When we looked at Liandao from the boat, we didn't realize it yet, but as soon as the soldiers got closer to Liandao, especially when they set foot on Liandao in person, they realized how small the island was.
How small is it? So small that it is almost impossible to find a place that can be called a "beachhead".
The island is only 9 kilometers long from east to west, 1.8 kilometers wide at its north-south point, and has a total area of only 7.6 square kilometers. If you fire a cannon on the beach at the east end, the shell will fall into the water at the west end. If you fire a cannon into the sky on the beach at the south end,
Guns and bullets can go over the mountains and fall into the water to the north. A veritable island of bullets.
The entire island is covered with mountains, and there are reefs all along it. Only at the northwest end is a 300-meter-long, 50-meter-wide beach, which is where the "Dashawan Beach" was later built. This was also chosen as the initial beach.
Location. After a battalion landed on the island, this small beach was almost immediately crowded. Especially
Not to mention those tanks. Only now did the battalion commander realize how stupid the staff officers were in letting all 15 tanks rush onto the island in one go. These 15 tanks were like giant hippos, humming and being so crowded that they couldn't even turn around.
They came and occupied the narrow beach, taking up half of the space originally belonging to the infantry.
What's more serious is that if there is an artillery on the mountain that can shoot at this time, then one shot can even destroy two tanks. With just a few shots like this, a whole company of tanks will be wiped out. What's even worse is that these tanks are crowded
They were in a group and couldn't maneuver to avoid it.
Tanks were supposed to be the infantry's dependence, but now they have become a liability.
The tank company commander was also extremely anxious, with his upper body exposed outside the turret, waving a submachine gun, cursing, and driving the infantry up the mountain to clear out all possible turrets, otherwise his tank would be a living target. The battalion commander also
Not idle, he had already set up a small folding table behind a tank. According to the map, he directed his brothers from each company and platoon to go up the mountain in several directions.
Not only was the tank company commander anxious, but he, the battalion commander, was even more anxious. He knew that the soldiers had to go up the mountain quickly and not crowd here. If they fired into the tank pile on the mountain, one shot would destroy at most one tank (of course, two tanks would be destroyed).
That's an exaggeration). But if it fired at a crowd, it would really result in double-digit casualties with one shot.
Fortunately, the quality of the Marine Corps was here, which largely made up for the poor planning. Five minutes later, the number of soldiers on the beach had been greatly reduced, and the tanks were also moving. One platoon stayed on the beach and spread out.
Raising the barrel and aiming at the mountain, acting as close support artillery, the other two platoons also went into action. Five tanks covered the infantry and quickly cleared the northwest end of the island. Five tanks covered the infantry as they advanced southeast along the path around the island at the bottom of the mountain.
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The main force of the assault battalion hiked up the mountain to clear the northern half of the island.
…
The firepower preparation seemed to be very successful. From the time the assault camp landed until now, there has not been a single counterattack. The mountains are full of large craters, and the remaining small trees and shrubs are smoking and some are still burning. Large tracts of rocks have been covered with fire.
It was exposed by the explosion, with huge boulders piled underneath, and small stones falling everywhere, like a mine. The path around the island at the foot of the mountain and the water were filled with gravels of all sizes.
On the small road around the island at the bottom of the mountain, several places were completely blocked by gravel. Fortunately, the infantry was protected by tanks, which could easily climb over the gravel. It would have been troublesome for wheeled vehicles.
The mountains on Liandao are not steep, and are basically quite gentle. The highest point is only more than 300 meters away from the sea. The infantrymen carried submachine guns, rifles, light machine guns, general machine guns, and flamethrowers dripping with fire beads...
Hundreds of people were climbing up the hillside, and they encountered machine gun points here and there, but they had been completely torn away. If they hadn't seen the remaining tattered sandbags and scattered yellow sand, they wouldn't have been able to tell.
It used to be a temporary fortification.
The coastal defenses of Liandao, including the entire Haizhou, were not strong to begin with. This was because the Qing government temporarily added some field fortifications when it saw that Haizhou was in danger of being landed. As for the permanent fortifications on Liandao, according to aerial reconnaissance,
As well as the intelligence held by the Ming Army Headquarters,
There are only one closed cement fort on the north and south of the tallest mast tip, and 8-10 cement bunkers. The north fort has four 210mm cannons, aiming at the open sea. The south fort has six 150mm cannons, aiming at the strait.
and the opposite port.
Within half an hour, the assault battalion searched the northern slope of Liandao and had already found the firing port of the north fort at the top of the mast.
The North Fort received a total of five destroyer main gun shells and two heavy cruiser main gun shells. Two of the four large cement shooting ports were opened, and the other two were also emitting black smoke. - They were almost disabled.
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The commandos carefully climbed the rock, moved to the firing port, and shouted inside, ordering the remaining Qing troops inside to surrender.
After the hellish bombardment, the remaining Qing troops apparently lost their will to resist and came out cooperatively with their hands raised. The Ming army commandos rushed into the fort with submachine guns and quickly occupied all the spaces inside: the shooting room, observation room
room, lounge, communication room, utility room, toilet...and of course, the ammunition depot at the end.
During the bombardment, the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers hoped that one of the artillery shells would go directly into the ammunition depot and knock off half of the mountain, so as to completely eliminate the danger when they landed. But now, after they occupy this basically intact
When I was building the fort, I was glad that the ammunition depot did not explode. - Taking over such a complete fort is still a great sense of accomplishment.
…
There is a tunnel connecting the north and south forts of the mast tip, which is about forty meters long. Now that the Ming army has occupied the north fort, the next step is how to occupy the south fort.
According to the original plan of the General Staff of the Sea, after the assault battalion occupied the north fort, it would enter the south fort from the tunnel and attack from the inside out, thereby occupying the entire fort. However, when the battalion commander actually walked to the entrance of the tunnel and took a look
After that, he immediately made the decision and overturned the original plan of the old men at the General Staff.
"Damn it, let him come and see for himself," the battalion commander roared to the division staff in the communication room of the north fort, grabbing the field phone that had just been connected, "A tunnel of tens of meters long, with a height of
At most two meters, the width is only one and a half meters. It is difficult for two people to walk side by side... going straight forward, the wind is howling, and one
There is no end in sight. One man is really in charge of the barrier and no one can open it... Come and see for yourself, you will know that this is a dead end alley! My brothers rushed in and rushed to the middle of the road. If the other end pushed
If a machine gun comes out, all the brothers will die inside in the blink of an eye, and there will be no place to retreat..."
On the other end of the phone, the division staff officer also yelled:
"What are you yelling at me for? What can I do! I didn't make the plan! Go ahead and yell at the people at the General Staff!... Let me tell you, your mission has a time limit. Before nine-thirty
We must capture the entire island! Look, there is still a little more than an hour!... I don’t care what method you use, whether it is entering through the tunnel, or going around to the south slope and fighting in from the outside, the island must be connected before nine o'clock
Take them all!...Today
Every day, our Marine Corps must at least take Yuntai Mountain, clear the port area, and ensure that the entire division lands in Haizhou before dusk!... The Army and the People's Guard are attacking Haizhou's defense line from land, and they are still far away from the southern suburbs.
It’s ten kilometers away! If those people say they want to break through, they will break through! If by then they have already started to enter Haizhou and our navy is still stuck on Liandao, it will be a shame! ... Then someone will be in trouble!"
The battalion commander became even more angry and shouted loudly:
"Who is going to be unlucky? Who do you think is going to be unlucky? I am going to be unlucky?"
This assault battalion is a unit directly under the division. There is no regiment commander in the middle. The immediate superior is the division commander. In addition, the battalion commander’s rank is major, and the division staff officer who is talking to him is also a major. The two have the same rank, so the battalion commander is also more senior.
You're welcome, you have no scruples in shouting.
The staff officer on the opposite side was startled for a moment, and his tone was a little relaxed:
"I didn't say you were going to be unlucky, I was saying someone was going to be unlucky!... Maybe from the teacher, to me, to you, we all are going to be unlucky!... I'm telling you, it's useless to yell at me, you are the on-site commander
, you can do whatever you think is appropriate, anyway, the time is limited here."
"Okay," the battalion commander said, "This is what you said! Then I will use the old method to persuade you to surrender!"
The counselor said:
"Okay, if you have the ability to persuade them to surrender, just do it! But I remind you, that's half the Qing army on the island. You have to persuade them all to surrender within an hour!"
"Oh shit!"
The battalion commander hung up the phone and shouted to the communications soldier next to him:
"Can the phone number at South Fort be connected?"
The communications soldier quickly tried each line one by one and said helplessly:
"Report to the battalion commander, everything is broken. It may be caused by the bomb blast..."
The battalion commander waved his hand and asked someone to bring up the loudspeaker.
The big loudspeaker was brought up, and the battalion commander asked him to place the loudspeaker at the entrance of the tunnel, then took the microphone and said:
"The defenders of the South Fort, listen up! The defenders of the South Fort, listen up! We are loading explosives in the ammunition depot now. It will take about five minutes to load them... So you are limited to surrender within five minutes. Every five minutes.
When we arrive, we will retreat to the foot of the mountain, then detonate the ammunition depot and destroy the entire
A hilltop was blown up... I've seen it, the North Fort's ammunition depot is still very sufficient, enough to blow up the upper half of the masthead! Your South Fort will also die without a burial place! Think about it carefully!...
…Okay, I’m just going to say it this time, and I won’t say it anymore…the timer has started!”
Then he turned his head and saw several people looking at him with dumbfounded eyes.
...This is too courageous.
"Batalion... Battalion Commander," a signal soldier asked nervously, "if they don't surrender, are we really going to blow up both the north and south forts?"
The battalion commander glanced at him:
"What do you think?"
…
Five minutes have passed.
There has been no movement from the South Fort opposite. It is supposed to be time to blow up the hilltop. But no one knows what the battalion commander just said "what do you think" means, whether to blow it up or not.
The battalion commander touched his chin and cursed:
"It's really interesting."
Another communications soldier next to him came up and asked in a low voice:
"Battal Commander, do you want to blow it up or not? I'll call the engineers up."
The battalion commander glared at him, rubbed his chin for a long time, and ordered a platoon to climb over the top of the mountain and use the cover of small trees and shrubs to reach the shooting port of the south fort to see if they could attack from there.
The queue was ordered to go.
After a while, several soldiers from the tunnel below shouted, obviously there was something going on inside. The battalion commander quickly led people down to the first floor and to the entrance of the tunnel, where he heard footsteps and someone shouting in the distance.
"Haha," he laughed. "They are scared after all, so they should surrender. Call out and ask them to put their hands on their heads. They don't need to run, but come slowly over!"
The soldiers hurriedly shouted into the tunnel and pulled the bolt of their guns as a threat.
It was very effective. When the people in the tunnel heard the shouting and the sound of the gun bolt, they stopped running and walked over slowly.
It wasn't until those "Qing soldiers" put their hands on their heads and walked out slowly that the Ming army here discovered that they were the same row of people sent from the top of the mountain just now.
This is really ridiculous. The soldiers in the platoon reported that they had been pondering outside the shooting port on the other side of the mountain for a long time, observing and testing, but there was no reaction inside. They took the risk and got in, "cleaning" room by room, but nothing happened.
Not even a single person was found. The entire southern fort's defenders had already fled. It was obvious that the retreat was hasty. The six 150mm cannons were intact and there was no time to destroy them.
A platoon found a tunnel inside, and several people followed the tunnel and came over to report.
Only now did the Ming army know that the Qing army had abandoned the fort on the southern slope. The Qing army probably did not want to be captured or killed, so they quietly withdrew from the south.
So, where to evacuate?
…
At this time, a soldier occasionally ran over quickly in the tunnel, shouting "Don't shoot, our own people" as he ran. After running over, he panted and reported that he had just observed from the shooting port of the South Fort that he had discovered a gun on Liandao.
On the pier on the south bank, Qing troops were boarding small boats one after another to retreat to the mainland on the other side.
Upon hearing the news, the company commander immediately led his men through the tunnel and came to the shooting port of the south fort. He looked at the dock at the foot of the mountain with a telescope.
Sure enough, several small boats were shuttled in the strait between Liandao and Yuntai Mountain. The Ming army planes were still circling in the sky, but they did not dare to attack because they could not figure out whether we were the enemy or not.
The battalion commander cursed and immediately ordered the communications troops to call the division headquarters, report the situation, and contact the aviation troops to launch the attack.
After giving the order, within a few minutes, the fighter jets over the strait began to dive and shoot at the small boats on the water.
…
Knowing that the Qing army had evacuated Liandao, the Ming army's assault battalion searched more boldly and faster.
All six machine gun bunkers built on the northern slope have been discovered. Three were directly hit by the destroyer's 150mm main artillery shells, causing the concrete to explode and killing people. Two were intact, but the defenders inside had abandoned their weapons.
He walked out, holding a white shirt on a branch and waving it to express surrender.
According to the intelligence obtained by the Ming army, there should be at least one machine gun-ready bunker on the north slope. However, the commandos on the mountain never found it. Suddenly, a radio call came from the bottom of the mountain. The tank platoon searching eastward along the path around the island came to
The sixth machine gun bunker was discovered at the foot of the mountain. This small bunker
It was completely torn down from the mountain. Probably the rocks below it were blown down. The heavy cement bunker fell down as a whole and rolled down the hillside into the sea. The bottom stood up to the sky and was half submerged in the water. From a distance, it looked like
A rock. Of course the three Qing machine gunners inside were also dead.
Four machine gun bunkers and ten temporary sandbag machine gun fortifications on the southern slope were also found intact. However, they were all deserted.
It seems that the Qing army's Haizhou garrison has decided to abandon the island and return to the mainland, relying on the fortifications of Yuntai Mountain to resist.
…
Before nine o'clock in the morning, the Ming army occupied the entire Liandao.
Subsequently, the fortress artillery specially transferred from the army also came up. They quickly took over the south fort. The six 150mm cannons of the south fort had already pressed the barrels in their hands, and the muzzles pointed black holes at the clouds on the other side.