Chapter 3546
Chapter 3546
Chapter 3546
"What! So expensive? Can the price be discounted? Sorry to bother you!"
After seeing off yet another customer who came to inquire about the price, Bai Kesi couldn't help but reveal a helpless smile on his face.
After the fierce artillery battle ended, people came one after another to ask Bai Kesi, who was in charge of Hai Han’s ordnance, about the long-range coastal defense artillery in the Jiuzhou coalition forces.
Anyone who sees this powerful and long-range large-scale artillery will want to buy a few. However, after learning about its high price, many people immediately backed out.
It cannot be blamed on them for being stingy. Due to the complex manufacturing process, the price of a coastal defense gun is ten or even dozens of times that of an ordinary field gun. Due to its large body, its mobility is poor and it is not suitable for many combat environments. It can often only be deployed in important ports or passes, and special artillery facilities have to be built for it.
Setting up artillery positions in the field and using them as field artillery like the Kyushu Allied Forces did is only an operation under special circumstances and is not suitable for other countries to emulate.
In comparison, for the same amount of money, it would certainly be more cost-effective to buy a few more field guns that are more mobile and more flexible to deploy.
Countries with sufficient funds to purchase large coastal defense artillery are usually large countries that have both coastal defense needs and specialized artillery formations, such as Annan and North Korea. Even if a small country drains its wallet to buy this thing, it will most likely not be able to use it, and it is likely that the military expenditure will be wasted.
The Kyushu coalition forces actually had a very limited number of coastal defense guns, and transportation was very inconvenient, so the five troops put together and only deployed a total of ten coastal defense guns on the battlefield. The fact that they could rely on these guns to achieve the results against the shogunate army just now was actually a bit of luck.
Although Bai Kesi failed to successfully sell coastal defense guns, he was not discouraged. In his opinion, these customers simply lost interest in coastal defense guns, but the desire to buy would soon shift to other types of artillery.
Regarding the casualties of the Shogunate army in this battle, Tokugawa Ietsugu ordered a strict blockade of information, so Hai Han was unable to learn the details at the first time. They could only roughly judge that some senior generals in the Shogunate army were killed or injured in the shelling, causing the command system to fail, which led to a period of chaos during the retreat.
Based on estimates from the battle, Hai Han believed that the shogunate's casualties would not be less than 3,000. The casualties of the artillery units, which charged forward and then covered the rear, were particularly heavy.
As for the casualties of the Jiuzhou coalition forces, statistical data were quickly reported to the Hai Han military.
In today's battle, the coalition forces lost more than 400 combatants, more than half of whom were killed and wounded in the subsequent pursuit battle. Considering the number of troops deployed by both sides, this amount of casualties can be ignored.
Eight artillery pieces of the coalition forces were destroyed by the enemy in the artillery battle, but compared with the tragic artillery losses of the shogunate army, this was considered an extremely high loss ratio.
After many days of forbearance, they won such a satisfying victory, which greatly boosted the morale of the coalition forces. The lord of Tsushima Domain, So Yoshizane, even took the initiative to ask whether they should pursue the victory and drive the shogunate army back to the other side of the strait.
"They've gone crazy after winning a battle. They really don't take the tens of thousands of troops on the other side seriously!" Yan Chujie couldn't help but sigh when he saw the document sent by Zong Yizhen. Tao Donglai said, "A small country with few people has limited vision and knowledge. They only think about losing quickly or winning quickly. I think we should let them try. When they hit a wall, they will know to turn back."
Shi Diwen pondered and said, "I am afraid that they will rush too fast, hit too hard, and injure too badly. Then the shogunate army will launch a counterattack, and it will be the coalition forces that can't hold on. Don't forget, the coalition forces only have so many troops. In a war of attrition, they will definitely not be able to outlast the shogunate."
Yan Chujie also nodded and said, "I also think that taking the initiative to attack is not a good strategy at this stage. Steady holding of the position and slowly wearing down the superior forces of the shogunate army through defensive warfare is the most suitable tactic for the coalition forces."
Tao Donglai said: "But if this happens, the war will inevitably enter a stalemate phase again, and the inspection team may have many complaints."
Shi Diwen said: "The delegation has seen almost everything they need to see. Those who want to leave can be sent away! As for the foreigners who want to stay here and continue to watch the game, we should also consider letting them bear the expenses themselves."
Tao Donglai and others had no objection to Shi Diwen's proposal. The purpose of arranging this cross-border inspection activity has basically been achieved, and the publicity effect is worthy of the funds spent. There is no need to spend money to invite politicians from various countries to travel here at public expense.
As for the hundreds of time travelers who came here to watch the excitement, it was obvious that most of them would not leave. They had waited for thirty years for such a rare opportunity, so they naturally wanted to stay and watch to their heart's content.
For these time travelers, cost is not a problem at all, but if they miss this good show, there may not be a next time.
However, contrary to the expectations of the Executive Committee, after notifying the inspection team of this arrangement, many foreign dignitaries expressed their willingness to bear their own expenses and continue to watch the game here for a period of time.
It seems that this head-on confrontation made the inspection team regain the fun of watching battles, especially the new use of unconventional weapons such as coastal defense artillery on the battlefield, which was a brand new concept for many people.
The two sides did not disappoint the audience. The next day, the shogunate attacked again. However, after suffering a loss yesterday, the shogunate army learned its lesson this time and stopped three or four miles away from the coalition position, and did not risk stepping into the range of the coalition coastal defense artillery.
The coalition forces were probably filled with confidence because of yesterday's victory. They did not follow Hai Han's advice to hold their ground. Instead, they sent out a group of troops mainly composed of musketeers, who left their positions and prepared to fight the shogunate army.
But without the protection of the fortifications, the combat effectiveness of both sides was immediately brought back to the same level. The coalition forces failed to gain an advantage again in this round of fighting. After losing hundreds of people, the coalition commander, seeing the situation was not good, quickly ordered a retreat and used artillery fire to repel the shogunate cavalry that tried to attack them.
At the same time, the reserve troops formed by the Kyushu domains before the war also arrived in the Kitakyushu region one after another.
Most of these reserve troops were recruited from civilians after the civil strife on Kyushu Island ended last year, and they had little combat experience. Although they had undergone several months of intensive training in the past winter, as rookie troops who had never set foot on the battlefield, the Kyushu feudal lords did not dare to send them into battle right away.
Now that the battle with the shogunate army has lasted for about a month, it is time to give the main combat troops a chance to rotate and rest.