Chapter 2119

Only six or seven miles south from Hirado City, the terrain is much narrower due to the Furukawa Bay that is concave inland. The narrowest point of the island from east to west is only four or five miles wide. If you exclude it, it will be inconvenient to pass.

In the mountainous areas, the only route that can really allow large groups of vehicles and horses to quickly reach the south of the island is the official road on the east coast.

When the Allied Forces Command formulated the battle plan before the war, they set this area as a blockade to cut off the north-south passage of Hirado Island. The generals believed that as long as the official road was cut off, it would be difficult for the enemies near Hirado City to escape smoothly by land.

Hiding in the mountains in the south of the island. In this way, the coalition forces can trap the armed forces of the Hirado clan in a relatively small area in the north of the island for encirclement and suppression, thereby shortening the combat time here.

For this expedition, which does not seem to be very lucrative, the coalition generals have long reached a consensus on a quick victory. After all, every day this war lasts, the coalition will consume a large amount of materials and military expenditures, and these expenditures are difficult to

With sufficient compensation from the direct benefits after the war, if you spend less, you will make money. This is why the special forces did not rush to attack Hirado City directly after landing at Boxiang Bay. Instead, they rushed south first and prepared to deploy in the south.

After establishing a good blockade, launch a general attack.

Gao Hongfu was also familiar with the local situation. Seeing that the Haihan Army was dragging its feet and did not attack the city of Hirado as expected, he quickly saw through the Haihan Army's true intentions and quickly sent people to investigate the Haihan Army's intentions.

Direction of action. Sure enough, what he got in return was that part of the Haihan Army had already moved south, and there seemed to be no sign of an immediate attack on the city.

Gao Hongfu knew something was wrong, so he divided his troops to the south and sent people to report back and ask for reinforcements. He knew that once the enemy cut off the road in the south, the Hirado clan would have no way to retreat and could only fight the enemy in the north of the island.

, and this kind of head-on battle is what the Haihan Army is good at. When the feudal army cannot defeat and avoid it, the situation will be very dangerous.

In fact, Tagawasuke had considered this possibility before and had sent people to the south to investigate. However, he did not expect that the coalition's offensive on the west coast would be the main direction of attack, and the personnel sent could not stop the special operations group's operations in the south.

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After several intermittent sporadic armed conflicts, the special operations group commanded by Takahashi Minami still relatively successfully occupied the only official road from Hirado City to the south of the island, and the Hirado feudal army that rushed in paid a heavy price for this.

Nearly fifty people were killed or injured, but it did not have much effect in delaying time. By the time Tagawasuke led the main force of the feudal army to leave Hirado City, the special battle group was already at a place called Onomura on the east coast.

Construction of temporary fortifications began.

Daye Village is built on the mountain, and many houses are built on the hillside. The narrow area between the bottom of the slope and the coast is not only used for reclaimed farmland, but also has an official road more than one foot wide.

. Although this is just a dirt road that cannot be said to be in good condition, it is also the "main artery" that connects land traffic between the north and south of Hirado Island. The goal of the Haihan Army's southward encirclement is this inconspicuous road.

The Haihan Army is very good at using civil engineering in combat operations, especially the construction of temporary fortifications. In order to effectively block this official road and prevent the Hirado clan from organizing armed forces to break through from this direction, special warfare

The regiment designated a construction area on the official road next to Daye Village, and forcibly recruited more than a hundred civilians from Daye Village, plus a company of infantry, to dig trenches on the official road and pile the excavated soil in front of the trenches.

Earth fortresses were used to deploy infantry defense lines.

Others immediately cut down bamboo trees next to the official road, sharpened one end, and tied them with ropes into long rows of horses to serve as roadblocks. If it were not for the poor traffic conditions from Boxiang Fishing Port to this place, the luck of the Haihan Army would have been difficult.

There are actually many collapsible barbed wires available on the warships for quick deployment, but the quantity that can be transported by manpower in a hurry is too small, and it is not as fast as making roadblocks with bamboo and wood on site.

The temporary defenses of trenches and bamboo and wood roadblocks are certainly not very strong. There are actually many ways to break them, such as using powerful units such as heavy cavalry, or placing artillery on the battlefield. It is no longer possible to bypass this place.

However, these solutions are difficult to achieve for the Hirado clan. There is no heavy cavalry in the clan army, and almost all the artillery that can be used is deployed on the coastal defense forts of Hirado Port, so there is no way to invest these special arms at the moment.

battlefield.

As for the method of taking a roundabout way around this place, it is even more undesirable. After this place was blocked by the Haihan Army, the carriages and horses could no longer go south through the official road, and the large group of people in Hirado City could not move to the mountainous area to the south through a roundabout way.

In order not to be trapped in the northern part of the island and unable to escape, the Hirado clan must find a way to open this road, but this is exactly the situation that the Kaihan Army wants to promote. The narrower the battle zone, the more conducive it is to the Kaihan Army's performance

Due to the advantage of weapon performance, just digging a few trenches here is enough to completely block the flat area near the sea. Deploying a company on the defense line is more than enough.

However, the construction process of the fortifications was actually not smooth. It took a lot of time to recruit the civilian laborers of Daye Village, and many villagers took advantage of the opportunity and slipped into the mountains and forests. As a result, the number of civilian laborers recruited was far less than expected.

Commander Sun Zhen had to order an infantry company under his command to temporarily put down their rifles and pick up engineer shovels to join in the work of digging trenches.

During this period, small groups of enemy troops continued to harass the construction site. Although it was not enough to regain the lost ground, it still caused the Haihan Army to stop their work from time to time and organize defenses to repel them. Such harassment battles also greatly delayed the construction.

Sun Zhen was very dissatisfied with the progress of the fortifications.

The other side obviously continued to adapt to the Haihan Army's combat methods during the battle. It no longer launched a sudden advance, but launched a tentative attack from the mountains and forests next to the official road. If the Haihan Army did not give an adequate response,

, they will slowly increase the intensity of their offensive, and once the Haihan Army launches a counterattack, these armed personnel hidden in the mountains and forests will immediately retreat, obviously just to slow down the construction speed of the Haihan Army and wait for the main force to arrive

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Sun Zhen had to deploy a company on the hillside and use firepower to block the opponent's stragglers from attacking the construction site, and finally calmed down a little.

By the time Tagawasuke led the main force to join Gao Hongfu nearby, Ono Village's defenses had begun to take shape. Four intersecting W-shaped trenches had cut off the official road and nearby areas. Although due to the rush of construction time,

The average depth of these trenches is only two to three feet, but with the excavated soil piled up in front of the trenches to form a ridge, this height difference is enough to become a bunker that the Haihan soldiers hiding in the trenches can rely on.

Not only are the trenches interconnected, but the angles formed will also turn into terrifying crossfire during battle.

Sun Zhen deployed a platoon of troops in each trench, and the company that had previously participated in the construction of the trenches retreated to the rear to rest and act as a combat reserve. Long platoons of horse resistance made of bamboo and wood were deployed behind the trenches.

North, in order to further limit the opponent's advancement speed and space for movement. According to his estimation, as long as the opponent does not use artillery in the battle, trying to break through this line of defense from the front will definitely pay a huge price in casualties.

At this time, the East China Sea Fleet, which has been notified, has sent a supply ship and will try to dock at the nearby coast to transport the small-caliber field guns and ammunition needed for the special operations group ashore. This line of defense only needs to add a few more guns.

The artillery made up for the shortcomings, and Sun Zhen was confident that he could prevent his opponent's counterattack here.

At this time, the sky was slowly starting to darken. Although Tagawasuke confirmed in the distance that the Haihan Army had cut off the road and built fortifications, he still insisted on letting Gao Hongfu launch an offensive to see if there was a chance to attack the enemy in the dark.

We previously regained control of this road. If we can allow some of the feudal lords to successfully go to the south, then the Kaihan Army will have to keep in mind the possibility of being attacked from both sides while attacking Hirado City. This can greatly reduce the pressure on defense.

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Gao Hongfu actually knew that it was too late to take action at this time. It would be better to wait until dark to carry out a sneak attack and still have hope of success. However, Tagawasuke insisted on weighing the Haihan people, so he could only obey the order and ordered eight

Hundreds of peasant soldiers and three hundred feudal lords launched an offensive against the temporary defense line constructed by the Haihan Army.

Sun Zhen, who personally directed the operations on the defense line, immediately discovered the enemy's movements. After confirming the scale of the enemy troops with a telescope, he quickly issued a combat order: "Since they are here to die, let's satisfy them! Let them go.

Fire closer and let them know who they are fighting!"

To deal with enemies who mainly use cold weapons, the special operations group has quite a wealth of combat experience. It does not even require the commander to issue more specific combat orders. The soldiers know exactly what they should do.

The Haihan Army waited patiently for the enemy to advance within 100 meters. When they saw that the archers in the opponent's formation had begun to bend their bows and ready to launch a long-range attack, they suddenly opened fire. A dense barrage of bullets flew from behind the bunker to the opposite side.

The local peasants and soldiers had almost no protection, and dozens of them fell to the hail of bullets in an instant.

This kind of killing efficiency has a great impact on farmers and soldiers who have little combat experience. Most of these locals who usually focus on farming and fishing have no experience on the battlefield. Now they see their companions around them being killed by gunshots.

Unable to overcome the panic in their hearts, some weak-willed people immediately turned around and fled back, exposing their backs to the Haihan army.

What followed was a process from a small chaos to a major chaos. The limited military quality of the peasants and soldiers made it impossible to persist in fighting in such an adversity with clearly differentiated strengths and weaknesses. The large number of casualties among the front-line personnel quickly turned into a rout. The feudal lords behind them were defeated.

Although the military supervisory team killed several people one after another and asked the peasant soldiers who acted as the vanguard not to retreat without permission, the peasants and soldiers who had already fled for their lives instead of retreating could not care about so many people. Since they could not pass through the supervisory team's

Blocked from returning to the original route, many people had no choice but to flee into the mountains and forests next to the official road. Some panicked peasant soldiers even fled directly towards the coast, apparently planning to swim back to the north from the sea.

Although the vassal army holding the formation was not disrupted by this, the peasant soldiers who opened the way were defeated so quickly, which still greatly affected their confidence. Under Gao Hongfu's personal supervision of the formation, the 300 vassal troops began to

Move forward slowly.

With the lesson of Tagawa Kojiro's failure in front of him, Gao Hongfu also knew that if he set up a battle array and engaged the Haihan Army, it would be like committing suicide. The rifles used by the opponent were far superior to his own weapons in terms of firepower and range, not to mention that the enemy on the opposite side was still

Hiding in the bunker, he did not insist on letting the feudal army advance to within the effective range before firing, but decisively ordered shooting at a longer distance.

The threat that such a fighting distance can pose to the Haihan Army is naturally very limited. Sun Zhen saw that the opponent seemed to have no intention of continuing to advance, so he ordered to fire back. However, the distance of this fighting was far away, and the hit rate of the special battle group would also be greatly increased.

decline, so this kind of counterattack is more of a statement of attitude, and does not use full firepower like a close combat.

After a tacit exchange of fire between the two sides, neither achieved any results, but Gao Hongfu was able to communicate with Tagawasuke. After all, the first group of peasant soldiers who came forward suffered heavy casualties, and even Tagawasuke did not dare to attack the enemy with limited troops.

When the vassal army engaged in such a war of attrition, Gao Hongfu's ability to fight his opponents back and forth on the battlefield was considered a good performance.

Seeing his opponent pretending to fire and then retreating on his own initiative, Sun Zhen did not order any further pursuit out of caution. His mission was to build and defend the land blockade on the east coast, and the headquarters did not order an advance to the north.

Before, he couldn't act at will.

Tagawasuke did not try to launch an offensive again, but followed Gao Hongfu's suggestion to withdraw his troops and wait for the evening before looking for an opportunity to attack. Then Tagawasuke made statistics on the participating troops. In today's battle that started in the afternoon, the number of casualties and missing persons has exceeded

Three hundred people, fortunately most of them are temporarily recruited peasant soldiers, so they will not have a big impact on the combat effectiveness of the feudal army for the time being.

The number of casualties on Haihan's side was much smaller, even far lower than the estimate before the war. However, when Qian Tiandun saw his own casualties later, his first reaction was not how hard his troops had fought.

It's pretty, but I think the main force of the enemy has not really participated in the battle yet, so we can't make an overly optimistic judgment about the low casualty rate on the first day yet.

The naval losses seemed to be greater. In today's artillery battle, in order to put enough pressure on Hirado Port, seven Haihan warships were damaged to varying degrees in the exchange of fire. At the same time, double-digit numbers were also accompanied.

casualties. As for the attack on the coastal defense forts, it is still difficult to confirm the effect of the attack.

In fact, the navy rarely adopts such rigid tactics. The artillery battle on this day was purely to attract firepower for the Western Route Army. Shi Diwen remained calm and did not feel dissatisfied with the feint attack mission. He knew

The Hirado Domain's naval force must be hiding somewhere nearby. When that naval force appears, the East China Sea Fleet will truly come into play.
Chapter completed!