Chapter 604 The red dragon fluttering in the wind holding the sword flag
The major staff officer said: "The wind and waves are a bit strong now, and the distance is a bit far away. It is impossible not to detect the main fleet for the time being!"
Hearing this, Li Yanxi fell silent, and after a while he said: "Send two clippers to have a look!"
Although he had a bad premonition, Li Yanxi never gave up. With the main force of the main fleet, even if he was defeated, the entire army would not be wiped out. There would always be ships that survived!
The major staff officer nodded slightly, and then said: "Then what should we do now? There are eight enemy fleets, and they are all big ships!"
Li Yanxi said: "Give me the order and prepare to land directly on the beach!"
There are eight large enemy ships attacking. With their own strength, these transport ships cannot stop them. Not only can they not be stopped, even the way back will be blocked.
But as the saying goes, as long as you get to the shore, it's victory.
They went through all kinds of hardships, and the main fleet did not hesitate to use the weak to attack the strong, wasn't it just to buy time for their transport fleet to land.
As long as the second mixed group can be successfully brought to trial, all these sacrifices will be worth it.
As for what to do after the ship runs aground, what else can you do? Let’s do it!
Is it possible that we can still expect to slowly build a pontoon bridge, land slowly, and then go back again?
The Second Fleet has never had this plan. The transport fleet has never planned to go back since its departure. Moreover, even if it is stranded, the ships in this transport fleet are not big ships, and they are not battleships. If they are stranded, they will be thrown away.
There is nothing to regret on the beach.
The only thing that makes Li Yanxi uneasy is the main fleet. He doesn't know what is going on with the main fleet, how much the losses are, and what the casualties of the soldiers are.
The Second Fleet is currently the strongest squadron in the Tang Dynasty Navy. If something unexpected happens, the backbone of the navy may be interrupted.
Shaking his head vigorously, Li Yanxi forced himself not to think about these things, and then began to command the fleet to prepare for landing.
Nowadays, the ships closest to the shore have almost reached the beach, and some small boats have gone directly to the beach and landed directly.
However, there are dozens of ships of various sizes in the transport fleet, and there are many supplies of the army on board. This landing is also troublesome and takes a long time.
What we hope now is that the enemy will not dare to get too close and risk being stranded. At most, they will shell from a few hundred meters away!
At this time, Colonel Luo Youbin, the leader of the Second Mixed Regiment, also walked up to Li Yanxi. His expression was a little heavy now, and he obviously knew that the main fleet of the Second Fleet behind was probably in bad shape.
"This sea-crossing battle was all due to the sacrifice of the navy. Our Second Mixed Regiment will bear this in mind!"
Li Yanxi nodded slightly and said: "This is all for the great cause of the empire!"
Then he thought for a while and said: "However, I'm afraid my navy will have to worry about Brother Luo's troubles after we land!"
Luo Youbin said: "This is all as it should be. Don't worry, the navy doesn't need to worry about all the fighting after the landing. You just need to wait for the good news from our army!"
In response, Li Yanxi nodded slightly and said, "That's great!"
In this battle, the navy sacrificed a lot. You don't need to think about it to know that the naval officers on the main fleet of the second fleet will suffer heavy casualties, and you have to save seeds for the navy!
Although the quality of many sailors in the transport fleet is not as good as that of the main fleet, there are still thousands of them. These thousands of sailors cannot directly fight on land like the army. These sailors are unarmed and their combat effectiveness in land battles is very average. Let them
Fighting with the Second Mixed Regiment would be irresponsible to the navy officers.
Li Yanxi needs to preserve these sailors for the reconstruction of the Second Fleet.
Seeing that Li Yanxi was not in a good mood and had to command the fleet to land, Luo Youbin wisely left. Now it was his turn to show off his skills.
He took his adjutant and staff directly on the boat, and then landed first!
The place they chose to land was a small beach with a relatively gentle terrain. Many large ships had actually run aground when they rushed dozens of meters away from the shore. At this time, they needed to take a small boat or wade directly to land.
"Quick, quick!"
"Everyone get on the boat, take care to protect the gunpowder and muskets, don't let them get wet!"
"Everyone speeds up. Didn't you see that Pseudo-Ming's big ship has already come to kill you? Are you going to stay here and wait to die?"
After the first large transport ship ran aground on the beach, the large-scale landing operation of the second mixed group began. At this time, the Ming army ships pursuing from behind had already moved several kilometers closer. According to their speed,
, in less than an hour, they would be able to get close enough to start shelling.
There were only a few large gunboats in the transport fleet, and the field guns in the second mixed regiment were all small guns, with no large-caliber artillery at all, so it was impossible to engage in bombardment with the Ming Navy's gunboats.
The best way is to go ashore and leave!
Because of the urgent time, the landing operation was carried out in a chaotic manner. It was not only the army soldiers who landed, but also the navy sailors who actually abandoned the ship and landed.
In total, more than 3,000 people have to land, and they also have to carry a large amount of supplies to land. This is not an easy task.
After Luo Youbin took his staff, adjutants and messengers on a small boat and set foot on the beach, Luo Youbin had no time to rest when he saw a second lieutenant running over: "Tell your lord, there is an incoming Ming army ahead!"
"How many troops are there in the enemy? How far away are they?"
"About a thousand people, about a kilometer!"
Luo Youbin showed disdain and said: "There are only a thousand enemy troops, why are you panicking!"
Then he looked back and found one who was a major and said: "Battle Commander Fang, you immediately gather the fourth battalion and prepare to fight. Defeat them cleanly and don't let them interfere with the subsequent landing!"
Battalion Commander Fang is a sturdy middle-aged man. After hearing this, he said: "The staff obeys the order!"
Then he strode away, while shouting loudly: "Gather the fourth battalion, hurry up!"
The one who landed in the early stage was the 4th Battalion, but now there are only more than 300 soldiers of the 4th Battalion who have successfully landed, and many of them are still crawling in the sea water.
But the leader, Battalion Commander Fang, didn't wait for them and set off directly with the 300 people who had combined!
With three hundred men fighting against a thousand enemy troops, this put no pressure on the Tang Army at all!
After Battalion Commander Fang led the troops to set off, Luo Youbin continued to sit on the beach and then directed the troops to rush to transport supplies.
At this time, Li Yanxi also got off the ship, and then ordered the navy officers to help transport supplies.
Although these ships were stranded, the supplies on board must be taken away. Many of the supplies on board are needed to sustain the Second Mixed Regiment for a whole month of operations, and they cannot remain here.
As the landing operation passed, people quickly disembarked, and many supplies began to be transferred from large ships to small ships and transported to the beach.
The whole scene is extremely chaotic!
"The enemy fleet is only 700 meters away. They will be able to bombard soon. Everyone, please work harder!"
"Prioritize the transportation of ammunition, and leave food alone for now."
"The artillery on those ships also needs to be removed. How can we fight without artillery?"
Many officers on the beach commanded more than 3,000 people to rush to transport supplies. As for the beach battle after landing, that was not their task, that was the task of the fourth battalion led by Battalion Commander Fang.
To be precise, it is the task of the 300 people in the fourth battalion.
But this time, the Army did not brag about the Navy. The dissatisfaction of these 300 people was organized into the Fourth Battalion. Although many of them did not even have muskets, even spears, or armor, and many only brought a waist knife, they still used
One charge cleanly routed nearly a thousand soldiers from the Ming Military Guard who heard the news and ran to fight.
Of course, the casualties on both sides were not many. Even the fleeing Ming army only had dozens of casualties.
After defeating the Ming army, Battalion Commander Fang did not lead his troops in pursuit. Instead, he rested on the spot and built a defense line!
His mission was to defeat those Ming armies who dared to attack. It was not his mission to pursue and conquer enemy cities.
Time passed bit by bit, and soon, the ships of the Ming Navy finally arrived at the landing beach and opened fire on the beach. However, just as Li Yanxi and others judged, in order to avoid being stranded, they did not
Risking too close to the shore, only shelling from a direction of two to three hundred meters.
At this time, the navy and army of the Tang Dynasty King's Division, which landed on the beach, had already transported their most important supplies, ammunition, and had also transported enough food for several days. As for more food,
and other heavy baggage, they could only be forced to give up.
The Ming army's warships approached and fired with shotguns, which caused relatively large damage to the people exposed on the beach!
So they quickly gave up and continued to rush to transport supplies, but they did not leave, but stationed themselves on the beach!
They still want those ships, and the supplies on board can continue to be shipped in the future.
Those Ming naval forces were not stupid, and soon began to bombard the ships, and even sent out small boats to set fire to them.
Faced with this method, the Tang Dynasty King's navy and land had no choice but to watch the ships being burned one by one!
"Stop looking, let's go. If the ship is gone, it's gone. The other baggage doesn't matter. Our army has enough ammunition and supplies, so it's relatively easy to feed the enemy!"
Feeding the enemy is a fine tradition of the Tang Dynasty kings. As long as you have guns and cannons, you are afraid of not having anything to eat!
Therefore, the Second Mixed Regiment and thousands of sailors abandoned this beachhead and began to advance deeper inland. Their advance direction was simple and crude: Qiongzhou Fucheng!
Just as the second mixed group was advancing towards Qiongzhou Prefecture, three shabby ships were sailing towards Leizhou Prefecture with difficulty on the Qiongzhou Strait!
Although the ship is in tatters, the red dragon and sword flag flying on the mast is always fluttering in the wind!