Chapter 1368 Abandoned Fishing Village
Although the sniper's combat method is very sharp, it is also very susceptible to the influence of the surrounding environment. Especially when the weather is bad, the role that the sniper can play is not much better than that of ordinary infantry. And because the number of snipers is extremely limited, this tactic is also limited to a large extent by personal status and on-the-spot performance. Even an experienced sniper like Morgan cannot guarantee that he will succeed in every battle. It can bring out the best personal level, not to mention these soldiers who have become monks and started to learn this technology.
Sniper tactics involve a lot of mathematical calculations, but for most soldiers who do not have a sufficient cultural foundation, they can only act based on experience after understanding it, and there is no way to transform it into a quantifiable numerical standard. To a certain extent, it also limits their level improvement. If measured according to the strict standards set by Morgan for snipers, it can be said that more than 90% of the existing Haihan snipers have only just reached the passing line, and are still far away from excellence.
However, for the army's combat level in this era, these snipers are basically capable of performing daily combat tasks. After all, in this era, only Haihan has this special unit. The Haihan sniper soldier itself is the industry standard, and there is no one who can compare with it.
Not to mention the outside world, even to Haihan officers like Sun Bing, the sniper soldier is still a strange and special existence. This was the first time for him to observe the fighting methods of snipers at close range. For him personally, this was definitely a novelty that subverted his concept of war.
When Sun Bing came into contact with the navy's powerful ships and cannons after joining the army, he thought that this was probably the ultimate form of war. There should be no more powerful weapons in the world than this. But when he saw the way the snipers fought today, he immediately realized how powerful it was, and naturally he wanted to learn more about it.
Taking advantage of the period when Hou Jin's army temporarily ceased its activities, the Marines transported two small-caliber guns from the ship to the fishing village and deployed them facing north in the direction of Hou Jin's stronghold. Sun Bing knew that the Jin army would definitely come again. If he only relied on the light weapons at hand, he would not be able to stop the enemy's cavalry attack. He would still need heavy weapons to suppress the formation. These two guns were not borrowed from the Army, but were field guns specially equipped by the Navy for the Marine Corps. Of course, the models were exactly the same as those of the Army.
Because of his limited strength, Sun Bing could not take the risk and lead the Marines to continue to advance inland. Without cavalry cover, it would be easy for the enemy to cut off his retreat. He could only hope that the Hou Jin Army would appear as soon as possible and then take the initiative to launch a wave of attacks on his fishing village. Only through fighting can he create a situation where the Haihan Army desperately wants to occupy this place. The previous request for snipers to shoot Houjin Scout Cavalry to prevent the other party from conducting further reconnaissance was also to make the other party feel more uneasy and take larger-scale actions to deal with the Marines who landed here.
But not only Sun Bing, but also the fleet commander Wang Tom did not expect that their opponents would combine the miraculous performance of the Haihan sniper soldiers with the tragic record of the Jin Army at Lushunkou, and conjectured a A personal weapon that even Haihan couldn't make. Due to the fear of this kind of weapon, the time for the Hou Jin Army to send troops again was delayed for half a day. It was not until the sky began to darken that the Marines stationed in the abandoned fishing village finally discovered the Hou Jin Army appearing in the wilderness in the distance. military.
The Hou Jin army that made a comeback was still dominated by cavalry, with hundreds of infantry following behind the cavalry. Sun Bing observed through the telescope and found that many of the opponent's infantry were carrying bows and arrows. It seemed that this posture was intended to use cavalry to harass the outside of the village, and the archers waited for opportunities to approach and launch attacks. Most of the houses in this fishing village have no roofs, and the walls are just ruins. If a large number of archers launch missiles from a distance, it will indeed be difficult to completely avoid them. In addition, the Haihan Army did not have protective equipment such as shields. If the opponent was allowed to launch an offensive, casualties would inevitably occur.
Although the incoming enemy force was several times more powerful than the Marine Corps, Sun Bing was not panicked by the situation. Although the Hou Jin Army's cavalry and archery skills were powerful, the range of their bows and arrows was definitely not as good as their own muskets, so they had to resist the enemy. It is actually not difficult to get beyond the range of the bow and arrow. What needs to be paid attention to is that the Houjin cavalry cannot divert all their own firepower away, leaving an opportunity for the opponent's archers to take advantage of. However, with the powerful weapon of the sniper, Sun Bing believed that he could free his hands and teach the opponent a lesson.
"You deal with the archers behind, and my people deal with the cavalry." Sun Bing immediately made arrangements for the division of labor.
The sniper responded: "Captain Sun, we have limited ammunition, so we can't kill all the archers."
"You don't have to kill them all. Just put enough pressure on them just like you did with the cavalry. Find their commander first and kill them. The rest will be easy." Sun Bing had already thought about it. Routine, he replied immediately.
Shoot the man first, shoot the horse first, capture the thief first, capture the king first. This tactical thinking is very suitable for sniper soldiers. Sun Bing also realized this in a short period of time. The reason why the archers are left to the snipers is that, firstly, the archers will definitely stay farther than the cavalry, and the hit rate of ordinary rifles at this distance is far lower than that of sniper rifles; secondly, bows and arrows The hand movement is slower, and the hit rate on a target like sniper is definitely much easier than that of a cavalryman in shooting sports.
The cavalry of the Hou Jin Army cautiously cruised back and forth a mile away for a long time. Presumably, they were also very wary of the weapons in the Haihan Formation that could accurately kill long-distance targets. However, this time Sun Bing specifically asked the snipers not to shoot, and planned to put the cavalry closer before attacking.
Both sides showed great patience in this confrontation. The Houjin Cavalry did not rush forward rashly, and the Marines in the fishing village had been lurking quietly. The lines of both sides were separated by more than a mile. The distance seems to be waiting for the other party to reveal a flaw first.
Sun Bing judged the situation on both sides very clearly. He knew that as long as supplies continued, he could wait indefinitely, but the other party could not. The appearance of the Haihan Army here was equivalent to driving a nail into Houjin's vital part. There was no way they could tolerate the long-term existence of this nail, and no matter what, they had to try to remove it in order to feel at ease. Therefore, it is inevitable that the Jin army will take the initiative to attack later, but it will only happen sooner or later.
After dilly-dallying for about an hour, the Hou Jin army finally lost their patience, and the cavalry took the lead and began to press towards the fishing village. However, the experience of fighting in Lushunkou probably made them wary. They no longer launched a reckless charge directly. Instead, they carefully divided into several teams and weaved in and out, slowly forming an arc to surround them. It seemed that they were also aiming to Disperse the Haihan Army's firepower as much as possible. It has to be said that the approach of the Hou Jin Army was extremely smart. They knew that they were far behind in terms of weapons, and the traditional charge-style combat seemed to be of little benefit here in Haihan, so they quickly changed their strategy and concentrated the The charge formation turned into a scattered encirclement. Only in this way can the Haihan Army, which did not have a dominant force, be unable to concentrate its firepower. In this way, it might have a chance to break through the firepower network.
But the problem with Houjin is that they have too little military intelligence. Although they have fought against Haihan several times before, they are still in the dark about the strength of this opponent and can only take advantage of it. After dismantling tactics, they did not master the tactics that could truly restrain the Haihan Army. The tactic of spreading the Haihan army's firepower by spreading the formation is indeed good, but it can only be effective when the combat strengths of both sides are relatively close. However, the current strength gap between the two sides is no longer determined by this tactic. Can make up for it.
The Houjin cavalry began to accelerate their charge when they were about a hundred feet away from the fishing village, and at the same time they surrounded them from the east, north and west. What greeted them was a volley of gunfire from the village. Although due to terrain restrictions, the Haihan army could no longer form a neat queue to shoot at the target, the intensity of the firepower output was not greatly affected. Sun Bing deployed a platoon of troops in each of the three directions. The sound of gunshots and the commander's brass whistle echoed one after another in the fishing village. Although the formation of the Houjin cavalry was scattered, some unlucky people who were shot and fell from their horses inevitably appeared.
However, this level of loss was still within the tolerance of the Hou Jin Army. The charge of the Hou Jin Cavalry did not stop there. It was only when they rushed closer that they discovered that the passages that could allow the cavalry to enter the village were blocked. Artificial obstacles have been set up, making it very difficult to rush directly into the village.
Some riders did not believe in evil and relied on their good riding skills to jump over the obstacles. However, as soon as they landed, they heard the sound of gunshots nearby, and were immediately hit by the Haihan soldiers guarding the side and fell from their horses. . The cavalrymen later realized that there was still an ambush in the village, and immediately gave up their plan to rush in. As soon as they pulled the reins, they turned around and headed towards the southern coast to outflank them. Even if they can't rush into the village, it would be good to cut off the connection between this fishing village and the Haihan Fleet.
But they still underestimated the strength of Haihan's troops lurking in the fishing village. In addition to a company led by Sun Bing, there was also a company of Marines deployed south of the village, specifically to protect the back road to the sea. These Houjin cavalry who tried to cut off the southern entrance to the village inevitably suffered another wave of blows at the entrance of the village.
While the cavalry pressed forward to attack, the infantry following them also quickly approached the village. However, before they could spread out their formation to launch the bow and arrow attack, Niu Luerzhen, who was in charge of commanding these archers, had already been sniped by Haihan. The soldiers called their names. The unlucky man was shot in the chest and died before he fell from his horse to the ground.
Although his deputy immediately tried to take over the command and continue to implement the original battle plan, his luck was not much better than that of his predecessor. He was also quickly shot and fell down in front of his subordinates, and he saw that he was dying.
After losing two commanders one after another, the Houjin infantry's front quickly became chaotic. Some people wanted to send the commander to the rear for rescue, while others believed that the war situation should be the priority and continue to attack the Haihan people in the fishing village. This kind of difference of opinion on the battlefield is undoubtedly extremely fatal. After all, the fighter opportunity is fleeting. While they are arguing, the cavalry in front has been frustrated. The first round of offensive did not cause any trouble to the Haihan army stationed in the village.
The only two snipers in the village continued to kill the Houjin infantry in the opponent's formation who tried to use bows and arrows to attack at a stable shooting speed. Although their shooting frequency was not too high, they still maintained a high hit rate at a distance of about three hundred meters, and they had already shot more than ten people in a short time.
More and more Houjin infantrymen found people around them lying in a pool of blood for no apparent reason. They knew that this might be the method of the Haihan people, and the commander's life or death was unknown, so the more timid ones began to take the initiative to go there. After retreating, I boldly fired a few arrows in the direction of the fishing village, and then retreated quickly. In this case, there is no other way to stay on the front line except to become a living target. Although the Hou Jin army fought fiercely, they were not stupid enough to die in vain. Seeing that it was hopeless to invade the village, and the sky was already dark. Coming down would be extremely disadvantageous for the attackers in the wilderness, so they naturally chose to retreat.
After the Jin cavalry discovered that the infantry in the rear did not keep up with the attack, they chose to retreat. At that moment, they did not dare to continue fighting, and soon took the initiative to leave the battlefield. In order to be on the safe side, Sun Bing did not order a pursuit, but watched the Hou Jin army withdraw to the north in the night.
Since it was already dark, Sun Bing did not plan to let his soldiers go out to clean up the battlefield overnight, and it was difficult to count the actual results at the moment. Since the Marines were hiding in the village and the enemy only bluffed on the outside, only a few of them were slightly injured during the battle, and the losses were smaller than expected. The two artillery pieces used for town control had retreated without even firing a single shot. The battle was relatively easy to fight.
Sun Bing was worried that the enemy might launch a night attack, so he ordered several fires to be lit outside the village so that the sentries could observe the situation outside the village at night. This method was also learned from the Army, and it is a relatively simple and practical night defense measure.
After dawn the next day, Sun Bingcai ordered the soldiers to go out of the village to clean up the battlefield and tally the results of yesterday's battle. Although the Hou Jin Army had taken away some of the wounded and corpses during the evacuation, the Marine Corps still found more than 30 enemy corpses in the fields around the village. The actual results must be much greater than this number. . Although this cannot be compared with the results achieved by the special operations battalion and the cavalry battalion at Lushunkou, considering that the mission performed by the Marines here was only a feint attack rather than a strong attack, such a record is considered qualified.
(End of chapter)