In the evening of September 18th, the sixth year of Chengshun, we were several miles southwest of Jinzhou Wei Zhongzuo Station in the Liaodong Peninsula, which was due west of Lushun Port.
The land here is mostly flat, but there are also undulating low hills. To the south is the Laotieshan Mountain facing the sea, to the north is the slightly gentler Dading Mountain, and to the east is the low mountain on the shore of Lushun Port.
On the west side is the sea. There is a relatively gentle semi-bay here. The huge landing fleet of the Da Chu Empire is in this bay at this time. A large number of small boats are constantly carrying soldiers to and from the sea ships in the bay and the shore. .
At the same time, many large sea-going ships are docked beside the temporary floating trestle. A large number of soldiers, artillery, ammunition, food and other supplies are quickly leading to the land through two temporary trestles, one large and one small.
At this time, the landing site was crowded and chaotic. There were engineers and ordinary infantrymen who were busy building trestles and even roads and docks. Among the crowd, there were also a large number of ammunition and food that had been transported from the ship and had not had time to be used. and many other supplies.
Because the landing site is relatively small and the temporary trestle's transfer capacity is limited, the current landing site is overcrowded.
If the Dongji people directly attack the landing site at this time, it will be a complete disaster for the Chu army's landing troops.
"We must keep them out of the landing site and ensure the safety of at least a strategic depth of more than one thousand meters. Otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous!"
Colonel Ning Yiming, commander of the 90th Infantry Regiment, said this to the chief of staff of the regiment next to him.
But these words are meant for others to hear, let alone for myself.
As the first batch of troops to land in the army, the 90th Infantry Regiment has a very heavy task.
They want to send the first batch of troops to land directly on the beach to seize the commanding observation fortress on the coast to prevent the enemy from using the commanding terrain of the observation fort to attack the landing fleet.
Because the distance is close, the opponent can directly use bows and arrows to shoot from above, which can threaten the landing site below.
To this end, they sent the regiment's fist force, the Sixth Grenadier Post of the 1st Battalion,
After capturing the lookout fortress, they immediately increased the scale of the landing. Some continued to land directly on the beach, and some used small boats to transfer the remaining infantry of the first battalion aboard.
At the same time, it also took a lot of effort to forcibly pull ashore four nine-pound light howitzers and two-and-a-half-pound field guns that had been temporarily strengthened for the first battalion.
This process is very troublesome. The nine-pound light howitzer is fine. It is very light and can be carried down by several people, but the two-and-a-half-pound field gun is not easy to handle.
Although this thing is said to be a small artillery, with a caliber of only 65 millimeters, it is still a serious field gun anyway. The barrel, gun mount, wheels and lead vehicle weigh more than 300 kilograms.
Such a heavy thing is very troublesome when getting off the ship, and it is equally troublesome when getting off the ship and trying to go ashore, because there is sand and even silt in the landing place, making it difficult to pull the artillery directly before the emergency road construction is completed.
In order to get the two two-and-a-half-pound field guns and ammunition trucks ashore and onto the hard ground above, the artillery crew members and dozens of infantrymen from the first battalion were a bunch of people who went up and carried them directly. Let’s go!
Fortunately, the area of beach and mud is not too large, and it is almost enough to reach the thick ground within a few dozen meters.
At this time, just pull forward and push back to take these two and a half kilogram field guns away...
As for the draft horse used to pull the cannon...it will still be on board.
The first battalion must go ashore as quickly as possible to expand strategic depth, free up a landing site for the landing troops in the rear, and ensure safety.
You must know that the place where the Chu army landed is just behind Lushun, and the straight-line distance is just over six kilometers. Lushun Port has two cities, the north and the south. The north city is the Zhongzuo Suo, which is the main residence of the Eastern Captives, and the south city is the Eastern Captives. The main residence of the human navy.
The Dongji people must have known in advance that the Chu Empire Navy was coming... After all, the fleet of the Chu Empire Navy was too large, and it was calm today, with no wind and waves on the sea, and no heavy fog, so the visibility was very good. good.
Standing on the top of Laotieshan, you can see the sea more than ten kilometers away.
The speed of the sailboats was just that. If the Dongji people had always paid attention to the situation on the sea, they would have discovered the movements of the Chu army two or three hours before the Chu army landed.
It's just that the Dongji people were unable to determine the specific landing target of the Chu army for a while.
After all, the Chu army's fleet was very large, with hundreds of ships. In addition to the ships that came to land here, there were two other fleets.
One group, consisting of the main force of the Beiyang Fleet, headed directly outside Port Arthur, and another group ran to the east coast area north of Port Arthur. That was another landing force. Although this landing force was a sheep attack force, that force It's also the 91st Infantry Regiment.
Even the fleet that landed on the west coast was actually divided into two. The 90th Infantry Regiment and the 89th Infantry Regiment landed on the south side, near the coast of the peninsula on the west side of Laotieshan, while the Second Marine Regiment Landing on the northern coast is two to three kilometers away.
In other words, there were actually three landing sites for the Chu army, and they were launched at the same time.
This was mainly to confuse the enemy so that they could not immediately determine the location of the Chu army's main landing site. It also dispersed their forces to avoid being hit by them at the beginning of the landing.
At the same time, the most important thing is that multiple landings make the enemy difficult to choose. They will not send the main force to a certain landing site immediately. It is best to stick to the North City and South City and not leave...
The multiple landings of the Chu army made it difficult for the defenders of Lushun to make judgments. They were worried that the Chu army was playing tricks on the east and attacking in the west.
At the same time, the fleet sent by the Chu army to Lushun Port was the main fleet of the navy. There were more than a dozen cruisers and frigates, which put increased pressure on the Eastern capture forces in the port.
They were afraid that they would rush into the port at any time and then bombard and land.
It was also learned that the Chu thieves had not only sent a fleet to the north to land, but also that when the Chu thieves had already landed on the west coast, the Dongfeng garrison at Lushunkou was no longer able to take care of many things.
In the end, the Dongjiu people sent troops to the west, preparing to repel the Chu army on the west side first.
As for the Chu bandits who landed in the north, they could only urgently report to the Jinzhou Guards on Pegasus, and ask the Jinzhou Guards to send troops southward for emergency reinforcements.
However, the Dongji people struggled for some time, and the subsequent gathering and march took more than an hour. By the time they arrived at the West Landing Field, the troops of the Chu Army's 90th Infantry Regiment had already rushed ashore.
The engineers at the back continued to urgently construct trestles and docks and build roads, while the baggage and artillery troops seized the time to urgently unload light howitzers, two and a half kilograms of field artillery, and ammunition.
At the same time, soldiers of the 89th Infantry Regiment also began to land in small groups.
At the same time, the cavalrymen of the 23rd Cavalry Regiment also held their horses and disembarked from the temporary trestle in an emergency.
The rear is a chaotic and busy landing site. The 90th Infantry Regiment must ensure the safety of the rear landing site, and Ning Yiming also knows that just ensuring the safety of the landing site is only the initial task.
If he can successfully defeat this Eastern captive force, he will then attack eastward to occupy the southern city of the Eastern captives, and then cooperate with the Second Marine Regiment to capture the northern city.
As long as the northern and southern cities are captured, it will basically be equivalent to capturing Port Arthur. At that time, artillery will be mounted on the top of the mountain and the muzzle will be pointed at the port.
The Japanese pirates in the port had no choice but to surrender except for death.
In this way, this crucial port can be captured, thereby ensuring the smooth disembarkation of subsequent heavy artillery and large amounts of ammunition and supplies.
There are hundreds of ships... Just relying on small boats and temporary floating trestles is not enough, especially those nine-pound field guns and twenty-four-pound howitzers weighing one or two tons, which are simply not what those temporary trestles can withstand. of.
Not to mention the 48-pound howitzers and 14-pound cannons used for siege. Those things require a truly large dock and large hoisting equipment to be able to do it.
Seizing Port Arthur is the most important combat mission of the landing force in the early stage, and it is also the main task of the 90th Infantry Regiment.
Considering the capture of Port Arthur, in fact, the Dongji people on the opposite side took the initiative to come out to fight, and they also played right into the hands of Colonel Ning Yiming.
If the enemy didn't take the initiative to run out, subsequent siege would still be quite troublesome. After all, he didn't have any heavy artillery. He only had a few two-and-a-half-pound field guns on hand and a small number of nine-pound and eighteen-pound light howitzers.
In Ning Yiming's view, this amount of artillery firepower is not enough if a fortified battle is to be carried out, and relatively large casualties will inevitably be incurred.
If the opponent takes the initiative to come out and fight, it will be better to fight!
Although the Dongji people are famous for being good at field battles, their heavy armored infantry assaults are quite good. After obtaining the guns of the Han, they also organized a large number of guns and equipped them with new matchlock guns in batches along with traditional armored soldiers. Fighting, and with a large number of war horses from Mongolia, their cavalry can also effectively cover their flanks and even charge into the formation.
From the perspective of traditional cold weapons, the Dongji people are very powerful in field combat, and their tactical system is somewhat similar to the Qin army created by Hong Chengchou.
They all use new guns and artillery with a cold weapon tactical thinking, not to mention that the East's trick of kidnapping people is even more cunning than Hong Chengchou's trick.
But... Ning Yiming looked at the lukewarm military formation opposite and couldn't help but smile!
It is said that the Dongji people are good at field warfare, and many people outside also say that their Chu army has sharp guns and is good at attacking fortresses. In battles, they always use hundreds of artillery to bombard fortified cities indiscriminately.
But not many people still remember that the Chu Empire Army started its career by fighting in the field!
Outsiders will never pay attention to the organization and tactical systems of the two generations of the Chu Empire Army, whether it is the previous mixed hot and cold combat system of spears and matchlocks, or the current line tactics of flintlocks as the main weapon. .
They are all born for large-scale outdoor battles!
Especially line tactics...the combat effectiveness of this thing is not obvious in ordinary offensive and defensive battles. This is why the Chu army often uses grenadiers to carry out assault missions, because grenadiers wear heavy armor, which is difficult for some It's easy to use on enemies that don't have a lot of guns.
However, in outdoor battles, especially in battles where both sides are in formation, the line tactics of flintlock guns will be able to bring out its greatest advantage!
The intensive firepower far exceeds that of the matchlock era!
And this point was once again fully proven by the combat effectiveness of the 90th Infantry Regiment of the Chu Army and the defenders of Shunkou on the opposite side.
When the two sides lined up one after another and the Dongji people took the lead in attacking, the battle was completely under the control of the 90th Infantry Regiment.
Amidst the rumbling of constant fire from light artillery on both sides, the left wing of the Dongjiu people took the lead in launching an attack. A large number of spearmen carrying spears and wearing armor covered the arquebusiers on both sides, and the archers came forward.
Opposite them, the soldiers of the First Battalion of the 90th Infantry Regiment moved forward steadily in three rows to the drums of military musicians. After reaching a low slope and taking advantage of the condescending terrain, they The commander of the first battalion ordered the entire team to stop.
There are five infantry sentries lined up in a row. The front width of each sentry is about 189 meters. The distance between each sentry is very close, thus forming a frontal width of about 100 meters.
"Swallowing the Starry Sky: Sign in to Become a God"
Behind them are the grenadier companies that serve as reserves. These grenadiers now serve as the most elite line infantry soldiers.
In fact, the grenadier company in the Chu army did not use grenades very much in official field battles, except for specific battles such as critical battles.
That thing is very unreliable and easy to accidentally injure one's own people, and the grenadiers can only go within twenty or thirty meters to release bombs. At this time, if the enemy is a long-range unit such as matchlocks or archers, a volley can be fired If the opponent comes over, they will all die... If the opponent is a spearman, even if they charge over, they will die...
Therefore, the Chu army's grenadiers will basically only use grenades in fortified operations, especially assault operations. In order to deal with trenches, the enemies behind the parapets will use grenades, and they will rarely use grenades at other times.
The first battalion has finished forming and is waiting for the Dongjiu people to come over...
As for the Dongji people who were gradually coming forward, one of the leading generals looked at the extremely thin Chu army array in front, and always felt that something was wrong!
Because this formation is too thin, it will probably collapse if you charge casually.
Why do they do this?
Is the Chu Manzi opposite him crazy? Or is it that the command ability is not good?
impossible!
The Chu army also conquered the world by conquering the south and the north. Speaking of being able to conquer and fight, they were even more powerful than them in taking people from the east...
It only took a few years for the Chu army to unite the central plains within the pass. It has been decades since the Chu army raised troops to rebel against the Eastern captives, and now they can only stay outside the pass...
Therefore, if you regard the generals of the Chu army as fools, it only means that you yourself are a fool!
The Donglu general in front of him was not a fool, so he frowned. He had a hunch that the seemingly thin formation of the Donglu people on the opposite side was definitely not simple.
It's just that he doesn't know why!
The Chu army's formation looks so weird that it's hard to understand.
Although the Chu army and the Dongji people had fought many times in Jiliao and even Xuanda, they had never really fought in the wild. They were basically cavalry battles or offensive and defensive operations.
Especially after the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the battles in Liaoxi direction were basically small-scale raids. Today you send troops to sneak attack my small fortress, and tomorrow I will send troops to sneak attack your small fortress. Raid operations are mainly based on elite infantry, and some interception operations It is mainly cavalry.
Ordinary line infantry rarely go up to engage in such small-scale raids.
This is the case in the direction of Liaoxi, not to mention places such as Jizhen, Miyun and Xuanda. When the Dong captives and the Mongols they controlled took the initiative to go south, the Chu army was engaged in defensive operations.
When the Chu army took the initiative to attack or counterattack, they only sent out cavalry troops.
In this way, the Chu army and the Dongji people have been fighting for nearly a year. In fact, the two sides have not yet had a serious large-scale infantry battle in the wild.
Under such circumstances, many generals of the Donglu people had seen the Chu army's line tactics, and naturally they did not understand its true power.
But soon, these Eastern captives saw the power of line tactics!
The Dongjiu people quickly approached a range of about 150 meters. After entering this range, their arquebusiers fired sporadically.
However, the lines of the first battalion remained motionless, and the hit rate of the muskets at this distance was extremely limited. Not to mention that although there were more than 200 matchlock gunners on the opposite side, after being divided into six rows, there were only three people scheduled to fire at the front. Just a dozen or so people.
With this kind of sporadic firepower at a distance of 100 meters, the commander of the first battalion, Bai Haoming, didn't even blink an eyebrow!
He is waiting!
Wait for the enemy to continue approaching!
When the enemy troops entered about 120 meters away, Major Bai Haoming on horseback decisively drew his command knife: "First row, prepare!"
When the Dongjiu people entered a hundred meters, the command knife in Major Bai Haoming's hand pointed forward: "Aim!"
When Dongdu entered 80 meters, Bai Haoming gave the order to open fire!
As his voice fell, more than two hundred fusiliers in the first battalion all pulled the triggers towards the enemy on the opposite side. The gunfire sounded intensively, and smoke also rose in the line.
Just after the gunfire, dozens of people fell down in the Dongjiu people's queue on the opposite side, and young hero Bai Haoming's voice continued to sound: "Second row fire!"
"Third row fire!"
In a short period of time, a total of 600 line infantrymen in five infantry posts were divided into three rows and took turns to fire. The bullets fired by more than 600 2-year-old flintlock rifles were all directed at the left wing of the Dongjiu people in front. Throw it away!
In just one minute, the first battalion fired at least 1,500 rounds of ammunition!
Because there was no wind, the smoke generated during the intensive shooting filled the queue of the first battalion with a burst of white smoke, like a white mist, and the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke could be smelled inside.
In some small areas where the smoke was particularly thick, some soldiers could not even see their comrades around them, let alone the enemies ahead.
They can only obey the officer's orders mechanically and rigidly, fire, clean the gun chamber, load, fire, and so on!
Amidst the gunfire, there were bursts of screams from the front. Some Chu soldiers in the thick smoke actually did not know whether their bullets had hit the enemy, or even how many people were on the opposite side. collapsed!
The only one who can have a close overview of the overall situation is Major Bai Haoming, who is riding on a war horse and looking down at both the enemy and ourselves!
At this time, a smile appeared on his lips!
And in front of him, there were dead and wounded kidnapped people all over the mountain!
After the large number of dead and wounded, there were two to three hundred remaining Japanese soldiers who fled toward the rear in panic!
More than 600 people from the left wing of Dongji, known for their toughness in field battles, went out to fight. They were blocked by a fierce line of fire from the Chu army. More than half of them were killed or injured on the spot and they fled!
Dozens of them were extremely brave and heavily armored white-armored elites. Because they rushed to the front, together with their generals, they were hit hard in the first place. After several rounds of volley fire, almost all of them were Casualties!
The leading generals and the elite white-armored soldiers suffered heavy casualties immediately, which directly shook the east-wing left wing force. The remaining ordinary soldiers and small officers could not stabilize the formation at all, and did not even know whether to continue to charge forward or retreat. .
And a large number of ordinary soldiers were stunned. Just before, they were charging forward confidently, thinking of killing all the enemies and looting their belongings, but they suffered heavy casualties as soon as they rushed...
For a moment, they didn't know what to do.
When the Dongji people faced the Central Plains people in the pass, they were confident and even proud. This self-confidence was gradually built up in the past few decades of fighting with the Ming army, and it penetrated deep into their bones.
And this pride became the main reason for increasing their casualties when they were hit by the Chu army's devastating infantry firepower.
If they had turned around and ran away immediately, the casualties would certainly not have been so heavy.
But after repeatedly struggling, they hesitated for dozens of seconds, and within these dozens of seconds they suffered a devastating blow.
In the end, with heavy casualties, all the soldiers finally collapsed. Without anyone's orders, the remaining soldiers fled to the rear with nothing in mind...
At this moment, they just want to escape from here, and they don't care about anything else.
Not only Major Bai Haoming, the commander of the 1st Battalion, could see this scene clearly, but Colonel Ning Yiming, the commander of the 90th Infantry Regiment not far away, could also see it clearly, but the distance was slightly further and the details were not so clear. Just detailed.
Similarly, the general Dongluo on the opposite side could also see clearly!
Under his order, the left wing troops first gradually moved forward, and then after approaching a distance of about fifty feet, they gradually advanced and fired with matchlocks until they advanced to about thirty feet.
The matchlock shooting at this distance did not cause too much damage to Chu Manzi as expected, but it effectively improved his own morale, allowing other friendly troops to raise their heads, stabilize their formation, and continue to advance.
However, starting from this time, the situation changed drastically.
After the Chu Manzi on the opposite side continued to fire, the intensity of the infantry firepower that erupted far exceeded his imagination!
Then the left wing troops under his command fell in pieces amidst the intense gunfire from the opponent. The general in front wanted to rush over and start a close combat, so he stared at the casualties and continued to charge forward. However, he rushed forward. The closer it is, the greater the casualties will be!
It didn't take long for more than half of them to be killed or wounded. Such heavy casualties directly caused the left wing force to completely collapse.
The most important thing is that our side has almost no counterattack ability during the whole process!
The left wing's attempt to rush directly to initiate a hand-to-hand combat failed, and when they rushed to about ten feet away from Chu Manzi's array, they could no longer hold on and collapsed.
After watching this left-wing attack from beginning to end, the leading Donglu general knew that it was impossible to drive the Chu barbarians on the opposite side into the sea. The only solution now was to return to Beicheng and wait. Reinforcements from Jinzhou and even further behind.
So he ordered without hesitation: "Retreat!"
Watching the opponent retreat, Bai Yiming did not order a pursuit, because the opponent still had some cavalry, although there were only a few hundred or so.
But once one's own side launches a pursuit and the formation is scattered, the opponent's cavalry will most likely rush over, and it will be difficult to deal with it.
Anyway, Lushun is ahead and it can't escape.
Moreover, hundreds of enemy troops had been killed and wounded in the previous battle, and the morale of the enemy troops had been greatly damaged. It would be much easier to attack Beicheng next.
Now, it is more serious to continue to set up defenses and cover the landing of troops in the rear, especially the cavalry and artillery troops.
As long as one's own cavalry and artillery land successfully, then this landing will be considered a success. If the North City and South City are captured later, then this landing operation will be considered a complete success.
As for being able to capture North City and South City, there is no need to worry too much about this.
That place was just a small castle, not a big city, and these Dongbu people were not like the previous Ming army. They did nothing all day long and could only build various anti-artillery fortifications, forcing the Chu army to The caliber of artillery was made larger and larger, and even new types of howitzer shells were developed to facilitate siege.
When the Dongji people defended the city, they were basically doing the same thing. Not to mention the Liaodong Peninsula, even on the western Liaoning front line, the artillery on many castles was casually deployed directly on the open-air emplacements at the top of the city, and there were no sandbags. Ring fortifications.
Ordinary infantry can only defend and fight on the top of the open-air city wall behind the battlements, and there are no anti-artillery fortifications to protect against artillery.
There are no trenches, parapets or fortresses built outside the city.
Simply looking at city fortifications, the Ming army, especially the Ming army that has been fighting against the Chu army in the Central Plains for a long time, can basically defeat the Eastern captives... Well, or it can be said that it can defeat any army in the world, including the Chu army...
They had no choice, they couldn't defeat them in the field, and they were bombed while defending the city, so they could only try their best to build various anti-artillery fortifications.
As for the Dongji people, they still have great confidence in field battles. As for the city defense, the Chu army has not actually attacked the large city where the Dongji people are stationed, so the Dongji people have not yet been able to defeat the Chu army. I have never seen the grand scene of hundreds of artillery bombardments by the Chu Empire Army during the siege.
On the contrary, they felt that the reason why the Ming army was beaten so badly by the Chu army was because the Ming army's combat effectiveness was too weak...
If they were to defend the city, they would kill every Chu barbarian who came, a pair of Chu barbarians who came... and kill as many as they came.
No, the Dongqi people didn't think much about winning the war by defending the city. Their focus was still on the field battle!
Because they have heavy armored infantry that they are proud of, and they also have a large number of cavalry from the Eight Banners!
Large-scale outdoor battles are what they are good at!
Naturally, the Dongjiao people didn't pay much attention to city defense. Besides, it was useless even if they paid attention to it. Even a small broken city like Zhongzuo North City didn't use medium and large-caliber cannons and 48-pound howitzers.
Only using 24-pound howitzers, 18-pound light howitzers, and 9-pound light howitzers can still effectively cover one's siege.
These howitzers newly equipped by the Chu army are particularly useful in critical battles because of their curved trajectories!
This was fully proven in the Battle of Beicheng and the Battle of Nancheng on the second day!
The 90th Infantry Regiment, the 89th Infantry Regiment, and the 2nd Marine Regiment of the Chu Army have landed, a total of three regiment-level troops, plus more than 20 two-and-a-half-pound field guns, and eight 2-pound Fourteen-pound howitzers, eighteen eighteen-pound light howitzers, and more than twenty nine-pound light howitzers.
It only took two hours to capture Beicheng. During these few hours, most of the time was spent preparing the artillery positions. It didn't take long for the actual fighting to begin. Under the intensive bombardment of a large number of howitzers, more than a thousand people who defended the city were captured. There were heavy casualties in the first half hour.
Then the same commandos, that is, the grenadiers, basically took them down after the attack.
After capturing the North City, the Chu army turned around and attacked the Nancheng. Because the Nancheng had a naval force that captured the East, and could also receive artillery support from their warships, the Chu army was more cautious. They found a few hills and set up a large number of artillery to carry out the attack. Continuous bombardment from medium to long range.
After several hours of shelling, it was captured in the evening of that day.
Immediately, the Chu army began to deploy artillery to bombard the port navy. The Donglu navy in the port tried to break out, but was unfortunately blocked by the Chu army fleet outside the port.
In the end, the Eastern Navy captured dozens of large and small ships, a few sank, and the rest surrendered!
Lushunkou was completely captured by the Chu army!
