Chapter 651 Victory in the first battle
Before the ordering troops retreated, Zheng Zhilong thought about it and felt something was wrong, so he added: "Let all the artillery deployed in other places retreat!"
However, Zheng Zhilong's location was a full mile away from the line of fire. While the messengers were still on the way, the guns at Nanri Village had already turned to the next target. Of course, the gunners of Shibazhi did not just stand around and wait for Haihan's shells to fall on their heads. They also responded within a short period of time and began to launch artillery bombardments at Nanri Village. It's a pity that they didn't have time to conduct calibration before the war started. If they wanted to hit the expected target directly from a mile away, they basically had to rely on luck.
Shibazhi's luck was obviously not good enough. In this hasty war situation, almost no gunner could successfully hit the wall fort of Nanri Village in the first round of firing. In contrast, the accuracy of the opponent's artillery fire was incredibly high. In each round of artillery fire, several shells would fly into Shibazhi's artillery position, bouncing and knocking away all obstacles in its path.
Although the killing range of these solid artillery shells is extremely limited, their killing effect is full of deterrence. No matter how strong the nerves are, after seeing the scene of their partners being torn into pieces by the shells in lines, they will be very scared. It is difficult to maintain the courage to continue fighting. Although many of these pirates may be murderous murderers in normal times, when they find that they are just lambs to be slaughtered in the face of more powerful force majeure, this huge psychological gap will make many people feel despair and despair. Panic, just like those plundered targets who once trembled under their hands.
When Zheng Zhilong's order for the artillery to retreat reached the front line, Shibazhi's side had already lost two-thirds of the total artillery deployed here. However, when the pirates struggled to drag the artillery back, they found that the Haihan people's shelling had not stopped. The impact point of the artillery shells continued to extend northward, and their retreat speed could not avoid the enemy's artillery pursuit. . The pirates could only abandon their heavy artillery and flee back, saving their own lives first.
"Stop the bombardment!" Takahashi Minami confirmed from the telescope that all the pirates on the front line had fled, and ordered the bombardment to be suspended. Although the pirates had not completely escaped the range of the Haihan artillery, Takahashi Nan had no intention of just blasting them back to the sea. Qian Tiandun had made his combat intentions very clear before the war. This battle was to annihilate his opponents as much as possible and hit them painfully in one go, so that they would not dare to easily attack the military strongholds along the coast of Fujian in the future.
Among the weapons equipped by Shibazhi, only the artillery they purchased from Western countries can pose a relatively large threat to Haihan. Therefore, the first priority in fighting with them is to destroy Shibazhi's artillery first and let them Completely losing the long-range strike capability on the battlefield. And if Shibazhi tries to bring the fighting distance closer, it will be more in line with Haihan's wishes. The special operations battalion, which has almost fully equipped with firearms, is happy to teach these pirates what fire suppression means.
Takahashi Nan picked up the walkie-talkie and reported the battle situation to Qian Tiandun. Then he sat down on the ammunition box and took off the heavy helmet on his head to get some air. Although the battle lasted only about ten minutes, and Haihan had always taken the initiative, he was still sweating.
The artillerymen were in a similar situation to him at this time and took off their helmets to rest on the spot. The logistics personnel had already delivered cold water and rice balls to replenish calories, and the medical team also came to the position and began to bandage and treat the few wounded.
Although the weapons and equipment of the Haihan Militia have been mainly long-range weapons from the beginning, personal protection methods are still not far out of the average level of this era. Soldiers fighting on the front line are still equipped with iron armor and iron armor to protect the torso. helmet. However, this kind of metal armor is basically only used in wartime. During normal marches and drills, armor is not worn.
Takahashi Nan was not in the habit of wearing armor to fight, but this time it was Qian Tiandun who gave the order that frontline combatants must wear armor to fight. This is also considering that the first round of confrontation between the two sides was dominated by artillery battles. Although the armor certainly cannot protect against artillery shells, it can at least prevent the debris that splashes after the artillery shells hit the wall. And this did save Takahashi Minami once. There was an obvious dent on his helmet, which was caused by the gravel splashed after the opponent's cannonball hit the wall. Now his head is still a little dizzy. If he weren't wearing this heavy helmet, he would definitely have a concussion even if he wasn't dead.
"What a risk!" Takahashi Minami himself was a little lucky to see the dent on his helmet. He was not worried that he would be injured, but was afraid that he would have to retreat from the line of fire after being injured, thus losing the opportunity to gain military exploits.
Takahashi Minami put the helmet that saved him once on the ground next to him, then took off the two-piece body armor on his body, and then he felt a sigh of relief. Wearing this armor and helmet, which weighed a total of fifteen kilograms, you would quickly break out in sweat even if you didn't move.
However, as a field commander, he could not rest so easily. After adjusting his breathing, he quickly stood up and began to inspect various artillery positions on the field. This is to see how our own injuries and losses are and whether we need to immediately recruit personnel from the reserve team to supplement them. The second is to check whether the bunker fortifications at the gun emplacement have been seriously damaged by the opponent's artillery fire just now. If there are any areas that need repair, craftsmen must come to work immediately. The third thing is to take this opportunity to cheer up the soldiers so that they can face the next confrontation with full emotions.
The battle losses on Haihan's side were not serious. No one was killed in this round of confrontation, and only seven people were injured to varying degrees, all caused by the opponent's shelling. For Haihan, this result is quite good. After all, the opponent's artillery quantity is obviously superior, and both sides have equal conditions in terms of range. Haihan's advantage is only that the preparations are more complete, and the artillerymen have stronger combat capabilities. .
Such results made Takahashi Minami breathe a sigh of relief. Before the war started, he also believed that the most difficult thing was probably the initial artillery battle. From a certain point of view, it was no different from fighting with bayonets. Both sides had the opportunity to cause huge damage to the other side. But it was obvious that God had favored the Haihan side again this time. The artillery array that Shibazhi deliberately created did not cause much real losses to the defending side. On the contrary, their own battle losses were too great to be ignored.
Shibazhi's troops retreated two miles away and regrouped for an inventory. The result made Zheng Zhilong almost go crazy - in the brief exchange of fire just now, nearly half of the two hundred gunners were killed on the spot, but the survivors There are dozens of wounded in half of the army, and only forty or fifty gunners can continue to fight.
And this is not the biggest problem. The most serious thing is that Shibazhi prepared thirty-eight artillery pieces before the war began, and thirty of them were immediately deployed on the firing line. However, after the exchange of fire just now, these three Only five of the ten artillery pieces were saved, and the rest were almost destroyed by the Haihan artillery attack just now. Even if you add in the eight cannons that were used as backup and were not put into the battlefield immediately, only one-third of the cannons are left. And how long has it been since the war started? How to fight the next battle? Zheng Zhilong was silent for a long time before giving the order: "Stand where you are. Go and inform the red-haired people that we need their help."
Obviously relying solely on the advantage in the number of artillery is not enough to deal with the Haihan people in Nanri Village. It has become unrealistic for Zheng Zhilong to completely rely on his own strength to capture Nanri Village, and the external help he can rely on now, Only the Dutch came to help.
But the Dutch quickly rejected Zheng Zhilong's request for help because they noticed that in addition to the red and blue Haihan flag, the flags displayed by Nanri Village also included the military flags of the Ming Dynasty and the Xu family. If the Dutch landed on the island to join the war, this would This war will soon escalate into a conflict between countries, and this is not Hans's original intention of agreeing to send troops to Nanri Island. The big shots at the East India Company headquarters probably do not want to see another major conflict between their own country and the Ming Empire. large-scale armed conflict.
This is not because they are worried that their own armed sailing ships cannot defeat the Ming Navy, but that this useless conflict will greatly affect the East India Company's maritime trade in Northeast Asia. Moreover, the current situation on Nanri Island is relatively complicated. In addition to the participation of Shibazhi and Daming in the war, there is also the emerging force Haihan who is interfering in the middle. Of course, the Dutch will not forget that behind them there is the Spaniards who occupy the northern part of Dayuang Island and have been eager to challenge their maritime status in Northeast Asia. If there is a war with the Ming Dynasty, the Spaniards are also likely to Take this opportunity to add insult to injury.
For the Dutch, it would be a good thing if Shibazhi could retake Nanri Island, which would continue to attract the attention of Fujian officials and give the Netherlands more opportunities and space to cultivate its own power on Daiyu Island and the coast of Fujian. . If Shibazhi loses the battle, it will not cause actual losses to the Netherlands. At most, it will lose some channels for smuggling trade with the Ming Dynasty. Although this ending is not ideal, it is better than the negative impact caused by war with Ming Dynasty. Just come here to make soy sauce, no matter who wins or loses, and after the war is over, ask Shiba Zhi to collect a sum of money. This is the business that a smart businessman should do.
However, it was not easy for the Dutch to stay out of the matter, and Qian Tiandun had no intention of letting them just sit idle. After the first round of fighting on Nanri Island, in the harbor on the west side of Pingtan Island, located 20 nautical miles north of Nanri Island, the task force composed of the Haihan Navy and the Daming Navy was making final preparations for the attack. .
The top commander of Haihan is Xie Li, a naturalized civilian officer. He is also one of the first batch of naturalized civilian officers to join the navy. He has participated in almost every naval battle since the founding of the navy. He has rich experience in maritime combat and command. This time the Military Commission dispatched a small fleet to follow Qian Tiandun to station in Fujian, and did not appoint another commander to be the commander, which shows that the top military officials have trust in him.
Before Shibazhi launched the offensive on Nanri Island, Qian Tiandun and Xie Li had already formulated several action plans for different situations. One of the key points was to try to drag the Dutch into the water. The Dutch wanted to rely on their past achievements to deter the Fujian Ming Navy, so that they would not easily join the war. This was actually a good idea. If the Haihan people had not stepped in, Xu Xinsu would not have dared to take the initiative. Mess with the Dutch. But the situation is a little different now. Haihan has eight warships participating in the battle this time, which gives Xu Xinsu great confidence. If he can take this opportunity to hit the Dutch hard, it can be regarded as repaying the defeat with one stone. hatred.
For this reason, Xu Xinsu specially sent his two precious Haihan warships, and together with them, there were more than fifty naval warships of various sizes deployed to the front line of Pingtan Island - this was almost The elite forces of the Fujian Navy were concentrated.
Xu Xinsu dared to make such a big bet because Qian Tiandun gave him a reassurance after arriving in Fujian - as long as Shibazhi's counterattack against Nanri Island was resolutely defeated, what would happen next for Fujian? You can start making preparations to attack Penghu. The powerful fleet that Qian Tiandun brought to Fujian fully proved that Haihan's attitude was not a joke. Xu Xinsu had endured Shiba Zhi for so many years, and finally saw the hope of turning around. Naturally, she was not willing to miss it easily, so she gathered her elite men and sent them to this battlefield.
The commander of the Fujian Navy is Xu Xinsu's fourth son, Xu Yuzhuo. During his studies at the Shengli Port Military Academy, he studied courses related to cooperative operations with the Haihan Navy. He is the perfect candidate for this position.
There are not many ships in the fleet sent by Shibazhi this time that are actually used for combat. Most of them are responsible for carrying people and cargo, so that so many people can be deployed to Nanri Island at one time. The task of armed escort was mainly handed over to six Dutch armed sailing ships. The task force's battle plan was very simple, that is, the Fujian Navy would come forward to force the Dutch to take action, and then the Haihan Fleet would launch a follow-up attack.
No matter from which angle you look at it, the strength of the task force has a clear advantage. Therefore, the Fujian military is relatively certain of the outcome of this battle. The only problem is how to make the process more beautiful so as to maximize Get the best results at a small cost.
"General Xie, is our departure time confirmed?" After Xu Yuzhuo saw Xie Li who was patrolling at the port, he took the initiative to ask.
Xie Li nodded and said: "It's confirmed. We will set off at midnight tomorrow and start the battle immediately after arriving at the waters of Nanri Island in the early morning. The battle plan will be carried out as we made before. Please take the time to confirm the preparations, General Xu, and organize them at midnight tonight The combatants boarded the ship.”
(End of chapter)