Alien Arms Empire.

Chapter 404 Chapter 404 The Suffering Along the Way

It is actually a very painful thing to let an army unit fight across the sea. People who have never touched the sea will definitely get seasick.

This kind of seasickness is not simply uncomfortable. It will also be accompanied by exaggerated vomiting and loss of appetite. In severe cases, it will greatly affect the combat effectiveness, and may even directly endanger the lives of soldiers.

The troops of the Datang Group lack such combat experience. Their furthest support actually involved less than a battalion of troops, from Bunas to Refenggang.

That time of transportation, because it was going south along the coastline, the wind and waves were not serious, and the number of people was small, so the problem was not too big.

This time, the Datang Group's expedition was to cross directly from Long Island to the west of the Endless Sea, and then land on Dongwan Island.This distance is almost three times that of the last support operation in Hot Wind Harbor.

At this moment, on the transport ship Liberty 1000 carrying more than 103 people, the cabin is full of disgusting smells. Those soldiers who were confident and lively when they boarded the ship are now listless and weak.

They have been sailing on the sea for 29 days, and these 29 days have been a torment for them.

Although there is ample food supply, and the ship's mess hall even provides them with a variety of good meals, not many people have the appetite to eat these things nowadays.

After all, what you eat will soon be vomited out again. Under that kind of painful torment, who would be interested in what to eat?
"We have been speeding up as much as possible! But Liberty Wheel is not designed for raiding operations, so the speed is very slow." The captain looked helplessly at the pale-faced head of the 1st Regiment, and patiently explained.

"In terms of sailing speed, we are already much faster than sailboats... If you put it in the past, you would have to spend at least 25 more days at sea." The first officer also had to defend himself for the captain.

"In this situation...the soldiers don't have any fighting power left at all. The situation in the 1st Battalion is better. After all, most of them are natives of Bunas, live by the sea, and are more or less familiar with the sea situation...but The 2nd Battalion and 3rd Battalion are not from Beiling, but from Yucheng, many of them have never seen the sea in their life..." The head of the 1st Regiment feels sorry for his soldiers, whenever he has time these days, he will come to the bridge to ask how much more they need time to reach the destination.

He has been asking for more than ten days, but it will take at least 2 days before the fleet can reach Dongwan Island.

Yesterday, the first spies arrived in Zheng Guo. After a brief survey of Dongwan Island, they sent back first-hand information.

Bunas was not idle either, they immediately analyzed and summarized the data, and then sent the most useful part to the fleet on the move.

Looking not far away, the cruiser Wolf No. 1 was billowing black smoke, and the captain of Liberty Ship No. 103 said: "We are already moving at the fastest speed...wait for another two days, two days later , you will almost be able to log in."

He had no choice, because in fact Tang Mo had already made a lot of detailed arrangements for this login, but due to lack of experience or technical problems, he still couldn't make it foolproof.

For example, Tang Mo even added refrigerators to the Liberty Ships participating in the war, which greatly improved the food at sea.

In order to make the soldiers live more comfortably, Tang Mo also urgently added beds for the freewheels used by the sailors instead of fooling around with the hammocks used by the sailors.

Even the toilets on the ship were deliberately increased, and temporary modifications were made for this purpose, and more water tanks were added to ensure the daily consumption of the soldiers.

But even so, seasickness is still a flaw that cannot be overcome, and the seaworthiness of the ship cannot be improved in the short term.

It is impossible for Tang Mo to wait for a brand new, larger tonnage newly designed dedicated troop carrier to be built and launched before launching operations.

So he could only hold his nose and endure the unsatisfactory seaworthiness of Liberty Wheel, and let the soldiers be crowded in the makeshift dormitory for 31 days.

Early the next morning, more news was transmitted to the fleet by telegram. The head of the 1st regiment boarded the cruiser Wolf 1 in a small boat and met General Bernard, the commander-in-chief of this operation.

"General!" As soon as he climbed onto the deck, he saw Bernard who was already waiting beside a naval gun.

Bernard returned a military salute, and then signaled to the commander of the 1st regiment to walk casually along the side deck with him.

The two walked side by side on the clean deck, and the head of the 1st regiment felt that his breathing was much easier.

These days, he spent most of his time crowded in the cabin with the soldiers, and did not choose to live on a battleship with better living conditions, only sailors.

While walking, Bernard introduced the situation of Dongwan Island: "According to the information reported by the spies who just arrived in Zheng State, Dongwan Island has indeed been occupied by Mirage, but the troops invested by Mirage on the island Not much."

"About a year ago, a naval battle broke out between the two countries. Zheng Guo's navy was severely damaged, losing 17 sailing warships, and was forced to give up part of its sea control."

This is the second difficulty, because the country of Zheng is too far away, so the intelligence work on the country of Zheng started very late, and the intelligence support that can be provided is pitiful.

The combat troops didn't know the specific situation of Dongwan Island. The main reason why Tang Mo dared to let the troops rush over directly was that he was quite confident in his troops' weapons.

The light weapons of his troops are almost at the level of World War II, and the opponents still use flintlock guns... There is no comparison at all.

"According to the description of the text returned by the intelligence, compared with the inaccurate charts we have already mastered, it is confirmed that Dongwan Island is a long and narrow leaf-shaped island from north to south, with slightly pointed sides on both sides and the widest in the middle. A long and narrow plain." Bernard briefly introduced the geographical environment of the island.

This is the third difficulty of this operation-the fleet has no way to attack directly from the east side, they must go around to the west side of the island.

And because the enemy does not need to defend the east side of the island, it will definitely concentrate in large numbers on the west side of the island, which will bring considerable difficulties to landing operations.

Walking in front of a cabin door, Bernard signaled the commander of the 1st regiment to follow him, took the adjutant who was behind him, and other entourages, and a group of people came to the transformed combat headquarters in this way.

A simple map was hung on the wall of the cabin, on which two cities were probably marked, as well as some approximate areas where the enemy troops might be deployed.

In fact, this kind of map will not be used as a military map at all within the Datang Group, and it can only be regarded as a sketch at most.

But before the fleet set off, the most detailed map that could be found was this kind of ancient map that didn't even have contour lines and couldn't see the precise geographical description.

The head of regiment 1 knew that he was leading more than 2000 soldiers to attack a place where he didn't know anything.

Bernard pointed to the map, and continued: "The mirage has about 3 troops on the island, divided into 20 legions and 60 battalions. The main force should be stationed in Dongwan, the largest port city in the north of the island. In Fengshun City in the south."

He briefly explained: "The eastern part of the island is actually not convenient for us to land, so the fleet has to go around to the western side of the island and choose a gentle beach to unload troops."

"It is expected that the resistance on the island will not be particularly strong, because the enemy forces are scattered and have not built a complete defensive position at all. They don't know our arrival, and they are unlikely to carry out targeted deployment." After finishing speaking, Bernard looked at To the 1 head.

Obviously, he was waiting for the head of the 1st regiment to put forward some opinions of his own. The head of regiment 1 thought for a while, and directly asked a question he was most concerned about: "Are you sure there is no defensive position?"

He himself knows very well that the state of his troops is actually very poor. Under such circumstances, it is obviously difficult to immediately engage in combat with the enemy.

Assuming he just went ashore and didn't need to fight the enemy immediately, rested for a few hours, or simply stayed in place for two days to recover his combat effectiveness, he was still very confident that his subordinates would defeat the [-] enemy troops.

"I'm sure not! Because whether it's Zheng Guo or Mirage, they haven't switched to bolt-action rifles on a large scale, and the main force still uses flintlock guns as their core equipment. They shouldn't be exposed to new tactics, and they won't be able to use them at all. It will not guard against our landing operations. This is why we dare to forcibly land with such a lack of information." Bernard immediately said affirmatively.

He paused, and continued to encourage the head of the 1st regiment: "So, we also concluded that it is not difficult to defeat the 3 garrison on the island. We have an overwhelming advantage in both weapons and tactics."

It's a pity that the head of the 1st regiment still lacks confidence in his troops: "The biggest problem now is that our soldiers still have a few percent of their combat effectiveness... It is estimated that we will be lucky to have 300 soldiers on the day of landing."

The only thing he can rely on now is the 1st Battalion, 1st Company and 2nd Company, which are barely in good condition. After all, these two companies were the main force to reinforce Refeng Harbor before. They participated in the Battle of Dorne and have rich sea navigation experience. , and practical experience.

The rest of the troops, in fact, have no hope, at least within two or three days, there is no hope.

"As much as we can make up. After all, we have no experience. Next time...it will definitely be much better." Bernard blushed, feeling a little sorry for these army brothers.

"Hey..." The head of the 1st regiment also felt very aggrieved, he felt that this kind of ocean landing operations should have been left to the navy itself: "Tomorrow, will we be able to see Dongwan Island? "

"Yes, in the morning of the day after tomorrow, you will probably be able to eat on the shore." Bernard gave the only good news in the eyes of the 1st regiment leader.

(End of this chapter)