Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2080 Antelope Gap
When the Xijiang River goes from Guangdong to Guangxi, it must pass through the Little Three Gorges in Zhaoqing, and the first gorge of the Little Three Gorges is the Lingyang Gorge.The Lingyang Gorge faces Lingyang Mountain in the north and Lanke Mountain in the south. The peaks on both sides of the gorge are more than 800 meters high.

Just at the foot of the hill outside the mouth of the gorge, there are two ancient temples facing each other from the north to the south. Now that the soldiers are in turmoil, no one will come to offer incense.However, inside and outside the two temples, they suddenly became lively.The big river in front of the temple is full of mighty gunboats, tugboats with big water-repelling wheels, and transport ships of all sizes.These ships were loaded with armed soldiers, and under the canvas were cannons and baggage vehicles.On the simple wharf built with long strips of granite on the river bank, military boots rattled, and all the Australian officers in straight gray uniforms came and went. Most of them had command knives on their waists and binoculars on their chests.Pointing at the river on the pier.Guards stood guard along the pier, sandbags were placed on the pier and outside the temple, and artillery and typewriters were deployed.

Longhua Temple is now the brigade headquarters of the first mixed brigade, while Xiashan Temple across the river is the joint logistics depot.Here is the base camp where the First Mixed Brigade launched its attack on Zhaoqing.

Almost all surrounding Zhaoqing is mountainous, which caused great difficulties for the mobility of the troops.Therefore, Zhaoqing has been the gateway of Guangdong and Guangxi and the hub of Xijiang transportation since ancient times.And Lingyang Gorge is the key to this gate.After Xiong Wencan became the governor of Guangdong, in order to defend against possible northern criminals by the Australians, a new fort was set up here, and hundreds of battalions were stationed here, including twelve Hongyi cannons.

Today the fort is still there, even intact.The work team of the Planning Institute is organizing the prisoners to dismantle the cannons on the fort.The first hybrid brigade launched a landing operation on the fort with small boats without even waiting for the "Zhujiang" gunboat in charge of fire support to arrive.The crossfire of the Hongyi cannons on both sides of the gorge is indeed a great danger to the large ships passing by here, but it is not easy for the small launch boats that use engines to propel and have small targets to hit on the wide river. .None of the twelve Hongyi cannons hit the target once.Although the Taiwan soldiers fired five or six rounds of artillery fire at an extraordinary speed, the crossfire once posed a great threat to the small boat.But in the end they couldn't hold back.After the infantry landed, they climbed up the ridge, defeated the hundreds of Ming troops covering the Taiwan soldiers with three rounds of volleys and sword assaults, and successfully captured the fort.

Although this battle was almost the same as the Humen battle a few years ago, the veteran officers of the First Mixed Brigade discovered the improvement of the Ming army.On the turret, they were surprised to find that these cannons had been changed from the common imitation Western ship gun mounts to a unique grinding disc mount, although this mount was not easy to rotate because it did not have ball bearings. But it can also be seen that the Ming army has introduced new ideas.The fort has also been improved, from the tall and thick stone wall fortress that was difficult to observe and change the shooting range in the past to the terrace-style gun emplacement with a wider shooting range.In terms of combat, it has obviously learned from past experience and has a dedicated platform guard unit.

Zhu Mingxia was in the main hall of Longhua Temple, watching the sand table models around Zhaoqing on the table.To be honest, the Battle of Zhaoqing did not require complex tactical maneuvers-in fact, the continuous mountains in this area also made it difficult for the troops to launch large-scale mobile operations.The simplest and clearest way to fight is to force the whole army to break through the Three Gorges by boat and go straight to Zhaoqing Fucheng.

Since ancient times, it was difficult for Guangdong to attack Guangxi, but it was easy for Guangxi to attack Guangdong.The Xijiang River flows from Guangxi to Guangdong.As long as the army of Guangxi goes down the river and breaks through the natural barrier of the Little Three Gorges in Zhaoqing, it can go straight to the Pearl River Delta region, the essence of Guangdong. However, if the army of Guangdong wants to attack Guangxi, it must go up the river. Unable to pass the Little Three Gorges.

For the Fubo army, the natural danger of the Little Three Gorges is not enough to rely on.Motorized ships go upstream against the current, and the water depth of the Small Three Gorges is sufficient to allow the river gunboats to reach the city of Zhaoqing directly.
Although according to the reconnaissance report, the Ming army in Zhaoqing has a navy battalion, but the total strength is only more than 200 people, and there are only more than 100 ships, most of which are [-]-ton small boats suitable for inland navigation, and the inland river fleet of the Fubo Army Head-to-head confrontation will undoubtedly lead to failure.

From this point of view, what means will the Ming army use to intercept them?Zhu Mingxia knew that Zhaoqing was an important support point for the Ming army in Guangdong and Guangxi. Losing Zhaoqing meant losing Guangdong. If Xiong Wencan wanted to explain to the court, he had to guard this place, otherwise he would not only lose his life, but even his head would be in jeopardy.

He thought of the report written by Thorpe and Cummins after their staff trip last year, in which it was specifically mentioned that Xiong Wencan had participated in the Battle of Chengmai and served as a teacher captured by the Senate.Since there are such people, Xiong Wencan is not ignorant of the combat power and combat characteristics of the Fubo Army, and will inevitably take some countermeasures.

To be honest, I'm looking forward to it.Zhu Mingxia didn't think he had such an idea.

If the war is always so unchallenging, the army they built, carefully trained and armed will soon degenerate into an out-and-out security force.Zhu Mingxia thought with worry.Without fierce large-scale battlefield confrontation, soldiers will become more and more slack about war, and it won't take long for them to be unable to fight high-intensity wars.

As a commander, he is very willing to fight a few head-to-head tough battles and big battles to train the troops, rather than the current "combat" that is almost marching.

However, the Ming army in Zhaoqing only had a few thousand people at best, and Xiong Wencan had no time to call in the troops of the generals from Guangxi and Dongxishan in his haste.The troops he can directly command are only 400 officers and soldiers under the command of the Zhaoqing Naval Battalion Commander-in-Chief, 300 people under his own supervision, and the Zhaoqing Guard's Weisuo Army.The Weisuo army claims to have more than 200 banner troops, but they are distributed in the counties under the jurisdiction of Zhaoqing Prefecture. The only ones around the city of Zhaoqing Prefecture are Baoguangtun in Caowan City on the Left Thousand Households, and Yanqian Capital on the Right Thousand Households. village.These garrison banner troops were already weak and fled a lot.It is not bad to be able to mobilize [-] people.

"Comrade Brigadier, Zhu Quanxing, Commander of the Third Battalion, is here." The guard came to report.

"Please come in."

Zhu Quanxing strode into the hall and saluted: "Comrade Brigadier—"

Zhu Mingxia waved his hand, signaling that he is not welcome.

"How's the situation in the camp?"

"After sitting on the boat for too long, my body was a little stiff. I went ashore and did some exercise, and I felt a lot more comfortable after exercising my body."

"Is there a sick number?"

"More than 20. The symptoms are not serious."

"The reconnaissance team came back just now, and it has been confirmed that there are no other forts in Antelope Gorge."

Zhu Mingxia was worried that the Ming army would set up forts in the narrowest part of the canyon—the river here is only 200 meters wide—which is within the effective range of the Hongyi cannons. If the Ming army set up forts on the hills on both sides, it would be It poses a serious threat to ships on the river.

Even if the Hongyi Cannon fires solid iron bullets, hitting a small ship like a three-ship boat at a distance of less than 200 meters is enough to cause serious damage, not to mention that it is full of people-it will really be bloody. .

In the entire Lingyang Gorge, except for the open river at both ends, the average width of the river is only about 300 meters. Setting up forts at any location can pose a serious threat to ships on the river.

However, according to the report of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, there are no forts in the Antelope Gorge except for the forts on both sides of the entrance and exit of the gorge.The mountains in Lingyang Gorge are steep, and there is no road except for a narrow towpath. It is conceivable that it is difficult to transport large artillery up the mountainside.It is understandable that the Ming army failed to fortify here.

However, Zhu Mingxia was still worried, and sent a brigade reconnaissance company to conduct reconnaissance in this area.

"However, during the reconnaissance, the scouts discovered that the enemy had plans to use fire attacks." Zhu Mingxia picked up the pointer and pointed to the sand table on the table, "The scouts reported that the enemy had assembled more than 100 small-scale warships at the east entrance of Dading Gorge. The civilian ships are piled with straw and tung oil."

Zhu Quanxing frowned slightly, using fire to attack the boat was indeed a threat to him.The river in the canyon is narrow and the current is turbulent. The key is that the enemy's fire attack ships can go down the current, but their ships are going upstream, and their maneuverability will be very poor.It will also be more difficult to use motor boats to pull the fireboat away.

"This Lingyang Gorge is no different than when we fought on the Pearl River in the past. The water is slow and the river is wide." Zhu Quanxing said, "The enemy is upstream, and the water in the canyon is so fast..."

"So I discussed it with the commander of the Pearl River Task Force, Mond." Zhu Mingxia said, "The offensive will be postponed for one day. Today, the fleet will first pass through the canyon to eliminate those fire attack ships."

"Is there enough time?" Zhu Quanxing was a little worried, "The plan is for us to capture Zhaoqing within seven days, and now half of the time has passed..."

"I think it's about the same. How long does it take to cross the Antelope Gorge? I think one hour is enough, and I'll give you another four hours to take Zhaoqing. The brigade headquarters will be stationed in Zhaoqing tomorrow night."

"It's nothing, but if the navy ends the battle in half a day, I can take Zhaoqing before it gets dark today."

"You can take it down at night, but we don't dare to transport the pots and pans here at night. Just take action tomorrow morning."

"Okay." Zhu Quanxing nodded, "I'll go back and tell the troops to get ready."

"The military department has allocated a siege artillery company and a rocket company to our brigade, and I will strengthen them for your battalion——Zhaoqing is a prefecture city, and the city defense is much stronger than ordinary cities, and it is Xiong Wencan's lair. It will be more intense."

"Let's forget about the rocket company. If one is bad, the city will be burned down. I have to take care of the firefighting and relief work."

"To be prepared, it's time to give them the right to practice. It is also necessary for the troops to experience the coordinated attack of the infantry."

　PS: Section 266 of Volume [-] - Guangzhou Governance will be updated tomorrow

　　
　
(End of this chapter)