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Chapter 1348 Intentional Connivance
But it cannot be said that it had no effect. The commander of the new Japanese army was confused by such extravagant tactics. He immediately changed his tactics. He no longer sent siege vehicles close to the city wall, but advanced them to a semicircle within a hundred meters and then piled sandbags on the vehicles.

"…An unfair victory!" After taking a few glances, Settle put down the telescope, turned around and lit a cigar.

It's so boring. With weapons and equipment far superior to the enemy's, they still have to dig holes like rats. I thought only the Marine Corps liked to do this, and the Army wasn't much better.

He really is worthy of being taught by the same master. He is cunning, lazy, greedy, deceitful and stealing, but he is not good at fighting in an upright manner.

"Send a signal for the army to land and prepare to detour to the north of the city! Commander-in-Chief Sai, don't be so easy-going. The lives of the Japanese new troops are also lives. Keeping them will be of great use.

If you like to fight head-on, why don't you command your warships to engage the Spanish in a boarding battle? That way you can capture their ships, and your majesty will definitely like that!"

If someone ridiculed his lack of command talent, Du Wenhuan would usually just laugh it off. But he couldn't bring the army into the picture. He could ignore it, but the staff officers all frowned and had to defend him.

He was actually quite good at squeezing people, but he was too old to argue with people, which made him look unstable. But when he really started to argue, he made Settle very upset with just one sentence.

The Japanese new army dug trenches instead of holes. First, the soil layer here is relatively thin, and there are rocks underneath, making it difficult to dig long holes; second, digging holes is more labor-intensive than digging trenches, and takes much longer.

As for how to protect the top of the trench, it is very easy, just remove the guard plate of the siege vehicle and cover it. It does not need to be fully covered, the trench is not straight, just cover the working surface exposed to the sight of the defenders.

But digging trenches is hard work after all. Even with thousands of people taking turns, it took more than four hours to dig the trench of more than 4 meters to reach the bottom of the city wall.

This time the defenders did not dump more silver, either because they had run out of it or because they realized it was useless. They just tried a few times with artillery in the hail of bullets, and when they felt that the casualties were too great, they resigned themselves to their fate.

At about 14 p.m., with two muffled sounds, a -meter-long wall collapsed on the southeast side of Panama. However, the defenders in the city were still not discouraged, and they continued to fill the gap in an orderly manner, using the built barricades to try to block the attackers' entry.

However, they miscalculated this time. The Japanese new army did not take advantage of the collapse of the city wall to launch a charge. Instead, they lined up a hundred meters away with their guns aimed at the walls above and below, and attacked anyone who showed his head.

At the same time, a huge black ball slowly rose up, its height quickly surpassing the city wall and the church spire, and it floated quietly outside the city.

When the commanders of the new Japanese army saw that the black ball was no longer rising, they immediately ordered all the soldiers to lie on the ground, as if they were worshiping some kind of god.

Soon, the heavens really answered. Shells fell like hail near the gap, bombarding everyone inside and outside, regardless of whether they were soldiers or civilians. Under the sea breeze, the dust and smoke raised by the explosion covered most of the city.

Before the smoke and dust cleared, the Japanese new army jumped up at the sound of the copper whistle, holding their guns and charging towards the gap in the city wall. In the front were two sergeants, followed by five, and then a hundred households. As long as the team in front was not blocked, the ones behind would continue to pour into the city.

The city was captured, but the fighting did not stop. The defenders abandoned part of the city wall and used the streets and houses as fortifications to engage in fierce street fighting with the invaders. The church bell towers in the city became temporary lookouts, ringing the alarm bells wherever the fighting was intense, calling for more defenders to come to support.

Facing the new Japanese army armed with the Yangyang Type 20 muzzle-loading rifles and equipped with grenades, the defenders in the city were poorly equipped and many of them were still holding cold weapons, but they were determined to fight. They used all means of killing and hid in the buildings to resist. However, as the number of new troops entering the city increased, the disadvantage in equipment was gradually magnified. After all, the flesh could not stop the lead bullets, and the battle line advanced faster and faster to the northeast.

At first, the new army soldiers could still distinguish whether the people on the opposite side were enemies or civilians, but as the casualties increased, and they saw their relatives and companions lying in a pool of blood because of their hesitation to shoot, the primitive animal nature in their hearts was finally awakened.

At this time, the Ming instructors who were supposed to play a restraining role turned a deaf ear and remained silent. With their tacit approval, the officers of the new army began to deliberately relax the constraints on the soldiers and even took the lead in retaliatory killings, setting an example for the soldiers.

The soldiers of the new army, who were so angry that they killed others, gradually stopped distinguishing who the enemy was. As long as they saw someone wearing different clothes from their own and appeared in a threatening position, they would shoot him immediately. As for how big the threat was, there was no standard to judge. It all depended on personal feelings on the spot. If they felt it was a threat, it was a threat.

"Commander-in-chief, something's wrong, isn't it?"

Since the new army entered the city, no specific combat details could be seen on the rear deck of the flagship. However, Settle had enough combat experience and could roughly judge the intensity of the battle just by the density of gunfire from both sides.

He immediately noticed something unusual about the increasingly monotonous but still high-frequency sound of Ming Dynasty standard guns firing, but as the Army Commander-in-Chief he couldn't accuse the new army of killing innocent people.

"It shouldn't be a big problem. The army is encircling the city from outside, and the new army is mainly responsible for the city. I have sent a few staff officers as observers. If there is any problem, the hot air balloon will notify you in time.

Now that the battle situation is basically settled, should our supply fleet set out? In addition, we have to trouble Commander Sai to assign the task of transforming the whaling ship. It would be best if we can get results in the next few days.

After this battle, there might not be many Spaniards left in the city. If the food reserves are still not enough, they will have to rely on whale meat to survive until the supply ship arrives.

This matter will require the attention of the commander-in-chief. I plan to lead the army north tomorrow to first open up the road to Porto Bello, and then take Porto Bello to cut off the Spanish idea of ​​reinforcement. "

Du Wenhuan could hear more clearly than Settle whether the noise in the city was right or wrong. But at this moment, he had to pretend to be confused and talk about other things.

There was no way. The occupation of Panama City was only half of the plan, because there was an important port facing the Atlantic Ocean dozens of kilometers away. Only by taking over both ports could the connection between this place and Europe be completely cut off.

The reason why the new army was deliberately allowed to kill people in the city was to pave the way for the march to Porto Bello. The proportion of forces supporting Spain in Panama City was a bit high, which could be reflected in the strength of resistance.

If these people with a strong sense of resistance are not eliminated, no one would dare to lead an army alone to penetrate dozens of kilometers into unfamiliar territory to attack another city with an even more unclear situation. If chaos breaks out here, they will probably be attacked from both sides.

However, the emperor clearly stipulated that the Ming army could not engage in acts such as massacres of cities or ethnic groups in America, and must leave a not-too-bad reputation to lay the foundation for long-term rule in the future.

This is when the commander's ability to respond is tested, and this is why the emperor appointed the army governor to the front. If it were another general, he might not dare to make such a borderline decision. After all, if you look into it, the Japanese new army is also an expeditionary combat sequence, and if it fails to control the situation, the responsibility will be too great.

(End of this chapter)