Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 505
Fighting in rainy weather always makes people feel uncomfortable, especially at this time the muddy roads around Songkhla, which greatly restricts the movement of mechanized troops, but for tanks, such bad weather does not affect their rapid advancement.

The sound of cannons kept ringing, and there were gaps in Songkhla's various defense lines. If it hadn't been for the heavy rain that hindered the actions of the Huwei Army, their outer defense lines might have already broken through. Now, the 6th Division, in addition to the armored troops Except for the artillery unit continuing to put pressure on the defense line, the other units really couldn't fight through for a while.The offense and defense began to enter an annoying stalemate.

The heavy rain continued for a whole day, and the army's offensive was restricted for the entire day. Although the armored troops repeatedly broke through the opponent's defense line, they did not dare to go too far alone without the cooperation of the follow-up troops.In the evening, when the rain finally stopped, Liu Cunhou gave an order, and the large army once again attacked the defense line. Finally, the rebel army could no longer withstand the fierce attack of the armored infantry division, and finally collapsed and retreated into the city.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Cunhou struck while the iron was hot, and the 6th Division advanced into the city in an all-round way, and fought fierce street battles with the rebels in the streets and alleys of the city.

"Master, Songkhla can't hold it anymore, we'd better make plans early!" Chief of Staff Zhou Ziqi said anxiously.

"No, I can't just admit defeat like this. Don't you know what the governor is like? Even if we escape this time and return to Singapore, we are still dead. I must counterattack, counterattack!" Li Chun hysterical screaming.

Zhou Ziqi shook his head helplessly. The defeat of the 30th Division is now a very obvious fact. If Li Chun continues to stick to his so-called counterattack plan, the entire division will face disaster.

When the battle reached two o'clock in the morning, news came that the 6th Brigade was besieged by the Huwei army. The battle lasted only three hours, and all officers and soldiers were killed. When Li Chun received the news, his heart was filled with desolation. I fully understand that if we don't retreat, the entire division will be completely wiped out.

"Order the troops to break out!"

After the order was conveyed, the troops defending the city began to break out according to the deployment of the division headquarters. However, the exit of Songkhla City was surrounded by armored infantry divisions. It was not easy to break through.

When the news reached Liu Cunhou's ears, he gritted his teeth and said, "It's not that easy to run away. No matter what, I must destroy this rebel army. I don't care about the morals of the world. I just bully the few with more soldiers." !"

"Master, the possibility of breaking through from the front is getting smaller and smaller. Two of the four brigades in our hands have been completely wiped out by the enemy. If we continue to forcefully break through, our entire division will suffer catastrophe. Yes, so I suggest that we immediately ask for help from the navy stationed in Brunei, and let the navy send a fleet to transport us away from the sea, so as to avoid greater losses." Zhou Ziqi suggested.

Li Chun stomped his feet heavily, and sighed, "It seems like this is the only way to go now."

He immediately contacted the military department. After Lu Yongxiang got the bad news, he immediately scolded Li Chun severely, and then immediately contacted the navy in Borneo, and they were quickly restored. They will follow the instructions of the military department. He immediately organized a fleet led by two light cruisers to Songkhla to meet the 30th Division.

At 3:20 in the morning, the rebel naval forces in Borneo sent a fleet of two light cruisers, five frigates and some transport ships to advance towards Songkhla. They were preparing to meet the 30th Division of Songkhla The regiment retreated.

After receiving this news, Li Chun was overjoyed. He expected that the fleet would arrive in Songkhla before dawn, so he immediately ordered all the ministries to retreat to the beach and fight back while retreating.The battle continued for about half an hour, and the sky became gloomy again. Not long after, it rained heavily again.The bad weather brought the attack of the Huwei Army to a standstill again, and the fighter planes circling around Songkhla could only return to the landing point, unable to bomb the retreating rebels.

Li Chun, who fled in a hurry, brought his remaining two brigades, took advantage of this best opportunity and finally arrived at the beach, waiting for their navy to come to the rescue, waiting for the moment of narrow escape!
At about 5 o'clock in the morning, Yuan Shikai's naval formation arrived and immediately released many small boats to the shore, ready to pick up Li Chun's army to board the ship.At the same time, the 6th Division of the Huwei Army and Qi Xieyuan's independent regiment had also reached the beach.

This is a battle against the clock.Seeing that something was wrong, the commander of the rebel fleet immediately ordered all warships to fire at the Huwei army on the shore.In an instant, the sound of rumbling artillery surrounded by thunder roared towards the Huwei army, and the sound of a huge explosion resounded through the sky.The soldiers who were charging were swallowed up by the shock and flames of the violent explosion. Qi Xieyuan beat his chest and screamed, "Disperse formation, disperse formation! Yuan Shikai, your eighth generation ancestor."

The 6th Division continued to attack, but the giant artillery fired from the warship once caused heavy casualties to the charging soldiers. Seeing this, Liu Cunhou felt pain in his eyes, and immediately ordered the troops to stop the attack, and all the officers and men pushed to the range of the naval guns In addition, so as not to be injured by naval guns again.

"Master, if you say this, don't you just let go of this rebel army for nothing?" Chief of Staff Hong Zhaolin came to Liu Cunhou with a lawsuit in his head.

"Chief of Staff Hong, what can I do? The weather is bad now, the air force can't come to support, and our ground artillery has limited destructive power against warships. Even if I send the cavalry division there, it will be useless , instead of running over to die in vain, it is more practical to stick to Songkhla City. This rebel army should be regarded as undead. We can only find an opportunity to eliminate them in the next battle. Speaking of which, this time we are also considered The 54th Division has been severely damaged, and they have not let them go comfortably. This can be regarded as the result of our attack on Songkhla. I ordered the troops to rest in place for three days, and then attacked Kota Bharu. I want Completely destroy the rebels on the northern front!" Liu Cunhou was unwilling to watch the enemy board the ship and escape, so he knocked on the table hard.

In this way, with two gunshot wounds, Li Chun led the defeated soldiers to board the transport ship, left Songkhla in a hurry, and sailed towards Kota Bharu. At this point, the Battle of Songkhla was finally over.

After Lu Yongxiang got the news that the 30th Division was rescued, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it was a trump card force in his hand. I put it in my eyes.When he was worried, the messenger came to report: "Report to the commander, something is wrong!"

Lu Yongxiang was so frightened by the sudden voice that he almost slipped off his chair. He straightened his military cap and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Kota Bharu has fallen at the same time!"

"what!"

It was an unusually hot day in Beijing. Guan Xuqing had just finished listening to Xu Shichang and others' report on the war. He was upset for a while, and said angrily to Xu Shichang: "What did you do? I have said repeatedly that this fight against the rebellion If you look at the statistics of the battle situation, our army has died and injured more than a thousand people, and the battle to suppress Yuan has just passed halfway. If the fight continues like this, I will train hard The entire army will be lost at your hands!"

Xu Shichang said timidly while wiping his sweat: "Back to the emperor, I am incompetent, but I think that although our army suffered more than a thousand casualties, the number of casualties in Yuan Ni's army was more than ten times that of ours. The casualty ratio is already very low, which is rare even if you look at the world. The British lost more than [-] people in one battle in the Boer War."

Guan Xuqing stared at Xu Shichang with flames in his eyes and said, "So, my request is really too much."

Xu Shichang suddenly changed his color, and fell to his knees with a plop: "Your Majesty, I dare not have such thoughts. Your Majesty sees thousands of miles, and the candle illuminates the future. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's just that the ministers are incompetent and are not good at supervising the battle. Please, Your Majesty." Punishment." A group of generals from the Ministry of Army also knelt down and said together: "Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Guan Xuqing sighed, his expression calmed down, and he waved his hands to signal them to stand up and talk, "Bu Wu (Xu Shichang's words), I don't want to punish you, I just feel a little disappointed. If this war is put in ten years Before, let alone 1000 casualties, 1 people are normal, but don't forget that the military strength of the empire is not what it used to be. We have the most advanced mechanized troops in the world, and the only air force in the world , as well as world-class sea power, our individual combat capabilities and military theory education are also world-class. Under such circumstances, such a number of casualties cannot but be said to be a failure, and the empire's unprecedentedly powerful military strength is used to fight against Yuan Shikai's rebel army is simply making a fuss."

Xu Shichang seemed to have realized something, and said: "Your Majesty, I understand, but I am always worried that cutting-edge weapons such as tanks and planes will be lost in the war. After all, they are all a lot of money, so I am here. There is some hesitation in the distribution of armaments."

"Bu Wu, you are wrong if you think so. What is the most valuable, are those planes, cannons, and tanks? No. Let me tell you, it is people! No matter how advanced and powerful those weapons are, they still need people to control them. Is it? So, people are always the most important factor in war. You know how difficult it is for the empire to train an outstanding soldier. From military theoretical training to the accumulation of actual combat experience, it requires a lot of manpower and In terms of financial resources, what are those cold weapons in comparison? Bu Wu, you have to remember that if you want to build a country and build an army, you must always put people first."

Xu Shichang replied in fear and trepidation: "The emperor is wise, and I understand."

(End of this chapter)