Chapter 2852
"Personally, Shenyang City is the most difficult target to conquer among all the wars I have participated in." Chen Yixin said: "Compared with attacking Shenyang, our process of taking over the Denglai area in Shandong was almost easy. To describe it.”
Bai Letong asked: "Then what do you think is the biggest problem we encountered in the Battle of Shenyang? Is it the Qing army's stubborn resistance or the strong city walls here?"
Chen Yixin gave the answer with certainty: "It's logistics. The biggest problem that affects our army's combat effectiveness is logistics."
To fight a war is to fight logistics. This principle is applicable to all countries and no army will be an exception. As the most advanced hot weapons force in this era, the Haihan Army's reliance on logistical supplies far exceeds that of the traditional cold weapon force.
A large number of elite troops, including the Fifth Army Division, the Sixth Army Division, the Special Operations Group, the Marine Corps, and the North Sea Fleet, participated in the Battle of Shenyang. Nearly 20,000 troops were engaged in front-line operations, and weapons, ammunition, food and medicine were consumed every day. , fodder for mules and horses, and living supplies, the total amount is at least dozens of tons.
It is not difficult for Haihan to raise these supplies. What is difficult is transporting these supplies from the rear to the front line.
However, due to the geographical environment of Shenyang, which is far away from the coastline, the Haihan Army can no longer solve the problem of material delivery through sea transportation as in the past. The nearest seaport to the battlefield is also a full three hundred miles away. Therefore, the Haihan Army could only use mules, horses and animal power to transport supplies like their counterparts in this era.
From Gaizhou to Haizhou, from Haizhou to Liaoyang, and then from Liaoyang to the Shenyang front line, the entire land supply line was divided into multiple sections for operation. On every road section, hundreds of horse-drawn carriages traveled day and night, traveling between the two places, relaying supplies to the front line, and then transporting the wounded and loot to the rear.
There are also thousands of truck drivers, porters, warehouse managers working on this supply line, as well as armed personnel accompanying the convoy on escort missions. In order to resist the harassment campaign launched by a small force of the Qing army, the Haihan Army also specially deployed more than 2,000 armed cavalry in many places on the way as a quick reaction force.
Before the start of the war in Shenyang, Haihan had already transported thousands of tons of supplies to Liaoyang, but the ammunition consumption rate after the start of the war still greatly exceeded the headquarters' expectations. As a result, subsequent combat operations were intermittent, and it took half a month to reach the north bank of the Hun River. But the actual siege stage is when combat supplies are consumed the most.
The area of Shenyang City is not as large as that of Liaoyang City, but after the Ming and Qing dynasties, the city's defense strength exceeded that of Liaoyang City. The city wall was three feet and five feet high, which was two feet higher than Liaoyang City. There is a moat surrounding the city outside the city, which is three feet wide and eight feet deep.
The nine city gates are distributed in the four directions of southeast, northwest and north. There are two gates in the south of the city facing the Hun River, namely Desheng Gate and Tianyou Gate, also known as the Big South Gate and the Little South Gate respectively. There is a three-story gate tower on the city gate, and an urn is built at the city gate.
Although the weapons and equipment of the Qing army were not as good as those of Haihan, as long as the fortifications were built firmly enough, they would not be incapable of fighting. Moreover, he has been fighting with Haihan all the year round, and he has learned a lot from each experience. In the process, he has also learned a lot. After the Haihan Army began its Northern Expedition, the Manchu and Qing dynasties rushed to build a large area of positions outside the city. They imitated the Haihan Army's combat model, dug trenches and built parapets, and deployed a large number of artillery on the upper and lower walls to build a three-dimensional firepower network.
With the troops Haihan put into the battlefield, it was far from enough to encircle Shenyang City, and the position on the north bank of the Hun River must be defended to avoid being taken back by the Qing army to implement counter-siege. Therefore, the siege plan formulated by the headquarters at that time was to launch an offensive from the north bank of the Hun River to the south side of Shenyang City. Haihan's artillery had certain advantages in terms of range, but in order to avoid being affected by the Qing's city defense artillery fire, artillery positions could only be deployed at a safe distance. However, as the combat distance increases, the artillery's lethality and shooting accuracy will inevitably be compromised.
A target that could be destroyed with one shot at close range may not be effective even with seven or eight shots at a distance, and the consumption of ammunition will inevitably increase significantly.
The tens of thousands of Qing troops gathered inside and outside Shenyang City were not idle during this period, and continued to launch offensives against the Haihan Army's positions from the east and west sides. Although most of them were feint attacks, the Qing army divided into several groups and fought almost around the clock. It also caused a lot of trouble for the Haihan Army and greatly delayed the progress of the Haihan Army's siege.
As the siege slowed down, the pressure on logistics was even greater. For every additional day the frontline war lasts, dozens of tons more cargo need to be transported along the supply lines. If this is left to shipping, it will naturally not be considered a pressure. It only requires the deployment of a few large cargo ships. But for long-distance land transportation, this means mobilizing multiple fleets to complete the task.
Chen Yixin had to complete the logistics transportation tasks while continuing to recruit mules, horses and carriages from Shandong to enhance the Haihan Army's transportation capacity in Liaodong.
During this period, he had to constantly travel between Gaizhou and Shenyang, commanding cavalry troops to attack small groups of Qing troops who attacked supply convoys. Although the combat effectiveness of these Qing troops was limited, they came and went like the wind and were hidden in the Qianshan Mountains to the east of the supply line, which also caused Haihan a lot of trouble.
The battle against Shenyang City also became the longest siege battle since the establishment of the Haihan Army. It actually lasted for several months in a stalemate under the city. It took far longer than the early attacks on Hue City in Annan and Manila in Luzon. City, the battles in Hangzhou, Dengzhou and other places in the Ming Dynasty.
Ning Zijing said: "Since Shenyang is such a hard nut to crack, why didn't we mobilize reinforcements from the south and concentrate our forces to capture it in one fell swoop?"
Bai Kesi smiled and said: "The most capable units of the Haihan Army and the generals with the best records were all on the front line of Shenyang at the time. Wouldn't it be a slap in the face if we mobilized reinforcements from the south?"
Although these words were a bit sarcastic, Chen Yixin didn't take it seriously and nodded in response: "The war was not going well at that time, but overall the situation was under control, and the big brothers were unwilling to report to the executive committee We will ask for help. And we gradually discovered that using the opportunity to attack Shenyang City to consume the Qing army's effective strength can also be regarded as a victory."
Bai Kesi said: "This is a disguised form of encirclement and support."
"That's right." Chen Yixin said: "Shenyang is the capital of the Qing Dynasty. It is a place they cannot give up. Even if they know they can't defeat us, they still have to hold on and hope that we will retreat after we run out of supplies. And If they want to keep fighting with us, the only way to do it is to take human lives.”
(End of chapter)