Chapter 1658
Attacking Manila
Chapter 1658 Attacking Manila ([-])
The use of maps by the Haihan army in military operations is basically unmatched in this era, and Haihan has also established a special database for this purpose.Especially the nautical charts, which were extremely valuable in the age of great voyages, are far more detailed than those held by Western colonial countries.Part of the reason why Haihan was able to rise to become a maritime power in the South China Sea and the entire Far East in just a few years was also due to these invaluable map data.
The Haihan navy has always relied heavily on maps, and this trend has naturally spread to the army, especially when fighting in unfamiliar areas like Manila, maps are an indispensable tool.Gao Qiaonan's command style is in the same line as his immediate boss Qian Tiandun. Naturally, the role of the map will not be ignored, and the deployment of troops is based on this as the main reference.
This area in the south of the city is mixed with Han immigrants and local aborigines, as well as a few manors built by rich Spanish people outside the city. It is difficult to say that there is any regular urban layout, and it is indeed difficult for troops to form a battle in this environment.For defenders who are good at fighting in phalanxes, this is a very unfavorable restriction.For the attackers, the biggest problem is probably that they are unfamiliar with this area. Although there are maps as a reference, they still need to be guided by personnel familiar with the local conditions.
One of the wartime functions of these personnel sent by the Military Intelligence Department to lurk in Manila in the early stage was to act as field guides for the large army attacking here. , It is also enough to save the Haihan army who attacked this area from suffering a lot.
Fang Peng hurried forward and pointed out to Gao Qiaonan several high points on the map with a wide view, open places where troops can be assembled, and several paths leading from this urban area to the south gate of Manila.As for the headquarters of the Spanish defenders outside the city and where weapons and ammunition are stored, Fang Peng believes that the government should have requisitioned a manor belonging to a wealthy Spanish businessman near the city gate.These key information cannot be understood by the commander just by looking at the map. They really need the help of insiders like Fang Peng.After Gao Qiaonan discussed with several of his officers, he began to dispatch troops to assign combat tasks.
During this period, Ran Tianlu was finally free. After confirming his identity, the military did not ask him to participate in the next action like Fang Peng and others, but let him choose whether to stay in the store or retreat to the rear. .Ran Tianlu thought that the battle situation is favorable to Haihan at this time, and he would not choose this time to withdraw, besides, there are still many valuable goods in the store, and he is still thinking about bringing the batch brought by Father Blanco Put things in the hands of the chief and earn a lot of credit for yourself. At this time, you can't voluntarily give up the opportunity.
If Ran Tianlu wanted to stay here as an intelligence officer of the Security Bureau, naturally no one would object.Although the commercial storehouse has been temporarily requisitioned by Gao Qiaonan as the headquarters, the military will not forcefully drive away the original owner for this reason, not to mention that the owner is not an outsider, and they are all colleagues who work for the Executive Committee , this battle can go so smoothly, of course, Ran Tianlu also has a credit for it.
But at this time, Gao Qiaonan was busy directing the battle, even if Ran Tianlu wanted to report to him about the church property, Gao Qiaonan didn't have time to deal with such things that had nothing to do with the battle.Ran Tianlu didn't want to be idle, so he went to assist in counting the prisoners. There were dozens of confused Spanish soldiers locked up in this store.Ran Tianlu can speak Spanish, so if there is any problem, he can translate and communicate in the middle in time, so that these prisoners can be escorted to the rear as soon as possible.
The special warfare battalion commanded by Takahashi Nan was indeed worthy of the title of Haihan's ace unit. After entering the urban area, he quickly took the initiative on the battlefield and gradually compressed the Spaniard's control area to the north.
For the Spanish defenders, the result of dispersing the defense in various parts of the city is to be defeated by the enemy one by one, but if they want to gather together and use the phalanx tactics, there is not such a large space in the city, and after gathering together, it seems that It is more likely to be hit by the heavy weapons used by the Haihan Army.
This not only refers to the light and flexible small-caliber field artillery, but also the grenades that the Haihan Army gradually began to use frequently in combat.This kind of lethal weapon that is thrown and then exploded near the target is simply incomprehensible to the Spanish soldiers hiding behind the street fortifications. Bloody.In particular, Spanish soldiers operating in groups are often attacked by several grenades thrown from a distance while guarding a certain barricade, and the wooden shields in their hands can provide limited defense and often cannot completely block the grenades The shock wave and shrapnel during the explosion even caused more casualties than the shelling.
Of course, the cost of this new type of individual weapon is not cheap. The Haihan Army affirmed its military value after trials on the Liaodong battlefield. The arsenal in Sanya only started mass production, but the production capacity is still extremely limited. Not a lot of equipment.Only ace troops like the Special Operations Battalion, which have been piled up with countless military expenditures, can deploy this kind of weapon in large quantities.
Before launching the offensive, Takahashi Nan received ten boxes of grenades totaling [-] rounds, all of which were distributed to the front-line assault team, and the combat effectiveness of this weapon did not disappoint Gao Qiaonan. In the special environment where the army artillery was inconvenient, The power of the grenade can be used as a cannon to a certain extent, and the cannonball is still the kind that can bend and refract.
After using about one-third of the ammunition, the Spanish defenders are already showing signs of collapse. Although the temporary fortifications and barricades they built before the war can block the rifle fire of the Haihan Army, they are not suitable for grenades and shells. There is no good defensive effect. If you don't retreat in time, you will only have a dead end.
Although Francis was very dissatisfied with such a battle situation, the battle reports sent back one after another made him even less hopeful of a comeback. The [-] soldiers deployed in this area in the south of the city, after just one hour of fighting, He had already lost about [-]% of his manpower, and such a high casualty rate made Francis unable to calm down and invest more troops in it.Although he also thought of the huge casualties in the urban street fighting before the battle, he did not expect such a one-sided situation.If we continue to fight with the Haihan army at this pace, even if the entire Manila defenders are pulled over, it will be over after three or four days.
Will the Haihan Army withdraw from Manila in three or four days?Francis thinks that this is obviously impossible. As long as they still occupy the initiative on the battlefield, they will definitely not leave here easily.In this war between the two countries, one party must fail completely before it can be declared over.And Francis is now less and less optimistic about the outcome of this war.
Seeing the wounded and dead being transported off the line of fire passing by his side, Francis decided not to procrastinate any longer. The troops must be withdrawn to the city as soon as possible to avoid more unnecessary casualties.
"The Spaniards have signaled their withdrawal!"
This movement was immediately noticed by the Haihan army on the front line, and reported to the fire line headquarters in the Chaosheng store.Gao Qiaonan didn't show any obvious joy about this, but ordered the city to be cleaned up immediately, and all suspicious identities should be taken into custody—this list is mainly from the information provided by the Ministry of Security, mainly including some local people. There are pro-Spanish figures, both indigenous and Chinese.
Although these people are not militants, it is unlikely that they will rise up to resist Haihan, but they all have a relatively deep interest relationship with the Spaniards in the city, and they might do something out of the ordinary, so they should be temporarily imprisoned relatively safe.
The one who made this arrest list was naturally Ran Tianlu who was most familiar with the local situation.Ironically, most of the people he included in this list were remembered by him because they often met in churches in the city on weekdays, which was regarded as one of the evidences of close contacts with the Spaniards .The priest Blanco in the city probably never dreamed that the object of his entrustment would not only swallow up the property entrusted by the church, but also planned to wipe out the group of believers he had managed to develop in the local area.
In fact, Ran Tianlu personally didn't have any aversion to religion. Although he went to church for the purpose of gathering information, he also listened to some priest's daily sermons after a long time.Although he does not believe that the gods believed by the Spanish are more powerful than the gods of the East, and he also understands that the mission of the Spanish priests to the people of Manila is to maintain the local colonial rule after all, but he still agrees with the part of the teaching that persuades people to be good.But since the higher authorities asked him to make a list of "dangerous persons" in advance, he had to do his best to complete the work.
However, if the people on this list want to be seated correctly, they need an insider like Ran Tianlu to act as the leading party, so now he finally has something to do, and with a group of wolf-like Haihan soldiers, he began to search for clues in the city arrest these people.
This is of course another credit to Ran Tianlu, but in this way, Ran Tianlu's identity as a leading party will naturally be revealed to the world, and he will not be able to stay here as an ordinary businessman in the future, which makes him happy and happy While doing more credit, I can't help feeling a little bit sad that my identity has changed in this way.
But then there were even more things that made Ran Tianlu feel embarrassed. Most of the people he led to arrest knew him, and some of them still had contacts on weekdays. Seeing that Ran Tianlu had suddenly turned into an accomplice of the intruder, it was unavoidable. A vivid world of various states.There are staunch people who angrily call Ran Tianlu a "traitor", and there are also "smart people" who beg for mercy and even hope to get in touch with the Haihan people through him. Buy Ran Tianlu and the Haihan soldiers he brought, and let himself go after accepting the property.
Of course, there were also one or two families who were unwilling to be captured without a fight, and tried to resist with force, but this kind of attempt could only provoke severe blows.The soldiers had already received clear instructions from the headquarters before this battle, and they could shoot and kill any force resistance they encountered during the battle, so naturally they would not be polite in such a situation.The few unlucky ghosts who tried to resist with guns and machetes were shot and killed almost instantly by the highly vigilant Haihan soldiers.
Although Ran Tianlu has also received some basic military training, he is not a warrior who is used to life and death. He is still not used to this kind of scene, and he is a little frightened. It's just that he is currently in a state of war, and time waits for no one, so he dare not Asking to stop and rest, I can only bite the bullet and continue to complete this unsatisfactory errand.
The special warfare battalion did not try to pursue the Spanish army that quickly retreated into the city, because the Spaniards set up several artillery pieces on both sides of the city gate, and the light infantry chasing them could only make fun of themselves.By the time the artillery unit delivered the field artillery, all the Spanish troops outside the city had already withdrawn, and even the artillery at the gate of the city had been taken back.Obviously, the Spaniards have completely given up their resistance measures in the urban area on the south side of the city, shrinking the defense line to the front line of the city wall.
"How is the progress of the east and west roads?" Seeing that the overall situation in the south of the city has been settled, Gao Qiaonan is also concerned about the battle situation in other areas.
According to the division of labor before the war, the special warfare battalion commanded by Takahashi South was the main offensive force from south to north in the central route, the South China Sea special warfare brigade commanded by Roger was responsible for attacking the east route, and Wang Tom's marines were responsible for attacking from south to north along the coastline. West Road launched an offensive.The special warfare battalion is the main attack direction, and the other two sides are feint attacks, but if the resistance encountered by the special warfare battalion is too strong, then the feint attack may also be transformed into the main attack, and the special warfare battalion will also play the role of a feint attack in due course. Attract the enemy's attention.
However, because the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Department deployed internal response methods in advance in the south of the city, the Special Operations Battalion actually did not encounter too strong obstacles in the process of attacking the urban area here. It took less than half a day to basically clear the area of this urban area. defense force.
"The East Route Army is a little faster than our progress. It is said that the east of the city is sparsely populated. They have not encountered any decent resistance, and they have already advanced to the bottom of the city." The adjutant immediately reported the military information he had just received to Gao Qiaonan. Bulletin: "The West Route Army only advanced two miles away from the city of Manila and then stopped, because they could not bypass the coastal fortifications of Manila Port, the command did not want to waste time and effort to attack the coastal defenses, so ordered them There is no need to continue marching for the time being."
"The navy is almost in the limelight, and we can't let them take credit all the time!" Takahashi Minami gloated a little at the fact that the Marine Corps was forced to stagnate: "Go and inform the headquarters that our army has arrived at the city, please ask for instructions." Next move."
(End of this chapter)
The use of maps by the Haihan army in military operations is basically unmatched in this era, and Haihan has also established a special database for this purpose.Especially the nautical charts, which were extremely valuable in the age of great voyages, are far more detailed than those held by Western colonial countries.Part of the reason why Haihan was able to rise to become a maritime power in the South China Sea and the entire Far East in just a few years was also due to these invaluable map data.
The Haihan navy has always relied heavily on maps, and this trend has naturally spread to the army, especially when fighting in unfamiliar areas like Manila, maps are an indispensable tool.Gao Qiaonan's command style is in the same line as his immediate boss Qian Tiandun. Naturally, the role of the map will not be ignored, and the deployment of troops is based on this as the main reference.
This area in the south of the city is mixed with Han immigrants and local aborigines, as well as a few manors built by rich Spanish people outside the city. It is difficult to say that there is any regular urban layout, and it is indeed difficult for troops to form a battle in this environment.For defenders who are good at fighting in phalanxes, this is a very unfavorable restriction.For the attackers, the biggest problem is probably that they are unfamiliar with this area. Although there are maps as a reference, they still need to be guided by personnel familiar with the local conditions.
One of the wartime functions of these personnel sent by the Military Intelligence Department to lurk in Manila in the early stage was to act as field guides for the large army attacking here. , It is also enough to save the Haihan army who attacked this area from suffering a lot.
Fang Peng hurried forward and pointed out to Gao Qiaonan several high points on the map with a wide view, open places where troops can be assembled, and several paths leading from this urban area to the south gate of Manila.As for the headquarters of the Spanish defenders outside the city and where weapons and ammunition are stored, Fang Peng believes that the government should have requisitioned a manor belonging to a wealthy Spanish businessman near the city gate.These key information cannot be understood by the commander just by looking at the map. They really need the help of insiders like Fang Peng.After Gao Qiaonan discussed with several of his officers, he began to dispatch troops to assign combat tasks.
During this period, Ran Tianlu was finally free. After confirming his identity, the military did not ask him to participate in the next action like Fang Peng and others, but let him choose whether to stay in the store or retreat to the rear. .Ran Tianlu thought that the battle situation is favorable to Haihan at this time, and he would not choose this time to withdraw, besides, there are still many valuable goods in the store, and he is still thinking about bringing the batch brought by Father Blanco Put things in the hands of the chief and earn a lot of credit for yourself. At this time, you can't voluntarily give up the opportunity.
If Ran Tianlu wanted to stay here as an intelligence officer of the Security Bureau, naturally no one would object.Although the commercial storehouse has been temporarily requisitioned by Gao Qiaonan as the headquarters, the military will not forcefully drive away the original owner for this reason, not to mention that the owner is not an outsider, and they are all colleagues who work for the Executive Committee , this battle can go so smoothly, of course, Ran Tianlu also has a credit for it.
But at this time, Gao Qiaonan was busy directing the battle, even if Ran Tianlu wanted to report to him about the church property, Gao Qiaonan didn't have time to deal with such things that had nothing to do with the battle.Ran Tianlu didn't want to be idle, so he went to assist in counting the prisoners. There were dozens of confused Spanish soldiers locked up in this store.Ran Tianlu can speak Spanish, so if there is any problem, he can translate and communicate in the middle in time, so that these prisoners can be escorted to the rear as soon as possible.
The special warfare battalion commanded by Takahashi Nan was indeed worthy of the title of Haihan's ace unit. After entering the urban area, he quickly took the initiative on the battlefield and gradually compressed the Spaniard's control area to the north.
For the Spanish defenders, the result of dispersing the defense in various parts of the city is to be defeated by the enemy one by one, but if they want to gather together and use the phalanx tactics, there is not such a large space in the city, and after gathering together, it seems that It is more likely to be hit by the heavy weapons used by the Haihan Army.
This not only refers to the light and flexible small-caliber field artillery, but also the grenades that the Haihan Army gradually began to use frequently in combat.This kind of lethal weapon that is thrown and then exploded near the target is simply incomprehensible to the Spanish soldiers hiding behind the street fortifications. Bloody.In particular, Spanish soldiers operating in groups are often attacked by several grenades thrown from a distance while guarding a certain barricade, and the wooden shields in their hands can provide limited defense and often cannot completely block the grenades The shock wave and shrapnel during the explosion even caused more casualties than the shelling.
Of course, the cost of this new type of individual weapon is not cheap. The Haihan Army affirmed its military value after trials on the Liaodong battlefield. The arsenal in Sanya only started mass production, but the production capacity is still extremely limited. Not a lot of equipment.Only ace troops like the Special Operations Battalion, which have been piled up with countless military expenditures, can deploy this kind of weapon in large quantities.
Before launching the offensive, Takahashi Nan received ten boxes of grenades totaling [-] rounds, all of which were distributed to the front-line assault team, and the combat effectiveness of this weapon did not disappoint Gao Qiaonan. In the special environment where the army artillery was inconvenient, The power of the grenade can be used as a cannon to a certain extent, and the cannonball is still the kind that can bend and refract.
After using about one-third of the ammunition, the Spanish defenders are already showing signs of collapse. Although the temporary fortifications and barricades they built before the war can block the rifle fire of the Haihan Army, they are not suitable for grenades and shells. There is no good defensive effect. If you don't retreat in time, you will only have a dead end.
Although Francis was very dissatisfied with such a battle situation, the battle reports sent back one after another made him even less hopeful of a comeback. The [-] soldiers deployed in this area in the south of the city, after just one hour of fighting, He had already lost about [-]% of his manpower, and such a high casualty rate made Francis unable to calm down and invest more troops in it.Although he also thought of the huge casualties in the urban street fighting before the battle, he did not expect such a one-sided situation.If we continue to fight with the Haihan army at this pace, even if the entire Manila defenders are pulled over, it will be over after three or four days.
Will the Haihan Army withdraw from Manila in three or four days?Francis thinks that this is obviously impossible. As long as they still occupy the initiative on the battlefield, they will definitely not leave here easily.In this war between the two countries, one party must fail completely before it can be declared over.And Francis is now less and less optimistic about the outcome of this war.
Seeing the wounded and dead being transported off the line of fire passing by his side, Francis decided not to procrastinate any longer. The troops must be withdrawn to the city as soon as possible to avoid more unnecessary casualties.
"The Spaniards have signaled their withdrawal!"
This movement was immediately noticed by the Haihan army on the front line, and reported to the fire line headquarters in the Chaosheng store.Gao Qiaonan didn't show any obvious joy about this, but ordered the city to be cleaned up immediately, and all suspicious identities should be taken into custody—this list is mainly from the information provided by the Ministry of Security, mainly including some local people. There are pro-Spanish figures, both indigenous and Chinese.
Although these people are not militants, it is unlikely that they will rise up to resist Haihan, but they all have a relatively deep interest relationship with the Spaniards in the city, and they might do something out of the ordinary, so they should be temporarily imprisoned relatively safe.
The one who made this arrest list was naturally Ran Tianlu who was most familiar with the local situation.Ironically, most of the people he included in this list were remembered by him because they often met in churches in the city on weekdays, which was regarded as one of the evidences of close contacts with the Spaniards .The priest Blanco in the city probably never dreamed that the object of his entrustment would not only swallow up the property entrusted by the church, but also planned to wipe out the group of believers he had managed to develop in the local area.
In fact, Ran Tianlu personally didn't have any aversion to religion. Although he went to church for the purpose of gathering information, he also listened to some priest's daily sermons after a long time.Although he does not believe that the gods believed by the Spanish are more powerful than the gods of the East, and he also understands that the mission of the Spanish priests to the people of Manila is to maintain the local colonial rule after all, but he still agrees with the part of the teaching that persuades people to be good.But since the higher authorities asked him to make a list of "dangerous persons" in advance, he had to do his best to complete the work.
However, if the people on this list want to be seated correctly, they need an insider like Ran Tianlu to act as the leading party, so now he finally has something to do, and with a group of wolf-like Haihan soldiers, he began to search for clues in the city arrest these people.
This is of course another credit to Ran Tianlu, but in this way, Ran Tianlu's identity as a leading party will naturally be revealed to the world, and he will not be able to stay here as an ordinary businessman in the future, which makes him happy and happy While doing more credit, I can't help feeling a little bit sad that my identity has changed in this way.
But then there were even more things that made Ran Tianlu feel embarrassed. Most of the people he led to arrest knew him, and some of them still had contacts on weekdays. Seeing that Ran Tianlu had suddenly turned into an accomplice of the intruder, it was unavoidable. A vivid world of various states.There are staunch people who angrily call Ran Tianlu a "traitor", and there are also "smart people" who beg for mercy and even hope to get in touch with the Haihan people through him. Buy Ran Tianlu and the Haihan soldiers he brought, and let himself go after accepting the property.
Of course, there were also one or two families who were unwilling to be captured without a fight, and tried to resist with force, but this kind of attempt could only provoke severe blows.The soldiers had already received clear instructions from the headquarters before this battle, and they could shoot and kill any force resistance they encountered during the battle, so naturally they would not be polite in such a situation.The few unlucky ghosts who tried to resist with guns and machetes were shot and killed almost instantly by the highly vigilant Haihan soldiers.
Although Ran Tianlu has also received some basic military training, he is not a warrior who is used to life and death. He is still not used to this kind of scene, and he is a little frightened. It's just that he is currently in a state of war, and time waits for no one, so he dare not Asking to stop and rest, I can only bite the bullet and continue to complete this unsatisfactory errand.
The special warfare battalion did not try to pursue the Spanish army that quickly retreated into the city, because the Spaniards set up several artillery pieces on both sides of the city gate, and the light infantry chasing them could only make fun of themselves.By the time the artillery unit delivered the field artillery, all the Spanish troops outside the city had already withdrawn, and even the artillery at the gate of the city had been taken back.Obviously, the Spaniards have completely given up their resistance measures in the urban area on the south side of the city, shrinking the defense line to the front line of the city wall.
"How is the progress of the east and west roads?" Seeing that the overall situation in the south of the city has been settled, Gao Qiaonan is also concerned about the battle situation in other areas.
According to the division of labor before the war, the special warfare battalion commanded by Takahashi South was the main offensive force from south to north in the central route, the South China Sea special warfare brigade commanded by Roger was responsible for attacking the east route, and Wang Tom's marines were responsible for attacking from south to north along the coastline. West Road launched an offensive.The special warfare battalion is the main attack direction, and the other two sides are feint attacks, but if the resistance encountered by the special warfare battalion is too strong, then the feint attack may also be transformed into the main attack, and the special warfare battalion will also play the role of a feint attack in due course. Attract the enemy's attention.
However, because the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Department deployed internal response methods in advance in the south of the city, the Special Operations Battalion actually did not encounter too strong obstacles in the process of attacking the urban area here. It took less than half a day to basically clear the area of this urban area. defense force.
"The East Route Army is a little faster than our progress. It is said that the east of the city is sparsely populated. They have not encountered any decent resistance, and they have already advanced to the bottom of the city." The adjutant immediately reported the military information he had just received to Gao Qiaonan. Bulletin: "The West Route Army only advanced two miles away from the city of Manila and then stopped, because they could not bypass the coastal fortifications of Manila Port, the command did not want to waste time and effort to attack the coastal defenses, so ordered them There is no need to continue marching for the time being."
"The navy is almost in the limelight, and we can't let them take credit all the time!" Takahashi Minami gloated a little at the fact that the Marine Corps was forced to stagnate: "Go and inform the headquarters that our army has arrived at the city, please ask for instructions." Next move."
(End of this chapter)