Different from the expedition to Dongwan Island, this time in the war against Zheng Guo, Tang Mo's troops were all hoarded on Dongwan Island, so they were sent to the front line to join the battle faster.
Advance deployment in Zheng State, secretly hoarding supplies, local people volunteering to serve as guides, and roads extending in all directions made the Tang army's advance more convenient and faster.
Through the route between Dongwan Port and Linshui Port, Tiger easily transported his 1st Motorized Infantry Division and 1st Infantry Division across the strait, and then more troops also completed the transfer.
Counting the 1st Marine Division and the 4th Army Infantry Division, Tiger had already sent four divisions to Zheng's coastline with basically no fighting.
The combat effectiveness of these troops is not comparable to that of ordinary troops. These main forces are basically reorganized divisions with close to 20,000 people. The number of artillery equipped in one division may be more than the number of artillery equipped in a country in the past.
Tiger, the 1st Marine Division responsible for the amphibious landing, did not want to be easily sent to the front line to be consumed, so he held this naval unit in his hands and did not allow it to participate in subsequent battles.
Most of the troops of this division are now stationed around Linshui Port, because there is no way to equip a large number of vehicles, and this amphibious landing force does not have the ability to travel long distances on the road.
Tiger arranged the remaining three divisions in three main directions. The southernmost one is the 4th Division, which has the weakest combat effectiveness. They will go all the way south to the border between Zheng and Chu.
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Attacking northward was the relatively fast Motorized 1st Division. This unit had the most cars and the fastest advancement. Their mission was to advance to the north of Zheng as quickly as possible and stabilize the border between Zheng and Qi.
What was left was the old unit originally commanded by Tiger, the 1st Infantry Division with the strongest combat effectiveness. Tiger ordered them to advance westward, and the attack direction was exactly in the direction of the Zhengwang City.
Tiger also made arrangements for the follow-up troops. The 5th and 6th Divisions, which also had relatively stronger combat capabilities, were regarded as reserves and followed the 1st Division to the west, the 7th Division to the north, and the 8th Division.
Division to the south, serving as reserves for the 1st Motorized Infantry Division and the 4th Division respectively.
From north to south, Tiger's formation is 232, with a total of 7 divisions of combat troops. If necessary, there are two divisions being formed on Dongwan Island that can be reinforced at any time, namely the 9th and 10th divisions.
A teacher.
The main force of the Zheng army in front of these troops was about 200,000, of which 50,000 were deployed on the border between Zheng and Chu, and about 70,000 were stationed on the northern Qi border.
In other words, the number of Zheng's troops that could really be deployed to join the war immediately was only about 80,000, which meant that they had no advantage at all in terms of military strength.
General Li Jun of the State of Zheng now has only 40,000 troops, and most of these troops are not ready for battle.
Compared with the Tang Dynasty, Zheng's industrialization level was too low. Most of the weapons and equipment that were originally planned to be produced by themselves were not fully deployed due to production capacity issues.
Coupled with corruption and delays, Zheng’s army’s weapons and equipment replacement was less than one-third complete.
In fact, Li Jun, the main force, only had about half of his troops, equipped with Cyric Type 1 rifles purchased from Cyric, and a small number of breech-loading cannons.
In addition, Zheng also had a relatively powerful force, the Guards of Zheng Tong stationed in the royal city. This force had more advanced weapons and a higher level of training.
Except for these two troops, most of Zheng's army was only equipped with flintlock muskets and muzzle-loading cannons, and their combat effectiveness was really child's play.
As the general of the Zheng State, Li Jun can still hold the pass and stabilize the defense line. Rather than saying that he used his troops like a god, it is more accurate to say that the troops of the Tang Dynasty took the initiative to stop the attack.
Tiger was worried that his troops would encounter a sudden counterattack, so he steadily ordered his troops to stop advancing and wait for the follow-up troops.
Li Jun reported his great victory to Zheng Tong: he successfully stopped the Tang army's advance and stabilized his defense line.
Subsequently, the first real battle of this war broke out, and the two sides began to compete around Copper City, the center of the Zheng Army's defense line.
Copper City is located approximately in the center of the Zheng State. It is named because there are copper mines around it. There are many mines here, so there are many factories. Naturally, the Zheng State also attaches great importance to it.
Li Jun deployed 10,000 elite troops here, equipped with Cyric Type 1 bolt-action rifles, and 30 breech-loading field guns to assist. The defenders reinforced the city walls and deployed fortifications on the outside.
The Datang troops attacking here were the 1st and 2nd Regiments of the 1st Infantry Division, with a total strength of more than 7,000 people. They also strengthened their artillery and completely overwhelmed the Zheng Guo defenders in terms of firepower.
The two sides launched a fierce artillery battle here. Li Jun's elite resisted desperately. The two sides fought fiercely for a whole day. In the end, the Tang army annihilated the Zheng army at the cost of 17 people killed and more than 110 injured, and captured Tongcheng.
This was almost a one-sided massacre, and the Zheng army was completely crushed during the artillery battle.
The performance of Cyric's 130mm field howitzer is completely inferior to the Datang Group's 105mm caliber howitzer. The performance gap between the two sides determines that in this artillery battle, Datang Group's artillery can always suppress Zheng Jun's artillery.
What's more, the artillerymen of the Datang Group also have a more powerful 155mm caliber howitzer. The power of this thing is really enough to be described as shocking.
The general Zheng Army position only needs to be hit by one 155mm caliber howitzer shell before it almost collapses.
If they didn't give up their position and retreat immediately, they would be hit by a second artillery shell. Not everyone could bear the horror of the entire position being shaken by the explosion.
There is also a gap in the firepower of the infantry between the two sides. The Zheng army has almost no machine guns, let alone submachine guns. In trench warfare, their bolt-action rifles are no match for the automatic weapons in the hands of the Datang Group troops.
The most tragic thing is that most of the Zheng army did not even have the opportunity to hide in the trenches and come into contact with the Tang army. They were covered by artillery fire before the Tang army charged.
The Tang army gave full play to its equipment advantages and made Zheng Jun's deployment a joke. Zheng Jun's reinforced city walls were vulnerable to artillery fire, and the fortifications set up outside the city were also very amateurish.
The Zheng army, which had no experience in modern warfare, suffered heavy losses from the Tang army. They finally realized how huge the firepower gap between the two sides was in the face of casualties.
Not only large-caliber howitzers, the Tang army also equipped a large number of mortars as supplementary firepower. These artillery deployments are flexible, but the firepower is very powerful, which is simply a nightmare for the Zhengguo army.
Although Li Jun deployed heavy troops in Tongcheng and held on to the danger, these troops quickly collapsed under the fierce firepower of the Datang Group's troops.
Li Jun's close confidant, Zheng Guo's fierce general Lu Fang, was killed on the city wall, and Li Jun's most direct 3,000-strong "Li Family Army" was completely wiped out.
Having lost Tongcheng, Zheng's troops were completely at a disadvantage. The originally relatively complete defense line suddenly had a gap in the middle, so they immediately began to retreat across the board.
The biggest problem is that the arms accumulated in Tongcheng have become spoils of war for the Tang army. The tens of thousands of troops have also lost a lot of food, grass and baggage. The nearby Zheng army is no longer able to fight anymore.
At the same time, the mines, ore processing plants, and metal smelting plants around Tongcheng have also been occupied by the Tang army. The arsenals, including the Tongcheng bullet factory, have also been controlled by the Tang army.
Li Jun did not believe that the remaining troops in his hands were capable of counterattacking the Tang army and retaking the crucial Tongcheng Arsenal.
General Li, who knew how much he weighed, immediately led his troops to retreat towards the royal city, even leaving behind the troops behind him.
Later, the Tang army captured and defeated more than 10,000 enemy troops and achieved a great victory in Tongcheng. The surrounding Zheng army immediately showed its true nature after the retreat of Li Jun's troops and dispersed under the Tang army's offensive.
The central battlefield, which was originally 80,000 vs. 60,000, instantly became 30,000 vs. 60,000. Zheng Jun's almost negligible strength advantage was completely wiped out.
Even with the combined force of more than 20,000 forbidden troops stationed in Zheng's royal city, Zheng's military strength in the central region is only about 50,000. At this moment, the Tang Army, which is waiting for the follow-up 5th and 6th Divisions, is in the central region.
The deployed troops have exceeded 60,000.
According to Tiger, he has never fought such a rich battle! For the first time, the Tang army had a numerical advantage in the main direction of attack!
Tiger, who had obtained the Copper City, did not rush to advance towards the Royal City. He focused on the south and north.
Because of the victory of the Tang army in the Battle of Tongcheng, the Zheng army stationed on the border was shaken. For their own future, the generals of the border army carefully considered the price offered to them by the Datang Group.
On the seventh day when the war broke out, 50,000 Zheng troops stationed on the border in the southern region surrendered to the Tang Kingdom. As agreed, they did not give up their defense areas and continued to guard the border until the end of the war.
Two days later, after receiving safety guarantees, the 70,000 troops stationed by the Zheng State on the northern border announced their surrender to the Tang Kingdom. Tang Mo was able to control the border area as he wished, and had the Zheng State completely in his hands.
To this day, the only area where Zheng is still resisting is near the Royal City. The 1st, 5th and 6th Divisions have already begun to advance towards the vicinity of Zheng's Royal City.
It only took less than 13 days to completely encircle the royal city of Zheng and occupy almost the entire territory of Taige, but there was no need to worry.
He slowed down the advance of the troops, fought steadily and without greed for merit, and finally advanced to the vicinity of the King's City of Zheng on the 22nd day of the outbreak of the war.
It was indeed much slower than Redman's destruction of the Gemelin Kingdom, but this speed of advancement still made the world remember another name: "Tiger".
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I have some physical problems, so I’m going to update my mind recently. I’m sorry for all the readers.
