Chapter 2980

Sure enough, as Zheng Agui expected, the destination of this batch of troop transports carrying soldiers from the Bangui Battalion was Fort San Pedro on the other side of the strait. Their landing place was less than a hundred feet away from the ruins of the castle.

At this time, there were also passengers on the coast waiting to board these troop transports to leave the front line. Zheng Agui glanced at them and saw wounded soldiers wearing bandages, crutches, or being carried on stretchers.

Behind these wounded soldiers, there were some stretchers on the ground. The people lying on them had their faces covered with white cloth. They were obviously those who died in the battle yesterday.

Zheng Agui stood on tiptoe and glanced through the gaps in the crowd. There seemed to be quite a lot of dead people. The stretchers were densely packed in a large area, at least dozens of people. Plus the wounded who had to be evacuated from the firing line, at least there could be

Two hundred people came and went.

Yesterday's fierce battle had already made Zheng Agui expect that there would be certain casualties, but he never expected that there would be so many casualties.

It's no wonder that the command headquarters wanted to use ruthless tactics before dark, blowing Fort San Pedro into rubble at any cost.

After landing, the soldiers did not need to be greeted by the officers, and they all made way for the wounded soldiers in a tacit understanding. Some people silently took out the cigarettes on their bodies and handed them to the wounded soldiers passing by them.

Although the casualties were not small, the results obtained in yesterday's attack were actually not bad. Zheng Agui and others then arrived at Fort San Pedro. The collapsed city gate here was still being cleaned up, but there was already a way to accommodate it.

The passage for carriages to enter and exit.

The corpses of the defenders were all pulled out from the castle one cart at a time and piled on the carts.

The reason for cleaning up Fort San Pedro, which was blown into ruins, is to count the results of the battle and confirm the role played by yesterday's blasting operation.

Second, if Haihan wants to achieve long-term occupation of the local area, it cannot just sit back and watch these corpses rot and stink under its own eyes. It must be disposed of as soon as possible.

Third, the Haihan Army needs a frontline command post, and Fort San Pedro also has two relatively well-preserved sections of city wall, which can be used as a bunker for the command post.

The Bangui Battalion soon received the task. Under the cover of artillery fire, they will clear multiple fortresses in the nearby area. The Manila Battalion, which was engaged in a hard battle in this area yesterday, will temporarily withdraw from the line of fire and get a day of precious rest.

time.

"There is good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?" Zheng Agui tried to make his tone more relaxed, which might slightly reduce the pressure on his soldiers.

No one answered, but Qin Bo finally muttered: "Let me tell you the good news first!"

Everyone can see that the Haihan Army's offensive in Cebu is not going very smoothly, and they can't help but feel nervous.

The battle situation here is much more intense than the previous places where they participated in the battle. As the elite Manila Battalion, it has suffered so many casualties. Naturally, the performance of the Bangui Battalion sent to the firing line may not be as good.

Where to go.

Zheng Agui said: "The good news is that the ruins in front of us are the strongest fortress in the area. The targets we have to deal with next will definitely be easier than this Fort San Pedro."

Qin Bo asked: "Then what is the bad news?"

"The bad news is..." Zheng Agui paused before continuing: "It is said that there are at least a dozen fortresses in the nearby area. It is indeed not an easy task to clear out all these fortresses!"

Not only is this not an easy task, it is an arduous task for them.

These new recruits have not been in the army for a long time and have not had time to receive training on tough battles. As for the tactics of coordinated infantry and artillery attacks, they are completely unfamiliar. To attack a local fortress that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is no longer like clearing out horses.

Spat Town is so simple.

However, the military orders are overwhelming, and the headquarters has assigned the combat mission to Bangui Camp. Naturally, it is absolutely impossible to shirk it. Even if you know that it is very dangerous, you can only bite the bullet at this time.

As the sky grew brighter, the Haihan Army took the initiative to launch a new round of offensive.

The first target of Bangui Camp was a residential fort only twenty or thirty feet away from Fort San Pedro. This square-shaped fort was built around a three-story building. The entrance and doors and windows on the ground floor were

They have all been blocked with a large amount of bricks and stones. It is obvious that the defenders are determined to fight to the end.

However, this kind of fortress converted from a private house is just an ordinary masonry structure, and its stability is far less than that of Fort San Pedro. If large-caliber artillery is used to continuously bombard it, the outer wall of the building will definitely not be able to withstand it.

After Fort San Pedro was captured by Haihan troops yesterday evening, the defenders of the fortress did not attempt to counterattack or rescue, but entered a state of silence. There was no movement until this morning.

Of course, such a reaction is not difficult to understand. The entrance and exit channels of this kind of fortress have been blocked. Even if there are enough water and food for the defenders to hold on for a long time, the fastest consumption is definitely the limited ammunition. If you take the initiative to open fire, then

This is exactly what the Haihan Army wanted. Staying silent and waiting for the Haihan Army to attack before opening fire is the most reasonable way to respond.

The Haihan Army's offensive was launched by the artillery unit, but it took some time to wait for the artillery to be in position. However, this also gave the Bangui Battalion more preparation time, and officers at all levels were able to digest the newly deployed combat plan.

The four large-caliber heavy artillery pieces that arrived at the firing line just this morning are now set up in a temporary position outside Fort San Pedro. Although the defenders' weapons range seems to be within the range of Haihan's artillery position, the engineering troops built it overnight.

The gun emplacements had very thick bunkers, and the Spanish's small artillery could not penetrate these fortifications.

These artillery pieces with a diameter of nearly half a foot are very heavy and are designed specifically for siege warfare. However, during the attack on Fort San Pedro yesterday, their role was very average, and in the end they could only

The castle was breached with the help of engineering blasts.

But against today's target, the value of these artillery was fully demonstrated. The four cannons aimed at the entrance of the fortress and fired a salvo. After the dust and smoke dissipated, the space between the blocked entrance and the second floor had collapsed.

There was a big gap, as if a hole had been made in this side of the wall.

The second round of salvos doubled the area of ​​the hole, which was enough for people to enter and exit. However, this obviously did not meet the conditions for launching a charge. The artillery unit stopped after two more rounds of concentrated fire.

The wall that was shelled was already in ruins, and the superstructure collapsed into rubble, forming a slope leading to the interior. The entire fortress also changed from a square shape to a gate shape.

The charge horn sounded at this moment, and the Haihan army rushed out of the bunker and rushed towards the gap that was forcibly opened by artillery fire.
Chapter completed!