Among these 500 ships, nearly 100 are various warships and transport ships of the Navy, and the remaining 400 or so ships are all temporarily recruited civilian transport ships.
However, it is worth noting that each of the above-mentioned ships, even some small civilian ships recruited, are ships capable of offshore navigation, not those small sampans that can only navigate inland rivers.
The main mission of these ships, including some warships, is to transport soldiers, various equipment, and ammunition supplies.
The ones that actually provide navigation escort and land artillery support tasks are the many battleships in the Beiyang Fleet.
Including sixteen Daye-class frigates and six Xiangyang-class cruisers. In addition, the newly commissioned cruiser Songjiang will also participate in the battle as the flagship of this operation, the ship of Admiral Xia Qiuyang.
With seven cruisers and sixteen frigates, the Dachu Empire Navy basically deployed all the new battleships that could be maneuvered. The remaining battleships belonged to the Nanyang Fleet to defend against Spain, Portugal, Possible changes in the fleets of the three Dutch countries.
Of course, the Dachu Imperial Navy participating in this operation was not only these new capital ships, but also more than 20 old ships such as bird ships and Fu ships.
Although these old ships cannot carry a large number of artillery, their firepower is relatively poor, so they are not suitable for participating in line combat in the new era.
But there is one thing to say: these old ships, especially the newer bird ships, are still quite reliable in East Asian waters.
At the beginning, Zheng Zhilong basically relied on this group of bird ships as the main force, supplemented by a large number of small ships to dominate the entire East Asian waters.
Although the Dachu Empire is now rich and wealthy, it wants to build its navy into a new type of navy. However, until enough Daye-class frigates and Songjiang-class cruisers are put into service, these bird ships and even those lucky ships are still the main ships of the Dachu Empire's navy.
These bird ships are now in the hands of the Dachu Empire Navy, and they can still be used to assist the main battleships in performing tasks.
No matter how bad it is, it is also excellent as an armed transport ship.
At the same time, the planned landing fleet will also include a group of sailing paddle boats built on the coasts of Shandong and Hebei. These boats, also known as centipede boats, are more flexible in inland rivers and offshore waters and are not affected by the wind direction. , although the firepower is a bit weaker, they are not brought here to let them exert much firepower, but purely to serve as personal guards for the main ships, in case the Dongluo people may send some small boats to attack the fleet.
As for the navy, for the landing operation on the Liaodong Peninsula, it plans to pull over all the main ships of the Beiyang Fleet. There are hundreds of ships of various types equipped with artillery.
In addition to ships, the Navy will also dispatch their Second Marine Regiment to participate in landing operations. The Navy currently has only three Marine Regiments in total. The First Marine Regiment is stationed at the Xiangjiang Naval Base in Guangdong, and the newly established Third Marine Regiment is stationed in Zhoushan, Zhejiang. base.
The Second Marine Regiment was previously stationed at the Weihaiwei Naval Base in Dengzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province, and is now designated as the landing force to land on the Liaodong Peninsula.
The three marine regiments of the Navy are not pure infantry regiments, but mixed regiments with independent combat capabilities. In addition to three infantry battalions, each marine regiment also has an artillery battalion, a baggage battalion, and a cavalry sentry. , with a total strength of more than 4,000.
It's just that these three marine regiments are also new formations after reorganization and reform. Their original establishments are large. If they were replaced by the old establishments, they would be mixed brigades.
In order to coordinate the landing, the navy pulled out all the belongings of the Beiyang Fleet and also mobilized a marine regiment.
Naturally, the Army will not take it lightly. For this joint landing operation, the Army specially assigned the 23rd Class A Division, which has the most experience in landing operations in the Army and was relatively early in the Chu Army. He was selected and then sent to Weihaiweigang, Dengzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province for adaptive training.
In addition to the 23rd Army Division and the Navy's 2nd Marine Regiment, in order to ensure sufficient follow-up troops for the landing operation, the Army also dispatched the 20th Division, which had completed reorganization and refitting, to Dengzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province to serve as strategic reserve Team.
In addition, the 104th Division stationed in Shandong will also be reorganized and supplemented to serve as the strategic reserve of the second echelon.
The above three army divisions will be organized into the Seventh Army, which will be used specifically for operations in the Liaodong Peninsula. Army Lieutenant General Bai Yangrong, who has the most experience in landing operations in the army, will serve as the commander.
As for the Navy's Second Marine Regiment, although they will also participate in landing operations, they directly belong to the Navy and are not under the control of the Army, so they will not be included in the Seventh Army.
In addition, the Second Marine Regiment will only participate in the early landing operations and will not participate in the subsequent attack on the Golden State Acropolis.
If everything goes well, the Second Marine Regiment will withdraw from the Liaodong Peninsula, and then land on ships behind the Jinzhou Guard. They will cooperate with the Seventh Army in the direction of the Jinzhou Guard to carry out a pincer attack on the incoming enemy forces. , try to make a big dumpling.
This time the army and navy are quite ambitious in landing operations on the Liaodong Peninsula. What they want is not only to occupy the Jinzhou Guard Center Left Station and Nanguan and other areas south of the Jinzhou Acropolis, they also want to capture the Jinzhou Guard. city, and even captured Fuzhou Acropolis.
When a large number of Dongfeng troops come from the north, the Second Marine Regiment will be used to conduct a second landing operation. They will penetrate directly into the enemy's back position through land and sea, and strive to annihilate a large number of enemy troops at once.
Only by capturing the city here and killing a large number of enemy troops can the confidence of the top leaders of the Dongjiu people be truly shaken, and then force them to deploy troops to the west of Liaoning for reinforcements.
This will then reduce the strategic pressure in Liaoxi direction and create more favorable opportunities for large-scale advancement.
The army and navy have made full preparations for landing on the Liaodong Peninsula, from ships to landing troops, to weapons and equipment and supplies.
Admiral Xia Qiuyang, commander of the Beiyang Fleet, also personally sailed northward on the newly commissioned cruiser Songjiang in late July, taking a group of Beiyang Fleet battleships and transport ships with him, and transporting a large amount of weapons, ammunition, and food.
When he went north, Army Lieutenant General Bai Yangrong had arrived in Weihai in advance in June and began adaptive training for the three divisions of the Seventh Army.
Write a book
It's just that Bai Yangrong is a little helpless about this mission!
To be honest, when Xu Zhixian came to him and said that he wanted him to lead the 23rd Division of his old army to land on the Liaodong Peninsula, he refused in his heart...
He was doing well as the director of the Strategy Department of the General Staff in Jinling City, but he had no interest in leading the troops in any landing operations.
The conscience of heaven and earth, Bai Yangrong has been a landlubber since he was a child. He even learned how to swim when he served as the commander of the 23rd Mixed Brigade and received the task of letting this brigade conduct landing operations.
And he's also seasick...
The several landing operations he had done before had frightened him to be honest.
When we landed in Haizhou, it was just a small fight, but when we landed on the eight islands in Changshan, we really suffered. We vomited all the way, and the 23rd Mixed Brigade that we led at that time had to be transported by sea for a long time. Everyone turned into soft-legged shrimps, and many of the mules and horses carried on the ship fell ill.
If it weren't for the lack of resistance from the enemy, perhaps the several landing operations at that time would have turned into a disaster.
Since then, he has been very resistant to this kind of landing mission.
This kind of scene where you give your life to the navy on the road, and when you get to the place, all your soldiers turn into soft-footed shrimps, I am afraid of it every time I think about it.
It was okay to encounter the local guardsmen of the Ming army who had little combat effectiveness, but this time they were captivating Liaodong, and they had to face the captors from the east.
Although the equipment, treatment, and number of the Dongji people are a bit poor, their fighting will is still relatively weak. They won't turn around and run away when they see you land...
So he was asked to lead troops to land on the Liaodong Peninsula. To be honest, Bai Yangrong was actually unwilling in his heart.
He was also afraid of falling into trouble on the Liaodong Peninsula.
If the landing didn't go smoothly and he suffered a big defeat on the Liaodong Peninsula, wouldn't he be doomed?
But the military orders are like mountains... Xu Zhixian said that in the entire army, Bai Yangrong is the only person with the rank of lieutenant general or above who knows how to conduct large-scale cross-sea landing operations and has rich experience.
Apart from Bai Yangrong, the Army could not find any other suitable candidate.
Not to mention the level of lieutenant general, even generals at the level of major general, few have the experience of such multiple landing operations.
A few generals from the former 23rd Division, that is, the 23rd Composite Brigade, are OK, but the former deputy commander of the 23rd Composite Brigade died of serious illness this spring. The chief of staff of the brigade was kicked to the end because of mistakes made in the Yunnan-Guizhou Campaign last winter. Now he has been transferred to reserve duty.
At that time, the only infantry regiment commander under the 23rd Mixed Brigade was still in Jiayuguan... With this coming and going, it would probably take several months to transfer the people here, and there was nothing we could do if it took too long. Training and strategic arrangements were made in advance.
Besides, the man far away in Jiayuguan had just been promoted to major general. When he served in the 23rd Mixed Brigade, he was just a regimental commander. He was not involved in coordinating the overall situation at all, and his experience was still not enough.
The top army officials were also worried about that person.
With Lieutenant General Bai Yangrong as the best choice, the top brass of the army would naturally not choose anyone else.
Xu Zhixian has already talked about this, what can Bai Yangrong do?
He had no choice but to agree, and he still had to show an attitude of willingly going there for the great cause of the unification of the empire and for His Majesty's sake, even if he didn't hesitate to do anything!
But in his heart, he was still repelled and seemed very worried about this large-scale sea crossing and landing operation.
The previous landing operations at Changshan Eight Islands and Haezhou Landing Operations were still vivid in his mind. He was extremely worried that after his soldiers crossed the sea on boats, they would all turn into soft-footed shrimps. Then they would be beaten after landing and say no. He would definitely be driven directly into the sea by the Eastern Captives.
Under such circumstances, after Lieutenant General Bai Yangrong arrived in Weihai, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the adaptive training of the troops.
The focus is to solve the problem of seasickness among a large number of soldiers.
Seasickness, this thing can also be cured through training. How should I put it, you will get used to it if you feel dizzy...
