It was rare for Lei Hu to have such a fierce attitude. This soldier, who had always been thought highly of, did not read much, and his usual behavior could even be considered refined. One of the reasons he was so angry was that this "empty fort strategy" had really fooled Lei Hu. For a weak Huai army to put on such a strong front, there must be a conspiracy behind it. A large number of Huai army lying in ambush at the city gate? Explosives buried below? These were all very good ideas. After luring a portion of the Liberation Army in, they would blow up the city gate and block the way for the Liberation Army to kill their way in. At the same time, it could really damage the morale of the Liberation Army.
Forcibly shifting his gaze away from the city gate, Lei Hu shouted, "Attack the city according to the original plan!"
The chief of staff was stunned. It didn't feel right to ignore the open city gate and use the method of attacking the city wall.
Lei Hu said angrily, "When the method of war has already been decided, we need to be firm! Firm! Did Jiang Zhongyuan make us waver just because he opened the city gate? If he threw gold ingots on the ground, should we go and pick them up first? "
Although this analogy wasn't very friendly, the meaning behind it was clear enough. The chief of staff immediately passed on the order, "Attack according to the original plan. Ignore the city gate. When approaching, be careful in case the enemy has set up an ambush at the city gate. "
The cannons rumbled, especially the 36-pound cannon. Every time it was fired, it would shake the mountains and shake the earth. It was not that Lei Hu had never seen a big battle, but every time the huge cannon roared, it made him feel uncomfortable. In the past, when the Liberation Army's cannons hit the city wall, there would be a lot of commotion. When the 36-pound cannon's cannons hit the city wall, Lei Hu felt as if something was drilling into the city wall. In fact, after two shots, there was a big dent in the city wall. The city wall, which was made of a mixture of rammed earth, large green bricks, and glutinous rice juice, was extremely sturdy. This was the first time Lei Hu had seen a cannon destroy a city wall.
The green bricks had already been smashed by the artillery shells, revealing the yellow rammed earth core inside. This time, the efficiency of the cannonball was even higher. When the cannonball hit the wall, the entire wall trembled visibly. At this time, the other cannons were firing. Compared to the damage caused by this heavy cannon, the other cannonballs hitting the city wall were like tickles.
On the tenth shot of the 36-pounder cannon, the wall that was the target finally collapsed. Yellow soil and dust rose into the air, and no one could see what had happened. The battlefield temporarily quieted down, and the other cannons stopped firing. Everyone craned their necks to look at the collapsed city wall, trying to see through the thick smoke and dust to see what had happened.
It took a while for the smoke and dust to disperse, and the miserable state of that section of the city wall was finally revealed to everyone. The watchtowers on both ends of this section of the city wall had already collapsed due to the violent tremors. The middle section had completely turned into a slope of scattered bricks and loess, and on both sides of the slope were broken walls that looked as if they had been gnawed by dogs. An extremely advantageous gap had finally been opened.
A smile appeared on Lei Hu's face. This was the Liberation Army's doctrine of using cannons. No matter how many changes you had, I'll just hit you in the head! As long as the enemy had not trained to the point where even cannons could not harm them, then let them turn into powder under the cannons! Regarding the Liberation Army's doctrine of using cannons, Lei Hu had privately asked Vézé why they had spared no effort in building such cannons. Vézé's answer was very simple. "In the future, we will be fighting a cruel war with the world's first-class countries. If you think that this is already terrible firepower, then let me tell you, you're wrong. Compared to the war in the future, this is a gentle breeze and drizzle. "
Whether this was a gentle breeze and drizzle or not, the decaying Manchu Qing would completely collapse when it was blown by a gentle breeze and drizzle. This was enough for the current Lei Hu.
In the city, Jiang Zhongyuan looked at the collapsed city wall in the distance with a pale face. The Liberation Army had always been able to bring new things to Jiang Zhongyuan, and this time was no exception. Two days ago, when he saw the "Song of Righteousness" shot by the Liberation Army, his first feeling was naturally great humiliation. Wen Tianxiang was a minister of a subjugated country, and he could only use the "Song of Righteousness" to express his pursuit and desire for justice. This kind of justice was the justice of the Han family in the world, and the poem eulogized the iron bones of the Han family. If Wen Tianxiang was still alive, he would have looked down on people like Jiang Zhongyuan who worked for a different race.
This understanding, on the contrary, stimulated Jiang Zhongyuan's arrogance. Every once in a while, Jiang Zhongyuan would secretly send people to Xuzhou to buy the Liberation Army's newspapers. This was the only way he had a chance to get in touch with the outside world. So he knew what happened before Sichuan Inspector Luo Bingzhang committed suicide. He heard that this old senior wrote the words "with a clear conscience" and then calmly committed suicide. The Liberation Army's newspapers ridiculed Luo Bingzhang to pieces. But Jiang Zhongyuan very much agreed with this mentality. Thousands of people, I will go forward! Jiang Zhongyuan might not be really loyal to a different race, but he was loyal to his own choice.
So he released the people in the city and did not make things difficult for the Huai army who wanted to escape, Jiang Zhongyuan did not make things difficult for them. This time, Suzhou could not be defended for too long, and it was even more impossible to defend. Jiang Zhongyuan would rely on himself to give the Liberation Army a fierce blow here and let the Liberation Army know that he, Jiang Zhongyuan, could fight.
With such determination, Jiang Zhongyuan was also full of energy. He planted explosives at the city gate, ready to give the vanguard troops a head-on blow when the Liberation Army rushed in. It was also a good thing that there were no people in the city. The Huai army could also transform the city into a convenient place for fighting.
However, Jiang Zhongyuan did not expect the commander of the Liberation Army to be so "straightforward". There was clearly an opportunity to seize the city gate, but he ignored it and still adopted the tactic of attacking the city with artillery. The artillery of the Liberation Army was even more ferocious, and they used artillery to collapse the city wall. Jiang Zhongyuan had prepared many anti-artillery bunkers for the more traditional artillery and siege tactics. He had prepared a large number of ambushes inside, ready to counterattack the Liberation Army who climbed the city.
All the preparations now seemed ridiculous. The collapsed city wall was undoubtedly the best breakthrough point. The Liberation Army did not need to climb the city wall at all. They could just rush in through the big hole.
Although he had never underestimated the Liberation Army, Jiang Zhongyuan also believed that the Liberation Army had not gone north in the past few years because the group of leaders with Vézé as the core had been corrupted by the warmth and wealth of Jinling, Suhang, Yangzhou, and other water towns in Jiangnan. No matter what the Liberation Army's newspapers said, the Liberation Army carried out land reform, built factories, built water conservancy, and built railways, it looked like a new trend. But based on Jiang Zhongyuan's gambling and lecherous experience when he was young, it would be incredible if Vézé and the others did not enjoy themselves after spending ten years of hard work to conquer the Southern Dynasties.
Now, Jiang Zhongyuan finally understood that he had really underestimated Vézé and the others. Just from the huge cannon that could completely collapse the city wall, it could be seen what the Liberation Army had been doing in the past few years. They were really holding back to do production! The Huai army was also a fairly advanced army in China, and the foreign instructors had also boasted about the unparalleled firepower of the 36-pound cannon. No matter how Jiang Zhongyuan tried to find a way to produce this cannon, the foreign instructors said that the production of this cannon required a huge factory and advanced technology. Regardless of whether this cannon was purchased from overseas by the Liberation Army, it was absolutely impossible for the Huai army to transport such a huge cannon from Xuzhou to Suzhou in just four or five days.
Thinking about how the Liberation Army had been preparing for war in the past few years, Jiang Zhongyuan felt completely disheartened. This feeling of self-pity did not last long. Jiang Zhongyuan stood up, drew his saber, and shouted to his bodyguards, who were also staring blankly at the gap in the city wall, "Boys, follow me to kill the enemy!"
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