It is said that those who faced Li Xinghong's attack were the officers and soldiers of the Jiangning Prefecture Patrol Battalion. Thousands of them surrendered last night. Now they saw that their armory was destroyed. The morale of the army was suddenly weakened. They ignored the threats of the inspection team and went to see the Republican Party.

When the Allied forces attacked, they fired a few random shots in the trenches and then surrendered obediently.

Therefore, Li Xinghong's troops held torches and crossed Corpse Mountain and Shogunate Mountain in a destructive manner. They advanced about five or six kilometers into the city before encountering resistance from the Qing army's Jiang Defense Force.

The large trenches and fortifications dug by the Qing Army's Jiang Defense Force at the front of Houhu Racecourse played a certain blocking role.

Of course, these trenches and fortifications were dug in weedy depressions, and the soil was soft and could not withstand Li Xinghong's heavy artillery bombardment.

In fact, the greatest threat to Li Xinghong's attack was the mother and son forts of Tianbao City and Bunker City from the west peak of Zijin Mountain, which were commanding and powerful.

Therefore, Chen Tianhua also focused on arranging for Sun Yong's troops to attack the three city gates of Yaohua Gate, Xianhe Gate and Qilin Gate, and use heavy artillery fire from the side to the Purple Mountain Fortress to support Li Xinghong's frontal advance.

The Republican coalition forces quickly completed their deployment. They concentrated two Marine artillery regiments to the north and southeast, with a total of more than a hundred 75mm field guns, to bombard the main and secondary forts of Xifeng Fortress.

Among them are ten 105mm howitzers, which are the latest imitations of Krupp cannons produced by Hanyang Arsenal and were tested in actual combat.

In this way, Li Xinghong on the northern front and Sun Yong on the southeastern front both issued general offensive orders one after another.

"Shh...boom..."

"Shhhhhhh..."

"Rumble...Rumble..."

"..."

With deafening sounds of piercing the air and explosions, more than a hundred heavy artillery aimed at the solid fortress of Xifeng Fortress and violently bombarded it.

At the same time, Sun Yong mobilized two heavy artillery pieces and aimed at the gate of Yaohua City to blast fiercely.

Subsequently, the fortress of Xifeng Fortress was filled with debris, sparks flying, city walls collapsed, and wailings could be heard everywhere.

For a moment, the earth was shaking, the mountains were shaking, sand and rocks were flying, and black crows and cannonballs were coming like ghosts.

More than a hundred cannons from three directions, such group firing and carpet bombing, were unique in the history of Qing Dynasty warfare.

The shells carried strong explosive power, like a giant iron comb, "swishing, swishing, swishing..." In an instant, more than 2,500 defenders on the Qing army's fortress plowed out strips of blood.

In this terrible storm of cannons and carpet bombing, ordinary flesh and blood bodies may not even have time to shout, just like wheat in early spring, falling in pieces.

This kind of heavy artillery attack on the city is definitely a terrible nightmare for the defenders.

For a time, there were screams, wails, and blood flying everywhere in the Sky Castle and the Bunker City... The guards were trampling on each other as they scrambled to escape...

What I thought was a strong fortress in the past has now become a hell on earth.

After more than two hours of cannon bombardment, it was time for the siege team to climb.

Speaking of Yaohua City Gate, it is made of solid wood up to one meter thick and weighs dozens of tons. It is usually raised and lowered by a hoist, but it cannot withstand close range bombardment by 75mm field artillery and armor-piercing shells.

One armor-piercing shell blasted a large hole, and more than ten shells knocked down the entire city gate. The vanguard battalion of Sun Yong's unit of the Republican Allied Forces surged up, broke into the city, and rushed toward the west peak of Zijin Mountain.

Two temporary giant cloud towers were tied up and approached the city wall of the Earth/Celestial Castle. Allied soldiers rushed to the top of the city with guns and swords drawn, and started fighting with the defenders.

There were more and more coalition soldiers, and they began to scale the city.

"Don't panic, don't be confused, just chop down the enemy." A guard holding a machete shouted for instructions.

Although the guards of the Qing Army's patrol camp on Xifeng still resisted tenaciously, things are different now. The dozens of artillery pieces, heavy machine guns, etc. in the fortress, after the desperate shooting in front, are now all gone due to lack of follow-up ammunition replenishment. It became a decoration.

The rifles in the hands of many defenders became fire sticks after all the bullets they carried were discharged.

Although there are also Qing soldiers who are not afraid of death, some of them are soldiers of Manchu descent. Their ancestors are the Eight Banners who came south to pursue the Ming army more than two hundred years ago. Now, it is their descendants' turn to use their own Flesh and blood blocks bullets.

No matter how tenacious the Manchu defenders were, the firepower of the siege coalition was too fierce and vicious.

In addition to the previous heavy artillery carpet bombing, infantry sieges now use mortars, grenades, light and heavy machine guns, and grenades. Ordinary rifles are weak weapons. The flesh and blood of the defenders are still unable to block the gap. A large number of Republican coalition forces Like a tide pouring into the fortress, countless Qing troops were falling.

On the west peak of Zijin Mountain, in the city head of Tianbao Bunker, the two sides fought bloody battles, with corpses strewn everywhere.

In the end, the Qing army had more than 2,000 defenders on the west peak, killed more than 1,700 people, and captured more than 500 people. The two forts of Tiandi and Zimu were completely occupied by the Republican coalition forces. The forts were replenished with artillery shells, and the artillery was turned to the coalition forces. Serve.

Of course, Sun Yong's Zhejiang Army also paid a heavy price. There were more than 1,200 people in the Pioneer Battalion and Assault Battalion, and nearly half of them were killed or injured.

The west peak of Zijin Mountain was occupied by the Republican coalition forces, and the entire inner city of Jiangning, including the former Shence Gate and Houhu defense fortifications, was completely exposed to the artillery fire of the coalition forces.

Everyone knows that if the commanding heights are occupied by the Republican coalition forces, the inner city of Jiangning cannot be defended in the end.

Dozens of heavy artillery on the west peak bombarded the Qing army's positions at the foot of the mountain, raising thousands of layers of dust. The fighting will of Jiang's defense army was completely destroyed and completely lost. Both the officers and soldiers gave up the ground and scurried away.

Before four o'clock in the afternoon that day, Li Xinghong from the north of the city began to launch a cavalry charge. Nearly a thousand cavalry, who had been waiting for a long time, howled into the enemy's formation.

A massacre of chopping melons and vegetables began.

…

In the evening.

In front of Chaoyang Gate in the east of Jiangning's inner city, on a spacious square, nearly 10,000 troops of the Republican Allied Forces were lined up in ten square formations, standing densely packed.

In front of them, two heavy artillery regiments and nearly a hundred cannons were divided into three echelons, lined up, and their black muzzles were aimed at the entire inner city of Jiangning.

This arrangement has more of a demonstration component than actual combat.

After two days of day and night attacks, the Republican coalition forces have wiped out nearly 50,000 Jiang defense troops and patrol battalion officers and soldiers in all areas except the inner city. In addition to the voluntary surrender, 20,000 people rebelled in front of the formation and were captured. The remaining 30,000 Qing soldiers were all annihilated, and corpses were scattered all over the fields, piled up like mountains.

Fortunately, it is the twelfth lunar month of winter, and the corpses will not undergo qualitative changes, so there is no need to consider the timely removal, cremation and disinfection of corpses to avoid plague and many other problems.

Now, focus on solving the final battle.

There are a total of more than 6,000 Qing troops guarding the inner city. Most of them are on the city wall and are waiting in line. However, their artillery and heavy machine guns are limited in number. Not to mention the hundreds of heavy artillery in front of them, the Zijin Mountain Xifeng Fort alone is enough to suppress them.

The house leaked and it rained all night, and the armory of the large altar was destroyed. The ammunition in the hands of the Qing army was very limited, which was a drop in the bucket.

After a while, hundreds of Republican and Allied cavalry troops came in from the Crane Gate. They were all black horses and red attire, with flags fluttering. They were obviously a guard of honor.
Chapter completed!