1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 806 Shelling
"Good job! I thought the range of this cannon could not reach the city wall. I should have brought a few more 12-pound cannons. At least they are much more flexible than that clumsy siege artillery!" Takahashi Nan saw the artillery's first shot The rounds of shooting hit all empty, and he was not angry but happy.Although he has not received artillery training, after so many years in the army, he is also very familiar with the basic techniques of artillery, knowing that this straddle shooting phenomenon is actually only one step away from hitting the target.Compared with the embarrassment that the opponent's shells could not hit his own position, Takahashi Minami was now reassured and could deploy artillery with confidence.

In the third round of shelling, a shell accurately hit the upper part of the city wall, causing earth and rocks to splash, and there was a sound of exclamation on the city wall.The frightened Spanish artillerymen didn't even dare to approach the crenel to aim at the enemy outside the city. They just pushed the loaded artillery back to the gun position, and then fired a cannon at the outside of the city. Aiming or not doesn't seem to make any difference.

And soon two more 12-pound guns were deployed outside the city, and a total of five guns began to shell the east wall of Santo Domingo at a frequency of 2 minutes.Since the artillery used by the Haihan Army has achieved standardized production, as long as the firing angle and charge are uniformly calibrated, the impact points of the shells fired from the same artillery position are extremely concentrated, and the number of shells hitting the city wall begins to rise sharply.After five rounds, a shell accurately passed through the crenel of the city wall, tearing the two unlucky gunners into pieces.

"All concealed!" Lopez had to issue a reluctant order.The two unlucky ghosts who were torn apart by the shells just now were only about three meters away from him, and the flesh and blood splashed all over his body. If the angle of the cannon ejected from the chamber was slightly higher, maybe the unlucky ghosts hit would change. It's him.

If both sides are within the range of the opponent's artillery, then the Spaniards can still fight hard, but now it is obvious that the defending side is being beaten unilaterally. Although they are trying to counterattack, it is obviously not possible to create equality for the attacking side. degree of trouble.If you still insist on letting the gunners fight on the city wall at this time, you will undoubtedly use them as cannon fodder.In order to avoid continuing to lose precious gunners, Lopez had to let the gunners retreat under the city wall to avoid the limelight, leaving only a few soldiers to look out of the city from a hidden place at the top of the city.If the opponent wants to use infantry to attack the city next, then it is too late to arrange artillery to return to the city wall defense line.

It was not until the five cannons were so hot that they had to stop to cool down that Gao Qiaonan picked up the binoculars and carefully examined the results.At least [-]% of the nearly [-] shells hit the eastern city wall, and some areas showed obvious cracks and signs of collapse, and three or four crenels on the city wall had been destroyed.Although the opponent's casualties cannot be seen through the telescope, Takahashi Minami believes that the artillery bombardment will not be fruitless, which can be inferred from the sign that the opponent has withdrawn its defensive forces from the city wall.

The only thing that makes Takahashi Minami dissatisfied is that those 48-pound heavy guns are still stuck on the way here. It is estimated that it will be considered good if they can reach the line of fire tonight.However, the soldiers found a few bony cattle in a farm outside the city, and they had already taken them to use as animal-powered engines, which must have effectively accelerated the deployment of the siege cannons.

After the shelling ended, Sun Zhen gradually calmed down from his initial excitement.When the artillerymen were fighting with their shirts off, Sun Zhen did not take time off. Since the defenders inside the city could not pose a real threat to the artillery positions outside the city, the troops who were originally on guard and guard missions could only do the work of transportation—— Responsible for transporting ammunition to artillery positions.This is a real hard work. The infantry work together to push the heavy ammunition to the front line, and then they have to unload it to the rear of the artillery position and put it in order for retrieval.

Sun Zhen saw that the veterans had taken off their military uniforms and were shirtless after sweating, so he followed suit and took off their jackets, carefully folded them and put them in a clean place next to them.It is inconvenient to clean the military uniform when he is away on an expedition. Although the colorful background color is also resistant to dirt, Sun Zhen will still try his best to take good care of this hard-won battle robe.Fortunately, he was born in a farming family, and he did a lot of heavy work, so he didn't realize how hard the job of carrying ammunition was.

This kind of rough work should have been done by the military or logistics troops, but Qian Tiandun considered that the local combat environment in Tamsui River is more complicated, and the supply capacity of the special warfare battalion fighting alone is limited, and the number of combatants that can be maintained is limited. A large number of civilians were not arranged to accompany the army in this operation.Of course, it's hard to say whether Qian Tiandun has the idea of ​​training the troops in this way.

Gao Qiaonan will certainly not question the arrangement of his superiors. Qian Tiandun has given few people, so he will use it according to the usage of few people. Mission gone.

"Report to the battalion commander, the artillery has been maintained, please instruct whether to continue shooting!" The artillery company commander asked Gao Qiaonan for instructions.

In addition to the navy, the troops operating in conjunction with the special warfare battalion this time also have an army artillery company specially transferred from Guangdong.Although the special warfare battalion also has an artillery establishment, due to the special combat style of the special warfare battalion, the standard heavy weapon is only a 3-pound gun that is easy to transport. It is different from the 12-pound standard artillery equipped by the army in terms of operation and tactics. There is a certain difference, and the heavy siege artillery requires specially trained artillery to exert its power.

Gao Qiaonan looked at the gradually darkening sky, and ordered: "Take a break for the time being, and fire a few shots at intervals of one hour. Don't let the people in the city idle!"

"Understood!" The artillery company commander paid a military salute knowingly and took the order away.

In the process of such a tough battle, in addition to force strikes, it is also very important to find ways to destroy the defender's psychological defense.Continuous shelling is undoubtedly one of the effective ways to destroy the will of the defenders to fight, but the firepower of the special warfare battalion is not enough to carry out uninterrupted artillery strikes on the city of Santo Domingo. Cannon can still do it.In order to keep the defenders in a state of high nervousness, it may also reduce the difficulty of the subsequent siege battle.

"Tell the leader of the investigation platoon to report to me immediately, I have a task to give to him!" Gao Qiaonan looked at the dead city of Santo Domingo in the distance, and continued to deploy troops.

Compared with the Haihant Battalion, which controls the initiative on the battlefield, it is difficult for the Spaniards in the city who are unknown to the outside world to maintain a stable mood.Gesman was also very happy when his servant reported that the defenders had the upper hand in the artillery battle with the enemy. However, when he stood on the balcony to observe the movement of the city defense later, he found that the artillery emplacements on the city wall There were no gunners fighting at all, and all the rumbling guns I heard came from outside the city.Gesman even witnessed two shells passing over the city and directly hitting somewhere in the city.

Although Gesman was also an outsider, he was at least much better than the uneducated servant. At a glance, he knew that the situation of the battle was not what the servant boasted about when he came back. The defenders were clearly suppressed by the enemy's artillery fire. I can't hold my head up anymore!
"Idiots! They are all idiots!" Gesman was so angry that just at this time, the servant who heard the noise outside pushed in the door and asked, "My lord, are you calling me?"

Gesman went up and slapped his face: "You idiot dare to lie about the military situation, are you tired of living?"

The servant didn't know why, so he fell to the ground to plead guilty in a panic.Gesman kicked him a few times to vent his anger, and gradually calmed down and began to think about how to deal with it.But he was not a soldier, and he couldn't think of any effective way to retreat from the enemy, so he held back for a long time before he came up with a not-so-bright idea: "Go and ask Captain Lopez, if there is any way to get out safely now. Remember, don't ask in front of other people, understand?"

"Understood...Understood! The villain is going to find Captain Lopez!" The servant hurriedly left the room, covering his bruised cheek.

Later, after listening to the question conveyed by the servant, Lopez couldn't hide his disdainful look on his face: "Lord Gesman probably forgot that fleeing a battle without an order from a superior is a felony that will lead to the gallows!"

The servant hurriedly argued, "Lord Gesman didn't mean that. He just wanted to know if he could send an envoy to Jilonggang for help."

"Master Gesman must be very interested in carrying out this task in person?" Lopez said sarcastically: "Unfortunately, the risk of getting out of here is very high. There are enemies outside the city and in the mountains. If there are no extremely strong As a guarantee, I am not very optimistic about the possibility that Master Gesman can successfully cross the battlefield to Jilonggang. My suggestion is... Master Gesman should stay here honestly! This way at least It will give him a little more time to play for the country."

Even if the servant was stupid, he could still hear the sarcasm in Lopez's words, but in his capacity, he didn't dare to speak back to a captain officer with real power, so he could only pretend to be ignorant and asked: "Then Captain Lopez sent a messenger?" ?"

"I've already selected the candidate, and I'll arrange the departure after dusk falls. You can go back and tell Master Gusman to let him sleep peacefully." Lopez was not interested in continuing this conversation, and ended the conversation on his own initiative.

"Lopez, that rude guy! Next time I will give him a good lesson in the work report!" Gesman also felt a bit uneasy after hearing the reply brought back by the servant, but due to the current situation , it is impossible for him to find trouble with the other party, so he can only talk about it in his own place.

Although Gesman really wanted to get out of this ghostly place, he also knew that what Lopez said was indeed true, but he had held a glimmer of hope before, hoping that Lopez would send someone to send him to break through, but obviously the other party did not Give yourself this boss's face plan.Gusman seems to have nothing else to do now besides going to bed and waiting for the news.

But now even sleeping soundly has become a luxury. Not long after Gesman lay on the bed, he heard the roar of artillery from outside the city.

"Can't these damned Haihan people stop and rest for a night? It's already dark and restless!" Gesman lying in bed could only gnash his teeth and curse, which was the only countermeasure he had mastered .But perhaps it was his cursing that did the trick, for the cannons were only fired for a moment before they died down.However, after doing this, Gesman was so tormented that he couldn't sleep, and could only continue to mutter and curse the enemy who appeared outside the city suddenly in bed.

However, Lopez, who shoulders the mission of combat command, is far less relaxed than his boss. With the situation of the battle completely passive, Lopez must try to keep the personnel in the castle maintaining the will to resist.Even if they can't beat the enemy army outside the city, they must at least give the people inside the city a little hope and let them know that there is still a way to go.

Lopez assembled Delgado and 12 other men of his choice and had the quartermaster distribute simple maps to each of them, with personal identification in Spanish on the back so that they would not be taken as spies when they arrived in Puerto Rico Put to death.There were also weapons, fresh water, and three days' rations.Delgado had divided them into six groups and plotted different escape routes.In addition to cheering them on, Lopez also distributed five silver coins to each of them as a reward.If any of them can complete this request for help, they will receive a special reward of ten silver coins.Of course, the premise is that they have to live to get the money.

This operation was completely formulated and directed by Delgado, and even the departure time of each unit was controlled by him.After starting five of the six teams, Lopez finally couldn't help asking Delgado: "Are you going to go with the last team?"

"No, I won't go with anyone." Delgado said unabashedly: "These teams are all cannon fodder to attract the attention of the outside world, and they will probably all be caught. If I go with them If I leave, then I will probably end up in the same way.”

"Then you have other secret passages to get out of here?" Lopez asked curiously.

"There is no secret passage." Delgado shook his head and said, "The route of the last group of people is the easiest to be caught. I will follow them and go through the enemy's route after they are caught." Blockade. They let down their guard when they catch the previous team, so I have a good chance of getting through."

Lopez had to admit that this hunter-turned-soldier did have a natural cunning, and it was indeed difficult to guard against this method of taking advantage of other people's psychological loopholes.This guy had succeeded in breaking out of the siege twice, but it wasn't all due to good luck.

(End of this chapter)