Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 310: Chongming Sand Attack and Defense (Part 2)
Even in the 20th century, naval guns tried to avoid confrontation with coastal defense guns. Not to mention that in this era, wooden sailing warships fired solid iron balls, which were completely helpless against reinforced concrete forts.
As a naval commander trained by the King of Siam since childhood, Chamla certainly understood this common sense. Therefore, when the Nansha artillery began to show its power and fired a cross-fire in the first round, Chamla very wisely issued an order to retreat.
"Your Majesty, the Ming Kingdom's defenses on the island are very strong. If we don't want to suffer too many casualties, we can't attack by force."
"Hmm..." Luo Jifutu was not too upset: This is the only modern shipyard in Kaiyang, it would be strange if it did not have a strong garrison force.
"You two, what do you think about this?"
"Oh, Your Majesty, I am ordered by His Majesty Philip to lead the Manila Fleet to join the coalition forces and accept your command. I have no doubt about this. However, we are only a fleet, not an army."
"Your Majesty, I have been ordered by His Majesty the Duke to lead Japan's only fleet of sailing warships to join the coalition forces and accept your command. However, the main force of our army has already landed in Korea. In order to support you, they will fight alone without the protection of the navy..."
Knew you guys would say that.
However, although Siam has brought a lot of land forces with us this time, our strength is limited. What if we suffer too much loss here?
"Well, I mean, should you two lead your respective fleets to test the defenses of the other two islands?"
"As you wish , Your Majesty."
"Hi, I will follow your majesty 's orders."
After the Japanese and Spanish fleets had made this circle, the three parties sat together again to argue.
"Your Majesty, General Yagyu, we have now confirmed that the Ming people have very powerful artillery defenses on the three islands outside the shipyard. We cannot destroy them simply by relying on our naval guns. Therefore, if we still want to take over this shipyard, we must send the army to conduct landing operations."
"Your Majesty, I agree with Mr. Alfonso's opinion."
"Why……"
Siam came with nothing in this expedition. But after all, its national strength was limited, so after placing two new military divisions on Hainan Island, they took a short rest on Taiwan Island, and then followed Luoya Futu to the sea area near Chongmingsha on a ship. There were only 10,000 new troops directly under his command, another new military division, and 10,000 old-style troops. A total of 35,000 people.
We have to use these forces. In a war, there will always be casualties.
Having made up his mind, Luo Zhifu soon started another topic: "So, which of these three islands do you think is the best to attack?"
"Your Majesty, although Sansha Island is the smallest of the three outer islands, it must have the least garrison force, and it is closest to Changsha Island where the shipyard is located. However, after years of investigation by our Japanese ninjas, we found that the sea side of this island has many reefs and sand dunes below the waterline. If we are not careful, our warships will run aground. Chongmingsha to the north is too far away from Changsha Island. Therefore, I suggest that we concentrate all our forces to attack Nansha Island."
"I agree with General Yagyu."
"Okay, that's it!" Luo Jifu Tu slammed the table hard and stared at the two people opposite him with a sharp gaze: "You two, Siam is such a small country, but this time we will not care about the sacrifice and use the army to land on the beach. So, for the sake of our common cause, I also hope that you can show some sincerity."
"Well... okay, our Spanish Manila Fleet is willing to be responsible for bombarding the south side of Nansha Island and cover the landing of your army."
"...Then our Japanese fleet will be responsible for bombarding the north side of the island."
"Okay! Axin, Apolu!"
"Your Majesty, I am here."
"Ah Xin, lead your Third Division and prepare to land on the island from the south. A Po Lu, lead your 10,000 Royal Army and prepare to land on the island from the north."
"Yes, sir!"
…
As the new tactical plan was formulated, the huge joint fleet of the three countries began to change its formation on a large scale.
"Haha, great! It looks like the Siamese thieves are preparing to attack our Nansha Island."
Under the bunker on the island, Qi Jin saw the enemy's change of formation through the telescope and quickly understood: "Send an order to the brothers in each artillery position. As long as the enemy enters our firing range, shoot them with all your might!"
The sun slowly climbed to the center of the sky, and the time came to twelve o'clock. The Spanish and Japanese fleets, which had been adjusted, began to advance towards Nansha Island.
Following behind them were countless Siamese troop transports.
"Report, the enemy ship has entered the firing range of our artillery."
"Okay, fire!"
"fire!"
Following the orders from the gunners of various artillery batteries on Nansha Island, the rumbling sound of artillery could be heard throughout the island.
The shells that rose into the air with such a momentum, carrying huge potential energy, began to fall suddenly after flying for a distance, and then slammed heavily into the sea, causing a huge column of water.
"Don't worry about these things, the fleet should speed up and keep moving forward!"
"Gentlemen, we should not be afraid of these shells! We are under the order of His Majesty to fight in this far east, so we must complete our mission!"
The Japanese and Western fleets had no intention of slacking off at this moment, but really used all their strength and tried their best to advance to Nansha Island - don't think about destroying the artillery, but as long as the Ming country's island garrison commander is not crazy, there must be fortifications on the shallows of the island. In any case, in order for the friendly forces to land smoothly, they must first use the naval guns to plow a few rounds.
"Woo~~Hu~~Swish~~" Just as Yagyu Kanbei urged his fleet to move forward quickly, a huge whistling sound was heard again. But this time, the whistling sound was not followed by a huge crashing sound. Instead, it was a crackling sound!
"Which ship was hit? What's the damage?"
A staff officer had already quickly run out of the command room and quickly climbed up the mast to look. Then he quickly ran in and said, "Major General, the Shinano was hit. There was a big hole in the deck, but fortunately, the hole was broken and there was a sailor's room underneath, not ammunition..."
Before he could finish his words, everyone heard another loud cracking sound. There was no doubt that another of our warships had been hit.
"Major General, we?"
"Damn it! Didn't His Majesty tell you clearly before we came out? Japan and Siam are fighting against a larger country. If we don't unite, we will all be crushed to dust when the Ming Dynasty recovers! This is only the first time we have fought together, and you are thinking of harming our allies? Don't be afraid, keep going. If the warship sinks, I will go and apologize to His Majesty myself!"
"Hey, I understand!"
"Then." Yagyu Kanbei turned around and stretched out a hand toward the front of the warship: "All troops attack!"
