When Major Gan Xinrong arrived at Jingu Gorge Town with the third battalion, he did not rush to join the friendly forces to launch an attack on Jingu Gorge. Instead, he discussed it several times with several friendly army officers and listened in detail. Received some of their previous investigative information.
He then sent his own scouts to conduct reconnaissance and once again clarified the enemy's troop deployment.
"According to the reconnaissance intelligence, the enemy has built fortresses on both sides of the canyon. These fortresses are strategically located and can effectively block direct fire attacks. If you want to effectively attack these fortresses, you can only use mortars or cannons. Howitzer.”
"The enemy's four or five fortresses are not too big. They are mainly made of stone and giant wood. It is visually estimated that they can deploy forty-five troops each."
"On the outside of the fortress, there are trenches, breastworks, and some wooden stakes, horseback horses, fences and other obstacles. If the infantry launches a direct attack, they will encounter relatively big obstacles!"
"The most important thing is that the sides of the canyon are very steep. If we pretend to attack from the bottom up, it will be very difficult!"
"The enemy's total strength is between 400 and 500. Ten old light short-barreled cannons have been found. Not many new matchlock guns have been found. The number of old fire portal guns is unclear. The enemy's main equipment is bows, arrows, and swords. Spears and other cold weapons are the main ones.”
"Overall, although the enemy lacks long-range firepower and has relatively few firearms, it seems that they are preparing to rely on special terrain to fight close combat to unleash their short-barreled artillery and bow and arrow firepower."
Major Gan Xinrong continued looking at a simple military map he had just produced: "Based on the above situation, I suggest sending some infantry to climb up both sides of the canyon in advance to avoid the threat of a feint attack after approaching."
"I sent scouts to try it before. Although there are no roads on both sides of the canyon and the mountains are steep, the overall terrain is still barely passable on foot."
"When the time comes, just let the soldiers carry machetes, hoes, engineers, shovels and other tools, and there should be no problem in temporarily opening two passages for the infantry and the two-and-a-half kilogram field artillery."
"After the infantry on both sides have maneuvered into place, they can then use the intensive firepower of the flintlock guns from a high position and cover the two-and-a-half-pound field artillery going up the mountain."
"At the same time, we used nine-pound light howitzers and eighteen-pound mortars to carry out shelling in the valley. The two-pronged approach was enough to suppress the enemy's counterattack firepower. With fire support, we were able to pull the two-and-a-half-pound field artillery directly up the mountainside. Deploy closely, directly bombard their various fortifications, and then pry open their fortifications, then the grenadiers can do the rest."
Hearing what Major Gan Xinrong said, Major Wang Yong, the commander of the first battalion of the 19th Infantry Regiment, thought to himself: Just open a road in the barren mountains and wild forests, and then pull the artillery halfway up the mountain... This kind of thing is probably the only way to do this. Only Gan Xinrong could think of it and actually do it.
He had heard from his superiors before that Gan Xinrong from the regiment next door was very cautious in using his troops. Today he saw that it was indeed the case.
If it were him, he would not go to such trouble as Gan Xinrong, but would choose to directly launch a strong attack and directly use his own powerful firepower to crush the enemy's stubborn resistance.
He didn't believe that the opponent could stop his strong attack. He might just charge and the opponent would collapse.
He had seen this kind of thing many times in the past.
After all, here at Jingu Gorge, we now have a mixed battalion plus an old-style infantry battalion, with a total strength of more than 1,600 people.
As for the Ximing Army opposite, it only had four to five hundred troops, and it was not a new standard army. Even the elite recruits were not just a group of local guardsmen.
In terms of artillery, we have four two-and-a-half-pound field guns, four nine-pound light howitzers, and two eighteen-pound mortars; not to mention the long-barreled artillery on the opposite side, even the general cannons, and the Franco machine are more powerful. There are no big old cannons, only a few old short-barreled shotguns weighing several dozen kilograms.
In terms of infantry firepower, our side has more than 200 first-year-style matchlocks and 8900 2nd-year-style flintlocks. As for the opposite side, there are no new matchlocks, not even blunderbuss, only sporadic fire portal guns. The infantry's long-range firepower is only bows and arrows, and there are not many archers. Only a few dozen can be killed.
In terms of cold weapons and armor, all of our front-line combat infantry are wearing armor. You don’t care whether they are full-body heavy armor, half-body armor, or light armor. Anyway, all of them are wearing armor. As for the Ximing Army on the opposite side, only those leaders Of the officers and their soldiers wearing armor, only about a hundred of them could hold out the force to death among four or five hundred people.
Judging from various situations such as military strength, firepower, and protective capabilities, our own side has an absolute advantage. Since we have an absolute advantage, why bother? We can just crush it.
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
This is also the way many Chu army generals fight!
There are not many generals who are as cautious as Gan Xinrong, who have to prepare all kinds of details before the war, and who even try their best to gain a greater advantage!
But Major Wang Yong of the First Battalion did not oppose Gan Xinrong's plan, and even expressed his support.
Just because he was too lazy to do this himself didn't mean that he wouldn't let Gan Xinrong do it.
He would also be happy if this fight had fewer casualties and went more smoothly!
After various pre-war preparations were made, the more than a thousand Chu troops also began to take action. On one side, they sent troops to block the canyon and imitated the Ming army inside to rush out to attack. On the other side, they sent a large number of infantry carrying machetes, saws, hoes, shovels, etc. Various tools were prepared to open a passage directly from the dense forests on both sides of the steep hillsides for the infantry to advance on foot.
The process of creating a channel is simple and easy!
These dense mountain forests and steep slopes seem to block human footsteps, but that's because humans are too lazy to pay attention to them!
When humans went up with various tools, the dense forest was cut down in minutes... The steep hillside was also directly dug out with a landing channel with stairs. In order to facilitate walking, road construction soldiers were still on both sides of the road. From time to time, I lay down some wooden stakes and railings.
In just one day, the Chu army built a passage on both sides.
During this period, the Ming army on the opposite side seemed to have discovered the Chu army's intention and tried to send infantry out to attack in a sneak attack. However, the Chu army also guarded against their attack and sent a group of grenadier troops to ambush in the dense forest in advance. At the same time, they also used mortars to attack. The enemy camp was shelled.
Infantry were dispatched to the front to make an attack stance to attract the opponent's attention.
After this back and forth, no one on our side was killed or injured, but seven or eight people on the other side were killed or injured.
After all, the Ming army on the opposite side had few troops and poor equipment. They could rely on special terrain for defensive operations. If they ran out and took the initiative to counterattack, they would basically be seeking death.
To a certain extent, Gan Xinrong and the others wished that the Ming army on the opposite side could come out and fight back. The two sides were fighting in the wild, and the Chu army had an even greater advantage.
It's a pity that the opponent retreated again after trying a counterattack against the Ming army and failing.
In this way, the Chu army also successfully built the front exit channel, and then directly deployed a large number of troops to the hillsides on both sides of the valley.
The next morning, Gan Xinrong ordered a full-scale attack on the enemy. The nine-pound light howitzer also made its debut. It used a special large-angle curved trajectory to bypass the mountain obstacles and fire shells towards the enemy's fortress position.
Amidst the rumbling explosions, the sixth post of the 3rd Infantry Battalion, also known as the Grenadier Post, also dispersed its formation, then left the passage and entered the forest, preparing to attack the enemy camp ahead.
Above them, there was a sentry fusilier, who was currently using intensive firepower to shoot at the enemy camp in front and below.
The grenadiers were wearing armor, some were holding muskets, while others were holding shields and pistols, and had stainless steel swords at their waists. At first glance, they seemed to be no different from the heavy armored commandos in the old organization. , even more so.
The grenadiers fought very bravely, and it only took a short time to attack the enemy's outer positions. In addition, they worked hard to pull down the two and a half kilogram field artillery hanging on their waists, and successfully destroyed the enemy's small fortress. The enemy army could not hold on and fled.
In the battle of Jingu Gorge, the Chu army spent several days conducting reconnaissance and preparations. They also spent a day opening roads and transporting artillery before the battle, but the actual fighting only took more than half an hour.
Moreover, during the entire battle, the Chu army suffered very few casualties. Only seven people were injured before and after, and no one was killed.
Among the seven injured, except for two unlucky ones who fell and were injured while climbing the mountain, the remaining five wounded were all grenadier soldiers of the third battalion.
Because in this battle, the grenadiers of the third battalion were responsible for the main assault mission, shouldering the burden of all the previous assault teams.
This is also a small change in the new organization. There is no dedicated heavy armored commando team, not even heavy armored infantry. In the past, the various assault missions of the heavy armored commando team were replaced by grenadiers.
This is because grenadiers need to be strong and possess strong arm strength, otherwise they will not be able to throw heavy grenades very far. In order to ensure the explosive power, grenades these days are quite heavy, and most people cannot throw them very far. Only strong soldiers can throw it far enough.
At the same time, the grenadier must be very calm, because when the grenadier throws the bomb, he holds the lighted grenade in his hand, but he cannot throw it yet. He has to wait for a few seconds, otherwise it will be easily picked up by the enemy and returned after throwing it. Throw.
This bomb-dropping process requires very high psychological quality of the grenadier. Soldiers who are not calm enough will either throw it out in advance, and then stupidly still don't go out, and then blow up themselves and their comrades!
Based on these two major requirements of grenadiers, the Chu army's grenadiers have two characteristics from the beginning: strong and calm!
