Chapter 758 A brief firefight
This was the first time for the special operations force to encounter a pre-war prayer ceremony like this. Regardless of whether it was the Ming Dynasty, Annan, Champa, Portugal or the Netherlands, or even the Shibazhi pirates, no opponent they had encountered in the past had the leisure to play such a trick when facing battle. However, these pretentious things will not bring any mental pressure to the Haihan soldiers. After victory after victory, the soldiers firmly believe that the weapons in their hands and the comrades around them are the most reliable things on the battlefield. Haihan Min The team's victory has never been achieved by relying on tricks such as jumping masters.
After a long wait, the natives finally ended their mysterious ritual and began to slowly gather at the edge of the mountain forest. At this time, Qian Tiandun was free to hold up his telescope and observe his opponent's movements on the observation deck set up in the middle of the camp.
Due to limited conditions, it is unlikely that the militia troops going deep into the inland can build tight and solid defenses. The current defense measures on the perimeter of the camp mainly consist of various horse and deer villages made of wood and bamboo. There are also There is a snake belly wire fence. In order to ensure a relatively wide shooting field of view, the perimeter of the camp in the west and south directions has been cleared, and there are basically no obvious obstacles within a hundred steps. The east and north directions are backed by two water veins, Zhuoshui Creek and Qingshui Creek, so there is no need to worry too much about opponents launching attacks from the water.
Qian Tiandun could clearly see the weapons equipped by the opponent's soldiers from the telescope. Although many people were carrying bows and arrows, they were very crude in appearance, far from being compared with the standard bows and arrows equipped by the regular army of this era. . This kind of bamboo bow and arrow may be suitable for shooting rabbits and birds, or hunting sambar, but when used on the battlefield, its range and power are very worrying. Although the range of the rifles used by the special operations forces is shorter than that of the standard models, it is definitely far better than the native bows and arrows. If the natives want to use this weapon to carry out a long-range attack on the Haihan camp, they may start a war. They will soon be disappointed after that.
After the natives gathered together, they slowly walked out of the forest in the shape of a long snake formation. The front row were warriors holding bamboo spears, machetes, hunting forks and other melee weapons, while the back row were archers with bent bows and arrows. Qian Tiandun made a rough estimate and found that the other party invested about 200 people in this wave of offensive. It seemed that when they just held the mysterious ceremony, more people arrived and joined in one after another. However, if the natives wanted to use this small force to break through the defense line of the Haihan camp, it was obviously not enough.
When the opponent marched to a place about 300 meters away, Takahashi Minami asked the soldiers around him to fire a symbolic warning shot. However, perhaps due to the blessing of the mysterious ceremony just now, the natives obviously did not stop their progress after being warned. Instead, they gradually accelerated their progress. It seemed that they hoped to attack the Haihan camp with a quick attack. line of defense.
"Raise the rifle!" Takahashi Minami gave the order, and the soldiers who had already formed up on the defense line immediately raised their rifles that had been loaded. The soldiers in the first row raised their guns flat and aimed their guns at the natives trotting forward in the distance.
As the sharp whistle sounded, the soldiers pulled the triggers together. The projectiles coming out of the barrel cut through the air with scalding temperature, knocking down the few natives who were rushing at the front a hundred meters away. One of the unlucky ones didn't even have time to scream, before half of his Tianling Cap was ripped off by a bullet.
The soldiers who finished shooting did not stop to check whether they hit the target. They immediately put away their guns and gave up their positions and retreated to the back. The soldiers in the second row stepped forward, raised their guns, aimed, and pulled the trigger in response to the commander's whistle. trigger. Takahashi Nan arranged two platoons of troops on the defense line to shoot. After all the combatants completed the first round of shooting, the natives gave up the charge and turned around and fled back.
The archers in the distance had already stopped moving forward when they saw that the situation was not good, and after the bows and arrows they shot fell crookedly from the air, they were all inserted on the ground outside the defense line, closest to the Haihan soldiers. The impact point was at least ten meters away, posing no actual threat at all.
"That's all?" Gao Qiaonan looked at the natives running back and couldn't help shaking his head and sighing: "Scumbag!"
Naturally, the indigenous people's offensive of hitting rocks with eggs was unable to create real trouble for the Haihan militia, which was waiting with guns and ammunition. The huge gap in the combat effectiveness of the two sides made it impossible for the indigenous tribes to even see a glimmer of hope of victory. They were already under the attack of Haihan's long-range firepower. Exited completely defeated under pressure. The battle was so short that the new recruits watching the battle were over before they had time to calm down their excitement.
"This...is the fight over now?" Sun Zhen and his comrades heard that the war was about to begin, and when they entered the preparation position, they happened to see the veterans firing for the last time. From the time he heard the first gunshot to the end of the battle, Sun Zhen clearly counted that the participating troops on Haihan's side only fired five salvos in total, but the menacing opponent had already been defeated.
As a veteran, Wu Qin seemed very calm about this: "These mountain monkeys can run fast! If they dare to continue rushing forward with their heads down, they will all die here!"
Although the firing surface that was launched in platoon units just now was not too large, the firing frequency was enough to prevent the opponent from smoothly charging to the defense line. At least 30% to 40% of the natives fell in the five rounds of shooting, and the opponent Apparently unable to withstand such heavy casualties, they decisively chose to retreat - or perhaps escape would be more accurate. If the native troops were not too small and the distance between them was loose enough, the casualties caused by the five rounds of shooting would have been even greater. And if they want to rush to the defense line, they have to withstand at least two rounds of shooting, and the hit rate will be greatly improved after the distance is shortened. These two rounds of close range shooting are enough to cause heavy losses. In addition, there is a combination of barbed wire and roadblocks outside the camp that does not look so conspicuous but has a very strong blocking effect. It is enough to stop the native soldiers outside the defense line and withstand two more rounds of shooting. This distance is basically as close as It was enough to put the muzzle of the gun directly on the forehead and shoot. Not to continue rushing forward was indeed the most correct choice for the survivors.
"This... is too simple!"
The thoughts running through the minds of the recruits were almost exactly the same. Before the war started, they were all worried about the safety of themselves and this unit. After all, this was a completely unfamiliar environment for the Haihan Militia, and the enemies they were about to face were also from the past. A strange group of people that I have never interacted with before. Moreover, Fengrong Village, which we passed through earlier, has been oppressed by the natives for a long time. Presumably these natives are not so easy to get rid of. But all the recruits never expected that this native armed force, which spent a lot of time on rituals before the war, would be completely defeated in the first round of the battle. Although defeating the enemy is something worth celebrating, the new recruits always feel a little inexplicably disappointed because the victory is so easy.
There was no hand-to-hand combat as they imagined, no fighting, no comrades lying dead in a pool of blood, and the battle was over before they even remembered to see the face of any enemy. Thinking about how nervous they were about such a small thing just now, the recruits all felt a little ashamed. Sun Zhen also seemed to understand a little bit why officers at all levels like to claim that their unit is "invincible" in their lectures. Judging from the situation of the battle just now, it is indeed difficult for any force to be able to compete with equal forces. time to contend with the Haihan militia. After all the enemies fled into the forest, Haihan waited for a while to make sure that the enemy had no intention of launching a second wave of offensive, so he sent people out of the camp to count the results of the previous killings. The so-called three hours of charging and five minutes of talk time couldn't be more appropriate to describe this short battle.
The five rounds of shooting just now killed nine natives on the spot, and there were more than 30 injured who failed to escape from the battlefield, most of whom were seriously injured. Haihan did not intend to spend limited resources to rescue these prisoners. Although some of the injured successfully escaped from the battlefield, according to the medical environment of the native tribes, which still relies on witch doctors, some of them will probably eventually die from various complications caused by trauma.
After clearing the battlefield, the soldiers only brought back a few wounded prisoners who were in good physical condition for interrogation, while the others were abandoned in the wilderness and left to fend for themselves. However, this kind of interrogation is actually of little significance. Even if the situation of the other tribe is found out, Haihan is unlikely to send troops to conquer in the short term.
Qian Tiandun didn't show any joy when he heard the statistics of the results. For the special operations force, this was just an armed conflict that was too small and ordinary. Of course, perhaps a few years later, the historical data recorded by future generations will list this battle as "the first battle of Haihan's occupation of Taiwan Island", giving it more historical value. But for now, Qian Tiandun will only consider how to clean up the beginning and end of this matter and give a reasonable explanation to the executive committee.
After fighting face to face with the indigenous tribes, the various goals of the Haihan Militia's trip have basically been achieved. Due to the limited amount of supplies carried by the Haihan Militia, there is little practical significance in continuing to stay here. It is time to consider withdrawing from this sensitive area. However, this confrontation actually took more than half a day from beginning to end. It was not appropriate to evacuate toward the coast at this time. You would have to stop and camp again before you could go far, so Qian Tiandun decided to camp here again. One night.
Qian Tiandun would not get carried away because of the victory just now, and still carefully deployed sentry posts to prevent the indigenous tribes from launching sneak attacks in the dark. The new recruits were finally assigned regular tasks other than fetching water and chopping firewood, and could stay at the sentry post overnight - of course, this must be under the premise of being equipped with veterans.
Sun Zhen was in charge in the latter half of the night. After dinner, he was driven into the tent to hurry up and sleep. He was woken up at midnight and went to the defensive post to change the guard. The sentry post he was responsible for was located by the Zhuoshui River. There was a fire in the open space about 20 meters outside the defense line to prevent anyone from touching the sentry post.
There is no lighting on the sentry post. It is a pit covered by bushes. People inside can look out and see the scene outside, but from the opposite side it is difficult to detect that there is someone ambushing them. Sun Zhen checked his rifle and the copper whistle hanging around his neck before cautiously entering the sentry position.
The veteran partnering with Sun Zhen is also from Annan, but his Mandarin Chinese is far inferior to Wu Qin's. With a strong Guangxi and Guangxi vernacular accent, Sun Zhen, a northerner, can't understand what he is saying, so the two After a brief greeting, they fell into silence.
Time soon arrived in the morning. Except for a deer that accidentally broke into the defense line, nothing happened that night. It seemed that the indigenous tribe was really hurt by yesterday's battle and had no intention of continuing to fight. .
However, the natives did not completely abandon their compatriots. The team that went out to patrol the camp early in the morning found that the corpses and wounded outside the camp yesterday had disappeared today. Most of them were moved quietly by the natives in the dark in the middle of the night. .
After breakfast, everyone packed up and gathered to evacuate the temporary camp. Before that, Qian Tiandun used a telescope to discover that there were scattered natives in the distant mountains and forests watching over here, but they did not show up to block the actions of the militia army during the evacuation. The only one who felt unsatisfied was probably Minami Takahashi, who regarded combat as his greatest joy in life. Yesterday's battle ended without even reaching the level of excitement for him. If he were to command this force, even if he didn't go into the mountains to attack the natives' lair, he would at least have to stay in the temporary camp for another two or three days to see if there was any chance of another fight.
Most of the recruits felt lucky. Being able to leave here safely was undoubtedly the best result. Only a handful of people like Sun Zhen would think about how to ensure that they could survive safely on the native territory if the next outdoor survival training was really conducted in this environment.
While passing through Fengrong Village, the two guides received their reward before leaving. Qian Tiandun sternly told them not to spread the experience of the past few days in the village, because sooner or later the natives in the mountains would come out for activities. If they learned that the people from Fengrong Village participated in yesterday's battle, it would be very dangerous. It is possible that this account will be settled directly on Fengrong Village. As for the guide who participated in Haihan's negotiations with the natives for money, Qian Tiandun suggested that he leave Fengrong Village temporarily and either follow his troops to Penghu or go to Bengang in the south to hide for a while.
It was a stop-and-go journey when they arrived, but it took only two days for the troops to return to the camp by the sea.
(End of chapter)