Chapter 2940
After entering the battle-ready state, Zheng Agui became less nervous. He just felt strange that Masbate Island was only about three days' sail from Manila, even closer than Bangui where he was stationed. Why could the big shots above tolerate the Spanish maintaining colonial settlements here for a long time.
The battalion commander once mentioned at the preparation meeting that the Haihan Army had launched military operations against Masbate Town many times and had even destroyed all the local coastal defense batteries. Since it has been achieved to this extent, why not completely occupy this place before, so as to prevent the Spanish from coming back?
Zheng Agui could not understand the interests considerations of the higher-ups, but at least the Haihan Army had captured this place several times. This should be a clear and unmistakable fact, so there was nothing to be afraid of in the current action. With the history of previous battles as a reference, the Bangui Battalion should be able to successfully capture the town of Masbate as long as it takes actions according to the formulated combat plan.
About twenty or thirty miles away from Masbate Town, several small fishing boats appeared on the sea. Judging from their shapes and styles, they should be Spanish fishing boats from Masbate Town.
However, these small fishing boats could neither block the fleet's progress nor rush back in time to report the news. The navy did not intend to waste time and ammunition on them and simply ignored them and galloped past. Looking from the deck, one can even clearly see the frightened expressions of the fishermen on the boat.
After entering the battle waters, more than ten warships divided into two teams and cut into both sides of the peninsula where Masbate Town is located from the east and west directions. The Spanish armed merchant ships anchored in the port had already suffered the first wave of artillery fire before they had time to react.
Being attacked by multiple Haihan warships while anchored could only have one outcome. These sailing ships soon had obvious hull inclination, obviously suffering from serious water intrusion.
The sporadic counterattack firepower on the shore did not cause much trouble to the naval fleet. Instead, it immediately attracted fierce artillery fire.
Most of the naval guns currently equipped by the Navy have a range of about two to five miles, which can effectively strike near-shore targets. The defenders, who seriously lacked shore defense firepower, only resisted symbolically and soon fell into silence.
After the firepower formed a suppressive situation, the flagship "Weitai" issued an order for the Bangui Battalion to immediately implement the landing according to the combat plan.
The two troop transport ships rushed to the coast of the peninsula, one east and one west, and carried out a forced landing under the cover of naval artillery fire. The two companies carried by these two ships would cut off the connection between the peninsula where the town of Masbate is located and the interior, ensuring that the Spanish in the town had no way to escape before launching an attack on them.
As expected, Zheng Agui's company was not assigned to the critical task, but continued to be on standby on the ship as a mobile team. From their position, they could not see the fighting situation of the landing troops, but judging from the sound of gunfire coming from the distance, the resistance encountered by the landing troops should not be strong.
Half an hour after the other two companies carried out the landing, Zheng Agui's company finally received the order to carry out landing operations at a fishing port on the northeast side of the peninsula.
This landing point is several miles away from where the other two companies are located, almost at both ends of the peninsula, separated by the entire town of Masbate, which means that they cannot form an effective response with the other two companies when they land. . The command's order required them to attack the town from north to south after landing, forming a pincer attack with the two companies in the south.
This is one of several planned action plans. They have also done detailed research on this in the past few days and are relatively well prepared.
"Brothers, prepare to go ashore!" the company commander gave the order, and the soldiers filed out of the cabin and began to assemble on the deck.
Less than a hundred feet in front of the bow is a fishing port. There are several fishing boats turned upside down for maintenance on the shoal, and there are also many fishing nets spread out to dry. Some fleeing local residents could also be seen in the distance. It seemed that they had a clear understanding of the strength of the Haihan Army and did not overestimate their capabilities in trying to resist directly.
The ship they were traveling on was not a regular troop carrier, and it did not have an opening and closing springboard on the bow specially designed for landing operations. Therefore, when the ship approached the shoal, the soldiers could only grab the rope net from the side of the ship and get down together. Then walk ashore in knee-deep water.
On the sea behind them, there were two expedition-class warships responsible for covering the landing operations. The two warships will have their sides facing the coast to ensure sufficient firepower output. However, since there was no sign of any counterattack on the coast, the two ships did not fire blindly, but quietly maintained a state of alert.
Zheng Agui jumped into the water. The heavy backpack interfered with his body's center of gravity. If his right hand hadn't been holding on to the rope net on the side of the ship, he would have fallen backwards into the sea.
However, Qin Bo, who jumped down after him, was not so lucky. After falling into the water, he sat down. If Zheng Agui hadn't quickly grabbed his clothes with quick hands and eyes, he and his bag would have been submerged in the water.
"Stand still! Follow me!" Zheng Agui glared at Qin Bo, and then walked toward the shore one step at a time.
In this combat plan, landing ashore is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous links. If the defenders launch a counterattack at this time, or fire cold shots near the coast, they may cause casualties to the landing troops.
But perhaps the Spaniards in the town were attracted by the landing force in the south. Zheng Agui's group did not encounter any trouble during the landing. The two warships responsible for covering them did not fire a single shot, and the company was already Ashore.
However, no one dared to be careless at this time. The company commander still followed the combat plan and dispatched scouts to the periphery of the fishing port. At the same time, he established a beachhead and unloaded heavy equipment and combat supplies ashore one after another.
The small Spanish fishing boat in the fishing port was immediately put to use. The soldiers pushed it next to the troop transport ship to transfer the materials unloaded from the ship to the shore. The heavy field artillery and ammunition were the first batch of materials to be unloaded. As long as the gun positions were set up, the beachhead position was basically stabilized.
Zheng Agui's squad was responsible for guarding the beach, and they used two upside-down fishing boats on the beach as temporary bunkers. However, there was no enemy hindering their action at the moment. This made Zheng Agui, who had repeatedly thought about the firefight situation on the beach before the action, breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed.
Another class that disembarked at the same time as them was assigned the task of building artillery emplacements. This was a physically demanding task. The soldiers each had a shovel and dug earthen bunkers at the positions designated by the artillery.
After the surrounding area is cleared, the field artillery will move forward with the troops. The artillery positions built on the beach will not be wasted, and will become the temporary residence of the company headquarters and the storage point for combat supplies.
(End of chapter)