At 6:00 am on November 17, the sky was just brightening. Huang Xing knew that the enemy army across from them must have received reinforcements. He still refused to give up his last hope and ordered all units to concentrate their forces and launch a fierce attack on Yubao Gate. The militia, without heavy weapons support, formed neat rows and launched another charge at the Beiyang Army's position at Yubao Gate, unexpectedly finding that the Qing army reinforcements had not arrived.

  All the way, people kept falling down, and many people died gloriously without even seeing the enemy's face. The morale was severely damaged again, and the militia showed signs of collapse. Huang Xing was anxious but had no solution. He could only shout: "Comrades, charge! For the great Han, for China, charge!"

  The soldiers all lay on the ground, no matter how the officers pulled and kicked them, they refused to move forward. The old soldiers of the Beiyang Army were skilled in shooting, and several shots came over, some brave officers fell one after another. As a result, the soldiers of the people's army were even more reluctant to charge. Huang Xing watched this scene, his heart was burning with anxiety but he could do nothing about it.

  "Hmm... Boom" The sky gradually brightened, and with the start of the Northern Army's artillery fire, the last straw that crushed the camel finally arrived.

  First to collapse were the Hui party armed forces who could only fight in favorable winds. At first, a few people escaped, and then followed by "pointing fingers, tight wind, shouting loudly" three or four thousand people dispersed in an instant, leaving the Xiang army officers and soldiers on this side of the battlefield stunned. However, those who ran first may not be able to escape, and it's unknown which blind leader led them astray, as most of the Hui party's cavalry fled towards the right side of the battlefield, coincidentally where Ma Jizeng's cavalry was about to attack. With no room for hesitation, Ma Jizeng waved his flag, and over a thousand cavalrymen thunderously charged out, their gleaming sabers slicing through the bodies of these Hui party heroes who had always boasted of their bravery and fearlessness. Blood splattered everywhere as one revolutionary martyr after another (did they even know what Three Principles of the People meant?) was caught up by the Qing army's cavalry and struck down. The Hui party heroes now regretted joining this futile revolution, and their greatest hope was to outrun their comrades, which would give them a chance to survive. As for whether they could outrun the Qing army's horses, they were clear-headed about that - it was an absurd joke.

  The cavalrymen of Ma Jizeng's troops were killing with great relish, but this was a given. When facing an enemy who had sold out their own people, it would be strange if they didn't kill with relish. These cavalrymen were working hard and seriously, all pointing to the fact that they wanted to use the blood of these rebels to get themselves a promotion. So when they swung their swords, they completely disregarded the fact that they too were Han Chinese, and the reality that they were killing brothers of the same nation. Never mind, they excitedly watched as the rebels fled in disarray, as if those weren't living lives, but rather the stepping stones for their own promotion and wealth. With each swing of their swords, they were forging a brilliant future for themselves. From time to time, a militiaman would have his head chopped off by the sharp blade of a cavalryman's sword. Some militiamen couldn't run away and raised their guns to block, only to be knocked flying, their arms severed, and they would cry out in pain until they fainted on the spot.

  As the Qing cavalry charged, the rout spread from one point to the entire line.

  Gan Xintian led the third battalion behind the second battalion, and as soon as he saw that things were not going well, he didn't even wait for Commander Huang's order. He immediately commanded each camp to retreat in the direction of the Bo'ai Academy. He knew there were boats nearby, and after Wang Longzhong stormed out yesterday, his first order was to have all the boats come over and prepare for a possible retreat. Now it just so happened that this preparation came in handy. As soon as the retreat order was given, Gan Xintian's nose almost got twisted with anger - were these officers all related by marriage? Hadn't they attended military school? Not even leaving behind a rearguard unit, they all rushed to the back like a swarm of bees. Gan Xintian didn't have time to scold them for two sentences before he was swept up in the chaotic retreat along with the soldiers.

  Liu Yutang's second echelon was already entangled with the Beiyang Army infantry at the forefront, and it was impossible to retreat. Liu Yutang, filled with extreme grief and indignation, issued a withdrawal order while personally leading his guard team in a charge, engaging in a desperate fight to the death with the attacking Beiyang Army. Despite Liu Yutang's exceptional bravery, he was unable to exert himself against the well-trained Beiyang Army. Before he could even kill a few Qing soldiers, a wicked bullet pierced through his chest, and Liu Yutang looked at the wound on his chest that continued to bleed profusely, then gazed at the approaching Qing army, whose figures were clearly visible, and fell to the ground with a sense of unfulfilled longing.

  Liu Yutang, commander of the second column of the Hunan-Hubei army, died a heroic death in battle.

  Wang Longzhong, who was hot-tempered, said he would not participate in today's attack, but after all, he still had a basic understanding of the overall situation. Except for leaving Wang Zhenyu's battalion at the academy on standby, the first and third battalions were still dispatched by him to follow Huang Shuai and participate in this doomed attack.

  However, before departure, Wang Longzhong had a special entrustment to the two of them. The positions of Lu Diping and Liang Xiqiu's two battalions naturally fell behind the entire army, with a sense of not doing their job well. At this point, looking far away, so many people were frantically retreating, and the two of them understood that the situation was not good. However, the two of them still had some brains and were calm, and did not follow Gan Xingdi's troops in a swarm, blindly running back. This kind of retreat would result in extremely heavy losses, after all, the Qing army was pursuing them. Therefore, they decided to form a defensive line on the spot and observe the situation before making a move. This action unexpectedly supported the withdrawal of the second battalion of the Second Brigade, and the small group of Beiyang Army had bitten onto these two battalions. Although these two battalions had an absolute advantage in numbers, they were unable to organize a counterattack or blocking force due to the death of their commander and the collapse of morale, and could only watch as the small group of Beiyang Army repeatedly took bites out of them.

  Lu Diping immediately ordered the soldiers to make a gesture, indicating that the friendly forces should pass through the middle of their own defensive position and not attack their own camp. Then he commanded his troops to fire at the Beiyang Army, who were pursuing with great enthusiasm and no defense. The Beiyang Army was completely unguarded and more than 30 people were killed on the spot, while the rest immediately dispersed. After defeating this small group of Beiyang Army, Lu Diping and Liang Xiqiu decided to retreat with their troops, fearing that if they waited any longer for the enemy's main force to arrive, it would be too late to escape.

  As the Qing army's pursuit action unfolded, the militia's counterattack plan to fight Hankou was thoroughly defeated, and it was a complete defeat!

  Bo Ai Shu Yuan, Gan Xin Dian burst in and hastily shouted to Wang Longzhong: "Wang big brother, the front line has been defeated, it's a terrible defeat. Huang Zong Commander's life or death is unknown, what should we brothers do? You must make a decision quickly."

  Wang Longzhong was stunned, how could it be that tens of thousands of troops were defeated so easily? He hastily grabbed Gan Xintian to ask what had happened.

  "Big brother, don't ask anymore, let's hurry up and retreat to the other side of the river. Otherwise, we'll have to wait for others to wrap dumplings." Gan Xintian had just grabbed a ladle to take a sip of water when his mind flashed back to that terrifying scene of tens of thousands of people fleeing in defeat. Suddenly, he felt a lingering fear, it was too miserable, fortunately, he had retreated quickly, otherwise, there would be no way to retreat from there.

  Wang Longzhong immediately understood that asking Gan Xintian was also a waste of time. This old fellow had obviously been scared silly by the Tartar soldiers. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Old Gan, you take the brothers from the three regiments and board the ship to cross the river right away. I'll cover for you, and after crossing the river, don't forget to provide support for us."

  He was eager to get away and didn't even bother with formalities, just a quick bow before hurrying out to summon his subordinates.

  The Qing army along the entire Jade Belt Road was also in a flurry, and Ma Ji-xiang immediately decided to leave one camp of soldiers to guard the station, personally leading four infantry battalions plus one cavalry battalion to rush out.

  By the way, Huang Xing is also a rare talent. When attacking, he always charges to the front, and when retreating, he often manages to retreat unscathed. From this point alone, it's hard not to admire him!

  This time, General Huang made a complete retreat, and how he did it is probably a historical mystery that will never be solved. The vanguard of the nearly 10,000-strong militia was defeated and fled in all directions. At this point, Ma Jizeng thought he had already won the battle. He ordered Ma Biao to pursue and kill the first batch of fleeing militiamen, while he himself led two battalions to attack the Boai Academy directly. The other two battalions were ordered by Feng Guozhang to attack in the direction of Zongguan. In short, he wanted to eliminate all the militia that had entered Hankou, which would be a great achievement, and maybe even get him a red hat with a wife and children.

  Wang Longzhong had Wang Zhenyu lead his troops to meet and escort Lu Diping, Liang Xiqiu and others. As a result, they brought back four battalions at once. Wang Longzhong took one look at the situation and understood that Liu Yutang's chances of success were slim this time. Although the two men didn't get along well on ordinary days and often clashed with each other regardless of the occasion, now that things had come to this point, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in his heart. Wang Longzhong then said in a low voice to Zhu Guangdou and Hu Zhaopeng, the commanders of the Second Corps: "Your Liu Yutang is quite something, not bringing shame to our Hunan Army. You two battalions will be incorporated into my corps from now on. Don't say anything else. Old Gan's Third Corps is almost finished, you should hurry up and leave too. I'll personally lead troops to cover your retreat."

  Zhu Guangdou and the two cooperative military officers were instantly moved, originally wanting to join forces with Wang Xietong to kill the enemy together. However, they also knew that their troops' morale had been exhausted and had no strength to fight again. Therefore, the two men did not decline anymore, saluted each other with a standard military salute, immediately gathered their troops and led them to rush towards the riverbank.

  Around 11:00 am, two battalions of the Northern Army led by Ma Jicheng himself chased to the Boai Academy. The last ones who were driven into the academy were the student army directly under the command of the headquarters, mainly composed of students from Hubei Third Military Middle School.

  The headquarters was already in a mess, with several teams arguing over the withdrawal plan, and all sorts of unfavorable news kept coming back, making Wang Longzhong's head ache.

  Wang Zhenyu stood at the edge of the table, lost in thought as he gazed quietly at the hand-drawn military map on the desk. Since yesterday's failed attack, he had been tormented by one thing: was history really unchangeable? Did he really have to be a fleeting passerby in this era? Or should he die heroically and become an unknown hero? Ugh, his future self didn't want to die here. The martyrs of the people's army who participated in this battle were never mentioned again in later generations, while the overthrown Qing dynasty was repeatedly eulogized on TV screens with great fanfare. What a joke!

  The current situation is indeed very bad, can I do something to turn it around? What to do, what to do?

  In his desperation, he suddenly remembered a movie, Night Raid.

  It was the movie "Night Attack" produced by the August 1st Film Studio. At that time, the Eighth Route Army's Chen Xilian unit mistakenly entered the Japanese airport and achieved the unprecedented feat of infantry defeating aircraft. How about me? Can I also find an opportunity to play a night attack?

  Looking at the military map in hand, his mind began to turn rapidly. The Beiyang Army would emerge from here, and it goes without saying that the defense of Yudaomen Station was extremely lax at this moment.

  Night raid on the Jade Belt Gate? Wang Zhenyu's bold imagination had taken a big leap, but calming down from a practical operational perspective, if the steps were proper, the success rate was still very high. Looking at the military uniform of the same color and style as the Northern Army on his body, Wang Zhenyu's heartbeat began to accelerate uncontrollably...