Chapter 95

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Not long after, a deafening roar rose from the Northern Expedition Army's artillery position.

The artillery group, poised for a long time, poured dense shells into the attacking formations of Deng Ruzhuo's division on the opposite bank; for a time, the earth shook, fire soared into the sky, and gunpowder smoke filled the air.

The fierce artillery fire greatly dampened the enemy's offensive and morale.

On the Nanchang city wall, Lv Muzhi and the defending officers and soldiers, who were organizing the next defense, heard the familiar sound of their own artillery from the opposite bank and saw shells exploding among the enemy troops outside the city, and their morale was instantly greatly boosted.

"It's Division Commander Liu's artillery! Division Commander Liu hasn't forgotten us!" The soldiers cheered.

Lv Muzhi seized the opportunity and shouted loudly: "Brothers, our artillery support has arrived! Reinforcements will be here soon, hold on, drive the enemy back!"

The defenders on the city wall burst forth with their last strength, using rifles, machine guns, and the few remaining hand grenades to launch a fierce counterattack against the enemy troops surging up again.

Below the city, Deng Ruzhuo also noticed the suddenly intensified artillery fire from the Northern Expedition Army on the opposite bank and understood that Liu Zhi was firing cannons from across the way.

He could only curse Xie Hongxun in his heart, blaming Xie Hongxun for failing to restrain Liu Zhi's artillery fire.

"Commander Deng, something has happened at Zhangshu in the rear; the Revolutionary Army is about to capture Zhangshu and may reach the foot of Nanchang City by tonight, then we'll be finished!"

Deng Ruzhuo looked at the Nanchang City Wall, which was tottering but still had not fallen after a long siege, and heard the bad news from the rear, feeling extremely conflicted in his heart.

If Nanchang City could not be taken, and Northern Expedition Army reinforcements arrived, he would have no defensible position, and his entire force might very well be surrounded like dumplings.

He did not expect this hard nut of Nanchang City to hold out against him for so long!

"Ask how things are going with Xie Hongxun? He controls our passage for retreating to Jiujiang; if it really doesn't work, we can only retreat!"

On Nanchang City, Lv Muzhi watched the enemy temporarily retreat and then discovered that on the Niu Xing Position on the opposite bank, Liu Zhi had actually ordered an attack on Xie Hongxun's division, and a smile finally appeared on his face.

"Wonderful! It seems the situation has changed greatly; I guess reinforcements from Zhangshu in the south are almost here. If Division Commander Liu succeeds, he can block the enemy's retreat route."

Everyone rushed to the Zhangjiang Gate city wall on the west side to observe the situation, understanding that they were turning passivity into initiative!

Xue Yue arrived at this time and brought an important piece of intelligence: Zheng Junyan and Yang Genghe were retreating, crossing the river via the floating bridge on Yangzi Island to support Xie Hongxun.

Zheng Junyan and Yang Genghe withdrawing from the battle for Nanchang City was naturally a good thing for Xue Yue and Lv Muzhi, but it would inevitably put great pressure on Liu Zhi, and if things went badly, it would let the enemy escape back to Jiujiang.

"Report! Deng Ruzhuo's troops have gathered with Zheng Junyan and the others; the enemy is retreating!" the scout reported.

"Retreating? It was originally agreed to hold for three days, and we were prepared to fight to the death; I didn't expect the war situation to turn around so quickly." Lv Muzhi said happily.

"Fortunately we held Nanchang City; otherwise, when reinforcements arrive, friendly forces would have to pay a heavy price to retake Nanchang City." Xue Yue said, pointing to the corpses densely packed below the city wall.

"The enemy wants to leave; they want to return to the west bank of the Gan River via Yangzi Island, then head north back to Jiujiang. We cannot let them go back!" Lv Muzhi said firmly.

"I had the same intention. If such a large force of the enemy can be kept and wiped out by us, it would be a great merit. Moreover, if they return to Jiujiang, they will also bring great pressure to Li Zongren's Seventh Army." Xue Yue agreed as well.

"My Supplementary Regiment still has over seven hundred combat-ready men."

"Plus my Third Regiment, the two of us have about fifteen hundred fighting strength." Xue Yue said affirmatively.

The two were planning to make a big move when Liu Zhi had already sent a messenger across the river in a small boat.

"Regiment Commander Lv, Regiment Commander Xue, the Second Division is coordinating with friendly forces to attack Xie Hongxun's troops and cut off the enemy's retreat route. However, Zheng Junyan, Yang Genghe, and Deng Ruzhuo have already lifted the siege of Nanchang and chosen to support Xie Hongxun's troops. Commander Liu hopes you will take the initiative to attack, restrain the enemy, and support Xie Hongxun, while securing Nanchang City and expanding the victory!"

Lv Muzhi looked at Xue Yue: "How about it? The situation has indeed reversed. Shall we make a big move?"

"Which soldier doesn't long for merit? Let's do it!" Xue Yue waved his hand and decided to lead his troops to take the initiative to attack.

North of Nanchang City, on the river defense position originally lost by Hu Kongnan, the Beiyang Army had long since built a floating bridge connecting Yangzi Island.

At this time, the Beiyang Army was busy withdrawing from the frontline at Nanchang City, crossing the floating bridge, passing through Yangzi Island, crossing the Gan River westward to support Xie Hongxun, and then retreating north to Jiujiang.

More than ten thousand troops had gathered by the riverbank preparing to cross. The troops that had attacked the southern city had arrived at the east bank of Nanchang City from Xi'an in several batches.

Now it would also take a lot of time to withdraw from the east bank to the west bank to support Xie Hongxun.

"Hurry! Hurry and retreat! The Revolutionary Army is going to cut off our retreat route!" Deng Ruzhuo shouted.

Deng Ruzhuo's troops had rushed from the south and were last in the order to cross the river. Over twenty thousand troops attacking Nanchang City were crossing together. After waiting over two hours, it still wasn't his troops' turn to cross, and they had long grown impatient.

Boom boom boom!

Several shells whistled over Deng Ruzhuo's head and then fell into the Gan River. Another shell directly hit the floating bridge, blowing it into two sections.

"Target hit! Keep bombarding!" Lv Muzhi held up his binoculars and said joyfully.

To cut off the enemy's idea of crossing the river to reinforce, three cannons on the city wall were moved down. It took two hours to advance them forward to attack the enemy's floating bridge for crossing the river.

Under the bombardment of the cannons, the enemy's floating bridge was blown into several sections and drifted away with the current.

Xue Yue led men to harass the enemies approaching the river crossing with firepower.

Some panicked enemies instantly scattered, pushing and shoving each other, and fell into the Gan River.

Zheng Junyan and Yang Genghe were dumbfounded. As commanders, they had crossed the river, but more than half of their troops remained stranded on the opposite bank, and many others were left on Yangzi Island in the middle of the Gan River. Their forces were divided into three parts.

"Hurry! Immediately build a floating bridge and get all the troops across. Returning to the Jiujiang headquarters is urgent!"

Deng Ruzhuo noticed something amiss: "Don't panic. These are just the defenders from inside Nanchang City, a mere remnant force! They're really asking for death! Anyway, I can't cross the river now, so let's fight back! Whoever dares to cut off my retreat route, brothers, let's fight it out!"

Xue Yue hurriedly sent men to block them step by step, drawing the enemy's main force back to the foot of Nanchang City.

Lv Muzhi saw the enemy's large force surging over quickly. The cannons they had pulled out could not be taken away, so they had to be destroyed on the spot to avoid becoming weapons for the enemy to attack the city.

Deng Ruzhuo's troops, dragging along other Beiyang Army troops who had not managed to cross the river in time, returned once again to the foot of Nanchang City.

Since retreat was no longer an option, Deng Ruzhuo was determined to take Nanchang City as a stronghold against the Revolutionary Army reinforcements.

Another bloody battle raged inside and outside Nanchang City......

Liu Zhi, holding his binoculars on the opposite bank, watched the enemy's main force being drawn back to the foot of Nanchang City, and then looked at Xie Hongxun, the enemy in front of Niuhang Station.

After several hours of fierce fighting, by three in the afternoon, the flag of the Northern Expedition Army flew over Xie Hongxun's position!

Liu Zhi said excitedly: "Wonderful! I'd like to see where the enemy runs now! Send telegrams to the Second Army and Third Army, urging them to quicken their march. My Second Division, together with the Sixth Army, has already cut off the enemy's retreat route. The enemy's main force is now pinned down at the foot of Nanchang City. Hurry over to encircle and annihilate the enemy!"

Deng Ruzhuo commanded his subordinates and had completely lost his senses.

If they cannot take Nanchang City, they will be wiped out by the Revolutionary Army's reinforcements.

Even if they take Nanchang City and hold it stubbornly, they will only live a few more days.

For the Beiyang Army trapped beneath Nanchang City, they had already transformed from actively attacking with superior forces into fighting to the death!

Deng Ruzuo's troops still had several mountain guns, and at this moment they were regardlessly bombarding Nanchang City.

The Beiyang Army besieged from all sides, only wanting to desperately drill into the city, as if there were a last straw of life inside the city.

Lv Muzhi stood on Zhangjiang Gate commanding combat, holding the bolt-action rifle Xue Yue had lent him, continuously shooting at the enemies below the city wall.

Whoosh~

A shell flew over, smashing Tengwang Pavilion not far from Zhangjiang Gate.

What a pity, Lv Muzhi thought.

Another shell flew over, exploding on the battlement.

The air wave directly threw Lv Muzhi to the ground; Lv Muzhi wanted to stand up but could not muster any strength, fresh blood flowed over the ground and onto his face, warm.

Before closing his eyes, Lv Muzhi only saw Tengwang Pavilion, a thousand-year-old famous tower, blown by the cannon into only half remaining.

At this moment, Lv Muzhi only thought of a poem he learned in middle school: The solitary clouds and the lone wild goose fly together, the autumn waters share one color with the long sky.

As for combat and honor, let them go with him.

Lv Muzhi fell down.

"Regimental Commander!"

"Muzi!"

"Reinforcements have come!"

I don't know how long passed, a sweet female voice sounded, "Ah! You're awake? Major General?"