Among the first eight disciples accepted by Emperor Haojing, Wanli and Gan Hui were good at battles, Zhang Huangyan liked military strategy, Zeng Ying and Li Yuanyin mostly used surprise attacks, and Zheng Chenggong and Zheng Shengying carried forward their own beach landing tactics.
Huang Ting is a different kind of person. He does not have the skills of his brothers. He can only be creative. He has learned ruthless and even more ruthless tactics. Sieges and sieges are his strengths...
No less than 400,000 Burmese died at the hands of Huang Ting, so that the generals of Nanting privately gave him a very strange nickname - Xiao Bai Qi!
In the hot and humid battlefield environment of Myanmar, the locals were generally hostile to the Ming Dynasty's army, and Huang Ting had no choice but to do so. If the opponent did not die, the soldiers under his command would die.
Huang Ting had a clear conscience. He was just worried that his master would be punished when he returned to the court. However, subsequent experiences showed that this worry was very unnecessary.
Emperor Haojing has read the memorials and instructions and that's it. How the Burmese invaded the border of the Ming Dynasty back then is retribution. You should accept it yourself...
This time when he led his troops on an expedition to North America, his master had only one word for Huang Ting - work hard, just like in Burma!
He didn't directly say what he meant by the British, but Huang Ting understood the actual meaning immediately.
The British had three places to go. They could either follow the Zheng family to mine in South Africa, or be sent to South America to mine, or they could be transported to the Ming Dynasty or Nanyang for mining.
If you are not willing to do so, Huang Ting will have no good options, so you can fend for yourself!
Thanks to the efforts of the Ming Dynasty's engineering troops, the already small city of Montgomery was directly flooded by the Alabama River.
Huang Ting achieved the goal of isolating the city and cutting off foreign aid without losing a single soldier.
The defenders in the city were immediately dumbfounded. Less than five days after the war began, the situation took a turn for the worse.
This was not over yet. Huang Ting ordered the engineering troops to use the city to help change the course of the nearby Alabama River...
The specific method is also very easy, that is, dig more trenches and make the trenches wider.
After the river water is introduced, this is a ready-made river channel, which can turn the city into an isolated island in a short time.
For such a large project, the progress using manpower is very slow, but with two hundred steam tanks, it is much faster.
After the second phase of the project is completed, it will not be so easy for people in the city to figure it out.
Next, Huang Ting no longer had the pleasure to play with his enemies.
In view of the battlefield situation and the map, it was decided to give up the attack on Birmingham City and directly lead the troops to advance northeastward, reaching New London, the capital of the United Kingdom in North America, as soon as possible.
Montgomery only had to leave five thousand Japanese troops to watch. Except for the people in the city and special items, all supplies could be distributed by the Japanese troops themselves, but the Japanese troops who stayed behind were very happy.
There is no need to siege the city. They can fish and hunt while being monitored by tanks and aircraft, and the transport ships of the expedition fleet provide supplies. This mode of war really makes them feel extremely satisfied.
Naturally, Huang Ting looked down upon such sesame-sized trophies. If he wanted to pick them, he would have to pick them from New London.
But that place was in the pocket of seventh junior brother Zheng Chenggong, so he could only go over there and beat the drum, just to start with.
Going to assist in the battle is an order from the master and cannot be disobeyed. To destroy the British in North America, the Zheng family will be the main force, with their own troops as the supplement.
It’s no wonder that the Zheng family dispatched a large number of ironclad ships to take over the territory of Dutch North America, and at the same time, they also had to take care of annihilating Britain.
It is reasonable to take the bulk of the loot, not to mention that Huang Ting does not want to kill all the 25,000 men in his command and then go back empty-handed...
When they arrived at the Chattahoochee River, the expeditionary force encountered about 300 British cavalry coming out of Columbus on the other side.
Huang Ting does not intend to attack the city of Columbus on the other side, even though this is also a city that can "divert water for irrigation"!
The top priority was to take advantage of the dry season to find a place where the tank could cross the shallows and cross the Chattahoochee River.
Because New London is located on the east bank of the upper reaches of the Chattahoochee River, if the troops appear on the west bank, they can only cheer for Zheng Chenggong's troops...
Facing such a large enemy force, the British cavalry had no choice but to monitor along the river bank.
They don't have heavy weapons, so they can't take any advantage even in close combat.
After Huang Ting found a shoal, the expeditionary force began to cross the river on a large scale.
It was impossible for the British cavalry to stop them. Without heavy artillery, tank guns alone could blast them far away.
Huang Ting expected that his troops would arrive outside New London in early February, and then...
The whole army celebrates the New Year on the spot!
This place was Zheng Chenggong's prey. If his troops arrived later, it would be rude to attack first.
You can grab money or women if you want, but you have to wait until New London is captured.
The territory of British North America is not small, and everyone can do whatever they want in the area south and west of New London.
After an attack on the east coast, James II had ascended to the throne as the new King of England.
But for this crumbling kingdom, he can only try his best to maintain it, nothing more.
The first step is to shrink the troops, withdraw all the troops for external defense, and give up all the places that should be given up.
There are 150,000 regular troops plus Min soldiers. After general mobilization, the total strength can reach 450,000.
In order to also order Vice Admiral De La Warr to lead seventy-five ships upstream from the mouth of the Chattahoochee River and sail to the outskirts of New London to serve as a mobile firepower point.
While protecting the capital and providing firepower for the army, it can also avoid being wiped out by enemy ironclads in the Gulf of Mexico.
At present, New London gathered about one hundred thousand troops, as well as De La Warr's river fleet, giving James II some peace of mind.
After Huang Ting led his troops to the outskirts of New London, he saw so many enemy ships on the river through his telescope, and knew that the battle was not going to be easy.
They ordered their troops to retreat to a safe area, preparing to join Zheng Chenggong's troops. The two brothers discussed how to deal with the British.
The mistake between the two of them was that Huang Ting thought that his junior brother would lead his troops to come as soon as possible.
However, Zheng Chenggong believed that James II would run away after hearing the news, so he was not in a hurry to attack.
It was not until mid-March that Zheng Jun arrived. At this time, Huang Ting had already begun to worry about military rations.
Although no way to immediately eliminate the defenders was found, it still solved the urgent need of Huang Ting's troops.
Due to the presence of the British sailing warships, flooding methods were not feasible.
It's not impossible to fight hard, but it will require considerable casualties.
Fortunately, both units carried a lot of missiles, so Huang Ting came up with a clever plan.
That is to dig trenches upstream and divert the Chattahoochee River as bait to make the enemy ships leave the city of New London, and then choose the opportunity to destroy them.
The specific method is to deploy a large number of missiles around the construction site and use the missiles to destroy those British ships.
The Albatross fighter it carries also has the function of dropping bombs. As long as two or three incendiary bombs can hit the target, it is possible to destroy an enemy ship.
Huang Ting's command carried fifty aircraft and 300 missiles, and Zheng Chenggong's command carried 30 aircraft and 200 missiles. Together they can indeed accomplish a lot.
There were 1,600 incendiary bombs brought with the aircraft, and the same number of cluster bombs.
The former is used to attack style battleships, while the latter is used to deal with British cavalry and infantry.
On the morning of March 20th, the two groups of troops broke out of camp and began to march toward the upper reaches of the Chattahoochee River.
The British rangers also observed this situation and immediately reported it to James II, Lieutenant General de Laval and others.
After some brainstorming, James II ordered Delaval to lead twenty ships to monitor the movements of the yellow-skinned monkeys, while the rest stayed on the river near the city to prevent them from falling into the trap.
"The enemy has taken the bait before digging?"
After Huang Ting received the report, he really felt that he had received an unexpected surprise.
"Senior brother, thanks to your clever plan, Master Wang is very lucky this time!"
Zheng Chenggong was also very happy. The report from the pilot was absolutely correct.
The other party's ships came in too many numbers, and it became difficult for our own side to deal with them.
Twenty ships is a good size, very suitable for eating in one bite.
In order to extend the time for the opponent's reinforcement fleet to arrive on the battlefield after it is opened.
Zheng Chenggong proposed to set the battlefield about a hundred miles away from New London, and Huang Ting readily accepted it.
On March 23, all 35,000 expeditionary troops were transferred to the designated battlefield.
Tactical missiles lay in wait on the shore, covered with nearby vegetation.
Planes take off in small batches for reconnaissance purposes, waiting for prey to enter the battlefield before launching large-scale attacks.
Thanks to the overtime efforts of the engineering troops, the field airport has been constructed overnight.
More than seventy "Albatross" start their engines one after another on the runway, allowing for a spectacular elephant walk!
Once upon a time, the dream of flying into the sky was something Zheng Chenggong couldn't even imagine.
Now, Master Wang has eliminated the airships and replaced them with faster aircraft one after another.
After the reconnaissance plane reported that the prey had entered the battlefield river, the attack aircraft group received the order and began to take off.
The sailors of the British Royal Navy have never seen such a grand scene. First, there was a "buzzing" sound above their heads, and then large blackbirds appeared in the sky above the battleship.
Everyone was raising their necks, building tents with their hands, and stopped to watch, wondering what these yellow-skinned monkeys' novelties could do.
It’s not that I’ve never seen them before, but I’ve never seen so many of them. I’m afraid there are dozens of them, or even more.
Vice Admiral De Laval did not dare to neglect and ordered the firing of a red flare that put the fleet on high alert.
Although he had a premonition that the situation was not good and that he might even fall into the trap of the yellow-skinned monkey, De Laval did not dare to order the fleet to turn around and go back. Besides, the flying speed of the "big fly" above his head was much faster than his fleet.
After observing for a while, the pilots of the expeditionary force, under the command of the squadron leader, began to attack the British ships on the river in a team of four aircraft.
A small group of four "Albatross" swooped down from high altitude, dropped bombs one after another, and then pulled up from the bow or stern of the ship to avoid attacks from the sides.
The side is the position with the most powerful firepower of a sailing battleship. As long as the most dangerous sides are avoided, the survival rate of aircraft attacking enemy ships is still relatively high.
"Damn yellow-skinned monkey!"
"Oh my God! My God!"
The British sailors were completely overwhelmed by the attack from the sky. Many sailors used flintlocks, revolvers, and even small cannons to fight back under the orders of the captain.
The accuracy of these makeshift air defense weapons is naturally not worth mentioning, and the firepower density is far from meeting the standards of air defense. Most of the time, they can only listen to the sound and seek blessings.
The "Albatross" is not omnipotent. It can launch a dive attack at an angle of up to 45 degrees to the water surface.
If the angle is any larger, it will not be able to be pulled up, and the aircraft will be torn into pieces by the huge inertia...
This was the first air attack in the history of human naval warfare. Due to the British fleet's lack of preparation, the expeditionary force's aircraft had an advantage.
Twenty British ships fought against eighty Ming aircraft. Regardless of the outcome, the battle was quite lively.
Ming army pilots have all practiced dropping bombs on large targets on the water, but they are still nervous in actual combat.
If one of the four planes can hit the target, that is a pretty good result.
The four bombs that fell might not explode.
Because of the obstruction of the sails and masts, bombs may even hit the masts and be ejected into the river.
The bomb load capacity of the Albatross is not high, and it can only carry four ten-pound aerial bombs for the time being.
If there are more, the aircraft will not be unable to hang, but taking off will be problematic and will also affect the structure of the aircraft.
When the aircraft completes bombing and pulls up, the machine gunner in the back seat can use a machine gun with 80 bullets to shoot at the target.
What you shoot is secondary, the key is that it is very enjoyable to use the machine gun to attack the enemy.
If the spring board gets stuck at a critical moment, it will be very unpleasant...
In this case, the sailors of every British ship were immediately in a panic.
The main guns on the ship were turned into decorations, and small-caliber artillery and muskets immediately became the protagonists of the battle.
When the enemy had no time to pay attention, the missile troops who had been waiting for prey on the shore for a long time quickly took off their disguises after seeing the signal flares that could be fired, and showed off their real weapons - Scuds!
This kind of missile can be used against the ground and anti-ship. After many improvements, the flight trajectory is no longer ideal, and the launcher can also be aimed directly, which is conducive to the use of the "Scud" as a shore-based weapon.
Most of the attention of the British fleet was attracted by the aircraft. By the time it was discovered that the situation on the shore had suddenly changed and the legendary "Eastern Devil" began to show its power, it was too late.
This time the missile force can attack indiscriminately, because there are enemy ships on the river, and there is no one's own soldiers on the other side. Even if the missile flies over and explodes, it will cause zero casualties to our own side.
The middle part of the British warship's hull is protected by iron plates, and the bow and stern of the ship are covered with iron sheets. However, after being hit by the explosive warhead of the missile, a huge fireball will still explode.
After the explosive warhead is ignited, the liquefied gas contained in it will splash onto the wooden deck. The resulting fire is a nightmare for British sailors.
It can be said that the fate of a sailing battleship being hit by twenty small aerial bombs is much better than being hit by a Scud.
Especially when the gun window is lifted, liquefied gas oil will splash in from the gun window, causing the cabin to be instantly ignited.
If it happens to splash into a nearby gunpowder barrel, the entire battleship will turn into a crackling firecracker...
