Chapter 1372 Retracement
The Hou Jin army came and went faster. The six artillery pieces on Haihan's side fired only two rounds, and the sound of the enemy's gongs calling for gold and withdrawing troops was heard in the distance. Before the Haihan Army could figure out what was going on, they saw that the Houjin Army had begun to turn around and retreat, and even gave up the attack.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sun Bing also looked stunned when faced with such a situation. He was already prepared for a fierce battle with the Hou Jin Army, and even found a handy waist knife to participate in hand-to-hand combat when necessary. Sun Bing was mentally prepared for the defense line to be breached, but the Jin army collapsed in this round of offensive, and chose to withdraw its troops before the official engagement. This was a situation he never expected.
Judging from the fighting situation in the past two days, Sun Bing can be sure that although the combat effectiveness of the post-Jin army he faced is not high, its fighting will cannot be underestimated. It can launch a strong attack despite a hail of bullets. Such a brave performance is enough It proves that these barbarian soldiers are by no means good. The Hou Jin Army must have been determined to drive Haihan out of this place, but why did this round of offensive end so quickly? Is it possible that the Hou Jin Army still had some powerful tricks that they had not used?
Is it going to use heavy equipment such as trebuchets to attack fishing villages? Sun Bing had heard of the use of large trebuchets in siege battles, but this place in the Jinzhou Isthmus has no villages or shops in front of it, and there is no reason for the Jin army to deploy large siege equipment in this environment. Besides, if there is such a long-range weapon, there is no reason for the Hou Jin Army to wait until now to take it out, let alone send out cavalry to give a round in vain.
But even if the Jin army did have trebuchets, Sun Bing would not be particularly nervous. The two field guns in his formation had a range of up to two miles. Ordinary trebuchets could not reach such a range. As long as you get within the range of the artillery, the shooting accuracy of your own weapons is enough to kill your opponents.
Besides, with the current level of Jin's military industry in the future, apart from trebuchets, it will probably be difficult to create other long-range weapons for attacking strongholds and fortresses. Although the Ming Dynasty rebels who fled to Liaodong two years ago brought artillery manufacturing technology to Houjin, their production capacity and finished product quality were not favored by the outside world. Moreover, Hou Jin’s current main opponent is Ming Dynasty, and the most important battlefields are all in the areas bordering Ming Dynasty. Heavy weapons such as artillery are naturally deployed in the areas where they fight against Ming Dynasty. The Jinzhou Isthmus already belongs to Hou Jin Dynasty. It is probably impossible to install a sparse number of high-end weapons in the rear area.
If the Hou Jin Army didn't have any trump card, why did they suddenly retreat? Even if Sun Bing tried to break his head, he would never imagine that this was actually due to the sudden inspiration of Erhe, the commander-in-chief of Houjin, during the battle. I have to say that Erhe acted very decisively. Once he decided on his idea, he immediately implemented it without even a moment's hesitation. Although the cavalry attacking from the front suffered two rounds of artillery shells, the casualties suffered were generally within the range that Hou Jin could bear. The timely withdrawal of Hou Jin's army actually avoided more casualties.
Just doing this made Sun Bing, who had been holding his breath to teach the Hou Jin Army a painful lesson, so uncomfortable. This time it was like a heavy punch hitting cotton, and all the strength in his body fell into the air.
After remaining on alert for more than an hour, the sky gradually darkened. In the end, Haihan did not wait for the Jin army's next attack, and they actually did not fight back with their carbines this time. Sun Bing saw that the sky was getting dark, and he also knew that the Hou Jin Army was unlikely to carry out large-scale attacks at night. Although it was a pity that he could not fight on the frontal battlefield with real swords and guns, he would still be hanging in the air after all. My heart was relieved.
After nightfall, Wang Tom quietly entered the village with his small team. On the one hand, he visited the soldiers fighting on the front line and cheered them up for mobilization. On the other hand, he also called together Sun Bing and other front-line commanders and soldiers to communicate with them. Discuss the next battle plan.
Although the senior officials in the current Haihan Army who make the final decisions are still the time travelers, when formulating specific combat plans, they often express their own opinions, and the time travelers only play the role of leader and backbone. For example, this feint attack plan to go north to Dalian Bay and attack the Jinzhou Isthmus was initiated by Wang Tom, but the combat plan was jointly formulated and executed by the staff.
Since Wang Tom was commanding from the flagship on the seaside, he was not completely clear about the details of the battle on the line of fire, so he still had some doubts about Hou Jin's initiative to withdraw his troops. I came to the village overnight to meet with Sun Bing and others in order to obtain as much detailed first-hand information as possible.
After a detailed discussion with Sun Bing and others, Wang Tom was finally convinced that the Hou Jin Army retreated without warning during the battle. Although the specific reason is unknown, the Hou Jin Army did indeed give up this round. offensive.
The officers held a meeting to discuss the matter, and still felt that this matter needed to be more cautious. Perhaps there were other ulterior reasons for the sudden retreat of the Hou Jin Army. It was hard to say what kind of trap had been set secretly. In short, guard this village first. If the Hou Jin Army wants to transport supplies to the south, it will definitely not be able to escape the surveillance here. At that time, they can also try to destroy its transportation channels, intercept its freight team, and force the Hou Jin Army heading south to retreat.
"I will send a telegram to Lushun Fort tonight to ask them to step up surveillance of the Jin Army. If the Jin Army starts to withdraw from the south in the next two days, the situation will become very favorable to us." Wang Tom's opponent The general said: "But before that, all those participating in the war must not relax at all. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" the officers responded in unison.
Wang Tom's telegram was placed in front of Qian Tiandun that night, and he understood what Wang Tom meant at a glance. The Hou Jin Army's activities around Lushun Fort have become more frequent these days, but they have little confidence in attacking Lushun Fort or Haihan's port defense area. Therefore, they only slowly gather on the periphery and consider which side to attack first. Or simply attack the weak area between Port Arthur and Port Arthur to break Haihan's defense line. Of course, this last approach was probably because he didn't want to die quickly enough.
In the past two or three days, those who have had more contact with the Houjin Army have been the Haihan Cavalry. Sporadic fights between the two sides in the wild have occurred from time to time, and each has suffered some casualties. However, Haihan's side had a clear advantage in terms of casualty rate as always. If the Jin army wanted to attack Lushun Fort, they would have to clean up these hundreds of Haihan cavalry first. However, the Haihan Cavalry was not an opponent that could be easily eliminated. The Hou Jin Army struggled for several days and did not even get a chance to engage in close combat. The Haihan Cavalry used kite-flying tactics to kill them many times.
Now the Golden Cavalry has begun to have a psychological shadow. The small group activities are easy to destroy, and the group activities are not concealed and flexible enough. The opponent's rifles can exert their power at a longer distance, but the power of our own bows and arrows is limited. As long as the combat distance exceeds ten Zhang Yuan, the hit basically depends on fate. The terrain near Lushun Fort is relatively open, and there are not many environments that can be used for ambushes or maneuvers. Although the Jin army had three thousand troops, they did not dare to attack the city rashly, and there was no solution with the Haihan cavalry. The situation is very embarrassing. The leader of the army, Jia La E Zhen E Tengyi, actually had the intention to retreat after a few days of fighting with Hai Han. But the problem was that he came under orders. Now that the task has not been completed, he did not dare to withdraw at will.
When it was heard from behind that the Haihan Army had landed on the Jinzhou Isthmus, Etengyi could faintly smell the danger. Although there are still more than 2,000 soldiers led by Erhe stationed in the Jinzhou Isthmus in the rear, Etenyi does not have much confidence in their combat effectiveness. This is because after fighting Haihan for many days in a row, he already knows that this opponent's strength is indeed extraordinary. Since Haihan's army chose the Jinzhou Isthmus to land, it is obvious that they want to attack the place where they must save Erhe. I'm afraid it's not enough to stop the Haihan people.
The news that came back one after another seemed to verify Er Tengyi's judgment. Er He's fighting situation with the Haihan people near the Jinzhou Isthmus was extremely unfavorable. When the battle entered the second day, Er He voluntarily gave up. In order to continue attacking the local stronghold established by Haihan, the reason was that the opponent's firepower was too strong, and the infantry and cavalry armies suffered heavy casualties in the process of attacking their positions. Erhe was worried that the loss of troops would be too great and would be unable to defend the Jinzhou Isthmus, so he took the initiative to retreat and defend.
The purpose of sending this news to Etenyi is to ask him to make a quick decision whether to fight a quick battle with the Haihan Army in Lushunkou, or to take the initiative to retreat to the front line of the Jinzhou Isthmus to avoid supplies that cannot be reached by the Haihan Army. Transported to the front line under the watchful eyes of tigers.
"This guy actually pushed the problem to me!" Er Tengyi naturally saw Erhe's little tricks clearly, and he actually had his own agenda despite being dissatisfied. He led his army south to fight against the Haihan Army for several days, but the scale of the battle between the two sides was actually not large. Most of the time, two-digit combatants fought in local areas. After all these days, there has been no real head-on confrontation.
E Tengyi knew that his combat power was insufficient and did not want his troops to die in vain, so he had been patiently dealing with Haihan slowly. But now that there is a problem in the rear, it is equivalent to giving him a reasonable reason to withdraw his troops. He didn't want to wait until his men and horses were exhausted at Lushunkou before he had no choice but to retreat. By then he would have no soldiers, and his official position would become a decoration.
So the next day after Qian Tiandun received the telegram, the Hou Jin army near Lushun Fort quietly began to evacuate northward. Although the Hou Jin Army's actions were very covert, they were still unable to escape the surveillance of the Haihan Cavalry Battalion. After the Jin army was discovered and evacuated, Harugong personally led a group of cavalry to fall far behind. After leaving Lushun Fort for more than 30 miles, he saw that the opponent still had no intention of turning back. After confirming, the Jin Army was indeed planning to withdraw to the north.
After Harugong sent the news back, Wang Tom also quickly received the telegram notification. The Houjin Army in the direction of the Jinzhou Isthmus had apparently given up attacking the fishing village and no longer appeared in the area in an organized manner.
Wang Tom finally breathed a sigh of relief. If the Marines were really forced to stand on the front line and fight against the Jin Army, he would also feel very painful. But if the other party did not withdraw before he retreated, this operation would be considered It was no use, so I could only grit my teeth and hold on. But now that the Houjin Army has taken the initiative to retreat, the Marines no longer have to continue to work desperately to attract firepower.
After waiting for about two more days, the Hou Jin army, which had gone south to fight at Lushun Fort, finally withdrew to the vicinity of the Jinzhou Isthmus and had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength. Instead of waiting foolishly for Hou Jin's army to launch a new offensive, Wang Tom asked the Marines to withdraw from the village at night and return to the seaside. At least there are warships stationed in the temporary port that can provide powerful fire support. An army like the Hou Jin Army, which is purely composed of land forces, has no way of getting close to the battle. Therefore, although the beachhead may not be as protective as an abandoned fishing village, it is much safer for the Marines than the village.
The Hou Jin army originally wanted to concentrate its forces and challenge Haihan again, but unexpectedly the Haihan people also voluntarily withdrew to the seaside. Erhe and Etengyi combined, if they continue to fight with the Haihan Army, they will definitely suffer the loss. Now that winter is approaching, these Haihan warships cannot stay here forever, and the Haihan army has not built a fortress locally, which shows that they have to leave after all. In this case, the generals of Houjin also believed that one more thing was better than one less thing, so they just let the Haihan people evacuate this place on their own, and they could also reduce some unnecessary losses.
So in the next few days, the two sides fell into a strange truce and confrontation. Wang Tom was unwilling to let the Marines venture further inland, and the Jin Army did not intend to use flesh and blood to fill the mouth of the Han Cannon. The two sides faced off in the air on the coast near the Jinzhou Isthmus, neither fighting nor fighting. Retreating, both sides seemed to be competing for patience.
After waiting for many days, the first snow in this region this winter fell in the sky one night. Although it was not too heavy, it also covered the world with a layer of snow-white winter clothing. After dawn, the Hou Jin Army suddenly discovered that the Haihan position on the seaside was empty. All the ships sailed away from the coastline before dawn and took away all the Haihan infantry.
After the two Houjin generals received the news and confirmed it, they couldn't hide the smiles on their faces. They congratulated each other first, and they couldn't tell that these two people were the unlucky ones who had lost consecutive battles. For them, the process does not matter, but the result of driving away the Haihan Army is the most important. Next, they can ask the Jin court for credit. After all, they "successfully repelled" the Haihan Army's offensive. This was a great achievement for the Hou Jin Kingdom, which had been harassed by Haihan for a long time.
(End of chapter)