Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 716 I have been waiting for a long time
"Boom~" "Da Da Da~"
By October and November 1641, the entire Chumphon battlefield was filled with the rumbling of artillery fire and the sound of machine guns, which was so dense that no pause could be heard.
However, this situation only occurred on the Ming army's position in the north. On the EU Army's position, European soldiers who were short of ammunition, regardless of whether they were holding submachine guns or rifles, had already used these guns as sniper rifles.
The lyrics of the song "We are all sharpshooters, and every bullet kills an enemy" sound heroic and optimistic. But hidden behind it is the bitterness of the extreme shortage of supplies. As a soldier, if there is a choice, who would not want to fight a war with unlimited ammunition?
And now, the EU Army, which is in a logistical dilemma, has to fight such a war...
"Hello, hello, yes, Commander, I am now seven kilometers away from Ranong Port. I promise that I will reach Ranong Port tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is bullshit, do you know how to count? Tomorrow afternoon at the latest, the navy of the Western bandits will come again! If the enemy's navy arrives, one more company of the enemy will escape for every minute our army is late. Hurry up and make sure to reach Ranong Port tonight. At least let our 75mm guns cover the area. Otherwise, I will send another division! When the time comes to reward you after the war, don't blame me if you can't get promoted to major general!"
At the front line of Ranong, the commander of the 17th Division, Wang Tingchen, put down the phone and wiped the sweat from his forehead in annoyance. "Damn it, Commander Huang called several times a day. My division has defeated two enemy lines today and advanced a full five kilometers! They even want me to advance another seven kilometers tonight! That would be twelve kilometers. The 11th to 15th Divisions took turns fighting for nearly ten days some time ago, and they only advanced eighteen kilometers."
Next to him, his deputy division commander Jiang Zhu smiled and said, "Division commander, you know what, we are really lucky. Although we only advanced 18 kilometers in the first ten days, in fact, these 18 kilometers were advanced in the last four days. In the first five or six days, we really made progress every day. We really have to seize this opportunity. Otherwise, if we are really replaced by the 18th Division, they will get a great advantage."
"Well, the enemy's ammunition is indeed running low. After a whole day of fighting today, the enemy's artillery only fired back one round. It is indeed as you said. Either tonight or tomorrow morning, we can let the artillery cover Ranong Port. In this case..." He rubbed his chin for a while: "I suggest that in addition to the first and second regiments at the forefront, the two battalions of the third regiment should also be deployed."
"In this case." Jiang Zhu thought for a while: "In addition to the artillery regiment, we only have one battalion and the division's direct guard company."
"It's okay. The battlefield is so narrow. How can the Western bandits maneuver ?"
"Well, then, let's do as the division commander says. I'll have the chief of staff draft an order right away."
On the other side, when Huang Degong hung up the phone, Lu Xiangsheng, the new chief of staff of the reorganized Huang Degong Group, frowned and said, "I say, Commander, Wang Tingchen is from Liaodong, and he is very determined in fighting. But if you push him like this, he might push all his troops to the front line."
"Hmm?" This chief of staff is not only a son-in-law, but also a real scholar. He has participated in many battles in the past ten years. Whether he is the head of a division or the chief of staff of an army group, his performance is very outstanding. Therefore, although the civil and military officials in the Ming Dynasty are basically equal now, Huang Degong, who did not receive much education in his early years and only attended night school for a few years after arriving at Henghaiwei, still respects him very much. After hearing what the other party said, he also stopped what he was doing: "What the chief of staff means is that once I make this call, Wang Tingchen is likely to expose his flank?"
"That's right."
"So what if the flank is exposed? The Western Bandits have been in a slump in recent days, and it's obvious that they are running out of firepower. Could it be that you think the enemy is showing weakness to me, Lord Prince Consort?"
"That's not the case. Zhou Yuji destroyed so many of the Western bandits' transport ships that they were unable to retreat all at once. This took too long and they were definitely running low on ammunition. But Commander, the commander on the opposite side is Gustav. Have you forgotten how Admiral Mao was defeated miserably in the Deccan Battle that year?"
"...Oh! Fortunately, you reminded me. Right, right, right, the generals of our Ming Dynasty can't always fall into the same trap, right? That, my Lord, please prepare an elite force for me. I, no, I will personally lead the team south from the mountains tonight to meet Gustav, who may be desperate."
"Okay, Commander, don't worry. Our logistics are much better than the Western bandits. We will definitely make sure your personal troops are fully armed!"
The logistics of the Ming army was to go by land from Bangkok, which was not without its difficulties. But the permanent residents here were Mon people: the Ming cut the meat of the Burmese and Thai people to feed them, and when the EU briefly dominated the Indochina Peninsula, some Burmese and Thai leaders took the initiative to move over... The leaders of the Mon people knew very well that if the Ming Dynasty lost here, their fate would be extremely miserable!
Therefore, the Meng people, who had no way to retreat, this time supported the Ming Dynasty like crazy - on the muddy and rugged mountain roads, there were Meng people everywhere pushing wheelbarrows, or carrying things on their shoulders and backs, transporting weapons, ammunition, and food to the Ming army, as well as transporting the wounded!
Therefore, when the Malay Campaign had only been going on for more than ten days, the logistical gap between the two sides became obvious.
However, the Malay Peninsula is really long and narrow. The Kra Isthmus where Chumphon is located is the narrowest part of this long and narrow peninsula. In addition, there are long and narrow mountains here that divide the already long and narrow area into two. Therefore, in the past ten days, the front width of the battlefield where the two sides fought was basically within 20 kilometers. Although the Ming army had the advantage in firepower, it could only deploy about one division of troops to attack each time - so the EU Army, which was short of ammunition, persisted for so many days.
But...
Although the Ming army's advantage is growing, the enemy they are facing is Gustav, who is determined to die and pursues the glory of a warrior.
"Your Excellency Grand Duke Friedland, according to the report from the front, we only have two magazines left in the hands of the soldiers to the north. If I don't risk a flank attack tonight, we can only hold out until tomorrow noon at best. And if the navy's transport fleet doesn't return by then, our 200,000 troops here will all be captured... Therefore, an attack tonight is imperative!"
Looking at Gustav, who was nearly fifty years old and dressed in military uniform, the fifty-eight-year-old Wallenstein said with mixed feelings: "...Your Majesty, your judgment is correct. I have asked the General Staff to prepare two regiments of six thousand elite soldiers for you. As for their ammunition, I have asked the quartermasters to do their best to ensure that each soldier has ten magazines and each mortar has five shells."
"Thank you for your excellent work..." Gustav paused for a moment after saying this: "I will set out at 8 o'clock tonight, after the sun has completely set. First, enter the mountains, and then sneak. If God blesses us, we are not discovered by the Ming army's scouts. It is expected that we will launch an attack at 12 o'clock in the evening. Before that, please stay in the command center in person and be sure to hold on until 12 o'clock in the evening. And after that..." The two-meter-tall man sighed deeply: "Please retreat first. I asked the navy to keep a destroyer here all the time, just thinking that there will be such a day."
"Your Majesty, please don't talk about this. I am undoubtedly a realistic person, but first of all, I am a white man, a European. I will fight for the alliance to the last moment. As for you, I think..."
"Please stop talking. I'm Gustav. Although I'm only a general under His Majesty Philip, I'm also the king of a country. It's my ideal to follow the example of Alexander the Great and conquer all the lands I can see. If this ideal cannot be realized, dying heroically in battle is also perfect. Hahahaha, come to think of it, I've run much farther than Alexander the Great."
"Well, good luck to you, your majesty."
"Good luck to you too, Your Excellency."
Late at night on the 11th, Gustav concentrated all the ammunition in the rear, fully armed 6,000 elite troops, and under the cover of night, entered the Kravuri Hills east of Ranong Port.
Master Gu, who was good at leading weak soldiers to attack from the front and leading elite troops to attack from the flank, was once again preparing for a flank attack.
The war had developed to this point, and he, who had fought for decades, knew very well that the coalition forces had failed this time. The only thing he could strive for now was to hope that this flank attack could temporarily repel the attacking Ming army and buy more time for his retreat: according to the time calculation, the transport ship of his navy should arrive at noon tomorrow.
And if he could buy enough time, he had already given Wallenstein an order: abandon all equipment, only load people, and load people with all his might: he would rather these soldiers die at sea because the cabin is too crowded than let as many as 200,000 soldiers be captured by the Ming army.
So, survive from death and make another fierce side attack!
This place is near the equator and has a typical tropical rainforest climate - there is no rainy season or dry season, and it is hot and rainy all year round. So when Gustav led the team out that night, the sound of the drizzling rain successfully covered up their footsteps and whereabouts.
More than an hour after leaving Ranong Port, they successfully entered the hilly area.
"Thank God, today's weather is really suitable for a surprise attack. Pass the order down, the entire army must remain as quiet as possible, detour five kilometers to the north, then go down the mountain and attack from the rear of the enemy."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
It was eleven o'clock in the evening. After Gustav's two regiments had entered the hilly area and marched for nearly two hours, the King of Sweden began to issue another order: the entire army turned around, prepared to leave the hills, rush to the coastal plains, and then launch an attack on Wang Tingchen's division of the Ming army from the side and rear.
However, at this moment, countless torches lit up all around. In the wilderness that was originally particularly quiet due to the deliberate suppression of the EU army, a rough and hearty voice sounded: "Is it Gustav in front? Huang has been waiting here for a long time!"
