Chapter 1439: Exhausted
Now that the gate of Jijiabao has been opened, Qian Tiandun will not let his opponent easily block it again. He hoped that through such a move, he would put enough pressure on the Hou Jin army that was huddled within the fortress defense line, so that it would concentrate its forces on Jijiabao for defense. In this way, Haihan will have a greater chance of annihilating the opponent's main force in subsequent battles.
Breaking through the fortress defense line has never been the ultimate goal of the spring offensive. Trying to eliminate as many effective forces of the Jin Army as possible is what the military really wants to achieve. Qian Tiandun's idea was to attract the enemy troops to one place and annihilate them as much as possible. Otherwise, with the mobility and capabilities of the Haihan Army, if he wanted to chase down the Hou Jin Army, which had a considerable proportion of cavalry, he would probably have to follow them all the way. If you eat ashes, you may not even be able to see the horse’s butt.
A simple observation tower nearly eight meters high has been erected on Haihan's position. This kind of observation tower is actually all prefabricated parts and can be quickly assembled with tools on the battlefield. Its support structure is actually similar to the tower crane of later generations. After the bottom is fixed, the upper part can be erected very quickly, and it also has a certain degree of wind resistance after being erected.
Standing on this observation deck, it is basically at the same level as the gate tower of Jijiabao, and even higher than the city wall connecting the gate tower. You can clearly see the situation of a section of space behind the fortress defense line.
"There are a lot of cavalry gathered, there must be thousands!" After Gao Qiaonan climbed down from the observation deck, he handed the binoculars to the adjutant and immediately reported what he saw to Qian Tiandun. Although the observation line of sight would be partially blocked, Takahashi Minami still saw part of the Houjin Cavalry gathering on the plain behind to prepare for battle.
Obviously these rounds of sharp shelling have panicked the defenders. They didn't know what kind of offensive Haihan would launch after blasting open the city gate, but since the passage to break through the defense line had been forcibly opened, they also The only option was to assemble the troops and prepare to resist the next offensive launched by Haihan. But if the cavalry were to rush out from the narrow city gate under artillery fire, there would definitely be heavy casualties. Therefore, the Hou Jin army did not rush to attack, but gathered the troops behind the fortress and waited for the Haihan infantry to attack. Make plans later.
However, Qian Tiandun was not so impulsive. He could roughly think of the opponent's possible reaction before launching the attack, so he would not use his precious infantry to do such a life-threatening job as siege. Now that the other side was nervous and began to gather troops, Qian Tiandun believed that his first step goal had been achieved and there was no need to rush to attack the fortress at this time. He just hoped that Hou Jin would panic in this situation. The more panicked his opponent was, the easier it would be to expose his flaws. As long as Haihan kept an eye on his opponent's movements, he would naturally be able to find a more suitable fighter opportunity.
Yangguli still hasn't figured out how the few seemingly inconspicuous artillery pieces Haihan set up outside the city could be so powerful. The opponent kept aiming at the city gate opening. Whether they wanted the cavalry to rush out or blocked the city gate with building materials, it became difficult to achieve it under the threat of artillery fire. Yangu Li had to mobilize his troops to gather near the city gate to prevent the Haihan army from attacking directly. But keeping it this way is obviously not an option, and we can't just let this big gap stay here.
Since Haihan's army deployed such powerful weapons in this place, Yangu Li naturally subconsciously believed that this was Haihan's main attack direction. Yangguli has even begun to consider whether to mobilize part of the Houjin Army, which is evenly divided on this line of defense, to Jijiabao.
But before he could figure out the key, news came from Sujiapu, another fortress on this line of defense near the Bohai Bay. About a thousand Haihan Army troops advanced to Sujiapu, which is only one mile away. place, and set up an artillery position to launch a bombardment at Sujiapu. This process was almost exactly the same as what happened in Jijiabao. It was obviously a battle plan that Haihan had planned long ago.
The response measures taken by Jia La'er Zhen'er Tengyi, who was commanding and supervising the battle locally, were basically consistent with Yanguli's strategy. First, he sent a team of cavalry to try to stop Haihan's actions, but in the end he was attacked by intensive firepower. He failed to succeed, but lost nearly 300 riders and horses. E Tengyi was worried that the Haihan Army would launch a general offensive targeting Sujiazhuang, so he quickly sent someone to report Yangguli, hoping to mobilize more troops to assemble in Sujiazhuang.
The only good news is probably that when E Tengyi sent someone to report the news, the gate of Sujiabao had not been destroyed by Haihan's bombardment. Of course, E Tengyi didn't know that Haihan's four most powerful artillery pieces were all deployed on the Jijiabao side. Otherwise, even if two gates were separated and placed on the west side, the main gate of Sujiabao would probably have turned into rubbish. .
This in itself is a strategy formulated by the Haihan military, deliberately creating a battlefield situation with one main and one auxiliary, so that while the Hou Jin army was gathering towards Jijiabao, they also had to keep an eye on the battlefield trends to the west in order to increase the intensity of the attack. The degree of psychological panic of the Hou Jin Army.
Before Yangguli could decide whether to send back the troops just transferred from Sujiapu, another new alarm came.
On the coast of Dalian Bay, about ten miles behind the fortress defense line, Youhou Jinyou sentry discovered that the Haihan fleet was trying to land on the shore. A fifty-man cavalry team tried to stop Haihan's actions, but before they could get close to the fighting distance, they were persuaded to retreat by the gunfire from Haihan's battleship. After losing more than a dozen cavalry, they could only retreat to In the distance, I watched helplessly as the Haihan Army rowed a small boat to land on the shore.
"Send two Niulu quickly for reinforcements!" Yang Guli was very decisive. He immediately summoned his officers and gave the order. After thinking for a while, he added: "Don't rush to charge. If there is no chance of close combat, go first." Keep an eye on them from a distance and don't let these southern barbarians fire. They have few cavalry, so just deal with them slowly."
The men followed the order and left, but Yangu Li began to have a headache. It would be easier for him to deal with the opponent if he attacked Jijiabao, but now that there are more flowers, the troops under Yangguli's command are exhausted. He did not think that Haihan's offensive in Sujiapu and the rear north of the defense line was serious, but a feint to distract his attention and troop deployment. But the scary thing about the Haihan Army is that even if it is a feint attack, if it is not dealt with carefully, it will still cause great trouble. For example, at the landing point in Dalian Bay, if the actions of the Haihan landing force are still unable to be restricted, the feint attack may be converted into a real offensive at any time.
When the opponent launches multi-point offensive tactics, it seems that dividing the troops to plug leaks is the only solution that can cope with this situation. However, Yanguli also knows that dividing the troops at this time is extremely dangerous, and it is very likely that the troops are still being mobilized back and forth on the road. By that time, Haihan had already broken through a weak link in his own defense. Yangguli decided to take a gamble. He believed that although Haihan's maritime armed forces were powerful, if he wanted to land from the sea behind the defense line as the main attack direction, then outside the two fortresses of Sujiabao and Jijiabao on land, Setting up a formation of at least 3,000 people for a feint attack seemed too redundant. If all these troops are transported from the sea to the north to land, it will be difficult to dispatch them even if nearly 10,000 troops have been assembled in the northern part of Jinzhou.
Although he didn't know how many troops Haihan had entered Liaodong this time, based on his past experience in dealing with Haihan's army, Yanguli could judge that the opponent's army was taking the elite route. In addition, he had to consider the issue of supply across the sea. The number of troops is unlikely to be in the tens of thousands. Therefore, he believed that all Haihan's movements around the sea were just feints, and the real main attack direction was still on land. The thousands of troops and horses south of the defense line were the best proof.
Therefore, when faced with the news that Haihan's army had landed in the north, Yangu Li insisted that it was just harassment. As long as the opponent did not land a large number of cavalry ashore, its scope of activities could not go too far from the seaside. Haihan's tactics had been used in the past. It has been verified many times in more than a year, so the focus of his defense deployment is still on the Haihan troops equipped with heavy artillery in the south.
"In the past year, we have landed on the Liaodong Peninsula no less than ten times. Most of the time we just shot and left, and we rarely left the coast too far to avoid being surrounded by enemy forces inland. But this time, There happen to be some different arrangements. If they don’t respond, they will suffer.”
While Yangu Li was calculating countermeasures, Qian Tiandun was discussing the next action arrangements with Morgan. In fact, in Haihan's battle plan, only the West Route Army originally commanded by Morgan served as a feint attack. Although the Western Route Army has also moved up to the vicinity of the fortress defense line, its mission is not to break through Sujiapu, but to ensure that the coastal highland supply point behind its position can continue to operate safely and efficiently to provide supplies to the frontline soldiers. Although there was a camp built by the special operations battalion and the Pidao Army in the south of Dalian Bay in the east before the war started, as the battle line moved north, that camp was too far from the battle zone, and there was no West Road Binhai for supplies. The Highlands are so convenient.
Naturally, it was the Marines under the personal command of Wang Tom who made the landing from the sea to the north of the fortress defense line. Considering its lack of land mobility, Harugong's cavalry battalion also joined the landing operation. As a result, although the size of this landing force is not large, its combat effectiveness is first-rate. It is not much inferior to the special operations battalion responsible for the main frontal attack mission, and it even slightly wins in terms of maneuverability.
This action plan is one of several sets of combat plans formulated by the Ministry of Defense before the war. The frontline command will choose the most appropriate plan based on changes in the battlefield situation and the reaction of the Jin Army. Since the Hou Jin army chose to huddle in the fortress defense line and could not get out, the two armies on the west and middle routes attracted Hou Jin's attention from the front, while the marines and cavalry troops circled from the sea to the north to implement the landing. .
If Houjin mobilizes a large army to suppress the enemy, then the surrounding troops can be withdrawn from the sea. As long as they can restrain and divert the opponent's troop deployment, the mission will be completed. If Hou Jin thought that this kind of landing was just a feint and sent a few troops to drive them away, then Wang Tom and Haru Gongke would not be able to hold it back and would definitely take a serious bite.
In fact, only a few hours passed from the start of the frontal battle to the time the navy went around to the north to land. The Haihan Army's ability to complete such rapid troop mobilization before the battle largely relied on the advanced command and communication system. And perfect preparations before the war.
The Marine Corps and cavalry battalion entered the Houjin-controlled area from the sea, which meant that Haihan's combat supply line had to extend about two hours northward. Although everyone knew that there was no armed force that could threaten the Haihan fleet in the nearby waters, the change in the voyage necessitated immediate adjustments to the original transportation and supply plan. After all, this trip is equivalent to an extra half day on the sea. If we still follow the previous transportation arrangements, there will definitely be problems.
Since Hou Jin concentrated the main force of the Jinzhou garrison on the southern defense line, Wang Tom's troops encountered little trouble when landing. Although a small group of Houjin cavalry tried to prevent the Haihan Army from landing, after receiving several bombardments from the battleship's heavy artillery, they retreated to a distance knowingly and watched helplessly as the Haihan Army rowed ashore and quickly established a Beachhead.
Wang Tom didn't care about the defensive eyes of the rear Jin army in the distance. At this distance, the opponent's bows and arrows could not be shot, and there was no other way except to watch, so he confidently and boldly landed ashore with the troops, planning to personally Command the Marine Corps to conduct subsequent operations.
Soon the flat-bottomed landing ship carrying the cavalry also docked nearby. This transport ship, specially used for landing on the beach, imitated the appearance of the landing craft of later generations. The front of the hull is flat and suitable for beaching. The loading compartment is open and the bow is After the bow door is lowered, it becomes a springboard. Originally, these landing ships were specially used to carry the Marine Corps, but this operation required the coordination of the cavalry battalion, and landing the horses was relatively troublesome, so Wang Tom could only arrange for the cavalry battalion to board this specialized landing ship, and Let his marines go ashore in small boats.
This kind of landing ship with a displacement of about fifty tons can each carry about forty to fifty war horses, and the remaining space can also hold some combat equipment and supplies. After the Marines completed the construction of the beachhead position, the cavalry battalion quickly went ashore on landing craft. The appearance of these cavalry clearly frightened the enemies in the distance, and they quickly dispatched a few more cavalry to report the latest developments to Yanguli in the south.
The two Niulu soldiers sent by Yangguli met the second group of horsemen who were delivering the message halfway, and then they learned that there were hundreds of horsemen in the opponent's landing force. But at this time, it was impossible to go back and bring in reinforcements, so they had to force themselves first. Came with scalp. When they arrived near the landing site, they discovered that the situation was far more severe than expected.
(End of chapter)