Chapter 1111 Amphibious Operations
In the fleet that traveled to the Liaodong Peninsula this time, the captains, first mates, gunners, sail and cable chiefs and other senior officers of each warship were all veterans who had participated in many naval battles in the south in their early years. They were not familiar with such a battle scene. Strange, followed closely behind the flagship and continued to bombard Hou Jin's four warships. Although there are many recruits like Sun Bing on each ship who have not been in the navy for a long time and have little actual combat experience, under the command of the calm officers, the various positions are running relatively smoothly, and there are no sudden changes due to this incident. Chaos ensues from fighting.
After the Houjin warship discovered that the density of firepower output between the two sides was too different, it tried to take the initiative to bring the ship up to start a boarding battle. It's just that their warships are far less agile than the Haihan warship, and their speed of adjusting direction is relatively slow. Several attempts to ram the Haihan warship were interrupted by continuous gunfire. The sailors on the ship probably had not experienced a battle of this intensity. They were in chaos under the bombardment, and it was difficult for the officers' command to be effective.
Of course, even if these ships can successfully come up to them, what awaits them is not only strafing by the deck guns loaded with grapeshot, but also rifle fire from the Haihan sailors. It is estimated that they will have to be lucky to reach Haihan alive. The deck of the warship, and the Houjin warship, which was at a comprehensive disadvantage in terms of strength, firepower and ship tonnage, obviously had no chance of making a comeback.
Wang Tom was not nervous about this battle without much suspense. He had clearly calculated the strength gap between the two sides before the battle began. It was expected that he would destroy these enemy ships. Compared with the result, he cared more about the actual combat experience gained by his men in this naval battle.
The Haihan Navy has experienced battles with many parties in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and its results are also very proud. Most of the colonies occupied by Haihan outside Hainan Island were contributed by the navy. At this stage, it is not an exaggeration to say that they are invincible throughout the southeast. However, among the opponents that the Haihan Navy has fought against, the Ming Navy is probably the one with the least number of battles.
Because of Haihan's special policy towards the Ming Dynasty and the actual environment along the southeast coast, Haihan rarely fought with the Ming navy. The largest battle to date probably dates back to when the Haihan Army captured Qiongbei four years ago. They pretended to be pirates and lured the Ming Navy to the Beibu Gulf and annihilated them. After that, the Haihan navy gradually took control of the southeastern sea area, and the coastal garrisons of Fuzhou and Guangzhou maintained a wonderful tacit understanding with Haihan due to their respective interests, and no similar armed conflicts occurred again. Until last year, when Haihan stationed in Zhoushan, he received the news in advance and laid a trap at sea. He defeated the small force of Haining Guard Commander Ma Yue who tried to disguise himself as pirates to cause trouble. It was barely considered a battle with the Ming Dynasty Navy.
Although the warships in front of me are flying the flag of Houjin, the ships were built by the Ming Dynasty, and most of the people on board should be from the Ming Dynasty. This can also be regarded as a disguised battle with the Ming Dynasty navy. .
When the fleets of both sides staggered past each other and the last two exploration-class warships in the queue met the Houjin warship, the other side obviously had no intention of continuing to resist. Two of the warships had begun to capsize due to serious flooding in their cabins, and the surviving crew and sailors were jumping into the water to escape. Fortunately, this waterway is extremely narrow to begin with. After jumping off the boat, swimming to the shore is only about a hundred meters away. Anyone with decent water skills can complete it.
However, not everyone chose to flee to the shore. Some people placed their hopes of saving their lives on this unidentified opponent and decisively chose to stay on the ship and surrender on the spot. This situation is not surprising. The "Navy Division" of Hou Jin Dynasty were originally the navy divisions of the Ming Army who were kidnapped by the rebels and fled to Liaodong. Many of them had their hometowns in Shandong across the sea. Naturally, it was difficult. He willingly accepted the assignment from the Later Jin Dynasty. Only some of the family members of the soldiers were also brought here, and now they have to work for Hou Jin. However, those soldiers who have no family to care about naturally want to seize every opportunity to return to the Ming Dynasty.
Although they didn't know the origin of this strange fleet that suddenly appeared at Lushunkou, who else could come to this place besides the Ming Dynasty Navy? Since the battle has been defeated now, and the Houjin officer who supervised the battle on the ship has also fled to death, it is better to surrender obediently, and maybe he can take this opportunity to return to Shandong. As for whether they will be punished for treason after returning, they have not thought about it so much at the moment. In short, they want to leave here first. So the two Haihan warships at the back decisively slowed down and began to clean the battlefield and take in enemy prisoners.
This battle did not last long, but the intensity of the battle was indeed not low. Except for the last two ships participating in the battle, the warships in front all conducted at least one round of artillery fire, relying on their firepower advantage to force the battle. They defeated several Houjin warships that tried to use the narrow water channel to block the Haihan fleet.
After suffering intensive close-range shelling from the Haihan battleship, these four enemy ships were all seriously damaged and had basically lost the value of repair. However, the place is in the middle of the waterway. If these ships sink here, it will inevitably affect future navigation. Since there are only a few warships in Houjin, the impact on it may not be significant. By then, the work of dredging the waterway will have to be completed. On Haihan's head. Wang Tom took this into consideration and ordered other ships to cooperate in dragging these half-sunken enemy ships out of the channel, so as not to affect the access of his fleet here.
Seeing that the battle was over, Wang Tom immediately ordered all ships to report their battle damage status. Because the flagship had the strongest hull, the damage to the hull was not major. It was just a few dents on the sides and a few holes in the sails burned by rockets. Unfortunately, three personnel were seriously injured, but these battle losses were still within an acceptable range. When the warships following the flagship engage in battle, the enemy ship has lost most of its combat effectiveness after being bombarded by our own flagship. This makes the pressure encountered by the latecomers even less, but because the hull's protective power is not that strong. , but two people were killed in the battle, and the fatal injuries came from the Franco machine cannon on the enemy ship.
Several logistics supply ships originally stationed outside the harbor also joined in, slightly speeding up the cleaning of the battlefield. From the beginning to the end of the battle, no ships appeared to join the battle. It seemed that Hou Jin only had a few ships deployed in the harbor. This armed force may be enough to fight pirates and suppress restless fishermen, but it is still obviously weak against a navy like Haihan with a formal organization and advanced equipment.
Tom Wang did not wait for the battlefield to be cleaned up before taking the next step. Instead, he continued to move forward with two expedition-class warships. The small harbor behind the Golden Mountain on the east side can be seen to the bottom at a glance. Except for a few small fishing boats upside down on the shore, Wang Tom did not see any signs of human activity through the telescope. It seemed that the several warships that had just come out to fight The ship didn't come from here either.
Then only the harbor on the west side is left. According to the information currently known, the original city of Jinzhou Wei Zhongzuo Qianhu was located on the northwest coast of Lushun Port. In other words, Hou Jin deployed here The army, probably both land and water, was gathered here. However, it was clear that the Hou Jin Army had no other warships here, so Wang Tom did not have too many scruples and ordered to sail into this area of water. There are several stretches of mountainous areas on the northwest side of this harbor, and a plain near the sea is formed in the middle. Jinzhou Zhongzuo City was built according to the terrain, surrounded by mountains and rivers, guarding this harbor. But now the city has been replaced with Hou Jin's big dragon flag, indicating that this place no longer belongs to the Ming Dynasty.
There is a large pier on the coast outside the city. There are six trestles extending into the sea. Wang Tom visually inspects that there is still enough room for the fleet he leads to dock on the shore. Considering Houjin's strength at sea, it is unlikely that it would specifically organize the construction of such a large terminal. This is probably a result of the construction achievements of its predecessors. At this time, there were still a few ships on the pier on the seaside, but they were obviously not the standard warships of the Ming army. As expected, the several warships originally stationed here had been dispatched collectively just now, and now there were no troops available.
The Dengzhou navy that was coerced and defected by Kong Youde's rebels last year was far more than those four warships. However, it seems that Hou Jin deliberately dispersed them in order to control and manage these uncertain Ming Dynasty sailors, so as to avoid these Ming troops. Gather a crowd to rebel. Historically, the Hou Jin Dynasty established the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty three years later. During this period, the management of the Han people and the soldiers surrendered by the Ming Dynasty was relatively extensive. They were only distributed to various places and handed over to military leaders at all levels who led the troops.
According to the organizational structure of the Eight Banners in Manchuria, every three hundred people have one Niu Lu Ezhen, also known as Zuoling, every five Niu Lu have one Jia La Ezhen, also known as Shen Ling, and every five Jia La has one Gushan Ezhen. That is, the military and political commander of a banner. Later Jin dispersed the Ming Dynasty's surrendered troops to various banners. Although it indeed reduced the risk of using these people, it also greatly reduced their combat effectiveness. Without an organized unit, the strength that can be exerted on the battlefield is very limited. If all the naval forces brought from Dengzhou were deployed here, it would probably not be so easy for Haihan to win in the narrow waterway, or at least the price he would pay for it would be greater.
Although the Hou Jin Army sent all the warships deployed here to the battlefield, they did not deploy shore defense methods near the dock. There was no one on the shore, but the city in Zhongzuo was about 100 meters offshore. A mile away, it seemed that the Hou Jin army had given up the opportunity to attack halfway across the river and planned to defend the city.
Of course, it is also possible that the Haihan Army arrived too quickly. After receiving the news from Laotieshan, the local Houjin Army had no time to deploy coastal defenses on the coast outside the city. In a hurry, they could only send out a few warships, planning to They blocked it, but the effect didn't meet their expectations at all. However, knowing that the opponent's ship is equipped with long-range weapons such as artillery, he certainly does not dare to try to deploy the infantry near the coast without shelter. He can only adopt the safest method and retreat to the city of Zhongzuosuo.
Wang Tom did not relax his vigilance because of his opponent's show of weakness. He took a telescope and carefully observed the area within his field of vision, and finally discovered that there seemed to be human activity in a forest on the west side of Zhongzuo Suo City. . He observed this position for a long time, and finally saw a horse's head flash through the gap between the trees. It seemed that there was an unknown number of cavalry hidden in it.
Wang Tom thought for a while and figured out the possible tactics of his opponent. He probably hoped that his side would send people to land to attack Zhongzuosuo City. At that time, the cavalry in the forest outside the city would be waiting for an opportunity to attack the flank of the Haihan Army nearby. The chance of winning when riding against foot is definitely greater than when riding against the sea.
"It's a bit tricky!" This discovery made Wang Tom stop his contempt. Although his own strength was definitely higher than the opponent's, these Liaodong Boarskin were not rookies without combat experience. They are able to continuously advance the front line eastward and southward year by year, and do not fall behind the two huge opponents of the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia. This is not something that can be achieved simply by relying on courage or luck. In this field environment, the Hou Jin Army had its own set of mature tactics accumulated from actual combat. If Haihan was too careless, they might fall into their trap.
At present, the cavalry battalions of the troops heading north are basically deployed in Fushan County near Zhifu Bay. This time, the fleet heading north to the Liaodong Peninsula is not equipped with organized cavalry. There are a few horsemen responsible for field reconnaissance activities, but it is obviously impossible to send these limited number of horsemen out to fight head-on with the cavalry of the Jin Army. If they want to land for a landing, don't expect them to contribute much.
Wang Tom once again confirmed the location of the woods, which was about 800 meters away from the coastline. The range of some naval guns can barely be reached, but when launching a bombardment from sea to land, even if the shells can be hit at this distance, it is basically inaccurate. If the opponent rushes out of the forest while we are attacking the city, it is estimated that it will take 20 to 30 seconds to reach the flank of our infantry. It is difficult for ship-based artillery to intercept and snipe it in such a short time. The army has a certain chance to cause damage to its own infantry.
Of course, Wang Tom can also adopt a more standard method of foot versus cavalry warfare, just like what the Haihan Army did when they faced off against the Wanjia Army outside Fushan County. They established a beachhead and laid out a complete fortification consisting of trenches, barbed wire, and horse barriers. line of defense to cope with possible rapid attacks by enemy cavalry. It's just that to create such a complicated formation, a lot of civil engineering is required, and the time the fleet will spend here will be doubled. Moreover, although sailors can also conduct amphibious operations when necessary, attacking cities and fortresses is really not a combat method that the navy is good at.
(End of chapter)