Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 313 Chongming Sand Attack and Defense (V)
"General Zhang Hong pays respect to the commander-in-chief. I am guilty of being late in arriving for help."
"Hey? Zhiyuan, why are you here? Defending the north side of the island?"
"Don't worry, Marshal. The northern defense line of Nansha Island is safe and sound. The invading bandits have already withdrawn. I had few troops, so I did not pursue them. After watching them go to the sea and retreat by boat, I heard that the battle on the southern front was fierce, so I led more than a thousand brothers to rush here. There are still more than 800 brothers defending the northern front, so there is no danger for the time being. I changed my position without your order, so please forgive me."
"Zhiyuan is not guilty at all. This is a great achievement! If you hadn't acted decisively and come to help quickly, we might have lost Nansha Island today!"
Zhang Hong was one of . Zhu Youdong made it clear that in order to avoid rumors that would damage the credibility of the court, only six students would be admitted regardless of their performance. So the twelve students discussed privately, and the six who liked martial arts automatically withdrew and gave up the examination.
After the imperial examination last year, Zhang Hong was arranged by Zhu Youdong to study at the Ming Royal Military Academy, but this guy went straight to the crown prince and said: I want to practice first, then learn theory.
Zhu Youdong was always tolerant of Fangshan's students, and at that time, Zhu Youdong had sensed that Yaoguang and Lianzhen would meet again. Although he still misjudged that it would take two or three years for these two guys to attack the Ming Dynasty, he failed to expand the army in time. However, he was still concerned about the defense of the Changsha Shipyard. So he asked Yuan Keli, who was stationed in Nanjing, to strengthen the defense of the four islands of Chongmingsha. Governor Yuan said, "Okay, strengthen the defense. Then please send me some talents, Your Highness."
So Zhang Hong was kicked here.
Before the joint fleet of the three countries invaded Chongmingsha, Zhang Hong was already one of the main leaders of the Chongmingsha naval land defense force (the Marine Corps had not yet been established at that time) because of his strong family background, high education, and status as a juren, and he held the rank of garrison commander.
After Li Guozhu sent all the warships out, even with the 5,000 Qi family soldiers brought by Qi Jin, there were only 7,000 defenders in the four Chongming Islands. Such a force certainly could not be evenly distributed to the four islands. After repeated discussions, everyone came up with an arrangement based on the specific conditions of the four islands:
First of all, Changsha Island itself is not worth defending - the focus is on the shipyard on the side of the island facing the land. If the shipyard is destroyed, there is no point in defending the island. Therefore, Changsha Island is mainly composed of various artillery positions, and there are only 500 real combat soldiers.
Of the other three islands, Chongmingsha in the north is usually the daily administrative station of the fleet and the garrison. But now that the fleet has set sail, the defense pressure is very small. Moreover, this island is too large - it is not conducive to defense if it is large, and this island is the farthest from Changsha Island. Therefore, Qi Jin and others only deployed 500 people on this island - according to Qi Jin's idea, Chongmingsha has a large area, with many wetlands and jungles. As long as the Siamese thieves dare to land on it, these 500 people will fight guerrilla warfare.
Sansha Island, the smallest island in the middle, is very easy to defend because of its small area, so Qi Jin arranged a thousand Qi family troops to garrison there.
Nansha Island, with its most critical geographical location, was the main force of the garrison, with a total of 5,000 troops deployed, including 3,000 Qi's troops and the remaining 2,000 were the original garrisons of Chongmingsha - this part of the garrison was commanded by Zhang Honglai.
"Marshal, although these Siamese bandits have been repelled temporarily, in my opinion, we will not be able to repel them tonight."
"Zhiyuan is right. Tonight we have to rely on this second trench to confront the bandits. The only thing to worry about is that the five large artillery batteries on the south side of our side have all self-destructed in order to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy..."
"Don't worry, Marshal. Although there are no , this place is more than 2,000 meters away from the coastline, and the artillery on the ship of the bandits cannot hit us. As for the artillery brought by the bandits on the shore, humph, we have 20 105mm cannons in this trench, and ammunition is also very sufficient. What I mean is that although we can't rush out tonight because of the small number of soldiers, the artillery fire cannot stop!"
"Hmm... Zhiyuan's words make sense. So be it. I will organize the close combat defense, and you will be in charge of the artillery."
"Yes, I will obey your command!"
So, as Qi Jin and Zhang Hong had made their plans, as the sky gradually darkened, the Nansha Island, which had been fighting for a day, became generally quiet. However, the rumbling sound of artillery continued to be heard in the south of the island. The bursts of fire from the shells also flashed the dark night sky red from time to time.
And in the northwest of Nansha Island, on Changsha Island, the area around its port was also brightly lit and crowded with people.
Surrounded by the crowd, Wang Chengen, who was about to turn twenty years old this year, stood on a high platform with a solemn expression, dressed in eunuch's clothes.
That’s right, the person in charge of Changsha Shipyard right now is Wang Chengen, who chose to exile himself because of the Gelsemium elegans case and eventually became the eunuch guarding Nanjing.
The night wind was chilly. Wang Chengen climbed a high platform amidst the swaying firelight. He then cleared his throat and said, "Brothers, the enemy is now very powerful and our warships are not in the port. Today, the brothers on Nansha Island have fought hard for this shipyard all day. I heard that the situation is not very good. Therefore, I have to ask all of you to sacrifice your lives for the safety of our shipyard.
As you all know, my family grew up with the grandson. We have known the Changsha Shipyard since the day it was built, and we have come here many times with the grandson. Over the past ten years, the shipyard has grown from nothing to something, from weak to strong, and is becoming more and more prosperous. We have all gone from being displaced to living and working in peace and contentment. Therefore, from the perspective of our own lives, we must keep this shipyard!
From the perspective of national interests, this is the only place in the Ming Dynasty where new warships can be built. If this place is lost, not only will everyone be left without food and clothing, but the country's coastal defense will also be in tatters! Therefore, this place must be saved. Even if we all die, we must make sure this place is safe!
Do you all understand?!"
"clear!"
"Okay! Tonight, we will send out 500 warriors to attack the Siamese pirates on the sea. I have made it clear to you that this mission is a life-or-death mission. But I still hope that you are all safe... If you come back alive tonight, each of you will receive 1,000 silver dollars! If you unfortunately die in battle, each of you will receive a pension of 2,000 silver dollars, and we will take care of your elderly and children at home!"
"Hahaha, Eunuch Wang, there's no need to say more! If it weren't for your Highness taking us in, we would have died in the mud somewhere! Over the past ten years, we've married and had children, which is already a profit. Today, I'm just returning this life to your Highness!"
"Okay, brothers!" Wang Chengen took the glass of wine handed to him by the eunuch beside him and said, "Please drink it up. We will meet again later!"
"Thank you, father-in-law. See you later!"
"Hahaha, Eunuch Wang, we will definitely meet again!"
After the clattering sound of bowls breaking, Wang Chengen stretched out his right hand and pointed forward with two fingers: "Brothers, my Changsha Island mine team is going !"
