Chapter 2034
Since the establishment of the Marine Corps, almost all combat missions have been carried out in the Liaodong Peninsula, and its main opponent is the Qing army. During this period, he was ordered to return to the South China Sea to participate in the Battle of Manila, and then rushed north to join the Korean battlefield to continue fighting against the Qing army. Therefore, both warring parties are familiar with the enemy's situation and can roughly predict the next measures the enemy will take.
Sun Bing knew that the Qing army would not sit idly by and ignore the current situation. After receiving the warning, they would definitely send troops to pursue and suppress them, and the number of troops they would send would definitely not be small. If they were intercepted by the opponent on the shore, it would be very troublesome to escape. , so it must be evacuated to the sea as soon as possible. As soon as they boarded the ship and left the shore, the Qing army had no use for any means. Even if tens of thousands of troops arrived, they could only stare on the shore.
And Azig also knew that the usual tactics of the Haihan Army were to project small groups of troops through the coast, carry out raids and harassment in areas controlled by the Qing Army, plunder offshore villages and towns or attack nearby Qing Army strongholds, and then quickly evacuate from the sea. The Qing army was unable to defend itself. After the main force of the Qing army entered North Korea last year, the Liaodong coastline was almost turned into a sieve by the coalition forces organized by Haihan. There are still many places that have not yet regained their popularity.
There were no civilian villages near the place where the Haihan Army landed this time, so Azig judged that the opponent's target should be the fortress defense line or the troops changing defense at the camp. Now that the opponent has exposed its traces and successfully attacked the Qing army, the next step is to withdraw according to its standard approach. If they are not stopped, there is no doubt that they will land in other places in a few days and stage a similar scene again.
The area of the mountain forest near the Jinshitan coast is not large, but it is not small. It is still more than ten square kilometers. According to the reports of Bayano and other survivors, there were only about a hundred Haihan troops participating in the battle. But it is not that easy to find such a small number of people hiding in such a mountain forest. Therefore, in order to be on the safe side, Azige mobilized four soldiers and horses, totaling about 5,000 people, which was already two-thirds of the troops stationed in the camp.
In order to ensure that no area was missed during the mountain search, the five Niulu subordinates of each Jia La also moved forward together with a certain distance apart, so that once something was discovered, their companions could quickly get the signal to assemble for encirclement and suppression.
Bayano, who had just narrowly escaped death, also actively participated in the pursuit. In his opinion, if he could seize the opportunity well, he might really have a chance to intercept the Haihan army that had attacked earlier on the shore. When the time comes, thousands of people will surround a hundred or so people. Even if they don't fight, how long can the other party hold out? Maybe it will be a big victory. Moreover, Azig personally took charge of the operation. In order to plan for future treatment, he naturally had to act bravely at this time and not let the Qing prince look down on him.
When they were about six or seven miles away from the scheduled rendezvous point, Sun Bing's team ran into a group of Qing troops hurriedly entering the mountain. Sun Bing ordered the fire without hesitation, and after knocking down several of the men at the head, the Qing soldiers turned around and fled. However, in this way, the whereabouts of Sun Bing's team had been exposed. He could also imagine that there must be more than this group of Qing troops entering the mountain. Qing troops from other places would definitely gather in this direction quickly after hearing the gunshots, and immediately Orders were given to speed up the march and at the same time abandon part of the baggage, such as the seriously injured prisoners and some of the weapons captured in the battle just now.
It was important to escape at this time. In order to move forward lightly, we could only selectively take away some of the evidence. Fortunately, a batch of war horses were seized just now. Otherwise, it would be easy to take away the physical evidence, but the witness might not be able to be retrieved.
Although this small group of Qing troops was successfully repelled, the enemy appeared faster than Sun Bing expected, which also gave him a smell of an approaching crisis.
Fortunately, in this mountainous environment, it is difficult for the opponent to use the mobility of the cavalry to quickly complete the encirclement. In the dense snowy forest, a four-legged horse can't walk faster than a two-legged person, it just has a larger carrying capacity. Therefore, as long as the Marines were moving fast enough, it would be difficult for the Qing army to go around to the front to intercept them, and they would have to chase behind them.
The sound of musket shooting can be heard very far in the mountains and forests, but after the sound of the gunfire is refracted and reverberated in the mountains, it is not that easy to accurately determine the direction and location of the gunshot from a distance. By the time the Qing army arrived at the battle site, the Haihan army had already passed through this area. However, the chaotic horse hoof prints and the direction of the footprints on the ground gave the Qing army a clearer pursuit direction.
But soon they discovered that the footprints were divided into two parts, two parts into four parts, and four parts into eight parts in front of them, and then went to more directions in a fan shape. Obviously, the fleeing Haihan army in the front had taken countermeasures to confuse them after discovering the pursuit of the Qing army.
However, this temporary measure could not hold back the Qing army for too long. After Jia La Ezhen, a man with relatively rich combat experience, arrived here later to inspect the scene, he was able to determine that the general direction of these footprints was to the east. On the coast, two Niulu were separated to track the leftmost and rightmost tracks respectively. The remaining troops directly chose the track in the middle that seemed to have more footprints to continue tracking.
Azig arrived here later, and after hearing that Jia La'e was really dispatching, he greatly agreed. At this time, gunshots were heard again from the east. After Azig identified the direction, he directed the troops to rush towards the place where the gunshots were heard.
Sun Bing also made some arrangements for the evacuation plan before the war, but he did not expect that it would be such a tense situation when he was actually about to retreat. The Qing army came almost one after another, and it was probably against the enemy. Because the local environment was more adaptable, the pursuit was extremely fast. After the Marines were exposed, they could no longer get rid of them completely.
Sun Bing had to arrange three teams of people to cover the evacuation of the horse team carrying the evidence in a sequential manner. This kind of retreat plan is considered a traditional skill in the Haihan Army, and basically all combat troops must master it. Therefore, even if they have not done the corresponding training beforehand, they can still use this tactic very skillfully to block the pursuing troops. Qing army.
The Qing army had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, but the problem was that it was difficult to assemble large groups of troops to charge in the mountains and forests, and they did not have time to wait for the follow-up troops to arrive before setting up their posture to fight the Haihan army. The marching route and speed are different. It takes too long to wait for a group of troops, and it is very likely that the enemy will be let go during this period.
Azig's order was to intercept and kill this Haihan army. Anyone who discovers the enemy but does not bravely come forward to fight will easily be labeled as "fearing to fight" or "allowing the enemy to flee" afterwards. crime. So Azig arranged the pursuit and turned it into a fueling tactic in the current specific environment. Every time he chased the front and fought against the Haihan army, it was only a small group of Qing troops. It was difficult to defeat the opponent's firepower. Well done. The fighting distance was only about ten feet, but it was very difficult for the Qing army to further shorten this distance.
Even though there were many brave and death-defying Qing soldiers trying to break through the Marines' fire network with human charges, each team left behind had more than ten people, and the cross-fire network formed was not that easy to defeat. Breakthrough. Moreover, the shortening of the fighting distance is not necessarily a benefit to the Qing army. At such a close distance, it is difficult for the shields in their hands and the light armor on their bodies to withstand enemy bullets, and the shooting hit rate of the Haihan army will also be affected accordingly. Keep it at a relatively high level, and the chance of hitting with one hit is extremely high. Coupled with the fact that the repeating rifles used could maintain a dense firing frequency, almost all Qing soldiers who tried to charge became living targets.
About two miles away from the coastline, the Qing army, which was pursuing from multiple directions, finally slowly formed a fan-shaped encirclement around the Marines. However, the increase in attack surface did not have immediate results, because Sun Bing also adjusted his strategy in a timely manner and doubled the number of post-breakup teams. Almost half of his troops were invested in this, and the results were very good. Remarkable. But Sun Bing did not breathe a sigh of relief because of this. From the telescope, it was not difficult to find that the densely packed Qing soldiers in the distant mountains and forests were rushing in this direction. Relying only on the current intensity of firepower, it was necessary to survive in an environment without fortifications. It is unrealistic to block thousands of Qing troops. Moreover, the amount of ammunition carried by each soldier is limited. With the current intensity of combat, the consumption rate of ammunition may not be enough to support their withdrawal to the ship.
At this time, Sun Bing could only hope that the ships arriving to assist his evacuation were already in place, otherwise the Marines would not be able to hold on for too long on the deserted beach.
At this time, Azig could already see the firefight in the forest in the distance. Before the battle, he had announced a high reward of "one hundred taels of silver for killing one person, and five hundred taels of silver for each person captured alive." It seemed that it was true. It still worked. The Qing soldiers who rushed to the fighting site charged hard, eager to immediately take the walking money bags in their hands.
Although there have been a lot of casualties during the pursuit, Azig believes that as long as this Haihan army can be stopped and annihilated, it will be a rare victory in recent years, and it will definitely boost the morale of the army. Morale made Huang Taiji look at him with admiration.
But soon Azig discovered that something was wrong. His troops failed to successfully intercept the enemy, and the battle zone was still moving toward the east coast. This is obviously because the opponent is still fighting and retreating, and our pursuit has not yet been able to form a fight with the enemy.
"Pass my order. Anyone who successfully intercepts and kills the enemy will be rewarded, in addition to the previously announced rewards, five more people and fifty acres of fertile land!" Azig was also anxious at the moment. He was about to reach the seaside. Obviously the Haihan people planned to evacuate this place from the sea. If the duck flew away again, the unilateral losses of the Qing army would be too great.
There must be brave men under heavy rewards. There were many ruthless men in the Qing army who did not hesitate to die. After receiving this order, everyone rushed to be the first. In the end, they shot down several Haihan soldiers with dense bows and arrows.
At the moment, Sun Bing could only prioritize the team's safe retreat. He would rescue the injured if he could, but he could only give up on those who couldn't be saved. After all, a fight on the battlefield cannot be without casualties. Even if the Marine Corps' individual combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the opponent, in this wild environment, it is still difficult to resist the Qing troops swarming in like locusts.
Of course, if there are fortifications available, the situation of the Haihan Army will definitely be much more relaxed than it is now. With sufficient ammunition, it is entirely possible to block the Qing army's offensive. But the first priority at this time was to evacuate, not to mention that Sun Bing did not know how many troops the Qing army was pursuing. Under such circumstances, he did not dare to fight, and just wanted to get out of the battlefield as soon as possible.
"Company Commander, our ship is at the beach!"
This news refreshed Sun Bing's spirits. The arrival of the ship meant there was a way out. He immediately calmed down and dispatched his men, leaving the wounded with ammunition to retreat first. The rest of the people still covered each other and retreated in batches.
At this time, the soldiers who had evacuated to the coast handed over the prisoners and evidence to the sailors who rowed boats to the beach to meet them. Later, some of them returned and covered the retreat of their comrades.
By now they had reached the open area on the beach, and the Qing army finally broke out of the forest and pressed on the Marines who were pushing back in a larger arc-shaped encirclement. At this time, they had realized that the effect of a hard charge was not good. The opponent's firepower was strong enough to suppress the charge to a distance of about ten feet, but using bows and arrows to kill the enemy was more effective.
Suddenly, bows and arrows were flying from all directions. In order to facilitate their movement, the Marines basically had no armor. Once they were hit by arrows, they would be seriously injured, and their firepower output would be weaker than before.
At this time, the naval guns of the two Haihan warships staying on the sea near the coast also opened fire. In order not to hurt the Marines on the shore, they fired in the direction of the left and right wings of the Marines, so as to relieve the Marines. attacks received.
Although the intensity of the shelling from the sea is limited, its effect is very significant. Artillery is a nearly invincible weapon in the Qing army's perception, and the Haihan army has fully proved this in the battles in the past few years. Last year, the Haihan fleet blocked the Yalu River and set up forts on the river bank to bombard Jiulian City. This battle was also widely circulated within the Qing army. The Qing army had always been wary of the power of Haihan's warship bombardment tactics.
At this time, the sound of artillery rumbled, and then several artillery shells fell on the Qing army's formation, immediately plowing a bloody gully in the crowd. Many people could not even scream in agony and had already turned into A pile of minced meat, the impact of this scene is much more shocking than killing someone with a rifle.
The casualties caused by one round of artillery fire were actually not too great, but the Qing army's formation had automatically shrunk to the center to avoid being used as live targets on both wings.
(End of chapter)