Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 357 Reinforcements have arrived! Lie down, quickly lie down!

The commanders of the Ximentang Special Forces Regiment breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that the young master had led a large army to provide support.

Xu Xiaodao asked:

"How are the casualties for our special operations regiment in today's battle?"

Although he knew that many people had been injured or killed, he did not yet have an accurate number.

These few hours of defense were the most brutal test for the Ximentang Special Operations Regiment.

Liu Fang took a deep breath and replied:

"A total of 162 people were killed in action, and 243 others were seriously injured and unable to fight for the time being!"

"We still have 3,130 men available for combat!"

After listening, Xu Xiaodao nodded silently.

These few hours of fierce fighting were the most intense battle the Ximentang Special Operations Regiment had ever fought since its establishment.

It was also the one with the most casualties.

but,

Comparatively speaking, Ximentang mainly relied on long-range artillery strikes, while using heavy machine guns for close-range defense.

Therefore,
Comparing the casualties of both sides, Ximentang's casualties were not even a fraction of those of the rebels.

How many enemy soldiers were killed in total?
do not know!
The war is not over yet, and even Xu Xiaodao himself does not know the outcome.
Next,
He turned to Huang Qiang and asked:
"How is the damage to the mortars and heavy machine guns? Are there many that have exploded?"

"This high-frequency use of artillery and heavy machine guns is also a test for our weapons."

"Do we have enough ammunition? How much is left?"

Huang Qiang replied:
"Very few mortars exploded. Apart from some mortars that were destroyed by enemy artillery at the beginning, the others were fine."

"No cases of barrel explosions have been found in heavy machine guns and muskets so far."

"As for ammunition, we don't have many regular shells left, only about 20%, which can only last for an hour at most."

"We have enough bullets and grenades for now."

"We've used up all our armor-piercing rounds, incendiary rounds, and extended-range rounds. Not a single one left."

Liu Fang frowned, sighed, and said:

"I won't even mention the armor-piercing rounds, but the incendiary rounds are really useful. I didn't expect that we would fire them all at once in order to inflict maximum damage on the rebels."

"If we had twice as many incendiary bombs, the results would definitely be even better!"

"Looks like we'll need to bring more incendiary bombs next time we go into battle; these things are really useful!"

After listening, Xu Xiaodao said helplessly:

"This time, our supply unit received 80% of the incendiary bombs transported from Qingzhou, Shandong. This is the most we've ever used!"

"These things are too expensive; each incendiary bomb costs dozens of silver dollars!"

"The batch of incendiary bombs we fired today cost hundreds of thousands of silver dollars."

"However, although we have consumed a lot of ammunition, the casualties of the rebels have definitely exceeded our previous estimates."

"The young master has arrived to provide support. In the coming days, we must fight a decisive battle to break through the encirclement!"

Liu Fang stood up at attention and said:

"Don't worry, Brother Dao! We won't let the Special Forces down, and we won't let Young Master down!"

Huang Qiang also stood at attention and saluted, saying:

"Even if we die in battle, we will never let the rebels set foot in Wangjiang Town."

finished,

Several special operations regiment officers turned and left to take command at the front lines.

-

After the rebels retreated, they suffered heavy casualties.

King Li Ben of Han had no choice but to order a halt to the attack and slow down the pace.

Inside the camp, Li Ben was so anxious that blisters appeared on the corners of his mouth.

He summoned his generals, including Dong Chuan, Sun Zhong, and Zhang Mou, to a meeting to discuss the next course of action.

Simultaneously,

He was more interested in understanding the attack situation from the three directions around Wangjiang Town.

in fact,

You can tell what's going on almost without even trying.

If we don't gain any advantage on the main battlefield, how can we possibly achieve any results on the other fronts?

Under attack from all sides.

Ximentang became increasingly tenacious, and his firepower intensified.

The rebels launched a general offensive, besieging Wangjiang Town for more than four hours, but achieved little success.

Ximentang remained firmly stationed within the defensive fortifications of Wangjiang Town, refusing to yield an inch.

In those few hours, the casualties suffered by the rebels could only be described in two words—horrific!
The rebels lost a total of 35,000 men!
The heavy cavalry and elite light infantry units, including heavy machine gunners, suffered heavy losses and were almost wiped out.

The same was true for the artillery battalion, which was rendered incapable of offensive operations.

That is,

In addition to the initial loss of 15,000 men, the rebels suffered another 20,000 casualties in the subsequent general offensive.

In this attack on Wangjiang Town, Prince Li Ben of Han led 50,000 elite troops and 30,000 miscellaneous soldiers, for a total force of 80,000.

I never imagined that I had already lost almost half of it!
Eighty thousand men fought against three thousand five hundred, but not only did they fail to break through the enemy's defensive position, they also suffered half of their men casualties.

How the hell are we supposed to fight this?
Although most of the casualties during the general offensive were menial soldiers.

but,

Such heavy casualties made Prince Li Ben of Han feel his scalp tingle.

I can't take it anymore!
The key point is that after more than four hours of fierce fighting, Ximentang's combat effectiveness has not declined; they still have fierce firepower and high morale.

"Damn it! Just how many weapons and ammunition has Ximentang stockpiled in Wangjiang Town?"

Prince Li Ben of Han gritted his teeth and tried to calm himself down.

The heavy casualties among the laborers had left the remaining laborers demoralized.

As they charged, their speed gradually decreased.

Given the chance, these menial soldiers would not attack Wangjiang Town, but would turn around and run away.

The servants' weapons were already very poor, and they knew that Prince Li Ben of Han was using them as cannon fodder.

Therefore,
Given the chance to escape, how could they not flee?
If Wangjiang Town is not captured and Ximentang's army is not wiped out before nightfall.

Then,

A mutiny is very likely to occur among the rebels. Not only will the lowly soldiers rebel, but even the elite rebel troops may turn their guns on each other.

What's giving Li Ben, the Prince of Han, a real headache right now is that he doesn't know how to proceed with the next battle.

If we continue at the previous pace, launching an attack from all sides.

With the remaining troops, it will be difficult to succeed unless reinforcements are sent from Chongyang Prefecture.

However, troops being transferred from Chongyang Prefecture will not arrive until at least tomorrow afternoon.

That is,

We need to delay for a day before launching another general offensive.

In terms of artillery in Ximentang, there is not much difference between the menial soldiers and the elite heavy cavalry.

Even the lowest-ranking soldiers couldn't withstand artillery fire, and neither could the elite heavy infantry!
Continuing the charge would be no different from suicide.

If his guards and elite troops suffered such heavy casualties from being bombarded by Simon's artillery.

King Li Ben of Han could not accept it and could not bear such a great loss.

Therefore,
He summoned all his generals and advisors for a meeting, wanting to come up with a battle plan to deal with the upcoming battle.

but,

It was quiet all around; no one made a sound.

No one had a better way to deal with Ximentang's fierce firepower.

After a moment of silence, Sun Zhong spoke first:

"Your Majesty, with our current military strength, it will be very difficult to take Wangjiang Town!"

"How about we transfer 50,000 troops from Chongyang Prefecture and take them down in one fell swoop?"

"As long as we capture Wangjiang Town, we can obtain Ximentang's cannons and weapons, which will be crucial for our future development."

Sun Zhong suffered greatly under Ximentang's command.

He couldn't forget the cannons of Ximentang.

If he could acquire Ximentang's mortars, he felt he could march directly north and seize the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty in one fell swoop. Upon hearing this, Prince Li Ben of Han shook his head and said:

"In terms of time, it's very likely that it won't be enough!"

"The reinforcements from Xianning Prefecture should arrive in Wangjiang Town tomorrow, barring any unforeseen circumstances."

"Although we have ambushed tens of thousands of troops on the road to delay Ximentang's reinforcements, we can only delay them for a day at most."

"Once Ximentang's reinforcements arrive in Wangjiang Town before tomorrow, we must retreat."

"If it's this difficult to fight over three thousand people, you can imagine that we probably wouldn't be able to withstand the main force of Ximentang."

"Troops from Chongyang Prefecture won't arrive by tomorrow; at the latest, they won't arrive until the day after tomorrow. There's simply no time!"

At this point, Prince Li Ben of Han felt extremely depressed.

He hadn't expected the battle to last so long.

The key issue is that, so far, they haven't been able to break through Ximentang's defensive fortifications.

Sun Zhong was speechless for a moment, then realized that there really wasn't enough time.

If we were to mobilize troops from Chongyang Prefecture now, it would take them until the day after tomorrow to arrive, and even then, they might not be able to get there in time.

The reinforcements from Ximentang should arrive by tomorrow at the latest.

This is,

Sima Ming, standing beside him, took a deep breath and said with a profound look in his eyes:

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, Ximen Tang's fighting strength is too great. Let's just give up and lead our troops south!"

"Since Ximen Tang has 100,000 troops stationed in Songjiang Prefecture, if we attack Jinling, Ximen Tang will definitely transfer troops from Songjiang Prefecture."

"The most urgent thing is that we absolutely cannot continue to fight Simon Tang head-on."

"Isn't Prince Ning, Li Mu, supposedly the strongest in the Northwest Army? Let them deal with Ximentang, and we'll retreat towards Hunan and the Xiangnan direction!"

have to say,

Sima Ming, the chief strategist, certainly had his own insights.

He did not advise Prince Li Ben of Han to attack Jinling, nor did he support a northward attack on the capital of the Daqian Dynasty.

Instead, they took a roundabout route south, going directly from the Hanzhong region to the southern Hunan area.

As a result,
Not only did they preserve their strength, but they also got to witness the battle between Ximentang and Li Mu, the Prince of Ning, of the Northwest Army.

Sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight!
Sima Ming's suggestion is the most advantageous for Li Ben, the Prince of Han at present.

but,

No sooner had he finished speaking than Dong Chuan, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but mutter:

"Give up? Are you kidding me!"

"We paid such a high price, suffering tens of thousands of casualties, in order to capture Wangjiang Town and wipe out this Ximentang army."

"Now you're telling us to give up all of this and just leave?"

Clearly, Dong Chuan was unwilling to give up just like that.

Sima Ming shook his head and said in a deep voice:
"What else can we do if we don't give up?"

Dong Chuan took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said:

"Keep fighting! We must take down the army stationed in Wangjiang Town by Ximentang before nightfall!"

"Even if we wipe out all the menial soldiers, we must take them down!"

"We must acquire this batch of artillery and heavy machine guns from the Ximentang. No matter how great the losses, it's all worth it as long as we get their weapons!"

Sima Ming nodded slightly and remained silent.

indeed,

The losses this time were enormous.

If you give up without gaining anything, I believe no one can be willing to accept it.

At this time,

The Japanese man, Hoshino Kozo, curled his lip and said calmly:

"General Dong is right. We must take down the Ximentang army stationed in Wangjiang Town!"

"According to our intelligence, this army is the most elite special operations regiment of the Ximentang."

"We must take him down completely before nightfall."

"After so much time, their ammunition must be running low."

"The reinforcements from Xianning Prefecture will likely arrive tomorrow, leaving us little time."

"So this time, we will spare no expense to take Wangjiang Town."

"If we fail, we will have no place to stand in Hanzhong, or even in the entire Daqian Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Li Ben, the Prince of Han, couldn't help but nod.

Although he was worried about the huge losses, to be honest, he was unwilling to just order a withdrawal.

He looked at Kozo Hoshino and asked:

"Mr. Kozo Hoshino, do you have any better suggestions?"

Hoshino Kozo nodded and said:
"Our Kwantung Army's vanguard also has more than fifty artillery pieces."

"Let's launch one more strong attack before nightfall. The wall of flames has been extinguished, and our artillery can finally be put to use."

"Your Majesty, the King of Han, you have ordered the army to launch a general offensive, and our Kwantung Army will assist you from the side."

"If we can withstand one wave of attacks, we can break through their defenses!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ben, the Prince of Han, immediately nodded and said:

"Alright! We'll do it your way. Before nightfall, all our forces will launch one last major offensive!"

"If we cannot take Wangjiang Town before nightfall, we will withdraw our troops and return to Chongyang Prefecture!"

Hoshino Kozo smiled when he saw that Prince Li Ben of Han had been persuaded by him.

but,

Just then, outside the military camp, a personal guard quickly entered, knelt down before Prince Li Ben of Han, and shouted:

"Your Majesty, a terrible thing has happened! A large number of Ximentang troops have been discovered within a three-kilometer radius!"

"The main force of the Ximen Hall troops dispatched from Xianning Prefecture has arrived!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Li Ben of Han and everyone around him were taken aback: "What? So fast—?"

-

Chen Jie led the reinforcements from Ximentang and lay in ambush eight kilometers away from Wangjiang Town.

This place is only five kilometers away from the military camp of Li Ben, the Prince of Han.

The scouts ahead had already begun engaging the rebels in firefight three kilometers away from the camp where Prince Li Ben of Han was stationed.

Upon receiving the news, Chen Jie didn't waste any words and immediately ordered the artillery regiment of Ximentang to launch an attack on the rebel army's camp.

The rebels were exhausted after attacking for several hours.

Although there was only a short rest, another all-out attack was needed before nightfall.

but,

Taking advantage of this brief time, all the rebels began to conserve their energy, drinking water and resting with their eyes closed.

To the surprise of all the rebels, Simon approached their camp from the rear.

When they saw that the rebels were not attacking Wangjiang Town, but were resting.

Chen Jie immediately ordered the cannons to fire!
Superb firepower coverage!

Boom! Boom! Boom!
Chen Jie led the main force of Ximentang, which had three thousand mortars!

Although the military camp chosen by Li Ben, the Prince of Han, had a natural barrier of a valley.

but,

Chen Jie used two thousand mortars at once, firing fiercely.

One after another, shells shot into the sky.

With a whooshing sound, the shells fell toward the rebel camp in a parabolic trajectory.

All of a sudden.

The sound of explosions echoed throughout the surrounding area, and the entire rebel camp was completely enveloped in artillery fire.

Many soldiers realized what was happening and shouted:

"Get down! Everyone get down! Ximen Tang's reinforcements have arrived!"

Wow——!
The entire rebel camp was thrown into complete chaos.

(End of this chapter)