Chapter 2986
Although the Haihan Army suffered casualties beyond normal conditions during the attack on Cebu, they were still within the tolerable range. Moreover, the goal of capturing the core area of Cebu has been achieved. Although there are still remaining Spanish forces on the island, it will not hinder the overall victory.
Since it is a victory, it is natural to go through the process of reporting merit and reward. As for the casualties in this battle, if used properly, they will become the best material for the official propaganda of the heroic battle of the Haihan Army.
The vast majority of domestic people can only obtain relevant information about the Haihan Army's overseas operations through officially controlled propaganda channels. Due to limited sources of information, they certainly will not delve into whether there are command errors, incompetent combat, or insufficiently advanced weapons and equipment among the frontline troops.
All the people know is encouraging and positive news - the Haihan Army fought bravely in the direction of Luzon, without fear of sacrifice, once again defeated the old enemy the Spanish, captured a large area of territory, and successfully expanded the Haihan territory outwards. Thousands of miles.
This is definitely a great event worthy of national celebration. After all, Haihan's external expansion in the South China Sea has not made such great progress for many years.
As for the soldiers who fought hard on the front line and even sacrificed their lives for this, of course they must be rewarded according to the Haihan tradition. It is necessary to arrange for the fallen soldiers to be worshiped by the public at the Martyrs' Shrine, to provide generous pensions to their families, and to organize a reporting group on the heroic deeds to carry out publicity activities in various parts of the country.
If in the post-war summary, attention can be paid to the obsolete weapons and equipment of the troops stationed in the Luzon region, and if the troops can be arranged to upgrade to new weapons as soon as possible, then the loss of so many people will not be in vain.
However, at this time, the Bangui Battalion can only continue to use the weapons and equipment on hand to deal with the resisters in nearby areas.
Once the separation wall outside the city was built, it would be more difficult for the Spaniards hiding in the mountains and forests to obtain supplies and intelligence. Therefore, taking advantage of the Haihan Army's unstable foothold in Cebu to launch a counterattack, this was also their last chance to make a comeback.
In the first three days after Zheng Agui and others stationed at Outpost No. 7, they encountered two attacks. However, the Spaniards who launched the attack probably couldn't figure out the garrison situation at the outpost. They didn't dare to attack in a large scale. They only fired a few cold shots at the edge of the woods a hundred feet away. After being discovered, they immediately retreated and did not give the Haihan Army any warning. Cause casualties.
But such a test is undoubtedly a danger signal. The officers believe that the reason why the Spaniards have not moved yet is probably due to insufficient intelligence. In time, further actions will be taken.
The direct source of information obtained is probably the more than 200 local workers working here. If someone escapes and informs the Spaniards of the troop deployment at Outpost No. 7, it might lead to a real offensive.
The Bangui Battalion also lost 30 to 40 men due to casualties in previous battles. Now it is deployed on a more than ten-mile peripheral defense line. About half of the troops are on duty on the front line, and the remaining personnel rest and rotate. This means that on such a long defense line, there are actually only about two companies of defenders.
There are outposts set up every three or four miles along the isolation line. Each outpost is stationed with twenty or thirty people, but some of them are also responsible for guarding labor and logistics affairs, and they also have to leave room for rotation and rest, so those on duty There are often less than ten sentries.
In order to rush the construction of the separation wall, the outpost has not yet built a decent bunker fortification, and has only built earthen fortification shooting positions under two outpost towers. If there is a large-scale raid, sentries alone may not be able to hold on until reinforcements arrive.
Although the officers are a little worried, the current situation alone does not have enough reason to apply to the headquarters for additional troops. And some people are also eager for the Spaniards to take the initiative to attack, so that they may have the opportunity to gain more military exploits.
Zheng Agui holds the latter opinion. He believed that increasing troops would only scare back the Spanish who were ready to make an attack. It was better to maintain the status quo and induce those restless Spaniards to take the initiative to attack. Although the outpost has fewer troops, its weapons, equipment and combat capabilities are definitely better than those of its opponents. As long as the difference in troop strength is not too great and the opponent's movements are detected in a timely manner, self-protection is at least not a problem.
But regardless of their opinions, the officers all told their subordinates to step up their defenses during the garrison and be ready for battle at any time.
Sure enough, the Spaniards finally chose to launch an offensive before dawn one day. As for Outpost No. 7, which had flat terrain and was undefeated, it was no surprise that it became the target of the Spaniards' attack.
The Spaniards tried to take advantage of the darkness and sneak in through the weak defense area between the two guard towers. However, the Haihan Army was also prepared for this, and prioritized the construction of the separation wall in this area, and would light fires outside the separation wall at night so that the sentries on the sentry tower could maintain a good view.
The Spanish tried to chop down the logs holding up the wall with axes, but their movement was too great, and the sentries immediately opened fire.
The gunfire alerted the resting soldiers at the outpost. After confirming the warning signal at the outpost, everyone immediately stood up to fight. Although the situation was somewhat chaotic due to the haste, the soldiers quickly rushed out of the barracks with weapons.
Zheng Agui loudly ordered his soldiers to follow him. Although doing so would inevitably expose one's location and might even call in cold guns from the dark, it was still better than losing contact with each other.
It took him a while to confirm the position of the Spaniard's attack, but by this time someone from the other side had already broken through the isolation wall and rushed into the racecourse.
Zheng Agui stopped decisively and ordered his men to attack immediately: "Expand the right side! Line up and shoot! Load the gun! Aim! Fire!"
Everyone immediately formed a horizontal row on the right side of Zheng Agui, and then opened fire according to his instructions.
When fighting in such an environment with low visibility, the traditional horizontal shooting formation is the most lethal. It can concentrate the output of firepower in a directed direction, and at the same time avoid accidentally injuring nearby comrades in the chaos.
The Spaniards obviously lacked such organizational power and tactics. After rushing into the racecourse, they failed to gather the team in time and unify the direction of attack. The scattered attacks were defeated in one blow in the face of the intensive firepower of the Haihan Army, and they fell as soon as they met. There were more than a dozen people.
Although some people tried to organize a counterattack, in this chaotic scene, it was obviously difficult for the scattered civilian armed forces to achieve the combat level of the regular army. Scattered shooting with one shot and no shot at all will not be able to repel the Haihan army. Instead, it will attract a new round of concentrated fire.
After most of the dozens of people who were the first to rush through the separation wall were knocked down by the Haihan Army, the remaining people lost the courage to rush in again and turned around and fled into the mountains and forests.
(End of chapter)