Chapter 1237 Everything is ready
The tactic of using strength to defeat cleverness is simple to say, but it is not without difficulty in implementation. The firing speed of the muzzleloader cannon is limited, making it difficult to achieve intensive firepower output in a short period of time. To make up for this shortcoming, the only way to increase the number of artillery on the position is to increase the intensity of the firepower output. The number of artillery pieces at the Xingdao base is indeed large, but the scale of the artillery force is limited. There is only one artillery battery. If the operators of the port and coastal defense artillery are excluded, the remaining artillery force is probably only enough to operate six to eight artillery pieces. .
Theoretically speaking, artillery of this magnitude is enough to handle a thousand-man level battle. However, Roger has been in the Cross-Travel Group for a long time, and he cannot help but suffer from the phobia of insufficient firepower like other senior military officials. When encountering such a The situation will only increase the passing line of firepower output infinitely. I wish I could deploy hundreds of cannons on the position and blast all the enemy troops to rubble in one breath.
Roger speculated that the opponent's formation may not only have musketeers assisted by the British, but also artillery. However, the artillery was hiding and practicing somewhere, but no trace was found at the moment. If you can get information about your opponent's artillery units, it will be easier to deal with them during a battle.
But he then thought about it. It was too difficult for the opponent to use artillery as the main means of attack. The heavy artillery had to be boarded here and disembarked at the south of the strait. After arriving on the shore, there was no accessible road. It had to be transported to Deployment near a star port dozens of miles away is a great test of baggage capacity.
The Haihan Army has encountered situations similar to this in previous battles. When the Haihan Army attacked the Spanish-controlled Tamsui City in northern Taiwan in 1633, due to insufficient preparation before the battle, after the troops landed on the Tamsui River, the heavy artillery could not be quickly deployed to the battlefield because of the mud on the river bank. Delayed the fighter plane. How to quickly deploy artillery to land positions in amphibious operations has always been a combat subject that needs improvement for Haihan. It was a problem that neither the navy nor the Han army could solve, and Luo Jie believed that his opponent could not be any smarter.
If the opponent wants to insist on using artillery, then they have no choice but to settle for the next best thing. Either choose a lighter weight small-caliber gun to reduce the transportation pressure, or they have to give up landing on the north shore of Xingdao and use ships to transport the artillery to the south. Landing will be carried out near the star port. The former option will affect the intensity of firepower output on the battlefield, and the latter one seems easy, but the Johor Army does not have enough maritime transport capacity to deliver all the land forces directly to the south of the Star Island. If it only sends artillery close to the Star Island, The position of the island base is to wait for the arrival of large forces before cooperating with the operation. With the command and coordination capabilities of the Johor Army, and the fact that Haihan is already prepared, Roger believes that such an approach is actually no different from taking the initiative to die.
No matter which option is chosen, it will definitely greatly reduce the combat capability of the Johor Army, which is good news for Haihan. Therefore, although he did not see the opponent's artillery, Roger did not have too much worry. He was able to roughly confirm the opponent's strength and combat methods. This trip was considered to be in vain.
Roger originally considered kidnapping a few alive from the Johor Army assembly point. It would be best to capture one or two British guys who came to help in the battle, and find out what intentions they had to stir up this mess. water. However, after conducting field reconnaissance here, Roger's thoughts slowly faded away. There is no other reason. I just feel that the threat that the opponent can create is not as big as imagined, and now I have basically grasped the opponent's preparations. Next, I can calmly deploy on Xingdao and wait for the opponent to come to my door. . When the time comes for the British to step into Star Island, they still want to escape unscathed, even if it is more difficult than climbing to the sky. There is no need to take the risk of alerting the enemy and capture the survivors right now.
So the reconnaissance team came quietly and left completely silently. No one noticed that the enemy had appeared near their station, and they easily collected a large amount of valuable intelligence. If the British knew that such a situation was happening, even if they did not cancel the operation, they would probably immediately advance the operation time.
After they were done, Roger led the team back to the temporary camp on the coast. Roger was not worried about whether the Johor Army had a second assembly point. Judging from the opponent's military quality, they probably did not have the ability to launch amphibious offensives in multiple locations at the same time. Even Hai Han did not dare to easily attack a strong enemy. If you try such an out-of-the-box strategy in front of your opponent, if you accidentally get trapped by your opponent in one place, it will be difficult to regroup. With the strength of the Johor Army, if he dared to play such tricks in front of Haihan, Roger would probably wake up from his sleep laughing.
Of course, since Johor has hired the British as military advisers, such low-level mistakes will not happen. There was one day left in the original three-day operation. Roger planned to reconnoiter the nearby coastline. If he wanted to launch an amphibious landing here in the future, he might as well find a suitable landing site in advance.
But before that, Roger had to inform the base camp of the intelligence gathered today through the radio, and make corresponding arrangements immediately. Now that the assembly point of the Johor Army in the north of the strait has been determined, taking into account Johor's maritime transportation capacity and coordination and command capabilities, the landing site must not be too far from the starting point, so that an area can be roughly demarcated on the coast of Sing Tao in the south of the strait. , find out from the local area the most suitable location for an amphibious landing of a thousand people, and make targeted monitoring and preparations in advance.
The earlier this kind of preparation work is carried out, the greater the benefits will be when the war starts. Roger didn't even want to wait for one more day. He issued an order to the Star Island Base through the radio and began to conduct on-site surveys of key areas on the north coast tomorrow. , and immediately held a combat preparation meeting after Roger returned.
The reconnaissance operation on the third day remained uneventful under Roger's careful command. They did not even enter the Johor Army's warning area. Instead, they searched for a more suitable landing location on the coast near their own landing point and mapped out Corresponding military map.
Before nightfall, Roger ordered to pack up and embark on the return journey. The waste left over from the past three days was not thrown away. Roger asked the soldiers to collect it all together, dig a hole and bury it underground, leaving as little trace of anyone's presence as possible. The group of people returned to the meeting place early to wait. Not long after nightfall, the boat to pick them up came from the other side to meet them. When the tide rises tomorrow morning and submerges the footprints on the coast, it will be really difficult to find traces of their group's visit here.
After returning to Star Island, Roger and others stayed overnight at a nearby post. Hot food had been prepared for them in advance, so that the soldiers who had been eating marching rations for three days could feast on it. During this period, Roger did not forget to ask if Johor spies had been found infiltrating Star Island in recent days. However, he did not know whether the opponent had become suspicious and suspended such actions, or changed the infiltration location to the temporary outpost deployed by Haihan. There are no new discoveries.
Roger himself was quite satisfied with how smoothly this operation went. Eleven people went out, and eleven people came back intact. They successfully completed the reconnaissance mission without even having any direct contact with the enemy. The first-hand intelligence collected is also of extremely high value, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was an almost perfect operation.
The only person who felt a little disappointed was probably Marcus. This guy only thought about fighting and didn't like this silent reconnaissance method. In addition, he fully expected to get a big deal before returning, not to mention burning down the enemy's supply warehouse, but at least capturing a few alive and coming back for interrogation. However, Roger gave the order and the whole team boarded the ship and came back. There was no action content as he expected.
Under the light of the campfire, Roger saw the depressed look on the face of the big black man under his command, and he guessed it. He called him over and asked: "Marcus, what do you think of our operation?"
Marcus responded angrily: "Reporting to the commander, I humbly think that before retreating, we should teach the enemy a lesson." Roger said: "It is not difficult to teach them a lesson, but if this alarms the enemy, let them If the original battle plan is changed, won’t our reconnaissance operations be in vain?”
Marcus opened his mouth, but he didn't know how to answer his boss's question. His loyalty and personal bravery are his strengths, but he does not have a thorough understanding of the relationship between the goals and means of war. And this is undoubtedly a very eye-catching shortcoming for his future career as an officer.
Roger was quite patient and continued to explain to him: "First of all, you have to understand, what is the purpose of our organization and preparation for war? Is it just to repel the invading enemy? No! Simply repeling is not enough, we must Defeat them in one fell swoop, leaving no chance for them to stand up!”
As Roger spoke, he shook his fist vigorously to emphasize the tone, which made Marcus's mood rise.
"We have limited troops stationed on Star Island, and it is unlikely that we will place the battlefield in the area north of the Strait of Johor. To achieve such results, the most effective way is to let the opponent automatically enter our preset battlefield. But now They want to launch a war to fight us. We are on the relatively passive side, so how can we achieve this strategic goal?" Roger paused and let Marcus digest it, and then continued: "Of course it is. Scout their combat readiness, find out their possible main attack direction and marching route, and then set up an ambush and wait for them to step in!"
"I know you are very belligerent, which is a good thing for a soldier, but how to maximize your combat effectiveness and deal the heaviest blow to the enemy still requires thinking." Roger pointed at the horse. Kusi's big head said: "Don't just think about fighting and killing all day long, install more useful things! When the things here are taken care of, I will send you a report and send you to Sanya for a period of time to study the art of war. , otherwise how can we lead troops to fight in the future?”
After being taught a lesson like this by him, Marcus had basically figured out the key. It wasn’t that he was stupid, he just didn’t have the subjective awareness to think about these stakes in detail, but his boss gave him an explanation. , he can also understand the reason.
Marcus grinned, showing two rows of big white teeth: "Chief, forget about further studies or something. Sanya is thousands of miles away from here, and it takes a month or two to come and go. This will delay the business! If this During this period, we fought with foreigners again, so I missed the opportunity to kill the enemy!”
Roger laughed and scolded: "You know nothing! If you don't go back to Sanya to study as an army cadet, you won't be qualified for promotion. How will you be promoted to a higher officer in the future? Do you want to be a platoon leader for the rest of your life?"
Marcus scratched his head and said: "I am humble and stupid, but I didn't expect this level."
Regarding these promotion rules in the military, Marcus, who has been in the army for a long time, is not ignorant of it, but he is simple-minded and has no desire for power. He usually does not think about these things at all. But if it weren't for this, Roger probably wouldn't be so interested in a black subordinate and would spend so much time trying to improve him. In Roger's opinion, although Marcus is straightforward and doesn't like to use his brain very often, he is better than his simplicity and loyalty. The tasks assigned to him will be completed meticulously and without compromise, and his reliability is very high. That's why Roger will be here. I took him with me on this reconnaissance mission.
The next morning, Roger did not rush to lead the team back to the star port. Instead, he went directly to the key survey area he had designated and personally inspected the local terrain to determine the landing site that the Johor Army might choose. In fact, he had already inspected these places when he arrived at Star Island and had a general impression of the local terrain. However, he had to carefully confirm these details when it came to formulating the next combat strategy.
It has to be said that the terrain here does not have much advantage for the defenders. In the more than 20 miles of coastline he has drawn, there are no natural barriers that are conducive to defense, and the beach is also flat, even if it can There was very little cover for the troops to use as cover.
Of course, if Haihan Anxin wants to set up an ambush in this environment, it will not be difficult for Roger. There should be enough time now to dig trenches, build bunkers, set up anti-landing defenses on the beach, and deploy heavy firepower weapons. To build a firepower network, there are many tactics that can be used to build an advantage.
But there is one problem that Roger cannot get around, that is, such a long coastline can be used for landing, and the environment on the shore is almost the same, so he cannot confirm which one of the locations his opponent will eventually choose as the target. Haihan's military strength is not enough to block such a long coastline. If you want to bet on one of them, the chance of hitting it seems to be a little too small.
The actual situation is somewhat different from Roger's expectation. It seems that the opponent should also consider the issue of landing environment. The area opposite the assembly point is indeed very suitable for launching amphibious landing operations. It is not difficult for the Haihan Army to set up an ambush here, but it may be quite difficult to prevent the opponent from landing.
(End of chapter)