Chapter 168: Battle of Hanshin (2)

The Qing army quickly entered the position, and after a busy morning, it was almost noon. The soldiers and artillery in charge of the attack also began to have lunch behind the position. All the officers and soldiers had an inexplicable sense of tension. Many of these people were transferred from the country after Himeji Castle and were still relatively unfamiliar with the Japanese battlefield. Of course, the veterans of the Third Army who had experienced the test of life and death in the previous few battles were not too excited. This would be a doomed battle, and the winners of this battlefield would inevitably be them!

Chen Benqin approached Shan Maoqian a little and handed him a cigarette he had rolled in his hand. "Old Dan, our task is the heaviest. In addition to taking on the heavy responsibility of attacking Kobe, we also have to establish a defense line outside the Kobe to block the Japanese reinforcements. Tell me, why did such a good thing fall on us?"

"I think it's better for Hu Junmen to work harder. I heard from the military gate that whether we can destroy the Japanese defense in one fell swoop and go to Kyoto to celebrate the Spring Festival depends on their performance!"

Chen Benqin laughed. This was the slogan proposed by Li Hongzhang. Going to Kyoto to celebrate the Spring Festival. Now it seems that the hope is not small! As long as this battle is fought well, it is not a dream to resolve the enemy on the southern Japanese line!

"Two sirs..." Chen Benqin turned around and a messenger ran over.

"Sir, General Lee Sun-chen sent someone to send news that the shelling will start at noon, so we will be ready to attack the city!"

"The troops were having dinner at Siyu and entered the position one moment before noon, preparing to attack!"

On the position, the Qing army quickly took action. The troops that received the order immediately prepared for combat, while the troops as reserves began to help the offensive troops carry ammunition and prepare equipment for stretchers to rescue the wounded. For a moment, the silence of the morning was broken and a storm was brewing.

The one who guarded Kobe Masahiro facing the Qing army's position was the Japanese First Division. The division commander was named Zhao, named Nobumoto, and his military rank was Lieutenant General. He was famous for his calm and extremely calm use of troops. On the city tower, he saw the Qing army actively preparing for an attack. Although his face was as calm as water, his heart was turbulent. This was his first time to fight against the Qing army, but he had already learned the strength of the enemy from many generals before. He could conquer many important passes in the southern country in less than three months, so he would never take it lightly!

"Your Excellency, all the people in the city have been organized!"

Lieutenant General Zhao let out a long sigh, nodded to the warrior next to him, without saying a word. Although he had made sufficient preparations in Kobe, he now had no confidence in defending the city. He knew that what was about to break out here would be a bloody battle!

He looked back and saw that the city wall had been reinforced again, and the materials originally reserved in the port were also arranged to be transferred. In addition, Prince Akihito Komatsumiya also specially established a "special force". This force was composed of samurai. Their mission was to launch sneak attacks on the Qing army entering the city, and the target was specifically aimed at the main generals of the Qing army. The first leader was Bao Chao! As far as the war reached this point, the prince could no longer care about so much. As long as he could defend Kobe Castle, all the power that could be used must be used!

Obviously, his stability and calmness played a huge role in organizational defense, and his organizational talents also reached their limits here. However, what he was going to face was the most powerful army in the Qing army's Eastern Expedition, and it was also an army full of fighting spirit and morale. Can he defend Kobe Castle?

"Sir, we are starting to bombard the artillery!" When the rumbling sound of cannons came, Chen Benqin's eyes turned to the direction of the port of Kobe Port. With flashes of lights, black smoke rose from the port. In the distance, hundreds of artillery were exerting their power. Huge explosions exploded behind the city wall, and thick smoke burst out.

"Let the brothers prepare, and after half an hour of shelling, it's our turn to do it!"

After several rounds of artillery bombardment, the Japanese army also launched a counterattack. The heavy artillery set up in the port and in the south of the city began to throw shells at the Qing army's infantry and artillery positions. However, the number and accuracy were not far from that of the Qing army. Instead, the Qing army's artillery became even more angry and concentrated the artillery fire on the artillery positions in the Japanese city to suppress the fire.

With a loud bang, the city gate and the city tower were completely blown up. This caused trouble for the Qing army. After all, it was much more troublesome to climb over the collapsed city tower than to pass through the city gate. However, this also expanded the width of their attack line. In an instant, the first group of Qing troops had already entered the city, and the advancement of the fontanel cannon chariots also began to attack the Japanese army in the city in large quantities. The battle entered a white-hot stage at this moment.

It can be said that the entire offensive operation before this was completed in one go, without any trouble in the middle, and the cooperation of the participating troops was very good. This also shows that the quality of the newly added officers and soldiers of the Qing army was not bad. However, it was not so easy to capture Kobe City, and more troubles were still waiting for the Qing army.

Zhao Jianxinsheng had long expected the moment when the city was broken. Although it came a little too fast, it did not make him panic. In his defense deployment, the defense of the city wall was just the first line of defense, and it was the line of defense he ignored the most. Before the Qing army launched artillery, he had already withdrawn the troops on the city wall. As the Qing army broke into the city, the street fighting between the two sides broke out as he expected!

In fact, if the new recruits in the Qing army were not mentioned, the veterans were most reluctant to fight street fighting. In the past few battles to capture Japanese cities, as long as the city walls fell, the battle immediately entered the same stage. In this chaotic battlefield, who can survive depends largely on God!

As the Qing army advanced, Chen Benqin and Shan Maoqian were on the front line. Even though he was not at the forefront, he had already reached a dangerous area. The first batch of 1,500 Qing troops who were put into the attack quickly entered the city, but they were immediately caught in a fierce battle. Moreover, in the street fighting in the city, because the two sides were entangled together, the artillery could only suppress and block the body, and could not provide more effective firepower support to the infantry. For a moment, the troops fell into a bitter battle with the Japanese army.

This is exactly the defense method adopted by Zhao Jian Nobumo. The enemy's firepower is strong, so it is difficult for one side to gain the upper hand in artillery battles. And if it is based on one's own weaknesses and strengths, it will inevitably fail if it continues. After carefully analyzing the Qing army's past tactics, the colleagues in the military believed that the Japanese army had the upper hand in close combat because there were a large number of samurai and weapons that were more suitable for close combat. Then, putting the enemy into the city to fight can give full play to the advantages of the Japanese army, and on the other hand, it can also restrain the opponent's powerful artillery fire. With one's decline and the other's rise, the Japanese army's chances of victory naturally increased a lot.

Of course, Prince Akihito Komatsumiya was still self-aware. He knew that he could not completely defeat the Qing army, so the only way was to cause painful casualties to the enemy. To make such casualties rise to a level that the Chinese could not accept! At that time, the enemy would choose to retreat voluntarily. Therefore, when deploying defenses in the city, the only goal of the Japanese commander was to kill the Qing army's vitality!

This tactic has indeed had a very clear effect. In the nearly two months after Nobumoto arrived in Kobe, in addition to organizing more defensive troops, he built and subordinated a large number of traps. In this regard, he was an expert. Under his command, Kobe Castle almost turned into a huge trap.

When the troops of the 13th battalion of the Qing army entered the city, they were immediately attacked by the enemy. The Japanese army had a superior geographical advantage and often shot at the Qing army from unexpected directions and positions. This combat method completely reversed the inherent understanding of the Qing army generals: in the cities such as Himeji, Fukuyama, and others before Kobe, the Japanese fought face to face with their own side, and never chose this kind of harassment?

In just half an hour, more than 2,000 people were killed and thousands were wounded and carried out of the battlefield. After seeing so many casualties of officers and soldiers, Chen Benqin suddenly became anxious. If he continued to fight like this, even if his troops were all compensated here, he might not be able to capture Kobe City! "Stop, stop, stop!" He rushed to the front line, "Immediately organize the defense line, pull up the artillery and the fontanels for me, and use shells to bomb inch by inch!"

The Qing army immediately turned offensive to defense, and more than 5,000 soldiers established scattered lines on the spot. Then, more infantrymen turned into position defense work and began to build simple defense lines on the edge of the occupied city. At the same time, the artillery behind them also quickly pressed up. This time, Chen Benqin made a cruel decision. Even if he used artillery shells as hoes, he would plow Kobe Castle inch by inch to see how many traps the Japanese had!

The Qing army artillery was commanded by unified command. The conventional artillery carried out three rounds of artillery from far to near, at two zhang intervals, at two zhang intervals. On the contrary, the fontanel artillery was carried out one round of artillery from near to far, at one zhang intervals, at one round of artillery from every zhang interval. The entire artillery process lasted for two days. Chen Benqin had no choice but to shoot patiently. Anyway, the ammunition from the rear was being sent continuously. Moreover, very sufficient ammunition was prepared this time. As long as the casualties could be reduced, it would be nothing to use more shells.

In Bao Chao's words, if you use some war funds on the battlefield now, you will definitely get back ten times the compensation from the Japanese in the future!

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Chapter completed!