Although Shen Zhixiang has never left the army, many years have passed since he last led troops on the front line to fight a war. Although he was excited to return to the battlefield, he could not help but feel a little exhausted both physically and mentally.
Although he had no appetite, he still finished the dinner that was delivered to him. He knew that he had to be in good physical condition to continue to command this important battle.
Fortunately, Cangzhou City's food and grass reserves were very sufficient. When the Ming army evacuated in panic, they had no time to take away the food and materials in the city. As a result, they all took advantage of the Haihan army.
Even if the Ming army can now surround Cangzhou, Shen Zhixiang does not have to worry about a shortage of food in the city in the near future. With the current strength of the Haihan Army defending the city, even if they stay until next year, they will not be able to finish the military rations here.
What Cangzhou urgently needs to replenish now is not military rations, but combat personnel.
After Shen Zhixiang finished dinner, he went to check the city defenses first. The night duty was taken over by the Pingdu Militia, while the Fushan Militia and Sun Quanming's troops, who had been on the front line all day, withdrew to seize the time to rest.
The Ming army will most likely come back, and these two troops will still have to be the main defensive force. Whether their condition is maintained well or not is directly related to the stability of Cangzhou's defense line.
But in today's battle, both groups had suffered casualties that could not be ignored.
The Fushan militia group responsible for guarding the south of the city has experienced two fierce battles and has lost more than fifty people so far.
Although Sun Quanming's troops guarding the east of the city faced slightly less pressure, they also lost more than 20 people.
According to Shen Zhixiang's past experience, the first day of battle is often the day with the lowest intensity of fighting. Once both sides understand each other's strength, they will enter the real stage of fierce fighting. The few troops he commanded could not withstand the consumption of large-scale battles. Once the number of casualties reached a certain proportion, the combat effectiveness of the troops would plummet.
But even so, Shen Zhixiang must show confidence in front of the soldiers, cheer them on, and promise that he will definitely ask the Ministry of National Defense for credit for all those who participated in the war after the war.
In the Haihan Army, military merit is everything. Whether it is getting promoted to a higher rank or receiving benefits after retiring and returning to the local area, military merit is the greatest guarantee.
Even if it is just collective military merit, it is enough to buy food and clothing for the rest of life. Even after death, the coffin can be covered with a national flag, and it can have a place in the Martyrs' Shrine and enjoy the incense and incense offered by future generations.
If you can achieve personal military exploits, or even receive special honorary titles such as "Combat Hero", you can wait for the commendation order and promotion notice from the Ministry of Defense.
Although these troops temporarily sent to Cangzhou are not regular troops, this will not prevent them from obtaining officially recognized military merits and corresponding treatment.
Even the North Korean knights who came across the sea can also receive awards from the Haihan Ministry of National Defense. This would also be a great honor for their master.
After Shen Zhixiang made a tour, he returned to the official office in the city and drafted a telegram for the signal corps to send to the headquarters.
This time, he did not rush to move reinforcements in the telegram, but informed him of the enemy's situation and today's fighting situation one by one. With Chen Yixin's vision, it should not be difficult to infer the situation of the Cangzhou defenders from the message.
Not long after, a call back from the headquarters was sent. The content of the message was very brief, asking Shen Zhixiang to stick to Cangzhou and wait for reinforcements.
Shen Zhixiang only knew that reinforcements were on the way, but there was no way to guess how long it would take to reach Cangzhou. Chen Yixin may know, but he deliberately didn't mention it, probably to prevent the morale of the troops in Cangzhou from being shaken. Shen Zhixiang put down the message and got up again to go to the south of the city. If he continued to fight like he did today, the city would probably be lost tomorrow, and he would have to make some more targeted arrangements.
After a night's rest, the two armies clashed again.
Sure enough, after yesterday's battle, the Ming army probably believed that the Haihan army defending the city had limited strength. They doubled their troops as soon as the battle started today, and launched offensives from the south and east of the city at the same time.
Shen Zhixiang had to invest in reserves immediately after the war started, and asked the Pingdu Militia to reinforce the south of the city, while the Korean cavalry went to the east of the city to set up defenses.
Perhaps seeing through the limited number of artillery of the defenders, the Ming army sent a large number of archers in this offensive, using shield carts as cover, and advanced to within a hundred steps of the city. Then they launched a concentrated fire attack on the city head, trying to This was used to suppress the defenders' musketeers.
Fortunately, Shen Zhixiang had anticipated the enemy and had made targeted arrangements in advance last night. He built many wooden sheds on top of the city wall overnight to protect the heads of the defenders.
These ceilings are all door panels removed from various households in the city last night. Although they look uneven in size, the protective effect is really good. The arrows fired by the Ming army outside the city at high altitudes were like Hailstones hit the ceiling, but they were unable to penetrate the thick wooden boards.
Facing the Ming army who climbed up the ruins of the city gate, the defenders used more grenades today, smashing one after another into the crowd almost without interruption, causing the city to scream in agony.
Despite this, the Ming army still relied on their superior strength to advance to the top of the city bit by bit, but what greeted them was a denser musket array.
At a fighting distance of only one or two feet, the armor and shields of the Ming army could not withstand the fire of muskets. Basically, they would be shot into honeycombs when they climbed to the top of the city.
After leaving more than a hundred corpses at the top of the city, the Ming army's offensive was finally repulsed.
But Shen Zhixiang was not happy at all. The mines buried in the ruins of the city gate no longer posed a threat, and the grenade inventory had been consumed by nearly half.
There were still hundreds of rounds of artillery shells, but when the Ming army attacked the city, the artillery on top of the city could only hit distant targets due to the shooting angle, and it was difficult to resolve the crisis under the nose.
The most important thing is that the battle in the morning caused the Haihan Army to lose hundreds of men. The Pingdu militia company and the Korean cavalry, which had just been sent to the front line, suffered casualties in the morning battle.
The performance of the Pingdu militiamen who participated in this kind of battle for the first time was not ideal. It is said that many of them were trembling, could not even load ammunition, and could not fire a shot for a long time.
When shooting at targets outside the city, some people hurriedly leaned their entire body out of the crenellations of the city wall. As a result, they became living targets for the Ming army shooters outside the city.
This should not be the first actual training place for the militiamen, but now that it has happened, Shen Zhixiang can only hope that these raw melons and eggs can quickly grow up from actual combat.
On this day, the Ming army launched three waves of offensive and captured the city three times. The last Ming army that swarmed the city had over a hundred men, and even the musket array could hardly be defended. It was Shen Zhixiang who rushed forward with his own bodyguards and managed to repulse this wave of offensive.