Chapter 3532
Chapter 3532
Chapter 3532
As soon as the sky began to brighten, a loud military bugle call sounded in the temporary camp in Tanopura.
However, the guests of the inspection team had become accustomed to this wake-up call during the few days they stayed at the Sasebo base, so there was no panic or chaos.
It’s just that after watching the game yesterday, many people were too excited and didn’t sleep well at night. Being woken up so early in the morning, it’s inevitable that they feel a little uncomfortable.
But the notification from the Hai Han diplomats quickly woke them up from their sleepiness. The conflicting parties were about to engage in battle, and today's battle observation location would be moved from the sea to the land, so they needed to leave the camp as soon as possible.
Since there's something exciting to watch, I might as well not sleep in.
So after a quick breakfast in the camp, the expedition team set out on a new journey.
However, the new viewing location is not far from the camp. There is no need to use any vehicles. It can be reached in a cup of tea on foot.
This location is just on the east side of the hilly battlefield. From here you can not only see the shogunate warships crossing the sea and landing, but also observe the battle line between the two armies.
The thoughtful event organizers also transported a large number of chairs in advance and set up a simple viewing area here.
"Today's observation positions have been notified to both sides, so you don't have to worry about being accidentally injured. In addition, there have been new developments in the battle from last night to this morning. Allow me to briefly introduce them."
Shi Diwen personally appeared on the scene and gave a brief explanation to the inspection team with a loudspeaker.
According to the information Hai Han has, after nightfall last night, the shogunate continued to transport combat personnel to the beachhead near the hilly battlefield, and at least two to three thousand people were sent over one after another.
After dawn, the warships of the Kyushu coalition had returned to the strait, and the guns on the hills were once again aimed at the sea. The shogunate army learned from yesterday's lesson and was no longer willing to send a large number of troop transport ships to this side. They had to redeploy and arrange for warships to provide cover.
Given that a considerable number of shogunate troops have crossed the strait and arrived on the Kyushu side, the main task of the coalition forces today is to slow down the shogunate army's crossing speed, encircle and attack the reinforcements, and ultimately eliminate the part of the shogunate army that has already landed and has no way to retreat.
Shi Diwen said that if the coalition forces could defeat the part of the shogunate army that had already crossed the sea, it would not be so easy for the other side to organize the next round of large-scale landing operations.
Because in yesterday's battle, the two armies had already lost a lot of warships. Although the shogunate army still had an advantage in the number of ships, considering that the attackers would be more exposed to the attack range of the shore defense firepower if they launched a landing battle, this advantage could basically be ignored.
Some people questioned Shi Diwen's statement. If the shogunate army failed to capture the city after a long siege, they would certainly choose another direction of attack. At that time, the coalition forces might not be able to set up a special position like the hilly battlefield.
Shi Diwen explained: "The sea-crossing landing operation is extremely complicated. It is not something that can be carried out immediately by simply changing the location. Otherwise, the shogunate army would not have to give up the other attacks and concentrate its forces to open up the hilly battlefield."
"The coalition's battle plan is to focus the shogunate's attack on this battlefield as much as possible, and then use the strait to delay the enemy's troop deployment, causing the enemy to continue to bleed here and eventually lose the ability to cross the sea to fight." "In a head-on battle, the coalition will definitely not be able to outlast the shogunate's superior troop numbers. Only when the two armies enter a stalemate across the sea will the coalition have a chance to defeat the strong with the weak."
The audience present couldn't really tell whether this was Shi Diwen's opinion or the idea of the Jiuzhou Coalition, but perhaps the two were one and the same and there was no fundamental difference.
However, it can be seen from this that at least the Kyushu coalition's current combat objectives are relatively realistic. They do not want to defeat the shogunate army in one fell swoop, but instead plan to stabilize their position first, slowly eliminate the enemy's manpower, and then seek to launch a counterattack.
Of course, whether such a combat plan can achieve its goals depends on the actual performance on the battlefield.
Soon after the inspection team arrived at the observation site, the two sides seemed to have received a signal and soon started a new round of confrontation.
Through the lessons learned yesterday at the cost of a large number of lives, the Shogunate army has obviously realized that it is not realistic to attack the artillery positions high on the hill from the bottom up. The entire hillside is densely covered with various fortifications, and the terrain makes it difficult to deploy an attack formation. Pushing forward will only result in a waste of lives.
After a night of research, the generals of the shogunate army have adjusted their offensive strategy, planning to advance to the east and west along the coastline, bypass this deadly hill, and attack directly behind their positions.
The shogunate army's idea was actually correct. By forming a siege on the hill position, they could then achieve a reverse siege and attack, and lure the coalition forces to rescue. Even if there were more enemy troops on the hill, they would eventually run out of ammunition and food if they were cut off from supplies after a few days of siege.
The only thing that was not predicted was that the Kyushu coalition forces had already regarded this place as the battlefield for the decisive battle. They had deployed heavy troops on the defense line, taken into account every possible route of the Shogunate army's offensive, and formulated corresponding defensive tactics.
Some of the warships that were damaged in yesterday's battle and could no longer go out to sea had all their firearms unloaded overnight and transported to the land positions here, doing everything possible to strengthen the firepower on the defense line.
The fighting between the two sides quickly escalated from tentative attacks to large-scale exchanges of fire. The proportion of musketeers deployed by the shogunate army on the battlefield was obviously higher than yesterday. Moreover, from the moment they entered the battlefield, they were in a very standard line infantry formation, and the models of muskets they used were also uniform. It was obvious that they were a well-trained force.
The tour guide from the inspection team then introduced that the muskets used by the Shogunate army's combat troops were Type 28 matchlock muskets made in Hai Han, with an effective range of up to fifty meters.
This type of matchlock gun is an export model developed by Hai Han specifically for the arms trade. It has never been equipped in the Hai Han army, but countries such as Annan and Korea have purchased large quantities of this type of gun.
Although it is the most primitive matchlock gun, its shooting accuracy and firing reliability have obvious advantages over the Tanegashima gun, which was previously used by the shogunate army and imitated the Portuguese matchlock gun.
Although its combat performance cannot compare with the more technologically advanced flintlock rifle, its price is only about half of that of the flintlock rifle after all. You get what you pay for, and it is very suitable for buyers with limited budgets.
Currently, both warring parties on the battlefield have purchased a number of Type 28 matchlock rifles as the basic configuration for their musket units.
However, on the current battlefield, the Kyushu coalition forces clearly have a more significant advantage.
The seaward passage under the hills was very narrow, and the shogunate army could barely form a linear array of twenty men, which meant that they would have no way to avoid the enemy's fire. However, the Kyushu coalition army had pre-deployed shooting bunkers that could reduce the enemy's shooting accuracy to an extremely low level.