Chapter 845 Attacking Shipu Suo

For the coalition fleet that is fully prepared for combat, a small stronghold with only a few hundred people stationed is just one of the many combat missions this time. Solving Shipu and other pirate dens depends on the combat methods and processes.

There is no fundamental difference, the only special thing is the identity of the defender. Of course, in the eyes of Qian Tiandun, a senior general from Haihan who once commanded the Qiongbei Campaign, the Ming army actually has nothing special.

It can be said that when they first attacked the cities in Qiongbei, the Annan militia troops disguised as pirates were never polite to the Ming army who stubbornly resisted. They fought as they wanted - for the Haihan militia, the enemy was

Enemies, only dead enemies can make people feel at ease.

The United Fleet does not care about the feelings of the Ming army, but it still needs to save some money on its military expenditures. Even if these three thousand troops are not in combat status, their daily expenses are around two to three thousand taels of silver.

During the operation, this number will probably increase two or three times due to ammunition consumption and casualties. During the operation, the unnecessary waiting time can be reduced by one and a half days, and the cost saved is not a small amount.

Of course, the main reason is that Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen agreed that a small Shipu station did not need to spend too much time preparing for war. The fleet used to seal the waterway in and out of Shipu Port, then the infantry landed, the artillery opened the way, and directly ended the war.

Just get rid of this small stronghold. Launch an amphibious landing operation from the sea to the land and attack the enemy's coastal stronghold. This is the tactic that Haihan has practiced most and most skillfully in the past year. From attacking Penghu to conquering the Spanish in Taipei

The two strongholds in the Ming Dynasty are both concrete examples of the application of this tactic. The Ming army's border defense troops, who lacked training and were backward in equipment, wanted to resist Haihan's attack, not to mention the chance of winning, and it was unlikely that they would even have a chance to maintain peace.

However, although strategically, we despise our opponents, we still do not fail to prepare for anything tactically. The commanders of each combat unit received their own tasks on this day, and each conducted pre-war mobilization of their troops. After all, compared with

The pirates who fought against each other a few days ago and the Ming army of Shipu Suo were the first professional army the coalition fleet encountered since entering Zhejiang. The coalition officers attached great importance to this.

In the early morning of April 14, the combined fleet left the Yushan Islands in batches and sailed toward Shipu Port in the northwest direction. The voyage from the temporary camp on Beiyushan Island to Shipu Port was only more than 20 nautical miles.

The speed of the ship would be reached in three or four hours. However, given the size of this fleet, it is probably impossible to enter Shipu Port quietly without being discovered.

Among the Haihan militia troops who went north this time, the special operations battalion participated in the battle as an amphibious force, and the landing operations were naturally their area of ​​responsibility. In the Taipei campaign from the end of February to the beginning of March, the special operations battalion served as the main battle force.

, they also summed up a lot of experience in siege warfare from the battles against two Spanish strongholds, and had a better understanding and application of artillery siege, a combat method that they were not good at in the past. This time they targeted Shipura Castle.

After the operation, Qian Tiandun still handed over the frontline command to Gao Qiaonan.

After the previous Taipei operation, although individual combat merit assessment and subsequent rewards have not yet been introduced, the special operations battalion has received a collective third-class merit award jointly issued by the Military Commission and the Executive Committee due to its outstanding performance in the battle. Due to the award

The troops were already on their way to Zhejiang when it was issued. This commendation order was only conveyed to the fleet through the radio. It is also said that the military has the intention to once again upgrade the establishment of the special operations force from the battalion level to the regiment level. And this

The benefits brought by this kind of upgrade, in addition to the expansion of the personnel establishment of the entire special operations force, are that the officer positions and ranks of the corresponding positions will also be upgraded as the tide rises.

Gao Qiaonan is currently the commander of the special operations battalion. If the establishment of the special operations battalion is upgraded, then his position as battalion commander will naturally follow suit. Moreover, because he is deeply trusted by Qian Tiandun, the military will not

There is a second person who can compete with him for this position, so even though the official notification has not yet come out, his colleagues have already congratulated him on his promotion in advance.

According to the blockade plan formulated by Shi Diwen, the coalition fleet was divided into two fleets, the east and west, to operate separately. The west route was cut between Nantian Island and Gaotang Island, and entered Shipu Harbor through the Linmen, Qingmen, and Wuyan waterways.

, located exactly in the middle of the long and narrow harbor. From this point, the coalition forces can cut off the waterway from Shipu in the east to Baijiao Waterway in the west. There is no need to send additional ships to block several access waterways in the west of the harbor. However, because this waterway is too large

Shi Diwen was worried that it would be inconvenient for large ships to move through the narrow and curved area, so this detachment was composed entirely of "exploration-class" warships with relatively small hulls. The place where they entered Shipu Port was still about 20 miles away from the preset battle site.

Far away, it is unlikely to fight the Ming army first. The main task is to intercept all local ships trying to pass the blockade on the periphery.

As the main force of the attack, the fleet on the east route has a more complicated route. It enters the east end of Shipu Port from three waterways: Tongwamen, Huangnibang, and Xiawanmen, and then attacks Shipu Suo Castle on the coast together.

Forming an encirclement. Fortunately, these three waterways are not far apart, so it is not particularly difficult to achieve synchronized actions on the battlefield.

When the East Road fleet approached Shipu Port, some fishing boats outside the harbor also discovered this fleet of unknown origins and quickly fled into the harbor. It was not that these fishermen were highly vigilant, but the Haihan warships.

The appearance of the fishing boats is too unique and the scale of the fleet is too large. The fishermen will inevitably become wary at first sight. However, the coalition forces are not afraid that these fishing boats will return to report to the Shipu garrison. This kind of army has been separated for a long time.

Knowing that an enemy is coming, it is difficult to organize a decent resistance in a short period of time.

At ten o'clock in the morning, all the fleets had arrived at the scheduled location. The attack point on the West Road took the lead because it was far away from Shipu Station. More than a dozen warships rushed into the winding waterway nearly ten miles long. They were originally on the water surface.

Several small sampans that were moving slowly on board quickly rowed to the shore to make way for this fleet of boats that descended from the sky. The fishermen watched in stunned silence as these strange-looking sailing boats quickly passed by the water and headed for Shipu.

Within the harbor.

At the same time, the main force of the fleet led by Shi Diwen in the Huangnibang Waterway on the east side of Shipu Port has arrived, completely blocking the nearly 200-meter narrow entrance and exit where the waterway connects with the East China Sea. The other two fleets have also separated.

After arriving at the water crossings several miles apart on the north and south sides, Qian Tiandun and Xu Yuzhuo served as commanders of the remaining two routes respectively.

"Fire the cannon and start taking action!" Shi Diwen gave the order with a serious face.

The two 24-pound guns on the bow of the "Enterprise" fired one after another, then sounded the ship's whistle, and took the lead in sailing to the waterway on the west side, followed by more than 20 warships swarming in. As a member of the coalition fleet,

The main battleship, the "Enterprise" enters Shipu Port at the closest location to Shipu Station. After entering Shipu Port, you can see it when you turn a corner. The voyage is less than three nautical miles. For the "Enterprise" equipped with a steam-powered propulsion device,

"The number" really arrived in a blink of an eye.

When the two detachments on the north and south sides heard the sound of cannons coming from far away from the sea, they each gave orders to enter Shipu Port. The voyage to the south was about five or six nautical miles, while the voyage to the north from Tongwamen Waterway was

It is similar to the middle road, but you have to turn a U-shaped bend to reach Shipu Suo. Each of the three fleets left two boats to guard the entrance and exit of the waterway to prevent any fish that slipped through the net from breaking out from here.

In fact, it was not too late for the Ming army in the harbor to get the news. Before the coalition fleet fired its cannons, fishermen had already reported the abnormal situation outside the harbor to Shipu Station. The Qianhu of Shipu Station was named Ma Mingling.

He is also a veteran who has served in Changguowei for many years. His first reaction after hearing about this incident was that a certain family of heroes from Zhoushan came south to do business. However, there has always been a tacit understanding between the Ningbo government and the pirates in Zhoushan. The pirates are

They will definitely not approach the garrison where the Ming army is stationed. If these suspected pirate fleets intend to enter Shipu Port, Ma Ling can only think that they need to enter the harbor to avoid the limelight because of some bad conditions at sea. But look at today

The weather today does not look like a day with big waves, so why are these ships blocked at the waterway entering and exiting Shipu Port?

Before Ma Ling could figure out the reason, someone else came in and said that they heard two cannon shots from outside Huangnibang Waterway just a moment ago. It was suspected to be some kind of signal from the fleet outside the harbor - for example, to attack Shipu.

Port. Until this time, Ma Lingdu still could not completely believe that Shipu Station would be attacked by an outsider, because in his opinion, the pirates did not have a sufficient reason to attack Shipu Port.

Most of the residents in Shipu Port are fishermen, and there is not much money to speak of. To rob this place, it would be better to go directly to Xiangshan County, fifty miles away to the north. At least there are some wealthy squires there who can squeeze out some money. Not to mention that there is Shipu here.

With all the existence, those pirates holding harpoons and robbing can't beat the Shipu garrison with guns and cannons. Even if Shipu has one-third of the empty establishment, the professional army is by no means that easy to bully.

Regardless of the reason why these guys openly broke into Shipu Port, Ma Ling felt that it was necessary to give them a thumbs up, otherwise Shipu Port would be messed up and it would be difficult to manage in the future. At that moment, Ma Ling ordered the land and sea armies to mobilize their troops.

Prepare to fight against the "pirate" fleet that breaks into the harbor without permission.

Shipu Institute's naval force is relatively small, with only two lucky ships and a few sentinel ships. However, these two lucky ships are equipped with Folan cannons that were purchased by the Zhejiang Navy in the early years. They can deal with the kind of weapons on ordinary pirate ships.

An earthen cannon that can fire gravel nails and has a range of less than ten feet is more than enough. Although he heard that there seemed to be a lot of ships ready to move outside the harbor, Ma Qianhu still did not pay enough attention to it. He believed that as long as these ships were allowed to move freely,

Those who do not measure their capabilities and have no sense of proportion will naturally withdraw if they know how much they weigh.

This mistake was quickly proven. When the huge figure of the "Enterprise" appeared in Shipu Port, the Ming army sailors who were originally prepared to give the invaders a look were immediately shocked. This huge figure was spitting out white smoke.

The strange ship was definitely not built by pirates from the East China Sea. Such behemoths on the sea can only be found in classic records about the Three Treasures Eunuch. How could such a large ship still exist in the world?

Then a large shadow of sails spread out behind the "Enterprise", and a menacing fleet finally revealed its true face. The commander on board the Ming army knew that he was outmatched at the first sight, and immediately ordered the ship to be turned around - no

Return to Shipu Suo Pier, but head west to the other end of Shipu Port, hoping to use the complicated waterway to get rid of these evil stars behind you.

Ma Ling naturally saw this scene on the top of Shipusuo City. While he scolded Baihu who took the lead in escaping, he ordered all personnel to return to the city to prepare to resist the pirate invasion. Until this time, Ma Qianhu still believed that this group

The invaders who fell from the sky were pirates from somewhere in the East China Sea, and they never thought that they actually had another identity.

The coalition fleet did not separate its ships to pursue the two fleeing Ming warships. The fleet that entered Shipu Port from the west should have blocked the other party's escape route at this time. No matter how these two ships ran, in the end

There is no way to escape from this blocked harbor.

Dozens of warships converged on the coast near Shipusuo from the north and south. Ma Ling, who had been working as a Qianhu at Shipusuo for five or six years, had encountered such a situation for the first time. Looking at the dense sailing ships on the sea

Team, Ma Ling slowly began to come back to his senses. Among the numerous pirate gangs near Ningbo Prefecture, none had such a large formation, especially the large battleship in the middle. If any pirates could build such a

Things, I'm afraid they have unified the Zhoushan Islands long ago.

Since he was not from Zhoushan, Ma Ling had to reconsider the origin of the other party. The appearance of these sailing ships was obviously different from the common lucky ships and Guangzhou ships in the south of the Ming Dynasty. They were also very different from the Japanese pirate eight-banner ships in appearance.

The densely packed gun windows were somewhat similar to the armed sailboats of the Western Francois, but the sails and masts were completely different. Looking at it, Ma Ling couldn't figure out who it was.

Seeing that the siege of Shipu City had been formed, Shi Diwen did not rush to launch an offensive. Instead, he asked his officers to dock in small boats and used powerful slingshots to project a letter into the city. The main message was that the Haihan fleet was passing by.

Here, we need to stop for supplies and rest for a few days. We hope that the local garrison can cooperate. Both sides can get what they need, and don't hurt Heqi Yunyun. At the end of the letter, he also asked Shiposo City to send an envoy to contact Haihan outside the city.

, in order to resolve the misunderstanding as soon as possible.

"Haihan people?" Ma Ling was stunned for a moment after reading the letter, and then cursed: "Why don't these southern barbarians come to Zhejiang to be monsters if they don't enjoy their time in Fuguang?"
Chapter completed!