Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 533 Morris's Adjustment
"Commander, the damage statistics for last night have been released."
"Read it."
"Yes, in the battle last night, our Sixth Division's First Regiment lost 425 men, 98 were seriously injured, and 765 were slightly injured. The seriously injured have all been sent to the division's field hospital, and the slightly injured are being treated at the regiment's military doctor's office."
Zhao Lujiao, who had two general stars on each shoulder, nodded calmly, waved his hand to let the logistics officer who was reporting go out, and then turned to Luo Xiong: "Tell me, how did the casualties mainly come about."
"Yes, Commander." Luo Xiong said, "I also participated in the battle that night. Our casualties were mainly caused by the Western bandits' naval guns. Especially when we were about to push the Western bandits into the sea, the Western bandits' naval guns fired at us, causing a large number of casualties. To be honest, during the charge, Commander, our Leopards were so useful that they directly overturned the enemy's machine gun positions through the sand dunes."
"Yeah." Stroking his beard, Zhao Lujiao asked, "How many casualties did we cause to the enemy?"
"When we counted the battlefield after the battle, we found 630 enemy bodies and captured 23 more. However, most of these people were seriously wounded . I think most of the enemy's wounded have been taken away."
Nodding, Zhao Lujiao sat down, and then motioned Luo Xiong to sit down as well: "Hey, according to your report, the actual fighting time last night was less than two hours, right? This killed more than 500 people, and it will take a long time for the remaining lightly wounded to return to their posts. If the enemy really came with an entire division, our 10,000-plus people would not be able to hold out for long in this desert without a defense system."
"That's true." Luo Xiong also said solemnly: "Although the Western bandits have temporarily retreated, according to the estimates of my subordinates and staff, the Western bandits will come back in five or six days at most. At that time, we will..."
"Hmm." Zhao Lujiao leaned forward and stared at the map on the table in the tent for a long time, then sighed: "Roumana can't be defended. I think we should send messengers to inform the Grand Vizier and the admiral of our transport fleet respectively, and let Chen Zizhuang coordinate and find a new aid channel. As for us..." Zhao Lujiao stretched out his finger and drew a circle along the coastline of the eastern Mediterranean: "Go slowly and lead them to Jerusalem!"
"Great!" Luo Xiong clapped his hands vigorously. "The Grand Vizier placed 100,000 elite troops in Jerusalem, waiting for the Western bandits to come in, but in the end they never showed up. This time we deliberately let them step on our tails, let's see if they will come!"
…
And on the other side.
"Commander, in this battle, the Chinese must have used a lightweight mortar that could move quickly with the soldiers. We had just set up our machine gun positions and hadn't even seen the enemy when we were hit by shells from behind the dune ridge. As a result, our infantry firepower was seriously insufficient, allowing the enemy to break through our defense line very smoothly."
"Your Excellency, the Chinese have also developed mature individual combat tactics. The three-three system, which was just introduced by His Highness Rudolf during his lifetime, was also demonstrated by the Chinese in their charge."
"Sir, the Chinese machine guns should also be lightweight. When their infantry charge, they can always get support from machine gun fire quickly..."
Outside the city of Alexandria, in Maurice's headquarters, the officers of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 17th Division talked at once and summarized the various problems encountered in the encounter in the village of Roumanai.
After listening carefully to the officers' statements, Morris said to his brother, Frederick, the current chief of staff of the Southern Front Command, "Henry, organize the minutes of today's meeting and send them to Rome by express ship. There is no doubt that our infantry equipment has major defects, and we urgently need our scientists to fill these defects for us."
" yes."
Then he turned around and asked the Duke of Alva, who had been sitting quietly at the side, "Did the navy gain anything?"
"Commander, I'm very sorry." The Duke of Alva stood up. "Since the Casti had to provide fire support to the landing troops, I had to send out traditional sailing warships to pursue them that day. At dusk that day, our fleet caught up with the enemy's transport fleet. But after destroying five enemy escort warships, it was completely dark. Although the sailors continued to chase them by moonlight, they only caught up with two transport ships that were deliberately left behind. And..."
"And what?"
"Moreover, these two transport ships were loaded with gunpowder. After they stopped with white flags, when our warships approached, the enemies on the ships ignited the gunpowder on the entire ship..."
"Bang!" Maurice pounded the table hard and stood up. "These lunatics, are they doing this to force us to refuse surrender and kill all the Ottomans?"
However, the Spaniards clearly lacked the professional qualities of supporting the main actor. After the commander roared, no one stood up to agree with him.
So the embarrassed commander had no choice but to find something to say: "What do people in Alexandria say? How much money do they want to release the Duke?"
"Our messenger just came back with the news that the enemy commander agreed to let us redeem His Excellency the Duke for 1 million silver dollars."
"This is really the only good news in recent days. Send a communication ship immediately to tell Rome and Brussels to ask the Duchess to send money over."
"yes!"
It was July 18, 1625, and it had been three months since Morris took over command of the southern front.
After all, he was a top general of this era. Although due to his background, Morris was not very familiar with the current military technology and new tactics compared to the new army officers that Rudolph had worked hard to train for more than ten years, but he was talented after all, so he only spent two or three months to make very efficient adjustments.
First, he only placed ten divisions, 150,000 troops, under the city of Alexandria. And these 150,000 troops were basically concentrated on the west side. Although there were three lines of defense on the west side of Alexandria, Morris thought that if he evenly distributed his soldiers to the west, east, and south, the enemy in the encirclement might suddenly concentrate their forces to rush out and launch a counterattack.
The main forces gathered together, guarded the recently built port, and stockpiled enough artillery shells. Then slowly plowed in inch by inch, this is the way to fight with the least casualties - yes, my guns and your guns have a similar range or even a little worse, but my shells are endless, while your shells are running out one by one. Do you dare to fire at me continuously? No? Then you can just watch me plowing slowly. One day, I will slowly plow under the walls of Alexandria.
Of course, in order to prevent Alexander from getting a steady supply, he not only had the navy increase patrols, but also gathered the few cavalry in the ten divisions and placed them to the south and east of Alexandria.
As for the remaining 150,000 soldiers, they continued to recuperate on Crete: the war was undoubtedly prolonged, and the soldiers had to retreat and recuperate after a certain period of fighting. Morris stipulated that after three months of fighting, the soldiers under Alexandria would retreat to Crete in batches to recuperate, and then be replaced by soldiers on the island.
This move of his was quickly supported by the generals and soldiers. The resistance of the soldiers to his order was instantly swept away because he was a Dutchman. Naturally, the execution of his other orders also became extremely smooth.
As for the mood of the Venetians whose faces are all black and shiny? Who cares?
When he first arrived, the Venetian Governor Giovanni showed great courtesy to him. In addition to lobbying actively, he also offered him a lot of money and beauties. However, after Morris accepted all these things, he still made a decision that made the Venetians most unhappy.
After all, in the eyes of this professional soldier who has been fighting since he was 17 years old, the support of his fellow soldiers is much more important than the feelings of businessmen.
As for the Venetians' desire to send troops to attack Jerusalem? After learning a little about the battlefield situation, the Count of Tripoli rejected it: After taking Alexandria, Egypt would be in our hands. The Nile Delta is a famous granary of this era. If we take it, even if the war continues, the EU will be able to hold out longer!
And today, after learning that the Chinese are providing assistance to the Ottomans through the railway tracks in the Sinai Peninsula, the idea of taking Alexandria first has become even more determined in Morris' mind.
However, the Chinese in Rumanai still have to find a way to drive them away and completely cut off the Ottomans' foreign aid.
Thinking of this, Morris stood up and said, "Order the 19th and 20th divisions from Crete to land in Roumanai under the escort of the navy. Their mission is to defeat the Chinese stationed there and cut off the Chinese aid to the Ottoman Empire."
"As you command, sir."
"Also, order the 11th and 12th Divisions on Crete to get ready. Based on your reports, I roughly believe that the Chinese have at least one division in Rumanai, but there may be more. However, Sinai is all desert, and the Chinese garrison there will not exceed three divisions. Therefore, if the first batch of troops fails to attack smoothly after landing, let them hold the beach under the cover of naval guns, and then the 11th and 12th Divisions will immediately support them."
"Yes, sir."
