Chapter 1098: Head-on blow
"The Special Operations Battalion is truly an ace unit! This camp is well-built and much more powerful than the gang of brats under my command!" Before Harugong got off the boat, he gave instructions to the temporary camp located on the bank of the Jiahe River. Good reviews.
The area of the camp along the river is not too large, but the functional areas such as the dock area, barracks area, material area, and warning area are very clearly divided. A piece of land is also specially fenced to house the horses of the cavalry company, and it is on the south side. Space was left for the expansion of the camp and a cavalry channel that allowed direct access to the camp. The special arrangements for the cavalry troops are very conspicuous in the camp planning. This is probably the detail that satisfies Harugong the most. Building a camp of this size in just two or three days is obviously not a task that can be accomplished by a cavalry company alone. Infantry who are better at camping and fighting are the main force in building the camp.
Compared with the cavalry units that set foot on overseas battlefields for the first time, the special operations battalions that have performed many combat missions abroad have richer experience in the layout and construction of frontline camps. Even if there were no travelers in the past two days, Taking command here, you can also build the camp and deploy the outer defense line without leakage. Of course, the people who came from the vicinity of the county town to seek refuge with Haihan in the past two days were not idle in vain. The people stranded here were organized to serve as labor force for the construction of the camp. Otherwise, it would be impossible to rely on the manpower of Haihan Army alone in such a situation. It is still a bit difficult to build a well-structured camp in a short period of time. When Harugong arrived, there were still hundreds of migrant workers sweating profusely on the river bank.
Of course, the Haihan Army had no intention of turning this temporary stronghold into a city. The continued construction here had two purposes besides expanding the camp. One was to give the refugees temporarily stranded here something to do and to use up their excess resources as much as possible Physical strength, to prevent them from thinking about things when they are free, and secondly, to allow them to adapt to the labor arrangements of immigrants in advance. After going to Zhifu Island, the labor arrangements they will accept will be similar to those here, so they can get into this rhythm as soon as possible. They can also adapt to life after immigration more quickly.
This time, two chiefs came to the front line to command and supervise the battle. Liu Xian and Amakusa Shiro naturally understood how much the superiors valued control of this area of Fushan County. Even the artillery, a powerful weapon, has been mobilized to the front line. It is obvious that the Zhifu Island Command is determined to solve the stumbling block of Wanjia Army here.
After Harugong and Chen Yixin disembarked from the ship, they immediately summoned local garrison officers above the platoon level to hold a combat preparation meeting to announce the headquarters' intentions and combat arrangements to everyone.
"Another cavalry company currently operating in the area west of Jiahe is already on its way to Fushan County and is expected to arrive before noon." Harugong pointed to the map and explained: "The infantry is responsible for fighting on the frontal battlefield, and the two cavalry companies The main task of the company is to circle back to the west of the battlefield and cut off the opponent's retreat. The headquarters hopes that the main force of the Wanjia Army can be eliminated by force as soon as possible to clear the way for our immigration plan. "
Chen Yixin added: "At that time, the infantry troops will be under my command, and Chief Kazakhstan will personally lead the cavalry troops to attack behind enemy lines."
Amakusa Shiro raised his hand and asked: "Chief, what if the other party doesn't take the initiative? Do we want to clean up the slums outside the county?"
"They will come out." Harugong was full of confidence in this: "With the current speed of people defecting to us, in three or four days at most, the people in the slums will be almost gone. By then they will be gone. No more cover.”
"Don't talk about these common people. If they delay for a few more days, I'm afraid the Wanjiajun people will start running away." Chen Yixin was also extremely unfavorable about the stability of Wanjiajun's military morale: "They have suffered so much before. Damn, we definitely won't let it go like this. They brought reinforcements here just because they wanted to fight a big fight with us. If the delay is too long, the previous defeat will spread, and the morale of the army will be further weakened, and it will also cause trouble for the opponent. Leave more time to adjust. If I were the commander of the Wanjia Army, I would definitely start the war as soon as possible to avoid long nights and endless dreams!”
Chen Yixin's guess was basically correct. Although the Wanjia Army had mobilized thousands of troops and native artillery that were regarded as the treasure of the mountain, the biggest problem they faced now was not the strength of troops or supplies, but the stability of the people in their own camp. Hundreds of people were lost in the attack the day before yesterday. This was almost the heaviest loss for the Wanjia Army in the past two years of military operations. Afterwards, troops were hastily mobilized, and the material supplies failed to keep up in time. Yesterday, they had to collect food on the spot in the slums outside the county. This chaotic arrangement can easily affect the morale of the military.
Although Wanmeng had ordered to block the news of the previous defeat, civilian armed forces like the Wanjia Army were originally a mob without much discipline. On the night when the newly transferred troops arrived in Fushan County, the previous battles with the Haihan people were in some cases. Rumors spread among the lower-level petty bosses. And once this kind of news spreads, it will be difficult to cut off its communication channels. By the time Wanmeng and Pu Xueguang realized that the news had spread, the situation was irreversible.
In addition to starting a war as soon as possible to defeat the opponent, Wanjiajun has no better way to solve the current situation of unstable people. Although the preparations before the war are not sufficient, considering that the fighting will of his own troops continues to decline, the only option at the moment is Catch the duck and put it on the shelf, bite the bullet and fight the Haihan people again.
In the middle of the morning, Wanmeng ordered the food to be served in advance, so that his men could fill their stomachs first, and then they set off in formation and began to assemble in the east of the county seat. However, the Wanjia Army's more than a thousand people were stationed scattered outside the city yesterday, and there was no unified arrangement and dispatch. It took a lot of effort to gather these people.
In the past few years, Wanmeng had been proud of the "invincible" armed force under his command, but looking at the scattered gathering of his men, Wanmeng really wanted to beat them. If they keep going at this speed, the Haihan people on the opposite side will probably have already prepared for war before they send out troops, and they won't even be able to achieve the effect of a surprise attack.
After finally waiting until 3:00 noon, the large force of Wanjia Army finally completed its assembly and began to advance from the county seat towards Jiahe. At this time, Haihan's cavalry unit had already set off and bypassed the county seat from the south. After meeting up with another cavalry company, it slowly circled back from the west of the county seat.
Deployed in the river bank position were two companies of the special operations battalion and the artillery company that had just been deployed. Although there were only ten artillery pieces in total, considering that the shooting angle was adjustable, the range that the firepower output could cover was also very large. The only thing that makes Chen Yixin regretful is that the artillery arrived in a hurry, and it was too late to make detailed preparations such as adjusting gun positions and calibrating fire. If the artillery position is required to contribute during the battle, then the shooting effect will probably only depend on the artillery. Experienced.
The infantry's preparation for battle is relatively simple. Although the special operations battalion is not good at this kind of defensive warfare that sticks to fortifications, they can still easily master the queuing and shooting tactic as the most basic musketeer tactic. Qian Tiandun even specially transferred five snipers from Zhifu Island to specifically eliminate the commanders and leaders of the opponent's camp during the battle in order to disrupt the opponent's combat command system. The defense line composed of barbed wire, trenches, and curved parapets is both deep and has numerous fire output points. Now they are waiting for Wanjiajun to jump on the chopping block.
It's just that the Wanjia Army's movements were too slow. When they started to assemble in the east of the city, Chen Yixin ordered them to enter the position to prepare for battle. However, after waiting for a long time, the other party had not completed the assembly, which made Chen Yixin dumbfounded. It's just that the battlefield conditions are limited. The Wanjia Army must be separated from the slums outside the county town so that the cavalry can outflank it. Otherwise, it will take little effort to directly attack this half-baked army while it is gathering. Dispelled it.
Seeing that the opponent finally completed the assembly and slowly marched towards Jiahe, Chen Yixin issued an order again and all front-line positions entered a state of preparation for war. "Master Huang, which side do you prefer in this battle?" Zhang Pucheng, who was watching the battle at the top of Fushan City, asked Huang Qu. Now that the Wanjia army was heading towards the Haihan people, he was completely relieved. It didn't matter what the outcome of the fight between the two families was, as long as Fushan County was not involved.
Huang Qu snorted and said: "If you give me five hundred elite soldiers, it will be enough to defeat Wanjia's army! If you put out such a messy military formation and arch it up, these people really think they are freeloaders on the opposite side! If they can win Haihan people, I will cut off their heads!”
Zhang Pucheng heard what he said so confidently and asked immediately: "If the Haihan people win, will they take the opportunity to threaten the county?"
Huang Qu said: "Your Excellency, you are too worried. The Haihan people are obviously not short of money and food, they just need people. When they recruit people in Fushan County, they have never thought of getting permission from the government? Didn't they send us the money the day before yesterday just to make us aware of what happened outside the city? Are you pretending to be deaf to the matter? ”
Zhang Pucheng makes sense when he thinks about it, but at least the Haihan people are more reliable than the Wanjia Army. After all, the Wanjia Army has not done anything positive except burning, killing and looting in Fushan County. The Haihan people came to Fushan County and at least helped some people. So far, they have shown no signs of going against the government, and their attitude is still relatively correct.
But even if Huang Qu didn't remind him of the current "war" involving thousands of people, Zhang Pucheng knew that the county did not have enough power to interfere with the direction of the war. If he didn't want to get into trouble, sitting on the sidelines was the most rational way to deal with it.
This time Wanmeng personally led the troops to suppress the battle, leaving only Pu Xuguang and a few people who could not fight in the battle outside the county town, and decided to make a desperate move. He was originally a ruthless desperado, but after suffering a big loss this time, he aroused his long-lost ferocity and wanted to fight in person. Of course, he was not arrogant enough to lead a charge at the front of the battle formation. He still honestly arranged the infantry, cavalry and artillery at the front, and brought a team of personal guards to supervise the battle at the back.
"Oh, there are actually a few cannons!" Chen Yixin quickly confirmed the weapons in the opponent's formation through the telescope. Although these cannons are not big, they cannot be easily transported by manpower, so they are still It was dragged out on a truck, and it seemed that it was planned to be re-erected in front of the formation. From this, it can also be seen that the opponent has a serious lack of experience in using firearms in combat.
"You've reached a new level of stupidity! You are treating us like rookies who have never seen the world!" Chen Yixin couldn't help laughing after he clearly identified the opponent's artillery deployment method. He has participated in many large and small battles. This is the first time I have encountered such an amateur opponent. When the two armies are facing each other, there is no time and space to slowly set up artillery positions. This tactic can probably defeat opponents with vastly different strengths and no long-range firepower output. It is no different when encountering an army like the Haihan Army. Yu committed suicide.
"Pass my order, the artillery will not open fire until my order!" Chen Yixin did not want to waste such a good training opportunity, and planned to arrange an actual target practice with a fixed target for his own artillery.
There is no doubt that the range of the Haihan artillery is higher than that of the opponent's native artillery. At the same shooting distance, Chen Yixin has full confidence in the shooting accuracy of his own artillery and the gunner's loading and aiming skills. Coupled with the infantry artillery position There are sandbag bunkers in the capital, so you can safely and boldly engage in a cannon-firing competition with your opponent.
Wanmeng did intend to use a few of his own native cannons to open up the situation, but because the range of these native cannons was extremely limited, they had to advance to within a hundred feet of the Haihan Army's defense line before they could set up gun emplacements. The three-pounder with the shortest range on Haihan's position can blast a distance of about 150 feet. If he knew that the opponent had a weapon with such a range, he would probably turn around and leave immediately.
Of course, Wanmeng also noticed the surprising calmness on the Haihan defense line, which seemed to have no reaction to the Wanjiajun's gradual approach. Regarding this simple sandbag fortification, Wanmeng did not think it had any defensive power. As long as the artillery opened the way and the infantry and cavalry swarmed up, they could break down the opponent's defense line.
Wan Jiajun finally reached the predetermined firing range after a long time. Wan Meng ordered the infantry to be on alert, and the gunners went to the front to set up gun emplacements. In Wanmeng's opinion, this position is relatively safe, at least the bow and arrow will definitely not be able to shoot this far.
Of course, this kind of deployment was a complete joke in Chen Yixin's opinion. When Wanjiajun stopped and started to arrange artillery positions, he ordered the artillery to focus on that area. Wan Meng, who was at the rear of the military formation, could hardly notice that several gaps were quietly opened in the enemy's bunker after being opened for hundreds of feet, and several black gun muzzles were exposed from the gaps.
While Wan Meng was still planning to launch a charge after a few rounds of shelling, Chen Yixin's patience had reached its end. Seeing that the opponent had begun to set up several earth cannons on the temporary gun mounts piled with earth, he ordered: " Target the opponent's gun position and fire!"
When Wan Meng was distracted, he suddenly heard an explosion in front of him, followed by several more explosions. He wondered why the fight had already started before I ordered the fire. When he looked again, he found that the military formation in front was in chaos.
(End of chapter)