African Nationhood

After discussion among the three of Shi Honglian, they could not linger in the mountainous Mendnegoro territory. These mountain roads were not conducive to the advancement of heavy artillery and armored vehicles.

It's July now, and the weather here is cold and sizzling in winter.

Most of Nanhua's soldiers live in warm and hot places, and their combat effectiveness will drop sharply when encountering severe cold weather.

Dalmatia on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea is mostly coastal plains. These places are convenient for advancement and can be linked with the naval fleet.

In addition, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was rich in products and could find feed for the army of mules and horses.

So the three of them decided to head to Ragusa (now Dubrovnik, Croatia), a straight-line distance of 60 kilometers to the north.

As for Nicholas I, let him recruit his own citizens to counterattack the Austro-Hungarian garrison. Nanhua promised to provide him with rifles, grenades, mortars and other light weapons. The specific costs will be settled after the war.

Because the bay of Kataro (today’s Port of Kotor, Montenegro) is surrounded by mountains, so in order to get from here to Ragusa, they need to use landing ships to transport soldiers to a flat coast, and then let the soldiers advance along the coastline .

Fortunately, Nanhua was prepared in advance, otherwise this expedition would have taken more time and energy.

Cataro Bay goes deep inland, leaving 2000 National Guard soldiers to guard the coastal defense batteries and air defense points at key locations to ensure the stability of the naval squadron's base camp in the Balkans.

……

On July 7, the South China Expeditionary Force completed its rest, and Shi Hong's coalition led the National Defense Forces to set off first.

The "Tao"-class landing ship carried 3000 soldiers and 40 armored vehicles and landed on the coast kilometers away from Ragusa.

Since Nanhua came to the Adriatic Sea and captured the Kataro base, the Austro-Hungarian navy no longer dared to appear in the southern Adriatic Sea.

Nanhua's submarine force also continued to advance northward during this period, waiting for opportunities to sneak attack the ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, but most of them returned without success.

However, planes can continue to bomb and harass the nearby port of Ragusa.

……

With this water and air support, the landing ship has a larger loading capacity, and there are four accompanying landing ships.

The transportation of 4 National Defense Force soldiers was completed in one day, and subsequent auxiliary troops can be transported slowly.

On July 7, the large forces of the South China Expeditionary Force had advanced outside Ragusa.

……

Ragusa is an ancient city, and historically the area was a battleground for maritime powers.

Although Ragusa is a small city, it has maintained a relatively independent and special status for 800 years through the use of political and diplomatic means.

In the 15th century, Ragusa entered its heyday and established the "Republic of Dubrovnik".

In 1806, Napoleon's troops occupied the city, ending the era of the "Dubrovnik Republic".

In 1815, the city was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

……

The city is divided into two parts, the new city and the old city. The population is not large, only more than 2.

The old city is within the bay and is protected by city walls and coastal forts, while the new city is built on the seashore without any obstruction.

Because of the previous non-stop bombing, this pearl of the Adriatic Sea, the thousand-year-old city became dilapidated.

When the Nanhua Army drove its armored vehicles into this area, although the people in the city were frightened, they were helpless. The local defense forces had long since disappeared without knowing where they were hiding.

After all, armored vehicles are different from ordinary cars and are not afraid of any light weapons. However, the coastal defense guns in the old city are monitored and controlled by aircraft that are constantly hovering in the sky.

Once someone dares to move at the coastal defense artillery position, the pilot on the plane can use the onboard machine gun to help them rebuild their lives. …

There were only a few battleships in the bay of Ragusa, but the mouth of the bay was covered with mines.

The naval fleet will not be able to enter the bay here for a while. Ou Haiwa ordered the landing ship to lower the Feiyu landing craft to clear the mines in the bay and explore the hydrological conditions in the bay to prevent sunken ships from blocking the channel.

People in the new city were quickly gathered in a square, and the German translator who came with the army told people that they were Allied forces, and they would be forgiven as long as they cooperated.

If anyone dares to resist, the "continuous sitting system" will be imposed on the resisters. If one person resists, the whole family will be executed, if ten people resist, and if a hundred people resist, they will be executed.

After hearing this ban, the residents here all remained silent.

The Nanhua Army began to screen out these new city residents. They warned them in advance that if they voluntarily surrendered, they would avoid death. If they were identified and identified, they would be shot on the spot.

After half a day of sorting and screening, nearly two hundred city guard soldiers were found.

Most of these people were exposed, so these people were shot directly on the spot.

Those who surrendered voluntarily were organized into patrol teams, patrolling the city with wooden sticks to prevent public order chaos.

After these things were taken care of, it was already dark.

The Nanhua Army allowed the residents of Xincheng to be held in separate custody and isolated from their military camps. The army camped on the spot and had no conversation all night.

Early the next morning, some troops were left to guard the residents of the new city, while the remaining troops marched towards the old city.

……

When the South China Army arrived yesterday, the old city was closed early by the residents.

The walls of the old city are relatively thick, and once the city gate is closed, it is not easy to open it.

The expeditionary force has explosives. No matter how thick the city gate is, just a few explosives will break it open.

After the explosion in the distance, the gate of the old city no longer existed.

By the time the army entered the old city, the entire port of Ragusa was under control.

The army entered the city, read them the previous rules in the new city, and then began to screen potential rebels.

There were more than 400 defense troops identified this time, less than half of whom were identified through identification. All those identified were shot.

The remaining ones were mixed with the patrol team in the new city, and then they were allowed to continue patrolling and be responsible for local security.

The Nanhua Expeditionary Army began to reorganize the residents of the old and new cities. All the residents of the old city were resettled in the new city. The old city will become the garrison camp of the Nanhua Army.

After the follow-up auxiliary troops arrive, further management will be carried out here.

The sentry guards in the old city cannot be careless. Xue Yingxiong did not forget to assign the residents here to organize boats to demine and clear the wooden piles in the bay.

By July 7, the naval fleet of the South China Expeditionary Force could finally enter the bay.

The subsequent auxiliary troops were also transported into place. After the number was sufficient, the expeditionary force began to take over this ancient seaside city.

……

In the few days when Nanhua occupied Ragusa, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's local defense forces came only once. After being repulsed by the Nanhua army, there was no movement again.

It took another two days, waiting for the follow-up supplies to arrive, before Shi Honglian led the troops to Sarajevo.

This city between the mountains is a major regional city in the Balkan Peninsula. Its strategic position and military value are very important. This battle will be extremely difficult. (End of chapter)