battalion, Hei Baoyi led the team to set off to the rear of the new army, and 5,000 soldiers marched bravely in the night. But the sky is not beautiful, and suddenly there are snowflakes again, and they are getting bigger and bigger, without any intention of stopping.

"My lord, let the troops slow down a little, otherwise someone will be left behind."

Seeing that the snow was getting heavier and heavier, a staff officer suggested to Kurohoichi. But Hei Baoyi shook his head categorically: "No, we must launch an attack before noon tomorrow, and the officers and soldiers will not slow down and wait for us." ”

"If the troops are scattered, it will affect our attack."

"Even if only one team arrives, we will take the large battalion of officers and soldiers." Hei Bao turned around and pointed to the way they came, on this road, they had already encountered several villages that had been burned and abandoned by the invading army: "If we don't defeat the officers and soldiers, we will not be able to compensate for the crimes we have committed against the people of Henan." ”

On the morning of the 18th, Hei Baoyi set foot on the official road with the vanguard of the armored battalion. The snow had greatly reduced the visibility around them, and although there were sappers leading the team with a compass, Kurohoichi and the others found themselves off the beaten path, and instead of going around the side of the New Army camp, they appeared very close to the New Army base. The startled defenders of the New Army immediately sounded the alarm, and at the same time quickly sent someone to inform Pu Guanshui, who was directing the attack.

The sound of gongs and drums on the opposite side had been sounding for a while, but the army led by Hei Baoyi had dragged on for a long time due to the weather, and there were only more than 1,000 troops gathered around him at this time. He gulped down a few snow balls and shouted, "Attack!" ”

"My lord, take a break." The staff officers suggested in unison: "The new army will not come back so quickly, and our men and horses have not yet arrived." ”

Several accompanying officers believed that the snow would also affect the speed of the Forces nouvelles, and that the follow-up troops were coming in a steady stream, and the speed of assembly should be higher than that of the Forces nouvelles.

"I can't take that risk." Hei Baoyi jumped up from the ground, raised the banner of the armored battalion with his own hands, and shouted vigorously: "I am Hei Baoyi, the battalion officer, brothers follow me." ”

"Your Excellency, you have to command the troops." A staff officer reached out to pull the black Baoichi.

"Life and death are decided by Allah." Hei Baoyi shook off that arm: "Besides, we fight one out of ten, this battle does not need to be commanded, as long as it is brave, this is a test!" ”

The soldiers of the Forces nouvelles in the fortress were ready for defense, and they opened fire on the intruding formations. Hei Bao walked at the forefront of his battalion with a big banner in his mouth, shouting: "Don't fight back, let's stick our bayonets directly into the chests of officers and soldiers." ”

The soldiers of the armored battalion lined up shoulder to shoulder, and walked firmly towards the main camp of the new army with their guns in hand. From time to time, the invading troops were knocked to the ground by the fire of the new army, but this did not make the invading army waver in the slightest, and soon they approached the trench of the new army camp, and then the invading army began to return fire. While exchanging fire with the Novuvelles, the soldiers in the back row stepped forward with ladders and lowered them down on the edge of the trench, directly on the outer wall of the Nova fortress. During this time, the new army continued to shoot at the intruders and push the long ladders that had been put up, but the number of resisters was far from being comparable to that of the attackers, and more and more ladders were put up and held by the intruders. Kurohoichi jumped up again, jumped onto a long ladder that was held steadily, shook the flag in his hand vigorously, and then walked quickly to the opposite wall.

There were only a few hundred new troops in the camp, and although they bravely and stubbornly resisted, a large number of intruders soon jumped into the wall. The invading army that rushed into the camp fought with the new army while shouting loudly: "Fellow countryman, we will not fight the poor. ”

When they saw the intruders coming, a large number of people tried to escape, but after seeing the ice and snow outside, more people still chose to cower in their tents in the camp and chant Buddha. All the wounded recruits of the New Army who could move tried to get up and try to help their comrades fight, but because of the disparity in numbers, these resistances were eventually broken down by the intruders, and soon the eastern wall of the camp was captured by the intruders. After clearing the resistance on the wall, the intruders opened the camp gate, and a large number of armored battalion soldiers rushed in. When the follow-up troops who had just arrived saw this scene, they also rushed towards the open camp gate.

At this time, Kurohoichi was lying among the staff officers of the armored battalion, and just now he was hit by a lead bullet when he was climbing the wall first, and fell heavily from the ladder. After being dragged to safety by his subordinates, the military doctor who accompanied the team only took a look and knew that Kurohoichi was hopeless, and the lead bullet shot through his right shoulder and collarbone, piercing his body and shooting from his left hip.

"Your Excellency, your Excellency." Several staff officers didn't know what to say, and one of them was about to cry.

As he was dying, Hei Baoyi smiled with difficulty: "Don't cry for me, brothers, I'm going to a better place." ”

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