Chapter 65: Surround and Ambush

  "Fire!" The commander of the artillery battalion of the 10th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army, Zhou Nan, gave the order to fire. After a brief silence, the 24 82-style infantry guns roared again, and the scorching shells accurately pounded towards the direction of the Qingma Army in Maxi City.

  "Take cover! Take cover quickly!" As the dull sound of artillery fire rang out, the sharp whistling of shells pierced the air above Majin City, and the faces of the Qingma Army soldiers on the front line suddenly changed. Those officers even shouted loudly with pale faces.

  "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The dense shells exploded continuously on the defensive line of the Qing Ma Army. The Qing Ma soldiers who were cheering just now immediately wailed and howled under the bombing. The shockwave generated by the explosion of the shells sent those Qing Ma soldiers flying into the air. The shrapnel that flew in all directions was also recklessly reaping lives. The Qing Ma soldiers who did not have time to evacuate were instantly heavily casualties in this round of bombardment.

  After the bombardment of the Western Sichuan Army ended, almost no living thing could be seen on the defensive line of the Qingmao Army, and there were limbs everywhere. The hundreds to thousands of people gathered by the Qingmao Army here, except for a very small number who escaped in advance and survived, the rest were killed or wounded.

  "Commander, it's all over! The 15th Regiment and the 21st Regiment that came to reinforce us, nearly 500 men, have almost all been killed by the artillery fire of the Sichuan Army!" The deputy commander of the 15th Regiment, covered in blood, came to the side of Commander Wei Yuan of the Qing army's 15th Regiment, and said with a sobbing voice. Seeing one brother after another die at his side made even this tough man unbearable.

  Wei Yuan's eyes turned black, and he almost fell to the ground. The 15th Regiment was his own, after all - an officer who had lost his troops, what status could he still have in the Qing Ma Army?

  "How much is left in total?" Wei Yuan asked.

  "Those who can continue fighting are less than two hundred now!" The deputy regiment commander replied.

  "As long as I can still hold a gun, let me continue to fight. The people in front have died, you go up yourself. If you die, it's my turn!" Wei Yuan said with a face full of hatred.

  "Yes, Battalion Commander!" The deputy battalion commander didn't say anything else and immediately turned around and went back to the defensive line.

  At this time, Lu Haoran came again with reinforcements.

  "What's wrong, is the loss very severe?" Lu Haoran saw Wei Yuan like this, and his heart suddenly realized that something was not quite right.

  "The Fifteenth Regiment plus the reinforcements from the Twenty-first Regiment now have less than two hundred men left!" Wei Yuan said with a gloomy face.

  "What? Such heavy casualties?" Lu Haoran was also completely shocked. The battle had been going on for less than half a day, and they had already lost nearly half of their troops. At this rate, how long could they hold on? And judging from the current situation, the Western Sichuan Army had not yet exerted its full strength. How could Ma Haiyan expect them to hold out until reinforcements arrived?

  "General, it seems that the military strength of the Western Sichuan Army has far exceeded our expectations. Let's quickly ask Admiral for reinforcements! Otherwise, I have serious doubts whether we can hold on until tomorrow!" Wei Yuan said.

  "Alright! This is the 300 reinforcements I drew from the Fifth Regiment. In addition, there are also 300 reinforcements from the Twentieth Regiment, now all of them are handed over to you! I only have one request, must do your best to resist the attack of the Western Sichuan Army!" Lu Haoran said with a serious face.

  "Yes, Jiang Jun! I guarantee that I will complete the task!" Wei Yuan said firmly. However, whether this guarantee would be useful or not, no one knew.

  Soon, the 11th Brigade of the Western Sichuan Army launched a new attack. However, the resistance from the Qingmao Army was still extremely fierce, and both sides engaged in intense fighting at the gap in the city wall of Maqu City, suffering heavy casualties. For now, the Western Sichuan Army is still unable to enter the city. It wasn't until noon that the Western Sichuan Army's attack finally stopped, allowing the defenders of Maqu City to breathe a sigh of relief.

  At the same time, two white carrier pigeons flew out of Majing City and quickly flew north. The soldiers of the Chuanxi Army had been paying attention to the Qingma Army's movements and immediately reported the news to Cai Yun and Wang Yuezhe after discovering that the Qingma Army was sending a message.

  "Haha! It seems that the Green Horse Army inside Majin City can't sit still, and they have to send a message to Ma Haiyan!" Cai Yun burst out laughing after receiving the news of the flying pigeon from Majin City.

  "So, it's time for us to have a showdown with Ma Haiyan!" Wang Yuze also smiled. Ma Haiyan's reinforcements were slow to arrive, making everyone very worried. Once Ma Haiyan's Qingma Army and the Hezhou Ma Family Army and Ningma Army merged, that would be an army of almost 50,000 people, which would undoubtedly put tremendous pressure on the Chuanxi Army. Therefore, if they could take out one of them ahead of time, it would undoubtedly be the safest. Now, their method is to launch a fierce attack on Maqin City, forcing Ma Haiyan to rush to rescue quickly. Then, have a big battle with the Chuanxi Army.

  "Zhao Zongchang and the others should have arrived at their destination by now! From here on, we'll leave it to the 11th Regiment to take care of things. Li Shouzhang and the remaining men from the 10th Regiment will stay behind and guard this place, while we rush off to join up with Zhao Zongchang and the others!" Cai Yun said.

  "Yes, Chief of Staff!" Li Zhuo replied.

  Last night, under the cover of darkness, the main force of the Tenth Brigade, four regiments of troops, had already secretly departed, bypassing Yushu City and heading north. The goal was to intercept Ma Haiyan. Although there were only four regiments, given their equipment and combat strength, if they clashed head-on with the Qing army, it was entirely possible for them to emerge victorious.

  At this time, Cai Yun and Wang Yuezhe set out with a few guards. According to the plan, the main force of the 10th Brigade would ambush Ma Haiyan in Dongqiaogou northwest of Maxian. This was a must-pass place for Ma Haiyan's southward march to Maxian. Unless he had many reasons to spend two more days retreating and taking a detour, Maxian City would have been captured by the Sichuan Army earlier.

  When Ma Haiyan received the urgent request for support from Maren City, their troops had already marched to a place called Xiuma. When he received the news, Ma Haiyan's face suddenly turned gloomy.

  "The troops continued to advance, calling Mr. Zhou and Gu Ying over!" Ma Haiyan ordered in a low voice. The long journey had made him extremely tired. After all, he was an older man now, not as energetic as his younger years, and the bumpy ride made it hard for him to hold on.

  Soon, Zhou He and Gu Hongyun arrived in front of Ma Haiyan.

  "We just received news from Mai City that the Western Sichuan Army has launched a fierce attack on Mai, they want to take down Mai before we arrive and use it as a base to confront our main force. There are only 4,000 defenders left in Mai City, unable to withstand the attack of the Western Sichuan Army. Lu Haoran reported that they can hold on until tomorrow afternoon at most. Otherwise, Mai will inevitably fall!" Ma Haiyan said.

  "Admiral, let's speed up! If the Chuanxi army takes down Maqin, with their firepower, it will be even more impossible for us to take Maqin!" Gu Hongyun said. He had dealt with the Chuanxi army for many years and in field battles, the Qingma army still had a certain chance of winning. But if the Chuanxi army defended the city and the Qingma army attacked, it was likely that even if the bodies piled up under Maqin City, they would not be able to break through Maqin.

  "But with our current military strength, if we don't wait for the Hezhou Ma family army and the Ningma army, it seems a bit weak!" Zhou He said cautiously. After all, this battle is extremely important to the Qingma army.

  "Hmph! If Gu Hongqiang hadn't forced his way to rescue Yushu, how could Majin be in this state now!" Ma Haiyan said with hatred. Gu Hongqiang's reckless adventure had caused the city of Majin to lose more than half of its military strength, which also made the Qingma Army extremely passive.

  Gu Hongyun's face turned bright red, and he didn't say a word. It was clear that Ma Haiyan had been very dissatisfied with Gu Hongzhong's forced march south to rescue Yushu, which resulted in the loss of 6,000 Qing soldiers.

  "Your Excellency, I dare to guarantee that if we don't wait for the River Zhou Ma family army and Ning Ma army to march south immediately, we will definitely be blocked by the Sichuan Western Army. Perhaps, they are already waiting for us on the road at this moment!" Zhou He reminded.

  "I know. However, the Kansai army originally had a small number of troops and had to besiege Maqin while attacking Maqin at the same time. How many troops can they spare to stop us? Moreover, in a field battle, my Qingma Army may not be afraid of them!" Ma Haiyan said with confidence.

  PS: The first update is here!