Chapter 1662 Attacking Manila (12)

"Who can tell me what happened?" Francis rushed out of the bedroom in disheveled clothes and shouted at the guards who were also stunned: "Why are you staying here? Go and find out the news!"

Francis did not hear the huge explosion in his sleep, but the vibration from the ground woke him up from a deep sleep, and then he heard the screams of many people outside. He knew it must be

Something big had happened, so I quickly got up, put on a nightgown and rushed outside to see what was going on.

However, his residence was far away from the south city gate and was not really hurt by the power of the explosion. So after waiting for a while, the guards heard from outside that there was a big explosion in the south of the city. They only knew that a section of the city wall had collapsed. The specific situation

No one could explain it clearly. After hearing this, Francis still dared to wait here for the news. He quickly ordered someone to go to the Governor's Palace to report the news, and he quickly rushed to the south of the city with his guards, hoping to control the situation in time.

After arriving on the street, Francis found that most people were flocking to the north of the city, which made his heart sink again. In his original expectation, the Haihan Army might be wearing down the defenders' will to fight.

The infantry would be launched to attack the city later, but he did not expect that the opponent would not follow common sense at all, and suddenly change the rhythm of the attack, and they would launch such a move early in the morning. Now he could only count on the news that "the city wall collapsed".

Misinformation, otherwise it would be very difficult to organize a decent resistance if the Haihan army invaded the city.

A few hundred meters away from the south city gate, Francis had already heard sporadic gunshots coming from the front. What this signal symbolized was basically self-evident. Francis stopped and ordered himself to temporarily organize

A group of soldiers stood up and formed a fighting formation, and then moved forward.

A moment later, they ran into the forward troops of the special operations battalion. At first, the two sides did not see each other's presence clearly in the morning light, but the Haihan Army was the first to react. Before the officer could issue a combat order, someone had already taken the lead to attack the enemy.

The Spanish troops coming in opened fire.

There is no doubt that the seven-shot musket of the special operations battalion is accurate within two hundred meters. Basically, it hits wherever it is aimed. In addition, the firing frequency is very fast. Before the Spanish army can recover, several people have been shot and fell.

The ground is gone.

The soldiers in the front row subconsciously raised their shields to resist. However, the shield's protective ability was not enough to block the rifle bullets fired from the opposite side. Instead, it blocked the shooting sight of its own musketeers. After a random shot was fired, the sea

The Han army suffered little damage in battle, but the Spanish soldiers who had just arrived here and had not yet entered the state were already showing signs of disintegration.

"Retreat! Retreat!" Of course Francis was aware of this unfavorable situation. He didn't want to leave the only undisorganized unit he could command here. He immediately ordered to retreat and find another suitable one.

Build a defense line in the environment. Of course, if the Haihan army on the opposite side dares to continue to advance, he will not mind immediately setting up a pocket to eat the opponent.

However, the Haihan Army on the opposite side was obviously not that gullible. When he saw them retreating, he did not rush to pursue them. Instead, he calmly began to shrink his formation, probably to prevent the defenders from counterattacking. Francis saw no opportunity to take advantage of it.

, they could only command the troops to retreat first, and then build barricades to build a defense line in the city. At the same time, they ordered the armed forces in the city to be concentrated in this area to see if there was still a chance to drive the Haihan Army out of the city.

If Francis had seen the actual condition of the South City Gate at this time, he might no longer have such unrealistic thoughts. The city wall that was destroyed by the explosion was about a span of twenty meters, and the entire city gate had been reduced to ruins.

, the outline of what once existed can no longer be seen, and the location of the city gate can only be inferred from the walls on both sides that have not yet collapsed. At this time, more and more Haihan soldiers are climbing over the ruins from outside the city, entering

Gathering began in Manila.

The city fortifications, which the Manila authorities had placed high hopes on, almost collapsed without any decent defense. The casualties paid by the Haihan Army in the process were also very small, almost negligible compared with the defenders.

At this time, Yan Chujie and Qian Tiandun also came to the city gate under escort to check the results of the blasting operation. In fact, if you remove the surface layer of gravel and loose soil, you can see the scene below - the city wall was really destroyed

The overturned part was only about half of the entire thickness, but this level of blasting power was enough to invalidate all the defenders' deployments on this line of defense.

"There is still a gap between the results of our calculations!" Qian Tiandun couldn't help but sigh after seeing the scene: "We were still in a hurry, and we didn't even have time to fully understand the structure of the city walls and foundations."

"The positions of these blasting holes that were hurriedly drilled in the past two nights are not very accurate. You can see that the blasting effect is obviously better on the left side, but much worse on the right side." Yan Chujie also added the conclusion he reached after his own observation.

"But generally speaking, we are pretty lucky. At least this section of the city wall has lost its defensive function." Qian Tiandun smiled: "What a fluke!"

Although the effect of the blasting did not fully reach the ideal state, the purpose was achieved. The Haihan Army broke through this line of defense almost without a single blow. This was obviously much more cost-effective than throwing infantry into the battlefield to carry out a storm. For the Haihan Army, which was very concerned about battle losses,

For the Han army, this unconventional siege tactic was indeed very cost-effective.

Of course, in addition to receiving due military honors after the war, the engineering troops who performed this mission may also need to strengthen their training. Although they passed by luck this time, the Ministry of National Defense will not rely on such tactics.

Due to the uncertainty of luck, the engineering troops will inevitably come here to clean up the rubble afterwards, re-evaluate the blasting results, find out the reasons why the expected results were not achieved, and correct some imperfections in the blasting operations.

For the frontline headquarters, breaking through the city wall defenses actually means that the war is coming to an end. Therefore, Yan Chujie and Qian Tiandun are in a relaxed mood at this time and are not in a hurry to enter the city immediately to supervise the battle. They are now of extremely high status.

High-ranking generals will basically no longer risk their lives to participate in battles on the front line like they did when they first started their careers a few years ago. In the early years, Qian Tiandun also liked to lead troops in person, but since he got married, this habit has been eliminated.

The one at home gradually changed his mind. Nowadays, the field command tasks of the special operations battalion are basically handed over to Gao Qiaonan. Qian Tiandun only needs to sit in the rear and dispatch troops and generals.

However, strategically, we despise our opponents, but tactically we still cannot underestimate the defenders. According to the intelligence obtained beforehand, the building environment in the city is complex enough for the defenders to organize themselves for street fighting. At this time, although the Haihan Army broke through the southern defense line of the city,

Because the city wall did not completely collapse, but a large earth bag about six or seven meters high was formed in the gap. Although the soldiers were able to enter on foot, it was difficult to transport heavy equipment into the city for a while. So compared to

The street fighting that was carried out outside the city before and the battle after breaking into the city may not be as smooth as before due to the lack of artillery support.

Yan Chujie has ordered all the grenades in stock to be used by the special operations battalion that will be the first to break into the city. However, the number is already very limited and may not be able to support the troops to complete the sweep of the city. Therefore, Qian Tiandun's tasks for Gaoqiao South include:

In addition to clearing out the enemies near the south of the city, we must also try to move closer to the east of the city, trying to capture the east gate, and then join forces with the Nanhai Special Warfare Group outside the city. Some heavy equipment such as artillery can also be moved from the east gate by then.

Send it into the city.

But for the defenders, the current situation was very clear. Although the defense line in the south of the city was broken, the situation was still controllable. If the Haihan army broke into the city from another direction, it would be really bad.

Therefore, Francis not only sent additional troops to the south of the city, but also quickly mobilized troops to strengthen the defense at the east and west gates. In particular, the east gate, which lacked protection, became the focus of Francis' attention.

Gaoqiao Nan sent a company of troops to march east of the city, but soon encountered an interception by the defenders on the way. Almost all the buildings in this neighborhood were two to three-story buildings, and the defenders had already deployed their positions in advance.

The doors and windows facing the street were turned into bunkers for the attack. There were many hidden firepower points that the attackers needed to clear, and the advance speed immediately slowed down.

Company commander Amakusa Shiro was also a little helpless about this situation. Although his troops were also assigned some grenades, after all, these grenades were not as good as artillery shells, and their lethality was relatively limited. Moreover, they were not very good at building a three-dimensional firepower network.

To crack the effect, he could only arrange more manpower to clear out the Spanish armed personnel house by house, but this would inevitably slow down the advancement. Moreover, the defenders hiding in private houses were also nearby.

The opportunity to launch a sneak attack on the Haihan Army was not an ideal environment for the Haihan Army, which was very particular about combat distance in combat.

After an hour of fighting, Amakusa Shiro's company only advanced one street to the east, but at the cost of several lives. After this situation was fed back to the headquarters, the generals finally

of attention.

"It turns out that the city is the real tough one! It seems that there were still some omissions in our previous analysis." Qian Tiandun was also a little unhappy after reading the battle report. This was obviously due to the fact that the Military Intelligence Department did not analyze the intelligence obtained properly, otherwise

The special operations battalion will not be so passive in responding to the challenge.

"Add more troops. There is no other way to solve the problem at the moment. If your people are not enough, then I will send Wang Tom's people to the city to assist." Yan Chujie knew that Qian Tiandun was concerned about the lives of his men, but now the Haihan Army

Having already entered the city, if they struggle with the enemy for too long, the big shots in the city will probably have enough time to escape calmly. Therefore, no matter how much resistance the special operations battalion encounters in the city, for the sake of the overall situation,

He still wanted to push forward the combat progress of the special operations battalion.

"There is no need for the Navy to get involved in this matter!" Qian Tiandun immediately declined the proposal. He did not want the Navy to take away a piece of meat from his bowl. With the current establishment of the special operations battalion, the strength of the troops must be sufficient.

Yes, it just depends on whether he, the commander, is willing to send them to the battlefield.

Although the name of the special operations battalion is a battalion, its actual establishment has already exceeded the battalion level, and is even better than the reinforced battalion. It is actually the establishment of a reinforced regiment. It is led by Amakusa Shiro who is sent to the east of the city.

Take the company as an example. An ordinary reinforced company has about 200 people, but the company he led has more than 400 people, which is close to the strength of an ordinary army battalion. But in this unfamiliar environment in Manila

In the middle of the battle, Amakusa Shiro did not dare to spread the battle formation too far, and he also had to ensure the safety of the rear route. Naturally, this small number of troops was a bit stretched.

Qian Tiandun's new order was quickly passed to Takahashi Nan. As soon as he heard his superiors' request for additional troops, he understood that he was dissatisfied with the current speed of advancement, and immediately transferred another company to reinforce Amakusa Shiro.

Francis also noticed the mobilization of the Haihan Army in the city, but he was not in a hurry to add reinforcements to the east of the city. Instead, he tried to take advantage of the opportunity when the Haihan Army transferred the troops entering the city to the east of the city to launch an attack on the gap in the city wall south of the city.

Counterattack.

However, the special operations battalion had already built a line of defense in the city along the city wall to protect the only channel that allowed the Haihan army to enter and exit the city. The special operations battalion also dispatched many infantrymen on the city wall that had not yet collapsed, building a defensive line from a high position.

At the firepower point, the Spanish army was discovered by the Haihan soldiers at a high place before they even approached this area. So before the Spanish army could get close, they were first hit by firepower. The disadvantage of the weapon range made it difficult for them to launch an effective counterattack.

After laying down more than a dozen corpses, they had no choice but to retreat to the northern city.

Takahashi Nan did not immediately launch a pursuit. He now wanted to ensure that the control of this passage would not be taken back by the Spanish until Haihan captured the East Gate. As soon as the East Gate was captured, artillery could enter the city, and the Spanish

No matter what tricks people have, it's all in vain.

At this time, Francis really felt helpless. He was very clear about the Haihan people's combat intentions, but he could not prevent them from carrying out the operations. The troops he could command were actually not weak, at least they had fought all over the South China Sea except Haihai.

All opponents except the Han Dynasty have never been defeated, but when they actually face off against the first army in the South China Sea, they will find that the strength gap between the first and second troops is really an insurmountable gap, and there is even a chance to change the trend of the battle.

None.

Orders from Aragones are still coming one after another, and the content is nothing more than asking him to defend the city of Manila, drive the Haihan people out of the city, or kill them inside the city. Unfortunately, these requirements may seem to Francis.

Not even one of them could be achieved. The Haihan Army's offensive was so strong that it was a very difficult task to hold them back for even a moment.
Chapter completed!