Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 678: The Collapse of the Indian Army
For Johnson, the battle that night started very smoothly. After the shelling lasted for an hour, the infantry began to charge. It took only about half an hour for the officers in the front to report that they had broken through the enemy's first line of defense. What made Johnson most happy was that the commanders on the phone all said that the enemy's firepower was very chaotic and disorganized, and the soldiers' will to resist was extremely weak. Therefore, during the charge, the casualties on our side were very small.
Some front-line officers even reported by phone that too many Indian soldiers had surrendered and asked the front-line command to send a gendarmerie to accept them.
"Hahaha, Your Majesty is really a master of foresight. The Chinese on the other side are indeed being held back by a large group of stupid Indians, causing them to be hesitant and slow in action."
However, he soon stopped being happy: when the European coalition forces rushed to the enemy's second line of defense, the enemy's resistance suddenly intensified. In addition to the orderly coordination of the various firepower points, the soldiers' fighting will was also very strong. In addition to cursing loudly on the phone, the officers on the front line complained to him, saying that their casualties were increasing rapidly and hoped that the headquarters would send reinforcements.
Humph, reinforcements cannot be sent. These troops from Germany, Czech Republic, and Croatia may not understand the essence of Gustav's combat. It doesn't matter if you can't attack here. What matters is that you must put enough pressure on the enemy. Cause the enemy commander to misjudge and let the enemy commander bring up troops from the flank or rear - only in this way can your majesty's flanking attack achieve twice the result with half the effort!
Therefore, he issued strict orders to all front-line officers: Continue the attack!
"Damn the Swedes!"
"Damn Viking barbarians!"
After receiving such an order, the middle and low-level officers at the front had no better way than to curse loudly: since the end of the Austro-European War, Philip had spent nearly ten years to reorganize the army, and the discipline of the coalition forces had been greatly improved. In addition, in the past ten years, the scale of new industries after the European Industrial Revolution has reached a certain level, and the entire social structure has undergone a qualitative change - in other words, the economic closeness has made the EU countries more and more closely bound politically and militarily. Therefore, the European coalition forces are guaranteed to obey orders at this time.
The helpless frontline officers had no choice but to command the soldiers to continue the attack. However, the Ming army's counterattack was too fierce, and the officers of the coalition forces unanimously slowed down the frequency of the soldiers' charge, thus slowing down their advancement.
Time slowly came to four o'clock in the morning. In front of the second line of defense on the southern wing of the entire Ming army, the sound of gunfire had gradually begun to become sparse.
"Haha, the Western bandits are nothing special." After all, Mao Wenlong was old, and after running back and forth all night, his body couldn't stand it anymore: "You guys hold the defense line well and take in those Indians who have retreated. After dawn, the enemy will definitely retreat, and then you can go and recapture the first line of defense. I'm a little tired, so I'll go back and rest first."
"Yes, General, please slow down..."
“Da da da~ Da da da~”
Just as Mao Wenlong raised his foot to return to his temporary shelter, he and the officers present heard a burst of intensive gunfire from the night sky, which was gradually becoming quiet.
"Huh? This sound? Why is it coming from the northeast side?"
…
At 1 a.m. on the 19th, the fierce bombardment of the European Union army not only made the Indian Division of the Ming Dynasty in a panic, but also successfully attracted almost all the attention of the Ming army. At the same time, the deafening sound of the artillery and the flames caused by the violent explosions, plus the sparse rain and thunder in the rainy season, completely covered up the whereabouts and sounds of the Gustav Detachment. As a result, Gustav's flanking detachment successfully drove out from its base camp without being discovered by the Ming army.
At four o'clock in the morning on the 19th, the EU troops attacking head-on showed signs of fatigue in front of the Ming army's defense line.
Before that, at about 3:40, the flanking detachment led by Gustav had circled to a place about twelve kilometers northeast of the exchange of fire on the southern front - the Ming army's position here happened to be the junction of the Ming army's eastern and northern defense lines.
Since it was a night raid, Gustav's 30,000 men were pure infantry, with at most one mortar per platoon. They didn't bring any real field artillery.
Therefore, there was no classic problem of artillery bombardment followed by infantry charge. When Gustav received the scout report and knew that the enemy's defense line was only three kilometers away, he directly issued an order to approach as quietly as possible and charge at full speed once discovered by the enemy.
The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's Third Indian Division, who were defending the periphery here, were worried about the war situation in the south, but at the same time they were secretly glad: if there was a fighting in the south, we would be safe here tonight.
So, after the coalition soldiers had wiped out several firing points, the careless Indian soldiers realized: What? How did the enemy get to our side?
After this discovery, everyone was shocked and started yelling instinctively. Then, the European coalition forces, who had been trying to hold back and use daggers to solve the problem at first, finally let the submachine guns in their hands roar.
Because the distance between the two sides was so close , the coalition forces launched a full-fire charge and the Indian 3rd Division on the outer ring was completely destroyed.
Because the Indian Third Division on the periphery collapsed so quickly, the Ming 26th Division, which was stationed behind the Indian Army, had no time to react and prepare. By the time the commander of the 26th Division, Li Huaizhong, the third grandson of Li Chengliang, arrived at the front of the division's defense section, the enemy had already rushed to his nose.
"Eluo! Eluo! Eluo! Don't stop, charge and kill all the enemies that stand in your way!"
That night, the 3,000 Swedish troops were the vanguard of Gustav's detachment. Originally, there were more than 20,000 descendants of the Vikings who came to India. However, the drastic climate contrast caused most of them to fall ill. However, those who did not fall ill under such circumstances were truly the best of the best Viking warriors!
Led by their brave king, the Vikings took the lead, followed by the Castilians, Germans, Anglo-Saxons... all speaking simple Latin commands in unison and charging forward madly!
"Crazy people, what a bunch of lunatics! Messenger, go to the south wing and tell the chief of staff that our headquarters has been attacked and the defense line is almost collapsed. Ask him to make plans early." After saying this, Li Huaizhong picked up a submachine gun and rushed out of the bunker!
…
"Zhennan, it's no use. The east wing has collapsed. I just received news that Li Huaizhong has been killed in the battle... The south wing is also in chaos... You and I will retreat quickly while the remaining three regiments of the 27th Division on the north wing are still intact! Zhennan, Zhennan!"
"Alas, my fame has been ruined in an instant! Old Li, what have I been doing for more than a month since the Western bandits landed in Goa in May?"
"Zhennan, now is not the time to sigh and groan. Let's retreat first. Getting rid of these Indians who are a burden to us and bringing back more of our Ming men is the most important thing!"
"You are right. In that case, please lead your army to retreat. As for me, I will die here in battle!"
"You, you bastard! The Chief of Staff abandoned his commander and ran away. Where do you want to put me?"
After saying this, Li Yongfang didn't waste any more time talking to him, and directly sent a look to several of his staff officers. The strong young staff officers quickly rushed forward, and amid Mao Wenlong's loud curses, they seized their commander's weapons and carried the old man to retreat northward.
The battle on June 9th started at 1 a.m. and was basically over at 7 a.m. when it got light.
According to statistics afterwards, of the three divisions of the Ming army, with a total of 45,000 soldiers, only 16,000 finally broke through and retreated to Mumbai. Of the remaining 29,000 soldiers, nearly 20,000 were killed or missing, and about 10,000 were captured for various reasons - this was the biggest failure of the Ming army since Zhu Youdong established Henghaiwei!
The five Indian divisions under the Ming army had 75,000 men, but the number of casualties was less than 5,000, and three divisions surrendered to the European coalition forces as a whole...
In short, after this day, Mao Wenlong's Corps could no longer be called a strategic force.
After the collapse of Mao Wenlong's army, the Japanese and Fujian coalition forces at the southern tip of the peninsula were forced to come to an end under the attack of the superior forces of Wallenstein, Raimondo and Turenne.
"Young Master, we can only fight till here. Next, please retreat north with His Royal Highness the Second Prince of Fuguo. In the past, in order to attack the Ming army from Andhra Pradesh to the north, Aurangzeb built a mountain road from here that leads directly to Kanpur. This road is in very good condition. I will let Xingchang accompany you to retreat north."
"Father, I am not the kind of stubborn person. So I won't say anything about my duty to defend this land and my vow to live and die with this place. I have no problem with you letting me retreat north , but I beg you to come with me."
"Hahaha, the young master is really smart. He immediately saw that the old man didn't want to leave."
"Father, the Emperor of the Celestial Empire once said, if you keep the land but lose the people, you lose both the land and the people. If you keep the people but lose the land, you gain both the land and the people. Japan, under the protection of the Celestial Empire, will surely fight back one day. When that happens, the Japanese army will still need your command."
"Your Highness, the first half of what you said makes sense. But the second half is wrong. I am already over seventy years old, and much of my combat experience is still stuck in the Warring States Period. Therefore, facing the ever-changing weapons and various new tactics, I can no longer keep up with the situation. In addition to wanting to earn a heroic reputation for myself, I am staying here to make room for the young people below. This way, I won't embarrass Your Highness the Kanpaku."
Glancing at Toyotomi Dongen who was hesitant to speak, Sanada Yukimura laughed heartily and said, "Let's go, young master. When you retreat to Cawnpore, you will know that death is the easiest thing. Surviving and enduring the shame of defeat and various attacks at home is the hardest thing!"
On June 18, 1638, the Japanese and Fukuoka coalition forces, running out of ammunition and food, were forced to abandon the entire Andhra Pradesh and retreat northward. On the 20th, facing the European coalition forces that were always pursuing them, the Japanese general Yukimura Sanada led more than a thousand elite soldiers to take the initiative to cover the rear. After a bloody battle, the rear Japanese army was completely wiped out and Yukimura Sanada died in battle.
At this point, the so-called 200,000-strong army of the Ming Dynasty in India had almost completely collapsed.
