Because of the complete design drawings of Malacca City, Datang's siege troops could make targeted combat deployments.
This kind of targeted deployment showed very good results in the previous artillery battles. Datang's artillery can always be deployed in very clever places. It can not only effectively bombard the enemy's artillery positions, but also avoid the enemy.
artillery counterattack.
Or use heavy artillery to specifically attack some of the enemy's highly concealed artillery positions.
The general attack will be launched tomorrow, and it will also be based on the detailed design of Malacca's city defense, so as to make targeted deployments. This definitely does not mean lining up the troops and letting them rush towards the city.
After a day of combat meetings, in the afternoon, the commanders of each unit began to rush back to their units, especially the commanders of each battalion and regiment, who needed to conduct tactical deployment and final mobilization of the troops.
Dong Qiankun is one of them. He is the battalion commander of the 571st Infantry Battalion under the 57th Infantry Regiment and an army lieutenant colonel.
Serving as the commander of an infantry battalion with the position of lieutenant colonel is not too common in the Tang Army, but it is definitely not uncommon. Generally speaking, it happens to junior lieutenant colonels, and generally speaking, those who serve as
The battalion commander with serial number 1 in each unit.
For example, the commanders of the 581st Infantry Battalion and the 591st Infantry Battalion are actually lieutenant colonels.
This has something to do with the Tang Army's battlefield command extension system.
According to the battlefield command regulations of the Tang Army, when the commander of the army is killed or seriously injured and unable to effectively command the troops, the command will be deferred to the person with the highest military rank. If the military ranks are the same, the commander of the combat unit will take precedence. This is
If infantry, cavalry, artillery, baggage and other arms are all combat units and have commanders with the same arms, then the number of the unit under command will be given priority.
Although it is rare for an infantry battalion commander to take over the position of an infantry regiment commander, it does happen a lot. Therefore, in order to prevent such an accident from happening to the troops, the Datang Army needs the battalion commander of the first infantry battalion to command the entire regiment.
, which can give the commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion sufficient capabilities.
Senior officers with extensive experience in commanding and combat operations are often selected. However, major battalion commanders with such qualifications are generally facing promotions, and you cannot keep suppressing them. Therefore, many times, the military will, under certain circumstances,
Under the Act, the senior commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion under the infantry regiment is awarded the rank of Army Lieutenant Colonel.
This can solve many problems, and it is also in line with the regulations on military ranks and positions in the Tang Dynasty Army. According to the relevant regulations, the leader of a main infantry regiment can have the rank of lieutenant colonel or colonel. Of course, generally speaking,
It's limited to colonels. Those with the rank of lieutenant colonel are often those who have just been promoted and are for transitional purposes.
The deputy commander of a regiment usually has the rank of lieutenant colonel, and a few have the rank of senior major. The chief of staff of the regiment usually has the rank of major, and a few have the rank of junior lieutenant colonel.
Several battalion commanders mainly have the rank of major, and very few have the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Under these relevant regulations, if the colonel commander of the 57th Infantry Regiment is unable to command, the remaining highest-ranking officer in the regiment will take over the command. In addition to the regimental commander, the highest-ranking commander in the regiment is
Dong Qiankun is the deputy commander of the 57th Infantry Regiment and the commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion. Both of them are lieutenant colonels!
However, the deputy commander has priority over him in taking over the command. Therefore, according to the battlefield command regulations of the Tang Army, Dong Qiankun is the third commander in line!
Of course, this arrangement is only for the Army as a precaution. In actual combat, it is relatively rare for the regiment commander and deputy regiment commander to be collectively killed or seriously injured. Even if it does happen, the superiors will quickly arrange relevant arrangements.
officer takes over.
However, it is worth noting that even if an officer is arranged to take over the position, he is usually replaced by a senior battalion commander below. It is rarely said that he is dispatched from the division headquarters, or that the military headquarters makes other arrangements.
Of course, it is relatively rare for the deputy division commander or even the division chief of staff to personally take over the command, and it cannot be counted. When a general at the brigadier general level takes command, even the original regimental commander can only obey orders, and usually
If a brigadier-level general such as a deputy division commander or division chief of staff is sent to lead troops, he will often lead a temporary mixed unit to fight. Mixed regiments or even mixed brigade levels are possible.
As a senior battalion commander of the Army, Dong Qiankun was naturally very familiar with these internal regulations of the Army. However, what he did not expect was that when the general offensive on the second day just started, strictly speaking, it was just the beginning of the artillery cover before the general attack.
, the infantry have not even started to charge, and he has become the supreme commander of the 57th Infantry Regiment!
This change, instead of giving him any joy of promotion and wealth, gave him a strong worry. He was worried that the bad luck of the 57th Infantry Regiment would continue.
Yes, the 57th Infantry Regiment was very unlucky on this day!
This morning, the officers of the 57th Infantry Regiment discovered that their regimental commander had not gotten up yet. When they saw it, their regimental commander was suffering from a high fever. The military doctor took a look and concluded that he was very sick.
A pessimistic conclusion.
Due to the hard work of the past few days and the current weather change, their leader suffered from wind chill. It would be dangerous if the fever did not subside, so he was carried back to the hospital ship at the landing dock for treatment on the spot.
The battle hasn't even started yet, but Ding Chenzhen has lost one of his frontline generals!
Yes, the 57th Infantry Regiment is the main infantry regiment. The commander of this infantry regiment is also a senior colonel. Looking at the entire army, such officers are among the highest priority group of mid-level generals. In the future,
General Seeds.
As the main offensive force, the importance of the 57th Infantry Regiment is undoubted. If the regiment commander is seriously ill and has a high fever before the battle, the blow to the attacking force will be considerable.
In desperation, the deputy commander of the 57th Infantry Regiment took over the command. However, as soon as he led the troops to the position and began to cover the artillery bombardment from the rear, the Portuguese on the city also used
The few artillery pieces fired sporadically and counterattacked feebly.
This level of artillery counterattack posed almost no threat to Datang's siege troops.
However, when the deputy commander of the 57th Infantry Regiment led his officers to various units for the final mobilization, they were unfortunately shelled by the Portuguese.
The Portuguese opened artillery fire early in the morning, and only fired a hundred or so shells in total. Most of them were useless, but there was a nine-pound externally fuzed grenade that hit the deputy commander.
Over the trench!
Under the explosion, the deputy commander was seriously injured on the spot!
In this way, the general offensive has not officially started yet, and the 57th Infantry Regiment, which had a bad start, lost two generals in succession!
In accordance with the relevant regulations of the Tang Army, Dong Qiankun raised his general flag to take over the command of the 57th Infantry Regiment and reported it to the division headquarters.
When Ding Chenzhen heard that the deputy commander of the 57th Infantry Regiment was also hit by a stray bullet at an unlucky occasion, he was speechless and even considered whether to postpone the general attack by one day.
Before the fight even started, we lost two generals in succession. This situation is a bit wrong!
You must know that since the landing force set off from Guangzhou, as of yesterday, there have been only a few casualties. Not a single officer at the colonel level has been reduced, regardless of illness or injury.
It's a good thing now. In less than an hour, one of them got seriously ill and the other got seriously injured.
Could it be that you didn’t read the almanac when you went out?
But as scholars, they don’t believe this stuff either!
In the education system of the Tang Empire, many Confucian concepts were still very important. Although people began to study mathematics, physics and chemistry these days, everyone still regarded themselves as scholars and was deeply influenced by Confucianism.
And the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were almost all scholars. If you want to enter the military academy, you must first take the preparatory course!
Therefore, the officers of the Tang Dynasty basically regarded themselves as scholars, and they were also the best scholars. They all regarded themselves as scholars, and naturally they did not believe in any ghosts and gods.
They don’t read the almanac!
But such a strange situation today made Ding Chen really uneasy.
Fortunately, he finally did not change the battle plan because he was uneasy. This was not an attack by a single regiment of the 57th Infantry Regiment, but an attack by the entire army.
Therefore, he could only ask the messenger to go to the 57th Infantry Regiment to let Dong Qiankun, who took over the command, familiarize himself with the troops as soon as possible, because the combat plan would continue to unfold as expected.
Dong Qiankun did not expect that he would become the commander of the 57th Infantry Regiment in just one hour. He is still stunned now, but he is also a senior battalion commander after all, although he has never experienced such a situation before.
thing, but I am not unprepared for it.
He immediately found Major Hu Baoguan, the chief of staff of the 57th Infantry Regiment, and discussed the attack plan later.
Major Hu Baoguan was also very unlucky. When he followed the deputy commander of the regiment to inspect the position, he was also injured by shrapnel from the artillery shell. However, the injury was not too serious. It was just an injury to his left hand. At the same time, it was only a flesh injury and no bones were injured.
After emergency treatment by military doctors, he is now wearing a bandage.
Of course, pain was unavoidable, so when Dong Qiankun found him, the man endured the pain and introduced the battle plan to Dong Qiankun.
"How about it, can Brother Hu still persist?" Dong Qiankun asked immediately when he saw that Major Hu Baoguan's forehead was beginning to shed large beads of sweat.
However, Major Hu Baoguan shook his head: "It's okay, this little injury doesn't matter!"
Dong Qiankun glanced at him and then said: "Then let's continue!"