Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 677 Mao Wenlong's Helplessness
After receiving the report from his own scouts, Mao Wenlong was shocked. He sent out more scouts for intensive reconnaissance and quickly deployed his forces.
As intelligence was collected bit by bit and summarized to Chief of Staff Li Yongfang, Old Li quickly determined that the other side was a large military group with a strength of at least 80,000.
This made Mao Wenlong feel very troubled.
In fact, he had eight divisions with 120,000 people. But five of them were Indian divisions with low combat effectiveness. So along the way, the main job of the soldiers of these five divisions was to carry food, ammunition, take care of the sick and so on - these things, the Indians did a good job.
But now that the war is about to start, no matter how good the logistical support for these Indian soldiers is, Mao Wenlong can no longer be happy.
As a general who had fought the Spanish on Luzon Island, Mao Wenlong never underestimated the combat power of the European coalition. Therefore, after a brief discussion with Li Yongfang, the two made a decision: to defend on the spot and block the Europeans' path to the north. If the Europeans retreated, the army would follow them at a distance.
…
"What? The Chinese on the other side actually took a defensive stance? Did you see that correctly, Johnson?"
For Gustav, it was generally very pleasant to lead a large army to fight this time: compared with the attack on the Ottoman Empire more than ten years ago, this time, His Majesty Philip directly appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the Indian expedition army. After years of integration within the European Union, the overall quality of the soldiers entrusted to him was much better than that of the mercenaries back then.
However, no matter how much he emphasized European unity, Gustav instinctively chose the Swedes as his personal adjutants. So, beside him, there were a bunch of "Sons".
"Your Majesty, after the scouts gathered their observation reports, I was also very surprised, so I went to the front line to observe it myself. It is indeed as our scouts said. The enemy has dug trenches and built barriers about 15 kilometers away from us, and is in a defensive posture."
"Hmm..." After rubbing his chin for a while, Gustav asked in confusion, "That shouldn't be the case. Logically, according to the time calculation, the purpose of this army is to go south to rescue the Japanese and Koreans. But since they are reinforcements, they should take the initiative to attack us when they see us. What does this mean by local defense?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I am also very confused."
After a while, Gustav smiled and said, "Johnson, I roughly understand the other commander's difficulties."
"His Majesty?"
"Although the situation reported by our scouts shows that the enemy's army is quite large, at least over 100,000 people. But there is no doubt that there must be troops with very weak combat effectiveness, and the proportion is quite high."
"A weak army ? Your Majesty, I have never fought against the Chinese. But I heard that the Chinese fought the Spanish elite in the Philippines and Egypt on equal terms or even had a slight advantage. This..."
"No, if I'm not mistaken. There should be a lot of Indians in the army on the other side. Johnson, we have also recruited a lot of Indians to provide us with logistical support along the way. What do you think of these guys?"
"Stupid, lazy, self-righteous... It's fine to use whips and bayonets to let them do logistics work, but to use them to fight? Oh, Your Majesty, if I really have to command them, I would rather be an ordinary soldier and charge."
"Hahaha, so, if we use this reason to explain it, then the commander on the other side did not lead his troops south at the first opportunity, and now that he has encountered us, he has taken the initiative to take a defensive posture. Everything makes sense."
"I see. Thank you, Your Majesty, for clearing up my confusion. So, Your Majesty? What's next?"
"Our goal is to defeat the Chinese troops stationed in India before the elite Chinese troops arrive. So, since the enemy has taken the initiative to stand in front of us, there is no reason not to fight. Besides..." He changed his confident state just now and said solemnly: "Is the number of patients in our troops increasing sharply?"
"Unfortunately, that is true, Your Majesty. As of today, our military doctors have confirmed that the number of soldiers who are unfit to go to the battlefield has exceeded 30,000!"
"This damn hot and humid weather!" After cursing angrily, Gustav said, "So, there is nothing more to say. We must launch an attack immediately. Otherwise, if we continue to confront each other like this, we will fail in half a month, even if the other side is full of Indian soldiers. As usual, Johnson, you, Larson, and Eriksson each lead 10,000 people to attack from the south to the north. Horn, Banner, Thorstenson, I will lead 30,000 people to attack from the flank."
"As you command, Your Majesty. I will immediately begin to work out a detailed operational plan. I will try to submit it to you for review this afternoon."
Throughout the battles commanded by Gustav in history, there is often one thing in common: this northern lion likes to use his relatively weak soldiers to defend the front or disguise to attack the enemy's front. After the enemy's main force is attracted to his front, he personally leads the elite to bypass the enemy's flank and attack it from the side. This fierce side kick tactic was not able to withstand Tilly in the Thirty Years' War in the historical plane. He lost two games in a row and died of serious injuries. Wallenstein withstood it, but also lost almost all of his elite troops.
And in this time and space, this side kick will be used on Mao Wenlong.
On the 16th, scouts from both sides discovered the presence of the other side.
On the 18th, both sides found out the location of the other side's base camp and the surrounding situation.
At exactly one o'clock in the morning on the 19th, the European coalition forces mobilized 100 75mm artillery pieces and began to bombard the Ming army positions fiercely!
Mao Wenlong, who was leading a weak army to face a strong enemy, was extremely anxious recently. In addition, he was old and his sleep quality was not good, so he did not fall asleep at all. When the cannon sounded, he immediately ran out of his temporary shelter.
After listening carefully to the artillery fire, Mao Wenlong said to the guards around him: "With such dense artillery fire, the enemy is probably about to launch a general attack? Where is the chief of staff?"
"Zhennan, I was just about to come over to tell you that the bombardment in the south is fierce, and I have to go there in person to take charge."
"No, I'll go. You and I both know the quality of the Indian division blocking the front in the south. I'd better go there myself."
Because of the weak combat power of the Indian division, Mao Wenlong and Li Yongfang arranged a double-ring circle formation. The outer ring of the circle is the five Indian divisions. The inner ring is the three great Ming divisions. The significance of this arrangement is that since there are Ming troops behind them to supervise the battle, the soldiers of the Indian division dare not collapse spontaneously. If they really can't bear it and collapse, they will not have any psychological burden when the Ming army's machine guns shoot at them.
However, it would be best if they didn't collapse. Therefore, Mao Wenlong was going to personally go to the southern camp to take charge.
"Zhennan, you are the commander of an army..."
"Nonsense! We have worked together since Kuandian, and it has been more than 30 years now. If I am not here, you can't control it? The European artillery in front has been firing for such a long time, and our artillery has not started to return fire. These damn Indians are still as slow as ever. If I go, I guess they will be a little faster."
"…Okay. Zhennan, take care."
"Haha, take care of yourself too, Lao Li."
The camp area for 120,000 people was very large. Even if Mao Wenlong was riding a horse and had guards in front of him to clear the way, it would take a long time to run over. At this time, the front line of the Indian Fifth Division, which was facing the bombardment of the European coalition forces, was already in chaos.
Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, Telugu... all kinds of languages were mixed together. The Ming officers roared at the top of their lungs, trying to launch a counterattack as soon as possible, or to gather the Indian soldiers who were running around like headless flies. But more soldiers were yelling in panic, running around, and had no idea what to do.
This chaotic situation lasted until 1:45 a.m., and it slowly improved after Mao Wenlong arrived at the front line. However, by this time, the bombardment of the European coalition forces was almost over.
At two o'clock in the morning, about one or two kilometers away from the position of the Indian Fifth Division, countless copper whistles rang out sharply. Then, the Indian soldiers, who had calmed down a little, heard a burst of overwhelming "Eluo" sounds from the opposite side.
After thirty years of efforts by Rudolf and Philip, the European coalition forces finally reached the point where they unified in issuing orders in Latin.
"Don't be afraid. Set up the guns first. Don't set any parameters. Just fire first to give those guys below some courage."
"All heavy machine gun positions can fire blindly!"
Seeing that the Indian soldiers below showed signs of loosening up after hearing the charge from the opposite side, Mao Wenlong quickly ordered everyone to fire their cannons and shoot their guns - in short, to give themselves courage first.
But that's how it is. After all, after these guys formed an army, they could at most attack a few strongholds that opposed the local kings who ruled here from the Ming Dynasty. Faced with such a large battle, they would definitely be at a loss.
A distance of one or two kilometers is just a matter of minutes for an adult charging at full speed. Not long after the Indian army opened fire, the European coalition forces rushed to the first line of defense of the Indian army.
After the Indian artillery began firing, the artillery in the rear of the coalition forces also quickly opened fire, and soon completely put an end to the Indian artillery that survived the initial bombardment.
"Ah!" Looking at the chaotic defense line, Mao Wenlong shook his head helplessly, and then said to his guards: "Let's withdraw first and let our 25th Division take over. At the same time, send a messenger to notify the chief of staff and ask him to transfer one regiment each from the 27th Division on the north wing and the 26th Division on the east wing to the south wing!"
