Chapter 1371: Give in
Wang Tom looked at the bodies of the wounded soldiers and the dead who were brought back on stretchers and carts, and his original joyful mood due to the victory in the battle was diluted a lot. The Haihan Navy has always had an obvious advantage in combat effectiveness at sea. Over the years, it has rarely been passive in its confrontations with armed forces of various countries. For the navy, dozens of people were killed or injured in a battle. Such battle losses are really serious. It's more serious. If such a result occurs in a naval battle, the fleet commander is likely to receive a negative evaluation such as "poor command".
But land battles are obviously much more difficult than naval battles. Even the Marine Corps, which Wang Tom is proud of and is prepared to continue to increase investment and expand its establishment, still has a difficult time fighting against the Hou Jin Army. , and exposed many problems.
The Marine Corps has insufficient troops and insufficiently advanced weapons and equipment. This is undoubtedly the biggest shortcoming. If the most advanced individual weapons can be installed like the special operations battalion and the cavalry battalion, Wang Tom believes that it will not be difficult to cope with the current situation. After all, the special operations battalion has shown everyone in Lushunkou how to use infantry against cavalry. possibility. Although the individual combat power of the Marine Corps may not be as good as that of the special operations battalion, there is at least an abandoned fishing village here as a defensive barrier. Relying on the bunker here to fight against the post-Jin army with several times the strength should not be as difficult as it is now.
Of course, compared to Haihan's casualties, the opponent Jin Jun who really suffered heavy losses would definitely not agree to use "difficult" to describe the Haihan Army's situation. The battle loss ratio between the two sides was at least ten times different. There is sufficient The reason for complaining loudly is that of the Hou Jin Army.
However, in Wang Tom's view, the current performance of the Marine Corps on the battlefield cannot be said to be outstanding. Although the soldiers may have tried their best to fight, the objective fact is that they are not as good as friendly forces. Factors such as battlefield environment, weapons and equipment, combat experience, etc. cannot Cover up the reality of unsatisfactory results. Especially with the outstanding performance of Special Operations Battalion Zhu Yu, the Marine Corps' today's record was naturally outclassed.
But this is not what Wang Tom is most worried about. What he is worried about is actually the same as frontline commander Sun Bing, that is, how long the Marine Corps can sustain under such combat intensity. Hou Jin used his superior strength to fight against the Marines in the fishing village. Judging from the current exchange of battle losses, even if Haihan seemed to have an advantage, the Marines were actually the one that couldn't afford it.
Later, the Jin army had the advantage and could launch attacks in batches in turns. However, the Marine Corps in the village only had two companies, which may not be able to withstand the rounds of battle launched by the opponent. Except for a few bagaras in the Later Jin Army, most of the soldiers were part-time soldiers with backgrounds in herdsmen, hunters, etc. Their labor costs were much lower than elites like the Marine Corps, let alone the ten-to-one or twenty-to-one exchanges. Even if the rate is one hundred to one, Wang Tom is not willing to trade the lives of his elite men with the Hou Jin Army in such a tragic exchange.
Today, hundreds of Jin troops were wiped out on the battlefield, but the opponent will soon be able to replenish their troops from the rear. The soldiers of the Marine Corps are all elites who have been qualified after long-term training. It can be said that if one dies, one will be lost. There is no chance in the short term. To make up for it, Wang Tom can only draw navy sailors to temporarily fill it up. Judging from today's casualty rate, if we continue to fight at this pace, I am afraid that within a few days, the gap in strength will become larger and larger, and it will be impossible to fill it.
"Send four more spare artillery pieces from the fleet to the Marine Corps, and dispatch a group of gunners from the ship to the village to assist in the battle!" After Wang Tom considered the situation clearly, he began to issue new instructions: "In addition, the military doctors will also Send a few people over and prepare more trauma drugs.”
This is the only extent that Wang Tom can do at present. The military pressure faced by the south is no less than that here. It is impossible for him to ask for the army to be transferred from Lushunkou for reinforcements now. He still has to rely on his own strength to cope with it. The current battle situation. The firepower output intensity in the village is obviously not enough, otherwise it would be impossible for the Houjin Army to attack nearby. Without the ability to significantly increase the number of troops, the only way Wang Tom can think of is to contain the Houjin Army by increasing firepower. offensive.
Although the artillery on the battleship is much bulkier than the army's field artillery, and its range and accuracy are also slightly inferior, it can be regarded as a relatively easy and effective defensive method when used in the current battlefield. If the Hou Jin army still tries to attack the village in a denser formation in the subsequent battles, then these "deck harvesters" originally equipped on the warships will definitely teach them the principles of life.
But in order to ensure nothing went wrong, Wang Tom quietly issued another order to issue rifles to the fleet's combat personnel in case of emergency. If the Marines in front really can't support themselves in the fishing village, then the fleet will have to send another unit to take them back to the sea. As long as necessary, the fleet can even organize an armed force of nearly a thousand people to carry out a second landing. Of course, the navy temporarily changes to the army to perform combat tasks, and the combat effectiveness will definitely not be comparable to that of the regular troops.
When Wang Tom formulated the operational plan of feinting to the north, he had imagined how to make the Hou Jin Army convinced of Haihan's purpose of trying to seize control of the Jinzhou Isthmus. However, in the actual battle, Haihan was only within a short distance of the Jinzhou Isthmus. Occupying an abandoned fishing village on the seashore several miles away had already plunged the Houjin Army into tension and chaos, and there was no need to implement further deception tactics. After experiencing two confrontations in the past two days, if the Hou Jin Army still could not confirm Haihan's offensive intentions, it would be too slow.
Judging from the intensity of the Hou Jin Army's offensive today, the Hou Jin Army should have been convinced that Haihan coveted the Jinzhou Isthmus, and the next step is to form a large enough restraint on it, so that Hou Jin's withdrawal has already reached Lushun in the south. The army on the front line. If the head of the commander-in-chief of the Hou Jin Army is not broken, then the local battle news should have been sent to the south before dark yesterday. After today's battle, the latest news should also be sent in the shortest possible time. . At least after the Houjin Army in the south retreated here, Haihan could consider retreating.
Wang Tom believed that after the Houjin army lost hundreds of people, it would take some time to adjust or even rearrange its tactics. It would have to wait until at least the next day before launching a new round of offensive. However, Houjin's actions were more... He expected it to be much faster. Only about three hours later, the Hou Jin Army's team appeared again in the wilderness about two miles away from the fishing village.
Sun Bing was so busy that he had just sat down and had a few bites of hot food when his subordinates came over to report that the Hou Jin army was already arrayed outside and it looked like a new round of offensive would be launched soon.
Sun Bing sighed, put down his lunch box and stood up and said: "These barbarian soldiers can't wait to rest, and they are here to die again so soon!" Although his tone was helpless, Sun Bing's desire to fight was not so dull. After the battle in the morning, the company he commanded, as the vanguard on the front line of fire, had suffered more than thirty casualties. This number was also unacceptable to him. These dead and injured soldiers are people he sees every day. He remembers every name and every face vividly. He doesn't have time to feel sad for these dead yet, he just wants to kill more. The Jin man avenged these comrades and subordinates.
Sun Bing picked up his rifle and put it on his back, striding towards the north. That was the place closest to the Houjin Army Formation, and it was also the place where the Marine Corps suffered the most casualties. But as the commander of the Marine Corps, this was his A position that must be held personally. Originally, the company commander of another company asked to switch defense areas, but Sun Bing refused on the grounds that he needed to re-familiarize himself with the environment, so he temporarily transferred a platoon from another company to add to his company, and dozens of people who had just been transferred from the fleet were Two naval soldiers were added to another company responsible for defending the south of the village.
Several original gaps and passages in the north of the village have been tightly blocked by several artillery emplacements. After adding four more guns, the number of artillery deployed on the first line of defense in the north of the village has reached six. Such firepower greatly increased Sun Bing's confidence. If the Jin army continued to use cavalry to launch strong attacks from the front, then these cannons would definitely leave them with unforgettable memories.
Erhe was currently on a hill less than three miles away from Sun Bing. Of course he was not satisfied with this morning's results. The death of hundreds of soldiers was a small matter, but more than ten were killed in this battle. It was named Baya La, but it failed to open the entrance to the village in time. This can be said to be quite a failure. The Haihan people did not take advantage of the lull in the war to withdraw. Instead, they used the truce period to continue adding troops to the village. This clearly demonstrated their attitude. They probably would not leave the place unless the village was completely destroyed.
Erhe has sent a fast horse to send the latest news to Etenyi who is fighting in the south. As for whether to retreat from the south for safety reasons, he did not give a clear opinion, but only talked about the current situation of the war. , the rest is left to E Tengyi’s own judgment. In other words, Erhe did not want to take the responsibility of withdrawing troops, because this could easily make people think that it was his unfavorable battle in the Jinzhou Isthmus that dragged down the battle situation on the front line.
There is nothing to say about seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, but the Haihan army's occupation of this village was like a thorn in Houjin's body. Erhe still couldn't get around it after all, so he had to find a way to get rid of Haihan. Just drive away from this place. So after the troops had lunch and took a short rest, he immediately launched a new round of offensive. Erhe naturally understood that there were many problems in the morning's offensive, and it was difficult to completely solve them now, but he did not dare to postpone the attack until tomorrow - it only took the Haihan people one night to turn this fishing village into a fortress. And they are still adding troops. If they are given another day of buffer time, it is difficult for Erhe to imagine what kind of defensive position they will face tomorrow.
Erhe also knew that his army was no match for the Haihan people, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope. After all, some troops had already entered the village during the morning offensive, but they failed to open the passage in time to allow follow-up troops to rush in. It will lead to failure. He specially seized the time to rest and summoned his subordinates Bagala together to teach them face-to-face instructions. The mission of the Bagaras changed from prioritizing killing the enemy to opening and expanding the access to the village as the top priority. Only by allowing more soldiers to invade the village and engage Haihan in close combat would Hou Jin have the opportunity to destroy Haihan's station. People in the village.
Erhe has indeed observed the weaknesses of the Haihan Army, and is also trying to take the initiative to seek changes. However, it is a pity that his opponents have also thought of these measures before him, and have prepared corresponding countermeasures. Erhe wanted to rely on the morning's combat method to expand the results, but it didn't work.
The Houjin Army, still led by cavalry and followed by infantry, launched an offensive from north to south, but this time the Haihan Army did not give them a chance to approach the village. The six artillery pieces opened fire after the enemy cavalry entered the range. Shooting, the grapeshot fired at least cleared an uninhabited land more than a hundred meters wide. All the Houjin troops within this range were defeated, including their men and horses, and no lucky person escaped this round of fire.
There was a burst of cheers in the village, and many soldiers saw this exciting scene. The gunners had already seized the time to start loading ammunition. Before the enemy cavalry rushed to the defense line, they could at least conduct one round of artillery fire.
Erhe's face turned pale as these men and horses fell. Of course, he noticed that the number of artillery on the village's defense line had increased significantly. In the morning, the two artillery pieces had already caused a huge blow to the Houjin Army. casualties, and now this number has expanded to six. Just one shelling killed dozens of cavalry in the frontal charge. If the fight continues at this speed, it will be difficult for the few hundred cavalry left in his hands to last until Etenyi leads his troops to the south to withdraw.
And he also thought of another very scary thing. Maybe the Haihan people had already deployed these cannons in the village, but they just deliberately didn't show their cards in the morning, so as to lure him to lead troops to attack again. So are these six cannons the only ones on Haihan's defense line? If the Haihan people set up an ambush again, waiting for their own troops to attack close by, then use a few cannons to blast them in the face, there would be nowhere to hide.
The more E Tengyi thought about it, the more suspicious he became. Since the Haihan Army clearly had the ability to fight against cavalry on foot, it still clung to the village and did not take the initiative to attack after gaining the upper hand. This looked like it was deliberately tempting him to attack, and continued to do so. To consume their own troops. If he continues to fight the Haihan people like this, his two thousand-odd troops will probably be eaten up very quickly. If the Haihan people launch an offensive to seize the Jinzhou Isthmus by then, wouldn't they, as defenders, not even have the power to fight back?
E Tengyi was shocked to realize that he had stepped on the edge of the trap, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. When he came to his senses, he quickly ordered: "Send my order and withdraw the troops quickly!"
(End of chapter)