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Chapter 1151: Battle of Fau Harbor 5
"Land 2 kilometers away and set up camp first." Hong Tao felt relieved when he heard that the enemy had also set up defensive positions and had a large number of artillery.

He was not afraid of a face-to-face battle, but was more worried about being attacked by surprise in an unfamiliar environment. Since the enemy had already deployed their troops, he would follow the plan step by step. At this point, the geographical advantage was very small, and the competition was entirely about the quality of weapons and the number of people.

At 3:4 pm, the fleet dropped anchor 20 kilometers from the south gate of Faw Harbor. This time, no iron chain was set up on the river, but two three-masted merchant ships rented from sea merchants were anchored side by side in the middle of the river, equipped with more than 100 3mm deck guns on the deck and guarded by three army centurions.

The rest of the ships were lined up along the waterway, 300 meters apart. Except for the sailors and gunners on board, all the imperial stables and army soldiers on board boarded the left bank in batches on small boats and started digging at the places selected by the lookouts.

That's right, they dug in front of the Ottoman army, wielding shovels and pickaxes. Fortunately, the soil here was relatively soft, and before dinner, two trenches a hundred meters apart were basically formed, encircling the camp along the river bank.

"It seems we have met people of the same trade. If you have time, you should take turns to board the hot air balloon and take a closer look. The trench digging skills of the other side are much better than ours. It is simply a work of art."

During this period, Hong Tao did not get off the boat, but he was not idle either. He chatted back and forth for more than two hours through the flag signals of the mast lookout and the hot air balloon. When Ding Shun came on board to report on the progress of the camp, he had already hand-drawn a schematic diagram of the Ottoman garrison's trenches.

"...Your Majesty, what are these little points?" Ding Shun's face immediately turned dark when he got the sketch. This is not a trench at all, it's just an ant nest.

The Ottomans seemed to have a special liking for digging trenches. They were not satisfied with simple lines, but incorporated the art of painting into them. The trenches are full of twists and turns, with branches running east and west. At first glance, they look messy, but a closer look reveals hidden mysteries.

Ding Shun could understand why the trenches were dug so complicatedly. In fact, the army had also studied the shape and depth of trenches in previous years, striving to achieve efficiency without reducing practicality.

But after many practices, it was found that it was completely unnecessary. Under the premise that the weapon's range, firing rate, power, and accuracy were superior, no army could get close to the first trench, so digging two trenches was already very cautious, and there was no need to make it too complicated.

"It should be the tip of a spear. Judging from the speed of movement, it is likely cavalry."

"Can you ride horses in their trenches!?" Ding Shun, who was already puzzled, became even more upset after hearing this answer.

It is easy to understand why trenches are dug in a complex way. As a defender, the more complex the terrain, the more difficult it is for the attacker. If the trench is a straight line, as long as one point is breached, the entire trench will be lost. But is it really necessary to ambush cavalry in the trench? What's the point of spending so much effort?
"You may not have carefully read the briefing that Wang Datou sent back from the Port of Suez, which mentioned the local people's habit of building cities. They would burn a very beautiful and patterned porcelain tile to decorate temples and houses, but they did not use mud to burn bricks and tiles on a large scale, so most of the city walls were built with rammed earth and stones.

The walls of Fao were not very tall, so they could not accommodate a large number of troops to defend the city. What should they do when they encounter a strong enemy attack? They built trenches instead of walls, which not only blocked the enemy troops, but also allowed them to hide a large number of troops in them to conceal their presence.

In addition, this type of trench is also a powerful weapon for siege. When encountering tall and solid city walls, they usually do not launch an attack first, but instead send a large number of people to dig trenches and slowly approach the city wall.

In order to accommodate a large number of siege troops in the trenches and avoid being shot by artillery and arrows from the city walls, the shape and scale of the trenches must be complex and large.

I suggest you think more about how to defend our city most effectively if we encounter this kind of enemy, so as to be prepared for any eventuality!"

Hong Tao had never seen the trench tactics of the Ottoman army, but he had read about them in some history and military books of later generations. They were not random digging, but very methodical and effective. There is an opera called "Othello". The protagonist Othello is a general of the Duchy of Venice. The castle where he is stationed is located in Cyprus, called Famagusta Fortress, which is an important stronghold for the Duchy of Venice to control the eastern Mediterranean.

The Famagusta Fortress has another name, Othello Castle, which is located in the city of Famagusta on the east coast of Cyprus. The city walls are all built with large stones and have 8 bastions. There are thousands of garrisons stationed in the fortress. There is sufficient food and water, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

But it was still taken down by the Ottoman army. The main credit was not given by the siege cannons or the lives of the three armies, but by the pickaxes and shovels.

It took a total of 72 days from the siege to the capture, 70 of which were spent digging trenches. The Ottomans dug a dense network of trenches outside the Famagusta Fortress, crisscrossing and full of soldier caves, enough to avoid direct artillery fire from the defenders inside the city.

They dug little by little under the wall, buried gunpowder and blew it up repeatedly. It took nine attempts to bring the wall down, which shows how solid the fortress was. If it had been bombarded with artillery alone, whether it was stone balls or cast iron balls, it would have taken an unknown amount of time to bring it down.

There were similar fortresses and fortresses in Europe and America, some of which would sooner or later stand in the way of the Ming Empire. Although the Ming army had more advanced weapons and more powerful explosives, they were not easily conquered. Although the Ottoman tactics were stupid, they were an effective way to reduce casualties.

"Yes, after the battle, I immediately asked the Army General Staff to conduct a special study on the Ottoman trench tactics. Your Majesty, if the Ottomans stay in the trenches and don't come out, what can we do to reduce casualties?"

After listening to the emperor's words, Ding Shun also realized the seriousness of the problem. No one had expected to encounter such a situation beforehand. It was not impossible to attack by force, but once entering the trench network, it would be difficult to avoid close combat. This method was the last thing the Ming army wanted to face, and it would also cause the greatest casualties.

If they lost a lot of troops in attacking a small port like Fao, what should they do with the large number of cities that need to be attacked later? The army is responsible for the main combat mission this time, and they must not only win but also win beautifully.

"This may be God's will!" Hong Tao did not answer Ding Shun's question, but sighed and said something incoherent.

"If it was two years ago, I would not have been able to crack it. I could only rely on the firepower advantage of the naval guns to suppress the enemy's artillery first, and then send infantry to attack. Fighting for each trench one by one, there is a high probability of winning, but the casualties will be great.

There is still no better solution now, and we still have to attack by force. However, with the 3000 warriors of the Imperial Horse Administration, it will be easier to win and the casualties will be much lower.

Let's go ashore and return to the camp. Gather the generals above the rank of thousand to discuss the means of attack tomorrow. I am not 100% sure whether the surprise attack will work. Let's give it a try first."

In an era without airplanes, how to reduce casualties and win quickly in trench warfare was a global problem. Even if Hong Tao traveled through time ten thousand times, he could not come up with a solution.

However, by chance, the Imperial Horse Guard Warrior Battalion carried two weapons that were more suitable for use in trench warfare. However, since it was the first time they were put into actual combat, no one knew whether they would be effective or how effective they would be.

(End of this chapter)