Li Chengtong looked at this old subordinate who was older than him, and smiled with a smile: "Old Han, I have confidence in your ability, but you still have to take it easy when crossing the river. You have learned most of this." Yue, you haven’t learned to swim yet, I feel ashamed for you!”
"Don't fall into the river later. With your watery nature, you won't survive if you fall in!"
Han Ziping laughed after hearing this: "Old Han, I have been a landlubber all my life. It doesn't matter if I can't learn to swim. Besides, I, Old Han, am in the army, and I don't have to cross the river every day!"
"Hmph, as long as I, Old Han, get ashore, I will kill him without leaving a trace!"
Brigadier General Cao Hongsheng, the deputy division commander, also smiled and said: "Old Han, your bravery goes without saying, otherwise you wouldn't be allowed to lead the first batch of troops crossing the river."
"But be careful when you go back to fight. After all, you are a vanguard officer. Thousands of people under you are waiting for you to give orders. If anything happens to you, this army will be in chaos!"
Han Ziping said: "Don't worry, deputy division commander. I, Old Han, don't know who I am, but I must be resolute in obeying orders. This time I will definitely not rush to the front and just stay behind!"
Major General Li Chengtong said in a serious tone at this time: "Okay, no need to talk nonsense, I will only say one thing, if the crossing of the river is successful this time, you will be the first to do it. Later, I will personally ask your Majesty for your credit."
"But if something goes wrong, just cut off your head and go see His Majesty yourself!"
Han Ziping immediately said in a very serious tone: "Don't worry, nothing will go wrong!"
Han Ziping didn't say what he would do if he failed, because Han Ziping would never allow the crossing to fail.
When Han Ziping and a group of subordinates boarded the ship and set off towards the other side of the river, more than a dozen ships of the Hanshui Fleet, which had taken the lead, were already approaching the planned landing site.
But four of the ships did not stop, but continued forward, heading straight for the beach.
After a while, these four ships ran aground directly on the beach amidst the confusion and horror of a group of Ming soldiers on the shore.
After the four ships ran aground, soldiers swarmed on board. The soldiers began to control a large number of artillery on the deck and began to fire at the hundreds of Ming army soldiers who had gathered on the shore.
Amidst the rumble of cannons, several Ming soldiers on the shore were hit by cannonballs and fell down.
"The security forces are coming. They have washed up on the shore. Run away!"
Some people turned around and ran away while shouting, but some officers also shouted: "Hold on, hold on, everyone. The rebels haven't come up yet. They are just a few rebel ships. Quick, pull out all our artillery." come out."
Although the Hanshui fleet adopted the approach of stranding and approaching, shelling the Ming army on the shore, the Ming army on the beach did not collapse immediately, but prepared to use their light artillery and muskets to counterattack.
For a time, the Ming army and the Hanshui fleet on the beach were fighting very lively.
Soon after, several small boats of the cross-river commando team also approached the beach. The boats they took were smaller and had a shallower draft. After rushing to the beach, the soldiers could directly wade and climb up.
However, some Ming army gunners noticed the many small boats of the Home Guard Army rushing at the forefront, and immediately fired a prepared attack cannon at them.
Because the distance was not far, two of the assault battalion soldiers who were still disembarking from the boat were immediately injured, but the others did not stop and continued to wade forward.
Behind them, more and more boats full of commando soldiers successfully washed up on the beach, and more and more commando soldiers successfully landed ashore.
Then they began to advance in formation, and soon reached the Ming army on the beach.
A fierce hand-to-hand combat immediately broke out between the two sides!
At this time, the Ming army, which had barely been able to fight back just now, finally couldn't hold on any longer. After dozens of people were killed or wounded in a short period of time, the remaining Ming soldiers turned around and ran away.
Han Ziping, who was on the bow of the rear ship, saw that the first batch of commando soldiers had seized the beach, and immediately said: "Sign the flag and ask other soldiers of the commando team to go ashore quickly, and the ships of the First Infantry Regiment are ready to land."
"Don't give them any buffer time, just rush forward and expand the beachhead!"
"Pay attention to sending people to move the light artillery and the two-and-a-half-pound field artillery that came with the ship off the ship in time. Once ashore, you will have to rely on these artillery to provide fire support!"
Under the command of Han Ziping, the commando soldiers quickly came ashore. It didn't take long for more than 800 commando soldiers to come ashore.
Not only did they come ashore, but they also brought with them a batch of two hundred kilograms of short robes. Behind them, there were a number of two and a half kilogram field guns that had been shipped by ship and were being unloaded.
At this time, the beach was in chaos, with boats and people everywhere.
The soldiers were busy getting off the ship, and some helped carry artillery, ammunition and other combat equipment.
Compared to the chaos at the beachhead, the situation outside the beachhead seemed much calmer. The previous group of commando soldiers who had landed had formed three small square formations of about a hundred people each, expanding the beachhead position.
On the opposite side were hundreds of Ming Army soldiers who retreated, but there were also a large number of Ming Army soldiers coming a few miles away.
Now, both sides are competing for time!
The Baoxiang Army wanted to transport the entire commando force of 800 soldiers ashore and line up to fight before a large number of Ming troops counterattack.
When the commandos came ashore one after another to form formations, the gunners also pulled up the two hundred kilograms of light artillery and the two and a half kilograms of field guns that they had finally moved from the ship and deployed them on the spot.
The Home Guard Army cannot fight without artillery.
Even if it was a cross-river battle, even if the conditions were difficult, the Baoxiang Army still overcame various difficulties and forced many artillery pieces into the first batch of landing troops.
Among them, the two and a half kilogram field guns were too heavy, and there was no dock or hoisting equipment at the landing site. In order to transport these two and a half kilogram field guns to the beach as soon as possible, the Baoxiang Army specially designed and built a Artillery transport ship.
The side of the ship at the bow is detachable, and the waterline of the ship is very low, ensuring that it can get closer to the shore after beaching.
At the same time, they also carried a large amount of thick wooden boards and sand and gravel.
After the ships transporting artillery washed up on the beach, the soldiers of the Baoxiang Army would fill the shoal at the bow of the ship with sand and gravel, and then lay thick wooden boards to forcibly create a hard surface road leading to the shore. , and then pulled two and a half kilograms of field artillery and ammunition carts to disembark.
However, this method can only be used in emergencies. After all, it is too troublesome and relatively dangerous. This temporary landing channel similar to a trestle is still very reluctant. If the artillery passes on it, it will easily slip and fall into the river.
Although it can be salvaged later, it will also waste a lot of time.
Now time is most scarce for the rural protection army.
Time passed bit by bit, and all the commando soldiers finally came ashore and pulled a batch of artillery pieces aboard the ship.
Just when all the soldiers of the commando team landed on the beach and formed an array, a Ming army also hurriedly arrived.
This group of Ming troops has about 1,500 people. They are the troops in a Ming army camp along the river on the right. At the same time, they gathered troops from various checkpoints along the way.
But after these Ming troops approached, they did not dare to charge directly.
Because right in front of them, the eight hundred soldiers of the Baoxiang Army, all in armor, had already formed up, and there were more than a dozen artillery pieces of various types.
This person looked like he knew he was not easy to mess with. If he rushed forward rashly, let alone driving the anti-thief army back into the river, he would probably be swallowed up by the anti-thief army on the opposite side.
These Ming soldiers are not idiots. They insist on moving forward even though they know they will fight.
As a result, these Ming soldiers simply stayed a few hundred meters away and began to build distance horses, obstacles and other defenses.
Looking at it like this, it seems that they want to block the rural protection army at the beach.
Not only them, but also the Ming army with nearly a thousand people coming from the left made the same choice. They also joined this Ming army and began to build fortifications.
On the opposite side, there were at least 2,500 Ming troops building fortifications, but the Baoxiang Army seemed not to see them and allowed them to build a camp nearly a kilometer away.
Brigadier General Han Ziping, who has already landed, said: "Our landing force is still a little small now. In order to avoid wave battles as a precaution, as long as they don't come over, we will ignore them for now and build beach defenses to welcome the first step." The landing of the corps and engineering battalion is the official business!”
Anyway, the opponent didn't dare to get close. The nearest Ming army outpost was seven or eight hundred meters away from the beach, and a large number of the main Ming army forces actually built fortifications at a distance of about a thousand meters.
At such a long distance, even if the Ming army had long-barreled Hongyi artillery, it would not be able to cause much damage to the Baoxiang Army's subsequent work of crossing the river and building pontoon bridges.
Not to mention that the Ming army on the opposite side does not have these long-barreled artillery, but only some dozens of kilograms, hundreds of kilograms of attack cannons, tiger squat cannons and other traditional old artillery. It is impossible for these short artillery to threaten the landing troops. Protect the countryside army.
Since the other side couldn't come over, Han Ziping didn't want to cause trouble. He just asked the commando team to build fortifications and prepare for defensive operations.
As for cleaning up the two thousand Ming troops, it would not be too late to wait until the First Infantry Regiment, more artillery units, and a cavalry outpost landed.
Ever since, a very strange scene appeared on this beach.
More than two thousand Ming troops who arrived in a hurry seemed not to have seen the Baoxiang troops who were crossing the river to land. They were minding their own business building fortifications and camps a thousand meters away.
The Baoxiang Army did not seem to see the Ming Army one thousand meters away, but kept their heads down and continued to land.
The tacit understanding between the two parties is amazing!
Time passed like this, hour after hour.
At about 11 o'clock in the morning, some soldiers from the engineering battalion began to land one after another, and used the large number of tools they carried to start building temporary docks and pontoons.
