Chapter 2948
An expedition-class warship slowly sailed into the harbor on the south side of Masbate Town, followed closely by several troop carriers. The appearance of this fleet made the pier that had been quiet for a day become lively again.
"Squad leader, the battle is over, why are you still transporting troops here?"
Qiu Yong, who asked the question, was sitting on the eaves of the church. The height from here to the ground was more than three feet, but he didn't seem to care as his feet were dangling back and forth in the air. Looking south from this position, you can clearly see the movement of the harbor without the help of a telescope.
Although Zheng Agui was not afraid of heights, he did not dare to sit like this, so he stood a little further away from the eaves. He happened to know the answer to this question raised by Qiu Yong.
"That should be the militia that came to take over here. When they arrive, we should leave!"
According to the pre-war deployment, after the Bangui Battalion captures the town of Masbate, the militia troops arriving later will take over the security and defense here. As a combat unit, the Bangui Battalion had to prepare to head to the next target.
Also arriving at Masbate Town with the militia troops were young officers from the staff of the Fourth Army Division. Feng Xingbang and Huan brought the latest instructions from the headquarters and reports on the battle conditions on other battlefields.
They were not directly involved in the battle in Masbate Town. In the past two days, they had been staying in a bay about sixty miles northwest of Masbate Town, performing another special mission.
Several technicians from the Mining Department of the Ministry of Industry in Haihan conducted field exploration work locally under their protection. It is said that there is a gold mine of considerable development value near the bay, which is called Aloloi by the indigenous people.
When Feng Xingbang received this task, he did not believe its authenticity because this place was so close to the Spanish settlement. If there were really gold mines that were easy to mine, the Spaniards would have discovered it long ago.
He believed that this was more likely because the superiors had specially arranged such a "special mission" that was close to the battlefield but did not require setting foot on the battlefield out of concern for his personal safety. After all, if something happened to him on the battlefield, it would be difficult for the big shots in the Luzon region to explain it to Feng Anan. Of course, it would be better to have one less thing than one more thing.
However, on the day the exploration team arrived at its destination, gold-rich ore was unearthed in a mountain forest. Feng Xingbang witnessed the entire excavation process and realized that the task assigned by the headquarters was no joke.
He then began to have another idea. This operation will take the small town of Masbate as the first target. Is it because of the geographical location of Masbate Town, or is it to exploit Masbate Island? Clear the way for this gold mine?
Fortunately, there were neither Spaniards nor dangerous indigenous tribes in the area where the exploration team was operating. The mission that was originally scheduled to take four days was successfully completed in just over one day. The exploration team set off back to Manila, while Feng Xingbang and Juan rushed to Masbate Town after meeting up with the fleet transporting militiamen.
After a few brief greetings with the commander of the Bangui Battalion on the dock, Feng Xingbang took the initiative to get to the point: "The headquarters decided that the 7th Battalion of the Luzon Militia will take over Masbate Town, and the relevant handover work must be completed within 24 hours. It will be completed within 10 days. Is there any problem at Bangui Camp?”
The battalion commander responded: "Our battalion has completed most of the work of registering local residents, and almost all the resistance elements have been arrested. There should be no problem in handing over according to the time limit. However, from the beginning of the battle to now, many brothers in our battalion have still They were not able to get enough rest. I hope they can take a rest before heading to the next place." Feng Xingbang said: "This is the decision of the headquarters, and all arrangements should be subject to military orders."
The battalion commander heard that he refused to let go and was waiting for some more persuasion. Feng Xingbang continued: "The twenty-four-hour handover time limit should be calculated from when the militia troops complete the landing. Considering that it will be dark soon, the landing process It might be slow, so we’ll start at midnight the day after tomorrow. Is that okay?”
Upon hearing this, the battalion commander relaxed and thanked Feng Anbang repeatedly for his accommodation.
In the original combat plan, the Bangui Battalion needed to capture the town of Masbate within 48 hours, but it actually took less than 12 hours to complete the occupation task, and the 48th hour will not be reached until noon tomorrow. Feng Xingbang's timing arrangement actually bought Banji Ying an extra night of rest, which was of course a good thing.
Feng Xingbang waved his hand and said: "You don't need to thank me. The main reason why I give you more time is because the battle progress in other places is not ideal, which will cause the subsequent combat mission arrangements to be delayed."
When talking about the war situation and military situation, the battalion commander did not dare to neglect and quickly invited them to the temporary headquarters in the town.
One day ago, this was the residence of the local magistrate Vargas, but after the Haihan army took the town of Masbate, it was requisitioned.
Feng Anbang walked to the battle map and began to explain the current battle situation to the officers of Bangui Camp. Since he was on a mission to protect the exploration team in the past two days, the time he got the war situation information through the radio was actually only a few hours earlier than Bangui Camp, and it was almost speculated and sold immediately.
The Haihan fleet heading south that day was divided into three groups near the Sibuyan Sea. They went all the way south to Panay Island, attacked the Bangui Camp on Masbate Island, and went all the way east to Samar Island.
Among the three troops, the Bangui Battalion received the simplest task, because there is only such a stronghold on Masbate Island, and occupying this town is basically completing the task. Both Panay Island and Samar Island have more than one colonial point controlled by the Spanish, and the area of the two islands is far larger than Masbate Island, which requires higher efficiency of operations.
The army units responsible for attacking Panay Island are the Subic Battalion and the Manila Battalion. There are three targets in the north and south of the island. The original plan was for the two battalions to simultaneously attack the two colonial points on the north coast and then join forces. place, and then attack Iloilo City in the south of the island-it is the administrative capital of the Spanish colonial authorities on Panay Island.
However, the two troops, which had high hopes before the war, encountered some major setbacks in the first battle.
The town of Kalibo that the Manila Battalion was responsible for attacking was located near the mouth of the Aklan River. However, the Manila Battalion did not calculate the tide time when launching the attack. The fleet encountered low tide when sailing into the Aklan River from the sea, delaying the original plan. The battle plan gave the local Spaniards time to react.
Many Spaniards fled inland before the Manila Battalion landed, so Haihan had to spend a lot of time capturing these fugitives after occupying the area. Although these follow-up tasks may not require the Manila Battalion to complete, this situation is already considered a failure for the Manila Battalion, which is the main force of the Fourth Army Division.
(End of chapter)