On November 29, after a day of fighting, the Suqian-Yanwei Port defense line, the first line of defense in the southeastern corner of the Central Plains Corps of the Qing Army, was completely breached, and 12 divisions were annihilated.
However, after this series of hard battles, the Ming army also suffered its largest losses since the war. The 5th Armored Division of the People's Guard, which was responsible for the main attack, had a total of 4,396 people killed, wounded, and missing; 55 tanks were completely destroyed, and the damage (repairable)
) 67 tanks, and 224 other vehicles were damaged or damaged.
This is only the figure for one division of the 5th Armored Division. The right group army group has 90 divisions, 60 of which participated in the offensive. The other 59 divisions that participated in the Central Plains War had at least as many losses as the 5th Armored Division.
ten times.
The Great War in the Central Plains gave the Ming army its first taste of the "normal exchange ratio." Although the exchange ratio between the Ming and Qing armies was still relatively large, in terms of casualties alone, the Ming army still traded one for several. But at least
It is already within the normal ratio, and there is no exaggerated ratio of one to dozens or one to hundreds at the beginning of the war.
Even so, the Nanjing High Command was still unwilling to stop temporarily and still ordered the right army group to continue marching northward to attack Haizhou without stopping. It only allowed the right army group to take advantage of the short break in the attack on the night of the 28th to quickly take advantage of the situation.
The division with the most serious losses was taken off to rest, and elite replacements were drawn from the 30 divisions in reserve.
The Fifth Armored Division of the People's Guard withdrew to the rear to rest and recuperate, and the new Third Armored Division began to move eastward from the direction of Xuzhou. In this way, the only armored divisions facing Xuzhou and Shangqiu were the first and second armored divisions.
All night long from the 29th to the 30th, in the Xuhuai land of northern Jiangsu, all roads were crowded with tanks, armored vehicles, cars, artillery, and the long car lights were like giant dragons, stretching endlessly. The Qing army on the opposite side also
I want to imitate the Ming Army’s move: attack when the opponent changes defense.
However, they did not dare to leave the fortifications and actively throw themselves into the arms of the Ming army, so they sent many scouts and artillery observers, riding horses and bicycles in the middle of the night, to penetrate into the Ming army's defense area and observe the long
lights, and then report back the coordinates.
The artillery positions of the Qing army roared non-stop all night long, and the artillery shells hit the south direction aimlessly. Unfortunately, the distance was too far, generally more than 15,000 meters, and more were 20,000 meters away. And the Qing army
Although there was a lot of artillery fire, the motorcycles
There are not as many heavy-duty trucks as the Ming army. Artillery is mainly towed by military horses. This means that in addition to shore defense artillery and train guns, the number of large-caliber artillery installed by ordinary artillery is limited, and those exceeding 150 mm are
Very few anymore.
Therefore, although the observers dispatched by the Qing army were very bold and responsible, the actual losses suffered by the Ming army due to the shelling were very, very limited and could be ignored.
Among the defense-changing armies, the fastest moving ones were the 3rd Armored Division and several other motorized infantry divisions. They were the first to move from the rear to designated positions. At 5 a.m. on the 30th, these divisions had already followed the requirements
It arrived in time. Several of the most severely damaged divisions have also been withdrawn. Although more reserve infantry divisions have not yet come up, the existing units are enough to form the next wave of attacks.
…
Haizhou was the place known as "Lianyungang" at that time. Its area was roughly demarcated by three mountains, two large and one small. The largest mountain was the famous Huaguo Mountain, which was completely on land.
4-5 kilometers to the northeast from here is another mountain of about the same size: Yuntai Mountain. Half of Yuntai Mountain is on land and half extends into the sea. Going further east from here, passing through a strait about two kilometers wide, is the smallest mountain.
A mountain - Liandao.
The so-called "Lianyungang" in later generations is the collective name of Liandao, Yuntai Mountain and the port area. The traditional port area is the area where Yuntai Mountain extends into the sea. It is almost the section of the strait between Yuntai Mountain and Liandao.
The port area stretches for about ten kilometers. The end of the land, that is, Yuntai Mountain, is the main port area. The other end of the strait, that is, the island, is mainly just a fishing port.
In later generations, a 6.7-kilometer-long "Western Levee" was built at the northwest end of the strait to connect the land and the islands, that is, to seal one end of the strait, turning the original strait into a calm closed bay.
Therefore, Lianyungang has become a great port and a good port.
But in this time and space, there was no such thing as the West Levee, and Haizhou was just a small port. The Ming army chose to capture it because the entire coast of Jiangsu was a gentle alluvial plain, and there was not even a small dock.
Shandong, which is full of good ports, was not captured.
After all, there are two mountains along the coast of Haizhou, and the water is quite deep. More importantly, it is close to the land army. Attacking Haizhou can achieve a flanking attack on land and sea. As for the small port of Haizhou, it can only be used
, when we reach Shandong later, there are many good ports.
…
The attack on Haizhou was the first amphibious battle in the Ming and Qing wars.
This amphibious landing campaign was formulated by the Naval General Staff of the General Headquarters. The first wave of landing soldiers were not from the Army, but from the Marine Corps. From the Ming and Qing wars until now, the Navy has never done anything, and no credit has been given.
There is no mention of the Navy in the book. The Navy guys are extremely anxious, and now the Army has finally taken a big bite out of the southeast corner of the Central Plains Corps, finally threatening Haizhou.
The navy finally seized this opportunity, carefully formulated a plan, and was determined to fight a good battle. Once it successfully captured Haizhou and established a maritime transportation line, the navy's presence would be very important in future wars. In the future, as
The war started in Shandong
, then there will be a series of battles for ports. Rizhao, Langyatai, Longwan, Guzhenkou, Lingshan Bay, Laidao Bay, Qingdao Port, Jiaozhou Bay, Nanyao Bay, Aoshan Bay, Hengmen Bay, Liujiagang, Sang
Gouwan, Weihai Port, Yantai Port, Penglai Port...
It can be said that in the future, military medals for the Northern Expedition will be half for the Army and half for the Navy.
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First, during the "darkness before dawn" period, that is, at 4:30, the Ming army's mixed fleet sailed to the sea 10,000 meters northeast of Liandao according to the scheduled plan to conduct pre-dawn bombardment.
Pre-dawn bombardment is more beneficial to the Ming fleet. Because of the darkness, there is almost no visibility, and both shore and naval guns have almost no possibility of hitting each other based on visual inspection. However, the position of the sea fleet is not fixed.
It is difficult to observe from the shore. However, the position of the shore fort is long-term
It was fixed. It had been observed by Ming army destroyers and aircraft before the war. It had been calculated countless times and its approximate coordinates had been mastered. Now, it is possible to "blind sniper" in the dark with the coordinate data obtained from long-term observation.
.Although the effect is still far inferior to that during the day, it is at least very advantageous and you can definitely make money without losing money.
Six destroyers left the main fleet and formed a detachment, approaching the coast of Liandao to conduct final coordinate calculations and eliminate Qing torpedo boats that may be wandering offshore.
At the same time, the entire fleet will also start the "echelon configuration" before the bombardment:
The destroyer squadron, 24 ships, is deployed within 2,000 meters of the coast. Its mission is to illuminate Liandao Mountain, visually detect the precise location of artillery and fortifications on the mountain, report to the entire fleet at any time, and alert the Qing torpedo boats in the harbor to hunt them at any time.
In addition, direct-aimed shooting is carried out to try to actually destroy the visible shore artillery emplacements and machine gun fortresses. It can be said that the task of the destroyer squadron is the most arduous and dangerous.
The light cruiser detachment, 8 ships, is arranged at about 3500-4500 meters to conduct medium-range bombardment. The task is to bombard the forts on the mountain more accurately based on the coordinates reported by the destroyer. At the same time, if the line of sight allows, it must also carry out the same bombardment as the destroyer.
Direct shooting. If the Qing torpedo boat breaks through the destroyer's defense line, it must evade flexibly and use rapid-fire cannons to hunt it down. It cannot be allowed to threaten heavy cruisers and battleships in the distance.
The heavy cruiser detachment, 6 ships, is arranged at about 6000-7000 meters to conduct medium and long-range bombardment. The task is also to bombard the forts on the mountain based on the coordinates reported by the destroyer. At this distance, indirect aiming and shooting is based entirely on the coordinate data.
.
Battleship detachment, 2 ships. Arranged at about 8,000-10,000 meters to conduct long-range bombardment. For the bombardment of battleships, it is not required to directly hit the target on the mountain. The main purpose is to use the battleship's huge cannon to cover the mountain with great power and destroy it.
Overthrow the Qing army and defend Germany.
Aircraft carrier detachment, 2 ships. Arranged at about 20,000 meters. There are 160 carrier-based aircraft, all of which are fighter jets. The task is to form an "air superiority circle" over Haizhou to allow land-based dive bombers taking off from Sihong Airport 120 kilometers away.
Attack the ground without any scruples. At the same time, these fighter jets will dive close to the sea to straf any Qing torpedo boats that may appear.
However, the aircraft carrier formation cannot begin to function until after dawn.
This is just a pre-dawn bombardment arrangement. After dawn, there will be a round of formal bombardment. By that time, the visibility will be greatly improved, and both the Ming army's artillery shells and the Qing army's artillery shells will be much more accurate. After dawn
, the actual damage to both parties will increase exponentially.
At this time, the more vulnerable destroyers and light cruisers have to retreat, while the heavy cruisers and battleships have to bravely move forward, rely on their thick armor to meet the Qing artillery shells, and use huge cannons to attack the Qing artillery batteries on the island.
A devastating blow. Then, the troop carriers began to dock, transporting marines to seize Liandao.
After taking Liandao, the Ming army had a springboard and a bridgehead off the coast of Haizhou. Only then could they move the fleet into the strait and further bombard Yuntai Mountain. Only after Yuntai Mountain was conquered could the port be in hand.
Only then can a large number of troops be transported ashore.
…
At 4:30 in the morning on the 30th, the first amphibious battle in the Ming and Qing wars began.