Chapter 2936
Zheng Agui had seen the officer sent by the headquarters to explain the combat plan to the Banji Camp. It turned out to be the young major who came to inspect the camp yesterday.
Among the troops dispatched by the Banji Battalion this time, there were about fifty or sixty officers of all levels, and they were all crowded into this big tent at this time. Senior officers in the front row can still have a pony to sit on, while junior officers like Zheng Agui can only stand in the back row and listen to the lecture.
Feng Xingbang confirmed to the battalion commander that all the participants had arrived, and then began to explain: "Everyone, the two maps you are seeing now, the one on the left is a chart of the Philippine Islands, which you must be familiar with. The one on the right is familiar to you. This is the target of your operation, Masbate Island, located between Luzon and the Visayas Sea.”
Masbate Island is one of the seven largest islands in the Visayas in the central Philippines. It covers an area of more than 3,000 square kilometers and has a hot and humid climate. Fortunately, the terrain is relatively flat, and more than 70% of the island's area is plain land suitable for agricultural development.
The Spanish colonists had a large settlement on Masbate Island that had been in operation for many years. However, because of its location close to Haihan's ruling area, it was relatively vulnerable to military attacks. In recent years, the local area has been moving from the coast to inland development. In this way, when a war breaks out, local residents can choose the opportunity to retreat inland to avoid Haihan's attack.
"This is your attack target, Masbate Town." Feng Xingbang pointed to a location marked with a red triangle on the map: "As you can see, it is a peninsula with a bay on the left and right, and a bay on the north side. It is Tikao Island, which is located just to guard the waterway from Luzon Island to Samar Island and Leyte Island. It is an important supply line for our subsequent operations, so this place must be captured as soon as possible in the early stage of the operation."
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"According to the information we have, there are about two to three thousand residents in the area. There are no regular troops stationed there. A full dozen or so can be organized to organize three to five hundred armed personnel. In addition, there are a few armed merchant ships in the area, and the navy will launch a landing battle. Come forward to solve them before.”
“Our battle plan is to, after clearing the sea obstacles, attack the peninsula from the east and west sides, first cut off the retreat route from Masbate town to the interior, trap the Spaniards on the peninsula, and then clear out the settlements. ”
The battalion commander asked: "What kind of fortifications do the Spaniards have locally? Are there castles and coastal defense forts?"
Feng Xingbang said: "Both, but that place has been raided three times by us in the past. Most of the coastal defense forts were destroyed by artillery fire. They should not be able to rebuild it for the fourth time. Although most of the castle is still preserved, it is also There are no heavy weapons. If we want to fight now, I think the Spaniards should only use private houses as fortifications.”
The battalion commander still did not dare to be careless and continued to ask: "If we want to fight a tough battle against the castle, we must have large-caliber artillery, right? We only brought a few field guns, and I'm afraid they won't be very useful by then."< br>
Feng Xingbang said: "It is inconvenient to mobilize artillery units across the sea, and the number of large-caliber siege guns is limited, so they need to be arranged according to the combat needs of the entire battle. I can only try my best to help you fight for it, but there is no guarantee that the headquarters will meet your requirements. .”
The battalion commander asked: "How much time can the headquarters give us?"
"Forty-eight hours, two days." Feng Xingbang raised two fingers and said: "Within this time limit, you must complete the control of the local area. Even if it is not completely occupied, the local Spaniards cannot be allowed to threaten the waterway. Opportunity.”
"If you can complete the mission in advance, you can get a night's rest. The headquarters will arrange for you to go to the next combat location depending on the specific situation. As for the local defense, it will be taken over by the follow-up militia forces."
The battalion commander frowned, but still expressed his determination to complete the mission to Feng Xingbang. Although the strength of the Banji Battalion is not strong among the Haihan Army, it should not be a big problem to attack a colonial port with only two to three thousand people. It's just that the headquarters has stipulated a time limit for the operation, which greatly increases the difficulty.
Feng Xingbang only gave the Banji Battalion basic intelligence and combat objectives, and the specific combat plan after arriving at the destination had to be formulated by the Banji Battalion itself.
After Feng Xingbang left, the battalion commander had the South China Sea map removed and replaced with a standard combat map. The space in this tent is too small to hang up the detailed map of Masbate Town provided by the Military Intelligence Bureau just now. However, in order to formulate a specific combat plan, this more detailed combat map is indispensable. .
It can be seen on the map that the peninsula where the town of Masbate is located is actually much smaller than the Cavite peninsula where the troops are currently located. The peninsula is irregular in oval shape, and the part connected to the main island is only a few miles wide. If we can follow the battle plan drawn up by the staff and launch a pincer offensive from the left and right sides to capture the narrow area, it will indeed be easy to block the escape road for the residents of the town.
However, if the Spaniards dared to choose such a dangerous place to build a port, they would certainly consider the need for defense.
As can be seen from the picture, the buildings on the peninsula are centered on a castle and radiate to the surroundings. Although no city walls were built in the residential areas, the layout of the entire town was still designed according to the bastion. Just block a few major intersections with brick and wood barricades, and the houses surrounding the castle will become layers of fortifications.
Even though there may be only a few hundred civilian armed personnel on the island, if organized and directed properly, they will still cause a lot of trouble for the attackers.
Zheng Agui looked at the drawing but was thinking about another thing. The Military Intelligence Bureau was so good at being able to describe the layout of this place in detail. He thought there must be spies from the Military Intelligence Bureau lurking there for a long time. I just wonder if the insiders in the town can help when the Haihan Army launches an offensive.
The battalion commander could not afford to think about these unresolved matters. His three companies were divided into three teams. The first company and the second company launched landing offensives on both sides of the peninsula. The third company served as a mobile force and waited for the other two companies to land first. , and then choose an opportunity to land at a location where the enemy's defenses are weak.
As for how to clean up the town, it is still difficult to formulate a detailed combat plan based on this map. We can only adapt to the actual situation when the time comes.
What worries everyone the most is actually the issue the battalion commander mentioned earlier.
The heavy firepower of Bangui Camp is only a few small-caliber field artillery. In this kind of urban assault environment, it is okay to use it to break down barricades, but to demolish houses and walls and attack strong castles, the firepower will be exposed. Insufficient problem.
Once the opponent's resistance is relatively tenacious and our own side is unable to break through the defense line with firepower, the time limit for combat is set. At that time, we can only attack with manpower, and casualties will be difficult to avoid.
(End of chapter)