Chapter 68: A Desperate Gambit (Seeking Bookmarks)

  On the battlefield, after the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, the corpses were all over the ground. Some seriously injured soldiers of the Green Horse Army let out mournful cries. The horses without masters also wandered around, neighing sadly. The Green Horse Army suffered three thousand casualties but failed to break into the Sichuan Army's position. Everything was in vain.

  The green-robed soldiers watching the battle were also shocked by this scene, seeing their comrades rush towards the enemy's position with abandon, but being knocked to the ground by the enemy's fierce firepower. Their hearts felt extremely uncomfortable. At the same time, a sense of fear also struck, causing their morale to plummet rapidly.

  On the contrary, the troops on this side of the river were in high spirits. At first, everyone was still a little skeptical about whether they could rely on their four thousand men to block the attack of the Qing Ma army. But now it seems that they overestimated the Qing Ma army too much. Not to mention one against four, even if it's one against ten, as long as the Qing Ma army comes to attack, they can still make them crash and bleed.

  "Everyone, take a tight rest, check your weapons and prepare for the next battle!" The officers of the Chuanxi Army were running around on the battlefield, they were the most tired people. During intense battles, they had to command the fight, even joining in the attack on the Qingma Army. In the intervals between battles, they also had to re-arrange the defense lines and so on, without a moment's rest.

  The firepower of the Kansai army was very fierce, but the consumption of ammunition was also very large. Fortunately, they brought enough ammunition this time, otherwise it would have been impossible to confront the Qingma army head-on. Taking advantage of the interval when the Qingma army stopped attacking, the heavy machine gunners of the Kansai army began to replace the barrels of their heavy machine guns. The continuous high-intensity shooting had worn out the rifling in the barrels. Although they were not completely scrapped, it would affect the battle. It was better to replace them now while there was still time, rather than being busy and flustered after the battle started.

  "General, the firepower of the Kansai army is too strong, brothers can't get in!" Gu Hongyun said again with a hard head.

  "Governor, it seems that the Western Sichuan army is well-prepared! In this situation, we can't defeat the Western Sichuan army in front of us, let alone rescue Maqin. The fall of Maqin has become a foregone conclusion, let's think about the long-term plan!" Zhou He also advised. Just now, in the brief attack, the Qingma Army lost 3,000 people and only 13,000 were left. How many more charges can be organized? If the troops are exhausted, not only will Maqin be lost, but the entire Qinghai will be at risk of being lost!

  Ma Haiyan's face was gloomy, and he didn't say a word. Although he knew that if they were to engage in a fierce battle with the Sichuan army in front of them, even if they won, they would suffer heavy losses. However, the troops had already lost 3,000 people, and if they gave up now, wouldn't the previous losses be in vain? At the same time, wouldn't this also prove that his previous decision was wrong? How could the other generals of the Qing Ma Army look at him? Perhaps, during his lifetime, these people would not do anything to him. However, he was already 64 years old, and how many more years could he live? After he died, could his son Ma Ke suppress these unruly generals?

  "No! We must defeat the enemy in front of us. Although we have suffered heavy losses, I believe that the Kansai army has also consumed a lot. Especially in terms of weapons and ammunition. As long as we can defeat them, this battle is won!" Ma Haiyan said stubbornly.

  At that moment, Gu Hongyun and Zhou He's two people were chilled to the bone. What did Ma Haiyan mean by his words? How could they not understand? Ma Haiyan was going to use the Qingma Army to consume the Sichuan Western Army's ammunition! To create opportunities for the troops behind. This approach, which didn't care about the lives of the Qingma soldiers at all, made it difficult for them to accept. However, Ma Haiyan was the commander-in-chief, and the Qingma Army was a force he had raised with his own hands. His words were the highest order, and no one could question them.

  "Yes, Admiral, I'll immediately organize the troops and prepare for the attack!" Gu Hongyun said.

  "Ten minutes later, attack again, this time still with four battalions!" Ma Haiyan said with a gloomy face.

  "Yes, Admiral!" Gu Hongqiang nodded.

  Ten minutes later, the Qing army launched another attack. This time, however, it was a different four battalions. The 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th battalions of the Qing army were responsible for this attack. Although these four battalions had already been intimidated earlier, when it was their turn to attack, no one dared to raise any objections. However, they were not as enthusiastic as before, but rather very passive.

  "Charge!" Under the command of each battalion commander of the Green Horse Army, the four thousand Green Horse Army launched another charge. However, although the number of people was the same as in the previous attack, from a momentum perspective, it was indeed much weaker.

  "Boom! Boom!" The cannons fired wildly, and the shells flew horizontally. Faced with the fierce firepower of the Sichuan Army, the soldiers of the Qing Ma Army continued to advance at the cost of their lives. However, their role was simply to consume the ammunition of the Sichuan Army.

  "What is Ma Haiyan doing? He even dares to send such a small number of people to attack?" Wang Yuez asked, putting down the binoculars in his hand, somewhat puzzled.

  "He must be trying to use these people to consume our ammunition, preparing for the next attack! But he's bound to be disappointed this time!" Cai Yun said with a smile all over his face. Although the battle on the battlefield was extremely bloody, with someone dying almost every second, it wasn't a big deal for soldiers who were used to seeing death.

  The attack of the Qinghai Army this time still had little effect, except for leaving a lot of corpses on the ground and consuming a lot of ammunition from the Sichuan Army, it did not cause any loss to the Sichuan Army.

  "Strict orders, the troops in front are not allowed to retreat, otherwise they will be dealt with by military law! Once again, six battalions were mobilized, preparing to break through the Sichuan Army's position at one go!" Ma Haiyan commanded coldly.

  "Yes, Admiral!" Gu Hongyun replied, acknowledging the order.

  The young soldiers of the Qing army on the battlefield were almost collapsing under the fierce firepower of the Sichuan Army. They wanted to retreat, but at this time, orders came from behind that they were not allowed to retreat, forcing them to continue attacking with a stiff upper lip, and eventually fell on the way forward.

  "Charge!" The six battalions of the Qing Ma Army soldiers were drawn out again, trampling over their comrades' corpses and launching another charge into the artillery fire of the Chuanxi Army.

  "Kill!" The soldiers of the Green Horse Army shouted slogans loudly, as if this could give them morale.

  "The Qingma Army is fighting desperately!" Seeing the Qingma Army dispatching a large number of troops to participate in the attack again, Wang Yuezhe said with some tension.

  "The attack direction of the Green Horse Army has always been the front line of our defense, and it is estimated that they want to break through our defense line with continuous attacks. Order the troops on both wings to prepare and be ready to launch a counterattack at any time. The second battalion in reserve also made preparations for the counterattack!" Cai Yun gave orders calmly.

  The orderly immediately went down to convey the order. The war horses were led to the defensive line on both wings, and the soldiers were ready to launch a charge at any time, coordinating with the frontal battle. At the same time, the second battalion, as a reserve force, also made preparations for battle.

  "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The cannon fire was continuous, and the artillerymen on the side of the Western Sichuan Army seemed to have realized the urgency of the situation, firing shells at the fastest speed. The water in the Maxim heavy machine gun's cooling system had already been opened, emitting white steam. Under the desperate counterattack of the Qingma Army, the Western Sichuan Army's mortars and heavy machine guns suffered significant losses. Many mortars were damaged during the intense bombardment. Those heavy machine guns with broken barrels didn't even have time to replace them. These areas became the focus of the Qingma Army's attack. After suffering considerable casualties, the Qingma Army finally broke into the Western Sichuan Army's defensive position.

  However, the Qing army also paid a heavy price for this. The four battalions of the second wave of attack were already severely damaged. The third wave of six battalions behind also paid more than half, and finally broke through the defensive line of the Sichuan Army. However, the battle did not end there, and the Sichuan Army did not fail because of this.

  "Grenades, throw! Throw all the grenades as fast as possible and then withdraw from the position!" The soldiers of the Chuanxi Army threw the grenades in front of them into the midst of the Qingma Army, causing huge casualties again. Then, taking advantage of this opportunity, they withdrew from the position.

  PS: The second update is here! Regarding the issue of slow updates, before shelving, there will be two updates every day. After shelving, there will be at least three or four updates every day! Thank you to all book friends for their support of Xiaoyu!