Chapter 2119
Only six or seven miles south from Hirado City, the terrain is much narrower due to the ancient river bay that is concave inland. The island is only four or five miles wide at its narrowest point from east to west. If we exclude the inconvenient mountainous areas, the only route that can really allow large groups of vehicles and horses to quickly reach the south of the island is the official road on the east coast.
When the Allied Forces Command formulated the battle plan before the war, they set this area as a blockade to cut off the north-south passage of Hirado Island. The generals believed that as long as the official road was cut off, it would be difficult for the enemies near Hirado City to escape smoothly by land. Enter the mountains in the south of the island and hide. In this way, the coalition forces can trap the armed forces of the Hirado clan in a relatively small area in the north of the island for encirclement and suppression, thereby shortening the combat time here.
For this expedition, which does not seem to be too lucrative, the coalition generals have long reached a consensus on a quick victory. After all, every day this war lasts, the coalition will consume a large amount of materials and military expenditures, and these expenses are difficult to Sufficient compensation was obtained from the direct benefits after the war, and spending less was regarded as gain. This is why the special forces did not rush to attack Hirado City directly after landing at Boxiang Bay. Instead, they rushed south first, preparing to deploy a blockade in the south before launching a general attack.
Gao Hongfu was also familiar with the local situation. Seeing that the Haihan Army was dragging its feet and did not attack the city of Hirado as expected, he quickly saw through the Haihan Army's true intentions and quickly sent people to investigate the Haihan Army's intentions. direction of action. Sure enough, what he got in return was that part of the Haihan Army had already moved south, and there seemed to be no sign of an immediate attack on the city.
Gao Hongfu knew something was wrong, so he divided his troops southward and sent people to report back and ask for reinforcements. He knew that once the enemy cut off the road in the south, the Hirado clan would have no way to retreat and could only fight the enemy in the north of the island. This kind of head-on battle was what the Kaihan army was good at. But if you can't avoid it, the situation will be very dangerous.
In fact, Tagawasuke had considered this possibility before and had sent people to the south to investigate. However, he did not expect that the coalition's offensive on the west coast would be the main direction of attack. The men sent could not stop the special operations group's operations in the south at all. .
After several intermittent sporadic armed conflicts, the special operations group commanded by Takahashi Minami still relatively successfully occupied the only official road from Hirado City to the south of the island, and the Hirado feudal army that rushed in paid a heavy price for this. Nearly fifty people were killed or injured, but it did not have much effect in delaying time. By the time Tagawasuke led the main force of the feudal army to leave Hirado City, the special operations group had already begun construction of temporary fortifications in a place called Onomura on the east coast.
Daye Village is built on the mountain, and many houses are built on the hillside. As for the narrow area between the bottom of the slope and the coast, in addition to being used for reclaimed farmland, there is also an official road more than one foot wide. Although this is just a dirt road that is not in good condition, it is also the "main artery" that connects the north and south of Hirado Island. The goal of the Haihan Army's southward outflanking is this inconspicuous road.
The Haihan Army is very good at using civil engineering in combat operations, especially the construction of temporary fortifications, which is unparalleled in the world. In order to effectively block this official road and prevent the Hirado clan from organizing armed forces to break through from this direction, the special operations group designated a construction area on the official road next to Ono Village and forcibly recruited more than a hundred civilians from Ono Village. The infantry of the previous company dug trenches on the official road and used the excavated soil to pile up earth mounds in front of the trenches to deploy the infantry defense line.
Others immediately cut down bamboo trees next to the official road, sharpened one end, and tied up long rows of horses with ropes to serve as roadblocks. If it weren't for the poor traffic conditions from Boxiang Fishing Port to this place, the Haihan Army's troop transport ship actually still has a lot of collapsible barbed wire available for rapid deployment. However, the quantity that can be transported by manpower in a hurry is too small, and it is better to use it on site. Bamboo and wood crafting roadblocks come quickly.
The temporary defenses of trenches and bamboo and wooden roadblocks are certainly not very strong. There are actually many ways to crack them, such as using powerful units such as heavy cavalry, or investing artillery on the battlefield. It is no longer possible to bypass this place.
However, these solutions are difficult to achieve for the Hirado clan. There is no heavy cavalry in the clan army, and almost all the artillery that can be used is deployed on the coastal defense forts of Hirado Port, so there is no way to invest these special arms at the moment. battlefield.
As for the roundabout way around this place, it is even more undesirable. After this place was blocked by the Haihan Army, the carriages and horses could no longer go south through the official road, and the large group of people in Hirado City could not move to the southern mountainous area through roundabouts.
In order not to be trapped in the north of the island and unable to escape, the Hirado clan must find a way to open this road, but this is exactly the situation that the Kaihan Army wants to promote. The narrower the battle zone, the more advantageous it is for the Haihan Army to take advantage of its weapon performance. Just digging a few trenches here is enough to completely block the flat area near the sea. Deploying one company on the defense line is more than enough.
However, the construction process of the fortifications was not smooth. It took a lot of time to recruit the civilian laborers of Daye Village, and many villagers took advantage of the opportunity and slipped into the mountains and forests. As a result, the number of civilian laborers recruited was far less than expected. Commander Sun Zhen had to order an infantry company under his command to temporarily put down their rifles and pick up engineer shovels to join in the work of digging trenches.
During this period, small groups of enemy troops continued to harass the construction site. Although it was not enough to regain the lost ground, it still caused the Haihan Army to stop what it was doing from time to time and organize defenses to repel them first. Such harassment wars also greatly delayed the progress of building fortifications, which made Sun Zhen very dissatisfied.
The opponent obviously also continuously adapted to the Haihan Army's combat methods during the battle. They no longer launched rash advances, but launched tentative attacks from the mountains and forests beside the official road. If the Haihan Army does not give a sufficient response, they will slowly increase the intensity of their offensive. Once the Haihan Army launches a counterattack, these armed personnel hidden in the mountains and forests will immediately retreat, obviously just to delay the attack. The construction speed of Haihan Army was waiting for the main force to arrive.
Sun Zhen had to deploy a company on the hillside and use firepower to block the opponent's stragglers from attacking the construction site, and finally calmed down a little.
By the time Tagawasuke led the main force to join Gao Hongfu nearby, Ono Village's defenses had begun to take shape, and four intersecting W-shaped trenches had cut off the official road and nearby areas. Although due to the hasty construction time, the average depth of these trenches is only two to three feet, but with the excavated soil piled up in front of the trenches to form a soil ridge, this height difference is enough to serve as the basis for the Haihan soldiers hiding in the trenches. Cover you can rely on. Not only are several trenches interconnected, but the angles formed will also turn into terrifying crossfire during the battle.
Sun Zhen deployed a platoon of troops in each trench, and the companies that had previously participated in the construction of the trenches retreated to the rear to rest and serve as combat reserves. The long row of bamboo and wood resisting horses was deployed north of the trench to further limit the opponent's advancement speed and space for movement. According to his estimation, as long as the opponent does not use artillery in the battle, trying to break through this line of defense from the front will definitely pay a huge price in casualties. At this time, the East China Sea Fleet, which received the notice, has sent a supply ship and will try to dock at the nearby coast to transport the small-caliber field artillery and ammunition needed for the special operations group ashore. As long as a few more artillery pieces are added to this line of defense to make up for the shortcomings, Sun Zhen is sure that he can prevent his opponent's counterattack here.
At this time, the sky was slowly starting to darken. Although Tagawasuke confirmed in the distance that the Haihan Army had cut off the road and built fortifications, he still insisted on letting Gao Hongfu launch an offensive to see if there was a chance to attack the enemy in the dark. Take back control of this road before. If part of the feudal army can be allowed to successfully go to the south, then the Kaihan Army will have to keep in mind the possibility of being attacked from both sides while attacking Hirado City. Can greatly reduce defense pressure.
Gao Hongfu actually knew that it was too late to take action at this time. It would be better to wait until dark to carry out a sneak attack and still have hope of success. However, Tagawasuke insisted on weighing the Haihan people's weight, so he had no choice but to obey orders. He ordered 800 peasant soldiers and 300 feudal troops, and launched an offensive against the temporary defense line built by the Haihan army.
Sun Zhen, who personally directed the operations on the defense line, immediately discovered the enemy's movements. After confirming the scale of the enemy's troop movement with a telescope, he quickly issued a combat order: "Since they are here to die, let's satisfy them! Let them go!" Fire closer and let them know who they are fighting!”
To deal with enemies who mainly use cold weapons, the special operations group has quite a wealth of combat experience. It does not even require the commander to issue more specific combat orders. The soldiers know exactly what they should do.
The Haihan army waited patiently for the enemy to advance within 100 meters. When they saw that the archers in the opponent's formation had begun to bend their bows and ready arrows to launch a long-range attack, they suddenly opened fire. Intense bullets flew from behind the bunker towards the almost unprotected local peasants and soldiers on the opposite side. In an instant, dozens of people fell in the hail of bullets.
This kind of killing efficiency has a great impact on farmers and soldiers who have little combat experience. Most of these local people who usually focus on farming and fishing have no experience on the battlefield. Now they see their companions around them being killed by gunshots. Unable to overcome the panic in their hearts, some weak-willed people immediately turned around and fled back, exposing their backs to the Haihan army.
What followed was a process from a small chaos to a major chaos. The limited military quality of the peasants and soldiers made it impossible to persist in fighting in such an adversity with clearly differentiated strengths and weaknesses. The large number of casualties among the front-line personnel quickly turned into a rout. Although the vassal army supervising team behind them killed several people one after another and asked the peasant soldiers who acted as the vanguard not to retreat without authorization, the peasant soldiers who had already fled for their lives instead of retreating could not care about so many people since they could not pass. The supervising team prevented them from returning the same way, so many people had no choice but to flee into the mountains and forests beside the official road. Some panicked peasants and soldiers even fled directly towards the coast, apparently planning to swim back to the north from the sea.
Although the vassal army holding the formation did not lose their position due to this, the peasant soldiers who opened the way were defeated so quickly, which still greatly affected their confidence. Under Gao Hongfu's personal supervision, the three hundred vassal troops began to move forward slowly.
With the lesson of Tagawa Kojiro's failure in front of him, Gao Hongfu also knew that if he set up a formation to engage in a firefight with the Haihan Army, it would be like committing suicide. The rifles used by the opponent were far superior to his own weapons in terms of firepower and range, not to mention that the enemy on the opposite side was still Hiding in the bunker, he did not insist on letting the feudal army advance to within the effective range before firing, but decisively ordered the shooting at a longer distance.
The threat that such a fighting distance could pose to the Haihan Army was naturally very limited. Sun Zhen saw that the opponent seemed to have no intention of continuing to advance, so he ordered to fire back. However, the distance of this firefight is far away, and the hit rate of the special forces group will also drop significantly. Therefore, this kind of counterattack is more of a statement of attitude, and does not use full firepower like a close-range battle.
After a tacit exchange of fire between the two sides, neither achieved any results, but Gao Hongfu was able to communicate with Tagawa. After all, the first wave of peasants and soldiers suffered heavy casualties. Even Tagawa Suke did not dare to engage in such a war of attrition with the limited number of vassal troops. Gao Hongfu's ability to fight his opponents back and forth on the battlefield was considered a good performance. .
Seeing his opponent pretending to fire and then retreating on his own initiative, Sun Zhen did not order any further pursuit out of caution. His mission is to build and defend the land blockade on the east coast. He cannot act arbitrarily until the command headquarters gives the order to advance northward.
Tagawasuke did not try to launch an offensive again. Instead, he followed Gao Hongfu's suggestion and withdrew his troops until night before looking for an opportunity to make a sneak attack. Tagawasuke then made statistics on the troops participating in the battle. In today's battle that started in the afternoon, there were more than 300 casualties, casualties and missing persons. Fortunately, most of them were temporarily recruited peasant soldiers, which for the time being had no impact on the combat effectiveness of the feudal army. Not big.
The number of casualties on the Haihan side was much smaller, even far lower than the pre-war estimates. However, when Qian Tiandun saw his own casualties later in the day, his first reaction was not how well his troops fought, but that the enemy's main force had not yet truly participated in the battle, so he could not yet comment on the low casualties on the first day. rate of making overly optimistic judgments.
The naval losses seemed to be greater. In today's artillery battle, in order to put enough pressure on Hirado Port, seven Haihan warships were damaged to varying degrees in the exchange of fire. At the same time, there were also double-digit losses. casualties. As for the attack on the coastal defense forts, it is still difficult to confirm the effect of the attack.
In fact, the navy rarely adopts such rigid tactics. The artillery battle on this day was purely to attract firepower for the West Route Army. Shi Diwen remained calm and did not feel dissatisfied with taking on the task of pretending to attack. He knew that the Hirado clan's navy must be hiding somewhere nearby. When the navy showed up, the East China Sea Fleet would really play its role.
(End of chapter)