Chapter 2114
If we look at the combat performance of weapons and equipment alone, the Haihan Army does have a clear advantage. However, in the current combat environment of launching an offensive from sea to land, it is difficult to rely on this advantage alone to overwhelm relying on shore fire defense. The defender tried his best to resist. After all, the dozens of forts deployed by the Hirado clan on the coast in advance are not just decorations. As long as they are within their range, the warships of the East China Sea Fleet may still be damaged.
Of course, Shi Diwen did not want his troops to become targets for the enemy to train gunners, so he specifically emphasized the combat distance in the combat orders to prevent any commander from being too hot-headed and sending the warships to Hirado Port. . He believed that since the opponent had the courage to fire first, it should have deployed quite strong shore defense firepower in the port area. At this time, it was better to try to lure the enemy to expose the firepower points on the shore, and then adjust the tactics according to the specific situation.
Although these gunners of the Hirado Domain have mastered certain combat skills, their combat experience is far behind their opponents. Even commanders like Lu Yuanlong did not realize the true intentions of the Haihan Army at the first time. When they saw the East China Sea Fleet forming a battle formation at sea and beginning to bombard the coastline, they immediately responded fiercely.
Leading the defenders to open fire was exactly what the East China Sea Fleet wanted to achieve. The relatively safe combat distance ensures to the greatest extent that the warships of the East China Sea Fleet will not be attacked by concentrated fire from coastal forts. The observers who were responsible for the lookout high on the mast took this opportunity to mark the positions of the forts firing on the shore one by one on the military map.
Although the enemy's defensive measures deployed on the coast had been expected, the situation after the war still surprised Shi Diwen a little. The number of artillery deployed by the Hirado clan near the port area far exceeded his expectations. If the East China Sea Fleet carried out fire suppression on the coast as soon as it arrived and brought the warships close to the port area, it would be right in the enemy's ambush. .
The feint attack arranged by Shi Diwen was to induce the opponent to expose the defensive arrangements on the shore, while the Hirado clan's full firepower was intended to catch the enemy off guard. Even if the Haihan warship could not be sunk, it would at least have to defeat the Haihan army. Temporarily give up the idea of storming Hirado Port and launching a landing. However, due to the commander's inexperience, the Hirado clan's move exposed its own strength in advance. For the Haihan Army with rich combat experience, the current exchange of fire turned into a successful fire reconnaissance.
The firepower of coastal defense artillery on the coast is actually not much stronger than the ship-based firepower of the East China Sea Fleet, and even the effective range is almost the same. However, thanks to Lu Yuanlong's careful calculations when deploying the fort positions before the war, the firepower coverage at sea The range was large enough, so sporadic shells still hit the Haihan warship in the strait during the battle, but the degree of damage was still within the controllable range of the ship's damage control.
The artillery shells fired by the East China Sea Fleet from the other side also failed to achieve ideal results due to the issue of effective range. Even the few artillery shells that hit the target were mostly blocked by the sandbag bunkers outside the fort, making it difficult to cause substantial damage to the fort. of destruction.
This undoubtedly greatly enhanced the confidence of the Hirado clan. Now with the coastal defenses, they can fight the invading Kaihan fleet to a 50-50 split, which is much better than they expected before the war.
The way the artillery of this era was loaded made it impossible to fire continuously at a high frequency. In addition, the heat dissipation of the gun body had to be considered. Therefore, the land and sea artillery battle between the two sides in Hirado Port did not last too long. However, both warring parties feel that they have initially achieved their strategic goals and are quite satisfied with the current results. This is a scene that is rarely seen on the battlefield.
But for the East China Sea Fleet, the situation of away combat does not allow them much time to rest and recuperate. As a force responsible for feint attacks, the East China Sea Fleet must continue to create noise in Hirado Port to allow the opponent to Attention was focused on the warring areas to gain opportunities for the Western Route Army, which would later launch a landing campaign on the western front.
Although several warships hit by artillery shells in the first round of fighting were not seriously injured, they still received orders to withdraw from the front line and prepare for readiness, and their vacancies were immediately filled by alternate warships. After taking nearly an hour to adjust, the East China Sea Fleet once again approached the port area in a combat formation and proactively opened fire on the shore.
Regardless of whether it was a real attack or a feigned attack, the vassal troops defending Hirado Port did not dare to be careless at all. Once the Kaihan infantry was allowed to land at Hirado Port, these forts deployed towards the sea would soon lose their due role. It will be difficult to defend the city at this time.
Therefore, in the face of Haihan's shelling from the sea again, the forts on the coast could only respond decisively, not daring to leave the opportunity for Haihan's warships to approach the coast.
At the same time, Shi Diwen also ordered all the reconnaissance sailboats in the fleet that are known for their speed to be dispatched and deploy warnings at the north and south ends of the Hirado Strait to prevent the Hirado Navy, which has not shown up so far, from taking the opportunity to find a way out. .
A land and sea artillery battle of this scale was a completely new experience for Shen Xueyi, who was watching the battle with the army. He also led his troops to cooperate with Operation Haihan in the anti-Qing campaign last year, but he had never experienced such a battle scene involving artillery attacks. Compared with the Qing army that invaded Korea last year, the artillery of the Hirado clan seems to be more powerful, and it seems that it can even fight against the Haihan fleet.
Shen Xueyi was not very clear about the old grudge between Haihan and Shibazhi, but he had roughly heard the rumors that the Hirado clan secretly sold weapons to the Qing army before that. It is said that Kaihan traced the source of the Hirado Domain based on the standard weapons seized from various channels, and then discovered that the old enemy Shiba Shiba was behind the scenes, and this battle was impossible to fight.
At this time, seeing the strength displayed by the Hirado clan army in the battle, he seemed to understand why the Haihan people would insist on attacking this place across the sea at any cost. If the artillery made here was allowed to flow into the hands of the Liaodong Qing people, The consequences are really unimaginable.
Shen Xueyi silently weighed the strength of his country's army in his heart, and then had to regretfully admit that if the North Korean fleet came to attack this place, it would definitely be impossible to fight. I am afraid that seeing the momentum of the fire defense on this shore, he could only stay where he was. He turned around and headed back home. After all, North Korean warships simply do not have such powerful firepower for land attacks, and if they try to force themselves to do so, they will only end up eating artillery shells.
He also listened to the Haihan Army's combat readiness meeting last night and roughly understood that today's offensive was both virtual and real. Shi Diwen's fleet was just a feint attack, but he still looked forward to the East China Sea Fleet's performance in the battle at Hirado Port. , and by the way, also learn what tactics to adopt when being blocked from launching an attack from sea to land.
North Korea has spent huge sums of money to build an armed fleet in the past two years, and the main potential threats it targets are the Qing Dynasty in the north and Japan in the south. The main warships and weapons and equipment of the fleet need to be imported from the Haihan Army, so now even if North Korea does not directly send troops to participate in maritime combat operations, there will be military attachés like Shin Xueyi accompanying the Haihan Army in the name of military observers to inspect Evaluate whether these equipment of the Haihan Navy are suitable for North Korea's operational needs. The performance of the navy in Haihan's military operation to attack the Hirado Domain may directly affect North Korea's equipment purchase orders in the future. From a high place near the ruins of Hirado Castle, Tagawa Suke was looking solemnly at the fierce battle scene near the harbor. And Tagawa Nanzaemon was standing behind him, with a somewhat excited expression on his face. After all, this was the first time in his life that he had seen such a fierce battle scene.
"Shichizaemon, have you noticed that the enemy has only sent about one-third of its warships to participate in the battle, and the largest warships have not yet gone into battle." Tagawa Suke said in a deep voice. .
Tagawa Shichizaemon nodded and responded: "Father, those large ships should be the main force of the enemy's army. They have been watching from the rear. Perhaps they are on guard against the sudden attack of the Hirado Domain's navy."
"Yes, they are waiting, waiting for the navy fleet to fall into the trap. Attacking Hirado Port is not their real purpose at the moment, but they want to use this to lure us to use all means. Let me ask you, if such a situation is caused by You take command, how are you going to respond?" Tagawa was very pleased with his adopted son's acumen in the military field, and simply asked him an extraordinary question.
Tagawa Nanizaemon thought for a moment and then responded: "The navy army must not show up at this time. We need to wait until the navy army breaks through the port defense line and begins to land, and then launch a surprise attack. Maybe we can have the power to fight."
Tagawasuke smiled happily and said: "As expected of a child of my Tagawa family, this strategy is indeed good. But even if our navy can seize such an opportunity to launch an offensive, it is still possible to defeat this armed fleet on the sea battlefield. Very little.”
Tagawa Nanzaemon frowned and said: "Then how should we deal with it?"
Tagawa said: "Avoid its edge and attack it unprepared. The more the enemy fleet wants to seek a decisive battle in the Hirado Strait, the less we can provide them with such an opportunity. We still have to stick to the previously formulated combat plan and take the enemy's The supply line is the target of attack. Once the enemy's supplies are cut off, it will be difficult for them to maintain the huge consumption of cross-sea operations for a long time, and the fleet will inevitably retreat."
Tagawa Nanzaemon remembered the content of the war preparation meeting he had attended before, and he immediately felt convinced. However, due to the limited military information they had, it was difficult for the father and son to imagine that Kaihan's real main attack direction was not Hirado Port. The East China Sea Fleet actually only used five fifths of its force to fight the coastal forts. The Hirado Domain navy wanted to take a retreat. Cutting off supplies is not that simple either. As long as the navy shows up, it's hard to say who will take advantage of who.
While a fierce battle was already underway at Hirado Port, the coalition fleet composed of the Fujian Navy and troop transport ships carrying the special battle group was also heading north.
Compared with the east coast of Hirado Island, except for Shiki Bay at the southern end of the island, the west coast only has Hoshika Bay and Furue Bay connected to the north of the island, which are more suitable for building large ports or serving as anchorages for fleets. Other areas are mostly mountainous areas near the sea, and the coast is rugged with rocks, making it impossible for ships to dock. This has reduced a lot of trouble for the Fujian Navy in clearing the route. Basically, there is no need to worry about enemy warships setting up ambushes in hidden places on the coastline.
Qian Tiandun was not idle on the road, and continued to deduce on the map the landing location and subsequent combat plan with Gao Qiaonan. The special operations group has rich experience in carrying out amphibious landing missions. Although this is a completely unfamiliar area, it is not a big deal for the special operations group. What really made Qian Tiandun and Takahashi Minami more wary was the weapons and equipment possessed by the Hirado clan army.
The intelligence collected so far has basically confirmed that the Hirado Domain has the ability to produce its own weapons, and the performance of these self-produced weapons is enough to pose a threat to the Kaihan Army. Qian Tiandun had no doubt that the established armed forces of the Hirado Domain had installed these standard weapons. Although their actual combat effectiveness was doubtful, he did not want to use his elite troops to verify the strength of the enemy's army.
"If you encounter enemy troops equipped with muskets and artillery, you must remember to maintain a fighting distance so that you can give full play to the performance advantages of the weapons. Use fire suppression flexibly and do not give the enemy troops the opportunity to complete the engagement during the battle." Qian Tiandun deployed In fact, the tactics of the navy are similar to those of the navy. They require the troops to engage in battle with a more cautious attitude to avoid unnecessary casualties due to rashness.
The enemies with the highest proportion of firearms and equipment that the Haihan Army encountered before were actually the colonial armed forces of the Netherlands, Spain and other countries. Among the armies of East Asian countries, only the Ming Army had a fixed establishment of firearms troops. Although Japan also had muskets introduced from the West in this era, most of them were still the most primitive matchlock structure and had very limited combat effectiveness. A situation like the Hirado Clan's situation where external forces prompted them to update their weapons was actually one of the butterfly effects that occurred after travelers came to this time and space.
Because of this, Haihan currently does not know how many muskets and artillery the Hirado clan army is equipped with, and it is difficult to confirm even a rough estimate of the number. Although Qian Tiandun was full of confidence in the final victory of the war, he did not want his ace troops to capsize in a small place like Hirado Domain, so he specifically told Takahashi Minami to be careful of his opponent's armed forces.
Of course, there are not many tactics that the firearms troops of this era can use. Considering that the opponent's firearms manufacturing technology and related tactics should have been learned from the West, it is completely possible to copy the past combat experience against Western colonial armed forces.
Gao Qiaonan responded loudly as always. Anyway, as long as it was an order given by Qian Tiandun, he would complete it without any compromise. As for how many troops the opponent has and whether they are setting up an ambush on the island waiting for his arrival, Takahashi Minami is not worried about this. He is convinced that with the strength of the special battle group, the battle will be as devastating as before and will not leave the opponent any chance. Give the slightest chance of a comeback.
(End of chapter)