Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Boom! Boom! Boom!
Once the battle begins, it's unlikely to end so quickly.

but,

The mindset of both sides has undergone a dramatic reversal.

Although only two thousand elite soldiers entered the West Gate Hall of Suzhou Prefecture's South Gate.

But after all, they were all elites of the Ximentang Special Forces Regiment, renowned throughout the Great Qian Dynasty.

As soon as we arrived at the city wall at the south gate, we launched a brilliant counterattack and routed the vanguard of the rebel army.

The powerful firepower gave everyone hope of defending Suzhou.

Under Ximentang's troop deployment, the morale of both the people of Suzhou Prefecture and the Daqian garrison in Suzhou City was greatly boosted.

Everyone was initially afraid of the rebels' overwhelming firepower.
Now that everyone has seen the firepower of Ximentang, they feel that the rebels' attack power is nothing special.

The situation with the rebels was quite the opposite.

In the previous attack, they suffered a massacre at the hands of Ximentang, resulting in heavy losses.

Therefore,
The morale of the rebels plummeted, and they were still shaken, no longer daring to launch an attack rashly.

terrible!

They had never encountered such a terrifying three-dimensional attack before.

Immediately, many in the rebel army began to secretly plan their escape.

Originally, these rebels were a mob with no common beliefs.

When faced with setbacks or life-or-death crises, who is willing to be at the forefront and risk their life?

but,

Shi Jingtang was no pushover either. He also adopted the 'commander-in-chief' approach, using heavy machine guns to force the elite vanguard battalion to continue their advance.

Once inside Suzhou, he was confident that with the superior martial prowess of the Green Gang's elite troops, he could annihilate the Ximen Hall and the entire Daqian garrison.

Judging from the morale displayed by both sides at this moment, the outcome is self-evident.

After Ximentang's heavy machine guns and grenades were ready, the rebels launched their second assault. It was extremely difficult for them to even get within 300 meters of Suzhou City, let alone climb the city walls using ladders.

The rebels were met with a barrage of machine gun fire as soon as they entered the range of the machine guns.

Pfft—Pfft—!
The elite soldiers at the forefront of the rebel charge fell in droves into pools of blood.

The Daqian soldiers in Suzhou City, although they did not have cannons or heavy machine guns.

However, they were strong and served as logistics personnel, specifically responsible for transporting sandbags, ammunition, and so on, which greatly helped Ximentang.

The 300-meter distance had become a death zone.

Anyone who rushes into the city wall within 300 meters will be killed very quickly.

For a while,
The bodies of the rebel soldiers were piled up like mountains.

in fact,

The majority of the rebel soldiers were soldiers from the Daqian Prefecture in eastern Zhejiang, and their combat effectiveness was not high to begin with.

Without a harsh environment, it is difficult to create an elite force.

The Jiangnan region was originally the most prosperous area of ​​the Great Qian Dynasty.

Before the arrival of the Western fleet in the Great Qian Dynasty, the Jiangnan region generally preferred to resolve conflicts with money.

Therefore, the soldiers stationed in the eastern Zhejiang region had not experienced any brutal warfare.

but,

The Daqian soldiers stationed in Suzhou were also very weak in combat.

After being bombarded by the rebels, they were too frightened to fight back.

This made it appear that the rebels were very strong in combat, and when they first attacked Suzhou Prefecture, they advanced rapidly and were unstoppable.

This is the power of having an advantage in a game.

unfortunately,

Once they encountered Ximentang, the situation immediately reversed.

The rebels were utterly no match for Simon's army.

Adversity is the true test of an army, and the weaknesses of the Zhejiang rebels were quickly exposed.

They fought independently, were disorganized, and had poor discipline.

Especially after seeing the heavy casualties, they dared not charge forward and turned to flee.

Upon witnessing this scene, the rebel commander Shi Jingtang roared in anger.

He roared, forbidding anyone from retreating and insisting on a full-scale attack.

Simultaneously,

He ordered the 'overlord' to set up heavy machine guns to block the retreating soldiers.

However, the results were not significant.

Because many of the soldiers in charge of the assault were members of the Green Gang.

Therefore,
Shi Jingtang dared not let the 'warlord' fire his gun.

If he were to kill one of the Green Gang's elite disciples, he would be in big trouble.

Just as Shi Jingtang was getting anxious, a guard came up to him and whispered:

"General, the situation is not good. According to the scouts, two Ximentang armies have appeared three kilometers away on our flank."

Shi Jingtang was taken aback upon hearing this.

what happened?

Why are there still Ximentang's troops outside the city?

Didn't they say that only five thousand people came to Ximentang?

hiss--!
He couldn't help but gasp, and quickly found an observation post, using a monocular telescope to look towards the flank.

really,

Just a few kilometers away on the flank, two elite units of Ximentang appeared.

They began to form ranks, but they were scattered, and for a while, it was unclear exactly how many people there were.

The Ximentang army, which suddenly attacked from both flanks of the rebels and was preparing to dismember and divide them, was naturally the other three thousand elite troops personally led by Meng Hu.

This included a thousand mortars, a hundred heavy machine guns, and two reconnaissance companies.

These are all elite troops of Ximentang, the best of the best, carefully selected after experiencing the suppression of rebellions in the Hanzhong region.

They were seasoned veterans and had extensive experience in modern warfare.

Therefore,
This tactic of flanking and outflanking has been mastered to perfection.

Then,

The artillery positions at Ximentang, with a thousand cannons on both flanks, formed an encirclement of the rebels.

The dumpling-making tactic!
The center of both flanks was the position of heavy machine guns to prevent a direct confrontation.

The artillery positions were within the protection range of the heavy machine guns.

therefore,

The two flanks quickly formed an arc-shaped battle formation, which looked like an encirclement.

A battle flag is raised!
On the battle flag, three striking characters were displayed, which were truly awe-inspiring: Ximentang!

"Is it really Ximen Tang? How the hell is that possible?"

Om-!
Shi Jingtang felt a buzzing in his head and was greatly alarmed.

All he had previously learned was that Ximen Tang had dispatched 5,000 troops from Jinling to support Suzhou Prefecture.

Based on the firepower of the south gate of Suzhou, the troops of the West Gate should all be inside the city.

but,

Why have two more Ximentang armies appeared outside the city?
Shi Jingtang naturally did not expect that although Ximentang only had five thousand men, it was divided into three routes.

With only two thousand men in Suzhou, they managed to withstand the attack of his eighty thousand-strong army.

Now that he knew that Ximentang's support troops had already formed an encirclement on the flank, Shi Jingtang naturally dared not let his guard down.

He immediately ordered a halt to the attack on Suzhou.

Then,

All the rebels turned around to meet the Ximentang reinforcements outside the city.

The best strategy is to eliminate these reinforcements first, and then consider attacking the city.

but,

It is very difficult to suddenly change the direction of the attack.

The rebels were not disciplined to begin with, and their overall coordination was even worse.

Moreover, there are many rebel soldiers who have lost their will to fight and are preparing to flee. It is not so easy to adjust the deployment in a short period of time.

For a while,
The rebels were in complete chaos.

Fortunately, Ximentang's troops did not launch an artillery attack at this time, which made Shi Jingtang secretly relieved.

What he didn't know was that Meng Hu didn't launch an attack mainly because the distance between the two sides was just the critical point where artillery and heavy machine guns were at bay. At this moment, if artillery were used to attack, the distance between the two sides would be too close, the lethality would be limited, and the shells would be wasted.

Using heavy machine guns would be wasteful of ammunition because the distance between the two sides is too great.

Therefore,
The best solution is to close the distance a little further.

This allows heavy machine guns and artillery to create crossfire, maximizing their power.

Fifteen minutes later,

Just after the rebels had reorganized their battle formation and set up their cannons...

Ximentang's army had advanced to within about 500 meters of the rebels.

Beep beep—beep beep—!
As the horn of Ximen Hall sounded, the procession quickly came to a stop.

Thousands of mortars began to aim, forming irregular battle formations.

Since this is the first round of artillery fire in the battle outside the city, it is necessary to locate and aim, so the speed needs to be slightly slower.

but,

Even if it's slow, it will be ready within three minutes.

At that moment, the bugle call for artillery fire sounded.

As the battle flags in the hands of the flag bearers fluttered continuously, the mortars began to unleash their power.

Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thousands of cannons fired simultaneously, creating an astonishing scene.

The scale and momentum were so great that they left people with an indescribable sense of awe.

Because of the artillery's long range, the target was to attack the rebels' rear.

Within a 500-meter range between the two sides, the heavy machine gun posed the real threat.

More than fifty heavy machine guns spit fire at the rebel positions.

Bullets rained down like a storm, hurtling towards the densely packed rebel ranks.

For a while,
The rebel army's newly stabilized positions were then bombarded by machine gun fire and mortar shells.

Crossfire envelops them!

The rebels had neither heavily armored soldiers nor shield bearers.

Their fighting strength was far inferior to that of the Western Allied Forces and the Kwantung Army, and even to the rebel army under Li Ben in Hanzhong.

At this moment, facing the overwhelming firepower of Ximentang, the rebels had almost no protection.

Less than three minutes to go.

In the rebel army's ranks, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and corpses fell like weeds.

The surrounding area was filled with painful screams and agonizing cries.

Although Shi Jingtang always stood inside the fortifications and at the rear of the military camp.

but,

The distance from which the shells struck was just enough to cover his location.

Several shells landed near the fortifications where he was hiding, killing several guards outside the fortifications.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and gunpowder, making it hard to breathe.

hiss--!
Shi Jingtang was shocked when he saw this scene.

Although he had heard that Simon's fighting power was terrifying, and that he had defeated the Western Allied Forces a few months ago.

but,

He never imagined that Ximentang's cannons would be so powerful.

The area around him, within sight, was littered with corpses.

this moment,
A sense of fear arose in Shi Jingtang's heart.

Because the mortars fired by Ximentang only need to pause for a few seconds before the next round can begin.

Therefore,
Less than five seconds after the first volley of thousands of artillery pieces had been fired, the second volley began.

After each minute of shelling, the mortar angles are adjusted, the aim is refocused, and another round of shelling begins.

This kind of artillery attack with full firepower coverage leaves virtually no blind spots.

With wave after wave of artillery fire, the entire rebel position was like a giant wave.

The air was thick with smoke, making it impossible to see one's surroundings.

in addition,

Heavy machine guns also opened fire on the rebels, creating a crossfire.

Rebel soldiers fell in droves.

Blood stained the ground, and a sense of death spread across the rebel positions.

"Run! Run! Run!"

Some clever rebel soldiers shouted for a retreat.

They had no desire to fight and only wanted to escape the battlefield as soon as possible.

By this time, Shi Jingtang had already come out of the fortifications and run to a safe area.

but,

He knew very well that he could not allow crossfire from Simon Hall to continue.

Therefore, he immediately ordered his elite troops to break out of the surrounding area as quickly as possible.

This is not a siege, but an encounter battle in the wild.

Once we break through Ximentang's position, we can counter Ximentang's heavy machine guns and artillery.

Although many rebel soldiers were so frightened that they deserted their posts.

but,

Shi Jingtang's elite troops maintained strong combat effectiveness, and their morale remained unshaken.

Upon hearing Shi Jingtang's order, more than five thousand of their elite troops launched a fierce attack on Ximentang's garrison.

The shelling ranged from one to three kilometers.

The range of heavy machine guns is between one kilometer and five hundred meters.

and,

Snipers were also lying in ambush on the high ground, constantly taking down the elite rebels.

In less than ten minutes, a continuous attack was launched, with mortars roaring and unleashing a torrent of shells.

Then,

Amidst the rebel positions, wave after wave of deadly storms swept down.

With this crossfire coverage, the rebel positions were continuously compressed, and the coordination became increasingly smooth.

The rebels were completely routed, their morale collapsed, and they fled in panic.

Meng Hu stood at the back, holding binoculars in his hand, his expression very calm.

While observing the rebels' movements, he discussed the current situation with his assistant, Zhu Feng.

Meng Hu took a deep breath and said:
"Combining mortars and heavy machine guns into a crossfire, while simultaneously employing sniper rifles for long-range attacks, is indeed incredibly powerful!"

"The power of this three-dimensional attack is even more terrifying than when defending a city."

"These rebels in eastern Zhejiang, although they are individually very strong, have poor teamwork skills. They only know how to charge forward and lack effective tactical arrangements."

"If they shrink their lines and play a defensive counter-attacking style, it might be difficult for us to gain such a large advantage with our numbers."

"This battle is not very challenging. In another ten minutes, the rebels will be completely crushed."

"Although both are 80,000-strong armies, this rebel army in eastern Zhejiang is far inferior to the Kwantung Army in terms of combat effectiveness."

"They are far inferior even to the rebel army under Li Ben, the Prince of Han. Perhaps this is fate!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Feng nodded and said:

"That's right. The rebels in eastern Zhejiang were a motley crew. How could their fighting strength compare to that of the Western Allied Forces and the Kwantung Army?"

"If we use incendiary bombs, our firepower will be even stronger, and our combat effectiveness will be elevated to a new level."

"Unfortunately, incendiary bombs are too expensive and their use is restricted, so this battle will have to wait."

Meng Hu laughed heartily and said:
"It's almost time. Lin Bao should leave the city immediately and launch a pincer attack to wipe out this rebel army completely."

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of assault rifles coming from the direction of Suzhou.

Da da—da da—!
As the sounds of heavy machine guns, assault rifles, and grenades filled the surrounding area, the rebels were thrown into chaos once again.

Zhu Feng looked up and said with a smile:
"They're here! Lin Bao has broken out of the city and begun the encirclement!"

"It's time for us to launch the attack!"

Meng Hu nodded, a smile appearing on his face:
"Excellent! This battle was fought brilliantly. The three-sided encirclement completely annihilated this rebel army!"

finished,

He turned and shouted to the messenger not far away:
"Pass on my order: heavy machine gun cover, begin the charge—!" (End of Chapter)