Chapter 3260
After the battle situation changed from a battle between two armies to a situation of escape and pursuit, the suspense of victory or defeat had actually been lost. What the Ming army can do at the moment is to leave the battlefield as soon as possible and preserve the vitality that has not been damaged.
However, the Zhoushan and other Haihan warships quickly pursued them from downstream while billowing white smoke.
Seeing the enemy troops coming at super fast speeds was really disappointing. Once some boats that are escaping slowly are caught up, they will inevitably be hit by a wave of artillery fire. Even if they jump into the river in time to escape, only twenty-three out of ten will survive.
Fortunately, there are many sandbars distributed in the middle of the river in the Zhenjiang section, cutting the river surface into strips. There are also many tributaries on both sides of the river, including the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, which provides multiple escape directions for the Ming navy who are familiar with the environment.
There are many shallow and narrow waterways among them, places that the Haihan warships with huge hulls and deep drafts cannot easily sail into. They can only watch as the Ming army's warships escape from the battle through these waterways.
Although the Han army failed to annihilate all the Ming navy in this battle, it did cause great losses to the opponent. In the end, less than half of the Ming warships successfully escaped from the battlefield.
The troop transports and supply ships still downstream picked up many Ming army sailors from the river after the battle, about hundreds of them.
Those sailors who were able to survive until they were rescued were considered lucky. The number of people who drowned in the river was estimated to be several times that many. On the river more than ten miles downstream of the battlefield, there were corpses drifting everywhere.
The battle losses of the Haihan Army were also quickly calculated. Only one of the four reconnaissance speedboats in front of the attack escaped, and the other three were probably sunk upstream by the Ming Army at the beginning of the battle.
During the battle between the main forces of the two armies, two exploration-class warships of the Haihan Army sank. In addition, four more ships were severely damaged and lost their navigation capabilities. More than 200 people were killed or missing in battle.
For the Haihan Army, such losses were considered quite serious in surface operations in recent years, but they were far from severe enough to damage the fleet participating in this battle. Neither the Zhoushan nor the four Majesty-class battleships, which are the core combat force of the fleet, suffered much damage.
Fortunately, the north bank is the boundary of Yangzhou. These prisoners of war and wounded can be sent to Yangzhou for temporary resettlement nearby. The local government received the notice a few days ago and should have made corresponding preparations.
Seriously damaged ships in the fleet will also be towed to the local area for repairs. Although most of them will not be able to regain combat effectiveness in time, they are at least expected to be repaired to the extent that they can be sailed back to Zhoushan Port, where the shipyards have the corresponding overhaul capabilities.
But it was only the battle on the water that came to an end. After defeating the Ming Navy, the group of people led by Yan Chujie would also take on the task of attacking Zhenjiang City.
Zhenjiang City was first built in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Sun Quan chose Beigu Mountain on the riverside and organized the construction of a military fortress called Iron Weng City.
After more than a thousand years of renovation and expansion in successive dynasties, the area of Zhenjiang City today has expanded more than twenty times compared to when it was first built. The city wall is twelve miles in circumference and two feet and six feet high. The Zhenjiang government office is located on the original site of Iron Weng City thousands of years ago.
There are four city gates in the southeast, northwest, Chaoyang, Huju, Jinyin and Dingbo respectively. Each gate has two or three levels of Wengcheng checkpoints. In the southwest of the city, there is a canal dug in the Yuan Dynasty as a moat. The mouth of this canal is one of the ports where the Ming Navy was stationed.
Compared with Yangzhou City, which is more than 20 miles away from the Yangtze River bank, the north side of Zhenjiang City is less than one mile away from the riverside, so its role in guarding the Yangtze River waterway is undoubtedly more obvious.
Haihan wanted to control the Yangtze River waterway and then launch an offensive against Nanjing City from the river. Zhenjiang was one of the goals that must be captured.
On April 18, the Haihan Army began to land on the downstream river bank more than ten miles away from Zhenjiang City. After a small group of scouts confirmed that there were no traces of Ming army activities near the river bank, dozens of troop transport ships docked.
These troop carriers carried a combined regiment from the 7th Army Division, including infantry, cavalry, artillery and other arms. The task of attacking Zhenjiang City will be completed by them.
Based on synchronized intelligence from the southern front, Yan Chujie learned that Danyang and Jintan counties under Zhenjiang had transferred some garrison troops to Yixing to assist in the war. After the fall of Yixing County, these troops heading south were 1,670 miles away from Zhenjiang, and most likely they would not be able to make it back.
This means that the number of defenders in Zhenjiang City may be smaller than expected, which is moderately good news for the attackers.
However, the defenders did not just huddle up and defend. They deployed a blocking defense line at Xiangshan, seven miles east of Zhenjiang City.
Although Xiangshan is just a small mountain, it was an important place for Jiang defense during the Song and Yuan dynasties. There is also Han Gong Dun, the site of the Southern Song Dynasty general Han Shizhong's garrison on the mountain.
After Haihan annexed the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Zhenjiang defenders once again renovated Xiangshan's fortifications, hoping to turn Xiangshan into a stronghold. If the enemy attacks Zhenjiang City from the east, then the defenders in the city can respond to the defenders at Xiangshan and flank the attacking enemy forces.
The only problem is that the area of Xiangshan is too small, only about two miles in radius, and the highest point is less than 20 feet, so the number of troops that can be stationed is limited. With two thousand people stationed, it has basically reached its limit.
Yan Chujie picked up the telescope and observed the situation of Xiangshan Mountain in the distance. The Ming army did not deliberately hide their whereabouts. From the telescope, you can see the flags of the Ming army fluttering in the wind on the top of the mountain, and there are faintly visible stone fortresses and protective walls in the mountains and forests.
Although the place was not big, Yan Chujie understood that if he did not clean up the place, when he turned back to attack the city, the retreat would be harassed by the Ming army here.
He raised his wrist and looked at the time. There were still about two hours until dark.
"Fight, take Xiangshan before dark!"
Following Yan Chujie's order, the artillery began to set up positions at the foot of the mountain. Each department prepared for battle, and only waited for the artillery to clear the way before launching an attack on the mountain.
Although the defenders on the mountain also have artillery, due to the terrain, the only ones that can be transported up are small-caliber Franco machine guns. Even if it is located at a high altitude with the terrain bonus, its range is still difficult to reach the artillery positions of the Haihan Army.
The tactics of the Haihan Army were very simple. After a bombardment, the infantry immediately stepped forward to feign an attack, allowing the defenders to expose their firepower points and garrison positions. After the artillery determined the target position, they bombarded again, and then the infantry determined the enemy's situation. This was repeated, bit by bit, the garrison fortifications on the mountain were removed.
Although it is clumsy, in the face of the current combat environment, this can be regarded as the best solution to balance combat efficiency and reducing casualties.
(End of chapter)