Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 219: Naval Victory
The Dashun Army was good at field battles but not at attacking strongholds. After the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the Dashun Army had been on a downward spiral. When Li Guo was in charge of the Loyal Camp, the situation got even worse.

The Red Army camped outside Wutunso City, fortified its walls and built high ramparts, refusing to engage in battle.

Liu Xiyao and Liu Fangliang drove the refugees in front, avoiding the Red Army's artillery fire and approaching the Red Army trench. The Loyalty Battalion used wooden planks to build a bridge across the trench, crossed the trench, and approached the Red Army's wooden wall with shields in hand, trying to force their way into the Red Army camp. The method was simple and crude.

Most of the front-line soldiers wore silk armor and cotton armor, which was quite characteristic of the Shun Army. It turned out that most of the backbones of the Shun Army were border residents and border troops in the northwest, who liked to wear cotton armor and silk armor, firstly to keep out the cold, and secondly to be light.

Silk armor, similar to cotton armor, is made of multiple layers of silk cloth, up to 20 layers. The Ming army's firearms and bows and arrows could not penetrate silk armor, but the Manchu heavy arrows of the Eight Banners could easily penetrate silk armor.

The Red Army's muskets were more powerful than the Manchu bows, and had no problem dealing with the silk armor of the Loyalty Battalion. In less than a quarter of an hour, more than half of the Loyalty Battalion's soldiers were killed or wounded. Liu Xiyao had no choice but to sound the horn and call off the troops, retreating five miles to set up camp.

All the generals requested to fight and advocated taking advantage of the victory to attack.

The situation on the battlefield has become clear.

Liu Xiyao and Liu Fangliang brought 7,000 soldiers, including about 2,000 cavalry, more than 20,000 family members, and several thousand refugees. Most of the family members and baggage were transported by water, with 300 to 400 boats, and the vanguard had already approached the five garrisons.

The Loyalty Battalion had to bring their families with them when they went on the march. The two Lius, Li Chixin and Gao Bizheng were not on good terms with each other, and were already in a semi-independent state, so they simply set up their own old camp and brought their families with them.

The entire Loyal Camp stretched for nearly a hundred miles, with about 40,000 combat soldiers, about 8,000 cavalry, and about 200,000 family members.

The closest to the two Lius was the brave general Dang Shousu, who had about 5,000 soldiers under his command and was a day's journey away from Wutunso. Further back was the main force of the Loyalty Camp, led by Li Chixin himself. Gao Bizheng and Liu Guochang were the rear guards, protecting the old camp. The soldiers of each unit were about a day's journey away from each other, and reinforcements could be provided at any time.

The Red Army's desire to wipe out the Zhongzheng Battalion in one go was simply wishful thinking. Judging from the current situation, they would be thankful if they could wipe out the vanguards of Liu Xiyao and Liu Fangliang.

Chen Bangfu was entrenched in Xunzhou, with his mind hesitant and indecisive. He wanted to join forces with the Loyalty Battalion to attack the Red Army, but he was worried about making the wrong bet, so he kept his troops on hold, trying to wait until the situation became clear before fishing in troubled waters.

The war cannot be delayed. The Red Army must eliminate Liu Xiyao and Liu Fangliang before Dang Shousu arrives in order to seize the initiative.

Danchu pondered for a long time and said, "The Loyalty Battalion is strong and determined to resist the Qing Dynasty. It is a powerful force. I don't want to be an enemy of the Loyalty Battalion. I just want to use fighting to promote peace and form an alliance with the Loyalty Battalion. Liu Xiyao and Liu Fangliang do not understand the situation, do not distinguish between enemies and friends, and intend to target Nanning. Only by beating the two Lius can the Loyalty Battalion be forced to surrender."

Soon, the Red Army raised two large red and yellow flags in the center.

The Navy Flag received the order, hoisted the sails and anchored, and sailed down the river. In March, the Navy Flag was established. It has been nearly half a year since then. Two battalions of naval forces have been trained and a total of 23 warships have been built. Each battalion has one long dragon, one fast crab, and nine three-board ships, which have begun to have combat effectiveness.

The twenty-three warships looked inconspicuous. The two largest of them were fast crabs, no more than five meters long, with pointed sterns and two masts.

In contrast, the Zhongzheng Battalion plundered thousands of civilian ships, including many Boshan warships. In order to welcome the Zhongzheng Battalion, Chen Bangfu also sent a navy to escort them, bringing dozens of Boshan warships and wheeled boats, including a huge building ship that could carry cannons.

Ruan Tingfeng sat on the Kuaixie flagship, feeling a little excited, a little excited, and a little nervous.

He was highly valued by Danchu and was promoted to the naval commander. Today, he led the navy to fight for the first time. Can he win the battle? Can the long dragon, fast crab and three versions of the warships created by Danchu really be of great use?
Naval warfare is very different from land warfare. Especially in inner river warfare, the conditions are ideal with favorable wind and against the current. In case of failure, you can retreat at any time, and the smoke will disperse with the wind, which will not interfere with the gunner's sight. However, favorable wind and favorable current are extremely dangerous, as there is no retreat. In case of defeat, you cannot retreat even if you want to.

The Red Army's warships were all paddle boats, but at this moment, the wind was favorable and the sails and oars were used, so they were moving very fast. There was no other way. Land battles were not easy to fight, so they had to fight on water first. Although the Loyalty Battalion was an elite force that had fought many battles, it was not used to water battles and did not have a decent navy. It would be easier to defeat them from the water. "Keep the formation! Do not fight in the heat of the moment!" Nguyen Dinh Phong ordered a flag signal, and when he looked back, the ships responded with flag signals one after another.

The three-row boat was the fastest, so the rowers slowed down, and the long dragon was the slowest, so the rowers and oarsmen sped up, and the formation gradually closed in. The twenty-three warships were not many in number, but they formed a double column, which was in good shape and took the initial shape of a navy.

The Loyalty Battalion did not have a dedicated navy, and all of its ships were looted. The army soldiers on board were mainly responsible for monitoring the sailors and looking after their baggage and family members, rather than fighting on the water.

The navy sent by Chen Bangfu was even more like a joke. They relied on their large number of ships and did not take the Red Army navy seriously. Many people also believed that the war between the Red Army and the Loyalty Camp had little to do with them and there was no need to fight to the death.

"Pass the order, focus on attacking Chen Bangfu's navy. The first battalion, focus on attacking the tower ships. The second battalion, surround the tower ships and focus on attacking the enemy reinforcements."

The tower ship was the flagship of Chen Bangfu's navy. Once it was destroyed, the enemy navy would surely collapse. The families and supplies of the Loyalty Camp were all escorted by the navy. Once the navy was defeated, the Loyalty Camp would be in chaos without a fight.

A military commander must be good at understanding the intentions of the commander-in-chief. As the commander of the Red Army Navy, Nguyen Dinh Phong faithfully carried out Dan Chu's order: to defeat Li Chixin and Chen Bangfu, one must be defeated and the other must be captured. To make the Loyalty Camp surrender, Liu Xiyao must be defeated, and to defeat Liu Xiyao, Chen Bangfu's escort navy must be destroyed first.

The navy received the order and began to change formation. The first battalion attacked the enemy's tower ship directly, while the second battalion dispersed and deployed outside the tower ship, trying to intercept the enemy's wheeled boats and Boshan boats.

Chen Bangfu had been operating in Guangxi for a long time, and his navy had also been through many battles. At first, he did not take it seriously and sent his troops to fight against the Red Army.

Unexpectedly, the Red Army Navy sailed at an incredibly fast speed. In less than a quarter of an hour, the Red Army approached the enemy ship and opened fire first. The Sanban, Changlong, and Kuaixie all had main guns at the bow and stern. They were the Red Army's new Weiyuan guns, which could fire solid bullets and grapeshot. The Changlong and Kuaixie main guns weighed 700 to 800 kilograms, with two guns at the bow and stern. The Sanban main gun weighed 400 to 500 kilograms, with one gun at the bow and stern. In addition, the Changlong and Kuaixie also had side guns on both sides, weighing 200 to 300 kilograms, with quite fierce firepower.

The enemy's warships were mainly Boshan boats and wheeled boats, with one tower ship. Boshan boats were not equipped with guns, but only with rockets, spray guns and other weapons, and could only engage in close-range combat. Wheeled boats were equipped with guns, but only with sub-cannons such as falconets and shotguns such as the Weiyuan gun, which had limited range and power. The only tower ship was equipped with a huge cannon, but it was too large and did not work well.

With cannons against those without cannons, large cannons against small cannons, the Red Army's navy completely crushed the enemy.

The 1st Marine Battalion was the first to penetrate the enemy and opened fire before getting close to the enemy ships. Every time the main gun fired, a violent recoil was generated, pushing the Red Army warships forward at an accelerated speed.

The enemy's Boshan boats and wheeled boats were simply unable to fight back and were either destroyed or fled in all directions.

The three ships of the first battalion were the fastest and approached the enemy's tower ship first, like a group of vicious wolves biting a ferocious beast.

The tower ships carried many guns, but the guns were positioned at a high position, and there were blind spots nearby, so they could not use their full firepower. Rockets, shotguns, and spray guns were powerless against the three-pan ships. The Red Army Navy was a fledgling, and in its first battle, it fought against the tower ships with a group of three-pan boats, and was not at all inferior.

The tower ship was the commander-in-chief's flagship. The enemy's wheeled boats wanted to come over for reinforcement, but were desperately blocked by the second battalion.

Soon, the first battalion of fast crab and long dragon warships arrived one after another, and the Red Army's firepower became even more fierce. The enemy's tower ship was riddled with holes and gradually took on water and tilted.

As soon as the flagship fell, the rest of the enemy ships scattered.

At 3:00 p.m., Dan Chu heard about the great victory of the navy, and ordered the camp gates to be opened and went out to challenge Liu Xiyao.

(End of this chapter)