Xinshun 1730

Chapter 1234 Three Battles to India ([-])

Among all the strategic guidance issued by the Privy Council, the tasks in the direction of Southeast Asia and India are the easiest.

It only needs to capture three places before the storm season next year.Calcutta, Bengkulu and Madras.

This task is simply not too simple.

Counting the Indian soldiers trained in the UK, there are more than 3000 people.

Just finished fighting the French with hundreds of casualties.

Occupying five cities in France, they have to divide their troops to garrison them.

It doesn't make sense for the navy to stay in the river port of Calcutta. There are three old battleships and a group of irregular cruisers in a mess. They have just finished fighting with the French navy and need to be repaired.

Dashun alone has more than [-] state-owned soldiers on land grants in Ceylon.These people are not strong men recruiting civilians in the pure sense, but reservists who have undergone military training and can resist the front line.

It's just that Dashun didn't plan to use them to fight the front line, but just let them go to Madras to dig a hole.

Madras is easy to play, at least in the view of Du Feng, the governor of Ceylon, it is easy to play.

Because this is not a qualified military port, there is neither the disgusting battle for the headland fort with the moon-clad structure, nor the siege of the fortress on the natural breakwater island in front of the painful military port.

Just such a Fort St. George, which has been deduced many times on the staff drawings, with a total of more than 600 defenders.

On the deck of the warship, Du Feng was having a very relaxed conversation with the admiral of the Indian squadron.

The two of them were acquaintances of course, they were both classmates of the Jinghai Palace back then.

The admiral of the squadron looked at the blurry coast in the distance, and said: "Brother Du, our mission is to ensure that your people go ashore, and to protect the merchant ships that will be mobilized later to send Ceylon's soldiers up, and to ensure the logistics of supply. "

"You also know that according to our "Combat Regulations", it is stupid to confront shore artillery. If it is not done well, it will be demoted or even executed."

"Several 24-pound heavy guns in Fort St. George are all facing the coast. The fort is also very close to the coast. We will not choose to confront the shore artillery."

Du Feng said with a smile: "Don't worry about that, although I haven't built a boat for a long time, I still can't forget these things."

"The way I see it, Fort St. George, we can go down within a month."

"Sun Tzu said: Ten is to encircle, five is to attack, double is to divide, the enemy is able to fight, less is to escape, and less is to avoid. Therefore, the strength of a small enemy is the capture of a big enemy. "

"He avoided the battle and stretched the battle line too long, but the navy couldn't avoid the battle. This is almost a mistake made by the Dutch in Nanyang."

"Brother, your navy is the key. You have to keep an eye on the enemy navy in the direction of Calcutta."

The admiral of the squadron smiled and said: "There is no need to remind this. Now there are special anti-smuggling fast boats, which are specially used to monitor the direction of Calcutta. Even if their navy comes out, we will show that we know. As long as the British will not be like us, advance It is expected that the fleet will be dispatched from the British mainland last year, and there will be no problem."

Regarding this kind of accident that could turn the tide of the battle, the two talked about it, but they didn't care about it in their hearts.

This battle was a standard battle of intentions and inadvertence, and only a few people in the entire Dashun knew that this war was going to be fought.

Because Dashun spread the mobilization and preparations for this war over the past 20 years. It was not until the last moment of the war that the officers above the level of admirals suddenly realized: What is the reason for the imperial court to build so many completely useless battleships over the years? What.Turns out, it wasn't purely grandiose feats and militarism.

Since it is impossible for the British side to send a fleet over in advance, there is already no suspense in this battle in terms of strategy.

At this time, Du Feng is not only complacent, but also thinking about making great achievements.

The so-called husband lives in the world and makes a name for himself.

Complete the strategic tasks of the Privy Council step by step, that is not meritorious service.

The strategic guidance given by the Privy Council was for him to capture Fort St. George in two months.

But he believes that, in fact, there is every chance to resolve the battle of Fort St. George within a month, and then go straight to Calcutta with lightning speed.

The daily work of besieging the city, digging pits, guarding, stationing, supplying, and distributing the shore is the responsibility of the staff department and the chief of staff.

He took a warship to the south of Fort St. George to observe the terrain and ponder the feasibility of his plan.

Fort St. George is a standard bastion, complete with artillery slopes, trenches, moats, star structures, etc.

About 200 meters from the coast, facing the direction of the coast, heavy artillery was deployed.

The north side of the fortress is an open area, which is also the most suitable place to launch an attack.

There, the attacking side's forces can be deployed.Whether it is practice or textbook, the attack should be launched from the north side.

The east side faces the sea.

The west side is a swamp, rather disgusting terrain.

On the south side, there is a river called the Old Warm River, which has shaped a perfect natural large moat for the fortress.

Moreover, the water level of this river is very shallow, and warships cannot enter the river.

Even if the water level is deep, a sailing ship without a steam engine will not run into this kind of river.Running in is either the result of the arson ship or the target of shore artillery.

Therefore, the main defense direction of Fort St. George is on the north and east sides.

It goes without saying that the east side faces the sea.

There are six angular triangular forts on the north side, while there are only two on the south side, and there are obvious blind spots for shooting.

According to past experience, the south is indeed not a suitable direction for attacking.

Because of the existence of the ancient Worm River, the attacking side's troops could not be deployed.The shooting blind spot on the floor plan is not a big problem in actual combat.

However, Du Feng didn't think so.

He has great confidence in the combat effectiveness of specialized trenches and combat engineers in siege battles.

Therefore, a large number of artillery are concentrated on the north side, but in fact, the south is the breakthrough he chose.

Using specialized combat engineers and explosive mortars, it is absolutely possible to quickly break into the fort from the south when Fort St. George's attention is attracted by the artillery attack on the north side.

However, this still requires final coordination with the Navy.

At this time, the fleet was on the sea south of the Guwam River, where it avoided the frontal heavy artillery of Fort St. George.

"If your navy bombards Fort St. George from here, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Du Feng pointed to the distance and asked.

"We have no problem. They will definitely not be able to hit us. But from here, I can't guarantee how many shells can hurt them."

"If necessary, of course. The fleet can use a formation similar to nomadic cavalry to go around here and give continuous bombardment."

Du Feng nodded and said: "That's good. You don't need to be accurate, just suppress them properly. I am going to sneak attack from the south and feint from the north. The army's artillery is concentrated in the north, and it is still in accordance with the battle regulations of the siege , digging a hole and moving forward. It is estimated that we can reach the predetermined location tomorrow."

"If it doesn't rain in a few days and the weather is fine, then I need your fleet to help."

"From this direction, continue to bombard the south side of the fortress to suppress them. An hour is enough."

As for how to bombard, how to cooperate with the fleet, and what formation to adopt, they are naturally no more troublesome than Du Feng. The people in the squadron will naturally formulate a battle plan.

The people in the squadron nodded in agreement, and sent a small boat to send Du Feng and several staff officers to the Dashun Army's position on the south bank of the Guwam River.

Since the main force is placed in the north, there are of course not many people here.

However, according to the battle regulations for siege, trenches must be dug in all directions, and the trenches in the non-main attack direction are for defense, cutting off the enemy's possible counterattack route out of the city.

The trench on the south side has basically been formed, and the eight cannons are very shabby, but according to the method of siege, it can also suppress the few artillery pieces of the British army on the south side of the fort.

The hot air balloon that took off also had a clear view of the situation inside the fortress. Obviously, the main defense direction of the British army at this time was also on the north side.

The staff officer beside him looked at the latest defense deployment of the fort sent back by the hot air balloon, and sighed: "This fort was built too early. When this fort was built, Emperor Taizu was still fighting with the bandits in northern Sichuan and Zitong."

"More than 100 years have passed, even though it has been strengthened, the foundation is still the foundation of that time. The artillery a hundred years ago is not the same as it is now. If our navy's heavy artillery is in the southeast, although the bombardment cannot destroy its fort, it can cut it off. Their way of transporting troops."

"If the strategy of attacking from the north to the south is really carried out, the key is not to attack and stand still. It is how to pull the cannon up immediately after the attack."

"As long as you can quickly pull up the cannon after attacking, that's fine."

"That's right, combat engineers can cross and attack quickly. However, when they attack, they must immediately repair the official pontoon bridge that can transport heavy artillery. This is the key."

"The combat engineers took down the triangular fort on the south side. If the cannon can be pulled up within half a day, the fort can be conquered in two days."

Du Feng also had the same opinion, and then said: "I also have this intention. The staff department will make a plan as soon as possible, and prepare in advance how many troops, wooden boats, firewood, and timber are needed."

"The first task of the combat engineers is to capture the triangular fort on the south side. After the capture, they should quickly use explosives to clear the passable slope. The follow-up artillery and government soldiers will assist and can pull the cannon up."

After giving orders to the staff officers, Du Feng observed the situation of the fort on the south side again, and after confirming that the plan was feasible, he took a boat to the north again.

A few days later, the weather was fine.

The shelling on the north side has already begun.

The boring digging that lasted half a month before was done in accordance with the fighting regulations of the siege.

The artillery used the trenches and the zigzag movement trenches to deploy the artillery positions without any casualties, and began a long shelling that lasted for a whole day.

The artillery shells that fired gunpowder were reduced, and they jumped irregularly on the triangular fort, constantly consuming the British army on the north side.

Near dusk, the No. 13 and 14 combat engineer battalions on the north side received orders to use the siege trenches dug these days to move to the south side to rest.

The garrison pit on the south side, in the southeast direction of the fortress, is the blind spot of the shooting range found after calculation, which is the direction that can minimize the crossfire of the bastion.

The No.13 Combat Engineer Battalion was in charge of the main attack. The main soldiers came from the gem mines in Ceylon, the gold mines in Borneo, and the tin mines in Bangka.

The No.14 Combat Engineer Battalion will do their old job as an engineer. When the battle starts tomorrow, they will be responsible for erecting the pontoon bridge, clearing the road, and covering the artillery to follow the [-]th Battalion to the Triangle Fort.

(End of this chapter)