Chapter 1437
Shelling Jijiabao
Chapter 1437 Shelling Jijiabao
Artillery is a very important service in the Haihan Army. Although due to various conditions, the establishment of the artillery unit has not been able to keep up with the overall development of the army, but no matter which unit is the general, the emphasis on artillery is. There is no doubt about it.For both the Army and the Navy, artillery is a scarce resource that needs to be striven for, and the formed artillery unit is even more in the hands of the Ministry of National Defense. This time, several artillery companies were mobilized from the south to participate in the war in Liaodong, and troops were transferred during the period. The arrangement of dispatching generals is also quite difficult.
In this spring offensive, [-]% of the artillery units assembled to the front line are currently under the command of Qian Tiandun. This is because the East and West Route Army can at least rely on naval gunboats to provide nearshore firepower cover and take on the main task of attacking The Central Route Army can only rely on the firepower output of artillery to attack the Houjin line of defense.
Qian Tiandun and the commanders of the artillery unit designed a curved artillery position specifically for Jijiabao to ensure that the firepower can be concentrated on the south gate of Jijiabao facing Haihan to the greatest extent.In order to ensure that this artillery position will not suffer the impact of the post-Golden cavalry and cooperate with the offensive of the artillery units, the special operations battalion must also formulate a corresponding cover plan for this purpose.
This battlefield may have been farmland a few years ago, but now it is just a wasteland for both sides. In the current environment, Haihan doesn't have to worry about the presence of spies from the back and the refugees. Going to the rear, the other party cleared the southern part of Jinzhou early and relocated all the Han people. Although this caused great difficulties for Haihan's on-site supply, it would have no scruples during the war. It also saves a lot of trouble in dealing with refugees.
March [-], sunny, no wind.Camp Haihan was in action at dawn.The Phi Dao Army, who was assigned to the battle mission, also got up early and made preparations. Shen Zhixiang personally led the army to file out from the north gate of the camp.Their task was to hold an area delineated in advance to provide protection for the right flank of the artillery position.
In the previous military operations last year, the Phi Dao Army actually had the experience of expeditioning Liaodong with Haihan many times. However, in the past, most of them fought at sea. Not many opportunities.This time, he was able to get the opportunity to fight side by side with the special operations battalion. Naturally, Shen Zhixiang took this opportunity to perform well, and used his record to prove that Haihan's many assistances to Phi Dao were not in vain.
In the past, the Dongjiang Army had many victories in the battle between Liaodong and Houjin. It was only because of various reasons that they could not get the full support of Daming, so they lost Liaodong under the continuous offensive of Houjin, and were finally suppressed to the point where they could only escape. Phi Dao overseas is surviving.In terms of past records, this unit does not have much psychological disadvantage to Houjin. In addition, following the actions of the Haihan Army in the past year, I have also seen how the mighty Houjin Army was beaten without any strength to fight back. Therefore, when Shen Zhixiang led his troops to the field, the soldiers did not appear too nervous because of the identity of their opponents, but many people were quite excited, thinking that the opportunity to restore the glory of the Dongjiang Army was now.
However, in order to ensure that the Phi Dao Army would not lose its position during the battle, Qian Tiandun still sent a company of infantry to act with the Phi Dao Army, and was closer to the artillery position on the inside to provide it with the last layer of protection. .
After the troops on the east and west sides were in place, the gun carriages finally came out of the battalion. These gun carriages driven by pack horses were all produced after the founding of Haihan in 1634, so they were all newer breech models. gun.As for the cumbersome and inconvenient old front-bore cannons produced in the early days, they were either transferred to local areas and used as port and coastal defense guns, or they were simply sold cheaply to Fujian or Annan for use by allies.
The Houjin Army of Jijiabao also noticed this trend. When the Pidao Army was still lining up on the field, someone had already reported to Erhe and Yanguli, who was in charge of the battle.After seeing the continuous appearance of artillery carts from the Haihan camp, the expressions of Houjin's generals became very ugly.They are not afraid to fight the most brutal battle with the Haihan army, but if there is no way to effectively shorten the fighting distance on the battlefield, no matter how brave the soldiers are, they can only die in vain.
According to the information obtained in previous battles, the range of Haihan artillery is almost one mile or more. This kind of heavy artillery is extremely rare in Houjin, and almost all of them are used for the fortifications of large cities or passes.For example, the two large fortresses on the defensive line of this fortress each have a cannon brought by Kong Youde from Shandong, and it is said that the range can reach more than one mile.
The reason why it is "supposedly" is because the two guns have never fired records after they were deployed to the defense line. Even the gunner who operated the two guns defected to Liaodong along with Kong Youde at the beginning. You can only use Kong Youde's statement as a reference.For these two cannons, the generals of the post-Jin military naturally placed high hopes on them, and even regarded them as treasures like Dinghaishenzhen. So shabby.
Yanguli didn't have the patience to wait until Haihan finished deploying the artillery positions. He called Erhe to him and asked him to immediately gather his troops out of the fort to rush to kill, making sure to prevent Haihan from deploying artillery.
Erhe's heart was cold, but he could only follow Yanguli's instructions.He knew that this was going to be a disaster, and after explaining a few words to his trusted servants, he led the hundreds of cavalry under his direct command out of Jijiabao.Most of these cavalrymen are from the same tribe as Erhe. It can be said that they are both prosperous and withered. Even if they know that this trip is very likely to kill them in battle, they still have to bite the bullet.
Erhe led his troops to launch a decisive charge against Haihan. He did not expect that his few hundred cavalry would be able to overwhelm the opponent's position. degree.Even if he killed more than a dozen Haihan soldiers, his few hundred cavalry would at least be able to die with dignity.
But of course this was just Erhe's unilateral wish, and the special operations battalion in charge of the front station had no intention of letting him succeed.As soon as Erhe's cavalry unit came out of Jijiabao, Gaoqiaonan, who was commanding the battle on the front line, ordered all personnel to enter the fighting position.Although the infantry did not have time to set up roadblocks and bunkers on the field, they were all convinced that their weapons were sufficient to deal with these cavalry, because a similar battle had already occurred when they attacked Lushun Fort at the end of last year. Mutebu also had a similar plan to Erhe, but the Haihant battalion fought a terrifying record of defeating horses with a tough counterattack.
After that, the special operations battalion made further revisions to the corresponding tactics, and had more means for cavalry units in terms of formation layout and firing rhythm, waiting for such an opportunity to verify its effect.
Considering the weak firepower of the Phi Island Army, Takahashi South ordered the troops that were originally stationed on the two wings of the predetermined artillery position to quickly gather in the middle, and the artillery vehicles that had already left the camp immediately moved closer to the special operations battalion. The artillery vehicles that have not yet left the camp. It is to suspend the action and try not to give the opponent the opportunity to attack.
By the time Erhe's troops had assembled outside Jijiabao and started marching in formation, Haihan's side was ready for the challenge.Looking at the hedgehog-like Haihan position in the distance, Erhe couldn't help but feel a headache, but at the moment, he couldn't seem to find a better tactic besides rushing directly.He drew his saber, made a brief mobilization with a shout, and then took the lead and charged forward.Hundreds of cavalry followed closely behind, waving sabres and rushing towards the Haihan position.
"Nothing new!" Gao Qiaonan felt relieved when he saw the opponent's formation, and rushed towards the special operations battalion with his head sullen like this. Terrible long-range firepower.
The slaughter began when the two sides were a hundred feet apart. Although the bullets fired from the Haihan position were difficult to aim at a specific target, the intensive firepower caused sporadic personnel in the post-Golden cavalry team to be shot down.Then, at this distance, the golden cavalry can hardly hurt the opponent no matter how much they shoot with the light bows and arrows they carry.Apart from lowering down on horseback to reduce the target, and putting the hand shield in front of the head to protect the vital point, the post-golden cavalry have no better way to deal with this terrible long-range blow for the time being.
But this kind of shield attached to the arm can protect people, but it can't protect the horses with bigger targets, so in the process of cavalry charging, almost every moment accompanied by the sound of gunshots, there are scenes of people turning their backs on their horses. Hundreds of rides were dwindling rapidly almost at a rate visible to the naked eye.
And as the distance between the two sides continued to shorten, the gunshots that were still somewhat sparse also became more and more dense, which made the cavalry who launched the charge to the Haihan position for the first time a little confused - don't the muskets of the Haihan people use it? Stopped and reloaded?
Of course, they did not expect that the rifles equipped by the special operations battalion are seven bursts, and a reasonable arrangement of rotating shots can form uninterrupted firepower output.The real shortcoming is actually on the side of the Phi Dao Army. The rifles they use are old-style arquebuses and flintlock guns provided by Haihan, although these things are already much more powerful than the bird guns they used before. But compared to the repeating rifles of the Haihan troops next to them, the level of firepower output they can achieve is obviously a hindrance.
But the more this is the case, the more Shen Zhixiang is reluctant to show weakness. He just wants to let the Haihan Army see that even if his troops are a bit backward in equipment, their fighting spirit will not be worse than anyone else's.
Erhe also observed the unbalanced firepower on the opposite side during the charge. The saber pointed to the area where the Phi Island Army was located, and took the lead in rushing over.
Shen Zhixiang didn't panic when he saw this. In addition to the musketeers, his troops also had [-] spearmen specially equipped according to the advice of Haihan's military advisor.The spears in the hands of these soldiers are five meters long. As long as one end is on the ground and the other end lifted, it immediately becomes the easiest way to refuse a horse.Hundreds of spears were lined up in three deep rows in front of the formation, and a spear formation suddenly emerged from the ground, protecting the front of the Phi Island Army.
After the first few war horses crashed in and were tied into meat skewers, the horses behind them subconsciously lowered their speed, unwilling to slam into the densely packed spear tips to die.It's just that they could not escape death when they stopped outside the spear formation. The shooting targets of the special operations battalion quickly gathered fire here, knocking down the rear golden cavalry who tried to cut off the spears with sabres and rushed in.
Erhe didn't try to bypass this position to outflank Haihan's back, because he knew that he had nowhere to go. After breaking several spears angrily, he didn't know which gun barrel flew out from. One of the bullets hit him in the right eye, and a cloud of blood exploded in the back of his head.Erhe didn't have time to scream, so he fell straight from the horse's back and fell less than five meters in front of the Pidao army.
However, almost no one in the chaotic army realized that the leader of the Houjin side had died, and the two sides continued to engage in selfless battles until the last Houjin cavalry on horseback was shot and killed.
Shen Zhixiang felt that his throat was extremely dry. Just now, the Jin Army had actually broken through the defense line of the Phi Dao Army, but the enemy forces that rushed in were too scattered, and they were killed without completely tearing the defense line.He personally oversaw the battle in front of the battle, and cut down five or six soldiers who had thrown their guns and fled back, only to stop these soldiers from trying to abandon the battle and flee.If it wasn't for a quick decision, I'm afraid the position of the Phi Dao Army would have been washed away by the enemy.
But before he could think about it, Takahashi South's new order had been sent, requiring the Phi Island Army to immediately return to the original combat position and make room for the artillery to enter the field.At the moment, Shen Zhixiang didn't have time to count his own battle losses, so he quickly gathered his troops and made room for the artillery units that had been waiting for a long time.
"They sent a cavalry to charge, probably to prevent our army from deploying artillery outside Jijiabao. But the more afraid they are, the more we have to attack quickly." Qian Tiandun seemed to be talking to himself , and it seems to be explaining the battlefield situation to Chen Yixin.
Chen Yixin replied: "But it will take a while until all the artillery pieces are in place."
Qian Tiandun shook his head and said, "One step is slow, one step is slow, you don't have to wait for all of them to be in place. The artillery that is in place first will launch an offensive immediately, suppressing the gate of Jijiabao with firepower, and will not let their cavalry out."
"But it's hard to cause much damage to the defenders inside." Chen Yixin didn't quite understand Qian Tiandun's tactical adjustment.
Qian Tiandun said: "The Pidao Army is a shortcoming. The other party has realized this. If the Golden Cavalry comes out to charge after the release, they will definitely take Shen Zhixiang's troops as the primary target. I don't think the Pidao Army can handle it. , If the casualties are too heavy, it will go against our original intention of letting the Phi Dao Army join the war."
A moment later, the sound of a cannon was deafening, and a six-pound artillery shell whizzed through the air and smashed heavily on the outer wall of Jijiabao, which attracted the exclamations of Hou Jinjun.
(End of this chapter)
Artillery is a very important service in the Haihan Army. Although due to various conditions, the establishment of the artillery unit has not been able to keep up with the overall development of the army, but no matter which unit is the general, the emphasis on artillery is. There is no doubt about it.For both the Army and the Navy, artillery is a scarce resource that needs to be striven for, and the formed artillery unit is even more in the hands of the Ministry of National Defense. This time, several artillery companies were mobilized from the south to participate in the war in Liaodong, and troops were transferred during the period. The arrangement of dispatching generals is also quite difficult.
In this spring offensive, [-]% of the artillery units assembled to the front line are currently under the command of Qian Tiandun. This is because the East and West Route Army can at least rely on naval gunboats to provide nearshore firepower cover and take on the main task of attacking The Central Route Army can only rely on the firepower output of artillery to attack the Houjin line of defense.
Qian Tiandun and the commanders of the artillery unit designed a curved artillery position specifically for Jijiabao to ensure that the firepower can be concentrated on the south gate of Jijiabao facing Haihan to the greatest extent.In order to ensure that this artillery position will not suffer the impact of the post-Golden cavalry and cooperate with the offensive of the artillery units, the special operations battalion must also formulate a corresponding cover plan for this purpose.
This battlefield may have been farmland a few years ago, but now it is just a wasteland for both sides. In the current environment, Haihan doesn't have to worry about the presence of spies from the back and the refugees. Going to the rear, the other party cleared the southern part of Jinzhou early and relocated all the Han people. Although this caused great difficulties for Haihan's on-site supply, it would have no scruples during the war. It also saves a lot of trouble in dealing with refugees.
March [-], sunny, no wind.Camp Haihan was in action at dawn.The Phi Dao Army, who was assigned to the battle mission, also got up early and made preparations. Shen Zhixiang personally led the army to file out from the north gate of the camp.Their task was to hold an area delineated in advance to provide protection for the right flank of the artillery position.
In the previous military operations last year, the Phi Dao Army actually had the experience of expeditioning Liaodong with Haihan many times. However, in the past, most of them fought at sea. Not many opportunities.This time, he was able to get the opportunity to fight side by side with the special operations battalion. Naturally, Shen Zhixiang took this opportunity to perform well, and used his record to prove that Haihan's many assistances to Phi Dao were not in vain.
In the past, the Dongjiang Army had many victories in the battle between Liaodong and Houjin. It was only because of various reasons that they could not get the full support of Daming, so they lost Liaodong under the continuous offensive of Houjin, and were finally suppressed to the point where they could only escape. Phi Dao overseas is surviving.In terms of past records, this unit does not have much psychological disadvantage to Houjin. In addition, following the actions of the Haihan Army in the past year, I have also seen how the mighty Houjin Army was beaten without any strength to fight back. Therefore, when Shen Zhixiang led his troops to the field, the soldiers did not appear too nervous because of the identity of their opponents, but many people were quite excited, thinking that the opportunity to restore the glory of the Dongjiang Army was now.
However, in order to ensure that the Phi Dao Army would not lose its position during the battle, Qian Tiandun still sent a company of infantry to act with the Phi Dao Army, and was closer to the artillery position on the inside to provide it with the last layer of protection. .
After the troops on the east and west sides were in place, the gun carriages finally came out of the battalion. These gun carriages driven by pack horses were all produced after the founding of Haihan in 1634, so they were all newer breech models. gun.As for the cumbersome and inconvenient old front-bore cannons produced in the early days, they were either transferred to local areas and used as port and coastal defense guns, or they were simply sold cheaply to Fujian or Annan for use by allies.
The Houjin Army of Jijiabao also noticed this trend. When the Pidao Army was still lining up on the field, someone had already reported to Erhe and Yanguli, who was in charge of the battle.After seeing the continuous appearance of artillery carts from the Haihan camp, the expressions of Houjin's generals became very ugly.They are not afraid to fight the most brutal battle with the Haihan army, but if there is no way to effectively shorten the fighting distance on the battlefield, no matter how brave the soldiers are, they can only die in vain.
According to the information obtained in previous battles, the range of Haihan artillery is almost one mile or more. This kind of heavy artillery is extremely rare in Houjin, and almost all of them are used for the fortifications of large cities or passes.For example, the two large fortresses on the defensive line of this fortress each have a cannon brought by Kong Youde from Shandong, and it is said that the range can reach more than one mile.
The reason why it is "supposedly" is because the two guns have never fired records after they were deployed to the defense line. Even the gunner who operated the two guns defected to Liaodong along with Kong Youde at the beginning. You can only use Kong Youde's statement as a reference.For these two cannons, the generals of the post-Jin military naturally placed high hopes on them, and even regarded them as treasures like Dinghaishenzhen. So shabby.
Yanguli didn't have the patience to wait until Haihan finished deploying the artillery positions. He called Erhe to him and asked him to immediately gather his troops out of the fort to rush to kill, making sure to prevent Haihan from deploying artillery.
Erhe's heart was cold, but he could only follow Yanguli's instructions.He knew that this was going to be a disaster, and after explaining a few words to his trusted servants, he led the hundreds of cavalry under his direct command out of Jijiabao.Most of these cavalrymen are from the same tribe as Erhe. It can be said that they are both prosperous and withered. Even if they know that this trip is very likely to kill them in battle, they still have to bite the bullet.
Erhe led his troops to launch a decisive charge against Haihan. He did not expect that his few hundred cavalry would be able to overwhelm the opponent's position. degree.Even if he killed more than a dozen Haihan soldiers, his few hundred cavalry would at least be able to die with dignity.
But of course this was just Erhe's unilateral wish, and the special operations battalion in charge of the front station had no intention of letting him succeed.As soon as Erhe's cavalry unit came out of Jijiabao, Gaoqiaonan, who was commanding the battle on the front line, ordered all personnel to enter the fighting position.Although the infantry did not have time to set up roadblocks and bunkers on the field, they were all convinced that their weapons were sufficient to deal with these cavalry, because a similar battle had already occurred when they attacked Lushun Fort at the end of last year. Mutebu also had a similar plan to Erhe, but the Haihant battalion fought a terrifying record of defeating horses with a tough counterattack.
After that, the special operations battalion made further revisions to the corresponding tactics, and had more means for cavalry units in terms of formation layout and firing rhythm, waiting for such an opportunity to verify its effect.
Considering the weak firepower of the Phi Island Army, Takahashi South ordered the troops that were originally stationed on the two wings of the predetermined artillery position to quickly gather in the middle, and the artillery vehicles that had already left the camp immediately moved closer to the special operations battalion. The artillery vehicles that have not yet left the camp. It is to suspend the action and try not to give the opponent the opportunity to attack.
By the time Erhe's troops had assembled outside Jijiabao and started marching in formation, Haihan's side was ready for the challenge.Looking at the hedgehog-like Haihan position in the distance, Erhe couldn't help but feel a headache, but at the moment, he couldn't seem to find a better tactic besides rushing directly.He drew his saber, made a brief mobilization with a shout, and then took the lead and charged forward.Hundreds of cavalry followed closely behind, waving sabres and rushing towards the Haihan position.
"Nothing new!" Gao Qiaonan felt relieved when he saw the opponent's formation, and rushed towards the special operations battalion with his head sullen like this. Terrible long-range firepower.
The slaughter began when the two sides were a hundred feet apart. Although the bullets fired from the Haihan position were difficult to aim at a specific target, the intensive firepower caused sporadic personnel in the post-Golden cavalry team to be shot down.Then, at this distance, the golden cavalry can hardly hurt the opponent no matter how much they shoot with the light bows and arrows they carry.Apart from lowering down on horseback to reduce the target, and putting the hand shield in front of the head to protect the vital point, the post-golden cavalry have no better way to deal with this terrible long-range blow for the time being.
But this kind of shield attached to the arm can protect people, but it can't protect the horses with bigger targets, so in the process of cavalry charging, almost every moment accompanied by the sound of gunshots, there are scenes of people turning their backs on their horses. Hundreds of rides were dwindling rapidly almost at a rate visible to the naked eye.
And as the distance between the two sides continued to shorten, the gunshots that were still somewhat sparse also became more and more dense, which made the cavalry who launched the charge to the Haihan position for the first time a little confused - don't the muskets of the Haihan people use it? Stopped and reloaded?
Of course, they did not expect that the rifles equipped by the special operations battalion are seven bursts, and a reasonable arrangement of rotating shots can form uninterrupted firepower output.The real shortcoming is actually on the side of the Phi Dao Army. The rifles they use are old-style arquebuses and flintlock guns provided by Haihan, although these things are already much more powerful than the bird guns they used before. But compared to the repeating rifles of the Haihan troops next to them, the level of firepower output they can achieve is obviously a hindrance.
But the more this is the case, the more Shen Zhixiang is reluctant to show weakness. He just wants to let the Haihan Army see that even if his troops are a bit backward in equipment, their fighting spirit will not be worse than anyone else's.
Erhe also observed the unbalanced firepower on the opposite side during the charge. The saber pointed to the area where the Phi Island Army was located, and took the lead in rushing over.
Shen Zhixiang didn't panic when he saw this. In addition to the musketeers, his troops also had [-] spearmen specially equipped according to the advice of Haihan's military advisor.The spears in the hands of these soldiers are five meters long. As long as one end is on the ground and the other end lifted, it immediately becomes the easiest way to refuse a horse.Hundreds of spears were lined up in three deep rows in front of the formation, and a spear formation suddenly emerged from the ground, protecting the front of the Phi Island Army.
After the first few war horses crashed in and were tied into meat skewers, the horses behind them subconsciously lowered their speed, unwilling to slam into the densely packed spear tips to die.It's just that they could not escape death when they stopped outside the spear formation. The shooting targets of the special operations battalion quickly gathered fire here, knocking down the rear golden cavalry who tried to cut off the spears with sabres and rushed in.
Erhe didn't try to bypass this position to outflank Haihan's back, because he knew that he had nowhere to go. After breaking several spears angrily, he didn't know which gun barrel flew out from. One of the bullets hit him in the right eye, and a cloud of blood exploded in the back of his head.Erhe didn't have time to scream, so he fell straight from the horse's back and fell less than five meters in front of the Pidao army.
However, almost no one in the chaotic army realized that the leader of the Houjin side had died, and the two sides continued to engage in selfless battles until the last Houjin cavalry on horseback was shot and killed.
Shen Zhixiang felt that his throat was extremely dry. Just now, the Jin Army had actually broken through the defense line of the Phi Dao Army, but the enemy forces that rushed in were too scattered, and they were killed without completely tearing the defense line.He personally oversaw the battle in front of the battle, and cut down five or six soldiers who had thrown their guns and fled back, only to stop these soldiers from trying to abandon the battle and flee.If it wasn't for a quick decision, I'm afraid the position of the Phi Dao Army would have been washed away by the enemy.
But before he could think about it, Takahashi South's new order had been sent, requiring the Phi Island Army to immediately return to the original combat position and make room for the artillery to enter the field.At the moment, Shen Zhixiang didn't have time to count his own battle losses, so he quickly gathered his troops and made room for the artillery units that had been waiting for a long time.
"They sent a cavalry to charge, probably to prevent our army from deploying artillery outside Jijiabao. But the more afraid they are, the more we have to attack quickly." Qian Tiandun seemed to be talking to himself , and it seems to be explaining the battlefield situation to Chen Yixin.
Chen Yixin replied: "But it will take a while until all the artillery pieces are in place."
Qian Tiandun shook his head and said, "One step is slow, one step is slow, you don't have to wait for all of them to be in place. The artillery that is in place first will launch an offensive immediately, suppressing the gate of Jijiabao with firepower, and will not let their cavalry out."
"But it's hard to cause much damage to the defenders inside." Chen Yixin didn't quite understand Qian Tiandun's tactical adjustment.
Qian Tiandun said: "The Pidao Army is a shortcoming. The other party has realized this. If the Golden Cavalry comes out to charge after the release, they will definitely take Shen Zhixiang's troops as the primary target. I don't think the Pidao Army can handle it. , If the casualties are too heavy, it will go against our original intention of letting the Phi Dao Army join the war."
A moment later, the sound of a cannon was deafening, and a six-pound artillery shell whizzed through the air and smashed heavily on the outer wall of Jijiabao, which attracted the exclamations of Hou Jinjun.
(End of this chapter)