During this battle, the butcher was happy but also alert. Compared with the Dongting Lake water bandits, these Taihu bandits were more elite than he had expected. Once they found out that the enemy was attacking, they would abandon the looted property and leave some behind. After the troops and horses are cut off, cover the retreat of the large army.

As for the gangsters who stayed behind, even though they knew there was no hope of survival, they were able to fight desperately without hesitation, just to buy some time for their companions to retreat. This kind of fighting will made the butcher feel terrible.

It can be concluded that these gangs of more than 10,000 people have definitely followed Jin Tianlong and his son for many years. They are the elite among the elite, and they are definitely not people who are greedy for life and afraid of death.

A company of gangsters was in charge of the break. Under heavy artillery fire and heavy machine gun fire from the Republican Army, they rushed to the battle and suffered heavy casualties.

After more than an hour of fighting and three attacks by Butcher's vanguard battalion, no one survived.

But the Republican Army also suffered nearly a hundred casualties.

Seeing such a shocking battle-loss ratio, the butcher's little joy disappeared.

Fifteen hundred people surrounded and killed more than 120 bandits, using mortars, grenades, and Maxim heavy machine guns. The battle loss ratio was almost one to one.

Squinting his eyes and looking into the distance, he saw bursts of smoke and dust billowing in. The Taihu Gang's army was coming, and the butcher suddenly felt excited.

Infantry versus infantry, I have better firepower than you. Come on, let me know the main force of Jin Tianlong, who has been working hard for eight years.

"Hurry up and clean the battlefield, transport your dead and wounded back to the city quickly, and the rest of your troops will be arrayed on the spot, ready to meet the enemy." The Butcher ordered sternly.

He is a commander who smells blood. He has been stationed in western Jiangxi for many years. He fell in love with the battlefield, which makes people's blood boil and is extremely exciting.

The First Regiment of the Jiangsu Provincial Republican Army took action quickly. It was worthy of being a battle-hardened veteran. After a wave of shovels, they quickly dug out several shallow ditches, single-man bunkers and other simple defenses. One thousand five hundred The infantrymen quickly formed five deep positions of 300 people.

There is a distance of more than ten feet between each soldier to avoid enemy artillery fire and volley fire.

The gang in the distance advanced very fast, and in less than half an hour, they appeared in the field of vision of Butcher and the others.

With the sound of the horn, the rushing torrent stopped, and the soldiers moved out of the way. Only a dozen cavalrymen, surrounded by a gang leader, stood out about a hundred paces, holding up binoculars to observe the formation on the Butcher's side.

This gang leader looked familiar. The butcher only glanced at him and recognized that this man was the man who had planted the flag on his own horse at the foot of Gusu City.

The butcher couldn't help but feel a burst of anger in his heart. He almost wanted to jump out of the position and fight with him again, but he lowered the gun he raised and finally gave up the idea through gritted teeth.

Now he is the commander of the army. He is not a common man, and the opponent is not a reckless man. Unlike the bandits and water bandits in the past, when he first encountered the enemy, he did not rush and kill, but he also knew how to watch the formation. He obviously regarded himself as a equal opponents.

You have to be careful with such people.

This reminded the butcher of the Guangxi gang he encountered in western Ganxi. The leader who died was named Song Menqing, and he was a cunning guy.

Now, he can only stand still and wait for the enemy to attack. Once he attacks, the queue will inevitably loosen during the march, which is fatal to the infantry, and he will also lose the cover of the fortifications, and the casualties will increase. .

While Butcher was observing the Taihu Gang, Du Fei was also looking at the military formation on the opposite side. Looking at the deep positions of two in front and three in back, they were neat and orderly, and he couldn't help but sigh:

"No wonder the gang leader and the young gang leader were defeated one after another eight years ago. The troops on the opposite side are indeed unique in their formation. In such a short period of time, trenches were dug."

A leader next to Du Fei said with a smile: "Three helmsmen, we have a large number of people here. As long as we can rush in, penetrate their formation and cause chaos, they will be no different from pigs and sheep."

Already."

After hearing this, Du Fei shook his head and said: "To achieve this, we have to pay a huge price. However, the Republican Army has sufficient reserves, a vast territory, a large population, and sufficient soldiers. We cannot afford it."

The leader sneered and said: "Three helmsmen should not embolden the enemy. Having said that, most of the current Republican armies are descended from the Qing army. I'm afraid there are not many elite infantry like this."

Du Fei said: "You are absolutely wrong. The army in front of you is composed of soldiers transferred from western Ganxi. They have fought in battles and seen blood. This kind of army is the most difficult to deal with. The rest of the troops in Suzhou Fucheng

I'm afraid the troops are far inferior!"

"Third Helmsman, shall we fight them, or shall we continue to confront them like this?"

Du Fei smiled and said: "Fight, of course we have to fight, otherwise how can we hold back the main force of the Republican Army and create opportunities for the Shanghai Army to sneak attack from the direction of Kunshan? We are not seeking victory here, but we want to drag their main force here.

The longer it is delayed, the more beneficial it will be to the Shanghai army's actions."

The gang leader named Xiong San was quite dissatisfied and said: "I told you, the third helmsman, let us chew bones here, while the guys from the Shanghai Army were so slow, eating and drinking along the way, it's really suffocating, Kunshan

On the one hand, the Republican Army only has one battalion, and the main force of the attacking Shanghai army has seven to eight thousand people, so it is not easy to capture them."

After hearing this, Du Fei reprimanded: "Shut up Xiong San, this is a very good strategy of the Shanghai army. Once Kunshan takes action, Suzhou government will definitely send reinforcements. In this way, we can seize Gusu City at the minimum cost, and Gusu City

We have a large reserve of weapons, food and fodder, which is a great supplement to our Taihu Gang."

"The Shanghai Army and the Dongyang people are also working closely together. According to the gang leader, they signed a cooperation agreement at the Consulate General in Shanghai. The gang leader sent us here because he trusts us. Only we can bite Yang Shanxin's troops. Do you think

Is it selfish for the gang leader not to send the young gang leader here? If Jin Chengyi was commanding here, I am afraid that he would have already sent out his troops to attack, and it would be a huge defeat."

Xiong San, the leader who had been scolded, quickly retracted his head into his collar and said, "Yes, Third Rudder, I made a mistake."

Du Fei added coldly:

"You must remember, the days when the Taihu Gang stayed alone no longer exist. Once the Republican Army has dealt with the Shanghai Army, the next target of encirclement and suppression will be our Taihu Gang. Gang Leader Jin can see clearly, so he and the Shanghai Army Commander

With Chen Qimei's cooperation, everyone will be prosperous and everyone will suffer losses. Now, you, Xiong San, will lead an entire battalion in a probing attack."

"Yes, Master Three!" Xiong San, the gang leader who had been reprimanded, was holding back his evil fire. He wanted to burn this fire on the opposite Republican army.

"Brothers, get up and charge towards the enemy. My flag is the symbol. The attack cannot be stopped until the flag falls." Xiong San pulled up a skull flag and jumped out of the position to shout.

"Yes... go ahead, rush into the city and get a woman with gold, silver and treasure. You have everything."

"..."
Chapter completed!