Chapter 2979
After conducting reconnaissance on this large block, the Haihan Army discovered that there were more than a dozen fortresses disguised as private houses. Moreover, these small fortresses are very close to each other and can provide fire cover for each other. If the Haihan Army encircles a certain fortress, it will inevitably be exposed to the firepower of other nearby fortresses.
After a brief exchange of fire, the Haihan Army noticed that the firepower points of these fortresses were generally set up high on the second and third floors, giving them the advantage of being in a commanding position. To conquer these fortresses, the firepower of infantry alone was far from enough, and would cost huge casualties.
So the command headquarters mobilized warships to the nearby coast and used naval guns to carry out fire strikes on the offshore fortresses. At the same time, it ordered the artillery and engineering troops to move closer to the warring area.
Facing such a group of strong fortresses, the most reliable strategy is to use heavy artillery bombardment and blasting.
After hearing the news, Commander Yu Tiezhu of the Fourth Lu Division personally came to the front line to deploy the next round of attack. This was also a new test for him, because in the previous attacks on Cebu, the Haihan Army had never encountered such tenacious resistance.
They quietly built these fortresses, practiced corresponding tactics, and sent a large number of dead soldiers to garrison them. This shows that the Spaniards' will to resist has not been worn away in recent years, but has become increasingly determined. This is of course nothing to Haihan. Good thing.
Yu Tiezhu couldn't understand why the Spaniards suddenly changed their temper and wanted to fight the Haihan Army on the frontal battlefield. However, if we can take this opportunity to annihilate their elites in these fortresses in the city, it is better than letting them escape into the mountains and forests.
The attack on this group of fortresses began in the early afternoon and continued until dusk.
Fort San Pedro, which is close to the coast, became the first target. This castle had also been breached when the Haihan Army attacked Cebu before. However, after reinforcement and renovation by the Spanish, its ability to deal with artillery strikes was significantly improved.
The artillery fire coverage from the naval fleet destroyed almost all the upper open-air forts of Fort San Pedro, but the lower level of the castle was protected by thick fortifications, and there were still several artillery pieces and hundreds of musket firing holes that continued to output firepower.
The Manila Battalion and the Guards Battalion took turns to launch multiple rounds of offensives, but they still failed to break through their defense lines. Instead, they suffered many casualties.
Dusk is approaching, and the sound of gunfire gradually becomes sparse, as if today's war is coming to an end.
"Squad leader, that should be the end of the day, right?"
Hearing the questions from his subordinates, Zheng Agui nodded subconsciously and said: "There should be no more fighting after nightfall. Let's go and get some food!"
Although the Haihan Army has certain night fighting capabilities, it also depends on the strength of the opponent. If an offensive like the current one were to be launched all night, the Haihan Army would not only not gain the upper hand, but would instead weaken its own advantage.
Everyone patted their butts and stood up. After watching the excitement for a long time, although they didn't move much, they were really hungry and it was time to go have dinner.
Just as he was about to leave, he saw a fire light up in the direction of Fort San Pedro, followed by a loud bang, and smoke enveloped the entire castle.
"What is that? The armory inside exploded?"
"It's not the armory!" Zheng Agui, who came back to his senses, shook his head and said with certainty: "The explosion happened near the city gate. It should have been blown up by us with explosives!"
Zheng Agui expected it to be true. During the continuous offensive in the afternoon, it took the engineers a long time to use manpower to transport a large amount of explosives to the gate of Fort San Pedro under the cover of artillery and snipers. The burial was completed before the sun set. The big explosion that happened before was the effect of detonating explosives.
In order to achieve a fatal blow, the amount of explosives planted by the engineers has far exceeded the need to blow open the city gate or collapse a section of the city wall.
After the explosion, only two corners of the triangular Fort San Pedro were left. The corner near the city gate was reduced to ruins along with the city wall, gate tower and turret.
The blown earth and rock fragments, together with the remains of the defenders' corpses, even fell a mile away, which shows the power of this explosion.
Not to mention a small fortress, even the walls of a real big city may not be able to withstand such an explosion.
This is no wonder why the fighting gradually stopped before the explosion. It turned out that the nearby Haihan troops had received orders and evacuated the dangerous area in advance.
Before the dust and smoke raised by the explosion completely dissipated, the Haihan army broke into the castle through the gap in the city wall. Without the protection of the fortifications, it would be difficult for the Spaniards inside to organize effective resistance.
Zheng Agui and others were greatly surprised by this sudden change in the battle situation. They originally thought that the offensive and defensive battle around this castle would continue until the next day, but they did not expect that the earth would collapse in just a moment.
This symbolic castle was captured by the Haihan army in such a simple and crude way, which may have dealt a serious blow to the confidence of the Spaniards.
During dinner time, all the soldiers on Mactan were talking excitedly about the big explosion. Especially for the recruits of Bangui Camp, this was like opening the door to a new world. Only then did they realize that there were such arrogant and unreasonable ways to attack tough battles. This seemed to be much more refreshing than using artillery bombardment.
If we encounter similar tough battles in the future, wouldn’t we be able to resolve them in this way?
Zheng Agui poured a basin of cold water on them: "Demolition operations are not as simple as they seem. The explosion just now required at least several hundred kilograms of explosives. In the current battlefield environment, it is necessary to transport so much explosives outside the castle Well laid, do you think this job is easy?”
Everyone was silent for a moment. The Spaniards in the castle were not blind. If they wanted to complete such a task, they would have to endure a hail of bullets. Even with the support of our own firepower, this is no easy task.
Zheng Agui did not continue talking. Although he was not an engineer, he could still imagine how dangerous this mission was. Perhaps when the battle report comes out tomorrow, we will know what price the participating troops paid for this.
Before dinner was finished, the company commander announced the latest order to them. The Bangui Battalion would board a ship and cross the channel early tomorrow morning, heading to Cebu City to replace the Manila Battalion, which had been fighting all day.
After breaking through Fort San Pedro, the Haihan Army did not continue to launch night battles, and the two sides temporarily stopped fighting with a tacit understanding.
There was nothing going on that night, and the sky was dimming the next day, so the Banji camp set off from the base. More than a dozen troop transport ships have arrived at the nearby dock in advance, waiting to load the men and horses of Bangui Camp across the sea.
Soon after boarding the ship and setting off, Zheng Agui became nervous. He discovered that the direction the fleet was going was exactly where Fort San Pedro was. This means that the Bangui Battalion is likely to be on the front line and continue to attack the fortress groups in this area.
(End of chapter)