The Gaizhou Acropolis is less than ten miles away from the coastline of Liaodong Bay in the west, and the Qinghe River surrounds the city, turning from the south of the city to the west of the city, and flows into the Liaodong Bay of the Bohai Sea.

On the north bank of the Qinghe estuary, there is a battleship with three decks, plus the bow and stern, equipped with a total of 32 naval guns.

Because of the need to load artillery, the construction speed of the "Chengdu-class" battleship, which is the only "Chengdu-class" battleship of the North Sea Fleet, the Tianjin, is also the flagship of the North Sea Fleet.

Xu Renlong, commander of the North Sea Fleet, stood on the deck, he looked up at the faint outline of Haizhou in front of him, and his eyes suddenly deepened.

Xu Renlong slapped the hem of the military uniform hard, quickly walked across the deck, got on the gangplank, and carefully boarded the dock step by step.

Zhou Fengwu, the commander of the first division of the third battalion, hurriedly greeted him and bowed his hand to him, "Commander Xu has been fortunate all the way, and Zhou Fengwu is lowly and ordered to come to receive howitzers!"

"Master Zhou is happy!" Xu Renlong returned the salute, "Master Zhou, can you take a step to speak?" ”

Zhou Fengwu was stunned, "Commander Xu......"

Xu Renlong said with a smile: "Master Zhou doesn't need to be nervous, this commander just wants to borrow one thing!"

"Commander Xu, please make it clear," Zhou Fengwu arched his hand and said, "As long as you can take your humble position......

Xu Renlong pointed to the howitzers lined up in front of him with his hand, and said with a smile: "I want to borrow a howitzer!"

"Borrow howitzers? Why? Zhou Fengwu was puzzled, "Didn't the commander transport the howitzer by transport ship, what did you say about borrowing it...... Hey, Commander Xu didn't want to detain the howitzer, right? ”

"The emperor ordered this commander to bring twenty howitzers to the third operation, how dare this commander intercept them privately?" Xu Renlong arched his hand and smiled: "Don't worry, this commander is just borrowing, and it will be handed over to you soon." ”

"Please be more specific to Commander Xu," Zhou Fengwu returned the salute, "In short, don't let the humble position be embarrassed......"

"Don't be embarrassed, don't be embarrassed," Xu Renlong's face was piled up with a smile, "The howitzer was transported from the township official wharf to Haizhou, and it was to pass through Gaizhou City. ”

Zhou Fengwu suddenly understood, he flatly refused: "I'm sorry, Commander Xu, this is definitely not possible, the emperor ordered the lowly to come to the township official wharf to accept the howitzer, and the lowly post has been waiting for a day and a night, Haizhou is waiting to use it...... If Commander Xu borrows artillery, unless there is the emperor's will!"

"The emperor is far away in the Sancha River, and at this time, someone went to ask for an order, and once he came and went, Gaizhou City had already been broken," Xu Renlong's face changed color slightly, "Division Commander Zhou, these howitzers were transported from Tianjin by this commander with great luck, can't they be accommodated in one day?" ”

In his heart, he thought that the people of the third battalion would not come to the township official wharf so soon, and they could take Gaizhou City first, who would have thought that this Zhou Fengwu had been waiting at the township official wharf for a long time, but at this time, he had to beg them in a low voice.

If we knew this, we should have started from Tianjin earlier......

Zhou Fengwu arched his hand towards the north, "If there is no holy decree, Commander Xu, please bear with me, forgive me for being humble and difficult to obey!"

Diehard!

Xu Renlong scolded secretly, but said with a straight face: "The emperor said, this time it is the infantry, cavalry and navy to fight together, all units must work together to help each other, now the howitzer is in Gaizhou, by the way to attack the city," paused, and said: "The form of the battlefield is changing rapidly, if everything is reported to the emperor and waiting for the emperor's decree, how can you destroy the enemy?" ”

"Commander Xu is reasonable," Zhou Fengwu said: "However, the military order received by the lowly post is to bring the howitzer back to Haizhou from the township official wharf immediately, without delay!"

Xu Renlong was a little angry, "This commander is a marquis, your superior, and has the right to give you new orders!"

"The lowly is a person of the third battalion and does not belong to the North Sea Fleet!"

"Division Commander Zhou, this commander will take Gaizhou as soon as possible, is to help the third battalion break off, cut off the route of Liaonan Tatars to reinforce Haizhou," Xu Renlong said angrily: "It's all Huaxia's army, how can Division Commander Zhou be so ignorant of the depths?" ”

"Thank you Commander Xu!" Zhou Fengwu bowed down and saluted, "However, the lowly position only abides by the military order, and Commander Xu is also a soldier, Commander Xu said that if the lowly position violates the military order, how will General Li and the emperor deal with the lowly position?" ”

Xu Renlong was furious, if this was his subordinate, he would be punished as a firefighter immediately!

But he knew in his heart that it would not be a matter of time to convince this kind of stubborn donkey, so he put on a smiling face and a slightly flattering look, "Master Zhou, count me as a matter of begging you." ”

"What's the matter?"

"I am the commander of the North Sea Fleet, on the sixteenth day of the first month of this year, I was awarded the title of marquis by the emperor together with the commanders of the battalions and the commander of the South China Sea Fleet, but, but since I joined the Mandate of Heaven Army, I have not made an inch of merit, and I feel ashamed, today I finally have the opportunity to make meritorious service, I want to repay the emperor as soon as possible, only if I make meritorious service, my heart will feel better......

Zhou Fengwu gave a sympathetic look, "That's Commander Xu's private matter, I can't help my humble position, and I beg Commander Xu's understanding!"

This Zhou Fengwu, who doesn't eat soft and hard, has no human affection, I really don't know how Li Xin led the third battalion!

He frowned, suddenly had an idea, and then put on a straight face and said: "Senior Commander Zhou, this commander forgot to say just now, when the howitzers were transported to the dock, the brothers accidentally damaged a lot of parts," he pointed to the howitzers that were ready to be loaded with his hand, and said: "These howitzers need to be repaired now, and they can be handed over to you when they are ready." ”

Zhou Fengwu frowned, "Aren't these howitzers good......"

"It's the internal parts that are broken!" Xu Renlong beckoned and beckoned a personal soldier, "These howitzers, some parts inside have fallen off just now, and they need to be repaired, so take care of them first." ”

"Subordinates obey!"

Zhou Fengwu felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly said: "Commander Xu, as long as you leave the parts, we will go back and repair them ourselves." ”

"Do you have howitzers in your 1st Division?" Xu Renlong also showed a contemptuous smile, "Not to mention the first division, it is the entire third battalion, does anyone know howitzers?" ”

"This ......" Zhou Fengwu felt that he had obviously been deceived, "Commander Xu, the parts have fallen off, and it is also a howitzer, so he should be transported back as soon as possible?" ”

"Just use these howitzers that can't fire flowering shells to go back to life?" Xu Renlong put his hand on his neck, "Master Zhou transported these scrap copper and rotten iron back, I'm afraid I will be beheaded by the emperor, right?" ”

"Commander Xu, you ......"

"Master Zhou, don't be impatient," Xu Renlong said with a smile: "It won't take more than a day, the commander will definitely complete the repair, if the emperor holds him accountable, Master Zhou will tell the truth!"

Zhou Fengwu was helpless, knowing that Xu Renlong was a pit person, but he was a little unbearable, "Commander Xu's words are counted, just one day?" ”

"When the commander speaks, he will naturally say nothing," Xu Renlong secretly rejoiced, "After a day, if it can't be completely repaired, it will be a waste product, and the commander will also let Division Commander Zhou transport it to Haizhou." ”

"Thank you Commander Xu!"

Xu Renlong smiled faintly and arched his hand to Zhou Fengwu, "Master Zhou is at his own convenience!" Without waiting for Zhou Fengwu to go far, he immediately sent an order to Huang Yinen, the commander of the Marine Corps, ordering him to immediately take the whole regiment of soldiers and howitzers to immediately attack Gaizhou City.

Less than ten miles away, and in half an hour, the Marine Regiment appeared under the city of Gaizhou.

When the defenders of the city saw this, they hurriedly closed the city gates, and at the same time flew to report to the guards in the city, Jiala's Zhenmara, and Mara got the report, and immediately put on his whole body and hurried to the west gate.

As far as the eye can see, the city is full of the Mandate of Heaven Army, and the Kyushu military flag is waving in the wind in the setting sun......

Mara originally wanted to open the city and take the initiative to attack, but when she saw the thousands of Heavenly Mandate troops under the city, she was stunned, no matter how strong the cavalry of the Qing Dynasty was, it couldn't fight ten or twenty of them, the number of cavalry in the city was too small......

He didn't know if he could hold Gaizhou City, and if he broke through, he might be able to keep the warriors...... The guards of the cities of the Great Qing Dynasty have never lost their cities, is he the first to lose their land?

In order to make meritorious contributions, Xu Renlong temporarily gave up the flagship "Tianjin", personally came to the city of Gaizhou, and looked around, "Yin En, divide the troops to surround Gaizhou, don't let go of the Tartars in the city, Xicheng is the main direction of attack, and all the howitzers are concentrated in Xicheng." ”

"Yes, Commander!"

"Wait," Xu Renlong waved his hand when he saw that Huang Yinen was going to command the artillery, "There are at least hundreds of Tartars in the city, once the shelling is fired, the Tartars may take advantage of the chaos to break through, they are all cavalry, it is difficult for us to catch up." ”

"Commander?"

"With a rifle," Xu Renlong said: "The Tartars in this place have never seen a rifle, they don't know the power of the rifle, and they ordered the soldiers outside the four cities to use a pillar of incense to shoot at the city at the same time, and consume part of the Tartar's troops first." ”

"Subordinates obey!"

"The emperor has awarded three titles to the North Sea Fleet, but this is the first time the North Sea Fleet has participated in the war," Xu Renlong said lightly: "This is inconsistent with the military discipline of China, and the emperor must be under a lot of pressure in the court, right?" ”

"Commander?"

"Your Majesty This is a pre-title for the North Sea Fleet, the Emperor believes in us, we must not live up to the Emperor's kindness," Xu Renlong said coldly: "Tell the soldiers that after the cannon fires, the city gate must be blocked, and whoever the Tartar escapes from, the commander will punish whoever the crime, no matter how many Tartars he kills, as long as one Tartar is released, the commander will not only not give him credit, but also punish the crime and be demoted to a fireman." ”

"My subordinates understand!"

"Annihilate the Tartars, block the message!" Xu Renlong waved his hand, "Give the order to go!"

"Yes, my subordinates will give orders!" Huang Yinen lit four sticks of sandalwood, left one at the west city gate, and held three in his own hand, and sent them outside the other three city gates one by one.

The sandalwood burned out quickly, Xu Renlong glanced at the remaining cooking smoke, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth, "Shoot!"

"Bang, bang, bang......"

Almost at the same time, gunshots rang out from the other three city gates, crackling, like a giant loudspeaker installed on the mouth of the pot when fried beans with fine sand!