Chapter 1642
Occupying Cavite
Chapter 1642 Occupying Cavite
In sea artillery battles in this era, it is not easy to completely destroy the enemy's ships. Even if Haihan's naval guns are far superior to their opponents in terms of performance, they are still subject to the craftsmanship of weapons, except for direct hits. The mast or the arsenal on the ship is basically impossible to achieve the feat of killing a ship with one shot. The speed, steering, firepower and defense of the "Black Shark" are better than those of the Spanish warships, but after all, it is fighting alone with two naval guns. It is not easy to sink the opponent, and the "Black Shark" He has already killed a few times in the enemy fleet. If it weren't for the iron armor covering the hull, he might have been blasted into a sieve by the gunfire fired by the Spanish warship at this time.
The four Exploration-class warships performing interception missions on the periphery have not achieved breakthrough results. Their naval gun performance advantages are not as prominent as the "Black Shark". To attack enemy ships, the engagement distance can only be further shortened. The enemy ship will inevitably be hit at the same time, and the protection provided by the wooden hull is relatively limited, and casualties have inevitably occurred during the battle.
However, there is also good news. The main force of the Haihan fleet has completed the cleaning of the Cavite harbor, and the main force of the army has also successfully completed the landing. The dozens of combat ships that have been freed up are turning around and preparing to join the battle against the Manila fleet. in the battle.
Of course, Juan didn't ignore the enemy fleet that appeared on the distant sea. In fact, he had been carefully monitoring the movements in the south, worried that the Haihan people would only send these five ships to fight to set themselves a trap.But even if the opponent's main force did not attack, these five ships rushed left and right, and the Manila fleet could not go south smoothly to outflank the Haihan fleet that was landing in Cavite.At this time, seeing that the main force of the opponent had turned around and headed north, knowing that the port of Cavite was probably in danger, he immediately ordered someone to send a signal and voluntarily withdraw from the battlefield.
Now that the Spaniards retreated on their own initiative, Haihan didn't take the initiative to pursue them anymore. The navy has already carried out combat missions for almost a whole day, and it will be difficult to exert [-]% of its combat effectiveness if it continues to fight.Moreover, the land battle in Cavite has not yet ended, and the Haihan army also needs a little time to clean up and digest the occupied area in preparation for the next battle to attack Manila.
Controlling the Cavite peninsula is equivalent to blocking the access to the sea from the port of Manila.If the Spaniards want to bypass the waters of Cavite from the sea, it will take a day to drive a boat north along the coastline of Manila Bay to make a big circle.Of course, even so, when you reach the mouth of Manila Bay, unless you choose to pass at night, you will definitely not be able to avoid the surveillance on Corregidor Island.
As dusk fell, the fighting at the northeastern tip of the Cavite peninsula had calmed down, with only occasional sporadic firefights suggesting that the Spaniards had not completely given up control here.The frontline headquarters of the Haihan Army has been set up in a house in the port of Cavite. According to the confession of the prisoners, this place was originally the command center of the Manila Fleet. Make the most of it.
Yan Chujie, Wang Tom, Qian Tiandun, Haru Gong, Luo Jie and other generals have all landed and arrived at the frontline headquarters to listen to the situation reports of the commanders of the various troops.At present, except for a few patrol ships at sea, other troops participating in this operation have gathered to the port of Cavite for rest and reorganization.
Today is the first day of the official war with Spain. In terms of the final result, it is naturally very beneficial to Haihan. Not only did he successfully break into Manila Bay, but he also successively captured two strategic locations, Corregidor Island and Cavite Port. .Especially the latter, which was originally the station of the Manila Fleet, has relatively complete port supporting facilities, which can be used immediately after the Haihan Army occupies it, which can save a lot of time and energy.
Although it failed to cause serious damage to the Manila Fleet in the previous naval battle, the performance of the troops involved in the battle was already remarkable. The "Black Shark" held back the Manila Fleet's offensive almost by itself, gaining enough space and time for the battle to attack Cavite.Even if the officer commanding the battle on the "Black Shark" was replaced by Wang Tom himself, it would be difficult to do better than Wu Sen.As for the failure to destroy or sink the Spanish ships during the battle, this is not a big deal in the eyes of the generals. Even when the mission was issued to Wusen before the battle, the command only asked him to try his best to hold back possible ships. The Spanish fleet will appear, rather than necessarily severely inflicting damage on the opponent.
The condition of the "Black Shark" is basically not serious. Although more than [-] rounds were shot in total during the battle, the armor equipped outside the hull has provided due protection, and there is almost no need for the entire hull. Immediately overhaul the part.And the hit statistics of the two naval guns on the ship during the battle have also been released, and they are basically maintained at around [-]%, which is a not bad pass score.Considering that this is the first time that the "Black Shark" has performed overseas combat missions, and it is single-handedly fighting in the enemy's line, this performance is indeed very good.
Due to the proper protective measures, except for four people on the "Black Shark" who were slightly injured during the battle, there were no deaths in battle.Next, as long as ammunition, coal, fresh water and other materials are replenished in time, the sailors can get enough rest, and they can continue to fight in good condition tomorrow.
The other four exploration-class warships that cooperate with the "Black Shark" on the periphery are not so lucky. Although the combat environment of these ships is much better than that of the "Black Shark", casualties are still inevitable. situation.The hull of one of the ships was seriously damaged, and several large holes were blasted on the side of the ship by enemy artillery fire. It was necessary to repair the damaged parts as much as possible, and it might not be able to participate in combat missions in the next week.
But generally speaking, the headquarters is still able to accept this result.In terms of the comparison of the military strength of the two sides, it is basically impossible to take down Manila without damage. As for how much loss will be suffered during the battle, it depends on the specific operations of the headquarters.It must be a good deal to take down the port of Cavite with only one ship's combat effectiveness lost.
As for the army, the troops currently dominated by the [-]st Battalion and the [-]th Battalion have cleared an area of about two square kilometers at the northeast end of Cavite and established a land line of defense to prevent the enemy from launching a counterattack.During the landing battle, more than [-] enemies were killed and wounded, and more than [-] people were captured. More than [-] guns of various types, nine large and small cannons, and hundreds of cold weapons such as spears, machetes, bows and arrows were seized.
It is worth mentioning that among the captives were about [-] Spaniards. Yan Chujie ordered these Spaniards to be held incommunicado until after the war to see if they could get another ransom from the Spanish authorities.Of course, if the Spanish authorities rejected this proposal, then these people would probably work to death in a plantation or mine somewhere.
The casualties of the army were more serious than those of the navy. Seventeen Haihan soldiers were killed during the landing battle, and more than [-] others were injured and could no longer continue to fight.A second lieutenant platoon leader of the First Battalion of Lu was killed by stray bullets during the battle, becoming the first officer killed in this operation.But in terms of the scale of the battle and the military strength of the enemy, this number of casualties is still within an acceptable range.
Although the Haihan army is obviously stronger than its opponents in terms of military strength, this does not mean that the Spaniards are vulnerable.Since the last century, the Spaniards have been operating in the Manila area for more than 60 years, and they themselves are one of the maritime military powers of this era. If it hadn't hit the iron plate of Haihan, it can be said that there is basically no Which country can really threaten the security of Manila.As for the war launched by Haihan this time, the Spaniards also made preparations in advance, and they can get a glimpse of it from the many fortifications built at the port of Cavite.
It's just that the effect of Spain's hasty preparations for war stopped here. Although it could cause some troubles for the Haihan army, it could not prevent the Haihan army from landing here.As for Juan's tactic of holding back Haihan's footsteps with the help of layers of resistance in the outer areas, it seems that the effect has been extremely limited so far. Jiabidi has not even persisted for a day and has already been broken. Not even a tenth of what he expected.
Fortunately, Juan had already considered the worst situation before the war. When he led the Manila fleet to leave the port of Cavite, he ordered that most of the materials originally stored in the port of Cavite be transported back first. Manila Port, so as not to make the enemy cheaper after the fall here.The result of this is that the supplies that Haihan seized in Cavite were extremely limited, except for some weapons that were not useful at all and could only be used for remelting, there was nothing of value.
"Have you checked the warehouse on the pier? The Spaniards moved it clean enough. My people searched the entire pier and only found less than two hundred catties of grain!" Yan Chujie clicked his tongue and said, "Schneider also said to Scraping three feet of land in Manila, I think this matter is very serious, the land has been scraped away by the Spaniards, we still have to scrape the fart!"
"Old Yan, don't worry, all the good things must be in Manila!" Qian Tiandun said slowly, "Didn't the prisoners be interrogated? When the Spaniards left Hong Kong, they shipped all the things back to the city." Go, deliberately leave an empty Krabi land for us. If you want to scrape the land, it will not be too late to scrape the city of Manila."
Although the generals of the military are not money fans, they are not disgusted with the practice of looting the enemy's wealth after the war.Almost every foreign war in Haihan is accompanied by high-return spoils, and the post-war economic return has become one of the basis for the Executive Committee to consider whether it is necessary to launch a foreign war.The executive committee has indeed placed high hopes on the rewards that the attack on Manila can obtain after the war. After all, the military expenditure of this operation is almost equivalent to the sum of the military expenditures of the past two years. With a sum of money back, this operation is likely to turn into a loss-making business.
"Let's not talk about looting money, what are we going to do tomorrow? In this weather, tomorrow is likely to be very windy and rainy!" Roger was not very interested in the calculations of the Ministry of National Defense. He led his troops back from the South China Sea to participate in the war. , the purpose is to prove to the Ministry of National Defense the value of the South China Sea Special Operations Brigade he trained.
The South China Sea Special Warfare Brigade under Roger's command is not idle. Even if it maintains daily operations and training, its military expenditure is much higher than that of ordinary troops.And there has been no war in Xingdao for a year and a half. If there is no new military exploits, Roger has no good reason to apply to the Ministry of Defense for more military expenses and new equipment.Even if the South China Sea Special Warfare Brigade does have a very strong personal touch, Roger can't maintain the existence of this troop out of his own pocket, otherwise it will really become a private army in nature, and this will definitely offend the Executive Committee. taboo.
This attack on Manila, Roger saw it as a good opportunity to show his strength, especially this time the troops participating in the battle almost brought together all the special forces in the Haihan Army, of course he was not willing to be left behind.But in today's battle against Cavite, the headquarters did not arrange for his troops to take the lead. By the time they landed, it was already the end of the battle. They only sent two platoons to help the friendly troops build up the defense line. In the end, they didn't even have a single shot let go.
Of course, Roger was not satisfied with this arrangement, but there must be a division of labor for the thousands of troops participating in the battle this time, and it is impossible for the headquarters to send all of them to the battle at once, and Roger can understand this.Therefore, he put the hope of his own troops on the attack on Manila City, hoping that the next battle will be carried out quickly.
The impact of weather on the war is undoubtedly a factor that cannot be ignored. With Haihan's current technological level, it is difficult to predict the weather in Manila before the expedition. We just chose a season with relatively few bad weather.However, the tropical marine climate itself is difficult to figure out, and short-term severe weather may occur in offshore areas at any time due to changes in airflow and ocean currents.Originally, the weather and sea conditions were not bad today, but when night fell, the wind and waves on the sea became significantly stronger, and the sky began to rain.According to experience, relatively intensive rainfall is likely to occur in the next day or two, and this is bound to have an impact on the next actions of the Haihan Army.
Of course, this impact is definitely not unilateral. As the defender, the Spanish army will also be affected by the weather, and the combat effectiveness of the coastal defense fort that the Haihan army is quite afraid of will definitely be greatly reduced.If you can find a suitable way of fighting, this may not be an opportunity to break through the enemy's defenses.
"Hang up the No. [-] map of Manila Bay," Yan Chujie ordered.
Soon this map of the area including the city of Manila was hung on the wall of the meeting room. It is worth noting that the coastal defense fort has been added to the map after receiving the latest information from Manila. .
(End of this chapter)
In sea artillery battles in this era, it is not easy to completely destroy the enemy's ships. Even if Haihan's naval guns are far superior to their opponents in terms of performance, they are still subject to the craftsmanship of weapons, except for direct hits. The mast or the arsenal on the ship is basically impossible to achieve the feat of killing a ship with one shot. The speed, steering, firepower and defense of the "Black Shark" are better than those of the Spanish warships, but after all, it is fighting alone with two naval guns. It is not easy to sink the opponent, and the "Black Shark" He has already killed a few times in the enemy fleet. If it weren't for the iron armor covering the hull, he might have been blasted into a sieve by the gunfire fired by the Spanish warship at this time.
The four Exploration-class warships performing interception missions on the periphery have not achieved breakthrough results. Their naval gun performance advantages are not as prominent as the "Black Shark". To attack enemy ships, the engagement distance can only be further shortened. The enemy ship will inevitably be hit at the same time, and the protection provided by the wooden hull is relatively limited, and casualties have inevitably occurred during the battle.
However, there is also good news. The main force of the Haihan fleet has completed the cleaning of the Cavite harbor, and the main force of the army has also successfully completed the landing. The dozens of combat ships that have been freed up are turning around and preparing to join the battle against the Manila fleet. in the battle.
Of course, Juan didn't ignore the enemy fleet that appeared on the distant sea. In fact, he had been carefully monitoring the movements in the south, worried that the Haihan people would only send these five ships to fight to set themselves a trap.But even if the opponent's main force did not attack, these five ships rushed left and right, and the Manila fleet could not go south smoothly to outflank the Haihan fleet that was landing in Cavite.At this time, seeing that the main force of the opponent had turned around and headed north, knowing that the port of Cavite was probably in danger, he immediately ordered someone to send a signal and voluntarily withdraw from the battlefield.
Now that the Spaniards retreated on their own initiative, Haihan didn't take the initiative to pursue them anymore. The navy has already carried out combat missions for almost a whole day, and it will be difficult to exert [-]% of its combat effectiveness if it continues to fight.Moreover, the land battle in Cavite has not yet ended, and the Haihan army also needs a little time to clean up and digest the occupied area in preparation for the next battle to attack Manila.
Controlling the Cavite peninsula is equivalent to blocking the access to the sea from the port of Manila.If the Spaniards want to bypass the waters of Cavite from the sea, it will take a day to drive a boat north along the coastline of Manila Bay to make a big circle.Of course, even so, when you reach the mouth of Manila Bay, unless you choose to pass at night, you will definitely not be able to avoid the surveillance on Corregidor Island.
As dusk fell, the fighting at the northeastern tip of the Cavite peninsula had calmed down, with only occasional sporadic firefights suggesting that the Spaniards had not completely given up control here.The frontline headquarters of the Haihan Army has been set up in a house in the port of Cavite. According to the confession of the prisoners, this place was originally the command center of the Manila Fleet. Make the most of it.
Yan Chujie, Wang Tom, Qian Tiandun, Haru Gong, Luo Jie and other generals have all landed and arrived at the frontline headquarters to listen to the situation reports of the commanders of the various troops.At present, except for a few patrol ships at sea, other troops participating in this operation have gathered to the port of Cavite for rest and reorganization.
Today is the first day of the official war with Spain. In terms of the final result, it is naturally very beneficial to Haihan. Not only did he successfully break into Manila Bay, but he also successively captured two strategic locations, Corregidor Island and Cavite Port. .Especially the latter, which was originally the station of the Manila Fleet, has relatively complete port supporting facilities, which can be used immediately after the Haihan Army occupies it, which can save a lot of time and energy.
Although it failed to cause serious damage to the Manila Fleet in the previous naval battle, the performance of the troops involved in the battle was already remarkable. The "Black Shark" held back the Manila Fleet's offensive almost by itself, gaining enough space and time for the battle to attack Cavite.Even if the officer commanding the battle on the "Black Shark" was replaced by Wang Tom himself, it would be difficult to do better than Wu Sen.As for the failure to destroy or sink the Spanish ships during the battle, this is not a big deal in the eyes of the generals. Even when the mission was issued to Wusen before the battle, the command only asked him to try his best to hold back possible ships. The Spanish fleet will appear, rather than necessarily severely inflicting damage on the opponent.
The condition of the "Black Shark" is basically not serious. Although more than [-] rounds were shot in total during the battle, the armor equipped outside the hull has provided due protection, and there is almost no need for the entire hull. Immediately overhaul the part.And the hit statistics of the two naval guns on the ship during the battle have also been released, and they are basically maintained at around [-]%, which is a not bad pass score.Considering that this is the first time that the "Black Shark" has performed overseas combat missions, and it is single-handedly fighting in the enemy's line, this performance is indeed very good.
Due to the proper protective measures, except for four people on the "Black Shark" who were slightly injured during the battle, there were no deaths in battle.Next, as long as ammunition, coal, fresh water and other materials are replenished in time, the sailors can get enough rest, and they can continue to fight in good condition tomorrow.
The other four exploration-class warships that cooperate with the "Black Shark" on the periphery are not so lucky. Although the combat environment of these ships is much better than that of the "Black Shark", casualties are still inevitable. situation.The hull of one of the ships was seriously damaged, and several large holes were blasted on the side of the ship by enemy artillery fire. It was necessary to repair the damaged parts as much as possible, and it might not be able to participate in combat missions in the next week.
But generally speaking, the headquarters is still able to accept this result.In terms of the comparison of the military strength of the two sides, it is basically impossible to take down Manila without damage. As for how much loss will be suffered during the battle, it depends on the specific operations of the headquarters.It must be a good deal to take down the port of Cavite with only one ship's combat effectiveness lost.
As for the army, the troops currently dominated by the [-]st Battalion and the [-]th Battalion have cleared an area of about two square kilometers at the northeast end of Cavite and established a land line of defense to prevent the enemy from launching a counterattack.During the landing battle, more than [-] enemies were killed and wounded, and more than [-] people were captured. More than [-] guns of various types, nine large and small cannons, and hundreds of cold weapons such as spears, machetes, bows and arrows were seized.
It is worth mentioning that among the captives were about [-] Spaniards. Yan Chujie ordered these Spaniards to be held incommunicado until after the war to see if they could get another ransom from the Spanish authorities.Of course, if the Spanish authorities rejected this proposal, then these people would probably work to death in a plantation or mine somewhere.
The casualties of the army were more serious than those of the navy. Seventeen Haihan soldiers were killed during the landing battle, and more than [-] others were injured and could no longer continue to fight.A second lieutenant platoon leader of the First Battalion of Lu was killed by stray bullets during the battle, becoming the first officer killed in this operation.But in terms of the scale of the battle and the military strength of the enemy, this number of casualties is still within an acceptable range.
Although the Haihan army is obviously stronger than its opponents in terms of military strength, this does not mean that the Spaniards are vulnerable.Since the last century, the Spaniards have been operating in the Manila area for more than 60 years, and they themselves are one of the maritime military powers of this era. If it hadn't hit the iron plate of Haihan, it can be said that there is basically no Which country can really threaten the security of Manila.As for the war launched by Haihan this time, the Spaniards also made preparations in advance, and they can get a glimpse of it from the many fortifications built at the port of Cavite.
It's just that the effect of Spain's hasty preparations for war stopped here. Although it could cause some troubles for the Haihan army, it could not prevent the Haihan army from landing here.As for Juan's tactic of holding back Haihan's footsteps with the help of layers of resistance in the outer areas, it seems that the effect has been extremely limited so far. Jiabidi has not even persisted for a day and has already been broken. Not even a tenth of what he expected.
Fortunately, Juan had already considered the worst situation before the war. When he led the Manila fleet to leave the port of Cavite, he ordered that most of the materials originally stored in the port of Cavite be transported back first. Manila Port, so as not to make the enemy cheaper after the fall here.The result of this is that the supplies that Haihan seized in Cavite were extremely limited, except for some weapons that were not useful at all and could only be used for remelting, there was nothing of value.
"Have you checked the warehouse on the pier? The Spaniards moved it clean enough. My people searched the entire pier and only found less than two hundred catties of grain!" Yan Chujie clicked his tongue and said, "Schneider also said to Scraping three feet of land in Manila, I think this matter is very serious, the land has been scraped away by the Spaniards, we still have to scrape the fart!"
"Old Yan, don't worry, all the good things must be in Manila!" Qian Tiandun said slowly, "Didn't the prisoners be interrogated? When the Spaniards left Hong Kong, they shipped all the things back to the city." Go, deliberately leave an empty Krabi land for us. If you want to scrape the land, it will not be too late to scrape the city of Manila."
Although the generals of the military are not money fans, they are not disgusted with the practice of looting the enemy's wealth after the war.Almost every foreign war in Haihan is accompanied by high-return spoils, and the post-war economic return has become one of the basis for the Executive Committee to consider whether it is necessary to launch a foreign war.The executive committee has indeed placed high hopes on the rewards that the attack on Manila can obtain after the war. After all, the military expenditure of this operation is almost equivalent to the sum of the military expenditures of the past two years. With a sum of money back, this operation is likely to turn into a loss-making business.
"Let's not talk about looting money, what are we going to do tomorrow? In this weather, tomorrow is likely to be very windy and rainy!" Roger was not very interested in the calculations of the Ministry of National Defense. He led his troops back from the South China Sea to participate in the war. , the purpose is to prove to the Ministry of National Defense the value of the South China Sea Special Operations Brigade he trained.
The South China Sea Special Warfare Brigade under Roger's command is not idle. Even if it maintains daily operations and training, its military expenditure is much higher than that of ordinary troops.And there has been no war in Xingdao for a year and a half. If there is no new military exploits, Roger has no good reason to apply to the Ministry of Defense for more military expenses and new equipment.Even if the South China Sea Special Warfare Brigade does have a very strong personal touch, Roger can't maintain the existence of this troop out of his own pocket, otherwise it will really become a private army in nature, and this will definitely offend the Executive Committee. taboo.
This attack on Manila, Roger saw it as a good opportunity to show his strength, especially this time the troops participating in the battle almost brought together all the special forces in the Haihan Army, of course he was not willing to be left behind.But in today's battle against Cavite, the headquarters did not arrange for his troops to take the lead. By the time they landed, it was already the end of the battle. They only sent two platoons to help the friendly troops build up the defense line. In the end, they didn't even have a single shot let go.
Of course, Roger was not satisfied with this arrangement, but there must be a division of labor for the thousands of troops participating in the battle this time, and it is impossible for the headquarters to send all of them to the battle at once, and Roger can understand this.Therefore, he put the hope of his own troops on the attack on Manila City, hoping that the next battle will be carried out quickly.
The impact of weather on the war is undoubtedly a factor that cannot be ignored. With Haihan's current technological level, it is difficult to predict the weather in Manila before the expedition. We just chose a season with relatively few bad weather.However, the tropical marine climate itself is difficult to figure out, and short-term severe weather may occur in offshore areas at any time due to changes in airflow and ocean currents.Originally, the weather and sea conditions were not bad today, but when night fell, the wind and waves on the sea became significantly stronger, and the sky began to rain.According to experience, relatively intensive rainfall is likely to occur in the next day or two, and this is bound to have an impact on the next actions of the Haihan Army.
Of course, this impact is definitely not unilateral. As the defender, the Spanish army will also be affected by the weather, and the combat effectiveness of the coastal defense fort that the Haihan army is quite afraid of will definitely be greatly reduced.If you can find a suitable way of fighting, this may not be an opportunity to break through the enemy's defenses.
"Hang up the No. [-] map of Manila Bay," Yan Chujie ordered.
Soon this map of the area including the city of Manila was hung on the wall of the meeting room. It is worth noting that the coastal defense fort has been added to the map after receiving the latest information from Manila. .
(End of this chapter)