Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1352
"This is the city of Alexandria. It is said that it has begun to decline, and the defense should be relatively loose. After we occupied Alexandria, we have two routes to advance. The shortest route is to cross the desert to get here, and then go here to quickly capture Cairo .” Sun Chuanting gestured on the map.

"Crossing the desert is too strenuous for our soldiers. Marching in the desert means poor logistics, insufficient water supply, heat, and swarms of mosquitoes. It is estimated that when we reach Cairo, the army will lose its ability to fight and become Mamluk cavalry The target of the massacre." Said the Venetian commander Cornal.

Not only Venice, but the officers of the Papal States, Sicily, Britain, and Malta are also full of worries about their subordinates.Many of these soldiers are mercenaries or militiamen, and their quality is worrying.

If the tired expeditionary force was wiped out by the Mamluk cavalry as soon as it came out of the desert, then their Six Nations Allied Forces would become a joke in history.

Perhaps only Sun Chuanting's Far West Expeditionary Army was able to carry out raids across the desert under the leadership of local guides.

"Another ideal marching route is to march eastward from Alexandria for about 65 kilometers, arrive at Rosetta, where the mouth of the Nile is located, where there may be an oasis for replenishment, and then go straight to Cairo along the upper reaches of the Nile. Our fleet can be separated A shallow-water fleet will resupply our infantry along the Nile, and at the same time crush the Egyptian river fleet." Sun Chuanting proposed a second marching plan.

The second option is more secure. Marching in the desert can indeed be expensive and fast, but marching in the desert is also very dangerous. It may cause a lot of unnecessary non-combat attrition, and the price of failure is also very heavy.Not all battles need to be won through ingenuity. Steady fighting is also a tactic, and it depends on who is more prepared on both sides.

Sure enough, the officers of the Allied Army nodded after hearing this marching plan, and the steady and steady tactics were more in line with the current situation of their soldiers being mixed.

"I am the commander-in-chief of the land forces this time, and everyone must obey my orders. To defeat the Mamluk cavalry, you must maintain a strict formation. I know that you should use spearmen and musketeers. The expedition is about to start, and it is too late to train a new formation, so you can continue to use your phalanx." Sun Chuanting said, "I only have two requirements, the first is to absolutely obey my command on the battlefield, and the second The second is to keep the phalanx intact at any time and cannot be overwhelmed by the Mamluk cavalry. If a phalanx is destroyed, the phalanxes on the left and right sides will also fight to the death. If you don’t want to obey my command, you don’t have to Take part in this expedition, or serve as logistics."

The generals of Venice and the Papal State looked serious, and they seemed to feel the strict requirements of each other.

"Our Huaxia troops, the British militia, and the Knights of Malta will deploy a large hollow musket phalanx at the front to attract the opponent's cavalry to attack us, and you will form a phalanx according to your respective strength and line up..." Sun Chuanting continued He and the generals of the allied forces have made a tactical deployment in advance to face the Mamluk group that may be encountered during the expedition.

If the hasty deployment of the army begins when Egypt is fighting, it will be too late by then.

"Wouldn't you use the hollow musket phalanx to be easily broken through by the enemy's cavalry?" Ludowig of the Papal State asked puzzledly.

"Our firepower is sufficient to deal with the cavalry, and we are more worried about whether you can maintain the phalanx under the impact of the opponent's large number of cavalry and infantry." Sun Chuanting said.

"You are looking down on our Venetian soldiers. We have brought 40 light field guns. During the battle, our infantry can use at least 30 artillery pieces to fight." The commander of Venice, Conal, thought that Sun Chuanting looked down on them. their Venetian army.

"The merchants in Venice are really rich. They brought 40 field cannons at a time. How many horses are needed to pull them, and they also need a lot of ammunition and supplies." The Spanish infantry major in Sicily said tut tut.

"I don't mean to look down on the troops, it's just that this is the first time we have cooperated, and we are not familiar with each other's combat effectiveness. On the battlefield, we are not afraid of the cunning of the enemy, but of our teammates lagging behind. Isn't this something everyone is worried about?" Sun Chuanting said.

Whether it is Venice, the Papal States, or the generals of Sicily, there was silence for a while.

There are too many bad teammates on the battlefield, not afraid of god-like opponents, but pig-like teammates!

This time it's the Allied Forces of the Six Nations. If one of them becomes a pig teammate, they probably won't be able to raise their heads in the Mediterranean in the future.

Sun Chuanting made standard deployments on the battlefield based on the strength of the troops he had brought in from the armies of various countries.

Although Sun Chuanting didn't know the strength of their troops, these forces were all located along the Mediterranean coast, and they knew each other's strength.

The Venetians have the most troops and firepower. They have 7000 infantry and 40 light field artillery. In actual combat, they may not have enough troops and logistics to operate so many light field artillery. They put some field artillery on the ship as a backup , It can be seen that the Venetian merchants have strong capital.

Followed by the 3000 infantry and fanatical believers of the Papal State, with 2 heavy field guns and 5 light field guns.

Again 2000 mercenaries from Sicily, who brought 4 light field guns.

The six-nation coalition may be most troubled by the lack of cavalry.The Knights of the Hospital formed a cavalry squad of 100 people. The cavalry of other forces is very limited, which may not be worth mentioning in front of the Mamluk cavalry in Egypt.

Logically speaking, Venice has the largest number of troops and the most artillery, so it should be placed at the forefront of the formation. However, Sun Chuanting is not very relieved of the Venetian army, but mixes his own army with the Marine Corps of the Fourth Fleet, The hollow phalanx of the British militia and the knights of Malta was placed in the front.

In the winter on the island of Malta, they are not idle, but are integrating the infantry of the three parties to train the formation and march of the hollow phalanx, which can basically form firepower against the cavalry.

For Sun Chuanting to put his troops at the forefront, just as Sun Chuanting doubted whether the armies of Venice, the Papal States, and Sicily were capable of fighting, the generals of Venice, the Papal States, and Sicily also doubted whether Sun Chuanting's troops could fight in front of the Mamluk cavalry. Can block the opponent's offensive under attack.

After a fierce quarrel and the deployment was confirmed, Sun Chuanting asked Zheng Zhibao in private: "Are there four hand-cranked Gatling guns in the ammunition depot of the General Fubo?"

"Yes, your Ministry of the Army put four hand-cranked Gatling machine guns in the ammunition depot of our General Fubo before departure. But next time, can you stop using our ironclad ship as a cargo ship?" Zheng Zhibao said with a black face. Said.

The ironclad, seemingly impenetrable to sinking, became a mobile ammunition depot.

(End of this chapter)