The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 303 The Situation on the Battlefield is Changing
After the Taranto garrison eliminated the French troops outside the territory, it immediately expanded the arc-shaped battle line to the east, west and north.

Italy is a long and narrow peninsula, with most areas less than two hundred kilometers wide, which is within the combat range of the Ming Dynasty's aircraft carriers.

With the support of aircraft, the Ming army in Taranto quickly swept and occupied the bottom edge of the peninsula, and then advanced northward along the peninsula.

The mixed local army in Naples was no match for the Ming army, and most of them had difficulty fighting when encountered air raids.

After being hit by another round of long-range fire from the Australian machine guns of the Ming infantry, most of them dropped their guns and surrendered after hearing the loudspeaker on the armored vehicle to persuade them to surrender.

The army was unstoppable all the way. Most of the time they were on the march, so the time for fighting was very limited and they encountered almost no obstacles.

When the army advanced to the vicinity of Naples, it finally encountered the main French force led by French Marshal Murat.

Murat was a close subordinate of Napoleon and assisted Napoleon in carrying out the coup.

He has now been named a French Marshal, married Napoleon's sister to strengthen the relationship, and currently serves as the Governor-General guarding Naples for Napoleon.

In the original history, Murat was named King of Naples after Napoleon's brother became King of Spain.

For now, Murat only holds the titles of Prince of France and Duke of Naples.

Some of the defeated soldiers and generals on the Taranto front battlefield ran to Naples to report the situation to Murat. After hearing this, Murat was filled with astonishment.

Murat grabbed these embarrassed generals and asked:
"I know that the Ming Dynasty has powerful artillery, but what is this giant iron bird that can fly at high speed?"

The general was extremely exhausted, but for the future of France, he still carefully explained to Murat what he knew with panic:

“It is a bird made of metal, with a silvery metallic luster all over its body.

"It should be a bird-shaped machine that can fly in the sky at a speed of at least 200 kilometers per hour.

“They can lay eggs in flight, horrific bombs that explode.

“So our fortress walls are useless, they can just drop bombs from the sky behind them.

"These flying machines are also equipped with super-rapid rifles, which have a more frequent firing rate than the rapid-fire rifles used by the Ming infantry, perhaps hundreds of rounds per minute.

“When this burst of gunfire comes down, it really is like rain.

“With the threat of bombs and bullets from the air, there was no way our troops could gather.

"The Ming Dynasty also has a kind of steel chariot that can move quickly. The chariot's outer shell has metal armor, and rifle bullets cannot damage it at all.

“This type of chariot also has a super-rapid gun, which will lead and cover the Ming infantry in the charge.

"Once they start charging, the battle is over."

Murat listened to the explanation in a daze, but still had an expression of disbelief on his face:

"Iron bulls that can fly and drop bombs, self-propelled chariots protected by steel armor, and guns that can fire hundreds of rounds per minute...

"These things... shouldn't be weird things you deliberately made up in order to avoid punishment for defeat and fleeing, right?"

The general immediately swore an oath:

"I can swear to God that everything I said is true. It was not just me who saw it, but thousands of people on the battlefield saw it.

“In the future, more officers, soldiers and priests will escape back, and there should be more drawings.

“Your Excellency the Marshal will certainly receive the same news.

"The Ming Dynasty has already begun the attack, and it should be continuing the attack. It will soon reach Naples. Your Excellency the Marshal will be able to see the same thing himself.

"The local mixed-combination soldiers in Naples can't resist the attack of the Ming army at all."

Murat also felt that there was no need for the other party to lie, because it could be exposed at any time, but if all this was true, what should he do:
"Then do you think that our French main force can withstand the attack of the Ming Dynasty?"

The general was silent for a few seconds, and said rather dejectedly:
“I think… it’s difficult. The morale and experience of the Ming army are also not low.

“They are not the rogue army of traditional European aristocrats, but are very similar to our citizen army.

“The key is that the weapons and equipment of the two sides are too different, and more importantly, the local soldiers have never seen these things.

“When the flying iron bird, or rather a flying machine, rushed down from the sky with a strange sound, many soldiers began to call out to God.

“The battle cannot continue under these circumstances.

“Even if there were determined, obedient veterans who could resist fear and assemble on their own initiative, those flying machines would drive them away with bombs and rain of bullets.

“The only way to survive is to flee in separate places. If we gather together, a large group of people will die.

"We have no way to deal with it. Maybe your majesty will have a brilliant plan, but I don't know."

Murat listened to the other party's introduction and felt that if what the other party had obtained was true, then there was really no hope for this kind of war.

The Ming Dynasty has eyes in the sky, so even if its own army organizes tactics such as infiltration, detour, and ambush, it will be difficult to be effective.

Murat didn't know that the Ming army actually had radio equipment, and could coordinate with each other across long distances.

"You guys go and rest first. I will personally organize and command the battle and report the news to His Majesty the Emperor.

"If the Ming army is truly invincible, I will go with you to personally apologize to His Majesty and explain the situation on the battlefield to His Majesty."

The generals had nothing to say and immediately took the order to go down and rest.

Murat judged in his heart that according to the relevant intelligence he had currently obtained, the French army had no chance of winning at all.

His mission was to learn more about the Ming army, compile as much potentially useful intelligence as possible, and send it to the emperor as a reference for combat and decision-making.

Therefore, the combat method he should choose should be to make use of the dispersed defensive battles of scattered soldiers as much as possible, and not let the Ming Dynasty concentrate its forces to defeat his main force.

When Murat was adjusting his army's deployment to fight, defeated generals from the front began to escape and brought back more terrifying news.

People kept talking about flying iron birds, terrifying exploding "bird eggs", and bullets falling as densely as rain.

Murat tried to sort out the reports from the fleeing soldiers and officers to estimate the real-time position and marching speed of the Ming army.

Reports from different groups of defeated soldiers and officers recorded the locations where they fought with the Ming army.

The distances between these locations, as well as the distances from Naples, plus the time difference between the arrival of multiple groups of defeated troops in Naples, should allow us to work out a rough result.

But Murat soon discovered that doing so seemed meaningless, and the result he got was that the Ming army's marching speed might be faster than the fleeing speed of the defeated soldiers.

If his calculations were correct, the Ming army would soon arrive in Naples, right behind a group of fleeing soldiers.

The Ming army did not appear immediately, probably because the army needed to take a long detour and could not take the mountain paths like the defeated soldiers.

Murat quickly determined that his calculations were basically correct. Just as he had made the most basic deployment adjustments, a patrol discovered the Ming army in the northeast direction.

The flying giant iron bird also appeared at almost the same time, but the iron ox and the infantry on the ground appeared in different directions, flying from the southwest.

"The Ming army arrived so quickly, which means the troops at the front really couldn't hold on, and it also means that the previous reports were most likely true.

"The Iron Bird is not with the infantry, probably because the Iron Bird can easily cross mountains and hills."

In fact, this batch of auxiliary combat aircraft took off from the sea.

Murat and the French did not know yet that flying machines needed a taxiway for takeoff and landing, which required at least one hundred meters of flat road surface.

Before the front-line airport was repaired, the only way to support the battle was to deploy air power through aircraft carriers. Murat first arranged a force to face the Ming infantry head-on and fought a battle in the plain area northeast of Naples.

The result was obvious. Facing the rapid-fire chemical powder cannons with recoil, aircraft and armored vehicle machine guns, and mature bolt-action rifles, Murat's veterans were also unable to resist.

The battle began when the two sides were still one kilometer apart, and the bravest grenadiers had no chance to play a role.

The French army, which had more combat experience and veterans and a stronger fighting will, only held out a little longer than the local mixed forces.

Before the enemy entered our effective firing range, our casualties had already exceeded 30 percent.

There is no way to sustain this one-sided battle.

The general in charge of the command did not give any orders, and the front was gradually collapsing out of control.

The troops eventually brought back some information that Murat believed should be of some value, at the cost of more than half of their troops being killed or wounded.

The Ming Dynasty did not have many flying machines, probably only about sixty.

The flying machine could carry only one bomb, which was indeed very lethal, but of little use against the scattered soldiers.

The super-raptors of flying machines and self-propelled tanks are equally powerful, but their numbers are also limited, and the bullets are not unlimited, so they are also of little use against scattered soldiers.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty had only more than 60 flying machines, and large artillery could hardly enter the hilly areas.

If he divided his army into hundreds of small teams and dispersed them to garrison in the hills and forests of Italy, most of them would be able to avoid air strikes.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to defeat these scattered troops and conquer the places where the French troops were stationed, it would also have to use a sufficient number of infantry to disperse and attack its own army.

In hilly areas with complex and rugged terrain, the range advantage of the Ming Dynasty's automatic rifles could not be brought into play, and the overall advantage would be greatly weakened.

Although the Ming army still has the upper hand overall, these strategies should at least be useful.

At the very least, it can increase the cost for Ming Dynasty to control these places, slow down the advance of the Ming army, and create opportunities for the emperor to change the situation.

After summarizing the report from the front, Murat immediately made further adjustments to his defense methods.

Murat had originally planned to disperse his troops, but he had not dispersed them into teams of dozens or hundreds of people. He was now starting such an experiment.

Murat himself led a troop out of Naples and stationed in the hilly area west of Naples.

Some troops were also left behind and stationed in several fortresses around the city and port.

Murat judged that the Ming Dynasty did not have many flying machines and artillery, and the fortress would not collapse so easily.

As long as the troops in the fortress do not collapse mentally, they will not be quickly defeated by the Ming army.

But the cities on the plains are definitely useless, as a large number of civilians will not obey military orders at all, and the Ming Dynasty’s planes and artillery can come in and directly control them.

I have to say that Murat's plan really worked.

After the Ming Dynasty's Italian Army defeated the French troops that came to fight, it received intelligence sent by the reconnaissance flying team.

The French army has withdrawn from the city of Naples and dispersed to the surrounding hills and villages.

Although these small troops could be easily eliminated by the Ming army once they were exposed, it was difficult to find them all quickly.

After receiving the telegram from the front, Liu Biao, the governor of the Italian Legion of the Ming Dynasty, could not help but start muttering:
"These French barbarians are not stupid. They know they cannot fight against the Ming soldiers head-on, so they start to think of ways to play dirty.

"The main force must quickly capture the main cities. We don't have time to play hide-and-seek with you here..."

So without much hesitation, he directly issued the order to respond:

"Capture Naples as soon as possible, and then send a group of planes to Naples to scout the surrounding enemy situation.

"Japanese and Korean vassal soldiers went to garrison and clean up the area, set up strongholds and cities, set fire to the mountains, and cleared the fields."

The Ming court had no interest in directly ruling European countries, nor did it regard the European barbarians as good subjects, or even as wealth.

As barbarians, they refused to surrender when the heavenly soldiers arrived, and instead fled to the mountains and forests, refusing the teachings of the Heavenly Dynasty. They can be completely regarded as savages.

After Liu Biao gave the order to the front line, he immediately reported to the rear through the telegraph system.

This shows that the Europeans have begun to disperse their resistance and require more vassal soldiers to be sent over to guard and clean up the area.

In fact, both the Ming people and the Japanese had experience in dealing with enemies who fled to the mountains.

Before the Chongzhen period, the troops stationed on the northern border of the Ming Dynasty would often go out of the border in autumn and winter to set fires on the grasslands.

Sometimes dead bodies are used to contaminate water sources.

But the Japanese, with their 30 million people struggling and fighting on their tiny islands, have more experience.

If there were no restrictions from the Tokugawa shogunate's decrees, Japan's lords and daimyo might have built castles on every mountain in Japan.

Conventional wars on the Japanese archipelago were often fought over small towns in the mountains.

Moreover, the main force of the Ming Dynasty cannot waste its energy in such places. Such dirty and miscellaneous work that consumes time and energy is what the servants should do.

After receiving the order, the main Ming army on the Naples front quickly occupied the city which had basically no defense capabilities.

At the same time, they used artillery and aircraft to suppress the fortress outside the city, and found that the enemy was not in chaos.

The traditional fortress's defensive capabilities are still very strong, and there is no panic or chaos within the garrison, so it will still take some effort to take it down.

The front-line troops first used planes to drop bombs to destroy the artillery positions around the fortress.

The artillery on the fort uses the fortress structure to form crossfire externally, which is the strongest defensive force of the traditional fortress.
However, these batteries were usually open-air, and in an era without airplanes, they were difficult to destroy directly, requiring careful earthwork excavation around them.

With planes, we can drop from the sky and directly attack the artillery.

Blow up the artillery itself, killing the artillerymen directly, and use machine guns to suppress other soldiers so that they dare not come up to repair it.

This is equivalent to pulling out the teeth of a tiger, but the body is still relatively fat.

So we continued to gather artillery and machine guns outside the fortress to cover the main force's advance and occupy the trenches outside the fortress.

Holes are drilled at the bottom of the inner wall of the trench and explosives are installed to blow down the trench wall constructed of rock masonry and backfill, forming a slope of soil and rock collapse.

Then continue to advance forward to the bottom of the wall of the fortress itself, and use the same trick to blow down the wall of the fortress itself.

At this time, the main force can rush in directly along the slope.

Even if the morale of the French veterans was high, it was hard to say how much they could retain when they were rapidly falling into a desperate situation.

This is not France, but Naples, not the French's own land.

It took the main force of the Ming Dynasty three days to occupy three fortresses around Naples, and subsequent vassal soldiers also arrived in the same few days.

The main force of the Ming Dynasty handed over the garrison mission to the vassal soldiers and continued to advance on a larger scale to capture cities and territories.

After taking over the city, the vassal soldiers from Japan and Korea implemented the policy of scorching the city and clearing the countryside in accordance with the order.

Drive the population scattered in the villages on the plains to the vicinity of the city, and build more small bunkers around it for surveillance and garrison.

They burned down all the surrounding villages and vegetation, and then set fire to the surrounding hilly areas.

(End of this chapter)