Chapter 1241
Strong Line of Defense
Chapter 1241 Strong Line of Defense
Seeing Luo Jie's solemn expression, Tan Juren also knew that the critical moment had come, so he got up and said goodbye immediately.Roger sent him out of the door, and when he said goodbye, he specifically said: "In case... I mean, in case there is any mistake here, you will take over the command first, and the specific command will be done by my subordinates. Then tell Lao Mu to hurry over and preside over the overall situation."
Tan Juren waved his hand and said: "Don't say these unlucky words, you should be more careful, I don't want to go to the front line to fight! I will watch the logistics 24 hours a day, and you can deal with the Johorese with peace of mind."
Although Roger is very confident in this battle, but the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, he does not dare to guarantee that there will be no mistakes 100%, and he took the initiative to set up the headquarters on the line of fire. It's relatively big, and Tan Juren would definitely not dare to fight like this.Luo Jie first explained how to respond to emergencies, and he is also responsible to the entire team. Tan Juren naturally understands his intentions, but at this juncture, he still needs to cheer for Roger, and he cannot be too aggressive with this emergency arrangement. Overzealous.
After sending Tan Juren away, Roger did not return to the office, but went directly to the front line.It will be some time before the enemy army arrives here, and Roger wants to make full use of this time to inspect the positions he has set up, and cheer up the soldiers by the way.Especially for those soldiers who have never experienced war since joining the army, this may be a major test for their careers. Roger must ensure that they can at least perform at least half of their usual training level, so that the direction of the war can be beneficial to Haihan party.
To Roger's relief, the morale of the soldiers was quite good. Although many soldiers had never really experienced combat, they might not fully understand why their superiors had arranged their positions in immigrant villages instead of taking the initiative to attack, leaving more They used strategic depth to carry out the interspersed operations they had learned, but they had unreserved trust in Roger, and they were sure that this combat plan would definitely be able to destroy the invading enemy.The local reserves of supplies, weapons and ammunition are sufficient, and reinforcements are already on their way to Xingdao, so the soldiers don't have too many worries.
At [-]:[-] p.m., the scouts reported that the enemy army was less than five miles away from Haihan's position, and that the enemy should have known the location of Haihan's base, and they were stopping to rest, and it was estimated that they would launch an offensive soon.Haihan's two companies deployed in the field also adjusted their ambush positions accordingly, waiting for the main force of the enemy to launch an attack, and then outflank the rear from the periphery.
Hogg was actually more anxious than Roger at this time. The spies who went out reported that no one had entered or left Haihan’s immigrant village, and the surrounding farmland was completely deserted. It is very likely that he had noticed something and had all the people return to the village. safe area.Hogg knows that the more time Haihan has to prepare, the more difficult it will be to attack the stronghold later, and if Haihan transfers all the people and abandons the immigrant village, then what he envisions is to attack the immigrant village and then coerce the people to attack Haihan The battle plan for the stronghold will not work.At that time, if it becomes a protracted confrontation, the coalition forces in the wild will have no advantage against the Haihan army guarding the stronghold. On the contrary, it will be difficult to continue long-term combat due to logistical supply problems.
However, the coalition forces were dispatched early this morning. After crossing the strait, they landed and marched for tens of miles, and their physical strength was also extremely exhausted. If they want to launch an offensive immediately in this state, the combat effectiveness that the soldiers can exert will undoubtedly be great. Discounted, and this is a situation he never wants to see.Although he was not very willing, but in order to ensure that the soldiers could enter the battle with a [-]-point state, he could only order the soldiers to stop and rest for a while, and then launch an offensive after the soldiers regained their physical strength.Although he himself rode the horse all the way, he was equally exhausted after walking down with bumps and bumps for dozens of miles. When he got off the horse, the orderly held his arms to prevent his legs from falling.
The vanguard led by Hogg has a scale of about 800 people. It has concentrated almost all mercenaries and hundreds of Johor new soldiers. It can be regarded as the most elite force in the coalition forces that invaded Xingdao this time.Hogg hoped to concentrate his main force to break through the opponent's defense in one fell swoop, preferably before the follow-up troops led by Babon caught up, so that these ignorant natives could see how powerful the British were in fighting.
"It's almost time to rest, the whole team is assembled!" Facing the sketch drawn with the approximate distribution of the Haihan stronghold buildings, Hogg pondered for a long time in silence, until the adjutant came to ask for instructions, and he got up and gave the battle order.
The East India Company and the Johor State spent a lot of effort on this sketch. They spent a lot of time inquiring about the news, and it took several months to sort it out. It is also the most detailed map currently in the hands of the coalition forces.According to the map, the immigrant village that the coalition forces are about to attack is divided into east and west, and in the middle are some resident civil affairs agencies. Behind it is a small river, and to the south of the small river is a military stronghold and port.As long as the immigrant village is captured, at least it can be used to establish a position to continue fighting with the Haihan army. If you are lucky, you will push across the river and drive the Haihan people directly into the sea.
However, if the immigrant village cannot be captured, the coalition forces can only build positions in the wild to deal with their opponents. This is not an easy task, and Hogg is not optimistic about the field combat capabilities of the new Johor army.If it really develops to such a situation, it can be regarded as quite passive.Of course, Hogg doesn't think that the coalition forces can't even take down an immigrant village. Even if the Haihan people sense something wrong now and start dispatching troops, they can't turn a village into a military fortress in a short time. He has done many targeted drills for a long time. If he can't even take down an immigrant village, then he and Bapong don't have to go back to do business.
After the coalition forces stepped out of the jungle, a large piece of farmland appeared in front of them, at least a thousand acres in size, most of which were planted with rice, and the rest of the farmland was planted with various fruits and vegetables.However, the rice in this season is still young, and it is impossible to rely on the farmland here to obtain food supplies.However, there are still some free-range ducks and geese still wandering in the fields at this time.As far as the eyes could see, there was not even half a person in sight. There was silence in the wilderness, and the villages in the distance didn't even have the slightest smoke from cooking.
But Hogg was not intimidated by this scene. After confirming the location of the distant village, he immediately ordered an offensive.The drummers in the queue beat the drums, and the soldiers maintained their battle formation and began to slowly advance towards the distant target.
Although there were no traces of enemy troops within sight, the journey was not smooth. The rice fields all over the place instantly turned into roadblocks, lying between the coalition forces and the target.In order to ensure that the battle formation would not be scattered, the soldiers had no choice but to keep their formation and step across the rice fields. The mud and water splashed everywhere, and the shoes on many people's feet were directly stuck in the mud, and a little chaos appeared immediately.
Of course Hogg also saw this in his eyes, but right now he has no better way to solve this problem.It is obviously not feasible to let the soldiers break up and march from the field ridge. Haihan's village is one mile away. Should the soldiers be rushed in as scattered soldiers?Even if Hogg had confidence in his subordinates, he would not dare to make such a big deal. The Haihan people are not natives who can only use cold weapons. I heard that their musketeers are also quite powerful. If there are ambushes hidden in the village, the skirmishers If Xing rushed in, he would undoubtedly commit suicide.The safest way is to line up in a neat attacking formation and push forward, and use a volley of muskets to destroy the enemy's defense line.
It has to be said that there is nothing obvious wrong with Hogg's combat thinking. The mainstream tactics of musketeers in this era are still gunners shooting salvos under the cover of spearmen, while pure musketeers form a line formation and line up to shoot Tactics, only a very small number of elite troops can use them freely.The coalition forces formed by the East India Company and Johor are obviously not within the category of "elite", so the attack methods that can be used on the battlefield are traditional tactics. This is already the best tactic in the era of combining hot and cold weapons. Ge also thoughtfully added a large shield for the infantry to cover at the front.Hogg believed that even if the coalition forces under his command ran into Portuguese or Dutch armed forces with comparable strength, they would not suffer a bit.
Hogg lacks understanding of Haihan's combat methods. Apart from knowing that Haihan's army is equipped with a large number of muskets, other information is almost blank.This also led him to think that Haihan's tactics should be similar to his own when formulating tactics. He did not expect that the advantages of weapon performance made Haihan's combat methods far ahead of this era, and it would not appear what he envisioned. The two sides lined up to face off such a battle scene.In the silent village, the Haihan army is patiently waiting for the coalition forces to step into range, and then a massacre will begin.
Although the drums commanding the troops to move forward were not chaotic at all, the coalition troops staggering forward in the rice fields had already begun to scatter, and some even stopped and squatted in the mud to find their shoes.Hogg looked at the map in his hand again, but such a large paddy field was not marked on it.He suddenly regretted a little, maybe he shouldn't be in a hurry to launch an attack, but let the scouts explore the edge of the farmland to see if there is a more suitable route to advance, so as to avoid these damn rice field mud pits.
However, the troops have already pressed up, and stopping the offensive at this time and letting the soldiers turn back will inevitably dampen their spirits.And after all, Hogg still had a little luck in his heart—how would he know if he didn't try it out? Maybe the Haihan people chose to avoid fighting because of the rush of time and didn't have time to organize an army. The coalition army might just attack the village directly.
However, these coalition soldiers who were in the vanguard were not as optimistic as Hogg. When they finally approached the village, they found that all the intersections that could enter the village were blocked by tree trunks, rocks and dirt. However, on the walls of the houses facing the outside of the village, there are many bowl-sized holes, almost all of the same height, which makes people puzzled when they look at it—it is said that it is used for lighting, and the position is too short Some of them are said to be used for ventilation, and there are windows next to them.
Just when everyone was puzzled, a lot of muzzles suddenly shot out from the holes and behind the obstacles at the intersection. The leading British officer reacted quickly, and immediately ordered the shield hand to cover, and the musketeers entered the fighting position.And at the same time as he gave the order, the muzzle of the gun on the opposite side sprayed out flames in unison.
"The Haihan people took the lead?" Hogg, who was watching the battle from behind, was a little surprised by this sudden situation. He thought that the undefended village was still ambushed by the Haihan army.However, he was not flustered because of this. There is still a distance between the two sides. According to his experience, the hit rate of muskets at this distance basically depends on character, such scattered firepower output, and there is a shield on his side. Protection, of course, greatly reduces the chances of being hit by a projectile.Although the Haihan people fired first, they might not have any advantage.
But the actual situation was somewhat different from Hogg's prediction. The bullets fired from the village all shot straight at the coalition soldiers standing in the farmland.Although the shield players had tried their best to form a shield wall as quickly as possible, there were still several soldiers whose bodies were bleeding, and then fell straight into the mud.
"Shoot!" The officer commanding them loudly issued a combat command. After a burst of gunfire, the smoke of gunpowder burning filled the front of the formation, so that the soldiers could not see the target in front of them at all.But the bullets shot through the smoke didn't stop for a moment, and even the thick shield erected in front of them couldn't stop them. Several shield bearers just fell down in the rice field with their bunkers in their arms.
After confirming the opponent's shield array during the reconnaissance a few days ago, Roger was thinking about how to crack it. Using artillery is naturally the simplest and rudest way, but Roger doesn't want to play all the cards in his hand as soon as he comes up. Naturally, the killer weapon should be reserved for critical moments.After coming back to discuss with his officers, Roger made the decision to let the snipers take on this tough task.
The range and power of a sniper rifle far exceed that of a standard rifle, and the penetration depth at the same distance also has obvious advantages. A shield that ordinary rifle bullets may not be able to penetrate can be easily sanctioned by a sniper rifle, and the shield is a huge target. Hands don't even need a scope at all, they can hit it with just the ruler that comes with the gun.
The coalition soldiers only knew that their rifles could not penetrate this large protective shield at a certain distance, but they never thought that the opponent had a powerful armor-piercing weapon, which was still capable of killing enough damage after piercing the shield. Almost every shot would hit the coalition front. There was a gap in the top, revealing the naked soldiers behind.As long as the shooting of Haihan soldiers is aimed at this gap that is constantly exposed, a very high kill rate can be guaranteed.
Hogg sent out a vanguard force of only a hundred people, and the shield in front was only 30 yuan. Half of them fell down after a moment of firefighting. Naturally, the function of covering the musketeers was greatly reduced. Killed and fell to the ground.The officer in charge was blocked by the smoke from his own shooting, so he couldn't see the situation on the opposite side at all. However, seeing that his formation had begun to become chaotic, he quickly ordered to retreat loudly.
(End of this chapter)
Seeing Luo Jie's solemn expression, Tan Juren also knew that the critical moment had come, so he got up and said goodbye immediately.Roger sent him out of the door, and when he said goodbye, he specifically said: "In case... I mean, in case there is any mistake here, you will take over the command first, and the specific command will be done by my subordinates. Then tell Lao Mu to hurry over and preside over the overall situation."
Tan Juren waved his hand and said: "Don't say these unlucky words, you should be more careful, I don't want to go to the front line to fight! I will watch the logistics 24 hours a day, and you can deal with the Johorese with peace of mind."
Although Roger is very confident in this battle, but the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, he does not dare to guarantee that there will be no mistakes 100%, and he took the initiative to set up the headquarters on the line of fire. It's relatively big, and Tan Juren would definitely not dare to fight like this.Luo Jie first explained how to respond to emergencies, and he is also responsible to the entire team. Tan Juren naturally understands his intentions, but at this juncture, he still needs to cheer for Roger, and he cannot be too aggressive with this emergency arrangement. Overzealous.
After sending Tan Juren away, Roger did not return to the office, but went directly to the front line.It will be some time before the enemy army arrives here, and Roger wants to make full use of this time to inspect the positions he has set up, and cheer up the soldiers by the way.Especially for those soldiers who have never experienced war since joining the army, this may be a major test for their careers. Roger must ensure that they can at least perform at least half of their usual training level, so that the direction of the war can be beneficial to Haihan party.
To Roger's relief, the morale of the soldiers was quite good. Although many soldiers had never really experienced combat, they might not fully understand why their superiors had arranged their positions in immigrant villages instead of taking the initiative to attack, leaving more They used strategic depth to carry out the interspersed operations they had learned, but they had unreserved trust in Roger, and they were sure that this combat plan would definitely be able to destroy the invading enemy.The local reserves of supplies, weapons and ammunition are sufficient, and reinforcements are already on their way to Xingdao, so the soldiers don't have too many worries.
At [-]:[-] p.m., the scouts reported that the enemy army was less than five miles away from Haihan's position, and that the enemy should have known the location of Haihan's base, and they were stopping to rest, and it was estimated that they would launch an offensive soon.Haihan's two companies deployed in the field also adjusted their ambush positions accordingly, waiting for the main force of the enemy to launch an attack, and then outflank the rear from the periphery.
Hogg was actually more anxious than Roger at this time. The spies who went out reported that no one had entered or left Haihan’s immigrant village, and the surrounding farmland was completely deserted. It is very likely that he had noticed something and had all the people return to the village. safe area.Hogg knows that the more time Haihan has to prepare, the more difficult it will be to attack the stronghold later, and if Haihan transfers all the people and abandons the immigrant village, then what he envisions is to attack the immigrant village and then coerce the people to attack Haihan The battle plan for the stronghold will not work.At that time, if it becomes a protracted confrontation, the coalition forces in the wild will have no advantage against the Haihan army guarding the stronghold. On the contrary, it will be difficult to continue long-term combat due to logistical supply problems.
However, the coalition forces were dispatched early this morning. After crossing the strait, they landed and marched for tens of miles, and their physical strength was also extremely exhausted. If they want to launch an offensive immediately in this state, the combat effectiveness that the soldiers can exert will undoubtedly be great. Discounted, and this is a situation he never wants to see.Although he was not very willing, but in order to ensure that the soldiers could enter the battle with a [-]-point state, he could only order the soldiers to stop and rest for a while, and then launch an offensive after the soldiers regained their physical strength.Although he himself rode the horse all the way, he was equally exhausted after walking down with bumps and bumps for dozens of miles. When he got off the horse, the orderly held his arms to prevent his legs from falling.
The vanguard led by Hogg has a scale of about 800 people. It has concentrated almost all mercenaries and hundreds of Johor new soldiers. It can be regarded as the most elite force in the coalition forces that invaded Xingdao this time.Hogg hoped to concentrate his main force to break through the opponent's defense in one fell swoop, preferably before the follow-up troops led by Babon caught up, so that these ignorant natives could see how powerful the British were in fighting.
"It's almost time to rest, the whole team is assembled!" Facing the sketch drawn with the approximate distribution of the Haihan stronghold buildings, Hogg pondered for a long time in silence, until the adjutant came to ask for instructions, and he got up and gave the battle order.
The East India Company and the Johor State spent a lot of effort on this sketch. They spent a lot of time inquiring about the news, and it took several months to sort it out. It is also the most detailed map currently in the hands of the coalition forces.According to the map, the immigrant village that the coalition forces are about to attack is divided into east and west, and in the middle are some resident civil affairs agencies. Behind it is a small river, and to the south of the small river is a military stronghold and port.As long as the immigrant village is captured, at least it can be used to establish a position to continue fighting with the Haihan army. If you are lucky, you will push across the river and drive the Haihan people directly into the sea.
However, if the immigrant village cannot be captured, the coalition forces can only build positions in the wild to deal with their opponents. This is not an easy task, and Hogg is not optimistic about the field combat capabilities of the new Johor army.If it really develops to such a situation, it can be regarded as quite passive.Of course, Hogg doesn't think that the coalition forces can't even take down an immigrant village. Even if the Haihan people sense something wrong now and start dispatching troops, they can't turn a village into a military fortress in a short time. He has done many targeted drills for a long time. If he can't even take down an immigrant village, then he and Bapong don't have to go back to do business.
After the coalition forces stepped out of the jungle, a large piece of farmland appeared in front of them, at least a thousand acres in size, most of which were planted with rice, and the rest of the farmland was planted with various fruits and vegetables.However, the rice in this season is still young, and it is impossible to rely on the farmland here to obtain food supplies.However, there are still some free-range ducks and geese still wandering in the fields at this time.As far as the eyes could see, there was not even half a person in sight. There was silence in the wilderness, and the villages in the distance didn't even have the slightest smoke from cooking.
But Hogg was not intimidated by this scene. After confirming the location of the distant village, he immediately ordered an offensive.The drummers in the queue beat the drums, and the soldiers maintained their battle formation and began to slowly advance towards the distant target.
Although there were no traces of enemy troops within sight, the journey was not smooth. The rice fields all over the place instantly turned into roadblocks, lying between the coalition forces and the target.In order to ensure that the battle formation would not be scattered, the soldiers had no choice but to keep their formation and step across the rice fields. The mud and water splashed everywhere, and the shoes on many people's feet were directly stuck in the mud, and a little chaos appeared immediately.
Of course Hogg also saw this in his eyes, but right now he has no better way to solve this problem.It is obviously not feasible to let the soldiers break up and march from the field ridge. Haihan's village is one mile away. Should the soldiers be rushed in as scattered soldiers?Even if Hogg had confidence in his subordinates, he would not dare to make such a big deal. The Haihan people are not natives who can only use cold weapons. I heard that their musketeers are also quite powerful. If there are ambushes hidden in the village, the skirmishers If Xing rushed in, he would undoubtedly commit suicide.The safest way is to line up in a neat attacking formation and push forward, and use a volley of muskets to destroy the enemy's defense line.
It has to be said that there is nothing obvious wrong with Hogg's combat thinking. The mainstream tactics of musketeers in this era are still gunners shooting salvos under the cover of spearmen, while pure musketeers form a line formation and line up to shoot Tactics, only a very small number of elite troops can use them freely.The coalition forces formed by the East India Company and Johor are obviously not within the category of "elite", so the attack methods that can be used on the battlefield are traditional tactics. This is already the best tactic in the era of combining hot and cold weapons. Ge also thoughtfully added a large shield for the infantry to cover at the front.Hogg believed that even if the coalition forces under his command ran into Portuguese or Dutch armed forces with comparable strength, they would not suffer a bit.
Hogg lacks understanding of Haihan's combat methods. Apart from knowing that Haihan's army is equipped with a large number of muskets, other information is almost blank.This also led him to think that Haihan's tactics should be similar to his own when formulating tactics. He did not expect that the advantages of weapon performance made Haihan's combat methods far ahead of this era, and it would not appear what he envisioned. The two sides lined up to face off such a battle scene.In the silent village, the Haihan army is patiently waiting for the coalition forces to step into range, and then a massacre will begin.
Although the drums commanding the troops to move forward were not chaotic at all, the coalition troops staggering forward in the rice fields had already begun to scatter, and some even stopped and squatted in the mud to find their shoes.Hogg looked at the map in his hand again, but such a large paddy field was not marked on it.He suddenly regretted a little, maybe he shouldn't be in a hurry to launch an attack, but let the scouts explore the edge of the farmland to see if there is a more suitable route to advance, so as to avoid these damn rice field mud pits.
However, the troops have already pressed up, and stopping the offensive at this time and letting the soldiers turn back will inevitably dampen their spirits.And after all, Hogg still had a little luck in his heart—how would he know if he didn't try it out? Maybe the Haihan people chose to avoid fighting because of the rush of time and didn't have time to organize an army. The coalition army might just attack the village directly.
However, these coalition soldiers who were in the vanguard were not as optimistic as Hogg. When they finally approached the village, they found that all the intersections that could enter the village were blocked by tree trunks, rocks and dirt. However, on the walls of the houses facing the outside of the village, there are many bowl-sized holes, almost all of the same height, which makes people puzzled when they look at it—it is said that it is used for lighting, and the position is too short Some of them are said to be used for ventilation, and there are windows next to them.
Just when everyone was puzzled, a lot of muzzles suddenly shot out from the holes and behind the obstacles at the intersection. The leading British officer reacted quickly, and immediately ordered the shield hand to cover, and the musketeers entered the fighting position.And at the same time as he gave the order, the muzzle of the gun on the opposite side sprayed out flames in unison.
"The Haihan people took the lead?" Hogg, who was watching the battle from behind, was a little surprised by this sudden situation. He thought that the undefended village was still ambushed by the Haihan army.However, he was not flustered because of this. There is still a distance between the two sides. According to his experience, the hit rate of muskets at this distance basically depends on character, such scattered firepower output, and there is a shield on his side. Protection, of course, greatly reduces the chances of being hit by a projectile.Although the Haihan people fired first, they might not have any advantage.
But the actual situation was somewhat different from Hogg's prediction. The bullets fired from the village all shot straight at the coalition soldiers standing in the farmland.Although the shield players had tried their best to form a shield wall as quickly as possible, there were still several soldiers whose bodies were bleeding, and then fell straight into the mud.
"Shoot!" The officer commanding them loudly issued a combat command. After a burst of gunfire, the smoke of gunpowder burning filled the front of the formation, so that the soldiers could not see the target in front of them at all.But the bullets shot through the smoke didn't stop for a moment, and even the thick shield erected in front of them couldn't stop them. Several shield bearers just fell down in the rice field with their bunkers in their arms.
After confirming the opponent's shield array during the reconnaissance a few days ago, Roger was thinking about how to crack it. Using artillery is naturally the simplest and rudest way, but Roger doesn't want to play all the cards in his hand as soon as he comes up. Naturally, the killer weapon should be reserved for critical moments.After coming back to discuss with his officers, Roger made the decision to let the snipers take on this tough task.
The range and power of a sniper rifle far exceed that of a standard rifle, and the penetration depth at the same distance also has obvious advantages. A shield that ordinary rifle bullets may not be able to penetrate can be easily sanctioned by a sniper rifle, and the shield is a huge target. Hands don't even need a scope at all, they can hit it with just the ruler that comes with the gun.
The coalition soldiers only knew that their rifles could not penetrate this large protective shield at a certain distance, but they never thought that the opponent had a powerful armor-piercing weapon, which was still capable of killing enough damage after piercing the shield. Almost every shot would hit the coalition front. There was a gap in the top, revealing the naked soldiers behind.As long as the shooting of Haihan soldiers is aimed at this gap that is constantly exposed, a very high kill rate can be guaranteed.
Hogg sent out a vanguard force of only a hundred people, and the shield in front was only 30 yuan. Half of them fell down after a moment of firefighting. Naturally, the function of covering the musketeers was greatly reduced. Killed and fell to the ground.The officer in charge was blocked by the smoke from his own shooting, so he couldn't see the situation on the opposite side at all. However, seeing that his formation had begun to become chaotic, he quickly ordered to retreat loudly.
(End of this chapter)