After the time entered September, the army and navy of the Chu Empire had completed all preparations for the attack on Hukou!
On September 6th, a new round of imperial military meeting was held in Jiujiang City.
On behalf of the military, Xu Zhixian made a final preparation report for the Hukou Campaign to Luo Zhixue.
"Since we captured Jiujiang City in mid-August, we have been preparing to storm Hukou!"
"In terms of military strength, we have prepared a total of three main divisions: the First Division, the Sixth Division, and the First Guards Division, two mortar regiments, the First Mortar Regiment and the Sixth Mortar Regiment, in addition to the Seventh Garrison Division. Assist in combat."
"After more than half a month of rest and replenishment, all the above-mentioned units have been fully staffed. All the equipment that was lost in the Jiujiang Battle has been replenished, and it has also received additional reinforcements!"
"At the same time, in the past half month, we have also recruited and built a large number of boats and rafts to cross the river. These boats are enough for us to transport a mixed brigade across the river at one time during the landing operation. And carry corresponding weapons and equipment, ammunition, rations and other materials, and we have also modified a number of large transport ships to enable them to carry two and a half kilograms and five kilograms of field artillery for beaching and landing."
"These modified ships, with modified hoisting equipment, can forcibly land the two-and-a-half-pound and five-pound field guns ashore without the need for a dock."
"These ships are also the core element of our landing operations. According to the plan, after the launch of the cross-river campaign, under the cover of the Navy's Yangtze River Fleet, we will use ships to forcibly transport a mixed brigade. After strengthening the artillery, we will The infantry brigade crossed the river and seized the area on the east side of Shizhong Mountain, about two miles downstream of Hukou City, and then set up a temporary trestle dock to allow more ships to dock to unload supplies and follow-up reinforcements."
"At the same time, we will also build a pontoon bridge here to provide a passage for subsequent troops to pass through."
"As long as the 1st Infantry Brigade, the first batch of troops to cross the river, can successfully land ashore, with the combat effectiveness of this brigade, even if the enemy abandons Hukou City and takes the initiative to go out of the city to attack, it is unlikely that the landing troops will be driven off. After all, we have already obtained According to detailed intelligence, the enemy troops in Hukou City are only about 20,000 at most, of which the number of new standard troops is less than 5,000, and there are no more than 20 field guns."
"The enemy forces in Hukou City focus more on the garrison of Hukou City itself and the Jiang Defense Fort. The defense of the outer area is not strong, at least there are not many solid fortifications to use."
At this time, Xu Zhixian glanced at Brigadier General Kang Hongbao, the commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade: "And our first batch of troops crossing the river is the 1st Infantry Brigade!"
At this time, Brigadier General Kang Hongbao stood up and said: "Now our brigade is fully staffed and will be strengthened by an artillery battalion equipped with twelve five-pound field guns. At the same time, the two infantry regiments under his command will also be reinforced with four additional guns each." Two and a half pounds of field artillery.”
"In this way, our brigade will have sixteen two-and-a-half-pound field guns, twelve five-pound field guns, and twelve eighteen-pound mortars. With such powerful firepower, as long as the opponent dares to leave the city, then Our artillery firepower will let them know what a truly new army is!"
"It's definitely not comparable to the new model they just fooled around with!"
Luo Zhixue nodded slightly to express his satisfaction with Kang Hongbao's confidence.
If the First Division is the number one ace unit in the Chu Empire Army, then the First Infantry Brigade under the division is the ace among aces.
The army with the longest history and the most combat experience in the Dachu Empire. Most of the soldiers in this army are veterans who have gone through many wars, especially the backbone non-commissioned officers with deep military experience.
The officers in this department basically all have impressive resumes and are all officers with rich combat experience.
Not to mention the equipment, the equipment level of this infantry brigade is better than that of the 1st Guards Division.
Even the muskets are new guns that have just undergone a round of replacement. Although they are still the first-year matchlocks, the 1st Infantry Brigade formed the army very early, and the quality of the muskets used before was slightly inferior. Points, coupled with the heavy losses after frequent battles, many muskets have been worn.
Before the launch of the Eastward Campaign, the brigade carried out a comprehensive replacement with new first-year matchlock guns and replaced the old guns to equip other troops.
The First Infantry Brigade is the elite army with the best personnel and the best equipment in the Chu Empire.
And if such an elite force can successfully land in Hukou, with their combat effectiveness, even if the Hukou Ming army on the opposite side comes out in full force, it will not be able to truly shake the defense line of the 1st Infantry Brigade.
The premise is that this elite First Infantry Brigade can successfully cross the river.
Therefore, at this time, Luo Zhixue turned his attention to Lu Xingye, Minister of the Navy.
Lu Xingye stood up at this time and said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, and please rest assured the Army. Our Navy has been preparing for this battle for more than a year, and will definitely not hold back the Army. We are absolutely sure to escort the Army across the border." Jiang, and complete the subsequent pontoon construction tasks."
Lu Xingye didn't say too much. After all, he had already said many things about the navy in many previous meetings. This time, the Yangtze River Fleet prepared by the navy for the Hukou Battle had room for strength.
Unless the Ming army can mobilize Zheng Zhilong's fleet along the coast to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, otherwise, the local Ming army navy on the opposite side will not be able to cause much trouble to the Yangtze River fleet.
"We have absolute confidence that we will block all the opponent's navy in the port after the war begins!"
As long as the opposing navy's ships cannot get out, control of the nearby river will be in the hands of the Chu Empire Navy, and those unarmed and fragile river-crossing ships will be able to cross the river smoothly.
As for the opponent's shore defense artillery...
It’s not like the Chu army simply had to land in front of the other side’s shore defense artillery.
The reason why we chose to land on the east side of Shizhong Mountain was to avoid several coastal defense forts built by the Ming Army near Hukou City.
After the Chu army successfully lands, they can launch an attack directly from the ground, and then remove these threatening coastal defense forts. By then, they may be able to capture a batch of heavy Hongyi artillery pieces.
At this time, Luo Zhixue said: "The navy is confident and sure, which is good. It has lived up to my expectations for you!"
As he said that, Luo Zhixue glanced at Lu Xingye again, and then said: "After the attack on Hukou, we will probably have to attack Anqing again. After that, the navy will cooperate with the army to enter the Yangtze River and even the coast. Your navy's mission is It’s very heavy!”
"And when we reach the Yangtze River Basin and even the coast, we will face the enemy's real maritime fleet, especially Zheng Zhilong's fleet. Their ships are all sea-going ships and they have a lot of heavy artillery. The navy's financial resources are still a bit thin! "
"In this way, the harvest in Jiangxi this time is not bad. If your navy does well in the Battle of Hukou later, then I will give you an equal amount of 500,000 yuan from this batch of harvest as diversion funds. Used to develop maritime fleets.”
After hearing this, Lu Xingye immediately showed great joy: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Everyone in our navy will definitely live up to your majesty's high expectations. We will definitely put this batch of diversion funds to the cutting edge and strive to build a real maritime fleet."
Luo Zhixue waved his hand!
Allocating additional funds to the Navy is a given.
If the Chu army wants to advance eastward, the power on the water is indispensable. Otherwise, the Yangtze River channel cannot be controlled, and there is no way to advance to the south of the Yangtze River.
However, the Chu Navy's previous focus was on fighting for inland rivers and covering the army's eastward advance. Therefore, the many warships built and modified were actually very typical inland river vessels.
The tonnage is generally around tens of tons, and the largest ones are only one or two hundred tons.
There are even a number of small ships under ten tons.
These inland river warships are naturally very suitable in inland waterways like the Yangtze River. They have good firepower, low cost, and most importantly, they are flexible enough.
Flexibility is very important for river warships, otherwise it will easily become a fixed target for enemy artillery.
However, if these ships reach the Yangtze River Basin, which is often several kilometers wide, or even reach the Yangtze River estuary, which is tens of thousands of meters wide, then it will not be enough.
Therefore, even if the subsequent war in the Jiangnan area is to be smoother, the Chu Empire must support the navy in developing a fleet composed of large ships for coastal operations.
Otherwise, it would be very disadvantageous to rely only on these small inland river ships to fight against the large ships of the Ming army or Zheng Zhilong.
Therefore, it was Luo Zhixue's established plan to continue to develop the navy. Especially after conquering Jiujiang and harvesting a new batch of money and food from Jiangxi, which temporarily alleviated some of the financial pressure, Luo Zhixue decided without hesitation to give a batch of special projects to the navy. funding.
The reason why it was mentioned today and linked to the Navy's performance in the Battle of Hukou is actually to motivate the Navy so that they can work harder in the subsequent Battle of Hukou.
After all aspects of the army and navy's preparations were discussed one after another and it was confirmed that there were no problems, Luo Zhixue finally officially ordered the launch of the Hukou Campaign and approved the battle plan formulated by the staff.
As a result, the Chu army officially entered the Hukou Battle stage.
On September 8, the Yangtze River Fleet of the Navy was the first to move. They set off from Jiujiang Port and headed straight for Hukou.
When a large fleet of the Chu army set off from Jiujiang and headed eastward along the river to Hukou, the movements of hundreds of ships were visible on the river, and the Ming army's security personnel immediately discovered the Chu army. The navy made any changes and reported them quickly.
Soon, Shi Kefa soon received the news of the large-scale dispatch of the Chu pirate navy.
At this time, Shi Kefa took a deep breath, looked at the calm river outside and murmured: "It looks like it's time!"
"I just don't know how long Jiangnan can support it after this battle!"
Yes, Shi Kefa did not think that this battle could be won, and he did not think that the Hukou garrison led by him could stop the fierce Chu army.
The reason why he continues to stick to Hukou is only because of the responsibility he bears.
As the direct person in charge of a series of defense lines in Jiujiang, after losing Jiujiang, Xingzicheng, De'an, and even Nanchang.
Hukou has become Shi Kefa's last retreat!
He has no retreat!
