On May 9, 1635, when the sky was just getting brighter, in the morning mist, the integrated squadron of the Wuzhou National Army Brigade left Wuzhou in six large boats and began its first patrol along the river.
According to the radio report, the supply fleet departed from Zhaoqing this morning and is expected to arrive at Xintan in the evening.
The task of the integrated squadron is to arrive at Xintan before this evening, pick up the supply fleet, hand over to the escorting Zhaoqing National Army brigade, and then escort the fleet to Wuzhou safely.
The commander of the mission was Zhu Si - he told Qian Duo that this was the first mission of the integrated squadron, and it would be more appropriate for him to personally command it for the sake of safety. Qian Duo agreed.
The task is not complicated, which is why Qian Duo is relieved to let Zhu Si lead the team. To be honest, Qian Duo trusts Li Dong more than Zhu Si. Although Zhu Si has served longer than Li Dong, he is also the most trained.
A strict security battalion serves, but the security battalion has very little field experience and performs urban security work year after year.
Qian Duo's opinion is: Zhu Si's formation and formation are impeccable, he knows the doctrine and infantry manual by heart, and although he is not particularly good at shooting and stabbing, he is at least good or above. All in all, he is a very good soldier.
But he has a big shortcoming: he lacks actual combat command experience and has no qualifications to be an officer. He was directly promoted to captain of three companies - it is still unclear whether he is qualified to command.
Although Li Dong has never been an officer, he has actually served as a soldier in the field army for two years and served as a corporal. He has led many teams to perform security warfare missions, and many times he also directed such security warfare.
He has relatively rich experience. Therefore, he was originally going to hand over the integrated squadron to Li Dong to command.
Now that Zhu Si has taken the initiative, it is okay to use it as training. After all, the experience accumulated in one actual battle is more useful than the number of exercises on the training field.
So the battalion commander Zhu Si went directly to the front-line command post. The squadron commander of the integrated squadron was still Li Dong. Qian Duo hoped that they could complement each other.
The six Dafa boats sailed along the center line of the channel in a column formation. Zhu Si and the naval commander in charge of commanding the fleet agreed: the odd-numbered boats were on the left, commanded by Zhu Si; the even-numbered boats were on the right, commanded by Li
Winter command. This makes it easier to command in case you need to deploy troops or fire to both sides of the strait at the same time.
Because they are performing slow-speed inshore patrols, these large boats have been temporarily modified. The best of them are the flagship boats No. 1 and 2, which were modified at the Hong Kong shipyard. They are installed on both sides.
With additional protective iron plates, a fixed gun mount is installed on the stern of the ship to install a 12-pound mountain howitzer. Its two-wheeled gun mount is also carried with the ship and can be used ashore when necessary.
Several other ships underwent temporary modifications in Sanshui before they had time to return to Hong Kong for modification. Guangdong did not have large-scale iron plates or riveting workers, so they just erected bamboo barriers on both sides of the ship -
Similar to the bamboo-handled shields used in Japan, the outside is coated with yellow mud to prevent fire. There is no artillery or typewriter configuration on the weapon. It relies on the projected firepower of the infantry carrier itself.
Because only one-third of the integrated squadron is temporarily transferred from the basic squadron, it means that there are only 5 Nanyang rifles on each ship. As a result, the fleet has very little long-range projection firepower. In order to make up for the lack of firearms,
Qian Duo and Zhu Si mobilized Ming soldiers who were able to use firearms from each squadron, and equipped the ships with some of the firearms captured in Wuzhou. These firearms were mainly turtledove guns and some flannel guns captured in Wuzhou.
Each ship is equipped with ten or twenty. Zhu Si's plan is that although these weapons have poor accuracy and slow shooting speed, they are not weak in power. They can effectively attack the enemy in close combat.
These firearms were set up at the openings of the barrier, densely packed like hedgehogs.
The steam engine roared, spewing black smoke and white mist. Soldiers of the National Army crowded on the deck holding spears, and those not on duty sat on their backpacks - the ground was full of backpacks and wooden barrels containing supplies.
, wooden box. The soldiers on duty stepped on the wooden box, peeked out from the barrier, and observed the surroundings boredly. Behind each big boat was towing a small boat, which was piled with dry firewood.
There is no shortage of coal in Guangdong, but most coal mines were not mined in the 17th century. Along the way from Guangzhou to Wuzhou, there is no place where coal can be "divided on-site", except at important nodes like Sanshui and Zhaoqing.
In addition to the joint logistics command using coal ships to stockpile some thermal coal for supply, steam ships on the Xijiang route can only use firewood as fuel in many cases.
Of course, the sources of firewood are very wide, and it is not difficult to collect in Guangdong, a place with lush vegetation. The disadvantage is that the calorific value is too low. The calorific value of hard firewood is less than half that of standard coal, and it is even lower when actually used. This makes the firewood on the Xijiang River
All steam vessels require additional fuel.
In order to avoid the dangerous and time-consuming situation of stopping the ship halfway to collect fuel, most ships tow an unpowered fuel ship while sailing. Although Qian Duo feels that this is very risky, Wuzhou local photos
If there is no coal to replenish, we can only make do.
In Guangdong in May, early summer has arrived. The sun is shining hotly, and the soldiers can only hide under the canvas awnings. The hot sunshine, the hull of the ship vibrating due to the operation of the steam engine, and the choking smoke... not long after setting off.
It makes many people feel dizzy.
"If you feel uncomfortable, report it and go to the side of the ship to vomit!", "Don't walk around randomly!", "Pay attention to your surroundings!"...Li Dong and the sergeants walked around among the crowds on each ship, using their hands to push them through.
The steam engine loudly emphasized discipline, and stopped from time to time to check the equipment of individual people and pretend to encourage them. Although there were many casualties here, there were not many people who had seriously fought in the war, and many people were still nervous.
feel.
Before departure, each member of the integrated squadron received a standard machete and other miscellaneous gadgets. This was obviously not because the commander relied heavily on them, but because the development of the situation led Bei Wei to order "to strengthen the equipment of the National Army as much as possible."
.
With the attack of the South China Army, the Ming Dynasty's rule in Guangdong fell apart. The Yao people, who were already restless and began to secretly join forces, took advantage of the situation to launch a riot and attacked the remaining Ming troops garrisoned everywhere. Due to the insufficient strength of the South China Army, in addition to dispatching a small number of troops to take over the county,
, failed to effectively establish rule in the mountainous area. The Yao people's riots were like an out-of-control fire, intensifying, developing faster and larger than the same period in history. Tens of thousands of Yao people attacked Lianshan County after they lost their command.
The fighting spirit of the Ming army everywhere was powerless. Almost all the mountainous areas in northwestern Guangdong were involved. Many villages fell, and some counties were captured by the Yao people before they were taken over by the Fubo army. In the center of the riots, many counties
After being taken over by the National Army squadron, it was expelled or surrounded by Yao people's armed forces, and the communication lines were cut off. And this storm connected into a large area, threatening Shaoguan, Zhaoqing and Wuzhou.
Strong men from all walks of life also took action, absorbing the defeated Ming army that was defeated by the South China Army, and calling the shots in areas not yet fully controlled by the Senate. What worried Bei Wei the most was that judging from the confessions of captured prisoners and the actions of the armed forces in various places,
Although the Yao people, the remnants of the Ming army, the bandits and other forces have no signs of unity for the time being and are still attacking each other, there is already some cooperation in actions. Especially when the Fubo Army launches a clearing operation, all parties will
There were diversionary actions. The situation seemed to have become complicated and dangerous overnight.
Li Dong didn't know the current situation - he only knew that the situation was tense during the meeting, and he knew very little about the specific situation. The obvious thing is that these recruits will not be able to follow on the battlefield just because they have an extra machete.
The enemy is head-on. They may be used to obeying orders and have a little cohesion, but the consensus among the officers and non-commissioned officers is that they must keep an eye on this group of recruits at all times and let them form a dense queue. As long as this group of rabble is controlled
If they relax a little, they will desert and slip away to who knows where. Not to mention that they are not well trained in tactics and weapons use. If they really encounter the enemy, standard spears will have no effect at all.
Fortunately, the leader also knew their actual combat power, so the assigned operations this time were not too difficult - and there was also the tool of the Dafa boat: if they couldn't win, they would just get on the boat and run away.
The fleet squeaked down the river and soon passed Xielongzhou. There was an observation post of the Fubo Army here. The inland river fleet also deployed gunboats on duty here, but further downstream, except for the county town and important transportation
In villages and towns that are nodal points, the Fubo Army has no military presence on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
At the moment, not even a boat can be seen on the Xijiang River, and there are even fewer people along the coast. Many small villages are deserted, and some have simply turned into ruins. There are people on guard in the larger villages and towns. Although it is spring, not many people can be seen.
People are working in the fields. Sometimes there is black smoke floating in the air, whether it is the fire of war or the release of police smoke.
Their six boats were sailing alone on this wide river, which really gave Li Dong a chilling feeling.
"This is too desolate..." Li Pudun stood on the wooden box and muttered to himself. He was originally a guard soldier in Zhaoqing, and he was very familiar with this area of Xijiang.
"It's an old saying: I'd rather be a peace dog than a person in troubled times. Why do you care about this when you come to be a soldier?" Yang Erdong heard what he said and said. He was right next to the nozzle below him, responsible for taking care of a turtledove gun - already mounted
The ammunition was ready. The match rope was lit and hung on the iron hook on the side.
"I really don't want to go out to fight, but if I don't serve as a soldier, I won't have food to eat." Li Pudun was a little sad - he was not a camp soldier, so he didn't need to participate in the screening and allocation of soldiers. Enlisting in the army was voluntary.
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 356