Master Yuan, start!

Yue Fei 91?63^yao0yaoling

"In that case, the Maxim is useless. The enemy is hiding behind the wall and won't come out. Even 100 bullets may not kill a single person!" Duan Qirui said thoughtfully with his head down.

The chief instructor had finally bought himself a few hours of time through the meeting. If the advance troops failed to capture Xifengkou, when reinforcements arrived, would they risk their lives to enter the pass?

"Give up bombing the city, save ammunition, and withdraw the infantry first."

Yuan Shikai's teachings to the National Defense Army were still useful. At least Duan Qirui had gradually learned to use tactics according to local conditions.

However, he still didn't want to waste this brief time. After all, the commanders of the six towns were all there at the time, and this was the opportunity he and Sheng Fei had finally managed to gain to attack first.

Jin Weidong, Duan Zhigui and Wang Zhanyuan were taken to a meeting by Yuan Xiangcheng, while Feng Guozhang stayed at the headquarters. He and Sheng Fei took advantage of the time of the meeting with Yuan Xiangcheng to move westward with all their strength.

"How many yellow explosive shells did you bring?" Duan Qirui asked Cao Kun, the artillery commander.

"Not many, just over 100." Cao Kun looked at Duan Qirui warily: "Commander, I also tried the yellow powder shells. They are a little stronger than ordinary black powder shells, but they are still not enough to bombard the city!"

"I'm not asking you to bomb the city, I'm asking you to bomb people!" Duan Qirui looked at the gun barrel that was pulled down from the front line due to blockage with sharp eyes.

"You...you want to use a mortar?" Cao Kun saw what Duan Qirui was thinking at a glance.

"Didn't we experiment with it in North Korea? The longest distance we could reach was over 100 zhang (300 meters), and the average distance was over 40 zhang (150 meters)."

"But this thing needs to be very close, and we can't get close to the Xifengkou city gate. How can we blow it up?" Cao Kun was puzzled.

"Can we blow up that thing?" Duan Qirui pointed to Xifeng Mountain in the south.

Cao Kun looked at Xifeng Mountain, which was connected to the Xifengkou Great Wall. It seemed that if he fired artillery shells from the saddle of Xifeng Mountain towards Xifengkou, it would really hit it.

They act as soon as they are told and have liberated themselves from dogmatic thinking. What the National Defense Army lacks the least is the spirit of hard work.

Cao Kun immediately took dozens of artillerymen, carried their equipment and climbed up Xifeng Mountain, clinging to tree trunks and stepping on rocks along the way, while also being careful not to alert the Great Wall patrol soldiers on the top of the mountain.

However, Xifeng Mountain is not so easy to climb. After dozens of minutes, the group was trapped on the hillside. There was a large rock in front of them and they could not get through at all.

The hillsides on both sides were too steep. Cao Kun looked left and right and it seemed that he could only return the same way he came.

After several investigations, Cao Kun finally decided to give up climbing from this point, go down the mountain and search another way.

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from above:

"Ever since I followed the king on his campaigns, I've endured hardships and toil year after year."

It’s already this late, and you’re still thinking about singing Peking opera!

Cao Kun asked his men to hide and wait for the man above to appear.

Tamingan walked to the top of the rock, fumbled around for a moment, then threw down a straw rope. He pulled it down and sang, "I only hate the ruthless Qin that brought so much suffering to the people, causing so many heroes to fight for supremacy in the Central Plains."

Tamingan landed on his feet, humming the previous line and singing the next one.

"Ba~~~~King!!!!"

The first word is sung, and the second word is scared out.

Seeing dozens of Wehrmacht soldiers in blue uniforms around him, Tamingan was scared out of his wits.

Puff!

Tamingan knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: "Gentlemen, I am just a piece of shit. Can you just pretend you didn't see me and let me go?"

Cao Kun almost laughed out loud when he saw Tamingan kneeling and begging for mercy so smoothly, but he still remembered his primary task:

"Okay, but you have to take us there first."

Facing Cao Kun's finger, Taming'an looked towards the Xifengkou Pass in the west.

Xifengkou topographic map, the left side is the south and the right side is the north.

The orange is the garrison of Yuan army, the yellow is the garrison of Xiang army, and the red is the Great Wall. There was no reservoir in the Qing Dynasty. Imagine it after removing the reservoir.

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Chapter 140: Sarhu? Baliqiao!

The Shanhaiguan section of the Great Wall starts from Laolongtou on the shores of Bohai Sea in the south and ends at Jiulongkou in the foothills of Yanshan Mountain in the north.

After Yuan Shikai and his entourage left Yipanshiguan at Jiulongkou, Yilie Qienan Bujian Gao Zhimei gave a few instructions to De Xing'a, the commander of the Jiashen Central Army, and then hurried to Yongning Prefecture overnight.

The Hunan Army of Yongning Prefecture is the last mobile force in the Jingji area. As long as the Hunan Army is there, the situation in the Jingji area will not collapse.

Song Qing, Dexing'a, Liu Shengxiu, Jiang Guiti and their group saw Yi Lianglu off as he walked up the Great Wall and rode his horses towards Shanhaiguan Pass.

Jiang Guiti and Liu Shengxiu hurried back to defense and walked in the front.

As De Xing'a walked, he looked at Yuan Shikai's army in the north, slowed down, and fell behind for a while.

Looking at the bustling army of Yuan Xiangcheng in the distance, De Xing'a asked Song Qing in front of him with some concern:

"Brother Song, do you think Xifengkou and Gubeikou can be defended?"

After what happened just now, Yuan Xiangcheng and Yi Huan and Gui Song Qing were a little absent-minded. He put his hands on the horse, holding the reins, without saying a word, and just let the horse go on its own.

"Brother Song?"

Song Qing still looked down at the horse's mane in front of him, immersed in his own world and unable to extricate himself.

"Brother Song?!"

Dexing Alian called out three times but failed to wake up Song Qing. Instead, he called out to Liu Shengxiu and Jiang Guiti, who were riding horses in the front, and made them turn back.

"Snapped!"

De Xing'a swung his whip hard and shouted, "Song Qing!"

The sound of a whip brought Song Qing back to reality from his fantasy. Seeing De Xing Aqi standing beside him with a glare on his face, and Liu and Jiang in front of him also looking puzzled, Song Qing realized that he had made a mistake.

He immediately bowed to De Xing'a to express his apology.

"I wonder what orders Master De has?"

Among the four armies of Jiashen, although Song Qing had the longest seniority and had the intention of commanding the entire army when Ronglu was absent, this did not include the Jiashen Central Army, which was mainly composed of bannermen.

When Yuan Shikai's Jiashen Right Army was still in existence, De Xing'a was the youngest commander. When Yuan Shikai rebelled overnight, he became the youngest one.

But even so, De Xing'a did not completely obey Song Qing's discipline. On the surface, he and Song Qing were of the same level, but he also had the identity of a bannerman.

So on weekdays, no matter what Song Qing did, he had to discuss it with him and they would only do it after they had reached an agreement.

And today, Song Qing also saw the scene of Prince Qing Yiliang stealing taxes and lazily tearing his eyebrows, so now he naturally follows Dexing Ama's lead.

Seeing that Song Qing had finally come to his senses, De Xing'a's expression softened. "Brother Song, what I'm asking is whether Xifengkou and Gubeikou can be defended. Do you think we should send troops to support them?"

De Xing'a's achievements were considered outstanding among the bannermen, but they were only limited to the bannermen. Whenever he encountered any military difficulties in his daily life, he would have to ask others for advice.

“Although there are only a hundred or so people stationed at Gubeikou and Xifengkou, the mountains are steep and precipitous, unlike ordinary cities. I think it will not be a problem to hold them for a day or two.

Yuan Shikai's army attacked day and night, and inevitably ran out of energy. It was impossible for them to capture Xifengkou in one or two days.

With this one-day buffer, the Hunan Army should have arrived by then, and the city will be safe."

As a traditional East Asian general born in the Middle Ages, Song Qing gave his own opinion.

"As for sending troops," Song Qing pondered for a moment, "Master De, how about sending your deputy general with 5000 elite troops to support Gubeikou and Xifengkou respectively?"

De Xing'a knew that this was Song Qing's way of giving him a way out. The reputation of these bannermen soldiers in the Jiashen Central Army had long been ruined. If they were asked to guard the city, there would probably be problems.

Recruitment...n8607

If they were transferred under the pretext of supporting the pass, they would not have to bear the heavy responsibility of defending Shanhaiguan. By the time they arrived at Xifengkou, the Hunan Army might have already arrived, and they could even get the credit for defending the city for free.

But my subordinates have left, but I am still here!

De Xing'a was still a little worried: "What about us, Brother Song?" He pointed at the city wall below him, "Can this city wall withstand Yuan Ni's cannons?"

Hearing De Xing'a's words, Song Qing dismounted and stomped hard on the Great Wall under his feet: "Master De, the wall of Guancheng is more than 3 feet thick, and even the Red Barbarian cannons can't penetrate it, let alone Yuan Xiangcheng's field artillery.

The caliber of the red cannon in the late Ming Dynasty was about 100mm, and the largest caliber field gun in Yuan Shikai’s national defense army was only 90mm, captured from the French. There were only a dozen of them, which could not form a firepower deterrent at all.

Song Qing had fought side by side with Yuan Shikai, so he knew very well what good things Yuan Shikai had taken from the French.

After hesitating for a moment, Song Qing spoke again, "If Yuan Xiangcheng was absolutely sure of capturing Shanhaiguan, he would have simply ordered the attack yesterday and would not have needed to attend Prince Qing's appointment. So, I believe he is also unsure."

De Xing'a was completely relieved after hearing this, and he indulged in mockery: "I thought Yuan Xiangcheng was very capable. Just now, inside the stone city, the shouts of people entering the pass were so loud that they shook the sky.

I think it was just a sneak attack on a few undefended cities outside the Great Wall. I don't know where he got the courage to speak so arrogantly.

Now that we have encountered the number one obstacle in the world, we are stuck in the same spot. We can only use some tricks to lure the tiger away from the mountain to delay time and make a feint to the east and attack in the west.

Unless Yuan Ni can fly over here, I think this Battle of Shanhaiguan will be the second Sarhu of the Qing Dynasty!"

If Yuan Shikai were here, he would definitely exclaim that human nature is indeed the same and has not changed after hundreds of years. What De Xing'a just said is a very classic pre-emptive boast.

Zhaoshu Group 8659738*

However, Song Qing was not as optimistic as De Xing'a. He jumped up, grabbed the reins again, and walked towards Nanyi City decisively.

The Shanhaiguan section of the defense line is not an isolated section of the city wall, but there are many walled cities inside the pass, the most important of which are the Shanhaiguan Pass, Beiyi City, and Nanyi City.

From north to south, three barbicans are arranged in sequence along the Shanhaiguan Great Wall. The pass city is the main residential city for nearby people, while the north and south wing cities are used to station a small number of troops and store grain.

"Master De, please return to the city and arrange for its defense. I will go to Nanyi City to see how the defense is going."

gas...

Plating...

It was already late at night, and a land breeze had started to blow near Shanhaiguan on the shore of the Bohai Sea, blowing continuously from Yanshan Mountain toward the sea.

On the other side, in Yuan's army camp, Yuan Xiangcheng was discussing the siege with a group of staff officers and commanders of various towns in the central military tent.

"Duan Qirui of Zhiquan, Feng Guozhang of Huafu and the others must have arrived by now and are storming Xifengkou and Gubeikou. We can't just sit back and enjoy their success. We have to storm Shanhaiguan!"

Yuan Xiangcheng first set the tone, intending to draw the four armies of Jiashen into Shanhaiguan to create time for Duan and Feng to break through.

2 However, everyone in the tent had different expressions, and no one understood that Yuan Shikai wanted to confront him head-on in front of Shanhaiguan.

"Chief Instructor, Shanhaiguan is a fortified city. We just fired a few shots, but even the French 90mm field guns were of little use. Do we really need to sacrifice our lives?"

Sheng Fei was a straightforward person, so he asked back without any hesitation.

Yuan Xiangcheng glanced at the high-ranking officers in the account and took in their expressions.

Several staff officers seemed to be deep in thought, trying to determine how feasible the plan he proposed was. The three town commanders, Duan Zhigui, Wang Zhanyuan, and Jin Weidong, all had different expressions on their faces.

Although Duan Zhigui was the youngest among the six commanders of the National Defense Army, he was much calmer and did not question out loud like Sheng Fei.

Duan Zhigui was originally a student at the Incheon Military Academy. Like Sheng Fei, he was an old man who followed Yuan Shikai during the military training in Incheon. However, he never had any chance to make any achievements and was ordered to stay in Korea during the Sino-French War.