"Haha! It's true, this is a replica of the Green Camp! Alas~" Hu Weijie stood on the city wall, watching a large number of prisoners wearing new military regulations entering the prison camp, laughing, and then sighed again.

After receiving the order to attack, Hu Weijie immediately ran to the west of Zhenjiang and cooperated with the newly formed 13th Regiment of the Second Brigade at the east end of the city to attack Zhenjiang.

The east end of the city is a temporary garrison for the left-behind troops, which is of little value. The west end of the city has the Eighth Town's material transfer base, field hospital, warehouse, armory, etc. The manpower inside is urgently needed by the revolutionary army.

Before the battle began, the artillery of two brigades of the Revolutionary Army prepared firepower for Zhenjiang. The east side of the city received artillery fire for one hour, and the west side of the city only received fifteen minutes.

Because the purpose of the east side of the city is to destroy the enemy's resistance, while the purpose of the west side of the city is to open a gap so that the infantry can enter.

In fifteen minutes, the 105mm cannon broke through the city gate, and in conjunction with the 152mm howitzer, opened two gaps in the city wall.

It only took two minutes to knock down the city gate, and the remaining thirteen minutes were spent pounding on the city wall.

As one of the oldest cities and one of the important towns in the south of the Yangtze River, Zhenjiang's city wall is seven to ten meters high and 3.5 to 7.1 meters thick. It is made of stone bricks on the outside and rammed earth on the inside.

ps: Because I couldn’t find reliable specific data, I quoted the data of the Suzhou City Wall. The British had a data of five feet thick, which is 1.5 meters, but this was the data of 1847, and was later changed by Changmao.

Thirteen minutes later, the artillery blasted two holes about 20 meters long in the city wall. The soldiers of the 14th Regiment used the fire cover to easily enter the city.

The artillery fire in the east of the city has not stopped, and the battle in the west of the city has ended.

After all, the total number of guns owned by a thousand people in the west of the city is less than 200. They are scattered in various places and departments, making it impossible to form effective resistance.

So when the sound of artillery stopped at the east end of the city, Hu Weijie was already standing on the wall in the west of the city, watching the prisoners obediently enter the military camp.

"The battle in the east of the city is almost over." The chief of staff listened to the gunshots getting closer and closer, simulating the retreat direction of the Qing Empire soldiers in his mind.

Dong dong dong...

As he spoke, the dull sound of machine gunfire rang out.

"There is a position on the left, in the north, which should be in the direction of the dock." Hearing the sound of machine gunfire, Hu Weijie said subconsciously.

As we all know, the Qing Empire doesn't use machine guns very much because the firepower is too strong, up to ten rounds per second, and machine gun bullets are more expensive than rifle bullets, so they can't afford it.

"Report, the front line and the 13th Regiment are connected." The communications soldier hurried over.

"The battle is over...order everyone to be more vigilant and not to be fooled by the remaining enemies." Hu Weijie said with emotion.

I think when he joined the New Army, he had the idea of ​​protecting his family and the country. At that time, the Qing Empire's understanding of the New Army was the word "new".

We need to adopt Western-style training, use Western-style weapons, and Western-style organizational structures. To put it simply, first of all, there are no officers, and there are no schools to train officers.

The first batch of pioneers explored hard, traveled to Germany and Japan for a long time, and finally managed to create a new army. Only a few years ago, they were beaten by Mangui.

Although the lack of fighting ability of these people is good news for Hu Weijie now, it still makes him feel uncomfortable. After all, this is the place where he once placed his ambitions, but now he is watching him rot with his own eyes.

At noon on the 29th, the remaining fleet of the Qing Empire was entangled with the gunboats of the Yangtze River Fleet of the Revolutionary Army while sailing towards Zhenjiang.

When leaving Jinling, only the Hai Rong of the Qing Empire's fleet sank, and when it arrived at Zhenjiang, the wooden-hulled gunboat also sank.

The Qing Empire fleet tried to use the forts and gunboats in Zhenjiang to deal with it, but was washed away by a wave of shells from the forts. In the end, only one destroyer rushed out regardless of the risk of running aground, speeding up to twenty-four knots.

At this point, the Eighth Town's back road was cut off, its hometown was stolen, and it was trapped in a dilemma.

…

"Captain!" Li Zuowen walked leisurely into the temporary residence of the 14th Regiment.

"Chief of Staff!" Hu Weijie stood up and saluted.

"Chief of Staff, why do you have time to come here? You should be very busy now." Hu Weijie said cheerfully.

"Good thing! I sent someone here for you." Li Zuowen touched his nose and said.

"Send it away? Our regiment should be fully staffed, right?" Hu Weijie felt something was wrong and confirmed with the regiment chief of staff.

"That's not right. The combat establishment is full, but the logistics establishment is still lacking. The transportation team is insufficient, the hospital does not have a serious doctor, and..." the regiment staff officer said softly.

"Yes, there are also engineers. I know that our regiment is short of engineers. Don't say that I don't take care of the old troops. The 14th Regiment will retain a company of engineers, who will be selected first, as well as the captured mules and horses... Well, I make the decision.

Two doctors and thirty medical soldiers for the regiment." Li Zuowen smiled and took out a cigarette and handed it to the two of them.

Everything else actually doesn't matter. Although professional engineers are insufficient, the old revolutionary army basically has simple engineer skills, which can make up for this deficiency.

As for the transportation force, as the revolutionary army expanded, the transportation gap appeared. The per capita firepower continued to decrease. There was no problem with the number of artillery, but the gap in artillery and transportation force was not small.

"Chief of Staff, are there just two doctors? Can we discuss it?" The regimental staff officer wanted to say something, but Hu Weijie didn't let him say it and just asked again.

"The brigade headquarters is going to build a field hospital, which is related to the next tasks of our brigade." Li Zuowen shook his head.

He came in such a hurry just to say hello in advance to avoid the opening and closing of the 14th Regiment Hospital, which would affect the morale of the soldiers.

Never having it and having it before are two different states of mind.

As for the original infirmary? The difference between those medical soldiers and veterinarians is that they treat people and replace the patients with animals. Their steps are similar, but the amount of medicine they prescribe is different - this difference is not big!

"Doctors have never been very cooperative. Will they be obedient?" the regimental staff member asked.

"The next task?" Hu Weijie repeated Li Zuowen's words.

There is also a hospital in Jinling. Although there are not many doctors, the better choice is obviously to add these doctors instead of rebuilding a field hospital or just a brigade.

There is only one possibility: they are leaving Jinling, not just the distance from Jinling to Zhenjiang, but a further distance.

Li Zuowen smiled and asked, and the two of them agreed.

"These doctors are essentially prisoners. Now they are probably worried about their own safety. If you scare them, they will be fine."

"As for the next mission, we have received the order to march eastward," Li Zuowen said.

"Advance eastward?" Hu Weijie subconsciously looked at the map. There are several prosperous cities to the east of Zhenjiang, but they are a bit too far from Jinling. It would not be very rational to divide the troops at this time.

"That's right, heading east, the goal is Shanghai." Li Zuowen said in a calm tone.

"Shanghai?!" Hu Weijie was stunned, then stood up and gestured on the map.

"The straight-line distance is about 200 kilometers, and Jinling has to guard against attacks from the north. Do we have enough troops to guarantee the transportation line?" Hu Weijie asked.

"Transportation lines? The Qing Empire doesn't have many noteworthy troops south of the Yangtze River. We don't have transportation lines this time. After we capture Shanghai, we will transport logistics supplies through the Yangtze River." Li Zuowen said sparsely and normally.

"But..." Hu Weijie wanted to refute, but suddenly thought that this was how the revolutionary army captured Jinling.

"This is the financial and taxation center of the Qing Empire. If we capture this place, the connection between the Qing Empire and the south of the Yangtze River will be basically blocked, which can greatly speed up the progress of the war."

"Shanghai has only a few thousand patrol battalion green soldiers stationed there. It is almost an undefended city. According to past experience, as long as we can reach the outside of the city, most of the enemy will be defeated."

"It's okay even if they don't collapse. The patrol battalion and the green battalion have almost no combat experience, and their combat effectiveness is extremely poor. After a few shellings, deserters will appear."

"What we have to do is to move the army over...before the Qing Empire can fill this gap." Li Zuowen said.

The revolutionary army did not know the specific mobilization of the Qing Empire, and the uprisings in various places did not achieve many substantial results.

Therefore, both the Jinling Command and the Theater Command made plans based on the premise that the Qing Empire had discovered this gap.

The final result was to send an army with overwhelming numbers and heavy firepower to arrive before the reinforcements sent by the Qing Empire.

"Chief of Staff, you are from our 14th Regiment. I want to ask you a favor. Don't worry! I will not embarrass you." Hu Weijie suddenly became attentive.

"What's going on?" Li Zuowen looked at Hu Weijie warily.

"Well, doctors, mules, horses, etc., we all support the brigade headquarters and artillery regiment, but for this vanguard task, you have to give it to our 14th Regiment, and then second the engineer battalion to us."

"Don't refuse in a hurry. Our 14th Regiment will definitely not embarrass our brigade, and I promise you that our regiment will set out in advance with engineers to build roads, and we will definitely repair the roads along the way." Hu Weijie said.

"What am I talking about? I'll give you the main attack mission. I still have this right. But the engineer battalion can't give it to you.

This time we take the railway south, and the engineering battalion will take over the railway together with the railway workers." Li Zuowen's tone was as if he was talking about what to eat for lunch today, but Hu Weijie almost jumped up.

"What?! Take over?" Hu Weijie opened his mouth wide.

"What?" Li Zuowen looked at him in surprise.

"But...but that's the British railway..." Hu Weijie said softer and quieter, but his heart became increasingly hot.

"What's the British railway? It's just a franchise granted by the puppet government. We only take back its operating rights based on actual needs."

"Besides, it's not like we won't give compensation. We will re-evaluate the railway price according to the market price and purchase the railway. Of course, because we are a new regime and have no money, we will first use bonds to cover it." Li Zuowen said of the idea proposed by Lin Pingzhi.

came out.

"Re-evaluate..." Hu Weijie took a breath, his eyes brightening.

"Bond?" The regimental staff member was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.

They do not hold bonds from other countries or banks. This bond may have been issued by the revolutionary army itself. How high can the interest rate be?
Chapter completed!