readsfreenovel Chapter 179: South City Falls
Chapter 179: South City Falls
After waiting for two days in Nankang, Liu Hui not only did not receive any reinforcements from Yang Wei, but Yang Wei also did not reply to his telegram.
"Asshole." Liu Hui slammed the tea table, his face full of anger.
"How many telegrams have you sent to Yang Wei?"
The chief of staff beside him said helplessly: "Commander, within three days, we have sent seven or eight telegrams for help to Commander Yang."
At this point, the Chief of Staff shook his head and said, "I think Commander Yang must have other plans."
"Other plans? Surrender to Feng Zhangshan?" Liu Hui sneered.
The chief of staff couldn't help but smile awkwardly. In fact, he also wanted to say that the enemy was too powerful and it was better to surrender. But seeing Liu Hui like this, he could only swallow his words.
Just as the two were in an awkward mood, an officer ran into the room in a panic: "Commander, it's bad, the enemy is at the gates of the city."
"What? How come it's so fast?" Liu Hui asked in surprise.
You know, he had stationed a regiment in Luo County to the east. How did the enemy reach Nankang City so quickly? Did Luo County fail? Or did the enemy bypass Luo County?
The answer, of course, is that Luo County was lost. Yesterday afternoon, Li Weiling ordered the Seventh Division to surround Luo County, and it took only one hour to capture Luo County.
Outside the East City, Li Weiling and Du Feiyun were both inside a temporary command post quickly built by engineers.
"Captain Du, we will each send out a regiment to block the West City and the South City. After that, we will concentrate our main forces to attack the East City and the North City respectively."
"Okay." Du Feiyun also agreed to this allocation of tasks.
The Eighth Division attacked the North City, and the Seventh Division attacked the East City. After making the decision, neither of them hesitated and immediately arranged the deployment of each regiment.
Neither of them was the type to procrastinate, and after lunch, at one o'clock in the afternoon, the Seventh Division and the Eighth Division bombarded the East City and the North City with mortars.
Liu Hui had 20,000 men under his command. He placed more than a thousand men in the south and west of the city, five thousand each in the east and north of the city, and the remaining eight thousand men were used as reserve support troops.
Faced with enemy artillery fire, the Nanchuan Army on the city wall could only lie down under the battlements.
"Nankang City is indeed strong." Li Weiling couldn't help but sigh after observing the situation on the city wall through a telescope.
The chief of staff asked, "Commander, are you going to break into the city in the same way?"
"That's right." Li Weiling nodded, thinking that using explosive packs to blow up the city gate was still very feasible.
The 701st Company of the st Battalion of the st Regiment was also dispatched to carry out the mission of blowing up the city gate.
Because of the previous successful experience, the operation went smoothly and they soon arrived at the city gate. The engineers had set up 10 20-kilogram explosives.
"boom."
However, after an explosion, the city gate still stood there stubbornly.
Li Weiling held the telescope and looked incredulous: "How is this possible?"
Although it was hard to accept, Li Weiling still gave the order to let the first company of the first battalion retreat.
After the company commander came back, he lowered his head with a guilty look on his face and said to the battalion commander and the regiment commander: "Battalion commander, regiment commander, I failed to complete the mission."
"It's not your fault. The gates of Nankang city are inlaid with iron sheets, and that amount of explosives is indeed not enough." The captain comforted.
The loud noise at the city gate also alerted the officers on the city wall: "Be careful to prevent the enemy from bombing the city gate."
"Commander, we are inside the city. We can't prevent the enemy from placing explosives outside the city." The chief of staff said helplessly.
When the enemy bombarded, few people dared to stick their heads out to shoot.
The division commander smiled and said, "We can't defend the outside of the city, but we can defend the inside. Let the brothers prepare sandbags and block the city gate. This should be no problem."
"Great, it has to be the division commander." The chief of staff flattered him and went to arrange people to block the city gate.
At the Seventh Division's position outside the city, the head of the 701st Regiment came to Li Weiling and said, "Division Commander, let the assault team go again. This time, use more explosives and we will definitely be able to blow open the city gate."
"You can try again, but don't hold too much hope. The enemy has already noticed and may be on guard." Li Weiling shook his head slightly.
Li Weiling then gave the order: "Give the 703rd Regiment an order to go outside the South City and join forces with the 704th Regiment to launch a surprise attack from the South City and see if they can take it down."
As the order was conveyed, the 703rd Regiment quickly circled towards the south city.
The Seventh Division organized another artillery bombardment. After the bombardment, the First Company of the First Battalion of the 701st Regiment organized another operation to blow up the city gate, which ended in failure again.
Although Li Weiling did not hold out hope for this operation, he still could not help but feel disappointed.
"When will our artillery troops arrive?" Li Weiling sighed and asked the chief of staff.
The chief of staff shook his head bitterly and said, "Divisional Commander, we are advancing too fast and the trucks can't keep up. At the current distance, it will take another three days for the artillery to arrive."
"Now it depends on whether South City can break the deadlock." Li Weiling had no good solution for this.
It was still relatively okay in the era of hot weapons, but when it comes to attacking a city with cold weapons, there aren't many other means except climbing the ladders.
Standing at the foot of the city wall, it is difficult to hit the wall even if you shoot upwards. There is no other way. It is good enough to hit the target from a hundred meters away. If you want to hit a target ten meters high from a hundred meters away, it is more difficult and most people can't do it.
The Seventh Division in the east of the city and the Eighth Division in the north of the city attacked the city for two hours without making much progress.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the 703rd Regiment arrived outside the South City.
Because the 704th Regiment only built fortifications outside the city and did not attack the city, the defenders on the city wall were rather lax in their defense.
The leader of the 703rd Regiment observed the situation on the city wall for a while, and then went to consult with the leader of the 704th Regiment: "Captain Shu, the guards on the city wall are rather lax, which is very suitable for a surprise attack."
"Captain Zeng, what do you think?" asked the commander of the 704th Regiment.
After thinking for a moment, the head of the 703rd Regiment did not hide anything: "We only have one chance. Your regiment will concentrate its mortars to fire on the city walls."
"I will arrange a few mortar gunners to see if they can blast open the city gate. If they can, my 703rd Regiment will be the first to seize the city wall."
"Okay." Now there are no heavy artillery or siege equipment. Although this method is not very good, the commander of the 704th Regiment also thinks it can be tried.
Ten minutes later, the ten 704-caliber mortars equipped by the 82th Regiment launched a bombardment on the southern city wall.
Taking advantage of the panic on the city wall, the commander of the 703rd Regiment ordered the most powerful gunners in his troops to set up mortars and bombard the city gate.
After twenty consecutive artillery shells, the South Gate was finally blasted open.
"Brothers, charge with me." Seeing the city gate being blasted open, the commander of the 703rd Regiment immediately shouted loudly.
After rushing out a few steps, the head of the 703rd Regiment shouted to Headmaster Shu behind him: "Headmaster Shu, when we are less than meters away from the city wall, stop the shelling."
"Okay." Captain Shu of the 704th Regiment, who was holding a telescope, suppressed his smile and replied in a low voice.
He was also very happy after blasting open the city gate. There were not many defenders on the south wall. He thought that after capturing the south wall, he would be able to expand the victory quickly.
After the 703rd Regiment approached the city wall, the commander of the 704th Regiment decisively ordered: "Stop the shelling."
Seeing through the telescope that the 703rd Regiment had successfully entered the south of the city, Captain Shu smiled.