1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3900

Unlike yesterday when he was directing operations from the north bank of the Gan River, Shi Chengwu chose to board a warship today to personally go to the front line, in order to ensure that he could seize any fleeting opportunity at the first moment.

According to the battle plan agreed upon last night, Shi Chengwu and Ha Jianyi will be responsible for commanding the offensive from the Zhangjiang Gate and Desheng Gate directions, respectively. The two forces will focus their main attack on the western Zhangjiang Gate, while Ha Jianyi will be responsible for launching a feint attack in the northern direction to contain the defending troops.

Shi Chengwu's plan was clear: to use warships to suppress the city walls with firepower, creating an opportunity for the army to land. After yesterday's reconnaissance and artillery probing, Shi Chengwu had basically confirmed that Zhangjiang Gate's defenses were limited. Once the city gate was breached and a stronghold established, it would become the next breakthrough point.

However, the area of ​​the river beach outside Zhangjiang Gate is limited. Even if the Haihan Army manages to land, it is unlikely that they will have enough time and space to establish a beachhead position. Instead, they will have to attack the city gate immediately after stepping onto the riverbank and breach the city in a short period of time.

Otherwise, once the artillery fire on the river stops, the garrison inside the city will immediately return to the city walls and launch an attack from their high vantage point on the unprotected landing troops on the riverbank outside the city.

In terms of firepower, the inland river fleet that entered the Gan River was enough to suppress the defenses on the walls of Nanchang. However, the artillery bombardment launched by the fleet was not unlimited. Compared with the artillery positions set up on land, the artillery on these warships had to be subject to more restrictions.

The task of resupplying ammunition during combat is far more complicated than that on land. In fact, during yesterday's battle, these warships loaded as much ammunition as possible before the battle and did not return to the other side of the Gan River for a second resupply during the fighting; they simply stopped after the battle was over.

But since we have the plan to land and breach the city today, we need to be careful about the frequency and targets of the artillery bombardment. We must take into account the progress of the landing force and provide it with the necessary artillery cover.

In addition, two hot air balloons will be launched one after another during the operation to extend the flight time over Zhangjiang Gate as much as possible, and transmit the movement and deployment information of the city's garrison to Shi Chengwu through real-time monitoring and radio communication.

As for using hot air balloons for bombing, Shi Chengwu did not place his hopes on this special method. After all, compared to carrying one or two more bombs into the sky, Shi Chengwu would rather use that payload for other purposes, such as having the hot air balloon carry more fuel to extend the flight time. The benefits would definitely outweigh one or two sporadic targeted bombings.

Although the garrison commander of Zhangjiangmen immediately sent a warning to the military headquarters and requested reinforcements, Zhangjiangmen was not the only place facing the fierce bombardment of Haihan. Ding Baoguo could not confirm the actual main direction of Haihan's attack, nor did he dare to rashly commit all his reserve forces to a certain battlefield.

The nearly two thousand reinforcements sent to Zhangjiangmen were symbolic, and they did not carry any heavy weapons. Their main purpose was to stabilize morale and demonstrate the attitude of the military command.

In Ding Baoguo's view, even if the Haihan Army did manage to cross the river and land on the west and north sides of Linjiang, reinforcements could still be dispatched from the city in time. However, this idea did indeed underestimate the combat efficiency of the Haihan Army.

Having learned from yesterday's battle, the Haihan Army had a clear understanding of the city's defenses. The shipborne firepower on the river only needed two rounds of salvo to suppress the city's defensive counterattack, and with aerial guidance, they destroyed several firing points that the defenders had deployed overnight.

Before long, the observation post on the hot air balloon confirmed from the air that the defending troops had withdrawn most of their forces from the city walls in order to reduce unnecessary casualties caused by the shelling.

Upon receiving the news, Shi Chengwu knew the time was ripe and immediately ordered troop transport ships to advance rapidly under artillery cover and land on the riverbank outside Zhangjiang Gate. At the same time, Shi Chengwu notified the commanders in several other directions via radio, hoping they would cooperate with him to immediately intensify the offensive, tie down the defending troops in their respective directions, and prevent them from diverting troops to reinforce Zhangjiang Gate.

Shi Chengwu was certain that the troops led by Ha Jianyi would act in accordance with the plan in order to work together to achieve the first victory.

However, Shi Chengwu wasn't so sure whether Xu Kaiyuan and You Zhiyuan, who were on the other two sides, would fully cooperate with him. After all, they were of equal rank to him and each had their own plans to be the first to break through the city. With military merit right in front of them, they had no obligation to obey Shi Chengwu's orders.

However, the message sent by Shi Chengwu was seen by these two young generals as a rare opportunity. If Shi Chengwu could draw the attention of the defending troops to the west of the city, their own battlefield would be easier to capture.

The defenders on the city walls also noticed that the Haihan army's troop transport ships were rapidly heading towards the riverbank outside the city, and immediately alerted the city. However, the Ming troops who returned to the city walls were still suppressed by fire and could not easily peek out to fire at the Haihan army's troop transport ships on the river.

After two days and more than two rounds of shelling targeting the city's fortifications, the artillery positions on the city walls of Zhangjiang Gate have been almost completely destroyed, and very few of the city's defensive artillery pieces still capable of fighting remain.

Although there were still some spare cannons in the city, these cannons could not be put into battle immediately after being carried up to the city wall. The cannons needed to be repositioned and the firing parameters of the cannons in place needed to be readjusted before they could exert their due power.

However, these tasks were quite time-consuming and could not escape aerial surveillance. Before the Ming artillery could complete these preparations, a new round of shelling would accurately hit their location.

After several more cannons that had just been transported to the city walls were destroyed, the Ming commander realized that the situation was hopeless and could only place his hopes on archers and musketeers, whose range was even more limited.

However, the firepower of these troops is also extremely limited. Only by firing arrows in formation can they expand their attack range slightly. But as soon as they gather on the city wall, the hot air balloons in the sky will immediately issue instructions to the ships on the river, followed by concentrated artillery fire targeting their positions.

This targeted attack resulted in heavy casualties among the defenders' ranged units, making it extremely difficult for them to muster the strength to intercept the Haihan army that had begun landing outside the city.

Taking advantage of the fact that the defending troops were suppressed by long-range firepower and unable to raise their heads, the first batch of three troop transport ships quickly docked at the pier outside Zhangjiang Gate.

In addition to the combat infantry, the first to land were more than ten demolition engineers from the 2nd Engineer Company of the 7th Division.

Shi Chengwu knew very well that it would not be easy to breach the solid walls of Nanchang with artillery fire. Not only would it consume a large amount of ammunition, but it would also take a very long time, making it unsuitable for a quick and decisive battle plan. To break through the city's defenses quickly, they would have to rely on the demolition tactics, one of the Haihan Army's signature techniques.