When the Xijiang River goes from Guangdong to Guangxi, it must pass through the Zhaoqing Small Three Gorges, and the first gorge of the Small Three Gorges is the Antelope Gorge. To the north of the Antelope Gorge is Antelope Mountain, and to the south is Lanke Mountain. The peaks on both sides of the gorge are more than 800 meters high.
, precipitous, dangerous, majestic, and beautiful. The gorge is dangerous and has always been a battleground for military strategists.
Just at the foot of the hillside outside the gorge, there are two ancient temples facing each other from the north to the south. Nowadays, there is a war and chaos, so no one will come to offer incense. However, the two temples suddenly become lively inside and outside. The river in front of the temple is full of people.
There are mighty gunboats, tugs with large water-driving wheels, and transport ships of all sizes. These ships are full of armed soldiers, and under the canvas are cannons and heavy vehicles. The river bank is built with long granite stones.
On the simple pier, military boots were clanging, and all the people coming and going were Australian officers in crisp gray uniforms. Most of them had command knives hanging on their waists and telescopes hanging on their chests. They pointed at the river on the pier. The guards walked along
The pier was on alert. Sandbags were set up on the pier and outside the temple, and artillery and typewriters were deployed.
Longhua Temple is now the brigade headquarters of the 1st Mixed Brigade, while Xiashan Temple across the river is the joint logistics station. Here is the base camp for the 1st Mixed Brigade to launch an attack on Zhaoqing.
Zhaoqing is almost entirely surrounded by mountainous areas, which makes it very difficult for troops to maneuver. Therefore, Zhaoqing has been the gateway to Guangdong and Guangxi since ancient times and the center of Xijiang transportation. Antelope Gorge is the key to this gate. After Xiong Wencan became the governor of Guangdong, in order to defend
The Australians might invade the north, so they set up a new fort here, and stationed hundreds of soldiers and twelve red barbarian cannons.
Today, the fort is still there, even intact. The working team of the Planning Institute is organizing prisoners to dismantle the cannons on the fort. The first mixed brigade did not even wait for the arrival of the river gunboat "Pearl River" responsible for fire support, and launched a small launch attack on the fort.
Landing operations. The cross-fire of Hongyi artillery located on both sides of the gorge is indeed very dangerous to large ships passing here, but for small boats that use engines to propel and have small targets, they must be on the wide river surface.
Hitting the target was not easy. None of the twelve Hongyi cannons hit the target. Although the Taiwanese soldiers fired five or six rounds of artillery fire at an extraordinary speed, the crossfire once posed a great threat to the small boat. But in the end they still failed
After resisting the landing of the infantry, they climbed up the ridge and used three volleys and hand-to-hand assault to defeat the hundreds of Ming troops who were covering the Taiwanese soldiers, and successfully captured the fort.
Although this battle was almost the same as the Humen battle a few years ago, the veteran officers of the First Mixed Brigade discovered the improvements of the Ming army. They were surprised to find on the fort that these artillery had changed from the imitation Western warships that were common in the past.
The gun-type gun mount was changed to a unique grindstone-type gun mount. Although this gun mount has no ball bearings, it is quite difficult to rotate, but it also shows that the Ming army introduced new ideas. The fort has also been improved,
The high-thick stone wall artillery forts that were difficult to observe and change the firing range in the past have been transformed into terrace-type gun emplacements with a wider firing range. In terms of combat, they have obviously learned from past experience and have specialized troops to protect the fort.
Zhu Mingxia was in the main hall of Longhua Temple, looking at the sand table model around Zhaoqing on the table. To be honest, the Battle of Zhaoqing did not require complicated tactical maneuvers - in fact, the continuous mountains in this area also made it difficult for the troops to launch a large-scale campaign.
Mobile warfare. The simplest and clearest way to fight is to force the entire army to attack the Three Gorges by boat and attack Zhaoqing Fucheng.
Since ancient times, it has been difficult for Guangdong to attack Guangxi, but it is easier for Guangxi to go to Guangdong. The Xijiang River flows from Guangxi to Guangdong. As long as the Guangxi army goes down the river and breaks through the small Three Gorges natural barrier in Zhaoqing, it can go straight to the Pearl River Delta region, the essence of Guangdong. And the Guangdong army
To attack Guangxi, one must go upstream - without the trackers' backs, it would be almost impossible for ships going up to pass through the Little Three Gorges.
For Fubo's army, the natural dangers of the Little Three Gorges were not enough. Motorized ships traveled upstream, and the water depth of the Little Three Gorges was enough to allow river gunboats to reach the foot of Zhaoqing City.
Although according to the reconnaissance report, the Ming army in Zhaoqing had a navy battalion, its total strength was only more than 1,200, and its ships were only more than 100, and most of them were small boats of 100 tons suitable for inland navigation.
If the river fleet confronts the enemy head-on, it will definitely lose.
From this point of view, what means will the Ming army use to intercept them? Zhu Mingxia knows that Zhaoqing is an important support point for the Ming army in Guangdong and Guangxi. Losing Zhaoqing means losing Guangdong. If Xiong Wencan wants to give an account to the court, he must hold this place
, otherwise he will not only be in danger, but his head will also be in danger.
He remembered the report written by Thorpe and Cummings after their staff trip last year, which specifically mentioned that Xiong Wencan had participated in the Battle of Chengmai and was a prisoner of the Senate. Since there is such a person, Xiong Wencan has no doubts about Fu Bo.
It is not that we know nothing about the army's combat power and combat characteristics, and we will inevitably adopt certain countermeasures.
To be honest, I'm quite looking forward to it. Zhu Mingxia doesn't think he has such an idea.
If the war is always so unchallenging, the army they built, carefully trained and armed will soon degenerate into an out-and-out security force. Zhu Mingxia thought with worry. The lack of fierce and large-scale
In battlefield confrontation, soldiers will become more and more lazy about war, and it won't be long before they will be unable to compete in high-intensity war.
As a commander, he is very willing to fight several head-to-head battles and big battles to train his troops, instead of the current "combat" that is almost a march.
However, the Ming army in Zhaoqing only had a few thousand people at best, and Xiong Wencan had no time to mobilize the troops of the Fang Yao generals from Guangxi and Dongxishan. The only men he could directly command were the general soldiers of the Zhaoqing naval battalion.
He has 1,200 officers and soldiers under his jurisdiction, 3,400 of his own supervisors, and the Zhaoqing Guard’s Guard Army. This Guard Army is said to have more than 3,300 flag troops, but they are distributed among
Zhaoqing Prefecture has various counties under its jurisdiction. The only ones surrounding Zhaoqing Prefecture are Baoguang Tun in Caowandu in Qianhusuo on the left and Yanqiandu in Qianhusuo on the right. The flag troops in these camps were already weak and many people fled.
It would be good to mobilize one to two hundred people.
"Comrade Brigadier, Commander of the Third Battalion Zhu Quanxing is here." The guard came to report.
"Invite him in."
Zhu Quanxing strode into the hall and saluted: "Comrade Brigadier——"
Zhu Mingxia waved his hand, indicating that he was not welcome.
"How is the situation in the camp?"
"I've been on the boat for too long, and my body is a little stiff. I went ashore and did some exercise and moved my body, and I feel a lot better."
"Is there anyone sick?"
"More than twenty. The symptoms are not serious."
"The reconnaissance team just came back and has confirmed that there are no other forts in Antelope Gorge."
Zhu Mingxia was originally worried that the Ming army would set up forts in the narrowest part of the canyon - the width of the river here is only 200 meters - which is within the effective range of the Hongyi cannon. If the Ming army set up forts on the hills on both sides, it would
It poses a serious threat to ships on the river.
Even if the Hongyi cannon fires solid iron bullets, hitting a small ship like a three-shot boat at a distance of less than 200 meters is enough to cause serious damage, not to mention that it is full of people - it will really cause blood and flesh to fly.
.
In the entire Antelope Gorge, except for the open river at both ends, the average width of the river is only about 300 meters. Setting up forts at any location can pose a serious threat to ships on the river.
However, according to the report of the General Reconnaissance Bureau, apart from the forts on both sides of the entrance and exit of the gorge, there are no forts in other areas of the Antelope Gorge. The mountains in the Antelope Gorge are steep, and there are no roads except for a narrow towpath. Large artillery can be transported up
The difficulty of the mountainside can be imagined. It is understandable that the Ming army failed to set up defenses here.
However, Zhu Mingxia was still worried and sent a brigade reconnaissance company to conduct reconnaissance in this area.
"However, during the reconnaissance, the scouts discovered that the enemy had a plan to use fire attacks." Zhu Mingxia picked up his pointer and pointed at the sand table on the table. "The scouts reported that the enemy had assembled more than a hundred troops at the east entrance of Dading Gorge.
Small civilian ships are piled with straw and tung oil."
Zhu Quanxing frowned slightly. The use of fire attack ships was indeed a threat to him. The river surface in the canyon was narrow and the water flow was rapid. The key was that the enemy could use fire attack ships to go down the river, while their ships were upstream and maneuverable.
The performance will be very poor. It will also become more difficult to use a motor boat to tow the fire ship away.
"This Antelope Gorge is no better than when we fought on the Pearl River in the past. The water is slow and the river is wide." Zhu Quanxing said, "The enemy is upstream, and the water in the canyon is so fast..."
"So I discussed it with Commander Mond of the Pearl River Task Force." Zhu Mingxia said, "The attack is postponed for one day. Today, the fleet will pass through the canyon first and eliminate those fire attack ships."
"Is there enough time?" Zhu Quanxing was a little worried, "The plan requires us to capture Zhaoqing within seven days, but now half of the time has passed..."
"I think it's about right. How long does it take to cross Antelope Gorge? I think one hour is enough. I'll give you another four hours to capture Zhaoqing. The brigade headquarters will be able to enter Zhaoqing tomorrow night."
"It's nothing, but if the navy ends the battle in half a day, I can capture Zhaoqing before dark today."
"You can take it down at night, but we don't dare to transport the jars and jars here at night. We might as well do it early tomorrow morning."
"Okay." Zhu Quanxing nodded, "I'll go back and tell the troops to get ready."
"The military headquarters has allocated a siege artillery company and a rocket company to our brigade, and I will strengthen them for your battalion - Zhaoqing is a prefectural city, and the city defense is much stronger than that of ordinary cities. It is also Xiong Wencan's home base, and the enemy's resistance is likely to
It will be more intense.”
"Forget it about the Rocket Company. One bad move will burn down the city. I still have to take care of the firefighting and relief work."
"To be prepared for any emergencies, we should give them some practice. We also need to let the troops experience more coordinated attacks with rifles and artillery."