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Text Chapter 1151 Taking Bratsk by force (5)

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    Bratsk Castle is a typical Western-style castle. It faces water to the east and mountains to the west. The entire castle winds up a mountain. The cliff at the back of the mountain is steep, making it difficult to gain a foothold. Its castle construction is very different from the Chinese Sifang City.  There is no urn city, but there are two arc-shaped walls at the front and back. The front is short and the back is tall. But even the short one is about seven feet long, and the tall one is about ten feet long, both of which are covered by huge rocks.  It is built of bricks, each about three feet wide. There are many semi-protruding circular blockhouses on the city wall, which can be used as key points for attack and defense. There is a moat about ten feet wide in front of the city wall. The water is introduced from the Angara River and surrounds most of the city wall.  The city is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is the most dangerous strategic fortress in Eastern Siberia. Although the Qing army pressed the city with a large force, it was not easy to defeat it in a single battle.   A surprise attack is obviously no longer possible. After learning and wise, the Russian army has strengthened its vigilance on all parts of the castle, not only on the front wall, but also on the back mountain and other difficult-to-climb places, all the time.  There were teams of patrol sentries patrolling back and forth, even in the dead of night, they never slacked off. There is no doubt that the only way in front of the Qing army in Huashan is to attack by storm!  On the seventh day of the ninth month of the third year of Renhe's reign, not long after the genius was revealed, the Qing army, which had rested for three days, finally marched out of the camp. In less than half an hour, they had formed their formations everywhere under the city.  Four infantry divisions were lined up in front, with the artillery division in the middle. Keluntai led the cavalry division and the fifth infantry division behind to hold down the formation, assuming a frontal attack posture.  "Report to the commander, the artillery division has been prepared, please give instructions!" At the end of the hour, the heavy artillery unit at the front has completed all preparations before firing. The artillery division commander Yuan Sheng'an, who is responsible for commanding the operation, is naturally  Without any delay, he quickly sent a communications officer to the Chinese Army to report to Keluntai.  "Let's get started." Keluntai glanced at the city head expressionlessly, waved his hand, and gave the order.  "Yes!" After the general order was issued, the communications officer who came to report did not dare to delay for a moment, and hurriedly and respectfully agreed. He hurried back to the front position and conveyed the order to Yuan Sheng'an.  "All artillery positions are available, target: the enemy's first city wall, eight rounds of rapid fire, open fire!" As a veteran who participated in the expedition to Japan and the Western Expedition, Yuan Sheng'an has reached the age of moving to the second line. This time  The expedition was his last chance to make a contribution. Although he had participated in the battle a few days ago, when it came to the results of the battle, it was actually not many. He was basically cooperating with the infantry to rush across. Now, it is just  The real stage of the artillery division is where Yuan Sheng'an has been looking forward to it for a long time. After receiving the order to fire, his spirits were lifted even though there was not much nonsense, but he suddenly waved his hand.  The little red flag in the middle was already giving the order in a high-pitched voice.  "Boom, boom, boom" Following Yuan Sheng'an's order, the artillery divisions at the forefront of the army and the artillery regiments of each infantry division all moved into action, and the sound of artillery rumbled instantly.  Among them, the eight mortars are the most noisy. Every time they are fired, the ground is shaken, nothing more. The power of these super cannons is simply too great - the mortars used by the Qing army are  It is the latest siege weapon developed by the Ministry of Industry. It has a caliber of 480 mm. It has a short barrel and a low muzzle velocity. However, each shell weighs 600 kilograms. It is a giant cone-shaped shell.  It is filled with high explosives and blasting shrapnel, and its destructive power is astonishing. Even if the walls of Bratsk Castle are made of huge stones, in the face of such giant bombs, they are not much stronger than mud. As long as  Where it hits, the city wall will inevitably collapse, with dust and gunpowder smoke everywhere, and rocks flying. The scene can be described as astonishing.  The Qing army has always attached great importance to the construction of artillery. The group army not only has artillery divisions directly under the army, but also has artillery regiments under each infantry division. Each brigade below also has artillery battalions. After careful calculation, there are thirty-two heavy artillery pieces.  There were so many, as for the combat artillery and light infantry artillery, there were more than 400 in total. Covered by such fierce firepower, the Russian officers and soldiers on duty on the first city wall were very unlucky. Only the first round  After the bombing, more than half were killed or injured. Those who were lucky enough to survive dared to stay where they were. They all fled before the second round of shelling by the Qing army began.  After the eight rounds of bombardment, the Qing army did not launch another bombardment, but quietly waited for the smoke to clear. After a stick of incense, the dilapidated city finally revealed its true colors, and there were seven or eight complete attacks.  Collapse. As for the arc-shaped fortresses erected on the outer city wall, they were basically in ruins. There was not a single living Russian soldier on the city wall. Even the Russian troops on the second wall had withdrawn early, leaving only  A small number of observation posts were still on the top of the city, fearfully observing the movements of the Qing army.  "We have mortars and heavy artillery, target: the enemy's second city wall, fire ten rounds rapidly, open fire!"   Seeing that there were not many enemy troops on the second city wall, Yuan Sheng'an did not want to waste any more shells on the medium-sized anti-tank artillery and light infantry cannons that mainly killed soldiers, and only used heavy artillery and mortars.  Attack again.  The heavy artillery and mortars of the Qing army were not very fast, but their power was equally astonishing. They bombarded each other unhurriedly, and soon, the second wall of Bratsk Castle also appeared.  Collapse, although the gaps were much smaller than the seven or eight in the first city wall, only three collapsed, but for the Qing army preparing to attack the city, the road leading to the inner city was already  Having been blasted open, the seemingly impregnable Bratsk Castle now looked like a young woman who had taken off her clothes, waiting for the Qing infantry division to come and see her.  "Order: The Second Division launches an attack immediately, and all artillery divisions and regiments cooperate to fight!" After the smoke cleared, there were gaps in the enemy's front and rear city walls. Keluntai did not intend to wait any longer, and waved his hand.  An order to storm the city had been issued, and an entire infantry division was dispatched for the first attack, obviously preparing to rush into the city in one go.  The Qing infantry rushed like this, and the Russian observation post on the top of the city immediately sent out a warning signal. Immediately, groups of Russian officers and soldiers, under the supervision of the officers, rushed to the dilapidated city top and gaps, trying to provide relief.  The Qing troops in the city were given a baptism of blood. At the same time, the artillery positions hidden in the city also began to be busy preparing for the battle.  "Every artillery position is available, let's fire a round of covering fire, open fire!" Yuan Sheng'an's move had long been expected by Yuan Sheng'an, but he did not rush to order the artillery fire, but waited for the second division  The leading troops rushed to less than a hundred meters away from the city wall, then waved the small red flag in their hands and issued the order for bombardment again.  "Boom, boom, boom" With Yuan Sheng'an's order, the Qing gunners who had been prepared pulled the gun bolt ropes almost at the same time. More than four hundred cannons roared at the same time. Amidst the rumbling cannons, dense  The shells rained down on the two city walls, and huge explosions were heard one after another. The poor Russian officers and soldiers who had just rushed to the top of the city were killed and wounded on the spot.  Even those who were lucky enough to survive were all panicked. How could they have the heart to resist the Qing army's troops rushing into the city? Only the Russian artillery in the city fired a round of volleys, which was regarded as a guide for the Qing army soldiers charging into the city.  There were some casualties.  Speed ??up, speed up!  The officers and soldiers of the Second Division of the Qing Army had already had such drills related to advancing with artillery fire. Even though the front was filled with smoke and dust, and sporadic artillery shells were exploding from time to time, the officers and soldiers did not pay attention at all.  They rushed up the long ladder into the smoke, quickly built small bridges at the gaps between the moat and the city wall, and swarmed through the broken first city wall, braving sporadic Russian gunfire.  The cannon attacked and rushed towards the gap in the second city wall.  "Attention, artillery, 1st artillery brigade, secret position: four turns three, four turns four, 2nd artillery brigade, secret position, blast the enemy artillery positions for me!" Several Russian artillery positions have just opened fire  , the Qing army's artillery observation post quickly figured out the location of the enemy's artillery positions, and the secret positions were quickly reported to Yuan Sheng'an one by one. Yuan Sheng'an did not dare to be careless about this. After issuing a series of orders, the Qing army  The artillery positions of the army quickly adjusted their muzzles according to the instructions, and bombed wildly. A few rounds of shelling completely destroyed the Russian artillery positions, effectively supporting the siege operations of the Second Infantry Division.  .  The Russian army is far inferior to the Qing army in terms of strength, weapons and equipment, and training level. If they want to defend Bratsk Castle, all they can rely on are city fortifications. Now, with the Qing army's second division rushing into the city  , the fate of the Russian army's defeat was no longer possible to reverse. However, at this time of desperate situation, the Russian army still did not surrender on a large scale. It relied on the complex terrain in the city to fight against the Qing army that had entered the city.  A bloody street battle, trying to rely on the advantage of the terrain to squeeze the Qing army out of the city. There is no doubt that this is just an extravagant hope. How can the Qing army, which has two close combat weapons, grenades and revolvers, be beyond the capabilities of the Russian army?  Those who can withstand it - it doesn't matter if the roads in the city are unfamiliar, just open the way with explosive packs, directly blast all kinds of obstacles, whether they are houses or churches, blast them all the way, without giving the Russian army a chance to take advantage of the danger.  At the end of the day, as dusk approached, after nearly three hours of fierce fighting, the Russian resistance had been completely flattened. With the surrender of General Balchovsky, the governor of Eastern Siberia, the people in the Bratsk Castle  The sound of gunfire gradually subsided. It was a battle. Of the nearly 40,000 Russian troops defending the city, more than 13,000 were killed and more than 25,000 were captured. Only a small number of officers and soldiers took advantage of the chaos to escape from the city. A matter of great importance  The overall battle ended with the complete victory of the Qing army
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