The burrow tactic is a helpless move for the weak, and a side with dual advantages in troops and firepower will definitely not play this way.
More importantly, the actual local situation must be taken into consideration. Even if you master this tactic, you cannot dig blindly.
For example, in tropical areas, where there is abundant rainfall, the burrows may not be able to withstand enemies and may be inundated by rain or floods.
It is also easy to cause mudslides, so it is a real semi-permanent cemetery...
You can't do this in desert areas with loose soil, otherwise the outcome won't be much better than in the rainforest.
The climate and geological characteristics of the central and southern Apennine Peninsula make it possible to dig holes there.
But the enemy the natives encountered was the ancestor of this tactic, and they were completely at a disadvantage.
The ten-percent effectiveness of the hole-in-the-burrow tactics was not fully utilized under the coalition's tactics of taking advantage of the enemy's tactics.
Taking the company and platoon as a unit, once the entrance of the cave is blown down, it is equivalent to being blocked in the hole by the opponent.
Although there are other exits from the cave, it is difficult to survive repeated searches by coalition soldiers.
How to explore the cave entrance?
The method is very simple, use an engineering shovel to dig out suspicious areas.
If the terrain is steep and can easily lead to danger, throw grenades over it.
Once a wooden or iron plate is exposed after the explosion, it must be the entrance of the hole.
To deal with this kind of hole, first use machine gun fire to break the board blocking the hole, and then launch a rocket team to wait.
After it is completely opened, use a pole to hoist the explosive bag. If one is not enough, use two.
All in all, the "mole" inside will not be allowed to come out alive.
If the infantry dare not play with explosives, engineers will be sent down to take over.
No matter how difficult it is, for engineers, this job is much safer than mine clearing.
"Damn yellow-skinned monkey!"
After learning that the opponent did not enter the cave at all, but instead kept blowing up the entrance, Antonio, the commander of the second brigade, could no longer sit still.
If this continues, most of his soldiers will have to be sealed in the cave, unable to get out. The final fate is conceivable.
In this case, there was no choice but to fight to the death. Antonio decided to gather the remaining soldiers of the brigade and launch a night attack at one o'clock in the morning on March 10th.
When the Second Brigade withdrew from Naples, there were still about 2,000 people, but when they gathered again today, Antonio only saw less than 700 people.
Taking into account the previous losses while holding on to Mount Maggiore, this meant that hundreds of soldiers were stuck in caves. Not all caves had been opened, and it would be very difficult to dig them again during wartime.
The yellow-skinned monkeys have occupied the surface of the mountain, and what these warriors have to do is to kill as many people as possible, and preferably seize all weapons and ammunition.
The specific tactic is to hit and run, and there is no need to return to the current cave. Mount Maggiore can be given up. It cannot be defended with this small force.
On the opposite mountain is the Third Brigade, but because they are separated by the road, the two brigades cannot support each other at all. The plains between the mountains are controlled by armored vehicles of yellow-skinned monkeys.
The situation of the third brigade will not be much better than his own. Antonio can only lead his troops to attack on their own, hit wherever they hit, and hope that they can succeed in the sneak attack and retreat smoothly.
"Quick! Quick! Kill the yellow-skinned monkey!"
The officer waved his revolver and whispered encouragement to the soldiers running past him.
This was the second battle since the second brigade retreated to the second line of defense. In the first battle, due to the great disadvantage, they lost no less than six to seven hundred men.
Now is the time for revenge. No matter how powerful the yellow-skinned monkey is, it is only in the daytime. The night belongs to local warriors like them.
"Nani?"
Any night vigil of the Japanese army was personally supervised by samurai. A lazy and cunning ashigaru would probably cause trouble, and samurai were very alert even at night.
The Ming army was wealthy, and the Japanese army followed suit. A flare would rise every five minutes, which was very helpful for sentries to monitor surrounding movements at night.
Since most of the holes were blocked by the opponent, Antonio could only gather his troops through a few holes.
The entrance to the hole will definitely not be very wide, and at most two people can pass sideways. In this way, the speed of troop assembly will be greatly reduced.
Too few troops are not conducive to expanding the results of the war.
On the contrary, it will be difficult to hide.
Antonio finally waited until most of the people were gathered together. He couldn't hold back his excitement and nervousness, and immediately ordered a night attack.
However, before his soldiers could run far away, they were discovered by samurai patrolling on nearby highlands.
As soon as the samurai's assault rifle fired, the Ashigaru naturally lost all sleep.
Everyone is lazy, and no one will be careless when it comes to saving their lives.
The "Mole" didn't catch a few before, but now it's better, and the other party actually takes the initiative to attack.
Coincidentally, both sides have the same designation as the Second Brigade and similar organizational structures.
The soldiers of the Royal Army of Naples were the common people, the officers were the servants of the nobles, and the generals were the relatives of the nobles.
The Second Brigade of the Japanese Army is a direct descendant of the General Nigo. The soldiers are Ashigaru, the officers are samurai, and the generals are naturally relatives of the General Nigo.
The classes on both sides are equal, but the quality of the Japanese second brigade is obviously better than that of the other side, and they are also good at light weapons.
Although not equipped with assault rifles, each squad is equipped with four submachine guns and four rifles, plus a light machine gun.
This kind of configuration is considered luxurious among the Japanese army, and it is not considered shabby when looking at the whole world.
Only samurai can be equipped with very expensive assault rifles, because the superiors consider such weapons to be a waste for Ashigaru to use.
"Kill the enemy! Come on!"
All warriors have a strong will to fight. In the past, making money was to exchange for a good horse, but now it is to exchange for a good car.
If you can't afford a car, buy a high-performance motorcycle. On the contrary, riding a bicycle or squeezing into a bus is really beneath the dignity of a samurai.
The ashigaru holding the rifle will not rush over immediately. He will usually keep a certain distance from the enemy and shoot at him.
Bolt-action rifles have a slow rate of fire, and in close combat, the bayonet has to be used before the bullets in the magazine are exhausted.
Only the ashigaru holding a submachine gun would follow the samurai to the front line. As long as the marksmanship is good, a magazine can knock down several people.
The Japanese army has already been issued body armor. Apart from adding weight and making movement inconvenient, it has been widely welcomed by everyone.
If the torso is not shot, as long as you are not very unlucky and the femoral artery is intact, then there is no fear of life, and you will be fine if you stay in the rear for half a year.
In comparison, the weapons and equipment of the Second Brigade of the Royal Army of Naples were much inferior. Many people did not wear body armor or even helmets, and only had a gun in their hand.
I don’t know if the rifle is second-hand or third-hand or fourth-hand. The accuracy is poor. If it doesn’t explode when fired, then I’m lucky...
After the offensive and defensive positions of the two sides were changed, the Japanese army would not engage in hand-to-hand combat with the opponent in order to avoid accidental injuries.
That is to let the ashigaru holding a submachine gun block the enemy at the front line, and use rifles and light machine guns to provide fire cover from the rear.
If you are really entangled with the enemy at night, reinforcements will not know how to start when they come over, and accidental injuries will inevitably occur when firing.
The night sky was instantly filled with criss-crossing fire snakes and endless screams, and from time to time there were gorgeous flames produced after grenades exploded.
This kind of scene with glare in the dark night made many indigenous soldiers feel a little dazed. Their bodies could only follow everyone's movements and fight hard.
They used to be servants of farmers, workers, traders, and nobles, but now, as long as they appear on the battlefield, they are soldiers.
Either kill the opponent, or be killed by the opponent, choose one!
At night, no one will notice your surrender.
As long as both sides see someone standing on the other side, even if it is just a black shadow, they will instinctively open fire.
Antonio's troops gathered halfway up the mountain. If they wanted to seize the commanding heights on the top of the mountain, they had to launch an upward attack.
This style of fighting is the most strenuous whether in the daytime or in the middle of the night, and the attacking party will suffer huge casualties.
In one charge alone, the Second Brigade lost nearly a hundred men.
The battlefield is not yet a plain area. The mountain road is extremely difficult to walk. Only five or six people can pass side by side along the road along the ridge.
Antonio ordered his men to attack the top of the mountain simultaneously through multiple ridges, which could also spread the opponent's forces.
However, the Japanese army did not hesitate to use firepower, but the Second Brigade was frustrated in multiple locations at the same time.
If the slope is steep, the Japanese army will choose to throw a large number of grenades directly downwards.
As long as he can kill the people, he will not throw them away in vain, and the consumed part will be made up for by the helicopter in the second place.
The Ming army always had clear rewards and punishments, and the Japanese army could also report cases of embezzlement, supplies, and wages.
Because of this, all Japanese military units will work extremely hard when fighting. The more results they achieve, the greater the rewards they will receive.
Although Antonio's troops were extremely brave, they wanted to rush to the top of the mountain and seize the opponent's position.
However, under the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army, their actions did not achieve fundamental success in the short term.
There was a group of about seventy or eighty people. They did rush to the top of the mountain and almost touched the Japanese army's position.
As a result, the Japanese army there, led by samurai, repelled them, although the Japanese army also lost no less than twenty people.
More and more indigenous soldiers realize that the yellow-skinned monkey is not easy to defeat. Even at night, the opponent's combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated.
It is completely unrealistic to think of hitting them hard in one go, or even annihilating them all in one fell swoop.
The sneak attack has turned into a fierce battle, and our own side does not have any advantage in terms of troops, firepower, or terrain.
Just relying on enthusiasm can only increase casualties.
Antonio was also aware of this problem. After seeing that he could not attack for a long time and that there were not many troops left, he could only order a retreat.
In just half an hour of attack, the Royal Second Brigade lost more than 300 men.
Some were so panicked that they rolled down the hillside...
They originally wanted to retreat into the cave along the original path and then break out from other directions.
But the Japanese army had already grasped the opponent's general location and movements, and guessed that the opponent had several undiscovered cave entrances.
They sent people in hot pursuit, and at the same time used flares and machine gun ballistics to point out the direction for the large forces.
As a last resort, Antonio could only take the remaining troops and flee down the mountain.
What they never expected was that the tanks and armored vehicles parked on the plain below the mountain were equipped with searchlights.
It can reveal its original form just a few hundred meters away, followed by a merciless artillery strike.
Infantry versus armored forces, both sides shoot at each other, but the former itself does not have any advantage.
Antonio was leading the remnants of the army that had just been defeated, and the situation became even more passive for him.
Some soldiers even wanted to surrender, but in the middle of the night and with language barriers, how could they let the other side know?
The Japanese tanks and armored vehicles did not intend to let go of this enemy, so they lined up and pushed over.
When Antonio saw that something was not going well, he immediately got rid of everyone and ran to nowhere.
No matter what happens behind him, he will never look back. As long as he can escape, it has nothing to do with him whether his soldiers live or die.
After half a night of fleeing, Antonio finally came to the Matese Mountains and found his boss, General Bonazzoli.
"What a waste!"
Admiral Bonazzoli wanted to shoot him as a warning to others, but Antonio was also his confidant.
The Second Brigade is one of the units that started on its own, the other being the First Brigade.
I broke a leg all of a sudden, and I have to rebuild the army if I have the chance.
Even the commander was acting like this, so it is estimated that Mount Maggiore has been completely lost.
The situation in other mountain defense areas on the second line of defense may not be much better than this.
Only ten minutes before the battle started, the yellow-skinned monkeys broke through two lines of defense.
It seems that the three lines of defense originally deployed will definitely not be able to stop the yellow-skinned monkey's attack. Three more lines, or even six lines, will be necessary!
The actual situation is not much different from what General Bonazzoli speculated. If the coalition forces don't enter the cave to capture people, the royal army has no other options except night attacks.
During the White House, the coalition ground forces, with the cooperation of a large number of helicopters, carried out a large-scale sweep of the mountainous areas. The defenders on each mountain were beaten whenever they showed up.
If you have no choice but to hide in a hole, if the opponent finds the entrance, it will be blown down directly.
The effect of launching a night attack was not great, and the results were no better than Antonio's.
After three night raids, the total number of battle results reported by various ministries reached nearly 20,000.
However, Admiral Bonazzoli knew that there was a lot of moisture in it, so he was not optimistic at all.
If more than 15,000 enemies were killed, the enemy would definitely stop attacking temporarily.
But what about now?
After breaking through the second line of defense, they rushed directly towards the third line of defense located in the Matese Mountains. There was no sign of being severely damaged at all.
The First Army under his command has dropped from 50,000 at the beginning of the war to less than 30,000.
This is still an optimistic estimate, because many troops who have not yet broken out may not be able to break out of the cave for a while...
What should I do next?
If the war continued to deteriorate, General Bonazzoli decided to move his headquarters further north to the Morrisese Mountains.
Now that he has done this, if he had set up his headquarters on the second line of defense before, his situation might not be much better than Antonio's.
Because they had been retreating for more than ten years and constantly losing troops and generals, the officers and soldiers of the First Army also lost most of their fighting spirit, and they were dejected when they retreated.
The decisive demeanor at the beginning of the war, vowing to fight to the death with the yellow-skinned monkey, has long since disappeared without a trace!
