Chapter 2852

"Personally, Shenyang City is the most difficult target to conquer among all the wars I have participated in." Chen Yixin said: "Compared with attacking Shenyang, our process of conquering the Denglai area in Shandong was almost easy. To describe it.”

Bai Letong asked: "Then what do you think is the biggest problem we encountered in the Battle of Shenyang? Is it the stubborn resistance of the Qing army, or the strong city walls here?"

Chen Yixin gave the answer with certainty: "It's logistics. The biggest problem that affects our army's combat effectiveness is logistics."

War is about logistics, and this principle applies to all countries, and no army is exception. As the most advanced thermal weapons force in this era, the Haihan Army relies far more on logistical supplies than The traditional cold weapon troops.

A large number of elite troops, including the Fifth Army Division, the Sixth Army Division, the Special Operations Group, the Marine Corps, and the North Sea Fleet, participated in the Shenyang Battle. Nearly 20,000 troops were engaged in front-line operations. Weapons, ammunition, food and medicine were consumed every day. , fodder for mules and horses, and living supplies, the total amount is at least dozens of tons.

It is not difficult for Haihan to raise these supplies. What is difficult is transporting these supplies from the rear to the front line.

However, due to the fact that Shenyang's geographical environment is far away from the coastline, the Haihan Army can no longer solve the problem of material delivery through sea transportation as in the past. The nearest seaport to the battlefield is also a full three hundred miles away. Therefore, the Haihan Army can only Like their counterparts in this era, they can use mules and horses to transport supplies.

From Gaizhou to Haizhou, from Haizhou to Liaoyang, and from Liaoyang to the Shenyang front line, the entire land supply line was divided into multiple sections for operation. On each section, hundreds of carriages traveled day and night, going back and forth between Between the two places, a relay transports supplies to the front line, and then transports the wounded and trophies to the rear.

There were thousands of truck drivers, porters, warehouse managers, and armed personnel accompanying the convoys working on this supply line. In order to resist the harassment launched by a small force of the Qing army, the Haihan Army also specially More than 2,000 armed cavalry were deployed at various places along the way as quick reaction forces.

Before the start of the war in Shenyang, Haihan had already transported thousands of tons of supplies to Liaoyang, but the ammunition consumption rate after the start of the war still greatly exceeded the command's expectations. As a result, subsequent combat operations were intermittent and took half a month to complete. We arrived at the north bank of the Hun River. But when we actually entered the siege stage, it was when combat supplies were consumed the most.

The area of ​​Shenyang City is not as large as that of Liaoyang City, but after the Ming and Qing dynasties, the city's defense strength exceeded that of Liaoyang City. The city wall was three feet and five feet high, two feet higher than Liaoyang City. There was a ring outside the city. The moat is three feet wide and eight feet deep.

The nine city gates are distributed in the four directions of southeast, northwest and northwest. There are two gates in the south direction facing the Hun River, namely Desheng Gate and Tianyou Gate, also known as the Big South Gate and the Little South Gate respectively. There are three gates on the city gate. There is a three-story gate tower and an urn at the gate.

Although the weapons and equipment of the Qing army are not as good as those of Haihan, as long as the fortifications are built firmly enough, they are not incapable of fighting. Moreover, they have been fighting with Haihan all year round, and they have learned a lot from each experience. Little things. After the Haihan Army began its Northern Expedition, the Manchu Qing Dynasty rushed to build a large area of ​​​​positions outside the city. They imitated the Haihan Army's combat model, dug trenches and built parapets, and deployed a large number of artillery on the upper and lower walls to build a three-dimensional firepower network.

With the troops that Haihan put into the battlefield, it was far from enough to encircle Shenyang City, and the position on the north bank of the Hun River must be defended to avoid being taken by the Qing army to counter-siege. Therefore, the headquarters formulated the siege plan at that time. The plan is to launch an offensive from the north bank of the Hun River to the south side of Shenyang City.

Haihan's artillery has certain advantages in terms of range, but in order to avoid being affected by the Qing's city defense artillery fire, artillery positions can only be deployed at a safe distance. However, in this way, the combat distance is increased, and the lethality and shooting accuracy of the artillery are reduced. There will inevitably be discounts.

A target that could be destroyed with one shot at close range may not be effective even with seven or eight shots at a distance, and the consumption of ammunition will inevitably increase significantly.

The tens of thousands of Qing troops gathered inside and outside Shenyang City were not idle during this period, and continued to launch offensives against the Haihan Army's positions from the east and west sides. Although most of them were feint attacks, the Qing troops attacked in several groups, almost day and night. The stationary fighting also caused a lot of trouble for the Haihan Army and greatly delayed the progress of the Haihan Army's siege.

The slowdown in the siege puts greater pressure on logistics. Every additional day the frontline battle lasts, the supply line needs to transport dozens of tons of more cargo. If this is left to sea transportation, it will naturally not be considered a pressure. It only requires the deployment of a few large ships. Cargo ships will do. But for long-distance land transportation, this means mobilizing multiple fleets to complete the task.

Chen Yixin had to complete the logistics transportation tasks while continuing to recruit mules, horses and carriages from Shandong to enhance the transportation capacity of the Haihan Army in Liaodong.

During this period, he had to constantly travel between Gaizhou and Shenyang, commanding the cavalry troops to attack small groups of Qing troops who attacked supply convoys. Although these Qing troops had limited combat effectiveness, they came and went like the wind and hid on the east side of the supply line. The Qianshan Mountains also created a lot of trouble for Haihan.

The battle against Shenyang City also became the longest siege battle since the establishment of the Haihan Army. The stalemate at the city was held for several months, and the time it took far exceeded that of the early attacks on Hue City in Annan and Manila in Luzon. City, Ming Dynasty Hangzhou, Dengzhou and other places.

Ning Zijing said: "Since Shenyang is such a hard nut to crack, why didn't we mobilize reinforcements from the south and concentrate our forces to capture it in one fell swoop?"

Bai Kesi smiled and said: "The most capable units of the Haihan Army and the generals with the best records were all on the Shenyang front line at the time. Wouldn't it be a slap in the face if we send reinforcements from the south?"

Although these words were a bit sarcastic, Chen Yixin didn't take it seriously and nodded in response: "The war was not going well at that time, but overall the situation was still under control, and their elder brothers were unwilling to report to the executive committee Will ask for help. And we gradually discovered that actually using the opportunity of attacking Shenyang City to consume the Qing army's effective strength can be regarded as a kind of victory."

Bai Kesi said: "This is a disguised form of encirclement and support."

"That's right." Chen Yixin said: "Shenyang is the capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It is a place they cannot give up. Even if they know they can't defeat us, they still have to endure hard and hope that we will retreat after we run out of supplies. And If they want to continue to consume us, the only way is to take human lives to do so."
Chapter completed!