Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 719 A Just Self-Defense Counterattack
Military discipline is not something that falls from the sky. Before attacking Nanjing, Zhang Xun of the Braided Army declared that the swords would not be sheathed for three days.

Such an army fights by relying on animalistic instincts.

With the US military stationed all over the world, rape is almost a necessary part of the spectacle.

The Donghua Army also had different disciplines. The troops in the central and northern regions had stricter discipline, while the troops under Li Heng in the south had relatively poor discipline.

Of course, similar cases have occurred before, but in the end, officers and soldiers were forced to retire, and all preferential treatment was revoked. When soldiers violated discipline, officers were implicated.

The consequences were still quite serious. When it came to personal future prospects, officers naturally took a very strict approach.

The main tactic this time was a long-distance raid. The preparation period started two years ago. Taking advantage of the trade opportunity, the road was secretly repaired. Otherwise, not having a road would have been fatal.

Even so, the artillery was affected by the roads during the march, which severely slowed down their march.

Fortunately, once inside enemy-occupied territory, there were still dirt roads, which greatly increased the marching speed.

In accordance with the established plan, the entire army accelerated its advance, passing through all towns it captured along the way at a rapid pace.

Ten days later, they reached the first major city, Moorhead. Upon hearing the news, the American troops made some preparations in advance and built some fortifications.

More than 10,000 militiamen from the state government gathered here, attempting to hold off our army with their fortified positions.

Looking at it on a map and actually doing it are two completely different things.

Jacques understood this very well: this eastward expansion strategy wasn't about acquiring more land, but about destroying factories. The intention was clear: to weaken America's industrial capacity.

The troops took a short rest while preparing to launch an attack on the city.

Before the main force arrived, the vanguard cavalry had fought more than a dozen battles with the local militia. The enemy's smoothbore muskets were no match for the bolt-action rifles.

At this moment, cavalry company commander Wang Dong is directing his troops to clear out enemy scouts on the outskirts of the city, in preparation for the main force to clear out the outer defenses in the next phase.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Gunshots rang out from ahead. Wang Dong looked through binoculars from horseback and saw a cavalry squad firing in the distance. They were encountering resistance.

Upon hearing the commotion, the cavalry from nearby units quickly converged on the source of the gunfire. Wang Dong then commanded one of his platoons to rush over.

When we arrived at the scene, the battle was already over, and there were three corpses on the ground. Our cavalry were in pursuit in the distance.

The platoon leader in charge stepped forward to report: "Company commander, the ninth squad of the third platoon was ambushed. Three soldiers were wounded, three enemy soldiers were killed or wounded, and seven or eight enemy soldiers escaped. We are currently pursuing them."

After surveying the terrain, Wang Dong said with displeasure, "How many times have I told you not to enter the forest? How could you still make this mistake? You're the platoon leader, I'll remember your mistake for now and deal with it after the battle."

The journey has been too smooth, as if they were entering an uninhabited territory. It is truly unacceptable that the advance team has become complacent.

"Gentlemen, we must be careful while fighting on enemy territory. Don't be arrogant just because we have superior weapons. It's true that the enemy uses smoothbore guns, but they can still kill people."

The pursuing troops returned, bringing back a prisoner who looked very young, with a terrified expression, repeatedly making the sign of the cross on his chest.

After the translation and interrogation, intelligence was quickly obtained: the city across the border had received news three days prior, and the militia had been mobilized. The enemy scouts consisted of ten men who fired from the edge of the woods.

Wang Dong sighed helplessly. This was inevitable. Fortunately, there were only three days left, so the enemy's preparations wouldn't be too thorough.

Battles like Wang Donglian's occurred more than a dozen times that day, and the militia defending the city also sent out a large number of scouts in hopes of figuring out how many enemy troops had arrived.

In the reconnaissance battle, our army undoubtedly held an absolute advantage. This advantage came not only from superior equipment but also from the results of training and the results of our consistent efforts in suppressing bandits.

When it comes to bandit suppression, there are far too many bandit gangs in North America, as well as quite a few lone bandits.

These bandits dared not easily commit crimes within the territory of Donghua Kingdom because the difference in appearance was too great, making them easy to be discovered.

After receiving a constant stream of messages from the front, the General Staff summarized the intelligence and then had the Chief of Staff report to Jia Zhi.

"Send a prisoner back to persuade them to surrender, hoping they will surrender first thing tomorrow morning, otherwise our army will launch an attack." Jia Zhi looked very tired, thinking to himself that if he was like this, how would the officers and soldiers below him be?
A division quickly deployed, forming a three-sided encirclement, and slowly advanced. Before nightfall, all units completed their pre-battle preparations, awaiting the answer the next day.

Because trade had been maintained, Jaji had a fairly good understanding of the situation around Moorhead.

More than half of the cities along the way chose to surrender, which led to a decline in morale among the troops, something that Jia Zhi was very dissatisfied with.

The fact that our army didn't harm a single town we passed through meant that we actually had no way out. To be honest, Jia Zhi also had some regrets, but after thinking about it carefully, he couldn't get over it in his heart.

After nightfall, the chief of staff brought back news that was neither good nor bad: the supply corps had been attacked multiple times but had been repelled each time, with negligible casualties.

Jia Zhi forcibly suppressed his anger and said, "After we enter the city tomorrow, destroy all the factories and machines we find. I'm emphasizing discipline again before the battle; it's the guarantee of our army's combat effectiveness."

Jia Lian's views on discipline profoundly influenced his children, though Jia Shi of Anxi had a slightly different understanding. Therefore, he believed the wheels should be kept level. After all, discipline applied to one's own people.

Jia Zhi looked at the map and frowned slightly. After taking down Moorhead on the other side, they would need to march southeast along the road for more than 300 kilometers to reach the next city, São Paulo.

North America is so vast that it was still too difficult for a lone army deep in enemy territory.

We have now penetrated more than 300 kilometers into enemy territory, which is indeed a bit risky from a tactical point of view.

At night, gunfire continued outside the camp, and the prisoners who had been released did not return, indicating that the enemy was determined to resist to the end.

At daybreak, Jia Zhi got up, quickly washed himself with cold water, and led his guards to a nearby high ground to check the enemy situation with binoculars.

It's October now, the autumn harvest is over, and there's certainly no shortage of food in the city. Whether or not to destroy the enemy's food supplies is a difficult question for Jia Zhi.

As for whether or not they could capture the city in front of them, Jia Zhi was not worried at all.

What Jia Zhi was really worried about was where the retreat boundary would be after this battle. If not an inch of land was taken, then the battle would be of little significance.

After the idea of ​​taking all the captured grain came to mind after occupying the city, Jia Zhi quickly made a decision: since this was a punitive operation, they should not be too soft-hearted.

The city in the distance was very quiet, and enemy troops could be seen intensifying their fortifications.

"First Regiment is ready, Second Regiment..." The chief of staff reported after summarizing the information from various locations. Jia Zhi observed the battlefield from this specially selected high point, with a group of staff officers busy behind him.

"Begin!" Jia Zhi gave the order, which was relayed by the chief of staff, and a messenger on higher ground waved a red flag. Boom! Boom! Boom! The artillery opened fire. After twenty minutes of artillery preparation, the battle to clear the city's defenses began.

Despite having heard rumors, when the artillery fire actually began, many militiamen on the enemy's outer positions panicked and fled from their positions, running wildly towards the city.

These types of people are often quickly overwhelmed by artillery fire. After ten minutes of artillery preparation, the soldiers on the designated departure positions launch an attack in skirmish formation, leaving the enemy troops on the position dumbfounded.

Never seen it!

The Donghua Army was able to adopt this tactic entirely because of the heavy machine guns. Just because the enemy did not have heavy machine guns did not mean that the same tactics should be used.

There have been some changes, but the units are still organized by platoon to ensure that the firepower of the platoon guns can suppress the enemy's counterattack in a timely manner.

Heavy machine guns, towed by the horse-drawn carriages, quickly caught up with the attack formation, and after getting close, they deployed on the flanks, firing first to suppress the enemy positions.

The U.S. military constructed some breastworks on the perimeter, and some brave soldiers hid behind them, patiently waiting for the opportunity to open fire.

However, they were met with machine gun fire, making it difficult to raise their heads and fire back; only sporadic gunfire could be heard.

The smoothbore musket fire was largely ineffective, with only sporadic casualties. The accompanying mortars opened fire in suppression. Upon approaching, the Donghua Army soldiers pulled out grenades and threw them behind the breastwork.

The militia's limited courage quickly vanished under this series of attacks.

Militiamen kept fleeing from the position, only to be met with relentless bullets from behind.

Only a few people managed to escape back into the city. The battle on the outskirts went very smoothly, and the city's perimeter was cleared in just half an hour.

Instead of launching an immediate attack on the city, the attacking force used the fortifications left by the enemy to quickly build forward positions and prepare for a counterattack.

This is the result of long-term training, which may seem a bit rigid, but it is steady and reliable.

The Donghua Army accepts some casualties, but not casualties caused by a sudden counterattack from the enemy.

The enemy forces inside the city did indeed plan to launch a counterattack and retake the position while our troops were still establishing themselves, but their courage vanished in the face of the previous artillery fire.

The wealthy people in the city have all fled; what remains are ordinary people and some citizens who are reluctant to part with their possessions.

Urged on by the officers' leather shoes and whips, the militia inside the city were making their final, desperate preparations.

They had never seen an enemy like this before, and they had never experienced a battle where they could not harm the enemy in most cases.

A new round of artillery fire began, with 48 guns and 75 cannons from two artillery regiments bombarding the area for a full half hour before stopping.

As the attacking force launched its offensive, accompanying mortars provided suppressive fire, and the militia, who had finally managed to gather, fell in droves amidst the explosions.

Morale collapsed, and militiamen kept abandoning their weapons and running away. Of the more than 10,000 militiamen, less than a third dared to stay and resist.

The shelling stopped, and soldiers with bayonets fixed to their rifles rushed into the city, easily completing the breakthrough.

Gunfire erupted throughout the city. It was too difficult to see clearly through the binoculars, and Jia Zhi didn't have much interest in continuing to observe. The entire operation lasted only two hours, with the attacking troops spending most of their time waiting and running.

This is a good thing; the fewer casualties, the better.

Militiamen fled in disarray from the southeast. They dared not stay, abandoning the people in the city and running for their lives.

The gunfire became increasingly sparse. Jia Zhi did not enter the city but was forced to remain outside by the chief of staff.

The worst-case scenario is that the bullet might not have eyes, which would be a real joke.

The sound of gunfire still echoed within the city as more and more troops entered to carry out a final cleanup.

The day after the troops arrived in Moorhead, they destroyed the machinery, blew up the factories, seized the granaries, and collected all the wagons.

Jia Zhi decided to halt the attack; his troops had penetrated 300 kilometers into enemy territory and were extremely exhausted. They had captured nearly 5,000 tons of grain; they would take as much as they could, leaving the rest behind.

They still paid people when collecting the horse-drawn carriages, which the local citizens found absurd. They wondered why they were paying people instead of robbing or setting the carriages on fire.

During the brief respite, the translators worked tirelessly, constantly posting notices explaining the purpose of the operation: to punish the US government. With their tacit approval, the Americans continued their westward incursions, leading to ongoing conflicts. This was intolerable, and Donghua was forced to launch a counter-offensive in self-defense.

Leave a regiment to control the city and instruct the remaining troops that if the local citizens become unruly, they must not be lenient.

After a day of rest, the troops continued their march southeast, advancing along the road, and arrived at their next city, São Paulo, after a normal eight-day march.

There was no resistance from the side of São Paulo, which was an undefended city. After the troops successfully entered the city, Jacques ordered a regiment to be left behind while the main force continued to advance rapidly toward Chicago.

Despite the troops being exhausted, the expedition was highly successful, with a considerable amount of currency seized from the cities along the way.

It's impossible to know how many banks went bankrupt as a result; wealthy banks and factories were the main victims. Ordinary people, as long as they didn't resist, really didn't have any trouble at all.

A refugee crisis erupted in the Chicago area, with countless horse-drawn carriages fleeing the city. Those unable to escape chose not to resist and quietly stayed at home.

After Jazhi's main force entered Chicago, they launched an explosive show.

Every factory was blown up, and the mines were destroyed. Bank vaults were blown open and looted. The grain in the granaries could no longer be taken away, so the doors were opened and left in the area for ordinary people to take as much as they wanted.

After three days, Jacques, seeing that the damage was nearly complete, decided to withdraw his troops. Detroit escaped a calamity.

After more than a month of fighting, the troops were exhausted. Jia Zhi dared not take any risks; who knew if the enemy would concentrate all their forces for a desperate attack?

Carrying a large amount of captured supplies, the Donghua Army retreated almost without any harassment, which is the benefit of emphasizing discipline along the way.

After all, this is America, where people value freedom and individuality. Without the Civil War, America would truly be a disorganized mess.

The plantation owners in the south are probably still laughing at the Yang Ji-lao guy.

Upon retreating to Bismarck, Jajz ordered a halt to the retreat and a rest. The local Americans had long since fled, fearing retaliation from the natives.

(End of this chapter)