Chapter 2978
Chapter 2978
Chapter 2978
Although the Haihan Army had attacked Cebu several times before, the last time it was seven or eight years ago, it was difficult to copy the previous experience to direct this operation.
Among the troops participating in this operation, only some officers participated in the last attack on Cebu.For the vast majority of soldiers, this is a completely unfamiliar territory, without any experience at all.
Therefore, the front-line command was still cautious when formulating a combat plan. Instead of launching a landing battle directly at the Port of Cebu, it patiently blocked the strait and occupied Mactan Island, which is opposite to the Port of Cebu. After completing the cleanup of this area, Then troop transport ships were dispatched to carry out landings on the north and south sides of the port area.
Battalion Bangui was tasked with capturing and clearing Mactan, so it was not among the first troops to land in Cebu.Zheng Agui's company also got precious rest time and could watch the landing battle across the strait as a spectator.
According to pre-war information, the Spaniards had made numerous repairs to the port's coastal defense batteries over the past few years, and had surreptitiously replenished an unspecified number of artillery pieces.
Obviously, the Spaniards did these things not just to scare people, and the navy did not dare to be careless. First, the battleships approaching the port formed a battle formation, aligned the broadsides with the position of the port battery, and then took the initiative to fire.
The rumbling sound of cannons sounded one after another from the warship, and the shells roared and smashed into the fort on the coast.And the defenders, who had been silent for a while, finally began to move, and the coastal defense artillery hidden in the fortifications also opened fire.
In terms of range alone, the Spanish coastal defense guns are not at a disadvantage, and they can even have a slight advantage with larger and longer barrels.It's just that the cast-iron shells fired by the traditional front-bore guns lack an accurate head, and can only hit the target with a pre-calibrated firing range.
Although the range of the naval guns of the Haihan warships is slightly disadvantaged, and the accuracy of the artillery fire during the march is not very good, it is better than the guns. Override target.
After more than an hour of artillery battle, three warships of the Haihan Fleet were damaged, one of which was seriously damaged and had to voluntarily leave the battlefield.
The firepower output of the coastal defense battery is becoming more and more sparse. I don't know if it was damaged by the shelling from the sea, or because the firing frequency of these coastal defense guns is too high and the barrels are overheated and temporarily unavailable.
The command noticed that the firepower output of the opponent was weakening, and immediately ordered the troop transport to dock at the port for landing.
Of course, the Spaniards also noticed this trend and tried to concentrate the remaining firepower in the coastal defense battery to attack the troop carrier, but a new wave of concentrated fire was quickly summoned.
In order to avoid the previous mistakes in the landing process, the troops participating in this landing are the most elite Manila battalion and guard battalion in the Luzon region.The subic battalion and the Batangas battalion, which are less powerful, are the second batch of landing troops, waiting for the first wave of landing troops to occupy the port area before landing.
Under the cover of the fleet's firepower, the two infantry battalions completed the landing relatively smoothly, but in the process of clearing the coastal fortifications in the port area, they still encountered relatively stubborn resistance.
About two hundred militants hid in forts and various buildings in the port area, using muskets to resist the attack of the Haihan Army.
In the battle to clear the port area, despite the superior firepower and strength of the Haihan Army, sporadic casualties inevitably began to appear.
In order to reduce their own casualties, the combat troops had to slow down the speed of clearing buildings, and at the same time applied to the headquarters for the use of more grenades to clear the many fortifications in the port area.
Although the cost of grenades is high, it is nothing compared to the lives of soldiers.After receiving the news, the headquarters immediately dispatched a batch of grenades to the front line, and ordered the stubborn resisters to be killed. Regardless of the identity of the opponent, there is no need to force the prisoners to live.
After adjusting the combat strategy, the speed of the clearing operation has changed.
For those enemies who hide in the fortifications and resist, the soldiers no longer need to open the way physically, but first throw grenades to blast them, and then kill them.Since the prisoners are no longer required to live, the soldiers have no scruples. Anyone who is unwilling to surrender will be killed on the spot, and there is no need to risk injury to capture the enemy alive.
At noon, the vanguard troops completed the clean-up of the port area, troop transport ships and supply ships successively docked at the port, and the reinforcements and various combat materials were transferred ashore.
In the previous attacks on Cebu, after the Haihan Army captured the port area, the Spaniards basically gave up their resistance and chose to abandon the city and flee to the nearby mountains and forests to avoid the battle, waiting for the Haihan Army to evacuate on their own before returning to the city. .
Therefore, when the Haihan Army occupied the port area this time, most of the officers in the headquarters breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the war should come to an end.Even if there is still resistance in the city, the intensity should not be much.
But the Spaniards obviously did not plan this way, and the Haihan Army fought with the defenders near Fort San Pedro on the edge of the port area.
San Pedro Fort is the oldest castle in Cebu City. It was organized and built in 1565 by Miguel Lopez Legazpi, the first ruler of Spain in Cebu. The official seat of the Spanish colonial authorities.
Fort San Pedro is a triangular bastion, all made of stones, facing the sea on both sides, the city wall is two feet high, and the circumference is 120 feet. There are turrets and forts on the three corners. There are more than ten artillery pieces.There are wells and storage facilities in the fort, which can accommodate two to 300 people for long-term garrison.
Although the Fort San Pedro is small, it is extremely strong, and the small-caliber artillery does not have much damage to the stone city wall with a thickness of nearly ten feet.Even for the Haihan Army, this triangular bastion is a tough nut to crack, so the Haihan Army did not take this as the primary target of attack during the landing process, but took the initiative to bypass the San Pedro Fortress. area, clear the port area first.
The command believed that as long as the port area was occupied, the defenders of Fort San Pedro would definitely withdraw voluntarily in order not to be cut off from their retreat.But this judgment was obviously wrong. The Spaniards did not evacuate. Instead, they deployed a lot of armed personnel in the nearby area centered on Fort San Pedro.
When the nearby troops rushed to the vicinity of the battle area, they discovered that there is more than one fortress in San Pedro. There are several buildings that look like private houses, but there are also a large number of armed personnel, and there are still two or three of these buildings. The tier windows were erected with artillery.
And these buildings are all mouth-shaped without exception. Once the entrance is blocked, it becomes a fortress.Obviously, there were major omissions in the pre-war intelligence collection. These buildings had military functions in the design and construction stage, and they transformed into fortresses that were easy to defend and difficult to attack during the war.
(End of this chapter)
Although the Haihan Army had attacked Cebu several times before, the last time it was seven or eight years ago, it was difficult to copy the previous experience to direct this operation.
Among the troops participating in this operation, only some officers participated in the last attack on Cebu.For the vast majority of soldiers, this is a completely unfamiliar territory, without any experience at all.
Therefore, the front-line command was still cautious when formulating a combat plan. Instead of launching a landing battle directly at the Port of Cebu, it patiently blocked the strait and occupied Mactan Island, which is opposite to the Port of Cebu. After completing the cleanup of this area, Then troop transport ships were dispatched to carry out landings on the north and south sides of the port area.
Battalion Bangui was tasked with capturing and clearing Mactan, so it was not among the first troops to land in Cebu.Zheng Agui's company also got precious rest time and could watch the landing battle across the strait as a spectator.
According to pre-war information, the Spaniards had made numerous repairs to the port's coastal defense batteries over the past few years, and had surreptitiously replenished an unspecified number of artillery pieces.
Obviously, the Spaniards did these things not just to scare people, and the navy did not dare to be careless. First, the battleships approaching the port formed a battle formation, aligned the broadsides with the position of the port battery, and then took the initiative to fire.
The rumbling sound of cannons sounded one after another from the warship, and the shells roared and smashed into the fort on the coast.And the defenders, who had been silent for a while, finally began to move, and the coastal defense artillery hidden in the fortifications also opened fire.
In terms of range alone, the Spanish coastal defense guns are not at a disadvantage, and they can even have a slight advantage with larger and longer barrels.It's just that the cast-iron shells fired by the traditional front-bore guns lack an accurate head, and can only hit the target with a pre-calibrated firing range.
Although the range of the naval guns of the Haihan warships is slightly disadvantaged, and the accuracy of the artillery fire during the march is not very good, it is better than the guns. Override target.
After more than an hour of artillery battle, three warships of the Haihan Fleet were damaged, one of which was seriously damaged and had to voluntarily leave the battlefield.
The firepower output of the coastal defense battery is becoming more and more sparse. I don't know if it was damaged by the shelling from the sea, or because the firing frequency of these coastal defense guns is too high and the barrels are overheated and temporarily unavailable.
The command noticed that the firepower output of the opponent was weakening, and immediately ordered the troop transport to dock at the port for landing.
Of course, the Spaniards also noticed this trend and tried to concentrate the remaining firepower in the coastal defense battery to attack the troop carrier, but a new wave of concentrated fire was quickly summoned.
In order to avoid the previous mistakes in the landing process, the troops participating in this landing are the most elite Manila battalion and guard battalion in the Luzon region.The subic battalion and the Batangas battalion, which are less powerful, are the second batch of landing troops, waiting for the first wave of landing troops to occupy the port area before landing.
Under the cover of the fleet's firepower, the two infantry battalions completed the landing relatively smoothly, but in the process of clearing the coastal fortifications in the port area, they still encountered relatively stubborn resistance.
About two hundred militants hid in forts and various buildings in the port area, using muskets to resist the attack of the Haihan Army.
In the battle to clear the port area, despite the superior firepower and strength of the Haihan Army, sporadic casualties inevitably began to appear.
In order to reduce their own casualties, the combat troops had to slow down the speed of clearing buildings, and at the same time applied to the headquarters for the use of more grenades to clear the many fortifications in the port area.
Although the cost of grenades is high, it is nothing compared to the lives of soldiers.After receiving the news, the headquarters immediately dispatched a batch of grenades to the front line, and ordered the stubborn resisters to be killed. Regardless of the identity of the opponent, there is no need to force the prisoners to live.
After adjusting the combat strategy, the speed of the clearing operation has changed.
For those enemies who hide in the fortifications and resist, the soldiers no longer need to open the way physically, but first throw grenades to blast them, and then kill them.Since the prisoners are no longer required to live, the soldiers have no scruples. Anyone who is unwilling to surrender will be killed on the spot, and there is no need to risk injury to capture the enemy alive.
At noon, the vanguard troops completed the clean-up of the port area, troop transport ships and supply ships successively docked at the port, and the reinforcements and various combat materials were transferred ashore.
In the previous attacks on Cebu, after the Haihan Army captured the port area, the Spaniards basically gave up their resistance and chose to abandon the city and flee to the nearby mountains and forests to avoid the battle, waiting for the Haihan Army to evacuate on their own before returning to the city. .
Therefore, when the Haihan Army occupied the port area this time, most of the officers in the headquarters breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the war should come to an end.Even if there is still resistance in the city, the intensity should not be much.
But the Spaniards obviously did not plan this way, and the Haihan Army fought with the defenders near Fort San Pedro on the edge of the port area.
San Pedro Fort is the oldest castle in Cebu City. It was organized and built in 1565 by Miguel Lopez Legazpi, the first ruler of Spain in Cebu. The official seat of the Spanish colonial authorities.
Fort San Pedro is a triangular bastion, all made of stones, facing the sea on both sides, the city wall is two feet high, and the circumference is 120 feet. There are turrets and forts on the three corners. There are more than ten artillery pieces.There are wells and storage facilities in the fort, which can accommodate two to 300 people for long-term garrison.
Although the Fort San Pedro is small, it is extremely strong, and the small-caliber artillery does not have much damage to the stone city wall with a thickness of nearly ten feet.Even for the Haihan Army, this triangular bastion is a tough nut to crack, so the Haihan Army did not take this as the primary target of attack during the landing process, but took the initiative to bypass the San Pedro Fortress. area, clear the port area first.
The command believed that as long as the port area was occupied, the defenders of Fort San Pedro would definitely withdraw voluntarily in order not to be cut off from their retreat.But this judgment was obviously wrong. The Spaniards did not evacuate. Instead, they deployed a lot of armed personnel in the nearby area centered on Fort San Pedro.
When the nearby troops rushed to the vicinity of the battle area, they discovered that there is more than one fortress in San Pedro. There are several buildings that look like private houses, but there are also a large number of armed personnel, and there are still two or three of these buildings. The tier windows were erected with artillery.
And these buildings are all mouth-shaped without exception. Once the entrance is blocked, it becomes a fortress.Obviously, there were major omissions in the pre-war intelligence collection. These buildings had military functions in the design and construction stage, and they transformed into fortresses that were easy to defend and difficult to attack during the war.
(End of this chapter)