Chapter 1662
Attacking Manila
Chapter 1662 Attack on Manila ([-])
"Who can tell me what happened!" Francis rushed out of the bedroom in disheveled clothes, and shouted at the guards who were also stunned: "Why are you all staying here? Hurry up and find out the news!"
Francis did not hear the huge explosion in his sleep, but the vibration from the ground woke him up from his deep sleep, and then he heard the screams of many people outside.He knew that something serious must have happened, so he hurriedly got up, put on a nightgown, and rushed outside to check what happened.
However, his residence was relatively far from the south gate, and he was not really injured by the explosion power. So after waiting for a while, the guards found out that there was a big explosion in the south of the city. They only knew that a section of the city wall was blown down. Still no one can make it clear.Francis dared to wait here for the news after hearing it, and hurriedly ordered someone to report to the governor's mansion, while he rushed to the south of the city with his guards, hoping to control the situation in time.
After arriving on the street, Francis found that most people were flocking to the north of the city, which made his hanging heart sink again.In his original prediction, the Haihan army might launch an infantry attack on the city after polishing the defenders' will to fight, but he didn't expect that the opponent would not play cards according to common sense at all, and suddenly changed the rhythm of the attack. The time has come for such a move.Now he can only hope that the news of "the city wall has collapsed" is a misinformation, otherwise it will be very difficult for the Haihan army to invade the city and organize a decent resistance.
A few hundred meters away from the South City Gate, Francis had already heard sporadic gunshots coming from the front. It was basically self-evident what this signal symbolized.Francis stopped, ordered a group of soldiers he had improvised to form a battle formation, and then moved forward.
A moment later, they bumped into the vanguard of the Special Operations Battalion.At the beginning, the two sides did not see each other's existence clearly in the morning light, but the Haihan army reacted first, and before the officer gave the combat order, someone was the first to shoot at the Spanish army that had formed an formation.
There is no doubt about the accuracy of the seven-shot muskets of the Special Operations Battalion within 200 meters. Basically, they aim at where to shoot, and the frequency of firing is so fast. Before the Spanish army came back to their senses, several people were shot and fell to the ground up.
The soldiers in the front row subconsciously raised their shields to resist. However, the protective ability of this shield was not enough to block the rifle bullets fired from the opposite side. Instead, it blocked the sight of the Musketeers.After a random gunshot, the Haihan army did not suffer any damage, but the Spanish soldiers who had just arrived here showed signs of breaking up.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Of course, Francis also sensed this unfavorable situation. He didn't want to leave here the only unbroken unit he could command. environment to build a line of defense.Of course, if the Haihan army on the opposite side dares to continue to advance, he doesn't mind immediately laying down a pocket to eat the opponent.
However, the Haihan army on the opposite side is obviously not so easy to be fooled. Seeing them retreating, they did not rush to follow up and pursue them. Instead, they calmly began to shrink their formation, probably to prevent the defenders from counterattacking.Francis saw that there was no chance to take advantage of it, so he could only command the troops to retreat first, and then build barricades to build the defense line inside the city.At the same time, he ordered the armed forces in the city to concentrate in this urban area to see if there was still a chance to drive the Haihan army out of the city.
If Francis had seen the actual situation of the South City Gate at this time, perhaps he would no longer have such unrealistic thoughts.The city wall destroyed by the blast has a span of about 20 meters. The entire city gate has been reduced to ruins, and the outline of what used to exist cannot be seen. The former location of the city gate can only be deduced from the walls on both sides that have not yet collapsed.At this time, more and more Haihan soldiers were climbing over the ruins from outside the city, entering the city of Manila and starting to gather.
The fortifications of the city, which the Manila authorities placed high hopes on, fell apart without a decent defense, and the casualties paid by the Haihan army in the process were extremely small, almost negligible compared with the defenders.
Yan Chujie and Qian Tiandun also came to the gate of the city under guard at this time to check the results of the blasting operation.In fact, if you scrape off the layer of gravel and floating soil on the surface, you can see the scene below - the part of the city wall that was actually overturned is about half of the entire thickness, but the power of this level of blasting is enough to make the defenders All deployments on this line of defense are declared ineffective.
"There is still a gap between the results of our calculations!" Qian Tiandun couldn't help expressing emotion after seeing the scene: "It's still too hasty, and I haven't had time to find out the structure of the city wall and foundation."
"The locations of the blast holes that have been drilled in a hurry over the past two nights are not very accurate. You can see that the blasting effect on the left side is obviously better, and the blasting effect on the right side is much worse." Yan Chujie also added the conclusion he reached after his observation.
"But generally speaking, luck is not bad, at least it made this section of the city wall lose its defensive function." A smile appeared on the corner of Qian Tiandun's mouth: "It's a fluke!"
Although the effect of the blasting did not fully reach the ideal state, the purpose was achieved. The Haihan army broke through the line of defense almost without bloodshed. This is obviously more cost-effective than sending infantry to the battlefield to carry out a strong attack.For the Haihan Army, which is very concerned about battle damage, this unconventional siege tactic is indeed very cost-effective.
Of course, in addition to receiving the due military merits after the war, the engineering troops performing this mission may have to strengthen their training.Although it was a fluke pass this time, the Ministry of National Defense will not pin this tactic on the luck of nothingness. Due to the expected results, some imperfections in the blasting operation were corrected.
For the front-line headquarters, breaking through the city wall defense line actually means that the battle is coming to an end, so Yan Chujie and Qian Tiandun are in a relaxed mood at this time, and are not in a hurry to enter the city to supervise the battle immediately.They are all very high-status generals now, and they basically won't take part in battles on the line of fire with their own risks like when they first started a few years ago.A few years ago, Qian Tiandun liked to lead the soldiers himself, but since he got married, this habit has been gradually changed by the family.Now the field command tasks of the special warfare battalion are basically handed over to Gao Qiaonan, and Qian Tiandun only needs to sit in the rear and dispatch troops.
However, they despise their opponents strategically, and still cannot underestimate the defenders tactically. According to the information obtained in advance, the architectural environment in the city is complex enough for the defenders to organize street fighting.At this time, although the Haihan army broke through the southern defense line of the city, because the city wall did not completely collapse, a large soil bag about six or seven meters high was formed at the gap. It will be difficult to transport into the city.Therefore, compared to the previous street fighting outside the city, the battle after breaking into the city may not be as smooth as before due to the lack of artillery support.
Yan Chujie has already ordered all the grenades in stock to be used by the special warfare battalion that broke through the city first, but the quantity is already very limited, and may not be able to support the troops to complete the sweep of the city.Therefore, the task Qian Tiandun assigned to Gao Qiaonan was not only to clean up the enemies near the south of the city, but also to try to get closer to the east of the city, try to win the east gate, and then join forces with the South China Sea Special Warfare Brigade outside the city.And some heavy equipment such as artillery can also be sent into the city through the east gate.
But for the defenders, the current situation is very clear. Although the defense line in the south of the city is broken, the situation is still controllable. If there is another direction where the Haihan army breaks into the city, it will be really cold.So Francis not only sent additional troops to the south of the city, but also quickly dispatched troops to the east and west gates to strengthen the defense.In particular, the lack of protection of the East City Gate has become the focus of Francis' attention.
Gao Qiaonan sent a company of troops to march east of the city, but was soon intercepted by the defenders on the way.The buildings in this block are almost all two to three-story buildings. The defenders have already deployed their positions in advance, and the doors and windows facing the street have become bunkers for attacking. Slow down.
Company Commander Amakusa Shiro was also a little helpless in this situation. Although his troops were also allocated some grenades, they were not as good as artillery shells, and their lethality was relatively limited, and they were not very good for building a three-dimensional firepower network. cracking effect.He could only arrange for more men to go door-to-door to clear the Spanish militants, but this inevitably slowed down the speed of advancement.Moreover, those defending soldiers hiding in civilian houses also had the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on the Haihan army at close range. This is not an ideal environment for the Haihan army, which pays more attention to the combat distance in combat.
After an hour of fighting, Shiro Amakusa's company had only advanced one street east, and it had cost several lives.After this situation was reported to the headquarters, it finally attracted the attention of the generals.
"It turns out that the city is the real hard bone! It seems that our previous analysis still has omissions." Qian Tiandun was also a little unhappy after reading the battle report. The special warfare battalion's challenge is not so passive.
"Add more troops, there is no other way to solve it at present. If your people are not enough, then I will transfer Wang Tom's people to the city to support." Yan Chujie knew that Qian Tiandun was concerned about the lives of his subordinates, but now the Haihan Army Having already entered the city, if the entanglement with the enemy army is too long, then the big shots in the city will probably have enough time to escape calmly.So no matter how much resistance the special warfare battalion encountered in the city, out of overall considerations, he still had to urge the special warfare battalion to make progress.
"I don't need the navy to get involved in this matter!" Qian Tiandun immediately declined the proposal, he didn't want the navy to take a piece of meat from his bowl.With the current establishment of the Special Operations Battalion, there must be enough troops, it just depends on how much he, the commander, is willing to send to the battlefield.
Although the name of the special warfare battalion is a battalion, its actual organization has already broken through the battalion level, and it is even better than the reinforced battalion. In fact, it is already the organization of the reinforced regiment.Take the company led by Amakusa Shiro sent to the east of the city as an example. The ordinary strengthened company has about 200 people, but the company he leads has more than [-] people, which is close to the size of an ordinary army battalion. The troops are gone.Just fighting in such an unfamiliar environment in Manila, Amakusa Shiro didn't dare to spread the battle formation too wide, and he had to ensure the safety of the back road. Naturally, this amount of troops was a bit stretched.
Qian Tiandun's new order was quickly passed on to Takahashi Minami. When he heard his superior's request for additional troops, he understood that he was dissatisfied with the current advance speed, so he immediately transferred another company to reinforce Amakusa Shiro.
Francis also noticed the transfer of the Haihan army in the city, but he was not in a hurry to send reinforcements to the east of the city, but tried to take advantage of the time when the Haihan army transferred the entering troops to the east of the city, and opened up the gap in the city wall to the south. counterattack.
However, the Special Operations Battalion had built a line of defense along the city wall at this time, guarding the only channel through which the Haihan army could enter and leave the city.The special warfare battalion also dispatched a lot of infantry on the uncollapsed city wall, condescending to build a firepower point. Before the Spanish army approached this area, they were discovered by Haihan soldiers on high.So before the Spanish army approached, they were the first to encounter firepower, and the disadvantage of the range of weapons made it difficult for them to launch an effective counterattack. After dropping more than a dozen corpses, they had no choice but to retreat to the northern urban area.
Gao Qiaonan didn't immediately launch a pursuit. He now wanted to ensure that the control of this passage would not be taken back by the Spaniards until Haihan took down the east gate.As long as the east gate is captured and the artillery can enter the city, it will be useless for the Spaniards to try any tricks.
At this time, Francis really felt very helpless. He was very aware of the Haihan people's combat intentions, but he couldn't stop them from implementing them.The troops he can command are actually not weak. At least he has fought all opponents except Haihan in the South China Sea without defeat. The gap in strength between them and the second is really a gap that is difficult to bridge, and there is not even a chance to change the trend of the battle.
Aragones' orders were still being sent out one after another, and the content was nothing more than asking him to guard Manila City, drive the Haihan people out of the city, or kill them inside the city.It's a pity that Francis may not be able to realize even one of these requirements.The Haihan army's offensive is so strong that it is very difficult to hold them back for a while.
(End of this chapter)
"Who can tell me what happened!" Francis rushed out of the bedroom in disheveled clothes, and shouted at the guards who were also stunned: "Why are you all staying here? Hurry up and find out the news!"
Francis did not hear the huge explosion in his sleep, but the vibration from the ground woke him up from his deep sleep, and then he heard the screams of many people outside.He knew that something serious must have happened, so he hurriedly got up, put on a nightgown, and rushed outside to check what happened.
However, his residence was relatively far from the south gate, and he was not really injured by the explosion power. So after waiting for a while, the guards found out that there was a big explosion in the south of the city. They only knew that a section of the city wall was blown down. Still no one can make it clear.Francis dared to wait here for the news after hearing it, and hurriedly ordered someone to report to the governor's mansion, while he rushed to the south of the city with his guards, hoping to control the situation in time.
After arriving on the street, Francis found that most people were flocking to the north of the city, which made his hanging heart sink again.In his original prediction, the Haihan army might launch an infantry attack on the city after polishing the defenders' will to fight, but he didn't expect that the opponent would not play cards according to common sense at all, and suddenly changed the rhythm of the attack. The time has come for such a move.Now he can only hope that the news of "the city wall has collapsed" is a misinformation, otherwise it will be very difficult for the Haihan army to invade the city and organize a decent resistance.
A few hundred meters away from the South City Gate, Francis had already heard sporadic gunshots coming from the front. It was basically self-evident what this signal symbolized.Francis stopped, ordered a group of soldiers he had improvised to form a battle formation, and then moved forward.
A moment later, they bumped into the vanguard of the Special Operations Battalion.At the beginning, the two sides did not see each other's existence clearly in the morning light, but the Haihan army reacted first, and before the officer gave the combat order, someone was the first to shoot at the Spanish army that had formed an formation.
There is no doubt about the accuracy of the seven-shot muskets of the Special Operations Battalion within 200 meters. Basically, they aim at where to shoot, and the frequency of firing is so fast. Before the Spanish army came back to their senses, several people were shot and fell to the ground up.
The soldiers in the front row subconsciously raised their shields to resist. However, the protective ability of this shield was not enough to block the rifle bullets fired from the opposite side. Instead, it blocked the sight of the Musketeers.After a random gunshot, the Haihan army did not suffer any damage, but the Spanish soldiers who had just arrived here showed signs of breaking up.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Of course, Francis also sensed this unfavorable situation. He didn't want to leave here the only unbroken unit he could command. environment to build a line of defense.Of course, if the Haihan army on the opposite side dares to continue to advance, he doesn't mind immediately laying down a pocket to eat the opponent.
However, the Haihan army on the opposite side is obviously not so easy to be fooled. Seeing them retreating, they did not rush to follow up and pursue them. Instead, they calmly began to shrink their formation, probably to prevent the defenders from counterattacking.Francis saw that there was no chance to take advantage of it, so he could only command the troops to retreat first, and then build barricades to build the defense line inside the city.At the same time, he ordered the armed forces in the city to concentrate in this urban area to see if there was still a chance to drive the Haihan army out of the city.
If Francis had seen the actual situation of the South City Gate at this time, perhaps he would no longer have such unrealistic thoughts.The city wall destroyed by the blast has a span of about 20 meters. The entire city gate has been reduced to ruins, and the outline of what used to exist cannot be seen. The former location of the city gate can only be deduced from the walls on both sides that have not yet collapsed.At this time, more and more Haihan soldiers were climbing over the ruins from outside the city, entering the city of Manila and starting to gather.
The fortifications of the city, which the Manila authorities placed high hopes on, fell apart without a decent defense, and the casualties paid by the Haihan army in the process were extremely small, almost negligible compared with the defenders.
Yan Chujie and Qian Tiandun also came to the gate of the city under guard at this time to check the results of the blasting operation.In fact, if you scrape off the layer of gravel and floating soil on the surface, you can see the scene below - the part of the city wall that was actually overturned is about half of the entire thickness, but the power of this level of blasting is enough to make the defenders All deployments on this line of defense are declared ineffective.
"There is still a gap between the results of our calculations!" Qian Tiandun couldn't help expressing emotion after seeing the scene: "It's still too hasty, and I haven't had time to find out the structure of the city wall and foundation."
"The locations of the blast holes that have been drilled in a hurry over the past two nights are not very accurate. You can see that the blasting effect on the left side is obviously better, and the blasting effect on the right side is much worse." Yan Chujie also added the conclusion he reached after his observation.
"But generally speaking, luck is not bad, at least it made this section of the city wall lose its defensive function." A smile appeared on the corner of Qian Tiandun's mouth: "It's a fluke!"
Although the effect of the blasting did not fully reach the ideal state, the purpose was achieved. The Haihan army broke through the line of defense almost without bloodshed. This is obviously more cost-effective than sending infantry to the battlefield to carry out a strong attack.For the Haihan Army, which is very concerned about battle damage, this unconventional siege tactic is indeed very cost-effective.
Of course, in addition to receiving the due military merits after the war, the engineering troops performing this mission may have to strengthen their training.Although it was a fluke pass this time, the Ministry of National Defense will not pin this tactic on the luck of nothingness. Due to the expected results, some imperfections in the blasting operation were corrected.
For the front-line headquarters, breaking through the city wall defense line actually means that the battle is coming to an end, so Yan Chujie and Qian Tiandun are in a relaxed mood at this time, and are not in a hurry to enter the city to supervise the battle immediately.They are all very high-status generals now, and they basically won't take part in battles on the line of fire with their own risks like when they first started a few years ago.A few years ago, Qian Tiandun liked to lead the soldiers himself, but since he got married, this habit has been gradually changed by the family.Now the field command tasks of the special warfare battalion are basically handed over to Gao Qiaonan, and Qian Tiandun only needs to sit in the rear and dispatch troops.
However, they despise their opponents strategically, and still cannot underestimate the defenders tactically. According to the information obtained in advance, the architectural environment in the city is complex enough for the defenders to organize street fighting.At this time, although the Haihan army broke through the southern defense line of the city, because the city wall did not completely collapse, a large soil bag about six or seven meters high was formed at the gap. It will be difficult to transport into the city.Therefore, compared to the previous street fighting outside the city, the battle after breaking into the city may not be as smooth as before due to the lack of artillery support.
Yan Chujie has already ordered all the grenades in stock to be used by the special warfare battalion that broke through the city first, but the quantity is already very limited, and may not be able to support the troops to complete the sweep of the city.Therefore, the task Qian Tiandun assigned to Gao Qiaonan was not only to clean up the enemies near the south of the city, but also to try to get closer to the east of the city, try to win the east gate, and then join forces with the South China Sea Special Warfare Brigade outside the city.And some heavy equipment such as artillery can also be sent into the city through the east gate.
But for the defenders, the current situation is very clear. Although the defense line in the south of the city is broken, the situation is still controllable. If there is another direction where the Haihan army breaks into the city, it will be really cold.So Francis not only sent additional troops to the south of the city, but also quickly dispatched troops to the east and west gates to strengthen the defense.In particular, the lack of protection of the East City Gate has become the focus of Francis' attention.
Gao Qiaonan sent a company of troops to march east of the city, but was soon intercepted by the defenders on the way.The buildings in this block are almost all two to three-story buildings. The defenders have already deployed their positions in advance, and the doors and windows facing the street have become bunkers for attacking. Slow down.
Company Commander Amakusa Shiro was also a little helpless in this situation. Although his troops were also allocated some grenades, they were not as good as artillery shells, and their lethality was relatively limited, and they were not very good for building a three-dimensional firepower network. cracking effect.He could only arrange for more men to go door-to-door to clear the Spanish militants, but this inevitably slowed down the speed of advancement.Moreover, those defending soldiers hiding in civilian houses also had the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on the Haihan army at close range. This is not an ideal environment for the Haihan army, which pays more attention to the combat distance in combat.
After an hour of fighting, Shiro Amakusa's company had only advanced one street east, and it had cost several lives.After this situation was reported to the headquarters, it finally attracted the attention of the generals.
"It turns out that the city is the real hard bone! It seems that our previous analysis still has omissions." Qian Tiandun was also a little unhappy after reading the battle report. The special warfare battalion's challenge is not so passive.
"Add more troops, there is no other way to solve it at present. If your people are not enough, then I will transfer Wang Tom's people to the city to support." Yan Chujie knew that Qian Tiandun was concerned about the lives of his subordinates, but now the Haihan Army Having already entered the city, if the entanglement with the enemy army is too long, then the big shots in the city will probably have enough time to escape calmly.So no matter how much resistance the special warfare battalion encountered in the city, out of overall considerations, he still had to urge the special warfare battalion to make progress.
"I don't need the navy to get involved in this matter!" Qian Tiandun immediately declined the proposal, he didn't want the navy to take a piece of meat from his bowl.With the current establishment of the Special Operations Battalion, there must be enough troops, it just depends on how much he, the commander, is willing to send to the battlefield.
Although the name of the special warfare battalion is a battalion, its actual organization has already broken through the battalion level, and it is even better than the reinforced battalion. In fact, it is already the organization of the reinforced regiment.Take the company led by Amakusa Shiro sent to the east of the city as an example. The ordinary strengthened company has about 200 people, but the company he leads has more than [-] people, which is close to the size of an ordinary army battalion. The troops are gone.Just fighting in such an unfamiliar environment in Manila, Amakusa Shiro didn't dare to spread the battle formation too wide, and he had to ensure the safety of the back road. Naturally, this amount of troops was a bit stretched.
Qian Tiandun's new order was quickly passed on to Takahashi Minami. When he heard his superior's request for additional troops, he understood that he was dissatisfied with the current advance speed, so he immediately transferred another company to reinforce Amakusa Shiro.
Francis also noticed the transfer of the Haihan army in the city, but he was not in a hurry to send reinforcements to the east of the city, but tried to take advantage of the time when the Haihan army transferred the entering troops to the east of the city, and opened up the gap in the city wall to the south. counterattack.
However, the Special Operations Battalion had built a line of defense along the city wall at this time, guarding the only channel through which the Haihan army could enter and leave the city.The special warfare battalion also dispatched a lot of infantry on the uncollapsed city wall, condescending to build a firepower point. Before the Spanish army approached this area, they were discovered by Haihan soldiers on high.So before the Spanish army approached, they were the first to encounter firepower, and the disadvantage of the range of weapons made it difficult for them to launch an effective counterattack. After dropping more than a dozen corpses, they had no choice but to retreat to the northern urban area.
Gao Qiaonan didn't immediately launch a pursuit. He now wanted to ensure that the control of this passage would not be taken back by the Spaniards until Haihan took down the east gate.As long as the east gate is captured and the artillery can enter the city, it will be useless for the Spaniards to try any tricks.
At this time, Francis really felt very helpless. He was very aware of the Haihan people's combat intentions, but he couldn't stop them from implementing them.The troops he can command are actually not weak. At least he has fought all opponents except Haihan in the South China Sea without defeat. The gap in strength between them and the second is really a gap that is difficult to bridge, and there is not even a chance to change the trend of the battle.
Aragones' orders were still being sent out one after another, and the content was nothing more than asking him to guard Manila City, drive the Haihan people out of the city, or kill them inside the city.It's a pity that Francis may not be able to realize even one of these requirements.The Haihan army's offensive is so strong that it is very difficult to hold them back for a while.
(End of this chapter)