Chapter 1366 Before Winter
After the news that Wang Jinmin executed several Houjin prisoners of war after the battle was reported to Harugong, it did not cause any waves. Harugong just followed the normal process and recorded these lives on the battlefield to kill the enemy. military record. On the issue of dealing with Houjin prisoners of war, Harugong also agreed with Wang Tom, Qian Tiandun and others. He believed that there was no need to waste resources on treating injured and sick prisoners of Houjin.
Even if the Houjin prisoners of war have intact hands and feet and have normal working ability, Haihan does not intend to transport them back to the south for resettlement. Instead, they will be transported to Shandong for digestion - there is a huge labor gap in the Fushan Copper Mine, and these Houjin prisoners Manzi happened to be sent to work as a coolie miner. Moreover, if they try to escape from the mine in their capacity, they will only end up in an area controlled by the Ming Dynasty. Regardless of official or private, the Ming Dynasty has long hated the Houjin people, and it will definitely be inevitable if they are caught. They were executed after being tortured.
After Hou Jin suffered this loss, he reacted quickly. He quickly adjusted the scale of the field force's operations, reduced the number of ten-person teams like the one that happened, and merged them into a larger team to avoid encountering the problem. The Haihan cavalry has no advantage at all. The Hou Jin Army is not afraid of sacrificing some manpower, but this kind of sacrifice cannot be an unrewarded effort. At least a certain exchange ratio must be achieved to be decent. They also knew very well that Haihan's cavalry did not have many troops, and if they killed each one, they would lose one, and it was impossible to quickly replenish troops to the front line of the battle like Hou Jin did. This was probably the only advantage Hou Jin could take advantage of at the moment.
The changes in the formation of troops of the Later Jin Army were naturally noticed by Harugong very quickly. The enemy's reaction was basically what he expected, because apart from having superior military strength and being relatively more familiar with the geographical environment, the Hou Jin Army had no other advantages at all. If they did not concentrate their forces, they would only be here. In this kind of field encounter, they were gradually cannibalized and eliminated by the Haihan cavalry.
Of course, Harugong would not be so powerful as to let the small team take risks. Now that the opponent began to concentrate their forces, Haihan only had to follow the example and adopt the same strategy as a response. Therefore, although the Haihan Cavalry's field operations are still based on platoons, the response distance between platoons has been shortened a lot. Once a situation occurs, the optional response methods will be more flexible. They can both gather together and They can also be intercepted and outflanked separately to maximize the equipment and tactical advantages of the Haihan Cavalry.
Soon ten days had passed since the Battle of Lushun Fort. During these ten days, the cavalry of both sides had been fighting in the mountains and forests north of Lushunkou, but Haihan's battle loss ratio had always maintained a huge advantage, and there was no Let Hou Jinjun's plan to fight for his life be realized. However, at the same time, Hou Jin also relied on his own strength to gradually compress the activity range of the Haihan Cavalry southward, and successfully advanced the battle line to an area less than ten miles away from Lushun Fort.
Obviously, Hou Jin did not intend to completely give up the counterattack in the Lushunkou area before the arrival of winter. They still hoped to make a difference. Even if they could not completely drive the Haihan people out of the Liaodong Peninsula, they would at least save some face in terms of record. In other words, you just can’t lose too badly.
Of course, the Haihan Army was not idle these days. Ten days were enough for the repair project of Port Arthur Fort to be completed. After all, there are thousands of strong laborers here, and the progress of construction is indeed much faster than that of ordinary private projects. The damaged parts of the city walls and gates have been basically repaired, and some movable roadblocks have been set up inside and outside the north and south gates that can be quickly deployed in wartime.
The artillery company that accompanied the team on this expedition also stationed at Lushun Fort and mounted several small-caliber field guns on the crenellations of the city wall. Although these artillery were not very powerful, they were enough to intimidate the relatively primitive post-Jin army in battles in the Liaodong area. Some of the Ming Army troops equipped with firearms that defected from Shandong and Changshan Islands to Liaodong in the past two years were incorporated into the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty and sent to fight in the direction of Shanhaiguan. However, the troops stationed in the Liaodong Peninsula did not have such advanced equipment to deal with the sea. Naturally, the Han army struggled even more.
With the combat effectiveness of the special operations battalion, and with sufficient ammunition and food, they have to rely on a masonry fortress like Lushun Fort for defense. Then even if the Jin Army invests ten times the force, it may not be able to break through this fortress. After that, the total strength of the Jin Army stationed in the area south of Jinzhou did not exceed 10,000, and it was impossible for them all to gather together for a desperate attack. This meant that as long as the stronghold of Lushun Fort was not abandoned by the Haihan Army on its own, then the Jin Army would It is basically impossible to snatch it back before winter.
As for the few miles from Lushun Fort to the seaside, the Haihan Army had also taken the time to clear the road and cut down all the shrubs and trees along the way to prevent future Jin soldiers from sneaking into this area to carry out a sneak attack. .
The navy has not been idle these days. It is their task to build dock camps in the bay. Although the military port camp built in a short period of time is difficult to be as strong as Port Arthur Fort, the Navy also has its own methods. In addition to traditional defense methods such as digging trenches and setting up barbed wire fences, the Navy also specially deployed several artillery pieces in the camp - all of which are Spare guns removed from a warship.
Although the performance of these artillery is not as good as that of the Army's field artillery, due to the caliber of the artillery, the power at close range is much greater than that of the artillery equipped by the Army. Coupled with grape bombs specially used to clear the deck, it is like chopping melons and vegetables to clear the enemy troops charging in a group. Similar battles have appeared in the past battle records of the Haihan Army. Therefore, senior military officials are more reassured about Linhai, a camp with wooden walls as the main means of defense. If Houjin is willing to sacrifice human lives to fill it, then Haihan The army will definitely be happy to see this happen.
However, after completing the initial construction project of the port, the Navy only got less than two days of rest time, because their task allocation was different from that of the special operations battalion. After capturing Lushunkou, the Navy's next task was to return to the coast The coastline moves forward to the north and carries out indiscriminate strikes against all maritime targets near the coastline.
Although Hou Jin has withdrawn a limited number of armed ships into the Bohai Bay, the frequency of Haihan's attacks on this sea area is actually not high, and this coastline is far from the level of "no sails are allowed to enter the sea." Hou Jin There are still many ships passing through this area, including fishing boats, civilian ships, and commercial ships.
The Dengzhou Zhifu Island base that used to be Haihan's is far away from here, and there is no way to patrol it every two days. The pressure that can be exerted on Houjin is also relatively limited. But now Haihan has established a stronghold and port at Lushunkou. With this ice-free port, he naturally plans to station a fleet here to strengthen control of the coastline of the Liaodong Peninsula.
Today, Hou Jin still controls most of the land areas of the Liaodong Peninsula, and Haihan's few men and horses are only enough to occupy a corner of the southern end. The geographical environment on land is relatively complex, and even elite troops such as special operations battalions and cavalry battalions do not dare to attack too far at will, but there will be no such scruples at sea. Houjin basically had no power to fight back in this area, and the Haihan fleet patrolling was not much different from its own backyard in the South China Sea. During this period, Hou Jin took advantage of his military strength to push the front back to the Lushunkou area. The navy's attack could also relieve some pressure on the army. About ninety miles northeast of Lushunkou is the narrowest Jinzhou Isthmus at the junction of the Jinzhou Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula. The land here is less than ten miles wide, with Dalian Bay to the east and Bohai Bay to the west. Once this place is controlled, it will be equivalent to isolating the Jinzhou Peninsula, including Lushun Pass, from the mainland. And the land passage, which is only a few miles wide, makes this kind of strategy theoretically possible.
Although the chance of this happening is low, it depends on who is doing it. If Haihan is responsible for the operation, the chance of it happening will be at least several times higher. The commanders wanted to use the fleet's patrol to create a tense situation for Hou Jin to land on the Jinzhou Isthmus, so as to relieve the pressure on the southern land.
On the deck, Wang Tom looked at the Lushun Port that had been left behind. He thought that he had become familiar with this sea area this year. When things were done here, he would find a suitable time to enter the Bohai Sea for a stroll.
In fact, this kind of feint attack mission did not require his personal command, but seeing that the special operations battalion and the cavalry battalion have made military exploits in recent days, the navy did not seem to have done anything else during this mission except serving as a transportation team and construction team. Contribution, he can't help but feel a little itchy. Wang Tom did not intend to return empty-handed. Since Hou Jin exerted pressure on land to the south, the navy could seize this opportunity and go to the north to cause trouble for Hou Jin. Although it was said to be a feint attack, Wang Tom knew that there would probably still be some armed conflicts during this trip. To be on the safe side, it was better to take action himself and keep an eye on it.
Starting from Lushunkou and heading all the way along the coast to Dalian Bay, the voyage was less than thirty nautical miles. It took the Haihan Fleet half a day to sail into the waters of Dalian Bay. As expected, the fleet discovered a small number of cargo ships transporting supplies for the Hou Jin Army here, and Wang Tom was very resolute in handling the situation and ordered all the ships discovered to be sunk.
Wang Tom didn't care about the ownership of these ships, the cargo they carried, or their next destinations. The fact that these ships docked on the coast of Dalian Bay made their position clear. The goal that Wang Tom wanted to achieve was to prevent Hou Jin from letting his own ships enter the scope of activities of the Haihan Fleet. Resolute and ruthless strikes were particularly necessary in this process. Some innocent people may suffer in this process, but in the context of war, it is impossible to take into account so many factors.
The two "exploration-class" warships quickly approached the coast. The soldiers on the deck could clearly see that the sailors on the cargo ships were hurriedly unmooring and raising the sails, trying to sail the ships away from here. But the navy commander's order had been given, so how could the sailors let them leave? At that moment, the rumble of gunfire sounded from the side, and several shells smashed into the hull of the Houjin cargo ship at extremely high speeds.
With the firepower of the Haihan battleship, it can be said that it is effortless to destroy such a civilian ship that has no means of counterattack. When the sailors on the ship realized that they could no longer sail away from the place, they jumped into the water and fled to the shore to save their lives. The navy received an order to destroy the ships, but it did not pursue the escaping sailors. Instead, it continued to concentrate its firepower to blast large holes in the water lines of these cargo ships, allowing seawater to pour into them.
The entire bombardment process lasted about one stick of incense and came to an end. Several Houjin cargo ships had slowly begun to tilt and capsize after taking in water. Even though the sinking process was very slow, judging from Wang Tom's experience, this Several ships will certainly not be able to be saved.
The rumble of cannons echoed far away on the flat coast. Wang Tom believed that this warning signal was enough to alert the nearby Houjin garrison to the arrival of the Haihan fleet. He ordered the fleet to be divided into two groups to search the coastline in Dalian Bay. Not even a Houjin ship could be spared.
This search was not in vain. The navy found several more fishing boats near the coast and disposed of them all. However, compared to the scale of the Haihan fleet's battle, such an action is really overkill. But Wang Tom didn't care about this. He wanted to use this to show Haihan's attitude, even if it meant wasting some combat resources.
After clearing the coastline, Wang Tom asked two troop carriers to approach the predetermined location for landing under the cover of warships. The location Wang Tom chose was actually several miles away from Hou Jin's garrison stationed on the Jinzhou Isthmus. He did not expect the landing troops to defeat the nearby Hou Jin army, but hoped to use this to put pressure on Hou Jin, thus It played a diversionary role in the Houjin cavalry that went south along the land passage to Lushunkou.
Wang Tom's strategy is very simple, but also very effective, because this is the place where the enemy must be saved. The Hou Jin army also knows the strategic significance of the Jinzhou Isthmus and understands Haihan's ability to project troops by sea, so they specially About two thousand troops were stationed in the Jinzhou Isthmus. But when the Haihan Fleet actually appeared here, the Hou Jin Army inevitably felt tremendous pressure. After all, they had no way to resist a powerful force from the sea. They could only watch the Haihan Fleet cruise in the harbor. After some time, a relatively safe location was chosen to log in.
The timing of the Haihan Army's landing at this place was very uncomfortable for Hou Jin. There are currently about 3,000 Houjin troops heading south to Lushunkou, but all their supplies have to be transported through the Jinzhou Isthmus. If this supply artery is choked by the Haihan people, then this battle will no longer need to be fought. Winter is approaching, and Houjin's troops who have lost supplies can only last at most five to seven days on the front line. Therefore, the Houjin commander stationed here must make a choice, either to drive away the Haihan army that landed, or to notify the frontline combat troops to withdraw as soon as possible to avoid cutting off their retreat.
(End of chapter)