On May 9, 1635, the sky was just getting light, and in the morning mist, the integrated squadron of the Wuzhou National Army Brigade left Wuzhou in six large boats and began its first patrol along the river.
According to radio reports, the supply fleet departed from Zhaoqing this morning and is expected to arrive at Xintan in the evening.
The mission of the integrated squadron is to arrive at Xintan before this evening to meet the supply fleet. Hand over to the Zhaoqing National Army brigade responsible for escorting, and then escort the fleet to Wuzhou safely.
The commander of the mission was Zhu Si - he told Qian Duo that this was the first mission of the integrated squadron, and it was more appropriate for him to personally command it for the sake of safety. Qian Duo agreed.
The task was not complicated, which was why Qian Duo was relieved to let Zhu Si lead the team. To be honest, Qian Duo trusted Li Dong more than Zhu Si. Although Zhu Si's service years were longer than that of Li Dong, and he served in the guard battalion with the most rigorous training, the guard battalion had very little field experience, and had been performing urban security work year after year.
Qian Duo's opinion is: Zhu Si's formation was impeccable, he knew the doctrine and infantry manual by heart, and although his shooting and stabbing were not particularly good, they were at least good or above. All in all, he is a very good soldier.
But he has a big shortcoming: lack of actual combat command experience. He had no qualifications to be an officer, so he was directly promoted to captain of three companies - it was still unclear whether he was qualified to take command.
Although Li Dong had never been an officer, he had actually served as a soldier in the field army for two years and had served as a corporal. He has led teams to carry out security warfare missions many times, and often directed them. He has relatively rich experience in this type of security warfare. So originally he was going to hand over the integrated squadron to Li Dong for command.
Now that Zhu Si has brought it up on his own initiative, it can be used as an exercise. After all, the experience accumulated in one actual combat is more useful than the number of exercises on the training field.
So Captain Zhu Si went directly to the front-line command post. The squadron leader of the integrated squadron is still Li Dong. Qian Duo hopes they can complement each other.
The six Dafa boats sailed along the center line of the channel in a column formation. Zhu Si and the naval commander in charge of commanding the fleet agreed: the odd-numbered boats were on the left, commanded by Zhu Si; the even-numbered boats were on the right, commanded by Li Dong commanded. This will make it easier to command in case it is necessary to deploy troops or fire on both sides of the strait at the same time.
Because they are performing slow-speed inshore patrols, these large boats have been temporarily modified. The best of them are the flagship boats No. 1 and No. 2, which were refitted at the Hong Kong Shipyard. Additional protective iron plates are installed on both sides, and a fixed gun mount is installed on the stern to install a 12-pound mountain howitzer. Its two-wheeled gun mount is also carried with the ship and can be used ashore when necessary.
Several other ships underwent temporary modifications in Sanshui before they could return to Hong Kong for modifications. Guangdong did not have large iron plates or riveting workers, so they just erected bamboo handle barriers on both sides of the ship - similar to the bamboo handle shields used in Japan, and smeared yellow mud on the outside to prevent fire. There are no cannon or typewriter configurations on the weapons. It relies on the projected firepower of the infantry carrier itself.
Because only one-third of the integrated squadron is temporarily transferred from the basic squadron, this means that there are only 5 Nanyang rifles on each ship. In this way, the fleet had very little long-range projection firepower. In order to make up for the lack of firearms, Qian Duo and Zhu Si transferred Ming troops who were able to use firearms from each squadron and transferred the firearms and equipment captured in Wuzhou to each ship. These firearms were mainly turtledove guns and some Franchise guns captured in Wuzhou. Each ship was equipped with ten or twenty firearms. Zhu Si's plan was that although these weapons had poor accuracy and a slow rate of fire, they were not weak in power. It can effectively attack enemies in close combat.
These firearms were set up at the openings of the barrier, densely packed like hedgehogs.
The steam engine roared, spewing black smoke and white mist. Soldiers of the National Army crowded on the deck holding spears, and those who were not on duty sat on their backpacks - the ground was full of backpacks and wooden barrels and wooden boxes containing supplies. The soldiers on duty stepped on the wooden boxes, poked their heads out from the barrier, and looked around boredly. Behind each boat is a small boat, which is piled with dry firewood.
There was no shortage of coal in Guangdong, but most coal mines were not mined in the 17th century. Along the way from Guangzhou to Wuzhou, there is no place where coal can be "divided locally", except at important nodes such as Sanshui and Zhaoqing, where the joint logistics command uses coal ships to stockpile part of the thermal coal for supply. , Steam ships on the Xijiang route can only use firewood as fuel in many cases.
Of course, the sources of firewood are very wide, and it is not difficult to collect in Guangdong, a place with lush vegetation. The disadvantage is that the calorific value is too low. The calorific value of hard firewood is less than half that of standard coal, and it is even lower when actually used. This required additional fuel for steam ships on the Xijiang River.
In order to avoid the dangerous and time-consuming situation of stopping the ship halfway to collect fuel, most ships tow an unpowered fuel boat while sailing. Although Qian Duo felt that there were great risks in doing so, Wuzhou had no local coal to replenish it, so he had to make do.
In Guangdong in May, early summer has arrived. The sun is shining brightly, and the soldiers can only hide under the canvas awnings. The hot sunshine, the hull vibrating due to the operation of the steam engine, and the choking smoke... not long after setting off. It makes many people feel dizzy.
"If you feel uncomfortable, report it and go to the side of the ship to vomit!", "Don't walk around randomly!", "Pay attention to your surroundings!"... Li Dong and the sergeants walked around among the crowds on each ship, using their pressure to The loud voice of the steam engine emphasized discipline, stopping from time to time to check the equipment of individual people and give a pretense of encouragement. Although there are many descendants here, there are not many people who have seriously fought in the war, and many people still feel nervous.
Before departure, each member of the integrated squadron received a standard machete and other miscellaneous gadgets. This was obviously not because the commander relied heavily on them, but because the development of the situation led Bei Wei to order "to strengthen the equipment of the National Army as much as possible." .
With the attack of the South China Army, the Ming Dynasty's rule in Guangdong fell apart. The Yao people, who were already restless and began to secretly join forces, took advantage of the situation and launched a riot, attacking the remaining Ming troops garrisoned everywhere. Due to the insufficient strength of the South China Army, other than dispatching a small number of troops to take over the county seat, it was unable to effectively establish rule in the mountainous areas. The Yao people's riots were like an out-of-control fire, intensifying and developing faster and bigger than the same period in history. After tens of thousands of Yao people captured Lianshan County, they attacked everywhere. The Ming troops in various places lost their command and had no fighting spirit. They were unable to resist. Almost all the mountainous areas in northwestern Guangdong were involved. Many villages fell, and some counties had not yet been captured by the Fubo Army. After taking over, it was captured by the Yao people. In the center of the riots, many counties were taken over by National Army squadrons and then expelled or surrounded by Yao people's armed forces, cutting off communication lines. And this storm is connected into a large area, threatening Shaoguan, Zhaoqing and Wuzhou.
Strong men from all walks of life also took action to absorb the defeated Ming army defeated by the South China Army, and exerted influence in areas not yet fully controlled by the Senate. What worries Bei Wei the most is that judging from the confessions of captured prisoners and the actions of armed forces in various places, although the Yao people, remnants of the Ming army, bandits and other forces have no signs of unity for the time being, and they are still attacking each other, in terms of actions But there is already some kind of cooperation. Especially when the Fubo Army launches a clearing operation, all parties will take diversionary actions. The situation seemed to become complicated and dangerous overnight.
Li Dong was not clear about the current situation - he only knew that "the situation was tense" during the meeting, and he knew very little about the specific situation. The obvious point is that these new recruits will not be able to go head-to-head with the enemy on the battlefield just because they have an extra machete. They may be used to obeying orders and have some cohesion, but the consensus among the officers and non-commissioned officers is that they must keep an eye on this group of recruits at all times and let them form a dense queue. If the reins on this rabble were relaxed even a little, they would desert and wander off to who knows where. Not to mention that I have not been well trained in both tactics and weapon use. If I really encounter the enemy, my standard spear will have no effect at all.
Fortunately, the leader also knew their actual combat power, so the assigned operations this time were not too difficult - and there was also the tool of the Dafa boat: if they couldn't win, they would just get on the boat and run away.
The fleet squeaked down the river and soon passed Xielong Island. There is an observation post of the Fubo Army here. The river fleet also has gunboats on duty here, but further downstream, except for counties and villages and towns at important transportation nodes, the Fubo Army has no military presence on both sides of the strait.
Right now, not even a boat can be seen on the Xijiang River, and there are even fewer people along the coast. Many small villages are deserted, and some have simply turned into ruins. There are people on guard in larger villages and towns. Although it is spring, not many people can be seen working in the fields. Sometimes there is black smoke floating in the air, whether it is the fire of war or the release of police smoke.
Their six boats were sailing alone on this wide river, which really gave Li Dong a chilling feeling.
"This is too desolate..." Li Pudun stood on the wooden box and muttered to himself. He was originally a guard soldier in Zhaoqing, so he was very familiar with this area of Xijiang.
"It's an old saying: I'd rather be a peace dog than a person in troubled times. Do you care about this when you come to be a soldier?" Yang Erdong said after hearing what he said. He was at the nozzle below him, tending a turtle-dove gun—already loaded. The match rope was lit and hung on an iron hook on the side.
"I really don't want to go out to fight, but if I don't serve as a soldier, I won't have food to eat." Li Pudun was a little sad - he was not a battalion soldier, so he did not need to participate in the screening and allocation of soldiers. Enlisting in the army was voluntary.
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 356
